Chapter 96

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This time, everyone achieved their goal.

Mainly because their purpose is very unified, which is to make it seem that Ning Shen is no longer so easy to blend into the darkness.

It was obvious that Ning Chen was having a lot of fun, but the result was that he was loved and hated by all the young demons in the Canaan tribe.

Finally, the three were invited to visit the Canaanite tribe's sacrifice.

The sacrifice was held at an altar. The clan leader and two great elders stood on the altar, chanting in a language that Ning Shen could not understand, and knelt deeply in front of the altar, performing the supreme etiquette of the demon clan.

The young demons who were fighting and making a fuss just now became serious involuntarily when they arrived at the sacrificial site.

The entire sacrifice would last for a whole night. In order not to keep the Lord waiting for too long, the tribal chief invited Ning Chen to come up, handed the trembling fire stick in his hand to Ning Chen, and then asked Ning Chen to light the tripod in the center of the altar.

This is the most important part of the entire sacrifice. Usually, it is done by the most respected demon in the tribe. At this time, Ning Chen is present, so the task of lighting the fire naturally falls on Ning Chen.

Faced with the eager gazes of the demons, Ning Chen could not refuse. He was silent for a moment, and finally took the fire starter and threw it into the half-man-tall cauldron in the center of the altar.

With a loud bang, the sparks could set the entire cauldron on fire. The flames shot straight into the sky, illuminating half of the dark sky.

He just gave a little fire, and it completely illuminated the place.

All the demons in the Jianan tribe knelt down at this moment, facing Ning Chen and Chen Ding, kneeling respectfully, and saying in unison: "Long live your majesty."

“…”

According to Canaanite etiquette, the distinguished guests brought by His Majesty naturally did not need to participate in the sacrificial ceremony, so Xie Tingyun stood on the periphery and did not kneel down.

However, as one of the only two people standing on the field, he successfully received a look of help from Ning Shen.

Xie Tingyun couldn't help but find it funny to see Ning Chen at a loss but having to pretend to be calm.

Xie Tingyun couldn't save him either.

This is what Ning Chen deserves, he deserves everyone's love and affection.

In the end, it was the tribal elder who stood up first and rescued Ning Chen. He then sent someone to respectfully send Ning Chen back to the Demon Palace.

After doing all this, it was already past midnight.

Before leaving, Xie Tingyun and Agui asked for some more fruit wine. The cubs of the Canaan tribe cried excitedly and ran to the cellar to get it, and then held out some wine to Xie Tingyun and Ning Chen one by one.

Xie Tingyun rubbed the heads of the young demons. The great elder took two wine bottles, filled them up and handed them to Xie Tingyun. Then he instructed the young demons to deliver the extra fruit wine to the Demon Palace.

Before Xie Tingyun could stop them, Ning Chen waved his hand, stopped the young demons, and put all the fruit wine into Xie Tingyun's storage ring.

"..." Xie Tingyun was helpless and whispered, "It's too much. I can't finish it."

The chief of the tribe said, "Don't worry, sir. This fruit wine will become more fragrant as it ages. You don't have to worry about it going bad. If you like it, feel free to take some back. If you get tired of it, it will be the honor of Canaan Fruit Wine."

Ning Chen was obviously very satisfied and said, "Thank you."

The sky had changed from complete darkness to the dim light of day. Ning Shen was tired after playing for most of the night. He listened to the jingling sound of the silver chain on Xie Ting's cloud all the way.

It seemed that Xie Tingyun really liked Canaan wine. They drank while chatting along the way. Soon the bottle was empty, so Xie Tingyun took out another bottle from his storage ring.

A Kui walked in front to lead the way. Ning Chen watched Xie Tingyun drink bottle after bottle from behind. He couldn't help but say curiously, "...You like it so much?"

Otherwise, I can bring some for Xie Tingyun next time I go to see him.

Ning Chen thought that he was not hungry or thirsty for Xie Tingyun, so why was Xie Tingyun like this when he came back? Ning Chen even doubted whether he had not entertained him well enough.

But Ning Chen thought again. Since Xie Tingyun came to the Demon Palace, the only treat he received was a few cakes made of fish, which was abundant in the Demon Realm, and half a bottle of fruit wine. That was really nothing else.

