In an instant, the jade eye returned to its previous dull appearance, fortunately not continuing to absorb spiritual energy. Shi Jingzhi tightly grasped it in his hand, squeezing it until it creaked.

Yin Ci was about to say something, but Shi Jingzhi tucked the jade eye into his bosom as if nothing had happened, smiling: "The key is in hand, thank you everyone. Let's rest here for a bit and descend the mountain tonight to meet up with the others - Yan Zheng and Hero Yu, you two be careful of Taiheng. They must be investigating nearby these past few days."

With that, he curved his brows and eyes, and grabbed Yin Ci's wrist in passing: "Finding the key is a joyous occasion. Yin Ci, accompany me alone for a while, alright? Let's wander around a bit, we can also find some fresh wild vegetables to eat."

Along the way, the other three were used to seeing the master and disciple being affectionate with each other, and were not surprised by Shi Jingzhi's words. Besides, Yan Qing was also left here. Yu Zikuan and Yan Zheng trusted him, and quickly found a clean place to set up camp. The afternoon sunlight carried a hint of warmth. The place had fresh air, lush grass, and the fragrance of apricot blossoms, very suitable for resting.

Yin Ci didn't make a sound. The jade eye was definitely suspicious - Shi Jingzhi's tone was not one of negotiation. He rarely spoke to people so forcefully, likely discovering some secret matter not to be shared with others.

Shi Jingzhi led him forward, accurately finding the cave from Yan Budu's memories. In early spring, there was no swirling snow outside the cave like in his mind's eye. A hundred years had passed, erasing all love, hate, and resentment. There were no traces of people inside the cave. The surroundings were very quiet, only the moss at the cave entrance was shockingly green.

"What's the deal with that jade eye?" Yin Ci got straight to the point.

Shi Jingzhi didn't answer. He slowly extended his hand, gently sliding it down the side of Yin Ci's face to his neck, as if carefully feeling the pulse of life. Shi Jingzhi had long practiced the sword, and his palms were covered in rough calluses. It slid nimbly across the skin. For a moment, Yin Ci had the illusion of a wild beast licking his neck.

The eerie sensation mixed with warm intimacy felt very strange.

Yin Ci grabbed the hand, estimating the possibility of Shi Jingzhi being affected by the key: "Don't mess around. Yan Zheng's help was hard to get, it's best we return early, don't make people suspicious."

Shi Jingzhi didn't immediately agree as usual, something was off about his gaze.

Those eyes held curiosity, confusion, and some emotions Yin Ci couldn't quite understand. Despite the warning, not only did Shi Jingzhi not withdraw his hand, he leaned forward and embraced Yin Ci.

"Shh." He said out of the blue, "Be quiet for a moment first."

It seemed this kid had received some shock just now, and it looked to be no small shock - Yin Ci could feel Shi Jingzhi's warm breath on his neck as Shi Jingzhi carefully sniffed him. After the gentle warmth, a sharp pain followed.

Shi Jingzhi was biting him.

The force was neither light nor heavy. The pain on the side of his neck was fine and dense, but no blood broke through the skin. After this bite, Shi Jingzhi thoughtfully retracted his mouth and meaningfully nuzzled Yin Ci's neck.

His voice was soft: "Yin Ci, I probably know the origin of your undying body now."

After saying this, Shi Jingzhi released his embrace and leaned against the rock wall. The function of the jade eye, what he saw - he explained everything to Yin Ci without hiding any details.

After describing what he saw on Yin Ci, Shi Jingzhi calmly changed the subject and began analyzing Yan Budu's motives for this move. As if the terrifying abnormalities on Yin Ci's body were just the most ordinary of the many clues.

But Yin Ci could no longer listen.

Shi Jingzhi's calm description still echoed in his ears. Yin Ci hadn't seen it with his own eyes, but he had at least faced the flesh god statue and giant tree roots, and knew how eerie the things this person saw could be.

From that description, he was nothing more than an especially human-like "flesh god statue", just with withered branches for bones and blood roots for flesh. Originally, Yin Ci still held a sliver of hope, even if it was just a sliver of hope - perhaps he really was just a mortal blessed with immortal arts and could still return to a mortal body.

Yin Ci opened his palm. His palm, like other mortals, had fine lines running horizontally. If a fortune-teller saw it, they might even be able to divine the ups and downs of his life.

So human-like.

But in the end, he was indeed no longer human, or perhaps never was. Was he a monster imitating humans or a creation for immortals' amusement? Were his emotions real or fake? Were his obsessions man-made?

