Xia Qing’s soul departed, returning to the bedroom.
Within the barrier, several days seemed to pass, but in the real world, it was just a dream, with time and place unchanged.
The bone flute was frantically patting his back, anxious and worried.
Xia Qing stirred, awakening to find himself sprawled on the ground, greeted by the resplendent yet desolate emperor’s bedroom. The night pearl hung from the celestial beams, casting a chilly glow.
Seeing him move, bone flute became overjoyed, swooping down as if to nuzzle his face, only to be caught by Xia Qing.
He rose to his feet, now with a pounding headache, and hoarsely warned, “Stay put.”
Bone flute, looking forlorn, obediently complied, descending from the sky to the ground.
After pausing for a moment in place, Xia Qing closed his eyes and took a shallow breath. Frankly, he felt a bit disoriented now. He had entered Lou Guan Xue’s worldly barrier, yet it felt like his soul had just undergone a trial by fire.
He rushed to the bedside to check on Lou Guan Xue.
On the bed in the center of the bedroom, the black mist and evil spirits that had initially resembled shackles and long snakes had vanished, consumed cleanly by the night fire of the Jingzhe along with the corpse of his five-year-old self. Yet, Lou Guan Xue remained deeply asleep, his black hair spread out across the pillow, his lips pale, the sinister light between his eyebrows dissipated. His features, now much more profound than in childhood, lay somewhere between handsome and beautiful, his skin as white as snow, his nose bridge high and straight, his eyelashes curled, casting a very light shadow.
Xia Qing had never observed Lou Guan Xue this attentively before, and after gazing for a while, a sense of melancholy unexpectedly arose within him.
Melancholy.
For him, this was actually a rare emotion.
Growing up, Xia Qing’s environment was destined to be intertwined with tears and separation. Sitting on that wall, he witnessed too many departures and arrivals.
People lived, aged, got sick, and died; they loved, hated, and parted ways. He calmly absorbed it all, yet rarely did he feel regret or sadness about it.
It wasn’t that he was as unfeeling as grass or stone, impervious to emotions. On the contrary, Xia Qing considered himself to be quite emotional and kind-hearted. He was a normal person, of course he knew love and hate, understood love and hate, but love and hate could not be the reason for his fluctuating emotions and disturbed state of mind.
After zoning out for a while, Xia Qing let out a long sigh, lowered his head, and murmured, “Lou Guan Xue, I must have owed you something in my past life.”
Seeing his master still unconscious, bone flute anxiously circled in place, jabbing at Xia Qing in hopes of eliciting a response.
Feeling the pain from the jabs on his face, Xia Qing was close to breaking bone flute, his hazel eyes blazing with irritation. “He’s sleeping. Do you want me to wake him up and die? Don’t you know your master’s temper?!”
Startled by his outburst, bone flute plummeted downward, only to be caught by a hand.
“What do you mean, my temper?”
The sick and weak person lying on the bed didn’t know when he woke up. His tone was nonchalant and indifferent.
Xia Qing was startled. “Are you awake?”
Lou Guan Xue remained silent, placing bone flute aside and half-sitting up.
Having just broken through the barrier, his face was still pale. Illuminated by the pearl lamp, his dark pupils resembled freshly fallen snow, his gaze fixed on Xia Qing without a word.
Xia Qing asked, “How do you feel? Do you need more rest?”
Lou Guan Xue, expressionless, suddenly reached out and grabbed Xia Qing’s neck, leaning in close. A cold glint flickered in his eyes as he spoke in a frosty tone, “Who allowed you to enter the barrier?”
Feeling the pressure on his neck, Xia Qing wasn’t surprised at all. With eyes filled with silent frustration, he gritted his teeth. “Ask your stupid flute!! Did you think I wanted to enter the barrier? I was sleeping peacefully!”
Their gazes locked, almost nose to nose. Xia Qing hadn’t noticed before, but now he realized.
There was always a faint, cool scent emanating from Lou Guan Xue, previously masked by the emperor’s luxurious aloeswood, but now more potent and irresistible after awakening.
Xia Qing could clearly sense it now.
It was an aura of desolation, carrying the scent of blood and decay, mingled with the soul-stirring fragrance of the Lingwei flower, yet far more distant and expansive. It brought to mind the desolate tomb at the end of the boundless sea, the place where the merfolk met their demise.
Lou Guan Xue’s grip on his neck was skillful, as if he could send him to his death in the next moment, yet it didn’t make him feel close to suffocation.
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.
Dflcu rb mibrf, Wlj Hlcu fnfc tjv atf liierlbc atja Obe Xejc Wef kjr jybea ab xlrr tlw.
Damn…
Ktlr atbeuta fzalcuelrtfv atf olgf atja tjv yffc ygfklcu lc tlr yfiis, tlr fzqgfrrlbc mtjculcu.
