Lu Zhixing pressed his lips together, and the light in his eyes dimmed. He reluctantly got up from the floor, looking unhappy even as Xi Yu led him by the hand.
He didn’t want to see his parents. He wanted to have little tufts tied in his hair.
Xi Yu naturally noticed Lu Zhixing’s dejected mood. He cupped his face and planted several haphazard kisses on him.
“Shall I tie your hair up again tonight?”
Sweet kisses landed on Lu Zhixing’s cheeks and the corners of his lips. The tension around Lu Zhixing’s eyes and brows softened. He rubbed his face against Xi Yu’s palm and gave him a shy smile.
“Okay~”
The corner of Luo Cheng’an’s mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes yet again.
The number of times he had rolled his eyes over the past few days had already equaled the number of times he had done so during several thousand years in the Heavenly Court.
He couldn’t be bothered to watch these master and disciple do whatever this was. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to see it. He left the room first.
Xi Yu gave Lu Zhixing a few more instructions, essentially telling him to stay by his side and not speak carelessly.
Lu Zhixing held Xi Yu’s hand, finding it soft and smooth. Unable to resist, he lifted it to his lips and kissed it. One kiss wasn’t enough, so he took the tip of Xi Yu’s finger into his mouth and sucked on it, filling his mouth with the fragrance of pear blossoms.
Xi Yu felt a tingling sensation shoot through his fingertips. He snatched his hand back as though electrocuted, then added, “When we go downstairs, you’re not allowed to kiss me or hug me. Just sit beside me. Understand?”
Lu Zhixing felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck him.
“But aren’t we married? You said we have to kiss every day.”
“That’s true, but only when it’s just the two of us. When other people are around, we can’t do that. These are very private things.” Xi Yu tried to reassure Lu Zhixing, inwardly admitting that he might have reprogrammed the child a little too thoroughly.
Lu Zhixing was now a blank sheet of paper. He knew nothing, and Xi Yu could paint whatever picture he wanted on it.
Xi Yu liked being close to Lu Zhixing, brushing cheeks and exchanging kisses, so he had coaxed Lu Zhixing into liking it too.
Now, however, things were becoming a little tricky.
“Then I don’t want to go.” Lu Zhixing took Xi Yu’s hand again. Like a clingy little puppy, he rested his head against Xi Yu’s neck, his canine teeth catching a small patch of soft flesh as he mumbled coquettishly, “I don’t want to see other people. I want to cuddle with Hubby~”
Lu Zhixing bit him gently. It didn’t hurt at all, but the damp saliva left behind was slightly sticky, making Xi Yu feel unbearably ticklish.
Xi Yu stroked his back, his heart melting into a puddle. He almost wanted to hide Lu Zhixing away forever.
Zhixi had never belonged to anyone else. He was simply his.
But in the end, reason won over this rather frightening thought. Xi Yu hooked an arm around Lu Zhixing’s waist.
“You’re not going to listen to me anymore?”
Lu Zhixing stiffened and slowly released the soft flesh at Xi Yu’s neck.
“I’ll listen to Hubby.”
“Oh, right.” Xi Yu patted his cheek. “You can’t call me Hubby either.”
Lu Zhixing froze in disbelief, as though he had suffered a devastating blow.
His mind was filled with the rules: when other people were around, he couldn’t kiss Xi Yu or cuddle with him. Now he couldn’t even call him Hubby.
Xi Yu watched as tears welled up in Lu Zhixing’s eyes. He looked so aggrieved that he seemed about to burst into tears at any moment. Although Xi Yu felt sorry for him, he shamefully found himself a little excited.
His obedient, easily bullied little disciple.
Xi Yu’s gaze slowly moved from Lu Zhixing’s watery eyes to his lips. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He pressed Lu Zhixing against the wall and kissed him, drawing him close.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart.”
If Lu Zhixing kept crying like that, Xi Yu was going to stop wanting to be human altogether.
Lu Zhixing blinked. The tears pooled in his eyes finally fell, landing directly on Xi Yu’s lips.
