Even though Mi Lu asked, he’d already made up his mind about the answer. He just wanted to hear Wu De explain his reasoning. Of course, he knew Wu De might not tell him everything…

But Mi Lu didn’t expect Wu De to seem prepared for the question. After a brief pause, Wu De chuckled and said, “When he was born, this humble monk held him in my arms.”

As Wu De’s words fell, Mi Lu sensed HuLü Yan stiffening beside him. Evidently, HuLü Yan wasn’t asleep after all.

Mi Lu’s hand, hidden beneath the blanket, gently patted HuLü Yan’s back before he continued questioning Wu De. “What’s your relationship with him?”

“I know him…” Wu De opened his mouth but then fell silent, unable to speak any further.

He tried multiple times, but it was futile. After a long silence, he sighed helplessly and said softly, “As you can see, there are many things I can’t speak of. I can only tell you, I’m not a stranger to him.”

With that, he reassured Mi Lu, “By tomorrow night, we’ll be in Drunken City. When we get there, all the past truths will come to light.”

Then Wu De said no more, closing his eyes to meditate. Mi Lu, however, found sleep elusive. The closer they got to Drunken City, the stronger his sense of unease grew, like something ominous was waiting just beyond reach.

Sometimes, the more you know, the worse it feels. He couldn’t even tell if this decision was right or wrong. Ever since the storyline veered off its original course, he and HuLü Yan had been pushed forward by an invisible hand, from the appearance of Qiu Bei, Yang Rong, Yan Fu, and now Wu De. Each event fit seamlessly with the next, guiding them forward with no room to resist.

Mi Lu glanced at Wu De across from him, confirming that he was indeed resting, and then pulled the blanket over himself and HuLü Yan, covering both their heads.

Although several glow beads illuminated the carriage, the blanket blocked the light, and Mi Lu could only faintly make out the contours of HuLü Yan’s face in the dimness.

He touched HuLü Yan’s cheek; it was as cool as he remembered. HuLü Yan had always been cold-blooded—no matter how many layers he wore, he was always like an ice block that wouldn’t warm up. But as Mi Lu stroked his face, his fingers suddenly touched a warm spot, and then something wet and warm quickly licked his fingertip.

He froze, realizing belatedly that HuLü Yan had bitten his finger. After licking, HuLü Yan didn’t let go. Instead, he lightly brushed Mi Lu’s fingertip with his teeth, occasionally licking it again.

This felt just like—

Last night…

Certain memories rose to the surface unbidden, vivid in the dark. Mi Lu’s face flushed as though shocked, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

HuLü Yan didn’t stop him, only chuckling softly. The warmth of his breath tickled Mi Lu’s face, his lowered laugh echoing in Mi Lu’s ears, making him feel a pleasant shiver.

Uncomfortably, Mi Lu touched his own ear, pushing HuLü Yan’s shoulder in mild irritation. “Knock it off; there are others here.”

HuLü Yan wrapped his arms around Mi Lu’s waist and buried his face in Mi Lu’s chest. “Alright, no more teasing.”

Mi Lu made a small sound in response, patting HuLü Yan’s back. “Go to sleep.”

HuLü Yan was quiet for a moment before suddenly lifting his head to ask, “What were you just thinking about?”

Mi Lu froze.

“Come on, tell me.” HuLü Yan was relentless, pinching Mi Lu’s side playfully. “What were you thinking, hmm?”

Mi Lu wriggled, laughing at the ticklish sensation, and slapped HuLü Yan’s face in mock indignation. “Nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

He was grateful they couldn’t see each other’s faces under the blanket. Otherwise, HuLü Yan would surely notice his red face.

“You’re lying.” HuLü Yan clearly didn’t believe him. He paused, then abruptly changed the subject, “Were you thinking about last night…”

Hearing that, Mi Lu’s heart skipped a beat. Terrified HuLü Yan might say something more, he frantically clamped a hand over HuLü Yan’s mouth, speaking in a panicked, exasperated tone, “Just go to sleep, will you?”

Just then, Wu De’s unexpected cough echoed through the carriage.

Mi Lu: “…”

Wu De coughed pointedly for a while before falling silent again.

Mi Lu was at a complete loss for words. The thought that Wu De might have overheard their conversation made him wish he could turn into a gust of wind and escape through the window.

