Chapter 487 – High Platform on the Moon

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at the road underneath his feet, and gripped his Zhige sword tighter. Taking another step, on both sides of the road there were two double-petal lotus flowers. They were simple and elegant, pure and holy in color, the green color concealed a concentrated gold, letting people see it from a far away but could not play with it

　　It’s unknown which mechanism he stepped on, but all the lotus flowers on both sides of the road bloomed one by one, spiraling up, facing the ceiling and soaring up.

　　Lin Xuanzhi stepped on the stairs assembled by the lotus flowers, walking up the stairs he finally arrived at the high platform on top of the 999 lotus flower steps. When he arrived, he saw a huge lotus lamp with nine petals. At the center of the lotus lamp, there was a picturesque young man with closed eyes. His hands were folded in front of him and he was lying in that place peacefully, as if he had always been like this for thousands of years. Ice flesh, jade bones.

　　He was wearing a big red Xipao, and his loose thick black long hair was bunched together by a hair band that was also a festive red.

　　When Lin Xuanzhi saw that face, in his heart he already guessed the identity of this man. Because Zhonghua once said that his appearance very much resembled Xuan Jiuxiao’s. Xuan Jiuxiao was a beautiful man beyond comparison. Even the sun and the moon would avoid his glory upon seeing him. It was rumored that because he received too much love from Heaven, he would experience humiliation at the peak of his strength and experience decline at the peak of his prosperity. That was why the Heavens accepted Xuan Jiuxiao many years earlier. There were still rumors about him in the Nine Lands, which even now had never faded from history.

　　Lin Xuanzhi stood beside the teal lotus seat and looked at Xuan Lou for a moment. When Lin Xuanzhi lifted his hand and felt the body, he knew that it was nothing more than a corpse.

　　Who knows where the real soul is right now.

　　Yin Chongyue drifted out of the soul plate. He flew up to the teal lotus seat and landed beside the corpse of Xuan Lou, appearing to kneel on the edge of the lotus heart, and reached out to caress Xuan Lou’s cheek. Yin Chongyue’s expression was close to obsession and also very gentle and tender.

　　“Xuan Jiuxiao, I found you.” Yin Chongyue grasped Xuan Lou’s hand and pressed his palm on his own cheek. He genuinely and sincerely smiled and spoke, “I have said I would find you sooner or later.”

　　Xuan Lou naturally did’t give him any response.

　　Yin Chongyue, however, did not care, and continued to speak with a smile, “I knew you couldn’t bear for me to be alone, I knew you would definitely be by my side to accompany me. Hahaha, we can be together. Finally, we can be together!”

　　Yin Chongyue laughed loudly and was close to deranged for a while, then slowly restrained his smile. The rims of his eyes were slightly red. “Lin Xuanzhi, you have already found the fifth sealing magic treasure. The Yin Umbrella hides the corpse of Xuan Jiuxiao, and inside the Yang umbrella hides the last part of my soul. As long as my soul returns to its original place, I can be revived.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi spoke, “Congratulations.”

　　“What is there to congratulate?” Yin Chongyue forced a bitter laugh with a hoarse voice and put down Xuan Lou’s hand. He sat on the edge of the lotus seat, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. “Even until he died, he never thought of meeting with me again.”

　　Yin Chongyue’s voice was extremely filled with vicissitudes, like he bore hundreds of thousands of years of pain, “I have searched for his corpse for millennia, but I could never find it anywhere. He sealed me inside the Yang Umbrella, yet he died inside the Yin Umbrella. The Yin Umbrella and the Yang Umbrella are equivalent to the realm of the dead and the world of the living. Yin and Yang won’t meet each other….. He wanted to say farewell to me. … I repeatedly asked why I couldn’t find him, no matter what. So that’s why I couldn’t find him at all!”

　　Yin Chongyue cried and laughed for a while, as if he had lost his mind, and mumbled to himself. Some of his words were expressing love, while some of them were resentful of Xuan Jiuxiao’s heartless cruelty to him, and he seemed to be experiencing a Qi deviation due to intense obsession.

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked toward Yin Chongyue, who was acting out a one-man show, and only felt that this thing called feelings was really difficult for people to understand. Xuan Jiuxiao was still a sleeping beauty. Nobody knew why his body remained immortal for thousands of years without rotting, and his skin looked as if it could be broken as soon as a gust of wind blew over it — it was a glossy white jade.

