"Venerable." Yin Hanjiang offered the token to Wenren È with both hands.
Wenren È: ...
He had given this token to Baili Qingmiao in exchange for the Shattered Mountain Meteorite. Both the workings of karma and Wenren È's own character would not allow him to simply take it back. He had felt a bit nervous when Baili Qingmiao first took it out, but if she actually used it, then he would've stepped in.
If he escorted the two out of the Hellfire Pavilion, they would part ways outside, and all his work would've been for nothing.
This was also the first time Yin Hanjiang had taken initiative without Wenren È's orders. Just seeing his troubled expression, he had rushed in, still doing his best to ease Wenren È's job for him.
After he put on the mask, he seemed to become a completely different person. Forget Baili Qingmiao and Zhongli Qian, even Wenren È himself hardly recognized him. No wonder why neither the characters nor the readers had figured out, right up until Baili Qingmiao had seen the mask in his bag, that the Ghost Mask was actually the faithful and deferent Yin Hanjiang.
Speaking of that, Wenren È guessed that Yin Hanjiang had purposefully let Baili Qingmiao see that mask. He had probably wanted her to fall into despair and give up on survival. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked.
"This Venerable cannot take back a token he has given out," Wenren È said. "You can keep it. I'll just give her a messaging talisman in the future."
A faint smile appeared on Yin Hanjiang's face. He replaced the token securely near his heart. Wenren È felt like if he didn't stop him, Yin Hanjiang would try to shove it into his own chest.
It was just a little token that he had made out of the leftover material the Seven Killing Halberd was made from. It wasn't actually good for much. Its only use was that if someone sent their own spiritual energy into it, Wenren È would be able to sense it.
Oh well. If Yin Hanjiang liked it, he could have it.
Seeing Yin Hanjiang act so meek, Wenren È was puzzled. When he completed the Army Crushing Sword, Yin Hanjiang should've already cleared his psychological blocks and stopped restricting himself. How come he seemed to have regressed?
Was it because of the ghost mask?
"Let me see the mask." Wenren È held out a hand.
Yin Hanjiang didn't offer it, instead clutching it tighter in his hand. Wenren È reached out and casually grabbed it, but felt some resistance. Only when he yanked harder, the second time, did Yin Hanjiang release it.
He examined it closely, but found it to be an ordinary mask from the mortal world, made from ordinary materials. Yin Hanjiang might've picked it up on a whim from a shop in the little border town. It shouldn't have any ability to influence a person's mind. Why wasn't Yin Hanjiang willing to let him have it?
Wenren È stuck it on his own face. Through it, he saw a faint tinge of red color Yin Hanjiang's face, as he showed an expression Wenren È had never seen before. He quickly took it off, but saw that Yin Hanjiang's expression had returned to normal, looking as calm and unperturbed as always.
Wenren È wondered if he was seeing things. He turned the mask back and forth in his hand, but couldn't discover a trick to it.
"Give me your hand," he ordered.
Yin Hanjiang extended his hand to Wenren È. Wenren È felt his pulse, then sent his own spiritual energy into Yin Hanjiang's body. His meridians were unobstructed and there was no problem with his cultivation. He showed no signs of qi deviation.
Wenren È withdrew his hand, letting it rest on the mask. He still felt puzzled. Ever since he had picked up that first book, many questions had arisen in his mind, and when he answered one, another appeared. Maybe this was just fate. Maybe he would never be able to fully understand everything.
"Does the Venerable like this mask?" Yin Hanjiang asked, seeing how Wenren È had held onto it for all this time.
"Not really." Wenren È gave it back to Yin Hanjiang, watching as he replaced it in his storage pouch, his face still expressionless.
Something just wasn't right. Yet he couldn't put his finger on it.
Wenren È trusted that Yin Hanjiang wouldn't lie to him or conceal anything from him. They had already confided in each other and always acted openly toward each other. How come when Yin Hanjiang put on the mask, Wenren È was completely unable to read him?
"From now on, if it's just you and me, don't wear that mask," Wenren È said. "And don't wear it when it's not necessary, either."
"Understood," Yin Hanjiang answered, very lightly. He showed none of the resolution he had in the past.
Wenren È wanted to keep interrogating Yin Hanjiang about the mask, but Baili Qingmiao and Zhongli Qian had started holding hands, so Wenren È had to turn his attention over to the developments on their side.
They were holding hands because Zhongli Qian had stumbled and nearly fell, so Baili Qingmiao reached out and grabbed him. "Young Master Zhongli," she said, "you can't see anything, so let's help each other out right now."
