Chapter 55

The person holding Jiang Luo didn't let go for a good long while. Jiang Luo had wondered who it was, but he never expected it to be Qi Ye, the one who'd always wanted to compete with him for first place.

Even after letting go, Qi Ye was still looking at Jiang Luo. He looked frantic, his eyes bloodshot from staying up, even a layer of skin peeling from his lips. 'Are you idiots? Facing the Red and White Twin Fiends, didn't you know to be a little more careful? You just let yourselves get dragged away like that?'

Jiang Luo hadn't expected to be scolded. He raised an eyebrow in retort. 'You were that worried about me?'

A flicker of discomfort crossed Qi Ye's face. 'Who's worried about you...'

Zhuo Zhongqiu patted Qi Ye's shoulder and negotiated, 'Have you hugged him enough? Shouldn't you move aside and let the rest of us have a turn hugging Jiang Luo?'

Qi Ye's handsome face flushed red. He took two steps back to clear the space.

Their friends took turns coming up to hug Jiang Luo and Lu You. Jiang Luo had never really understood why friends had this 'hugging' custom, but experiencing it firsthand, he was gradually learning that a hug conveyed a friend's concern and self-reproach for a friend.

Jiang Luo accepted their embraces.

It was... rather warm.

Once they'd confirmed neither of them was injured, the group returned to the Hot Spring Manor.

Jiang Luo scanned the group. 'Where are Ge Zhu and Sailor?'

Wenren Lian paused. 'He's seriously injured. Sailor is performing a Spirit Invocation to heal him.'

When Jiang Luo and Lu You were swept up by the Red and White Twin Fiends, Wenren Lian, Kuang Zheng, and Sailor went after Ge Zhu. They were clearly not slow, but by the time they reached Ge Zhu, he was already on the ground, badly injured.

Ge Zhu's body was covered in wounds, clinging to life by a thread. He lay weakly on the ground, his face smeared with blood flowing backward. If Wenren Lian hadn't noticed his faint breathing, Ge Zhu would likely have been dead.

The whole way back to his room, Ge Zhu's hand hung lifelessly against Kuang Zheng's chest, his face buried in Kuang Zheng's neck, tears and blood staining Kuang Zheng's collar.

It was a version of Ge Zhu they'd never seen before.

'His older brother showed up when he was trying to go save you,' Wenren Lian sighed. 'Their brotherly situation is complicated. Ge Zhu chased after his brother. Thankfully, his brother didn't choose to attack us...'

Wenren Lian would never have imagined that Ge Wuchen would appear there.

It was too coincidental, more like a trap to lure them away.

Jiang Luo didn't much care who came to save him or not. 'Did Sailor succeed with the Spirit Invocation?'

'We were surprised too,' Wenren Lian smiled. 'Sailor's singing during the invocation this time was still off-key, yet it succeeded anyway. Isn't that strange?'

Jiang Luo's curiosity was piqued. 'Let's go take a look.'

Ge Zhu and Sailor were in Ge Zhu's room. By the time Jiang Luo entered, the Spirit Invocation ritual was already over. Sailor was exhausted, asleep in a corner wrapped in a blanket, but Ge Zhu was nowhere to be seen.

Unable to find him, they woke Sailor. 'Sailor, where's Ge Zhu?'

Sailor opened his eyes blearily, blue eyes still drowsy. 'Huh?'

He rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking toward the bed. 'Ge, was on bed before. Sleeping.'

Wenren Lian frowned, crouching down. 'Did you heal him completely?'

At this, Sailor grew a bit excited, gesturing animatedly. 'Completely healed!'

Wenren Lian let out a relieved breath. 'As long as he's healed, it's fine if he runs off. Letting him be alone for a while is good too.'

Jiang Luo sat cross-legged beside Sailor. 'Sailor, how did you suddenly succeed with the Spirit Invocation?'

Sailor shook his head blankly. 'Suddenly succeeded.'

He didn't seem to know why he'd succeeded either. Jiang Luo propped his chin on his hand, about to ask more, when he suddenly caught a whiff of his own stench.

