After Sheng Jun Chapter 55 (Part 1)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 55 Going All Out to Lay Low (part 1)
Jiang Xingzhi was immersed in the sweetness of becoming dao companions with Xu Jian, completely unaware that something was amiss.
He lay against Zhong Ming's chest for a while, then couldn't suppress the intense affection in his heart. He propped himself up and pressed against Zhong Ming to continue kissing. It wasn't until the other party turned the tables and kissed him until his legs and hands went weak that he dazedly climbed up.
"Should we go back to sleep?"
"Mm." Zhong Ming had gotten a taste of sweetness and temporarily set aside his survival crisis, cherishing this beautiful time that had now entered a countdown. His hand was still gripping Jiang Xingzhi's waist, his voice lazy and hoarse. "Where should we sleep?"
Jiang Xingzhi was reserved. "I should still go back to my own room to sleep."
Xu Jian was probably exhausted today, so he shouldn't bother him tonight.
Zhong Ming sat up from the reclining chair to face him. "Why? Don't you like sleeping in my room?"
Jiang Xingzhi blushed, his eyes bright as he looked at him. "I do like it. But what if you, you can't control yourself and start touching me... Anyway, we're going to become dao companions, so it's better to wait until the contract ceremony day for more ritual significance."
Zhong Ming understood what he was saying. His heart fluttered with excitement but he couldn't help falling into anxiety: Oh, contract ceremony. For him, it was truly double joy and sorrow.
Thinking about the major threat still unresolved, Zhong Ming didn't try to keep him. He lifted the person off himself. "Then you should go back to sleep quickly. See you tomorrow, Deng Deng."
Before leaving, Jiang Xingzhi nestled into his embrace once more, then turned and ran back to his room. "See you tomorrow, Ah Zuo."
The door slammed shut!
Inside and outside the door - two worlds of sorrow and joy.
Jiang Xingzhi returned to his room and lay on the bed, still full of happiness. In his heart, he planned when to form a contract with Xu Jian - if they were to form a contract, should they do it here, or wait until they returned?
The main issue was not knowing how long it would take to return, and he was eager to merge consciousness and do this and that with him. But forming a contract after returning would feel more like belonging, and all his relatives and friends were a thousand years in the future. When they found out he was with Xu Jian, their expressions would surely be wonderful... How exciting!
Jiang Xingzhi's mind was filled with wonderful scenarios, even drafting a guest list for the contract ceremony banquet.
As he thought about it, he always felt like he was overlooking something... After thinking for a long time without remembering, he simply gave up: If he couldn't remember, it wasn't important. Whatever!
Jiang Xingzhi hugged his bedding, rolled over, and beautifully entered dreamland.
…..
Perhaps it was thinking by day and dreaming by night.
After Jiang Xingzhi fell asleep, all he saw was celebratory red. He found himself in a luxuriously decorated bridal chamber with red curtains and red candles on the table.
He himself wore bright red wedding robes, the gorgeous hem trailing on the ground, with gauzy veils shrouding his figure mysteriously.
Suddenly the door creaked open.
Jiang Xingzhi looked up to see Xu Jian, also dressed in wedding robes, walking in. That handsome face that haunted his dreams was touched with earthly passion. Xu Jian walked up to him in a few steps, drew him into his embrace. "Xingzhi."
Jiang Xingzhi was both excited and shy. He clutched Xu Jian's sleeves and lifted his head to meet the other's seeking kiss.
In the dream, he kissed the person tenderly and lingingly, slowly backing up to the bed's edge. With a "thump," he sat on the bed. Xu Jian leaned down with one hand supporting himself beside Jiang Xingzhi, one leg raised and half-kneeling on the bed's edge.
After a long while, their lips parted. Jiang Xingzhi had just hooked his arms around the person's neck and pulled back, nervously and expectantly preparing for the next step, when suddenly a voice fell from outside the half-drawn curtains.
"Deng Deng, didn't you promise to be my dao companion!"
