Punishment Turns into a Reward

"Third Master, there's no way forward."

It was Pangzi who spoke. He had been the first to cross, and after seeing Wu Sansheng get across safely, he had decided to scout ahead.

Though Pangzi was only a few years older than Wu Sansheng, he had followed Wu Laogou into the mountains and down into tombs since he was a child. Later, he had also served as a soldier for two years, and his skills were even sharper than Wu Sansheng's.

"Pangzi, what's going on?"

Hearing this, Wu Sansheng had no time to mourn the three people who had just died.

Seeing everyone quickly gather around, Pangzi wasted no time and explained.

"Third Master, the path ahead is a dead end. You can just make out another path on the other side, but the gap's too wide. I'd say it's three hundred meters across. There's no way we can get over there. It's pitch-black below, and my flashlight can't reach the bottom."

"Come on, let's all take a look," Wu Sansheng said.

After walking about a hundred meters, they saw what Pangzi had described. It really was a dead end. Put simply, they had emerged from a passage carved through the middle of a mountain and could see a passage carved into the mountain opposite.

A three-hundred-meter chasm separated the two mountains. They couldn't tell how deep it was, but judging by how far their flashlights could reach, it was definitely no less than a kilometer. Anyone who fell would certainly be smashed into meat paste.

One of the men behind them said, "Damn it, there'd have to be a bridge to get across. There's no way to throw a grappling hook that far. It's too far."

"Qi Yu, is there another way?" Huo Ling asked.

"No, this is the only one. Look around for a mechanism. Those three definitely came through here," Qi Yu said with absolute certainty.

"Be careful while you search. If you find a mechanism, don't mess with it on your own. Call me over first."

Wu Sansheng didn't question Qi Yu's judgment in the slightest, and neither did anyone else.

Everyone immediately began searching around with their flashlights.

As the heir to the eighth gate of the Nine Gates, Qi Yu was also held in high regard. His master, Qi Tiezui, had an extraordinarily high rate of accuracy in fortune-telling and had scarcely ever made a mistake. His skill could only be called divine.

As his successor, Qi Yu had inherited the arts of feng shui and fortune-telling, and the blue born of indigo had surpassed the indigo itself. The people of the Nine Gates therefore had absolute faith in him.

In truth, Qi Yu hardly ever entered tombs. As a feng shui master and fortune-teller, he had some fighting skills, but he couldn't compare to Wu Sansheng, Huo Ling, and the others. He was better suited to a support role, serving as a strategist.

He had come to the Tomb of the King of Lu last time and the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace this time because, before his master died, he had read Qi Yu's fate. A great calamity lay in his destiny, and if he couldn't overcome it, he would have only five years left to live.

Their trade had an unwritten rule, which was also a punishment: trying to peer into the fate of someone close to you would shorten your life, and in severe cases, it would kill you outright. Qi Tiezui had been his master and also his own uncle.

His chance of survival lay in the tomb. His master hadn't said what it was, but he had some suspicions: perhaps it had something to do with the Zhang Family. He hadn't told anyone any of this, instead claiming that his master's dying wish had been for him to visit the tomb.

For the sake of his life, he had no choice but to brave this underground dragon's pool and tiger's den, this Avici Hell.

Zhang Qiling and Yu Zhi paid no heed to whether the people behind them lived or died. At the cliff, they were originally supposed to activate a mechanism that would send out an iron chain as thick as a fist, linking the caves on either side of the mountains. People would walk along it to cross quickly. It was also the only way across.

But the two of them had now reached Qi Refining Great Perfection. They leaped straight across, reaching the other side without the slightest effort. Afterward, Yu Zhi heard piercing screams coming from the cave opposite.

"Looks like more of them have died. How much do you think Zhang Qishan gave them to make them risk so much? No, they're throwing away their lives, rushing one after another to their deaths."

Zhang Qiling didn't answer. He simply kept an arm around Yu Zhi and continued forward at speed.

Yu Zhi hadn't expected an answer and carried on talking to himself.

