A Madman

A dark green hair ribbon loosely bound his smooth black hair behind his head. His back was slender, yet straight as a pine.

Yue Lian?

Chu Zeming frowned.

But the aura was different. This person was far stronger than Yue Lian.

Unable to tell whether he was friend or foe, Chu Zeming tightened his grip on the Luminous Glaze Sword and slowly circled around to face him.

The white-robed young man had his eyes closed, his long curled lashes hanging over his lids like butterfly wings. His exquisitely beautiful face was identical to Yue Lian's, but there was an additional black lotus mark between his brows, giving him an inexplicably eerie and wicked air.

Chu Zeming was stunned.

Was this... Yue Lian's twin elder brother?

Just as doubts rose in his heart, the person seated at the center of the formation suddenly opened his eyes. Those deep black eyes were like a bottomless abyss, terrifying at a single glance.

Chu Zeming's heart pounded wildly.

This time, it was not because his looks had stirred his heart, but because every cell in his body was screaming danger.

Chu Zeming poured all his spiritual power into retreating at top speed.

The next second, a suffocating sensation clamped around his throat.

The eerie young man gripped Chu Zeming's neck. His gaze was cold and utterly without ripples, devoid of all human warmth. He looked at Chu Zeming as though he were a lowly ant. A terrifying aura spilled from him—strength so powerful it was frightening.

Chu Zeming struggled to breathe, and the Luminous Glaze Sword clanged to the ground from his hand.

The eerie young man's grip suddenly loosened slightly. The sound of the sword hitting the ground seemed to pull a fraction of his sanity back. At last, a trace of human emotion surfaced in those dead-water eyes. He slowly lowered his gaze, his deep black pupils quietly watching the flamboyantly beautiful face of the black-robed, dark-haired young man before him...

With his breathing slightly smoother, Chu Zeming let out a breath of relief.

With a thought, the Luminous Glaze Sword on the ground returned to the black-robed youth's hand.

Chu Zeming secretly gathered his strength, intending to slash the man gripping his throat and run. Before he could react, however, a cool, soft touch landed on his lips. The Luminous Glaze Sword he had only just retrieved fell to the ground once more. Staring at the enlarged face of the bewitchingly beautiful man before him, the name of a plant blurted from his mouth.

Chu Zeming's mind went cold and his scalp tingled. He wanted to push the person on top of him away, but the man's strength was terrifying.

Black hair tangled, black and white entwined.

Forced to accept the intimacy of lips and teeth, Chu Zeming trembled with fury.

The fact that he was being kissed by a man made him feel terrible all over.

A faint pain came from his lips. Chu Zeming realized that this man was not merely kissing him—he was biting him too!

Smack!!

The crisp sound of a slap rang through the sealed space.

The eerie young man froze.

Then he felt a heart-piercing pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw a longsword glowing with faint red light embedded in his stomach, crimson blood streaming from the wound.

Chu Zeming pulled out the sword, wiped away a trace of blood from the corner of his lips with a dark expression, and immediately retreated at speed without hesitation.

When he returned to where the stone door had stood in his memories, the scene before him changed once more.

Looking at the desolate, horrifying stone door, Chu Zeming's expression turned extremely ugly.

There was no treasure behind that stone door, only a madman.

After stabbing that madman once, Chu Zeming left without looking back.

Fortunately, that person did not chase after him either, and Chu Zeming inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

After getting far away from the palace, Chu Zeming began searching everywhere for an exit.

By the time Chu Zeming emerged from the underground palace, three days had already passed.

Less than two days remained in the Extreme Sea Secret Realm. Chu Zeming did not dare delay any longer. Following his memories of reading the novel in his previous life, he headed straight to the lost residence of an ancient great cultivator within the secret realm to find that broken sword.

This time, nothing unexpected happened.

At last, everything matched what had been written in the book.

The broken sword was desolate and ancient. Merely holding it in his hand allowed him to faintly sense the terrifying power contained within.

—This was a truly rare treasure, and the main reason Chu Zeming had come to the secret realm.

Looking at the broken sword, Chu Zeming's face, which had been dark for many days, finally eased somewhat. Without the broken sword's power to sustain it, the inheritance residence began to collapse. Chu Zeming casually took several somewhat inferior magical artifacts and hurriedly flew away.

Before long, the sky over the entire Extreme Sea Secret Realm began to change color.

The once bright sky was gradually swallowed by black mist. This was a sign that the five days were up, that the secret realm was about to close and sink into silence once more. Once the sky turned completely dark, every cultivator who had entered the Extreme Sea Secret Realm would be forcibly expelled.

Night fell quickly.

Chu Zeming had originally wanted to search for other opportunities, but there was clearly no time left. He directly crushed a spatial teleportation jade talisman.

When he returned outside the secret realm, many cultivators had already emerged ahead of him.

Some looked delighted and jubilant, while others had not been so fortunate.

The moment Chu Zeming appeared, someone called out to him.

"Senior Brother!"

Turning his head, he saw that nearly all the disciples of the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect had emerged, and they all seemed to be in good spirits.

As the sect leader's disciples, Xuan Mo and Ning Weiyu had been responsible for maintaining order while Chu Zeming was absent.

When they saw Chu Zeming, all the disciples revealed admiring expressions.

Thanks to their senior brother's reminder before departure, they had truly all obtained decent opportunities.

Except... Ling Tian.

His expression was terrible. He looked ready to rush forward and bite Chu Zeming to death just to vent his anger.

In a good mood, Chu Zeming walked over to Ling Tian and asked, "How was it? Did you find any treasures? Senior Brother didn't lie to you, did he?"

Ling Tian was furious.

It would have been fine if Chu Zeming had said nothing, but now he simply could not swallow this anger.

That vicious dog!

