Chu Xinghui helped Xie Liufeng rest for a full day and night. After confirming that Xie Liufeng’s internal injuries had mostly healed, the two of them set off to return.

Fang Yan had already led people back to the sect ahead of them. Currently, all three false gods who had descended had been dealt with by Xie Liufeng. Rarer than usual, Xie Liufeng had some free time without needing to go everywhere for assistance.

So halfway through their journey, he dragged Chu Xinghui along to go shopping.

Although Chu Xinghui did not know why Xie Liufeng suddenly wanted to shop, considering how long they had not seen each other, he decided to indulge his Dao companion and went with him.

Near the East Sea, the best place for shopping was naturally Yongning City.

It was springtime, and the willows in Yongning City swayed gently — it was the most beautiful season.

The two of them had been to Yongning City several times before and were somewhat familiar with the place. Xie Liufeng led Chu Xinghui winding through the streets and quickly entered a ready-made clothes shop.

After half an hour, Xie Liufeng was finally satisfied and brought Chu Xinghui out of the shop.

Chu Xinghui held a pile of clothes and accessories, looking a little puzzled: “Why did you suddenly want to buy these for me?”

Xie Liufeng pinned a jade hairpin onto Chu Xinghui’s hair and took a step back to admire it carefully.

“I thought, does dressing up my Dao companion need a special occasion?”

Chu Xinghui shook his head slightly. The jade hairpin looked a bit fragile to him, he worried it might accidentally fall off and break during a fight.

Though in fact, under the rune array’s enhancement, it was not as fragile as it looked.

Xie Liufeng found it very beautiful, so he took his very handsome Dao companion’s hand and said: “Let’s go. I’ll treat you to some candied hawthorn.”

The hawthorn vendor’s stall was still there, so after buying the candied hawthorn, the two of them slowly continued strolling through the street.

Chu Xinghui felt a little bored and started to unwrap the paper around the candied hawthorn.

Halfway through unwrapping, he suddenly felt a focused and serious gaze.

Xie Liufeng was watching him.

Chu Xinghui’s hand paused gently, and he looked at Xie Liufeng with some confusion.

Xie Liufeng smiled slightly and said: “Nothing. There’s some willow fluff stuck to your hair.”

Chu Xinghui silently stared at him and leaned closer: “Help me take it off.”

Xie Liufeng reached out and gently removed the willow fluff from his hair.

Having finished, he was about to withdraw, but Chu Xinghui stepped forward, reached out, and hugged him.

Xie Liufeng asked: “What’s wrong?”

Chu Xinghui hugged him tighter but said nothing.

Xie Liufeng sighed deeply and also reached out, comforting him by embracing him closely.

He knew that Chu Xinghui must have sensed something.

After a moment, Chu Xinghui grabbed Xie Liufeng’s clothes, lifted his face from the embrace, and muttered in a low voice with a makeshift excuse: “I’m hungry.”

Xie Liufeng asked: “What do you want to eat?”

Chu Xinghui didn’t reply.

Since it was a random excuse, he naturally did not know what he wanted to eat.

Xie Liufeng chuckled softly: “Alright, alright, let’s go check it out first.”

Chu Xinghui nodded.

Xie Liufeng held his hand and led him into the nearest inn.

Just before entering, Chu Xinghui looked at the street and suddenly said: “There are far fewer people.”

This was one of the busiest areas in Yongning City. Normally, the streets were packed with people, but now there were only a few pedestrians.

Xie Liufeng nodded: “The situation is bad right now, people avoid going out.”

The disappearance of fortune was invisible and intangible, and its consequences were silent and unnoticed.

For people like them, who still had enough fortune, normal life hadn’t been affected yet. But for those born with weaker fortune… the current situation was almost life-threatening.

It wasn’t mealtime, so the inn was scarcely occupied.

As soon as they sat down, the waiter handed them the menu.

Chu Xinghui looked through the menu and suddenly recognized something familiar.