After a long, tense silence, Mi Lu finally gritted his teeth and pressed HuLü Yan’s shoulder. “Go to sleep!”

Sensing Mi Lu’s frustration, HuLü Yan stopped fooling around and nestled obediently in Mi Lu’s arms.

The carriage jostled along all night.

The next morning, warm rays of sunlight seeped through the white curtains, mingling with the glow of the glow beads inside the carriage.

When Mi Lu woke, Wu De was already up, peeking through the curtains at the street and passersby outside.

Hearing Mi Lu stirring as he folded the blanket, Wu De turned. “Good morning.”

Mi Lu’s movements stilled. Remembering the cough from last night, his cheeks flushed lightly. “Good morning, Master Wu De.”

“Hmm.” Wu De glanced at the expressionless HuLü Yan, as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

Mi Lu felt a pang of guilt under his stare, his face turning even redder. Wu De’s expression softened with a hint of awkwardness, but he hesitated before saying anything more and simply sighed, “Never mind…”

At that moment, the carriage came to a halt, and Ah Jian poked his head in from outside. “We’re here; time to get out.”

Eager to escape the awkward atmosphere, Mi Lu quickly grabbed HuLü Yan and hopped out of the carriage. Wu De’s gaze lingered on their clasped hands before he shook his head and followed them out.

After too long on the road, they needed to rest properly. Following Yan Fu’s arrangements, they checked into an inn he had reserved.

Ah Jian reported their names to the innkeeper, who welcomed them warmly and led them to their rooms upstairs.

Yan Fu had reserved four rooms, though they only needed three, as HuLü Yan naturally followed Mi Lu into one of the rooms.

Outside the door, Ah Jian and Wu De exchanged a glance, both of them sharing a look of resignation.

After lunch, Wu De told Mi Lu to rest for another half-hour before they headed out.

Mi Lu asked where they were going, but Wu De only said he’d find out when they arrived.

Back in the room, Mi Lu checked the magical devices disguising his and HuLü Yan’s faces. Satisfied that everything was intact, he relaxed. Though these illusion artifacts were child’s play to higher cultivators, it was better than nothing, as HuLü Yan’s striking features tended to draw unwanted attention.

Bored, Mi Lu suggested to HuLü Yan, “Want to go out and look around?”

Despite hearing of Drunken City, Mi Lu had never actually seen it.

After a moment’s hesitation, HuLü Yan agreed.

The moment they stepped outside the inn, Mi Lu noticed HuLü Yan growing noticeably tense and sensitive, glaring coldly even at the sound of someone speaking a little too loudly.

Noticing this, Mi Lu entwined their fingers and led him away from the crowd.

The Demon Realm was different from the outside world. If they were holding hands like this outside, it would have attracted strange looks from the passersby, but in the Demon Realm, two men holding hands seemed entirely unremarkable. Not a single onlooker spared a glance at their joined hands.

Unlike bustling Qi City, Drunken City was lively but without the same splendor. Its buildings and streets were worn down, and as Drunken City was further into the Demon Realm, it was already sweltering hot in the early days of May, like the height of summer.

In trying to avoid the crowds, Mi Lu led HuLü Yan to a pond lined with lotus leaves and blooms, the leaves and petals fully unfurled under the golden sunlight.

It was a breathtaking sight—“Boundless green lotus leaves reaching to the sky, and lotus blossoms a striking red beneath the sun.”

Mi Lu couldn’t help but stop, turning to smile at HuLü Yan. “My courtyard also has a pond with lotuses. I brought you to my home once; I wonder if you saw the pond on your way out.”

Thinking of the lotuses, HuLü Yan couldn’t help but think of Yang Rong and the numerous lotus ponds surrounding her courtyard. He frowned, shaking his head with annoyance. “I was only thinking about escaping back then, no time to notice any ponds.”

Thinking of those times made Mi Lu laugh, and he leaned closer to HuLü Yan. “Do you remember carrying me all the way out of the capital?”

“…” HuLü Yan fell silent.

“Oh, right, you even drained my spiritual energy.” Mi Lu wasn’t bringing up old grudges, just marveling at how strange things had turned out.

“…” HuLü Yan remained silent.

