After Sheng Jun Chapter 38 (Part 2)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 38 The First Signs Emerge (part 2)
By the forest pool's edge.
Zhong Ming looked down at the bubbles continuously rising from the pool surface—blub blub blub... He finally understood how Jiang Xingzhi's brain got waterlogged.
Actually, he had known when Jiang Xingzhi went to soak in the hot spring while he was meditating, but seeing the person's sneaky appearance, he considerately didn't go disturb him. As a result, he waited until now when it was getting dark and the person still hadn't returned, so Zhong Ming really couldn't help but come see what had happened.
Facts proved that Jiang Xingzhi would never disappoint him.
Looking at how round these bubbles were, who knew how deeply this person was sleeping underwater.
Fortunately, Jiang Xingzhi was at the Mahayana peak, so soaking for a while wouldn't cause any problems.
Zhong Ming stared at those bubbles for a while, and a helpless sigh slipped from his lips.
He stepped forward, just about to go into the water to fish the person out, when he sensed a restriction fluctuation—immediately followed by a "splash" from the water surface! Jiang Xingzhi surfaced from underwater.
Amid the splashing water, the two looked at each other, one above and one below.
Jiang Xingzhi's cheeks were flushed red, his eyes hazy, as if he hadn't yet recovered from his beautiful dream. Crystal water droplets rolled down his cheeks and hair strands, falling into the water and creating rippling circles.
Without his outer robe, his snow-white inner garment was soaked through.
Zhong Ming's breathing hitched, his fingers curled at his sides, and he called out in a deep voice, "Jiang Xingzhi."
This call seemed to awaken the person who had been lost in thought in the water.
Jiang Xingzhi's eyelashes trembled as he came to his senses, then suddenly sank into the water! He slid backward a distance and waved out spiritual power to push Zhong Ming at the pool's edge outward, "Go back, go back!"
Zhong Ming was pushed back several steps by that force. He looked down at Jiang Xingzhi, whose face showed some panic, "What's wrong."
Jiang Xingzhi pushed him again, half of his burning face buried in the pool water, bubbling as he spoke, "Any...anyway just go back quickly!"
The pushing spiritual force wasn't strong—at least for Zhong Ming, it would be easy to resist.
But seeing Jiang Xingzhi's half-face above water completely red, so anxious that his eyes were even more moist, he held back and followed that force away from the mountain forest.
Forget it—if he insisted on staying, Jiang Xingzhi would probably be angry enough to ignore him for several days.
…..
Watching that black figure disappear into the forest, Jiang Xingzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief and bubbled his way back to the pool's edge. He had really been both embarrassed and anxious just now, afraid that Bai Mu would notice something unusual about him.
The dream had ended abruptly at the scene of Xu Jian embracing him—even now when he recalled it, his heart was still pounding.
His inner garment was thin and soaked with water, completely unable to conceal any trace of arousal.
Jiang Xingzhi stared underwater in frustration: How embarrassing! Wuu wuu.
He calmed his emotions for a while before splashing up from the water, waving his hand to gather the pile of outer robes on the bank, draping them over himself and transforming into a flowing light that instantly returned to the courtyard house.
****
Night shrouded Kunlun's mountain peak.
In the unlit room, Jiang Xingzhi sat cross-legged reciting the Heart-Clearing Mantra.
It was a familiar scene—last time after soaking and dreaming, he had also recited the Heart-Clearing Mantra for quite a while.
He even suspected that pool was filled with some kind of bewitching soup. He had only wanted to simply dream of Xu Jian—how did it end up going in that direction?
After reciting the Heart-Clearing Mantra several times, Jiang Xingzhi's muddled, spring-fevered brain finally cleared up mostly. Just now his mind and eyes had been full of the last scene before waking from the dream, so he hadn't been able to calm down and think about the questions that troubled him in the dream.
What exactly was the reason?
Why did he always replace the experiences he'd had with Bai Mu with Xu Jian? Was it just because Bai Mu sometimes resembled Xu Jian too much?
He felt it shouldn't be like that.
