After The Death Escape and Ascension, The Male Protagonist of Long Aotian Went Crazy - Chapter 24

No matter how hard she tried, Shi Hua truly couldn’t recall any more memories.

Even the voice she had just heard was vague and indistinct, as though muffled—she couldn’t make out the words clearly.

She herself was bewildered—when had these extra fragments of memory appeared?

“I… I should be remembering something more?”

“Wei Shizhou, your reaction is really strange.”

Realizing that he had let his emotions show too much, Wei Shizhou forced himself to calm down and carefully pressed her for details. Yet Shi Hua truly couldn’t recall anything more. She only shook her head in regret.

Wei Shizhou immediately felt a pang of disappointment.

Shi Hua remembered nothing, Jiang Qingwu was equally unclear—so it seemed that of everything that happened inside the Two Rites Illusory Formation, only his injured world had actually come to pass.

And that made him angry.

Teasing him and then running off—what was that about? She had told him to wait for her, and yet the person herself remembered nothing at all.

Here he was, hung up on her, looking for all the world like he’d just been dumped.

Ashamed and vexed, Wei Shizhou urged her to leave.

“You should go back. No need to stay here with me. If Immortal Lord Qingxuan finds you here, you’ll be punished as well.”

Shi Hua gave him a long look without replying. She pulled out a bottle of pills and handed it to him. “Take these.”

Then she left—but the barrier she had erected remained.

Within the barrier lingered a faint circulation of spiritual energy, wrapping around his frostbitten body. A gentle warmth soothed his cracked, frozen wounds, and in it, he seemed to catch a faint whiff of peach blossom fragrance.

It was faint—barely there.

Wei Shizhou thought, perhaps he really did like Jiang Qingwu a little. But only a little.

On the frozen cliffs, the wind and snow howled.

The blizzard was so fierce that the sun above was almost invisible.

Wei Shizhou leaned against a rock, fighting drowsiness.

For three days he had survived on the pastries and pills Shi Hua left him. Strangely, the barrier she had set up with her Foundation Establishment cultivation still resisted the cliff’s brutal wind and snow after so long.

“Wei Shizhou.”

Qingxuan suddenly appeared. At the sight of Wei Shizhou’s slumped, listless posture, he frowned.

Wei Shizhou opened his eyes and looked up at him.

He neither saluted nor greeted him—just met his gaze directly.

Qingxuan let it pass. “In these three days… what have you thought over?”

He had already sent word to Sect Master Chi Qingxuan about locking Wei Shizhou on the frozen cliffs. The man only sighed helplessly and told him that Wei Shizhou had already hinted before that he didn’t want to cultivate.

Qingxuan couldn’t understand.

A man with heavenly-grade immortal bones—why would he not want to cultivate?

Mortals live only a handful of decades. How many fight for the chance to enter an immortal sect and train? And Wei Shizhou, with talent so great he might even surpass the Jade-Purifying Immortal Lord herself—his path to defying the heavens lay wide open before him. Yet he refused to step onto it.

It made no sense.

Wei Shizhou said nothing, turning his head aside.

Qingxuan pressed further: “The Sect Master said you don’t wish to cultivate?”

Wei Shizhou licked his parched lips. The tea was long gone, and saliva alone could not ease his thirst. His voice rasped: “If Immortal Lord finds me displeasing, then simply abolish my cultivation and throw me off the mountain.”

If that happened—what heaven-defying genius? He would be nothing but mud that couldn’t stick to the wall.

Qingxuan’s frown deepened. That was something he could never do—Wei Shizhou’s talent was far too important.

Whatever Wei Shizhou’s attitude, abolishing his cultivation and expelling him from the sect could never be an option.

Qingxuan rubbed his brow and turned away. “Xi Yan will come to take you back shortly. Tend your injuries first. Everything else will wait until the Sect Master returns.”

Qin Xiyan.

Wei Shizhou remembered—it had been Shi Hua who sent those pastries in Qin Xiyan’s name.

In the story, it was Qin Xiyan who came to visit him, developing feelings with the male lead. But now… things had deviated. And that was fine by him.

Arranged Dao-companions bound by the plot were all victims.

He had already pushed Qin Xiyan toward Xie Wanmian. Whether Xie could win her heart was up to him.

Xie Wanmian had gone so far as to draw out his own spiritual bone and sacrifice his future for her—between the two of them, he was the one most suited for Qin Xiyan.

