Two days later, Huo Fenglie received a secret order to bring Liu Zhenqing with him to the palace.

Neither of them seemed surprised about being faced with such an imperial edict. Having hinted at so much before, rumors outside were gradually beginning to spread. Regardless of his purpose, Yuan Jue must be concerned about Huo Fenglie’s big lifetime event.

Only…..

Looking at Liu Zhenqing’s dull expression, with a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes, Huo Fenglie’s eyes flashed. He lowered his eyes to hide them, saying: “If you don’t want to go, don’t go.”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh: “And dare to resist an imperial edict?”

Huo Fenglie’s expression remained unchanged, fixed on Liu Zhenqing with a firm look.

Liu Zhenqing knew that Huo Fenglie was serious. Even if it upset Yuan Jue, Huo Fenglie didn’t want to make Liu Zhenqing unhappy at all.

Liu Zhenqing could only reach out and pinch the other’s upright nose: “How can the future wife of the general who guards the country not meet with the emperor? I said I wanted to tell the world about our marriage, but it won’t be suitable for me to reveal too much to Yuan Jue, so I’ll pretend to be more timid later. You must remember to ask Yuan Jue for a marriage decree.”

Huo Fenglie was slightly startled: “Ask for a marriage decree?”

Liu Zhenqing said in surprise: “You don’t think it’s enough for us to get engaged privately, do you? You’re currently the general who guards the country. If you don’t let the emperor participate in the marriage, it will be unreasonable, and when the time comes, people outside will make arrangements again.”

Liu Zhenqing felt that there was something wrong with the way Huo Fenglie was looking at him. Just as he was about to inquire, Huo Fenglie had already stood up and said: “Understood. Let’s go.”

The people who came to pick them up that night were of the Jinyiwei, the six of them wearing flying fish uniforms. The leader among them happened to be He Lan, whom they hadn’t seen in a long while.

He Lan only knew that they were back temporarily after receiving a secret order. He looked quite excited upon seeing the two of them and came up to them, saying: “I thought you weren’t coming back. How is Zhanyuan’s health?”

Huo Fenglie was in a good mood after meeting He Lan. “I’m completely fine,” he said.

He Lan was a big talker, but couldn’t say much while carrying out a mission. All they could do was give their greetings and set off together.

Watching as Huo Fenglie lifted Liu Zhenqing and followed them on the road using qinggong, He Lan raised a gossiping eyebrow.

But He Lan vaguely felt like something was wrong behind him, so he approached the two as they leapt and said: “Did you bring anyone else with you?”

He Lan’s perception in this area was still very keen. Liu Qiao was naturally following behind them.

“A shadow guard. He won’t follow us into the palace.”

He Lan was a little surprised. “When did you take on a shadow guard?” he asked.

“He’s mine,” Liu Zhenqing said.

He Lan feigned sudden enlightenment, saying with a smile: “Oh, I understand. Your status isn’t ordinary anymore. Being the future wife of the general is a very precarious position.”

The Jinyiwei were very well-informed, so they had naturally heard some things.

Liu Zhenqing smiled when he heard this and said: “Indeed.”

He Lan raised his eyebrows. This meant that the news was true and they were really engaged. Even when they were traveling together, he could tell that they had a different relationship. But when he actually heard about the engagement, He Lan’s fragile heart still received a shock. And to think, they had made a bet that Huo Fenglie would be a bachelor for the rest of his life.

Thinking of his own situation, he felt pure envy and jealousy.

They arrived at the palace in secret. The moment they landed, Liu Zhenqing didn’t know if it was just in his head, but he felt a biting chill come over him. 

Under the palace wall, down the corridors, and through the arches, familiar scenes came into view. After all, from the age of twenty-four when the new emperor ascended, he had spent most of his time each day in the palace with Yuan Jue.

It was no exaggeration to say that in the last two years, the palace was the place where he spent the most time and went through the most changes.

Liu Zhenqing’s brow furrowed almost noticeably. The hand hanging by his side was grabbed by someone, and it wasn’t until he felt the contrast between hot and cold that he felt the chill of his own palm.

Liu Zhenqing cast a sideways glance at Huo Fenglie, smiling slightly at his worried expression.

“The palace is so big, ah,” Liu Zhenqing lamented.

He Lan thought it was his first time here, and said with a smile: “This is just the start. If you have the opportunity to go to the highest building and look down, you’ll know just how big the palace is.”

Liu Zhenqing echoed him with an expression of wonder.

Under the escort of the Jinyiwei, they finally arrived at the government hall.

When a eunuch came out to meet them, Liu Zhenqing tried to let go of Huo Fenglie’s hand. After all, it wouldn’t be good if the emperor saw them engaging in PDA like this.

Huo Fenglie didn’t let go, but held on tightly as he pulled Liu Zhenqing into the hall.

The majestic hall was quiet and empty. Liu Zhenqing lowered his head. Wherever he looked, only the bright yellow hue of the steps could be seen. And as Huo Fenglie knelt down and saluted, he couldn’t see anything.

After waiting a while, they heard a clear voice with a slight smile tell them to get up.

Liu Zhenqing kept his head lowered after standing up, behaving himself. He didn’t look directly at the holy face, but could still feel those eyes on him. 

Yuan Jue was indeed looking at Liu Zhenqing, watching him follow Huo Fenglie obediently and inconspicuously.

But just now as Huo Fenglie led him inside, he watched over every move the other made.

Yuan Jue had known Huo Fenglie for so many years, and had never seen him take such care of anyone.

Even when it was “Liu Zhenqing,” Huo Fenglie would only follow him in silence and look up to him.

Thus, Yuan Jue became even more curious about the Young Master Liu before him.

“Eldest Young Master of the Liu family, raise your head.”

Liu Zhenqing had already expected this. Without thinking too much, he feigned uneasiness and slowly raised his head to look at Yuan Jue. He averted his eyes as much as possible, as if afraid of beholding the emperor.

Liu Zhenqing’s acting skills were naturally top-notch. Yuan Jue took a few glances and felt like this person was different than he’d imagined. He was a little disappointed.

And Liu Zhenqing exerted himself to suppress his roiling, chaotic emotions. Different from the shock he felt when meeting Huo Fenglie, Yuan Jue was now like a stranger to Liu Zhenqing.

Yuan Jue had truly grown up. He looked more and more like Crown Prince Jing Yang, like a benevolent emperor. But there was still a vicious aura to his features that would be difficult for others to detect. Liu Zhenqing knew this was all because of his harsh experiences during childhood.

“I’ve heard that Young Master Liu was involved in the war with the Western Shu Kingdom. Was he injured?”

“A…..answering Your Majesty, the general rescued us in time, and the civilians are safe,” Liu Zhenqing said with fear and trepidation.

“Following the general on his southern tour, Young Master Liu must have helped a lot. This can be regarded as working on my behalf. I will certainly reward you based on your merits.”

Liu Zhenqing immediately knelt down and said: “Your Majesty, this common one is guilty. He left the capital privately just to prove the innocence of the Liu family. I dare not expect credit. Now that the Liu family is fine, this one is even more grateful. What’s more, it is already good that this one didn’t cause any trouble for General Huo. I didn’t help at all, only gave advice when there were occasional financial problems, and was useless everywhere else.”

Yuan Jue’s eyes narrowed slightly. He twisted the jade ring on his hand. This kind of performance was the most common type he had seen, but he kept feeling that something wasn’t right. Perhaps because such an ordinary, common person shouldn’t have been favored by Huo Fenglie, or because he didn’t look like ‘that’ person. Why made Huo Fenglie change? He’d heard that this person had harassed Huo Fenglie before, and Huo Fenglie hadn’t given him the time of day.

“Your leaving the capital has my tacit approval, but since I’ve said this, I’ll just assume you’ve made up for past faults with good deeds.” Yuan Jue wasn’t interested in testing Liu Zhenqing further. He looked at Huo Fenglie and said: “But there are currently many rumors about you in the outside world…..”

Huo Fenglie knelt down and said: “Your Majesty, if you’re speaking of the engagement between Young Master Liu and I, it is indeed true. Young Master Liu and I will procure a wedding contract tomorrow.”

Yuan Jue was taken aback. His eyes darkened, and he said: “Zhanyuan, do you mean what you just said?”

“How can marriage be a trivial matter? How could it be but a trifle? It’s naturally impossible for a humble subject to speak nonsense in front of Your Majesty. The marriage certificate has been handed off to Sister-in-law at home. When the time is right, she will go to the Liu family to propose marriage.”

Yuan Jue’s expression changed slightly when he heard this, and he waved his hand to let Liu Zhenqing go down first.

Liu Zhenqing glanced at Huo Fenglie, who gave him a firm nod.

Then, Liu Zhenqing left with the eunuch.

It wasn’t until there were only the two people left in the palace that Yuan Jue got to the point: “Zhanyuan, I thought I heard wrong at first. Do you really intend to marry him?”

“Your Majesty, please bestow this marriage on me as a reward,” Huo Fenglie said.

Yuan Jue stiffened, knowing that Huo Fenglie was serious.

“Why? It’s not him you like.”

Huo Fenglie raised his head to look at Yuan Jue, then said: “When I marry him, I will naturally be happy with him.”

Yuan Jue choked for a moment. Right, ah, in the whole world, who could force Huo Fenglie to marry? If Huo Fenglie wanted to marry, he would naturally be willing.

Yuan Jue still seemed a little unconvinced. It was clear that Huo Fenglie liked Liu Zhenqing, ah. He’d been in love with him for so many years, to the point that he didn’t care about life or death, and would not marry for the rest of his life. How could he actually marry someone else in the blink of an eye and announce it to the world?

He’d thought it fantastical when he first heard the rumors, but now that Huo Fenglie had admitted it in person, Yuan Jue still thought it was unbelievable.

But looking into Huo Fenglie’s resolute eyes, Yuan Jue didn’t voice his doubts. He only said: “He is of the Liu family. Do you know what that means?”

“Your Majesty has said that this Liu family is not that Liu family.”

Yuan Jue wore a cynical smile: “That is for everyone in the country to hear, but you understand clearly. How many of your Huo family and Huo Family Army can accept a descendant of the Liu family as your wife?”

They had discussed these issues when they first got together. Even those in the army stationed in Nanfeng city who knew Liu Zhenqing’s identity were quite critical of it. However, the Huo Family Army was disciplined. At most, they would express resentment when it came up in conversation, but they would not reveal their anger. Moreover, the generational replacement had been rapid in the past ten years and there were already very few veterans who had passed through Huo Feihan’s hands. There weren’t that many people who truly had a grudge against the descendants of the Liu family.

Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie. One who was used to seeing all kinds of things out in the world, and one who had never seen such things at all. They naturally didn’t care about these external matters as long as they received the blessings of those they cared about. After all, under absolute authority, those who would scold them could only say words.

Huo Fenglie said: “This subject only wishes to marry one person in this life.”

Yuan Jue took in Huo Fenglie’s stubborn expression and laughed angrily: “Even if everyone in the world stabs you in the back, you’re not afraid.”

Huo Fenglie shook his head.

Yuan Jue’s turbulent breathing gradually settled in his chest. He could see that Huo Fenglie was determined to marry Liu Zhenqing. And when Huo Fenglie was certain of something, how could he so easily compromise with the outside world? 

“Alright. If you wish for a marriage decree, how can I refuse? I hope my brother will be happy, but I didn’t expect that after all this time, he would choose the Liu family again. Can this be considered an ill-fated relationship?” Yuan Jue lowered his eyes and said, “When something happened to Huo-dage, that man was still in power and no one dared to question Huo-dage’s death. But the verdict was later overturned. According to military reports, everything pointed to that person harming Huo-dage and his 100,000-strong army, so everyone hated and cursed him. I also asked if you hated him, but you never answered.”

Yuan Jue regarded the expressionless Huo Fenglie and said: “I know now that you don’t hate him.”

That was why he could calmly accept a person from the Liu bloodline.

Huo Fenglie looked at Yuan Jue and asked the same thing: “And does Your Majesty hate him?”

He didn’t need to detail what he saw and heard in the south — because the emperor before him was more intelligent than him. He didn’t know what Yuan Jue was thinking when he didn’t help Liu Zhenqing clear his name, and he couldn’t guess. Perhaps not clearing his name was beneficial to the emperor, or as Liu Zhenqing himself said, clearing his name was futile and would only create conflict with the common people. But since Yuan Jue was indifferent, it had already caused a rift between the monarch and his minister.

What Yuan Jue wanted to see the most was the Huo Fenglie who loved and hated Liu Zhenqing. Not this one.

Both of them were unwilling to discuss matters regarding Liu Zhenqing, and quickly got down to business.

Liu Zhenqing, on the other hand, was waiting outside the hall in the company of He Lan.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t keep his silence inside the palace, and could only talk to He Lan.

After hearing that they had returned, it was truly surprising that He Lan had hardly met Qin Yu in private.

“Why? Have you been so busy since coming back? Is it because of interrogating the rebel prisoners?”

They had returned with the rebel prisoners, after all. Although they had come back one after another, how could they have not seen each other for so long when they were both in the capital?

He Lan rubbed his nose, saying: “I am busy, but the main thing is that Lao Qin is avoiding me! No matter how I look for him and leave messages to meet him, I haven’t seen him at all. I try to say hello every time we meet in the palace, but he just acts like he doesn’t know me! Ruthlessly changing his face and running away after playing with me, it’s really…..”

He Lan spoke through gritted teeth and curses.

Liu Zhenqing was rather surprised. He naturally knew better than He Lan what Qin Yu would do after coming back. But going by this reaction, had he remained with the Dongchang to work for his adoptive father?

“Hmph, but now there’s a way. Isn’t Zhanyuan back? I’ll see if Qin Yu is willing to go see Zhanyuan!”

Seeing how He Lan’s expression became so distorted when mentioning Qin Yu, he must have suppressed a lot of anger.

And this fellow seemed to still mistakenly think Qin Yu liked Huo Fenglie.

He Lan complained about Qin Yu for a long while in front of Liu Zhenqing, until Huo Fenglie came back.

When they returned to the General’s Manor, He Lan especially emphasized that if Qin Yu came without him noticing, he was to be informed. If he didn’t inform him, he wouldn’t be a good brother.

Huo Fenglie regarded He Lan with some befuddlement. He Lan had to stay on duty all night, so he had no choice but to leave first.

“What’s going on?” Huo Fenglie asked.

Liu Zhenqing suppressed a smile and said: “He Lan probably feels he’s been let down.”

At this time, Liu Qiao also flew down: “Aren’t they a couple?”

“You know?” Liu Zhenqing said. “Right, it was you who saved them from the island.”

“En, I saw them embracing each other on the island. Clearly, they were kissing,” Liu Qiao said directly.

Liu Zhenqing nearly laughed out loud. “Were they carrying out a mission or falling in love, ah? But speaking of this, thank you so much for saving them on the island.”

Thinking of this matter, Huo Fenglie also thanked Liu Qiao. After all, He Lan and Qin Yu didn’t know who had saved them, so as good brothers, they could only express gratitude on their behalf. Moreover, Liu Qiao had taken action because he knew they were Huo Fenglie’s brothers.

However, Huo Fenglie recalled one other thing.

“The Yue Family Villa? I’ve never been there. During that time, I was just traveling back and forth between the island and Western Shu,” Liu Qiao replied doubtfully.

When Huo Fenglie brought this up, Liu Zhenqing also remembered that between the Yue family and Song Xingmu, there used to be killers constantly trying to assassinate them, but they always received some helpful information. Liu Zhenqing had also thought it was Liu Qiao.

After all, Qiao Jin and the others were under the influence of the people in the capital. Knowing that assassination was possible, since Liu Qiao had helped He Lan and Qin you, how could he have not been the one to help the others too?

Yet Liu Qiao had just denied their conjecture.

That was to say, there was indeed another force obstructing them in order to protect them. None of them could figure it out for the moment, so they could only leave it like this for the time being.

When they returned to their rooms, Liu Zhenqing asked what had happened after he left. He’d expected Yuan Jue to have some objections to their marriage, but Liu Zhenqing was relieved to hear that Yuan Jue had agreed to them getting married after the Longevity Festival.

Liu Zhening said: “Did Yuan Jue talk to you about the Longevity Festival? What are his plans?”

Huo Fenglie said: “It will be announced in a few days that I’ve returned for the Longevity Festival, so preparations will be changed at the last moment.”

“Oh, to catch the opponents off guard? If the enemy made arrangements long ago, their actions will inevitably be disrupted and there will be clues to follow.”

Liu Zhenqing had felt before that Yuan Jue would be putting himself in danger, but it seemed that even now, he didn’t understand him well enough. After all, Yuan Jue still had caution engraved into his bones and wouldn’t risk his own life. Perhaps in the end, if he really couldn’t find who it was, he would find ways to break the wings of everyone he suspected in order to avoid harm.

Huo Fenglie said with a nod: “So I’m afraid I’ll have to go to the military camp in secret to arrange things for Mo Yu and Mo Qi these days. Qing-ge will stay at home.”

Liu Zhenqing expressed his understanding: “What about the group of rebels who were caught?”

Huo Fenglie shook his head, saying: “Those who knew the crux of it are dead, and the rest are unimportant people.”

“Dead?” Liu Zhenqing said in surprise. “The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple seem to be influenced by the people in the capital. Where are Jiang Wang and King Jing?”

Huo Fenglie said: “Yuan Jue already suspects Prime Minister Jiang Wang after the Imperial Examination fraud, but there seems to be no suspicion placed on King Jing’s head, so I didn’t ask further questions.”

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but play with the Rubik’s Cube Huo Fenglie had placed on the bed for him as he sank into thought.

Huo Fenglie watched the Rubik’s Cube in Liu Zhenqing’s hand. His eyes flickered momentarily and he suddenly asked: “How did you feel about entering the palace today?”

Liu Zhenqing paused, then said with a smile: “I was just dragged off by He Lan to listen to his complaints, so I didn’t have any other thoughts, ah. By the way, about Qin Yu.”

