Chapter 66: Forever and Ever

Pei Liu’s entire body went rigid.

His feelings at this moment were highly complex, forced to snap out of his joy in an instant.

From his perspective, he could even see Xie Wuyu’s lips pressed against Pei Liu’s neck, the latter unable to help but shiver and let out a muffled groan.

Xie Wuyu continued as if there were no one else around, completely uncaring of being watched.

The semi-deity gripped Pei Liu’s hand tightly, unwilling to let go, but the current situation was completely beyond his comprehension.

He was utterly dumbfounded, unsure of what to do.

They remained in this deadlock for a short while.

The semi-deity’s eyes narrowed. He rested his hand on the corner of Pei Liu’s mouth, wanting to kiss him.

But Pei Liu finally couldn’t hold it in any longer, struggling violently to shake them off.

His face was flushed nearly to the point of bleeding, his eyes wet, and he glared at them, gritting his teeth as he said: “Are you two crazy?!”

A look of guilt appeared in the semi-deity’s eyes, a trace of annoyance flashing through his mind, feeling that he had indeed been temporarily possessed just now.

Xie Wuyu, however, showed no regret, naturally wrapping his arm around Pei Liu’s waist, though he was instantly slapped away.

He said with a smile: “Now that we’ve said our goodbyes, we should head back.”

Pei Liu took a deep breath, trying to act calm, but the crimson blush spreading to his neck was impossible to hide and was seen clearly.

He said to the semi-deity: “Remember what I said.”

The semi-deity nodded: “Mhm.”

“Then… goodbye,” Pei Liu said in a low voice.

The semi-deity’s gaze darkened slightly, his voice deep as he said: “Goodbye.”

This time, Pei Liu was truly leaving.

Together with the silver-haired Xie Wuyu, he vanished before his eyes.

The main room returned to silence.

It was as if Pei Liu had never appeared.

The semi-deity remained as cold as ever, looking as if he didn’t understand human emotions. However, his god-servants would occasionally see—

Beside the desk in the archive room, he would hold a hair ribbon, staring at it in silent daze.

Pei Liu and Xie Wuyu returned to the modern era.

The garments on his body also changed accordingly, reverting back to the clothes he wore when he stepped into the temple.

His waist-length hair shortened, and the hair crown vanished.

Pei Liu couldn’t help but touch his head, feeling somewhat lost. But it was only at this moment that he noticed the trace of red on his wrist.

He didn’t have a habit of wearing bracelets; where did this red string come from?

While Pei Liu was confused, Xie Wuyu’s gaze also landed on his wrist, and his face darkened instantly.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with this?” Pei Liu asked.

“…Tsk.” Xie Wuyu fell silent for two seconds before letting out an displeased sound, retracting his gaze, and saying coldly, “An ordinary red string, only carrying some divine power, which is why it was preserved. He put it on you.”

Pei Liu realized, his hand gently stroking the red string, his eyes gentle and filled with cherish.

Watching this made Xie Wuyu even more displeased.

The person was gone, yet he still set up such a trick to annoy him.

Xie Wuyu reached out, wanting to take the bracelet off, but the semi-deity had tied a double knot, and it carried divine power, so it wasn’t something that could be untied easily.

Thus, Xie Wuyu planned to use his divine power.

Pei Liu noticed this, hurriedly stopping him, shaking his head and saying: “Don’t, this is a gift from you, I want to keep it.”

Xie Wuyu knitted his brows, denying it: “It wasn’t me.”

“It was you,” Pei Liu insisted, even hiding his hand behind his back to prevent Xie Wuyu from touching it, and changed the subject: “Why did I suddenly travel back to the past?”

At the mention of this, the deity statue in the temple finally received a bit of respect.

Xie Wuyu and Pei Liu turned to look over.

However, Xie Wuyu’s attitude wasn’t serious, but rather somewhat cold, treating it as a trivial matter.

He said: “This so-called god is my biological father.”

A thousand years ago, after Father Xie discovered he possessed divine power and could grant wishes, he had unhesitatingly exploited his son to obtain immense wealth, power, and status. But that wasn’t enough.

As he grew older, he grew unwilling to die, actually harboring the idea of stealing Xie Wuyu’s divine power.