The reason why there was only half a bottle was because Xie Tingyun gave him half.

On the contrary, Xie Tingyun, who probably didn't eat much as he escaped from the dinner, came to the Demon Palace without eating anything, and even brought him a lot of fireworks and kept him company for so long.

“……” Ning Chen really felt guilty this time.

However, Xie Tingyun seemed to understand Ning Chen's thoughts. He smiled. Maybe it was because he drank too much fruit wine, but Xie Tingyun's eyes seemed to be shining in the dim light of the sky, as if they had been washed with clear water. Ning Chen's figure could be clearly reflected in his dark pupils.

Xie Tingyun said slowly, "It's okay. The fish cakes are delicious, and you didn't eat much. The rest is enough for me."

As they were almost at the Demon Palace, Ning Shen's steps slowed down for some reason.

It was almost time for Xie Tingyun to go back.

After Ning Shen realized this, he suddenly fell silent.

After Ning Shen slowed down his pace, Xie Tingyun also slowed down his pace without asking why.

Agui walked in front to lead the way, completely unaware of his master's secret thoughts. He walked very fast, and soon he had left a long distance between him and the two people behind him.

A Kui turned around and noticed this, and even said in confusion: "Your Majesty? Why are you walking so slowly?"

Ning Chen: “…”

This blind idiot!

Ning Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Why do you care about me?"

"Oh..." The honest man Agui still didn't understand why, but he was very self-aware and slowed down.

Xie Tingyun lowered his eyes and smiled silently.

He reached out and grabbed Ning Chen, and said softly, "Wait a moment."

Ning Chen stopped and looked at her to ask what was wrong.

Xie Tingyun lowered his head and took out a silver ornament from his storage ring. Then he took a step forward, lowered his eyes, and put it on the collar of Ning Chen's clothes.

The silver ornament was not big and was silver-white in color. It was in the shape of a flying bird, with one eye inlaid with a gorgeous ruby ​​and several silver chains hanging from the edges of its wings. When it swung, they collided with each other and made a tinkling sound, which was very pleasing to the ear.

The white dot of the flying bird was on the gilded black robe, and tasseled silver chains hung from the edges of its open wings. The chains were of different lengths, like fire burning on the wings.

Ning Chen was slightly stunned.

Xie Tingyun said, "It's nothing, I just gave you something. If you don't like it, just take it off."

Xie Tingyun remembered that when he first met Ning Chen, he had such a silver ornament on his chest.

But later, Ning Chen gave the silver jewelry to Achao as a favor. Achao felt that he was not worthy of such a big favor, so he gave the silver jewelry to Xie Tingyun.

Ning Chen walked out bravely at that time, he didn't know about this.

At that time, Xie Tingyun wanted to find an opportunity to return the item to Ning Chen, but he forgot about it and the silver ornament lay quietly in Xie Tingyun's storage ring.

Now Xie Tingyun carefully considered whether to return it to Ning Chen, but in the end he still had some selfish thoughts.

“…”

Ning Shen lowered his eyes, his dark red pupils were unusually calm.

He raised his hand and plucked it lightly. He heard the silver ornament swaying and making a sound. There was a subtle joy in his voice: "...You made it yourself?"

"How do you know?" Xie Tingyun asked in surprise.

Ning Chen snorted and said, "It's just a random guess."

The exquisite swing in Yunfeng Pavilion was built by Xie Tingyun himself. Ning Chen thought of this and asked casually, but he didn't expect it to be true.

Xie Tingyun still had the sweet aroma of fruit wine on him, and Ning Chen could smell it particularly clearly when he got closer.

The distance between them was very close at this moment, so close that when Ning Chen lowered his head he could see Xie Tingyun's long eyelashes drooping quietly, and so close that when Xie Tingyun raised his head he could brush the corner of Ning Chen's lips.

Agui watched from a distance for a while, and suddenly he seemed to understand why His Majesty had gritted his teeth just now.

He sighed silently, thinking that he was a troublemaker who ruined the atmosphere, and disappeared quietly into the darkness.

After Xie Tingyun adorned him with the silver flying bird tassel ornament, he stepped back, smiled softly, and said, "Okay."

"It looks good," Ning Chen raised his hand and fiddled with it again, and whispered, "Thank you."