Wei Shizhou let his tired eyes close.

Day after day, struggling against the plot—it drained both body and soul.

So tired…

Wei Shizhou still stayed in Qingxuan’s immortal residence.

That day, Qin Xiyan and Xie An came together, helping him back to his room. Since it was improper for a woman to remain, Qin Xiyan left medicine and pills with Xie An and instructed him to take care of Wei Shizhou before leaving.

Xie An, knowing her heart was with Xie Wanmian, urged her to go to him without worry.

Since Wei Shizhou was injured, Xie An resolved to play the good brother and look after him. But no sooner had he seen Qin Xiyan off than he was startled by Wei Shizhou’s icy stare.

“I don’t need you to look after me. Go cultivate. Don’t bother with me.”

Xie An refused to listen and was promptly thrown out again.

It happened more than once. Furious, Xie An pounded on the door. If not for the fact that Wei Shizhou was injured, he would’ve dragged him out by force—it wasn’t that he couldn’t win!

The sect tournament was only two years away. Xie An had already reached mid-Foundation Establishment. Qin Xiyan and Xie Wanmian were at late Foundation Establishment, ready to form their cores any day.

Only Wei Shizhou remained stagnant.

Xie An wanted to console him, but it was like casting pearls before swine.

Fine then. He wouldn’t lower himself to bicker with an invalid.

When the footsteps finally faded, Wei Shizhou let go of the last bit of strength he was holding on to. His body collapsed onto the bed.

He lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.

He never touched the pills Qin Xiyan had prepared.

The room was so quiet that even his weak breaths could be heard.

Wei Shizhou slowly blinked.

It felt… just like back then, when he was utterly alone.

Only this time, it was he himself who pushed everyone away.

He raised his arm to cover his eyes, a faint sting welling in his chest.

Let the plot end here. He couldn’t go on anymore.

He just wanted… his mother.

Every day, Shi Hua trained in swordsmanship and heart techniques with the two Xies under Qin Xiyan’s guidance. Half a month passed, and still no sign of Wei Shizhou.

She frowned.

The pills she’d asked Qin Xiyan to deliver—she had refined them herself. Their efficacy was far greater than ordinary pills. So why was it that after half a month, Wei Shizhou hadn’t improved at all?

【Immortal Lord, I’m back!】

The system, absent since that day, finally reappeared.

“What have you been doing this half-month?”

It pulled out a notebook. 【Immortal Lord, I’ve been negotiating with Heaven about the plot’s direction. Heaven has realized that the male lead’s mentality has gone wrong—he’s grown extremely disgusted with cultivation. The specifics are unclear, but this mood came on suddenly.】

【So I bargained with Heaven. If you, Immortal Lord, can persuade the male lead to keep cultivating, it’ll grant you ten percent completion credit.】

So far, Shi Hua’s total progress hadn’t even reached ten percent. If she succeeded this time, she’d reach eighteen percent—a substantial gain.

Shi Hua had no reason to refuse. But… Wei Shizhou, extremely disgusted with cultivation?

What happened? He had seemed fine when they parted that day.

Thinking back, it was after that gang fight down the mountain that his emotions had grown abnormal. Could it be tied to family matters in the mortal world?

“System, can you probe Wei Shizhou’s inner demons at all?”

The system spread its little hands. 【Regretfully, no. The male lead has shut himself off completely. His fortune is tied to Heaven itself. If he closes himself off, even Heaven is powerless. That’s why it’s anxious—afraid its male lead will collapse.】

【I took the chance to squeeze some compensation out of it—for tricking me before! Hmph!】

Shi Hua actually found this invisible little system a bit cute.

Since it could still bicker and joke, Wei Shizhou’s situation probably wasn’t yet critical. Heaven likely only wanted him to stay on the cultivation path first—the inner demon issue could be solved later.

Shi Hua no longer felt indifferent toward Wei Shizhou as she once had. She had noticed his abnormality. Perhaps this so-called male lead of this world also knew more than he let on… and perhaps that too was part of Heaven’s calculations.

A boy’s sincere heart—in a life free of plot’s shackles, maybe he truly could live differently.

“I understand. Thank you, my little system, for standing up for me.”

The system fell silent.

