He Opened the Box to See a Fiery Red Jade Pendant...

The next morning, the heavy wind and snow stopped, and about a third of a meter of snow had accumulated on the road. The sunlight reflected specks of light on them as they sparkled like stars swimming in the sky.

The road was hard to travel, but the party decided to leave anyway. To keep Su Yang warm, Gu Feidi shared a horse with him, making it more convenient for the journey and perfect for Gu Feidi to pass his warm internal energy.

The temperature in the north of the Central Plains was very low. The snow thawed slightly at noon but would soon reform into a layer of ice at dusk. Fortunately, the humidity was low and there was no wind or snowstorm on the way. It took the party five days to finally set foot in Qing Wu County. In a fiery red sunset, they saw the beautiful ridge curve of Mount Mei Zhu from a distance. 

Along the way, they took a straight path and avoided the majority of villages and towns. However, the news that the Tengyun Pavilion was gathering forces from the Central Plains Wulin and was ready to charge to the wasteland to annihilate the Evil Sect had already come within Su Yang and Gu Feidi’s earshot. 

Su Yang knew of this from the original plot, so it did not surprise him at all, yet he was frustrated by his persistent fate. But it was the first time for Gu Feidi. He spent the whole day observing Su Yang’s expression, fearing that the other man would react in anger or feel anxious. 

Later, seeing that Su Yang wasn’t worried about his Sect, Gu Feidi was at ease when he remembered the other man’s origin wasn’t normal.

—In any case, for them now, the most important thing was to solve the deadly cold internal energy in Su Yang’s body.

Only by saving Su Yang’s life could they have the heart to consider the disputes happening in the Jianghu and the Wulin.

Mount Mei Zhu was now covered with a layer of white snow. The once lush, broad-leaved forest had long withered, leaving their dark trunks decorated with heavy snow, as if white pear flowers were blooming throughout the mountain.

In order to ensure that Su Yang could successfully reach the top of Mount Mei Zhu and return to the House of Jade, he dual cultivated with Gu Feidi the night before the trip. The next morning, the party left their horses at Mei Zhu Town, carried their bags and walked to the mountain on foot.

Su Yang’s mouth also contained a Core Warming Pill. He held Gu Feidi’s hand tightly as he walked behind him along the dense forest path.

When they passed a small open space, Su Yang suddenly stopped. He turned to Gu Feidi and grinned. “I have a vague recognition of this place, this tree specifically.”

Gu Feidi squeezed Su Yang’s hand and agreed with a smile, “Yes, this is where we first met.”

Thinking of their first meeting, and what happened. Su Yang suddenly found it amusing.

At that time, he was still dead set on following the plot, treating everyone he met as fictitious characters that only exist on paper, and reciting his lines from the script…Now he thought about it. If he was in Gu Feidi’s shoes and interacted with himself, he would certainly feel his old self having a screw loose in the head.

“Then, at the beginning…” Gu Feidi whispered. “Why did you feed me the Rejuvenating Pill of Fragrant Sorrow?”

“To save your life, of course.” Su Yang answered. “You were badly hurt at that time. I thought you were going to die…”

Gu Feidi’s eyes shifted to the side—the tree he once leaned against. After a moment of silence, he uttered, “I couldn’t control Oblivion at that time. Once I was close to death’s door, the skill would trigger and place me into a hibernated state to heal myself. I really would look no different from dying.”

Su Yang stared at the other person. “So, did I feed you the pill in vain?”

“It wasn’t in vain.” Gu Feidi responded. “If it wasn’t for the scent from the pill, the Evil Sect’s scouts wouldn't have found us in the wasteland underground cave that soon.”

At the mention of the Evil Sect petal retainers who found them through the crack, Su Yang was fuming slightly. “If they didn’t find us, you wouldn't have been poisoned by the Blood Gu.”

Hearing that, Gu Feidi was silent for a moment. Then he whispered as if he was talking to himself, “That’s right…If I didn’t get poisoned, you wouldn't have to practice Half-Withered Crimson.”

“But…” He pondered. “If I hadn’t been poisoned by the Gu Bug, I wouldn’t have followed you back to the Evil Sect, and even persisted toward the end where you and I acted and exchanged our feelings.”