“Red bean porridge.” He ordered it to the waiter, then looked at Xie Liufeng and asked: “Do you want some?”

Xie Liufeng nodded.

Chu Xinghui told the waiter: “Two bowls, please.”

Xie Liufeng glanced at the menu and added two more dishes.

The porridge arrived quickly.

Chu Xinghui took a sip but did not taste the flavor he wanted. He put down the spoon and pushed his bowl to Xie Liufeng’s side, then began to pick at the dishes on the table absentmindedly.

Xie Liufeng took the bowl and asked: “Not tasty?”

Chu Xinghui shook his head honestly: “It’s good, but not as good as the porridge you make.”

Xie Liufeng felt a little proud and smug: “If someone begged me, I might just go back and cook for them.”

Chu Xinghui looked at him quietly.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t hold back and laughed: “Alright, alright, even if someone doesn’t want to beg, I’m willing to cook for them — a lifetime.”

Chu Xinghui was reluctantly content but had lost his appetite and just gazed at Xie Liufeng in a daze.

Xie Liufeng showed his excellent virtue of not being picky with food, he drank his own bowl of porridge first, then casually drank Chu Xinghui’s bowl as well.

Chu Xinghui suddenly spoke: “After we return, I will prepare to ascend.”

When he ascended and saw the Heavenly Ladder, he would cut the ladder down… then everything could come to an end.

Xie Liufeng wiped his hands and said casually and naturally: “Wait a moment, let me go first.”

Chu Xinghui was puzzled for a moment and frowned as he looked at him.

Xie Liufeng poked his face and joked with a squinting smile as usual: “I’m older, so please let me go first, be kind and let me ascend first, alright?”

Chu Xinghui finally understood where the vague abnormality he had sensed before came from: “Is this what you were hiding from me before?”

Xie Liufeng immediately clarified: “How could I hide it from you? I already told you everything.”

Chu Xinghui asked him: “So, does this mean these count as farewells now?”

Xie Liufeng shook his head and told him seriously: “It’s not farewell, it’s love. Whether I leave or not, and whenever I leave, when I’m with you, it is love.”

Chu Xinghui barely suppressed his emotions and calmly said: “I have already emerged from seclusion. According to the prophecy, I can directly cut the Heavenly Ladder. You don’t need to ascend to the Upper Realm.”

Xie Liufeng shook his head: “You have also seen the current situation. The matter of the Book of Fate was revealed too late. Now the fortune of this world has reached a very dangerous level. Cutting the ladder can only stop the Upper Realm from stealing this world’s fortune but cannot restore it. As such… no one knows how a world with such low fortune will develop or whether it can even survive.”

“So the only way is that besides cutting the ladder, someone must still ascend to the Upper Realm to try to reclaim the fortune that belongs to this world.”

Although the two normally did not like to talk about great causes like saving the world, at times like these, both made the same choice — even if there was only a slight chance, they were willing to risk themselves to buy safety for this world.

The meaning of Dao companions was that they first shared ideals, recognized each other’s paths and choices, and then formed a bond that would last until death.

This world was good, they had met many good people and experienced many ups and downs… and had met each other.

Xie Liufeng looked at Chu Xinghui tenderly and said: “Besides… I also have selfish motives in this matter. I want to take your spirit sword up first. If I can accumulate enough power for your sword, maybe you won’t have to pay a price for the Heavenly Ladder matter.”

Chu Xinghui asked: “How will you bring the spirit sword back down?”

Xie Liufeng answered: “Since I have this plan, of course I prepared everything. Even people can be sent down from the Exile Land — naturally there are many ways to send a sword down.”

Chu Xinghui nodded: “So you came out two years earlier than me to prepare these things?”

Xie Liufeng chuckled and said seriously: “No choice. I only have one Dao companion. His safety is very important to me. If possible, I hope he can survive this and ascend to the true Upper Realm.”

Chu Xinghui asked: “And then?”

Xie Liufeng looked at him and said: “Hm?”

Chu Xinghui said: “And then… will you come back?”

