After The Aloof Long Aotian Became Jealous Of Me - Chapter 5

By the time the banquet ended that evening, Bai Yi had already slipped away alone, riding the sunset glow toward the inner sect.

Yes—he had not left with Long Aotian at all.

Who knew whether the furious Long Aotian might simply throw him straight out of the Gongxian Sect and strike his name from the records?

Fortunately, because Rong Zhenlü’s wine cup had shattered, the Master of Baiye Peak had not dared approach him. He had taken his direct disciple and left early.

Bai Yi had also pretended to be drunk and claimed he wanted to sober up, then quickly slipped away without daring to look twice at Long Aotian’s reaction.

His plan was excellent.

As long as he moved fast enough, he was still technically a disciple of Zhaoye Peak with unrestricted access to the inner sect.

Before Long Aotian completely lost patience with him, Bai Yi had to locate that direct disciple and make sure Rong Zhenlü saw the pattern.

This was his final opportunity to redeem himself.

If the plan failed, his easy life of lying around and doing nothing would disappear.

At that moment, Bai Yi moved discreetly through the narrow lanes between the inner sect buildings. He had no attention to spare for the immortal scenery around him. His mind was occupied with recalling this part of the original novel.

Rong Zhenlü rarely exchanged pleasantries with anyone.

There was a reason the Master of Baiye Peak had been willing to risk humiliating himself by approaching someone who would probably treat him coldly.

A large portion of the treasures from the six demon domains destroyed recently had become Rong Zhenlü’s private property.

Among them was a precious Violet Jade Crown.

The Master of Baiye Peak hoped to borrow it for a single day so he could study it.

The original novel had never explained exactly what made the treasure so valuable, because Long Aotian had refused to let him examine it.

Even after secretly obtaining an important clue about his origins from the man’s direct disciple, Rong Zhenlü still rejected the request outright.

Not even Zhong Tong himself received any benefit.

Long Aotian had been utterly coldhearted.

At present, the Master of Baiye Peak had probably sensed that Long Aotian was in a poor mood and sent his direct disciple to the immortal herb garden ahead of time.

He hoped to exchange an Immortal Lingzhi for a chance to study the Violet Jade Crown.

Bai Yi quickly formed a plan.

He traveled with his face hidden beneath part of his robe, map in hand. He turned left and right, carefully avoiding everyone else, and soon reached a magnificent mountain range.

Immortal energy surged through the air, while all manner of spiritual plants covered the mountains, dazzling the eyes.

This should be the immortal herb garden mentioned in the novel.

It belonged to the inner sect.

Presumably, anyone could plant things here freely, but anyone who harvested a spiritual plant had to register it at the front.

The number of spiritual plants required to support the cultivation of countless disciples was naturally enormous.

The visible varieties were numerous and complicated, but Bai Yi still spotted the direct disciple, Zhong Tong, immediately.

He had rolled up his sleeves and was currently gathering herbs.

Just as described in the original novel, Zhong Tong came from a prestigious clan.

His ruby-red immortal robes were embroidered with high-grade black patterns that connected across the entire garment.

Only a small section of the design on his shoulder appeared older and more profound.

Even Bai Yi, who had never seen it before, could tell at a glance that it was unusual.

Good.

He had arrived in time. Zhong Tong had not left yet.

Bai Yi swept his gaze around the area and discovered that Zhong Tong was the only disciple gathering herbs at this hour.

Then he looked down at his reflection in the water.

His face remained flushed from the wine.

At last, a smile appeared on his lips.

Fortunately, he truly was drunk.

And fortunately, his mind was still rational enough to function.

Then Bai Yi closed his eyes and pretended to lose consciousness from the alcohol, slowly collapsing onto the ground not far from Zhong Tong.

Even the location of his fall had been carefully chosen.

The area was filled with valuable spiritual plants, so he had deliberately selected a narrow path and fallen straight onto it.

At that moment, the obedience runes on the cuffs of the Immortal Thread Robe demonstrated their full usefulness.

When Bai Yi fell, not even the edge of his clothing brushed against a single leaf, preventing any unnecessary financial disputes.