Xie Tingyun stared at him for a long time. The silver flying bird tassel ornament he made by himself was adorned on the front of Ning Chen's clothes. It sounded clearer and cleaner than Ning Chen's original silver ornament.

Ning Chen was already tall, and this gilded black robe made him look calm, domineering, and unfathomable. The silver-white flying bird tassel ornaments on the collar only occupied a very small detail in the whole look. Not only did it not ruin the overall atmosphere, it even gave Ning Chen an air of solemnity that could not be ignored, like a piece of snow falling in the long night.

Cold and gloomy, but it has a fatal attraction to Xie Tingyun.

Xie Tingyun sighed softly, "Nervous."

Ning Chen paused for a moment and said, "Hmm."

Xie Tingyun was afraid that he was still unhappy about his junior fellow apprentice, so he took the initiative to ask, "Is this your real name?"

"..." Ning Chen was silent for a moment, pinched his finger bones, and said in a low voice: "Yes."

The original book didn't mention what the pseudonym was called. At the time, Ning Shen thought that no one here knew him anyway, so since he was using his real face, he might as well use his real name as well.

However, when Xie Tingyun asked him this, he remained silent for some reason. After a while, he could only say, "...I'm sorry for deceiving you by using my identity as your junior brother."

"Why do you care about this more than I do?" Xie Tingyun said, "I said I hated you when I was angry. If you always feel guilty about this, I will feel guilty too."

Xie Tingyun stared into Ning Chen's eyes and said, "It doesn't matter who you are, Tian Xiao or a junior brother in the Jindan stage. No matter what your identity is, they are all you, they are just you, and what I always hope is that 'you' can be happy."

When Xie Tingyun said this, his eyes were focused on Ning Chen. There was only Ning Chen's reflection in his dark pupils, as if there were countless beautiful scenery, beautiful objects and beautiful women in the Three Realms, but his eyes could only hold Ning Chen.

“…”

Ning Shen was in so much pain. He couldn't imagine how anyone could survive from those eyes.

Anyway, he doesn't seem to be able to do it.

Was Xie Tingyun a professional liar with sweet words in the past?

Ning Chen found it difficult to explain what his feelings were at this moment. He used to think that Xie Tingyun was too nice to him. In the beginning, Ning Chen only regarded him as a good fighting partner and a good brother. It was normal for good brothers to protect each other.

Among good friends, there are close friends and bad friends, it’s just a matter of different ways of getting along with each other.

Ning Chen was used to being straightforward and heartless. With his bad temper, no one had ever cared about him as much as Xie Tingyun did since he was a child.

Therefore, even though Ning Chen always felt that there was something wrong with Xie Tingyun's attitude towards him, after pondering for a long time without coming to any conclusion, he did not think of it in a strange way at all.

Ning Chen just inexplicably wanted to... hug Xie Tingyun.

He would never let himself be wronged, so he simply walked forward and hugged Xie Tingyun in his arms.

Xie Tingyun was stunned.

"Okay," he said calmly, "Come here and let me hug you, as you wish."

What's the relationship between them? They are good friends who have been through thick and thin together. There must be nothing wrong with him hugging her.

“…”

The moment Xie Tingyun understood the hidden meaning of Ning Chen's words, his heart began to beat wildly.

Ning Chen means: give him a hug...he will be very happy.

Thank you for letting the clouds nest in your peaceful arms.

He was like a cat that vaguely caught the end of a ball of yarn, and he looked dazed and couldn't believe it.

Xie Tingyun took a deep breath and asked tentatively in a low voice: "So, what is our relationship now?"

"Friends," Ning Chen said as a matter of course, "What other relationship do you want? Enemies? Brothers? Aren't we already that now?"

Xie Tingyun: "..."

Xie Tingyun was silent for a while, and suddenly felt that his previous mental jump was a bit unnecessary.

Ning Chen didn't seem to be thinking in the direction he expected.

...I don't know if I'm just being slow or if I just don't have that kind of thought in mind.

Xie Tingyun hesitated for a while, but finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Forget it, I'll try again when I'm sure.

Moreover, Xie Tingyun seemed to have no idea whether Ning Chen would feel disgusted by this kind of thing.

