Chapter 41: What a Joke

The fire consumed the wood, making soft crackling sounds.

Vane’s clothing didn't have many folds and wasn't uncomfortable to lie on. Aside from his sect token and storage bag, he didn't carry much at his waist—no gaudy belts, just a simple pure black cord cinched at the narrowest part of his frame. When Zora lay down, she faced Vane; in her sleep, she shifted her head to a more comfortable spot, so he only had to lower his gaze slightly to see her face bathed in the firelight.

Zora was likely around the same age as him.

...But I don't seem to know her birthday.

Vane thought suddenly.

With his arms behind his head, the youth’s face lacked any overly complex thoughts; he was exceptionally calm. His dark lashes hung low, lending him a touch of pre-sleep lethality and laziness under the fire's reflection.

Cultivators cared about birthdays too, but as their cultivation grew, birthdays tended toward round numbers. A hundredth birthday, two hundredth, three hundredth—only these significant ages were celebrated. If more time passed, cultivators rarely remembered them at all. Because life became so incredibly long, people lost their reverence and appreciation for time.

Vane's birthday was New Year’s Day in the Demon Realm, simply because it was easy to remember.

So when was her birthday?

This question was merely a feather drifting across the sea of his heart, stirring a tiny ripple before vanishing, cast to the back of his mind.

He closed his eyes. The crackling of the wood was like a lullaby. Vane unconsciously adjusted his breathing frequency to match Zora’s, smoothly entering a light sleep. For a time, all five slept peacefully, and the surroundings were silent.

...

Zora was the first to wake.

It wasn't yet light. She didn't move, just opened her eyes and spaced out for a moment.

...Why wake up so early?

She closed her eyes again, wanting to go back to sleep.

But she couldn't. A strange mechanical bird stood on a branch; seeing Zora awake, it flew to her feet and offered a slip of paper from its beak. Zora unfolded it. It was a notice from the Sect Leader of Drunken Man’s Bay: the barrier of the Mizi Secret Realm had been broken. The way out was to head due east to the very end. The final line read: "Disciples need not worry. The cause has been identified, and the realm is safe once more. Please be wary of monsters and exit safely."

Identified?

Zora sat up and looked around, only to find Turi Qi gone. A letter lay where she had been; she had likely gone to explain the situation. The fire had died out, leaving charred wood.

Vane opened his eyes soundlessly the moment Zora sat up. In truth, he had been keenly aware of Turi Qi’s departure in the middle of the night; he had said nothing and continued sleeping. Turi Qi hadn't noticed Vane was awake and had left in a hurry after leaving the letter.

He watched Zora’s profile. She looked at Turi Qi’s spot, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. Then she gave a yawn and lay back down on his abdomen, closing her eyes to sleep again. She never looked at Vane's face and naturally didn't realize he was awake.

Vane watched her silently as she lay on him again. Her breathing soon leveled out; she had clearly fallen back asleep. The youth slightly raised his eyes to the gray sky. The remaining three mechanical birds waited quietly; one seemed to notice Vane was awake, tilting its head and staring with its bead-like eyes, as if judging him.

When it fluttered down, Vane ignored it and closed his eyes. The mechanical bird had no emotions; it landed near his head, hopped around, and seeing that he was indeed "asleep," flew back to the branch to continue waiting.

Vane wasn't trying to play with the bird; he simply didn't want Zora to know he had seen her wake up just now. He didn't want her to know for no particular reason—just a strange sense of bizarreness and awkwardness.

The day broke fully. Yiling Ke and Song Zhihuai also received their notes. Vane opened his nonchalantly, as if he had just woken up with them. After the group read Turi Qi’s letter, Yiling Ke said, "Then we head east."

The further east they went, the more people they encountered. Seeing the crowds, some disciples seized the opportunity to set up stalls along the road, selling magical tools, pills, and talismans. The overwhelmed Elders weren't going to enforce the competition rules now, so why not set up shop?

As Zora walked, she came across a stall. The disciple smiled brightly: "Fellow Daoist, this is excellent! I found it during a death-defying mission. It's absolutely genuine! You can test it with your spiritual power right now!"

Zora’s expression remained unchanged. Vane, standing behind her, was also quiet, his eyes scanning the items. There shouldn't be any fakes.

