Due to the ruckus Jing Shui made while arguing loudly with Wu Xiao in the other room, not only did Qinghe end up waking, Wei Xiang also stirred out of sleep.
"Why are they so noisy at this time of the night?" Qinghe complained grumpily.
Wei Xiang chuffed in laughter. "How can you say that when we ourselves make enough noise to wake the dead every time we go at it?"
Huffing, Qinghe hugged Wei Xiang closer and grumbled, "Still, I can't sleep now."
"Then do you want to go outside for a walk?" Wei Xiang offered considerately.
Thinking it over, Qinghe nodded. Ah well, it wasn't like they needed sleep anyway.
And so, the couple stepped out of their room hand-in-hand for a casual stroll. After wandering for a while in the messily maintained garden, Qinghe and Wei Xiang finally settled down together on one of the stone benches scattered around the area.
Sitting on a bench that faced the little pond, Qinghe mournfully watched the reflection of the moon on the surface of the thick, mucky waters. He really missed bathing in the stream that flowed through his backyard back at the sect.
Sensing that Qinghe was feeling homesick, Wei Xiang brushed a hand comfortingly over his little lover's hair. "Do you want to go back?"
After a moment of hesitation, Qinghe resolutely shook his head. "You know that there are still things that I want to do here."
Wei Xiang frowned as he spoke, "I realize why you're doing this, but even so, isn't it a little too extreme?"
Qinghe was still looking at the pond, his gaze deep and unfathomable as he replied, "This is the only way to completely pull the problem out by the roots. I don't want Brother Jing to have to live his life in constant fear."
Sighing, Wei Xiang let it go. This over-the-top sense of loyalty was also a part of his lover, so Wei Xiang would try and accept it wholeheartedly as long as Qinghe didn't hurt himself because of it.
The wind whispered through the untended garden, causing the leaves to rustle and dance while ripples bloomed continuously over the surface of the pond. As the gentle breeze brushed back the hair from his face, Qinghe tilted his head to the side while his eyes went half-mast, seemingly as if he was listening intently to something.
"What's wrong?" Wei Xiang asked worriedly.
His brows creasing, Qinghe spoke in a soft voice, "Xiang, enter the shadow realm for now. Don't come out until I call you."
Wei Xiang hesitated. Qinghe's words made him think that whatever was going to happen would not be good. So how could he leave and let his lover face it by himself?
However, Qinghe continued unwaveringly in an entreating tone, "I ask that you please trust me to look after myself."
Choosing to believe in his beloved, Wei Xiang finally nodded before dissolving into the shadows by Qinghe's feet.
A few minutes later, the sound of a large group approaching the garden was heard. Various sounds, like that of soldier's boots clanging on a stone path, along with the sharp voice of someone speaking in a harsh tone mixed with the jangling of chains, slowly grew nearer.
Not moving from his position on the bench, Qinghe leaned back and relaxed with his eyes closed.
From what he had heard through the wind, these people were here to look for him. Even if Qinghe tried to hide, it wouldn't necessarily stop them from searching for him, so he figured that he might as well stay here and rest.
The approaching group soon made it through a wall of vegetation while following the garden path and came out near the small pond. The group consisted of almost a dozen soldiers, a few servants, a well-dressed noble who looked remarkably similar to Jing Shui, and a young, naked teen who was being dragged by said noble via a chain attached to his collar.
Once the group caught sight of Qinghe, they stopped as one.
Qinghe slowly opened his eyes and stood up. His cold gaze alighting on the newly arrived group, Qinghe barely managed to conceal his fury at the sight of the young man being treated like that.
It wouldn't do to act hastily, Qinghe realized, since any small thoughtless action on his part might cause this despicable noble to harm the young man instead. He would have to patiently wait to get the young man away from that noble first.
Not knowing of Qinghe's thoughts, the noble looked at him with open admiration and astonishment.
"Oh my," Jing Rui let out an exclamation of surprise as he peered inquisitively at Qinghe. "You truly do look exquisite."
Indifferent to the prince's words, Qinghe narrowed his eyes and spoke sternly, "Let go of that boy."
Unexpectedly, Jing Rui released the chain in his hand without complaint as he asked with enthusiasm, "Do you want him? I haven't trained him yet, so I don't mind giving him to you at all."
Qinghe gritted his teeth at that callous way he spoke about another human being. Then forcing himself to calm down, Qinghe looked at the frightened young man and called in a gentle voice, "Please come here, I won't hurt you."
The young man looked between Qinghe and Jing Rui with uncertainty written plainly in his eyes.
He did not know which option would be worse and was afraid that what laid waiting for him at this new man's side would be just as bad, or far worse, than what he had been suffering up till now. Though the beautiful white-robed man seemed much more gentle than his master, the young man knew that appearances could be deceptive.
