Chapter 43 "How about we go to the ends of the earth together?"

"No wonder the Golden Lotus Tree withered prematurely." Ye Chi stared blankly at the huge hole at the base of the tree. The smell of rust emanating from it was so strong that it was almost pungent and somewhat unbearable. However, after his trip to the Linglong Pavilion, this shock was nothing to Ye Chi. He pinched his nose and frowned. "But... why is there demonic energy here?"

"..."

Ya Feiyu seemed to have thought of something, but remained silent, her eyelashes slightly lowered.

The Golden Lotus Tree in the original novel isn't described much; it's simply mentioned briefly as a major feature of the Sea Palace, and there's no event of it withering. The protagonist's journey is smooth sailing, except for some difficulty entering the Sea Palace. Ultimately, it's a mindless, wish-fulfillment story, prioritizing enjoyment.

Why did he encounter so many problems after transmigrating into this world?!

Ye Chi covered his face with his hands, screaming in despair.

Ya Feiyu rested his hand on his chin, gently stroking it—a habitual gesture when he was deep in thought. His brows furrowed slightly, his cold, moon-like eyes fixed intently on the branches of the golden lotus tree. Suddenly, a glint flashed in his eyes, and the world before him seemed to be swept away by a blinding light. His legs went weak for a moment, and he collapsed to his knees, beads of sweat wetting his hair. He covered his lips and coughed twice, muffledly, "Cough, cough cough..."

"Master!" Ye Chi's pupils shrank, and he rushed over without looking back, half-squatting beside him. "What's wrong?!"

Ya Feiyu, pale-faced and panting, said, "It's nothing..."

...It's not like everything is completely fine.

The peace and quiet he had been in for so long almost made him forget the existence of the Blood Jade Demon Pearl. As a result, his first reaction to the demonic energy was not to run away, but to use his spiritual power without any defense. This undoubtedly gave the demonic energy an opportunity to take advantage of his vulnerability.

He was careless...

In fact, it wasn't just the discomfort caused by the restlessness of the Blood Jade Demon Pearl that caused him discomfort. A stranger and unfamiliar feeling was flowing through his body. Ya Feiyu couldn't describe it, but it was a cold current that almost froze his bones and blood. He felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen, as if something was about to break through the shackles and surge out of his body, but Ya Feiyu couldn't say what it was.

...It feels so bad.

At a time like this, he wouldn't show weakness. Ya Feiyu gritted his teeth. Ye Chi was still by his side, and their current situation was far from safe. Rather than exposing his current vulnerability and causing others to worry, he might as well hold on a little longer. Anyway... they were about to get out.

He gritted his teeth and, with Ye Chi's help, stood up. His legs were still weak and trembling slightly, but thankfully they were covered by his robe, so Ye Chi probably couldn't see them. Ya Feiyu leaned on his shoulder, exhaled, and managed to muster some strength: "First... get out."

"Okay." Ye Chi nodded immediately without hesitation.

Although Ya Feiyu tried his best to act as if nothing was wrong, Ye Chi was neither stupid nor blind. If he couldn't see that something was off about Ya Feiyu, he wouldn't call himself his disciple. Now, seeing that Ya Feiyu's reaction was a bit excessive, Ye Chi couldn't care less about anything else for the moment. All he could think about was getting him out of there first, and then dealing with the rest later.

He helped Ya Feiyu out of the main hall. As soon as they stepped out, the heavy doors seemed to have a mind of their own and closed tightly. Not much of the demonic energy inside had escaped. Ya Feiyu glanced at them and breathed a sigh of relief. After taking only a few steps, he collapsed and sat down under a tree not far away, completely exhausted.

Ye Chi half-squatted beside him, seeing Ya Feiyu's exhausted face. He silently recited "don't look at what you shouldn't" a few times, then reached out to unbutton Ya Feiyu's clothes, fetched a large banana leaf, and gently fanned him. The cool breeze lessened the ringing in his ears considerably. He slowly exhaled, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and sure enough, he couldn't hide his disheveled state.

"Master, how are you feeling?" Seeing that his complexion had improved, Ye Chi hurriedly asked, "Is there anything that's bothering you?"

"...It's alright." He was really alright now. Although he was still a little dizzy and his vision was still a bit blurry, he was much better than he had been in a daze just now. But Ye Chi, who had been fooled once, obviously wouldn't believe him again. He said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Master, I've offended you."

Ya Feiyu: "...?"

Before his usually sluggish brain could react, he felt a powerful force suddenly pull him up from the ground. In a dizzying moment, he was already on Ye Chi's back. Ye Chi weighed him a few times; Ya Feiyu looked tall, but his weight was even somewhat light for an adult man, especially considering his height. Ya Feiyu frowned slightly, grabbing Ye Chi's shoulders with both hands, wondering how this much younger junior had managed to lift him: "What are you doing?"

