Chapter 463 – My Master Is Not Human – I’ve Eaten More Pine Nuts Than Rice You’ve Had Meals (10)
Question: How do you comfort a frightened squirrel?
Answer: Just give him a kiss.
Pei Boyi picked up the little squirrel and kissed him again and again, letting his own scent cling to the other’s body.
His husband’s aura was always reassuring. Bai Tang gradually calmed down, pulled out a piece of clothing, and transformed back into human form.
“A-Yi~” The boy looked pitiful as he wrapped his arms around Pei Boyi’s neck.
“I’m here.” Pei Boyi kissed those soft red lips. “Don’t be afraid. It’s already dead.”
Following Pei Boyi’s gaze, Bai Tang looked over and saw that the Giant Mu Snake was indeed dead—completely dead. A sword was still embedded in the vital spot seven inches below its head. Though the Giant Mu Snake smelled terrible, plants had begun sprouting across the desert wherever its blood had flowed.
The strange sight made Bai Tang forget his earlier fear. He clearly remembered a line from the original plot: “Where there are strange beasts or strange phenomena, there will always be rare treasures.”
Covering his nose, Bai Tang crouched beside the Giant Mu Snake’s corpse and examined it closely. He could sense vitality within its blood—the power of life itself. No wonder the plants revived wherever the blood touched. In that case, the thing it had been guarding must be…
A thought flashed through Bai Tang’s mind. Excited, he stood up and grabbed Pei Boyi’s hand. “There’s something underground! It came out from beneath the earth, so the treasure must be down there.”
If the timing were appropriate, and if he could let Pei Boyi see the plot book, Bai Tang would have immediately taken it out and read through it together with his husband. The plot book recorded all the opportunities the male protagonist encountered after entering the Daji Secret Realm. However, this was not one of the opportunities mentioned in the original story, which was why Bai Tang had failed to realize it right away.
Following Bai Tang’s instructions, Pei Boyi began digging through the yellow sand. He had not dug very deep before the shovel struck a hard stone slab. Bai Tang happily brushed away the sand, revealing a doorway beneath it. There was even a restriction left behind by a cultivator:
“The fated one may open this cave abode with a drop of blood.”
So they had to draw blood and get injured? That would hurt so much! That was Bai Tang’s first reaction. Then another thought occurred to him—what if A-Yi wasn’t the fated person for this cave abode? Wouldn’t the blood be wasted for nothing?
Pei Boyi did not share so many concerns. Compared to Bai Tang, who had suddenly gained immense fortune and become a Divinity Transformation cultivator, someone who had properly cultivated step by step to the Golden Core stage possessed a far more comprehensive understanding of the cultivation world.
Without hesitation, he took out a dagger and moved to cut his finger.
“Ah—”
Pei Boyi moved too quickly. Before Bai Tang could stop him, he had already completed the entire sequence of actions.
The dagger was extremely sharp; with only a light cut, a deep wound opened on his finger. Several drops of blood even splattered onto the yellow sand. Bai Tang’s heart ached at the sight. A cultivator’s blood was precious, and his husband’s blood was worth more than gold.
Bai Tang pulled Pei Boyi’s hand toward the stone door and let three drops of blood fall onto it. Then he immediately put the bleeding finger into his mouth, mumbling comfortingly, “It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt~”
The little squirrel’s entire body was a treasure, and his abilities had long since fused with his soul. As long as he wished, he could heal others.
When Bai Tang finally released Pei Boyi’s finger, the wound had already disappeared without a trace—not even a scar remained.
After absorbing the blood, the stone door trembled several times before slowly opening to both sides, revealing a narrow, pitch-black passageway inside.
The dark tunnel looked rather frightening. Pei Boyi did not immediately go down. Instead, he first allowed the air inside to circulate for a while. Then he took out a candle tied to a rope, lit it, and lowered it into the passage. If the candle went out, it would mean the oxygen inside had been depleted.