Sensing his dilemma, Qinghe chose to wait. No matter what, he would help this person. But letting the young man make that first choice would be for the best, since it would reassure the youth that he at least had some measure of control over his life. Qinghe knew that at this stage, it was very important to consider these sorts of things carefully so that the young man's recovery from this ordeal would go smoother.
And if worse came to worse, Qinghe could just use an alternative approach to get the young man out of the clutches of his abusers and to a safe place.
However, Jing Rui clearly didn't have the patience to wait for all that.
He had finally met this person who had ended up exceeding his expectations. Since his older half-brother had warned that he couldn't outright snatch this beautiful person away and had to slowly ensnare him instead, Jing Rui decided that making a good impression would be more beneficial to him in the end. And so, Jing Rui decided that losing one or two toys would mean nothing if he could make this cultivator look favorably towards him, since it would make it easier to capture him later on.
But seeing that the young man was still not going over, Jing Rui scowled as he snarled, "What are you doing just lying there, you useless thing! I'm giving you to him, so go quickly, scram!"
Then lifting his leg, Jing Rui made as if to kick the shivering young man. However, before Qinghe could move to stop Jing Rui, the young man had already scrabbled frantically over to Qinghe's side on his own.
Qinghe's brows tightened, his dislike for this noble growing.
He'd already figured out that this must be the eccentric and vicious Prince Jing Rui that he had heard whispers of through the wind. Though this person looked similar to Jing Shui, no one would mistake Jing Rui's face that bore such a malignant expression for that of Jing Shui's.
Even though Qinghe had heard of Jing Rui's debauched ways, he had never expected that he would have such a disgusting hobby. Qinghe immediately decided to notify the Sentinels and find out if there was anyone else suffering under this prince. If there was, then Qinghe resolved to do his utmost to rescue them.
Unaware of Qinghe's plummeting opinion of him, Jing Rui smiled widely and declared, "Cultivator, you are exactly my type. I want you. You can be the top or bottom while we are in bed, I don't care, but I want you to be mine."
Without a moment of hesitation, Qinghe calmly refused, "I will have to decline. I already have an amazing partner that I love very much. I have no intention of separating from him."
Jing Rui scowled unhappily. So he'd have to get rid of that bastard lover of this person after all. Neither he nor his brother had expected to not even make a dent in their relationship after all the effort they put in last time. But no matter, they'd find other ways.
Still trying to convince Qinghe, Jing Rui continued his persuasion, "Don't be like that. I can give you as much money or as many treasures as you want. I can offer you the finest things in the empire. All you have to do is agree to belong to me."
Qinghe's disdain only grew deeper. Retaining his calm, he spoke evenly, "I have no use for your country's legal tender. I already have everything I could ever want. And if I do wish for something, then I am confident in my ability to obtain it on my own."
Seeing his dignified bearing as he spoke confidently, Jing Rui's need to possess this person only increased. He wanted to see the coldness and composure on that ethereal face splinter, he wanted to see him desperate and struggling. And more than anything, Jing Rui wanted to witness the process of this aloof cultivator being slowly, thoroughly broken, preferably by Jing Rui's own hands.
Unable to contain himself, Jing Rui walked forward towards the cultivator, his hand reaching out to touch that beautiful face.
Qinghe immediately stepped back to evade the touch. Though his aversion to being touched had lessened somewhat, he still found it very unbearable unless the person touching him was someone he trusted.
But not knowing this, Jing Rui was infuriated. "You arrogant cultivator, do you look down on this prince so much that you refuse to even be touched by me?"
Sighing at this overreaction, Qinghe replied in a steady voice, "I simply do not like being touched."
Jing Rui looked at him intently before breaking into a malevolent grin, "If that is the case, then I will just have to keep touching you until you get used to it."
Qinghe felt aggrieved at this willful statement. How selfish was this prince to not consider his opinions at all!
Not waiting for Qinghe's response, Jing Rui reached out his hand again towards that striking face, looking forward to touching that temptingly smooth skin. He wanted to pinch that fair skin until beautiful red bruises bloomed on it, painting it with vivid color and marking this person as his belonging.
But Qinghe was already fed up with Jing Rui.
Very well, since this prince insisted on pursuing this of all matters, he wouldn't be polite either!
Thinking this, Qinghe sent out a mere thread of his spiritual force. A blast of wind immediately tore towards Jing Rui, impacting him strongly and pushing him back.
