Chapter 49.1
Translated by: Niladri
_____________
The man who had sold the crystal nucleus half was a frequent visitor to flea markets. Sun Wenlong soon found the man and asked him where he had found the nucleus.
This matter could not be delayed. When Qin Yi and his party were ready, they immediately left the base and went there. Before departure, Jiang Sile had also lost his temper and had a few words to say regarding Mu Fei’s presence. Only after seeing Qin Yi’s seething expression did he settle down.
The place where the nucleus was found was in a very remote mountain. The man was born in a small mountain village in the mountains. While protecting himself, he returned to his birthplace with a glimmer of hope to check if his relatives had survived. As a result, he had barely arrived at the village gate, when he was chased out by the village’s zombies. In desperation, his foot slipped sending him tumbling into the valley. It was at the edge of the mountain stream at the bottom of the valley that he found the half nucleus.
Lu Heng was now standing by the mountain stream where the man said he had found half a crystal nucleus. He squatted down, picked up a pinch of earth, and sniffed it carefully. The surrounding lands were unexpectedly clean, having no trace of demonic energy.
“I’ve explored it psychically. There’s nothing unusual around here.” Qin Yi said, “It’s too clean to have any mutated beasts. It’s not normal to be this pristine.”
When things start going wrong, demons are involved. 1 It’s too remote, uninhabited, and it’s still normal to have no zombies, but it’s not normal to have no mutated beasts.
Suddenly Lu Heng saw some small fish swimming out of the crevice of the stone in the water. The small fish were beating around a fist-sized stone happily. In this demon-infested world, water sources were basically polluted, and it was impossible for normal organisms to survive in them.
This water was not polluted. Lu Heng picked up the stone again and unexpectedly found that there was a faint trace of spiritual energy on it.
“Let’s go up the river and see it.” Lu Heng said, “However, the situation ahead is not clear; so it’s better to have Jiang Sile waiting here.”
“What if the devil comes out of Little Le?” Even if Mu Fei was watching, if anything happened, Qin Yi didn’t feel that he (MF) was willing enough to fight with Jiang Sile.
Lu Heng drew a note from the storage bag and said, “Devil suppression talisman, try to put it on Jiang Sile, and don’t be discovered by him.”
Devil suppression talisman was one of the most powerful talismans that heavenly masters could draw. Plus the devil was in a weakened state. If it were to come out and run amok, they could trap him for a while with this talisman. It was no problem waiting for Lu Heng to return.
As for how to put the talisman on him without being discovered by Jiang Sile, that was up to Qin Yi.
Qin Yi nodded, took the note and folded it into small pieces, and walked towards Jiang Sile, who was waiting in the distance.
Lu Heng followed with interest, trying to see how he would put the talisman unnoticed.
“Ah Mu, I’m going to take a look upstream with Yunlan. You and Little Le are in the lookout. Is the walkie-talkie connected?”
Mu Fei nodded and answered, but Jiang Sile was not happy.
“Yige, I want to go with you, look at the view or something. It’s enough to have Mu Fei alone.”
“I don’t have time to take care of you.” Qin Yi spoke without mercy.
“You!” When Jiang Sile’s eyebrows stood upright, it always indicated his anger.
“All right.” Qin Yi patted him on the shoulder and said soothingly, “Being brothers for more than twenty years, what deep hatred do you have?”
Lu Heng saw Qin Yi clap on Jiang Sile’s shoulder for a moment, his finger moved slightly, and that small piece of folded paper was stuck into Jiang Sile’s sweater.
The dexterity of his hands was as expected from a veteran army man, Lu Heng thought.
It is said that there are more disassemblies and assemblies in the army than using guns. It is not surprising that Qin Yi, as the leader of the army, has such dexterity.
Putting their worries behind them, Lu Heng and Qin Yi went all the way up the mountain stream to the depths of the valley. The source of this mountain stream was actually a karst cave.
Once in the cave, there was a refreshing aura emanating, not because of the low temperature in the cave, but another more comfortable aura. It looks like... spiritual energy?
It was very dark inside the cave. Qin Yi lit a small fire in his palm to illuminate it. While conserving his powers, the fire was only enough to see the distance of one meter in front of him.
Qin Yi said, “Grab my clothes. It’s too dark in front. Don’t trip over.”