Xi Yu’s gaze darkened. He swept the tear away with his tongue, and it dissolved between their lips like a potent aphrodisiac, gradually dismantling the last of his self-control.
Xi Yu’s breathing grew heavier. Knowing that they might never make it downstairs if this continued, he struggled with himself.
Just one more kiss. One more, and then they would go downstairs, he thought.
He loosely cupped Lu Zhixing’s neck and closed his eyes.
Then, with a tremendous bang, the door swung open, completely shattering all the amorous thoughts swirling through Xi Yu’s mind.
“Mom, Dad, Uncle Lu, Aunt Jiang! Brother Lu really is here. If you don’t believe me, just look!” Luo Cheng’an announced as he barged into the room.
Dead silence.
Luo Cheng’an stared at the empty room.
“Huh? Where are they?”
Luo Yuan shakily pointed toward the corner.
“T-There…”
Luo Cheng’an had strode straight into the room without noticing the area beside the door. When he heard that, he turned around, his expression immediately freezing.
Xi Yu had Lu Zhixing, who looked on the verge of tears, trapped between himself and the wall as he kissed him. One of his hands was still gripping Lu Zhixing’s neck. Looking closely, one could even see moisture clinging to Lu Zhixing’s eyelashes.
It was quite a scene of someone forcing himself on another person.
Luo Cheng’an gritted his teeth.
“I truly never imagined you could sink to this level of shamelessness.”
Xi Yu released Lu Zhixing and instinctively began, “Listen to me…”
Lu Zhixing had already been startled by the sound of the door opening. Then, without warning, he found himself confronted with so many unfamiliar people. He had been frightened to begin with, and now Xi Yu had suddenly let go of him, leaving several steps between them.
Although the distance wasn’t actually that great, Lu Zhixing had grown accustomed to being constantly doted on during this period. He had never been treated so coldly.
He bit his lip, his voice carrying a soft, tearful whine.
“Hubby…”
All right. There was no need to explain anymore.
In fact, there had never been any need to explain in the first place. He really had been shameless.
Luo Yuan’s face had originally been livid, but the moment he heard Lu Zhixing call Xi Yu “Hubby,” his expression suddenly brightened. Lu Zheng, who had initially been watching the scene with amusement, looked completely different.
“What did you just call him?!” Lu Zheng shouted.
Lu Zhixing shrank back in fright, his beautiful face turning deathly pale.
Seeing this, Xi Yu immediately pulled him behind himself.
“He’s timid. Don’t scare him.”
Shen Qing and Luo Yuan exchanged glances. They both remembered how, when Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing had first announced their relationship on Weibo, Xi Yu had also protected Lu Zhixing by pulling him behind himself. Later, the two had fallen out, but now that Xi Yu was back, things seemed to have returned to how they had been before.
However, Luo Yuan’s entire outlook had undergone a dramatic transformation because of Lu Zhixing’s “Hubby.”
Luo Yuan slapped Lu Zheng, whose face had turned dark as iron.
“You’ve frightened my daughter-in-law!”
……………………
The words “daughter-in-law” turned Lu Zheng’s face from livid to the color of the bottom of a blackened cooking pot.
Meanwhile, his hopeless son was still hiding behind Xi Yu, clutching the hem of his clothes and looking like a helpless little bird sheltering beneath a much larger one.
Truly, some people were delighted while others were miserable.
Once Luo Yuan had calmed down, he very considerately ushered Lu Zheng and Jiang Shuhe out of the room. Before leaving, he even spoke gently to Xi Yu.
“Mom and Dad will wait for you downstairs. No rush, no rush.”
His gaze toward Lu Zhixing was especially affectionate.
“Xiaoyu, don’t bully little Lu, okay?”
Luo Cheng’an was also dragged out, but he returned shortly afterward.
Xi Yu immediately took off his shoe and threw it at him.
Luo Cheng’an caught it and tossed it back.
“You can’t blame me. Everyone downstairs was about to call the police. Since neither of you would come down, I thought I’d bring them upstairs first and calm them down. Who could have guessed you’d be so shameless? You still had to steal a few kisses even at a time like this.”