“If he doesn’t come to me, I won’t make conjectures about his behavior for the time being,” Huo Fenglie said solemnly.

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “Er-gou is truly loyal.”

Huo Fenglie carefully parsed Liu Zhenqing’s expression and seemed to be unable to detect any other extraneous emotions.

As he was being stared at, Liu Zhenqing took the Rubik’s Cube and tapped the tip of Huo Fenglie’s nose. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes immediately darkened. He directly pulled him into his arms, hugging and kissing him.

Liu Zhenqing was confused by Huo Fenglie’s sudden enthusiasm. It was him who took the initiative in the past, after all.

But this time, without waiting for Liu Zhenqing’s reaction, Huo Fenglie had already lifted him and dumped him into the bed tent.

When Liu Zhenqing’s red-marked hands dropped from the bed frame, he could already hear the crow of a rooster.

Liu Zhenqing sleepily squinted his eyes, looking at the fully-dressed Huo Fenglie who was about to leave for the military camp. He couldn’t help the resentment emanating from his body.

He was so proactive last night, but the result was that he didn’t take the final step. Whose patience was he trying to test, ah? Was the one on top more patient than the one below? Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but dwell on this issue. After all, it would be his first time in this regard.

When Liu Zhenqing woke up once more, he heard twittering and chirping from outside. It was clear that the twins had come to visit him again.

“Liu Qiao?” Liu Zhenqing called.

Liu Qiao quickly appeared: “Master, are you getting up?”

“En, what are you doing outside?”

“Practicing martial arts with Miss Huo.”

Liu Zhenqing laughed, saying: “She must be pestering you.” Looking up, he saw that Liu Qiao’s collar was stretched wide due to the heat and the fighting.

A jade pendant was exposed at the skirt of his clothes. Liu Zhenqing noticed something strange at first glance — it seemed this was not the one Liu Qiao carried with him, so he asked: “This jade pendant of yours…..”

“Oh, this isn’t the original piece.” Liu Qiao took it out and said, “This is what Qiao Jin gave me.”

Liu Zhenqing was shocked the moment Liu Qiao took it out, and quickly beckoned for Liu Qiao to come closer and show him.

The corners of his lips twitched at his first glance. He said: “Qiao Jin gave it to you?”

Liu Qiao shook his head, saying: “Back then, we were fleeing pursuit and had no money. I pawned my piece, and a few years later, Qiao Jin redeemed it again. But instead of giving it to me, he gave me his own. I think they’re pretty much the same, so it doesn’t matter, and we can continue to pawn them when we have no money.”

Liu Zhenqing’s face was about to convulse. Well, Liu Qiao’s bad habit of exchanging jade pendants for money had followed him. However…..

“You can’t exchange this jade pendant if you don’t have money. If you do, Qiao Jin will go crazy. Do you understand the meaning behind this jade pendant?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

Liu Qiao shook his head.

“This is an heirloom from his mother, a member of the Liu family. According to the circumstances at the time, this is likely the only heirloom he was able to take away.” Liu Qiao’s expression became a little strange at this explanation, and Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a cost-effective deal. Even though you don’t care about the jade pendant, it’s also your only certification from him.”

Liu Qiao said with a slightly uncomfortable look: “Then since it’s important…..does this count as an exchange of tokens, ah?”

“Eh, forget it.” Such an important thing was more like a love token. Qiao Jin knew Liu Qiao wouldn’t understand, so he just did this first. Unexpectedly, Liu Zhenqing exposed it at this moment.

Liu Qiao frowned in distress but didn’t say anything more, simply adjusting his clothes.

But Liu Zhenqing had a flash of inspiration and recalled something related to the Huo family.

So when the twins went to play with Li Xingruo in a lively manner, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but look at the red string around her neck.

“What are you looking at! Looking so foolish, did you suddenly find that my appearance is the same as before?” Li Xingruo said, putting down her medical text.

Liu Zhenqing just said: “I remembered a tradition of the Huo family. The elders will choose a piece of jade for the younger generation, so that they can make an ornament to give as a love token in the future. I remember when Boss gave you a jade token and begged you for a kiss. Doesn’t it stand to reason that Er-gou also has a piece of jade?”

Li Xingruo was amazed, and gave Liu Zhenqing a strange look.

“What? Does a male wife not deserve one?” Liu Zhenqing instantly became unhappy, saying, “The marriage certificate is already written, so I shouldn’t deserve any less!”

Li Xingruo rolled her eyes and said: “Since you know he’s liked you for so many years, can’t you guess for yourself?”

“Ah?”

“For example, are there any unique pieces of jade among the things he’s given you?”

Liu Zhenqing stared blankly: “Yes, a jade Rubik’s Cube. I used to…..”

Liu Zhenqing’s words stuck in his throat. He instantly turned wide, disbelieving eyes toward Li Xingruo.

Li Xingruo nodded.

“Wasn’t he just fifteen years old back then? He didn’t confess his feelings to me, so why would he give me such an important thing?”

Li Xingruo smiled: “You said it yourself. He met the right person and decided that you must be the one. It didn’t matter whether it was given earlier or later, because it would never be given to anyone else.”

“You two just let him mess around?” That had been given in front of Huo Feihan. The Huo family’s traditional jade pendant couldn’t be given away lightly.

“He was very serious, and carved it himself. How could it be considered messing around?” Li Xingruo smiled cheerfully. “In fact, you two have been a couple for a long time.”

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Chapter 125 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 127

Due to the business trip being short, the corresponding schedule was very compact.

He Chuzhou didn’t go to the hotel first, but instead went straight to the partner company. The luggage would be transported to the hotel by a driver arranged by the other party.

His feet barely touched the ground the entire day.

There was also no news from Pei-calico the entire day.

He was really something. Whether baking cookies or taking the post-graduate exit exam, did one need to be so focused? He didn’t even have time to talk to his husband when he was away from home.

He casually took a photo of the scene outside the window and sent it over. After waiting for more than ten seconds without receiving a reply, he put the phone back in his pocket.

When he raised his head, he met Yun Ji’s complicated gaze.

“Cousin, do you know what you looked like just now?” Yun Ji asked.

He Chuzhou picked up the contract on the table and responded without thought: “Like what?”

Yun Ji: “Like the kind of resentful husband who knows his wife is out fooling around, but can’t get through on the phone and his text messages aren’t replied to, so he can only sit in an empty room while he waits.”

He Chuzhou: “…..”

He Chuzhou: “That’s some good imagery. What score did you get on your high school essays?”

Yun Ji, proudly: “Nomally 57, but if my performance was extraordinary, 59. The teacher said he wouldn’t give me full marks because he was afraid I’d become conceited.”

He Chuzhou: “You write the planning proposal for the Guangxing Shopping Mall next quarter. One week’s salary will be deducted for each week it isn’t done.”

Yun Ji: “? ? ?”

Yun Ji: “Hello, is something wrong?”

Yun Ji: “You’ve not only baffled Confucious, but also laozi.”

Yun Ji: “And now you’re being like a hateful capitalist who’s angry after being exposed! Your face exposes your evil! ! !”

Since a certain little white-eyed wolf wasn’t subject to his distractions, he had no choice but to focus all of his attention on work.

It was almost 11 o’clock when He Chuzhou finished with his inspection of the technology factory. After returning to the hotel and putting on slippers, he felt heavy fatigue in his shoulders and back as he walked on the soft soles.

He had also asked Pei-calico to call him after 9 o’clock. It seemed he had still overestimated himself.

However, it didn’t seem to have had a large effect. Pei Xi must not have noticed his broken promise, because when he turned on his phone, he didn’t see any missed calls at all.

There was one message, sent over an hour ago: [I’m going to bed. Good night, Chuzhou.]

Chuzhou was restless.

Chuzhou was about to laugh out of anger.

That’s great, ah, little bastard.

Here he was unable to focus on important or trivial matters, filled with uneasiness, but the one over there was just fine. He was usually so sticky that he wanted to hang from He Chuzhou’s waist, but when they were actually separated, he was reluctant to even give him a call.

He ground his back molars, wanting to go over and teach him a good lesson. However, after floundering with his fingertips several times, he clicked away.

Forget it. He’d probably already had several dreams at this point, so he wouldn’t bother him anymore.

The interface jumped from the address book to the standby page. The person on the wallpaper wore a cute expression, using his unskilled techniques to make a “yay” sign.

He stared at it for a while, his anger subsiding as the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.

After tonight, there was still a day and a half.

Ai, why had the time suddenly become so long?

It should go by a little faster.

*

*

After he finished handling He Xingxing the next morning, Pei Xi spent ten minutes in the overly quiet living room with his computer in his arms. Then he got up, changed his clothes, and went to the company.

It had been a while since he’d shown up to the company. As soon as he appeared out of nowhere, he received salutes from the front desk to the stairs.

The most surprised person was undoubtedly Xiao Gu, because as an assistant, he hadn’t received any news in advance that the president was coming to the company today.

“How is the construction progress of the northern residential area? Have you visited the site to check on it?”

“I went there with Assistant Zhang yesterday and everything is running smoothly. The materials used have also been tested and meet all standards, and the speed is very fast. It is conservatively estimated that the project will be completed one month ahead of schedule.”

Xiao Gu finished his careful reply, then asked Pei Xi: “President Pei, did you come here today to inspect the other projects? Or have you made an appointment with a visitor? Do you need me to make meeting room arrangements for you in advance?”

Pei Xi: “No need. I just came over to have a look. You can continue your work.”

Xiao Gu nodded, closed the door, and left.

Pei Xi remained at the company until the afternoon. There wasn’t much work, so he could deal with it slowly without rushing.

That was why he got distracted and looked at his phone three times every ten minutes, on average.

No phone calls, no messages, not even a random photo to share.

Yesterday he was twittering like an old sparrow, but today there wasn’t a peep at all.

Or was this sort of daily chatting limited to Pei-calico?

He put down his phone with a cold expression and focused on his work. But it was as if a handful of dandelions had been stuffed into his chest. When the wind blew, they fluttered away and left it empty.

He had initially planned to go back directly after his work shift, but thinking of the empty living room he left before, he simply found a random restaurant outside and had dinner.

Xie Ling sent him a message and asked what he had been busy with recently. They hadn’t been able to meet up in so long. Was it because he was working on some big project?

Pei Xi avoided giving an answer and told him they could meet up later. When he backed out of the chat, he saw that the top chat bar hadn’t seen movement all day. He moved his finger and clicked.

The content of the chat was still stuck on the “good night” he had sent the night before. He hadn’t received a reply in more than ten hours. It looked lonely and pitiful.

He clicked on the dialogue box and typed half a line of words. 

In the second half, he didn’t know what kind of tone to end it with.

Should he ask him if he was busy?

If He Chuzhou said he wasn’t, or asked him what he needed, how should he answer next?

Should he ask him when he was coming back?

He Chuzhou had just left the previous morning. Asking this today would make it seem like he couldn’t live without him.

Should he ask him if he’d eaten?

It seemed their current relationship wasn’t close enough for him to care about him like this…..if he asked this, would He Chuzhou think he was weird?

After a thousand strands of thought twisted and turned through his head, he ultimately deleted that half line of words and turned to look out the car window.

He Chuzhou was right. It was indeed a beautiful sunny day these two days.

*

*

“This company’s factory is pretty good. The machine technology is all independently developed and might be among the world’s most advanced. I think we can cooperate.”

While Yun Ji was looking around and taking photos and recordings, he spoke with He Chuzhou in Chinese. The foreigners around them couldn’t understand, and non-essential content didn’t require translation.

“Indeed.” He Chuzhou used the data he had seen along the way as a reference and didn’t make an immediate decision: “Then give them a notice of intent. I won’t sign it for now. We’ll wait until we compare the data between the two companies tomorrow.”

Yun Ji thought the same: “Okay. Although this company’s technology is good, there are so many competitors when it comes to price per volume. If we delay a bit, we may be able to lower the price a little. After all, they’re very willing to cooperate with us.”

The host held a dinner reception in the evening. He Chuzhou and Yun Ji weren’t accustomed to eating much of the food on the table, and since they didn’t want to cause offense, they could only slow down their eating speed again and again, treating it as a break from a busy day.

Yun Ji didn’t want to listen to a group of white people chattering in English with different accents. When no one was paying attention, he leaned over toward He Chuzhou: “Is this indulging in pleasure and forgetting home and duty?”

Bored, He Chuzhou pierced a piece of broccoli with his fork and raised it in front of him: “This?”

He stuffed it in his mouth and chewed expressionlessly: “I feel like a rabbit.”

“Of course it’s not that. Why don’t you look like a wife-gazing stone today? You don’t want to send a message? Don’t want to make a call?”

He Chuzhou gave him a smile that wasn’t a smile, the corners of his lips twitching. He scoffed coldly: “How do you know I don’t want to call?”

Of course he did. 

Of course he was worried.

But there was no way. Even Pei-calico thought he was annoying, and Pei Xi definitely hated being disturbed even more.

What’s more, he had been too busy these days to find time to help Pei Xi with his work. He must be busy today while he was in his right mind. How could he dare interrupt?

He hadn’t asked about any hobbies, but he’d already bought a lot of gifts and specialties. He wanted to bring everything he saw to him, regardless of if he was buying the right thing.

As expected of people, ah. Sometimes being too thoughtful led to too many troubles and burdens.

He was just too thoughtful.

Yun Ji looked at him sighing and said giddily: “If you want to call, then call. Otherwise, can you tell me who’s on the other end and what their relationship is with you, so as to relieve the pain of lovesickness?

He Chuzhou: “Don’t bother me.”

Yun Ji: “Just tell me, is it Pei Xi?”

He Chuzhou, in English: “Mr. White, my assistant would like to…..”

Yun Ji: “Damn it, you’re sick in the head! Fine, fine, I get it, I won’t ask, okay? Don’t make this foreigner talk to me!”

He Chuzhou stopped talking with a faint smile. When Mr. White looked over uncertainly, he speared another piece of broccoli and gestured gracefully to him before stuffing it into his mouth.

After the dinner, a few fun-loving white people also arranged a night party. He Chuzhou wasn’t interested. He was too tired and needed to rest, so he declined. After getting in the car, he told the driver to go directly back to the hotel.

One day.

It was already nighttime.

It wouldn’t be too much to send a message saying hello, would it? 

It wouldn’t be a bother, would it?

Along the way, he thought of thousands of different ways to greet the other person politely and without being annoying. And in the process of constantly flipping his phone, he eliminated nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine options.

In the end, he chose the one with the lowest error rate and the most roundabout method — using He Xingxing as a buffer.

A single father missed his son while he was away from home and wanted to know how he was doing, or ask for a photo or something. Wasn’t that reasonable?

Having finalized his excuse, he returned to the hotel and took a shower while considering his words. When he went out and picked up his phone, he unexpectedly found an additional message on it: 

Pei-calico: [/picture]

Pei-calico: [He Xingxing was beaten by a cat again.]

When Pei Xi finished sending the picture and text, he continued to stare at the chat box without moving.

Very soon, he saw that He Chuzhou was typing.

Chuzhou: [It’s fine, he has thick skin. He just needed to be taught a lesson.]

Chuzhou: [I just got back to the hotel and was about to ask if you were walking the dog. If He Xingxing runs too fast, smack him on the head a couple of times, otherwise he’ll walk you all over.]

Just got back to the hotel.

Was just going to ask you.

This combination of words oddly implied the notion of explaining himself and reporting his activities.

In fact, it was nothing special. It just made Pei Xi feel as if a blocked ditch had been cleaned out and smoothed over.

Pei Xi: [It’s fine.]

Pei Xi: [How was your inspection there? Is the contract signed?]

He Chuzhou: [It’s pretty good. We prefer the inclination toward technology research and development here, but their quote is too high, so we’ll press them again.]

He Chuzhou: [What about you? Are you done with work for the day?]

Pei Xi: [En, I went to the company during the day.]

He Chuzhou: [That’s good. You can have a good rest tomorrow.]

He Chuzhou: [Did you have dinner?]

Pei Xi: [En, I ate outside.]

He Chuzhou: [Me too. The taste of white peoples’ food is truly indescribable. It seems I’ll have to bring some food for myself the next time I come here.]

He Chuzhou: [I’m heading home tomorrow afternoon. If you need anything, I’ll bring it to you.]

Pei replied: [I don’t need anything.] Looking at the few casual conversation topics, He Chuzhou had unknowingly asked all of the questions he had wanted to ask during the day but didn’t. 

But it was a pity that polite chats over a distance didn’t have a long lifespan.

Just when their exchange tonight was about to end, He Chuzhou suddenly asked him on a whim if he was free after walking the dog.

Pei Xi: [I have nothing to do. What is it?]

He Chuzhou: [I suddenly remembered that Aiyue had a few unwritten papers lying around. She said they’re due at the beginning of the month.]

Pei Xi was unsure: [Do you want me to help write them?]

He Chuzhou: [No need. Those examination papers take a lot of brain work. You take pictures and send them to me. I’ll figure out the answers and you copy them down for me.]

Ten minutes later.

Pei Xi sat in the brightly-lit study. Seeing that He Chuzhou was writing down the answers and sending them to him in pictures, the nerves in his brain began to knot up.

Pei Xi: [You…..]

He Chuzhou: [Huh? What is it?]

[When you write the numbers, must you write them without lifting your pen from the paper?]

They couldn’t be read.

He couldn’t understand them at all.

If he were asked to identify them in another situation, he would have thought they were prescriptions written by a doctor.

He Chuzhou: [Sorry, I tried my best to be neat, but it’s still hard to read, isn’t it?]

He Chuzhou: [/Sad and tearful cat head]

Pei Xi: “……”

He hesitated over what to say, so as not to hurt the young and fragile soul of this little cat head. The other party soon showed as ‘typing.’ 

He Chuzhou: [Make a voice call.]

He Chuzhou: [I’ll read it to you, and you can compare them. You should be able to understand it.]

The chat interface was immediately replaced by a voice chat invitation.

Pei Xi’s hand clenched slightly around his pen. He didn’t know where this inexplicable nervousness and almost overlooked excitement had come from.