However, reality proved that not everything in the cultivation world could be explained by science. The candle had not been lowered for long before it extinguished. At the same time, a small bird was attracted by the spiritual energy emanating from within and foolishly flew inside. Not long afterward, it flew back out again, looking even healthier and livelier than before.
Pei Boyi and Bai Tang looked at each other. To enter or not to enter—that was the difficult question.
After hesitating for a while, Pei Boyi ultimately decided to go in. However, since he had no idea what dangers might lurk below, he was worried that something might happen if Tangtang followed him, so he told Bai Tang to remain above ground and wait for him to return.
Naturally, Bai Tang refused. How could he allow A-Yi to face danger alone?
Pei Boyi said, “If both of us go in, and another cultivator happens to pass by, discovers this place, sneaks in, and ambushes us, wouldn’t that be even worse…?”
Inside secret realms, killing others for treasure was a common occurrence. Pei Boyi’s words were not without reason. Especially since he was the male protagonist—trouble always seemed to find him. Since A-Yi could unexpectedly discover an opportunity that did not belong to him in the original plot, he might also encounter other unforeseen situations. It would be better for Bai Tang to guard the entrance and protect him. Besides, Bai Tang was not interested in opportunities or treasures anyway, but anything A-Yi found belonged to him alone—no one else could take it away.
After thinking it through, Bai Tang agreed to Pei Boyi’s suggestion.
The reason Pei Boyi did not allow Tang Tang to follow him down was because, when he saw the little bird fly back out perfectly healthy, he developed a very ominous premonition. Yet he had no choice but to go down. He had a feeling that if he refused to enter, something even worse would happen. Because of this, he could only coax and deceive Tang Tang into giving up the idea of facing the danger together with him.
Using the fortune and destiny bestowed upon him as the Child of Heaven, Pei Boyi placed a protective blessing on Bai Tang. No one would be allowed to harm Bai Tang, for doing so would mean opposing him—and opposing the Heavenly Dao itself.
What Pei Boyi did was extremely dangerous. The reason a Child of Destiny was favored by the Heavenly Dao was because of the immense luck attached to them. Now that Pei Boyi had used that fortune to protect Bai Tang, the protagonist’s halo that normally allowed him to turn danger into safety might very well lose its effect when he himself encountered peril.
After Pei Boyi jumped into the cave abode, Bai Tang transformed back into a little squirrel and hid himself within the yellow sand. He was determined not to disappoint A-Yi’s instructions and would make sure A-Yi safely obtained the inheritance.
After all, protagonists were always surrounded by trouble. If nothing happened, they would not be protagonists anymore.
At first, after Pei Boyi entered, Bai Tang focused intently on every movement around him. But eventually, boredom set in, and he began counting grains of sand to pass the time.
The time required to inherit a legacy differed from person to person and was never fixed.
Just as Bai Tang began to relax, Fan Le—the man who had coveted Bai Tang ever since outside the secret realm—finally arrived.
The insect Pei Boyi had crushed earlier was a tracking bug. Even after death, the liquid leaking from its corpse emitted a scent detectable only by specially raised bees. Since Pei Boyi had crushed it, traces of the insect’s blood had stained him, naturally leaving its scent on his body as well.
Fan Le had released those bees and followed the scent all the way here. After entering the secret realm, he had landed near the seaside and spent a great deal of time and effort traveling across to the desert. Fortunately, perseverance paid off—he had still reached his destination.
The bees circled around the corpse of the Giant Mu Snake. Fan Le froze for a moment before delight flooded his face at the sight of the devastation before him. He had not expected the seemingly delicate young man to possess such strength—to actually kill a magical beast and discover a rare treasure.
Fan Le lacked many things, but medicinal pills were not one of them. He possessed plenty of drugs capable of weakening the limbs or controlling a person’s mind. As long as he approached the youth under the guise of a fellow cultivator and secretly used the drugs while the other was off guard, then the person would become his, the treasure would become his, and perhaps he might even obtain the inheritance left behind by some great cultivator.
