'If You Are Still Cold, Let Me Warm You.'

After thinking for a long time, Su Yang still couldn’t figure out the reason the author would create a plot where the Young Master was the one to extradite the Poisonous Gu for Gu Feidi.

He comforted himself: This world is created from an imaginary foundation in the first place. Maybe some plot details were not rigorous or some plot armour he didn’t know about would allow Pu Lingyun to practice the Half-Withered Crimson with pure fundamental skills. 

Furthermore, investigating the plot hole around the heroine’s mental skill wasn’t as important as to overcome the difficulties caused by the Apparition. He must persist in practicing this mental skill.

With a new determination, he sat cross-legged, extinguished his torch, and once again activated his internal energy.

Although the Apparition was a double-edged sword, it was still a great advantage to have when training a cold nature mental skill.

It took about three days for Su Yang to get through the first part of the Half-Withered Crimson completely. After he went through the first microcosmic orbit, the cycle wasn’t as difficult as before. With the help of his Apparition, the first part was successfully mastered. 

Coming out of his meditation, Su Yang opened his eyes and tried to move his frozen limbs. He jumped in the dark at the same spot for a while to regain his body temperature. Once his skin didn’t feel like that of a dead body, he lit the torch and returned to the main room. 

He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want Gu Feidi to know the price he would pay for practicing the Half-Withered Crimson, and he didn’t want Gu Feidi to witness the negative side effects even more so.

For this reason, he specially ordered Gu Feidi not to come to find him. The excuse was that he couldn’t see light during training.

Gu Feidi respected his wish and didn't bother Su Yang. He sat on the couch daily and wrote scriptures to calm his mind. 

Noticing Su Yang returned to the stone chamber, Gu Feidi put down his pen and raised his head to ask, “How are you feeling?”

Su Yang grinned and sat down across from Gu Feidi. Pleased with himself, Su Yang raised an eyebrow. “This mental skill was no match against this Young Master. I broke through the first part, so we have to celebrate!”

Gu Feidi smiled with him and questioned, “How can we celebrate if we have no tea or wine?”

Su Yang thought for a moment and suggested, “We can do without them. We can celebrate with song and dance! Didn’t you say you don’t know how to sing? Why don’t I teach you.”

Gu Feidi raised an eyebrow. “You can sing?”

Su Yang complacently said, “Although I can’t beat professionals with my singing skills, my pitch accuracy is at least on the line. Teaching you is not a problem for me.”

He lost Gu Feidi with his musical terms. “Patch and what line?”

Su Yang: “...”

He had been too relaxed lately. He needed to watch his word choice. 

After two awkward laughs, Su Yang improvised, “A word we use in my Sect. It means that I can sing pretty decently.”

Gu Feidi smiled. “Then how about you sing first and I will decide whether or not I want to learn from you.”

Su Yang went through a list of songs he knew and picked one he used to like very much, one that he often hummed to and slowly sang out the lyrics. 

“Wandering alone in the sea of fabrication, approaching accompanied by isolation. Footsteps as gentle as dust, as no one could hear my monologue.”

“You appeared beyond the four roadways, separated by night and day. Your fingertips fell on my fabric, as you led me into your classic…”

This song was the theme song of a movie about the romance between a human and a ghost. Because of its melody and the deep emotion, it became a popular song. 

“...Defeated by a timid error, I dare not say the four letters, but please leave me a spot in your expedition, and erase all the existing expectations. I hope to be your paradise, in my next afterlife.”

When Su Yang finished, his eyes twinkled as he asked, “What do you think?”

Gu Feidi was fixed on Su Yang. There was no emotion on his face, but the hands under the table were clenched tightly. 

He bit down to endure the pain in his heart for a while now, but he was unable to suppress it as he lowered his head and coughed a few times. Spots of blood splashed on the paper. 

“Hey! You!”

This frightened Su Yang so much that the pleasant mood from the singing was completely gone. He quickly went around the couch, lay Gu Feidi in his arms and asked anxiously, “Why isn’t your injury healed?!”

Gu Feidi raised his hand to wipe away the blood at the corner of his mouth and whispered, “I can’t use my internal energy to heal. So my wound would naturally heal slower.”

