Li Chenyuan was a man of his word.
Ah...well, ahem, sometimes.
He indeed hadn't been lying when he had said he was planning on taking Qiu Yunru to Heishi Mountain. That mountain shrouded in black mists, not too far from Heixi Gorge, was the place they stepped out at on the other side of the portal.
It was just as intimidating as Qiu Yunru had read it was: looming above them like a solemn god, it was littered with obsidian expanses, shining here and there an ink-black, and glowing ruby-red in other places. Not a single living tree could be seen on its entire surface; there was only a sparse, creeping scarlet moss. It was rumored that this place had once been a volcano an eon ago. However, disliking its original state, it had exploded, destroying all of the surrounding terrain. From the ashes, it had risen as a mountain of stone and jewels! There was no lava left anywhere within it, but the remains of its past self continued to mark its surface to this day.
Qiu Yunru, limp as a wet noodle, gaped up at this sight. Li Chenyuan seemed completely unbothered, as though he had been here a thousand times. He placed Qiu Yunru gently against the blackened trunk of a dead tree. With a quick motion, he released the acupoints that had immobilized him.
Qiu Yunru lay there for a moment, staring up at the gloomy sky. It seemed a storm was sweeping in.
He couldn't help but feel like that meme of a person lying in a pool of their own tears, his hands crossed over his heart. That was really all he could say he felt at the moment about this situation. Which is to say, all he wanted to do right now was crawl into a hole, lie in fetal position, and not have to think about anything or be bothered by anyone for at least three days!
Li Chenyuan cautiously knelt down, reaching a hand out to feel Qiu Yunru's pulse. "Gege? Did I injure you? I practiced so many times, so I thought..."
There was a light smacking noise.
Qiu Yunru had slapped his hand away without a second thought. Like smacking away a buzzing mosquito, he had swatted away Li Chenyuan's fingers!
Li Chenyuan froze. His face paled, and his phoenix eyes filled with tears. "Gege..."
Qiu Yunru sighed. It seemed he couldn't like down forever. Why did the world always expect so much from him? Sitting up, he brushed black dust from his arms, casting Li Chenyuan a cold look.
"Why did you free my acupoints so quickly?"
"I just wanted to make sure you would come back to the Mortal Realm with me. I really wasn't going to do anything else to you!"
Qiu Yunru's face reddened. "Who said anything about 'anything else'?! What are you thinking about, huh?!"
Li Chenyuan's face reddened now. "I was just--gege, I didn't want to keep you immobilized for any longer than was necessary!"
"Why was it necessary to leave my friend behind?! Because of your jealousy?!"
"I--!" Li Chenyuan's face was white again. It was almost comical how that pretty face went from white to red and white again so quickly. "I...!"
Suddenly, Li Chenyuan doubled over.
"Hey!" Qiu Yunru rushed forward, patting his back and touching his forehead. "What's wrong with you?!"
When Li Chenyuan raised his head, his eyes were pulsing a deep red. His face was making an expression Qiu Yunru had never seen before: half of it was twisted in pain, and the other half was dark with rage. When he spoke, his voice was both strained and furious:
"If he had come back, wouldn't you have just ended up with him? Gege is mine! I should have killed him! Maybe I'll have the chance--"
As though he had been punched in the gut, he doubled over again. This time, a black liquid dribbled from his lips and onto the black dust of Heishi Mountain. His fingers dug into the dust, drawing tracks.
Qiu Yunru's heart pounded in his ears. All around, purple demonic qi had begun to swirl out from Li Chenyuan's body like thick smoke, filling the air and making it difficult to breathe.
That day at Heixi Gorge, when Li Chenyuan had lost his mind, there had been an suffocating amount of demonic qi emanating from even.
Compared to this, that amount seemed like a drop in a river. And this time, there wasn't a Demon Soul Idol to be seen!
"Li Chenyuan!" Qiu Yunru shouted. Even to himself, his voice sounded afraid. "You...Ah, shit!"
What else could he do? He rushed forward, preparing to place a hand on this kid's back and take some of the demonic qi into his own meridians. Even knowing what it had done to him last time, he couldn't think of anything else to do. At this rate, Li Chenyuan was going to go berserk to a point of no return!
However, before his fingers could even brush the violet silk of Li Chenyuan's robes, the demonic qi suddenly vanished.
It was like it had been sucked back into Li Chenyuan's body by a vacuum. One moment, the air was so thick with the stuff that seeing and breathing was painful; the next, it had retracted, leaving not so much as a wisp or trace.
"What the...?" Qiu Yunru knelt down, examining Li Chenyuan in shock. "How did you do that?"
Li Chenyuan, for his part, was clearly still quite out of it. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and that black substance that must have been tainted blood still dripped from his lips and onto his hands in the dirt. He was heaving, his breaths ragged and shallow.
"Master Li has brought a guest. We were all incredibly worried."
That voice that spoke was cool and smooth. It was a voice Qiu Yunru had heard before. A man had appeared at the base of the mountain and was approaching them with his hands behind his back. He wore silken black robes, and his cold, sharp features ones Qiu Yunru had seen twice now.
"Thank you...thank you." Li Chenyuan coughed, wiping at his lips. "It's my fault. I was away for too long."
"Let this one help you, Master Li." That man held out a hand for Li Chenyuan to take. On it, there was a golden bangle. Li Chenyuan took his hand unsteadily, rising to his feet. Qiu Yunru couldn't help but noticed something he hadn't before: there was a thin gold bangle on Li Chenyuan's wrist as well. It was identical to that of the man.
Turning to Qiu Yunru, that man smiled, bowing his head. What a horrible smile to receive; Qiu Yunru shuddered internally. It was like seeing the teeth of a Great White Shark.
"This one's name is Lei Tianxiang. I believe you have met my daughter, Lei Ruolan. You must be Qiu Yunru. We have all heard...so much about you."