Chapter Fifty-Seven: "I love Master the most!"

"Master."

With a soft call, Ye Chi came to the tree and looked up at the figure among the branches. Ya Feiyu didn't answer, so he climbed up the trunk. His training over the past few days had paid off; climbing trees was no longer difficult. Ya Feiyu was lying quite high up, and Ye Chi, using the branches to climb up, realized that Ya Feiyu had fallen asleep against the tree. Looking at that peaceful sleeping face, Ya Feiyu's relaxed expression seemed much gentler than when he was awake. Ye Chi was slightly lost in thought when a night breeze blew by, bringing a slight chill that seeped into his skin.

He was so engrossed in watching that he didn't notice when Ya Feiyu opened her eyes. Her silver eyes were filled with moonlight, and from this angle, her gaze wasn't particularly cold. Her long, snow-white eyelashes trembled gently. Ya Feiyu spoke slowly, her voice still sleepy, the ending tone less sharp than usual, sounding somewhat soft: "Why are you climbing a tree in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Do you have too much energy? Double the training tomorrow."

Ye Chi instantly became dejected and let out a wail: "Master, please don't be like this—"

Ya Feiyu remained unmoved, his heart cold. He shifted his posture, sitting upright against the tree, his long legs, which had been stretched out in relaxation, now bent—a relaxed stance rarely seen on Ya Feiyu. He glanced at him indifferently, still seemingly annoyed at being woken up, but his tone softened slightly as he asked, "Couldn't sleep?"

An outsider might not have noticed, but this was Ye Chi present. How could he miss the subtle concern in Ya Feiyu's words? This was practically offering a way out; refusing it would be ungrateful. Ye Chi immediately nodded, then exaggeratedly said, "Disciple had a terrifying nightmare, and can't sleep..."

Sigh. Ya Feiyu sighed silently. He really wasn't good at dealing with these sincere people, regardless of age. He gestured for Ye Chi to sit with him. This spot faced the direction the wind was blowing, and Ye Chi felt cold as soon as he sat down, a bone-chilling cold that made him shiver. He looked up and saw that Ya Feiyu was still sitting upright, seemingly not feeling the cold at all, or perhaps... he had already gotten used to it?

"If you can't sleep, then practice your cultivation."

Ye Chi couldn't help but twitch his lips, thinking to himself that Ya Feiyu really knew how to make use of time. On the surface, she was all obedient, and in her dark eyes, she seemed to have a pitiful look: "Master, your disciple is very tired."

This is obviously an implication that Ya Feiyu doesn't want to continue trying.

Ya Feiyu remained silent for a moment, his silver-gray eyes lowered, as if he were lost in thought.

After a long while, he blinked slowly. From Ye Chi's perspective, Ya Feiyu, who was always aloof and indifferent, seemed to show a hint of confusion, which reminded Ye Chi of the kitten he used to feed when he was in elementary school. It was a stray cat that was malnourished and small. It was always wary of people, but it would fawn over him. If you just touched its head, it would show its soft belly.

"...So what do you want to do?"

In this era, there are no mobile phones or computers for entertainment, and most people go to sleep as soon as night falls. For cultivators, if they don't sleep, they can meditate and cultivate. Ya Feiyu had lived like this for a while and couldn't think of any other nighttime activities besides sleeping and meditating, so she didn't understand what Ye Chi was trying to do.

As a purebred modern person, even after transmigrating to ancient times, Ye Chi wouldn't miss any opportunity to steal a moment of leisure. Since he couldn't sleep anyway and didn't feel like meditating, after thinking it over, he said, "How about I chat with my master?"

Ya Feiyu fell silent: "..."

His brow twitched violently, and he raised his hand to rub his temples, veins throbbing on his forehead: "If you really have nothing better to do, then say so."

Ye Chi blinked innocently and said, "But I really can't sleep, Master..."

Ya Feiyu didn't want to talk to him anymore. She turned over and pretended to continue sleeping. Ye Chi pouted. He could see his master's rejection and unwillingness. He was really bored. There was no fun in meditation and he couldn't sleep. What else could he do besides bothering Ya Feiyu?

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but feel that his life was truly miserable—he had been reduced to only being able to amuse the villains.

Ye Chi sighed again. In the modern world, he would never go to sleep before midnight, so naturally he wasn't sleepy now. He had been able to sleep well recently because he was overworked during the day and naturally tired at night. But after a period of grueling training, his body had somehow gotten used to that intensity. Perhaps, as Ya Feiyu said, he should increase the difficulty of his training.

How pathetic. I never imagined he would choose to work himself to death just so he could fall asleep. Ye Chi sighed helplessly.

Ya Feiyu wasn't asleep at all. He had merely turned to his side, not even bothering to pretend. His silver eyes blinked gently, seemingly gazing towards the moon, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on Ye Chi, never leaving his side. Seeing his bored and weary appearance, Ya Feiyu finally softened. He propped himself up on a branch and sat up, his clear, cold voice blending into the night: "Do you know the legend of the Blood Moon?"