Thud.

Bai Yi lay on his side and listened carefully.

Sure enough, the next moment, he heard Zhong Tong hurrying toward him in alarm.

“Junior Brother, what happened? Huh? Aren’t you the junior brother from Zhaoye Peak? Did you collapse because you can’t hold your liquor?”

Bai Yi’s face was flushed from the wine.

He forced his eyes open into narrow slits and slowly nodded.

His black hair spilled across the ground. With his pale skin and red lips, he resembled a beautiful enchantress who had fallen into the herb garden.

The moment Zhong Tong approached, his voice died in his throat.

Bai Yi was in an excellent mood.

Everything was in place.

He had deliberately collapsed in front of Zhong Tong because he hoped to persuade him to take him back to Zhaoye Peak.

The instant they entered the territory of Zhaoye Peak, they would undoubtedly trigger the mountain’s restrictions.

Regardless of whether Long Aotian was currently on the peak, he would sense their presence and clearly see the pattern.

Furthermore, because the pattern would only be discovered because Zhong Tong had escorted an intoxicated Bai Yi home, Long Aotian might feel that Bai Yi had been somewhat useful and become less angry.

This was the most natural method Bai Yi could imagine.

As a drunkard, he could claim that he had wandered into the immortal herb garden in a daze because the spiritual medicines smelled fragrant and he wanted to gather something to sober himself up, only to fall asleep.

That would explain why he had come here.

And because his body was genuinely saturated with alcohol, even Long Aotian would find it difficult to suspect him.

The plan was perfect.

Bai Yi was even prepared to make a sacrifice for the sake of success.

As long as Zhong Tong agreed to accompany him, Bai Yi was willing to spend the only spirit stone he possessed.

After all, if he managed to remain on Zhaoye Peak, he would earn it back in a single day.

Yet the moment Bai Yi opened his mouth, a sweet-tasting pill was flicked directly into it.

He was given no time to react.

The pill instantly dissolved, flowing from the tip of his tongue into his internal organs.

In the blink of an eye, every trace of intoxication vanished.

The flush on his face rapidly faded.

Bai Yi’s beautiful eyes flew wide open.

Zhong Tong’s delighted voice sounded beside him.

“It worked! Wonderful! Junior Brother, how do you feel now?”

Uh.

Bai Yi rubbed his temples and climbed to his feet with a strange expression.

He felt unbelievably refreshed.

He barely managed to pull the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“It worked very well. The alcohol is completely gone. Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Under the gaze of those eyes, Zhong Tong’s face turned bright red.

He waved his hands in panic.

“It’s nothing. We belong to the same sect. This is what I should do.”

“But Junior Brother, you’re fortunate that you collapsed in a quiet herb garden. If you fell like that somewhere else, someone might take advantage of you. You can’t drink so quickly in the future.”

Bai Yi nodded, expressing his gratitude through nearly clenched teeth.

“Thank you so much for the reminder, Senior Brother.”

Zhong Tong was extremely enthusiastic.

His fair face had turned completely red from the happiness of helping a fellow disciple.

He showed no intention whatsoever of charging Bai Yi for the pill.

At that moment, Bai Yi deeply regretted not leaving his remaining spirit stone in the Jia-Ding Quarters.

Otherwise, he could have used repaying the cost of the pill as an excuse to ask Zhong Tong to accompany him there.

Now the situation was terrible.

Bai Yi struggled to offer him the high-grade spirit stone, but Zhong Tong absolutely refused to accept it, repeatedly insisting that it was far too much and Bai Yi did not need to repay him.

Bai Yi could only look toward the Immortal Lingzhi Zhong Tong had just harvested.

He knew Zhong Tong might visit Zhaoye Peak later that afternoon, so he deliberately said, “That pill was valuable, and I’m not accustomed to owing favors. Senior Brother, could you wait for me a moment while I return to Zhaoye Peak and retrieve some smaller spirit stones?”

This was the only option left.

Logically, Bai Yi should not know that Zhong Tong intended to visit Zhaoye Peak.

It would be best if Zhong Tong voluntarily suggested accompanying him.