Floating in its own space, it gazed through the light-screen at the girl’s bright smile—so different from the cold, aloof Immortal Lord it had first bound itself to.

How strange. Change the face, and even the temperament had changed.

The system stared hard at her, but could make no sense of it.

During the half month of Wei Shizhou’s absence, Xie An and the others were no less worried.

Xie Wanmian, pushing himself too hard in pursuit of a breakthrough to mid-Foundation Establishment, suffered a qi deviation. Fortunately, Qin Xiyan rushed to his side in time, stabilized him, and helped him advance to late Foundation Establishment.

Watching Qin Xiyan speak so gently to Xie Wanmian afterward, Xie An felt strangely suffocated. It seemed he didn’t belong here at all.

Even Jiang Qingwu hadn’t shown up for training today. Everyone was acting strangely.

After practice, Xie An sought out the outer sect disciples who had accompanied Wei Shizhou down the mountain.

Only then did he learn that Wei Shizhou’s injuries had healed long ago. He often came to carouse with them, neglecting cultivation.

Since they were only outer disciples, their training requirements weren’t strict. When Wei Shizhou came looking for them, they couldn’t refuse—especially when he paid them in heaps of spirit stones.

Xie An’s face darkened. And when he heard them casually mention that Wei Shizhou wanted to give up cultivation altogether, he exploded.

Wei Shizhou, give up cultivation?!

Xie An refused to believe it. When they first joined the sect, Wei Shizhou might not have been enthusiastic, but there had been longing in his eyes.

If Wei Shizhou hadn’t come down today, he must still be up on the peak.

Without a second thought, Xie An stormed over, kicked open his door, and bellowed: “Wei Shizhou, are you seriously saying you don’t want to cultivate?!”

Furious, he snatched the teacup from Wei Shizhou’s hand.

His pale face was flushed red with anger.

Wei Shizhou calmly poured himself another cup, lifted it, and blew lightly across the surface. “Why so hot-tempered? Have some tea and cool down.”

“Drink, drink, drink!”

Xie An was so furious his chest hurt. The person in question didn’t seem to care at all whether he cultivated or not. As an outsider, what right did he have to lecture him?

Xie An sagged over the table like a deflated ball. His voice was muffled: “Wei Shizhou, do you really not want to cultivate anymore?”

He had actually liked cultivating together with everyone.

The trials to enter the sect, slaying the sea dragon in the South Sea—which of those had they not braved together?

He thought such experiences would have changed them all, strengthening their determination to cultivate.

Apparently… it was only him.

Qin Xiyan and Xie Wanmian hardly seemed like people of weak resolve.

Wei Shizhou noticed his dejection. His expression didn’t waver, his tone calm: “Xie An, cultivation isn’t for me.”

Xie An shot upright. “Then tell me—what is for you?!”

Wei Shizhou pressed his lips together without answering.

“See? You can’t even say! Then why give up cultivation?!”

As though he wouldn’t relent until Wei Shizhou gave him a reason.

Wei Shizhou sighed, trying to soothe his agitation. He said lightly: “Xie An, sometimes a decision doesn’t need a reason. I can tell your background isn’t ordinary—at least compared to mine, you must have some noble status.”

That first day they met, though both wore fine clothes, Wei Shizhou’s sharp eyes had instantly recognized the fabric of Xie An’s robe as the kind reserved for the imperial household.

But once one embarked on cultivation, mortal matters were but fleeting clouds.

Xie An blanched at having his identity exposed, his lips trembling as he stammered, falling back onto the floor in shock.

“You—you—you! How did you know?!”

Other than the Sect Master, no one should know who he really was. How had Wei Shizhou figured it out?

But Xie An trusted him—he didn’t think Wei Shizhou would ever use his identity against him.

Wei Shizhou could see what he was thinking. Raised in the royal family, yet so naïve… he had clearly been sheltered very well.

But he kept that thought to himself, showing nothing on his face.

“These things don’t matter. Xie An, just go back. My mind is made up.”

“Made up, my ass!” Xie An swore outright, grabbing him by the collar and glaring. “Wei Shizhou, I don’t care why you want to give up cultivation. We’re brothers. You don’t even ask for my opinion before deciding this on your own? I don’t agree!”

Wei Shizhou’s mouth twitched. Since when did he need Xie An’s agreement?

“Xie An, don’t—”

Bang!

Caught off guard, he took a punch square in the face.