What could destroy a person's willpower?

Could it be an ambiguous atmosphere, or a kiss that was extremely sweet?

Something that could morph internal, subconscious resistance to amiable welcoming, co-operation and immersion.

Chi Muyao wanted to push Xi Huai away, but it wasn't good to touch Xi Huai right now. He could only push Xi Huai's cheek.

But Xi Huai didn't leave.

Invasion.

Savouring.

Domineering yet extremely gentle.

Why did this happen? He clearly wanted to refuse, but he remained entangled.

He couldn't hide from this person or reject them. He could only obey.

Only when Xi Huai was willing to let him go did he have a chance to breathe.

Chi Muyao felt like their current way of interacting was very inappropriate. After sitting down properly, he immediately said, "Xi Huai! You can't be like this!"

"En, en." Xi Huai gave a vague answer as he searched for his own clothes in his Myriad Treasure Bell.

He looked at Xi Huai's indifference—how he didn't seem to take Chi Muyao's words seriously at all. In Xi Huai's mind, he was probably someone who cried so much in the cave residence but didn't run away.

He had to make things clear!

Yet he was still wary of driving Xi Huai mad.

So he could only ask carefully, "Xi Huai, how do you feel right now?"

Xi Huai casually replied, "I'm okay."

"Then...I..."

"If you have something to say, spit it out."

Chi Muyao quickly glanced at Xi Huai. He eventually overcame his hesitancy to say, "After thinking it over carefully, we're not compatible."

Xi Huai finally stopped what he was doing and sat down across from him. "How are we incompatible?"

"Put your clothes on first." He was too embarrassed to even look at Xi Huai in his current state.

"Okay." Xi Huai finally put his middle layer back on.

When Xi Huai finished arranging his lapels, Chi Muyao spoke solemnly, "First of all, our genders are incompatible."

Xi Huai scoffed. "Did you just find out our respective genders?"

"It's just not appropriate!"

Xi Huai didn't care about this point at all. "En. Anything else?"

Chi Muyao threw down the second point. "Our personalities aren't a good fit either."

"I think they are.""How so? They fit because I say they fit."

Chi Muayo looked at Xi Huai, rendered speechless for a moment. What should people say when refusing someone? He really wasn't good at dealing with this kind of thing. In fact, he would rather bargain with unscrupulous merchants right now.

Finally, he brought out the finishing move. "Also, I don't like you."

This should do it, right?

Xi Huai simply laughed. "If you don't like me, why'd you risk your life so many times to save me? Do you have a Messiah complex?"

"Y-yeah. What about it?" 

Xi Huai stood up and took out a belt from his Myriad Treasure Bell and put it on. When his finger passed over the Myriad Treasure Bell again, an enchanted vestment appeared on his person. At the same time, he comforted, "You don't have to worry about my father. He can't stop us from being together."

"It's not because of Sect Master Xi."

"I don't care what anyone else thinks either. I just want to be with you.”

"But a forcibly stolen melon isn't sweet, ah!"

"It was pretty sweet when I tried it." All dressed now, Xi Huai started walking to the entrance and asked, "I'm going to the Logistics Hall to ask them to bring some things over. Do you have anything you want?"

Chi Muyao muttered quietly, "How can I ask you for anything when I just rejected you?"

"Rejected?” Xi Huai didn't seem to take his previous words as a rejection. He paid them no mind. "Even if you aren't my cultivation partner, you're my saviour. You saved me so many times, so what's wrong with you accepting a few things? Based on the number of times you've saved me, I can even have my Dad make you a Palace Master."

Chi Muyao really mulled it over for a while.

He did have things he wanted and worked towards, but the trouble caused by Su You threw a wrench into his plans.

After thinking about it for a long time, he said solemnly, "I do have something I really need.”

Xi Huai stopped walking and looked at him. He also sobered up, noting Chi Muyao's serious expression. "Say it. As long as it's within my power.”

"I want pills that can help with core formation.”

"En."

Chi Muyao looked at Xi Huai with sincere eyes, like he had made a very unreasonable request.

Xi Huai also looked back at him. He didn't move for a very long time. When he did, he did so very cautiously.

The two of them kept looking at each other like this for a long time. Xi Huai finally came back to his senses. "That's it?"

"En.” 

"Just that?"

"Yep!"

"You rarely ask me for anything, but you just want a few pills?"

