Half an hour ago.

Ning Xiu sat at the table being fed by Chu Jun. Ning Buwei sat to the side, bored out of his mind as he sized up Chu Jun. Every time Chu Jun wanted to open his mouth to speak, he would deliberately turn his head to look out the window. In the end, Chu Jun wasn’t able to say anything.

Ning Buwei hooked the corner of his mouth, then moved his nose. He lifted his sleeve to smell it – a mixture of herbal medicine and animal hide scents immediately made him furrow his brow.

He had refined quite a few useful talismans, but this smell couldn’t be cleaned off with just a simple cleansing technique. He remembered there was a hot spring nearby, and immediately made up his mind.

Ning Xiu had gotten egg custard on his clothes and was making a fuss for Chu Jun to use a minor cleansing technique to clean it off. Ning Buwei took advantage of this opportunity to leave.

Originally everything went very smoothly – the temperature was just right, no one disturbed him. He leisurely leaned against the pool wall, facing the intricate array formation patterns. Under the guidance of his spiritual power, they changed on their own, and could even be used as a water mirror.

Although this added function was quite useless, even the great demon occasionally had boring moments. He was even in the mood to draw a few flowing clouds on it, planning to give them to his son to play with.

As Ning Buwei thought about this, he lifted his eyelids to carefully examine whether the two flowing clouds were aligned, and happened to see his own reflection in the water mirror.

As a great demon who was constantly causing trouble, he rarely had such leisurely moments to bathe, much less a hobby of looking in mirrors. That small red mole was positioned just below his collarbone. If he hadn’t happened to look down while creating the array formation, plus the water was somewhat hot making the red mole’s color particularly deep, he really wouldn’t have noticed it.

But even if it was inconspicuous, Ning Buwei recognized this as the red mole left behind from sealed memories – and he was all too familiar with this spiritual power’s aura.

Playing mind games with this old fox, he was hardly a match, and he also had no patience for beating around the bush, especially when the other party was Chu Jun.

Ning Buwei soaked in the water with a dark expression, considered for a long while, then decided to ask Chu Jun directly.

****

Chu Jun’s reaction was within his expectations.

“Back when you were at Wanxuan Academy, I sealed away a segment of your memories,” Chu Jun said.

Even though it was within his expectations, Ning Buwei couldn’t help but get angry. He pulled at the corner of his mouth, “If I hadn’t discovered it, you weren’t planning to unseal it?”

Chu Jun was about to speak when he saw Ning Buwei instantly appear in front of him, arms crossed, looking down at him coldly from above. He knew that no matter what answer he gave, it would be difficult to satisfy this ancestor.

Naturally, he also knew this wasn’t just about this one matter.

Seeing his silence, Ning Buwei narrowed his eyes, leaned down slightly to stare at him, and said with a half-smile, “Head Teacher Chu, so you also have moments of guilty conscience.”

“Mm.” Chu Jun lowered his eyes. The dim yellow light fell on his profile, leaving a faint halo.

Ning Buwei’s breathing hitched slightly. He cursed silently in his heart, trying hard to remind himself not to be bewitched by beauty, and not to easily forgive him just because the other party showed weakness.

His gaze restrained yet persistent, lingered on Chu Jun’s face for several circles before he barely managed to steady his mind and not kiss him. He straightened up and said coldly, “What exactly were you thinking?”

Without waiting for Chu Jun to speak, he continued, “Of course, you have your own plans, and there’s no need to tell me. After all, I just need to muddle through helping you overcome your fate tribulation.”

Only his tone grew colder as he spoke, and finally his face turned completely dark. The evil aura around his body spread wantonly, prowling around Chu Jun like a predator.

Then he heard Chu Jun sigh softly.

Ning Buwei’s eyebrows moved slightly. For a moment he wondered if he was being too fierce and had scared him, but immediately dismissed this thought. He unceremoniously gripped his chin, “Stop putting on an act here. Speak plainly.”

Chu Jun grasped his wrist and gently rubbed it, “You’ll be angry if you hear it.”

Ning Buwei raised an eyebrow. “Am I such a petty person? Pei Heguang said such excessive things and I still couldn’t bear to cut you down with one strike.”

He had only gotten angry enough to lose focus and nearly had his spiritual root gouged out and almost possessed… that’s all.

Chu Jun tilted his head slightly and kissed the corner of his mouth, saying gently, “Promise me, after hearing it you won’t dissolve the dao contract, won’t run away from home.”

This was the first time Chu Jun had been so proactive. Ning Buwei was kissed until his head felt fuzzy, and he nodded perfunctorily. His Adam’s apple moved as he pointed to the other corner of his mouth, hooking his lips in a smile. “Head Teacher Chu, be fair.”

