Lu Zhixing said this as he rubbed his face against Xi Yu’s.
Lu Zhixing’s body temperature was a little lower than Xi Yu’s, so when they held each other like this, the difference in temperature was especially noticeable.
Xi Yu felt a little uncomfortable—not that it was unpleasant, but Lu Zhixing’s presence was simply too strong.
And besides…
A man’s body did not always obey his will. With Lu Zhixing touching him like this, he was once again…
Xi Yu looked at Lu Zhixing somewhat numbingly. Seeing the light shining in his eyes, he raised his hand and gave his face a neither-light-nor-heavy slap.
“Doing it on purpose?”
Lu Zhixing blinked, caught Xi Yu’s hand, and kissed his palm.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Xi Yu was so amused that he was angry. He ground his teeth, really disliking the feeling of being at a disadvantage.
He looked at Lu Zhixing for a while, then suddenly reached out and hooked an arm around his neck, saying quietly, “Big Brother is so handsome. Can I give Big Brother a kiss?”
Xi Yu imitated Xiaoyu’s tone of voice, but his own voice was hoarse. His face was flushed, his neck and shoulders were covered in scattered red marks, and the corners of his eyes carried an incomparable, seductive beauty.
Lu Zhixing’s body stiffened.
Xi Yu was satisfied. He shook Lu Zhixing, who was biting his ear.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you going to let me kiss you or not, Big Brother?”
Lu Zhixing’s mind was a complete blur. Being called “Big Brother” again and again by Xi Yu made him seem almost dazed. His hand around Xi Yu’s waist tightened several degrees, and he answered hoarsely and indistinctly, “Yes.”
He immediately leaned in to kiss him.
Xi Yu’s waist was weak, and his legs were weak too. Once he had gained the upper hand, he was satisfied and stopped. Pressing his fingertips against Lu Zhixing’s chest, he pushed him away.
“Suddenly I don’t want to kiss you anymore, Big Brother.”
Lu Zhixing was pushed away. He could tell that Xi Yu was genuinely tired, so he did not dare to approach rashly. But he was truly suffering, and his handsome, peerless face had become flushed from holding himself back.
Xi Yu remained unmoved and even turned over.
Lu Zhixing stared at the back of Xi Yu’s head. After a while, he wrapped his arms around Xi Yu from behind, looking aggrieved.
“You’re just bullying me.”
“Yep,” Xi Yu said. “So what if I am?”
Lu Zhixing was left speechless.
After remaining silent for a long while, he suddenly bit down on Xi Yu’s earlobe.
Xi Yu sucked in a breath of cold air and turned around, his expression turning cold.
“You’re getting out of hand.”
Lu Zhixing said nothing either. His long, narrow phoenix eyes stared straight at Xi Yu.
Then they grew redder and redder.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Xi Yu hurriedly stopped him. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry.”
Lu Zhixing slapped Xi Yu’s hand away and abruptly turned around, giving him his back.
“I don’t need you to care.”
How could Xi Yu possibly not care?
He hurriedly tried to coax him, but Lu Zhixing simply shed silent tears and refused to pay him any attention.
Xi Yu wanted to touch him, but his hand was intercepted halfway. Xi Yu immediately felt at a loss. His eyes accidentally swept over the plum blossoms painted on the screen, and inspiration suddenly struck.
“Lu Zhixing, a red pear-blossom flower crown.”
Xi Yu took out the flower crown he had made by combining several hair ties from that street vendor that day and waved it in front of Lu Zhixing.
“I’m giving it to you.”
Lu Zhixing had his back to Xi Yu, while Xi Yu was lying behind him, so he did not see the brief moment of stunned disbelief in Lu Zhixing’s eyes when he saw the flower crown.
Lu Zhixing looked at the flower crown. His heart, which had been burning hot like freshly smelted gold, seemed to have been dropped into hot water, letting out a sharp sizzle.
“This is…” Lu Zhixing took the flower crown. “For me?”
“Yeah.”
He had originally wanted to give it to Lu Zhixing yesterday, but he had turned his head and forgotten about it.
In the past, whenever he made someone cry, he would use little things to coax them.
He did not know whether the current Lu Zhixing still liked pear blossoms.
He probably did. After all, just now he had refused to pay any attention to him no matter how he tried, but now he was finally responding.
“Do you like it?” Xi Yu asked.
“I like it.” Lu Zhixing held the flower crown and murmured, “I really like it. This way of weaving it is the first time I’ve ever seen it.”
Xi Yu was already tired, and saying those few sentences made him even more exhausted. He yawned.
“This was… taught to me by someone else.”
“As long as you like it, just stop bothering me.” Xi Yu closed his eyes sleepily. “Go to sleep.”
Xi Yu was too sleepy to notice that Lu Zhixing’s hand holding the flower crown had gone white from how tightly he was gripping it.
Red pear blossoms were rare. Now that several layers had been stacked together, the flowers were clustered densely together and looked exceptionally beautiful.
Only after the breathing behind him had become steady did Lu Zhixing slowly turn around, repeatedly thinking about the two words Xi Yu had just said:
Someone else.
This method of weaving the flower crown was something he had taught his master back in the Ninth Heaven.
He knew how to weave them himself, but he had insisted on pestering his master to make them for him because he simply thought his master’s looked better.
