Chapter 2 Celery

At the Inn below Taiqing Sect.

“It has been the third day since Immortal Lord Chu Xianjun was captured by the Demon Venerable. I have exclusive information that the Demon Venerable has imprisoned Chu Xuyun within the Demon Palace, which is heavily guarded. Rumor has it that the Demon Venerable once suffered the humiliation of being forced to kneel by the Immortal Monarch. This time, having captured him, he likely will never return.” The man sighed sorrowfully and continued in a low voice, “I also heard that the Demon Venerable plans to humiliate the Immortal Monarch in every possible way, even treating him as a plaything…”

The people around him, upon hearing this, became indignant.

“That beast!”

“There’s no way! If the Immortal Monarch hadn’t been caught off guard, how could he have given that scoundrel a chance? Now the demon clan will become even more arrogant!”

In the corner of the inn, a young figure dressed in a crane-patterned Taoist robe suddenly stood up. He had heard every word they said, and his eyes reddened with anger. “Master, I can’t stand this any longer. I’m going to the Demon Domain to rescue the Immortal Monarch right now.”

However, his wrist was suddenly held down by the person beside him.

“Xiao Wei, sit down.” The man beside him, also dressed in a crane-patterned Taoist robe, remained calm and simply took a sip of tea.

Xiao Wei still had his hand on the hilt of his sword, unable to bear it, “But Master, the demon clan is bullying us too much…”

“No matter.” The man smiled faintly, “At least the common people still remember the goodness of the Immortal Monarch, and that is enough.”

Chu Xuyun, who usually slays demons and upholds high moral standards, was recognized and remembered by the people.

Xiao Wei reluctantly released the hilt of his sword, sat back down beside him, and drained his cup of tea, “This hateful Yu Xiao, I will kill him with my own hands!”

The Immortal Monarch Chu Xianjun, a person as noble and aloof as the clear sky and bright moon, had suffered such a great humiliation. Xiao Wei could hardly imagine how painful and angry the Immortal Monarch must be right now, how desperate and helpless.

They must rescue him!

Hearing Yu Xiao’s name, the man across from him grew even colder, though he said nothing, his knuckles whitened as he held the teacup.

“Master, do you think…” Xiao Wei, worried and with a much lower voice, asked, “Could it be true that Yu Xiao has really done that to the Immortal Lord…”

Lately, such rumors had been spreading like wildfire, filling the air.

Upon hearing this, the man’s aura grew even colder, like an icy abyss, and he said in a fading voice, “Nonsense.”

Xiao Wei’s lips moved, and after a moment, he lowered his eyes and said softly, “Master, I don’t know if the rumors are true, but I know Yu Yu.”

If someone else had captured Chu Xuyun, he would not believe a word of the rumors, but it had to be Yu Cheng.

Yu Yu’s hatred for Chu Xuyun was beyond words.

Seven years ago, when Chu Xuyun ventured into the Demon Realm alone, he did two things. The first was to slay demons.

The second was to bring back a human orphan.

To this day, Xiao Wei still remembers the cold light on Chu Xuyun’s sword, the blood dripping down, the Immortal Monarch’s snowy clothes already turned to blood clothes, while in his arms, he held an unconscious boy.

Chu Xuyun did not say a word, calmly shook the blood from his sword tip, sheathed it, and then carried the sleeping boy step by step away.

No one dared to ask about the boy’s origins, nor did they know why Chu Xuyun had saved him.

It was only later that they learned the boy’s name was Yu Xiao.

At that time, Yu Yu had not yet fallen into demonic ways. Everyone simply assumed he was a commoner saved by Chu Xuyun and did not pay much attention.

Yu Xiao stayed by the Immortal Lord’s side, but only for three years before he was personally expelled from Taiqing Sect by the Immortal Lord.

The reason was… Yu Xiao had spoken out against the sect master during a ritual.

It was said that the Immortal Monarch was so furious that he forced Yu Xiao to kneel and apologize to the sect master in front of all the disciples, and then decided to expel him.