Jing Rui stumbled, a look of shock on his face. Where had this wind suddenly come from? It couldn't be that cultivator, could it?! But cultivation wasn't real! Or at least, it wasn't supposed to be…
Even as his mind reeled with such speculations, his body was already tumbling backward. Jing Rui felt his heel stepping on something slick and slimy. Before he could brace himself, his feet directly slid from underneath him…
…and Jing Rui unceremoniously fell straight into the muck-filled pool.
The resultant splash rose up to chest height as large waves spread out, disturbing the pool's surface. The sound of crashing waters sounded unnaturally loud in the ensuing silence.
For a second, Qinghe looked utterly dumbfounded.
Till now, he had generally used his spiritual force only against other cultivators, who would at most just slide back a bit when faced with a wind of this magnitude. That was why Qinghe had not expected the prince to be so untrained that he'd not only be directly blown off by this kind of weak wind, but that he'd also subsequently trip and fall off the edge of the pool in such a spectacular way.
This…was baffling.
On the other hand, Jing Rui was in a very awkward situation.
As he ungracefully flailed about in the cold and murky water, a large, round, half-rotten lotus leaf ended up getting stuck to the side of Jing Rui's face. From atop the leaf, a lone frog croaked mournfully, poised in the very image of disapproval. But before Jing Rui could swat away the annoying creature, the frog leapt up in a graceful arc and jumped into the water with a small plop, as if demonstrating to the prince just how one must properly dive into the water.
Qinghe struggled to contain his laughter at this absurdly funny thought.
Then in a more composed tone, he observed, "Your Highness, your balance is truly terrible."
Thinking that Qinghe was making fun of him, Jing Rui's expression darkened. He roared furiously for his people to come help him up, then stood opposite to Qinghe again, albeit a bit further away from the pool's edge this time.
Looking at Qinghe's unruffled figure, Jing Rui spat venomously, "How dare you mock me! Do you think you're high above us mortals? Just wait until I pull you down and cover you with filth. I'll tie you down and defile that pure-looking body of yours, then let in strangers to come and violate you in cruel ways you could never even have imagined existed! I'll ruin and break you thoroughly until you don't have a shred of dignity left!"
Qinghe sensed the spiritual energy in the shadow under him roiling furiously. Sending his own spiritual energy downward, Qinghe attempted to soothe his beloved's rage. Only after he felt Wei Xiang regain some measure of control over his emotions did Qinghe turn his attention back to the prince.
To be honest, Qinghe only felt amused at Jing Rui's outburst. He might have been at least mildly shaken if it were before, but after spending so much time with Wei Xiang and hearing his beloved's steady voice soothing away his doubts and fears whenever they cropped up, Qinghe's psychological scars had slowly begun to heal. He no longer felt afraid of such crude talk.
This prince wanted to break him? How funny. Which part of his body had not been ground to a pulp and crushed into pieces before being regenerated again? Just how many cruelties had he faced till now? None of them had managed to break him, so how could this degenerate prince's baseless threats still faze him?
So with a carefree laugh, Qinghe commented lightly, "How vulgar. Is this the famed comportment of an imperial prince? It surely is something to behold."
Seeing that Qinghe still remained unaffected despite the harsh provocation, Jing Rui was practically seething with rage, unable to even get out words.
Faced with the fuming Jing Rui, Qinghe still remained blithe and unimpressed.
The two people stood opposite to each other with opposing expressions.
One had a disgraceful posture draped with soggy, stained clothes, dripping hair, disheveled appearance, and a reddened face twisted with sullen fury. And along with the filthy words that had previously spewed out of his mouth, Jing Rui seemed as different as could be from the tranquil and dignified countenance of the person standing before him.
In contrast, Qinghe stood straight and tall, his fluttering white robes immaculate and seeming especially bright in the gentle moonlight. His hands were serenely clasped behind his back, his sharp eyes half-lidded as a graceful smile curved his lips. His silken hair waved gently in the wind. He was the very image of a cool, calm, and aloof cultivator, untouched by worldly dust. The remarkable beauty of his features only added to the enchantment, easily able to evoke awe in the hearts of anyone in his presence.
This naturally elegant air was utterly incomparable to Jing Rui's miserable appearance. Watching these two people was like watching the difference between Heaven and earth. It only highlighted how utterly unreachable Qinghe was to someone like Jing Rui.
Suddenly growing furious at this glaring disparity between them, Jing Rui shouted to the guards, "I've had enough of this, capture that cultivator and bring him to me alive! Then tie him to my bed and prepare the disciplining tools! Now move!"
The guards immediately obeyed and quickly surrounded Qinghe.
Qinghe's smile widened in amusement, showing a glimpse of even, white teeth, as his chin tilted up haughtily. With his hands still clasped behind his back, Qinghe decided to first set up an impenetrable wind barrier around him.
