Nan Deng stopped in his tracks, suddenly coming back to his senses.
Lian Yi turned his head to look at him, silently inquiring.
“I think I…” Nan Deng hesitated, “saw you.”
To be precise, it was the younger Lian Yi, looking several years younger than he was now, likely still a teenager.
The scene seemed to be from Lian Yi’s past, where he walked at night hunting resentful spirits, often alone, treating and bandaging his own wounds.
Nan Deng also saw Zhuo Qing, who sat in a chair, scrutinizing Lian Yi: “Why haven’t you reported back for so long?”
Lian Yi’s voice was cold, “Busy.”
Zhuo Qing didn’t appear often and usually didn’t seem to care much about Lian Yi. Besides Zhuo Qing, there was no one else who had any interaction with Lian Yi.
The scenes flashed by in an instant, spanning at least two or three years. Nan Deng tried to digest it all, staring blankly at Lian Yi.
He stepped forward and touched Lian Yi’s brow bone on one side: “Did you get hurt here?”
This was something Nan Deng had seen in the flashes of images. During one incident, Lian Yi captured a fourth-level resentful spirit and was injured while trying to refine it.
The resentful spirit didn’t escape in the end, and the injury wasn’t serious. After healing, there was no scar visible.
Lian Yi replied, “Yes.”
His answer confirmed that what Nan Deng had seen was indeed from Lian Yi’s past.
And just now… Nan Deng looked at the small umbrella on the rabbit head’s ear.
The rabbit head met his gaze, thinking Nan Deng was going to stop it. It wiggled its ears and poked Lian Yi again.
Another wave of images surged into Nan Deng’s mind, this time depicting an even younger Lian Yi, around fourteen or fifteen years old.
He wore the uniform of a lower-level celestial master, covering his left eye, blood streaming down his fingers and the side of his face.
“How careless,” Zhuo Qing walked over slowly, looking at the blood on Lian Yi with some disgust, and casually threw a small bottle of ointment over, “I have things to do. Clean yourself up.”
However, the ointment was useless. Without timely treatment, the injured left eye could not be saved. Eventually, Lian Yi used his saved money to buy a specially made eyeball, barely preserving a weak vision.
During this time, Zhuo Qing frequently assigned tasks to Lian Yi. For other celestial masters of the same level, such tasks usually required two or three people to complete together.
But Lian Yi had no friends; others avoided him, and no one was willing to team up with him for tasks.
So he had to complete them alone, often getting hurt.
Fortunately, Lian Yi’s strength far exceeded his peers. Each injury wasn’t serious, and a bit of medicine and rest were enough for recovery.
However, he became increasingly withdrawn and silent. When he encountered someone gentle who showed him kindness, he wouldn’t respond.
Memories continued to pour in, taking him back to when Lian Yi was about seven or eight years old.
He guarded two cold corpses behind him, covered in blood. He was trying to hold back tears, trembling while forcing a calm expression.
The person in front was Zhuo Qing again, who glanced at Lian Yi a few times: “Your parents are dead. Come with me.”
This was probably the most he showed kindness, and without going with him, Lian Yi likely wouldn’t survive.
Zhuo Qing initially told Lian Yi that he would teach him spiritual arts and make him a celestial master, and said the same to others.
But after entering the inner court for a long time, he only took Lian Yi out and dumped him in places heavy with evil energy, using him as bait for resentful spirits.
Lian Yi narrowly escaped death several times. His talent was high and he was very smart. He realized that Zhuo Qing didn’t see him as human and began secretly learning spiritual arts.
The day he officially became Zhuo Qing’s disciple was when he deliberately performed spiritual arts in a crowd, calling Zhuo Qing “teacher”.
Watched by many, Zhuo Qing reluctantly agreed. But his face was not pleased.
His cold gaze fell on Lian Yi, the malice conveyed through the memory to Nan Deng, as if experienced firsthand.
Nan Deng snapped back to reality, pulling Lian Yi into a tight embrace.
Lian Yi was still unclear about what had happened, touching Nan Deng’s hair and softly asking, “Tired?”
Facing Nan Deng, his tone was always gentle, very different from what Nan Deng had seen in his memories.
Nan Deng’s nose felt a pang of soreness, mumbling, “No…”
He eagerly kissed Lian Yi several times. The rabbit head, pushed away, lost patience and walked off with the little umbrella.
They were still on the stairs, with the possibility of someone coming at any moment. But Lian Yi never refused Nan Deng.
Added to just learning to kiss, it was the most addictive time.
Nan Deng leaned against the staircase railing, hugging Lian Yi’s neck, cautiously extending his tongue.
Just then, Weng Ping Ran and Lin Jiu finished talking and came out from the front hall, seeing them.
Lin Jiu reacted the fastest, quickly pulling Weng Ping Ran in the opposite direction.
Weng Ping Ran was stunned, and then his face fell.
Nan Deng had just woken up not long ago, his body not fully recovered, and in broad daylight, not even in a room yet, and already…
Weng Ping Ran was furious and couldn’t help but say, “This… this is blasphemy!”
Lin Jiu quietly urged, “Let’s go, teacher…”
Nan Deng vaguely heard Weng Ping Ran’s voice and was momentarily distracted.
