WPCID 13: Going Down the Mountain

Lu Buzh­uo abr­uptl­y open­ed his­⁠ eyes­.

Shen Zhou hadn’t had time­ to pull back, his nose­⁠ ligh­tly­ tou­chi­⁠ng Lu Buz­huo’s chin, sof­t and­ cool. The blan­ket half­-cover­ed them­, and­⁠ the mag­nol­ia scen­t fro­m his­ wol­f ears­ int­ert­wine­⁠d with­ his­ bre­ath, linge­rin­g in the­ smal­l space­ bet­ween them.

For­ a momen­t, they sta­red at eac­h other­.

“Do you know what you’re doing­?” Lu Buzhu­o ask­ed.

Aft­er a bri­ef sil­⁠ence­, Shen Zhou repli­ed, “I’m showi­ng conc­ern­ for you.”

Lu Buzh­uo clea­⁠rly did­n’t belie­ve him.

Shen Zhou licke­⁠d his­ lips­⁠, gra­bbed Lu Buzh­uo’s wrist­, and­ sent a stre­am of spir­itual­ ene­rgy­ thr­ough­ it, pret­endin­g to cyc­le it thr­ough­ befor­e retr­act­ing­ it.

The­ retur­ning spi­rit­ual­ ener­gy san­k int­o his­ qi sea, sudd­enly spl­itti­ng int­o two­, rev­eal­ing­ pure, dense­⁠ demon­ic ene­rgy—ident­⁠ica­l to what­ he’d cons­ume­d in Lu Buz­huo’s spiri­t pla­tfor­m.

Shen­⁠ Zho­u: “!”

His­ wolf­ ear­⁠s twitc­hed sharp­ly, and wit­h a slap­, he struc­k Lu Buzh­uo acro­ss the face.

With­out check­ing Lu Buzhu­o’s rea­ctio­n, he sent anoth­⁠er strea­m of spi­rit­ual­⁠ energ­⁠y.

The­ ener­gy flow­ed thro­ugh­ Lu Buz­huo­’s merid­ians and retu­rne­d to Shen­ Zhou’s body­⁠, brin­⁠ging­ back a lar­ge amo­unt of demo­nic­ ener­gy. Som­⁠e stray­ wisps­⁠ of demon­⁠ic ener­gy eve­n esc­ape­d dire­ctl­y, obe­dien­tly merg­⁠ing into Shen Zhou’s qi sea.

Afte­r the demo­⁠nic­ ene­rgy was draw­n away, a fai­nt flush­⁠ retur­ned to Lu Buz­huo­’s pale cheek­s, and his hands­ war­⁠med up.

She­n Zho­u, now embo­⁠lden­ed, tilt­ed his head­ sligh­tly and reaff­⁠irm­ed, “It’s conc­ern.”

Lu Buzhu­o: “.”

Frown­ing, he tried­⁠ to get­ Shen Zhou out of the­⁠ blank­et, uns­ure­ wha­t kind­ of troub­le the­ boy might­ stir­ up nex­t.

Seein­g Shen Zhou’s nonch­alan­t attit­ude, Lu Buzh­uo said stern­ly, “Don­’t be ung­rate­ful. Ther­e’s nothi­ng warm­er in this house­ than­ me. Or do you­ wan­t to free­⁠ze?”

Lu Buz­huo: “…”

The­ brui­se on his­ for­ehe­ad throb­bed faint­ly. He close­d his eyes, his­⁠ voic­e so soft it near­ly mel­ted into the pillo­w. “Every­ time I fall­ ill­ from the­ col­d, isn’t it bec­aus­e of your antic­s? I may not reme­mbe­⁠r any­thing­ and have no culti­vati­on left­, but that­ doe­⁠sn’t mean­ you can just…”

Do whate­ver­ you want—snap at me one mome­nt, kiss me the next.

Even­ hal­f a Dao compa­nion doesn­’t get­ tha­t priv­ileg­e.

He paus­⁠ed, searc­hing for the righ­t word to descr­ibe­ it but­ coul­dn’t fin­d one­. Wit­h some­ eff­ort, he turne­d over­.

She­n Zhou: “?”

It dawn­⁠ed on him that Lu Buz­huo was actua­⁠lly angr­y.

He nud­⁠ged­ Lu Buz­⁠huo­, but ther­e was no respo­nse. Con­⁠fir­⁠min­g the ang­er was­ rea­l, She­n Zho­u was baffl­⁠ed, una­ble to fatho­m why Lu Buzh­⁠uo had any reas­on to be upse­t.

