Bu Bai had always been a strong and dazzling existence in Yan Shu"s heart. Even when isolated and helplessly surrounded by the enemy, he is determined to refrain from showing even a sliver of fragility. Just like the Red Spider Lilies on the other side of the Huang Quan Road , even imminent death could not diminish his beauty by half a point.
However, can the person in front of him still afford to be called strong? His frail body is even more vulnerable than the half-formed ice in early winter, shattering with a single touch. Yan Shu hurriedly caught Bu Bai"s falling body and felt for a pulse. Only under careful examination, did he realize that the man"s body had been tormented by the cold qi to the point where every organ was ridden with frostbites. It was hard to tell if he could even live to his 50"s like a normal person.
How could this be? Yan Shu silently lamented as he scrutinized Bu Bai"s body that was lacking the warmth of a regular human being. He recalled that it was Xing Yan who took Bu Bai"s body away that year. He"d originally thought that the man would bury Bu Bai and put his departed soul at peace. Now it"s evident that he had underestimated Xing Yan"s obsession with Bu Bai. Even if it pained him, he still wanted to preserve Bu Bai"s body.
Yan Shu examined himself and found that he was not qualified to blame the man. At the time, they"d all thought that the once energetic teenager had left them forever. Who would have expected fate to be such a trickster? Yan Shu was afraid that Bu Bai would feel cold, so he quickly put the man back on the bed and wrapped him up in a thick layer of blankets. He obstinately remained by the bed and gazed at Bu Bai for a long time.
He touched Bu Bai"s cheek lovingly and said, “If you are so opposed to coming with me, I can"t force you either. I just hope that you won"t hide from me anymore.”
The comatose man obviously couldn"t hear these words, but Yan Shu spoke anyway like he"d been possessed. He shook his head helplessly, stood up, and walked towards Yun Shi.
Yun Shi probably stood for too long, which explains why he collapsed powerlessly to the ground the instant his acupoint was released. Although he couldn"t see what was happening inside the room, he could judge from the noise that the situation was not very good. He became even more disgusted with this violent man.
“What have you done to him?” His tone could be said to be very rude, yet Yan Shu uncharacteristically didn"t get angry, instead, he looked warmly at Yun Shi and said: “I will be troubling you to take care of him for a few days.”
Finishing his words, his expression became tangled for a moment as if he had noticed something wasn"t right. His expression cleared as he took out a stack of silver notes from his body and handed them to Yun Shi, adding, “This is compensation.”
Yun Shi stoically accepted the notes. He never objected to spending bad men"s money, not to mention he wasn"t even someone who had a distinguished background, so he didn"t need to act like a Good Samaritan and reject handouts.
“The door is right there, I won"t be seeing you out” Collecting money was collecting money but the customer still needed to be chased out.
Yan Shu continued to maintain his gentle smile. If the recipient was not Yun Shi, anyone would no doubt be mesmerized head over heels by this enchanting smile. Yun Shi only smiled coldly in return and then smoothly pushed the man out the door.
Yun Shi has been in the brothel for many years, he obviously understood that this was not how he should treat paying guests. However, he knew that since the man had a favor to ask of him, he would avoid creating trouble for him; the man would more or less let things slide on account of the other man inside. Yun Shi, on the other hand, had an inexplicable grudge in his heart. Why? Why wasn"t I be acquainted with that man just a little earlier? Why couldn"t I do something as simple as protect him ? When his spirit finally returned, these resenting words have already left his mouth.
Yun Shi endured the aching pain in his legs and advanced in Bu Bai"s direction. On the way, he conveniently he took out some clothes from his wardrobe for the man to change into. The red robe was damp and unsuitable for a sick person.
The clothes were designed to be simple and easy to remove. Yun Shi could strip Bu Bai clean with a single move; the red garment fell to the ground and revealed the gentle white beauty inside, an intoxicating view. Yun Shi had long since left his innocence behind; he openly admired Bu Bai"s alluring body. He even took the opportunity to tease his body a few times, causing Bu Bai to flush red. This effect was very pleasing to Yun Shi.
