Chapter 232- Cold Indifferent Loyal Dog VS. Playful Ghost King (27)
As soon as Mu Jin entered the room, he noticed a large array and secretly made some adjustments. With a little more effort, he knew the array would collapse.
Not to mention the curses that thing threw at him, which might work on ordinary living beings and ghosts with insufficient cultivation, but certainly not on Mu Jin, a millennium-old ghost cultivator. Even if he had to shoulder a hundred or eighty curses for Yin Tianyi, it wouldn’t matter.
As for the black smoke emanating from his body and the semi-transparent appearance, those were just measures to counteract the harmful effects of the curses. In reality, Mu Jin hadn’t been harmed at all.
It was only when he heard Yin Tianyi’s words that Mu Jin realized his lover seemed to have misunderstood something. When had he ever treated him as a plaything? Their relationship had always been that of lovers, hadn’t it?
But then he remembered how he had let Yin Tianyi call the shots for so long. While he saw it as a form of affection between them, in reality, they hadn’t properly confessed their feelings to each other in this lifetime.
After so many years together, Mu Jin had almost forgotten that he needed to express his feelings to his lover again. Especially with Yin Tianyi being so affectionate and passionate recently, Mu Jin had taken their relationship for granted.
To be misunderstood by his lover , thinking he hadn’t taken him seriously, was unexpected. No wonder he had been studying contract spells so diligently; it was clearly purposeful.
This was troubling for Mu Jin. Yin Tianyi had undergone a transformation in his past life, making him much more difficult to handle than in the original timeline. Letting him continue with these misconceptions wouldn’t be good for their relationship.
But soon, Mu Jin realized that his current situation presented a perfect opportunity to express his feelings to his beloved.
So, Mu Jin put on a pale face, pretending to be extremely weak as he looked at Yin Tianyi beside him. With apparent difficulty, he forced a smile at the man next to him and said, “You are mine, how could I let you get hurt?”
“I’ve been sealed in the bronze mirror for so many years; my mind was on the verge of collapse long ago. It wasn’t until you brought me back that things started to change. At first, it was just boredom, occasionally peeking into your life through the bronze mirror. But later, I found myself waiting for you at the entrance every day.”
“In the past few years, I was too weak, unable to even use illusions or dream manipulation, and couldn’t contact you. It wasn’t until recently that I could finally enter your dreams. But when I finally did, I saw you badly injured.”
“Unfortunately, I could only kill the Wang couple; I couldn’t fully avenge you. I know, I’m a ghost, and you must be afraid of me. It’s ridiculous for a thousand-year-old ghost like me to fall in love with a mortal like you.”
“Perhaps you won’t believe me even if I say it, but after watching you for so many years and spending these few months with you, I’m already content. Rest assured, even if I have to give my all, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
As Mu Jin spoke, he reached out and gently stroked Yin Tianyi’s cheek. However, the determination in his eyes made Yin Tianyi feel somewhat uneasy. He felt like Mu Jin was about to do something, something terrifying or even dangerous for him.
But before he could stop Mu Jin, he saw that the black mist had dispersed, revealing a grim ghostly face beneath.
The ghostly face twisted as it smiled at Mu Jin and Yin Tianyi. “I didn’t expect your relationship to be so strong. Don’t worry, I won’t keep you apart for too long. After I’ve drained all of his cultivation, I’ll crush your souls as well. Then you two will be annihilated together, keeping each other company.”
As the ghostly face spoke, it laughed heartily and then charged towards them.
Yin Tianyi felt a strong energy from the opponent and was ready to fight back. However, before he could make a move, Mu Jin suddenly transformed into a red light and rushed out from his embrace, colliding with the ghostly figure.
The black mist and red light tangled together, engaging in a fierce battle. Seeing Mu Jin able to break free and fight against him, the ghostly face distorted with disbelief.
“How is this possible? Why weren’t you suppressed? I clearly set up an array in this room,” the ghostly face said to Mu Jin.
Mu Jin’s face showed a sarcastic smile as he realized he was able to use magic because he had already almost destroyed this barrier.
The step he had taken back earlier wasn’t because he couldn’t resist the curse thrown at him; it was to take advantage of the opportunity to erase the last line of defense of the array.
Now the array couldn’t hold up anymore. Mu Jin wouldn’t kindly explain these matters to his enemy and focused on battling the black mist instead.
The entire room shook with their fight, and at this moment, a red glow surrounded Yin Tianyi, like a protective shield.