His son was a god, so why couldn’t he become a god? If he became a deity, he would live forever, do whatever he wanted, and wouldn’t need to offer worship and make wishes anymore.

His greed continuously expanded, reaching its peak at that moment. He believed he could have his way this time as well. Xie Wuyu was a god, but he was also his biological son; shouldn’t a son listen to his father?

Therefore, he made a wish to his son once again.

Xie Wuyu agreed.

Father Xie was ecstatic.

But he didn’t know that Xie Wuyu’s inner feelings had long been worn away by the daily greedy wishes.

The role of a father held no special significance to him; he was even someone he disliked.

How could he possibly let Father Xie have his way?

So, Xie Wuyu told him that a god needed offerings and the faith of thousands of believers to obtain power.

The first step was to build a temple and sculpt a deity statue identical to him.

Then, place his soul into the statue, letting people kneel and pray to him day after day to slowly accumulate divine power, and finally become a god.

Moving into a deity statue was not something one could do at will, but after trying, he found he could indeed feel fragments of power pouring into his body. His eyes glinting, he agreed.

Since then, he was trapped in the statue, possessing consciousness but unable to move or speak, watching, resembling a person in a vegetative state.

Decades passed, and eras changed.

Father Xie thought he would become a god soon, but a century passed, and he remained inside the statue without any progress, asking Xie Wuyu how much longer it would take.

Xie Wuyu brushed him off coldly and turned on his heel to leave, wandering all over the world.

At first, revenge indeed brought him pleasure, but before long, Xie Wuyu felt bored.

He didn’t care about what became of Father Xie, putting him to the back of his mind and almost forgetting there was such a person.

Until the modern era, when Xie Wuyu met Pei Liu.

Pei Liu had accidentally come to this temple.

Father Xie discovered Xie Wuyu’s unique attitude toward Pei Liu and couldn’t help but feel afraid.

He feared Xie Wuyu would choose to share his power with Pei Liu to prevent his lover from aging and dying.

Then how could he still become a god? Such a long period of time was enough to make Father Xie realize his son didn’t care about him much.

Therefore, Father Xie wanted Pei Liu to see Xie Wuyu’s terrifying side, so he would actively leave Xie Wuyu.

He consumed most of his power to send Pei Liu back to the past, letting him see Xie Wuyu’s dark side—what he looked like as an irrational, frenzied beast.

But unfortunately, things hadn’t gone as he wished.

When Pei Liu traveled back, Xie Wuyu was in his normal state, and because of this, he also learned what Xie Wuyu had experienced in the past, feeling heartache.

After gaining a deeper understanding, it only strengthened his feelings.

At this moment, Xie Wuyu’s cold gaze fell on the deity statue.

Father Xie suddenly felt a powerful sense of crisis, and in his panic, spoke without filtering.

First, he brought up their father-son relationship, hoping to touch Xie Wuyu, and discovering it was useless, actually turned to yell at Pei Liu: “He is an evil spirit, not a normal person at all! If you stay with him, aren’t you afraid he’ll go mad and kill you one day?!”

The moment he finished speaking.

Xie Wuyu smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, and he said coldly: “In three days, you would have become a god.”

Father Xie was in disbelief, ecstatic: “Re… really?”

Xie Wuyu nodded, then continued slowly: “But unfortunately, you won’t live to see that day.”

Father Xie was stunned, not yet understanding what this meant. Xie Wuyu waved his hand, and the entire deity statue shattered and collapsed instantly, completely destroyed.

Giving someone hope, letting them think their dream is about to come true, and then personally shattering it, enjoying the opponent’s expression of breakdown and despair, was a highly satisfying form of revenge.

Xie Wuyu used to think this way, and he still did now, but it wasn’t as pleasing as he had imagined. Because that person no longer mattered to him.

Xie Wuyu took back the portion of divine power he had placed on Father Xie, and then, resting his hand on Pei Liu’s chest, transferred these memories to him.

Not only that, but he also transferred half of his divine power to him.

Xie Wuyu reached out to cup Pei Liu’s face, lowering his head to kiss him deeply.

“Become a god with me, okay?”