The humiliation of being forced to kneel crushed the dignity of the young Yu Xiao.

This was the root of their deep-seated enmity.

Xiao Ming knew that if Chu Xuyun was truly captured by Yu Xiao, the Immortal Monarch would face the most ruthless and heartless revenge.

Demon cultivators were always like this; after falling into demonic ways, their humanity was erased, and years of accumulated hatred would explode, making them capable of anything.

It was inevitable that Yu Xiao would find every way to humiliate Chu Xuyun.

Xiao Ming was worried not just for Chu Xuyun, but also for his own master.

His master and the Immortal Monarch had grown up together since childhood. Now that the Immortal Monarch was in trouble, his master must be struggling and in great pain.

That damned Yu Xiao.

“Let’s go.” The man suddenly stood up, his voice very soft, “Today, we must find the entrance to the Demon Realm, rescue the Immortal Monarch, and kill Yu Xiao with our own hands.”

Hearing his words, Xiao Wei quickly responded, “Yes!”

*

Demon Palace.

Silk carpets and red gauze curtains were entangled in a mess.

Chu Xuyun’s wrist was tightly held and forcefully pressed onto a pillow.

His face was buried in the soft bedding, Chu Xuyun couldn’t see the expression on Yu Xiao’s face, only feeling the heat of Yu Xiao’s body, almost melting him into the soft bed.

He struggled to lift his head to see Yu Xiao’s face but only caught sight of Yu Xiao’s lowered eyelashes, with flecks of gold glittering in his eyes, his demonic aura swirling around him, making his beautiful face appear and disappear in the dark mist.

So beautiful.

Really beautiful.

How did he come to be?

And Yu Xiao was really impressive, his dual cultivation technique was practiced to perfection, clearly, he had prepared extensively.

Books said the first time of dual cultivation would hurt, but Chu Xuyun felt no discomfort at all, rather he quite enjoyed the feeling.

Just looking at Yu Xiao’s face made his heart race and lifted his mood.

A bit faster, Yu Xiao, just a bit faster.

Noticing his gaze, Yu Xiao lowered his head slightly to look at Chu Xuyun, who immediately avoided his eyes.

His heart pounded, and Chu Xuyun shyly buried his face back into the pillow, exposing a stretch of his snow-white neck.

Yu Xiao was silent for a moment, then suddenly bit into his white neck and sped up his movements.

The sudden stimulation made Chu Xuyun groan, biting his lip to suppress any sound.

Mmm, it felt good, but…

Making sounds would give it away!

“Didn’t the Immortal Monarch just enthusiastically strip me of my clothes? Why the cold shoulder now?” Yu Xiao squinted his eyes, lightly pinching Chu Xuyun’s face, forcing him to look at him.

Just a moment ago, Yu Xiao had mistakenly thought that Chu Xuyun wasn’t opposed to doing such things with him, but now he saw it was just his imagination.

With his face pinched, Chu Xuyun had to look at him, forcibly suppressing the wild beating of his heart.

How could he be giving him the cold shoulder? Look carefully, his eyes were full of warmth.

“Speak.”

Mm…

That was not possible.

In his heart, Chu Xuyun silently refused Yu Xiao, trying to gesture with his hands, but his wrist was tightly held by Yu Cheng, unable to break free.

“Stop struggling.” Yu Xiao said lightly, “I thought the Immortal Lord was smart enough to understand his current situation.”

Unable to speak, unable to move his hands, Chu Xuyun could only helplessly look up at the sky.

Yu Xiao never read the signs.

Forget it, since he couldn’t say anything, he might as well zone out.

“Not speaking, thinking of someone else?” Yu Xiao’s expression darkened, and he coldly said, “Thinking of your good disciple, or your sword immortal friend, or… that demon?”

Hearing this, Chu Xuyun was stunned.