Chu Jun very generously satisfied his wish, then said seriously, “Actually—”

Before he could finish speaking, someone pressed down on his shoulders and pushed him back against the bed post.

“Head Teacher Chu, with just this little benefit you want me not to dissolve the dao contract and not run away from home? You’re rather underestimating me.”

Ning Buwei braced one hand against the post and pressed the other on his shoulder, with one leg pressed against his waist, trapping Chu Jun completely in his embrace. He caught him and kissed him wantonly to his heart’s content, even very rebelliously leaving a small, round tooth mark on Chu Jun’s earlobe.

“Don’t fool around, Ning Xiu is still here,” Chu Jun lowered his head to pull together his front garment that had been disheveled.

Chu Jun’s lips were somewhat red. Ning Buwei wickedly ground them with his canine teeth before raising his head with somewhat unsteady breathing. He licked the corner of his mouth with lingering desire, glanced at his son who was sleeping sprawled out, and snorted with laughter. “Sleeping like a pig.”

“Besides—” He looked down meaningfully twice, his hand sliding to his belt and hooking it lightly, smiling teasingly. “Venerable’s cultivation of the Path of Tranquility… doesn’t seem quite up to par, hmm?”

Chu Jun’s ears flushed with a thin layer of red as he warned in a low voice. “Ning Chengfeng.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Ning Buwei raised both hands to show his innocence, laughter spilling from his eyes.

Then suddenly his vision blurred, and when he opened his eyes again he found himself in the Self-Reflection Pavilion.

The smile on Ning Buwei’s face froze. He looked toward Chu Jun beside him and said with a bitter expression. “I’m over five hundred years old. It was just a joke – I don’t need to copy books again, do I?”

Chu Jun raised his hand to cover his sleeve that was pressed against the desk. His slender, jade-like fingers were particularly conspicuous and striking against the black fabric.

Chu Jun’s hand clasped his. Ning Buwei instinctively felt something was amiss and yanked his hand back, but couldn’t pull it free. His back pressed against a warm chest, and Chu Jun’s unhurried voice sounded by his ear. “I changed paths midway. The Path of Tranquility is indeed quite difficult to cultivate.”

Ning Buwei suddenly felt his throat go dry as he watched his hand being guided downward by the other’s grip. He laughed dryly. “There’s no need to do it here…”

Chu Jun chuckled softly behind him. “Why don’t you help me.”

Ning Buwei was stimulated until his scalp tingled. He gritted his teeth. “Won’t help.”

Chu Jun said in a low voice, “Chengfeng, I’m begging you.”

Ning Buwei felt all the blood in his body rush to his head. He cursed under his breath and kicked the obstructing low table to the side.

The low table crashed into the bookshelf with a muffled “clang.”

…………

Ning Buwei lazily leaned against that obstructing low table. After casting a major cleansing technique, he stared blankly at some unknown book on the shelf, somewhat unable to remember how he had gone from demanding an explanation to engaging in daytime debauchery – and in the damn Self-Reflection Pavilion of all places.

Chu Jun was bending down to pick up the books scattered on the ground and put them back on the shelf. His pale, slender hands holding the yellowed pages made Ning Buwei’s mind wander.

Looking so detached and otherworldly, abstaining from worldly desires, but actually just a beast in human clothing.

Tsk.

He rubbed his slightly sore wrist. Although he had helped, Chu Jun had also conscientiously exerted effort. They were even – no loss.

The great demon who had completely forgotten the main issue leaned against the low table with a satisfied expression. This pleasure, so different from Shenjiao, made him very satisfied. He even began secretly plotting how to coax Chu Jun into going further.

“Stop picking those up.” Ning Buwei lifted his foot to hook his ankle, “Come here.”

Chu Jun put the last book back, even carefully used another cleansing technique, before walking over to sit beside Ning Buwei.

Ning Buwei stretched out his arm to embrace his waist, yawned, patted his thigh, then pillowed his head on it.

Chu Jun very naturally reached out to massage the back of his neck.

Ning Buwei comfortably narrowed his eyes.

“About the fate tribulation—” Chu Jun had just begun to speak when he heard Ning Buwei’s breathing become impossibly steady. Looking down, he indeed saw that Ning Buwei had fallen into a deep sleep.

The kind of deep sleep where even his sea of consciousness was sealed.

“…………”

Chu Jun lowered his gaze and stared at him for a long while, his expression unreadable, then slowly reached out his hand—

And gently pinched Ning Buwei’s face.

Indeed….very soft.