The little blind man's voice was very hoarse as he rested his forehead on Xie Shuci's shoulder and neck, displaying an attitude of endless dependence.

Xie Shuci slowed down his movements and gently wrapped his arms around Xie An's back.

"oh……"

He quite liked the feeling of being trusted by the little blind man, and sat quietly, letting him tighten his arms around him.

Perhaps Xie Shuci was overthinking things, but he noticed that Xie An's mood was a bit off, and ever since that night at Jingyu Mountain, he had always seemed listless.

Xie An's breathing gradually became even, and Xie Shuci also slowed his breathing, afraid of disturbing Xie An.

At the same time, he opened his mind and vaguely sensed someone approaching. He then winked at the king at his feet, and the little thing immediately understood and ran off on its four short legs.

Upon seeing that the person who came was Little Lian, it let out a "woof" and blocked her way.

Xiao Lian narrowed her eyes and stopped in her tracks. "Have you found the person?"

"Aww!"

Found it!

Seeing this, Xiao Lian squatted down, looked at the broken doors, and asked with a half-smile, "You did this, didn't you?"

"Huh?"

The king blinked innocently, stuck out his tongue in a cute way, and tilted his head.

What are you saying? Baby doesn't understand.

Xiao Lian grabbed its ear and said, "Don't play dumb with me. I know you're very clever."

"Huh?"

The baby doesn't understand.

"Playing dumb won't work. You have to pay compensation! My two lion beasts have never abandoned their posts before. Today, they both ran away while trying to save you. You and your master have to take responsibility."

"Aww!"

The baby is just a baby, they don't understand!

It barked twice, then seemed to remember something and gently touched Xiao Lian's hand with its paw.

What are you doing?

"Awooo!"

The king stretched his paw to his mouth, took a bite, pretended to bleed a lot, fell to the ground, spat twice on the ground to pretend it was fresh blood, and then looked at Xiao Lian with a puzzled expression.

Xiao Lian: "?"

What are you trying to say?

Seeing that she didn't understand, the king spat on the ground a few more times, then pretended to be dead and fell to the ground. After demonstrating this several times, Xiao Lian finally began to understand.

"You're vomiting blood. You'll die after you vomit blood?"

"Aww!" The king shook his head.

"You mean, what should I do if I lose too much blood?"

"Aww!" Yes!

Xiao Lian said, "If it's a cultivator, they will naturally recover with more rest."

Upon hearing this, the king nodded happily. "That's great! That human is so powerful, he'll recover on his own soon!"

Seeing its head shaking and swaying, Xiao Lian asked suspiciously, "Who lost too much blood?"

The king dog tilted its head, opening its innocent and lively eyes, "Aww?"

What are you saying? I don't understand.

Seeing its feigned ignorance, Xiao Lian laughed in exasperation, rolled her eyes, stood up, and guessed that since the dog was back, the other two should be alright too. She then turned around, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan, and slowly left.

The king scurried back into the room, used his head to brace the door shut, and then walked to Xie Shuci's feet, resting his head on Xie's instep, quietly watching the two of them.

Xie An slept on him for about half an hour, until half of Xie Shuci's body went numb, before he slowly woke up.

He lifted his head off Xie Shuci's shoulder, paused for a moment, and then realized that his hands were still wrapped around Xie Shuci's waist. He then let go.

"Awake?" Xie Shuci yawned and asked, twisting his sore and numb arm.

"……Um."

Xie Shuci twisted his arms, and the already wide collar slipped down to his shoulders with his movement. Xie An pursed his lips and subtly raised his hand to pull the collar back up.

Xie Shuci didn't pay much attention. Seeing Xie An's indifferent expression after waking up, a stark contrast to how he had cuddled him while sleeping not long ago, he couldn't help but tease, "Little blind man, from now on you..."

Stop making that face all the time, it'd be so much better if you just act cute a little.

Xie An was taken aback and looked at him in confusion, "?"

"Look at you, you were so cute just now, you fell asleep while holding me. You always say you like to hold me when I'm asleep, and you like it too, don't you?"

Xie An pursed his lips, giving an "I don't understand" look, and bent down to lift the king who was lying on the ground.

Xie Shuci shrugged dismissively.

"Are you injured?" Xie An asked.

Upon hearing this, the king was immediately moved to tears, "Aww..."

No! But that woman is so scary, Mommy, please avenge me!

