Yu Sheng discovered a pattern.
Every time the sword spirit misbehaved, if he promptly met Xiaotian’s needs, the sword spirit would become obedient.
However, there was a downside to this: Yin Wangzhi’s corruption level would increase...
Yes, the system had no idea what was going on today, but it had become unusually active. In the blink of an eye, it began assisting in detecting Yin Wangzhi’s corruption level. And no matter what he did, Yin Wangzhi’s corruption level and Zhan Xiaotian’s corruption level always moved in opposite directions.
One went up, the other went down.
Yin Wangzhi’s state was also becoming a bit troublesome. After hearing Yu Sheng’s explanation, not only did he fail to calm down, but he was also enraged by the interactions between the two, “Not like what I thought?”
It seemed like it took him a while to organize his words. Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Master, just because it’s not what I thought, it’s fine? Does that mean I can also...?”
Can what? What exactly can you do?! Speak clearly!
Yu Sheng felt a bit of shortness of breath. Seeing that these two were no longer fighting, he slightly relaxed the pressure around him and furrowed his brow as he looked at Yin Wangzhi. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but earlier, not letting you in was only to help Xiaotian solve the sword spirit’s anomaly. Nothing else.”
Yin Wangzhi coldly curled the corner of his mouth, “What anomaly? The one in the lower body?”
Zhan Xiaotian got angry and fiercely scolded him, “How dare you speak to Master like that?!”
He wanted to scold further but was stopped by Yu Sheng.
Because Yin Wangzhi’s corruption level was getting worse.
Yu Sheng remained silent for a moment, deciding to change the topic. At times like this, the more you explained, the worse it would get.
He lifted his eyes indifferently, a faint red still lingering at the corners of his eyes. After quickly thinking, he found the ‘emergency exit.’
“Yin Wangzhi, have you used the Dream Assault technique on me? And was it when I wasn’t aware?”
Yes, earlier, amidst the chaos, Zhan Xiaotian had mentioned that he ‘remembered’ a ‘dream,’ but also forgot something. If he wasn’t mistaken, that dream should have been a nightmare left by Yin Wangzhi.
Yu Sheng didn’t actually remember the specifics of the dream. He only vaguely sensed its existence and the connection with Yin Wangzhi. From this, he had speculated about the dream’s content. But now it seemed that the dream wasn’t as simple as he had thought.
Otherwise, how could one explain Zhan Xiaotian’s reaction?
Sure enough, as soon as these words left his mouth, Yin Wangzhi was startled by the serious expression on Yu Sheng’s face, and his expression immediately stiffened.
Zhan Xiaotian looked like he wanted to kill someone out of jealousy. “You still haven’t confessed to Master?!”
Clearly, Zhan Xiaotian had known about this long ago and had misunderstood something.
Yin Wangzhi suddenly felt a little guilty and a little anxious, his gaze drifting. “Master, I thought you already...”
“Already what?” Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Thought I already knew, or thought I didn’t care?”
Yin Wangzhi couldn’t say anything, his usual lack of eloquence becoming even more apparent. He was no longer the person who had spoken thoughtlessly out of anger earlier.
Yu Sheng: “I also thought I should have known, but it seems like there’s been a misunderstanding.”
He took a few steps forward, intending to get closer and add more pressure. However, Zhan Xiaotian and the sword spirit both grabbed his clothes from either side, stopping him. Helpless, he stopped and continued, “I thought the dreams you made me have were just some ordinary nightmares to vent dissatisfaction.”
Yin Wangzhi's face grew even darker. “Master, do you want to know the truth?”
...This.
Actually, he didn’t really want to know. He felt that after knowing, things would only get worse.
But since the topic had been shifted, Yu Sheng checked their corruption levels again and found that they were slightly better than before. He was reluctant to change the subject now.
“If you’re unwilling to say...”
Yu Sheng intended to give him an out so that everyone wouldn’t feel too awkward.
Unexpectedly, Yin Wangzhi suddenly laughed, his expression resembling someone who was about to break a glass jar. “How could I not want to? There’s never been anything you, Master, are afraid to hear, right? Never.”
It was a hit.
The sword spirit, who seemed to have calmed down, or maybe was about to lose its human form, its unwillingness was clearly showing on its face. It interjected, “Master has already decided on his place in the Three Realms. No matter how much you say, it’s too late to change his mind, you fool.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the sword spirit released a glow from its entire body, transforming into a sharp blade that stabbed toward Yin Wangzhi. The distance between them was so short that it was almost impossible to react in time.