Xi Yu loathed the word shameless, but unfortunately, he had no way to refute it.
Luo Cheng’an had no idea how beautiful Lu Zhixing looked when he cried!
“Hubby.” Lu Zhixing pressed himself against Xi Yu’s back and spoke cautiously. “Did I cause trouble?”
Those people were outsiders. Xi Yu had told him that he couldn’t kiss him or call him Hubby in front of outsiders, but he had been too upset just now.
Even the slightest sign that Xi Yu was pulling away made him terribly, terribly sad. Lu Zhixing found it difficult to understand how his former self could ever have abandoned Xi Yu.
“It’s fine.” Xi Yu shook his head, looking into Lu Zhixing’s eyes, which were as clear as though they had been washed by water. His reflection could be seen in them.
Lu Zhixing was already in this condition, and no one knew when he would recover. Xi Yu had originally been struggling to figure out how to explain the situation, but after this little incident, it no longer seemed so difficult.
“Come on. I’ll take you downstairs,” Xi Yu said. “Now you can call me Hubby, and you can kiss me too.”
Lu Zhixing’s eyes lit up. All the reluctance he had felt about meeting those people disappeared instantly.
*
Xi Yu couldn’t tell them outright why Lu Zhixing had become like this, so he gave them a vague explanation. He simply said that Lu Zhixing’s soul had been damaged when he saved him, leaving his mind in a somewhat muddled state.
Luo Cheng’an added, “In other words, he’s become an idiot. We don’t know when he’ll recover.”
Xi Yu shot him a murderous glare.
Luo Cheng’an straightened his back.
He hadn’t said anything wrong! They really didn’t know when Lu Zhixing would recover!
The four middle-aged adults looked at one another in dismay. Finally, Jiang Shuhe called out in a trembling voice, “Xingxing…”
Lu Zhixing looked at her and grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
Jiang Shuhe’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Shen Qing let out a frightened gasp.
As the only person present who possessed magic, Luo Cheng’an subtly moved the fingers he had hidden behind his back. Only then did Jiang Shuhe slowly regain consciousness. Tears filled her beautiful eyes. She simply couldn’t bear such a devastating blow.
“Old Lu, Old Lu…” Jiang Shuhe leaned against Lu Zheng, her eyes blurred with tears.
Xi Yu bit his lip, feeling somewhat guilty. He was just about to speak when Jiang Shuhe choked out, “Cancel our tickets to the Maldives. Our son has become an idiot. We need to go back to work.”
Lu Zheng comforted Jiang Shuhe, but he still wasn’t willing to give up. He asked Xi Yu, “You really don’t know when he’ll recover?”
Xi Yu shook his head.
Luo Cheng’an said, “Maybe tomorrow, or maybe he’ll spend the rest of his life—Ow! Why did you hit me?!”
Xi Yu pinched Luo Cheng’an’s mouth shut.
“You talk too much.”
Luo Cheng’an glared at Xi Yu indignantly. He wasn’t even allowed to tell the truth! And the truth was that Lu Zhixing might recover tomorrow, or it might take a very long time—so long that everyone currently living in the mortal world would have passed away by then.
Lu Zhixing watched Xi Yu holding Luo Cheng’an’s mouth shut and frowned. His lips straightened into a line as he reached over to pull Xi Yu’s hand away. Then he rubbed Xi Yu’s fingertips with his sleeve.
Xi Yu let him do as he pleased before turning to Jiang Shuhe and Lu Zheng.
“But he will definitely recover.”
Soul damage was genuinely difficult to predict. It was possible that Lu Zhixing would recover after a single night’s sleep, once his soul had been properly nourished. It was also possible that he would need several hundred years to heal gradually. But he would definitely recover.
Lu Zheng looked at Xi Yu for two seconds before suddenly asking, “He became like this because he saved you, right?”
“He’s not an idiot.” Xi Yu frowned slightly. “His mental state has simply regressed.”