Zhang Qiling Secretly Flaunts His Plumage

Yu Zhi was furious. He circulated the Azure Nether Creation Art and released the Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress's true body, letting it slaughter and feed to its heart's content. The instant it emerged, vines and roots swept across the sky and rushed toward the six passages, spearing King Wannu, the giant centipedes, the Corpse Bugs, and the other monsters that had yet to emerge and dragging them out like candied hawthorn on a skewer.

Countless monsters were strung along the red vines whipping through the air. As their bodies shriveled, the red deepened, gradually turning a dark crimson. In the blink of an eye, not even ashes remained, and the tomb chamber fell silent once more.

"A Li."

Zhang Qiling stepped forward and pulled Yu Zhi tightly into his arms. His arms trembled uncontrollably, and even his teeth were chattering. He buried his face in Yu Zhi's neck and drew a deep breath. Only by smelling his familiar scent, feeling the warmth of his body in his arms, and listening to his living heartbeat could he calm himself a little.

"I'll be fine, Zhang Qiling. You know those monsters are all just food delivered to my door, even if they come at me together. Look, there isn't even a scrap of them left now." Yu Zhi hugged him back tightly, comforting him. He didn't think anything would happen to him; Zhang Qiling simply cared about him too much.

But then Yu Zhi felt something warm fall onto his neck and slowly trickle down to his chest. For a moment, he didn't realize what it was. As the liquid continued to fall, it finally dawned on him that Zhang Qiling was crying.

The cold tears slid over the skin of his chest like a sharp blade, stabbing straight into his heart, threatening to gouge it out. He panicked. How could Zhang Qiling cry? How could Zhang Qiling be allowed to cry? How could he make a god weep for him? Zhang Qiling was the very flesh of his heart.

A pain like his heart being gouged out welled up, a tremendous ache rising to his brow, and tears streamed down uncontrollably. "Zhang Qiling, I'm sorry. Please don't cry, all right? I'll protect myself. I'll never let myself be in danger again. Don't cry. When you cry, my heart hurts so much I can't bear it!"

"The One Heart Contract. Right, the One Heart Contract. A Li, there must be other contracts, right? I don't just want our bodies to live and die together. I want our souls bound together too. We'll never part, life after life. If you die, I'll follow you."

What had just happened had sent Zhang Qiling's blood rushing backward and left his hands and feet cold. He truly couldn't lose Yu Zhi. His nerves had been taut for the entire past month, and a voice deep in his heart had kept telling him that Yu Zhi would die. Now he was wondering whether there was a way to hide Yu Zhi away, hide him inside his own body and merge him into one with himself.

"All right."

Yu Zhi agreed without hesitation.

Yu Zhi had actually had a premonition of his own over the past month. He had a feeling that Zhang Qiling would be in mortal danger. He could abandon his body and use the system to escape, but Zhang Qiling couldn't do that yet. For a primordial spirit and soul to leave the body, one either had to reach the Spirit Severing Stage or die.

As for soul contracts and the like, that dead old ghost could provide a heap of methods that harmed others for one's own benefit, but he had no soul contract that would bind two people to live and die together.

Unwilling to give up, Yu Zhi searched carefully and actually found one deep in the old ghost's memories. It was part of an inheritance he had obtained. The old ghost had never thought of using it, so it had been buried deep in his memories.

"Zhang Qiling, I found one. It's called the Primordial Spirit Imprint Dao Companion Contract. Both parties exchange primordial spirit imprints to bind themselves to each other. It works regardless of cultivation; even mortals can form the contract. As long as one person survives, the other won't truly die. Please don't cry, all right? Let's form the contract now." Yu Zhi wrapped his arms around Zhang Qiling's lean waist and comforted him gently.

"All right. Right now. Don't lie to me again."

Zhang Qiling cupped Yu Zhi's face and stared at him without blinking. After all, he had done this before: the One Heart Contract had supposedly bound them to live and die together, but it had turned out to make Yu Zhi his blood bag. He didn't want a contract like that.

"I'm not lying to you, but it will hurt a lot-the pain of splitting your soul." Yu Zhi told him the terms of the contract.

