VAP - Chapter 164
Chapter 164: Xuan Yin (3)
After bidding farewell to Mo Bai, Yue Du used a teleportation talisman to arrive near the Return to Immortal Platform.
The Return to Immortal Platform was called a platform, but it was actually vast in area, almost like a grand hall paved with jade, wreathed in immortal mist. Where the platform connected to the stairs below, a gateless door stood, spanning east to west and soaring into the clouds. Cultivators who ascended passed through this door to truly become immortals of the Xuan Yin Realm.
At this moment, the Return to Immortal Platform seemed unguarded. Yue Du openly strolled halfway around the platform but saw no sign of any other living beings.
How strange. Didn’t the Yin Yang Demon Monarch say that the Wushuang Venerable had built her palace here and was guarding it herself?
Where was she? Could it be that the news was delayed, and Ah Jiu, thinking she couldn’t wait for her at the Return to Immortal Platform, had left to search for her elsewhere?
No, that wasn’t right. They were Dao Companions who had formed a contract. Their souls were engraved upon each other, and their auras were intertwined; they would always have a vague sense of each other. Yue Du could feel that the host was nearby.
But why hadn’t she appeared?
Yue Du was quite puzzled. Her gaze fell upon the Wushuang Hall not far away. This building belonging to the Wushuang Venerable wasn’t hard to recognize; the hall’s exterior was identical to their residence in the Qianhong small world. Or perhaps it was the very same one.
A glazed immortal palace of this scale was naturally suitable for an elder of a sect in the lower realm, but for a God Monarch of the upper realm, it seemed a bit simple and plain.
Thinking of the host’s passion for sleep, Yue Du decided to check inside the hall first. Just then, the shadow in front of her moved ever so slightly—it was the massive projection of the Xuan Yin Gate.
Yue Du subconsciously assumed a guarded stance and turned to look up.
The corner of a cloud-patterned sleeve, fluttering in the wind, entered her vision.
It was Yun Yijiu. She had been standing alone atop the lintel of the Xuan Yin Gate for who knows how long. Only when Yue Du was about to walk toward the palace did she descend lightly, the hem of her outer robe fluttering like butterfly wings in the mist.
She landed behind Yue Du just like that, without making a single sound.
She still had the same appearance Yue Du remembered: a face so dazzlingly beautiful it was scorching, yet with a temperament that was indifferent and cold. Her eyes were deep black, but her expression was even more frigid and desolate.
She called out in a low voice, “Yue. Du.”
Before Yue Du could raise her hand to respond, a long, slender, pale hand clamped tightly around her wrist. Yun Yijiu’s other hand landed on her face, tracing from the center of her brow to the tip of her nose, sliding over the philtrum of her lip, and finally pinching her chin, tilting it up slightly.
This chin-pinching move was the standard for an overbearing CEO, but Yue Du felt that the host was doing it subconsciously, wanting to get closer and see more clearly.
Those deep black eyes were too profound to reflect her image, and the quiet gaze made her feel as if she were already locked within that stare.
Yue Du composed herself, took the opportunity to lean in, and pecked the corner of Yun Yijiu’s lips. The kiss traced the seam of her lips, moving to her teeth and the tip of her tongue, lingering gently.
Yun Yijiu didn’t move at first, but then, as if she could no longer bear it, she responded with a hint of ferocity.
Yue Du felt a sharp pain on the tip of her tongue and tasted the sweet, metallic tang of blood slowly spreading.
After a long moment, Yun Yijiu was the first to end the kiss. She had bitten someone, and the other person hadn’t said anything, even continuing to kiss her devotedly, yet she herself was the one who couldn’t stop caring about it.
A touch of penetrating coolness swept over her tongue, and the slight pain quickly vanished. Yue Du gave the host a smile and proactively wrapped her arms around her waist.
“You’ve waited a long time,” Yue Du said softly. “I’m back.”
Yun Yijiu was silent. Her slender yet powerful arms moved on their own, one wrapping around Yue Du’s waist while the other pressed against the nape of her neck, pulling Yue Du’s entire body into her embrace, so tightly it was as if she wanted to merge her into her own bones and blood.