He clicked ‘answer.’ He Chuzhou’s lazy “Good evening” was like a faint electric current injected into his sensitive ear, spreading throughout his body.

Since there was no one in front of him, he dared to let his eyes drift uneasily for a moment before returning to the center of the screen. He replied in a low voice: “Good evening.”

Just as the person on the other side couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see the other subconsciously narrow his eyes as he spoke.

Pei Xi’s voice had a unique cold and obedient tone, and He Chuzhou naturally imagined his expression as he spoke. His mood, which had been tense all day, was at once smoothly run over by high-temperature iron, smoothing out the twists and wrinkles.

It was much like playing an entire basketball game under the scorching summer sun, and there happened to be a bottle of iced Coke at hand.

Unscrew the moisture-dotted bottlecap, and the cold, fizzy liquid flowed smoothly down the throat.

He savored the subtle satisfaction that filled his chest and scrawled the answers with deliberate slowness.

He Chuzhou: “Do you understand it now?”

Pei Xi nodded. Then he remembered that the other couldn’t see, and said: “I just wrote them down.” 

He Chuzhou: “Did you nod just now?”

Taken aback, Pei Xi asked subconsciously: “How did you know?”

He Chuzhou said breezily: “Because you obviously paused before answering.”

Pei Xi went silent.

He didn’t know what to say for a moment.

He Chuzhou’s understanding of him was beyond expectations, and it was also beyond expectations that it didn’t feel bad.

It was only that he didn’t know what reaction to give that was consistent with their current relationship. He wasn’t good at this, and could only awkwardly change the subject: “You’re very smart. You still remember the steps for the final high school math questions.”

“It can’t be helped. I used to be a naughty trouble-maker in high school and was punished by the teacher to copy many test papers.”

He chuckled, and after a moment, he whispered the next sentence: “Compared to Pei Xi, I’m not smart.”

He was said to be smart, but only when they were separated by thousands of miles were his indescribable affection and yearning actualized.

If he was smart, he wouldn’t spend an entire day unable to think of a reason to send a message, just immersing himself in buying gifts and expecting the recipient to embrace him warmly.

If he was smart, he wouldn’t have realized that his liking of him had accumulated to the point that his body was almost at maximum capacity.

Pei Xi, Pei Xinxin, Pei-calico…..

He liked them all very much.

---

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Chapter 38 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 40

T/N: Thank you so much to Chakri for the Kofi donation! I rise from the depths of Covid hell to bring you this double update!

---

Pei Xi wiped the wet spots off the kitchen counter, deciding between going out and waiting or finding something to do in the kitchen. He suddenly heard He Chuzhou call to him in a soft voice: “Pei Xi.”

He Chuzhou rarely called him by his full name like this, just as Pei Xi rarely called He Chuzhou by his full name.

It wasn’t a polite, superficial business tone, but more relaxed and casual, more like addressing an old friend.

It was very pleasant to the ear.

But still not as pleasant as being called ‘Xinxin.’ 

Perhaps it was because he’d heard it so many times.

He turned his head and curled his fingers: “Huh?”

He Chuzhou leaned to the side of him and said: “Didn’t you say you want to learn how to cook? I happen to be free now. May I teach you a couple of things?”

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou failed to notice Pei Xi’s dark expression, which wasn’t immediately evident.

But in the long period of instruction that followed, he could easily sense that Pei Xi wasn’t very interested, and that his mood was low.

“Don’t you want to know how to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes?” he speculated.

Considering that Pei Xi’s cooking skills were a flat zero, he’d started with the simplest instructions. But it seemed that now, the skills of successful people were displayed in all aspects, but those who were simple may not be able to comprehend them.

Therefore, he took an overview of the ingredients prepared next to him and changed his strategy: “Then I’ll teach you how to make sweet and sour fish.”

Pei Xi didn’t express an opinion.

Although, perhaps it was an illusion, but he kept feeling that Pei Xi’s expression was darker.

Pei Xi really didn’t have any skill when it came to cooking.

And the cognizant Pei Xi was very self-aware. After experiencing those few times when the “right amount” of salt wasn’t actually the right amount, and where the “small amount” of cooking wine wasn’t enough, he took the initiative to put down the spatula and say: “I can’t learn.”

His natural tone left He Chuzhou both helpless and amused: “I can see that.”

Pei Xi stared at him in silence.

He Chuzhou placated him: “It’s okay, I’m just teaching you for fun. If you can’t learn it, you can’t learn it. I’ll be just fine.”

Pei Xi’s eyes shifted slightly: “You’ll be just fine?”

He Chuzhou: “…..”

Whoops, Pei-calico needed to be coaxed.

He coughed covertly: “What I mean is that in the future, you can always come to me when you’re hungry. Or I can make it and send it to you.”

He thought Pei Xi would just say no, but unexpectedly, Pei Xi said in lieu of refusal: “Wouldn’t it be too much trouble for you?”

He Chuzhou: “Of course not, it’s a convenient thing. Besides, it’s a smooth ride to your house.”

Pei Xi nodded and said no more on the matter, simply leaving the kitchen with an “I’m going to take care of work.”

Was this a tacit understanding that even when he recovered and moved back, he would continue associating with him?

Was it?

Had he understood correctly?

He Chuzhou turned around happily, ready to save Pei Xi’s failed sweet and sour fish.

It actually wasn’t bad, ah, rather pleasing to the eye.

When he had a taste, it was just a little too salty, but not inedible.

The cell phone placed to the side lit up.

He changed the chopsticks to his left hand and used the other to click on the message: 

Wu Qing: [Why are you making eyes at each other over the food? Do you have to cook hand in hand?]

Wu Qing: [Is it rice or dog food I’m eating? I’ve lost my appetite! ! !]

Wu Qing typed out two angry messages, and when he looked up, Pei Xi was back with a computer in his hands.

Although his eyes were lowered and there wasn’t much of an expression on his face, there was a faintly discernible smile on his lips.

Wu Qing: “……”

Wu Qing took a deep breath: [Old Dog He, I don’t care about your seafood dinner anymore! ! !]

Wu Qing: [Changing the ticket! It must be changed!]

Wu QIng: [I’ll change the ticket and take five, six, seven, or eight boyfriends along!]

Of course, Wu Qing didn’t have five, six, seven, or eight boyfriends, nor did he change his ticket. Even though he absolutely didn’t want to eat bulk dry dog food with He Xingxing, there was no other way. When a man stood under the eaves, he must bow his head.

But he could keep it out of sight and out of mind.

In order to not see the sticky couple washing dishes like mandarin ducks playing in the kitchen, he chose to take the initiative to be the person walking He Xingxing. He put on the dog leash, and one person and one dog bounded out of the house.

But although he was obviously overly worried about them washing dishes like two mandarin ducks playing in the water, He Chuzhou had never planned to let Pei Xi wash dishes.

He just put the bowls in the dishwasher.

Before the third wheel who’d taken the opportunity to live a better life came back, he discussed with Pei Xi rationally and objectively: “Will you sleep with me tonight? Wu Qing has a flight in the morning and needs to stay overnight.”

Pei Xi expressed his understanding and agreed to perform an entire act.

Anyway, they had fallen asleep together many times.

This was what both of them thought before nightfall.

But when it came time to actually go to bed, only then did they discover that under a different premise, the situation was completely different from what they’d thought.

When Pei Xi was out of his mind before, he’d slept with him simply because he regarded him as his closest person, and He Chuzhou was simply indulging him. All in all, pureness ran throughout.

As a result, the two of them now had clear ideas and could have a business strategy exchange on the spot. Lying together was not so innocent anymore.

He Chuzhou had long been accustomed to sleeping with Pei-calico in his arms. It was fine when he was alone, but now that this person was in front of him, he could look at him but not hug him.

He lay on his side facing Pei Xi, staring at the silhouette of the man’s head on the pillow next to him in the dimness. Melancholy welled up in his heart. He didn’t dare sigh, anxious and uncomfortable. His back molars were sore.

Little did he know that the person in front of him, who seemed to have fallen peacefully asleep, was still staring at the window in a daze with his eyes wide open.

He wasn’t used to this.

The distance between them at his back made him feel unsteady and empty.

But he couldn’t say it out loud.

Unsure if He Chuzhou was asleep or not, he was incredibly stiff and didn’t dare turn over. He felt that if it was revealed that he wasn’t asleep, the scene would become even more embarrassing than it was now.

Why was there no thunder or rain outside now?

Why did he have to be in his right mind today?

If he said he couldn’t sleep right now, would He Chuzhou open his eyes and get up to watch a movie with him?

His imagination was running wild. He thought he might have difficulty falling asleep tonight, but in fact, he quickly began to sink into unconsciousness amidst the familiar scent surrounding him.

In a half-asleep, half awake state, his body wasn’t controlled by his brain, but driven by instinct. Turning over, he moved closer to the heat source behind him.

When he hazily noticed his behavior, he didn’t have time to break away from the pull of sleep and correct it. A hand hooked around his waist, pulling him into a hug with great familiarity.

The comfortable environment wore down his consciousness too much. He wasn’t able to resist as he sank deeper and deeper into the warmth constantly passing over to him.

The hustle and bustle outside the window was ruthlessly cut off by the glass pane. Only the neon colors of the city penetrated through, making it possible to just barely see within the otherwise dark room.

Two figures embraced each other intimately in bed. Under the guidance of their subconscious minds, they at last found the most comfortable position to get close and fell peacefully asleep.

*

*

Habits were always formed subconsciously.

As time went by, the two became increasingly accustomed to each other’s presence in their lives.

After Wu Qing left that day, neither of them brought up sleeping separately, and settled naturally in the master bedroom.

They took separate sides when awake, but sleeping in each others arms at night became the norm.

It seemed nobody was going to try to rectify this.

During the time Pei Xi was taking a break from work, He Chuzhou would almost always stay home whether Pei Xi was in his right mind or confused.

And Pei Xi also began walking the dog with He Chuzhou, mostly after dinner.

The weather was growing increasingly cold, and it was really hard to get up in the morning.

He met He Xingxing’s three free-range friends in the neighborhood, all of them cats. There was a tabby, an orange cat, and a little cow-spotted cat.

The tabby was very fierce, the lives of countless mice always contained within its eyes. And the orange cat was so stupid that it had been fed into a fat ball by the community residents.

The little cow cat was the smartest and livliest one, and was He Xingxing’s favorite.

He Xingxing always chased the cow cat and licked its tail, then got beaten. Then he caught up with it and got beaten again, never tiring of it.

He Chuzhou came up with several new dishes. First, he cooked them for him when he was confused and received Pei-calico’s compliments.

Then he cooked them for him when he was in his right mind. There was a faint expectation of praise in his eyes, and Pei Xi, who was well aware of his propensity for showing off, saw this clearly. He could only praise him again due to the pressure, avoiding the words Pei-calico had used in order to avoid suspicion.

How can there be such a childish man? He thought speechlessly. Then he finished the small plate of fried fish He Chuzhou had just made.

There was still one left for the chef to eat.

Eating for free all the time was a something that tested one’s ideological and moral character. Pei Xi considered himself to be a decent person, so his embarrassment piled up day by day. Finally, after dinner, he very firmly offered to do the dishes.

As expected, He Chuzhou disagreed and refused to show him how to operate the dishwasher.

Then he changed his strategy after discovering that Pei Xi had already watched him do it, and assigned him a job that was presumably more responsible and difficult than washing dishes — going with him to the supermarket to buy groceries.

Pei Xi: “……”

Okay, as long as you’re happy.

The auntie who previously came to clean and restock the refrigerator lost her job, and they also became familiar with the enthusiastic supermarket auntie during their frequent shopping.

Pei Xi was very considerate and went outside when He Chuzhou checked out so as not to expose him. When meeting the auntie alone, he would calmly reply: “En, I’m with my husband.”

Of course, living such a calm and peaceful life for so long would cause the gods dissatisfaction and lead to misfortune.

He Chuzhou had a three-day business trip. He would leave the next morning and return two days later in the afternoon.

How could this work?

Could he leave Pei Xi alone at home?

Uneasy, he turned to ask Pei Xi if he wanted to go with him.

It was getting late, and it was dark outside. Pei Xi was sitting on the side of the bed, holding a tablet and reading project evaluation materials.

Hearing He Chuzhou’s words, he adjusted his glasses and looked up: “If I go with you, can you spend the whole day with me on your business trip and bring my addled self to meet clients?”

He Chuzhou was speechless.

“If I have to stay in the hotel room morning and night, it’s no different from me being at home.”

He wasn’t as worried as He Chuzhou, and lowered his head to continue reading his materials: “Just tell ‘me’ before you leave tomorrow morning. Even if I’m confused, I’m still an adult man with normal thinking and logic, so being alone for two days won’t be a problem.”

Time moved forward very quickly when asleep. He Chuzhou got up early the next day. While he was packing up, he received a call from Yun Ji, saying that he and the driver were waiting outside the community.

He Chuzhou looked at the time and crouched beside the bed, half asleep and waiting for Pei Xi to wake up as he turned on his phone.

“I’m going on a business trip, and I’ll be home the day after tomorrow.”

“I’ve saved my driver’s phone number on your phone, and you can tell him to pick you up and drop you off wherever you want, okay?”

“You don’t have to think about me when you’re home alone. En, you can think about me a little bit, but not too much.”

“If you need anything, please send me a message at any time. I’ll reply the moment I see it. If you can’t sleep after 9 pm, call me.”

“Tell me what gifts you want, including food. I’ll bring them back for you after the business trip.”

Pei Xi, who wasn’t sleepy at all, was stunned by this nagging: “Can’t you bring me there?”

Why did He Chuzhou sometimes feel that Pei-calico’s brain circuits were synchronized with his own?

“I can’t.”

Out of nowhere, he felt like he was being coaxed. He said in a pretty good frame of mind: “I can’t accompany you during the day there, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone in a strange environment.”

Pei Xi wasn’t too disappointed: “You’ve been nagging me for so long, can you still catch your plane?”

He Chuzhou: “…..”

He Chuzhou laughed angrily and gritted his teeth, pinching the other’s face: “Who can I worry about, you white-eyed wolf!”

“Never mind.”

He gave a sigh, standing up to set off: “Remember to send a message right away if anything happens. If it’s important, call me. You don’t have to worry about delaying my work. Those foreigners aren’t particular about such things.”

“I’m off.” He rubbed Pei Xi’s head one last time and turned to leave.

Once He Chuzhou left, the house fell silent.

Pei Xi sat on the bed and felt the emptiness of the room. Looking at He Xingxing lying on the carpet with his chin on the floor, he couldn’t adapt.

It seemed that for a long while, he hadn’t been separated from He Chuzhou.

He got up, walked the dog, hadn breakfast, and was in a daze for a while. Suddenly alone, he didn’t know what to do. He took out his phone and played with it for a while, then got up and went to the kitchen.

The steps for baking cookies looked simple. Heat the butter to soften it, add powdered sugar, then beat it with a whisk—

Ding.

The phone rang. He unlocked it with his relatively clean ring finger and clicked on the message:

Chuzhou: [I’m at the airport. Have you had breakfast? The milk may be cold, please heat it up again.]

Pei Xi typed back at an inconvenient time: “I’m eating,” and then continued to whip the butter.

The egg yolks needed to be cooked first.

He boiled water and put two eggs in. It felt a little short, so he added another five, six, seven, or eight, and closed the lid to cook it regularly.

Ding.

The phone rang again.

He Chuzhou: [The plane has taken off, and it’s switched to autopilot mode. The altitude now is 10,000 meters]

Pei Xi: “…..”

Why was he telling him this?

He didn’t quite understand, so he replied: [So high.]

Finally, he divided the large dough ball into small pieces about 10 grams each and pressed them one by one with his thumb, then put them in the oven. The baking time was…..was……

Ding.

He Chuzhou: [/picture]

He Chuzhou: [The clouds are quite thin. I just checked the weather forecast. It’ll be sunny for the next two days, without rain.]

Pei Xi’s hands were covered in flour, and he really couldn’t type.

After a moment’s thought, he used a slightly clean finger to click on the voice input, submitted a message, and pushed send.

On the other side, aboard a plane at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

Yun Ji glanced at the person next to him and finally couldn’t help it anymore: “What are you doing? Someone who doesn’t know might think you’re reporting your itinerary to your wife!”

He Chuzhou glanced at him, his lips rising carelessly: “Managing your boss’s cell phone usage?”

Yun Ji scoffed: “Who wants to manage you? I just want to remind you that we’re on a two-day business trip and we’ll be back the day after tomorrow. There’s no need to be so eager to go back home. You’re in a hurry to meet your lover, ah.”

“How did you know my heart is speeding home?”

A voice message popped up on He Chuzhou’s phone after he finished speaking. The tips of his eyebrows rose slightly, and a delighted smile crept into his eyes.

He turned down the volume and pressed the phone against his ear, gazing contentedly at the thin clouds outside the window and the unobstructed view of the bustling city below.

Then he heard a cold, gentle, and somewhat helpless voice come through the receiver, and the smile on his lips gradually froze.

“Chuzhou, I’m busy learning how to bake cookies. If you have nothing to do, don’t keep sending me messages. You’re disturbing me.”

---

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Chapter 37 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 39

When visiting hours ended, Qiao Yang held Li Xiu back to talk for a long time at the small flower beds downstairs.

Qiao Yang wasn’t very old, but he was extremely verbose when it came to caring about Li Xiu’s life.

“It’ll be really expensive to go to the capital, won’t it? Prices are high there, and so are tuition and living expenses. The money I transferred you before was just a red envelope. Why did you return it to me? Really, you’re being too polite—”

Wearing a helpless look, Li Xiu desperately rejected the transfer again: “I’m not being polite. Jingbei University gave me free tuition for four years, and also provided me with other scholarships. It’s enough to cover my expenses for those four years, and I have money saved up from before. I really do have enough money.”

“That’s not the point. You’ll be alone in the capital and unfamiliar with the place. How can I feel at ease if I don’t give you more money…..”

Li Xiu softly scratched the tip of his nose and murmured: “I won’t be alone there.”