Yin Tianyi knew this was a barrier set up by Mu Jin to protect him. He watched with red eyes as the black mist and red light tangled together in front of him, feeling worried about Mu Jin’s safety and frustrated with his own helplessness.
He was already shocked when he heard Mu Jin’s words. He hadn’t expected Mu Jin to truly have feelings for him. And even after he found the bronze mirror and sealed himself, Mu Jin had secretly been paying attention to him, harboring feelings for him.
Such affection warmed his heart. The realization that their relationship was mutual made him feel even more overwhelmed. However, there was no time for joy now because they were facing the greatest crisis.
Even as Mu Jin fought with all his might, he never forgot to protect Yin Tianyi. This made Yin Tianyi, who had always thought Mu Jin saw him as a plaything who could abandon him at any moment, feel guilty and uncomfortable.
If he could, he would endure these injuries for Mu Jin, even willing to die for him.
After realizing his feelings for Mu Jin, Yin Tianyi had thought a lot. Especially considering that even if he managed to keep Mu Jin trapped with him for the rest of this life, his lifespan was finite.
By the time he became a ghost, he might not be a match for Mu Jin anymore, and their contract might be broken. He even thought that if Mu Jin ever decided to leave him, he might choose to die with him rather than let Mu Jin go to anyone else.
But when he saw Mu Jin getting injured instead of him, he realized how naive his past thoughts were. He couldn’t bear to see his beloved suffer even the slightest harm.
He originally wanted to make the fight with the opponent more intense to move Yin Tianyi. However, seeing himself seemingly in danger, Yin Tianyi couldn’t stand idly by. He completely disregarded his own body and expended a large amount of blood trying to help.
This result made Mu Jin unable to contain his frustration. Clearly, he couldn’t bear his lover to suffer any harm. Who was this ugly monster on the other side, and why was it consuming so much of Yin Tianyi’s blood? It was simply despicable.
With this in mind, Mu Jin wrapped all his energy around the creature, trapping it.
However, the black mist seemed to panic halfway through, suddenly erupting with a burst of intense energy. It spread throughout the entire mansion, seemingly intending to make a desperate attempt against Mu Jin.
But for Mu Jin, the energy coming from the black mist was just a dying struggle. Fortunately, Mu Jin had previously set up a protective barrier around Yin Tianyi, so Yin Tianyi wouldn’t be harmed. However, it was uncertain what would happen to the people outside the room.
Seeing the black mist still trying to resist at this critical moment, a cold light flashed in Mu Jin’s eyes. He charged forward and grabbed the black mist, absorbing all of its cultivation.
After absorbing the black mist’s cultivation, Mu Jin felt its terror and heard its desperate cries for mercy. But how could Mu Jin listen? After absorbing the creature’s power, Mu Jin crushed its soul.
The fight between the two caused great turmoil, leaving the room almost in ruins except for the protected Yin Tianyi. As for the people in the courtyard, Mu Jin had no intention of letting them go. He had set up a barrier around them, leaving them with no way to escape.
When he absorbed the creature’s cultivation, Mu Jin understood the whole situation and how the creature came to be. It turned out that the creature wasn’t the spiritual being Yuan Hongshen thought it was. Yuan Hongshen had used unorthodox1 methods to refine the bronze cauldron. Although the bronze cauldron could be considered a magical tool, this world itself lacked sufficient spiritual energy, so it didn’t develop sentience.
However, when Yuan Hongshen was refining the bronze cauldron in a sinister place, he inadvertently let an evil spirit hiding there take advantage. The spirit was lucky enough to treat the cauldron, already transformed into something sinister, as its own home. It even disguised itself as the cauldron’s spirit, finding ways to replenish its energy and possibly manipulating Yuan Hongshen into doing many evil deeds during this time.
The creature itself was also considered a half-hearted cultivator in the past, but compared to Mu Jin, it had only cultivated for two hundred years. Although it knew some spells, they were all unorthodox methods.
Thinking that with the assistance of the bronze cauldron, it would be able to defeat Mu Jin. Moreover, after investigating, it had always felt that Mu Jin wasn’t as powerful as he seemed, even suspecting that Mu Jin was injured.
So today, the creature set up such a trap, intending to catch Mu Jin off guard. However, instead of harming others, it ended up being killed itself.
After absorbing all the energy, Mu Jin revealed his figure and stood in front of Yin Tianyi. Seeing Mu Jin completely unharmed, Yin Tianyi felt a surge of joy in his heart.
Note :
- “Unorthodox” refers to something that deviates from traditional or conventional practices or beliefs. ↩︎