Wuwangyuan-2
After hesitating for a long time, Ji Wang couldn't help but ask, "Just how powerful is that 'Lord'?"
Bu Jiu's voice was so soft it sounded like a sigh: "So powerful that even when the top leaders of the righteous path joined forces and set up what was called a flawless formation, with all their elites deployed and even with the help of Daoist Yun Shen... they couldn't stop it in the slightest."
As the words fell, only the faint crackling of firewood remained in the cave. These few words painted a picture of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, of the utter devastation of the Daoist tradition.
Ji Wang's hand, which was holding the pancake, froze in mid-air, and even his breathing became labored.
He knew the enemy was powerful, but he never imagined it would be so devastating. It was an existence that even the combined power of almost all the righteous forces at the time, plus the equally brilliant Daoist Yun Shen, could not shake.
And he... was just a greenhorn, someone whose memories hadn't even fully awakened yet. Just now he had the audacity to say, "Wait until I become stronger."
A sudden chill and a stark contrast swept over him, and Ji Wang's hand, which was holding the pancake, fell limply to his side, his fingertips icy cold. His youthful spirit, like a spark doused with cold water, dimmed instantly.
"I believe you." Bu Jiu's voice suddenly rang out, even a little muffled because he still had food in his mouth.
Ji Wang looked at him in astonishment, even thinking he had misheard.
Bu Jiu swallowed the food in his mouth and repeated, "I said, I believe you."
Ji Wang was completely stunned. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
Bu Jiu looked at Ji Wang's slightly curled fingers. As if to comfort him, he grasped the trembling hand, lowered his head slightly, and brought his lips to it, breathing on it: "Why is it so cold?"
He didn't let go immediately, but instead, in that position, he gently rubbed Ji Wang's cold knuckles with his fingertips, as if trying to infuse them with warmth: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Ji Wang felt the warmth travel up his veins to his face, making him dizzy. Instinctively, he shifted his body, moving even closer to Bu Jiu.
“…Hmm.” He finally found his voice, dry, hoarse, and almost off-key. He cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound normal. “Thank you.”
Seeing that Ji Wang was still hesitant, Bu Jiu changed the subject: "This place is teeming with monsters at night, and the atmosphere is chaotic. Let's rest first and conserve our energy. We'll go further in tomorrow at dawn."
Ji Wang immediately said, "Then I'll keep watch."
"I'll do it. This stone floor is too hard, it's uncomfortable, I can't sleep." Bu Jiu refused, but the reason sounded like a random fabrication.
Upon hearing this, Ji Wang's eyes darkened slightly.
He hugged his knees, his voice low and dejected: "When you were with Daoist Yun Shen before, you must have been going to nice places. Unlike now, following me... you can only make do on these hard rocks."
His voice was even softer, "Did I... make you suffer?"
The cave fell silent.
Bu Jiu sighed, turned around, and quietly looked at Ji Wang's lowered head.
He looked at it for a while before speaking: "No."
Two simple words, without any embellishment or explanation of how it happened before.
He seemed to think that wasn't enough, and added, "It's the rock that's hard, not your problem. Before..." He turned his head slightly to avoid Ji Wang's raised gaze, "there were times when things were even worse."
These words, though vague, soothed the bitterness in Ji Wang's heart. Daoist Yun Shen might be the white moonlight that Bu Jiu had waited for for a hundred years, but Ji Wang himself didn't seem to be entirely the trouble that dragged Bu Jiu down to the dust.
At least in Bu Jiu's eyes, his current situation is not one of "being wronged".
Ji Wang's tense shoulders relaxed a little: "Then you take the first half of the night, and I'll take the second half. I have to do something."
This time, Bu Jiu didn't refuse immediately, but simply nodded: "Okay."
Ji Wang obediently lay down on the ground covered with fallen leaves. Although he tried to find a relatively flat spot, the ground beneath him was still hard and uncomfortable. Tiny pebbles pressed against his back through the thin layer of fallen leaves, and he had to quietly adjust his position several times.
“Ji Wang.” Bu Jiu’s voice rang out from the side.
Ji Wang opened his eyes and turned his head. He saw Bu Jiu raise his hand and pat his legs, which were crossed over his body: "Is this any better?"
Ji Wang was stunned, not understanding for a moment what this unconventional statement meant.
Seeing that he didn't react, Bu Jiu patted his leg again and added, "The rock is too hard. Here, it's softer." He glanced at the spot where Ji Wang had just been lying, "You keep moving around, and I'm distracted on watch."
The reasons given were plausible, even carrying a hint of disdain for his restlessness.
But the gesture of patting his leg and the unusually patient tone of his explanation revealed a completely different mindset.
Ji Wang pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly sat up and moved over little by little.
He stiffly lay back down, carefully resting the back of his head on Bujiu's lap.
"Close your eyes." Bu Jiu's voice came from above, flat and even. "Go to sleep."