There was a hum, and the sword tip hovered just three inches from Yin Wangzhi’s chest, firmly gripped by Zhan Xiaotian, who had moved swiftly. The sword spirit had returned to its original form, and the restless evil energy had mostly dissipated. With Zhan Xiaotian’s grip, it could no longer advance.
“I really want to kill you, even if it’s through a sneak attack, even if I have to resort to any means necessary, I want you to disappear.” Zhan Xiaotian coldly stared at the Ghost King, with no pretense in the hostility in his eyes. “But I cannot betray the Master’s nurturing of me, I cannot disappoint him. After all, for Master... having a disciple who makes the worst mistake, one who rebels, is enough.”
Open and aboveboard, unwilling to sneak attack, and unwilling to go against the Master’s wishes to fight his junior brother again. After the sword spirit vanished, Zhan Xiaotian seemed to have returned to his normal self.
Yu Sheng placed his hand on Zhan Xiaotian’s hand, which was holding the sword, simultaneously calming both the person and the sword spirit. Then, he looked at Yin Wangzhi and said, “Looking at things from both sides isn’t your Ghost King’s style.”
A few days ago, at the bottom of the cliff, Yin Wangzhi had been reckless, even blowing up his grave. It shouldn’t be the case now, where he was hesitating to speak directly about the dream planted in his mind.
Yin Wangzhi finally locked eyes with him. It seemed like there were many things he wanted to say, but was limited by the pale words he could find. The gaze that shot over at that moment seemed to hide an impenetrable net, causing Yu Sheng to suddenly realize something, a sense of déjà vu.
“Master, you should have remembered.” Yin Wangzhi ignored Zhan Xiaotian, his voice low. “You should have remembered everything. Since you’ve forgotten, there’s nothing that can be done.”
Yu Sheng still didn’t understand.
“However, with your intelligence, Master, if you’re given a hint, you should easily guess the truth.”
After saying this, Yin Wangzhi suddenly snapped his fingers, and a heavy wave of dark energy shot out, heading straight for Zhan Xiaotian’s sword. It violently clashed with the sword spirit, which had just settled down inside.
This blow was far more effective than striking Zhan Xiaotian himself. The latter had to focus all his energy to control the sword spirit and prevent the situation from worsening, causing him to take three steps back.
Yin Wangzhi seized the opportunity. In a flash, his figure appeared right in front of Yu Sheng, and he reached out to grab him.
In an instant, the light and sound disappeared, and everything spun around. When Yu Sheng opened his eyes again, they had already left the inside of the Linglong Snail and were standing in the middle of a vast, endless desert.
“This is...”
Before Yu Sheng could get a good look at his surroundings, Yin Wangzhi had already approached, throwing a strange magical artifact at him with full force.
A cold gleam flashed, and Yu Sheng instinctively raised his flickering dust to counter. The magical artifact was sliced in mid-air, and it suddenly exploded, not destroying itself but instead splitting into two, each coming from different directions to strike again. Yu Sheng planted his feet on the ground and instantly soared into the air, spinning to dodge. Only then did he see clearly that the artifact was shaped like a skull, extremely eerie and terrifying.
“Yin Wangzhi!”
He didn’t have time to say more, only giving a sharp, low shout. However, Yin Wangzhi’s gaze grew darker, his intentions unclear, as he acted alongside the strange artifact. But instead of using a blade, he suddenly opened an umbrella.
The light above dimmed, and heavy rain immediately began to pour down. Yu Sheng’s movements faltered for a moment, and he vaguely smelled the fragrance of wine.
“If you want to see that dream... that disciple will help you recall it.”
The wine scent was intoxicating. Yu Sheng had already drunk some, and though not completely drunk, he was not as sharp as usual. The scent he smelled now was that of wine drifting through time. As he dodged the persistent skull-shaped magical artifacts, he looked around and noticed the scenery changing rapidly.
It was like he had returned to his cliff or like he was standing beneath the enormous flowering tree of the Ghost King. The rain wasn’t rain; it was wine pouring down from the sky.
Yu Sheng lowered his head in surprise and found that the flickering dust was gone. In its place, he held a familiar wine cup, standing before the curtain of rain, watching it fall from behind the door. The skulls and Yin Wangzhi had disappeared.
An illusion?
