"Knock knock."
From outside, a sudden knock on the door broke the silence. Le Yu glanced at the shadow outside. "Come in."
Qin Yueyang pushed open the door, carrying a tray with an alloy wine bottle and a glass of drink on it.
"I was cultivating in the yard, saw you weren't asleep yet, so I brought you a drink." Qin Yueyang set the honey Five-Flower Tea and the wine bottle on the table. Le Yu thanked him, then asked curiously, "You're training at night?"
Cultivating the body and mind usually happened during the day, when the sun was shining bright. Sure, there was lamp and moonlight at night, but the intensity was visibly weaker, so the efficiency was naturally low.
"I haven't been training much these past few days. Warming up a bit before bed tonight makes it easier to get into the groove tomorrow." Qin Yueyang said, "It's not just me. Our third sister hasn't showered yet either. She's still out in the yard practicing her Combat Skills."
"She finally realized men can't be relied on, or maybe I pissed her off so much she wants to punch air to vent." Le Yu laughed, picked up the alloy wine bottle, twisted off the cap, and sniffed, "Red Juice again? I thought we were out."
"...I found another crate on the boat."
"Really?" Le Yu took another sniff; the blood and tomato scent smelled fresh, not as rich and aged as previous times. "Once we finish this batch, don't make more. I don't need it anymore."
"Okay." Qin Yueyang didn't pry.
The exact recipe for making this Red Juice was something Le Yu didn't care to explain. He only pointed out one thing, Qin Leyin could always tell if it was human blood just from the taste, so using other animal blood to quench her craving was pointless.
Sure, even if a Glory human lost a ton of blood, they'd recover it quickly, maybe just shorten their life by a few years, but the taste of mixed blood was terrible. After Qin Leyin grew up, she refused to drink that "cheap stuff," insisting every batch of Red Juice use only a single source.
The only silver lining: Qin Leyin couldn't tell the difference between virgin blood and gambler blood. So her demands ended there, and almost no one in Xuanzhu County knew about her "unique fetish"—a few missing gamblers at the casino was just par for the course.
Le Yu took a sip of honey Five-Flower Tea and clicked his tongue. "Really doesn't hit the spot if it's not chilled... This weather's supposed to last another month. See if you can buy some ice. It's not that I'm picky, but you know how our third sister's temper is. No nightlife, bad attitude—if her brain overheats, I'm afraid she'll start chopping people up."
"Understood."
Le Yu finished the Five-Flower Tea in one gulp, handed the cup back to Qin Yueyang, and as he watched Qin Yueyang leave, a thought struck him. "Oh, right. Tomorrow morning is the weekly sparring. Don't forget."
Qin Yueyang looked back at him. "If you have something to do, we can postpone or cancel the session."
"I can spare half an hour... I don't really have plans tomorrow morning anyway."
Every week, Qin Leyin would take time to check her younger siblings' Combat Technique progress. With her talent and the Nesser's Heart replica, her teaching skills rivaled any academy instructor, able to really point out improvement paths for her siblings.
Don't be misled by Qin Yueyang's Combat Technique level—he only just reached the Integration and Mastery stage, but compared to his Qian Yuliu peers—who were still at the Entering the Hall stage!
Jing Zhengwei, who practiced the Qinri Unified Qi Combat Technique, learned two basic Combat Techniques, but he was still a long way from Integration and Mastery!
If there were such things as "Celestial List," "Earth List," or "Hero List," Qin Yueyang would definitely make the cut!
Aside from Qin Yueyang's hard work and talent, big bro from the Qin Family's guidance was undeniably a huge factor too.
Even though Le Yu planned to cut ties with the Qin siblings, this "weekly session" was still a kind of benefit for them. He'd feel bad taking it away; besides, the opportunity to school some kids fair and square was pretty appealing to a chaos-lover like Le Yu—especially since he had nothing else going on.
"Heh, Qin Leyin."
"I'm living in your house,"
"spending your money,"
"and beating up your siblings,"
"all because you didn't quit the game with me!"
Qin Yueyang left the room quietly. Le Yu looked down at the blank page, turned off the light, and crawled back into bed.
"Seriously, with so many other fish in the sea, do I really need to hang myself from this one tree?"