Xie Shuci thought he was worried about the king, so he comforted him, "Don't worry, it's fine. It slept soundly in someone's arms."

The King: "..."

The baby is in a coma! In a coma!

Upon hearing this, Xie An nodded, "What a pity."

Your Majesty: "?"

Mother? Bah!

He'd love for the baby to get hurt and never come back, so he could have the baby all to himself! How despicable!

Xie Shuci couldn't help but chuckle. At least neither of them was seriously injured. But this incident made Xie Shuci realize that if someone really wanted to harm the little blind man and the king, Xie Shuci wouldn't be able to protect them at all. What should he do?

This world isn't a place where you can avoid trouble just by not causing it; constantly running away is clearly not going to work. But it's even more impossible to completely abandon fighting and killing; you need at least the ability to protect yourself.

For the next two days, Xie Shuci had nothing to do. He familiarized himself with the environment of Wanhua Tower and was also asked to perform a song in front of Xiaolian and the others.

Well... how to put it? Anyway, Xie Shuci felt pretty good about himself, Xiao Lian was ashen-faced after listening, Xiao Xianlan barely managed to encourage him a couple of times, but Luo Xianyu was nothing like the aloof girl in the legends. After listening, she covered her mouth and laughed for a long time, and finally coughed so hard that Xie Shuci almost thought his singing voice was so beautiful that it could kill.

However, Xie Shuci was quite relieved about one thing: even though Xiao Xianlan knew about Luo Xianyu's illness, she didn't seem to be greatly affected. Luo Xianyu also seemed to have put her mind at ease and looked much more cheerful than usual.

While Xie Shuci was getting used to his surroundings, Xie An spent almost all his time resting in his room, worried that something else might happen. The king stayed by his bedside every day without leaving him for a moment.

That evening, Xiao Lian decided to let him serve that difficult guest. Xie An, having recovered some of his strength, offered to go with him.

Xie Shuci, considering that he had been cooped up in his room for the past few days, agreed.

As soon as the little king stepped out, he ran off to play with the two lion beasts at the gate. Xie Shuci was initially a little worried, fearing that the same thing would happen again. But then the little king called over his boss, the golden-haired lion beast. The two beasts roared and howled, making promises to Xie Shuci. Xie Shuci got a headache from their howling and decided to let the little king go anyway.

After seeing the king off, Xie Shuci led Xie An out of the room.

Just as he was about to go find Xiao Lian, he turned around at the corner of the attic and saw the playboy from that day.

When Sikong Xin looked up and saw Xie Shuci, the two of them were also taken aback.

"You two..."

Xie Shuci immediately spotted the maid behind the playboy. If he had tried to take the little blind boy away while he was away that day, then the woman behind him must be the black-clad man who kidnapped the king.

"Was it you who deliberately lured me away that day?" Xie Shuci narrowed his eyes.

The woman looked up at him and said calmly, "Yes."

When she admitted it so openly, Xie Shuci almost spat out his mouthful of Chinese brocade. But considering that these two were from the Floating Pagoda Realm and he couldn't afford to offend them, he had no choice but to swallow his anger and put on a smile, though it was a smile that hid a knife.

“Young master, I have already heard the whole story from my Xie An. My brother is fortunate to have been appreciated by you. You can just say it openly and honestly. Why do you have to resort to such despicable means? Wouldn’t that tarnish your reputation if word got out?” Xie Shuci said through gritted teeth. If he could afford to offend this guy, he would have loved to give him a good dressing down.

Upon hearing this, Sikong Xin glanced at Xie An in surprise, Xie Shu

Upon noticing this, Ci immediately moved to the side, shielding Xie An behind him.

Seeing Xie An's indifferent expression, Sikong Xin gradually realized what was going on. Not only did he not want to oppose Xiao Xun, but he had also heard a little about this unknown alchemist beside him. Someone who could casually produce bronze medicine cauldrons and top-grade pills was a rare existence even in the Floating Pagoda Realm. Perhaps Xiao Xun's unfathomable cultivation was related to him. It was best not to offend him if possible.

“What you say makes sense, young master. I was rash. I will definitely repent and never use such shameless methods again. Your words today have really given me a wake-up call. Thank you, young master.”

The man spoke with such sincerity that he even clasped his hands in a respectful gesture and bowed to Xie Shuci.

Xie Shuci: "..."

Good grief, we misunderstood him? Is this guy really that easy to persuade?

