Zhuge Qi seemed stunned by his words. For a moment, he didn’t understand what Fu Sang meant. He simply stared at him with wide eyes, looking bewildered.
Just like that, he missed the best opportunity to escape.
Fu Sang thought that he wasn’t completely unreasonable. He had left Qi Changying enough time to push him away and rush out through the door. Unfortunately, this person reacted too slowly and failed to seize it.
Fu Sang also thought that Qi Changying would most likely refuse his proposal. After all, he had experienced a similar situation back when he was a ghost. Qi Changying was very resistant at that time, thinking Fu Sang had gone too far. He sulked alone and avoided him for several days. Later, he slowly compromised because his life and livelihood were entirely in Fu Sang’s hands.
It didn’t matter if he refused. It wouldn’t affect him in the slightest.
After all, he liked seeing the other person lower their head under his step-by-step pressure, clearly unwilling but still forced by him to submit.
He liked controlling the other person’s choices.
He liked seeing the humiliation on his face and liked seeing him cry. It made him feel that this person was completely under his control.
Unable to wait for Zhuge Qi’s answer, Fu Sang couldn’t help raising his hand and gripping his chin again. He tilted his head up and kissed him.
This kiss was much gentler than the previous one. It was no longer as forceful and brutal as laying siege to a city. Instead, it was more like a form of soothing as he carefully tasted his lips, little by little.
For Fu Sang, this sensation was actually rather novel.
The touch was no longer cold. Fu Sang could feel his body temperature and the warm breath he exhaled when they drew close.
He could feel his heartbeat, strong and rapid, pounding in his chest.
In addition, there was even the same faint fragrance of lilies as a thousand years ago.
The fragrance lingered between Fu Sang’s lips and teeth, spreading around him and soaking into his very soul.
Before seeing Zhuge Qi yesterday, Fu Sang truly believed that he had lost Qi Changying.
This person should have turned to ashes a thousand years ago. It was only because Zhuge Suli forcibly kept him behind that he wandered the human world alone for a thousand years.
Whether he had become a ghost, been sealed away, been released, or later been forced to remain by Fu Sang’s side like some kind of pet, none of these had been choices Qi Changying had made of his own free will.
He probably wanted to leave long ago, to leave both this world and Fu Sang, but the disaster at the Cui Xing Gate gave him a legitimate opportunity to leave. No matter how heartfelt, righteous, and dignified his words sounded before he left, Fu Sang didn’t believe them. All he saw was his departing figure, walking away without looking back, and his determination to leave.
If death was a form of liberation for Fu Sang, then how could it not be the same for Qi Changying?
Even setting all that aside, there might still be a chance of survival if it was an attack or an accident. But how could a ghost that chose to sacrifice itself and gone to its death so resolutely possibly have survived?
And yet, this was exactly what happened.
What was more, the person standing before Fu Sang now was not merely a remnant soul that had luckily found a way to survive. He was a warm, tangible, living person.
Fu Sang didn’t know exactly what happened.
He could only make a rough guess based on what others told him. Perhaps the Zhuge Qi he saw before, or rather, the Zhuge Qi of the first twenty-one years, was merely an empty shell without a soul. After Qi Changying’s death a thousand years ago, the Zhuge family found a way to forcibly keep that body behind in order to steal his fate.
Those people wanted Qi Changying’s life, but they couldn’t obtain his soul. So they resorted to this despicable method, using his body to forcibly retain his fortune within their own family, making him remain in the ancestral shrine day and night, unable to take even half a step outside.
Then, eight days ago, when Qi Changying entered Cui Xing Gate, something unexpected happened. The Crimson Evil abandoned his body as a fierce ghost and offered himself as a sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, but he didn’t die completely. Somehow, by a twist of fate, he found the body that had been left behind. His soul finally found a place to return to, merging with the body and becoming a complete person. This was the reason Zhuge Qi suddenly regained consciousness.
So perhaps the reason every generation of the Zhuge family’s Shaosi failed to live past the age of twenty-two was that the real Qi Changying had died at twenty-two. The bodies others replicated were therefore unable to live beyond the age he had reached.
If all the above guesses were correct, then the question that had puzzled Fu Sang before, why the evil spirits inside and outside Cui Xing Gate had not disappeared along with Qi Changying, seemed to have an answer as well.
In short, no matter what, this person had returned to his (Fu Sang’s) side and was once again firmly in his grasp.
It all happened so easily.
Fu Sang often kissed Qi Changying, but most of those kisses carried a sense of invasion and possession. Rather than the intimacy between lovers, they were more like a way of declaring ownership.
When kissing, Fu Sang could disregard all of Qi Changying’s feelings. After all, this ghost wouldn’t get tired, nor did he need to breathe.
He was just a ghost.
But Zhuge Qi was different.
