Chapter 304 Chapter 294. The Face Behind the Facade

The first half of his face was revealed. Smooth, pale, and elegant just as Shu Mingye expected. Refined features, calm expression. If someone saw only that part, they’d think he was just a quiet, handsome immortal. But then the other side was revealed. And everything changed.

Shu Mingye stiffened and instinctively pulled Linyue tighter against him.

Qi Heng’s left face was… ruined. Twisted and dry like old bark, brown-black and cracked like something burned from the inside. His cheekbone jutted unnaturally. His jaw looked splintered. And his left eye was completely black, with glowing red veins crawling around it like cracks in dying earth.

It was not human. It was the face of someone trying to stay human. And losing.

Shu Mingye gently turned Linyue’s head into his chest, covering her eyes. But of course, she didn’t stay there. She turned back. Faced it. Faced him.

Her voice was steady. “How do I become transcendence?”

Shu Mingye sighed loudly. Of course she’d ask that. Of course, even after seeing that terrible truth, after knowing everything… she’d still move forward. That was his Pie. Always diving headfirst into disaster with a plan stitched out of sheer determination and stubbornness. He should’ve known better than to try shielding her from anything. She was already braver than anyone he knew.

Qi Heng didn’t answer her question. He just walked slowly past them.

Shu Mingye instinctively stepped back, keeping Linyue tucked firmly in his arms. But Qi Heng didn’t come close. He went to the crooked, creepy tree and sat down beneath it. He leaned his back against the gnarled trunk like it was a familiar place. He didn’t put his mask back on. The wind was cold and still. The silence deeper than the dark sky above them. And of course, Linyue started wriggling.

“What are you trying to do now?” Shu Mingye asked, not even pretending to be surprised.

“I want to sit there too,” she said softly.

He looked at her. And saw that gentle determination in her eyes. That unshakable will. He exhaled, long and full of silent protest. “You want to sit under the creepy tree. With a half-demon. Who just admitted to shooting lightning at you.”

She was already pulling him forward.

Fluffy was already there. Curled up comfortably in Qi Heng’s lap.

Shu Mingye followed, grumbling under his breath the whole way. He placed himself firmly between Linyue and Qi Heng like a human barrier. If anything weird happened, he could react first.

Now here they were: the cold wasteland, the creepy tree, one half-demon master, one stubbornly affectionate disciple, one fluffy dog snoring peacefully, and one very worried husband in the middle trying to keep everything from exploding. It was quiet again. Not peaceful, never that, but calm in a strange, heavy way.

Linyue leaned toward him. Then she mumbled softly, “We didn’t bring any pies or dumplings or… steamed buns.”

Shu Mingye blinked. “Pie, do you think this is a picnic?”

“Well,” she said, tilting her head toward the crooked tree, “we’re sitting under a tree. Side by side. It’s quiet. Peaceful… in a cursed, gloomy sort of way.”

“Ah yes,” Shu Mingye muttered dryly. “The ideal setting for romance.”

Linyue turned her head, giving him a look.

He leaned closer, voice dropping as if sharing a secret. “Actually, I think it’s the perfect place to do unspeakable things.”

She smacked his shoulder lightly.

“Why’d you hit me?” he said, rubbing the spot with an exaggerated wince.

“Because,” she said, “you can’t go five minutes without being shameless.”

Shu Mingye blinked, all innocence. “Shameless? I only meant unspeakable things like… ancient secrets. Forbidden cultivation methods. Very spiritual. What exactly were you thinking, Pie?”

Linyue narrowed her eyes, suspicious.

He grinned.

Beside them, Qi Heng remained silent, his face half-shadowed, half-twisted, as he leaned against the tree. He didn’t laugh, didn’t smile, but for a moment, his eyes softened as if this small ridiculous moment brought him back to something distant. Something warm and long gone.

Linyue tried to ignore her shameless husband. She really did. But it was impossible. She turned to her master instead, eyes wide and hopeful, soft and sparkling with that dangerous weapon called innocence. “Master…”

Of course, Shu Mingye ruined it immediately. He leaned forward, his voice dripping with mischief. “Right, she said you were shameless too. Also flirty and perverted. That dog shared its memories. She said she can’t look at you the same again.”

Fluffy, who had been dozing peacefully, snapped awake. Its ears shot up. Then it sneezed loudly and gave Shu Mingye a deeply offended look, like it couldn’t believe the scandal it was hearing.

Linyue’s eyes went round in horror. She turned to her husband and pinched his cheek with full force. “What are you saying?!”