Su Yang switched questions. “Have you taken the medicine?”

Gu Feidi nodded, “Yes, but so far, there was no effect.”

Because Su Yang was so concentrated on training the Half-Withered Crimson these days, he didn’t pay very close attention to Gu Feidi’s state. Holding Gu Feidi in his arms now, he found that Gu Feidi seemed to be much thinner than before they entered the cave. Obviously, his body was greatly affected by the Poisonous Gu and the internal injuries.

Su Yang was very distressed.

He felt Gu Feidi’s pulse in a panic. Other than feeling the strong heartbeat, he could sense nothing else.

Inevitably frustrated, he asked, “Is there anything that I can do for you? We can try to heal with my internal energy, but I need you to walk me through it.”

Gu Feidi leaned against Su Yang and lifted his head to look back.

They were so close that they could feel the air coming out of their noses.

Gu Feidi frowned and clenched his teeth. “Similar to how you heal yourself. Urge your internal energy into my meridians and circle it around the injured area…”

Su Yang unfolded his palm and gently rested it on Gu Feidi’s chest. He hesitated for a long time because he didn’t know which specific points to insert his energy into. Gu Feidi raised his hand and grasped Su Yang’s wrist to guide the palm on his heart. 

“From here? Your chest? Isn’t that…dangerous?” Su Yang frowned.

‘Shan zhong’, the acupoint located on a human chest was the biggest and also the most important. If a person rushed too much of their internal energy there, they could kill the person instantly. 

“It’s fine,” Gu Feidi reassured. “I believe you won’t harm me.”

Su Yang breathed out slowly and nodded his head. He slowly injected his internal energy into Gu Feidi and circled it around the wound along his meridians.

However, Gu Feidi suddenly shivered violently. His complexion turned ghostly white as he groaned. 

Thinking he had done something wrong, Su Yang stopped in fear and blurted, “What’s the matter?”

After the pain was under control, Gu Feidi said in a hoarse voice, “Poisonous Gu…will also react to your internal energy.”

“Doesn’t that mean it’s impossible to heal you?” Su Yang cried.

“Yes…can’t use internal energy to heal me,” Gu Feidi responded. “I could only heal slowly with the medicine…you…”

Si Yang grabbed Gu Feidi’s shoulder. After staring into the space in a daze, he helped him lie down.

“You rest,” he said in a deep voice. “I will continue my training.” Then, he got up and went to the room where the inscription was kept.

“Wait,” Gu Feidi called out, “Su Yang…”

Su Yang turned around and babbled, “The best way now is for me to break through all three parts of the Half-Withered Crimson as quickly as possible and treat you so that you can heal yourself.”

Gu Feidi sighed and mumbled, “There is no need to rush…Since you made a breakthrough today, why don’t you rest for one night?”

“Time is quickly running out,” Su Yang interrupted Gu Feidi. “It would be good even if I hasten the training by a day or even half of a day.”

As soon as he finished, he turned his head. However, Gu Feidi pleaded in a low voice, “...Please stay with me for a bit?”

Su Yang immediately stopped.

Never had Gu Feidi shown a side so vulnerable. Su Yang turned around and his heart softened when Gu Feidi’s expression shifted from depressed to hopeful. He walked slowly to Gu Feidi and sat down beside him. “Fine, I will stay with you for a bit. You get some rest to heal faster.”

Gu Feidi shook his head and hummed, “Didn’t you say you will teach me how to sing?”

Su Yang was surprised. “Do you really want to learn?”

Gu Feidi smiled affectionately. “Of course. That song sounded very beautiful…”

“All right, then I sing one line and you sing one line,” Su Yang soothed.

Gu Feidi was not slow in learning, after just three times, he was able to hum the tune by himself, and at the right notes as well. Even though he couldn’t take deep breaths due to his injuries, his breathing was very stable. This made Su Yang feel that Gu Feidi had the talent to be a singer. Unfortunately, singers have no place in this fictional world of martial arts.

After singing two times, Gu Feidi hummed the tune without lyrics. 

Su Yang wondered, “Oh, do you like the rhythm?”

