Perhaps sensing the strange state of the person behind him, Shu Yao turned around in confusion. He saw Shu Yue's limbs stiff, his hands constantly tugging at his clothes. His face was flushed, and the skin on his exposed neck was as red as if burned.
This appearance was so similar to what he had seen before!
"So hot, so unbearably hot..." Shu Yue tilted his head back painfully. The veins on his neck were about to burst out. His hands with prominent veins were tugging at his clothes, enduring the itching and pain as if he was in a fiery hell.
"Shu Yue, what's wrong with you..." Just as Shu Yao's finger was about to touch his shoulder, it was retracted by a roar:
"Don't touch me!" Shu Yue frowned his sharp eyebrows and lowered his voice, hoarsely enduring, "Stay, stay away from me."
Shu Yue didn't know that ever since he ate that immortal peach, once he had intimate physical contact with Shu Yao, his whole body would feel as if branded by a red - hot iron.
"Shu Yue, tell me where you feel unwell. Otherwise, I can't help you." At this moment, Shu Yue was avoiding him like the plague. Even if he wanted to touch him, he didn't dare.
"No, I don't need you..." Half of his black robe had been torn open, revealing his broad, burning - red chest. Drops of sweat trickled down from his neck.
Suddenly, Shu Yao's eyes froze. He was surprised to see that red glow from before surging in Shu Yue's chest again.
Shu Yao understood at this moment that it must be the power in the immortal peach that was causing trouble in Shu Yue's body.
He wanted to use ice magic to relieve Shu Yue's discomfort, but unfortunately, he hadn't recovered yet and couldn't cast any spells.
Watching Shu Yue tossing and turning, his black hair wet with sweat and sticking to his temples, and his eyebrows knitted tightly, Shu Yao felt a lump in his throat and resented his own helplessness.
"What should I do? What on earth should I do?" he murmured. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he looked up at the empty space above.
"Respected Elder, please help Shu Yue quickly. I really don't know what to do. Elder, please..."
He held a glimmer of hope, hoping that even though the Elder was far away on Hidden Spirit Mountain, they could still be in tune with each other.
"Shu Yue, I will definitely find a way. I will." This was the first time Shu Yao felt so at a loss. He now knew that even demons could be afraid.
Shu Yue's groans became louder and louder. His face was flushed red, and his beautiful pupils were constantly constricting. It seemed as if his eyes were about to pop out.
In despair, a white light flashed. Along with a puff of mist, a white - haired man with an otherworldly aura emerged.
He was dressed in a white robe, his temples were frost - white. Although his hair and beard were gray, his face was as handsome and timeless as that of a young man.
The calmness in his eyes gave people a sense of aloofness, indifference, and inviolability.
Shu Yao's desperate eyes lit up with joy: "Elder!"
"Shu Yao, what do you want from me?" the Elder's voice was deep and calm.
"Elder, I'm really helpless. Please help Shu Yue." Shu Yao immediately knelt on the ground and respectfully touched his head to the ground.
"Get up first. I have something to tell you."
"Elder, please promise me first. Otherwise, I won't get up."
Sensing the stubbornness in Shu Yao's eyes, the Elder sighed, "Shu Yao, do you still remember what I told you about your fate?"
Shu Yao looked up in confusion, staring at the Elder's clear eyebrows and long eyelashes. He softly opened his red lips and asked, "Elder, what do you mean by my fate?"
The Elder stretched out his calloused hands, helped Shu Yao up by his elbows, and then looked at Shu Yue, who was still tossing and turning on the couch.
After a while, he slowly said, "Since the moment you came down to the mortal world, it was already destined. He is your fate, and you are the calamity he can't escape," the Elder still showed no emotion, as calm as ever, "So now he must bear all this by himself. No one can help him."
This calm sentence completely stunned Shu Yao.
He came to the mortal world out of pure curiosity and met Shu Yue here. He adopted him, took care of him, and watched him grow from a cute and innocent child into a tall and handsome man.
However, the father - son relationship of the past gradually developed some strange feelings because of Shu Yue's every move.
He never thought that his fateful encounter with Shu Yue would become his destiny in this life.
He stared down, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, but his picturesque eyes were filled with sadness. He murmured, "I'm a demon. Why couldn't I see that he is my calamity?"
"In this world, one can see through all the joys and sorrows, but can never see through one's own destined calamity."
Hearing this, Shu Yao let out a soft laugh. He originally thought that mortal relationships were just like this, but he never expected that this calamity and this feeling were already destined to hurt himself.
"Even so, I can't just watch Shu Yue suffer like this." Watching Shu Yue in such agony, he felt an indescribable pain in his heart.
"As long as he absorbs this power, he won't suffer like this again in the future. It's just..."
"Just what?"
The Elder frowned slightly, his expression solemn. He said slowly, "Shu Yao, I believe you could tell at first glance that after Shu Yue ate the immortal peach, he was no longer an ordinary mortal."
Shu Yao closed his long, narrow eyes. His eyelashes fluttered like feathers, and his lips, as red as cinnabar, trembled slightly. He deeply hid his loss in his eyes and said, "I know, but I don't want Shu Yue to live in this world as a half - human, half - demon."
He had always kept this secret in his heart, hoping to hide it for as long as possible, but he couldn't stop the unexpected destiny.
"It's predestined. Shu Yue's encounter with you is a calamity he can't escape in this life. I'm also powerless in this matter."
"Elder said that I'm Shu Yue's calamity..." Shu Yao looked up, his eyes already blurred with tears, "If, if I leave him and Shu Yue can escape this calamity, can he go back to the way he was before?"
If he could let Shu Yue return to a normal life, leaving him would be okay, right?
But why, when he thought about leaving this man, a part of his heart seemed to be tightly grasped, causing pain.
"If you leave him, this power may weaken, but whether he can go back to the way he was before, no one can be sure."
"But it's better than the current situation, isn't it?"
"Shu Yao, I want to tell you that even if you can leave him for a while, you can't leave him for a lifetime, because everything is already predestined."
Every word from the Elder was like a knife carving into Shu Yao's heart, becoming an indelible eternity.
The Elder shifted his gaze to Shu Yue. With a wave of his long sleeve, a wisp of white mist enveloped Shu Yue, whose whole body was burning hot, relieving the fiery power in his body.
Shu Yue, who had been tossing and turning in pain, calmed down at this moment. He slowly regained a steady breath but temporarily lost consciousness.
"I've already suppressed the fire in his body. Even if it recurs next time, he won't suffer like this. When he wakes up, he will also forget what happened just now."
"Thank you, Elder."
"Shu Yao, remember what I said. Do as you should." After saying that, the Elder's slender figure turned into a wisp of mist and disappeared in the narrow room.