“Ah?”

“His university is right next to mine, so we can look out for each other.”

Qiao Yang gave a long “Ohhh,” and an interested smile emerged on his face.

“I understand. En, if Fang Qian’an is there, you really don’t have anything to worry about.”

When he met Qiao Yang’s gaze, Li Xiu felt a little inexplicably hot.

“It took a lot of effort to get that guy’s grades up. It wouldn’t be too much for him to act as a cow or horse to repay me. Having him help me familiarize myself with the capital’s environment and so on…..is already going easy on him.”

Qiao Yang nodded repeatedly: “Right, right, right.”

The young man glanced at Li Xiu’s face and gave a sigh, suddenly unhappy. “…..That wild boar is indeed too cheap,” Qiao Yang complained softly.

Li Xiu didn’t hear Qiao Yang’s words clearly, and was about to ask again when his phone rang.

When he saw the call screen, Li Xiu’s expression naturally softened.

Li Xiu’s voice was very casual when he answered the phone: “What is it?”

“How long has that guy been nagging you?” Came the boy’s hard voice. 

“Ah? How did you know I’m with Qiao-shixiong…..” Li Xiu was at a loss. In a flash of inspiration, he turned around with his cell phone in hand and happened to see a tall figure on the other side of the flower beds.

Fang Qian’an stood there, gazing at Li Xiu through the shade of the dense trees.

“Why are you here? Didn’t we say we’d meet at the station later?” 

Fang Qian’an put away his phone and strode toward Li Xiu.

“Hello, Qiao-shixiong,” he greeted Qiao Yang. Intentionally or otherwise, he stood between the two of them and then turned to face Li Xiu. “I finished everything in advance so that I could come and meet you early, but you’re focused on talking to others. I was standing here all alone, and you didn’t even see me.” The boy muttered as if in dissatisfaction, with a hint of grievance in his tone.

“I even brought you hot cocoa.”

Li Xiu scoffed and replied unceremoniously: “Clearly, you were standing in the wrong place. You happened to be blocked by a tree.” Then he took the cup of hot cocoa Fang Qian’an handed him and took a big sip.

“Wa, so tasty!” The youth’s eyes squinted happily. 

“Hiss, I can’t understand how you can drink something so sweet.” Fang Qian’an continued to watch Li Xiu. Although he kept complaining, his expression was extremely soft.

“Cough, cough.” Qiao Yang looked at the two adolescent boys who were unconsciously clinging to each other, and the indescribable lovey-dovey energy made his teeth ache. “…..Okay, since Fang Qian’an is here to pick you up, I’ll leave first,” Qiao Yang said with great self-awareness.

Before parting, he asked casually: “Where are you going to have fun later?”

Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an’s expressions were a little stiff for a moment.

After a few seconds’ pause, Fang Qian’an said calmly with a complicated expression: “I’m taking A-Xiu…..to see my mom.”

*

*

Mrs. Fang was in the final stage of her life. Years of life in a mental institution had completely drained the last bit of vitality from her body.

It seemed she was aware that she was about to leave this world, and the woman used various methods to beg Fang Qian’an to see her. But since he was aware of what she’d done in the past, it was difficult for Fang Qian’an to meet her.

The personal doctor who had been taking care of Mrs. Fang also called Fang Qian’an, and when he said that these two days might be Mrs. Fang’s last ones, Fang Qian’an finally made up his mind.

And Li Xiu also decided to go with him. He wanted to ask Mrs. Fang what she was thinking when she took the life of another innocent child for her own. Hadn’t she felt a trace of regret over the years?

Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an saw Mrs. Fang in the deepest ward of a luxurious private nursing home. She was completely different from the beautiful pampered woman in his imagination, and when he saw her, Li Xiu was a little scared — he almost thought he was looking at a ghost again.

How could a human look like this?

Like a living skeleton, the woman had sunken eyes. Her whole body was thin and frail, looking like a large handful of dry firewood wrapped in yellow skin where she was tied to the hospital bed.

She was indeed on her deathbed.

She had obviously been begging for her only child to see her one last time, but as Fang Qian’an stood in front of her now, there was only chaos in her eyes.

As she stared at Fang Qian’an blankly, a drop of gleaming saliva overflowed from her dry lips.

Her jagged chest heaved up and down, and it took a long time for her to squeeze out a few insensible murmurs from her dark throat.

“Sorry…..”

She looked past Fang Qian’an, as if gazing into an infinite void.

Even now, that voice was still full of fear.

“Spare me, Xuelin…..I’m sorry…..I was wrong…..I’m so sorry…..I was wrong…..”

Fang Qian’an lowered his head to look at the living skeleton on the hospital bed. He called hoarsely: “Mom.”

“Wuwuwu…..I was wrong…..it’s been so many years, please let me go…..it hurts so much…..I was wrong…..”

Li Xiu could feel Fang Qian’an’s slight trembling.

He turned his head to glance at the boy beside him and couldn’t help but gently stroke the back of the latter’s hand with his fingertips. In the next moment, his hand was grabbed tightly by Fang Qian’an.

“I’m grateful to you for giving me life, and I…..I hate you too.”

He heard Fang Qian’an say word by word to the woman on the bed: “You made me a sinner.”

Tears flowed from Mrs. Fang’s eyes.

Fang Qian’an took a deep breath, then reached out to help wipe the tears and saliva off of Mrs. Fang — but in the next second, Fang Qian’an abruptly retracted his hand and covered his face.

“I’m sorry, A-Xiu, I-I don’t feel very well.”

Fang Qian’an’s expression was extremely ugly, the muscles in his face jumping slightly as if spasming.

Before Li Xiu could respond, the other boy had hunched his back and rushed out of the ward.

Li Xiu instinctively went to chase after him, but after taking a few steps, he inexplicably stopped.

He turned his head to look at Mrs. Fang.

“If you hadn’t been tormented so much…..” Li Xiu returned step by step to Mrs. Fang’s hospital bed. Looking down at the woman, he murmured, “…..Do you still regret it?”

“Wuwuwu…..wuwu…..”

Mrs. Fang just opened her blank eyes and continued to sob.

She already looked miserable, but the perpetually soft-hearted Li Xiu looked at her with only indifference in his heart.

No, this woman didn’t regret it.

Although Mrs. Fang could no longer give him a response, Li Xiu already had the answer to his question.

“Heh…..”

He couldn’t help but sneer at the woman.

“I actually hope you live longer,” he said.

“It would be better to live a long life and continue to be tortured like this.”

When his words fell, Li Xiu turned around in preparation to go find Fang Qian’an. But at this moment, there was a sudden tight grip on his wrist — the woman who was senseless and haggard just seconds ago currently had a forceful grip on him.

“?!”

Li Xiu turned his head and met Mrs. Fang’s eyes in surprise.

The woman’s sunken eyes were glistening now, the blankness from before completely absent.

“D-Don’t be fooled.”

She stared at Li Xiu as she spoke.

“That’s not, not Xiao An.”

There was no longer madness on the woman’s features, only fear.

“I regretted it long ago. I regret it so much.”

With tears streaming down her face, the woman wildly repeated to Li Xiu:

“I killed my son. Do you know? I turned my son into a monster with my own hands.”

“That thing…..isn’t my son at all!”

*

*

In the nursing home bathroom.

Fang Qian’an splashed his face with cold water, but when he wiped his face, a stinging pain in the depths of his eyes made him gasp involuntarily.

“Hiss…..”

“Ouch,” the boy muttered with a grimace.

He moved closer to the mirror and peered closely at his throbbing eyes.

They were a little red, but there didn’t seem to be anything else…..

Just at this moment, Fang Qian’an abruptly realized that there was something wrong with his eyes.

He pressed his fingertips to his eyelids and opened them a bit to observe.

Then he saw the other pupils hidden behind his eyelids.

“Fuck me—”

The boy let out a scream and staggered back. The bathroom floor was slippery and he was about to fall, but his body stabilized in a bizarre way.

[“Be careful.”]

He heard a nightmarish sound.

And that voice…..came from deep within his own body.

[“A-Xiu likes this body very much.”]

[“Don’t break it, ah.”]

In that voice was an eerie gentleness.

*

*

In the ward—

He looked directly at Mrs. Fang.

“I know.”

The boy’s voice was eerily tranquil.

Mrs. Fang stared at Li Xiu with wide eyes. After a moment, her expression twisted.

The clarity in her eyes faded little by little.

Her lips rose and he said anxiously to Li Xiu: “You’ll be eaten.”

“It’ll eat you…..wuwu…..you’ll be eaten….”

Li Xiu ignored the woman’s whimpering.

Sunlight fell into the room through the window, casting light and deep shadows on the face of the handsome young man.

“Being alone on this earth with no help is so terrible.”

Li Xiu simply looked at Mrs. Fang. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and a smile appeared on his lips.

“So what if it’s a monster…..”

*

*

[It doesn’t matter if it’s a ghost.]

[It’s still his only family.]

[Gege.]

The End

---

T/N: That’s it for this short story! There are two more to go, but I’m going to catch up on my other translations before tackling them.

---

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Chapter 58 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 60

“A-Xiu…..”

Surrounded by ghosts, Lord Hong pressed his forehead to Li Xiu’s. At this moment, he looked almost like a genuine human being.

“Li Yu is not me, but I am Li Yu,” he said to Li Xiu word by word.

“I remember everything. I am here because of you.”

As he spoke, he smiled at Li Xiu. 

“I’ve always really, really wanted to be with you—”

Before Lord Hong finished speaking, he stopped abruptly because of a small fire rising in his chest.

He opened his eyes in confusion, first looking at Li Xiu, and then lowering his head to look at his own body. A bit of fire was spreading from the ghost’s heart, starting from a small cluster of bean-like flames that burned vigorously.

It seemed like only a second passed before Lord Hong’s body was enveloped in dazzling, scorching firelight.

“A…..Xiu…..”

It happened so fast that he couldn’t react.

Lord Hong reached his hands out to Li Xiu, but the flames rapidly engulfed his arms. A stream of hot air spurted out from the burning monster, almost scalding Li Xiu’s cheek.

In that moment, Li Xiu could only stand there blankly and watch everything happening in front of him, unable to make any response.

It was so strange, he thought.

How had the terrifying, powerful, monstrous Lord Hong suddenly burst into flames.

Then he saw the figure behind Lord Hong: There was almost no good piece of flesh left on Fang Qian’an’s body. Looking like a bloody gourd, the boy stood shakily behind Lord Hong, still holding a candle in his hand.

That was the candle Teacher Xu had given Li Xiu before. And right now, it had been lit.

Not long ago, when Li Xiu had reached out and tried to pull Fang Qian’an out of the blood, Li Xiu took the opportunity to secretly hand the candle hidden in his sleeve to the boy, who was about to be swallowed by monsters.

That was the last resort left by Li Xiu to Fang Qian’an.

If his gege was set on killing Fang Qian’an, perhaps Fang Qian’an could give Teacher Xu’s candle a try.

But Li Xiu never expected that Fang Qian’an would desperately return to the ghost world even after escaping. He had even found an opportunity to light the candle and poke it into Lord Hong’s body.

It was just obviously such a weak flame, ah…..

The flames quickly spread from Lord Hong’s body to the floor. The monster that had brought them endless pain was like cardboard soaked in oil, and was instantly engulfed in the hot, manic flames.

Amid the scorching, unnaturally bright firelight, Fang Qian’an shouted at Li Xiu: “Such a monster — don’t believe it, ah!”

Lord Hong’s body gradually became indistinct as it burned.

“Ge…..Gege?”

Li Xiu had to admit that he was scared. He subconsciously started to rush forward to slap the flames on Lord Hong away, but in the next second, an unseen force suddenly struck and pushed Li Xiu away.

Immediately after, Fang Qian’an also flew up and fell heavily near Li Xiu. His body rolled several times before it stopped.

“Fang Qian’an!” Li Xiu screamed, crawling over on his hands and knees.

He turned Fang Qian’an over and checked his breathing in terror…..although it was weak, the boy was still alive.

Li Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.

“You still like him more, ah.”

A hoarse sigh sounded. Li Xiu turned around with tears in his eyes, at a loss as he looked at the monster that was engulfed in flames — Lord Hong was like a burning human figure now. Behind him, countless twisted shadows roiled wildly, screaming as they were swallowed by merciless tongues of fire and dispersed.

“Ge…..n-no…..listen to me…..I…..”

Li Xiu shuffled a few steps toward Lord Hong on his knees. However, a scorching blaze suddenly erupted between him and Lord Hong, forming a long wall of fire. Another wave of heat hit, and Li Xiu fell backward uncontrollably.

The air began to grow extremely hot, and the pungent smell unique to burning wood and fabric billowed out, rushing toward Li Xiu.

“Forget it.”

Li Xiu suddenly heard a nearly inaudible sigh from Lord Hong.

He was gradually engulfed by the incredibly bright flames. At that last second before his figure completely disappeared, Lord Hong smiled.

Whoosh—

Then, the illusion before Li Xiu’s eyes abruptly dissipated.

Accompanied by harsh shattering sounds and the explosion of some unknown objects, innumerable flames sprung up around Li Xiu, emitting dazzling light. Thick smoke rose up, and everything around him was distorted by the heat. Li Xiu coughed and choked, just then realizing that he was standing in the Xiao family villa.

He’d actually returned to reality? Why?! Was the other party unable to confine Li Xiu in the other world because of the flames? Or…..revenge?

Countless thoughts passed through Li Xiu’s mind, but he had no time to think, because at that moment, the villa had become a complete inferno. The thick smoke and high temperature made it extremely difficult for Li Xiu to breathe. With every breath he took, his nose and lungs burned. Innumerable flying sparks landed on him, but Li Xiu couldn’t even feel the sting.

In the thick smoke, he touched Fang Qian’an’s body beside him, then pulled off his sleeve and tied it around the boy’s mouth and nose.

Li Xiu used all of his strength to walk Fang Qian’an toward where he remembered the door should be.

He muttered faintly: “Fang Qian’an…..you’d better……wake up quickly.”

Although he tried his best, his vision still grew uncontrollably blurry.

The fire and smoke was everywhere. Caught off guard by the fire, Li Xiu had inhaled so much smoke that he was losing his sight.

Was he really about to die now? Li Xiu thought desperately.

The overwhelming fear of death made him subconsciously hug Fang Qian’an. There was another roar as a wall of fire struck directly toward Li Xiu.

Li Xiu closed his eyes. He was unable to hold on any longer. Consciousness left his body.

But at the last moment before he fell unconscious, he vaguely felt something covering him.

It was wet and cold.

There was a strong smell of blood.

Was this an illusion?

Why was he seeing Fang Qian’an’s unconscious body split down the middle and then…..wrap around him……

Finally, darkness swallowed Li Xiu whole.

*

*

One year later — 

City A’s First People’s Hospital, in a special ward.

“Teacher Xu, I got the admission notice.” Li Xiu sat upright at the bedside, saying seriously to the man in the bed, “Qinghua and Jingbei. I finally chose Jingbei.”

He lowered his eyes and placed the admission notice in the man’s motionless hand.

Teacher Xu lay silently in bed, as if asleep. A life support machine beeped regularly beside his bed.

Qiao Yang stood behind Li Xiu, sniffling.

His eyes were a bit red.

“If Teacher could wake up, he would be extremely happy to know that you were admitted to Jingbei University,” Qiao Yang said to Li Xiu.

“En.” Li Xiu nodded.

In fact, his nose was also a little sore, but he didn’t want to cry again now. In order to conceal his emotions, Li Xiu turned his attention back to Teacher Xu.

The man had been in a vegetative state for a year. Each time he came to visit Teacher Xu, he would be unconscious like this. But Li Xiu had an inexplicable intuition. When he showed the admission notice to him today, the man’s face seemed more at peace and relaxed than ever before.

A year before, a fire broke out in the Xiao family villa and it was razed to the ground.

And Fang Qian’an and Li Xiu were found unconscious next to the inferno. Judging from the traces left behind, the two had just barely escaped while supporting each other. Considering the severity of the fire, it was a miracle that they were able to leave the villa alive.

It wasn’t that no one ever wondered why Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an had appeared next to the villa, and some also suspected them of starting the fire. However, after an investigation by the fire department, it was determined that the aging circuits of the long-uninhabited villa had caused the fire naturally.

Considering Fang Qian’an’s unique status and Qiao Yang’s appearance later on, no one investigated why Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an had appeared in the villa. The incident was brushed off.

Moreover, people’s attention at that time was indeed not allocated to an insignificant fire in an abandoned house. After all, the biggest news of the day was that, due to faulty construction methods, the tallest skyscraper in City A experienced a chemical reaction that occurred between the waterproof coating and fireproof material, which resulted in a serious chemical poisoning incident that resulted in a large number of innocent people being injured and hospitalized.

Yes, Teacher Xu’s disciple used this method to reasonably explain the zombie incident that night.

Later, Li Xiu learned from Qiao Yang that the living corpses in the building that night had all returned to normal.

“Teacher used talismans to seal their life veins…..so when the poison was detoxified at dawn, most of them were still able to turn back into humans. But it was precisely because of this that Teacher Xu was so weak that night.”

Qiao Yang wiped away tears as he explained this to Li Xiu.

After the Xiao family villa fire, all of the evil spirits that had originally occupied the haunted house were dispersed.

Xu Qinghe fell into a coma due to his life candle being lit, but luckily, perhaps because the candle didn’t burn out completely, or perhaps for some reason they didn’t know, Teacher Xu didn’t die, but fell into a deep coma.

However, it would take a long time to bring his lost soul back, so Teacher Xu was still in a vegetative state at this point.

Teacher Xu’s coma became a large stone weighing on everyone’s hearts.

But aside from that, everything seemed to be going in a good direction.

After the fire, Li Xiu never saw a ghost again. According to the news from spiritual practitioners, all the evil spirits sealed there had dissipated without a trace. The nightmare named Lord Hong seemed to have finally met his demise in the Xiao family villa.

---

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Chapter 57 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 59

Half a month later, the three returned to the capital in secret.

