Shen Gurong stiffened, looking at her blankly.
Shen Xiwu was still clutching her brother's hand, her demonic eyes filled with expectation as she looked at him: "Brother, please? Come with Xiwu?"
Shen Gurong belatedly realized that his younger sister seemed to be controlled by Li Genglan, just like Yu Xinghe in the Records of the Capital. He took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, and forced a smile, saying, "Okay, once brother has resolved things, I'll go with you."
Shen Xiwu tilted her head: "Resolve? Resolve what?"
Shen Gurong said: "Li Genglan."
Shen Xiwu pouted: "In brother's heart, is Li Genglan more important than Xiwu?"
Shen Gurong was speechless, unsure how to respond to Shen Xiwu in her current state.
Although Shen Xiwu appeared normal, her mind was actually in turmoil due to Li Genglan's instigation. Her actions and words were completely illogical. Shen Gurong didn't want to anger her, so he tried his best to appease her.
"No, Xiwu is the most important." Shen Xiwu loved hearing this, and immediately smiled happily.
But after her smile, her small hand suddenly pointed behind Shen Gurong, tilting her head, a blank and eerie expression appearing on her face. She said woodenly, "What about him?"
Shen Gurong turned around and saw that Shen Xiwu was pointing at Mu Zhe.
Mu Zhe was probably furious; he was currently gripping the Jiu Xi Sword tightly, his pupils dilated, staring coldly at Shen Xiwu.
Shen Xiwu asked, "Brother, do you like him?"
Shen Gurong turned and exchanged a glance with Mu Zhe, coughed lightly, then quickly looked away, a faint blush rising to his ears. He nodded and whispered, "I do."
These words struck a nerve with Shen Xiwu. She gripped Shen Gurong's hand tightly, her eyes turning cold. "He can't be kept."
Shen Gurong was taken aback. "Xiwu?"
Shen Xiwu said, "Brother, it's enough that you like me. No one else can stay."
Shen Gurong: "..."
What was this little girl thinking? How could she be used like this by Li Genglan?
Besides, Li Genglan brought Xiwu to Xianzhou with the intention of making her kill Shen Gurong herself. Why did Shen Xiwu hug and hold her brother's hand without any murderous intent, yet show such hostility towards those around Shen Gurong?
Shen Gurong instinctively tried to grab Shen Xiwu's hand: "Xiwu!"
Shen Xiwu, however, shoved the snake into Shen Gurong's palm, gripped her long sword, and charged forward like the wind, fiercely attacking Mu Zhe.
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong's face turned deathly pale, his body stiff as he stared at his palm. He had been given a snake for no reason, and his hair was practically standing on end.
Even after a hundred years, Shen Gurong had become the Holy Lord who had slain countless demons with a single sword strike, but he still couldn't withstand that soft, cold snake.
Shen Xiwu and Mu Zhe were already fighting, each move imbued with the killing intent of a demonic cultivator.
Mu Zhe still retained some rationality, vaguely aware of Shen Xiwu's identity, and held back out of consideration for Shen Gurong. But Shen Xiwu was different; she truly wanted to eliminate everyone around her brother, especially this man with red threads tangled around his body.
As long as he was killed, the others would be no threat, and only she could remain by Shen Gurong's side.
Over the years, she had studied formations with Su Xiyan, her longsword inscribed with dense arrays. When she unleashed her full power at Mu Zhe, she actually managed to make the Mahayana stage cultivator's hands ache.
She didn't know where the spiritual power came from.
Shen Gurong stood stiffly a short distance away, his lips moving as he struggled to speak, "Stop fighting..."
Get this snake down first.
Can...can I throw it down?
But given Shen Xiwu's inexplicable madness, Shen Gurong wasn't sure if throwing away Xiwu's precious snake would drive her even crazier. He could only let the snake coil around his wrist, its cold body slowly writhing.
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong nearly choked.
After a century, he finally experienced fear again, and this time, he was terrified by a small snake.
Holy Lord Shen: "Xiwu, your snake..."
Your snake, it's crawling into my clothes!
"Mu Zhe, help—"
"Mu Zhe!!"
Mu Zhe, focused on dealing with Shen Xiwu, suddenly heard his master's words again. He paused, casually deflecting Shen Xiwu's long sword, and instinctively looked at Shen Gurong.
Shen Gurong stood tall and elegant, his red robes fluttering in the wind. His beautiful face was expressionless, a small snake coiled around his wrist, burrowing into his robes and creating a small bulge in the thin sleeve.
The Holy Lord's face was as calm as still water, only his eyes held a thin mist of tears, revealing nothing.
Mu Zhe, however, heard his master's emotions fluctuate so greatly for the first time since leaving Fengdu.
'Mu Zhe! What are you looking at?! Come quick, that snake has crawled into my clothes, it's already coiled around my elbow!'
'Mu Zhe, Mu Zhe, Mu Zhe!!!'
For some reason, Mu Zhe's lips curled into a slight smile.
He liked it when his master called him by his name.
Mu Zhe raised his hand, unleashing the full pressure of his Mahayana stage cultivation, forcefully suppressing Shen Xiwu in place, rendering her immobile.
With the threat gone, Mu Zhe quickly walked to Shen Gurong's side, gently taking Shen Gurong's hand, and pulled the trembling snake out, casually tossing it aside.
Shen Gurong's stiff body immediately relaxed.
The more Mu Zhe looked at him, the happier he became. After a moment's hesitation, he presumptuously reached out and hooked Shen Gurong's chin, his fingertips tracing Shen Gurong's jawline intimately, as if deliberately provoking Shen Xiwu. He whispered, "Master, you've never told me yourself that you like me?"
