Chapter 21: Fluttering Hearts - Young Couple, Don't Give Each Other the Cold Shoulder, Don't Let It End in a Breakup
In a vague sense, Mingjian understood many things.
Why would Xiao Bumian suppress his cultivation to the seventh level of Qi Refining just to enter this secret realm? With his cultivation level, it's impossible that he didn't notice Song Yao's problem, and from what he said, it's clear that he was aware of it.
Previously, because of the system, Mingjian always thought that Xiao Bumian was a love-obsessed person who only knew about romance.
But if we disregard the premise that Xiao Bumian is in love with him, it seems that Xiao Bumian is searching for something. He just happens to need these kinds of people.
"Junior brother, wake up."
Mingjian's head was still a little dizzy. Something gently brushed against the tip of his nose. He frowned and opened his eyes groggily.
There was a foxtail grass, which Xiao Bumian was holding between his fingers and scratching his cheek casually.
"woke up?"
Xiao Bumian looked down at him, a half-smile playing on her lips. Morning light streamed through the cracks in the window, illuminating his handsome features.
Mingjian blinked, thinking he was hallucinating.
No, why did he dream about Xiao Bumian again?
Mingjian closed his eyes peacefully again.
Xiao Bumian smiled slightly and said softly, "Junior Brother, you're awake. This isn't a dream."
Mingjian: "..."
He would rather it be a dream.
He hasn't fully thought it through yet, and he's afraid that if he sees Xiao Bumian, he won't be able to resist rushing up and biting him.
In the end, he succumbed to the vast difference in their cultivation levels.
Simply put, don't easily antagonize a madman.
Mingjian pretended to have just woken up, rubbing his eyes, "Xie Hanwei? How did we get here?"
Mingjian opened his eyes and looked around. What came into view was an antique carved bed with brocade curtains hanging low. The furnishings in the room were also very luxurious. On a sandalwood table sat a white jade incense burner, with wisps of smoke rising and carrying the elegant fragrance of pine and bamboo.
He remembered that they should still be in the merman ruins.
“Hmm,” Xiao Bumian put the foxtail grass in his hand aside, rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment and said, “This is an illusion.”
Mingjian was taken aback, recalling what Guzhi had said before, "Is this the ruins of the merfolk from a thousand years ago?"
Xiao Bumian nodded. "Mm."
Before entering this illusion, Mingjian saw not only countless shattered mirror spaces, but also...
He pursed his lips, certain that Xiao Bumian knew far more than he had imagined. Perhaps all of this was within his expectations. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Where did those mermaid eggs in Song Yao's wound come from?"
Xiao Bumian chuckled softly, her tone gentle, "You should know that."
Mingjian recalled the scene he had inadvertently glimpsed before he fell unconscious; he seemed to vaguely see human faces and fish scales on those trees. His scalp tingled, and his face turned deathly pale. "Could it be those trees?" he said.
"Junior Brother is indeed very clever." Xiao Bumian smiled, observing the changes in Mingjian's face with great interest.
That's really interesting.
Mingjian's mind flashed rapidly through the scene of him sleeping against the tree trunk, and the faint fishy smell that he could always faintly smell.
He suddenly sat up and sprayed himself with several cleaning spells. Then, utterly dejected, he slumped back onto the bed. "I'm not clean anymore, I need a shower."
Even though she used a cleaning technique, Mingjian still felt a lingering stickiness about him.
"Then why don't you go take a bath first, junior brother?" Xiao Bumian smiled, her eyes crinkling.
After Xiao Bumian left, Mingjian realized that he didn't even know where he was.
...It can only be said that Xiao Bumian was too much of a distraction from his thinking.
Fortunately, not long after, light footsteps were heard outside the door, and several mermaid maids filed in carrying bathing utensils.
These maids wore light, thin silk gauze, their hair curling like seaweed, swaying gently as they moved, as if floating in water. Their long, slender fishtails were covered with shimmering scales that reflected light in the water.
"Please take a bath, young man."
The lead mermaid maid bowed respectfully, her ear fins trembling slightly, and then withdrew.
By the time Mingjian finished washing up and changed into a clean set of sect robes, half an hour had passed. Mingjian looked down and sniffed himself; there was no longer any fishy smell, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He pushed open the door and calmly surveyed his surroundings.
The courtyard is deep and secluded, with coral bonsai adorning the rockery and flowing water. The corridor meanders, and two or three maids carrying trays move among them. Red lanterns hanging below sway gently in the wind, illuminating the entire courtyard with a festive atmosphere, as if some joyous occasion is about to take place.
He pondered to himself, not seeing Xiao Bumian, and not in a hurry to look for him.
Instead, he asked a maid to gather information.
"Have you seen the cultivator who came with me?" Mingjian asked.
The maid was taken aback at first, but she still had a deep impression of Mingjian and Xiao Bumian, and said, "Young master, that gentleman seems to have gone in that direction."
After the maid finished speaking, she pointed in one direction.
After Ming finished thanking her, he saw that the maid had lowered her guard and asked her a few more questions.
It wasn't until another maid came to call her that she hurriedly said goodbye to Mingjian, "Young master, I still need to get the wedding clothes for my prince, so I'll take my leave now."
Ming smiled and thanked her.
From the maid's words, Mingjian roughly learned that this place must be the secret realm of the merfolk from a thousand years ago. He and Xiao Bumian are currently in the princess's residence in the merfolk palace. Princess Rong Yunzhi, the only daughter of the merfolk king, Princess Yunyue, is about to get married, but recently, a number of brides have disappeared in the merfolk capital.