As these thoughts arose, Yin Ci's head began to throb. Memories from hundreds of years ago churned at the bottom of his mind, stirring up a viscous pain. Yes, his initial purpose in approaching Shi Jingzhi was to find a way to kill himself. The times they spent together were too vivid, he nearly forgot this point.

【Are you a god who has come to see me off on my final journey?】Shi Jingzhi had once asked him this.

...Where in the world were there such ignorant yet eerie "gods"?

It was laughable. He was wholeheartedly seeking death, yet beside this person he found a hidden clue and regained a bit of human warmth. After a hundred years, his long life had finally gotten back on track, only for the truth of being a "monstrous evil creature" to come crashing down.

And the person who discovered his "true form" just had to be Shi Jingzhi. Fate made a mockery of even his last bit of attachment.

Like embracing an exquisite, fragile glass hand warmer, fearing it would accidentally shatter, in the end still unable to escape that crisp sound. Now, it lay in pieces before him, leaving only cold relief and emptiness. From beginning to end, all his efforts were nothing more than an utterly absurd joke.

Yin Ci slowly closed his five fingers, clenching his fist. That desperate void surged up again, the resentment unseen for many days stirred. Amidst the suppression, a familiar numbness spread from his limbs and slowly flowed into his heart.

Humans had human ways of interacting, monsters had their own uses. Shi Jingzhi surely understood. Even if they still needed to appear harmonious on the surface to find the Shi Rou, it was time to end that ambiguity.

With a pair of blood-soaked hands, he climbed the cliff's edge. Fate, with a casual kick, wanted him to fall into the abyss again. In the end, he would always lose. Rather than hold expectations from the start, it was better not to.

"Yan Budu using the jade eye as the Shi Rou's key - it's as you said before, the Shi Rou may not be a simple item for longevity."

Yin Ci inconspicuously took half a step back and said lightly:

"It's best to prepare two plans and investigate the Immortal Gathering early. Time is limited, let's split up and act separately."

Shi Jingzhi didn't reply. He leaned against the rock wall, his expression focused, his amber eyes staring unblinkingly at Yin Ci: "That won't do, I can't sleep without Yin Ci by my side."

"Enough," Yin Ci said, trying to ease the atmosphere, his tone not very gentle. "Let's talk about the important matters first."

"This is the important matter. Ah Ci, your master just taught you to cherish yourself a few days ago, and you've already forgotten."

"Since you've seen my true form, there's no need for such words anymore—"

"I did see it, and I'm overjoyed." Shi Jingzhi smiled and interrupted Yin Ci, "Ah Ci is indeed not an immortal from the storybooks, isn't that even better?"

He stood on the other side of the cave, his posture quite relaxed, showing no wariness in front of the demon.

"In this world, the only one who knows your true form and still loves you so much is a madman like me... The one who understands you the most is me, the one who loves you the most is me, what could be more wonderful than this?"

What is this person talking about?

"When we first entered the cave, I made sure to check thoroughly. The temperature, the smell, the taste, you are the 'Yin Ci' I've always been familiar with, not replaced by anything else, and that's enough. Ah Ci, come here."

Yin Ci didn't move. He looked at the person in front of him who was exuding an aura without any reservations, his mind unusually blank.

"Then I'll come over." Shi Jingzhi hummed, "I'm still the master after all, sigh."

Shi Jingzhi strolled over to Yin Ci. Just like when they first met, this person smiled with a face full of spring breeze: "After all this time, I've grown tired of our light and airy interactions. If Ah Ci doesn't want his own 'human heart', why not give it to me?"

"Although I can't promise you too long... No matter what you are, I will gaze at you properly until the end."

His voice was gentle and soft.

"Are you willing to be with me? Being master and disciple is not enough, why not join in union?"

This kid is crazy, Yin Ci thought. But then again, this person seemed to have been uniquely crazy from the start. Yin Ci rarely fell into confusion, with one headache after another: "Do you know what you're talking about?"

A trace of grievance flashed across Shi Jingzhi's face: "Of course. I don't want to be so hasty either, but if I don't express my true intentions, Ah Ci will treat himself as something outside this world again, right? It's really not worth it just because of a mere shell."

Is this a problem with the shell?

Yin Ci pressed his temples, feeling a bit dazed. He had just felt that he was abnormal, and this person could show him even more abnormality. Shi Jingzhi's problem of not distinguishing between priorities, he was probably unable to change it.

It's just that the palpitations from back under the lantern came back at this moment.

Twenty-four years ago, this person was a long nail that pierced through his soul and forcibly nailed him to the mortal world. Twenty-four years later, the cold and hard long nail turned into soft and delicate threads, weaving a huge net.

Just now he was falling in the void, and suddenly he fell onto a soft net. This time, he was tightly caught in the world. It's just that although the net was sturdy, the angle was too sudden, making people really at a loss.

