Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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The next day, when Qi Wang opened his eyes, he no longer saw the darkness of the night, but a ray of morning sunlight that pierced through the cracks in the window and slanted across the bright yellow gauze curtains, casting a golden glow.
His pupils contracted for a moment, both for the beauty of the morning and for this rare spiritual fulfillment. Last night, he hadn’t been repeatedly awakened by the excruciating pain in his heart in the middle of the night; instead, he had slept soundly until dawn.
But where was the person? The one who swore to always be by his side, the one he would see the moment he opened his eyes?
The immense panic made Qi Wang immediately try to get up and search for the person, only to find another person lying on the inside of the bed when he lifted the covers. The person was sleeping very uprightly, with his hands clasped together and placed obediently on his abdomen, his legs together, and his toes taut.
Who else could this person be but Mr. Xiao?
He actually slept in the same bed with him, but after falling asleep, he tried his best to control his limbs, for fear of touching the wound of the person next to him.
The Qi Wang’s panicked heart calmed down in an instant, and the fear on his face was gradually replaced by satisfaction and joy.
That’s good, this person is still here…
Qi Wang quietly lay back on the bed, turned to his side, and stared intently at the young man. Then he reached out and gently brushed aside the man’s soft, fluffy hair, revealing his innocent and serene sleeping face.
Sunlight filtered through the sheer yellow veil, casting dappled patterns of light that gilded the young gentleman’s already strikingly handsome face. To Qi Wang, this radiant man was his sun.
Qi Wang, who had been imprisoned in darkness and cold for years, looked longingly at the sun, and then slowly moved his body over to it until he was sharing the same pillow and the same thin blanket with the young man.
He reached out and gently embraced the young man’s slender waist. Only when he moved the muscles in his chest did he realize that the excruciating pain that had been constantly corroding his heart had actually lessened considerably.
The thought that the poisoned needle had been removed flashed through Qi Wang’s mind and then vanished. He was more concerned about the person he was currently holding in his arms.
He held his breath, staring intently at the young man’s face, half-hidden by his soft hair, wishing time could stand still forever.
Just then, Zhuang Li groggily opened his eyes and saw his lover’s enlarged face. Before his brain could even process it, his body leaned in and gave him a light, delicate kiss, his voice hoarse: “Good morning.”
This natural act of intimacy stunned the Qi Wang, but in an instant, he cupped the young man’s face and gave him a deep kiss.
The two embraced, kissing and chuckling softly, as if they had been intimate a thousand times over, knowing each other’s bodies intimately.
“You can’t play with guns, it’ll aggravate your wounds,” Zhuang Li said hoarsely, gripping the barrel of Qi Wang’s gun.
“Playing with guns?” Qi Wang was stunned for a moment before he realized what he meant, and then his ears turned bright red.
He asked breathlessly, “When can I?”
Zhuang Li grasped his thin wrist, measured its circumference, and chuckled, “When yours is two sizes bigger than mine.”
“But I’m already two sizes bigger than you,” Qi Wang retorted seriously.
Zhuang Li was stunned for a while before he realized which part of his body was two sizes thicker, and he was both annoyed and amused.
“Shut up, you big oaf! What else is in your head besides this?” He cupped the Qi Wang’s head and pecked at his forehead repeatedly, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
That’s wonderful; no matter where he goes, this person never changes.
Qi Wang also cupped his head in his hands, pressed his forehead against his, and gazed deeply into those star-filled eyes, conveying his intense love to them with his thoughts.
The laughter gradually faded, and silence fell behind the gauze curtains. A silent kiss was etched into their souls like a brand.
….
Qi Wang held the young master and lay quietly on the bed. As long as his muscles were not strained, his heart would not feel pain. His body, which had been extremely tired, was now filled with surging energy, a feeling he had never experienced before.
But he stubbornly refused to get out of bed. With one arm around his young master’s shoulder and the other gently stroking his soft, fluffy, slightly curly long hair, he savored the tranquility and warmth of the moment. Occasionally, when the mood struck him, he would lean down and kiss his young master’s rosy lips.
He used to scoff at the phrase “a hero’s grave lies in a land of gentle pleasures,” but now he felt that dying in such a land of gentle pleasures might not be such a bad thing.
Zhuang Li stayed with him for half a day but couldn’t stay awake any longer and dragged him out to eat.
Qi Wang, who had always had a poor appetite, ate three bowls of rice and deliberately ate more meat.
Zhuang Lao Er, Liu Chunhua, and Zhuang Jiuge were also at the dinner table, holding their chopsticks nervously and carefully picking up the dishes in front of them.
“This is delicious.” Qi Wang placed a piece of braised pork into the young master’s bowl and said with concern, “You’re too thin, you need to gain some weight.”
“Let’s see who gets fatter first,” Zhuang Li said, handing a piece of fish to Qi Wang.
“Alright, let’s have a competition then. I think it’s definitely me, I have a good foundation.” Qi Wang said with a smile, “Once I’ve recovered, I can carry you on my shoulders and run around Bazhou City.”
Zhuang Li raised an eyebrow and said, “Carry me around Bazhou City? Is that a bet? Fine, whoever doesn’t carry me is a dog.”
Just as Qi Wang was about to burst into laughter, Zhuang Lao Er was so frightened that he started coughing violently. Good heavens! How could his son speak to the prince like that?
“Dad, eat slowly, don’t rush.” Zhuang Li patted Zhuang Lao Er’s shoulder reassuringly.