　　Lin Xuanzhi didn’t speak. He quietly stood by for a long time, accompanying Yin Chongyue as he vented his emotions. After an unknown amount of time, Yin Chongyue finally calmed down.

　　He raised his eyes and looked towards Lin Xuanzhi.

　　His line of sight seemed to land on Lin Xuanzhi, but he also appeared to see through Lin Xuanzhi to see another distant person, on the verge of collapse.

　　“He actually doesn’t like me.” Yin Chongyue slowly restrained his emotions and said, “After I became a demon, I left the demon realm with a magic treasure that conceals demonic Qi. By chance, I met him in Nine Springs Moon Waterfall using the identity ‘Radiant Sky’. At that time, it was the last Myriad Dao Era, and he was the most glorious person of that era. I only saw him once and had already placed him in my heart. And he– he was the core of the stars and moon, and the lights all revolved around him. Naturally, he despised my lowly presence. The Nine Springs Moon Waterfall was an extraordinary phenomenon in the Nine Lands, and people who were not destined were not allowed to watch.”

　　Yin Chongyue ran away after losing a fight with someone else, and fell from a cliff into the water of these Nine Springs. The plopping sound woke Xuan Jiuxiao, who was drunk and sleeping in the middle of the water. Xuan Jiuxiao opened his eyelids and watched Yin Chongyue, who was drenched in water, muttering swears while climbing up along the edge of Lotus seat with much difficulty. Unexpectedly, he didn’t take out his sword to stab Yin Chongyue– at first glance, he saw through the disguise of this demon, but he was in a very bad mood, and it was rare that he didn’t have the idea of exterminating monsters or demons.

　　Xuan Jiuxiao said, “Little demon, you disturbed my sleep, so use yourself to pay for it.”

　　Thus, one person getting drunk became a demon accompanying a person to get drunk. He poured it straight into his mouth. In the end, he poured himself into unconsciousness. He slept for three nights. Yin Chongyue’s capacity for wine had never been good, but he had a desire for good food and felt that the wine was delicious and was greedy for a cup. When he woke up, Xuan Jiuxiao had already long since disappeared. He was still sleeping on the lotus platform in the Nine Springs. There was an extra item on his body, a natural silk robe with heaven embroidered clouds.

　　“The second time we met, it was in the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital.”

　　At that time, Yin Chongyue found the whereabouts of Yan Chi–he was a guest in the Crown Prince’s East Palace. The only reason he had tried so hard to survive was to take revenge for the entire City of Twin Moons. He wanted to kill Yan Chi, even if the outcome might be mutual destruction — even if he had to pay any price. However, he was too impatient and underestimated Yan Chi’s strength and overestimated himself. Yan Chi badly wounded him, and also sent people to kill the demon who dared to kill him. Yin Chongyue, who had reached a dead end and had nowhere to go, was about to get arrested, when a cool breeze swept through and took him away from the place of dispute. He arrived at a gorgeous bedroom.

　　Xuan Jiuxiao sat cross-legged on the lotus seat, facing the vast bamboo forest sea, fiddling with strings of a zither. Birds were singing in the air, warblers singing and hovering, it was like an image of hope for life.

　　“Do you know where you messed up?” Xuan Jiuxiao asked and did not look back.

　　Yin Chongyue rubbed his ankle that was hurt by falling, simply sat on the ground and looked towards the side of his face and said, “Overestimated myself, underestimated him.”

　　Xuan Jiuxiao smiled gently and said, “Both are not correct.”

　　Yin Chongyue was curious, “What was it then?”

　　Xuan Jiuxiao said “Your biggest mistake is that you shouldn’t have done it in my palace.”

　　Yin Chongyue, “…..”

　　Later, he understood, he really shouldn’t kill people in Xuan Jiuxiao’s domain, because Xuan Jiuxiao wouldn’t allow anyone who didn’t deserve to die experience accidents while in his territory, and at that time Yan Chi was actually not that powerful. If Yin Chongyue assassinated Yan Chi anywhere outside the Crown Prince’s East Palace, he wouldn’t be blocked by Xuan Jiuxiao and maybe he could have been successful in getting revenge. Regrettably, there was no “what if” in life.

