Xin Hexue’s bone structure was filled with a harmonious sense of beauty. Compared to the average adult man, his frame was narrower and leaner, which also made him appear more slender visually. There was barely a trace of excess flesh on his entire body, yet he didn’t look bony, instead, his slim muscles flowed smoothly along his figure, making his body feel soft to the touch yet full of tensile strength, with beautifully defined lines.
The ligaments in his thighs were very flexible, especially that time in the jade pool at Mount Buzhou, when those fair white legs had wrapped around his waist, trembling as they tightened…
Because of this improper memory, Hen Zhen’s breathing suddenly grew heavier, his senses and nerves fully roused.
The blood in his body surged with excitement, and the overheated flow in the chest was like magma gushing from a volcano.
The cold snake tail was like a ferocious beast that had lain dormant in the dark for years, waiting for the right moment to strike. Now it finally had its prey and suddenly coiled around the young man’s warm, long legs.
When the snake demon showed his original form, the scales on the lower half of his body glowed coldly, which was enough to make people go into shock and faint at the sight of it.
The long legs, bound by force and desire, had their underpants pulled halfway down. The soft flesh of calves and thighs was being rubbed and squeezed silently by the snake scales, leaving faint pink marks everywhere, like scattered blooming plum blossoms under the light, creating an especially decadent and vivid scene, full of color and life.
Then Hen Zhen flipped him over, bracing his arms on either side, completely trapping the young man beneath him on the bed.
His snake tail was cold, but his upper body burned with scorching heat, wrapping around the young man like a warm embrace in the winter night.
There was only the sound of heavy snow pressing down on branches outside the window and not a single human voice.
He lowered his head, his expression bordering on obsessed as he kissed the fair neck. Following the long curve of the tilted head, he gently pressed his fangs into the hollow of the collarbone, softly grinding and rubbing against it.
“Hen Zhen…”
The person beneath him trembled slightly at the lips. The shape of his lips was so beautiful, the lip bead in the center especially distinct. After being kissed, they swelled into a slight arc, like a spring dew teetering on the edge of a lotus leaf.
“Don’t…”
Hen Zhen didn’t sense anything unusual from the person beneath him, because the young man had always appeared overly nervous during intimacy. He just thought that the other party was too sensitive to pain.
Entrusting the body entirely to another person during intimacy could make the young man feel deeply insecure.
“Don’t worry,” he softened his voice as he spoke, gently stroking the young man’s back and feeling the slender lines under his palm. He tried to comfort him. “I will be gentle.”
He pried open the young man’s jaw. The sensation of their lips and tongues intertwining made his scalp tingle with pleasure, and electric currents ran wildly from his broad back straight to his temples.
He endured it so much that the veins on his forehead bulged, and large beads of sweat dripped from his temples down to his jawline. His broad shoulders and back held up the body beneath him, muscles silently tightening and exuding a heavy pressure.
“Hen Zhen…”
Even the breath on Xin Huexue’s tongue carried that uniquely cool, lingering fragrance, which felt especially seductive.
Their heavy breathing mingled, so chaotic it was hard to tell them apart.
Hen Zhen indulged in the feeling of being merged with each other. It made him develop the illusion that they were meant for one another, that he could pull Xin Huexue into his embrace and meld them together, into his blood and bones.
If not shattered completely, then they would never, ever be apart.
In the midst of Hen Zhen’s daze, he tasted a hint of bitterness.
It flowed down from Xin Huexue’s cheek and gathered at the edge of his lips.
What was that?
The slightly astringent taste was like a slap in the face and Hen Zhen suddenly froze in place.
He sluggishly raised his head and looked at the person beneath him.
Xin Huexue’s reaction was even more resistant than he had imagined.
It could even be called more than just fear.
The breathing was unusually rapid, making the thin chest rise and fall…
Hen Zhen hurriedly kissed the eyes covered in red silk. The red cloth was soaked and had turned a deep crimson. “What’s wrong? Ah Xue, are you very scared?”
‘Was he afraid of me?’
Hen Zhen slowly looked at his snake body.
The snake tail was large and thick, its scales cold and tight like a woven net, patterned with dark brown stripes, coiling and twisting around the young man’s fair skin.
He had originally thought the other party would definitely be afraid upon seeing it, but things weren’t as simple as he’d imagined. The young man’s fear of snakes seemed even stronger than that of the average person.