Obe Xejc Wef’r nblmf kjr tbjgrf jr tf rjlv, “Qtja jgf sbe atlcxlcu jybea?”
Wlj Hlcu uijgfv ja tlw mbivis, rjslcu cbatlcu.
After staring at Xis Qing for a while, Lou Guan Xue suddenly chuckled, then slowly released his hand. His fingertips brushed inadvertently against Xia Qing’s throat.
Xia Qing, feeling on the verge of death, shivered with his scalp tingling, almost exploding in anger.
Lou Guan Xue leaned back, speaking softly, “Sorry, just woke up and emotions are unstable.”
Xia Qing couldn’t take it anymore. “Lou Guan Xue, are you insane!”
Lou Guan Xue thought for a moment, smiling. “I think I answered that question before.”
The bone flute, seeing his master awake, regarded himself as an inanimate object, perfectly content and motionless.
Xia Qing genuinely wanted to break this thing now.
Lou Guan Xue looked at him and said, “As compensation, how about I find you a body to possess?”
Without hesitation, Xia Qing spoke rapidly, “No need. Now even as a ghost, I’m infuriated by you every day. When I become human again, I’ll be at risk of being killed by you—wait!” Xia Qing suddenly turned around, staring wide-eyed at Lou Guan Xue, recalling the touch from earlier, trembling in fear. “You, you, you, you…”
Lou Guan Xue, with a hint of a smile, watched him, waiting for him to speak, but after a while, he didn’t, so he kindly finished Xia Qing’s sentence, “You can touch me now?” After saying this, he laughed and answered himself, “Hmm, I can touch you.”
Xia Qing: “…”
Damn.
This guy is something else.
In almost an instant, Xia Qing floated up to the rafters, keeping his distance from him.
Lou Guan Xue didn’t get off the bed, laughing quietly a few times before saying, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch you.”
Although he was unpredictable, he kept his word.
Xia Qing felt a little relieved but was full of questions. “Why can you suddenly touch me now?”
Lou Guan Xue looked up, a smile tugging at his lips. “You entered my barrier. Can’t you guess the reason?”
Xia Qing: “…What am I supposed to guess?”
A few strands of Lou Guan Xue’s ink-black hair fell onto his collarbone. With a smile that was neither a smile nor a smirk, his eyes revealed a faintly seductive light, and he said in a hoarse, soft voice, “Xia Qing, are you really so sure that the grown-up me is still the same five-year-old child from before?”
Sitting on the beam, Xia Qing was dumbfounded by his question.
When he was five years old, Lou Guan Xue’s teeth trembled as he cried out, “Are you sure you saw the grown-up me and not a god?”
And now, the grown-up Lou Guan Xue asked the same question.
He had a smile on his face, but his expression was mocking and taunting.
Xia Qing sat on the beam, pondered for a moment, and said slowly, “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, from childhood to adulthood, you’ve been pretty good at infuriating people.”
Lou Guan Xue fell silent for a moment and then said lightly, “Wasn’t I supposed to be quite foolish at five?”
Xia Qing retorted, “Not foolish, just much cuter than you are now.”
Lou Guan Xue smiled and said, “Oh.”
Xia Qing was really too tired to argue.
When Lou Guan Xue was a child, he was at most a tough guy who was cruel and aloof in order to survive. But when he grew up, he became a pervert who made it difficult for others to survive, causing mischief.
However, this was really strange. How could Lou Guan Xue have broken through the barrier and touched him, considering the aura he exuded, an aura that seemed to emanate from the depths of the sea and the tomb of bones.
Xia Qing paused for a moment and said, “Lou Guan Xue, although a god didn’t awaken in you, you’ve gained some divine power, right?”
Besides that, he couldn’t think of a better explanation.
Lou Guan Xue said, “No.”
Xia Qing asked, “Then what is it?”
Lou Guan Xue smiled strangely and slowly said, “I don’t know what it is either. I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”
Xia Qing: “???”
Lou Guan Xue seemed a little tired, glanced at him, and said, “You woke me up, shouldn’t you take responsibility?”
Upon hearing this, Xia Qing almost blurted out a curse.
After a long time, he smiled awkwardly, floated down from the beam, and floated directly beside Lou Guan Xue. “Okay, okay, I’ll take responsibility. Let me tell you a bedtime story.”
Lou Guan Xue chuckled softly, “Hmm.”
Xia Qing said, “Let’s tell ‘The Farmer and the Viper.'”
Lou Guan Xue leaned back, his eyelashes trembling slightly. “Okay.”
Once again, Xia Qing felt like he was punching cotton.
Perhaps it was because he had touched Lou Guan Xue’s frozen heart once in the barrier and didn’t feel any danger or killing intent from him.
Xia Qing sat directly on the edge of his bed, saw the flute on his pillow, got angry, and grabbed it, torturing it in his hand.
“Answer me a question first. What the hell is this flute?”