Xie Liufeng was quiet for a long time.

Both understood in their hearts that this might be a one-way journey.

Xie Liufeng changed the subject and tried to lighten the matter: “Don’t worry too much. Before I ascend, I can still slay gods, and after ascending, I’m not powerless against those people. Besides… I’m going up to solve problems, not just to fight. I don’t need to face those false gods directly.”

Chu Xinghui tried to calm down but could not think clearly: “Can I go with you?”

Xie Liufeng shook his head: “Not this time. You only have one chance to see the Heavenly Ladder. If you come with me now, there will be no place to cut the ladder afterward.”

He had rarely refused any of Chu Xinghui’s requests, never imagined he would one day do so.

But now there was no other choice.

Chu Xinghui was silent for a long time.

Finally, he nodded: “Okay, I understand.”

*

As usual, the two slowly finished the rest of their journey.

Xie Liufeng still tried to drag Chu Xinghui to wander around in various places. Although Chu Xinghui had little interest in wandering about, he was forced to go along every time.

But no matter how slow the trip was, before spring ended, they returned to the Beiyue Sword Sect.

Xie Liufeng looked at the communication talisman lighting up in his hand: “Hmm, the timing is just right.”

He connected it, and Fang Yan’s voice came through: “…Senior Uncle, the site and everything needed for Ascension have been prepared. It will start in about an hour.”

Xie Liufeng responded: “Good, I’ll head there soon.”

Chu Xinghui turned his head silently to look at him.

Xie Liufeng took his hand and arranged the final schedule: “We still have some time. Let’s go home first.”

Chu Xinghui remained silent.

Xie Liufeng squeezed his hand: “You promised me some porridge. I can’t ascend carrying regrets. What if I can’t pass the heart demon?”

Chu Xinghui clenched Xie Liufeng’s hand and finally spoke: “Don’t talk nonsense.”

They returned home, and Xie Liufeng tidied up the long-unused kitchen and cooked a bowl of red bean porridge for Chu Xinghui.

When the porridge was placed on the table, Chu Xinghui quietly began to drink.

Xie Liufeng sat across from him and started mumbling reminders: “I put all the remaining things into the storeroom. You know how to open it.”

Chu Xinghui stirred the porridge in his bowl with his spoon and nodded: “I know.”

The steam rose between the two of them, making everything seem warm and ordinary.

Xie Liufeng continued: “The nest of the black bird was damaged by rain before. Recently, I guessed you should be out and repaired it.”

Chu Xinghui took a sip of porridge: “You even took the bird with you.”

Xie Liufeng chuckled: “Even if I take it away, it will come back eventually.”

He poked Chu Xinghui’s arm, then added: “Also, I wrote down the recipe for fish soup and put it in the kitchen.”

Chu Xinghui replied: “…No need for the recipe, I can make it.”

Having seen Xie Liufeng make fish soup so many times, even just watching, he had learned how to cook it.

But his liking of fish soup never came just from the soup itself.

…

Xie Liufeng went over all the trivial things he could think of, and then the two finally fell silent.

Chu Xinghui waited for him to speak about the most important matter.

Xie Liufeng was silent for a long time, then finally reached out and rubbed Chu Xinghui’s head. In a gentle voice, he asked: “Also… if I don’t come back this time, can you promise not to search for me?”

If he went without Chu Xinghui, then he simply went, as long as he had a clear conscience, it would no longer matter whether he lived or died.

When he had no ties before, it didn’t matter, but now, he would be afraid that his Dao companion would do something foolish because of him.

Chu Xinghui finished his porridge, put down his spoon, and solemnly called out the name across from him: “Xie Liufeng.”

Xie Liufeng met his gaze.

“Just as you agreed to let me take the risk, I will support your decision too,” Chu Xinghui said carefully, word by word: “Regardless of whether I survive after cutting the Heavenly Ladder… if you don’t come back but I survive, I will come looking for you. Whether you live or die, I will come find you.”

 

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