Chapter 24 Remember My Name

Chapter 24 Remember My Name

Chu Ji looked up at the sky, his eyes burning with an unyielding hatred. The distance restriction had vanished, signaling the end of their shared life-link—and thus, the arrival of Jun Xueyi’s death.

He swept his hair back, lowered his gaze, and let out a calm laugh. The sword in his hand blazed with light as he advanced, step by step, towards the cave.

Should this sword thrust fail to land, he would forever remember every agonizing detail of this day.

No one had ever dared to treat him this way.

No one had ever dared to touch him.

And certainly, no one had ever dared to humiliate him so deeply.

Jun Xueyi, Jun Xueyi.

As he savored the name, his chest swelled with emotion—perhaps hatred, perhaps obsession, or perhaps the lingering sting of every cruel act the other had inflicted over the past days.

The words were true; Jun Xueyi was indeed a man who deserved to die.

The morning sun painted a golden-red hue at the corner of his eye as he smeared his own blood onto the sword.

All cultivators feared demon blood; it could neutralize myriad poisons, yet it was lethal to ordinary mortals. But Jun Xueyi had consumed it unharmed, once at his neck, once at his calf.

His face frosted over at the memory. He entered the cave, only to halt, stunned, at the entrance.

Where was he?

Where was Jun Xueyi?

The cave was pristine and empty. If not for the grass still damp from the earlier water, he would have thought he had come to the wrong place.

He had only walked a hundred paces from here—had Jun Xueyi already escaped?

Chu Ji’s face instantly darkened, his grip tightening on the sword hilt. He could not wait another moment.

If this man did not die, it would be a lifelong disgrace.

Moreover, this was the man who had ultimately bested him—how could such a person be allowed to live?

Only death would cleanse this stain.

Only death would free him from this entanglement.

...Only death would make him forget.

He would forget completely.

The more he pondered, the more resolute he became. He stepped back out of the cave.

“Young Master—”

Xiong Qun’s voice echoed from a distance.

Chu Ji moved sluggishly, slowly turning his head to see Xiong Qun and Ji Ling among a few others.

Xiong Qun arrived before Ji Ling. Before he could even clearly discern the figures, he felt the summons of the demonic marks, as if facing a formidable foe. He instantly halted a hundred meters away, cautiously surveying his surroundings.

Ji Ling and the others, held back, were bewildered. Seeing Xiong Qun’s vigilance, they too grew wary—their journey had taught them that Xiong Qun’s perception of danger was more than ten times sharper than their own.

Detecting no immediate threat, Xiong Qun rushed forward, setting up a barrier as he ran.

The demonic marks on the Young Master were not for these people to see.

A demon’s marks were only revealed to those they trusted. Typically, these marks manifested during extreme emotional states—great joy or profound rage. For demons, these marks served as a badge of identity; one didn't need to see them to feel their presence, an absolute bloodline suppression.

To gaze directly upon the marks was a grave disrespect.

And because the Young Master possessed half the blood of Immortal Venerable Linxun—whose lineage was immensely powerful, rivaling even the Demon Lord’s—his control over the demonic marks was less precise. He couldn't fully retract them and required careful guarding.

Xiong Qun completed the barrier, then stood guard outside with the others.

Enveloped by the barrier, Chu Ji saw people other than Jun Xueyi. At first, he stood there in a daze, staring for a long moment before remembering that he hadn’t had time to tell Xiong Qun his location last night—they must have searched for him all night.

After another moment, he looked down and slowly realized he wasn’t wearing shoes. The soles of his feet were already raw and red from being scraped by branches and stones along the way.

Though his clothes covered his ankles, it was still evident he was barefoot.

Only then did it dawn on him how dirty, damp, and unsightly he must appear.

He looked down at a puddle on the ground. The shallow water gleamed brightly, reflecting his hair clinging to his face and neck, with even his unseen back damp. His lips were bitten raw, and his eyes were as striking as if painted with kohl—watery at the corners, his cheeks flushed pink.

“Thud—”

Chu Ji stomped on the puddle, then again, and again, stomping down a dozen times fiercely before he was left gasping for breath, a smile curving his eyes.

When he pulled his foot from the muddy water, not a single drop clung to it, but the hem of his robe was speckled with mud.

His laughter quickly faded as the clammy, sticky feeling all over his body reminded him that stomping the puddle was futile—the fabric was still stained...

“Damn it!”

