Everything came so suddenly that it left no time for anyone to react.
Later, Yu Sheng understood that he was the only one unable to react; it did not include his two disciples. Perhaps soon it would become three, including Zhan Xiaotian, who had yet to return.
By the time Yu Sheng realized what was happening, he was already seated steadily in a soft chair on one side of the hall. The clash between the two figures, one black and one white, did not affect him at all; even the few wisps of wind that occasionally reached him were gentle, merely lifting the strands of hair that had fallen down.
His expression maintained a moment of blankness, unusually lacking any repeated thoughts on whether to intervene in the fight or not, and he didn’t delve into his sea of consciousness to browse through those books he had accidentally organized. He simply stared vacantly at his two disciples making a commotion.
After a moment, Yu Sheng tried to recall what had just happened. His innate curiosity finally came into play as he slowly raised his hand and looked down at his side.
The collar was a bit loose, and there were faint bite marks on a corner that were not easy to notice. After seeing this clearly, his bewildered fingers seemed to find a direction. He reached over to touch the mark, tidying up his disheveled clothing. When his fingertip pressed against the bite mark, he instinctively squeezed it a couple of times.
The image of Yin Wangzhi biting that corner and holding him while adjusting his collar flashed through his mind again, quick as sparks flying from clashing swords—blinding and startling.
Yu Sheng paused his movements, his soft, full lips pursing tightly as he carefully pressed them together.
Then he withdrew his gaze, straightening his back to sit up properly. It felt as though, if he looked any longer, that bite mark would leap from his collar to his collarbone like a real ghost, leaving a painful and itchy mark.
Only then did a hint of relaxation appear in his previously blank expression. He took a deep breath and shifted his attention back to the two disciples who had suddenly started fighting for unknown reasons.
Yu Sheng glanced around the room and confirmed that he didn’t see the white fluffy creature. The "person" currently fighting with Yin Wangzhi couldn’t fully materialize; their combat power seemed quite low, likely due to Wen Jiu’s distraction.
But even if the one rushing over was just a distraction rather than Wen Jiu himself…
Yu Sheng frowned slightly. From what he knew about Wen Jiu, he was not the type to act violently over trivial matters, especially when there was a significant disparity in strength. If Zhan Xiaotian had suddenly rushed back to attack Yin Wangzhi, he could understand that better.
Unconsciously, he felt there was something more to it. No, upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem like they were truly fighting at all.
Yu Sheng widened his eyes, which made his almond-shaped eyes appear rounder and helped him focus more. He finally saw that their back-and-forth was not a fight; rather, Yin Wangzhi was attempting to approach but was continuously interrupted and obstructed by Wen Jiu’s distraction.
Coincidentally, Wen Jiu’s strength lay more in defense rather than offense, and the natural suppression of spirit power against ghosts effectively countered the disadvantages of being in the ghost realm and lacking full strength.
Perhaps at first, Wen Jiu did have the intention to attack, but the ultimate goal didn’t seem to be to harm Yin Wangzhi.
Confusion appeared in Yu Sheng’s eyes as he struggled to understand how the relationships among his three disciples had become increasingly complicated. This back-and-forth exchange wasn’t aimed at injuring each other; the mediation tactic he had used when he first arrived in the ghost realm likely wouldn’t work now.
The white hairs of his whisk stirred back and forth. Yu Sheng hesitated several times but ultimately chose not to intervene. It wasn’t that he didn’t plan to step in, but he suddenly realized that he had just fought with Yin Wangzhi, exerting himself to the fullest, and hadn’t recovered yet.
Even if he wanted to recover, his speed wouldn’t match that of Yin Wangzhi, who was in his own territory, drawing limitless energy from the environment. Yu Sheng was merely a solar-powered battery, akin to having just spent time in a place illuminated only by moonlight—at most, he could serve as a good luck charm.
Then he saw… the true good luck charm. A snow-white, soft creature, appearing almost edible, hopped over like a cat basking in the sun at a statue of Buddha. It burrowed into Yu Sheng’s arms, turned around, and settled down into a comfortable position.
Yu Sheng's first reaction was that Wen Jiu had come again. This third disciple seemed to always have enough brainpower; not only was his main body outside handling things, but he could also split his consciousness to deal with Yin Wang Zhi and conjure up this little cutie to entertain himself.
Such multitasking mental work was really impressive and very difficult for Yu Sheng, who was currently rejecting thought and had his mind jammed.
He naturally raised his hand to touch the dumpling, feeling that its softness seemed a bit different from usual. How to say it... it was more elastic? It was more like the transformation from glutinous rice cake to pudding.
In the brief moment Yu Sheng looked down, the air around him suddenly changed. When he looked up again, the room had already filled with a hazy white mist.
Perhaps it was because Wen Jiu had been splitting himself more frequently lately. His first instinct was again to think of Wen Jiu, suspecting that this third disciple had suddenly received some stimulus, split into three, and still not satisfied, had to create some mist to interfere with the enemy's vision.
Thinking of this, his expression turned confused, helpless, and bored, as if he could fall asleep just by yawning. He instinctively started looking around, trying to find that spiral drill.
