Ch 140: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

When Mu Xing successfully formed his foundation and walked out from seclusion, he received dreadful news:

Xue Zhongyu had returned.

It was said his father carried him back, covered in blood. No one knew what had happened.

Mu Xing’s first reaction was to frown. Because of the body’s past experiences, it was very difficult for him to feel any fondness for Xue Zhongyu.

But he quickly reflected on himself: at least for now, Xue Zhongyu was only a pitiful, innocent child who had been kidnapped by enemies at a young age.

He might not like him, but he could not harbor such dark thoughts as wishing he would never return.

In any case, now he was already a disciple of Medicine Peak.

No matter how much Crescent Moon Peak treasured their true little junior brother, it no longer had anything to do with him.

He deliberately avoided listening to news from Crescent Moon Peak, focusing only on cultivating at Medicine Peak, planting herbs in his spare time, playing with spirit pets, and refining pills. His days were fulfilling and leisurely.

But sometimes, even if you wish for peace, it does not come.

A little more than a month later, Xue Zhongyu came looking for Mu Xing.

When he heard the news, Mu Xing paused in silence.

He wasn’t very eager to go, but he had heard that during Xue Zhongyu’s recovery, out of boredom he wove many little trinkets from grass leaves. He had given them out as small gifts to his fellow disciples, seniors and juniors alike.

Someone must have told him that the Medicine Peak’s Mu shidi looked somewhat like him, and he was curious to see for himself.

There was no reason to refuse.

Mu Xing invited Xue Zhongyu into his small building.

This was Mu Xing’s first time seeing Xue Zhongyu.

He was very good-looking, his features exquisitely balanced. Perhaps because his injuries had not yet healed, his complexion was pale, giving him the fragile, glass-like impression of something that could easily break, stirring pity and protectiveness.

It was winter outside, and he wore a spotless pure white cloak. His skin seemed to blend into the cloak, and the cinnabar mole at the center of his brow stood out all the more.

Mu Xing glanced at him quietly, helplessly realizing that his own features really did resemble Xue Zhongyu’s by seven or eight parts.

But now, no one should mistake them for each other.

After staying on Medicine Peak, Mu Xing spent all his time cultivating, planting herbs, and refining pills. By nature he was unhurried and serene, and his whole being carried a detached aura as if he stood outside worldly dust.

It was hard to imagine that such transcendence could come from a child not even ten years old. Because of this, Master Yao had even been scolded by his fellow brothers, told not to push his disciple too hard.

Master Yao: “…” with grievances unspoken.

Xue Zhongyu, in contrast, was the opposite. His entire being proclaimed wealth, pride, affection, and the attention of all—like the most beloved little prince in the world.

Mu Xing let his gaze linger a moment on that cinnabar mole, feeling an inexplicable discomfort.

It wasn’t just the mole. Xue Zhongyu’s whole presence gave him a sense of discord.

He didn’t like him.

It was rare for Mu Xing to have such a blunt first impression of someone.

Sensing Mu Xing’s gaze, Xue Zhongyu smiled kindly. “Are you looking at my cinnabar mole? Isn’t it pretty? Senior Brother Qi said that when you were on Crescent Moon Peak, they once dotted one on you too, but you didn’t like it. Why not?”

His manner was innocent and childlike, and asking such a question didn’t feel rude.

He smiled brightly at Mu Xing, his large round catlike eyes full of joy. “You really do look a lot like me. Someone who didn’t know better might think you were my father’s other child.”

“Awuu~” Before Mu Xing could reply, a white figure came bounding in—it was Lingbao.

It had trotted in, but upon noticing another person inside, its pace slowed at once. Its stubby little legs stepped more deliberately. Yet when it passed Xue Zhongyu, its fur bristled, and it turned its head sharply to glare at him, unfriendly.

“Lingbao.” Mu Xing beckoned. “Come here. This is a guest, don’t be rude.”

He turned to Xue Zhongyu. “He’s a little shy with strangers.”

Then he asked, “Aren’t you hot?”

Xue Zhongyu blinked, momentarily lost at the shift in topic.

Mu Xing pointed at his clothes. “Medicine Peak has formations. In that outfit, sitting here, aren’t you hot?”

Xue Zhongyu: “…”

When he lowered his head to unfasten the cloak, Mu Xing said, “I came from the mortal world. My parents, though ordinary, still did their utmost to protect me through life and death. Everyone knows this. Uncle Xue’s love for you is equally well-known. No one would harbor such ridiculous misunderstandings.”

He was answering Xue Zhongyu’s earlier words.

As for the cinnabar mole…

Mu Xing stroked the fat ball on his lap. “Lingbao is close to me, but wary of you. You see, even spirit beasts have their own likes and dislikes, let alone people.”

