In Yin Fan's eyes, a Buddhist disciple with a pure, transparent, and exquisite state of mind probably would not want to see him fighting righteous cultivators.
But Wu Fei was not the Wu Fei from the book. Even before transmigrating into it, he had been unrestrained and free-spirited, repaying every grudge and settling every wrong.
Yin Fan was willing to endure it for him, but Wu Fei was unwilling to watch Yin Fan suffer insults. A cold gleam stirred in his eyes. Since they had insulted someone who belonged to him, they would have to pay a price.
It was time certain people learned what it meant to invite disaster with their mouths.
Before meeting Fu Hong, Wu Fei and Yin Fan had intended to leave the Flame Spirit Realm as soon as possible, but the news Fu Hong brought changed their minds.
"A female disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect discovered a mysterious altar. The sect leaders and several other Devil Venerables are all there now," Fu Hong explained in detail.
He had originally wanted to bring the Devil Cultivators of the Northern Region along to get involved, but who would have known those righteous sect leaders would react to seeing him like cats spotting a mouse, sending their disciples to pursue him relentlessly?
"You blasted open the Flame Spirit Realm, which has existed in the cultivation world for thousands of years. Of course they want to fight you to the death," Yin Fan said.
"Who is that female disciple?" At this news, Wu Fei's gaze shifted slightly, and a faint sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
Fu Hong said, "I heard she's a direct descendant of some elder in the Heavenly Sword Sect."
Yin Fan looked at Wu Fei and asked, "Senior brother, do you suspect that person is Liu Yuexuan?"
Wu Fei nodded slightly. "On the first day of the Heavenly Dao Assembly, Liu Yuexuan tried to tamper with the enlightenment tea. I stopped her."
At his words, Yin Fan also recalled what had happened that day, his gaze cooling slightly. "Was she trying to tamper with my tea?"
"That was my guess as well. Ever since we left the inheritance tomb, Liu Yuexuan has been looking at you with considerable hostility. When she slipped away that day, I followed her to stop her," Wu Fei said mildly. "But for some reason, Junior Brother Jing's tea was still tampered with."
Beside them, Fu Hong thought of something and spoke up. "This subordinate also heard them say they wanted to summon something to use against you, my lord."
At this, Yin Fan's smile took on a mocking edge.
Wu Fei paused briefly. An altar, a summoning... another plot development the book had never mentioned.
Then he thought about it. The Flame Spirit Realm had already been blasted open, and the plot surrounding the Heavenly Dao Assembly had long since gone off course. It was not impossible for another inheritance to appear.
Now that they knew Cang Xiao and the others intended to use something against Yin Fan, they could not simply sit and wait for their doom.
"Let's go take a look together," Wu Fei said.
Yet Yin Fan suddenly asked Fu Hong, "Which factions are at the altar? Is the Buddha Spirit Sect's leader there?"
Wu Fei raised his eyes to him mildly, and Yin Fan explained, "You're with me now, Buddhist disciple. If we encounter Sect Leader Jingguan at the altar, wouldn't that put you in a difficult position?"
Seeing this, a shrewd gleam flashed through Fu Hong's eyes. His lord and the Buddhist disciple of the Buddha Spirit Sect were not as the rumors described. Instead, there was an indescribable atmosphere between them...
Without realizing it, his attitude toward Wu Fei grew a little more respectful.
"No need to worry." Wu Fei's expression did not change as he raised a hand and rested it lightly on the Devil Venerable's. A hint of reassurance lay beneath his calm tone. "Have you forgotten that scene at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, Devil Venerable?"
Wu Fei was referring to the scene in which the Buddha Spirit Sect's leader and disciples had said, "Buddha delivers all living beings."
The moment their hands lightly touched, Yin Fan's attention was seized, and he cast the Buddha Spirit Sect's leader and everything else to the back of his mind. He turned his hand to clasp Wu Fei's, his voice deepening slightly. "Why is your hand so cold, Buddhist disciple?"
A little warmth passed through their touching hands. Wu Fei's expression remained as serene as ever as he said mildly, "I was born this way."
"Ahem..."
Just then, a light cough came from beside them, interrupting their exchange. Fu Hong forced his way into the peculiar atmosphere between his lord and the Buddhist disciple and cleared his throat. "As far as this subordinate knows, the Buddha Spirit Sect's leader isn't at the altar."
"Mm." At this news, Yin Fan merely gave a somewhat perfunctory response.
Wu Fei tried to withdraw his hand, only for someone to suddenly hold it tightly and refuse to let go. He paused slightly, an almost imperceptible darkness concealed deep within his eyes.
A moment later, that darkness slowly receded. Wu Fei lifted his eyelids to meet Yin Fan's eyes across from him, applying a little force to his hand at the same time.
Yet the instant their hands parted, Yin Fan raised his eyebrows and reached out to seize Wu Fei's hand again.
A smile lingered at the corners of Yin Fan's eyes as he simply watched Wu Fei, refusing to let go.
Wu Fei paused. The next instant, his gaze shifted slightly, and the Buddhist beads on his hand glimmered with specks of golden light, winding around Yin Fan's wrists with his movement.
The dark Buddhist beads bound the Devil Venerable's wrists together, creating an unusual beauty. Having done this, Wu Fei calmly withdrew his hand.
Yin Fan froze briefly, then the corners of his mouth lifted, his voice suggestive. "First you bound my eyes, Buddhist disciple, and now you've bound my hands. Surely I'm the only one to receive such treatment..."
"In all the world, there is only one person quite like you, Devil Venerable," Wu Fei said slowly, lifting his eyelids.
Author's note:
Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!
Chapter 22: The mysterious altar
The Buddhist beads were not wound tightly, and he could easily have broken free, but Yin Fan let them bind him. By the time Wu Fei personally untied them, faint red marks remained on his pale wrists.
Although he could have erased the red marks with a mere thought, Yin Fan deliberately left them there.
Wu Fei looked at the faint red marks on those pale wrists, like scattered plum blossoms not yet fully formed on a pure white canvas. He took a small indigo medicine bottle from his storage ring. "This is a scar-removing salve refined by a senior brother in my sect."
Yin Fan nodded but did not take it.
Seeing this, Wu Fei paused briefly, then opened the small medicine bottle with the thought that, since he had caused these red marks, he should naturally take responsibility for them.
The pale green salve melted between his cool fingertips and the warm skin. Its distinctive, fresh fragrance slowly spread, lingering around their noses.
The white-robed Buddhist disciple lowered his head slightly as he applied the salve to the Devil Venerable, composed and gentle, while in the Devil Venerable's eyes, everything around them disappeared, leaving only the Buddhist disciple before him.