The simple carriage arrived at the back door of the General’s Manor late at night without alerting anyone else. Liu Qiao slipped in quietly by himself to tell Uncle Tian.

Uncle Tian received a shock upon seeing Liu Qiao. After all, Liu Zhenqing had often taken him in and out of the general’s residence. Even though Liu Qiao hid in the dark and had little sense of presence, as the manor’s elder, he had naturally met Liu Qiao many times and recognized him. “Y-y-you…..”

Liu Qiao handed over a token and said: “General Huo and Master are back.”

“What! Master!” Uncle Tian nearly shouted, but his throat felt like it was being strangled due to his shock, and he couldn’t utter a clear sound.

It felt like a lifetime ago, like he was dreaming, dreaming of Liu Qiao delivering a message on behalf of Liu Zhenqing and Huo Feihan. But looking at Liu Qiao, who had obviously grown up and matured, Uncle Tian still rubbed his eyes.

Seeing Uncle Tian like this, Liu Qiao remembered his master’s instructions: “He is the younger relative of my previous Master. The one I’m following now is Young Master Liu Xiaozhu.”

Uncle Tian’s shock was endless. After all, in the past, Liu Qiao and Bai Yu were synonymous with Liu Zhenqing, ah. But he quickly realized that Huo Fenglie was back, and was quick to open the door himself.

Huo Fenglie disembarked the carriage and nodded toward Uncle Tian as he approached. Before Uncle Tian could ask any questions, he turned and raised his hands to lift Liu Zhenqing down.

Huo Fenglie had been brought up by Uncle Tian, who naturally knew his second young master well. So when he saw the tender look on Huo Fenglie’s face, he understood in his heart. He had initially thought the two of them had that kind of relationship, but were hiding it. Sure enough, they went out and didn’t cover it up even once. Was this an honest and upright relationship?

Uncle Tian was a bit agitated, but at the same time felt that this was fate. Looking at Liu Qiao next to him, he felt even more so.

But noticing that Liu Zhenqing looked somewhat groggy, he asked in confusion: “What is going on with Young Master Liu?”

“He drank too much,” said Huo Fenglie.

“Ah? Uncle Tian was a little surprised, having thought he was sick or tired. But he didn’t say anything more when he saw Huo Fenglie start to carry him inside. He quickly followed, saying: “The Snow Catkin Courtyard hasn’t been cleaned up yet…..”

“He’s staying with me,” Huo Fenglie said directly.

Uncle Tian was stimulated again and swallowed the rest of his words.

“Is Sister-in-law here?” Huo Fenglie asked.

“She is back at Li Manor and will return tomorrow. Eldest Young Lady and the Young Master also went with her.”

Huo Fenglie’s serious face relaxed a little. “Understood.”

“Second Master, this time…..”

“I was ordered to return to the capital in secret and participate in the Longevity Festival,” Huo Fenglie said. “Continue to not allow anyone in or out of my courtyard. If you have any questions, contact Liu Qiao.”

Uncle Tian looked back at Liu Qiao, who nodded.

He was about to ask something else when he saw Liu Zhenqing move in Huo Fenglie’s arms. He placed his arms around Huo Fenglie’s neck and kissed his cheek: “Er-gou, drink again, drink again!”

Uncle Tian was shocked. The address ‘Er-gou’ was…..

He looked at Huo Fenglie with some worry. After all, there was only one person who had addressed Huo Fenglie that way. Now, even the Eldest Young Lady didn’t call him that anymore. The remaining person was a taboo in Huo Fenglie’s heart.

But Huo Fenglie allowed Liu Zhenqing to nuzzle his cheek, and continued his explanation as if this was nothing out of the ordinary. The feelings between the two seemed natural.

Uncle Tian was no longer shocked. He seemed to understand that Young Master Liu had not only caught the eye of the Second Master, but had also entered his heart, erasing the taboos and wounds therein. Uncle Tian was relieved.

When they got to the rooms, Huo Fenglie placed Liu Zhenqing on the bed. Uncle Tian procured hot water, and Huo Fenglie helped scrub Liu Zhenqing.

Seeing that Liu Zhenqing’s brow was furrowed due to excessive drinking, he asked Uncle Tian for hangover soup.

Liu Zhenqing was not cooperative when being fed soup. Huo Fenglie could only feed him by mouth, but the frivolous Liu Zhenqing was even more unscrupulous when drunk, and gradually turned feeding soup into kissing. But this time, Huo Fenglie didn’t go along with him, and pushed Liu Zhenqing away.

Looking at Liu Zhenqing’s drunken appearance, he couldn’t help but frown.

In fact, Liu Zhenqing’s new body got drunk as soon as he started drinking, which he clearly understood. But as soon as they entered the capital and headed toward the General’s Manor, he still found an excuse to drink and subsequently got drunk.

Huo Fenglie naturally knew Liu Zhenqing was afraid. This was the fear of returning home after a long time and not knowing what awaited him there.

They were together now and would be married in the future, so it was inevitable that he must recognize his sister-in-law.

How could Liu Zhenqing face Li Xingruo calmly? It could be said that the two people closest to Liu Zhenqing in this world were Huo Fenglie and Li Xingruo.

He tried to gain artificial courage by numbing himself with wine, but his guilty conscience got him drunk, and Sister-in-law wasn’t even home.

Huo Fenglie lay down with Liu Zhenqing and embraced him, knowing in his heart that if it wasn’t for himself, Liu Zhenqing really would have walked away. He wanted so desperately to escape everything in the capital. There were too many bad memories here.

“I’m sorry, Qing-ge,” Huo Fenglie murmured as he held him.

Liu Zhenqing had a very restless sleep. His dreams were filled with scenes of the three of them spending time together until he awoke in the morning.

He heard Uncle Tian’s voice outside the door.

“Second Master, the Eldest Lady has returned.”

Liu Zhenqing sat up slowly. Just like clockwork, he got up, washed, and changed clothes. When Huo Fenglie came in, Liu Zhenqing had already cleaned up like a gust of wind.

Huo Fenglie stared blankly, saying: “Uncle Tian went to tell Sister-in-law I’m back. We’ll meet with her later…..”

“Okay!” Liu Zhenqing’s tone was a bit rapid. He tried to relax his face and smile, but it remained tense.

Huo Fenglie stepped forward and hugged him. “Don’t be anxious,” he said.

Liu Zhenqing nodded stiffly and followed Huo Fenglie out.

But when they stepped out of the small courtyard and into the large one, just before passing through the peach grove, they saw a figure in red walking at a rapid pace.

“Master!” Liu Zhenqing was playing in a tree nearby, and shouted a warning as soon as he saw her. 

Liu Zhenqing also saw the red-clothed figure rushing through the peach grove like a ball of flames, approaching rapidly, and he could only stop.

The moment he saw Li Xingruo, his legs went weak. Because at this moment, Li Xingruo’s eyebrows were raised in anger, her eyes glaring. She generated wind where her feet passed, and the hairpin was about to fall out of her hair. This was just how she used to be when in a rage. The lady in her thirties was now like a twenty-eight-year-old girl, her anger and emotions all expressed on her face. Just like ten years ago.

The moment she and Liu Zhenqing met eyes, her fierce gaze mellowed. Her steps paused slightly, but in the next second, she approached even faster.

With such an expression, she had probably…..guessed something.

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes flashed, and before Li Xingruo got to them, he stepped forward to speak.

But Li Xingruo had already taken the lead to punch him.

The blow turned Liu Zhenqing’s face to the side, and he fell down. Behind him, Huo Fenglie instinctively started to move, but chose to stay where he was.

And faced with an angry Li Xingruo, Liu Qiao could only crouch in the tree and gulp, sending up a silent prayer for his master.

Liu Zhenqing was stunned by the blow, his head buzzing. It was as if he had returned to the past in an instant. He covered his face and automatically shouted: “Why did you hit me?”

“Shouldn’t you be beaten?” The furious Li Xingruo glared fiercely at Liu Zhenqing, her whole person like a firecracker. She stepped forward and grabbed his collar, raising a hand to hit him.

Neither of them knew martial arts, so Liu Zhenqing naturally blocked it with his hands. “You…..are still so violent, Tigress.”

“Say that again! Not only will I hit you, but I’ll poison you too!” Li Xingruo became even more enraged and raised her fist again.

Seeing that the situation wasn’t good, Liu Zhenqing immediately gave in and said: “I was wrong, don’t hit my face.”

Liu Zhenqing raised his hands to block her, but after a long moment, her fist still hadn’t fallen. He looked up to find Li Xingruo paused mid-swing, looking at him with reddened eyes.

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes flickered. “Junior Sister…..”

Li Xingruo seemed to be called back from somewhere by his voice. Her eyes went soft and she abruptly hugged Liu Zhenqing, uncontrollable tears falling down at last.

“Idiot! Why didn’t you say anything when you came back! Are you a fool?” Li Xingruo cursed, choking with anger. She gritted her teeth, hating him to death.

Liu Zhenqing sat on the ground as he was embraced by a weeping Li Xingruo. His eyes were also sore. He raised a hand and gently patted her.

“I’m sorry. Junior Sister…..I’m back.”

. . . . . .

The two siblings, Huo Yunci and Huo Yunqian, originally lived with their mother. When they heard that their Second Uncle and Liu Xiaozhu were back, they were so elated that they wanted to rush to find them. But their mother stopped them with a strange expression and said she would go alone first. They were not allowed to follow.

Although the two had rather different opinions, they still obeyed in the face of their mother’s absolute authority.

While they awaited news in the courtyard, they saw their mother bring them in directly. Before they could come forward to greet them, they watched in horror as their mother took Uncle Liu into the small Buddhist chamber.

The two couldn’t believe it. They never entered that place casually. Only Second Uncle and their mother could…..bewildered, they tried to follow after them but were blocked by their Second Uncle.

Neither of them bothered to say hello, but pointed toward the Buddhist chamber and chirped out questions.

“They’re offering incense to your father.” Huo Fenglie answered calmly. But he still turned to look anxiously at the small Buddhist chamber.

At this time, the door to the chamber was closed.

Liu Zhenqing stared blankly at the familiar tablet on the table. He used to come here often to talk to Huo Feihan.

It wasn’t only Li Xingruo who often did things like burn incense and wipe the memorial tablets. Liu Zhenqing did it too. It seemed like a way to communicate with Huo Feihan.

Liu Zhenqing touched the name on the tablet and said: “Boss, I’m back.”

“Don’t blame me for coming late to say hello, ah. You know me. I’m a coward.”

Li Xingruo scoffed when she heard this.

Liu Zhenqing looked over helplessly. Suddenly, his eyes glanced over the tablet covered with a cloth next to him, and he looked at Li Xingruo with some surprise. The rumors back then were a mix of truth and falsehood, and until now, Liu Zhenqing dared not speculate on what Li Xingruo thought about past events. Did she hate him like everyone else? And even if she didn’t hate him, there must be doubts in her heart. After all, he didn’t speak to Li Xingruo back then and just returned with Huo Feihan’s body.

But seeing this, he knew the answer.

Liu Zhenqing closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I broke my promise.”

Li Xingruo scoffed coldly. She knew that what Liu Zhenqing spoke of was his original promise to not sacrifice himself lightly and to take good care of his body and live a long life.

“I didn’t malign you. This was prepared after your death.” Li Xingruo lifted the cloth to show Liu Zhenqing. “You aren’t called by this name anymore, so how do you plan to deal with it?”

Liu Zhenqing thought for a moment. Then he gave an easy smile and said: “Keep it.”

“Ah?”

“In the future, it will be enshrined with the Huo family.”

“What did you say?!”

Liu Zhenqing looked seriously at the tablet, then turned to Li Xingruo and said: “Boss, Junior Sister, I have something to tell you. Something very important.”

Li Xingruo saw Liu Zhenqing’s serious expression and thought there was some major event in the dynasty. After all, in the past, he would only wear such an expression when it came to important matters involving life and death. She stopped pursuing the issue of enshrinement for the time being and asked, “What is it?”

Liu Zhenqing took an exquisite box out of his sleeve. Inside were two bright red pieces of paper.

Li Xingruo’s expression went abruptly blank. That was the paper usually used for marriage letters.

Liu Zhenqing placed one in front of the tablet and handed one to Li Xingruo.

“Apologies, ah, Er-gou and I have decided to be together. Boss, Junior Sister, leave Er-gou to me.”

Liu Zhenqing had no intention of letting Huo Fenglie bring it up first. He felt like he should be the one to gain the permission of Huo Feihan and Li Xingruo, so he took responsibility. If they had any dissatisfaction or resentment, they could put it all on him.

Presently, Li Xingruo’s eyes widened and she read over the marriage document seven or eight times.

“You…..you two…..”

“I won’t try to defend myself, but I really like Er-gou. So I plan to marry him and grow old together,” Liu Zhenqing said somewhat uneasily.

Li Xingruo wore a complicated look for a long moment. And then she burst into laughter.

She pointed a finger at Liu Zhenqing and said: “You…..you were actually caught by Er-gou, hahaha! Just as I said.”

She unexpectedly addressed Huo Feihan’s tablet: “Huo Feihan, what did I say? I won this bet. As expected, I’m still the best.”

“Ah?” Liu Zhenqing watched Li Xingruo’s reaction in astonishment. It was a bit unexpected. Although Huo Fenglie’s various reactions after Liu Zhenqing’s death had not escaped Li Xingruo’s eyes, this reaction was still wrong, ah. His eyes darted. “Could it be that you already knew…..”

Liu Zhenqing looked at Li Xingruo in disbelief. After all, he hadn’t known anything at all.

Li Xingruo wiped the tears from her eyes. He didn’t know if she was smiling or…..

“Yes, ah, I already knew.”

“How?”

Li Xingruo blinked. As if recalling a pleasant memory, she said: “On the drink Huo Feihan and I married, weren’t you having drinks together with a group of people?”

“Right, ah, they wanted to get Boss drunk. For the sake of your wedding night, I tried my best to intercept drinks for him. That was the first time I drank to the limit and fell unconscious,” Liu Zhenqing said.

Li Xingruo gave an angry snort: “You weren’t any use. Huo Feihan still got drunk and fell asleep. I had no other choice but to go and make sobering soup for you, and I found you sleeping on the rockery in the courtyard.”

Liu Zhenqing was momentarily speechless. “All those people, ah, and not one cared about me?”

Li Xingruo smiled and said: “There was someone there, ah. Wasn’t it Er-gou who took care of you?”

Liu Zhenqing stared at her vacantly.

“I saw Er-gou secretly kiss you. That’s when I knew.”

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes abruptly widened. He said in disbelief: “How old was he then, ah.”

Wait, could it be that he was Er-gou’s first kiss?

And his own first kiss had been stolen by Er-gou a long time ago?

Li Xingruo said with a smile: “The brat did such a bad thing. As his sister-in-law, I naturally had to file a complaint.”

Mouth twitching, Liu Zhenqing said: “So if Boss knew too, why did you hide it from me, ah?”

Li Xingruo averted her eyes, saying: “You were involved with so many women back then and had constant affairs. Although there were men who admired you, you weren’t that type at all. We just let the brat have a crush on you.”

Liu Zhenqing was speechless: “How could there have been any romance, ah?”

Li Xingrup clicked her tongue in disdain, and Liu Zhenqing immediately gave up fighting back. If there was anyone else in the world who could control him, it was Li Xingruo, his Junior Sister and Sister-in-law.

“Er-gou was still young at the time, so we didn’t take it seriously. We didn’t tell you so as not to ruin your relationship. It was just his first awakening of love, and he didn’t understand anything. Plus, your face really was indistinguishable between male and female. We thought Er-gou would get over it when he matured. We just treated it as a bet for fun. I bet that the two of you would get together. I watched Er-gou clinging to you since childhood, but Feihan said you were determined to marry the most beautiful woman in the world, so you definitely wouldn’t consider Er-gou.”

Liu Zhenqing hadn’t expected such a thing to have happened in the past. He was dumbfounded.

“Then…..you and Boss don’t mind…..”

Li Xingruo said with a contemptuous smile: “You fool, ah, actually asking us this. Besides, would you be able to let him go if we did mind?”

Liu Zhenqing choked. Naturally, that was impossible. He couldn’t let Huo Fenglie go no matter what. This was the first time he had wanted someone so strongly.

Li Xingruo smiled and said: “Although you weren’t very good at it, him being targeted by you proves that his life was destined for calamity, though there’s no need to worry about you hurting him.”

Liu Zhenqing was instantly displeased. What kind of words were these? 

But Liu Zhenqing was really relieved. He looked toward Huo Feihan’s memorial tablet and gave thanks.

He turned to Li Xingruo and found that she seemed to be regarding him with great satisfaction. Liu Zhenqing felt uncomfortable under that gaze.

“What is it?”

“You’re Liu Xiaozhu now. You’re still younger than me and you’re going to marry Er-gou soon, so from now on, you can only call me Sister-in-law, not Junior Sister.”

After so many years, Li Xingruo still wanted to argue about this. She had always resented the title ‘Junior Sister.’ 

Liu Zhenqing narrowed his eyes: “But Master still recognizes me.”

Li Xingruo’s eyes widened: “You two recognized each other?”

“Yes, ah, when we went south.”

“How many people know of your identity?”

Liu Zhenqing counted carefully. When he finished counting, he saw that Li Xingruo was already rolling up her sleeves for battle.

“W-what? Isn’t it just a name? In any case, nobody is going around calling me that casually, ah.”

Li Xingruo narrowed her eyes, saying: “Hmph, very good. You didn’t recognize me and Feihan when you came back the first time, but instead recognized a circle of people. We must be at the back of the queue.” After saying this, she addressed the tablet behind them and said: “How should I teach him a lesson?”

Liu Zhenqing instantly had a bad feeling and turned around to leave.

The curious twins outside the door watched as their mother chased Liu Zhenqing with her fist raised.

“Calm down, calm down, it just happened that way!”

“It just happened that way. Don’t worry, I won’t hit you too many times, just as many times as the number you ranked me. With Feihan’s share, it will be doubled!”