“Say something.” Mi Lu lifted his hand, pressing a fingertip into HuLü Yan’s cheek, making a small dent in his pale skin. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten?”

Finally, HuLü Yan reacted, grabbing Mi Lu’s mischievous hand and kissing the back of it. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Caught off guard by such an intimate gesture in public, Mi Lu felt a sudden rush of awkwardness. He tried to pull his hand away, but HuLü Yan only held on tighter.

“I can give it back to you,” HuLü Yan said seriously, “if you want it.”

Mi Lu had been teasing, but HuLü Yan’s serious response made him curious. “Alright, how will you give it back?”

HuLü Yan released his hand and, taking a step back, pulled out a dagger from his embroidered pouch.

Under Mi Lu’s astonished gaze, HuLü Yan, without a second’s hesitation, sliced toward his own wrist with the dagger.

Mi Lu’s heart nearly stopped, and he hurried to grab HuLü Yan’s hand, though the blade had already nicked his skin, causing fresh blood to drip onto the ground.

“HuLü Yan!” Mi Lu’s face went pale. Snatching the dagger from him, he shouted, “Are you insane?”

HuLü Yan looked at him calmly, unfazed by the pain. “I can repay you this way—with my blood…”

“I don’t want your blood.” Overcome with emotion, Mi Lu felt his temples throbbing. He held down HuLü Yan’s wounded wrist and retrieved a vial of medicinal powder from his pouch.

It was a precious powder from the Mi family, but Mi Lu used it liberally on HuLü Yan’s wound without a second thought.

Finally feeling pain, HuLü Yan reflexively tried to pull his injured hand back, but Mi Lu held on tight, continuing to pour on the powder.

Soon, the powder stopped the bleeding, and the wound visibly started to scab over.

The powder was valuable, but its effects couldn’t match the ointments made by the Medical Hall. To fully heal, HuLü Yan’s wound would still need time.

Mi Lu carefully wrapped HuLü Yan’s wrist with gauze.

Throughout the process, HuLü Yan remained silent, seemingly startled by Mi Lu’s fierce reaction, now looking at him like a chastened child.

Mi Lu glared at the blood on the ground, then back at HuLü Yan, feeling a surge of anger.

HuLü Yan grew more anxious as Mi Lu stayed silent, struggling to explain, “My blood can help speed up your cultivation.”

He hesitated, then added, “Back when I was imprisoned by the Medical Hall, they used my blood to increase spiritual energy.”

Mi Lu stared at HuLü Yan in silence.

Growing even more flustered, HuLü Yan took a step closer, gripping Mi Lu’s wrist with his uninjured hand, his urgency spilling over into his voice. “I’m giving it to you willingly.”

Mi Lu’s gaze fell on HuLü Yan’s trembling hand clutching his wrist. Their fingers had turned white from the pressure.

HuLü Yan’s hand was shaking.

With a soft sigh, Mi Lu looked over at a lotus bud by the pond. He pulled HuLü Yan over and crouched down, examining the bud closely.

Covered in mud, the small bud was tightly wrapped up, barely noticeable among the blooming lotuses. It looked more like a patch of dirty weeds.

Gently freeing his hand, Mi Lu reached out and peeled the mud from the bud.

The mud had encased it, but as he cleared it away bit by bit, the bud gradually unfurled, revealing layers of pink petals, soft white blending with delicate pink.

When Mi Lu had finally removed all the mud, the tiny bud had become a strikingly beautiful lotus bloom.

Pointing at the lotus, Mi Lu said to HuLü Yan, “Doesn’t it remind you of yourself?”

HuLü Yan looked at the lotus, his face confused.

“It wasn’t your choice to be buried in mud,” Mi Lu said, brushing his clean hand lightly over HuLü Yan’s gauze-wrapped wrist. “No matter what others say, don’t devalue yourself. You’re different from them. Others are like the mud—dirty and black beneath the surface—but you can bloom beautifully.”

Mi Lu lifted his hand, lightly squeezing HuLü Yan’s cheek. “Don’t do this again.”

HuLü Yan stood frozen, his thoughts blank.

In the blazing heat of Drunken City, sunlight blurred Mi Lu’s face, but HuLü Yan could still make out his moving lips.