He furrowed his brow slightly, suspecting that Yin Wangzhi wanted to use this illusion to show everything. But Yu Sheng didn’t want to personally experience it again. If it was only an illusion, there was no need for such a menacing artifact.
As the scenery changed, before Yu Sheng could decide, he found himself standing in the rain, unprotected. His cup was full of wine, and his whole body was soaked in it, the intoxicating smell entering his lungs, making him feel even drunker.
Not far away, beneath the flowering tree, stood a black figure, as if waiting for someone.
"Master."
Yin Wangzhi?
Yu Sheng's heart tensed, unwilling to approach, but the ground beneath his feet constantly shifted, automatically shortening the distance between him and the tree, leaving him no choice but to stand right in front of Yin Wangzhi.
The world spun around him as he became thoroughly drunk, unsteady on his feet, almost falling to the ground. Yu Sheng furrowed his brow, feeling dizzy, yet he clearly understood that this was the effect of an illusion, not actual intoxication.
In the next moment, Yin Wangzhi opened his arms, catching him. His dry palms pressed against the wet fabric of Yu Sheng’s clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles, slowly squeezing the wine out from the layers of fabric, pressing tightly against his body, one after another.
Yu Sheng bit his tongue and raised his hand to push him away, but the scene changed again. His back suddenly slammed against the tree trunk, his arms raised above his head, held in place by Yin Wangzhi.
His body, which should have been cold from the wet clothes, instead felt constantly warmer, both from the intense drunkenness and from how close the two of them were.
"This is... that dream?"
He felt as if he had... already... found the answer.
He was right to trust his instincts. He hadn’t wanted to know this...
"Not entirely." Yin Wangzhi whispered in his ear, drying the water from his ear. "There’s also the disciple’s ambition."
"What..."
"Master, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time." Yin Wangzhi looked at him, his eyes filled with a crimson light, as if something sinister had been awakened. "Once all the drunkenness of time is enough for a rain beneath the Three Realms Cliff, I’ll make sure you fall completely drunk, then take you away, hide you, and keep you to myself, never to share with anyone."
Yu Sheng took a deep breath, incredulously staring at him. "Why would you abduct this old man?"
Yin Wangzhi was momentarily stunned before reminding him, "In my eyes, Master, you were never an old man."
Yu Sheng: ...
"From the beginning, you were never one. But I was willing to be deceived by you." Yin Wangzhi continued. "Master, you've made your decision, you won’t stay in the Ghost Realm anymore, right? After all, the Ghost Realm is so cold, and I've done so many terrible things, you must be utterly disappointed in me..."
Yu Sheng: "I..."
His mouth was silenced again, and Yin Wangzhi stared at him, as if afraid that if he didn’t stop him in time, something terrifying would spill from Master’s mouth.
"I really want to kill you, Master. If you die, you’ll turn into a ghost, right? Then, I’ll be able to keep you forever..."
Yu Sheng bit his hand that was covering his mouth and hurriedly spoke, "No, you don’t want that."
Yin Wangzhi smiled.
He stated plainly, "If you really had that intention, you wouldn’t have turned the Ghost King’s palace into that state, nor would you have planted so many Soul-Flowering plants near it."
For newly born ghosts, no matter how powerful they were in life, the Soul-Flowering plants were the most fearsome weapon.
The garden full of flowers was proof that the Ghost King couldn't bring himself to take ruthless action.
The surrounding scene began to blur and tremble, a sign that the illusion was about to break.
Immediately after, there was a crisp sound, like breaking glass, ringing in Yu Sheng's ears.
"Master—"
Yu Sheng heard someone calling his name in panic. His body lightened, and he turned toward the sound.
The tree was gone, the Three Realms Cliff was gone, and the surroundings shifted into the dark and cold Ghost Realm. In an instant, they were back in the desert. Beneath his feet was the shattered skull-shaped magical artifact, and a pale figure suddenly lunged at him. He thought it was Bai Tuanzi, his spirit pet, but it landed in his arms, and it turned out to be Wen Jiu.
"Master? Master, you’re awake? It’s dangerous here, we should leave, quickly..."
The illusion had shattered.
Yu Sheng looked up, staring blankly at Wen Jiu's face, unable to hear anything, his mind slow to come back to reality.
So, that nightmare that made him feel both cold and hot, wasn’t Yin Wangzhi tormenting him in the dream, but...
Zhan Xiaotian had been like this to him... and so had Yin Wangzhi...