Can You Let Me Kiss You?
Almost exactly the same appearance, born of the Phoenix clan, extraordinary cultivation talent... born three hundred years ago, amid the war between gods and demons... able to open the divine pact upon the phoenix golden feather...
Ji Chaoyun stared blankly at the man and tiger in the distance. His vision suddenly blurred a little.
Is it you?
Have you truly returned?
But... why did you become like this?
“N-No more fooling around! Sit, sit!” Feng Qi had been pestered beyond endurance by the white tiger and ordered loudly.
The enormous cat, as tall as a man, gave an aggrieved whimper and shrank its head. Reluctantly and unwillingly, it sat down on the grass.
Feng Qi finally escaped the tiger’s clutches and walked toward Ji Chaoyun. “Who knows where this tiger came from? It is so clingy. Chaoyun, you... what’s wrong?”
The moment he saw that Ji Chaoyun’s expression was amiss, his heart immediately went on high alert, and his voice softened. “You were fine just now. What happened?”
Ji Chaoyun turned his head and rubbed his eyes. “Nothing. Just now in the sky, the... the wind got into my eyes.”
Feng Qi could more or less guess what was going on. “This place... is Mount Sumeru, is it not?”
“Mm.”
“Ever since this place revealed itself just now, I’ve been able to sense an immense power. If I’m not mistaken, it should be the divine power that fellow left behind.” Feng Qi licked his lips and asked quietly, “Missing him?”
Ji Chaoyun paused, then shook his head. “No. That’s not why.”
“It’s fine. I understand.” Feng Qi could barely suppress the sourness in his voice as he said sourly, “Seeing a familiar place stirs old feelings. That’s only natural.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun looked up at Feng Qi and fell silent for a moment.
Perhaps his thoughts had simply been too unsettled these past few days, making him start imagining things again.
Even if they looked alike, their personalities were far too different. Could... could they really be the same person?
“Forget it.” Ji Chaoyun pressed his fingers to his brow and forced himself to gather his thoughts. “From what we can see now, this barren mountain only appeared as it did before because Feng Xiao’s divine power concealed it. By sheer coincidence, we opened the seal over Mount Sumeru just now, and only then did we see its true appearance.”
Feng Qi nodded, then said, “Have you considered something else... why did the dense fog disperse, and why were there demonic creatures outside the mountain?”
Ji Chaoyun raised his head and saw the same concern he felt reflected in Feng Qi’s eyes.
The fog had dispersed because the divine power Feng Xiao left behind was beginning to weaken.
If demonic creatures had appeared outside, did that mean the demons had already set their sights on this place?
After a long while, Feng Qi said softly, “Do you remember what that demon said when we lured out the one possessing Immortal Venerable Yaoguang?”
Whether during the earlier trap at Hongmeng Academy or within the illusion, when they had driven that demon into a dead end, he had said the same thing.
“...The gods are in decline, and the Demon Clan holds sway.” Ji Chaoyun repeated.
Feng Qi lowered his eyes, his brows drawing together slightly.
Others might not yet know, but Divine Lord Feng Xiao had already fallen three hundred years ago. Now the Divine Realm was sealed off, while the seal Feng Xiao left behind was gradually weakening. Was this not precisely what it meant for the gods to be in decline?
Could the Immortal Realm truly have reached the end of the road?
Neither spoke for a time. Ji Chaoyun raised his eyes toward the distance. At some point, mountain mist had begun to rise among the forest. Thin fog veiled the distant mountains, presenting a scene of peace and tranquility.
Ji Chaoyun withdrew his gaze. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
Ji Chaoyun said, “If the Demon Clan has already targeted this place, then the divine artifact Feng Xiao left on Mount Sumeru is no longer safe. I need to find it.”
After saying this, he met Feng Qi’s gaze and only then realized something was slightly inappropriate. “I-I don’t mean to force you into this. I only...”
“I know.” Feng Qi gently interrupted him, smiling. “You want me to go with you, don’t you?”
“...”
Feng Qi deliberately teased him. Seeing that Ji Chaoyun did not seem to reject it, he pushed even further. “That is no way to ask someone for help, little dragon. If you want me to help you, should you not say something nice?”
He leaned down and moved closer to Ji Chaoyun, lowering his voice. “Call me gege first?”
“…………”
Ji Chaoyun hurriedly retreated two steps, the roots of his ears warming slightly. “Forget it if you don’t want to go!”
He did not look at Feng Qi again and turned to stride deeper into the woods.
Before long, the ground trembled slightly, and Feng Qi caught up while riding the white tiger.
“I said I would go. What are you getting angry for? You really can’t take a little teasing.” Feng Qi guided the white tiger to Ji Chaoyun’s side and held out a hand toward him. “Come up, Chao-yun-ge-ge.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun had originally been about to give him his hand. The moment he heard that form of address, his hand froze in midair.
Feng Qi gave him no chance to pull away. He leaned down, easily wrapped an arm around Ji Chaoyun’s waist, and lifted him onto the tiger. Then he circled both arms around him and held him securely in his embrace.