As he spoke, he turned to gaze into Su Yang’s eyes and smiled bitterly, or maybe it was a genuine smile. “At that time, I wanted to back away…because I know the complication of our identities, who we sided with was different, and how each of us have our own responsibilities, not to mention our genders…Fortunately, I encountered an opportunity that I didn’t have to choose to let my feelings go.”

Su Yang tapped his fingers on the centre of Gu Feidi’s palm, and said with a smile, “The reason things happen is that they were prearranged.”

Gu Feidi gazed at him and sighed, “Therefore, I don’t know whether I should give my thanks to the man who poisoned me or pour my hatred toward him, let him experience our pain.”

Su Yang clicked his tongue and leaned forward, rubbed Gu Feidi’s arm with his shoulder and smiled tenderly. “The course towards true love never runs smoothly!”

It was not until they arrived at the stone pavement where it would lead them to the House of Jade’s mountain gate that Su Yang spoke again.

“You looked super angry at me on our second meeting at the mountain gate.” Su Yang glanced at Gu Feidi from the corner of his eyes. “Was it from your damaged reputation of being saved by some bad guy from the Evil Sect like me?”

Gu Feidi shook his head with a placid smile.

“Then why were you so angry?” Su Yang asked

Gu Feidi looked toward the pavement in the distance and chuckled. “The Jianghu rumoured the Young Master favoured the same gender, especially handsome young men the most. What you fed me is a type of tracker. I was prey who could never escape from the Evil Sect’s clutches.”

When that was brought up, Su Yang could already imagine what kind of reason Gu Feidi’s mind was coming up with to explain his action. It was hilarious just thinking about it.

Gu Feidi was also a little embarrassed by his younger self, as he confessed with a smile, “So at that time, all three of us guessed that you had…”

“Guess that I had those kind of intentions towards you?” Su Yang finished the sentence with a raised eyebrow.

“Shh—” Gu Feidi quickly raised his hand to cover Su Yang’s mouth and glanced at the two seniors walking in the front. 

Qin Jianyue seemed to not react. Luo Yu, on the other hand, glanced at them with an expressionless face before facing the front again. Judging by his slightly trembling shoulders, he obviously enjoyed listening to their conversation. 

Su Yang squeezed Gu Feidi’s hand, bit his lower lip to hide his mischievous smile, and pulled the other man closer to himself, enough that their cheeks touched. 

“This Young Master loves this handsome young man the most.” Su Yang smiled proudly, displaying his Young Master persona to its fullest. “You will never escape from my claws.”

Gu Feidi gazed into Su Yang’s eyes. He squeezed back with little more force and tugged the other man before him to whisper, “Don’t you remember? I’m already your prisoner.”

Once he finished, he squinted his eyes and kissed Su Yang’s reddened lips.

Su Yang refused to remain passive as he hooked his arm around Gu Feidi’s neck to deepen their gentle kiss.

“Oh, I tasted a little spice.” Su Yang commanded as soon as their lips were separated. 

Gu Feidi affectionately smiled. “The Core Warming Pill isn’t completely dissolved yet, restrain yourself.”

The two of them kept their fingers interlocked, as they started fooling around and the distance between them and the two seniors gradually increased. Finally, Gu Feidi had to carry Su Yang on his back and catch up with Qin Jianyue and Luo Yu using light movement skills. The rest of their way remained peaceful.

Just then, two figures walked down slowly on the stone pavement.

Luo Yin, was still wearing grey outfits with an air of nothingness, and like his presence, had a calm and expressionless face. He looked the same as two years ago. Behind him was the still ambiguous Chi Tong, who was smiling brightly and dressed in red. 

Chi Tong raised their eyebrows when they noticed Su Yang's and Gu Feidi’s connected hands. They flabbergastingly leapt down the step, went around the seniors and stopped before the two. “I haven’t seen you two for half a year. Are you two actually…in that type of relationship? I thought Shizun was joking…Hey, tell me now, I want to know everything in great detail!”

Just a few sentences, Su Yang immediately thought of the cherished memory of his time spent in the House of Jade.

At that time, he was still ignorant of the world, and what he worried about daily was just practising alone and training with others. Who would have thought that after leaving the House of Jade, those short months aged him more than the two years he was in the House of Jade. 

Unbeknownst to Su Yang, before he could answer, Qin Jianyue, who was standing on the side, suddenly frowned and called, “Dan Yang?”

Chi Tong suddenly turned back and carefully studied Qin Jianyue’s face before saying in surprise, “...Sixth uncle?!”