Is this going to be a bedtime story? Ye Chi blinked. "Never heard of it. What is it?"

"Legend has it that in the beginning of chaos, the world was divided into three kingdoms, and the three realms of gods, demons, and monsters fought each other to decide the victor."

Ya Feiyu spoke slowly, his voice clear and strong. When he told those stories of the mortal world in a deliberately soft tone, it really did have the feel of a bedtime story.

"Suddenly one day, a golden light swept away the murky world, and all living beings who had been shrouded in clouds and mist all day long were finally able to see the moon and the sun."

"The sky at that time was blood-red."

"A blood-red sky?" Ye Chi listened with great interest and couldn't help but ask in return.

"Later, in the war between the three realms, the demon and god realms joined forces and repelled the invading demons. The war between gods and demons ended in victory, and the god realm was able to divide the land at that time."

"But as time went on, some people in the demon race became unhappy."

Ye Chi nodded in agreement: "The God Realm has divided up most of the land, but all the demons can only gather in one small place, which will definitely cause dissatisfaction."

"The demon race and the god race have launched another war, and this time, the demon race has won."

"The gods did not want their land to be swallowed up by the demons, so the human race was born to live on this land in place of the gods."

"Humans, with the appearance of gods, the desires of demons, and the talents of monsters, quickly developed on this land and formed a situation of mutual resistance with the monsters, which has been maintained for thousands of years."

Ya Feiyu reached out as if trying to grasp something, and an almost transparent silver butterfly landed in his palm, its fragile wings trembling gently.

"Humans are greedy. They slaughtered demons, occupied land and became kings. Gradually, this aroused the dissatisfaction of the gods in the sky. They sent down divine punishment to punish these insatiable first humans. For hundreds of years afterward, the moon was the color of blood."

“The blood-red sky and moon are symbols of divine punishment,” Ya Feiyu said, then withdrew his hand, and the silver butterfly quietly flew away.

Ye Chi seemed to have thought of something and was about to ask a question when he heard Ya Feiyu say, "This is a story that my parents often told me when I was a child in my previous life. However, legends are just legends. There are many reasons for the formation of the blood moon, and divine punishment is only a negligible part of it."

He lowered his long eyelashes, his voice almost a soliloquy: "...Besides, so much time has passed, the gods have long since vanished, so where is the divine punishment from?"

Ye Chi's lips twitched involuntarily, thinking to himself, "The bedtime stories of the Tianyu Clan are quite hardcore."

He remained silent, and a profound stillness enveloped the surroundings. The place Ya Feiyu had chosen was truly remote; at night, not even the chirping of insects or the calls of birds could be heard—it was eerily quiet. Suddenly, he heard Ya Feiyu speak again, his voice soft, like a gentle breeze. He didn't quite catch it at first, but looked up and instinctively asked, "What did Master just say?"

After a long silence, Ya Feiyu said, "I'm saying, you know my true identity, and you won't... reject me?"

"How could that be?" Ye Chi was surprised that Ya Feiyu still cared about these things. He asked, "How could my disciple reject Master?"

Ya Feiyu was stunned for a moment, the words stuck in his throat, and he suddenly couldn't say them.

How should he answer Ye Chi? Of the stories he had just told, the part about the Blood Moon was hard to verify because it was too long ago. However, the grudges between the demon race and the human race were very real. Even today, millions of years later, the relationship between humans and demons is still bad. Humans hate demons, just like when they first met Shi Bai, and they slandered him in every way. Demons also reject humans. If a human is caught trespassing in the demon realm, he will be imprisoned.

Which disciple could easily accept the fact that their master was not of human blood? Phoenix's heart had been removed, but the blood flowing in Ya Feiyu's body was not human. He was ultimately a demon, so there was bound to be a barrier between them, and they were destined not to get along like ordinary master and disciple.

At first, Ya Feiyu was afraid that Ye Chi had developed a sense of rejection towards him, and for a period of time after his return, he almost avoided Ye Chi. It wasn't until he realized that his disciple's attitude towards him was the same as always that he felt a little relieved. However, he found it difficult to completely forget about this incident, and in fact, he cared about it even more than his disciple did.

Seeing his hesitant expression, Ye Chi couldn't help but laugh and cry: "If Master hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about Master's identity."

He slowly approached, his dark eyes gleaming. Ya Feiyu was momentarily stunned. He said, "Master is my only master. I used to be a beggar. If it weren't for Master's appreciation, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. I should be grateful to Master. How could I possibly reject Master because of that?"

"Master is only different from me by blood, but I really like Master's personality!"

Like the resounding toll of a bell, Ya Feiyu's heart suddenly trembled.