Feng Qi happily hugged him and, taking advantage of the situation, sighed beside his ear. “I overlook our past grievances and accompany you to find something left behind by my romantic rival. Where else under heaven would you find someone as good as me?”
Ji Chaoyun: “...”
Ji Chaoyun drew a deep breath and decisively ignored him. The two rode the white tiger into the forest.
The mountain was quiet, and the white tiger walked slowly. The warm sunlight soon made Ji Chaoyun drowsy. Without realizing it, his rigid back relaxed, and he leaned into Feng Qi’s embrace.
Feng Qi asked quietly, “Tired?”
Ji Chaoyun’s eyelids were so heavy he could barely raise them. He gave a low sound of acknowledgment, already seeming somewhat muddled with sleep.
Feng Qi smiled helplessly.
How could he not be tired? He had been dragged out of bed by the clan members early in the morning to prepare, had cried and made a fuss with Feng Qi for nearly half a shichen, then rushed straight to the barren mountain without resting and killed so many demonic beasts entirely by himself.
Even Feng Qi would have had difficulty enduring all that.
Ji Chaoyun rested the side of his face against Feng Qi’s shoulder. The corners of his eyes were still slightly red, his long lashes damp and slender, trembling lightly like tiny fans and glittering faintly beneath the sunlight.
A breeze passed through the forest, stirring a loose strand of hair at Ji Chaoyun’s forehead and brushing it repeatedly across his cheek.
Ji Chaoyun frowned and burrowed his head into Feng Qi’s chest, rubbing against him.
Feng Qi suppressed a laugh, hooked the strand of hair that was disturbing his sleep around one finger, and played with it idly. “Sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
☁
However, when Ji Chaoyun next woke in a daze, the sun had already set. The sky looked as though it had been wrapped in a layer of deep blue silk, pure and clear.
Ji Chaoyun blinked. It took him a while to remember where he was.
His vision slowly focused, revealing Feng Qi’s enlarged handsome face before him.
Feng Qi smiled at him. “Did you sleep well?”
They seemed to have already reached deep within the forest and were standing in a clearing.
Who knew how long they had been there? The white tiger beneath them impatiently swished its tail and grumbled under its breath, yet did not dare move, showing none of the bearing of the king of beasts.
Ji Chaoyun fell silent for a long while, thinking that he truly should never have trusted this man’s nonsense. The promise to wake him had clearly been a lie. He shoved Feng Qi away, jumped off the white tiger, and muttered irritably, “If I ever trust you again, I will...”
Feng Qi followed him. “You will what?”
“Nothing.” Ji Chaoyun swept his gaze around and soon spotted a spring deep along a forest path, half-hidden by orchids. “Is this the place?”
Feng Qi said, “Xiaohua brought us here. It should be.”
“...Xiaohua?” Ji Chaoyun froze and pointed toward the white tiger waiting where it stood. “You named it Xiaohua?”
Second Highness Feng seemed very satisfied with the name and nodded. “Its markings are so pretty. What is wrong with calling it Xiaohua?”
Ji Chaoyun looked sympathetically at the white tiger and could not stop sighing inwardly.
Who knew why Feng Xiao had not taken this spirit tiger back to the Divine Realm all those years ago? A dignified mount of a heavenly god, a spirit tiger that had fought across countless battlefields, had fallen so far as to wait here for hundreds of years, and now it even had to endure being called Xiaohua.
How pitiful.
Ji Chaoyun silently thought this to himself and secretly decided that once matters here were settled, he would take the spirit tiger back to the Immortal Realm and persuade Feng Qi to change its name. At the very least... did Little White not sound much better than Little Flower?
Ji Chaoyun was very pleased with the name he had chosen. Feeling somewhat better, he withdrew his gaze and quickly walked toward the spring.
Before he even reached it, he could already sense the rich spiritual power here.
The two stopped beside the spring. The water was crystal clear yet bottomless. They released their spiritual power at the same time to probe it, only to find themselves blocked by something within the water, unable to enter.
“Such formidable power.” Feng Qi withdrew his spiritual power and shook his head. “It seems we won’t know what lies inside unless we enter it ourselves.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “But... if Feng Xiao’s divine power is protecting whatever is inside, can we even enter?”
“We can.” Feng Qi answered with certainty.
Back in the illusion, Feng Xiao had said that only he and Ji Chaoyun could find the artifact within Mount Sumeru.
Therefore, they would definitely be able to break this barrier.
Ji Chaoyun did not know that the two of them had met before and looked at him in confusion.
Feng Qi’s gaze shifted away. “Do you remember that divine pact?”
“Of course.” Ji Chaoyun hesitated before asking, “So what is in this spring... is another divine pact?”
“Whether it is or not, we will know once we investigate.”
Feng Qi crouched beside the spring and said to Ji Chaoyun, “Stand farther back. I will try.”
Ji Chaoyun nodded and obediently retreated several steps.
Feng Qi glanced at Ji Chaoyun from the corner of his eye and silently said in his heart: Divine Lord Feng Xiao, Chaoyun and I have followed your instructions and found this place. Demons have now appeared outside Mount Sumeru. If you believe the time is right, then allow us to take this artifact. If not, we will leave immediately.