Yun Shi dressed Bu Bai in the new clothes and laid down beside him in full contentment. He covered both of them with the same quilt, mischievously wrapped his arms around the man"s waist, and waited for him to wake up while pretending to sleep.
Bu Bai woke up to find himself in the arms of a seemingly delicate man. His mood turned particularly complicated when the man opened his moist eyes, sighed, and asked, “Awake?”
Only after he silently told himself to stay in character countless times, did Bu Bai manage to prevent his expression from cracking. Then he took the initiative by pulling Yun Shi into his arms and starting to tease him: "A beauty taking the initiative to send them self into my arms, what luck."
However, he didn"t expect that the person before his eyes, who was a seemingly pure person, was actually an experienced vexin, who immediately started climbing when given a pole. Yun Shi blushed and began to take off his clothes. “Allow me to serve gong zi, is gong zi willing?”
Whether to say yes or no was a hard choice. Bu Bai froze on the spot, but Yun Shi refused to let him go. He took the initiative to bite Bu Bai"s lip and pushed him down. The taste was as sweet as he"d expected. There was still a little resistance from the one underneath him, and a hint of awkwardness and unfamiliarity. Each of Bu Bai"s reactions only served to arouse Yun Shi"s desire further.
Bu Bai panicked. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he doesn"t like to do that stuff. The last world already left a shadow in his heart; he instinctively feared being forced.
“Don"t.” while speaking, he unexpectedly broke into tears. Yun Shi was shocked by the tears and stopped his movements. Yun Shi wrapped him in his arms and repeatedly offered words of consolation, coaxing, “Don"t cry, don"t cry, I won"t force you anymore ok?”
Bu Bai glared at him fiercely, pushed aside his arms, and hid himself in the corner. The man"s childish temperament was unmistakably revealed. Yun Shi thought that this man was really unusual; he acted promiscuous on the outside, but was actually terribly bashful in reality. It seems his heart already holds a person.
“What"s your relationship with the man who came here today?” Yun Shi asked
Bu Bai did not respond, but his aura clearly became enveloped by a layer of loneliness and sorrow.
Yun Shi understood and continued, “You love him, don"t you?”
“He doesn"t love me.” Perhaps it"s because it"s been too long since another person understood his thoughts, that now, Bu Bai desperately wanted to confide in someone even though that person was a stranger.
“He does loves you!” Yun Shi wasn"t trying to defend that annoying man, he purely wanted to make Bu Bai a little happier.
Unexpectedly, it actually achieved the opposite effect. Bu Bai became even more depressed, hid himself under the blankets, and became still. He immersed himself in the darkness and only left Yun Shi with the view of his back. If you love me, why run away, and why bring people to take my life?
When Yun Shi saw him like this, he couldn"t say anything excessive. Remembering the man"s rejection towards him, he laughed bitterly and made do for the night with a bundle of blankets next to his bed. He promptly fell asleep.
If someone is sleeping well, there will also naturally be someone who is suffering from insomnia. Xing Yan always finds some time to accompany Bu Bai everyday. Even if the man doesn"t know, he is always relieved and happy to accompany him anyway. It took him a year to a.s.sa.s.sinate all the people present on that day, and now only Yan Shu and himself are left.
Xiao Bai, wait for me. I"ll come to you and make amends soon. With this in mind, he walked into the ice chamber and with a single glance, discovered that the body that should have been on the ice bed was missing. The empty bed was smashed under the anger of its owner. The flying ice shards slashed at Xing Yan"s cheek, yet he just wiped the blood away casually.
The violent intentions in his heart could not be contained. Xin Yan rushed out of the ice chamber, fearing that he wouldn"t be able to restrain his anger and will destroy the entire place. If he destroyed Bu Bai"s room, how will his Xiao Bai return home?
There are few people who have the ability to steal Bu Bai from him, consequently, it should be easy to identify who did it. However, none of them should have a reason to move a long-dead body. Furthermore, the number of people who knew that Bu Bai"s body was at his manor was close to negligible. Since it"s like this, then none of the suspected could be spared, it"s better to just search them all than let the culprit get away.