It took Yin Ci a long time to steady his breath, and Shi Jingzhi took the opportunity to take a few steps forward, stopping in front of Yin Ci.

He was smiling, the bit of nervousness in his smile was hidden quite firmly. Shi Jingzhi leaned forward slightly, a little light spilled from the cave entrance, flowing through his hair, turning a few strands of his sideburns into a golden brown color.

The cave was dim, and this light was a bit dazzling.

Yin Ci held his breath, calmed himself, and after a long while said: "Before, I was teasing you too much, a close relationship does not equal romantic feelings. As for the matter of 'union', do not speak of it lightly..."

His heart was full of emotions, leaving no room for leisure. Yin Ci completely lost his usual ease. But Shi Jingzhi somehow gained confidence from somewhere, calm to the point of being like a different person, only the tips of his ears were still flushed with a faint red.

"Why is Ah Ci always talking about my affairs?" Shi Jingzhi muttered softly, the remaining nervousness in his expression also disappeared. "If you're unwilling, just reject me directly."

Yin Ci turned into a stone statue, just looking at him, his gaze too complex to describe.

Shi Jingzhi didn't wait idly, he gently lifted a strand of Yin Ci's long hair, as if it was the most fragile thing in the world. Then he took a deep breath, tilted his head slightly—

The spring breeze swept through the cave, the sunlight was as light as thin honey. Shi Jingzhi slowly leaned in and firmly kissed Yin Ci's lips. He deliberately made his movements very slow, slow enough that with Yin Ci's martial arts, he could easily dodge.

Yin Ci did not dodge.

In an instant, time stood still. The bizarre truth and the century-old conspiracy all went far away, turning into a wisp of slightly bitter light smoke. He was like a weary beast bound by a trap, only that trap was gentle, and the pain was sweet.

Seeing that Yin Ci did not struggle or retreat, Shi Jingzhi stretched out his hands and gently cupped Yin Ci's face, deepening the kiss a little. Neither of them closed their eyes, Shi Jingzhi's eyes were half-closed, his gaze not moving a bit.

After many days, although their words were ambiguous, their actions still adhered to etiquette, and they had never been so intimate. Yin Ci only felt that the warm stove miraculously restored to its original state, crawling back into his embrace on its own, burning a piece of unfamiliar heat in his chest. Yin Ci subconsciously stiffened his back, and thin sweat instantly soaked his inner clothes.

He had touched countless living things, but at this moment it was as if he was being touched by a living thing for the first time. It was just a simple meeting of lips and teeth, but it was more trembling than the strongest murderous intent, and more scorching than the fiercest flames.

If the previous complex emotions were just red leaves all over the ground, a spark falling to the ground turned the red leaves into raging flames.

Yin Ci subconsciously wrapped his arms around the other person's waist, his hands clenching the clothes on the other person's back, turning the kiss into an almost clumsy embrace. Shi Jingzhi was encouraged and his whole body relaxed, his tongue tip became much more dexterous without any teaching. The cave was dim and the outside sunlight was bright, the two people were separated from the world for a moment, stealing a moment of lingering affection.

"...You see, I can tell the difference between intimacy and romance."

After a long kiss, the two finally parted. Shi Jingzhi panted slightly, his smile deepening a little. The vitality between his brows had never been so vivid, unable to be hidden.

"What's your answer?" He narrowed a pair of fox eyes and asked knowingly.

Yin Ci couldn't help but smile bitterly. He must be crazy too, or not desperate enough... Or perhaps it was the moth's instinct to throw itself into the fire, he had long ago engraved that bit of yearning into his bones, and no matter what, he couldn't let go.

For some reason, Shi Jingzhi's "knowing" turned from a spear to a shield at this moment, not only did he not feel that fate was cruel, but he felt more at ease than before.

The burning sensation in his chest not only did not dissipate, but it also set his whole body on fire. The March spring breeze was contrasted into a cool breeze, making people's hair stand on end, as if entering a clear pool.

For the last time, Yin Ci thought. If this was his last time defying fate, it didn't seem bad either.

"Answer? Do you even need to ask?"

Yin Ci still had his arm around Shi Jingzhi's waist, and he tightened his grip a little more. He deliberately freed one hand to caress Shi Jingzhi's lips, once again feeling their softness and warmth. The latter gently bit his fingertips, and his face belatedly flushed with a layer of blush.

"I won't be your immortal, nor your monster." Yin Ci let out a long sigh, "...and I don't want to just be your disciple anymore."

Author's Note:

I'm here, and the two male leads have finally...

I discovered that in every book I write, I follow the path of teasing the elder brother.