Auction

Bai Yujing was utterly dazed, as if his mind had been blown apart. At some point, he had been coaxed into reverting to his original form, and he now hung hazily around Xuan Lie’s wrist, as quiet as a small snake bracelet.

“Senior… Senior!”

“Mm… eh?”

The voice by his ear pulled Bai Yujing’s thoughts back. He snapped to his senses and found himself standing outside a celestial palace—likely the residence Xuan Lie had secured.

Su Jiushao looked at him with concern. “Did Senior have a good time playing?”

“Oh, uh…” Bai Yujing glanced at the hand gripping his own. He subconsciously pressed his legs together and said absently, “Yes, quite good.”

Su Jiushao’s doubts were not dispelled; if anything, she grew more worried.

Ever since they left the gambling den with the Immortal Sovereign, Bai Yujing had been in this state of soul-absent restlessness. He had been so unnervingly docile that when Xuan Lie told him to take human form and tucked that jade snake pendant into his robes, he had obeyed without a word.

He seemed stunned senseless, without a single shred of his usual resistance.

Su Jiushao opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Bai Yujing was led into the sleeping quarters by Xuan Lie. She watched their retreating figures, let out a worried sigh, and returned to her own chambers.

The palace’s bath floated above a river of stars, and its bottom was transparent. Looking down through the water, one could see the entire aerial city in all its extravagant debauchery.

Bai Yujing stood by the pool, barefoot and frowning in deep thought. He had maintained this expression for half a day now, though no one knew exactly what he was brooding over.

Xuan Lie sat down in the spring water and reached a hand out toward him. “Come down.”

“…”

Bai Yujing finally woke from his waking dream. He stared stiffly at the other for a moment before forcing himself to step into the pool.

Under the night sky, light and shadow flickered. Xuan Lie’s calm gaze fell upon him, yet Bai Yujing felt an inexplicable sense of being “exposed.” Shame and embarrassment washed over him; he wished he could find a hole to bury himself in.

How could Xuan Lie dream of such things…

Granted, the man was likely hexed by that fellow Qianji. After all, the Shaman Race had always held a grudge against the Spirit Race over the matter of the Shaman Ancestor, and their Great Shaman, Qianji, had been targeting Xuan Lie for ages.

So, that dream surely wasn’t Xuan Lie’s own intent—but still, it was too much…

And why tell him? Doesn’t he feel any shame talking about desecrating his arch-rival in a dream?

Seeing Bai Yujing sitting far away with his legs tucked, treating him like some kind of predatory beast, a nearly imperceptible smile flashed through Xuan Lie’s eyes. He lowered his voice, speaking with irresistible authority: “Come here.”

“…”

The beauty seemed to pout, but ultimately he lifted his waist and obediently shuffled over.

Xuan Lie wrapped an arm around his waist. As expected, the person in his arms stiffened. Xuan Lie looked down. “What is it?”

…This man has the nerve to ask what’s wrong? Anyone who just heard they were hung up by their tail and rubbed until they cried in their rival’s dream would find it hard to remain composed!

Bai Yujing didn’t dare say that aloud. He merely gave a soft hum, dutifully playing the persona he had designed for himself: “Qingqing was just wondering… did the Sovereign keep me… to be a substitute for that Lord?”

“No.” Xuan Lie brushed a finger through a lock of the snake’s water-soaked hair. “You are far more obedient than him.”

“And far more beautiful.”

Bai Yujing: “…”

Bai Yujing didn’t realize the man was teasing him on purpose. He took the words at face value and nearly smoked with rage.

All the previous fluttering and ambiguity vanished instantly. He wanted nothing more than to hold Xuan Lie’s head under the water.

A man with no taste! A vulgar, lewd bastard!

Seeing this, a hint of amusement sparked in Xuan Lie’s eyes. He asked, feigning ignorance, “What? Not happy?”

Bai Yujing gave a fake smile and manifested his snake tail, coiling it around Xuan Lie’s wrist in a “spoiled” manner. “…How could I be? Qingqing is very happy, of course.”

“I thank the Immortal Lord for his high regard.”

His words were sweet, but his tail was constricted around Xuan Lie’s wrist with enough force to shatter bone.