Xie Shuci could make a big deal out of nothing. Seeing that the other party's attitude of admitting his mistake was sincere, he immediately changed his arrogant attitude. "It's good that you know you're wrong, but I understand you. When you like someone, it's normal to sometimes not be able to control yourself. A spoiled brat like you... ah no, I mean a rich kid like you who doesn't have to worry about food and clothing, you have too many beautiful girls around you. You don't know how to treat the person you really like. Of course, that's understandable."

Sikong Xin: "..."

He smirked. Okay, this guy's easy to manipulate. One compliment and he's on top of the world. No wonder he protects Xiao Xun like a little brat.

People like this are best suited to be pawns on someone else's chessboard, manipulated at will.

Thinking of this, his gaze toward Xie Shuci grew even more profound.

Xie Shuci recalled the look in his eyes from the attic and felt a chill run down her spine. She hesitated and said, "Um... I don't like men, you... please don't..."

Sikong Xin: "..."

Xie An stood behind Xie Shuci and slowly lifted his eyelids to glance at Sikong Xin.

The latter raised an eyebrow and said directly, "I have some important business to attend to, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The four passed each other in the corridor. After they had gone far away, Xie Shuci muttered, "He doesn't seem like a bad person, just a bit of a womanizer."

Xie An pursed his lips but didn't speak.

The two arrived outside Xiao Lian's room, where the man they had met before was also present.

The man nodded when he saw them and said, "Young Master Xie, let me explain so you can be mentally prepared."

"Explain what?"

The man said, "The guest you are to serve has a very mysterious identity and an unpredictable personality. He may make some unreasonable demands. Young Master Xie, you should try your best to satisfy him."

Xie Shuci nodded as if he understood, and asked, "What if it can't be satisfied?"

"Then find an excuse to leave, and try not to offend anyone if you can avoid it."

"Okay, I understand." Xie Shuci nodded.

"Then come with me," the man said.

Xie Shuci took a few steps with him, when the man suddenly turned around and looked at Xie An, who was following closely behind Xie Shuci, "This..."

Xie Shuci explained, "He wanted to go and see, and I was worried about leaving him alone."

The man hesitated, saying, "This is, after all, a place for entertainment. Young master, you should go back to your room and wait."

"No need," Xie An refused decisively.

Seeing this, the man could only look at Xiao Lian.

Xiao Lian glanced at Xie An and nodded: "Let him go."

Upon hearing this, the man had no choice but to take them with him.

As they walked with the man to a room, a male prostitute angrily pushed the door open and came out. He looked up and saw Xie Shuci and the other two.

The man frowned and asked, "What happened?"

The male prostitute, his eyes red, said, "He said I'm too ugly and not worthy to serve him drinks."

Xie Shuci looked at the male prostitute in surprise. In Wanhualou, whether male prostitutes or courtesans, they were all extremely handsome. The male prostitute in front of her was very delicate-looking and far from being "ugly". What kind of eyes do the customers in this place have?

After speaking, the male prostitute looked at Xie Shuci, "Are you a new male prostitute? Serving them, you...you..."

"You'd better watch yourself!"

The young man must have felt extremely wronged; he pushed past the group and ran away.

Seeing this, the man sighed and said, "He has kicked all the male prostitutes in our building out because they are too ugly, but he keeps asking new male prostitutes to serve him."

Xie Shuci asked curiously, "Is he very handsome? You think he's ugly?"

The man's expression immediately became complicated, and he seemed a little embarrassed to speak. "Well... anyway, go see for yourself."

"Oh." Xie Shuci nodded, pushed open the half-closed door, and went inside.

Three people were sitting at a low table in the room. Hearing the sound, one of the burly men turned around. His hopeful eyes fell instantly when he saw Xie Shuci's face, and he cursed, "Another ugly freak has come."

Xie Shuci was so angry that he gritted his teeth before he even stepped inside.

You're ugly! Your whole family is ugly!

He has lived for nineteen years and has never been told he is ugly by anyone!

Xie An followed Xie Shuci in. The burly man glanced at him, curled his lip, and was about to utter a curse when the man lying on the ground next to him raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head. "Liu Dazhuang, shut up!"

"Hey! My goodness, Brother Sikong, why did you hit me?" Liu Dazhuang asked, looking puzzled.

Sikong Xin gritted his teeth, almost breaking out in a cold sweat. He glanced in the direction of Xie Shuci and the other person, then immediately sat up straight, thinking that with Xiao Xun's vindictive nature, if you insulted him today, would we still be able to leave Wanhua Tower alive?