Zhuang Lao Er looked at Qi Wang with a pale face, fearing that his son’s disrespectful words would anger him. Zhuang Jiuge and Liu Chunhua were also too frightened to touch their chopsticks.
“Father-in-law, have some food.” Qi Wang put a piece of food on Zhuang Lao Er’s plate, but he blurted out the wrong thing.
Of course, Zhuang Li had good reason to suspect that he did it on purpose.
Zhuang Lao Er’s chopsticks clattered onto the table. Liu Chunhua and Zhuang Jiuge seriously suspected they were hallucinating from fright.
Using the table as cover, Zhuang Li gently pinched Qi Wang’s thin waist, but offered no explanation. He didn’t need to explain his feelings to anyone.
The meal was finished in a daze. When they left, Zhuang Lao Er and Liu Chunhua seemed to float away, their faces showing a bewildered expression as if they didn’t know what day it was, while Zhuang Jiuge looked solemn.
However, not long after, Zhuang Lao Er returned and said with unusual caution, “Da Bao, Lao Liu and Lao Dong want to see you. Are you going to see them or not?”
Lao Liu was a hunter in the village, and Lao Dong was the only doctor in the surrounding area; both of them were Zhuang Tian’er’s puppets.
After last night, the news that Zhuang Li was highly skilled in magic and had defeated Xuan Zhenzi must have spread throughout the village. The two of them coming here at this time probably already had some suspicions in their hearts.
“I’m going to see them.” Zhuang Li walked out of the courtyard, and Qi Wang followed closely behind.
Looking at the two inseparable figures, that strange feeling returned to Zhuang Lao Er. Was Qi Wang really calling him “father-in-law” just now? He wanted to ask but dared not; it was truly a dilemma!
….
Zhuang Li led the two into a quiet room and broke Zhuang Tian’er’s hypnosis.
When he woke up, the hunter Lao Liu had a look of fear on his face, probably because he was frightened by Zhuang Tian’er’s strange methods.
But Lao Dong, the doctor, was so angry his face contorted. The precious medicinal herbs on the mountain were all nurtured by the essence of rain and dew, and there were only so many of them. Once picked, they were hard to find again, unlike prey, which was everywhere on the mountain.
After regaining his memories, he realized that the valuable gifts he had given Zhuang Tian’er weren’t just a ginseng root, but also a lingzhi mushroom and a dendrobium. These could easily fetch several hundred taels of silver at a city pharmacy. What distressed him even more was that he had risked his life climbing high mountains and descending cliffs to harvest these herbs!
For that Dendrobium orchid, Dr. Dong hung on the cliff for most of the day. After finally managing to pick it, his palms were bleeding from the rope and rocks when he climbed back up the cliff, his knees were bruised, and the rope almost broke.
He happily descended the mountain with the medicinal herb he had risked his life for, but unexpectedly, Zhuang Tian’er stopped him halfway down. With a simple “Give it to me,” he was made to hand over the dendrobium in a daze.
When he got home, his wife asked him why he was covered in injuries. He stammered and couldn’t explain it clearly. The next day, he went to the edge of the cliff and found that the dendrobium was gone.
He had been deeply troubled by this, and if Zhuang Li hadn’t repeatedly mentioned that Zhuang Tian’er was an evil spirit capable of bewitching people, he wouldn’t have thought of this.
“Damn evil spirit!” he cursed furiously, his distorted face now tinged with fear.
Zhuang Li wrote the four characters “auspicious and peaceful” in Tibetan, folded them into a triangle, and said calmly, “This is a peace talisman that is immune to all evil. As long as you hold it tightly, Zhuang Tian’er will just be an ordinary person, unable to harm you in the slightest, and unable to bewitch your mind.”
This was also a hypnotic technique, and it had a delayed and long-range effect.
The note Zhuang Li gave him was the anchor that triggered the hypnotic state. As long as he held onto this note, which was imbued with special power, Lao Dong could completely overcome his fear of Zhuang Tian’er and resist her psychological suggestions. As long as he kept this note, Lao Dong would no longer be hypnotized by Zhuang Tian’er.
A contest between hypnotists was not only about technique, but also about authority.
Lao Dong was completely convinced of Zhuang Li’s Taoist skills, so he quickly gripped the peace charm tightly in his hand and stormed down the mountain.
Zhuang Li was now the most powerful person in Jin, surpassing Xuan Zhenzi, and was also a guest of the Qi Wang. How could Zhuang Tian’er, a mere peasant girl, compare to him in terms of prestige?
After Lao Dong left, Lao Liu, who was also envious, shamelessly asked Zhuang Li for a peace charm.
His situation was actually even more tragic.
Hunting wasn’t an everyday occurrence, but all the good prey he caught was taken by Zhuang Tian’er.
Despite his numerous injuries, he would often bring back only a few sparrows or field mice, barely enough to support his family. Once, he hunted a wolf, but Zhuang Tian’er dragged the wolf’s carcass away, leaving him, severely wounded, in the mountains.
To conceal her strange behavior, she didn’t even send a message to the villagers.
If his wife and children hadn’t been worried about him and hadn’t come looking for him with torches all night, he probably would have died that very night— bitten to death by wolves, bled to death, starved to death, frozen to death… in short, none of those deaths would have been pleasant.
How could he not hate Zhuang Tian’er? The moment his memories returned, he wished he could imitate a wild wolf and bite Zhuang Tian’er’s throat off!
Having obtained Zhuang Li’s amulet, he left the courtyard, retrieved the dagger and bow and arrows he had brought from the guard, and strode down the mountain, his body shrouded in a thick aura of malevolence.
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