Later, other spirit beasts liked them too. Whenever they found an opportunity to beg his master to use the red pear blossoms from Lanxing Hall to make flower crowns, he would beat them away.
He had acted spoiled and shamelessly pestered Xi Yu until his master agreed that he was not allowed to weave them for anyone else, and could only make them for him.
His master had clearly promised him that.
But now, the same kind of flower crown had been given to someone else.
Although it had been given to him, it was not the same.
His master did not know.
How could his master give something that belonged only to Zhi Yue to Lu Zhixing?
What right did this identity, Lu Zhixing, have?!
He was nothing more than a tool for his master to vent his desires. What right did he have to receive this flower crown?!
Lu Zhixing’s chest heaved as he stared at Xi Yu’s sleeping face with bloodshot eyes.
He wanted to shake Xi Yu awake and question him in the identity of Zhi Yue.
Why had he given the memories that belonged to the two of them to someone else?
Had he truly forgotten Zhi Yue?
Had he really forgotten the things he had said?
Had he already become so happy in the mortal realm that he had no desire to return?
Or…
Lu Zhixing did not dare think about it.
Or was it that his master thought that he no longer had that disciple anymore, and therefore believed that all their promises were null and void?
After all, his master really had said that he no longer had this disciple.
When his memories had been extracted, he could never forget the icy, bone-chilling look in his master’s eyes.
At that time, he knew his master had done it for his own good.
Later, after recovering his memories, he had also been certain that if he could strip away the demonic aura before his master discovered it and pretend that nothing had ever happened, then the first thing his master would do upon returning to the Ninth Heaven would definitely be to repair his memories.
But now, he was no longer certain.
Could it be… that his master had never intended to restore his memories?
Could it be… that his master no longer wanted him?
……………………………..
The next day.
When Xi Yu opened his eyes, he saw Lu Zhixing propping his head up and staring at him without blinking.
Still drowsy, Xi Yu rubbed himself against Lu Zhixing’s neck.
“Why did you wake up so early?”
Lu Zhixing said nothing. He wrapped an arm around Xi Yu’s waist and placed a gentle kiss on his head, his eyes dark and gloomy.
His entire being was caught in an extreme contradiction.
He had begun to hate this identity of Lu Zhixing.
This identity had taken away things that should have belonged to Zhi Yue.
But it was also precisely because of this identity that he could now be this close to his master.
He hated it, yet he could not refuse it.
Xi Yu rubbed against him for a while before finally crawling out of Lu Zhixing’s arms. His eyes became clearer. Seeing the dark circles beneath Lu Zhixing’s eyes and the blood vessels in his eyes, he slightly furrowed his brows.
“Didn’t sleep well last night?”
“I had a nightmare.”
Xi Yu paused.
“Then sleep a little longer.”
“No. I can’t sleep.”
The red pear-blossom flower crown had been placed beside the bed. As long as Lu Zhixing looked at it, he could not sleep peacefully.
He wanted nothing more than to destroy it, to grind it into dust.
As long as this thing existed, it was constantly reminding him of the fact that Zhi Yue could be replaced in Xi Yu’s heart.
Lu Zhixing’s heart was overgrown with weeds.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Luo Cheng’an stood inside Lu Zhixing’s room, silently staring at the empty bed. His eyes were cold as ice.
That fox-like seducer. Even after coming to Wutong Stronghold, he still hasn’t restrained his habit of seducing people.
After a while, Luo Cheng’an finally walked out of Lu Zhixing’s room.
The moment he turned his head, he came face-to-face with Xi Yu, who was stretching.
Xi Yu asked Luo Cheng’an, “What were you doing in Lu Zhixing’s room?”
“Calling Lu-ge to eat.” Luo Cheng’an said, “A burly man came over with breakfast just now. He also told us not to wander around today.”
Xi Yu gave an “oh” when he heard that.
Wutong Stronghold was extremely unusual today.
It was deathly quiet, without the slightest sound.
After eating breakfast, Xi Yu used resting as an excuse to send Luo Cheng’an and Lu Zhixing back to their rooms. He then activated his invisibility technique and went out to wander around.
The usually lively marketplace was completely empty now, and the doors of Qingfeng Tower were tightly shut.
There was not a single demon or human on the road.
Xi Yu felt that activating his invisibility technique had been a complete waste.
He found it boring and eventually returned.
At noon, a rabbit demon came over to deliver food. It did not say a word, simply leaving the dishes behind before walking away.
When the moon rose, Xi Yu instructed Lu Zhixing and Luo Cheng’an to rest in their rooms.
He set up a barrier around his own room, transformed into a mosquito, and flew into the Holy Son’s Hall.
The Holy Son’s Hall was in the most remote part of the estate. It was not particularly difficult to find.
Xi Yu flew into the room and saw Fu Ye holding Sang Biao, his expression gentle and peaceful.
Sang Biao comfortably yawned and lazily closed his eyes.
After a while, Fu Ye stood up.
Xi Yu landed inside his wide sleeve. He watched as Fu Ye walked around the screen in the room and reached out to twist the candlestick on the wall.
Immediately afterward, the walls moved apart in all four directions, revealing a large but dimly lit secret chamber.
Inside the secret chamber stood dozens of “people” Xi Yu had seen before.
They had no heartbeat and no breath, and their faces were dull and expressionless.