Hen Zhen quickly changed back into human form. He tightly hugged the person in his arms, his dark brown hair burying into the young man’s neck like a pine dog. “Alright… alright, I’ve changed back.”
The young man’s lips were pressed so tightly together they turned white, but the edges were flushed, clearly showing how much effort he had used.
Hen Zhen’s heart was in chaos. He undid the red silk cloth tied over the young man’s eyes.
The candlelight was quiet, the glow gentle. Most of the tears had been absorbed by the red silk, but when Hen Zhen untied it, a shimmering drop trembled out from the small, wet, clumped lashes. It slid down the corner of the eye, and fell onto the pillow like a trembling white jade pearl.
The young man turned his head away, eyes still tightly shut, his right hand gripping the quilt so hard that his knuckles turned white. Even the tightly pressed lips showed stubbornness.
His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper, “Don’t want…snake.”
Hen Zhen felt as if a hole had been punched through his heart. The cold winter wind from outside blew straight through that hole, making the wound ache with a terrible soreness.
“Okay, we won’t.” Hen Zhen pried the young man’s tightly clenched right hand from the quilt and interlocked their fingers tightly. He wanted to know why the young man was so terrified, but the young man’s current state was clearly one overwhelmed by emotional reaction. He gripped the hand tightly and gently kissed each knuckle, clumsily repeating his comfort over and over. “If you don’t like it, then we won’t. No more, no more.”
Xin Hexue lifted his thin, red eyelids, and the next moment, he grabbed Hen Zhen’s collar with considerable force until even his nails turned white.
It was as if he was suppressing some deep pain. He stared coldly at Hen Zhen and threatened through gritted teeth, “If this happens again, I’ll find a way to kill you.”
The harmless young man revealed his sharp claws and fangs.
Hen Zhen tensed his jaw. He raised Xin Hexue’s hands and placed them around his own neck.
“You can,” Hen Zhen said, his voice gentler than it had ever been in his life. “Of course you can kill me. After I make you angry, after I make you cry…”
Xin Hexue’s fingertips were guided to press against his protruding Adam’s apple.
Hen Zhen met his gaze without the slightest hint of a joke.
As if extremely annoyed by Hen Zhen, Xin Hexue shook free, turned over, and withdrew the look of a little cat baring its claws.
Hen Zhen carefully pulled the quilt up for him, tucking it in neatly before lowering his head to rest against the back of Xin Hexue’s neck, apologizing softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know…about your affairs.”
Hen Zhen had noticed long ago that sometimes Xin Hexue acted like he didn’t quite fit into this world. More often, when he turned to look back at him, Xin Hexue’s demeanor felt like that of an observer standing outside this world.
Even after they had done the most intimate thing between two people, he still didn’t know where Xin Hexue had come from, or where he was going. He knew nothing about Xin Hexue.
It felt like…
If Xin Hexue ever grew tired of him one day, then with just one turn of his back, and he would never be able to find him again.
He was like an abandoned dog, left behind to wander.
To avoid becoming that abandoned dog, he decided to take action.
The first step, he needed to steal back his real body from the An Ning Tower.
Hen Zhen wrapped an arm around Xin Hexue’s waist.
Xin Hexue had his back to him, so Hen Zhen couldn’t see his expression.
The delicate brows were pressed against his eyelids, and in the depths of Xin Hexue’s eyes, there was finally a flash of momentary relaxation.
It was a narrow win.
If not for the timely improvisation just now, he would’ve had to deal with the snake demon.
Xin Hexue paused and suppressed a subtle wave of nausea. Although he couldn’t see earlier, which reduced most of the adverse reaction, it still inevitably caused physiological dizziness and nausea.
Stupid snake.
——–
A day after, Hen Zhen took the initiative to leave for a while.
He didn’t tell Xin Huexue the reason and plan, but said that he was seriously injured before and needed to find a cave to hibernate and heal his injuries.
He would go to An Ning Tower to seize his original body but before that, he had to devour more monsters and demons to obtain spiritual power. This was the way of the path of slaughter.
But he would never let Xin Huexue know about such filthy, bloody business.
The Little Fish Bodhisattva only needs to sit high upon the altar, untouched by blood wind or rain.
Before leaving, Hen Zhen held Xin Huexue and gnawed at him like a dog.
The young man closed eyes in disgust and could only pretend to ignore the face-full of kisses that came one after another.