Jiang Xingzhi's eyes widened: ???
As the Xu Jian in front of him straightened and turned his head, somehow there was now another figure before the bed - "Bai Mu" stood there gritting his teeth and staring directly at them, anger and jealousy churning in his eyes.
"Bai Mu" strode over and directly grabbed one of Jiang Xingzhi's arms. At the same time, Xu Jian raised his hand to block him. "What are you doing? Xingzhi is my dao companion."
"Bai Mu" glared angrily. "What do you mean yours? I'm the first candidate!"
Damn, what "yours" and "his"?
Jiang Xingzhi was completely confused: You're the same person! Where did this "Bai Mu" and "Xu Jian" come from?
In his confusion, "Bai Mu" had already pulled him up from the bed and tightly embraced him. Rough fingertips harshly rubbed over his lips, forcefully wiping away traces of their kiss. "You can only kiss me!"
Behind him, Xu Jian came to pull him again, his eyes equally deep and intense. "Where did you pop out from halfway? How dare you compete with me for him."
Damn! No, no, what kind of dream is this?
It was completely chaotic, split as if he had entered Xu Jian's brain!
Jiang Xingzhi panicked and relied on sheer willpower to forcibly break free from the dream - flash! A white light appeared before his eyes, and he actually woke himself up from the dream.
Hah... hah...
Seeing the familiar ceiling again, Jiang Xingzhi lay on the bed, breathing heavily to calm his chaotic emotions.
He finally remembered what he had overlooked -
He had forgotten that Xu Jian was still wearing a disguise, and this person had split himself in his mind!
After all, in his subconscious, he had always treated the disguise and the real person as the same person. Because they were the same person! Jiang Xingzhi rubbed his temples: But last night when he mentioned forming a contract, didn't Xu Jian agree quite readily? He seemed completely untroubled by this matter.
He slowly sat up from the bed: Could it be that Xu Jian had some other plan?
Jiang Xingzhi pondered for a while but couldn't figure out the other's deeper meaning. He only knew that from the other's attitude, when they formed the contract, he would probably still be wearing a disguise under his wedding robes.
Jiang Xingzhi squinted: Still wrapping himself in disguise at this point... He wanted to see what brilliant plan Xu Jian had for the contract day.
****
Tormented by the split Xu Jian all night, Jiang Xingzhi couldn't sleep anymore.
He simply got up and left his room.
The morning air was cold and clear. This time was much earlier than his usual wake-up time. He walked down the mountain steps, and eventually arrived at Wu Jie's courtyard.
Wu Jie was just leaving, preparing to go to other sects for divination.
Jiang Xingzhi called out to him. "Master."
"Sect Master." Wu Jie turned his head from several steps below. His flowing daoist robes moved like a subtle wind through the forest among the fiery autumn leaves, elusive and unpredictable.
Since they happened to meet, Jiang Xingzhi took out two spirit stones to consult about any auspicious dates suitable for bonding recently.
This time Wu Jie didn't accept the spirit stones. "How could this poor daoist have the virtue and ability to set a wedding date for the Sect Master and Protector Bai?"
Jiang Xingzhi didn't insist. "Then do you have any suggestions? I'll consider them."
Wu Jie tucked his hands in his sleeves and glanced toward the outside of the mountain. "This poor daoist only feels that the outside world is still in turmoil, so it's probably not suitable for holding any joyous celebrations in the short term."
Jiang Xingzhi understood. "Master is saying we should resolve the outside matters first."
Wu Jie smiled slightly. "It's entirely up to the Sect Master's discretion."
"......" Hehe.
Jiang Xingzhi glanced at him: Wu Jie's answer was indeed as crafty as ever. Not definite, not proactive, not responsible. He had clearly planted the signposts in the ground but still had to grandly say: You can see which way to go yourself!
He waved his hand. "Understood. Take care, Master."
Wu Jie nodded and left, his two dark sleeves swaying.
...