Feeling that the man behind him was obediently pulling at the hem of his clothes, Qin Yi began to fumble forward. The terrain in the cave was too complicated. They had barely walked a bit, before Qin Yi felt that the person behind him stumble and fall towards him.
Qin Yi responded very quickly and immediately turned back to catch him, not wanting the person behind him to hit the stones under the water at his feet. Although this man was caught, he was unable to control the momentum. Qin Yi himself slipped and they fell together.
It took Qin Yi a long time to recover from the sharp pain of landing on the tail bone. This time, he felt a very comfortable breath lingering on his nose. This person’s scent and spiritual power were both similar. So comfortable, just makes one want to keep smelling like this.
A moment later, Qin Yi found that the man on his body had not stood up even after a long time had passed. “Where did you hit? Was it where you were injured?”
The man did not speak, but wrapped his arms around Qin Yi’s neck.
Qin Yi’s whole person became stiff and nervous at once. “You, what’s wrong with you? Are you hurt badly?”
Qin Yi felt a shallow breath coming to his ear.
“Brother Qin, I’m a little cold.”
Qin Yi’s mind was blank, but his hands were subconsciously grasping the waist of the body. He did not know whether he wanted to push him away or embrace him.
In trance, Qin Yi seemed to feel cold lips moving on his face, and then slowly stick to his lips.
As soon as Lu Heng entered the cave, he had found something amiss. But before he could stop breathing and concentrate, he fell into it. He saw the familiar man with the moon behind him, a faint smile on his clear and moonlike face, and held out his hand towards him: “Want to go hand in hand with this poor monk?”
This scene was very beautiful, but Lu Heng was not the person of this plane after all, nor was Shi Kong. In an instant, Lu Heng came back to his senses. It was an illusion.
This illusion should be able to delineate the things in people’s hearts that they desire most.
Sure enough, as soon as he realized that it was a fantasy, Lu Heng cleared his mind. He found that he and Qin Yi were still standing outside the karst cave and had never stepped in at all.
“Be careful not to be fascinated by illusion.” Lu Heng finished, but did not hear a response.
When he looked sideways, he found Qin Yi standing in his place, his face in a trance. At first glance, he was clearly caught in the illusion.
“Shidi?” Lu Heng raised his voice a little, “Qin Yi!”
Still there was no response. It seemed that the man was deeply entangled. The more yearning his heart had, the harder it would be to wake up from this illusion. What on earth is this person seeing? Lu Heng was somewhat distressed.
He had to take a risk. He was hoping that this man, like his predecessors, was totally defenseless against him. Lu Heng grabbed Qin Yi’s hand and located his pulse gate 2. He poured his divine sense into it. As a matter of fact, it was like entering an uninhabited world.
“Qin Yi, Qin Yi! What you see is an illusion! ”
Qin Yi’s body trembled and was finally awakened by the voice in the depths of his consciousness. He reflexively turned his hand and tightly gripped Lu Heng’s hand, which caused him pain. Qin Yi looked around blankly, and after a long time, he completely returned to the real world.
“You, what are you holding my hand for?” Qin Yi loosened his hand and wanted to cover it up.
“...” Was this man trapped in an illusion that leads to a decrease in IQ? Lu Heng felt a bit helpless.
Seeing Lu Heng’s silent expression, Qin Yi said, “This cave is so weird that I just felt like I lost consciousness, like I had a dream.”
“It’s an illusion. If it doesn’t break, we can’t get in.” Lu Heng said, “There must be something important in this cave.”
At this time, it was almost dusk, Lu Heng and Qin Yi taking everything into consideration, decided to return to the camp first, from a long-term perspective.
In the deep valley, total silence had descended. A campfire was lit in a clearing above the mountain stream. Four people sat around the campfire, each having varied expressions.
The baby-faced young man sat on the lee, holding a bowl bigger than his face, concentrating on picking the rice. His method of eating involved making exaggerated finger movements.
However, none of the other three people were infected by his good appetite.
Sitting next to the baby-faced young man, was the tallest and strongest man sporting fierce looks. He frowned and stared at the quivering campfire, one could only wonder what he was thinking.
Opposite the two, the handsome man with the lunch box said something gently to the fair and handsome young man beside him, but the young man pushed him away impatiently.