His expression changed. He stood up. 'I'm going back to my room to shower first. We'll talk later.'

The ghost beasts' blood had long dried on Jiang Luo's face, wrinkled into a layer of crusted mud. Back in his room, he hadn't even reached the bathroom before he started impatiently stripping off his clothes.

By the time he reached the bathroom door, he was completely naked.

He tossed his clothes into the hamper, turned on the showerhead, and stood under the water for a moment before suddenly turning to look at the hamper.

He stared for a moment, then walked over and picked up the dirty clothes he'd just put in. Jiang Luo had a habit when undressing: shirt first, then pants, then underwear. Throwing them away followed the same order. But now, the order of the clothes he'd thrown in the hamper this afternoon had changed.

Someone had gone through his clothes.

A vein throbbed at Jiang Luo's temple. He put down the clothes in his hand and walked back under the showerhead, suppressing his anger.

Who would look for something in a dirty clothes hamper?

Apart from that pervert Chi You, he couldn't think of anyone else.

Jiang Luo's showers usually took ten minutes at most. Today, covered in filth, he washed for a full half hour. He brushed his teeth several extra times, especially the inside of his lips where Chi You had touched his teeth. While brushing, he replayed today's confrontation with Chi You, growing angrier until his toothbrush snapped with a 'crack' in his grip.

A strange feeling also rose in Jiang Luo's heart.

Forcing himself to touch him all over, even putting his hand inside his mouth—was Chi You doing it specifically to disgust him?

A subtle, inexplicable sense of crisis stirred within Jiang Luo.

Instinct told him he should avoid confrontations with Chi You in that form as much as possible.

Jiang Luo trusted his instincts deeply. Even if they weren't accurate, he didn't want to experience that eerie, hair-raising feeling of being touched all over by Chi You again.

After showering, he stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. He hadn't forgotten the clothes in the hamper, but those were clothes Chi You had touched by some unknown means.

Expressionless, he burned every last piece.

By the time he finished, the morning sun had already risen on the horizon.

He hadn't slept all night, but Jiang Luo felt no drowsiness at all. The experience of being king of the Demon Arena had left his mental state still highly stimulated. But after a busy night, though his spirit was full, his body was somewhat tired. Jiang Luo planned to find some alcohol to drink, to help him fall asleep faster.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Jiang Luo went to look. It was Ge Zhu, draped in a Daoist robe. He opened the door. 'Where did you go? Wenren Lian and I were just looking for you.'

Ge Zhu looked no different from usual, smiling with an air of serene detachment, transcendent and dignified. 'Sailor told me. That's why I came to find you.'

He grinned and shook the wine pot in his hand. 'Jiang Luo, how about a drink in your room?'

Jiang Luo smiled. 'I was just thinking of finding some alcohol to drink.'

He let Ge Zhu in, fetched two cushions to the balcony, and they sat on the floor.

The alcohol Ge Zhu brought was a slightly cloudy white wine. Jiang Luo took a sip and was speechless. '...It's actually glutinous rice wine.'

He'd thought it would be some high-proof liquor. Glutinous rice wine tasted like sweet water to him. It wasn't bad, but he couldn't expect to get pleasantly tipsy or sleep-aided from it.

Ge Zhu scratched his head, embarrassed. 'It was the cheapest wine in the restaurant.'

'...' Jiang Luo said, 'Did you forget? These three days are all-inclusive, free food, drink, and fun?'

Ge Zhu instantly regretted it. 'I really did forget. The staff weren't there, so I just left money at the cash register according to the price tag.'

He looked utterly pained with regret, as if he wanted to go back and retrieve the money. Jiang Luo was amused. 'Ge Zhu, just how poor are you?'

This Daoist, Ge Zhu, turned miserly the moment money was involved. Jiang Luo had long been curious about this.

Ge Zhu gave a bitter smile and held up three fingers. 'I have three younger siblings to support at home.'

Jiang Luo was taken aback. 'Three younger siblings?'