…

Ning Chen had hugged Xie Tingyun enough, so he let go of Xie Tingyun and was about to find a reason to send him back, but Xie Tingyun closed his eyes, and seemed not to react to being let go, and he couldn't help but fall down.

Ning subconsciously reached out to support him, frowning unconsciously and asking, "What's wrong? Are you dizzy?"

Xie Tingyun blinked blankly, and then seemed to have just reacted slowly, and said softly, "...It's okay, I just didn't react quickly enough."

Xie Tingyun raised his eyes and glanced at the sky which was getting brighter and brighter. His voice was a little hoarse: "Then I'm leaving. You can go back now."

“…”

Ning Shen's brows wrinkled even tighter.

But Xie Tingyun seemed oblivious. He seemed a little cold. He tugged at his crane-patterned coat and pressed his temples inconspicuously. He smiled at Ning Chen and said, "The Demon Palace is just ahead. You can't be unfamiliar with the way, right? Let's go back."

Ning Chen: “…”

The sun has not risen completely yet, the hazy sunlight still cannot make people feel warm, and the early morning dew is condensing and dripping.

It was obvious that Xie Tingyun had drunk too much fruit wine along the way. Although it didn't seem to have much alcohol content and Xie Tingyun's words and behavior were logically normal, fruit wine is also alcohol. Xie Tingyun drank so much of it just like water out of boredom, and now he must be drunk.

He even pressed his temples. Didn't he think he was really a fool and couldn't see that it was a hangover headache?

And I watched him go back to the Demon Palace, what nonsense!

Ning Chen's face immediately darkened. He reached out and pulled the person over, then walked into the Demon Palace without saying a word.

"..." Xie Tingyun walked behind Ning Chen without any intention of resisting.

However, it was not until he entered the Demon Palace that Ning Chen remembered that there was nothing in his own palace except a bed and a table.

Even the bed only had a simple quilt and the bed board was hard.

Ning Chen: “…”

Xie Tingyun: "..."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, both with speechless and choked expressions.

There was no trace of life in the Demon Palace. Xie Tingyun frowned when he saw how simply he slept. He said, "Do you usually sleep like this? Aren't you being unfair?"

Ning Chen: “…”

Ning Chen really wanted to say that he didn't usually sleep here.

When he returned to the Demon Realm, he either soaked in the blood pool, went out to find food, or slept on Xie Tingyun's bed. He never had the chance to live in his own Demon Palace.

The only bedding here was bought by Agui overnight after he saw that he had nothing here. This configuration was considered luxurious in the eyes of the demons, after all, they didn't sleep much on normal days.

But if you look at it by Xie Tingyun's standards, then it's nothing at all.

Although the Demon Palace is countless times larger than the Yunfeng Pavilion, the shabby Yunfeng Pavilion inside is less than one-tenth of its size.

Letting Xie Tingyun sleep here is really an injustice to him.

Ning Chen made a prompt decision and exchanged his points for a teleportation jade talisman. He reached out and held down Xie Tingyun who was about to tidy up the bed. He coughed lightly and said, "I'll take you back to Yunfeng Pavilion."

Xie Tingyun turned and stared at him.

Ning Chen felt inexplicably guilty when being looked at, although he didn't know why he felt guilty, but he didn't want to get entangled in such an unimportant matter at all, so he grabbed Xie Tingyun's shoulders, injected the magic aura into the jade talisman in his hand, and then stuffed it into Xie Tingyun.

Xie Tingyun: "..."

Xie Tingyun knew he couldn't win over him, so he softened his tone and said, "I'll go down the mountain to buy some things tomorrow and come back."

"What are you still buying?" Ning Chen sighed and said, "No one lives here, there's no need, let's go."

But just before the jade talisman was about to take effect, Xie Tingyun reached out and grabbed Ning Chen's hand that was about to be pulled back.

Ning Chen: “?!”

…

Good news, Xie Tingyun was successfully sent to Yunfeng Pavilion.

Bad news, Ning Chen was stopped by Liuyun Sect's protective formation.

Ning Chen: “…”

Ning Chen glanced at the sleeping stone lion at the door, then looked up and saw the gatekeeper disciple who had just finished the night shift and was about to hand over his duty.

“…”

The two parties stared at each other awkwardly for a long time, neither of them taking any action.

At that moment, Ning Chen really wanted to find an opportunity to smash this huge formation.