Wu Jie had just left when Zhong Ming came down from the mountain looking for him.
"Deng Deng, why did you get up so early today?"
He was fine not mentioning it, but once he did, Jiang Xingzhi thought of that sandwich dream - left and right flanked by men, truly suffocating.
His profound gaze suddenly fell on Zhong Ming. Zhong Ming's steps halted as he stopped nervously, beginning to reflect on whether he had exposed his disguise somewhere. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Jiang Xingzhi looked away and changed to a happier topic. "I just happened to run into Master and asked him about suitable dates for forming a contract."
At these words, Zhong Ming tensed up even more. "What did he say?"
"Probably not possible in the short term."
Whew... Zhong Ming breathed a sigh of relief: Looks like he could still lay low for a while.
Jiang Xingzhi frowned. "Ah Zuo! You look like you really don't want to form a contract with me?"
"How could that be?" Zhong Ming hurried over, touching his head to smooth down his ruffled fur, soothingly kissing his forehead. "I'm afraid it's too hasty and we're not prepared."
This explanation was acceptable~ Jiang Xingzhi's fur was smoothed down, and he leaned his head against the other's shoulder, savoring the meaning in his words.
Prepare, prepare what? Prepare to reveal his little disguise to give him a surprise?
He was thoroughly looking forward to it.
****
The two walked hand in hand back to the mountaintop.
Jiang Xingzhi sat in the reclining chair in Zhong Ming's courtyard while the latter brewed hot tea nearby.
Since he knew they needed to resolve outside matters before they could peacefully hold the bonding ceremony, Jiang Xingzhi didn't delay and began working to resolve the war between the two realms.
To untie the bell, one must find the person who tied it.
He immediately contacted Su You, planning to understand the other party's demands for war.
The transmission connected quickly. Su You probably didn't need to fight personally, so his voice sounded quite leisurely. "What does Xingzhi want with this lord again?"
Jiang Xingzhi tentatively opened the topic. "How is the war between the two realms going?"
"How is it going? Deep water and hot fire, mutual destruction."
"Then how about... we stop fighting?"
"Stop fighting?" The phrase rolled around his lips before falling with a cold laugh. "Heh, then the suffering my Demon Realm endured was all for nothing?"
Even Jiang Xingzhi felt this was unreasonable. He reached for the hot tea Zhong Ming handed him, took a sip, and adjusted his wording. "Every injustice has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. The one who invaded the Demon Realm was that Venerable someone. We even caught him for you, didn't we? You can draw and quarter him, slice his flesh for cooking as you please."
"Tsk, his faction already ran back to the Human Realm early when my Demon Realm was in chaos." Su You spoke with another sinister laugh. "But it doesn't matter. Even if I have to overturn the entire Human Realm, I'll drag him out again!"
Jiang Xingzhi quickly expressed his position. "I support you! But the scale of war between the two realms is too large. You kill a thousand enemies and lose a thousand of your own... Just catch that Venerable and his faction in one net. Why involve so many others?"
Su You's voice suddenly turned cold. "Involve so many others? Does Xingzhi think the other sects in the Human Realm are innocent? What, then the tens of thousands of demon cultivators in my Demon Realm aren't innocent?"
His tone sounded as playful as ever but carried a faint warning. "Are you here to persuade this lord on behalf of the Human Realm? I told you not to interfere. If you want to stand against this lord, even if it's you, Xingzhi... this lord will be angry."
Seeing Su You's firm attitude, Jiang Xingzhi had to abandon his persuasion - after all, he had no standing to make choices for the victims.
He was about to say something to end this topic when he suddenly heard Zhong Ming's disdainful snort beside him. "Heh, who cares if you're angry or not."
Jiang Xingzhi: "......"
Su You: "......"
Su You immediately laughed coldly! His temper flared up. He didn't have such a good attitude toward Zhong Ming. "Who do I think it is? How is someone still clinging around Xingzhi?"
Zhong Ming slammed down the teapot with a bang. "Clinging?"