After saying this, he leaned forward and extended a hand toward the clear, still surface of the water. Just as he was about to touch it, Mount Sumeru suddenly began to shake violently.
Birds and beasts scattered throughout the forest. In the distance, the white tiger paced restlessly and raised its head toward the sky, releasing a vigilant roar.
Ji Chaoyun and Feng Qi looked up at the same time.
Countless streams of black smoke gathered in the sky and attempted to descend, only to be blocked outside by a transparent wall of light.
The black smoke repeatedly struck the barrier. With each collision, spiderweb-like cracks slowly spread across the wall of light.
“The Demon Clan has found this place.” Ji Chaoyun’s eyes reflected the widening cracks, his brows gradually drawing tight.
Feng Qi suddenly grabbed his arm and said quickly, “Let the spirit tiger take you away. You can’t stay here.”
Ji Chaoyun frowned. “Take me away? What about you?”
Feng Qi paused, then looked back toward the spring. “We cannot let the artifact fall into the hands of the Demon Clan. I’ll go in and try. Once I have it, I’ll come after you.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No.” Feng Qi refused without hesitation. Meeting Ji Chaoyun’s gaze, he softened his voice and explained, “Don’t be stubborn. With your current cultivation, dealing with only a few demonic beasts is already not easy. There are far more demons here now.”
“Then can you deal with them easily?” Ji Chaoyun said. “Back then, even the allied forces of the Immortal Realm could not defeat the Demon Clan. You are no match for them at...”
Before he could finish, a piercing shattering sound suddenly came from the sky.
The wall of light could no longer withstand the impact and shattered completely.
Streams of black smoke descended from the heavens and landed throughout Mount Sumeru.
Demonic qi surged toward them from every direction. Ji Chaoyun was instantly shaken by the powerful spiritual pressure until blood and qi churned violently in his chest.
Several demonic creatures took shape within the forest around them. The spirit tiger roared furiously, lunged forward, and tore them to pieces with a single swipe of its claws.
Feng Qi shielded Ji Chaoyun behind him and clicked his tongue in disgust. “That useless barrier Feng Xiao left behind could not even hold out a little longer. What a useless thing.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun glanced at him as though wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Soon, another stream of black smoke descended from the sky and landed before them.
A tall young man wearing black light armor walked out from within the smoke.
The spirit tiger roared and tried to charge over, only to be surrounded at once by several demons.
Feng Qi protected Ji Chaoyun as they retreated step by step. “See? You refused to leave earlier. Now you can’t get away.”
Spiritual power gathered in Ji Chaoyun’s palm as he said coldly, “If we can’t get away, then we’ll just kill every last one of them.”
Feng Qi turned back to look at him, appearing as though he wanted to say something.
“What?”
Feng Qi asked seriously, “If I can kill all these people and take you out of here, can you let me kiss you once?”
“...”
“Say something. Yes or no?”
“...No.”
“Really no?”
The young man walked up to them and began, “You two...”
“Wait a moment.” Feng Qi interrupted him, then turned back toward Ji Chaoyun to continue negotiating. “Really not? You can kiss me instead if you prefer. You can choose the place. Anywhere is fine. I’m not picky.”
“………………”
“You two!” The young man raised his voice slightly and ground his teeth. “I think some matters should still depend on the occasion. What does Second Highness Feng think?”
Feng Qi turned to look at him and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t address me so familiarly. Do I know you?”
“...Your Highness is a man of such importance that you naturally forget people easily. We’ve met before,” the young man said. “Chaoyun as well. You escaped disaster last time, but you will not get away again today.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “You are the one who possessed Immortal Venerable Yaoguang...”
“Precisely.” The young man smiled faintly and said calmly, “Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Xi Chen, a deputy general under the commander of the demon allied forces, as well as a guardian of the Demon Venerable.”
“So you are a guardian of the Demon Clan.” Feng Qi asked, “Then the merchant caravan that disguised themselves and entered the mountain today was also yours?”
“Correct.” Xi Chen did not conceal it. “We discovered traces indicating that divine power had appeared here, so we sent people to investigate. We did not expect that by sheer chance, we would truly find it.”
Countless trails of black smoke continued descending from the sky as an increasing number of demons were gathering here.
Feng Qi looked toward the horizon and asked leisurely, “I’m still curious. The seal on the Demon Realm has yet to be broken, so where did all these demon troops come from?”
Xi Chen said, “Why don’t we save that question until I’ve gathered all the artifacts?? Then I can slowly explain it to Second Highness.”
A hint of hesitation appeared in Feng Qi’s eyes. “That does not seem very good...”
“Why not?”
“Because... you probably will not live that long.”
As soon as Feng Qi said this, he suddenly used force to shove Ji Chaoyun backward into the spring behind him.
Ji Chaoyun had not expected him to do this. His body tipped backward, and completely unprepared, he fell into the water.
At the instant the water swallowed him, he saw Feng Qi draw a long sword from the void and charge toward Xi Chen.
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
Little Dragon, whose filter is eight hundred meters thick: My handsome, dashing, mature, and steady male idol could absolutely never be this foolish son of a wealthy landlord.
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