　　Yin Chongyue hid in the bedroom of Xuan Lou, recuperated for several months, and finally left without saying goodbye. When it was all over, whatever events that happened outside of his control during this period, other than Yin Chongyue, no one will ever know.

　　As if it were fate, Yin Chongyue fell in love with Xuan Lou, and Xuan Lou also gained another good friend. Yin Chongyue didn’t know why Xuan Jiuxiao wanted to save him that day, just like he didn’t know why Xuan Jiuxiao, such a noble and proud man, became friends with a demon.

　　“Shall we become sworn brothers?” One day, Xuan Lou asked him that.

　　Yin Chongyue smiled. He looked at Xuan Lou, pressed all his love to the bottom of his heart, and said, “Yes.”

　　Xuan Lou spoke, “We were not born on the same year, same month, or the same day, but I wish to die on the same year, same month, and same day.”

　　Yet Yin Chongyue spoke of sharing a bed in life, sharing a tomb in death.

　　Xuan Lou turned to him and said with a smile, “Those words aren’t the oath for sworn brothers; you’re kneeling to heaven and earth in marriage.”

　　Yin Chongyue replied, Don’t take advantage of me.

　　Later, even when he became a Demon Venerable and Xuan Lou became quasi-emperor, they were still friends. He regarded him as a lover, while Xuan Lou regarded him as a confidant.

　　He was still planning his revenge and was close together with his enemy. Until one day, Xuan Lou told him that he was going to marry the first daughter of the Yan family, Yan Xueyi. Yin Chongyue’s ears listened and his mouth said, “You once asked me what kind of deep and great hatred I had with the Yan family. Do you still want to know?”

　　Xuan Lou replied, “As long as you are willing to say, I am willing to know.”

　　“If you knew, would you still marry Yan Xueyi?”

　　Xuan Lou asked, “Whether I marry Yan Xueyi or not has nothing to do with the Yan family, but is only related to one person, right?”

　　Yin Chongyue was discouraged in an instant. He curled his lips and smiled, his eyes were clear and light, and he said, “Actually, there is not much deep hatred.”

　　He didn’t mention his blood feud with the Yan family anymore, and Xuan Lou also never asked. At that time, Yin Chongyue’s cultivation had already reached a very high realm. As long as he was willing to give up his life, he could easily take Yan Chi’s dog life.

　　But he was reluctant to part with Xuan Lou.

　　Either die, or give up revenge — he could only choose one of the two. So, before making a decision, Yin Chongyue went to find Xuan Lou to share a jar of wine. When the wine was drunk, Yin Chongyue looked at Xuan Lou’s bright red, moist, and slightly opened lips, and coincidentally kissed him. Xuan Lou’s body froze at that moment.

　　I treated you like a brother, but you actually wanted to sleep with me.

　　Xuan Lou looked at Yin Chongyue in shock, as if looking at a stranger.

　　Yin Chongyue completely sobered up and came back to his senses. Although it caused him heartache, he was proficient at wearing a mask that looked as though he was indifferent to people’s jeers and mockery.

　　He raised the corners of his lips and said, “Xuan Jiuxiao, I’ve never wanted to be friends with you. I want to be your Dao companion. Will you allow it?”

　　Xuan Lou slowly sat up straight, both of his eyes coldly looked at Yin Chongyue and said, “I will treat today’s affair as though it never happened.”

　　Then Yin Chongyue knew what he would choose.

　　He stood up, faintly smiled, and revealed an unspeakable weird expression in his eyes. “When did you also learn to believe in your own lies like this?”

　　Xuan Lou wanted to get up, but he felt dizzy, and he couldn’t even freely use his spiritual Qi. “What did you put in the wine?”

　　“It’s just something that can make you lose strength for a while while and also make you feel very comfortable.” Yin Chongyue slowly grasped Xuan Lou’s shoulder, slid his hands downward, hugged his waist, buried his head in his chest, and said, Divine Devils aren’t anything good, and I’m the head of Divine Devils — the worst of them all. You were wrong to trust me.”

　　Ever since he was born, Xuan Lou had probably never been subjected to such humiliation. Although he had no strength, his muscles were shaking in anger. He spoke, “Radiant Sky, don’t do anything you will regret.”

　　Yin Chongyue surrounded the area with a barrier, pulling out the hairpins in his hair, and gently loosened the girdle on his waist. The thin and smooth big red robe just slipped down like that from his shoulder, like falling red petals.