Chu Ji swung his sword wildly, hacking at the air around him.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Sensing the turmoil from within, Xiong Qun called out worriedly, “Young Master.”

Chu Ji snapped back to reality, taking in the chaos around him and his own disheveled appearance.

When had the Little Demon Lord ever experienced such a thing?

From childhood, he had wanted for nothing, and there was nothing he couldn’t achieve.

Chu Ji glanced back at the cave, then retrieved a bathtub from his storage ring. His voice, still damp and hoarse, commanded, “Xiong Qun, get me some water.”

He possessed a pure Yang constitution and cultivated an extreme fire-based Mental Technique, making the Water Spell exceptionally difficult for him, so he had never bothered to master it.

Xiong Qun fetched the water, then crouched outside the barrier, arms wrapped around his knees.

The Young Master was very unhappy today.

Ji Ling, waiting outside for a while, finally asked, “Sir, where is Young Hero Jun?”

Inside the barrier, before he had even begun to wash, Chu Ji’s leg gave a slight tremble at the mention of the name.

Jun Xueyi would soon be a dead man—did his whereabouts still matter?

He stared at the water in the bathtub; there was still plenty of spiritual energy left within him.

Ji Ling’s words reminded him—he didn't know where Jun Xueyi was now. To kill someone, he first needed to find them.

He possessed a magical artifact for tracking, one that didn't require infusing spiritual energy to use.

Once Jun Xueyi was dead, the blood-drawn formation on his body would lose its effect, and then everything would be usable again.

He took out the tracking incense from his storage ring, a flash of shame and hatred in his eyes. Pressing his lips tightly together, he brought the incense close to himself, lit it, and drew in the aura of another person's presence from his own body.

The tracking incense initially burned with a crimson glow, slowly mingling with a streak of snow-white.

Seeing that it had absorbed the scent, Chu Ji threw the incense out to Xiong Qun. "When I emerge, I want to kill him with my own hands."

Xiong Qun took the incense, having found a way to please the Young Master.

The Young Master had never been this angry before. Whoever they were tracking, they had to die.

After speaking, Chu Ji stepped into the bathtub and, enduring his shame, began to wash himself clean.

Even though they were his own hands, for a moment they felt alien—these hands should be cold and sharp.

“Damn it.”

-

“Damn it.”

Jun Xueyi staggered a few steps, unable to hold back a low curse—cursing his own desires, cursing his inability to control the impulse to want someone.

After discovering that the distance restriction between himself and the Young Master had disappeared, Jun Xueyi instantly teleported thousands of miles away using a teleportation talisman. He hadn't specifically chosen a location; in that instant, he hadn't thought of anything, never expecting to end up on a cliff.

After cursing, he walked slowly for a while, passing through shrubs before finally unable to hold on any longer, sinking to his knees against a tree.

Every part of his body screamed at him to return, to pull the person into his arms, to imprison them there.

To lock them up, holding them every night and having them every day.

After all, the Young Master couldn't resist.

As long as the object inside the Young Master remained unpurified for a day, it was his opportunity for a day.

Given the other's temper, they would claw at him, bite off his flesh, and perhaps even slash him a few times.

If it truly came to that, he thought it would be worth it.

Before the thought could fully form, he cursed himself again.

Jun Xueyi, oh Jun Xueyi, if you can't even control this, you're utterly worthless.

...Truly utterly worthless.

Otherwise, how could he not even dare to look at the person one more time?

Jun Xueyi flipped over and lay down in the grass beneath the tree, removing his mask and taking deep, ragged breaths.

His fingers dug into the tree trunk, but he was unaware of it.

He couldn't think about it anymore.

It wasn't his fault for thinking.

That little Young Master was truly enticing, wasn't he?

But was his current desire born from lust affecting his heart, or from his heart's desire?

This question had no answer. Jun Xueyi gazed indifferently at the sky.

Was Heaven deliberately sending such a person as a "test" for him? If he passed the test, would he receive a "reward"?

Hah...

The stirred desire surged fiercely. Jun Xueyi simply froze himself in place—numbness would keep the thoughts away.

He slept soundly for most of the day and woke up in the evening, his body mostly calm again.

The aftereffects of the drug had dissipated, and his own heart had returned to the state it was in before entering the Unfalling Mountains.

The last time someone drugged him, he had suppressed it with his Mental Technique alone. This time, the drug was neutralized by the demon blood, but he had to forcibly seal away most of his seven emotions and six desires to recover.

