章 26: Arc 2.0 The Root of His Obsession

Lavender, the scent danced around his nose and Shen Jiyu blinked and opened his eyes. This was the room where he had rested while his soul descended down to the lower realm. His hair was scattered around him and for a second, he missed the short hairstyle of the lower realm that he had just visited but he shook his head, he felt more at peace in his true body after all.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and opened his hand to reveal a small, round, glowing orb. This was Feng Mian's soul. The moment She,n Jiyu felt the barrier around the realm weakening, he pulled out Feng Mian's soul from Nian Zhen.

He frowned and looked at the small orb that was not part of his job description. After resolving the obsession, he should have returned and left the job to the disciples of the Moon Augur Sect to draw the soul back.

Shen Jiyu signed and placed the orb slowly on the bed.

"Feng Mian, can you hear me? You never imagined that you would fall into my hand like this, did you? I could do so many things to this piece of soul that even if you regain your body, you would never be whole again?"

There was no movement from the orb. Shen Jiyu narrowed his ears, even if it is the smallest piece of the soul of an immortal, there should be some instinctive intelligence and defence. Feng Mian was one of the most powerful immortals in his generation so why-

"Are you ignoring me? Because of what I did to you in that realm. You deserve it, why would you do something like that to a child placed under your care? It is not right." Shen Jiyu cupped his cheeks as he stared at the soul, he did not know why he was here, chatting in quiet tones with Feng Mian,

"I am not going to apologize for my actions. I don't regret it. I am still so mad at you. It is 976 years and I have not yet forgotten. I am not going to forgive you, Marquis Feng."

At his last words, the orb rolled to the edge of his knee and rubbed against it. A memory appeared in his mind of Feng Mian as he smiled gently down at me while he rubbed his head softly. He had always complained but he loved those head pats.

A familiar anger appeared in his mind and he picked the little orb, saying coldly, "Don't touch me. Don't coax me, I am not a child."

As if hearing his words, the orb stopped moving and even its glow dimmed immediately.

There was a silence in the room and the orb and immortal watched each other for a minute before the immortal relented, "I did not say that you shouldn't move. Besides we are not friends so don't act familiar with me."

The orb moved once more within Shen Jiyu's palm tickling him and a smile involuntarily appeared on Shen Jiyu's face.

After a few minutes, he asked the small orb, "What is the root of your obsession? Why did you have a mental demon about such a thing? Is there something you know about someone that you can't say?"

The orb did not respond, just moving around in his palm but Shewn Jiyu was on to something and he could not be bothered with it. 'Something you felt like you could never expose?'

"Wei Mu Chen!" He growled out loud.

At the same time, a noble-sounding voice sounded in his head, "Shen Jiyu, Xiao Shu is already here. Could it be that you are finding it difficult to get into your body? Do you need help?"

Shen Jiyu ignored it and looked down at the orb, wouldn't it be great if Feng Mian was just like this orb, easy to get along with? Shen Jiyu signed and got up from the bed. His expression back to its normal devil-may-care attitude and arrogance. He reached the main hall where Mo Fangyuan, and two of his disciples, Xiao Shu and Wei Mu Chen were waiting.

The moment he entered, four of them stood up and bowed, "Your Grace!" Well mostly of the three of them, there was a confused expression on Xiao Shu's face, most ascended immortals were not familiar with the etiquettes of heaven.

"Your Highness!" Shen Jiyu greeted him before he moved forward to the altar where Feng Mian lay.

"Realm Master! I take it that you succeeded. I knew you could do it, Shen Jiyu."

Shen Jiyu did not respond and only handed the orb to the healer. Mo Fangyuan reached for it before he let out a scream and flew several hundred meters back. His palm had been severely burnt and he closed his eyes murmuring some healing spells.

The culprit just nuzzled the laughing Shen Jiyu and flew into the body that was lying down. Feng Mian twitched a bit before it went completely still. Shen Jiyu observed him more closely, he was still very pale but now there was a little colour on his cheeks.

He stepped away and glanced at Wei Mu Chen who was frowning, "Surely, your piece of foul would have acted the same if it was about to be touched by some stranger.'

"Doctor Mo Fangyuan is the one in charge of his treatment, He does not bear him any ill intent."

Shen Jiyu shrugged, there was even a small, pleased smile on the edge of his lips, "And how is he to know that? Besides, that is hardly beside the point, right now."

Wei Mu Chen swallowed back the 'You have threatened his life several times and yet he still let you touch him' and put on a more serious look, "Did my sister find you?"

Shen Jiyu waved his hand and both of them appeared on top of a mountain in the middle of a sea that exuded steam so thick that it was difficult for someone to see clearly.

Wei Mu Chen felt a little fear in his chest but he pushed it down, "Jiyu, we are not children, this would not work on me."

Shen Jiyu's eyes were cold, making Wei Mu hen recall the first day he had seen the other do his duty as Realm Master of Penglai.

"Was it you? I have thought about it. Who else would make Feng Mian have a mental demon like that? You have saved his life before; he had often felt like he owed you and did everything he said. Mu Chen, what did you do that was so horrible that he had to suffocate it so much that it would turn into an obsession?"

Wei Mu Chen's eyes widened and his expression steeled, "It is none of your business." He said, his voice equally cold.

Shen Jiyu just continued, "I don't understand just what kind of hold you have on him. Just because he is your illegitimate brother does not make him your slave, everything he has, he had worked for with his two hands. You saved his life once; I saved your life twice. You can use your life debt to me to cancel his."

"Shen Jiyu! Both of you are not together. His affairs are not of your damn business!" Wei Mu Chen shouted, his eyes bloodshot. He hated this side of Shen Jiyu, the kind that was like a wild animal and refused to relent when he caught something.

"Feng Amian might have torn his contract but mine, the main blood contract is still intact. By Law and by Dao, he is still my husband-to-be. All his affairs are my business as long as I will it."

"You said that..."

"I lied." Shen Jiyu said quietly, staring the Crown Prince down amidst the boiling sea. "I lied." He repeated. "So what did you do, What kind of sin did you commit you, Was it Infanticide, Regicide, Did you kill your father or your sister, Did you..."

"Shen Jiyu!" Wei Mu Chen, a fresh pain in his chest, "How could you think of me like that? How could you say such a thing?" They had been friends for thousands of years, when did they become so far away even when they were so close?

"Don't change the subject, your Highness. What did you do? Which cross did you give Feng Mian to carry?"

Wei Mu Chen felt so tired all of a sudden and the secret that his family had hidden for so long suddenly slipped out, "It is not me. It is Father."

Shen Jiyu moved closer, small whiskers appearing on his cheeks and his eyes turned silver as he growled, "What did he do?"

"The stories, they are false. Feng Mian's mother never used a seduction spell on Father." His voice choked and he suddenly did not know how to look at Shen Jiyu.

"Father forced her."

Shen Jiyu stared at him. Within his heart, a heavy storm raged and he was so shocked to the point that he could not regain his senses after a while.