Zhongli Qian shook his head. "I think it's odd. Even if I can't see, with my spiritual cognition, I should be able to sense everything around me. How come I didn't notice whatever I tripped on? Miss Baili, can you check what it was for me?"
Baili Qingmiao glanced back. "It's a femur. It's been rolling around by itself, trying to trip you up."
Zhongli Qian released Baili Qingmiao's hand. "Miss Baili, why don't you use your bonded weapon to tie our hands together? Men and women shouldn't touch casually. I don't wish to be improper with you."
He wasn't usually that stuffy, but he was nervous about the fact that his eyes had been cursed to only see Baili Qingmiao. He trusted that Baili Qingmiao was a member of a righteous sect and had good character, and wasn't afraid of her harming him. But a person like her could easily be manipulated, so better he play it safe.
Baili Qingmiao didn't mind and thought this idea was better. This way, if Zhongli Qian were to fall or be thrown by something, she could just loosen the silk and not be dragged along with him. Then, after getting better footing, she could pull him back using it.
Thus they swapped from holding hands to holding a silk tied between them. Baili Qingmiao looked like a guide for the blind.
Wenren È: ...
This wasn't what he had expected to happen. He had accomplished "picking the other person instantly out of a crowd" and "sharing their emotions", so how come they were still so stiff and polite with each other? He hadn't expected them to blindfold their eyes!
Was it really because he couldn't understand the last line—"love takes you unawares, and before you know it, you're deep in its clutches"? But what kind of a feeling was that referring to, exactly?
"What does 'love takes you unawares, and before you know it, you're deep in its clutches' mean?" Wenren È asked.
"When you realize it's happening, it's already too late to break free," Yin Hanjiang replied behind him. His voice shook slightly. He probably also thought this line was rather silly.
"I know what it means literally," Wenren È said. "But how is it supposed to be accomplished? Cultivators cultivate their minds. How can anyone be so oblivious of their own intentions that they cannot discover them until they're in too deep? If someone is really so confused, then how can they cultivate? How can they enlighten to the Dao? Enlightenment happens in a flash. It never comes before you realize it's happening."
"Who knows?" Yin Hanjiang's tone was a bit cold. "Probably only the people deep in its clutches can understand it."
Then what was he supposed to do? Wenren È was aware that it wouldn't be easy to make Baili Qingmiao forget about Hè Wenzhao. He didn't try to control Baili Qingmiao either. But wasn't it natural for Zhongli Qian to fall in love with the female lead? Why didn't he feel anything?
The Lord of Demons knew far too little about matters of love.
He could only reference the original book. He opened Abusive Romance, wanting to revisit every word and action of Baili Qingmiao and Zhongli Qian's meeting. But the words on the page were currently changing madly. Wenren È could only read through it once before it was revised to something completely different.
Baili Qingmiao and Zhongli Qian supported each other as they tried to escape the Hellfire Pavilion, with only one eye between them. The sun had set by now, and Baili Qingmiao was afraid to run into someone like the red-robed man again, so struck up a conversation with Zhongli Qian. "I don't know who captured me. My master is a really powerful wandering immortal, and we were walking together when it happened. My vision suddenly went black and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, my master was gone and I was trapped in here. Some sickly but still good-looking man put a drop of blood in my left eye, and also extracted some of my blood. A bit later, a pretty and delicate-looking man made me eat something that made my chest hurt for a moment. I have no idea what they did to me."
Hearing all this, Zhongli Qian pursed his lips. "Why only your left eye?"
"I don't know. It looked like he was planning to do both, but when he got to my right eye, he suddenly had a fit of coughing and couldn't manage it. Maybe his sickness flared up?"
"That man was the master of the Hellfire Pavilion of Xuanyuan Sect, Shi Congxin. He cultivates the seven human sufferings, and in order to inflict suffering on others, he must first inflict it on himself. He's always sickly, and he couldn't possibly have a sudden flare-up. He is a walking illness."
Baili Qingmiao suddenly turned her head, looking at Zhongli Qian closely with her right eye. She squinted a little and rubbed her chest. "Strange, why do I suddenly feel so suspicious of you?"
Zhongli Qian: ...
That would be because he was suspecting Baili Qingmiao, and under the influence of the heart-linking parasites, she felt it too.
Zhongli Qian had held out hopes that only the tracking spell on their eyes would be linked, and the heart-linking parasite would be for someone else. Now that she had shared his emotions, his hopes fell.