Thankfully, he had long since steeped the entire area around their rooms, including this garden, completely in his spiritual awareness. As such, he didn't even need to use his eyes to know how many people were heading towards him or understand each of their positions.
So without even looking, Qinghe accurately extended his control of the wind to the air in the guards' lungs and pulled out their breaths.
The speed of the rushing guards suddenly slowed, but since they were after all experienced imperial guards who had been practicing martial arts for years, they didn't immediately topple over. However, even if they pushed themselves to the limit to reach their target, in the end, they still had to stop because of the wind barrier. None of them could get within even five steps of Qinghe.
A few more minutes later, the guards began clutching at their throats and chests as their steps began to falter. One by one, they started falling down while gasping desperately for breath, their consciousness flickering and fading due to their lungs having been starved of air for too long.
And so, the area near the barrier soon became littered with a dozen fallen bodies.
Taking pity on the unconscious guards, Qinghe finally released his hold over their breaths, and the downed guards immediately began taking in large gulps of air again by instinct while still being out cold.
And thus, the entire contingent of imperial guards was incapacitated without even a single injury or a life lost.
Qinghe really loved this convenient ability of his. As long as his opponents were of a lower realm of cultivation, Qinghe could control the air in their bodies.
The reason for this limitation was because a person's body was usually filled completely with their own spiritual energy, which made their physical body their own exclusive domain. This meant that interfering with the functions of another's body would be extremely difficult if one had a cultivation base lower than their enemy's. But this also meant that as long as one's realm of cultivation was above their opponent's, they could supersede that control and impose upon it their own spiritual energy to try and manipulate it.
As such, it would have been all too easy for Qinghe to simply stop the breaths of these mortal guards forever, since they had absolutely no spiritual energy in their bodies to resist or hinder his control. But keeping in mind the laws enforced by the Sentinels and his own core values, Qinghe chose to stop at rendering them unconscious.
Not knowing this, the Jing Rui who had been dazedly watching this whole fight took one look at the dozen or so unmoving figures splayed on the ground and immediately came to the erroneous conclusion that Qinghe had cold-bloodedly killed the guards.
For the first time, Jing Rui began to feel regret over his hasty actions. It turned out that this cultivator really shouldn't be underestimated! But how could he have guessed that something like cultivation and spiritual powers actually existed?!
With his amused smile still unchanging, Qinghe waved his hand to remove the wind barrier. Walking up to one of the fallen guards, he used the tip of his foot to lightly kick up the sword lying beside the downed figure and caught it in his hand.
Qinghe studied the sword curiously. Though it looked somewhat old, it's quality and the level of its craftsmanship was undeniable. Nonchalantly balancing the tip of the sword's hilt on his finger, Qinghe finally turned to look at Jing Rui.
In an unhurried tone, Qinghe spoke, "I'm assuming that Your Highness has absolutely no martial arts skills whatsoever to speak of, but if you still wish to pursue my capture, then I welcome you to pick up a sword and challenge me."
Jing Rui didn't have to be a genius to figure out that Qinghe was proficient in swordsmanship, it was quite obvious from the familiar way he treated the sword that was at present balanced precariously on his fingertip. Continuing to fight with him at this point would only mean seeking his own death.
Trying not to show his fear on his face, Jing Rui declared with subdued arrogance, "Fine, I will leave for now, but this is by no means over! I am still a prince and you are in my empire. I will definitely be able to find a way to obtain you!"
Qinghe shrugged. "At least do me the courtesy of making your plot entertaining, then."
Jing Rui gnashed his teeth, but forced down the words of fury perched on the tip of his tongue. Whirling around in a huff, he left with his anxious looking servants.
Dropping his smile, Qinghe threw the sword back to the ground. He turned to the side and spoke softly, "The prince is gone, you can come out now. There's no more danger."
Rustling sounded from one of the overgrown bushes and the naked figure of the young man slowly pushed out from between the leaves and branches, the chain still connected to his restraints jangling discordantly with every movement. The second everyone's attentions had shifted away from him, he had immediately hidden himself among the vegetation. He'd hoped he would be forgotten so that he could escape, but it looked like his luck had run out.
After witnessing the standoff with the prince and the way this white-robed man effortlessly handled all the guards, the young man couldn't even begin to guess what type of a person this new master of his might be. If he used those strange powers on him, then the young man feared that he wouldn't be able to resist anything his new master wanted to do to him anyway. He could only hope that this gentle-looking person wouldn't be too cruel to him, or that his cruelty would at least be within his limits to bear
Facing this fearful countenance of the young man, Qinghe gentled his expression. Though the prince had left for now, it seemed that he still had some work left to do in the aftermath.