Chapter 46: What Are Feelings?

Chapter 46: What Are Feelings?

Shen Lian turned his head, and sure enough, it was Yan Huaixuan.

"What do you think you're doing?" The man's voice was no longer as cold as usual, sounding a little hoarse.

Shen Lian smiled slightly. "Husband, I'm healing you."

With that, Shen Lian caught him off guard with a palm strike and shoved him back, forcing that drop of blood from his tongue into the formation.

Yan Huaixuan's gaze shifted to the formation, his eyes going cold.

Just when it looked like it was about to work, Yan Huaixuan made a hand seal and added two extra strokes to the formation.

At the same time, Shen Lian threw the tongue blood in.

The originally golden formation slowly rotated, shifting from white to red, giving off a gentle, auspicious glow.

Chen Xue and the awakened Ling Yun stared at the formation, stunned.

Chen Xue stammered, "Master... it turned into a Dao Companion Contract formation."

Honestly, they didn't even need to say it—Shen Lian could already feel a new link to Yan Huaixuan in his head, a weird one, with an intimacy he couldn't quite put into words.

Shen Lian's face fell. He turned around. "Yan Huaixuan!"

Yan Huaixuan sat up, his expression cold. "If you hadn't tried to kill me first, I wouldn't have changed the formation."

Shen Lian clenched his fists.

Luckily, Chen Xue spoke up: "This isn't a life-binding Dao Companion Contract—that one's a higher-tier contract that can't be undone. This one's the most basic kind. If one of them dies, the other just loses some cultivation, and it can be dissolved. It's just that you can't kill each other right now."

Hearing that, Shen Lian finally let out a sigh of relief. "How do we dissolve it?"

Chen Xue glanced at him. "Both parties have to agree."

Shen Lian: "..."

For a second, he wondered if he was on Earth or in the cultivation world.

Shen Lian stared at Yan Huaixuan. "Dissolve the contract. I'll let you go this time."

Yan Huaixuan looked at him, then his thin lips parted slightly. "No."

Shen Lian laughed instead. "No? Don't you find it disgusting? Weren't you the one who cut the Fate Red Thread yourself back then?"

"Didn't you think someone like me wasn't good enough for you?"

Yan Huaixuan remained silent.

Shen Lian found his attitude infuriating as hell. Yan Huaixuan was the one who cut the red thread, and now he wouldn't dissolve this one—what was that about?

What the hell did Yan Huaixuan want?

Was messing with him that fun?

Before Shen Lian could think more, he heard footsteps in the distance, along with demon voices. Shen Lian turned to leave right away.

After all, this Dao Companion Contract didn't tie them to life and death—at worst, he'd lose some cultivation. He'd just act like this guy didn't exist.

But Yan Huaixuan said calmly: "A Dao Companion Contract lets each party sense where the other is. If you walk away now and the demons catch me, you won't be able to get away either."

Shen Lian was about to lose it. Was this still the noble and upright Dragon Proud Heaven from the book?

He turned around. "When did I ever think you were some paragon of virtue?"

Thinking back, he'd believed Yan Huaixuan was a proper gentleman—even when his cultivation was about to go into qi deviation, he never thought of using Yan Huaixuan.

Now it seemed it was all just an act.

Yan Huaixuan met his gaze, not confirming or denying anything.

Hearing the footsteps getting closer, Shen Lian had no choice but to walk over coldly, pull Yan Huaixuan's arm over his shoulder, and use a Purification Art to wipe away all traces of their presence from the ground, then threw out his last stink bomb.

In the end, he hid with Yan Huaixuan behind a hillside.

Before long, a squad of demons came into view. The moment they got there, they caught a strong stench. "Damn, that reeks. Let's get out of here."

He watched the demons turn around and leave.

Shen Lian let out a sigh of relief.

He wanted to find a cave to rest, but unexpectedly, they ran into seven or eight demon squads along the way.

Shen Lian frowned slightly.

Chen Xue said, "I'll sneak over and listen in."

"Be careful."

Chen Xue quietly burrowed underground.

She came back shortly after. "Seems like there's some kind of secret realm in this forest, so these demons are all here looking for it."

Shen Lian hummed in acknowledgment, but as Chen Xue returned to her position, he suddenly spoke: "Chen Xue, you said the beasts in this forest fear Yan Huaixuan's Spirit Transformation Stage cultivation—so why didn't those demons sense it?"

Chen Xue was taken aback. "Maybe Yan Huaixuan concealed his aura after waking up."

Shen Lian glanced at Yan Huaixuan.

He didn't say anything more. Fortunately, they still managed to find a cave.

During this time, Yan Huaixuan's injuries seemed to worsen considerably, but Shen Lian didn't care about him at all.

After tossing the man into the cave, he turned his gaze outside. In the grass, a beast that looked like a pearl chicken, unaware of the danger, was pacing about.

Shen Lian caught one and roasted it over a fire. He didn't dare make a big flame for fear of attracting demons, and whenever smoke rose, he used a Cleansing Art to mask it.

Before long, the beast meat was cooked. Shen Lian quickly ate his fill, but then saw Yan Huaixuan let out a muffled groan, lowering his head to spit out another mouthful of blood.

Shen Lian simply pretended not to hear. After resting for a while, he prepared to go outside to gather plants.

Along the way, he had already noticed that this demon beast forest was rich in herbs needed for alchemy. That made sense—the demons had no Alchemy Cultivators, so they had no idea what these plants were for.

He collected a round of materials, planning to refine more pills.

Chen Xue also sighed with admiration. "Master, your talent is truly remarkable. If only you had a better cauldron."

Shen Lian was also pondering this—the better the cauldron, the higher the success rate of pill formation and the stronger the effects.

"Once we leave the demon realm, I'll find another way."

Shen Lian was about to continue gathering, but the connection in his mind with Yan Huaixuan kept rippling with unease.

Irritated, Shen Lian whipped his head around and saw that Yan Huaixuan was no longer sitting in meditation, but was now lying on the grass.

Moreover, Yan Huaixuan's face looked terribly wrong.

Shen Lian froze, frowned, but still walked over.

Standing beside Yan Huaixuan, he noticed his pale face now bore an unnatural flush of red.

Shen Lian kicked him, "Are you dead or not?"

But the moment he kicked, his ankle was caught. Shen Lian tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't budge.

He gritted his teeth, knowing he shouldn't have given a damn about Yan Huaixuan.

Shen Lian had no choice but to pry at Yan Huaixuan's grip with his hands, but the next moment, Yan Huaixuan seized his wrist too, and yanked him fully into his arms.

Shen Lian's eyes narrowed. He desperately tried to push Yan Huaixuan away, but was firmly restrained by him.

He was trapped completely in Yan Huaixuan's arms, with no chance of breaking free.

What pissed him off even more was that when Shen Lian tried to use Chen Xue to strike him, it uncontrollably veered off course, and a golden-red mark appeared on both their foreheads.

Chen Xue paused. "It's no use. You two are bound by a Dao Companion Contract."

Shen Lian stared at Yan Huaixuan, whose eyes were tightly shut. "Yan Huaixuan, are you done or not?"

"Let me go."

Yan Huaixuan kept his eyes shut, but pulled him even closer.

He lowered his head, his lips brushing Shen Lian's forehead, then lingering instead of pulling away.

Shen Lian froze. When he snapped out of it, his eyes went red instantly. He raised his hand and smacked Yan Huaixuan across the face.

Yan Huaixuan did crack his eyes open slightly. He looked at the young man in his arms, at Shen Lian's eyes flushed with a humiliated crimson.

Yan Huaixuan asked out of nowhere, "What is affection?"