Ge Zhu lowered his head, looking at the wine cup in his hand. The liquid rippled, but his tone remained as optimistically detached as ever. 'Isn't that so? My siblings are still young. I need to take good care of them. Kuang Zheng's family isn't well-off either; he has a younger sister too. I need to attend school, so I don't have time to look after my siblings. I entrusted them to Kuang Zheng's parents, so my siblings live with their family. His parents are truly good people; they agreed without a second thought, helping me take care of my siblings.'

'There are still many good people in this world,' Ge Zhu looked up at the dim sky before dawn. 'Blessings be infinite, Heavenly Lord... Thankfully, his parents were willing to accept my money.'

Their group rarely talked about their backgrounds or families. Jiang Luo took a sip of wine, gazing into the distance, thinking, So Ge Zhu and Kuang Zheng have it this hard too.

The two of them drank quietly. Ge Zhu suddenly sat up cross-legged and made a formal apology to Jiang Luo. 'Jiang Luo, I've wronged you and Lu You. When you two were swept up by the Red and White Pair of Fiends, if I hadn't left, if I'd moved a little faster, maybe you wouldn't have had to suffer through this.'

Jiang Luo thought to himself, That would have been impossible.

Chi You was waiting for him in the coffin. Could Ge Zhu have handled Chi You?

He shook his head, indicating he didn't mind. 'Wenren Lian said your older brother appeared.'

Ge Zhu abruptly tightened his grip on his cup. He took a deep breath. 'Yes... His name is Ge Wuchen.'

His other hand slowly clenched into a fist. 'He's a monk.'

Jiang Luo's eyes, which had been comfortably narrowed, snapped open. He remembered the bald monk standing beside Chi You in the Demon Arena.

'What kind of monk?' he pressed. 'Is he a good-looking monk wearing white monastic robes?'

Ge Zhu nodded silently.

Jiang Luo was certain now. The monk beside Chi You was Ge Zhu's brother.

But why was Ge Zhu's brother with Chi You?

Ge Zhu said, 'He may be good-looking, but he has the heart of a snake or scorpion. Jiang Luo, if you ever meet Ge Wuchen in the future, stay as far away from him as you can. Don't provoke him lightly.'

He covered his face remorsefully. 'I failed you. The moment he appeared before me, my reason was completely overwhelmed by hatred. I forgot the most important thing was to save you...'

Jiang Luo raised his cup and clinked it against Ge Zhu's. 'Lu You and I are both fine and safe. It's you—if Sailor hadn't succeeded with the Spirit Invocation, you'd be in danger right now.'

'Actually, I'm curious,' he said. 'Ge Zhu, were your injuries inflicted by Ge Wuchen?'

'Yes,' Ge Zhu's expression turned dark and unreadable. 'He almost killed me.'

When Ge Zhu caught up to Ge Wuchen, Ge Wuchen gravely wounded him.

He lay on the ground, a broken paulownia wood sword beside his hand, blood flowing from his mouth, pain radiating from his limbs as if they were shattered. Ge Wuchen walked to Ge Zhu's side like an immortal, looking down, the full moon casting a pure, round glow behind him.

Ge Wuchen's expression was shrouded in shadow, but his tone was mocking and disdainful. 'Ge Zhu, in your current state, you still want to capture me?'

'I originally thought of killing your friends, just like those friends you used to have,' Ge Wuchen said casually. 'But after beating you up, I'm in a good mood now. I'll spare your friends' lives for the time being.'

He kicked Ge Zhu once and turned to leave, then suddenly 'oh'-ed and glanced back at Ge Zhu.

The moonlight finally illuminated his expression.

On his beautiful face, a malicious smile appeared. Ge Wuchen said softly, 'Ge Zhu, I truly wish you would die right here.'

Ge Wuchen left.

But Ge Zhu was suddenly engulfed by towering rage and hatred. His will to live surged fiercely, allowing him to hold on until Wenren Lian and the others found him.

'Sometimes I don't even know why he became like this,' Ge Zhu lowered his head, his hair bun askew, messy strands drooping dejectedly at his temples. 'He wasn't like this before.'