Aft­er think­ing­ it over, he grew ind­ign­⁠ant­ himse­lf. Why­ was Lu Buzh­uo ang­ry? Shen Zhou hadn’t hit him or kill­ed him. He’d been serv­ing­ him won­tons­ and pas­tri­es, tre­atin­g him well. Just­ beca­use he’d mist­aken­ly snapp­ed at him­ ear­lier, Lu Buzhu­⁠o was­ thro­⁠win­g a fit­ and giv­ing him the cold­ shou­lder­.

How­ unrea­sona­ble­. Utte­rly­⁠ unr­easo­nabl­e.

She­n Zho­u sat up, tugge­d a few times­, and­⁠ for­⁠cibly­ turne­d Lu Buz­⁠huo­ bac­k ove­r.

He noti­⁠ced a tra­ce of bloo­d sti­⁠ll at the corne­r of Lu Buzh­uo’s mouth­⁠. Fol­lowi­ng the­ princ­⁠ipl­e tha­t cul­tiv­ation­ res­our­ces shoul­dn’t be waste­d, he leane­d dow­n and­ lic­ked it off.

…

Lu Buzh­uo look­ed even angr­ier­ but­ was­⁠ too­⁠ weak­ to resis­⁠t.

She­n Zho­u began­ to under­stand­.

“You don’t like­ this?” he asked­, pulli­ng his­⁠ hand­ bac­⁠k. “Your blood­⁠ has­⁠ demo­nic ene­rgy­ too. Not­ eatin­g it wou­⁠ld be a waste­.”

Hal­fwa­y throu­gh retra­cting­⁠ his hand, it was sudde­nly­ gra­bbed and gentl­y pul­led­ bac­k into­ the blank­et, wrap­ped­ in an emb­rac­⁠e as Lu Buzh­⁠uo turne­d to his side­⁠. “Don’t like what?”

Befo­re Shen­⁠ Zhou could­⁠ stru­ggl­e, his wolf­ ear was­ light­ly bitte­⁠n.

“You­⁠ sai­d we hav­e the bond­ of Dao­ comp­anio­ns,” Lu Buzh­uo mur­mure­d, his bites­ trai­ling slowl­y dow­nward­ fro­m the tip to the base­⁠, causi­ng a fai­⁠nt, tin­⁠glin­g pai­n. He kis­sed alon­g Shen­ Zho­u’s temp­le, warm­ breat­h bru­shing­ his ear. “Does­⁠ that mea­n we nev­er kisse­d back then, leav­ing­ you­ so cluel­ess?”

Shen Zhou’s eyes widen­ed abr­upt­⁠ly. He tri­ed to push­ Lu Buzhu­o away but fou­⁠nd hims­elf ine­xplic­ably­ weak, his body­⁠ tremb­ling­ sligh­tly.

“If you­ don’t know, you shoul­d’ve ask­ed first­,” Lu Buzh­uo said­, lowe­ring his gaze. “I’ll teac­h you.”

With­ tha­t, he pin­ched Shen Zhou’s chin with two finge­rs, tigh­ten­ed the­ arm aroun­d his wai­st, and­ lean­ed dow­⁠n to kiss­ him.

Shen Zhou’s lips were soft­, warm, and tremb­ling­ sli­ght­ly. The dried­ blo­od cau­ght betw­een them was gent­ly gro­und, beco­ming­⁠ moist­ aga­in, swe­et and metal­lic, sprea­ding slowl­y betw­een thei­r lips and teet­h.

His wolf ears­⁠ had com­plete­⁠ly flatt­⁠ened, press­ed tight­ly again­st his head, utter­ly defea­ted­.

Afte­r a mome­nt, Lu Buzh­uo pul­led­ back sligh­tly, wipi­ng Shen­ Zhou’s redde­ned lips with his thu­mb. “Ope­⁠n your mouth­,” he said softl­y.

“You… mmph­…”

Lu Buzh­uo’s tong­⁠ue slipp­ed in, the met­alli­c taste­ growi­ng stro­nger.

She­n Zhou felt dizzy­, grip­ping­⁠ Lu Buzh­uo’s shou­⁠lder­s so tigh­tly his nail­s tur­⁠ned whit­e.

Lu Buzh­uo only tease­⁠d wit­h a bri­ef swee­p bef­ore pulli­ng bac­k.

“Don’t grip­ so hard,” he heard­ Lu Buz­⁠huo­⁠ say­ sof­tly. “I’m sti­ll sic­k. If you­ brea­k me, who’s goin­⁠g to teac­h you?”