Shu Mingye caught her hand and held it there, tilting his head as if he were some pitiful victim. “What? I’m not wrong. I was just trying to ask what secret move he used to make Yun Qi fall so hard for him. Maybe being shameless or perverted is the key.”

“Stop saying nonsense!” Linyue huffed, her face already red.

But he wasn’t done. Not even close.

“I’m trying to learn from the expert, Pie,” he said seriously. “Some hidden romantic technique. A powerful, ancient method… to make you fall even more in love with me.”

Linyue’s ears turned a dangerous shade of crimson. “Secret technique?” she repeated, glaring. “The way you say it sounds very wrong.”

She was about to strangle him gently (with love, of course) when she heard something unexpected.

A chuckle.

Her head snapped toward the sound.

Qi Heng had smiled. Her master. Her usually untouchable, unshakable, eternally composed master. There it was—small, fleeting, but unmistakable. The corners of his lips curved, his eyes softening for a moment as if he had been dragged, unwillingly, into this ridiculousness.

Shu Mingye leaned in close, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “See? He likes it.”

Linyue stared at them both. Her quiet, ancient master who was not supposed to laugh, and her shameless husband who could make a stone statue roll its eyes. Her mouth opened before she could stop it. “Master… are we switched? Is he actually your real disciple? Am I just the replacement?”

Qi Heng answered casually. “He’s right. Yun Qi liked shameless and perverted men too. That’s why she liked me.”

Linyue’s mouth fell open. She stared at him, completely at a loss for words.

Shu Mingye beamed, victorious. “You heard him. Isn’t that your preference too? You just keep denying it.”

Linyue didn’t even know where to begin. Her quiet, stoic, terrifying master who could destroy mountains with a flick of his hand was getting along perfectly with her flirtatious husband. This was not the timeline she thought she was in.

“I get it,” she said flatly. “Two shameless men bonding. How heartwarming.”

Shu Mingye nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right. I’m starting to like him.”

Qi Heng, still perfectly expressionless, replied, “I’m into women.”

Shu Mingye blinked, then frowned. “That’s not what I meant when I said I liked you. I like women too.”

“Sure,” Qi Heng said flatly.

Shu Mingye’s frowned deepened. “Now I’m starting to dislike him again.”

Linyue stared at the two of them. “Am I the third wheel here? Should I just… go with Fluffy and let you two figure this out?”

Shu Mingye grabbed her hand instantly. “Absolutely not. They are the third wheels.”

Qi Heng looked genuinely confused. “Fluffy?”

As if on cue, Fluffy sneezed proudly and flicked its tail like it was the true protagonist of this bizarre love triangle.

Linyue nodded. “Right. That furball’s name. Fluffy.”

Qi Heng stared at the fluffy white creature sprawled lazily in his lap. “You named it Fluffy?”

Linyue nodded again, completely serious. “Isn’t that name perfect for him?”

Fluffy let out a long, dramatic snort like it couldn’t believe it had to live with that name.

Qi Heng tilted his head. “Yun Qi… also called it Fluffy.”

Linyue’s face lit up. She turned smugly toward Shu Mingye. “See? Someone agrees with me.”

Qi Heng added, “It didn’t like the name then either.”

“I know,” Linyue replied cheerfully. “That’s why I named it Fluffy.”

Shu Mingye gave a small laugh and nodded. “Yeah. That’s exactly my Pie’s logic. Irritating creatures into loyalty.”

Qi Heng gave a quiet laugh, rare and fleeting. “That was Yun Qi’s reasoning too.”

At that, Fluffy tilted its head back and let out a long, tragic howl, as if it were the only sane soul left in this cursed wasteland. Its eyes gleamed with the sorrow of ten thousand lifetimes. Its fluffy tail smacked against the ground with the rhythm of despair.

Linyue reached out and patted its head lightly, but the beast only howled louder, as though the weight of all injustice had been placed on its paws.

Shu Mingye glanced around at the unnatural stillness pressing in on them. Not a single monstrous groan or unholy screech to be heard. “There’s really no demons around here,” he said thoughtfully.

Qi Heng corrected him gently. “Tainted.”

“Right, right. Tainted,” Shu Mingye muttered.

Somewhere between tragedy and absurdity, Linyue looked at her master, her husband, and the overly dramatic dog, and thought: maybe this was what healing looked like. Awkward, ridiculous, and a little bit cursed.

The silence stretched. Then Shu Mingye’s voice cut through it, low and steady. “You still haven’t told us. Why did you do it?”

Qi Heng didn’t look at him. His eyes stayed fixed on the barren ground, his voice low and tired. “Because I was desperate.”