Out of sight, out of mind.
“Hiss.”
Hen Zhen bit the corner of his lip.
Xin Huexue frowned. “Don’t bite me.”
There was no blood, but a faint white mark remained.
The young man pushed away the head that was licking and biting all over his neck. “You’re not allowed to bite.”
“Don’t give me rabies.”
Hen Zhen didn’t reply, only grinned widely.
“Hiss.”
The young man winced in pain, his brows knitted together.
Through the polished, clear bronze mirror, he could see the teeth marks Hen Zhen had left on his neck, like a brand.
Hen Zhen kissed the corner of Xin Huexue’s lips in a soothing manner, his voice low and cold as if squeezed from between clenched teeth, “While I’m gone, you’d better not go looking for Bu Jincheng or that guy surnamed Zhou.”
“Otherwise, I’ll **** you hard and lock you to the headboard. That way, every time you open or close your eyes, you’ll only see me.”
The harsh words that came out of their Hen Zhen’s mouth were all bark and no bite, carrying no real threat to the person in his arms.
‘Wait…’
‘The man surnamed Zhou…’
Xin Huexue keenly caught the first clue from Hen Zhen’s words.
………
The capital was full of carriages and horses, the wheels of fine carriages rolled over the wide avenues, and valuable steeds neighed at every street and alley.
It was an auspicious sign of abundance, and though the temperature had dropped and the northern wind was cold, the bustling scenes in the city’s markets and districts remained unchanged, filled with the traffic of carriages and crowds of people coming and going.
The tavern banners fluttered high in the northern wind, soft tunes of singing and chanting flowed from the windows of opera houses, and honored guests gathered around stoves in the winter, sipping wine slowly.
The Imperial Academy had just ended its short vacation for the Start of Winter. Now, the next holiday wouldn’t come until the Cold Clothes Festival.
At this time of year, the capital had already welcomed many xianggong who came from all over to take the imperial exams, gathering with the students from the central official school of the Imperial College. Most of the xianggong had no officials in their families and couldn’t afford tuition, so they relied on their own understanding and studying in the mountains and temples.
The Imperial Academy had always been a place where many renowned Confucian scholars and Zen masters gave lectures. Besides self-studying in the inns where they stayed, many xianggong chose to sit in the audit seats within the Imperial Academy to listen to the lectures.
It was just past noon when the class ended.
A group of young scholars in white scholar robes walked out from the Jixian Gate.
Xin Huexue swept his gaze over the students. Of course, he didn’t plan to ask each and every one like looking for a needle in a haystack.
He was casting a fishing hook to catch a scholar.
He couldn’t remember how many poor scholars he had seen before, perhaps one of them had come from this group, and maybe one of them had seen him before?
Of course, this kind of method required luck.
But he was a koi. What he lacked the least was luck.
He stood under the banyan tree outside the Jixian Gate. This gate was the main entrance of the Imperial Academy, with the greatest flow of people coming and going. Standing there, he quickly attracted attention.
One after another, four or five students in the standard scholar robes of the Imperial Academy approached, shyly asking if he was looking for someone and whether he needed help.
Xin Huexue smiled and politely declined all of them.
Another student was about to come over to strike up a conversation when he was pulled back by a companion.
As a demon, his hearing was excellent, and he just happened to catch the two people’s conversation.
“Why did you drag me back? Didn’t you see that young gentleman under the tree seemed to need help?”
“Are you stupid?!”
“Why are you cursing me?”
“How long have you been in the capital? Have you ever seen someone that good-looking on a regular day?”
“No… no, I haven’t. So what?”
“Just look, it’s clearly one of those beauty traps…using beauty as bait to lure men. How much silver do you have in your pouch that you can afford to be scammed? Be careful or your father will beat your teeth out when you get home.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Haven’t you ever heard? It’s called… when something’s too strange, it must be a demon.”
Xin Huexue: “…”
Xin Huexue: “^^”
In a way, that was a pretty accurate guess.
From behind came a joyful voice, “Xin gongzi?”
Xin Huexue turned around and saw an unfamiliar face.
Ren Ke never expected that after parting ways in Shuzhou, he would be able to see Xin Huexue again. He stepped forward with great surprise and joy. “Xin gongzi, how come you’re here?”
Xin Huexue slowly blinked. “Do you know me?”