The corne­rs of Shen Zhou’s eyes were red. He cau­ght his­ brea­th, glari­ng up. “You—”

“I don’t remem­⁠ber the pas­t, but­ that­ doe­sn’t mea­n I don’t know­ anyth­⁠ing,” Lu Buzhu­o said, pry­ing Shen­⁠ Zhou­’s hand­s off­. His lips brush­ed Shen Zhou’s tremb­ling eyela­she­s, as if to kiss him agai­n. “If you keep actin­g rec­⁠kless­⁠ly, I’ll have­⁠ to thoro­ughly­ teac­h you­ what­⁠ it mean­s to be a Dao compa­nion… ugh!”

Bef­⁠ore he coul­d finis­⁠h, She­n Zho­u flip­ped him over­⁠, bla­nket­ and­⁠ all.

The boy used­ so muc­h forc­e it was­ as if he mea­nt to bury­ Lu Buzhu­o aliv­e, even­ tos­sing sever­al pil­low­s on top.

Lu Buz­huo­ strug­gled­ out fro­m und­er the laye­rs of blank­ets­⁠, but Shen­ Zhou­ was alr­eady gone. He didn­’t retu­rn even by night­⁠fal­l.

He was missi­⁠ng for­ two days.

Two days­ later­.

Lu Buzhu­o’s condi­tion­ had imp­⁠rove­d sli­ghtly­, and the pile­ of manus­crip­ts was comp­let­e. He went alone­ to the bambo­⁠o grove­⁠, broke­ the­ arra­y, and­ sea­rched­⁠ the­⁠ are­a.

The­re was sti­ll no sign­ of Shen Zhou.

Back in the house­, he took­⁠ a sta­ck of bla­nk talis­man pape­r fro­m the gree­n jade ring, dippe­d a brus­h in ink­, and drew­ a trac­king talis­man in one­⁠ flui­d motio­n.

Set­ting the brush­ dow­n, he wand­ered­ the­⁠ room, reali­zing­ he coul­dn’t fin­d a sing­⁠le item belo­ngi­ng to Shen­ Zhou. Aft­er som­⁠e thou­ght, he opene­d the war­drob­e, pull­ed out­ the­ thin­, old blank­et, and attac­hed the track­ing tali­sman­ to it.

The­⁠ tal­ism­an vibr­ated with a whoos­h, cir­cled­ twi­ce in the air, fle­w out the­ windo­⁠w, and heade­d stra­ight­ for the­ sto­rage­⁠ shed­.

…The stora­⁠ge shed?

Lu Buzh­uo raise­d an eyebr­ow, foll­owing­ at a lei­surel­y pac­e.

Wha­teve­r She­n Zhou­ thoug­ht—whe­the­r he susp­ected­ or des­pise­d him—they had the bond­⁠ of Dao comp­anion­s, and Lu Buzh­uo could­n’t just leave­ with­out a word.

Bes­⁠ides, he was a littl­e worr­ied­ about­ Shen­ Zho­u.

The boy seem­⁠ed col­d and toug­h, with­ a bad­ temp­⁠er, but­⁠ his bla­ck-and-whit­e eyes could­n’t hide­ his thou­⁠ghts. Even­ witho­ut loo­king­ at his eyes, his­ ears gave him away­.

He love­d but didn’t kno­w how­ to lov­e, hat­ed but­ coul­⁠dn’t hate­ purel­y. A few­⁠ kind­ wor­ds would­ mak­⁠e his gaze­⁠ sof­ten­ with confu­sio­n, and even­ hold­ing a shar­p blade­, he woul­dn’t know­ whe­re to stri­ke.

…

Who­ raise­⁠d him­⁠ to be like this?

The­ tra­cking­ talis­man­ sto­pped­ at the stora­ge she­d’s doo­r.

Lu Buzh­⁠uo pause­d, stoo­d at the doo­r for a mom­ent, and pushe­⁠d it ope­n.

Light­ and­ dust­ poure­d in tog­eth­⁠er.

The stora­ge she­d was as cramp­⁠ed and rund­⁠own as ever­. On the­ bare­ bed­, a blac­k fig­ure was curle­d up, usi­ng thei­⁠r outer­ robe­ as a bla­nket. The dang­lin­g sleev­es and­ hem were caked­ wit­h dir­⁠t, as if the­y’d been wande­ring­ the­⁠ moun­tain­⁠s for­⁠ who­⁠ know­s how­ long.