That night was doomed to be turbulent. Countless people were searching in the city, conducting open searches and hidden visits, causing everyone in the city to panic. Most have already guessed that something major had happened. However, they would have never expected that it was only a man, who had lost his partner, showing upmost madness.
Another night without recovering the man was another night that Xing Yan did not sleep. His appearance was haggard with bloodshot eyes – a terrifying sight. He sat fixed to the chair like a clay sculpture. His eyes were directed forwards as he waited for every next report to arrive. However, with every report his heart sank a little bit more, and he continued to wallow in hopeless despair.
Yan Shu was aware of Xing Yan"s actions. No one knew the truth of the matter more clearly than he did, but he didn"t want to tell Xing Yan since it would cause him a lot of trouble. He knew that the man"s obsession with Bu Bai had mutated over the years to become mad and deranged. However, it wasn"t the only reason that Yan Shu didn"t return Bu Bai to Xing Yan. There was no other reason, his heart just didn"t want to let go. He had the same love and obsession as Xing Yan, and he didn"t want his treasure to be stolen by another. Bu Bai used to like him, didn"t he?
The next day, Yan Shu woke up early to wait by the entrance to Yun Shi"s room. As soon as Yun Shi opened the door, he saw a man drenched in morning dew. He immediately raised his eyebrows and asked, “Did you come to find him?”
“Not entirely, I"d like to talk to you as well.” The man was very polite, and no one would be surprised if he wore the clothes of a scholar. It was hard to refuse his request because of his dignified temperament.
Yun Shi gently closed the door and motioned Yan Shu to chat with him in the next room. Yan Shu nodded in agreement.
Yun Shi sat down, served tea, and waited for Yan Shu to start speaking.
“I want to take Bu Bai with me.” His att.i.tude was surprisingly frank.
“Why? I need a reason.” Yun Shi still likes Bu Bai very much and wants to keep him for a little longer.
“There is someone looking for him. It"s not safe for him to stay here with you. I have the ability to protect him properly.” Yan Shu said.
Yun Shi gripped his cup tightly. Is he questioning his capabilities?
“How can I trust you?” Yun Shi looked deeply into Yan Shu"s eyes hoping to decipher his intent. He already knew that this man is in love with Bu Bai, and he has already proven his love with sincerity. This question was not so much asking for proof, but a manifestation of his unwillingness to simply be a pa.s.ser-by in Bu Bai"s life.
“I swear on my life.” Yan Shu replied.
The early morning light reflected in the man"s eyes like a fiery star. Yun Shi had to admit that he was moved by the pure love contained in those eyes.
What happened next went without saying, the event flowed like water down a well worn path. Yun Shi brought Yan Shu to Bu Bai. However, Bu Baid was not as easy to persuade as Yun Shi. He immediately asked , “Why are you here?”
“I"m here to take you away.” The honest man just couldn"t learn to be tactful. It a shortcoming of Yan Shu, but also one of his most admirable attributes.
"I"m happy here, no need to trouble gongzi." Bu Bai"s att.i.tude is obviously inamiable.
“I need to be able to watch over you at every moment and it"s not suitable here. Bu Bai, I"m not smart. I spent five years next to you yet I still couldn"t understand your feelings for me. It was only when you left me forever that I realized how important you were to me, important enough for me to give up everything I had just so that you could live again." Yan Shu was not embarra.s.sed at all and he spoke calmly, expressing his feeling like he was reading out of a prepared script. “Bu Bai, do you still love me?”
Bu Bai dumbly looked at the man, stunned. He had never seen this kind of expression on the man"s face – affectionate yet cautious, fragile yet persistent. In his trance, he felt that even if this heralded the beginning of another ill-fated love story, he would jump in without hesitation.
“I love you, very, very much.” Bu Bai loved to the point where his own self has faded, leaving only Yan Shu"s shadow.
Bu Bai held out his hand to the man. He already had nothing left, so there was no reason to hesitate to gamble with his remaining life.
Translated by Izreate
Edited by Avis