Although Bai Yi’s contribution would not be particularly impressive, arriving together would at least give him some credit for the effort.

Unfortunately, Zhong Tong was hopelessly stubborn.

His mind was entirely occupied with the matter of the pill, as though he had completely forgotten the Immortal Lingzhi.

His expression turned serious.

“Junior Brother, there’s no need to concern yourself with the pill. H-how about this? Our disciple identity tokens contain contact information. Why don’t we add each other’s Daoist numbers?”

His face grew red again as he spoke.

Bai Yi had only just received his identity token from Long Aotian, so he could not even pretend he did not possess one.

Helplessly, he added Zhong Tong.

Just as Bai Yi was feeling frustrated and worried, a streak of blue light suddenly crossed the sky.

“Immortal Lord Zhenlü has arrived!”

Although the area around the herb garden had been empty moments earlier, waves of astonished exclamations suddenly sounded nearby.

Many people could not resist approaching.

Bai Yi raised his head in surprise and saw a sharp, breathtaking figure in the sky.

The figure paused in midair.

The next instant, he appeared directly before Bai Yi.

The tall body stood against the light, outlined by a brilliant golden halo and filled with untouchable divinity.

Beside Bai Yi, Zhong Tong immediately bowed.

At last, he recovered from the delight of adding Bai Yi’s Daoist number and truly remembered that the other man belonged to Zhaoye Peak.

This time, he did not even dare raise his eyes.

“Greetings, Immortal Lord.”

Bai Yi had never expected Rong Zhenlü to ignore the script and suddenly appear here.

Once he recovered, he also bowed.

However, just as his waist began to bend, an invisible force supported him upright.

A cool voice sounded before him.

“How does your body feel? The energies here are too chaotic, so it took me somewhat longer to find you.”

The mighty Long Aotian spoke softly.

His face looked slightly pale, as though he were explaining why he had arrived late.

…

Bai Yi began to suspect that he had not actually sobered up.

He could not believe that Rong Zhenlü had come specifically to find him.

It could only be said that the man always maintained a dignified appearance in public and knew how to say pleasant things.

Most likely, he had merely been afraid Bai Yi would cause a drunken scene and embarrass Zhaoye Peak.

Bai Yi nodded and looked toward Zhong Tong.

“I’m already sober. It’s all thanks to this senior brother.”

Zhong Tong waved his hands repeatedly in embarrassment.

Rong Zhenlü finally looked in his direction.

Under the daylight, viewed from such close range, the pattern on Zhong Tong’s shoulder fell directly into his line of sight.

It was a calm glance.

But Bai Yi knew that a storm must be raging inside him.

Success!

At the very least, Rong Zhenlü really did seem to have come to the herb garden because of Bai Yi, which was how he had seen Zhong Tong.

Bai Yi suppressed his excitement at finally proving useful.

In this portion of the original novel, Long Aotian had learned something related to his origins for the first time.

His emotions had been complicated.

An unhappy childhood required an entire lifetime to heal.

Long Aotian was only nineteen years old at present.

Few people could understand what it felt like to survive alone from childhood.

What orphan would not want to know why they had no parents?

Furthermore, a jade pendant that could not be removed was hidden inside his body.

How could Long Aotian tolerate having something within him whose purpose he did not understand?

Now that he had finally seen a pattern connected to the pendant, the Long Aotian of the original novel had been unable to restrain himself.

He had spoken briefly with Zhong Tong before ordering one of his underlings to investigate him.

Reality, however, differed from the original story.

At that moment, Rong Zhenlü merely inclined his head and said nothing.

He forcibly suppressed every emotion without revealing anything.

He did not even use concealed spiritual power to summon an underling.

Compared with the original novel, he had become far more guarded.

Bai Yi realized that his butterfly effect had caused Long Aotian to change.

What was different here compared with the original novel?

Wasn’t the only difference Bai Yi himself?

Bai Yi felt helpless.

As expected, Long Aotian was deeply suspicious.

Even after Bai Yi earned merit, Rong Zhenlü still did not treat him as one of his own.