Shen Gurong, his crisis averted, looked at Mu Zhe with eyes full of gratitude. Hearing this, he was stunned.
"No?"
"I have, haven't I?"
But seeing Mu Zhe's words, he began to doubt his own memory again.
"Really not?"
Seeing how seriously he took even such a simple question, Mu Zhe's affection overflowed. Without waiting for Shen Gurong's reaction, he directly kissed him.
Shen Gurong: “Mmm…”
Shen Xiwu, who was watching from the sidelines, nearly went mad. She roared, “How dare you!?”
The snake she had casually tossed aside, now under her control, lunged at Mu Zhe.
But Mu Zhe wasn't the crippled Li Genglan; distracted, he flicked his wrist, and the snake was knocked off the city wall, vanishing without a trace.
Shen Gurong struggled: “No…”
He still had some pride. To be kissed in front of his sister and so many demonic cultivators below the city wall—though demonic cultivators were generally driven by desire, even Xi Tianmu's underground mating was rife with demonic influence, so a kiss was nothing unusual.
But Shen Gurong still couldn't help blushing.
He instinctively grabbed Mu Zhe's collar and pushed him away, but this action inexplicably enraged Mu Zhe. Mu Zhe's previously docile hand gripped his waist, pulling him into his arms, forcing him to accept the lingering, forceful kiss.
Shen Gurong: "..."
First, his own sister threatened to imprison him, and now his own disciple forcibly kissed him in front of so many people. Shen Gurong felt that throughout the entire Three Realms, there was no more aggrieved Holy Lord than him.
However, he didn't reject the intimacy with Mu Zhe; he only struggled briefly before his wrist was grabbed and the kiss continued.
Shen Gurong was so overwhelmed by the kiss that his waist was so weak he could barely stand. Mu Zhe held him by the waist, trapping him in his arms, barely preventing him from slipping off.
He clutched Mu Zhe's clothes, breathing heavily, wishing he could bury his face in Mu Zhe's chest.
Now, the entire Three Realms probably knew that he, an elder, had acted disrespectfully, using his status as master to seduce his own disciple.
Shen Gurong was so ashamed he was about to groan, and he dared not look at Shen Xiwu's expression.
Mu Zhe remained expressionless. He glanced coldly at Shen Xiwu, who was now enraged and seemingly acting on her behalf, and said coldly, "Why wouldn't I dare? We've already done even the most intimate things. What right do you have to interfere?"
Shen Xiwu's eyes were bloodshot: "I'll kill you! I will definitely kill you!"
Mu Zhe deeply understood Shen Xiwu's current state. It was like when he was just a lowly Golden Core cultivator, and the entire Liren Peak interfered with his pursuit of his master—that feeling of helplessness and immense suffering.
But now it was different. In the entire Three Realms, he was the only one qualified to stand beside Shen Gurong.
What fellow disciples, what sister from his past life—Mu Zhe didn't care about any of it.
He didn't look at Shen Xiwu again, but gently stroked Shen Gurong's reddened eyes, coaxing him softly, "Master, I have a cave dwelling in the Great Swamp of Taozhou. Once we kill Li Genglan, we'll move in, okay?"
Shen Gurong's eyes were full of tears, and he looked up at him blankly, not having heard clearly, "What?"
Mu Zhe didn't repeat himself. Shen Xiwu's words had given him a new perspective.
It didn't matter whose reincarnation Shen Gurong had been so kind to him all these years; what mattered was that after defeating Li Genglan, he would have plenty of time to make Shen Gurong's world revolve solely around him.
His master didn't know the way, and his eyesight wasn't very good. After taking away his Ice Silk, he was practically blind, relying entirely on him for everything.
Someone like Shen Gurong, seemingly carved from jade, seemed born to be pampered in a magnificent palace, living a life of luxury and comfort.
Shen Gurong, unaware that the number of people wanting to imprison him had increased from one to two, paused for a moment, then exhaled softly, stood up from Mu Zhe's embrace, raised a hand to comfort Mu Zhe, and strode towards Shen Xiwu.
Mu Zhe was very careful, not harming Shen Xiwu in the slightest, merely trapping her in place, unable to move.
Shen Gurong walked over, his lips slightly red, even his eyelashes glistening with a few drops of water, looking extremely alluring.
But Shen Gurong, oblivious to his own allure, continued to gaze intently into Shen Xiwu's bewitching eyes, sighing, "Xiwu, you've been used by Li Genglan."
"No." The moment Shen Xiwu saw him leave Mu Zhe and walk to her side, the ferocity on her face vanished instantly, and she once again donned the mask of an innocent young girl.
She laughed and said, "How could I possibly be used by a piece of trash like Li Genglan, who only knows how to hide in the shadows?"
Shen Gurong was stunned. He had thought that Shen Xiwu would become obedient to Li Genglan because of her growing desires, but he hadn't expected Shen Xiwu to be so dismissive of Li Genglan and even start cursing him.
Shen Gurong enjoyed hearing others criticize Li Genglan. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you still sober?"
Shen Xiwu replied, "I've always been sober."
Shen Gurong could only ask, "Then what is your greatest desire?"
Shen Xiwu looked straight at him and said softly, "Of course, it's to be with my brother. My brother promised me he would always be by my side."
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong recalled every word Shen Xiwu had said since their meeting. Her desire... seemed to really be that.
Shen Gurong fell silent.
He didn't know he was so popular that even his sister wanted to possess him exclusively.
Shen Xiwu was still looking at him, still saying, "Brother, brother! If Xiwu can kill Li Genglan for you, will you promise Xiwu that we'll never be apart?"
Shen Gurong: "..."
Mu Zhe: "..."
Xue Manzhuang, who had just gotten up: "..."
Author's Note:
Li Genglan: ? ? ? ? ?
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