“Wow, you speak so reasonably.” Xue Zhongyu’s eyes widened in wonder. “Not like me. My father says I’m this old already and still don’t understand things.”

“I really like you. Can I come visit you often from now on?” His gaze was full of hopeful anticipation.

Mu Xing: “…”

He replied, “I have to cultivate with my master every day, plant spirit herbs, and refine pills…”

He concluded, “Even twelve hours a day isn’t enough.”

“These things are so boring.” Xue Zhongyu pouted. “I can take you down the mountain to play something fun, way more interesting than cultivating.”

Mu Xing refused him with complete seriousness. “That won’t do. In my heart, nothing is more fun than cultivating.”

Xue Zhongyu: “…”

He pursed his lips. “You’re no fun at all. Not as fun as the senior brothers from the other peaks. Will you really have friends like this?”

“Of course.” Mu Xing was firm. “The brothers and sisters of every peak who’ve met me all like me.”

Xue Zhongyu: “…”

Mu Xing directly issued an order to leave. “Today, a batch of Dan Zhu immortal grass is maturing. I need to go harvest them. Brother Xue, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to chat with you.”

Xue Zhongyu forced a smile. “Alright then. When you have time, you can come find me to play.”

Mu Xing replied perfunctorily. “We’ll see. I shouldn’t have any time soon.”

The youth in green robes left cheerfully, holding his round, plump spirit beast.

Xue Zhongyu watched his departing figure, both puzzled and unwilling.

“He doesn’t like me.” He said with certainty. “Why doesn’t he like me?”

“Youhuo, why would he not like me?”

It shouldn’t be this way. His current appearance was the one most pleasing to humans—the looks, the temperament, the behavior.

What’s more, he was born able to sense fluctuations in emotions, adjusting himself at any time, ensuring that everything he said and did perfectly matched the other person’s desires.

But just now, from beginning to end, the boy in green robes only showed disinterest and perfunctory replies, clearly wanting to send him away as soon as possible.

He didn’t even bother to pretend!

A cold, sharp voice rang in his ear. “Did you sense any strong emotional fluctuation from him just now?”

Xue Zhongyu froze. “No.”

From start to finish, the boy’s tone was calm. In his other “pair of eyes,” this person was like a blank sheet of paper.

No intense desires could be sensed.

No flaws could be found.

But how could a human have no flaws?

“Wasn’t his whole family killed, and wasn’t he brought back by Xue Wuya? Wasn’t he used as my substitute on Crescent Moon Peak, living unhappily? Why doesn’t he have resentment, hatred, jealousy, or unwillingness?”

Is he really human?

Youhuo didn’t understand either.

It said heavily, “You’re truly lucky, Young Master. The very first ‘vessel’ you picked in the human world turned out to be so unusual.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Xue Zhongyu frowned. “This is troublesome. Things are developing completely outside of what we expected.”

His time on Crescent Moon Peak was no longer going so smoothly.

Those senior brothers of his could no longer be so easily controlled, no longer giving in to his every demand.

Of course, the biggest problem was Mu Xing.

He could no longer draw power from him, and his cultivation speed was slowing.

*

Mu Xing had no idea there was such a conversation after he left.

He returned to his medicine field, holding the jade box meant for storing herbs, carefully digging out the mature Dan Zhu immortal grass one by one and placing them inside.

He nodded in satisfaction. “It’s so much more comfortable here. That Xue Zhongyu fellow… looking at him always feels strange.”

But thinking further, if he weren’t strange, the entire Crescent Moon Peak wouldn’t have gone mad for him.

If not for the fact that when he disappeared he was only a six-year-old child—far too young for any complicated entanglements—Mu Xing would have suspected he was some kind of breathtaking calamity in the form of a beautiful boy.

The light orb crouched silently within his sea of consciousness.

Its gaze pierced across the distance, toward the direction of Mu Xing’s small building.

Just now, at such close range, it could not possibly have misread that aura.

Like Mu Xing, it had followed through countless lifetimes, knowing only what had been written into the original storyline.

And in that story, once the original body died, their part ended. What happened afterward had nothing to do with them—they had no way of knowing.

At first it thought the boy only carried a common protagonist’s aura.

But it turned out there was something far more unusual hidden within.

If that was the case, then the odd behavior of Crescent Moon Peak’s disciples could be explained.

Still…

After some thought, the light orb turned gloating. “Of all the targets you could have chosen, you had to cross Mu Xing. Let’s see how hard you crash into that wall.”

Completely forgetting how it had once struggled—then lost strength, fell into despair, and finally gave up resisting, becoming as detached as it was now.

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