"Liu Dazhuang? What a fine name! Just hearing this name makes one think of your dashing figure. It truly lives up to your name," Xie Shuci said with a forced smile.

Upon hearing this, Liu Dazhuang chuckled and said, "You may not be the best-looking guy, but you have a way with words. I like it!"

Sikong Xin glanced at Xiao Xun's expression and thought to himself, "You'd better shut your mouth!"

Sikong Xin stood up from the ground, smiled broadly, and cupped his hands to Xie Shuci and the other man, saying, "Young master, we meet again."

Xie Shuci glanced at him, then pointed at Liu Dazhuang, "Your friend?"

"Yes, my friend... has never seen much of the world since he was a child, and he can't distinguish between beauty and ugliness. Please don't take offense, young master."

Xie Shuci was a little surprised. This person looked like a spoiled brat, so why was he being so respectful to him?

He didn't say anything, turned around, closed the door, and sat down with Xie An.

Another woman in purple in the room voluntarily gave up her seat and sat on the other side of Sikong Xin.

"This is my younger brother, Xie An. He's been bored in his room all day, so I brought him out for some fresh air."

Liu Dazhuang asked in surprise, "You're out here serving me with your family? Oh dear—"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sikong Xin kicked him from under the low table and gestured to him to shut up.

Liu Dazhuang was clearly a simpleton. After seeing his expression, he lowered his head and took a sip of wine in frustration. It was one thing not to talk about his ugliness, but now he couldn't even talk about his family? When did Brother Sikong become so easy to talk to?

Sikong Xin laughed and said, "It's alright, it'll be more lively with more people."

Liu Dazhuang curled his lip. Sikong Xin was a fox; who knew what he was up to?

Xie Shuci and the other person sat down at the table.

Liu Dazhuang glanced at them, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, leaned against the window, and didn't bother to look at them.

“It is fate that we meet. I am Sikong Xin, and this is Liu Yunhan. Friends call him Dazhuang.” Sikong Xin said, clasping his hands in greeting.

Xie Shuci paused for a moment upon hearing his name, then replied, "My name is Xie Shuci, and this is my younger brother, Xie An."

Sikong Xin glanced at Xie An.

"Your name is Sikong Xin? Do you know Sikong Ye?" Xie Shuci asked.

Sikong Ye, the silly protagonist in the original book, is obsessed with all sorts of novel things and spends his days traveling through various secret realms and dangerous paths. His favorite thing to do is to oppose Xiao Xun.

He didn't know how the two of them fell in love. When he abandoned the novel, they were still in a state of mutual dislike and confrontation.

To everyone's surprise, Xie An and Sikong Xin were both stunned by these words.

Alright.

Sikong Xin glanced at Xie An, who frowned and looked displeased.

Sikong Xin hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to tell the truth. But seeing that Xie An remained silent, he asked, "Brother Xie, do you know Sikong Ye?"

Xie Shuci said vaguely, "I wouldn't say I know him, but I know this person."

Sikong Xin nodded and told the truth: "To be honest, Sikong Ye is my twin brother."

"Sikong Ye is your twin brother?!" Xie Shuci's eyes widened in surprise.

Seeing his startled expression, Liu Dazhuang curled his lips in disgust. Ugly as he was, and so noisy too. How could an old fox like Brother Sikong treat someone like this?

Xie Shuci stared at Sikong Xin in shock. He hadn't looked closely enough at the time and only remembered the names of three or four key figures. He had no idea that Sikong Ye had a twin brother.

Xie Shuci's expression turned serious. He had a very bad feeling about this. Thinking about what had happened recently, Xie Shuci suddenly had a feeling that his encounter with the protagonist's twin brother here was not just a coincidence. There was an invisible hand pushing him closer to the plot of the original book. However, the original book did not describe Xiao Xun's disappearance for half a year in detail, so there was no basis for it.

However, looking back on everything that had happened to him, it seemed that none of them were so simple. Based on Xie Shuci's years of reading experience, he had now encountered the protagonist's younger brother, and soon he might encounter other characters from the original book. Eventually, he would still meet Xiao Xun, and he probably couldn't escape the fate of dying at his hands.

Even if he hasn't died yet in this timeline, the things he's encountered one after another probably prove that Xie Shuci hasn't escaped the consequences of the plot.

Depend on!

