Chapter 19: Two Choices

Chapter 19: Two Choices

"Bury them?" Pei Jie neither agreed nor disagreed, finding a slightly cleaner spot to sit and watch Shang Yunduo fussing around.

After gathering the bodies inside the cave, Shang Yunduo continued toward the exit.

He was bustling about, but it was clear he didn't really know how to handle this.

The right thing to do in this situation would be to burn the remains. Even if he wanted to bury them, he should at least find a place with soft soil. The cave wasn't suitable; what you should do is clear the blocked entrance first, then move the bodies.

But Shang Yunduo was just doing what he said: "I can't just leave them lying there." Because he couldn't bear to see it, he cleaned it up, but he himself wasn't sure how to properly bury them.

Watching him rush around, Pei Jie initially thought he was after the storage pouches. But scanning the bodies, the pouches were still hanging on them. Shang Yunduo didn't take their pouches—he took off their robes instead to cover the incomplete corpses.

They were already dead. He wasn't sure who he was trying to comfort.

After a while, Shang Yunduo returned, his face pale and covered in black dust. Pei Jie figured he'd finally remember the blocked entrance, but instead, Shang Yunduo hesitated before asking, "Senior, those people by the Golden Scale Beast... can you come with me?"

Pei Jie: "You're pretty generous, still thinking about burying your enemies."

Shang Yunduo blinked. No, he wasn't that nice. What he wanted to collect was Zhang Yu and a couple others.

He'd seen Zhang Yan's body in the tunnel, burnt to a crisp—so awful. He wanted to bury Zhang Yu's head and her weapon next to Zhang Yan.

They hadn't been totally eaten when he'd left, but he didn't dare snatch them from the Golden Scale Beast's mouth.

As for Niu Chengdian and those guys...

"Forget it. They're dead, water under the bridge. Dust to dust." If they weren't eaten by the time he came back, he wouldn't mind collecting them.

Pei Jie glanced at him, closed his eyes, and started meditating. "Then go."

Shang Yunduo: "Alone?"

Pei Jie: "Want me to haul them for you?"

Shang Yunduo: "No, no, I'll move them. But... you'll come with me, yeah?"

The Golden Scale Beast was huge. He was freaked out.

Pei Jie: "If you're scared, then don't go."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He stood there feeling helpless, then thought again and said, "Senior, the cave exit is blocked."

Pei Jie: "Mm. Go move the stones."

Shang Yunduo: "Me?"

Pei Jie: "Who else?"

Shang Yunduo: "N-no..."

After thinking about it, he still couldn't let it go and asked, "Can't you just slice the rocks apart with a few sword swings?"

Pei Jie looked up at him and smiled. "I'm only at the third layer of Qi Refining."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

If you don't wanna do it, just say so. When you were killing people, why weren't you only at Qi Refining Third Layer then?

He grumbled to himself but didn't dare to insist on Pei Jie coming along. What if Pei Jie got pissed and decided to kill him too?

Whatever. He could handle it himself. He'd just blast the rocks himself and get out so he could find a spot to bury these bodies. He couldn't just leave them here forever. The cave was cool, but it wasn't a freezer. Even he himself was starting to stink, and the Cleansing Spell couldn't get the smell out.

Shang Yunduo dragged himself to the cave entrance alone to blast the rocks. When he was almost out of Pei Jie's sight, he came back and bargained: "Senior, could you come with me? I'll move them myself!"

Pei Jie: "Why?"

Shang Yunduo: "I... I'm scared."

Pei Jie: "Are there more bodies near the entrance?"

Shang Yunduo: "No... it's just... two guys over there were killed by me."

Pei Jie was confused. "You've never killed anyone before?"

Shang Yunduo stammered: "I have..."

He had already said those two were his kills.

Pei Jie stared at him like he was a rare sight. "Who's your master?"

"Huh?"

"How'd you cultivate to this level?"

"..."

