Cultivation Retirement Plan (BL)

46. Three Lives, Three Worlds

"Shizun!" Nan Wuyue caught his master as soon as Mo Yixuan pitched forward, nearly tumbling down himself in the process. Eventually, he managed to ease the peak lord into a sitting position against the wall so he could examine him.

His master was unconscious and didn't respond to stimuli. Even when Nan Wuyue worked up the nerve to pry his eyes open and pinch him, the peak lord remained stubbornly senseless. He quickly cleared the air around them as best as he could, but there was no improvement.

It's like he's been drugged, Nan Wuyue concluded as he felt Mo Yixuan's hotter than usual forehead. Did Shizun touch or drink something after we separated? Mo Yixuan might not eat, but he was still in the habit of taking tea.

At present the condition wasn't fatal, so their best bet was to wait for the fit to pass since Mo Yixuan's cultivation should be strong enough to fight it off alone. Not one to waste time, Nan Wuyue sat down next to his master and began to search for a weak point in the illusion. Something like this that targeted captives indiscriminately had to have an anchor point. If he could find and destroy it—

Whump.

Nan Wuyue's thoughts were interrupted by a heavy weight falling onto him. Startled, he saw that Mo Yixuan had slid from his position against the wall to rest his head on Nan Wuyue's shoulder. Dark strands of hair glided past his face, framing the long lashes and regal features comically marred by one squished cheek.

Nan Wuyue had never seen his master look so...guileless. The old Mo Yixuan put on hypocritical smiles before a crowd but sneered at him in private. The new Mo Yixuan varied between looking expressionless or deep in thought. One openly disdained, the other kept his distance. Only in sleep did he finally let down his guard.

Of course, by now Nan Wuyue knew his master well enough to guess that Mo Yixuan wouldn't be happy to wake up in this position. He tried to push him upright, but that only ended up making Mo Yixuan slide off his shoulder and onto his chest. Nan Wuyue caught his master's head before he crashed face-first into a kneecap, then stiffly lowered him to rest against his thigh.

Ah. Great.

Now Mo Yixuan was sleeping on his lap.

Ignoring his rapid heartbeats, Nan Wuyue gingerly brushed some stray hairs out of his master's face, his fingers skimming past soft skin like dancing dragonflies before guiltily withdrawing in a rush. His left hand ended up resting on the ground, but his right had nowhere to go and could only hover awkwardly over Mo Yixuan's shoulder.

Nan Wuyue sighed. "Shizun, it's not my fault this time...right?"

Mo Yixuan slept on in blissful ignorance, but his dreams were far less relaxed...

—

"I'm really getting married?" Mo Yixuan stared at Fei Chenling.

"Mm," the sect leader nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Mo Yixuan took a deep breath and looked around. He was sitting in his quarters at Mt. Jingting, but some ungodly influence had switched out all his bedding for bright red sheets and changed the candles to match. Crimson peonies littered the room in all his various vases and bottles, their intoxicating scent all but drowning him in fragrance. Even his sect leader looked more festive than usual, choosing to wear deep green robes sewn with auspicious designs. The colors were reassuring—at least Mo Yixuan knew he wasn't marrying Fei Chenling today.

"Is this for a sect formality?" Mo Yixuan tried. He hadn't read about this in any of Star Pavilion Sect's manuals. Anyways, since when did cultivators marry?!