Pei Liu felt endless power pour into his body, filling him so much that it felt as if his body were about to be pierced through.

Pei Liu’s face bore a sickly flush, feeling somewhat uncomfortable from the overwhelming power, but his body felt healthier and more abundant than ever before.

For a human to become a god was naturally no easy task.

The body was like a vessel, and an average person simply couldn’t withstand powerful divine power.

But Pei Liu’s situation was very unique; from the very beginning, he could devour Xie Wuyu’s yin energy without any harm.

One could say Pei Liu was already capable of becoming a god, as long as he devoured enough power from vengeful spirits.

And Xie Wuyu had merely accelerated this process.

Pei Liu was like a small boat drifting on the sea. In his grogginess, he finally managed to find a sliver of clarity.

He grabbed Xie Wuyu’s sleeve tightly, wrinkling it, letting out a muffled, strained sound.

The transfer of divine power felt like a second, yet also felt as long as several centuries.

Sensing Pei Liu’s urgency, and having already transferred half of his divine power, Xie Wuyu stopped.

What Pei Liu wanted to say was the very words that had been interrupted earlier—it was very important.

Hearing Father Xie’s provocation earlier, he had been angry and wanted to argue, but Xie Wuyu wasn’t someone who would give a villain time to speak, raising his hand to destroy the statue.

But that didn’t matter. The words Pei Liu wanted to say were meant for Xie Wuyu.

He reached out to wrap his arms around Xie Wuyu’s waist, staring earnestly at him, his eyes curving into crescent shapes filled with bright stars, and smiled: “I didn’t say it before. You probably already know, but I think it’s very necessary to say it formally.”

He reached up to kiss Xie Wuyu’s lips.

“I love you.”

The final word vanished between their lips, sweet as honey.

Xie Wuyu froze slightly, his gaze instantly softening, his eyes filling with hard-to-hide joy and pleasure.

He placed his hand on Pei Liu’s lower back, pressing him tightly against himself, pulling him into his embrace, and lowered his head to return the kiss deeply.

Their lips pressed tightly together, and he bit him uncontrollably.

The force wasn’t heavy, carrying a slight sting, but it brought even more of a tingling sensation.

Xie Wuyu responded in a low voice: “I love you.”

There was no need to restrain and suppress everything like a thousand years ago, hiding it all in his heart.

“Since you’ve said it, I won’t give you a chance to regret it. I can fulfill any of your requests, but you can never leave me. For the long years ahead, you are destined to be bound to me.”

His declaration of deep love was lingering and gentle, but it was followed by a sentence bordering on a threat, exuding a trace of subtle, crazy obsession that startled Pei Liu slightly, yet made him feel somewhat helpless.

“How little confidence do you have in me?”

Xie Wuyu said deeply: “You don’t belong to this world. You will always want to return.”

Pei Liu froze: “…I have a way to go back?”

Almost instantly, he felt the powerful energy surging within his body, realizing the answer. He indeed could do it.

Delight rising in his heart, Pei Liu couldn’t help but laugh, tilting his head slightly, and looked at Xie Wuyu in confusion: “Then we can return together, can’t we? Perfect, I’ll take you to meet my parents, and once we decide to be together, we’ll get a marriage license and have a wedding. We have to consider these things.”

Xie Wuyu’s gaze froze.

These things, he indeed had never considered.

The legal system of human society held almost no restrictions over him. As long as Pei Liu was willing to be with him, that was enough.

But with Pei Liu’s words, he imagined scenes, and a trace of longing arose in his heart.

A sense of ritual was always different.

Pei Liu wanting to take him to meet his parents also showed his regard from another angle, placing him in his heart.

So, the corner of Xie Wuyu’s mouth curled up, and he nodded: “Okay.”

The two intertwined their fingers, and the vibrant red string on Pei Liu’s wrist dangled, exceptionally striking.

And on Xie Wuyu’s hand, he also wore the identical woven bracelet, which had been personally made by his past self a thousand years ago, worn until now. Indeed, just as Pei Liu had said, they met again very quickly.

The two red strings touched, like the red thread of the Matchmaker, binding them tightly together.

An alliance ordained by the god.

For eternity.