Among all the hosts, if one were to ask who was the most insecure, the most naive and unaware, the eldest, Yun Yijiu, would take the prize without question.
She previously had no awareness of anything beyond her world.
The Wushuang Venerable knew almost nothing about the sudden appearance of the “Duyue Demon Venerable”; only the years they had spent together were real.
But compared to the long years she had lived, this real time was far too short—so short it was almost like a magnificent, fleeting dream.
Therefore, even though she had been prepared, when Yun Yijiu passed her ascension tribulation and stood upon the Return to Immortal Platform, only to not see her Dao Companion, she still fell uncontrollably into a state of calm madness.
The process of passing through the world barrier under the protection of the laws of ascension allowed Yun Yijiu to break through the suppression from the Main God’s space. However, the return of her awareness of the world beyond did not bring her relief.
It was like someone who had obtained a treasure only to suddenly lose it. What good would it do to tell her that the treasure’s departure was inevitable and all she could do was enjoy the moment of possession? She had already lost it.
It was an iron law that the Wushuang Venerable was the strongest in the world, and this held true even in the Xuan Yin Realm.
The first thing she did was find the cultivators who had ascended from the Qianhong small world. Among these immortals, the astonished expression of Situ Wen—the man who had once blocked her path to immortality just so she would protect the Lingtian Sword Sect—said it all.
Situ Wen, the former Sect Master of the Lingtian Sword Sect, was thought by the world to have long since perished. In truth, he had ascended to the upper realm, severing his connection with Qianhong.
The old sect master, who had once been willing to pay any price for his sect, had long lost his former obsession after ascending. He only sought to advance his cultivation faster, to leave the realm of minor immortals and become a true immortal as soon as possible.
Situ Wen had never imagined that Yun Yijiu could break free from the great formation’s restraints. He had long been unwilling to think about it, as if by not thinking about it, he could pretend it had never happened. He could still be that upright old sect master, open and honorable his whole life, untroubled by inner demons.
Yun Yijiu herself didn’t resent him for cutting off her path to immortality, but Yue Du was not pleased.
So, Situ Wen had to die.
You reap what you sow. The Wushuang Venerable effortlessly turned Situ Wen’s hopes to dust. He paid for his past treachery with his life and even implicated the Qianhong immortals who had tried to protect him.
What followed was an endless search and wait.
To a God Monarch whose lifespan was as long as the mountains and rivers, a few decades was so short—a single session of closed-door cultivation would last longer. Yun Yijiu had once been the type to sleep for a hundred years at a time, but for fear of not being able to find her Dao Companion at the first possible moment, she had barely even closed her eyes.
She felt she couldn’t wait even a moment longer.
She had to take the initiative.
“Fortunately, I bet correctly,” Yun Yijiu said by Yue Du’s ear, her tone carrying an indifferent paranoia. “Otherwise, who knows how much longer I would have had to wait.”
Yue Du had been resting obediently in her arms, but upon hearing “take the initiative,” she sensed something was wrong. The word “bet” was even more terrifying upon reflection.
“What did you bet on, Ah Jiu?”
This question did not receive an answer.
The Wushuang Venerable, who had been left behind for too long, remained expressionless. Silent emotions surged in her black eyes as she swept Yue Du up into a princess carry and flew through the air, returning to Wushuang Hall in an instant.
And so, for the next three days, Yue Du was unable to ask another complete question.
On a huge blanket made of snow-white beast fur, Yue Du slowly awoke.
Systems didn’t need to sleep, but if they were worn out to the point of mental exhaustion, it would be very uncomfortable not to rest.
Yun Yijiu wasn’t by her side, but the contractual sense from their engraved souls indicated she hadn’t gone far, probably tinkering with something somewhere in the palace.
Yue Du moved her legs. She didn’t feel much discomfort, only a lingering strange sensation of having been forcefully spread apart, along with a feeling of being restrained by something that was pulled taut.
Mmm, restrained.
Yue Du looked down and, sure enough, saw a silver-white metallic ring on her right ankle. A chain of the same color was attached to it, snaking across the white marble floor and out the door, its end extending to some unknown location.