Xuan Lie was subtly pleased by this childish revenge. After all, for serpents, the act of hunting and the act of courting were one and the same—both involved coiling around and constricting the target. The only difference was whether the tails mated.

Meeting the bright, angry eyes of the person in his arms, Xuan Lie raised a wine cup to the beauty’s lips.

Bai Yujing was busy wrestling with the man’s wrist. Without looking, he leaned in and drained the wine from Xuan Lie’s hand.

So annoying! Why can’t I break this stone’s wrist!

Xuan Lie’s gaze turned inexplicably dark, landing on his chest. Bai Yujing followed his gaze downward and belatedly felt a surge of shame.

After being soaked in the spring, his thin clothes were practically non-existent. Beneath the semi-transparent fabric, the jade snake pendant was pressed firmly against his chest. From an outsider’s perspective… it looked as though he were wearing nothing at all, save for a single jade pendant.

Bai Yujing: “…”

Amidst Bai Yujing’s smoldering face, Xuan Lie reached into the other’s collar and pulled out the jade snake. “How did your pendant end up in that man’s hand earlier?”

“…To answer the Sovereign, that man is Liuming, a sword cultivator under Shen Fenglin.” It took Bai Yujing a long while to find his voice. “During the Nascent Soul Ceremony, Shen Fenglin took several items from me to reward his subordinates. This was among them.”

“…”

Xuan Lie’s movements came to a sudden halt.

So this item wasn’t taken by others after Bai Yujing was caged—he had given it away himself.

An unbidden chill ran down Bai Yujing’s spine, and even the tail coiled around Xuan Lie’s wrist loosened slightly. “…Sovereign?”

“It’s nothing.” Xuan Lie pulled open the other’s collar with a normal expression and tucked the jade snake back against his chest. “Since it is an important item, remember to keep it safe from now on.”

Bai Yujing blinked, looking down at his opened collar and the pendant tucked within. He felt there was something “off” about the gesture, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He soon threw that tiny anomaly to the back of his mind and clung to Xuan Lie’s arm. “Alright. Thank you, Sovereign.”

…Stupid little snake, being sold and still helping the buyer count the money.

Xuan Lie closed his eyes, holding the beauty by the waist.

Two days later, the Tianbao Pavilion opened as promised. Cultivators swarmed the venue, including no small number of those above the Transformation Stage. Clearly, this place was extraordinary.

By some unknown means, Xuan Lie had secured a top-tier “Ziwei Booth.”

Bai Yujing was ushered in like a star surrounded by moons. No sooner had he sat down than a stream of attendants entered, carrying spiritual wine and rare fruits. He scanned the spread, and seeing only vegetarian snacks, he lost interest. He leaned lazily against Xuan Lie, waiting for the auction to begin.

Su Jiushao sat in the secondary seat, but her eyes couldn’t help but stray to the primary seat.

Today, Bai Yujing wore a cloud-satin robe of red with gold embroidery. He wore the red jade bracelet on his right wrist and two plain gold bands on his left. He was so regal and magnificent that he seemed out of this world; there was no longer any trace of the exhaustion or weakness he had when they first met. Even the well-trained attendants couldn’t help but steal glances, their eyes filled with irrepressible awe.

As the auction began, the items presented were rare but not unique. Bai Yujing gave a bored yawn, and Xuan Lie took the opportunity to pop a snack into his mouth.

“…?!”

He widened his eyes, instinctively wanting to spit it out. However, the moment his tongue tasted the sweetness, his face flipped like a page in a book. “Delicious! Thank you, Lang-jun. I want more.”

Su Jiushao: “…”

To avoid unwanted attention while out, Bai Yujing had intentionally changed how he addressed him. But “Lang-jun” (husband/my lord)… no matter how she heard it, it sounded… forget it. Su Jiushao lowered her gaze, pretending she heard nothing.

Another fifteen minutes passed. Bai Yujing had grown tired of the fruit and was starting on the tea when the auctioneer’s voice rang out: “The Ancient Zither ‘Mingquan,’ a Grade-9 artifact! Starting bid: one thousand mid-grade spirit stones!”