“Er-gou, save me!”

“Yunci and Yunqian, successfully stop your Second Uncle and I’ll give you three days off!”

When Uncle Tian came over, he found the courtyard bustling with activity. He watched it for a moment in a daze.

It was like they had gone back to the old days. When Liu Zhenqing made Li Xingruo angry, she would chase him around and beat him. And when Huo Fenglie went to help him without any principles, Huo Feihan was the one who had to step in and keep Huo Fenglie from Li Xingruo. Everything seemed to have stayed the same, but also changed.

. . . . . . 

In the palace, someone came to deliver a report. “Your Majesty, Huo Fenglie sent a message from the General’s Manor. He has arrived and is ready to be summoned at any time.”

Yuan Jue nodded, saying: “Let him rest for two days first. He’s worked hard running back and forth.”

“Your Majesty, there are also…..”

“What else is there?”

“There are some rumors about General Huo.”

“What rumors?” A little absent-minded, Yuan Jue raised his teacup to take a drink.

“General Huo is…..is engaged to Liu Xiaozhu, the young master of Liu Manor.”

Yuan Jue’s gaze froze, and the teacup in his hand became unstable for a moment. It swayed slightly before finally stabilizing.

Yuan Jue raised his eyes and said in a low voice: “Engaged?”

“That is what the rumors say.”

Yuan Jue set down his teacup and waved his hand. After everyone left, he slowly closed his eyes and leaned back in the Dragon Chair, slowly rubbing his jade thumb ring.

“Engaged? To someone other than Liu Zhenqing? Is it a substitute? Or is he sincere? How could he be sincere? How could he forget Liu Zhenqing?”

. . . . . .

At this time, the slightly drunk Liu Zhenqing hugged Huo Fenglie on the bed and rubbed against him. The person being rubbed against was growing hot, and the smell of wine was intoxicating. Huo Fenglie could only hold Liu Zhenqing down and make him rest well.

“Aiya, how annoying. This body can’t handle alcohol at all. I can’t even outdrink Sister-in-law now.”

Huo Fenglie heard this and wanted to laugh. Li Xingruo had taken advantage of the fact that the twins and Uncle Tian were around to first bring up the marriage contract and then force Liu Zhenqing to serve tea and call her ‘Sister-in-law.’ She also found continuous excuses to make him call her that, like a sister-in-law laying down the rules of the house.

As a result, Liu Zhenqing didn’t know how to react for a moment, so he just called her ‘Sister-in-law.’

“Sister-in-law also got drunk. She never drinks at home,” Huo Fenglie comforted him.

Liu Zhenqing turned around and held Huo Fenglie’s face with a malicious smile.

“What is it?” Huo Fenglie asked.

“Er-gou, who was your first kiss, ah?” Liu Zhenqing asked knowingly.

An unnatural look flashed across Huo Fenglie’s face.

Liu Zhenqing said with a smile: “Other than me, have you ever kissed anyone else? Let me start by saying you’re the only one I’ve kissed.”

Huo Fenglie’s cheeks were slightly red. At last, he said uncomfortably: “Qing-ge, there is only you. It’s always been you.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and pecked Huo Fenglie on the lips: “Very good.”

They had a wonderful night, their spirits were relaxed, and Liu Zhenqing didn’t cause too much of a disturbance.

Huo Fenglie breathed a sigh of relief and slowly stroked Liu Zhenqing to help him sleep.

Because they had returned in secret, it was therefore inconvenient for Liu Zhenqing to return to the Liu family. Naturally, only insiders could know about the engagement first.

But Huo Fenglie knew that soon, the entire capital would know about their involvement.

He still felt uneasy at the thought.

Gazing at Liu Zhenqing’s face, he murmured: “Now that you’re back, if you get close to that person…..will you have regrets?”

Liu Zhenqing was already asleep and naturally made no response.

Huo Fenglie’s eyes just darkened slightly. In the end, he hugged Liu Zhenqing and slowly fell asleep.

---

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Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Six

“Ge…..let him go,” Li Xiu pleaded in a soft voice to the monster before him.

Something seemed to flicker slightly in Lord Hong’s empty eyes, and he leaned toward Li Xiu.

Cold and wet, soft flesh and blood surged around Li Xiu, then slid into his mouth, nose, and ears like a mollusk…..also swallowing up Li Xiu’s desperate pleas.

A sticky sea of crimson blood thoroughly drowned Li Xiu’s consciousness. 

*

*

Dizziness.

When he woke up again, Li Xiu staggered. He subconsciously held onto the wall beside him and waited for a while as his eyes gradually focused.

What he saw put him at somewhat of a loss.

He found himself in a relatively antiquated hospital.

The long, narrow corridor was filled with the strong scent of disinfectant. The sky seemed dark, and the ceiling lights were old. Logically, it should be bright with so many lights, but the surroundings seemed dim to Li Xiu. Two doors faced each other every short distance down the corridor. The ward doors were tightly shut, and there were the faint, steady sounds of medical instruments running behind them.

Li Xiu was not alone.

People passed through the corridor occasionally, but if he looked closely, they all looked like illusions. The faces of the doctors, nurses, and patients were all blurry, and their clothing also looked slightly outdated.

“Where…..is this?”

Li Xiu stared blankly at everything before him. His body was still feeling of exhaustion from when he was completely enveloped by his “gege.” Nobody looked at the youth staggering in the corridor, and some people walked right through him.

Had he become a ghost?

This idea naturally occurred to him.

As Liu Xiu wandered about, he suddenly felt a cold sensation on his wrist. He lowered his head and encountered a face drenched in blood and swollen beyond recognition.

A thin child was standing next to him, wearing a bloodied T-shirt. A pair of red eyes were exposed between swollen eyelids as he stared at Li Xiu without blinking. There was a very serious injury on the child’s forehead, and a bit of white bone could be vaguely seen through the purple-red scalp.

He had stretched out his hand and taken Li Xiu’s wrist.

Terror pierced Li Xiu’s heart like a steel nail. Overwhelmed by fear, he froze in place like a wild animal illuminated by the high beams of a car — Li Xiu had no idea when this child had appeared next to him.

And during the time his brain was shut down, Li Xiu found that the child had done nothing but look at him silently from beginning to end.

Li Xiu suddenly remembered the past events told to him by Teacher Xu.

Li Xuelin, who was deceived and betrayed. The child with a miserable past, whom he should have called “gege.”

Li Xiu compressed his fear. Looking back at the child, he called his name.

“Li Yu…..Gege?”

His heart was still beating fast, but for some reason, after realizing that this child was most likely Li Yu, his panic gradually faded.

Li Xiu adjusted his breathing, and after a moment’s hesitation, he said to the child:

“I came.”

“I’ll stay with you from now on. Will you please let the others go?”

Although he didn’t know why he had inexplicably appeared in a hospital, since from previous experience, he would appear in the Xiao Family Haunted House, Li Xiu wasn’t too bothered. He seized this opportunity and pleaded with his “gege,” whose image had changed drastically.

But after hearing his words, Li Yu continued to stare at him expressionlessly.

“Quick, the patient is in urgent need of rescue—”

“This is bad, the patient’s heart has stopped—”

Just then, a rush of footsteps sounded in the corridor.

The wheels of a transport bed made a harsh scratching sound on the smooth floor. A group of people came in a hurry, rushing past Li Xiu and Li Xiu while pushing the transport bed.

Although it was only for a moment, Li Xiu clearly glimpsed the patient on the bed.

An emaciated child, his body a mass of bruises. His face was concealed by an oxygen mask, but it was clearly Li Yu, who was currently standing next to him.

Li Xiu stared at those retreating figures in shock, then turned his gaze back to Li Yu. 

Li Yu still didn’t speak.

The child, beaten so black and blue that he didn’t look human, noticed Li Xiu’s gaze. Slowly, he raised an extremely  thin hand and pointed at the emergency room at the end of the corridor.

Li Xiu followed the direction of his finger, thinking that he would come upon the scene of Li Yu’s death. But when he got to the emergency room, he found that the grievously injured child had miraculously recovered a stable heartbeat under the doctor’s emergency rescue.

It was a miracle. Even Li Xiu, who knew nothing about medicine, could see that. Li Yu was horribly injured. And everyone around Li Yu, including the doctor who resuscitated him, had pretty much the same idea as Li Xiu. They looked extremely confounded upon seeing that the child’s vital signs had stabilized again.

“God, he came back? With these injuries?! Damn, Dr. Liu, you’re amazing!”

“This kid is truly blessed.”

“So lucky.”

Everyone involved in the rescue breathed sighs of relief.

But as Li Xiu looked at the scene in front of him, his heart palpitated. He remembered very clearly Teacher Xu saying that Li Yu had died after being sent to the hospital due to long-term abuse. But now, Li Yu had obviously been saved…..

“Wuwu…..Director Song, I really have no choice but to beg of you.”

Li Xiu suddenly heard the sound of crying.

Following the sound, he instinctively walked toward the waiting room. Very soon, he saw a young woman outside the operating room, along with a vaguely familiar man.

From Li Xiu’s perspective, he could only see the word “Song” written on the man’s nameplate.

At this time, he had his head lowered to look anxiously at the woman crying in his arms.

“It’s not that I won’t help you with this matter.” The man’s voice was very low, but Li Xiu could hear it clearly. “…..It would be fine if the child had died, but now he’s been saved. What’s more, asking for a double kidney transplant, d-do you want me to kill someone? It’s impossible for me to do such a thing.”

The woman’s back trembled slightly.

“I know, I’m aware of everything. But Xiao An is my child. I don’t want anything, just for his life to be saved and for him to grow up healthy and happy. That child is the illegitimate son of my brother. Li Xuelin died a long time ago. Don’t worry, no one will investigate, and I’ll handle the rest of the matter. And if something so big happens, the Ou family will definitely help — you saw the condition of that child when he was delivered. No one would believe that he survived. Even if he was temporarily saved, isn’t it natural for something to happen again later?”

“…..”

Seeing that the man wasn’t speaking, the woman immediately lowered her voice.

“Director Song, you know that I’ll do whatever it takes for Xiao An’s future. It doesn’t matter how much money you want, as long as you’re able to do this…..”

Director Song’s eyes flickered.

“Mrs. Song, this isn’t a matter of money. Li Xuelin was also my student. Asking me to do such a thing, how will I be able to sleep in the future—”

Mrs. Fang suddenly leaned toward the man’s ear and whispered a number.

Li Xiu saw clearly how after hearing the number, the hesitant man’s eyes lit up.

Intuition surged toward Li Xiu in a wintery wave. The truth that was about to be revealed made his stomach turn. Something cracked in his heart, causing every breath and every heartbeat to carry with it a sharp pang.

Soon, he watched helplessly as the child, who had finally crawled back from the brink of death, was secretly pushed into the operating room for the second time.

When the child was pushed out again, his emaciated body was wrapped in a body bag.

“No…..”

Li Xiu subconsciously went to stop in front of the corpse gurney, but at this moment, there was a weight on his wrist. He lowered his head and saw that the child was holding his hand again.

The scene in front of him changed abruptly. The blood-covered child and Li Xiu suddenly appeared in a sunny hospital ward with high-end equipment.

Li Xiu couldn’t look away. He saw Li Yu raise his hand — there were horrific unhealed wounds and corpse spots on that arm, and his blue fingertip pointed directly at the lively, cheerful pampered child on the hospital bed.

The other child had similar facial features but a completely different destiny.

Although the child was still very young, Li Xiu recognized him at a glance.

That child was Fang Qian’an.

“Mama!”

Fang Qian’an nestled in his mother’s arms.

“I still want to go out and play tomorrow!”

“You kid, didn’t you play outside for a while today? I’ve told you many times that you must take care of your health. When you fully recover, you can naturally play outside.”

“But I’ve been getting better for so long. You say that every time.”

The boy was still a little unreconciled.

The woman gave him a tender look, an uncontrollable smile spreading across her face.

“This time is different from before. You can really get better this time…..”

“Really?”

“Really, Mama promises. You’ll be fine in no time.”

“Wa, that’s great!”

Li Xiu’s body felt so heavy that it didn’t seem like his own.

Tears filled the youth’s vision, and the warm, harmonious scene in the ward was gradually submerged in blood. 

He understood everything.

“I’m sorry—”

He lowered his head to look at Li Yu.

The child’s appearance was still miserable, but when Li Xiu looked at him, he no longer felt afraid.

“I’m sorry, Ge…..I didn’t know anything…..”

“You’re so heartbreaking…..”

A bone-chilling coldness spread to Li Xiu from where their skin was touching. That cold was like an invisible quagmire that wanted to swallow Li Xiu whole, but even so, Li Xiu hugged the child tightly in his arms.

Tears fell from his eyes.

“Ge…..”

‘Li Yu’ raised his head in surprise to look at Li Xiu.

Thin, blood-stained fingers slowly touched Li Xiu’s face.

A tear fell on his hand, and he abruptly retracted it as if he’d been burned.

“A-Xiu.”

The scary child, who had been silent all this while, opened his mouth for the first time.

“A-Xiu-didi,” he repeated.

The child huddled in Li Xiu’s arms began to grow larger by increments. Soon, the thin, battered child transformed into a tall, terrifying monster.

Lord Hong raised his twisted arms and looked at Li Xiu. After a moment’s hesitation, the monster, a bit clumsily, hugged Li Xiu back gently.

“Don’t cry,” it said to Li Xiu softly.

“It…..doesn’t hurt anymore…..”

The monster wearing a paper mask carefully wiped away the tears in the corners of Li Xiu’s eyes.

Unconsciously, the posture between the two changed from Li Xiu holding Lord Hong to Lord Hong holding Li Xiu.

The weak boy simply fell obediently into the monster’s arms, as if he had finally become the property of this horrific, inhuman thing.

“A-Xiu—”

Within the flesh and blood-covered ghost, a hoarse roar suddenly sounded.

“Wake up!”

“Please wake the fuck up, ah!”

A figure struggled out, tearing apart pieces of stinking scarlet flesh to reveal a small section of their body.

Li Xiu trembled. Turning his head, he met Fang Qian’an’s bloodshot eyes.

The over 1.9 meter tall boy looked extremely thin and weak under the restraint of Lord Hong. Li Xiu could barely see any intact flesh on his body. He was covered in blood, with horrific wounds everywhere.

When he shouted at Li Xiu, he could even see raised veins on his forehead.

“That guy is a fraud – he’s not Li Yu at all!”

“Li Yu was swallowed up by it a long time ago! It’s just a ghost that stole Li Yu’s identity and memories!”

Perhaps because his injuries were so serious, or because he was so scared, Li Xiu saw that Fang Qian’an was crying as he shouted.

“Fang Qian’an…..”

Li Xiu automatically stretched a hand out toward him.

He grabbed hold of the other boy and tried to pull him up.

But in the next second, Lord Hong reached out from behind him and put his cold fingertips on his wrist, forcing him to let go.

The monster’s eye sockets were cavernous, its odor strong.

Its move to surround Li Xiu’s body revealed a desire for exclusivity that was visible to the naked eye.

The scene in front of him obviously collapsed Fang Qian’an’s remaining sanity even more, and the boy’s face twisted into a ferocious look.

“You fucking let A-Xiu go, ah! I was the one who stole Li Yu’s kidneys! I’ll give them back to you, just take them!” Fang Qian’an roared like a dying beast. “But A-Xiu doesn’t owe you!”

As he shouted, he fell to the floor and struggled desperately to crawl to Li Xiu.

“A-Xiu doesn’t owe you, he’s always treated you as his brother! How can you leave him in such a hellish place! How could you be willing to make him stay with a thing as disgusting as you—”

How weak Fang Qian’an looked struggling in this world controlled by ghosts, ah.

Li Xiu saw Lord Hong lift his fingertips slightly.

Innumerable rotting, deformed ghosts that had been wandering in the darkness for an unknown length of time suddenly appeared around Fang Qian’an. Their cold bones seized the boy and were about to drag him into the darkness again…..

“I don’t want this!” Li Xiu screamed.

He clamped his hands in a death grip on Lord Hong, cold, slender, nailless fingers.

“Please don’t hurt him, okay? Ge, I’m begging you…..” Li Xiu whimpered.

“I’ll go with you. I’ll go voluntarily. I’ll go to that world and be with you forever.”

Lord Hong stared deeply at Li Xiu.

Li Xiu had cried until his vision was blurry.

“You let Fang Qian’an go.” The smell of blood filled the boy’s throat as he spoke.

“You let him…..he…..he’s my only…..friend.”

“Ge, don’t make me sad, okay?”

There was a long silence that seemed to last forever.

Then a sigh came from the depths of Lord Hong’s throat.

Fang Qian’an found that his surroundings were becoming a little hazy.

“Li Xiu, don’t be crazy—”

The former school bully let out a broken scream.

“I don’t care about you saving me. Who the hell do you think you are? I don’t care—”

The boy’s rough, strangled cries finally vanished into the darkness.

Li Xiu stiffened. Breathing heavily, he looked in the direction Fang Qian’an had disappeared.

He looked at that spot for a long, long time, until there was a spot of coldness on his face. Li Xiu shuddered when he realized that Lord Hong’s fingertips were touching it.

Lord Hong wiped the tears from his face.

“Is A-Xiu happy?” Lord Hong asked softly.

Li Xiu looked back at him. After a long silence, he raised a shaking hand and lifted the paper mask off Lord Hong’s face little by little.

…..There was no sight of indescribable rotting teeth or erratic red eyes.

Under the perpetually blood-soaked mask was the face of a young man. Pale cheeks, very dark eyes, and thin, sharp lips.

There was something familiar in those facial features, because he actually looked somewhat similar to Fang Qian’an.

If Li Yu had survived, this was what he would look like.

Lord Hong met Li Xiu’s gaze, then lowered his eyes and whispered:

“This is the first time you’ve seen me, but I’ve seen you since a long time ago. A-Xiu-didi.”

“At that time, Mama wanted to take me back to Grandmother’s house. I saw you downstairs.”

Li Xiu’s pupils narrowed slightly.