Chu Zeming sighed and said helplessly, "If you're the only one who came back without a treasure, how am I supposed to explain that to Master and the elders when we return to the sect?"

With that, Chu Zeming tossed a magical artifact to Ling Tian and said blandly, "No choice. Take this."

Looking down at the large hammer, grotesque and ugly in shape yet clearly no ordinary item, Ling Tian's rage vanished at once from his childish face. He gave Chu Zeming a suspicious look and asked, "Are you trying to harm me again?"

Chu Zeming snorted. "If you don't want it, I'll keep it for myself."

Ling Tian swiftly snatched up the hammer and hugged it to his chest, saying angrily, "This is your compensation to me."

After saying that, he gave a cold snort and turned away, unwilling to look at the face of an evil person like Chu Zeming any longer.

Chu Zeming no longer bothered with Ling Tian. He rose and counted the disciples, only to discover that one person was missing.

Chu Zeming raised his head and asked, "Where is Yue Lian?"

Ning Weiyu shook his head. Looking with worry at the gradually closing secret realm, he said, "Junior Brother seems not to have come out yet."

"Then let's wait. Once the secret realm ends, he'll be forcibly sent out," Chu Zeming said. He sat down where he was to meditate and heal his injuries, looking utterly calm.

Ning Weiyu was somewhat worried. "What if Junior Brother encountered danger inside..." The secret realm would not send out dead people as well.

Chu Zeming lifted his eyes, raised a brow, and said, "If he encountered danger, I believe Junior Brother will certainly turn danger into safety. If he truly met with misfortune... then that is also his fate. All we can do is mourn. Junior Brother Ning, mourn."

"Yes, yes, yes, Eldest Senior Brother is right."

"Senior Brother Ning, you should mourn too."

"Cultivators are accustomed to life and death. Everything is fate."

"The sect still has Junior Brother Yue's soul tablet, as well as clothing from his residence. If Junior Brother truly met an unfortunate end, then we... should make him an empty grave with his clothes and cap."

"Ah..."

The disciples spoke over one another, and before long, they had arranged Yue Lian's funeral matters with perfect clarity. Even their tones became solemn, as though their junior brother had truly already died.

Watching this group of fence-sitters discuss it, Ning Weiyu was dumbfounded.

"Senior Brothers, you're all out?" Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

Ning Weiyu turned around and indeed saw Yue Lian walking out of the secret realm.

His clothes were torn, his body covered in wounds, and he reeked of blood.

But he was alive.

The heart Ning Weiyu had been holding in his throat finally fell back into place. Nervously examining the white-robed youth from head to toe, Ning Weiyu asked with concern, "Junior Brother, are you all right?"

Yue Lian shook his head. "I'm fine. I just didn't find any opportunities."

Ning Weiyu immediately comforted him, "It's all right. As long as you're alive, that's what matters."

Being alive was the greatest opportunity.

Chu Zeming opened his eyes, raised a brow at Yue Lian, and revealed an expression that said he had known it all along.

No matter how heavily wounded he was, the protagonist would not die easily.

Suppressing the aura around him, Chu Zeming stood and said, "Since everyone is here, let's leave directly."

Although they had already expended much energy in the secret realm and traveling directly would be tiring, they had just obtained treasures and should not linger outside for too long. There were many people with greedy eyes; returning directly to the sect was the wisest choice.

By the time they left the Extreme Sea Secret Realm and returned to the sect, it was already night.

After Chu Zeming went to the main hall and reported this journey to the elder in charge of the secret realm, he flew straight toward Yue Lian's residence. The person in the secret realm had looked far too much like Yue Lian, and Chu Zeming always felt that something was not quite right.

When he arrived near Yue Lian's residence, Chu Zeming was about to use his divine sense to peek inside when Yue Lian's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Eldest Senior Brother, did you come to see me?"

Chu Zeming was startled.

Yue Lian was always appearing and vanishing like a ghost.

Yue Lian had changed into clean clothes and seemed to have just bathed. A faint, elusive fragrance clung to him. His raven hair fell along either side of his face, and his bright eyes gazed at Chu Zeming.

"...Yes, I came to see you." Once inside the residence, Chu Zeming stared at Yue Lian. The more he looked, the more he felt that aside from that face, Yue Lian did not resemble the person in the palace in the slightest.

Perhaps even their faces did not look quite alike.

Their marks between the brows were different, and their eyes... were completely different as well.

After a long while, Chu Zeming slowly asked, "Yue Lian, do you have an elder brother?"

Yue Lian thought for a moment before giving an affirmative answer. "I do."

Just as I thought.

Yue Lian had an elder brother. The background the book had not mentioned had all been filled in by the world's will.

Remembering the terrifying, wicked young man in the underground palace, Chu Zeming's expression gradually became grave.

He looked at the white lotus before him, with his black hair hanging softly, his gaze clear, and his face bright and captivating, then slowly said, "Perhaps I found your elder brother."

Yue Lian looked somewhat surprised. "Really? But the elder brother I meant was you, Eldest Senior Brother... Brother Qing..." By the end, he became a little bashful.

Chu Zeming: "..."

With a dark face, he gave the shameless lotus a punch, then left without much expression.

Once the black-robed youth's aura had gradually faded into the distance, Yue Lian raised a hand and laid down a barrier. Then he exhaled a breath of turbid air, and rare restrained pain appeared on his beautiful face.

He slowly lowered his head and peeled off his clothing layer by layer, revealing an extremely deep sword wound across his abdomen—

It had gone in so deep.

What a headache...

Author's note:

Author: You can stab him too.

Yue Lian: All right.

Chu Zeming: ???!!!

Author: dbq, I meant Lian'er can stab him with a sword too...

Yue Lian: That's going too far. Better not play this one.