Qin Jianyue stared at Chi Tong with a dignified expression for a long time, asking, “What are you doing in the House of Jade, why…are you dressed like a man?”

This question surprised both Su Yang and Gu Feidi.

During their two years' training, Chi Tong, who refused to show the smallest hint of their true gender, turned out to be a girl?

However, when faced with this question, Chi Tong was actually smiling. “Uncle left the palace very early on and didn’t know more about me. I’m…actually a man.”

“But…” Qin Jianyue’s frowning increased. “Why did the imperial concubine, your mother, raise you as a daughter?”

Chi Tong’s smile remained and turned mysterious. What came out of their mouth could cause anyone to be speechless. “That’s because I can also be a daughter.”

Su Yang was thoroughly confused.

It wasn’t only from the issue regarding Chi Tong’s gender, but also the exchanges between them, ‘left the palace’ and ‘imperial concubine’ to be more specific. 

He glanced at Gu Feidi for help but found the same confusion on Gu Feidi’s face.

Although everyone knew that the current dynasty carried the surname ‘Qin’, who would have thought that the person who accompanied the refugee nobility of the E’Luo Gui Faction to live in seclusion in the snowy mountain would happen to be royalty of the Qin dynasty. 

And Chi Tong called this man their ‘sixth uncle’.

Chi Tong also said that he was a man, yet she could also be a daughter.

The amount of information revealed in this conversation was too much, and Su Yang’s state…His brain was going to get the blue screen of death.

Chi Tong’s eyes turned around to meet Su Yang and Gu Feidi’s stunned expressions, and finally back to their uncle as they smiled and said, “With a body like mine, being a princess is naturally more appropriate than being a prince. But…my mother had more kids. As time passed, I knew having a footing in the palace was getting more and more difficult, so I invited myself out of the palace.”

Qin Jianyue’s expression was somewhat unsightly.

Chi Tong grinned. “That’s why uncle doesn’t have to pity me. When I left the palace out of free will, my father felt sorry for me and told me he would honour one of my requests. With uncle accompanying…” They said, glancing at Luo Yu. “...Accompanying this senior here, must be for the same thing.”

Then, Chi Tong put their hand on Luo Yin’s shoulder to pull him closer. They smiled and inquired “Is this senior your uncle too?”

Luo Yin was still expressionless. He turned slightly, faced Luo Yu, raised his hand and, for the first time, saluted respectfully to someone. “Uncle.”

Luo Yu returned the gesture and sighed. “I didn’t help you when you needed one the most. I’m not fit to be called your uncle.”

Luo Yin lowered his gaze and didn’t speak again. His temperament was obviously more fleeting and nonexistent than half a year ago.

At this moment, there was a strange and awkward silence among the four.

Chi Tong chuckled and switched the topic away.

“Oh right, Su Yang.” They took out a long and narrow square box from his robe and handed it to Su Yang. “This is what the master ordered me to give you to wear.”

Su Yang’s mind was still stuck and shocked by Luo Yin calling Luo Yu ‘uncle’. His logical brain simply shut down as he stretched out his hand on autopilot and accepted the box. 

He opened the box to see a fiery-red jade pendant carved into the shape of a phoenix. He took it out and felt the warmth emitting, flowing and spreading heat towards his hand.

“This is…?” Su Yang turned to Chi Tong in surprise.

Chi Tong grinned. “Shizun didn’t tell me what this is, only for you to wear it close to your body. Don’t take it off when you return to the Evil Sect and the ice field.”

Su Yang was shocked again. “Back to Evil Sect? What am I going to go back to my Sect for? I’m here to go back to the House of the Jade…”

Chi Tong shook their head as they took out a letter and handed it to Gu Feidi. “What Shizun means is to let you do what you should first.”

Gu Feidi frowned, opened the letter and read it silently with Su Yang.

“Fei Fei and Su Su must take a trip to the Phantom City in the wasteland, then the E’Luo Gui Faction in the ice land. As long as the Phoenix Jade is undamaged, Su Su will be fine, even if he uses his internal energy, it will protect him from the cold. The head shaman’s Mother Gu, White Flame Gu, is Fei Fei’s opportunity to live. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime chance. Remember, after entering the wasteland, you two must walk hand in hand and must not be separated even for the smallest moment.”