Su Jiushao froze, looking at the stage in disbelief. “Senior, isn’t that—”

Bai Yujing sat bolt upright. Before she could finish, a bolt of divine sense exploded in her ear: “Don’t say it!”

“…!”

Su Jiushao stopped mid-sentence, looking somewhat stunned.

The moment the words left his mouth, Bai Yujing realized he had overreacted. He quickly turned to look at Xuan Lie, who was gazing down at him. “What is it?”

—He shouldn’t have recognized it.

Like the other things Bai Yujing had given away, this zither was just a random artifact from his storage ring that he rarely used. Even if he had used it once or twice, Xuan Lie likely wouldn’t have noticed.

As for his precious jade snake pendant, it had been hidden against his chest for the last few hundred years; no one had seen it. Even Song Qingyu didn’t know he had such a treasured pendant, let alone Xuan Lie.

Realizing he was just worrying over nothing, Bai Yujing relaxed. He spoke to Xuan Lie with an air of ease: “This is what I told Lang-jun last night—the things I bestowed upon them. Now that this pack of ungrateful wolves has reached a dead end, they have to sell off their artifacts and pills. Truly, retribution is a dish best served cold.”

Su Jiushao: “…”

…So the reason she wasn’t allowed to speak was because he wanted to say it himself, just to act spoiled toward the Immortal Sovereign?

Does Bai Yujing really like this Xuantian Sovereign that much? What kind of spell did the man cast on him?

Su Jiushao felt something was vaguely wrong, but she couldn’t name it.

As she frowned in thought, a cold voice suddenly rang out in the room: “Ten thousand high-grade spirit stones.”

The moment these words were spoken, the lively bidding outside came to a screeching halt. Everyone in the auction house seemed stunned by this astronomical figure.

The auctioneer was the first to recover. “Are there any higher bids?”

After several calls with no response, the hammer fell. The Mingquan Zither was immediately withdrawn from the stage.

Inside the Ziwei Booth, Su Jiushao stared at the bidder, dumbstruck.

Xuan Lie himself remained calm, picking up a snack to feed the person beside him. Bai Yujing snapped out of his shock, swallowed the fruit, and said urgently, “Lang-jun, I didn’t tell you to bid! Now all those spirit stones go to them—”

He was only halfway through when the Tianbao Pavilion manager, seemingly terrified they would change their minds, brought the zither before them.

Xuan Lie looked at him and said simply, “Take the spirit stones.”

Bai Yujing was stunned. Why should I be the one to pay for something he bid on?

As if hearing his heart, Xuan Lie turned to look at him, his gaze unwavering. “The spirit stones are all with you.”

“…”

His previous guess was instantly confirmed. Xuan Lie had truly placed his entire fortune inside that bracelet and given it to him.

Bai Yujing suddenly felt the bracelet on his wrist grow scorching hot. He turned away without a word, enduring the heat in his face as he took the storage bag from the manager and placed ten thousand high-grade spirit stones inside.

As expected, the next few items were all artifacts and pills Bai Yujing had once gifted away. Xuan Lie bought every single one of them.

Bai Yujing, who naturally loved gold, silver, and precious gems, felt his heart bleed at the sight—as if it were his own money being spent… wait. Since Xuan Lie gave him the stones, it was his money.

“Don’t let it distress you; they will be made to return it,” Xuan Lie said, noticing his pained frown. His eyes were unfathomably deep. “Or do you intend to let them go?”

This snake was prone to doting on “cubs” before he was even mature himself. It wasn’t impossible for him to let these ungrateful wolves off in a moment of soft-heartedness; it was no wonder Xuan Lie was testing him.

“How could I possibly let them off?” Bai Yujing didn’t hear the nuance in the question, biting into a fruit in frustration. “But even if I kill them later, it’s still not worth giving them these spirit stones now!”

Xuan Lie seemed to quirk the corner of his mouth. He smoothed a strand of the beauty’s hair, which had become slightly messy from his irritation, and said calmly:

“You are worth it.”

—Others are irrelevant. You are worth everything the best in this world has to offer.

For some reason, Bai Yujing caught the hidden meaning in his words instantly. He froze in place, the fruit still in his mouth.