After Sheng Jun Chapter 53 (Part 2)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 53 Turbulent First Kiss (part 2)
Jiang Xingzhi's expression moved.
—The young man before him was spirited and ambitious, carrying the simplicity of one just starting out, with an upward-surging vitality that quite matched Kunlun's founding principles.
"Goo—" His palm was suddenly scratched, making his voice trail off with a tremor. Jiang Xingzhi steadied his voice and glared at the culprit beside him, transmitting, "What are you doing?"
Zhong Ming was being unreasonable, "You seem very satisfied with him."
The subtle abnormality in the previous sentence was noticed by Liu Chuan outside the barrier, who frowned in confusion, "Divine Lord?"
Jiang Xingzhi glanced at him, then stared at Zhong Ming in front of him: This Xu Jian fellow really was someone who shone brightly with a little sunshine and overflowed with a little rain...
He transmitted, "I just think Liu Chuan is very suitable to be Kunlun's future successor."
Zhong Ming, "Successor?"
Jiang Xingzhi guided persuasively, "If we train him up and have him manage Kunlun, wouldn't we be able to live carefree and at ease?"
His dark pupils contracted slightly, as if receiving supreme inspiration! Jiang Xingzhi saw what seemed like a hundred flowers blooming in his eyes, not knowing what blueprint he was fantasizing about. After a few breaths, Zhong Ming quickly composed himself and spoke to Liu Chuan waiting outside, "You may remain."
His attitude changed so quickly, as if he had completely forgotten that last time he had told the other: You are not a creature of this small pond, fly toward the distance!
Jiang Xingzhi: "......"
Liu Chuan thus swiftly passed the examination. He was led away by Zhu Xu in a confused state.
As Zhu Xu led him toward his lodging, he shared inside information, "The Divine Lord seems particularly fond of you, picking you out from among thousands at a glance! Perhaps he received a divine revelation, knowing that Heaven will bestow great responsibility upon you in the future."
"Really?" Liu Chuan felt a sudden sense of mission, responding solemnly, "This junior will definitely not disappoint the Divine Lord's expectations!"
The two figures gradually disappeared from the mountain steps.
Jiang Xingzhi, listening to Zhu Xu's heartfelt words, almost believed he had actually received some divine revelation.
He called Zhong Ming to walk back with him, sighing aloud, "The people in our sect truly understand my heart in their conduct and actions."
That kid Zhu Xu looked simple and naive, but was actually better at painting pretty pictures than he was.
Zhong Ming was still fantasizing about their future blueprint, hearing this as he held his hand and slowly walked up the mountain steps, "Very good."
These days were becoming more and more promising.
...
The second examination had a specified time limit, so results were available before evening.
This examination eliminated nearly twenty percent of the people, with the number of examinees reduced to almost half of when they first entered Kunlun.
Jiang Xingzhi sat in the small courtyard at the mountain peak reviewing the examination results.
The recording stone in his hands clearly recorded every detail of the examination venue. By the time he had cross-checked each person's performance with their final scores, the sky had already darkened, and another day was ending.
Jiang Xingzhi set the recording stone aside and got up to stretch—time to go back to sleep.
Before returning to his room, he glanced over at the adjacent courtyard.
Given that he had been kissed too fiercely yesterday, he had used reviewing the examination as an excuse today to refuse Zhong Ming's request for kisses. The latter could only return to his own room with a melancholy expression to meditate quietly.
Now, Zhong Ming's courtyard and room were completely quiet, with only the cluster of roses in front of the courtyard blooming luxuriantly, swaying gently in the night breeze.
Jiang Xingzhi recalled that day on the street when Xu Jian had stuffed roses into his arms. He smiled: Looking back now, it had been so sweet even then.
Thinking this, he turned and entered his room.
Half of the bed curtains were lowered. Jiang Xingzhi lay on the bed without immediately falling asleep, his mind full of the little moments between them over the past two days.
His thoughts gradually wandered, and he thought again of the blueprint he had painted for the man today—carefree and happy days did indeed sound quite good.
Jiang Xingzhi rolled over lazily on the bed with a soft thud.