'I want to kill him, but I want even more to capture him and question him,' Ge Zhu opened his palm, looking at the lines there. 'I want to ask him why he did those things back then. I want to know the truth too much. No, perhaps that's just my subjective wish. Maybe there's no so-called truth at all. He's just inherently that wicked. And to be called the Gehouse Bodhisattva... it's nothing but wolf-hearted and dog-lunged.'

Jiang Luo grew even more curious. 'What did your brother do in the past?'

Ge Zhu looked up at him with a bitter smile that seemed more like crying.

'He killed our master and our martial uncle. Our master was also our foster father.'

'He also killed three of my close martial brothers.'

'Ge Wuchen... he defected from The Buddhist Sect and burned down the Scripture Hall.'

*

It was precisely because of Ge Wuchen that Ge Zhu, with his three younger siblings in tow, resolutely left The Buddhist Sect, converting from Buddhism to Daoism.

He had no face left to stay in The Buddhist Sect.

That thunderbolt of a night, like a nightmare, had woken Ge Zhu from sleep countless times. Each time he woke, he wanted to ask Ge Wuchen, while eating his flesh and drinking his blood: Why did you do this?

This question had tormented him for years. The moment he saw Ge Wuchen, his reason vanished completely.

They finished a pot of glutinous rice wine. Jiang Luo felt no intoxication, but Ge Zhu, hugging the wine pot, had already fallen asleep leaning against the wall.

Jiang Luo dragged him to the bed. Thankfully, the bed was big enough. They each took half and lay down to sleep. Jiang Luo thought he wouldn't be able to sleep, but breathing in the scent of wine filling the bed, he drifted off without realizing it.

When he woke again, Jiang Luo's mind was fuzzy. He took a moment to come to, then looked beside him. Ge Zhu had somehow rolled off the bed at some point and was sleeping soundly, limbs splayed.

Jiang Luo yawned, picked up his mobile phone, and looked. Good grief, it was already four in the afternoon.

He woke Ge Zhu. The two shook off their sleepiness and went out to find almost everyone else still asleep.

Everyone had been up all night, but sleeping until now was about enough. The two went room to room waking people up, then went down to eat together.

The nine of them finished their meal boisterously. A staff member came over to ask about last night's events. Lu You waved a grand hand, full of bravado. 'Sorted. Nothing to worry about from now on.'

The staff member beamed with delight and promptly arranged a post-meal activity for them—fishing.

There was a lake right next to the Hot Spring Manor. The staff prepared fishing gear for them, set up chairs and snacks. They walked to the Lake Side unburdened and leisurely began fishing.

The lake was full of big fish. With almost no effort, Jiang Luo hooked two in a row. He mocked mercilessly, 'Stupid fish.'

He put the fish in a bucket, baited the hook again, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something off about the person next to him. Jiang Luo reacted swiftly, dropping what he was holding and catching Sailor just as he was about to pitch headfirst into the lake.

Sailor seemed to have fallen asleep. Only after this did his eyes snap open. He patted his chest in relief, thanking Jiang Luo gratefully. 'Thank you, Jiang.'

Jiang Luo let go, watching him thoughtfully.

Sailor grew uncomfortable under the gaze. Jiang Luo smiled gently and asked softly, 'Sailor, are you very sleepy?'

Faced with such gentle words, the little blond curly-haired boy almost blushed. He nodded obediently and promptly yawned. 'Very sleepy.'

'What time did you sleep last night?' Zhuo Zhongqiu also asked.

Sailor thought about it. 'I don't remember.'

'At four in the morning, when Jiang Luo and I went to look for Ge Zhu, he was already asleep,' Wenren Lian frowned. 'I walked Sailor back to his room. He turned off the light as soon as he entered, so at the latest, it was no later than four-thirty.'

Sleeping at 4:30 a.m. and waking at 4:00 p.m.—that was a full eleven and a half hours. No matter how tired, he shouldn't be this sleepy.

Even as they spoke, Sailor wearily sat back in his chair, his eyes secretly narrowing into slits again.

He really was so very tired.