"With Qin Leyin's red-haired charm, how hard could it be to fall in love again? If I got lucky and found a local rich beauty in Yanjing, I'd never have to worry for the rest of my life; I'd basically be retired."
"Starting something new—wouldn't that be easier than trying to win Qing Lan back? And even if Qing Lan could accept me, wouldn't all the other White Night Walkers who know her assume this is another 'Yin Yin Hidden' infiltration?"
"I really just want her body. Is it worth all this scheming between her, White Night, and me?"
"And honestly, am I really that thirsty? We've basically been glued together every day and night for two months—I'm probably sick of her already, right? Even if not now, for sure sometime down the road?"
"What if I die again? Every death isn't just a skin swap—it's a complete reset of my social circle. Jing Zhengwei's situation is fine; his parents are dead, he isn't close to his brother, and there's no in-law drama. But Qin Leyin has siblings—if Qing Lan joined, she'd suddenly have a bunch of new in-laws."
"It's not like I want to die, but that's not really my call—not just because the times suck, but because 'Substitute at Death' has completely warped my view of life and death."
Le Yu had to admit, he wasn't afraid of death anymore. Jing Zhengwei's final smile had proven that.
"Being afraid to die is humanity's biggest instinct. Like, 'no matter how ugly my life is, I want to keep living'—I've completely lost that. I'm the kind of guy who'd rather die standing than live on my knees."
"The 'Ice Blood Physique' made me even more numb to pain, and honestly, I didn't mind this gift at all."
"Not afraid of pain. Not afraid of death."
"Is that good? Damn right it is."
"Easy to die? Maybe too easy."
Le Yu had adapted to this drifting, account-stealing existence, but could Qing Lan, a normal person, do the same? "Would this bond bring her happiness, or just repeat the cycle of death again and again—in fact, that night in Xuanzhu County, she nearly died already."
"In the end, am I playing the game wrong? Instead of clinging to the progress of my last account and chasing a happily-ever-after, why not just enjoy the main storyline of each run?"
"It's like riding a train. People sit next to me, some get on, some get off. Eventually, everyone leaves, and only I stay on, riding with the train forever."
"Being hung up on one person, one relationship, one memory—does this short-lived mindset even make sense? Or maybe admiring the ever-changing scenery and enjoying conversations with new companions is the right path for the undying?"
Suddenly, Le Yu remembered an old text he had studied: "A man's obsession, that could be shaken off. A woman's, never."
Moonlight passed through the window, dividing the world before Le Yu into two perfectly parallel roads: one heading for the eternal reaches of the stars and sea, where he'd drift through the cracks of history, witnessing destinies of the masses, and step into true freedom.
The other led straight to a hell of eight burning pains, where he'd be caught in the whirlpool of fate, his ties becoming shackles, death just the beginning, the wheels of history grinding him down again and again, until he'd witnessed too many deaths, his will entirely ground away, left living in a prison of his own making.
Maybe, it was time to make the right choice, he thought.
His previous plans were all too rushed, rushed before unlocking the Ice Blood Physique. Now, with that, he "would never feel guilt, regret, heartbreak, or jealousy—that's the only way to pick right."
"Pick something that won't drag everyone down, including myself... After all, everyone else only gets a measly few decades."
"Honestly, it's an easy choice."
"One path is carefree—flirting everywhere, never getting tied down, like a tutorial difficulty run."
"The other path means dragging along attachments, suffering through partings and sorrow—the Asura mode of life."
"If everyone is just an NPC, then my life is just a game."
"If I don't invest emotionally, then I never have to feel bad."
"My choice is obvious."
"At the end of the day, I'm just some lazy dude who doesn't want to work hard."
"At the end of the day."
"At the end of the day."
Le Yu opened his eyes.
He turned on the desk lamp and grabbed his pen.
"I can't lie to myself—maybe this is just a side effect of the Ice Blood Physique..." Le Yu smiled helplessly, and the pen moved across a paper already stained by old ink blots.
"I've thought about it for a long time. I'm honestly afraid to mess up your life, but then again—even if I don't, someone else definitely will. Damn, I might as well be the one to mess you up."
"Born immortal. I'm sorry."