"If you ask me, it's nothing more than money, beauties, family and descendants. It's been the same from ancient times to the present. Sigh, tell me, big brother, hearing those sounds, don't you want to go back and save them?"

He teased him in a joking tone.

At that, Zhang Qiling stopped walking. He came to a halt, looked steadily at him, and said with absolute resolve,

"No."

Yu Zhi crumbled under his gaze and looked away. "All right, all right, you don't want to, you don't want to. I just thought things were a little tense and wanted to lighten the mood. Don't be angry. It's all Blind Man's fault. He's rubbed off on me, and now I can't keep my mouth shut."

Yu Zhi cursed Hei Xiazi furiously in his heart, and cursed himself too for running his mouth at a time like this. (Hei Xiazi: Everything's my fault? This was the most unjustly the Blind Man had ever been cursed.)

Zhang Qiling gripped his chin and turned his head, forcing him to look at him.

"Yu Zhi, I've noticed lately that I don't seem to attract you anymore. You even have time to think about other men."

Zhang Qiling's voice came through clenched teeth, carrying an emotion Yu Zhi had never heard from him before. It was complicated, especially paired with that look.

If he had to describe it, it was like a warning that he'd be locked in a little black room. But the snow-mountain god had always been like a clear breeze and a bright moon, saving the world and its people. How could he have a side like that? Yu Zhi must have been mistaken.

"Zhang Qiling, you're my aphrodisiac. How could you have stopped attracting me?"

Yu Zhi had to admit that, whether or not he had misunderstood, a Zhang Qiling like this excited him even more.

With his chin lifted slightly by Zhang Qiling's hand, he rose a little on his toes, tipped his head back, and lost himself in devouring the other man's lips.

Zhang Qiling simply let him, remaining still and offering no response, as if he meant to punish him: punish him for stubbornly following along, and punish him for saying those things.

But that motionless, unresisting surrender, those lowered eyes watching him kiss, only excited Yu Zhi more. It truly felt like the madness of kissing and defiling a statue of a god. And the one he was kissing now was his god, a living god, who was even looking down at him.

His kisses grew more and more fervent, his blood and qi surging. He felt the energy inside him split into two streams, one rushing upward and the other downward.

Zhang Qiling was so angry he laughed. The instant he felt something hard pressing against his thigh, he was sprayed in the face with a nosebleed. So his punishment had turned into a reward?

Yu Zhi panicked too. This was the first time he'd realized he was this crazy!

He plunged headfirst into Zhang Qiling's embrace and wiped his nosebleed on his inner clothes. Although he felt embarrassed, the first time was unfamiliar and the second familiar. It wasn't as though this was the first or second time he'd gotten a nosebleed over him.

After that commotion, Zhang Qiling no longer felt like punishing him. He had realized it was no use at all, and might even be a reward.

"A Li, when we get back, let's get..." Before he could say "married," Yu Zhi clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Damn it, big brother, don't go blurting out things you shouldn't say! This isn't the place for you to talk nonsense."

Yu Zhi had reacted purely on instinct. That sure as hell didn't sound like anything good! Talking about something like that in such a dangerous place-was he out of his mind?

"You're unwilling?"

Zhang Qiling hadn't expected Yu Zhi to stop him before he could even finish. At that moment, he thought, Was he really just attracted to my looks? Was everything he said before about loving me and never parting through life after life a lie?

He watched Zhang Qiling's gentle eyes narrow in an instant, their rims beginning to redden again.

Yu Zhi hurried on, "No, no, you've misunderstood! How do I explain it? I'm a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand percent willing, but we can't talk about this here. It's damn unlucky! Unlucky! People will die!" Yu Zhi was so anxious he spun in circles.

"All right, then we..."

Before Zhang Qiling could finish, Yu Zhi covered his mouth again and said, "Just nod, and then we'll drop it. We can't bring it up again here. We really can't."

Zhang Qiling looked helplessly at Yu Zhi and nodded.