The wine was intoxicating.
No one knew what this fine wine was made of, but after so many years, it remained clear and aromatic without any hint of turbidity. However, it was quite strong and potent once it entered the mouth.
Wang Xiaomie got excited and gave it a go. As a result, he nearly spewed a blue-red flame.
Wang Xiaomie: …what the fuck?! Is this the “water of life,” vodka?
In any case, after just a few small cups, Wang Xiaomie felt a warm sensation in his stomach, his face flushed, his head dizzy, and his eyes unfocused. His facial expressions became fewer and he began to daydream. He knew he was getting drunk quickly and hastily put down his cup, sitting up straight to avoid making a fool of himself in front of their guests.
However, Wen Fengjin and An Xie had really good alcohol tolerance. They had already emptied three jars of wine, and there was not only no sign of drunken antics but also a hint of the arrogance and freedom of ancient literati due to their slightly tipsy state.
But when men drink, they inevitably talk about their achievements.
So, with a blank expression and a burp smelling of wine, Wang Xiaomie heard Wen Fengjin and An Xie begin to boast about their lifelong achievements – their wives.
Wang Xiaomie: …
It started with An Xie suddenly breaking away from the poetic atmosphere and saying, “When I arrived, I saw a thousand lamps lit in the underground palace, the courtyard and hall were clean, which is unlike Senior Wen’s style. It’s probably Madam’s work.”
Wang Xiaomie pursed his lips, wanting to burp, and nodded blankly at the words.
An Xie said, “Madam is so virtuous, Senior Wen, you’re really lucky.”
Bigshot Wen smirked, “He’s great, he acts coquettishly every day.”
Wang Xiaomie blushed: You’re making it up, I don’t!
“But my Chengjing occasionally acts coquettishly too.” An Xie raised his cup, finished his drink proudly, and said, “The other day, he even strangled my neck because of my intimacy, forgetting that I no longer need to breathe. Hahaha, he’s so adorable.”
“…” Wang Xiaomie’s mouth twitched: …He’s really trying to kill you, moron! Wake up bro! I’m beginning to doubt what ‘acting coquettishly’ even means!
Adorable? He’s seriously “adorable!”
Wen Fengjin nodded over there, then glanced at Wang Xiaomie and said, “So it seems you rarely take the initiative.”
…Did I mishear? Why do I feel like Boss Wen is a bit envious?
After a moment of silence, Wang Xiaomie gritted his teeth, “My bad. Don’t you worry; next time, I’ll definitely buy the strongest rope and strangle you every day until I send you away!”
“Great, I’m looking forward to it,” Wen Fengjin chuckled, making Wang Xiaomie’s ears tingle with excitement.
Wen Fengjin tilted his head back with a smile, finishing the last drop of wine. A few droplets overflowed from the corner of his mouth, tracing down his pronounced Adam’s apple and disappearing into the spread collar of his shirt.
“Although not proactive, my shixiong is very tolerant and considerate towards me,” Wen Fengjin suddenly said.
Wang Xiaomie froze, coughed a few times, and lowered his head, his ears turning red.
An Xie looked at the figure wrapped in white cloth in his arms, “Indeed, the more I see, the more I envy. Chengjing doesn’t blush at all. He’s covered in toxic purple fur all over his body, sigh, too much fur… I can’t see his expressions clearly, and it pricks my mouth a bit, but luckily it doesn’t grow much in that place.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wang Xiaomie: “…”
Qtja qijmf lr atja, vjwc la! Qf’gf vfmfca qfbqif tfgf, vbc’a rqfk cbcrfcrf!
Aera jr Qfc Mfcuplc kjr jybea ab rjs rbwfatlcu, Qjcu Wljbwlf rijqqfv tlr wbeat rtea klat j ‘rcjq’!
“Po sbe vjgf rjs jcsatlcu eccfmfrrjgs, P’ii xlii sbe!” Qjcu Wljbwlf’r ojmf aegcfv mglwrbc jr tf ktlrqfgfv atgbeut mifcmtfv affat, jcv Qfc Mfcuplc’r ibcu jcv cjggbk fsfr rdelcafv klat j wlrmtlfnber rwlif.
They stared at each other for a while, then Wang Xiaomie’s palm got damp.
“……”
I swear I’m going to beat you up today!!! No one can stop me!!!
Wang Xiaomie, who almost resorted to violence, reminded himself ‘no violence with outsiders present’ and finally relaxed his clenched fists.
He decided to turn a blind eye to everything and focused on pouring the strong wine facing the acacia tree, gulping it down.
Meanwhile, the black-bellied Boss Wen, and An Xie continued boasting about their wives, looking smug and pleased.
Boss Wen: “My shixiong is kind-hearted and beautiful, a true gentleman with a warm and gentle demeanor like jade.”
An Xie: “My family’s Chengjing has a poisonous heart, but he’s good-looking.”
Boss Wen: “My shixiong is older than me. Since my most impoverished childhood, he has cared for me attentively and given me much.”
An Xie: “My family’s Chengjing is older than me. Since my most innocent childhood, he has manipulated my emotions, but he’s good-looking.”
Boss Wen: “My wife can manage household chores.”
An Xie: “My wife is good-looking.”
Boss Wen: “My wife can cook.”
An Xie: “My wife is good-looking.”
Boss Wen: “My wife is caring and considerate.”
An Xie: “My wife is good-looking.”
“My——”
“My——”
After half an hour, the two men, done with their boasting, raised their cups together, exchanged another smile, and looked immensely satisfied.
Watching the whole scene, Wang Xiaomie: …
Wen Fengjin, alright, but An Xie, what the hell are you satisfied with?!
As expected.
Face cons are beyond redemption.