“Here.” A pale hand holding the exquisite spiral drill reached out from behind. Yu Sheng instinctively caught it and didn’t forget to say, “Thank you.”
Yu Sheng: …?
Wait, whose hand is this?
Startled, he turned around and came face to face with a pair of light blue eyes that were smiling.
“Wen—”
He almost called out, but Wen Jiu covered Yu Sheng's mouth with two fingers. Once he calmed down, Wen Jiu smiled and made a “shh” gesture, signaling him not to disturb the fighting nearby.
At that moment, Wen Jiu's body was frighteningly transparent, almost blending into the surrounding scenery. Only his pair of eyes retained their original appearance. If one wasn’t paying attention, they wouldn’t realize a living person—no, a living spirit—was standing there.
Yu Sheng thought of the transparent fish he had seen in his own world. His gaze subconsciously drifted down, and he noticed that other parts were also very transparent; he couldn’t see any internal organs or even what was underneath his clothes...
Then he realized that Wen Jiu was watching him scrutinizingly, and when he looked back, feeling a bit guilty, Wen Jiu’s smile became even more genuine, devoid of any blame, almost as if he understood something very clearly.
...What exactly do you understand!?
Yu Sheng’s nerves were still sensitive, and with Wen Jiu's smile, his ears suddenly felt hot. Now, there was no need for Wen Jiu to cover his mouth; he couldn’t utter a single sound.
“Master, come with me.”
While he was momentarily distracted, Wen Jiu extended his hand to him, slightly leaning forward, a gesture that seemed both respectful and cunning.
He didn’t look like a dutiful disciple bringing his master to safety, away from the battlefield, but rather like... a young man sneaking into someone else's window under the cover of night to take him away.
Yu Sheng rarely reached out to such bold, rule-breaking actions, but running away was something he did most often.
Since he was basically unable to think anyway, Yu Sheng gave up on reasoning and, almost as if possessed, took Wen Jiu’s hand. In that instant, he came up with an excuse: escaping by entering the spiral was one form of escape, and accepting this invitation was also a kind of escape; it didn’t really matter.
Then he felt a sudden drop, as if he were weightless. At the same time, the sounds of fighting and Yin Wang Zhi's curses vanished, leaving only a vast expanse of white mist in front of him, while Wen Jiu’s figure became solid and clear again.
It should be some kind of teleportation array, not the type of magic used in the human realm, but one that should be used in the spirit realm.
He had successfully escaped...
He hadn’t even figured out what he wanted to escape from before he was already gone, letting Wen Jiu hold his hand, leaving everything to the disciple he should have protected. By the time Yin Wang Zhi noticed, he wouldn’t think his master had run away; he would blame everything on Wen Jiu, believing this junior disciple had taken his master away...
Yu Sheng looked down and found he was still holding that dumpling.
His ears felt a bit itchy, and he suddenly looked up to see Wen Jiu leaning closer, innocently blinking his eyes with a questioning expression, and the side of his ear that was tickled twitched a little.
Seeing this, Wen Jiu was momentarily stunned, then forced a smile.
“Master has become sensitive...”
“Sensitive?” Yu Sheng didn’t understand; did that mean sensitivity to the gazes and distance of others?
Wen Jiu suddenly moved to his diagonal back, using his fingertips to tease Yu Sheng’s hair, pulling out a long strand from his collar and gently letting it fall outside. That hair had somehow ended up stuck inside, slightly damp and uncomfortable, trailing down Yu Sheng’s neck and closely pressing against his back.
Once he pulled it out, he realized that it was quite long, falling directly to his lower back. With his movements, Yu Sheng felt a chilling sensation run through his spine, causing him to hold his breath. Though there was no skin contact, his entire body tensed up, and his fingers curled...
It looked as if he were nervous.
Wen Jiu softly called out “Master,” his gaze gradually deepening, landing on Yu Sheng’s ear that was half-hidden in his hair, which was starting to warm up little by little.
The Master of the past wasn’t this sensitive.
His hand silently tightened, and just as Yu Sheng turned around, he suddenly relaxed his grip.
The surrounding white mist instantly dissipated, and Wen Jiu resumed his usual smile, softly saying, “We’ve arrived.”
The feeling of weightlessness finally vanished, and everything settled onto solid ground. Yu Sheng felt a heavy weight lift, letting out a sigh of relief as he looked down.
Yu Sheng: “...I was wondering why I was still sitting here. Why did I bring a chair with me during the teleportation”
In the vibrant and diverse ‘paradise’ filled with all kinds of bizarre spiritual beings, an ancient wooden chair with soft cushions landed, appearing completely out of place compared to everything around it.
Yu Sheng also felt particularly out of place, nervously clutching the white dumpling in his hands, inadvertently squeezing the round spirit into a pair of 'ears.'
Wen Jiu placed a hand on his shoulder, bending down from behind, softly comforting him in his ear, “Don’t worry, Master. The spirit realm is very safe; they won’t catch up to us anytime soon.”
Of course, if Master suddenly changed his mind, they wouldn’t find their way back anytime soon either.
Seeing that he was fresh to the spirit realm and curiously looking around at the scenery, Wen Jiu reached for the neglected exquisite spiral drill, putting the magical tool away again.
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