With the heart-linking parasite, one could not hide any of their emotions. He and Baili Qingmiao had to cooperate, or they would never escape the Hellfire Pavilion. Zhongli Qian originally hadn't planned to resist, but Wenren È's recent actions made him wary. He was the heir to the Zhongli clan. If, in the future, there was a possibility he would do something wrong under the influence of the heart-linking parasite, then it was better he give up his position now and become a wandering cultivator.
"Miss Baili, let me undo your silk and conceal myself somewhere. Then take off the cloth over your left eye and look for me. I want to confirm how strong the curse is," Zhongli Qian said.
Only after obtaining all relevant information could they determine their next steps.
Baili Qingmiao readily agreed. She also wanted to know how bad her eye was. After Zhongli Qian hid, she took off her blindfold, and saw a thin thread with her left eye. She followed it, turning around, and saw Zhongli Qian through a door. Her vision could even penetrate through solid surfaces.
"I can see you, Young Master Zhongli," Baili Qingmiao said.
When Zhongli Qian opened the door and walked out, Baili Qingmiao's vision was filled with his face again. She quickly covered her eye up, and described what she had just seen.
"This tracking curse truly is strong," said Zhongli Qian with a sigh. "Even if the one whose blood was taken runs to the ends of the earth, they won't be able to escape the other's sight. Distance has no effect on it."
"So the blood in my eyes was Young Master Zhongli's? Then who got my blood?"
"Me," Zhongli Qian said, knowing that he couldn't hide it from Baili Qingmiao. "I had to blindfold my eyes because my eyes can only see Miss Baili's face. There's basically no difference between having these eyes and not."
Baili Qingmiao knew the sensation and felt sympathy for him. She at the very least had one working eye, while Zhongli Qian couldn't use either.
Zhongli Qian could feel Baili Qingmiao's pity and sighed. "Miss Baili, we have to test one more thing. Try to think of something that makes you really emotional."
Baili Qingmiao's thoughts immediately turned to Hè Wenzhao, and her heart sank. She remembered that her shixiong was to marry Liu Xinye today, and they might be in bed together by now. It was so painful... huh? She wasn't actually sad at all?
Baili Qingmiao rubbed her chest. One moment, it had felt like a knife had been stuck into her heart and was being twisted, and the next moment, it was gone.
"Try thinking of something happy now," Zhongli Qian said.
Baili Qingmiao thought of growing up together with shixiong and how well shixiong had treated her. It made her so happy... No, she wasn't happy at all. Her heart was as calm as still water.
"Miss Baili, the things you just thought of were what make you most sad and most happy, right?" Zhongli Qian asked.
"Yes," Baili Qingmiao said firmly. "I love shixiong. He's the one who can stir my feelings the most."
"That puts me at ease," Zhongli Qian said. "What we both swallowed was the heart-linking parasite. Both parties who have it can feel each other's emotions and be controlled by the other. The one with the firmer will would be in control."
"So you suppressed my feelings just now?"
"Yes." Zhongli Qian smiled in relief. "When I felt your sorrow, I stilled my heart and was able to suppress it quickly. When I felt your joy, I was also able to suppress it. I'm new to it now, but after getting some practice, I should be able to steady my emotions easily."
Baili Qingmiao: ...
Didn't this mean that she was the one being controlled?
Young Master Zhongli might be relieved, but what about her? Baili Qingmiao didn't know how to feel about this.
"You also don't need to worry," Zhongli Qian said. "I'll do my best to find a way to rid us of the curse and the bugs. What I was just testing was how badly we're going to be affected for now. We can temporarily cover our eyes. It may be a bother, but not much of one. As for our emotions, I'll do my best to maintain a calm state of mind. I know this might be inconvenient for you, but it's all we can do for now. We just have to stay calm and act rationally. It's at least better than being ruled by emotions."
"No, I'm fine with this." Baili Qingmiao shook her head with a relieved expression. She smiled at Zhongli Qian. "My shixiong is getting married today."
Zhongli Qian's expression stiffened. He felt Baili Qingmiao's grief and smoothly recited a few poems in his mind—"Stars hang over the broad plains, the moon's reflection ripples in river waters", "Savour the joys of life, do not raise to the moon an empty goblet". The verses raised his spirits greatly.
Baili Qingmiao also felt the same. Her mood suddenly changed from that of a resentful young girl's. "With your help, I can let go of shixiong and no longer agonize over him, so this could be a blessing in disguise. From now on, I can travel the world, seeing all the sights it has to offer, and put my efforts toward ascending and becoming a god! Hahahaha!"
Her laughter was bright and open, and Zhongli Qian couldn't help but feel her optimism.
Wenren È: ...
Wasn't this kind of development still good?