Lou Guan Xue, as always, answered without hesitation, “Divine bone.”
Xia Qing: “Huh?!”
Before he could react, bone flute had already escaped from his hand, wailing, and hid behind Lou Guan Xue.
Lou Guan Xue said, “Alright, tell the story now.”
With that sentence, Xia Qing’s questions like “What divine bone?” and “Where did you get it from?” were all rejected. He sighed and said, “Oh,” but the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He said, “What’s the point of telling a story? Our story is ‘The farmer and the Viper’!”
Lou Guan Xue opened his eyes, his black eyes cold and clear. “I said I would compensate you.”
Xia Qing said, “No need.”
Lou Guan Xue said, “Xia Qing, aren’t you curious about the mysteries on your own body?”
Xia Qing looked at him, his eyes calm, with a strange tone, “Not curious.”
Lou Guan Xue smiled, seeming unable to resist anymore, his eyes deep, he raised his sleeve, and his fingers lightly touched Xia Qing’s eyes, softly tempting, “But I am curious.”
Lou Guan Xue’s fingertips were cold, landing on his eyelids, like the kiss of a petal on water.
Xia Qing angrily pushed away his arm, but found that he couldn’t touch Lou Guan Xue!!!
He could only keep a straight face and uncomfortably float to the other side, warning, “Don’t touch me.”
Lou Guan Xue’s lips curved up, saying lightly, “You mentioned ‘The Farmer and the Viper’? Then let me apologize first for threatening you at Zhai Xing Tower. But I don’t see it as a threat. You were forced by that ball of fire to stay by my side, and you will eventually understand what kind of person I am. It may not be on that day, but it will be on another.”
“More precisely, I suppressed my nature for your merit and virtue. And you provided me with a space to rest my soul.”
“But now, it’s no longer needed.” He said indifferently, “The curse has been lifted.”
Xia Qing: “…………”
Oh!
What’s next?!
And then you’re going to unleash your nature and kill someone right in front of me?!
Lou Guan Xue calmly looked at his expression, softly soothing with a low laugh, “Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, I won’t kill.”
Xia Qing relaxed slightly.
Lou Guan Xue said, “Xia Qing, don’t you think you’re strange?”
Xia Qing pursed his lips, “Don’t think so.”
Lou Guan Xue’s voice was low, “You have a strange attitude towards life and death. You see my childhood loneliness and misery, more out of pity than sympathy. You see my later arrogance and indulgence, but you’ve never truly been afraid. You look at sentient beings as if looking at grass and trees, looking at this world.”
Xia Qing’s tone was cold and mocking, almost smiling but not quite, “Sounds like I’m amazing as described by you. It’s like I’m going to ascend to heaven and become immortal in the next second.” His bright pupils under his messy hair were cold and indifferent, “Alright, are you going to sleep or not?”
Lou Guan Xue lowered his eyes and asked, “Are you really not planning to find a body?”
Xia Qing: “I don’t want to possess a dead body.”
Lou Guan Xue appeared to be in contemplation.
Xia Qing understood his thoughts in an instant and immediately interrupted, “Don’t go crazy! I don’t want to forcibly take over a living person’s body either!”
Lou Guan Xue: “Oh. Tell the story.”
After the previous conversation, Xia Qing also felt calm.
Xia Qing: “Let’s not talk about ‘The Farmer and the Viper.’ I’ll tell you a story about the Snail Girl. I hope the true goodness of humanity can purify your soul.”
But he got stuck at the beginning of the story.
What is the story of the Snail Girl again?
After pondering for a while, Xia Qing decided to improvise, “Once upon a time, there was a little snail… One day, she went to the river to bathe, and then… her shell was picked up by someone.”
Lou Guan Xue listened for a while and remarked, “Shouldn’t it be her clothes that were stolen?”
Xia Qing, “Okay… her clothes were stolen. Then she went looking for her clothes and found a scholar.”
Lou Guan Xue chuckled softly.
Xia Qing, with a stiff scalp, continued, “Then she stayed at the scholar’s house. When the scholar went out, she would diligently tidy up the room and cook for him. When the scholar came back, she would hide in the jar. The scholar felt suspicious and secretly went out and back, only to discover the kind-hearted snail girl. From then on, they lived happily ever after.”
Lou Guan Xue uttered a faint “Hmm” and opened his eyes, “Was it because her clothes were stolen by the scholar that she couldn’t leave?”
Xia Qing: “……”
Lou Guan Xue nodded and commented, “Indeed, true goodness.”
There was no need to hide the teasing mockery in his tone.
Xia Qing, feeling embarrassed and angry, gritted his teeth, “Are you going to sleep or not?”
Lou Guan Xue, being accommodating, closed his eyes and stopped talking.
I think Xia Qing secretly has a little yellow book in his mind
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Thanks for the chapter! I hope this two get closer!
He is like I feel no emotion except the want to end the flute 😂😂