Chi Muyao was very unhappy with what Xi Huai said. "These pills are scarce and treasured in any major sect. You have to request them in advance even in the He Huan Sect, and they are handed out in extremely limited quantities to only those with the highest chance of succeeding. I need some urgently, so I can't wait for the He Huan Sect to start accepting requests."

Like artefacts, pills took time to refine. If things went smoothly with the first batch, it would still take half a year or so.

A moment of carelessness could ruin everything, so they could only wait patiently.

"You need them urgently?” 

Chi Muyao was only at early Foundation Building stage right now, but he needed some urgently?

He nodded. "En. I got the devil core of the Goldeneyed Heavenly Wolf in the Mitian Tongyin Array."

"Oh, that's not bad." Xi Huai only remembered to ask now, "So when you came to rescue me that day, you went after the alpha wolf? You killed it?"

"You could say that..."

"Did you get hurt?"

Chi Muyao recalled the pain of his arm being severed. Although the Colourless Yunni Deer regenerated his arm later, the fear and pain he felt left a lasting mark on him.

He looked down for a moment and replied, "I've suffered a bit, but I'm fine."

"If you came to find me then, I wouldn't have gone after the Goldeneyed Heavenly Wolves. I could've used other methods to protect you well, and you wouldn't have needed to go through all that."

"Let's not talk about those things.”

Xi Huai left it there. He walked out of the cave residence to the Qing Ze Sect's Logistics Hall.

Chi Muyao looked at the entrance from the bed. Only when he couldn't hear Xi Huai anymore did he sit properly.

In the quiet room, he couldn't help but remember the kiss just now. Swallowing dryly, he pinched his reddish earlobes and tried to calm down for the longest time. In the end, he took out his round fan to fan himself.

Was it just him or was this cave residence kind of hot?

His cheeks were burning.

Before long, Xi Huai came back with some things in hand.

Generally speaking, Xi Huai could get whatever he wanted just by sending a Sound Transmission Talisman. The only reason he went in person was because he didn't want the other sect disciples to disturb Chi Muyao.

Xi Huai brought back some pastries, as well as the date cake Chi Muyao liked to eat.

Xi Huai set everything down on the table and beckoned Chi Muyao over to eat.

As soon as he arrived, Xi Huai set the pill down in front of him. "Why don't you form your core at the Qing Ze Sect? I can find two seniors to protect you and calm your fluctuating spiritual energy if something goes wrong. They can also give you a hand so you can break through the barrier more smoothly."

"I have to...to go back to the He Huan Sect and plant the Yixian Grass, otherwise their growth will be affected. There is a method behind growing Yixian Grass, so I don't feel comfortable leaving it up to others. My aptitude isn't good, so it probably would take me three to five years to form my core in seclusion. I don't want to waste the seniors' time."

Xi Huai didn't care. "They don't need to be around you all the time. I'll keep an eye on your cultivation progress and call them over if you reach a bottleneck. My cave residence is brimming with spiritual energy, and there's also Spirit Assembling Jade and these artefacts I can give you. They can all reduce the time you spend in seclusion and speed up your progress."

Chi Muyao reached for the pills to take a look. The absurd ease with which he obtained something he had been looking for made him feel like this was a dream.

He carefully put them away before looking up at Xi Huai. "I'm not your cultivation partner. How can I enter seclusion here..."

"You're my saviour.”

 "But..."

Xi Huai ignored his reluctance. He picked up a piece of date cake. "Is this stuff good?"

"En, it's tasty.”

Xi Huai took a bite and didn't think much of it, so he put it back on the tray.

Xi Huai walked around the cave residence and said, "I just exited seclusion, so the arrangements in the cave residence are still there. Quickly come back after you plant the Yixian Grass and I'll tell you some things to keep in mind. That's right, I saw you had an internal demon the last time you broke through. How could you have one of those? What's your internal demon? You need to overcome it before entering seclusion."

Xi Huai didn't hear an answer for a long time. When he returned to the inner room, he saw Chi Muyao wolfing down the date cakes.

He even ate the piece Xi Huai put back...

The thought of them eating the same piece of cake made Xi Huai feel thirsty.

Noticing his return, Chi Muyao looked up with a full mouth. He had to chew several times before swallowing and regaining the ability to speak. "My internal demon is you."

"Me?" Xi Huai was surprised. 

Chi Muyao nodded. "En."