“Come with me, Ah Mu.” Qin Yi stood up.
Mu Fei put down his lunch box and said to the other person, “Little Le, you should eat it quickly, it will not taste good when it’s cold.”
Walking along the river, Qin Yi did not stop until he reached a place where the two people by the campfire could not overhear them.
“You and Little Le...” Qin Yi’s words became tangled, “How did this relationship happen?”
It wasn’t a wonder Qin Yi couldn’t figure it out. At that time, among a group of children of the same age in the courtyard, they had the best relationship. Among them, although Jiang Sile and Mu Fei were closer, there was no sign of anything beyond brotherhood until Qin Yi had left.
“Do you remember Little Mu?” Mu Fei said something apparently unrelated.
Mu Mu, Mu Fei’s younger brother, was lost when he was three years old and never found him back.
“Little Mu was lost by me. I secretly took him out to play with him. I deceived everyone by saying that he had run out himself.” Mu Fei’s heart was full of yearning to disclose everything in his heart.
Although Qin Yi was surprised, he did not speak. He knew that Mu Fei just needed someone to listen to him. Qin Yi still remembered Mu Mu, who was fair and plump and was the treasure of Mu Fei’s family. Especially Mu Fei, with Mu Mu as a brother, every two sentences in the three sentences contained ‘my family’s Little Mu’.
“I never had a good sleep after Little Mu was lost.”
When Mu Mu was lost, Mu Fei was only six years old. This guilt almost destroyed the child who had not yet grown up.
“Later, Little Le’s family had moved in. You know, Little Le and Little Mu look very similar.”
Qin Yi was an active part of these events. So from the start, Qin Yi was not surprised that Mu Fei considered Jiang Sile as a treasured candy and held it in his hand for fear of falling into his mouth or fear of melting. He knew that Mu Fei poured all his feelings for Mu onto Jiang Sile.
Therefore, for Mu Fei and Jiang Sile to develop love, he found it even more inconceivable.
“What happened then?” Qin Yi asked.
Mu Fei smiled and said, “Little Le and Little Mu are not the same person after all. The more I recall the past, the clearer I realize this fact. But when taking care of a person becomes a habit, it’s very difficult to get rid of it.”
After Qin Yi had left the courtyard to join the army, among the three close-knit people, two were left. What’s more, their hearts were full of vitality and vigor of teenage, and spring sprouted amidst all the bloodshed.
“When I finally stopped viewing Xiao Le and Xiao Mu the same way, it happened to be the time when I was at the age where I finally learned what love was.” Spending days and nights together, taking good care of the other, eyes always staying on him, and realizing that this person was not his brother. Is it normal for this feeling to deteriorate in an instant? Mu Fei smiled again, but there was a little bitterness in his smile.
“Since you and Little Le are lovers, what about Pan Rongxi?”
“Rongxi and Little Mu were born in the same year. I know he is not Little Mu, but I always wonder if Little Mu was also picked up by such a family. Is he also suffering like this?” Mu Fei continued, “When I think about this, I can’t help paying more attention to him.”
Qin Yi knew the moment he heard that this man that had not yet come out of his guilt of losing his brother. He had been trapped in the past of losing his brother.
“You can tell Little Le frankly about it, and it won’t be that bad for Pan Rongxi.” Qin Yi still didn’t understand how the couple speaks. They never communicated directly. They always had to guess and guess.
“How dare I talk to Little Le about Little Mu? You don’t know his character. After that, I’m afraid it would become even more difficult.”
Qin Yi felt that he could not help anything with these things. He could not be sure that Mu Fei would not reveal to Jiang Sile about the devil in Jiang Sile. He had to say, “Ah Mu, you still have to think clearly about what is most important to yourself. Pan Rongxi is not Little Mu, even if you owe him, you don’t really owe him. Hurting Pan Rongxi and the person you love, it’s just not worth it.”
Qin Yi turned around and wanted to leave Mu Fei to think about it. But he also remembered another purpose of calling Mu Fei over.
“Ah Mu...” Qin Yi hesitated to say, “How did you find that your feelings for Little Le were different at that time?”
Mu Fei was perplexed, but did not think much: “When I was a teenager, I had a dream, in which the two of us were happy.”