As he kissed him, Fu Sang released the hand gripping Zhuge Qi’s jaw and instead grabbed his hair. The kiss, which started out relatively gentle, soon instinctively turned fierce again. Only when Fu Sang noticed that Zhuge Qi was having difficulty breathing did he show mercy and let him go, allowing him to catch his breath.
Fu Sang released his hair and gave his cheek a light tap before raising an eyebrow.
“Speak.”
“….”
Although Fu Sang let Zhuge Qi go, he didn’t move away.
They were very close, close enough for Zhuge Qi to feel that his breathing was still steady.
When the first kiss ended, Zhuge Qi actually felt more embarrassed and indignant than anything else.
He didn’t expect Fu Sang to suddenly do something like that to him.
They had only known each other for a day, at most. They weren’t lovers, weren’t friends, and couldn’t even be considered acquaintances. They were merely strangers with a slight connection.
Fu Sang’s behavior clearly crossed the line.
Why would Zhuge Fusang kiss someone he explicitly said he disliked?
Was he saying one thing but meaning another, or was this some special form of humiliation?
And what did he mean by an “improper, ambiguous friend”?
What kind of relationship did he want them to have?
But no matter how many question marks he put after Fu Sang’s thoughts and actions, Zhuge Qi didn’t have time to think through these questions at that moment.
Because another thought was rapidly growing and spreading, occupying his entire mind…
He actually… didn’t dislike this kiss.
How was a normal person supposed to react to such an unabashed act of violation?
Anger? Humiliation? Immediately push him away, tell him that what he did was inappropriate and that he was furious, then turn around and leave, avoiding all future encounters with this person?
But Zhuge Qi had no such impulse.
More than anger, what surged up in his heart afterward was confusion and surprise.
It even stirred up an increasingly intense sense of déjà vu toward the person before him.
It felt as though kissing him was perfectly ordinary.
As though this was how things were supposed to be between them.
So when Fu Sang kissed him a second time, he didn’t dodge.
He didn’t even resist.
Not until this moment.
“…What?” Zhuge Qi lowered his eyes and looked at Fu Sang. His voice was a little hoarse.
“Have you lost your memory again?” Fu Sang sneered and leaned toward him for the third time.
This kiss was very brief. The tip of his tongue merely swept across Zhuge Qi’s lips and tongue as a reminder before withdrawing.
As he pulled away, a fine strand of saliva lingered between their lips for a moment, ambiguously suggesting that this was not the end.
“I said, if you want to be friends with me, this is the only kind of friendship you can have.”
Fu Sang deliberately emphasized the words, but he didn’t mind helping Zhuge Qi remember what he meant.
‘So this ambiguous friendship meant a relationship where they could kiss whenever they wanted?’
Zhuge Qi thought about it for a moment, following his words.
“You mean you want to date me?”
“?”
Fu Sang seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world.
“Are you kidding?”
He tugged at the beads around Zhuge Qi’s neck, forcing him to lower his head. Then he pressed his lips close to Zhuge Qi’s ear and spoke in a warm, breathy voice.
“…I mean, I’m giving you a chance to be my dog.”
“…”
His moist lips brushed Zhuge Qi’s earlobe almost imperceptibly, making his heart tremble slightly.
So Zhuge Qi imitated Fu Sang’s movement, pressing his lips to his ear as if to kiss it, and quietly asked:
“Are there others?”
Fu Sang was slightly taken aback, apparently not expecting him to react or answer this way.
But he quickly recovered.
“Ordinary people don’t catch my eye.”
“So you mean I should feel honored?”
“You can understand it that way.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Sang suddenly felt a pair of warm hands cupping his face.
He instinctively dodged.
He wasn’t used to being touched by someone with this temperature yet.
However, the other person didn’t retreat because of that subtle movement. Instead, he quickly lowered his head and took the initiative to kiss him again.
The kiss Zhuge Qi gave Fu Sang was very different from the one Fu Sang had given him.
Even when taking the lead, Zhuge Qi’s kiss was delicate and gentle, without the slightest trace of force. It even carried a hint of reverence.
He held Fu Sang tightly in his arms, searching through the friction and touch of their bodies through their clothes, and their intertwined lips and tongues, for those fleeting sparks of memory that he couldn’t grasp or see clearly.
These were instincts.
Zhuge Qi became even more certain that everything so far had been instinct.
Embracing him was instinct. Kissing him was instinct. Caressing him was instinct.
Obeying everything he said was instinct too.
For a while, the only sounds in the room were the ambiguous noises of their kisses. Somehow, the two of them moved from the doorway to the sofa. Fu Sang was pressed into the soft fabric, trapped in Zhuge Qi’s warm embrace, his entire body soaked in the fragrance that clung to him.
Fu Sang always hated being pinned down like this, and the hood of his sweatshirt was also digging into him a little. So he turned over and pinned Zhuge Qi beneath him. Taking advantage of the movement, he grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt, intending to take off the bothersome garment. But in that brief moment of clarity, he suddenly heard the muffled sound of high heels striking the floor outside.