Sitting up, he listlessly lowered his head. The moment he woke, he thought of the person, and the place where he had been frozen for most of the day began to stir again.

He wore the expression of a dead man. Even with most of his emotions and desires sealed away, the effect remained. He lay back down.

Might as well die.

Even if he couldn't die, he might as well be dead.

He lay there until the sunset cast its glow. Several auras approached, one of them etched into his flesh and blood—he knew instantly who it was.

"Young Hero Jun, Young Hero Jun." It was Ji Ling's voice.

Jun Xueyi didn't move.

"Young Hero Jun, where are you?" It was Ji Wuyan and Ji Wuxing.

Jun Xueyi couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids.

"Come out." It was Xiong Qun.

Jun Xueyi was indifferent.

Ji Ling and the others searched the cliff for fifteen minutes. The cliff was vast, filled with trees of varying heights, so dense that a venomous snake could appear anywhere at any moment.

They searched cautiously.

Ji Ling looked at his Benefactor and saw the incense in the other's hand indeed swirling in this area. He asked softly, "Benefactor, is Young Hero Jun really here?"

"Yes."

A brief reply, tone unreadable. Ji Ling couldn't even make out the other's expression. Since leaving the cave, the other hadn't spoken a word along the way. Without Jun Xueyi, he realized the innate pressure the other carried was immense.

So immense that he had only dared to speak twice during the entire journey.

Once when the incense failed to find anything, he asked, and the other coldly replied, "Hopefully he's dead. If he's dead, the incense won't find him."

And now.

Ji Ling was somewhat worried, but he had seen with his own eyes how the other had risked his life to save others. Surely nothing would happen.

"Young Hero Jun, Young Hero Jun?" he continued calling.

Chu Ji glanced at the dense mountain forest and the setting sun, then jingled the bell on his ankle.

He had tried hundreds of methods to remove it while bathing, but none had worked.

Chu Ji's sword no longer glowed with blinding light but was instead enveloped in demonic energy so thick it seemed to drip from it.

"Jun Xueyi, did you die?"

Jun Xueyi abruptly opened his eyes and sighed, "Not dead."

He stood up, "How disappointing for you..."

"Thwick..." The sound of a sword piercing flesh echoed.

Jun Xueyi's pupils dilated sharply—the sword had pierced straight through his heart, not deviating even slightly.

It even instantly shattered his dantian.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he heard the Young Master say, "No disappointment. Daring to touch me like that—you're a dead man."

Ji Ling and the others stood frozen, unable to even react.

Jun Xueyi's pupils began to cloud over; his first reaction was excitement, an overwhelming excitement washing over him.

He could actually be killed.

Someone actually managed to kill him.

He was dead!

He could die too!

And it was this person who killed him!!

He opened his mouth, gushing a torrent of blood, but cackled wildly while staring intently at the person, excitement numbing his mind so much he felt no pain.

Indeed, they were made for each other.

Chu Ji yanked out the sword, letting the other's blood splatter across his face. He felt the blood-sigil array on his chest dissipate.

This would be the last time he touched the other's blood.

The anger from last night vanished. Chu Ji's round eyes appeared innocent yet satisfied as he gazed at the person before him.

Dared to touch him? Got you killed with a single strike?

Finished. Nothing left.

The protagonist, dead.

This was something that brought profound satisfaction to him, the antagonist.

"!!! Wait..."

The text before Chu Ji's eyes disappeared too fast for him to read, but it didn't matter anymore, did it?

The frustration he had felt since seeing those words was also gone.

"Jun Xueyi," Chu Ji narrowed his eyes slightly, all the suppressed emotions of the past few days overturned. He was utterly delighted seeing the other's shocked expression and said sweetly, "My name is Chu Ji. Remember who it was that killed you."

Remember, protagonist.

He flung the person carelessly backward and stood on the cliff's edge, watching as the falling man wiped the blood from the corner of his eye.

Before losing consciousness, Jun Xueyi never looked away from the person.

He'd remember.

So gorgeous.

-----------------------

Author's Note: No chapter at midnight on the 31st. It'll be posted at 11 PM on the 31st instead, and it'll be an extra-long chapter [dog holding rose emoji][dog holding rose emoji][dog holding rose emoji]. Thank you all for your support! If possible, please leave me more comments—they give me so much motivation! [star-eyes emoji][star-eyes emoji][star-eyes emoji][star-eyes emoji]