WPCID 22: It Can Be Cured, Of Course It Can Be Cured

Shen Zhou waited for a moment. Seeing that the man opposite him seemed utterly at a loss, he thought the illness must be serious. 

“It can’t be cured?”

“Ah… This, it can be cured, of course it can be cured.” Xie Xianqing snapped back to his senses, wiping non-existent cold sweat from his forehead. He took out a packet of soybean powder from his robes. 

“Go back, sprinkle a little of this in his tea, and have him drink it. Remember, this is a specific cure for a specific ailment. He must be the one to take it; it will have no effect on others.”

Shen Zhou took the soybean powder, lowered his head to sniff it—there was no particular smell. He tasted a little; it was slightly fragrant, not poison.

When he looked up, the man had already disappeared.

He thought for a moment and decided to take it back to try. After walking a few steps, he turned back and gave a bow toward the spot where the man had just stood before pressing his bamboo hat down and hurrying back.

Xie Xianqing was hiding in an old tree next to the medical hall, digesting the “fact” that “Lu Buzhuo and the demonic cultivator had overindulged to the point of dysfunction.” He suddenly saw the demonic cultivator return to give him a bow, knocking his hat askew in the process and revealing the tip of an ear.

Xie Xianqing: “.”

Actually, half-demons aren’t as crude, barbaric, and uncultured as the world makes them out to be.

What a pity, he thought, removing his mask. A pity he’s a demonic cultivator.

Shen Zhou hurried back to the residence with the soybean powder, not noticing that the protective array was still active. He took off his bamboo hat and pushed the door open.

The sword qi receded like a tide without causing the slightest disturbance. One stream intentionally or unintentionally lowered itself and gently brushed against the tip of his wolf ear, so lightly that even Shen Zhou didn’t notice, mistaking it for the wind.

At that moment, Chu Xuan was still at the back door trying to break the array.

It wasn’t exactly breaking it. Kunlun Xu’s grand protective array had a strange flaw: by drawing six specific talismans in order with cinnabar, one could crack open a seam without alerting the array’s master.

This was something his Senior Brother had discovered back when they were just fooling around.

After finally obtaining some cinnabar and drawing the six talismans from memory, the grand array remained completely motionless.

Chu Xuan: “…”

Amnesia or not, my Senior Brother’s talent in arrays hasn’t diminished in the slightest. He actually fixed this flaw on the fly, making it watertight.

He was never skilled with arrays to begin with, so he had to give up and go back to consult with Xie Xianqing.

Inside the residence.

Lu Buzhuo was sitting by the window, lost in thought with his eyes lowered. He was pondering serious questions like which was more severe: “The Sect Master’s Senior Brother has become a demonic cultivator” or “a demonic cultivator is mistaken for the Sect Master’s Senior Brother and has infiltrated Kunlun Xu,” as well as “how did Kunlun Xu produce a disgrace like me.”

Suddenly, the room door was kicked open with a heavy thud. The intruder had the bearing of a bandit.

“Lu Buzhuo,” the bandit said, “I made you some ginger tea.”

Lu Buzhuo: “?”

It was broad daylight, neither early nor late. What sort of tea was this?

Besides, he had just had several cups of tea while entertaining Chu Xuan and had little interest. 

“I’m not thirsty. I’ll drink it later.”

The tea tray was dropped onto the table with a clang, and the teacup was pushed to his lips.

“Drink.” The bandit urged, inexplicably anxious.

The smell of ginger tea was overwhelmingly strong. Lu Buzhuo blocked it with his hand, then leaned in to glance at the murky liquid and chuckled. 

“Heh, what, are you trying to poison me?”

Shen Zhou took a sip to show him. 

“It’s not poisoned.”

“That’s not… Forget it.” Having just rejected Shen Zhou in the kitchen, Lu Buzhuo didn’t want to spurn his good intentions again. He took the cup and had a taste, but unfortunately tasted a strange flavor that didn’t belong to ginger tea.

“?” Thinking his sense of taste was off, he frowned and took two more sips. The more he drank, the more something felt wrong. 

“…What did you put in this?”

“Medicine to make you ‘able’.” The wolf ears wagged proudly.

The teacup fell onto the table with a thud, wobbling for several turns as if drunk.

Lu Buzhuo: “?!!”