Bai Yi had originally considered asking whether he could participate in the investigation of the pattern and use the opportunity to encounter more treasures.

Now, however, it seemed Long Aotian would never tell him about the investigation into his origins.

Fine.

If Rong Zhenlü did not want him involved, he would stay out of it.

Bai Yi was too lazy to move anyway.

How comfortable would it be to lie around wearing the Immortal Thread Robe and wait for spirit stones to appear?

At that moment, Zhong Tong finally remembered the Immortal Lingzhi.

He hurriedly presented it with both hands, his tone sincere and nervous.

“Immortal Lord, my master is Daoist Baiye. He specifically ordered me to bring this Immortal Lingzhi. May we exchange it for one day of close study of the Violet Jade Crown?”

“A-any day will be acceptable. Whenever the Immortal Lord has time.”

Zhong Tong did not dare raise his head.

Having spoken such a long sentence before Immortal Lord Zhenlü, he appeared nervous enough to faint.

Rong Zhenlü lifted his eyes.

Even his divinity seemed merciless.

“It isn’t enough.”

Zhong Tong’s already pale face became even whiter.

Bai Yi sighed inwardly.

He had known this would be the result.

In the original novel, Long Aotian had never intended to lend the crown.

It was not that the Immortal Lingzhi lacked value.

Daoist Baiye simply did not possess enough influence.

Even though Zhong Tong carried a secret connected to Long Aotian’s origins, another person might have wondered whether Zhong Tong was related to their biological parents, perhaps even a blood relative.

Long Aotian, however, would never make an exception.

His personality was simply that cold and ruthless.

Bai Yi was calmly analyzing the matter when he heard Rong Zhenlü continue.

“But you helped Bai Yi just now. Tell Baiye to come to Zhaoye Peak in ten days and collect the Violet Jade Crown.”

For a long moment after the words fell, Zhong Tong remained too stunned to react.

Then he thanked Rong Zhenlü in wild delight.

He had never imagined that a casual act of assistance would earn such an enormous reward from Immortal Lord Zhenlü.

He was so grateful that he even thanked Bai Yi separately.

Before he could finish speaking, Rong Zhenlü flicked his sleeve and sent him out of the herb garden.

He did not even take the Immortal Lingzhi.

Only Bai Yi remained, staring blankly.

His red lips parted slightly.

He was completely stunned.

Then a soundproof barrier descended around the two of them.

Rong Zhenlü leaned toward Bai Yi.

His black hair fell forward as he explained in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“The pattern on that man’s body closely resembles the jade pendant inside me. It may be connected to my origins. I want to resolve this question.”

“Fortunately, I was able to see him today because of you.”

His voice resembled the clear flow of a spring.

His thin eyelids fluttered uncontrollably, while his gaze appeared both nervous and shy.

Flowers and trees swayed across the mountain, bearing witness to the young Immortal Lord’s hidden thoughts.

“This is my most important secret.”

“You are the first person I wanted to tell.”

…

Bai Yi touched his own face.

He felt certain he must still be drunk.

Yet his skin felt cool beneath his hand.

The Long Aotian standing opposite him, whose aura was cold as ice, had a flushed face instead.

He looked far more intoxicated than Bai Yi.

Naturally, ordinary immortal wine could have no effect on Long Aotian.

But why would Rong Zhenlü show Bai Yi consideration by lending the Violet Jade Crown to Zhong Tong?

Why had he deliberately come here to tell him the secret of the jade pendant?

Something was wrong.

Bai Yi suspiciously studied Long Aotian’s awkward, red-faced appearance.

Gradually, he began to understand.

It appeared he truly had earned merit and become a useful underling.

Even someone as twisted and contradictory as Long Aotian had no choice but to praise him.

Rong Zhenlü had already decided to let him remain.

No matter how unwilling he felt inside—even if he had to suppress it until his face turned red—he was ultimately a rational person.

As long as Bai Yi was useful, Rong Zhenlü would not act recklessly because of personal emotions.

Bai Yi felt secretly delighted.

He smiled and nodded in agreement.