Shang Yunduo gave up explaining. Since Pei Jie couldn't go check on him at the Taiyuan Sect right now, he said loudly: "I'm scared."

Pei Jie: "..."

If he hadn't known Pei Jie was here too—another living person—he would've burst into tears alone in a cave full of corpses.

Shang Yunduo really didn't want to go over there by himself. He softened his tone and pleaded: "It's more ventilated over there, much more comfortable than here. Really, Senior, come with me!"

After some thought, Pei Jie eventually went with him.

Shang Yunduo returned the favor. He found a clean spot, pulled out some clothes from his storage pouch, laid them on the ground for Pei Jie to sit on while meditating.

He moved the bodies near the entrance far away, to a place where even two Glow Pearls' light couldn't reach. Shang Yunduo started blasting rocks using the Flame Control technique. After a while, he could even shoot two Fireballs in a row.

Gasping for breath, he swallowed a Qi Recovery Pill. Pei Jie had long since stopped meditating; he sat there idly, watching Shang Yunduo pant like a dog, disdain written all over his face.

"Who taught you to move your qi like that?"

"..."

"What technique are you practicing?"

"...Flame Control."

"And this is what you get?"

"..."

That look was oddly like the one his sister Shang Yunxiu gave him when she taught him math problems. "Fire-attributed Heavenly Spirit Root, Pure Yang Constitution." Pei Jie gave him a once-over. "You don't seem like a complete idiot."

"..."

Even more like it!

Shang Yunduo had been subjected to this kind of look since childhood, flexible, playing dumb and reading the room. He pulled two big apples from his storage pouch, trying to break the spell: "Senior, have some fruit and rest a while." — Just shut your mouth already.

Pei Jie let out a heavy sigh, even the tone of that sigh was three parts similar to his scholarly brother's. "Eating that won't help your cultivation."

Shang Yunduo also sighed, thinking to himself, if you don't want them, whatever, I'll eat them myself.

Pei Jie stood up, his eyes sharp and dangerous. Feeling the threat, Shang Yunduo instinctively recoiled. "Senior?"

Pei Jie had already drawn his sword, one strike sending Shang Yunduo's apple flying, aiming for his weak spots. Shang Yunduo quickly drew his own sword, but he couldn't parry in time. His wrist stung, sword knocked away, and with a sweep of the blade, his robe fell off.

Shang Yunduo: ???

Confused, his inner clothes were also slashed into large holes, revealing the armor beneath. Pei Jie's sword aimed at the joints of the armor.

Shang Yunduo was stunned, shocked and angry. This armor was his greatest asset for his future life!

He went all out, using Flame Control, Sword Flight Art, Singing Wind Sword Art, Body Techniques, plus Tai Chi and martial arts—everything he knew. But Pei Jie deflected every attack with just sword moves, even dodging the heaviest blows effortlessly. During the fight, Shang Yunduo could sense that Pei Jie was really only at Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation, but he still couldn't keep up, couldn't hit him. Every time he got close, he was either pushed away effortlessly or hit with the flat of the blade. Pei Jie's every strike hit his vital points and weak spots, and his sword always hit exactly where he intended.

If Pei Jie hadn't meant to kill him, Shang Yunduo would have died countless times.

In all his life, he had never felt so hopeless in a fight.

Bang.

The last strap of Shang Yunduo's armor was cut, it fell to the ground and shattered.

Pei Jie tilted his head, dodging a flying sword from behind. The sword grazed Shang Yunduo's head and lodged in the stone wall, vibrating and ringing.

Pei Jie then flicked his waist, knocking off his belt and jade pendant too.

Shang Yunduo, embarrassed and angry, quickly grabbed his pants. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"So you really are a Pure Yang Body." Pei Jie stared at his body now exposed without the enchanted gear, then lifted a hand and cut the jade hairpin holding his hair up, finally showing a hint of satisfaction amid the disdain, with a touch of regret. "...Pure Yang Body."

Shang Yunduo: ???