“…” Yue Du.
How to put it… it was within her expectations. She was just a little dazed and at a loss.
Yun Yijiu might have had some special method for detecting whether her Dao Companion was awake. Less than half a minute after Yue Du woke up, she walked in carrying a tray, just in time to see her Dao Companion studying the chain with a conflicted expression.
Yue Du looked up at her, and her eyes widened slightly.
She knew where the other end of the chain was attached now. It was around the Wushuang Venerable’s long, beautiful neck. The metal collar, set against her impeccably neat robes and her owner’s icy face, gave off an inexplicable, ascetic sexiness.
The chain’s material was unknown. It was metal, yet it could shorten as the distance between them shrank and lengthen as it grew, like a rubber band that looked like metal but lacked the tautness of being stretched.
Speaking of which, the placement was also a bit subtle. With one end on an ankle and the other worn directly as a collar, it felt slightly awkward, and at the same time, it was hard to tell who was controlling whose movements.
Yun Yijiu sat down beside Yue Du, allowing her to see the items on the tray clearly. There were a few dishes, desserts, and a bowl of congee.
The Wushuang Venerable would naturally never have cooked before, nor did she need to eat. It was self-evident for whom she had made this steaming hot breakfast.
Yue Du was only embarrassed for a moment at first. Seeing Yun Yijiu sitting to the side, she leaned over steadily and contentedly, ready to eat.
The Wushuang Venerable, on the other hand, seemed very concerned about the anklet she had personally fastened. Her gaze kept sweeping over it, intentionally or not, and she finally asked, “Do you… have nothing you wish to say to me?”
Yue Du: “Eat more?”
Yun Yijiu: “No, not that.”
Yue Du deliberately shook her right foot, the chains clinking with a crisp sound. “Then it must be this. Don’t worry about it; it won’t affect anything. By the way, are you okay wearing that on your neck? It’s not uncomfortable, is it?”
Yun Yijiu shook her head. The feeling of wearing the collar, knowing that the other end of the chain was connected to her Dao Companion, was, she had to admit, a little addictive.
If only they could be bound together like this forever.
The discussion about the chain came to an end, and the two ate breakfast. During this time, Yue Du was all smiles and chatter, while Yun Yijiu was even more taciturn than before, her deep black eyes fixed on Yue Du without blinking, as if afraid that if she looked away for even a second, this person would disappear again.
Yue Du sighed inwardly.
What the host had said earlier—“Fortunately, I bet correctly”—was probably about the existence of the Xuan Yin Realm. She must have done something to the world’s foundation to attract the Main System’s attention and have this small world added to the mission queue.
The Main System hadn’t notified her of any mission progress, which meant that if she left, the host would continue to destroy the world.
At a time like this, the mission itself was secondary. Seeing the host’s dejected and gloomy appearance, Yue Du felt a pang in her heart, wishing she could give her whatever she wanted.
Only when the host returned to her former state—cold-faced on the outside but with adorable inner thoughts and actions—could Yue Du be at ease.
But then again.
Mo Bai’s words flashed through Yue Du’s mind again: the Wushuang Venerable had found men and women who resembled her Dao Companion and was keeping them in the palace…
Hiding it wasn’t the best approach, so Yue Du brought it up with the host.
After a brief moment of confusion, Yun Yijiu remembered what she was talking about. She frowned slightly and described, “Those immortals and demon immortals… they have a certain feeling about them, an aura similar to yours.”
A similar aura?
Yue Du’s first reaction was: could they all be Systems?
But it was unlikely for Systems to appear in a cluster in the same small world, especially since the Xuan Yin Realm wasn’t originally in the Main God’s mission queue.
Could it be that for the past few years, the Main God had been dispatching Systems here to stop Ah Jiu from destroying the world, but the results were all unsatisfactory, so they had to call her over for this emergency mission? But Mo Bai had also said that among these immortals was a God Monarch who had been famous for a long time, who shouldn’t have any connection to a System.
Unable to figure it out, Yue Du decided to go see for herself.
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