Zhang Qiling didn't wait a moment. He immediately formed hand seals and forcibly split off a wisp of his soul. Yu Zhi wasted no time either, splitting off a wisp of his own. Each formed a seal, and with the power of their souls, they said in unison, "With my soul, I bind your spirit. Let the contract be formed." The wisps of their souls merged into each other's spirits.

The two felt the contract and were thoroughly satisfied, filled with a sense of security. It fulfilled that little dark wish of Zhang Qiling's: he really had hidden his A Li inside his body. The feeling was truly blissful.

"Shall we go straight to the Bronze Door and wait next?"

"Mm. The monsters over there should all have been killed. There's no danger left, so we'll wait there."

Zhang Qiling seemed a little embarrassed about having cried just now. The aloof look began to return to his face, and he tried to keep it stern, but his hand, fingers interlaced with Yu Zhi's, showed that he wasn't as calm as he appeared.

"Then let's go wait over there."

"A Li, could you... could you not go in? Could you wait for me outside? When I come out, you can pick me up and take me home." Zhang Qiling asked, still unwilling to give up, though he knew the answer would surely be no.

"No. There's no room for discussion on this. I can agree to anything else." Yu Zhi's refusal was firm.

Then he pulled Zhang Qiling forward. When he had released the vines to catch the monsters just now, he had discovered that all six passages led to the Bronze Door in the end; they were simply different lengths.

"Mm. I don't remember exactly what's inside. Once we go in, stay close to me and protect yourself."

"Yes, I'll protect myself. You need to protect yourself too."

"How are we going to get in? I remember you seemed to have slipped in with the yin soldiers last time, right? Is there another way?" Yu Zhi asked curiously.

"Yes. The Ghost Seal and the Snake-Eyebrow Copper Fish, the Ghost Seal and Qilin Blood, or the yin soldiers' passage," Zhang Qiling explained.

"Then this time?"

"The yin soldiers' passage." Zhang Qiling looked pleased with himself. It wasn't obvious, but Yu Zhi noticed. He could catch every subtle change in Zhang Qiling's expression.

"You're not doing it to look cool in front of me, are you?" Yu Zhi looked at him oddly. He felt that his impression of the god in his heart had been remade yet again.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem." Yu Zhi had guessed his little secret thought in one go, making him choke. He quickly changed his tone and said aggrievedly, "You're the one who said I couldn't let blood, and I don't have the Snake-Eyebrow Copper Fish."

"Oh~ so that's how it is. I thought you wanted me to admire you! So that wasn't it. But what should I do? I still think you're amazing!" Yu Zhi continued teasing him.

Zhang Qiling felt a little embarrassed that his secret thought had been exposed, but also a little delighted. He thought that no one would dislike hearing the person they loved most admire and praise them.

The two didn't have to wait long before Zhang Qiling sensed that the time had come. It was an intuition. He tossed the Ghost Seal to Yu Zhi and gestured for him to keep it on him and stay close. Yu Zhi didn't have Qilin Blood, and the Ghost Seal could protect him from being detected by the yin soldiers.

Something like smoke began to rise in the previously empty tomb, and the Bronze Door began to emit colors like an aurora. Within a few breaths, the door silently opened a crack.

"Follow me," Zhang Qiling whispered.

Yu Zhi looked away from the Bronze Door and only then noticed that a line of yin soldiers had appeared from who knew where. They wore ancient bronze armor, their faces obscured by their helmets. Only their eyes could be seen, all white, with the eyelids cut away. Their bodies were shriveled, the hands gripping their weapons were ashen blue, and their fingernails were long. They floated along without making a sound.

Yu Zhi followed behind Zhang Qiling and slipped into the line of yin soldiers, slowly making his way toward the crack in the Bronze Door. The yin soldiers around them showed no reaction to their joining and continued marching in perfect formation.

With a clang, the Bronze Door closed, and the yin soldiers vanished into thin air. Five-colored divine light churned within the door, and not even Yu Zhi's spiritual sense could see through it. He could only hold Zhang Qiling's hand and quietly wait for his next move.