"Disciple, take your master to a safe place to rest first." With that, Ye Chi carried him on his back without allowing him to resist. Although Ya Feiyu was eager to find out the strangeness of the Golden Lotus Tree, his current physical condition was really not suitable for him to go there. It was secondary for him to get into trouble. The most important thing was that he could not let the entire Sea Palace perish because of his mistake.

He wanted to say something, but after figuring out the key point, he shut his mouth.

They remained silent the whole way. Ye Chi came to his senses and realized that his actions might have been somewhat offensive. He cautiously glanced to the side to observe Ya Feiyu's expression, but the latter did not react at all, his expression remaining indifferent throughout. He sensed Ye Chi's subtle movements, looked down, and the two met eyes.

Ye Chi felt inexplicably guilty and looked away.

He didn't know where to go—to be honest, Ya Feiyu had been leading the way the whole way, while he had been mostly in a daze. He managed to turn at a few intersections correctly, but suddenly he stumbled into a thick fog. Everything was white before his eyes. He remembered that in many fictional works, fog was usually associated with the unknown and danger, and thinking this, he dared not stray too far from Ya Feiyu. He put him down from his back, took his hand, and said, "Master, this place seems... very strange."

Ya Feiyu's silver eyes seemed to glow in the fog. Ye Chi looked over and vaguely felt that something about him was different.

But in the blink of an eye, Ya Feiyu is still Ya Feiyu, with the same familiar temperament and face.

...Where does this momentary sense of incongruity come from?

“I…” Ya Feiyu paused, “I feel fine.”

"fine?"

Ye Chi knew perfectly well that Ya Feiyu was always extremely vigilant, and he would never make such a joke in an inappropriate situation—no, Ya Feiyu would never make such a joke to tease others, that was probably true, but why?

"I feel mostly at ease here."

Ya Feiyu's voice gradually faded. He closed his eyes slightly and didn't even notice Ye Chi's location for a moment. He walked forward on his own. Ye Chi came back to his senses and quickly followed. The more Ya Feiyu acted like this, the stronger his sense of foreboding became.

Just as Ya Feiyu was very alert, Ye Chi's intuition was also quite good. In modern times, he was always jokingly called an "intuitive animal" by his classmates. He had created many things based on his intuition, such as "the test questions were all the ones he had memorized" and "he had a bad feeling the moment he went out and immediately went home, only to find out the next day that a car accident had happened at the intersection near his house". For him, these were not even accidental events, but daily tasks in the game, things he experienced every day, which were already commonplace.

Therefore, he also had unwavering faith in his intuition.

His intuition told him that this place was dangerous.

Despite the harmless fog surrounding him, which even Ya Feiyu himself confirmed as "reassuring," a strong sense of unease lingered in his heart, making him tread carefully with every step, glancing around cautiously, yet unwilling to stray too far from Ya Feiyu.

"Master, Master! Shall we go back?"

Seeing that he was falling behind, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Ya Feiyu seemed to pause slightly as he turned to look at him. His silvery eyes, shrouded in thick fog, were like a beacon illuminating the small patch of land before him, inexplicably stirring a sense of unease in Ye Chi. Ye Chi swallowed hard. He realized he couldn't control his steps. Even though every cell in his body was telling him to turn back and not linger, he still took a step forward, approaching Ya Feiyu, drawing closer to his beacon.

"...Master." He seemed to gradually feel more at ease here. He automatically shut down his five senses, his rapid heartbeat slowly calmed down, and his gaze became unfocused. He tugged at Ya Feiyu's sleeve, "Where are you going?"

"I...don't know either," Ya Feiyu said softly. "How about we go to the ends of the earth together?"

Ye Chi smiled slightly: "Alright, I'll listen to Master."

...

He seemed to be walking on clouds.

Maybe, he wasn't sure. But he felt light and weak all over, and his feet felt so light on the ground that he felt like he could fly.

Strange, what was he doing before...?

Ya Feiyu blinked. A piece of memory in his mind was locked away. He couldn't remember it. Forcing himself to recall it only made his head throb. He simply couldn't muster his vigilance. His brain tried to regain its strength, but his body had already succumbed to this soft mist. He slowly reached out his hand, stretching forward, trying to grasp a fleeting glimmer of white light, but the light slipped through his fingers and mercilessly disappeared.

He paused for a moment, then quickened his pace, as if desperately trying to grasp that hard-won light, as if if he could grasp it, his world would become bright again.

The surroundings gradually darkened, and as he ran, they were gradually soaked in ink.

The last bit of white disappeared, and the light faded away with it.

Ya Feiyu stopped in his tracks, looking around helplessly.

He looked down and saw that his hands seemed to be covered with newly grown short feathers.