Chapter 31 Covenants

Inside the sleeping quarters, Tan Mo, anxious as ever, looked at Chu Xuyun’s expressionless face. He didn’t understand why Chu Xuyun was stopping him. Could it be that Chu Xuyun had sensed the devil’s Gu in the jade pendant and intentionally wanted to expose him?

With each person lost in their own thoughts, Yu Xiao’s gaze fell on Chu Xuyun’s hand resting on Tan Mo’s shoulder, his eyes darkening slightly. “Let me pick it up.”

He was about to bend down when Chu Xuyun suddenly grasped his wrist and quickly picked up the scattered pieces from the floor.

What jade pendant could be so important to him?

Yu Xiao tightly pursed his lips, watching Chu Xuyun carefully gather the fragments with his hands, murmuring softly, “Let me do it.”

“What if you cut your hand?”

Chu Xuyun ignored him, raised his hand to stop Yu Xiao, and meticulously picked up all the pieces, placing them back on the table.

He breathed a long sigh of relief.

Now, there shouldn’t be any more need to pick up things.

“It seems like something’s missing. Let me pick up a bit more.” Tan Mo gritted his teeth, wanting to search again for the devil’s Gu. What use was it to just pick up a bunch of broken pieces when the Gu was still crawling on the ground?

He had planned to bend down while Chu Xuyun was unprepared, but Chu Xuyun instantly sensed his intention and swiftly blocked his acupoint.

Tan Mo stared at him in shock, unable to move a muscle.

Seriously??

Now he suspected that Chu Xuyun was doing this deliberately, wanting to harm them all.

“Why did you block my acupoint? Are you hiding something shameful under the table?” Tan Mo’s words made Chu Xuyun shiver all over. He quickly shook his head, denying, “No, I’m not hiding anything.”

He looked up at Yu Xiao, trying hard to prove himself, “I’m not hiding anything, really.”

Tan Mo: …

Feeling this guilty was just too obvious, practically treating him and Yu Xiao as fools. If Yu Xiao believed him, then he would be the real idiot.

“I believe you,” Yu Xiao’s voice was calm, with a hint of amusement. “This is my sleeping quarters, why would you hide anything here?”

He really was a fool!

Tan Mo’s heart sank completely.

Fine, let the devil’s Gu bite them all to death. If the three of them died together, there would be no need for further competition or struggle.

Hearing Yu Xiao’s words, Chu Xuyun subtly sighed with relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead and sipping tea from his cup.

“Could you, friend, go to the martial arts arena and bring Yanhe here? I have something to discuss with him,” Yu Xiao said calmly, seemingly nonchalant. “I would appreciate it.”

Chu Xuyun hesitated for a moment, pointing at himself. “Me?”

“Of course, it’s you. Wasn’t this friend next to you acupunctured by you?” Yu Xiao nodded slightly.

Chu Xuyun could only nod reluctantly and got up from his seat. Before leaving, he glanced back several times, afraid that Yu Xiao would suddenly check under the table.

Once Chu Xuyun left the sleeping quarters, Yu Xiao lightly twisted the ring on his finger, lowering his gaze to Tan Mo who was still immobilized. He spoke slowly, “What are you here for?”

Tan Mo’s heart trembled with shock but pretended not to understand his meaning. “Immortal, I am here to…”

“To deliver the devil’s Gu?” Yu Xiao scoffed lightly, opening his palm to reveal a dead Gu worm. His voice turned cold, with a chilling tone. “I warned you not to get close to Chu Xuyun.”

Tan Mo’s face turned pale. He knew he had been exposed. He had personally refined that devil’s Gu imbued with his own demonic energy.

“I know. I was just afraid that you would be deceived by him. Chu Xuyun, as the Taiqing Immortal, must have deep intentions…” Tan Mo couldn’t continue fabricating. He could see that Chu Xuyun was very different from the aloof Taiqing Immortal rumored in the sect.

Yu Xiao remained impassive, releasing the acupoint on Tan Mo’s body and calmly saying, “I won’t kill you today, out of respect for our mothers’ past friendship. Leave.”

Tan Mo looked at him in disbelief for a moment, his voice trembling, “Just out of respect for our mothers?”

“Indeed.” Yu Xiao narrowed his eyes, his expression growing more dangerous. He tossed the Gu worm onto the table. “Consider this the first warning. If there’s a next time, I won’t spare you.”

Tan Mo forced himself to calm down. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Then why protect Li Yanhe? Why protect even his disciple?”

“His disciple is my disciple,” Yu Xiao replied calmly. “Why should I kill him? Not only will I not kill him, but I will also teach him well.”

Upon hearing this, Tan Mo’s heart sank to the bottom.

He had actually lost that bet.

He had underestimated Yu Xiao’s patience and overestimated Li Yanhe’s threat in Yu Xiao’s eyes. Perhaps if it were the Three Saints Sword Immortal, he might have had a chance.

“Let’s not dwell on this. Why didn’t you inform me about your marriage? Over these years, am I no different in your eyes from other demonic cultivators?” Tan Mo’s heart bled. If he didn’t say these things now, he might never have the chance.

Confused, Yu Xiao looked at him. “Otherwise?”

Over these years, if it weren’t for his mother’s sake, what relationship did he have with Tan Mo?

Tan Mo’s heart ached. He knew that if he didn’t say some things now, he might never have the opportunity again. “Yu Xiao, I’ll tell you the truth. I actually…”

Yu Xiao raised his hand to interrupt him. “I have more important matters.”

Tan Mo’s throat tightened. Before he knew it, Yu Xiao bent down. “Listen to me first. My matters are more important.”