"What kind of internal demon?" Xi Huai took this very seriously. He walked over and sat across from Chi Muyao, prepared to ask detailed questions.

"You hate me.”

Xi Huai found that utterly ridiculous. "I hate you?"

"Because I made you a furnace and tormented you for years. That's why you slaughtered the He Huan Sect, imprisoned me and cut off my finger. You almost killed me when you went berserk."

Xi Huai was stunned. It was a long time before he could answer, "How could you have such an internal demon when you know how much I like you? We both knew what was going on in the cave, so why would I think you were tormenting me. I was willing to be a furnace and cultivate with you.” 

"But I can't control my internal demon."

"Just what are you afraid of...?" Xi Huai reached over and brought Chi Muyao into his arms. He ruffled the other person's hair. "How can I help you overcome this internal demon?" 

"Maybe it won't appear this time?"

"If you have an internal demon, then it's necessary to take precautions against it. If you really succumb to it, not only will you fail to form a core, you will be injured. That kind of injury can't be healed with ordinary medicine. There are several seniors in my Sect with that kind of illness. They easily succumb to qi deviations if they aren't careful when cultivating."

Chi Muyao reached for another piece of pastry. He sighed two bites in. "Does your Qing Ze Sect have your own pastry chef? These are so delicious."

"One of the Palace Masters likes to eat these things. I stole them from his palace."

"You stole them?"

"En. He's quite protective of his food for someone in their three hundreds." 

"This senior won't hate me, right?"

"No. At most he'll curse me out and tattle on me to my Dad. My Dad's bad temper means he'll probably use this as an excuse to make him fully practice inedia.”

He just relaxed and continued to eat his pastry when he heard Xi Huai say, "Since you plan to break through to the Golden Core stage, I should help you consolidate your cultivation."

"En?" Consolidate my cultivation?" His voice was muddled because his mouth was full. "How?"

"I'm a furnace!"

Chi Muyao seemed to never think that someone would say those words so righteously and naturally one day. He even forgot to chew. 

He stared, dumbfounded, at Xi Huai for a long time before swallowing what was in his mouth and replying, "No need, no need! You're a normal person now, not my furnace!"

"Once a furnace, always a furnace. How could you abandon me half-way through?"

"How could this be me abandoning you? We agreed in the cave that dual cultivation was just for opening the restriction, how did it become a lifetime promise?"

"From the first time you swallowed my thing, you became responsible for me. Is that something you can swallow willy-nilly?"

"Responsible? You're the one fucking me!"

"But you defiled me! According to the mortals, shouldn't you bear responsibility? No need for any matchmakers, you need to keep using this furnace. That's not up for negotiation."

"You're incorrigible!"

"How can you say that? You're the one trying to break through to Golden Core stage. I just want to help you consolidate your cultivation, so how could you blame me? Don't worry, you just recovered from your injuries. Take a break for two days. We'll start cultivating then."

Chi Muyao suddenly felt like the pastry in his hand wasn't tasty anymore.

He wondered if he should run away again.

He got the Huanwu Jade, so why not change his appearance and name and make a run for it again? However, the little deer was still at the Yu Chong School. If he reentered the Yu Chong School, Yi Lan and the others would be on guard against him, right?

Chi Muyao felt like he had encountered a great difficulty in his life. He didn't know how to explain to Xi Huai at this point that he really didn't like Xi Huai, and that he wasn't just saying that for Xi Huai's sake.

He only went to save Xi Huai several times because he was present when Xi Huai ran into trouble. He had to save him.

He didn't save other people like this because no one was a trouble magnet like Xi Huai.

Also, he really didn't want this furnace anymore…

Who would've thought that his furnace would be so clingy.

Chi Muyao, get a hold of yourself! Be a slag shou! You need to be heartless! Vicious! Willing to do whatever it takes! 

If you don't resolve this matter, you'll have to carry this furnace around for a lifetime!

Chapters

4 Comments

  1. LicoLico

    They are still walking in circles XDDD But good thing that they talked a little~
    Thank You for the new chapter(*’∀’人)♥

  2. HeSheOhWell

    Wow. CMY just outright said his internal demon. This is the most straightforward I’ve ever seen in these type of stories. But then again, they make up for it with not being honest with everything else.

  3. Venny

    Like what the previous person said, it’s the first time I’ve seen them be so straightforward, finally! Refreshing! Also, cracking up at how proud and shameless XH is being a furnace. You go boo!

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