Laying on the couch, Gu Feidi tilted his head to look at Su Yang. His dark eyes were smiling brightly. “Yes...I like it very much.”

Su Yang smiled back and lay down beside Gu Feidi. He looked at the stalactite hanging from the top of the cave as they chatted idly.

When they came to a stopping point, Gu Feidi closed his eyes and hummed the tune. Su Yang listened and gradually felt drowsy. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep.

Then, he dreamt of the Jade Mirror Lake.

The coldness of the lake penetrated into his skin and pierced his bones, which caused an unbearable stab of pain.

Su Yang held Gu Feidi tightly in his arms as he tried to find a way out in the dark water...

He remembered that there was a passway to the Hidden Pearl Pavilion down here. But he didn’t know why he couldn’t escape the strong current, making it hard for him to hold his breath.

Suddenly, warm energy came from the body in his arms, and another voice whispered in his ear, “...Su Yang, wake up.”

Su Yang held onto the heat in his arms tighter, attempting to find relief from the soul freezing chill.

“Su Yang! Wake up!...” Followed by some wet coughs.

In the world outside of the dream, Gu Feidi patted Su Yang on the shoulder and tried to warm up the ice-cold body, enduring the torment produced by the Poisonous Gu.

Su Yang’s body was trembling violently as he was fighting the cold. Thin ice shards started to form on his hair near his temples, his eyebrows and eyelashes. Gu Feidi rested his cheek against Su Yang’s forehead as he used his internal energy and called, “Su Yang, Su Yang! Wake up!”

Finally, Su Yang slowly opened his eyes and shuddered.

He closed his arms around Gu Feidi and buried into the warm chest. He spoke through his chattering teeth, “It’s so cold…”

Gu Feidi swallowed a mouthful of blood and asked in a whisper, “What happened?”

Su Yang unknowingly clung to Gu Feidi as he greedily absorbed the heat from him. It took a long time for him to slowly retreat. He still refused to talk.

Gu Feidi covered his coughs and asked another question, “Is it related to the Half-Withered Crimson?”

Su Yang tried to smirk and faltered. “Yes…Well, a little bit, but nothing serious, and it was never this bad. Maybe because I recently made a breakthrough on the first part and am not used to it yet.”

After a long silence, Gu Feidi inquired, “Are you still cold?”

“No, I feel better now,” Su Yang convinced him.

“If you’re still cold…” Gu Feidi paused and continued, “...You can hold me when sleeping.”

Su Yang covered his anxiety with a forced smile. He did not reply to Gu Feidi.

In the middle of the night when Su Yang was sleeping peacefully…

Seeing Su Yang was deep into his sleep, Gu Feidi quietly reached for a torch and explored the room where the Half-Withered Crimson’s information was stored.

He found the stone tablet and read it carefully from the beginning to the end. He wanted to make sure that there were no red signs or indications of anything that would jeopardize the user. Moreover, this skill was indeed a treasury that could suppress all kinds of poison. Even if the Gu was not removed after being transferred, it could be fully suppressed for decades. 

He repeatedly confirmed that there was no issue with this mental skill. Although he still had some doubts, he was slightly relieved. He went back to the outer room, gently gathered the sleeping man into his arms, shut his eyes, and went to sleep.

Once both of them woke up with enough rest, Su Yang returned to the room to practice the Half-Withered Crimson’s second part.

Sitting down at the couch, as Gu Feidi was about to continue to write the remaining half of yesterday’s scripture, he noticed the bloodstain on the paper.

Staring at the dried bloodstain for a while, he retrieved a blank piece of paper.

The brush strokes were very gentle, and the ink was stretched with vigorous touches and excellent penmanship. The fine words stitched together as a rewritten lyric gradually took shape: 

‘In the bustling sea of fabrication, when would you return? Asked the narration. You, an untainted cherished flower, dark hair with defined empower.

Years outside the jade safe haven leaned lonely on stones and lichen. Subtle fragrances bound by a red ribbon. My heart wanders as I question. 

The glow of the setting sun as spring takes flight, an open book under the candlelight. For two years, the pearl hid under a mirror lagoon, as the departing one pined for the faint moon.

I wished to accompany you whenever, for now and ever.’