Summoning the Gods

[Overprotective shou × doting-on-his-disciple gong] ★ Both are devoted to each other, and they save each other

Everyone said that the madman Xie Chenyi came from a tiny mountain village, rose from humble beginnings, and did nothing that wasn't contrary to the laws of heaven.

He went completely mad, turned the mortal world upside down, then rose to the top over mountains of corpses and seas of blood, forging a revolutionary godhood and pointing his sword at the White Jade Capital.

Countless people questioned him: “What gives him the right?”

Because when he was eleven, he saw with his own eyes what a hopeful world could look like.

Begonias in bloom, someone serving food, someone chattering away. Lights shining bright, hope enduring.

Later, the begonias withered and the wine jars ran dry. All that remained of his world was foul soil and walls of corpses, along with endless darkness and despair.

Because he remembered that someone in this world had once tried to give everyone hope.

That person was condemned as a plague god and nailed to death in the Sannan blood pool.

“If the world can't tolerate even a little hope, then what's wrong with becoming a mad rebel?”

Because he had walked this path to its end, reforging hope through unwavering conviction and a revolution built on blood.

Because he was the last believer in hope, and the God of Hope was his departed teacher, the person he loved all his life.

Because his teacher had said: “Never give up hope, no matter what.”

Lu Guandeng, the God of Hope, took in a child as his personal disciple. The kind who shares his bedchamber.

His little disciple liked playing with his long hair. Thinking the child was still young, he began wearing it half-up, half-down every day, leaving most of it draped over his shoulder for the child to play with.

His little disciple liked watching him from the shadows, collecting the moonstones from his courtyard in a glass bottle and putting it by the bed to sleep beside, following him around like a little tail, and tinkering with little things to leave by his pillow, then insisting he had no idea where they came from when asked.

He would simply lower his head with a secret smile. “Next time you watch your teacher, you can come a little closer.”

Or quietly move the moonstones to the windowsill, so nightmares wouldn't disturb him.

Or tap his little disciple on the forehead and say, “Stop following me, all right?”

Or tease him softly: “Come here. Your teacher will trim away your worries.”

Xie Chenyi fell deeper and deeper into Lu Guandeng's tenderness, but Lu Guandeng thought it was just childish affection. He indulged and spoiled him, never scolding him.

Until, at last, he had spoiled him into a madman who dared to openly defy the whole world for his sake, fiercely protective and vengeful to the bitter end.

The madman was perfectly obedient in front of him, nothing like the murderous demon described by the outside world. He didn't even dare tell him that he had fallen in love with him.

Xie Chenyi carefully and painstakingly hid his secret love, afraid Lu Guandeng would notice. Little did he know Lu Guandeng had seen it all along and deliberately let him indulge in it.

While he was still dazed, his own master had lured him into bed. Even after being thoroughly ravished, he still couldn't believe Lu Guandeng loved him.

Lu Guandeng: This child is wonderful in every way, except he's too obedient.

The gods who'd been beaten to a pulp: ???

The mortal ruler whose head had been sliced off with a sword: ???

The powerful families whose homes had been seized and clans wiped out: ???

★ Reader advisories:

☆ The romance is a slow burn, so please be patient.

☆ The world is dark and oppressive, and the beginning is necessarily a little bleak.

☆ There is a lot about revolution and conviction, so it is less focused on entertainment. The revolution runs throughout the story, and Xie Chenyi's growth and romance are bound up in it.

☆ The shou is an orphan in both his lives, and the gong was born of heaven and earth, so there is no familial bond between them. Readers who enjoy family stories should proceed with caution.

☆ Because the shou has an INFP personality, there are many detailed inner monologues, and the pacing may be slow in some parts.

☆ Apologies for everything!

(Next book: His Shizun Finally Fell into Demonic Cultivation)

[Disciple who brought it on himself × Shizun who became a demon for love] [Older shizun gong, love and hate intertwined]

Su Muling, the senior disciple of the Shangqing Immortal Palace and the palace master's only personal disciple, has a secret no one knows: he is an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, hiding by the palace master Chen Yu'an's side to tempt him into demonic cultivation and thereby avert the ultimate calamity.

With peerless looks and attentive care, he seduces his aloof, cold-hearted shizun, who had long since sealed his heart against love, down from his divine pedestal and makes him infatuated. Then he turns around and flirts with his newly accepted junior sister, leaving his shizun to suffer for him day and night, his Dao heart on the verge of collapse, wishing he could lock Su Muling in his arms and never let him out to flirt with anyone else!

Su Muling knows the time has come. Chen Yu'an is hopelessly in love with him, so he fakes his death and slips away, finally breaking the heart of the aloof immortal and causing him to take one wrong step and fall into demonic cultivation.

The immeasurable immortal tribulation is finally underway. Once the world is on the brink of destruction, Su Muling can descend as this world's Heavenly Dao to save the people and the world, and rise to an even higher level!

But... why isn't the story going according to plan?

Chen Yu'an grew up alone and miserable. As a young man, he was betrayed by a friend. After entering the immortal sect, he was treated with nothing but contempt. He saw through the mortal world and devoted himself entirely to cultivating the Dao.

He thought he would never feel the slightest affection for anyone again, until he brought home a little disciple.

The little disciple respected his master and defended him like a mother hen protecting her chick. Every time the little disciple stood up for him, every time he showed him a little more favoritism, Chen Yu'an's heart melted a little further.

A hundred years passed in each other's company. His disciple grew up, becoming more and more beautiful, like a celestial being. Then Chen Yu'an abruptly realized he had developed an improper desire: he wanted to lock Su Muling away and make love to him every night. He wanted to hear his disciple writhe beneath him, moaning without end.

He wanted that fluffy head to rest only on his lap, and that gentle face to smile only at him from then on.

Then, one day, his fantasy came true, and his mad obsession grew from that moment on.

Chen Yu'an had never imagined that Su Muling would dare to leave his bed and turn around to flirt with someone else, and a woman at that! It was as if he were the only one who had gone mad from beginning to end, while Su Muling was a perfectly normal person!

So disobedient. Chen Yu'an steeled his heart, spent three days in seclusion crafting a soul-binding chain specifically for his beloved disciple, and prepared to lock Su Muling away at once!

But when he emerged from seclusion, he learned that Su Muling had died for that woman, confessing before his death that he had loved only her all his life and had no regrets, even in death.

Chen Yu'an went mad, completely mad. His Dao heart shattered, he fell into demonic cultivation, and all he could think about was bringing his beloved disciple back to life, then locking this rebellious disciple up and punishing him relentlessly day and night!

Su Muling, the cold and unfeeling Heavenly Dao, toyed with all living beings as if they were in the palm of his hand. He thought his plan was flawless, but never expected to be the one who fell.

Chen Yu'an fell into demonic cultivation but didn't harm the world. He devoted himself entirely to chasing Su Muling. Whenever he managed to catch him, he made sure Su Muling learned what a master's authority meant!

At last, he faced the consequences of playing both sides: One day the boat capsized, leaving him soaked through and drowning in this boundless tangle of love and hate!

Theme: The farther Lu Guandeng wanders, the wind turns back toward Xie Chenyi.