Just in case, the Mermaid King specially hired dozens of exorcists to protect Princess Yunyue until the wedding ceremony ended.
Mingjian and Xiao Bumian were among these demon hunters.
Although it sounds exaggerated, Princess Yunyue was not only the daughter of the Merfolk King in his old age, but it is also said that when Princess Yunyue was born, the sun and moon shone together, and the divine tree of the Merfolk clan bloomed all over the branches overnight. A disciple of the Yanling Sect who was passing by the sea used a star chart to deduce that this was an auspicious omen.
The Merman King therefore favored this daughter, pampering her with a life of luxury from a young age.
Her brothers also doted on her, and would take their youngest sister with them wherever they went.
Furthermore, Princess Yunyue possesses extraordinary talent in cultivation. Ordinary merfolk struggle to break through the Nascent Soul stage throughout their entire lives and are unable to advance any further. However, Rong Yunzhi is the only merfolk to reach the Nascent Soul stage within a hundred years and the Mahayana stage at two hundred years old.
Therefore, Rong Yunzhi was revered by the merfolk in this sea area. Every full moon night, all the deep-sea races would spontaneously pray for this princess.
Mingjian seemed to be deep in thought, wondering what Xiao Bumian's purpose was.
Judging from the maid's words, there are dozens of demon exorcists here. Besides them, there must be disciples from other sects, and Xie Linzhao may also be among them.
So what he saw at the time was not an illusion. They did not see any other creatures besides themselves in the cold pool, which must have been separated into several small worlds by some kind of formation in this merman ruins.
What Xiao Bumian was waiting for was for all the small worlds to merge together, and for everyone to return to the past.
What is Xiao Bumian seeking?
A supreme treasure of unparalleled quality.
Mingjian suddenly stopped, and the maid had just mentioned that Princess Yunyue's cultivation level was Mahayana, which meant that there were no cultivation level restrictions in this past world. However, when entering the secret realm of Yunlai Immortal Mansion, only cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage could enter. Xiao Bumian had suppressed his cultivation level to the seventh level of Qi Refining in order to successfully enter the secret realm.
After entering the secret realm, he can wait for the right opportunity to return to the present. In this way, he will no longer be limited by his cultivation level. As long as there are no restrictions, no one in this secret realm can stop him.
When Xiao Bumian returned from outside, he saw Mingjian sitting on the steps outside the house. He blinked, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyelids. "What are you doing sitting here?"
Mingjian looked up at him and realized for the first time that he truly couldn't understand this yandere.
If it were written as in the original novel, Xiao Bumian should be a character who is deeply in love but cannot be with the one he desires.
He believed it too, but now he discovered that Xiao Bumian wasn't actually as love-obsessed as the system claimed; in fact, he knew perfectly well what he wanted.
The system explained somewhat anxiously: [Host, this doesn't make sense. With Xiao Bumian's cultivation level, why would he need to travel with you? Couples shouldn't have a falling out or argue.]
Mingjian didn't want to pay any attention to it right now, letting it wail in his mind. His head was throbbing, but he arched his eyebrows and lied without batting an eye: "Looking at the scenery."
Xiao Bumian stared at Mingjian for a while, the slight curve of her lips gradually smoothing out, and she asked softly, "Is that so?"
But why does your smile look so fake?
This was the first time the little good-for-nothing had given him a perfunctory response.
He was only gone for half a day.
“Yes.” Mingjian nodded and looked at Xiao Bumian.
After a while, Mingjian finally gave in, got up, stretched, pretended nothing had happened, and said with a grin, "I'm sleepy, I'm going to go back inside and sleep for a while."
After saying that, he pushed open the door and went in, leaving Xiao Bumian outside.
Listening to Mingjian's footsteps fading into the distance, Xiao Bumian remained silent for a long time. The moonlight slanted, casting his shadow long and thin on the ground, before he turned and left.
As they rounded the corner, a little mermaid from some palace, not looking where she was going, bumped into Xiao Bumian's arms.
He wasn't angry. Instead, he squatted down and kindly took out a bright red spiritual fruit from his sleeve. The fresh fruit skin was still covered with dew. He handed it to him, saying, "My cat won't eat it. You can have it."
The little mermaid was taken aback, then took the fruit from his hand.
Xiao Bumian smiled, his face as handsome as jade, and walked past the little mermaid.
“By the way,” Xiao Bumian suddenly stopped after taking a few steps and asked, “Do you know where in this palace I can check if there are any injuries to my meridians?”
He felt suffocated; waiting until he emerged from the merman ruins to go to Medicine King Valley would be too slow.
Before the little mermaid could react, just as she was about to reply, she heard Xiao Bumian chuckle, "Never mind."
They continued walking forward.
Mingjian slept in a daze all night and had some messy dreams.
He was feeling a bit weak, and only after taking a stimulant pill from the bottle did he feel much more awake.
It's all Xiao Bumian's fault. If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have had so many dreams, which kept him up all night.
However, after that one night, Mingjian was full of energy again.
So what if she discovered Xiao Bumian's true nature? It's not a big deal. Besides, this way, Mingjian can be more at ease when pursuing her. If Xiao Bumian really loved her that much, Mingjian would have a heavy psychological burden.
That's great, everyone's happy now.
"Are you awake?" Xiao Bumian's voice came from outside the door.
Seeing that he had already adjusted his mindset, Ming pushed open the door halfway and peeked out from the crack, asking, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Bumian paused, then smiled and said, "Hmm, it seems someone has died."
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