Ren Ke’s expression dimmed for a moment, but he quickly perked up again. “Don’t you remember me? I’m Ren Ke. Back when you and Master Du Zhi passed through Lijia Village in Shuzhou, you stayed at my home.”
Xin Huexue lowered his eyelashes. “I hit my head before and forgot many things.”
His eyelashes trembled slightly. Then he looked up at Ren Ke again, his expression carrying a bit of fragile confusion. “Ren gongzi, I just felt you looked very familiar… but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t remember…”
Ren Ke was already completely hooked just from the sentence “you look very familiar.”
“Xin gongzi, don’t worry. If you can’t remember, I can tell you everything from beginning to end.”
Ren Ke pieced together the story of the drought in Shuzhou caused by the drought demon.
Although Ren mentioned the drought, Xin Huexue could conclude that the other party was not the poor scholar in the script. The surname did not match and he did not find love value information from K.
This person was not even a target.
However, Xin Huexue still got important information from him.
He was moving with the monk called Du Zhi, and according to Ren Ke, Du Zhi was his senior brother.
The title of senior brother was probably an excuse to fool Ren Ke at the beginning, but the name of the monk was true.
He and Du Zhi solved the grave digging dilemma for Ren Ke and found the real grave of the drought demon. They burned the drought demon and the corpse it had inhabited and dispelled the ground in Shuzhou.
When Hen Zhen was explaining to him yesterday, he also measured the name Du Zhi.
However, in Hen Zhen’s mouth, he is a vicious and evil monk who will catch and kill little fish.
Xin Huexue: [Check Du Zhi’s love value]
K: [Du Zhi’s love value is currently 100.]
It seemed Hen Zhen was quite skilled at slandering his love rival.
Xin Hexue temporarily placed Du Zhi in the role of the great monk from the script, the very one who would later suppress him into the An Ning Tower.
However, since the love value was already full, there was nothing to fear.
The two of them chatted as they walked, passing through Daxiangguo Temple.
Daxiangguo Temple was the most famous temple in the capital, and it was always packed with worshippers, especially those coming to burn incense and pray.
For five days each month, it was open as a marketplace for the common people, serving as a kind of public square bazaar. It was very lively. Outside the first gate were vendors selling birds, cats, dogs, and rare beasts. Inside the second and third gates, one could find seasonal fruits, dried meats, bows and swords, and other daily goods. Along the corridor on both sides, nuns from various temples sold handmade pearl ornaments, hats, and collars.
The crowd was overwhelming, moving shoulder to shoulder.
The back corridor was a mix of all sorts, with most of the fortune-tellers and diviners setting up shop there. Whether accurate or not, that was up to the people’s hearts to decide.
An elderly man dressed in Taoist robes stroked his long beard and held a bagua disk, his white eyebrows arching higher the more he listened. From time to time he nodded, sometimes slapping his knee. Standing before him was a tall monk holding a long string of agarwood prayer beads. His head was lowered, face expressionless, quietly recounting something.
Passersby couldn’t hear their conversation and simply assumed it was a monk and a fortune-teller debating Buddhist scriptures.
The old man’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. He was the most accurate matchmaker-fortune-teller in the area, had been rooted in the capital for many years, and was acquainted with this young great monk from Taichu Temple.
The old man: “You’re telling me, after that young man did the pleasurable deed with you, he ran away. And when you found him again, he was doing the pleasurable deed with another man? And before all that, the very first time you met, that young man was already doing the pleasurable deed with another scholar…?”
He fumbled over the words “pleasurable deed,” almost twisting his tongue into knots.
Du Zhi’s expression remained calm. “…Mn.”
The young man had once taught him that kissing was the most pleasurable thing under heaven.
Having heard something so scandalous, the old man wiped his sweat and trembled as he asked, “What…what do you want to know?”
Du Zhi said calmly, “Since you are a fortune-teller, and knowledgeable in matters of fate and love…”
Du Zhi lowered his gaze for a moment and asked, “Then how can I make him change his mind?”
The old man cried out, “Master, you’ve been blinded by love! You’ve been tricked and spun around in circles!”
Du Zhi fell silent.
After delivering a long-winded analysis, the old man had to pause and catch his breath from old age, but Du Zhi’s gaze drifted past him, swept toward the crowds outside Daxiangguo Temple and…caught a glimpse of Xin Hexue’s back.
Du Zhi turned back and quietly said to the old man, “He didn’t trick me… spin me in circles.”