He looked at Shen Zhou, remembering that Shen Zhou had also taken a sip. He recalled how his Adam’s apple had bobbed as he drank, how his red tongue had darted out to lick his lips, leaving them glossy and moist, looking very kissable.

His body actually began to feel a faint, rising heat.

“You—”

Before he could finish, he watched as Shen Zhou picked up the cup and, unwilling to let it go to waste, drank the rest of the tea. He then went over and shut the window.

Lu Buzhuo’s vision went dark.

That wasn’t all.

Shen Zhou observed him for a moment and, finding that his clothes were too thick to see the effects, bent down and hoisted his cultivation partner onto his shoulder with a grunt. He carried him around the screen to the bedside, set him down, and began to clumsily strip his clothes off.

As he was fumbling, he was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled away.

“Don’t interrupt, I’m look—mmph mmph…”

Lu Buzhuo kissed him for a while before releasing his lips, his voice deepening by several degrees. 

“What do you want to see? Hm? Who on earth taught you all this nonsense?”

Shen Zhou was slightly dizzy from the kiss, his eyes turning bright. He didn’t speak, but instead took the lead, tilting his head up to kiss him back.

But he was soon defeated.

His wolf ears and lips were nibbled bit by bit, and his Adam’s apple was gently caressed. Shen Zhou subconsciously opened his mouth, tasting the ginger tea, which was quickly overwhelmed by the lingering scent of bamboo. He felt a slight suffocation, able only to cling to the other man to gasp for a little air, only to be leveraged into giving up even more.

His lips tingled and went numb. The sleeve clutched in his palm was nearly crumpled into a ball. Shen Zhou let out a soft sound, his wolf ears flattening back hard, like a helpless little animal.

Lu Buzhuo paused, then kissed him even more heavily.

“Tell me if you feel uncomfortable later,” he whispered.

…

……

The moment he entered, he breached Shen Zhou’s spiritual altar.

There was almost no resistance.

Within the spiritual altar was a lush green forest. Flowers bloomed under the trees, and a few mynas hopped about.

Lu Buzhuo found Shen Zhou’s soul on the highest treetop without much effort. He led him to a hidden spot overgrown with shrubs and lowered his eyes to kiss him.

…

On the bed.

Shen Zhou abruptly threw his head back, biting his lip hard to swallow the low moan that was about to escape. His wolf ears trembled violently, and his ten fingers raked across Lu Buzhuo’s back, leaving behind a startling, bloody scratch.

“Lu…” he said hoarsely, murmuring as if begging for help, “Lu Buzhuo…”

“I’m here,” Lu Buzhuo whispered. 

“It’s me.”

The pendant engraved with the Shared Fate Curse rolled slightly, tapping gently against the back of his hand.

Suddenly, a familiar scene flashed through his mind.

It was just as chaotic and damp, but different. There was the thick smell of blood.

Back then, there was no sea in his spiritual altar.

He was kneeling deep inside a stone cave on a cliff. The demonic energy restraints on his wrists were no longer flowing grains of fine sand, but chains nailed into the rock wall, refining his soul without pause, like being burned by fire.

The shadow stood before him, looking down at him with a leisurely expression, as if waiting for a good show to begin.

“Aren’t you going?” The shadow examined its wrist, as if a bite mark had really appeared on its soul there. 

“Tsk, fierce enough… That half-demon has both demonic power and spiritual energy in his body. It was already a chaotic mess, and with the medicinal pill I just fed him, he’ll die if no one helps him.”

“…What exactly are you trying to do?”

“The demon bloodline in that half-demon is very special. The golden core he forms can be used to reconstruct a person’s soul.” The shadow smiled faintly. 

“Unfortunately, the power in his body is too complex. He needs an expert skilled in arrays to help him sort it out, to form the core using an array formation method.”

“And as for me, I am just a remnant soul you discarded. I’ve relied on demonic energy to struggle on for all these years, but I’ve never been able to completely refine you. So, I had to find a way to complete my other two ethereal souls and six earthly souls. As it happens, just such a method has presented itself.”

The shadow lifted the hem of its robes and crouched down. It reached out to pinch his chin, its smile gentle.

“I want to use his golden core to kill you. Today, he either forms the core, or he dies. So, will you help him or not?”

“…”

The chains on his wrists clinked.

Lu Buzhuo slowly opened his eyes. Looking at Shen Zhou curled up in his arms with damp eyelashes, for a moment, he couldn’t tell what was past and what was present.