“Grandmother took you to learn to walk, but you were always unsteady, falling all the time. You looked really pitiful.”

Lord Hong caressed Li Xiu’s cheek. The distance between the two grew closer and closer.

“Mama hid in the corner with me and watched for a long time. Then, she took my hand and left.”

*

*

Many years ago, in the old alleyway.

The haggard young woman had a pallid appearance. Clutching the child in her arms tightly, she turned with difficulty and walked toward the outside world step by step.

“Mama?”

The young boy looked at his mother in confusion.

“I want to play with my didi. Mama, you said I would have a new didi when I meet Grandmother.”

As he thought pretty child just now, the boy’s eyes filled with anticipation.

“He’s so pretty, but so stupid. He can’t even walk well. Mama, when the time comes, I’ll teach my didi how to walk! That way he won’t cry all the time…..Mama? Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry, Xiao Yu.” The woman suddenly leaned down, saying word by word, “We’re not going back.”

“Ah? Why? Why, ah? Mama, but I want my didi—”

Seeing that the child was about to make a fuss, the woman hugged him tightly.

“Shhh, don’t make trouble. Xiao Yu, listen to Mama. Did you see your didi? It’s hard for your didi to walk, right? So he needs a lot of care.” As she spoke, the woman’s initial hesitation turned to firmness. She explained seriously, “Mama will be very busy in the future, so busy that she won’t be able to stay by Xiao Yu’s side. But Grandmother is getting older. If you’re sent back to your grandmother’s house, she will only be able to take care of you, and not your didi. If you go back, your didi might be sent away.”

The woman stroked the tender child in her arms and took a deep breath.

“That would be too pitiful for him, wouldn’t it, Xiao Yu?”

“Even if Xiao Yu loses his Mama, he still has his daddy…..but your didi has no relatives except for Grandmother. So Xiao Yu should go live with his daddy, okay?”

The boy pursed his lips, tears glistening in his eyes.

“I don’t want to go to my daddy, I want to play with my didi—”

The woman smiled.

She said soothingly: “It’s alright, when Xiao Yu grows up, he can come and play with his didi!”

“Really?”

“Really. If Xiao Yu likes his little didi so much, his didi will also like Xiao Yu very, very much.”

---

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Chapter 56 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 58

It had rained all night, and the weather did not improve as nighttime departed.

The early morning sky was gray and blustery, the clouds passing by quickly. There was no telling if it would continue to rain.

Pei Xi came out of the study to the living room, holding a notebook. He Chuzhou was resting on the sofa, watching the weather forecast.

When he saw him approaching, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and give him a questioning look.

Pei Xi sat down across from him without a change of expression. His notebook computer was placed firmly on his lap, his back straight and his temperament elegant: “The study is too stuffy. I came out to get some fresh air.”

He Chuzhou didn’t question him, and was so pleased that he turned down the volume of his phone.

Pei Xi: “Don’t mind me.”

He Chuzhou: “Huh?”

Pe Xi: “The noise won’t affect my concentration.”

As if in fear that He Chuzhou wouldn’t believe him, he added: “I don’t like working in an environment that’s excessively quiet.”

He Chuzhou didn’t know what to think when he heard this. His expression was a bit surprised.

Pei Xi calmly looked away, typing a sequence of keys on the keyboard.

A heap of gibberish was born.

Popular knowledge: when a person felt embarrassed or guilty, they would try to appear busy.

As expected, He Chuzhou believed what he said and adjusted his phone to a medium volume. He read the weather forecast and then started a game.

Pei Xi didn’t play games, nor did he understand them. He didn’t know what He Chuzhou was playing, but as it happened, if He Chuzhou’s focus was on the game, it wouldn’t be on him.

He silently raised his eyes, his gaze drifting across the computer screen to He Chuzhou again.

He had always known that He Chuzhou was good-looking, otherwise he wouldn’t have become famous in the circle as soon as he returned to China.

It was just that he was too indifferent before and too prejudiced against him, so he was dazzled when he saw his face now.

When had he started to become pleasing to the eye?

Asians had unique deep eye sockets and specific appearance advantages. They always looked lazy and gentle, with a clearly visible good temper, never angry and without a care for troubles.

He Chuzhou had once asked him before if he would take advantage of and responsibility for just anyone he mistook for his husband.

Now, he suddenly wanted to ask He Chuzhou if, no matter who had the memory disorder, no matter who was sitting here today, would he possess such inexhaustible thoughtfulness and patience, able to entertain that person all night long?

His wandering thoughts withdrew when his eyes lingered on the other person’s lips. His eyelashes immediately trembled.

He Chuzhou was halfway through the game when his teammate suddenly turned on the mic. In a very obnoxious voice, he scolded everyone except for the female players following him.

He Chuzhou clicked to take a look at his record. As it happened, among those few people, the one with the worst record was the one cursing others. All the female players around him had to be ranked second.

What was the point of this?

Forcefully trying to gain respect after failing to lead the girls?

Trash behavior.

He Chuzhou turned on his mic: “Brother, what did you just say? I didn’t hear clearly, you spoke too fast.”

After speaking, he clicked the built-in ‘record’ button.

The trash talker responded to the request by cursing again, exactly the same as the first time. It could be considered a sort of innate skill.

He Chuzhou sincerely praised him, then shut off the recording and filed a report.

This game was the latest one developed by a studio owned by He Group, and was dedicated to providing players with the most comfortable gaming environment.

The trash talker was unlucky enough to meet a big boss who was casually inspecting the game environment. Unsurprisingly, this account and all accounts under the same ID would no longer appear in the game for the next two weeks.

Trash Talker: “Who’s this fucking weirdo? This noob was lucky to kill a few fucking people. You must think you’re fucking awesome, right?”

Trash Talker: “Didn’t you fuckers join Laozi’s fucking party?”

Trash Talker: “You guys are all just horses and oxen. Didn’t you see I was fighting against four? How about using your fucking skills to grab some kills?”

Trash Talker: “Bunch of idiots with only morons in their household registration book!”

……

He Chuzhou’s teeth ached from the noise.

One of his teammates was so angry that he turned on his mic and started to argue with the guy. He Chuzhou happened to raise his eyes, and didn’t expect to meet Pei Xi’s.

“Am I disturbing you?” he asked.

“No.”

Caught off guard, Pei Xi quickly withdrew his stunned gaze from the other’s lips and stared at the computer: “That kind of person…..don’t pay too much attention to him. He’s a waste of your time.”

The trash talker was still spewing passionately and indiscriminately: “Who do you think you are? Don’t you know how many people I’ve killed in this game? That you’re not even worthy to carry my shoes?”

Trash Talker: “Where was number 6 just now?! Lao Six, if you have the ability, come and fucking challenge me. You owe me for those kills!” 

The female character at the trash talker’s side was likely embarrassed, as she had quit the game early. The character showed as being offline.

A torrent of abuse was poured onto He Chuzhou for no apparent reason as he played, but he showed no sign of anger. Instead, his lips curved amiably and he sent a screenshot of the trash talker’s ID to the IT department.

“Forget it. My family member won’t let me waste time on you.”

“But Brother, I advise you to cherish your last game. Your account is about to be gone.”

“See you.”

Pei Xi was unaware that after He Chuzhou said this, the person on that account had been banned. The moment he heard the words ‘family member,’ he was immersed in the turmoil and chaos of war.

Pei Xi: [brus on djjdjc,….]

Xiao Gu: […..Ah?]

Xiao Gu: [President Pei, are you trying to say that a chicken pecking at a keyboard is better than the Media Department’s plan?]

Pei Xi: “……”

He Chuzhou didn’t have much work that day, and simply dealt with a few emails on his phone. His main task was to sit in the living room with his guest and work with President Pei for most of the day.

Of course, this was a task he had assigned to himself.

As expected, the sky didn’t clear up, and as soon as the rain ended, it started up again.

The weather forecast said that the cloudy, rainy weather would last about a week. As the temperature began to drop, there would be a slight improvement after this week.

Just as Pei Xi clicked on the last pending document, He Chuzhou’s phone rang.

He had switched games and was in a fight. It was inconvenient to exit and answer the call, so he turned on the speakerphone.

Wu Qing: “What are you doing?”

He Chuzhou: “Lying down.”

Wu Qing: “Not working, ah? So leisurely. Can I come over for a meal?”

He Chuzhou didn’t even think before refusing: “If you don’t have food, don’t come over.”

Wu Qing: “Too late, I’m almost at your door. Quick, open the door for me, I’m only in one layer of clothing and it’s really cold!”

He Chuzhou: “? ? ?”

He Chuzhou sat up with a whoosh. “Are you serious?”

Wu Qing: “What do you mean, am I serious? Doesn’t your family live on Tianshan? Quick, open the door.”

He Chuzhou looked up to find Pei Xi looking back at him. The two exchanged glances for an awkward moment.

Finally, Pei Xi broke the deadlock: “Let him in.”

He Chuzhou: “Are you sure?”

Pei Xi: “He’s your friend. There’s no need for you to delay your normal social interactions because of me.”

He Chuzhou got up from the sofa and ruffled his hair: “There’s something you should know. You met Wu Qing when you were confused before and now he thinks we’re in a relationship.”

He thought this would dissuade Pei Xi from letting Wu Qing in, but Pei Xi didn’t have much of a reaction. He just said with a nod: “Understood.”

Okay.

As long as Pei Xi didn’t mind, it didn’t matter.

Wu Qing hadn’t lied. He had indeed arrived.

As soon as He Chuzhou opened the door, he saw him leaping up to the doorstep, holding an umbrella as he muttered: “The weather’s so bad. The wind is so strong that the umbrella can’t keep the rain from hitting me, please let me in to warm up.”

He jumped into the house, letting out a long and cheerful sigh as the warm air enveloped him: “I’m alive — huh?”

He paused in the act of rubbing his hands, then looked at He Chuzhou, who was closing his umbrella as he came in: “You have a guest? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He Chuzhou considered this for a moment, then said straightforwardly: “Yeah, he doesn’t count as a guest.”

Wu Qing: “Ah?”

He Chuzhou: “He lives here.”

This was beyond Wu Qing’s expectations. Just as he started to ask which member of his family it was, the person on the sofa with his back to them turned around and nodded at him in greeting with an austere expression. 

Wu Qing: “…..?”

Wu Qing: “? ? ? ? ?”

*

*

“No way, you’re living together?”

“Brat, you’ve kept this a secret. It’s been so long, and you never said anything.”

“When did it happen?”

“Wait, it seems the two of you are married, so it makes sense that you live together.”

“I still haven’t settled accounts with you for having a flash marriage without telling me!”

He Chuzhou was cutting a fruit plate as Wu Qing hovered around him, talking non-stop.

He Chuzhou simply interrupted him: “Why did you come here all of a sudden?”

Wu Qing: “All of a sudden? Mainly because my dad chased me out very suddenly. I couldn’t help it.”

He Chuzhou: “Why did your dad chase you out?”

Wu Qing: “He told me to go work at the company. I didn’t want to go, so he kicked me out and stopped my card.”

He Chuzhou: “You came to my place for asylum, thinking I’d help you?”

Wu Qing waved his hand: “I’m already here. I’m going to Hawaii on vacation, and I’ll come back when the old man calms down. I fly out tomorrow morning.”

He Chuzhou grasped the key point: “So you want to sleep here for one night?”

Wu Qing: “Yes, ah. What kind of tone is that? I don’t wanna listen to you, I’ll just wear earplugs all night!”

“Don’t overthink it, I’m just asking.”

He Chuzhou placed the last of the cantaloupe onto the fruit plate and picked it up: “Get out. I’ll cook for you later. Don’t get in the way.” 

Wu Qing: “Got it.”

He Chuzhou set the fruit plate on the coffee table and Wu Qing next to him said jokingly: “Thank you, President He.”

He Chuzhou sneered at him as he placed a few toothpicks into the fruit. Then he gave a piece to the still busily working Pei Xi, who said: “Thank you.”

Wu Qing’s ears instantly perked up. He pulled He Chuzhou aside and whispered: “Damn, don’t tell me you married for business!”

He Chuzhou said he was crazy and went to the kitchen to cook.

Pei Xi’s hands slowed where they were typing on the keyboard.

Wu Qing shrugged and walked around the sofa to sit down. He popped a piece of fruit into his mouth and chewed a couple of times as he prepared to address Pei Xi.

But when he opened his mouth, the other party immediately closed his computer and stood up, going to the kitchen.

He Chuzhou saw Pei Xi coming over as he was washing vegetables. Thinking he had come to get something, he stepped aside and asked him: “What are you looking for?”

Pei Xi took a light-hued apron out of the top cabinet and looked up at He Chuzhou: “Turn around.”

He Chuzhou obeyed and turned to face him. 

Pei Xi raised his hands to put the apron around his neck, then wrapped the laces around his waist and tied them. The action looked akin to a hug.

Full of warmth, He Chuzhou’s heart moved slightly as he whispered: “What’s wrong.”

Pei Xi’s voice came from within his arms: “Won’t your friend think we’re too distant?”

He Chuzhou understood, and couldn’t keep the corners of his mouth from rising.

The open kitchen allowed those in the living room a panoramic view of the kitchen. Wu Qing sat there blankly, foolishly holding a toothpick in his hand.

Pei Xi fastened the strings and stepped away. Not looking up at He Chuzhou, he said simply: “Give me something to keep me busy.”

He Chuzhou gave him the easiest job — soaking dried mushrooms in a pot.

Of course, he had learned from his previous mistake and used a precise quantity this time.

When Pei Xi went aside with the dried mushrooms, he lowered his head and admired the floral apron he was wearing for a moment, then took out his phone and typed with one hand: 

He Chuzhou: [Hey, you have good eyes. Help me see if the bow is tied at the back.]

Wu Qing: […..? Damn you!]

Wu Qing: [Are you two just playing with me for fun? Fuck!]

Wu Qing: [I can’t stay here any longer! I want to change my ticket! I’m flying out at midnight tonight!]

He Chuzhou: [Ah, my friend, don’t. Stay for two more days. I’ll provide accommodations and a seafood dinner for you.]

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Pei Xi soaked a precise amount of mushrooms in a pot and touched the tips of his ears with wet fingers to physically cool himself down.

---

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Chapter 36 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 38

“So just in case, and I’m saying just in case, if I can’t return and show you the way tonight and you’re really taken away by Lord Hong, just light this candle.” Teacher Xu’s tone was extremely calm.

However, Li Xiu couldn’t relax at all after hearing these words. He just looked at the teacher before him with incomparable fear, an astringent feeling in his nose.

“Light it…..and then what happens? What happens next?” Li Xu asked.

Teacher Xu was silent for a moment when a smile suddenly appeared at the corners of his mouth.

That smile was different from anything Li Xiu had seen before.

The smile currently on Teacher Xu’s face was not gentle at all. It could even be said that it contained an unusual arrogant and unruly temperament.

The originally tranquil, weary middle-aged teacher seemed to gain a youthful air in this moment, as if he wasn’t afraid of anything.

Teacher Xu blinked at Li Xiu. “I don’t know either.”

“I don’t know at all whether I can survive against that thing.” The spiritual master briskly explained to Li Xiu: “But let me tell you, those dead old fellows from over a decade ago shouldn’t have worked so meticulously to deal with such a vicious thing. They should have answered viciousness with viciousness and fought with their lives.”

“How can a person be afraid of ghosts?”

Li Xiu’s eyelids twitched when he heard these words, and an ominous feeling immediately arose in his heart.

The candle Teacher Xu had given him just now…..what fueled it? 

As soon as he had this idea, the candle in his hand felt surprisingly hot.

He subconsciously went to give the candle back to Teacher Xu, but the latter didn’t give him a chance.

As Li Xiu was in a daze, the older man opened the car door and walked out with no expression on his face.

The fog was so dense.

The moment Teacher Xu walked outside, it was like he had been swallowed by a huge, terrifying monster.

His figure instantly vanished into the fog.

And those rigid, frightening figures staggered away from the car as if they had sensed something.

“Teacher Xu!”

Qiao Yang covered his mouth. Although he had no clear view, he continued to stare in the direction Teacher Xu had gone.

“……”

Li Xiu kept looking out the window.

Amidst the tension, Fang Qian’an suddenly shook Li Xiu’s hand and called out to him: “It’s okay, A-Xiu. Teacher Xu will be fine. Isn’t he really capable?” 

He was obviously so afraid of ghosts, but still tried to feign being calm and composed in front of Li Xiu. Although…..he wasn’t very successful.

In the passenger seat ahead of them, Qiao Yang chattered continuously.

“He’ll be fine, I can feel it.”

“Yes, ah, my teacher is very powerful.”

He seemed to be talking both to himself and the others in the vehicle.

“I’m not just saying that. Teacher Xu is the most powerful master I’ve ever met. I heard that he had a hand in another reanimated corpse suppression. He’s the youngest spiritual master. He only went to find a path this time…..just to find a path…..”

If Qiao Yang hadn’t been crying as he spoke, his self-comfort might have been a little more convincing.

Time seemed to stretch.

Just as Li Xiu was staring out the window, so anxious that he felt as if his nerves were about to snap…..

Clap, clapclap—

He heard brisk clapping.

Li Xiu and Qiao Yang sat up straight at the same time and shouted in great surprise.

“He’s right outside!”

“He should be at the cemetery entrance!”

The clapping soon started once more.

At this moment, Qiao Yang seemed to think of something and hurriedly urged the other two to get out of the car: “Q-quickly! Teacher must have spent a lot of spiritual power!”

“I don’t know how long Teacher can hold out in his situation. We need to go out. Remember what Teacher said, while you’re going forward…..”

Fang Qian’an and Li Xiu spoke in unison:

“You must not open your eyes.”

“Don’t open your eyes.”

Hearing these answers from the two, Qiao Jin forced a smile. Then he pulled off his tie, cut it into two pieces with his pocket knife, and handed them to the two boys in front of him.

“Tie them on,” he said. “It’s time to go.”

Qiao Yang watched Fang Qian’an and Li Xiu tie them around their eyes. Then, he hardened his heart and opened the car door.