Cultivators had one great advantage—while mortals often forgot their dreams, cultivators could retrieve them from the depths of their sea of consciousness.
Jiang Xingzhi carefully traced back through the scenes in his dream: Xu Jian holding his hand, wearing the tassel he bought, lowering his head to kiss him in the crowd...
And also, the conversation in the inn:
"Don't you have a beloved who ascended?"
"Mm, I do."
"You still like someone else."
"There's no one else. Isn't my beloved you?"
Thump! His heart jumped violently, and Jiang Xingzhi's heartbeat was now even faster than when he had just woken up.
A beloved who had ascended.
Thinking carefully, he did indeed fit that description.
But in reality, the person who had acknowledged this statement was Bai Mu. Compared to the other person truly having another "beloved who ascended," his own status as a "beloved who had ascended" seemed somewhat forced.
Moreover, Bai Mu didn't know he had died once.
Jiang Xingzhi thought about this, but still couldn't calm down. Two streams of thought pulled at each other—half reasonable, half absurd.
Just as he was engaged in mental warfare, the door was suddenly knocked twice: "Knock, knock."
The person who could knock on his door at this hour needed no guessing.
Jiang Xingzhi gathered his thoughts somewhat and got up to open the door. With a "creak," the person outside the door came bearing moonlight, his sharp, sword-like features making Jiang Xingzhi dazed again.
"Tomorrow is the day to go to Piaomiao Palace. Don't forget to get up early tomorrow morning."
"Mm." Jiang Xingzhi responded and looked away, "I know."
Zhong Ming didn't leave after speaking, "Why won't you look at me?"
Jiang Xingzhi muttered, "Your face is all dark against the light—what's there to see?"
Zhong Ming laughed, "I thought I had interrupted your beautiful dream and you were angry."
Thump—his heartbeat quickened again.
He was fine not mentioning it, but once he did, Jiang Xingzhi thought of that sensual dream and the embarrassing scene of meeting the other's gaze right upon waking.
"Who told you it was a beautiful dream?"
"Wasn't it? I was guessing."
Zhong Ming looked at him.
Jiang Xingzhi's face was directly facing the moonlight, and the shy expression on his face was illuminated clearly, impossible to hide.
He had clearly dreamed of something.
This made him think of that voice in the Great Sky Illusionary Realm: "I dreamed of you, Xu Jian." Perhaps this wasn't a fantasy born from his lovesick delusions, but was real.
Silence spread between the two.
Jiang Xingzhi held onto the door frame with one hand. He didn't look at Zhong Ming's face, but his exceptional hearing could detect heartbeats getting faster and faster.
So close, coming from the other's chest.
"Is there anything else?" Jiang Xingzhi glanced up at him, "If not, I'll..."
In the backlit situation, Zhong Ming's gaze looking down at him was deep, tender, and warm, making him instantly recall the expression on Xu Jian's face when he leaned down to kiss him in the dream.
His words suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Zhong Ming saw him trail off mid-sentence and start drifting again.
Jiang Xingzhi's hand on the door frame tightened, and he suddenly lowered his head to rummage in his storage pouch, "Wait a moment."
Soon, he found a pale yellow tassel pendant among the pile of souvenirs he had prepared for Xu Jian—exactly the same as the one Xu Jian wore at his waist in the dream.
This tassel pendant could be hung from jade ornaments, folding fans, sword hilts... Of course, it could also be hung individually at the waist, just like Xu Jian in the dream.
It's just that in reality, hanging it like that would be somewhat inexplicable and carry a hint of showing off.
The pale yellow pendant lay in his palm—not valuable, but looking cute and warm.
Zhong Ming's gaze was immediately drawn to it, "What are you doing with this tassel?"
Jiang Xingzhi didn't know what he was trying to verify by taking out this tassel pendant, just following his instincts. Perhaps at some future moment, he would understand all the doubts that had been lingering in his heart.
He held the tassel pendant out toward Zhong Ming, "Didn't you say you didn't receive any gifts? This is for you."
He wanted to see how Bai Mu would wear it.