After Sheng Jun Chapter 41 (Part 2)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 41 Soul Reflection in the Crossing River (part 2)
Shen Que's attitude was very open-minded. Shi Yan and Yin Ran exchanged another smile before withdrawing.
Jiang Xingzhi enviously bit into a small pastry, the sweet taste penetrating his tongue, "Being in love is really nice."
Zhong Ming beside him, watching his longing expression, felt guilty and pressed his lips together: Yes, being in love is really nice...
Why on earth was he wearing this disguise?
He felt regret!
Hearing this, Shen Que half-jokingly said, "With Fellow Daoist Jiang's qualifications, you needn't worry about lacking suitors. If you can't find someone you fancy, I can help keep an eye out in the future."
As soon as he finished speaking, a wary gaze shot over.
Zhong Ming unconsciously tightened his grip on his teacup: Keep an eye out for what? Jiang Xingzhi's beloved is himself!
He wanted to quickly dismiss Shen Que's suggestion, but then realized that with his current identity, he didn't seem qualified to do so.
Zhong Ming fell silent, only staring meaningfully at Jiang Xingzhi.
His thoughts transmitted: You can't transfer your affections to someone else, you can't.
"Thank you for Valley Master Shen's kind intention." Jiang Xingzhi was about to refuse without thinking, but the words stopped at his lips as he suddenly felt a certain unmistakable gaze from beside him.
He paused, then changed his words, "We'll discuss it in the future."
We'll discuss it in the future. This could be understood as a polite refusal, or as leaving room for possibility.
The gaze from beside him seemed to produce slight tremors.
Shen Que laughed heartily, temporarily setting aside this topic.
…..
After staying at Wanyao Valley for a short while, Jiang Xingzhi and Zhong Ming rose to bid farewell.
He had put away that formula - now they only needed to find someone capable of refining it.
Leaving Wanyao Valley, the two simultaneously flew swiftly toward the southernmost part of Jiuzhou - there lay the entrance to the Demon Realm, the Night Crossing River.
In the whooshing wind, Jiang Xingzhi's voice remained clear, "Looks like we still need to find demon cultivators."
"Mm." Zhong Ming's response sounded absent-minded.
Jiang Xingzhi turned to look at him, "What's wrong?"
"You..." Zhong Ming's lips pressed into a straight line. After hesitating for a moment, he seemed to speak in annoyance, "If you really want to be in a relationship, rather than others, you should consider me first."
Jiang Xingzhi carefully studied his expression, "Is that really what you think?"
Zhong Ming didn't look at him, staring ahead as he hummed in acknowledgment.
Whether "Bai Mu" or "Xu Jian," he couldn't let Jiang Xingzhi turn his gaze toward others.
Jiang Xingzhi's expression was somewhat strange: These words sounded like something Bai Mu would say.
Could it be that he really had been overthinking?
His earlier words to Shen Que were merely to test the waters, but if "Bai Mu" was truly just "Bai Mu," then his attitude couldn't remain so ambiguous.
After several moments of silence, Jiang Xingzhi spoke again, "That was just polite deflection."
This was his way of denying his supposed eagerness for romance.
Zhong Ming breathed a slight sigh of relief, though he still had to put on a disappointed expression to avoid accidentally having another layer of his disguise stripped away, "Oh."
Jiang Xingzhi glanced several times at his dejected profile.
****
Night Crossing River.
The only passage within the Three Realms to reach the Demon Realm.
Originally, given Jiang Xingzhi and his companion's cultivation level, it would be more convenient to split open the barrier between the human and demon realms with a sword and pass through. But considering that he was visiting as a guest with a request, Jiang Xingzhi chose not to use such an impolite method.
What surprised him was that the usually rebellious and unruly Bai Mu was also willing to honestly take the Night Crossing River, not suggesting something like "just split it with a sword."
The two landed at Yongye Valley outside the Night Crossing River. Jiang Xingzhi turned to praise him, "You're very polite this time."
Zhong Ming didn't object, "After all, can't cause trouble for Deng Deng."
Jiang Xingzhi's mouth opened halfway, then kindly closed again, not bothering to count how much trouble this person had caused him before.
Yongye Valley, true to its name, remained in nighttime throughout all four seasons and twelve hours of each day.
The night sky overhead was pitch black, with a faint red line visible on the horizon, like karmic fire burning eternally.
Jiang Xingzhi and Zhong Ming walked forward for a short while before reaching the end of the path, where a stone tablet stood with the two large characters "Demon Realm" boldly carved on it, as if afraid others wouldn't know this was the entrance to the Demon Realm.
Jiang Xingzhi remembered that traveling to the Demon Realm a thousand years later wasn't this troublesome.
Moreover, the roads were accessible in all directions. Especially after the righteous and demonic paths signed their agreement, they had specifically established five major teleportation points - east, west, south, north, and center - for cultivators from both realms to travel back and forth.
This was Jiang Xingzhi's first time at the Night Crossing River.
Upon reaching the stone tablet, a wave of restriction fluctuation suddenly emerged.
A semi-transparent soul rose from above the stone tablet, slowly condensing into an irregular shape. Faint demonic qi emanated from it. Jiang Xingzhi spoke, "A demonized artifact spirit."
The tablet spirit let out thin, sharp laughter, a wisp of soul circling around as if sizing up the two before it, "Human cultivators, human cultivators... more human cultivators have come, kekekeke."
It circled once more and said, "You look like two very powerful human cultivators too - no wonder you dare to break into the Demon Realm. I can't stop you anyway, so I'll let you pass."
With those words, the stone tablet emitted a blood-red glow, and a phantom barrier gate appeared from behind.
"Go ahead~" The tablet spirit lightly moved aside, "Once you enter the Demon Realm, whether you live or die is not up to you."
Through the barrier, one could faintly see the Night Crossing River glowing with ghostly light beyond the gate.
Zhong Ming ignored the tablet spirit's sarcastic remarks and stepped toward the barrier, "Let's go."
Jiang Xingzhi was also unconcerned about the Night Crossing River - the current cultivation world's sparse spiritual power had already determined certain upper limits of danger.
He stepped up to follow Zhong Ming, casually discussing, "Should we put down a boat later and slowly drift across?"
Zhong Ming was agreeable, "Whatever works, as you prefer."
The two discussed as if no one else was around.
Just as they brushed past the stone tablet, the tablet spirit suddenly spoke again, "Oh right, the Night Crossing River was established to prevent outsiders from disguising themselves as demon cultivators to disturb the Demon Realm. Those crossing the river will have their souls clearly reflected by the river water."
"You two~ don't say I didn't warn you."
Their steps suddenly stopped!
Jiang Xingzhi turned to look at Zhong Ming, who had suddenly frozen in place, "Bai Mu?"