Lian Yi let him go, glanced at the backs of the two retreating figures, and led Nan Deng upstairs.
Back in the room, Nan Deng found the rabbit head and took the small umbrella.
He confirmed that the bamboo umbrella allowed him to see Lian Yi’s past; this was another ability of the artifact.
When Lian Yi learned this, he showed no reaction. His past was monotonous and unremarkable, with nothing worth seeing.
Nan Deng felt deeply sorry for him and cursed Zhuo Qing: “That person is truly despicable!”
Lian Yi, however, seemed to be listening to someone else’s story. Since Nan Deng appeared in his life, everything has changed from before.
Nan Deng wanted to further test the bamboo umbrella’s second ability. He poked the rabbit head and then himself. But there was no reaction.
Feeling sleepy, he went back to the bedroom and took a nap.
When Nan Deng woke up, Lian Yi had called Weng Ping Ran and several other celestial masters upstairs, having Nan Deng try using the bamboo umbrella to read their pasts one by one.
The open umbrella floated in the air, circling around Weng Ping Ran. Within a few seconds, Nan Deng had seen half of his life’s experiences.
He didn’t feel tired; the bamboo umbrella consumed very little divine power. Other than causing some dizziness from seeing too much, there were no other discomforts.
To further investigate this ability, Lin Jiu brought Nan Deng two resentful spirits.
The resentful spirits weren’t released, just confined in clay pots. The small umbrella circled the jars halfway, and Nan Deng saw the resentful spirits’ experiences from when they were alive.
“Summoning the purifying rain and probing the past of souls,” Weng Ping Ran exclaimed excitedly, “As expected of your artifact!”
These two abilities not only matched Nan Deng’s character but also provided him with considerable assistance.
Previously confined in Yezhang Tower, Nan Deng hadn’t experienced much and was very pure and kind-hearted. Weng Ping Ran had been worried about him being deceived.
Now, with the bamboo umbrella, a person could lie, but their past and deeds couldn’t be faked.
Lin Jiu quickly remembered something and quietly reminded, “Teacher, about Xie Yun…”
Weng Ping Ran became even more excited, “Yes! He’s very stubborn and won’t say anything. Using this artifact, we can know everything!”
However, to use the bamboo umbrella to learn everything about Xie Yun, Nan Deng would need to see him.
Weng Ping Ran suggested that they could blindfold Xie Yun and not speak to him.
“We’ll see,” Nan Deng replied, “I’m not afraid of him.”
He then asked about Lian Yi’s condition, “Is the antidote for the restriction ready?”
Hearing this, Weng Ping Ran broke into a cold sweat.
Nan Deng had used the bamboo umbrella on him, and he thought Nan Deng already knew about his concealment.
But looking at Nan Deng’s expression, it seemed he wasn’t aware.
It was probably because a person’s past and memories were too vast, and Nan Deng couldn’t learn everything in a short time, only seeing what he was more familiar with.
He didn’t know much about Lian Yi’s past; Zhuo Qing left the deepest impression on him, so most of what he saw was related to Zhuo Qing.
As for others, Nan Deng only glanced at them casually.
Weng Ping Ran composed himself, “It’s being made.”
For anything else, he would never deceive Nan Deng. But this matter was at Lian Yi’s request, and he couldn’t afford to offend either side.
Moreover, given the close relationship between Lian Yi and Nan Deng, it was something Lian Yi should tell himself.
Lian Yi was right beside Nan Deng and felt another gaze directed at him, but Weng Ping Ran remained expressionless.
“Why is it taking so long?” Nan Deng was a bit displeased. “You should urge them more.”
Weng Ping Ran agreed and left with the other celestial masters.
Lin Jiu, seeing this, silently followed behind and discreetly sent a message to Lian Yi.
He was a bit worried and wanted to persuade Lian Yi to tell Nan Deng the truth, hoping there might still be a chance.
Lian Yi saw the message but didn’t reply.
The doctor arranged by Weng Ping Ran had examined his condition; the restriction had already been integrated into his meridians.
Moreover, every time Nan Deng used divine power to clear plagues, Lian Yi was present, including the rain that night. But none of it had any effect on him.
At this point, there seemed to be no turning back.
Life or death didn’t make much difference to Lian Yi; he only cared about one thing.
Would Nan Deng still like him when he turned into a ghost?
Lian Yi lowered his gaze and deleted Lin Jiu’s message.
He wasn’t a god and couldn’t be entirely selfless and without desire.
At night, perhaps because he had slept too long the previous day, Nan Deng couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.
He watched TV for a while, played with the rabbit head, and followed Lian Yi around as he packed.
They were leaving the small town tomorrow, and the hotel keeper had given them a lot of local snacks, some of which Nan Deng loved.
After finishing packing, Lian Yi turned around and hugged Nan Deng, “Not sleepy yet?”
Nan Deng shook his head, looking up with his beautiful eyes as if asking for a kiss.
Lian Yi bent down and kissed him, a bit more forcefully than usual.
Nan Deng let out a soft hum, his chin held firmly, and the hand on his waist felt like iron, leaving no room to evade or escape.
Nan Deng gradually found it hard to breathe. After the kiss, it took him a while to catch his breath. He then complained, “Why are you so rough again…”
Lian Yi said nothing, took his hand, and slowly kissed his fingertips.