Ignoring Tan Mo, Yu Xiao searched under the table for a while, then lifted his head suddenly, his eyes bright.

—There was actually a small storage ring wrapped with a cloth strip under the table.

He reached out and took off the storage ring, his mind filled with Tan Mo’s incessant voice.

“Yu Xiao, do you understand my feelings? I absolutely admire you more than Chu Xuyun. I will treat you better than he ever could. Would you rather roll under Chu Xuyun’s embrace than be with me?”

Yu Xiao:?

Who’s rolling under whose embrace?

His mouth twitched slightly, too lazy to argue with Tan Mo. Before Chu Xuyun returned, he wanted to quickly see what Chu Xuyun was hiding.

Yu Xiao inserted a trace of demonic energy into the storage ring, easily breaking through it, and a bamboo scroll wrapped in a silk cloth fell out.

He was momentarily stunned, almost subconsciously understanding that this was the painting Chu Xuyun’s father had mentioned, the one that Chu Xuyun cherished.

His heartbeat inexplicably accelerated. Yu Xiao’s throat rolled lightly, slowly unwrapping the bamboo scroll.

After a while, he pulled out a painting from the bamboo scroll, trembling as he spread it out with his fingertips, freezing in place.

The person in the painting was neither surnamed Li nor surnamed Ji, but the person he was most familiar with—Chu Xuyun.

Every stroke, every color on it, Yu Xiao was extremely familiar with because he had drawn it himself at the age of thirteen. He had looked at Chu Xuyun’s faint smile on the painting every night before falling asleep.

The painting Chu Xuyun cherished… was himself?

Yu Xiao’s tense brows relaxed all of a sudden. He inexplicably felt like laughing. He didn’t know how to describe his current feelings. He had speculated countless possibilities, but he never expected it to be the most laughable possibility.

He had actually thought that Chu Xuyun was hiding a portrait of his lover. He was so foolish. How could he misunderstand Chu Xuyun like this?

But why would Chu Xuyun treasure this painting? Did he think it was well-drawn?

It felt good to be acknowledged by Chu Xuyun. Yu Xiao’s mood suddenly improved a lot, even the face of Tan Mo didn’t look as disgusting anymore.

“Before Chu Xuyun comes back, you should leave,” Yu Xiao said, placing the painting back into the bamboo scroll and wrapping it up. He then put it back into the storage ring and returned it to its original place.

“Ah Xu didn’t want him to see, it must be because he’s thin-skinned and doesn’t want him to discover this portrait.

Yu Xiao resolved silently that he would not pry into Ah Xu’s things like this again in the future. If Ah Xu didn’t want him to see, there must be a reason. Why should he be suspicious? How could A Xu deceive him?

“Yu Xiao, I’m not leaving.” Tan Mo stubbornly stared at him, wanting to grab Yu Xiao’s wrist, but Yu Xiao dodged aside. “Come with me, I promise I’ll treat you well in the future. I swear.”

Yu Xiao remained silent for a moment, looking up at him. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!” Tan Mo saw him relent and eagerly moved closer. “Yu Xiao, you don’t like demonic cultivation, I know. I’ll stop cultivating demons in the future, and I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”

As he finished speaking, Yu Xiao squinted his eyes and replied calmly, “I’m not interested in you. I don’t want anything to do with you in the future either. If you want me to be happy, the farther away you stay from me, the better. I promise I’ll be grateful to you.”

Tan Mo stared at him in astonishment. After a while, his face turned pale as he stood up and bitterly smiled. “You will understand sooner or later that we are of the same kind, Yu Xiao. Even if you refuse to admit it, you will forever be a heinous demon cultivator like me, while Chu Xuyun will always be the revered Immortal Sovereign.”

Even if they were to marry, Chu Xuyun would never let the world know that he had married a demon cultivator, because he was the Immortal Sovereign of Taiqing, bearing the reputation of the entire Taiqing Sect.

Yu Xiao couldn’t pretend not to understand this point; he had only been avoiding facing it.

Seeing Yu Xiao’s increasingly gloomy expression, Tan Mo knew he wouldn’t listen, so he turned and left. Just before leaving, he suddenly whispered, “Oh, by the way, tell Chu Xuyun for me, I admit defeat in our previous bet.”

Yu Xiao remained silent. It wasn’t until Tan Mo had turned into a cloud of demonic mist and disappeared that he snapped out of his trance, five blood marks already pinched in his palm.

When Chu Xuyun and Li Yanhe entered the hall, they found Tan Mo was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s he gone?” Li Yanhe was greatly alarmed, his blood running cold. “What did you do to him?”

Yu Xiao glanced at him and said calmly, “He left for something.”

“I don’t believe it.” Li Yanhe anxiously stood in front of Chu Xuyun, lowering his voice. “Friend, you should leave quickly. I’ll cover your retreat.”

In his eyes, Yu Xiao was the most dangerous presence, and this unfamiliar person next to him, who was not good with words, seemed much more reliable than Yu Xiao.

The unfamiliar person nervously looked around and asked quietly, “Did he really leave?”

“Yeah,” Yu Xiao’s voice immediately softened, speaking gently. “He left you a message, saying he admits defeat in that bet you made. What did you bet on?”

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuyun seemed to have expected it long ago and lightly laughed, “I won’t tell you.”

Great, Yu Xiao finally had a good friend of his own.

After a pause, Chu Xuyun added seriously, “And that wasn’t a bet; it was an agreement between us.”

Yu Xiao’s smile froze for a moment. After a while, he took a deep breath and suddenly regretted letting Tan Mo go.

What was that scoundrel up to after all.