Are you crazy?

No, this doesn't make sense either? Is the Pure Yang Body a dime a dozen?

Not even Xiao Chi has it, so how could he?

The book never mentioned that "Shang Yunduo" was a Pure Yang Body. The female lead, Su Ziyuan, had a Pure Yin Body, super rare, and her family kept her hidden. But word got out, and someone came to force a marriage. Su Ziyuan, already in love with Xiao Chi, said no. Unable to have her and afraid she'd grow strong enough to strike back, the other side decided to annihilate the Su family, almost wiping them out entirely.

How could such a rare physique have anything to do with him?

If "Shang Yunduo" really was Pure Yang Body, would his cheap master ghost him for half the year? Would the Taiyuan Sect have no protection, just letting "him" die so pathetically in the secret realm?

Or was the original "Shang Yunduo" not a Pure Yang Body, and it only became so after he transmigrated into him?

No, from what Pei Jie said, the enchanted items he wore were meant to conceal his Pure Yang Body. If the original "Shang Yunduo" didn't have this physique, why would he be wearing them?

After transmigrating, to avoid being recognized as a different person, he had kept the original's attire. That means the original "Shang Yunduo" dressed this way too.

So, did "Shang Yunduo" know he had a Pure Yang Constitution? Did the Taiyuan Sect know?

Was "Shang Yunduo" hiding this from his sect?

Or did he, like the heroine, have some family history?

None of this was in the novel at all. Was the world he was in now actually different from the book?

For a moment, countless thoughts flooded Shang Yunduo's mind, his brain unable to keep up.

Pei Jie put away his sword and said, "From now on, you'll train with me."

Shang Yunduo snapped back to reality, quickly picked up his storage pouch from the ground, and first found a belt. "Are you going to take me as your disciple?"

"I don't take disciples."

"Then... can I call you boss?"

Pei Jie ignored his nonsense. "I'll give you two options."

Shang Yunduo nodded frantically, thinking, Oh, there are actually two choices!

Pei Jie said, "One, dual cultivate with me to help my training. Two, die now."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Huh?

Huh?!!!

Shang Yunduo was so startled he almost dropped his half-fastened belt again.

Dual cultivation? Like the kind he was thinking about?

His muddled brain had a crazy impulse to drop his pants to make Pei Jie give up immediately.

Years of civics, morality, and law education stopped him, and Shang Yunduo cried in despair, "Senior, I'm a guy."

Pei Jie said, "I'm not blind."

Shang Yunduo said, "But two men... how would that work for dual cultivation?"

Pei Jie asked, "Why can't we?"

Well, if you insist, it's not completely impossible...

He looked at Pei Jie's beautiful eyes, thinking he must be good-looking, but Pei Jie was just as tall and built as him. He wasn't blind himself.

And in two lifetimes over twenty years, he'd never been in a single relationship. Even when he wrote love songs, his bandmates said they felt fake, all imagination.

He'd never really considered whether he'd want a boyfriend or a girlfriend in the future, after all, at art school, anything was possible. As long as you liked them, those conditions could be overcome. But one thing he was very sure of: he definitely didn't want to be the bottom.

But he...

Couldn't win!!

Shang Yunduo said, "Then just kill me."

Pei Jie was taken aback, looking at him as if to say, "I'm not even disgusted by you, and you're unwilling?" He asked in surprise, "You don't want to dual cultivate with me?"

Why on earth would I be willing?! Why would I ever agree?!

Are we seriously talking about sex positions right now?

Shang Yunduo's face turned bright red. He grabbed his belt and asked softly, "Seriously, Senior, shouldn't this kind of thing be mutual? If I'm not willing, would you force me?"

Pei Jie snorted derisively and said arrogantly, "Of course not."

Before Shang Yunduo could even breathe a sigh of relief, Pei Jie lifted his sword once more. "You're of no use to me now. Time to hit the road."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Author's note:

Yunduo: Why does every little argument end in murder?