Ji Wang closed his eyes as instructed. His vision went dark, but his other senses became more acute. He could feel the warmth through the fabric, hear the breathing so close to his body, and even sense the fox tail patting him intermittently.
Just before he was about to fall asleep, a cool hand brushed across his forehead and brushed away a strand of hair that had slipped down and scratched his eyelashes.
The tail that had been swishing at his body finally quieted down and lay obediently beside him.
Bu Jiu lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Ji Wang's sleeping face.
That person... too, covered in the exhaustion and dust of a fierce battle, rested their head on his lap.
The difference was that Ji Wang was sober at that time, and even had a slightly mischievous smile on her face as she raised her hand and gently rubbed his face with her fingertips.
"My darling." Ji Wang's voice was always gentle, even when saying the most ominous words, "If I really don't come back this time, what will you do?"
At that time, Bu Jiu didn't know how to hide his emotions. He almost immediately became angry and retorted bluntly, "What do you want me to do?"
Ji Wang chuckled softly: "I want you to forget me. Find a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains, bask in the sun, take a nap... and live freely like before."
Bu Jiu did not answer at the time, but simply turned his head away.
After a long while, long enough that Bu Jiu thought the topic had ended, Ji Wang suddenly spoke again very softly.
This time, he spoke with an almost humble tone: "If I were to speak the truth..."
He seemed to have used all his strength to utter those selfish words: "I want you to seek me through all my lifetimes."
He grabbed a piece of Bu Jiu's clothes: "Find me, grab me, let me fall in love with you again."
Bu Jiu opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.
After that night, it was goodbye forever.
"Find me, hold me, and let me fall in love with you again."
A heartfelt statement bordering on a curse, a request driven to the extreme of selfishness, became the sole obsession that sustained Bu Jiu through three hundred years of solitude.
Ji Wang was awakened by a howling wind outside the cave.
"Awake?" Bu Jiu's voice showed no sign of fatigue.
Ji Wang propped himself up and rubbed his stiff neck. When his gaze fell on the cave entrance, the words caught in his throat.
The runes that Bu Jiu had laid down at the cave entrance still faintly glowed, but on the ground outside, several strangely shaped black shadows lay sprawled.
By the light of the moon, one could make out that they were several enormous monsters. Some resembled wolves but had bone spurs, while others looked like giant bats but had sharp claws. At this moment, they all lay there silently, a small patch of dark liquid spreading beneath them, and a nauseating, fishy smell filled the air.
They clearly tried to break in, but died just feet from the entrance.
"What are those?" Ji Wang felt a little scared. He had been sleeping so soundly that he hadn't noticed the battle that was happening so close at hand.
“Ah…” Bu Jiu followed his gaze and glanced at the cave entrance. “They want to come in.”
"Why didn't you call me?" Ji Wang immediately pressed, "We agreed to take turns keeping watch!"
Bu Jiu then slowly turned his face back: "You said the first half of the night was mine. The rest is naturally yours."
Upon hearing this, Ji Wang sprang up from the ground with a "whoosh," his movements so fast they created a gust of wind. A sense of responsibility and being trusted welled up in his heart, instantly dispelling any lingering fear.
He quickly dusted off the dust on his body and drew the sword from his waist.
"Alright!" he replied crisply and loudly, his voice brimming with the excitement of taking on new responsibilities. "Leave it to me! You go and get some rest!"
He walked to the cave entrance with his sword, keeping a few steps away from the runes that Bu Jiu had laid out, facing outwards with his back straight.
Although he was still rather thin and his sword-wielding posture was somewhat awkward, his focused and serious demeanor inexplicably made him seem reliable.
Ji Wang held his sword warily for a moment, then couldn't help but turn back to look at Bu Jiu, who was leaning against the stone wall with his eyes closed, resting.
He hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "The ground is really hard. Do you want to…"
Bu Jiu kept his eyes closed, and upon hearing this, he spoke with a slightly lazy tone, his tail swaying gently from side to side: "I can lean against this."
Ji Wang looked at the incredibly soft tail and couldn't help but mutter, "Then why didn't you let me rest my head on it earlier?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Bu Jiu opened his eyes, which had been closed.
He stared at Ji Wang silently for two seconds, making Ji Wang feel a little uneasy, as if he had asked a taboo question.
Then, Bu Jiu slowly spoke: "You...will...touch...anything."
"I...I didn't!" Ji Wang retorted almost reflexively, but his eyes darted away guiltily, his mind uncontrollably recalling the past few days. He had indeed secretly touched that incredibly soft-looking fur a few times while Bu Jiu was asleep.
Seeing his helpless expression, Bu Jiu's eyes revealed a hint of a smile.
But that tail seemed to have its own consciousness, trembling slightly in Ji Wang's sight.
Ji Wang opened his mouth, the words "I really won't touch you randomly" rolled around on his tongue a few times, and he wanted to defend himself, but found that all his words were pale and powerless.
He could only swallow his words, stiffen his neck and turn back to stare intently at the outside of the cave, pretending that nothing had happened.
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