It had to be said that the righteous sect robes Fan Le wore provided him with an excellent disguise. At the very least, righteous cultivators who saw his clothing would not guard themselves against him too heavily.
Fan Le straightened his robes and leisurely walked forward.
The little squirrel had noticed him the moment he stepped onto the very first grain of sand. At the time, Bai Tang had thought the man might simply be passing by. He had not expected the stranger to linger for so long before eventually heading in his direction.
The little squirrel quickly hid behind the Giant Mu Snake’s enormous body and used the cover to transform back into human form. By the time he had properly dressed himself, the other man had already approached nearby.
“This fellow cultivator, you’ve crossed the boundary.” Bai Tang stepped out from behind the Giant Mu Snake and gave a friendly reminder.
Normally, once cultivators realized someone was in the middle of receiving an inheritance, they would consciously leave and avoid disturbing them. Bai Tang had only offered the warning because the man was wearing the robes of the Qingshan Immortal Sect. If it had been a sect he recognized as hostile, he would have attacked the moment the other entered the desert.
“Greetings, fellow cultivator.” When Fan Le put on an act, he carried himself with a certain grace, appearing gentle and easy to talk to.
“I was unaware that a fellow cultivator was here. I noticed unusual activity and came to investigate. My apologies for the offense.” Fan Le gave Bai Tang a slight bow.
Bai Tang waved his hand dismissively to show he did not mind. “Forget it. I’ve already claimed this place, so please leave. Time is precious—don’t waste it on meaningless matters.”
Bai Tang had been careless. He assumed the man would leave after hearing his words, so he turned to look at the cave abode that was half-buried beneath the yellow sand, wondering why Pei Boyi still had not come back up.
The moment Fan Le saw the youth turn his back toward him, delight surged through his heart. What a perfect opportunity.
He suddenly attacked from behind, wrapping his arms around Bai Tang while smearing a specially developed medicinal powder onto him. Anyone who had not taken the antidote beforehand would, upon contact with the powder, have the drug rapidly spread throughout their body through the skin. Eventually, their limbs would weaken, their cultivation would be suppressed, and attempting to force the medicine out with spiritual energy would only accelerate the onset of its effects.
Bai Tang had never expected this man to be so bold as to attack him. He had thought the other was a good person, only to discover that he was rotten on the inside.
He struggled desperately, only to realize that his strength was rapidly draining away and his entire body was growing weak.
At this point, Fan Le was completely consumed by lust and had utterly lowered his guard. After all, the youth could no longer escape from him.
Suppressing the nausea and urge to vomit, Bai Tang stomped hard on Fan Le’s foot.
Fan Le had not expected Bai Tang to still have the strength to resist. Anger flared through him alongside the pain. Out of habit, he reached out to cover Bai Tang’s mouth to stop him from shouting.
But what was the greatest weapon of a small animal?
Its teeth, of course.
Bai Tang bit down viciously on the web between Fan Le’s thumb and index finger. At the same time, the tail he had manifested lashed fiercely toward the man’s crotch. Fan Le howled in agony and immediately released Bai Tang, clutching the nearly ruined part of his body as tears streamed down his face.
Bai Tang pulled out a wet wipe and carefully cleaned his tail. Even though he had struck the man through clothing, he still felt as if his tail had been dirtied by touching him.
Ew~ Wipe it off, wipe it off quickly~
“You brat! Don’t reject a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! It’s your blessing that I’ve taken a liking to you!” Fan Le continued spouting threats. Bai Tang might still be standing now, but before long, the drug would take full effect. He had simply acted too hastily earlier.
“My tail, my tail…” Bai Tang frantically wiped his tail before glaring viciously at Fan Le, who looked even more miserable than he did.
“I’ve eaten more pine nuts than the meals you’ve had in your entire life—you’re finished!”