Seeing Zora unmoved, the disciple continued excitedly: "And if it's your birthday, I can even give you a discount on that day!"

If it were someone clever like Yiling Ke, they would have claimed their birthday was that very day. But Zora thought about it and asked: "If I don't know when my birthday is, what should I do?"

The disciple was stumped. Vane glanced at her unobtrusively and looked away.

...

They were among the last group to exit the Mizi Secret Realm. This round of the Great Competition was effectively scrapped.

In the original book, many things were glossed over—for instance, how Guan Qianyi was capable of opening the barrier when he wasn't exactly a brilliant character. The Immortals and Elders deliberated for hours before finally gathering the disciples to announce that the competition was suspended; everyone was to return to their respective sects.

The crowd below grew rowdy, but the disciples of Drunken Man’s Bay and Zen Meditation Temple left as soon as they heard the news. Turi Qi stood beside Elder Shu Ning on the stage; Shu Ning was back in her "old grandmother" form, talking to her.

Yiling Ke was disappointed, but then realized she probably wouldn't have won a prize anyway... her heart immediately found balance, her resentment vanished, and she felt quite at peace. Song Zhihuai, meanwhile, was silently reviewing the events of this competition.

Fought side-by-side with friends.

Traveled together with friends.

Was worried over by friends.

Slept under the stars with friends.

...

The more he reviewed it, the more he felt the trip was worth it.

The chaos in the original plot should be over now. The Oracle popped its head out to check the situation. It was fine, though it couldn't understand how the "silent and solemn" atmosphere of the original had turned into a noisy marketplace.

Because of Zora's interference and Vane's blockage, Lord Wanghua had broken the barrier earlier than expected. Turi Qi had also realized the truth of the secret realm sooner, reporting it in time for the Immortals to take control and resolve things quickly. The danger in the Mizi Secret Realm had only lasted a short while, and disciples didn't have to run like headless flies; they exited in an orderly fashion.

—The Oracle only knew that some plot points had shifted slightly, but whatever. For a host like this, it only cared about the conquest mission and the world-saving mission!

The Oracle asked excitedly: [Host, how was it! Chaos is a great setting for sparks to fly, right!]

Zora: "It was alright."

The Oracle, having missed their time in the secret realm, said joyfully: [Tell me about your successful move!]

"..."

Zora fell into deep thought for a long time.

The Oracle explained: [You know, those mushy, heart-pounding moments.]

"..."

Zora thought for a long time again. Her mind even wandered for a second, thinking that the bloody hole in Guan Qianyi's corpse was indeed "mushy."

The Oracle waited intently for her answer, ignoring the expression on Yiling Ke’s face that shifted from dejection to wild laughter. It also ignored the fireworks that suddenly popped over Song Zhihuai’s head, blooming and vanishing in an infinite loop. However, since the female lead was special, it took a casual look. The little person over Turi Qi’s head was working on an assembly line, tightening one screw after another...

Fine, Female Lead, I know you're working.

Zora didn't have an answer after a long time. She didn't think conquering a servant required anything bloody or heart-pounding. But she truly didn't know if this trip had made him even a little bit more loyal.

Song Zhihuai and Yiling Ke said they were going back to pack their things, and the two turned to leave happily—though one couldn't see any joy in Song Zhihuai's frosty expression.

The Oracle was about to give up in despair, feeling the Host didn't care about the mission at all. It said dejectedly: [It’s okay, Host, there’s always a next time. I believe in you! Anyway... anyway, he can't run away.]

—Mhm, it was starting to feel that the Host's original decision was brilliant; at least she didn't have to chase the villain around like hosts in other worlds, timing her warmth to the plot points.

It offered some symbolic comfort: [And let me tell you, Host, conquest doesn't necessarily require major events or life-and-death drama. It doesn't have to be grand stuff like him falling into the demonic path and you blocking a sword for him. It doesn't have to be obtained by giving up everything—it doesn't! Otherwise, how do mortals who live ordinary lives manage to stay together happily for a lifetime?]

Though few hosts can pull that off,

the Oracle thought, weeping.

[That means conquest can just be ordinary interaction! Conquest isn't that complicated. Sometimes it's hard—maybe requiring sacrifice, selflessness, giving him everything good, thinking only of him—but sometimes it's simple. You just need to give him a flower! Maybe a successful conquest is just the accumulation of small, simple heartbeats!]