Anyway, Kunlun's affairs were gradually getting on track now, and the war between the demon and human realms had nothing to do with him. It seemed like there was nothing in the three realms that concerned him.
He might as well continue lounging around leisurely like this, waiting for an opportunity to return...
Cool moonlight streamed through the window, everything was so peaceful and beautiful. Jiang Xingzhi was just letting himself laze about when his heart suddenly gave a violent palpitation—
"Ugh!" The heart-piercing pain came without warning, like a stone dropping into a lake, suddenly shattering the peaceful atmosphere! He gripped his lapels, curled up on the bed with his back arched, his face pale from the pain.
What was happening?
Jiang Xingzhi breathed heavily, trying to mobilize his spiritual power to calm the stabbing pain in his chest, but it was completely useless.
This kind of pain was exactly like the sudden heart palpitations he had experienced in Tongtian Hall that day—but hadn't that been caused by the opportunity?
Fine, dense cold sweat seeped from his temples. Jiang Xingzhi clutched his lapels and endured for a while, feeling he still couldn't bear it, so he got up and stumbled out of his room.
Xu Jian, Xu Jian...
With his chest hurting like this, the figure of Xu Jian flashed through his mind in an instant.
In the past, he was alone and had gritted his teeth through much worse pain and torment, but now he had Xu Jian, and his instinct was to rely on this person.
Bang! Zhong Ming's door was violently burst open.
Zhong Ming, who had been meditating at his table, immediately opened his eyes! Seeing Jiang Xingzhi's pale face and pained expression, his heartbeat seemed to skip a beat as he reached out to catch the person rushing toward him, "Jiang Xingzhi!"
His body fell into a warm, solid embrace. Jiang Xingzhi relaxed completely. Broad palms stroked his face, wiping away the cold sweat, "What's wrong? Chest pain?"
In just a few breaths, Jiang Xingzhi's thin undergarment was already soaked with sweat. He curled up in Zhong Ming's embrace whimpering, "Ah Zuo, my chest hurts... just like in Tongtian Hall..."
He was in pain, but Zhong Ming felt he hurt even more than him.
He held the person tightly in his embrace, carefully carrying him to the bed, guiding Jiang Xingzhi to regulate his breathing and energy circulation. During Jiang Xingzhi's energy circulation, even his breathing seemed to carry dull pain, trembling continuously.
Zhong Ming steadied his mind, raised his hand to lift his lapels, and coaxed softly, "Deng Deng, relax, don't resist me."
"Mm." His shoulder and chest felt cool, then were enveloped by warm spiritual power. Zhong Ming's palm pressed tightly against his chest, pure spiritual power flowing in to protect his heart meridian and ease his pain.
Gradually, Jiang Xingzhi stopped shaking, and the pain was also diminishing.
He leaned against Zhong Ming's embrace, dependently nuzzling again, "It doesn't seem to hurt as much now, Ah Zuo."
"Good." Zhong Ming breathed a sigh of relief, but continued channeling spiritual power. Seeing Jiang Xingzhi's brow relax, he asked, "Why the sudden chest pain? Wasn't your soul already complete?"
Jiang Xingzhi said, "I don't know."
Zhong Ming frowned, "No warning signs at all?"
"Mm."
"What were you doing before the chest pain?"
"I was just lying in bed preparing to sleep."
The room was quiet for a few breaths. Zhong Ming seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "I remember there's a saying that the closer one gets to the ascension realm, the more easily one's state of mind can be detected by the Heavenly Dao. If one harbors any heaven-defying, world-disrupting thoughts, they will be punished by the Heavenly Dao. You..."
He opened his mouth carefully, "What were you thinking about just now?"
Jiang Xingzhi recalled, "I was thinking about being a lazy fish."
"......"
"Is this wish too excessive?"
"Not excessive, not excessive." Zhong Ming couldn't think of a reason either. He rubbed Jiang Xingzhi's face, which had grown cold from pain, "Tomorrow we'll go ask the all-knowing Wu Jie."
...