"Brother Xie?" Seeing Xie Shuci's unpleasant expression, Sikong Xin probed, "Has something happened between you and my brother?"

Xie Shuci shook his head, swallowed hard, and asked in a low voice, "Since you are Sikong Xin's younger brother, you should have met Xiao Xun, right?"

Upon hearing this, Sikong Xin frowned, glanced at Xie An discreetly, and said, "We've met once before."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dazhuang immediately became interested and stepped forward to ask, "My goodness, Brother Sikong, when did you meet Xiao Xun?"

Seeing that Sikong Xin did not answer, Liu Dazhuang continued to ask, "What does he look like? I heard them say that Xiao Xun is very handsome. Is he taller than me? His arms..." He measured the muscles in his arms, "Are his arms as thick as mine?"

Xie Shuci's lips twitched as he listened. Could it be that Liu Dazhuang was using him as the standard of beauty? If Xiao Xun was taller than him... and had thicker arms than him... that would be truly terrifying.

Sikong Xin couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

The girl in purple peeled a grape and held it to Sikong Xin's lips, scoffing, "Brother Liu, if that's the case, he wouldn't be a handsome man."

Although Xie Shuci disliked Xiao Xun's persona, he still trusted his appearance completely, so he pouted and said, "Brother Dazhuang, don't compare yourself to him. You're not the same kind of person as him."

After hearing his words, Xie An, who had been silent all along, spoke up calmly: "Then what kind of person do you think he is?"

After a moment's thought, Xie Shuci used eight words to perfectly summarize the Xiao Xun he imagined: "A beast in human clothing, a degenerate scoundrel."

"Pfft—cough cough!"

Before Sikong Xin could even chew a grape, he nearly choked to death by Xie Shuci's words.

He glanced in alarm at Xie An, who stood calmly beside Xie Shuci, and wondered whether he should protect the life of this alchemist if Xiao Xun became angry.

Protect him? You can't even protect yourself.

But the latter did not react after hearing this. He turned the teacup on the table with his finger and asked casually, "In your heart, is there not a single redeeming quality in him?"

Xie Shuci looked very serious and was about to say "No".

However, Sikong Xin had already seen through what he wanted to say and interrupted him before he could speak: "No, Brother Xie, you have never met that Young Master Xiao before, so it's not appropriate to make a judgment, is it?"

Sikong Xin chuckled dryly.

Liu Dazhuang interjected, "What's so hard to say about this? The cultivation world..."

"Never heard of him? My cousin, the really unruly seven-year-old, his dad still threatens him with that guy surnamed Xiao, saying if he misbehaves he'll be sent to Xiao and devoured alive. It's scared him half to death; he hasn't dared to come with me when I go out."

Sikong Xin clenched his teeth. At this moment, he realized that taking this big, dumb guy out with him was a huge miscalculation!

Xie An raised the corners of his lips in a half-smile, which sent a chill down Sikong Xin's spine.

Sikong Xin forced a smile and said, "You mustn't just listen to hearsay. We heard about Young Master Xiao's affairs from other people, and it's hard to tell if they're true or false. We'd better be cautious."

Liu Dazhuang looked at him in surprise and said, "Brother Sikong, didn't you say just a couple of days ago that you were going to capture Xiao Xun and give him to the Xiaoyao Sect as a favor after you came out of the Floating Pagoda Realm?"

"Shut up!" Sikong Xin broke out in a cold sweat.

Although he enjoyed courting death, he didn't truly want to die. His thoughts a couple of days ago stemmed from those scoundrels from the Xiaoyao Sect claiming Xiao Xun had suffered a qi deviation and was on the verge of death. Now, seeing that Xiao Xun's soul and body had indeed separated, and his physical body and spiritual meridians were completely severed, the claim of being on the verge of death was false! Cultivation emphasizes the soul, not the body. He had indeed suffered a qi deviation, but his soul remained completely undamaged, and his cultivation had even improved considerably!

Strangely enough, while demonic possession usually affects the soul, Xiao Xun's soul showed no signs of damage.

Xie Shuci sighed and said, "Brother Sikong, you still have to believe in the superstitions that you should believe in, but it's understandable that you spoke up for him, after all..."

Sikong Xin asked in confusion, "After all what?"

"After all, you twins should have similar preferences."

Sikong Xin: "?"

At this moment, Xie An, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke:

"Xie Shuci, if you had the chance, would you kill him?"