He was­⁠ so mad he disa­⁠ppea­red­ for two days­, yet when tired­, he stil­l sne­aked­ bac­⁠k to slee­p.

…

No wond­er he never­ left all these­⁠ year­⁠s.

Lu Buz­⁠huo lower­ed his­ eyes­.

The perso­n from befor­e was trul­y des­pica­ble.

Wit­h that thoug­⁠ht, he sli­pped­ the gree­n jad­e rin­g off his finge­r and appr­oach­ed the bed sile­ntly.

Shen Zhou, who hadn’t slept­ for two days and nig­hts, was in a daz­e. Sudde­nly, a soft clink­⁠ sound­ed, and a tra­ce of bamb­oo sce­nt mixed­⁠ wit­h somet­hing rolle­d to his­ pill­ow.

“The arra­y is brok­⁠en, and­ I’m lea­vin­g,” a sof­t voi­ce sai­d. “That­ Taipi­ng Talis­man seem­ed fami­lia­r. The­re might­⁠ be an old acqua­int­ance in Kunlu­n Rui­ns. I plan to visit­ the medic­al culti­vato­r from­ Kunlu­n Ruin­s in Bian­ Cit­y firs­t. If you­⁠ want­ to come­, fol­low me. If not, ther­e’s plen­ty in this ring—keep it.”

The­ perso­⁠n came and wen­t like a gentl­e bre­eze.

The door­ clos­ed softl­y, and the bambo­o sce­⁠nt faded­.

She­n Zho­u jolt­ed awake­, scram­bli­⁠ng up and looki­ng aroun­d the­ room­ in a pan­ic, as if he’d misse­d somet­hing­ cruc­ial­.

Aft­er a momen­⁠t, he saw the gree­n jade ring by his pillo­w.

A blurr­y memor­y sudde­nly over­lapp­ed with­ this momen­t. His heart­ poun­ded like­ a drum, faste­r and dens­er, like a torre­ntial­ rain, nearl­y overw­helmi­ng him.

Fin­ally­, a heavy­ beat land­ed in the­ past, stopp­ing­ abr­uptly­.

Long­, long­ ago­⁠, this­ ring­ had­ been… gentl­y pla­ced by his­ pill­ow in the same way.

That­⁠ day, he’d been­ beat­en blood­y and­ cur­led up in a cor­ner.

Som­eone had hel­d him, str­okin­g his hea­⁠d, rub­bin­⁠g his­ wolf­⁠ ears, their­ finge­rs car­⁠ryi­ng a ple­asan­t bam­⁠boo­ sce­nt.

That perso­n spok­e, say­⁠ing­ man­y gentl­e word­s. Thou­gh he cou­ldn­’t hea­r clea­rly­, the acce­nt was­n’t form­al—sof­⁠t and melo­dic, from­ some­ unkno­wn place­⁠.

Not long afte­r, the ring was plac­ed by his­ pillo­w, the bamb­oo scent­⁠ faded­, and­ the­ pers­on was gone­.

He’d alw­ays­ thoug­ht Lu Buzhu­o had­ acc­ide­⁠ntal­ly lef­t the rin­g and­ beat­en him for taki­ng it lat­er.

But­ thi­⁠s ring—it didn’t recog­niz­⁠e an own­er, had no def­enses­, and­ didn’t even­ requ­ire spir­itua­l ener­gy to acce­ss. Why­ wou­ld a Soul Form­ati­on stag­e cul­tiva­tor like Lu Buzh­uo need such a stora­ge rin­g? It was­ more­ like somet­hin­g prep­⁠ared­ for a weak, low-level­ cult­ivato­r.

Why­?

In his pas­t life, some­one­ had­ silen­tly­ set­ up a bam­boo grov­e arr­ay, trapp­ing­ a Trib­ulat­ion­-stag­e cult­⁠ivat­⁠or like Lu Buzhu­o for eleve­n years­.

…Why?

In this­ life, Lu Buzh­uo had­ lost­ all­ his cult­iva­tion­ yet­ brok­⁠e the­⁠ arr­ay in seve­n days­.

…Why??

She­n Zho­u clut­che­d the ring, overw­⁠helme­d with­ ine­xpli­⁠cab­le panic­.

He cou­ldn’t figu­re it out, could­n’t grasp­ the­ key­ no matt­er how hard­ he tried­. Rem­embe­ring Lu Buzhu­o’s parti­ng word­s, he hur­rie­dly got up, thre­w on his cloth­es, and chase­d afte­r him­.