… … …
A frustrated Wang Xiaomie started gulping down the alcohol again, completely forgetting that he was a lightweight who couldn’t handle more than three drinks.
So, an hour later—
Wen Fengjin cast a smiling glance at Wang Xiaomie’s flushed face and silently adjusted his sitting posture.
The aftereffects of the alcohol were too strong. Although Wang Xiaomie sat upright, whenever there was something beside him, he leaned silently, expressionlessly, with his flushed face against Wen Fengjin’s shoulder, much to the amusement of Wen Fengjin and An Xie.
“Burp~”
After leaning on him, Wang Xiaomie smacked his lips and hiccuped, his eyelids drooping halfway. He gently rubbed his forehead against Wen Fengjin’s shoulder.
Wen Fengjin and An Xie couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Hahaha…”
“Envious! Truly envious!” An Xie threw the small cup in his hand boldly into the abyss below the platform, then grabbed the unsealed wine jar under the low table and took a big gulp. Meanwhile, Wen Fengjin remained leaning against the acacia tree, with red peach blossom petals falling onto the black tabletop and into his cup.
“But Senior Wen, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Suddenly, An Xie kissed the figure wrapped in white cloth in his arms, then set down the wine jar and adjusted his expression. “About twenty years ago, I encountered a special human. He harbored great malice towards ‘people’ like us, calling us ‘creatures breaking the natural laws.'”
Wen Fengjin’s drinking motion paused.
An Xie continued, “I lived in Qishan, where many bodies were buried. Most of them didn’t have a fortunate chance and lost their sanity, so they wandered into the human world and ate a few.”
He said it indifferently, without any apparent fear or discontent towards the act of eating humans.
Wang Xiaomie was drawn in by his words, dumbfoundedly looking up.
“At first, that person might have come to Qishan to weed out those few scoundrels,” An Xie said as the wine sloshed in the jar, his long feathers swaying. He swallowed the liquid. “His weapon was quite peculiar, a long-handled golden-bronze hammer, effective against the nearly indestructible zombies, and those wretches dissipated quickly.”
A golden long-handled hammer—!!!
Wen Fengjin put down his blue cup with a solemn expression, and Wang Xiaomie was now mostly sober.
An Xie shook the wine jar and continued, “Interestingly, among those who failed to get a lucky chance, there was a former subordinate of mine. Before he died, he revealed my existence to that person. Soon enough, that person equipped a few tomb raiders with similar weapons and started digging graves everywhere. Heh~ He even managed to find me. By then, I was already a Drought Demon. Although that strange weapon was annoying and caused me some injuries, I almost killed him too…”
“He was supposed to die… he should have died… but…” An Xie’s smile vanished, and he slammed the wine jar onto the table with a loud ‘thud’.
“But he erupted with immense power and escaped after drinking some strange blood. The smell of the blood was similar to that of you and your wife, Senior,” An Xie continued.
“I wonder if you can explain that to me?”
At this moment, Wang Xiaomie truly realized how terrifying An Xie, who had entered the battlefield at the age of thirteen, had been drenched in blood for many years and died with resentment, even capable of turning into a zombie with his grudges.
The smile faded from An Xie’s face, revealing the true horror beneath. His eyes and aura were so sharp that they seemed to cut wounds into the exposed skin!
The air was filled with the metallic scent of blood, and a terrifying pressure engulfed the table that had just been filled with laughter and joy. Wang Xiaomie shivered, about to do something when Wen Fengjin reached out and knocked on the table.
“Thud thud.”
His silver hair trailed over his fiery red robe, and Wen Fengjin, with his handsome face, squinted his narrow, jet-black eyes and said lightly, “You scared him.”
Then he added, “Do you think your head is secure?”
The bitter scent of medicine instantly dispersed the smell of blood, calming Wang Xiaomie down.
Under Wen Fengjin’s gaze, An Xie fell silent for a moment before suddenly grinning. “I’m just a military man who drank too much and was joking. Senior Wen and Madam, please don’t mind… But that person does exist, and the blood does exist.”
“That human is a lunatic. He would stop at nothing to kill me, or rather, creatures like us. He’s capable of using any means,” An Xie continued.
“I’m just giving you a friendly reminder.” An Xie lifted the wine jar again and took a big gulp, spilling some of the wine on himself. When he tilted his head back, there was a mysterious smile in his eyes. “After all, we’re all the same kind of monster…”
Wen Fengjin remained noncommittal about this statement.
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaomie fell silent and asked, “What does that person look like… Do you know his name?”
An Xie replied, “Hmm… Let me think.”
“He wore a strange cyan robe, and most of his hair was white and braided. I heard those tomb raiders call him—”
“Yi Yan.”
“What!!!”
Wang Xiaomie’s eyes widened in astonishment.
… … …
As the wholesale market quieted down in the late night, it became somewhat peaceful.
Bai Yu, carrying a backpack, hurriedly took the padlock from Yi Yan’s hand and locked the shop. He turned back to see Yi Yan’s smiling face and scratched his head in embarrassment.
The two walked side by side in silence and harmony along the path. The night after the rain was still cool, and Bai Yu, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, rubbed his arms. The next moment, Yi Yan’s warm hand reached out and wrapped around Bai Yu’s bare arm exposed to the air, gently pushing him aside with just the right amount of force.
Yi Yan stood silently in the windy spot, shielding Bai Yu from the chilly night breeze.
They continued walking as if they hadn’t acknowledged this small episode.
Bai Yu stole a glance at Yi Yan’s profile, then quickly looked away, a faint blush appearing on his dark face.
[Author’s note: [Short Scene]
Wen Fengjin: The lifelong career of a man.
An Xie: His wife.]
Bai Yu, I believe in you 🙏🙏 pls don’t do me like Zhen Bai did 😭😭
Btw, thanks for the chapter 💕💕