[Go for it, Host Zora!]

Having finished, it suddenly felt that what it said sounded like nonsense, yet was strangely philosophical. It wept as it saved this speech into its memory, then faded away sadly.

It's fine, there are still hundreds of years left.

The Oracle comforted itself before sleeping.

Zora was left to ponder. She couldn't figure it out, so she asked Vane beside her directly: "Do you remember what I asked you in Ning'an County?"

Vane was taken aback, then he remembered. Of course he remembered.

She had asked two things then.

—

"How much longer until you think of me every second, do what I want to do, and proactively do what I want—not just because of the Master-Servant Covenant, but out of true loyalty?"

—

"I want you to be like this even without the covenant, even more loyal, with your heart and eyes full of me."

The youth pursed his lips, his starry eyes fixed on her, framing her. Zora didn't back down, staring back directly. After a moment, it was Vane who first shifted his gaze away awkwardly. He pressed his brows slightly, his face taut, fixing his gaze on a random spot nearby.

The surroundings were noisy; no one heard their conversation.

"Did you become a bit more loyal during this trip to the secret realm?" she asked.

"...I don't know."

Thinking of the Oracle's words, Zora asked in confusion: "Have there been any 'mushy' moments between us?"

Vane: "..."

He didn't know where she had heard that word; he assumed someone else thought so, but she couldn't agree with or understand it. The youth was quiet for a moment, his expression natural as he truly reviewed their experience in the secret realm.

Strangely, he thought there was only that one time she used his abdomen as a pillow, but all the details he had cared about or ignored in between surfaced one by one, clearly imprinted in his mind—as if they had been sitting at the bottom of the sea, only rising to the surface when he went looking for them.

When they fought Guan Qianyi together, they had touched hands three times. She had used his shoulders for leverage to flip over twice. Her River Snow sword had nearly struck him, the blade brushing past his side twice. And when she slept, she slept resting on him.

But after Vane finished thinking, he said: "No."

Zora nodded as if it were only natural. "Thought so."

The two continued to face the Immortals on the stage with their usual expressions; the Elders seemed to still be discussing something. Those certainly weren't "mushy" moments.

Vane scanned the area, taking in the expressions of the Immortals and Elders. Because she merely used him like a possession, how could it be called "sparks"? He knew this with absolute clarity and would never be so delusional as to think otherwise.

At this thought, however, the youth’s knuckles tightened slightly. He pursed his lips, his brow furrowing; he seemed to be warning himself, restraining himself.

But a youth’s heartbeat is too simple, too irrational. It invades like a silent spring rain, and one doesn't even know where it started. Was it a single conversation? A moment of shared concepts? Or was it the time she looked down from a window after killing a bandit before him, like a suddenly appearing little flower, calling him over in a normal tone?

Was it the moment he looked up on the Cloud Stairway to see the fluttering blue hair ribbon he had tied himself? Or was it when he spoke of his parents and treated human life as dross, only for her to draw closer with the joy of finding a kindred spirit? When she generously let him enter the immortal gate and allowed him to cultivate, he had been suspicious, instinctively repulsed by that inexplicable "selfless kindness," to the point of violating the servant's oath for the first time.

Yet those minor cruelties, the unreserved orders, the blunt and undisguised words, and the sudden, pure closeness had instead flowed in as naturally as water, gradually rising. They allowed the youth to relax his guard, completely unaware.

...This wasn't "mushy."

Right now, he said it to himself over and over in his heart, ignoring the slight ache in his chest, repeating it again and again. His fingertips dug into his palm, bringing a sharp pain.

Vane suddenly looked at her, as if pulled by a puppet string, uncontrolled. But the puppet strings were quiet and hadn't activated.

Zora was looking at Shu Ning. Her eyes were transparent, too pure to hold anything else. He couldn't tell if her heart was made of stone; it seemed nothing could touch it.

—But conversely, no one could touch it either. He couldn't, and it was impossible for anyone else.

The youth suddenly relaxed in a strange way. And he still had the Master-Servant Covenant and the puppet strings. This was their only connection, the bond that had tied them tightly together since they met.

As soon as this involuntary, absurd thought arose, he immediately cast it away. Vane’s expression darkened. To have no desire to resist the means used to control him was already ridiculous—was he supposed to be

grateful

now?

What a joke.