His disciple should be participating in the sect competition now, the sword immortal friend was probably busy slaying demons, and as for the demon… who was that?

He couldn’t remember.

Chu Xuyun blinked.

He hadn’t been thinking about those people.

He was thinking about what life in the Demon Palace would be like in the future, whether there would be many fun things, what the demon cultivators usually did, and how the food in the Demon Palace would taste?

Actually, it didn’t matter if it wasn’t tasty, because there was no food in the world worse than that in Taizong Sect.

Of course, it would be best if there were no celery, he hated celery the most.

“Your disciple can’t even find the entrance to the Demon Domain, the demon has no courage to save you,” Yu Cheng closed his eyes and leaned down, whispering slowly in Chu Xuyun’s ear, “Waiting for Ji Lianzhou?”

Sword Immortal Ji Lianzhou, if anyone could save Chu Xuyun, it would probably be him.

Hearing Ji Lianzhou’s name, Chu Xuyun finally showed a bit of reaction.

Seeing his expression change, Yu Xiao chuckled softly, “The Immortal Monarch gets excited just hearing his name, it makes me extremely jealous.”

He reached out to cup Chu Xuyun’s face, but there was a hint of darkness in his eyes, “Indeed, you should be happy, he is really coming to save you, my spies say he is looking everywhere for the entrance to the Demon Realm, the Immortal Lord will see him soon…”

Chu Xuyun’s eyes widened, his pupils trembling.

“You don’t want him to come?” Yu Xiao unexpectedly guessed Chu Xuyun’s thoughts.

Chu Xuyun finally seized the opportunity, hurriedly and earnestly nodding, hoping Yu Xiao would help send Ji Lianzhou back.

Lianzhou, don’t come!

He had only had a good time for three days!

He didn’t want to go back to teaching disciples to fight demons, it was so tiring and troublesome! And the food at Taiqing Sect was awful!

Don’t come!!! Leave quickly!!

Yu Xiao sneered, “The Immortal Monarch doesn’t want him to come because you’re afraid I’ll kill him, aren’t you? You care so much for him?”

Chu Xuyun: …

Sigh.

Chu Xuyun awkwardly lowered his eyes.

Maybe he was being a bit heartless. He should be worried about Lianzhou. But Lianzhou was so powerful, that there was no need for him to worry.

“Rest assured,” Yu Xiao’s voice turned cold, “I won’t kill him. I’ll just make sure he knows that you are mine.”

Chu Xuyun looked at him and felt slightly reassured.

The process might not be right, but at least the outcome was.

Seeing Chu Xuyun’s silence, Yu Xiao closed his eyes, released his hand, got up from the bed, dressed, and left the hall without a backward glance.

Chu Xuyun watched his departing figure, feeling a bit lost as he lay on the bed.

They hadn’t even discussed what to have for dinner… and he just left.

After a while, Yu Xiao returned.

He was carrying a food box.

Smelling the delicious aroma of the food, Chu Xuyun immediately sat up. He was so hungry his stomach was touching his back. He swallowed hard and quickly put on his outer robe.

Yu Xiao glanced at him from afar, then slowly walked over, placing the food box on the small table by the bed, and said in a calm voice, “Immortal Monarch, have something to eat.”

Chu Xuyun hurriedly got up, his eyes fixated on the food box.

Yu Xiao didn’t notice the desire in his eyes. He reached out and opened the lid of the food box, and a whiff of delicious fragrance wafted out.

Dinner is here!

Chu Xuyun was so excited that he reached for the chopsticks, but when he glanced at the food box, he froze in place.

“What’s wrong?” Yu Xiao saw him not moving and frowned, “The Immortal Monarch doesn’t want to eat?”

Chu Xuyun silently looked at Yu Xiao, then reluctantly turned his eyes back to the food box, which was filled with neatly arranged, shiny, fried green celery. It was clearly meticulously prepared.

Yes, meticulously prepared to be the most disgusting dish.

Maybe… he should just go back to Taiqing Sect.