“San You, why is the downstairs of your place…”
Huo Wei’s voice reached his ears. Fu Sang released the hem of his sweatshirt and irritably ran a hand through his hair.
“Why is the door open too? Are you…”
Huo Wei hadn’t even finished speaking when she saw the scene in the living room. Her whole body froze, and she stood there dumbfounded like a pitiful stone statue.
“Holy crap.”
She warily took half a step back, wondering if she had entered the wrong way. After a moment of reflection, she looked into the room again…
One person was lying on the sofa with another straddling him. Although both were still fully dressed, their clothes already looked disheveled, and it seemed they were about to become even more so. It was obvious that these two weren’t doing anything respectful or keeping a proper distance from each other.
It didn’t look much like a fight either.
So Huo Wei immediately realized…
“Uh, I think I’ve come at a bad time?”
“No, you came at just the right time.”
Fu Sang’s tone was cold as he casually spouted nonsense.
“You just caught me when I was about to get down to business.”
“?”
“You wouldn’t have wanted to come any later, would you?”
“???”
Huo Wei glanced at the open door.
“The door’s still open… Are you planning to give the neighbors a live show?”
Huo Wei swallowed, finished retorting to Fu Sang, and finally had time to look at Zhuge Qi.
“Um… hello, L-lord Shaosi?”
“Just call me by my name.”
Fu Sang moved away from Zhuge Qi, and Zhuge Qi sat up as well. He smiled at Huo Wei with a little embarrassment.
“Sorry. I forgot to close the door and startled you.”
“Well, you didn’t exactly scare me…”
Huo Wei had actually anticipated something like this, but she didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
She coughed twice.
“I just saw people from the family downstairs and wondered what was going on. So it turns out you were here.”
Only then did Zhuge Qi remember that people were still waiting for him downstairs.
A trace of regret appeared on his face.
“…I should go. They’ve been waiting for a long time.”
Zhuge Qi stood up. The cinnabar beads that Fu Sang had snapped off him rolled away with a clatter, scattering all over the floor.
Fu Sang casually caught one and raised an eyebrow.
“Do you need me to pay for it?”
“No need.”
Zhuge Qi pursed his lips. He said he was leaving, but he didn’t actually take a step.
Fu Sang lazily leaned against the cushion and looked up at him.
“What? Do you want me to see you off?”
“No… I just wanted to ask…” Zhuge Qi looked into Fu Sang’s eyes.
“Can I still come and see you?”
“What, you really want to get down to business with me?” Fu Sang sneered.
“Isn’t it only natural for a puppy to look for its master? I have no plans to move anytime soon. Even if you want to come, I can’t stop you. Do as you please.”
“?”
Huo Wei really didn’t want to hear another word.
She really wanted to shake Zhuge Fusang’s head and give him a couple of slaps so he could hear the nonsense coming out of his own mouth.
She retreated into a corner and stood facing the wall, reflecting on her life. Only after Zhuge Qi left, thoughtfully closing the door behind him, did she finally burst out in frustration.
“What is wrong with you, Zhuge Fusang?! So when you asked Buyi to investigate him, you were actually checking out the information on your blind date?! And now the two of you are already getting together?! You’ve only known each other for a day! And you’re already about to get into bed?!”
“My interest hasn’t reached that point yet. I was just saying it casually. We’re still a long way from that.” Fu Sang was particularly honest.
“What’s the difference?! How far away?! Are you going to spend another half an hour building up to it?!”
“Not that long.”
“I’m begging you…”
For the sake of her own physical and mental health, Huo Wei decided to skip this topic.
She took a deep breath.
“Have you figured out who this Zhuge Qi really is? What exactly is his relationship with the young general? You haven’t even figured any of that out, and you’ve already put the substitute in your mouth?! I really have to criticize you, Zhuge Fusang. Although society is very open now and we’re all adults who can do whatever we want with whoever we want, haven’t you crossed a little line morally? You never had any morals to begin with, but the young general’s seventh-day death anniversary has only just passed. His corpse hasn’t even grown cold, and you’ve already started eating a substitute! You’re not even pretending or putting on an act anymore!”
“Qi Changying’s seventh-day death anniversary passed a thousand years ago. His bones disappeared a thousand years ago too.”
Fu Sang emphasized this point, then sneered.
“Who does he think he is? Do I have to observe widowhood for him? A substitute has been delivered right to my mouth. He’s warmer than Qi Changying, more obedient, and more sensible. Why shouldn’t I eat him?”
“….”
Huo Wei narrowed her eyes. She didn’t argue with him or continue criticizing him. Instead, she watched Fu Sang warily, accurately picking out the key point in his words.
“Ob…serve widowhood?”
“?”
“Oh…”
“?”
“That’s a very interesting choice of words, my friend.”
“?”
“So you admit that you’re in love with him?”
“?”
Fu Sang laughed angrily.
He raised his hand and pointed toward the door.
“You get out too.”