When they got out, the thick fog heavily enveloped them. The figures looming in the fog slowly turned toward them and staggered forward.

Ding-ling—

Through the thick, humid fog, the ringing of the bells in the car could still be faintly heard, sending a chill down Li Xiu’s spine.

There was a turbid, moist odor in the fog, and Li Xiu felt like every breath he took was through a wet rag sticking to his mouth and nose. That cold and gloomy sensation seemed to penetrate into the depths of Li Xiu’s body through his pores.

Clap, clapclap—

He didn’t know why, but after getting out of the car, Teacher Xu’s clapping seemed to be much fainter than when they were inside. The sound of the wind, a thin wailing sound with unclear whispers, diluted and fragmented the clapping.

Li Xiu had to stop and listen hard from time to time in order to just barely discern the direction of the clapping.

After walking like this for a short while, he felt a slight movement on his shoulders.

[“A-Xiu, ah…..”]

[“Why are you walking with your eyes covered? Seriously, you’ll fall if you walk like this, ah…..”]

Li Xiu’s heart palpitated at the sound of his grandmother’s old voice.

[“How can Grandma feel at ease when you’re like this…..”]

Holding back tears, Li Xiu pressed a copper coin to the back of his grandmother’s cold, clammy hand.

Fwoosh—

Li Xiu seemed to hear something akin to rising flames. Immediately afterward, the shoulder that had become cold and stiff under the touch of his “grandmother” felt a burning warmth.

And the weight that had previously pressed on Li Xiu’s shoulder vanished in an instant.

Li Xiu sniffled, walking forward and quickly as possible along with that warmth.

Clapclap—

The clapping came from in front of him to the left.

But Li Xiu had only walked a few steps when he heard Teacher Xu’s anxious voice coming from the other direction: “Wait, Li Xiu, don’t go any farther!”

The youth paused in his steps.

A shiver ran through his body, and his stomach began to slightly clench.

“That thing is imitating my clapping! Li Xiu, come this way!” Teacher Xu continued.

The tie around Li Xiu’s eyes was soaked with the cold sweat slowly rolling down his forehead.

Li Xiu only remained in place for a few seconds. He resumed walking toward the front left, and felt something brush his cheek.

Something like…..hair.

“Li Xiu, stop! Don’t go any farther!”

“Lord Hong is in front of you!”

Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang’s voices came one after another.

There was a faint rancid smell in the humid fog.

Clap….clap….

Yet the clapping continued to sound from in front of Li Xiu.

Gritting his teeth, Li Xiu tried his utmost to avoid turning around.

Teacher Xu once said that you shouldn’t believe a word from this kind of “thing.”

The back of his neck was already sticky and itchy. Long, wet hair was all over Li Xiu’s neck like a living thing. When it was about to burrow into his collar — Li Xiu found an opportunity and flung a copper coin behind him with all his strength.

“Wu—”

There was a wail of pain, and the hair that had fallen upon him vanished.

Along with the panicked calls from Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang.

Li Xiu’s knees weakened due to his nerves, and he almost fell.

He knew that this time, he’d made the right call…..those sounds were not from Teacher Xu or Qiao Yang. But…..what about next time?

Would he be so lucky next time?

And would any of the others get confused?

Countless thoughts swirled in Li Xiu’s mind, but he could only bite the bullet and move forward.

He occasionally bumped into some “people” during this period. Sometimes he even sensed those things at the tip of his nose, staring at him with bloodshot scarlet eyes.

And every time, he would find a way to use the copper coins.

Every coin dispelled the ghostly sensation of being watched and entangled by the otherworld. 

However…..

The more Li Xiu walked forward, the more he felt like Teacher Xu’s clapping was gettering farther and farther away. How long would he have to grope through the darkness like this before he was free? Li Xiu had no idea. All he knew was that his original handful of copper coins was depleting the more he went forward.

As the coins dwindled, Li Xiu’s heart tightened with every step he took.

Clapclap —

Finally, when Li Xiu had only two coins left in his palm, he heard very distinct clapping.

This time the clapping was so close that it seemed to ring from just before his eyes.

Li Xiu’s spirits soared as he realized he was about to get out of the night fog.

But in the next moment, he heard a whisper.

The eerie male voice Li Xiu had heard countless times in his dreams sounded right next to his ear.

[“A-Xiu, why are you so disobedient?”]

Right then, there was a shooting pain in Li Xiu’s disabled right foot.

— Something had grabbed his ankle.

Li Xiu screamed uncontrollably, and due to his unsteadiness, he fell to the ground before he could throw a copper coin.

The last two coins rolled out of the youth’s palm.

“Wu—”

Li Xiu sucked in a breath of cold air and began to desperately search for them on the ground.

However, what his hands touched was a face that had long lost its elasticity.

When he touched it, he could even feel his finger accidentally penetrate an already empty eye socket.

The youth whimpered again in terror.

[“Li Xiu—”]

Song Cheng’s voice rang out.

Then came Wang Rongfa’s vicious cursing.

[“Little cripple. Keep running away if you have the ability—”]

Li Xiu’s knees softened as he felt something soft and boneless hang across his back, heavy and and wet.

Twisted knuckles dug into Li Xiu’s neck bit by bit, constricting his breathing.

Li Xiu’s blindfold fell off during the struggle.

The copper coins!

As long as he had the copper coins, he could drive these things away!

The desire to survive mixed with his intense fear, and Li Xiu could barely control his instinct to open his eyes and search for the coins.

But he still couldn’t find them. 

Was he….going to be trapped here?

Or would the evil spirits kill him directly?

A feeling of despair came over him like a tsunami.

“Help me…..wu…..”

Just when Li Xiu was about to give up and open his eyes, he was suddenly grabbed and pulled up from the ground.

“Don’t open your eyes! You idiot!”

A boy’s rough voice exploded in Li Xiu’s ears.

Right after, several copper coins were stuffed into Li Xiu’s palm.

“Take them and go straight forward! The exit is right in front of you!” Li Xiu heard Fang Qian’an shout.

The school bully’s voice was still as domineering as ever, but Li Xiu could tell that Fang Qian’an’s voice was shaking badly.

Everyone was blindfolded.

So how had Fang Qian’an known he had fallen?

Unless, after hearing his screams, he was stupid enough to tear off his blindfold and open his eyes.

Only then did he discover that he was in a desperate situation.

“Fang Qian’an?”

Li Xiu subconsciously reached out to grab the boy, but Fang Qian’an avoided his fingertips.

The boy shoved Li Xiu hard.

Li Xiu staggered a few steps and felt the air around him suddenly become lighter.

“Damnit! Fang—” Li Xiu also heard Teacher Xu’s voice. The other party seemed to call out to Fang Qian’an but cut himself off halfway. “Li Xiu, don’t stop. Hurry, move forward!”

He even heard Qiao Yang shout: “Li Xiu, why are you standing there? Come on, ah!”

Inexplicably, Li Xiu was sure this time that the people speaking were the real Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang, rather than ghostly imitations in the fog.

But Li Xiu couldn’t help but stay in place.

Li Xiu turned and opened his arms to feel around, shouting: “Fang Qian’an? Where are you? Did you get out?”

Fang Qian’an scolded him again: “A-Xiu, you idiot, I’m out! What are you still looking for, get a move on, ah—”

But Li Xiu didn’t leave according to Fang Qian’an’s demand.

“I’m sorry,” Li Xiu murmured to Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang, who didn’t seem to be far away.

“I’m really sorry…..”

He was panting violently, lines of physiological tears running from the corners of his eyes due to the extreme stress and fear.

“I can’t…..I can’t leave Fang Qian’an here alone. He’ll die.”

Then, Li Xiu opened his eyes.

There were two blurry forms right in front of him. Through the thin fog, Li Xiu could clearly see the wan faces of Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang. Teacher Xu’s face was distorted, as if he was still shouting something at him.

But Li Xiu heard nothing. Their faces only appeared for a moment before the thick fog surged in and completely obscured their figures.

Li Xiu let out a sob, shuddering as he turned around.

Then he saw Fang Qian’an’s pale gray face.

When he met Li Xiu’s gaze, Fang Qian’an’s eyes flashed slightly.

An extremely weak whisper fell from his gray lips.

“I fucking…..don’t need you…..to save me…..run away…..ah…..idiot…..”

“A-Xiu, run away.”

Then the luster in his eyes disappeared completely. 

The tall 1.9 meter boy’s body hung like limp dough from the fingertips of a looming red figure.

The monster’s face was blurry as it leaned forward slightly in the thick fog. There seemed to be a pair of real eyes inside the abyss-like eye sockets, staring intently at Li Xiu.

[“A-Xiu.”]

[“My A-Xiu…..”]

It reached out and held Li Xiu’s head.

And Li Xiu trembled as he faced it straight-on.

“Ge…..Gege.” With difficulty, Li Xiu spoke softly to the terrifying monster.

*

*

[“A-Xiu, ah, don’t be afraid.”]

[“This is your gege.”]

[“As long as you treat him as your gege, he will never harm you.”]

---

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Chapter 55 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 57

“Nonsense, over and over again.”

Just when the atmosphere inside the car became extremely stagnant, Teacher Xu sneered and threw the still yapping remains of the cell phone out of the car.

Afterward, he turned with a calm expression to look at the other three people in the car. He said evenly: “I’ve told you many times that this kind of ghost specializes in attacking the human heart. If you hear this type of ghost start to talk, you shouldn’t believe a word of it. It’s best to not even listen.”

He gestured with his hands a few times in the driver’s seat, seeming to calculate something.

After a few minutes, the wrinkles between his eyebrows seemed to loosen a bit.

“Tsk, shouldn’t that be right? The Martyrs Cemetery should be right next to us.”

Qiao Yang had relaxed momentarily after Teacher Xu spoke, but then he stared at the increasingly obvious “human figures” outside the window and asked in a panic: “B-but Teacher, how do we get there?”

Teacher Xu lowered his head and moved his hand, grabbing a paper cup from the glove box and pouring some wolfberry water into it. Then he dipped his fingertips in it and drew a few vague strokes on the top of the cup.

He rolled the window down and reached his hand out with the cup, pouring it around the car.

“Wuuuuuu….”

“Wuu….”

All of a sudden, the shadows that had gathered together receded significantly as faint, bizarre cries rose from the fog.

The bells in the car stopped jingling.

There seemed to be a faint wind blowing.

The originally thick and suffocating night fog also faded quite a bit with the wind.

“Look!” Li Xiu shouted in surprise.

Just as Teacher Xu had said, they were, in fact, not going in circles — the Martyrs Cemetery was actually not far from them at all.

At a glance, Li Xiu saw the black and white gates of the Martyrs Cemetery outside the car. Through a thin layer of fog, he could even spy the dimly-lit security booth on the other side of the gates, as well as the security guard inside who was playing with his cell phone.

“Hey! Over here—”

Qiao Yang also grew excited and shouted continuously toward the cemetery guard.

However, even though they were only ten meters apart, they seemed to be in a completely different world from the guard in the security booth. No matter how the people in the car called out to draw the other party’s attention, he still turned a deaf ear and focused all of his attention on the cell phone in his hand.

“Hateful!”

Qiao Yang was so angry that he could jump up and down. By the looks of him, he almost wanted to get out of the car and rush into the cemetery.

But at this moment, the disturbingly thick fog began to envelop them again, and the reassuring cemetery gates were once again hidden in depths of a churning, reddish fog.

Ding-ling—

The “human figures” that had vanished just now once again appeared in everyone’s field of vision.

The brass bells at the four corners of the car cabin rang once again.

Teacher Xu’s expression shifted slightly.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the handful of coins that had been hanging on the rearview mirror.

“Teacher?” When he saw what he was doing, Qiao Yang’s eyes widened in shock.

He seemed to know something that Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an didn’t, and immediately shouted in worry: “Wait, Teacher, like this—”

Teacher Xu clenched his hand into a fist and coughed twice. Before Qiao Yang could finish speaking, he quickly waved for him to be silent.

“It’s alright.”

“How can we get out of this situation unless we go all-out?” The man said in a profound voice.

Then he untied the copper coins from the fuzzy red string and, one by one, divided them into four groups and placed them in front of the windshield.

Li Xiu had always been adept at observing a person’s every word and emotion. Based on the few words exchanged between Teacher Xu and Qiao Yang, he keenly sensed a strange atmosphere.

He couldn’t help but ask: “Teacher Xu, what are you doing?”

“It’s nothing, just a means of saving our lives. Although they harm one’s vitality, they must still be used. Ai, this night is truly arduous…..”

He smiled bitterly as he spoke to the frightened youth in the back seat, then motioned for Li Xiu, Fang Qian’an, and Qiao Yang to hold out their hands.

Everyone was given a handful of copper coins.

They couldn’t tell what year the copper coins were from, but Li Xiu felt that these things were unusual when he received them. It was clearly just a small handful of copper coins, but they felt warm, even a little hot.

Moreover, each of those copper coins was so heavy that it made his hand hurt.

Seeing that everyone had received their coins, the older man explained word by word: “Cough, cough. Listen to me. We’re currently trapped in a ghost maze, and things are going to get very tricky. Because this time, there is indeed ‘something’ in the fog.”

“Right now, if we keep our eyes open and look outside, we will definitely be trapped in this hellhole,” Teacher Xu said, glancing at the thick fog outside the window.

“I only have one method at this point, though it’s not a solution…..I’ll get out of the car in a moment and explore the path. If I can escape, I’ll clap my hands from a safe place. So as long as you hear clapping, don’t hesitate to leave the car.”

“G-get out?”

“Get out?”

“…..”

Hearing that they were to get out of the car, let alone unlucky high school students Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an, even Qiao Yang had a hint of fear in his eyes. Teacher Xu saw this, and his tone was inevitably stained with a hint of solemnity.

“Yes, just follow my clapping when you get out of the car, and you should be able to walk out. However, there is something I need to tell you carefully — as soon as you get out of the car, you must close your eyes.” Teacher Xu spoke with unprecedented seriousness.

“When you get out of the car, there will be nothing to protect you. If you open your eyes, I fear that you won’t simply be disoriented by the ghost. Instead, you will be directly taken to the otherworld. If that is that case, you will be trapped in that hell with no way out.”

Although Teacher Xu tried his best to speak as calmly as possible, anyone could hear the grave tension in his voice.

Li Xiu glanced at Fang Qian’an and thought he looked like a cat with its fur puffed up.

“Walk with our eyes closed? What if the things in the fog get us?” Fang Qian’an said in horror.

The former school bully looked like a stressed out cat as he questioned fearfully: “Teacher Xu, didn’t you say that outside our car…..there are only ghosts?”

The youth’s voice trembled.

Li Xiu lowered his eyes and held himself back for a moment. But when he was finally unable to endure, he reached out and gently grabbed Fang Qian’an’s wrist.

He even suspected that Fang Qian’an was scared to tears.

“Fang Qian’an, listen to Teacher Xu,” Li Xiu said.

Faced with Fang Qian’an’s doubts, Teacher Xu calmly pointed at the handful of copper coins in everyone’s hands. “Isn’t that why I gave these to you? Don’t be afraid. If something does grab you, give them a copper coin and follow the directions I’ve given you.”

“When you get out of this haunted area, you will know when to open your eyes.”

“But before that, I must say again — do not open your eyes while you’re finding your way.”

Teacher Xu patted Qiao Yang after he spoke.

“…..Qiao Yang, if you all don’t hear me clap, I’ll have to rely on you.”

“R-rely on me? But I-I don’t know what to do…..wu…..Teacher…..”

Qiao Yang’s eyes were already filled with tears.

Obviously, the “path exploration” that Teacher Xu lightly touched upon was probably not as simple as the man said.

Teacher Xu said softly to Qiao Yang: “After all, you’ve learned so much from me,” Teacher Xu said. “I should actually be the one protecting you, but isn’t this a special situation? Classmates Li and Fang are both still students, and can only rely on you now. Xiao Qiao, ah, you still need to hold on.”

Qiao Yang grasped Teacher Xu’s hand.

When such a big man started to cry, his face was covered with snot and tears.

Qiao Yang spoke hurriedly: “I’ll do it, Teacher, or how about I go? If…..if finding the path doesn’t work, you can think of other methods.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Qiao Yang shuddered under Teacher Xu’s stern gaze. “With you wailing this much, it makes me feel like I’m really going to die. Qiao Yang, ah, do you really not trust your teacher? Besides, where can there be a teacher squatting in the back and waiting for the students to go into an array—”

When Teacher Xu was done speaking, he turned his attention to Li Xiu. His deep eyes inadvertently revealed a complicated look, making the already anxious youth even more fearful.

“Teacher Xu…..”

“Li Xiu, ah…..”

Teacher Xu concealed the deep thoughts in his eyes and suddenly got up, reaching out to pat Li Xiu’s head.

Then he flicked his wrist, and Li Xiu felt something else in his hand.

It was an ordinary-looking candle.

Li Xiu’s eyes widened at the candle in his hand, and his heart skipped a beat.

Of course he couldn’t regard this as an ‘ordinary’ candle. He remembered clearly that when he was trapped by Lord Hong…..it was his grandmother and Fang Qian’an who lit the ‘candles’ and brought him back to their own world.

“Wait. Teacher Xu, this is…..”

“Alright, don’t talk.” Teacher Xu lowered his voice and signaled Li Xiu to be quiet. “You are the youngest and your situation is the most particular. That Lord Hong has also been watching you, ah…..ai, there’s really nothing about your situation that can make me rest assured.”

The man said quietly: “But don’t be afraid, Li Xiu. Although your grandmother only learned a little bit, since she was able to raise that thing until now without any problems, she must have used some sort of special magic.”

Hearing this, Qiao Yang couldn’t help looking at Li Xiu.

Ah, yes.

Qiao Yang also recalled that Li Xiu had a special constitution.

Teacher Xu turned to the side and said word by word into Li Xiu’s ear: “…..You saw that when Lord Hong brought all those evil spirits before, we couldn’t do anything about them. You, and only you, can hurt them.”

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Chapter 54 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 56