Beneath the sunlight, the curve of his red lips and the tilt of his eyes were irresistibly alluring.

Dressed in snow-white robes, he resembled an innocent fox who had no idea he was seducing anyone.

The young Immortal Lord opposite him found it increasingly difficult to endure.

His pale throat moved, and his face slowly turned completely red.

“May I call you Yiyi from now on?”

Yiyi?

It sounded like “One-One”…

Bai Yi nearly laughed.

What a casual, stereotypical name for an underling.

As expected of Long Aotian.

Just as the Old Tree Spirit’s name was simply Old Tree Spirit, and Steward Crane’s name was simply Immortal Crane, Bai Yi was the first human underling, so calling him “One-One” was entirely logical.

But it did not matter.

As long as he was allowed to stay, Rong Zhenlü could call him Yiyi, Er’er, or even “Two-Two” for all he cared.

“Sure. It sounds nice.”

At least compared with Er’er.

The young man’s cheerful voice made the mind grow dizzy.

Rong Zhenlü straightened again and softly repeated the name.

“Yiyi, is there anything you want?”

Bai Yi fell into thought.

When a superior voluntarily asked what reward you wanted, it was difficult to answer.

Long Aotian probably disliked greedy people.

First, Bai Yi could not ask for anything expensive.

Besides, as someone who had only recently become a cultivator, he should not even know what valuable treasures existed in the cultivation world.

But he could not request something too cheap either.

That would make him appear insincere and hypocritical.

Tsk.

Less than a minute after thanking Bai Yi, Long Aotian had immediately presented him with a difficult test.

The man’s twisted mentality and narrow heart were truly astonishing.

Unable to estimate the proper price, Bai Yi decided not to ask for an object at all.

Instead, he would request something else.

At that moment, many people who had heard that Long Aotian was in the herb garden were hurrying toward them.

An idea occurred to Bai Yi.

He lightly furrowed his brows and looked toward the several flying swords approaching in the distance, appearing somewhat troubled.

“I don’t really like being surrounded and stared at.”

“Immortal Lord, could you prevent them from seeing me?”

Bai Yi planned to make Long Aotian solve this “problem” for him.

Rong Zhenlü already disliked people gathering around and praising Bai Yi because it stirred his jealousy.

This way, Bai Yi could kill two birds with one stone.

He remembered that, in the original novel, Long Aotian had also disliked being watched when he was young.

He often wore a black wolf mask wherever he went.

It would be excellent if Rong Zhenlü gave that mask to him.

The mask had little value to the current Long Aotian, but for Bai Yi, who was only at the Qi Refining stage, it would be an extraordinary treasure.

Rong Zhenlü appeared surprised by the answer and fell into thought.

Beneath his sleeves, Bai Yi rubbed his hands together expectantly.

He lowered his eyes and suppressed the corners of his lips, waiting for a magical mask to appear on his face.

Gradually, the sound of wind reached his ears.

Everything around him rapidly expanded, becoming unbelievably enormous.

Bai Yi’s eyes widened.

Only then did he realize that the surroundings had not grown larger.

He had become smaller.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Yi had shrunk until he was smaller than a thumb.

He floated in midair with a bewildered expression, his now bean-sized face still exquisitely beautiful.

W-what was this?

Was Long Aotian using public authority to settle a personal grudge?

Bai Yi had asked him to stop people from looking at him.

He had not asked to become so small that no one could see him!

Bai Yi stared upward in shock at the enormous figure before him.

Rong Zhenlü’s face had been magnified countless times, making him resemble a colossal god descending into the world.

Yet Bai Yi still could not find a single flaw.

If anything, the enlarged view made his beauty even more overwhelming.

What could someone this handsome possibly be jealous of?

He was actually making things difficult for Bai Yi.

Bai Yi swung his genuinely tiny feet.

Despite his frustration, he felt a little like laughing.

Before he could make a sound, Rong Zhenlü lowered his handsome head.

His face was cold and aloof.

His voice, however, was wicked.

“Yiyi, this way no one will be able to see you on the journey home.”

“Find somewhere on my body to rest.”

“Is that acceptable?”