Mi Lu had it wrong. He wasn’t a lotus, not a flower at all. He was just as dirty as the mud Mi Lu had mentioned.

Surrounded by endless darkness, where cruelty and deception were all he knew, he couldn’t escape, and he could only fight not to drown.

If Mi Lu peeled back his surface, he’d find nothing but blackness underneath.

Yet HuLü Yan was willing to change for Mi Lu. If Mi Lu wanted to peel away his mud, he would let himself pretend to be a lotus wrapped in grime.

As long as Mi Lu was there.

Hiding the dark tides in his heart behind his long lashes, HuLü Yan rubbed against Mi Lu’s palm and softly agreed, “Alright.”

Mi Lu found a teahouse to wash his hands. As they prepared to leave, they overheard a storyteller in a corner speaking angrily.

“The head courtesan of Manchun Garden, Lady Ru Liu, was once famous throughout Drunken City! They say she was as beautiful as a fairy, with men willing to spend millions just to see her. And yet, all you gossip about is her death, with no one caring about her life.”

“Oh, come on,” a bystander jeered, “all she had were a few romantic scandals. Who here hasn’t had that kind of fun?”

“Right? I just want to know how she died,” another man added. “I heard she was whipped to death and left on display. Why? What kind of grudge was that?”

Mi Lu turned to see a group of demonic cultivators chattering around an elderly storyteller. The old man, visibly annoyed, waved a hand. “If that’s all you want, I’ll stop talking.”

Realizing he might leave, they quickly surrounded him, urging him to continue.

“We heard she hid a monster and was killed because she wouldn’t hand him over. Is that true?”

Mi Lu glanced at HuLü Yan, seeing his tense expression harden with a bone-chilling coldness. HuLü Yan stepped forward, but a hand shot out to stop him. It was Wu De, his face blank, as he addressed HuLü Yan calmly, “It’s time; follow me.”

Radiating a deadly chill, HuLü Yan stood still, until Mi Lu’s hand slipped into his. Only then did HuLü Yan glance at Mi Lu, who motioned toward Wu De outside.

They followed him.

To Mi Lu’s surprise, Wu De led them behind the teahouse to a secluded courtyard. Apparently, it was connected to none other than the brothel they’d just heard mentioned—Manchun Garden.

Manchun Garden’s opulent exterior stood out even in this worn-down city, with neither bawds nor girls luring guests at the entrance, only a few patrons slipping in and out.

Wu De confidently led the way. Feeling awkward, Mi Lu and HuLü Yan trailed behind.

Inside, a thick aroma of makeup and perfume hung in the air, and two smiling girls swayed over, waving handkerchiefs. “Ooh, since when do we get monks in Manchun Garden?”

“What’s so special about monks? We get all sorts in Manchun Garden!”

Just then, the girls noticed HuLü Yan’s icy expression and recoiled slightly, choosing Mi Lu, who seemed friendlier. But the moment they reached out to touch him, HuLü Yan pulled him away, his arm protectively around Mi Lu’s waist, eyes flashing dangerously. “Touch him if you want to die.”

“…”

The two girls exchanged shocked glances, then turned to Wu De instead. But Wu De smoothly dodged their attempts to touch him, mumbling a soft “Amitabha.”

“Not here for fun? Then why are you here?”

Wu De calmly replied, “We have business to attend to.”

“What business could you possibly have in Manchun Garden?” snapped one of the girls. “If you’re here to cause trouble, I’ll have you kicked out!”

Her companion started to call for backup, but before she could, Wu De’s expression darkened as he swiftly knocked them both out. Fortunately, they’d reached a secluded corner, so no one noticed.

Wu De picked up his pace. “Let’s go!”

He seemed to know the place well, leading them quickly through a maze of corridors until they reached a secluded courtyard.

Dust hung thickly in the air, and Mi Lu coughed as he waved it away.

Suddenly, HuLü Yan froze, his gaze snapping to Wu De, his face contorting with anger as he demanded, “How do you know this place?”

He grabbed Wu De’s throat, his voice chillingly low. “Tell me. Now.”

Wu De gasped, struggling, his face turning purple. His hand flailed, fingers brushing against something in the air. The air around them warped, and in an instant, the courtyard transformed into an unfamiliar estate.