The chest pain came suddenly and left quickly, lasting only the time it takes to brew a cup of tea from start to finish.
After Jiang Xingzhi recovered, seeing that half his lapels had slipped down to his elbow, he blushed and pulled his clothes back together. He was still sitting on Zhong Ming's bed, with Zhong Ming sitting sideways on the edge with one arm around him.
In the deep of night, after a period of chaos, an ambiguous atmosphere rose again.
This was the first time Jiang Xingzhi had come to Zhong Ming's room, and he curiously looked around: The furnishings were simple and plain, just like the Xu Jian in his impression—efficient and capable.
"Curious about where I live?" Zhong Ming caught his gaze.
Jiang Xingzhi now finally felt a bit of the bashfulness of first love, "I'm just looking around casually."
"You can look however you want." Zhong Ming said, "You can even stay and sleep here if you want."
Pooh, shameless! Jiang Xingzhi glanced at the other man: Did he still not know Xu Jian? It was more like he wanted him to stay and sleep here.
"Alright, then I'll sleep here." Jiang Xingzhi said as he curled up toward the inside of the bed.
Zhong Ming was stunned: He had just wanted to make his Deng Deng blush, but hadn't expected this person to be so passionate and bold, daring to burrow into his bed!
After recovering, his gaze turned deep and mysterious as he reached out to pinch Jiang Xingzhi's earlobe, "You're certain I won't dare do anything, aren't you?"
Jiang Xingzhi was pinched until his small face flushed.
He thought to himself: You're really underestimating me—I'm hoping you'll do something.
But he still had to maintain surface restraint, pulling the bedding that had hardly been used over himself, "Mind your status as a candidate."
Zhong Ming couldn’t help but laugh out of anger, "You'd get into a candidate's bed?"
There was only one candidate anyway, so what couldn't he get into? Jiang Xingzhi peeked out with just his eyes from under the covers, making a domineering declaration, "Anyway, I'm sleeping here. You do whatever you want."
Zhong Ming was so irritated his teeth itched. He simply lay down sideways too, pulling the person into his arms for a full embrace, "Then I'll do whatever I want."
Jiang Xingzhi was held by him, his heartbeat suddenly racing. Both shy and satisfied, he found a comfortable angle to rest his head and raised his hand to circle Zhong Ming's waist, "Let's both do whatever we want then."
This back-and-forth seemed like they were competing to see who had thicker skin.
Clearly Jiang Xingzhi won.
His ear was pinched lightly.
Zhong Ming's voice was hoarse, "If you want to sleep, don't talk."
Jiang Xingzhi heard the implication in his words. Though his heart still held some anticipation, he also felt the pace shouldn't be too fast. So he obediently nestled in the man's embrace without moving.
At his ear was Zhong Ming's rapid and heavy heartbeat. Listening to the other's heartbeat, Jiang Xingzhi felt this scene was as beautiful as a dream.
If it had been in the past, how could he have imagined that one day he would be held by Xu Jian while sleeping?
Jiang Xingzhi thought and thought, his mind drifting farther and farther... He thought of the waterfall at Fuqing Mountain, of that stunning glimpse of Xu Jian practicing sword bare-chested under the waterfall.
Oh~ abs!
Jiang Xingzhi's gaze drifted downward: Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to see if Xu Jian's abs were firm?
His throat made a "gulp" sound as restless desires stirred.
Zhong Ming held Jiang Xingzhi, his mind full of calming mantras. He had spent great willpower suppressing the restless emotions in his heart, afraid that those feelings he'd suppressed for hundreds of years might accidentally find an outlet and burst forth.
Just as he was holding the person steadily and securely in his arms, rustling sounds suddenly came from in front of him.
Then his abdomen felt cool.
Zhong Ming paused, gently pushing the person in his arms away a little and looking down, "What are you doing, Deng Deng?"
Jiang Xingzhi was tugging at his lapels, his eyes bright and shining in the night, seemingly completely unaware of the dangerous thing he was doing.
He looked shy yet eager, ready to try, "Ah Zuo~ your abs, let me poke them once to test them!"
Zhong Ming, "......"