Chapter 53#

Extra Story Six

Originally, this strategy was aimed at Jinjiang; fortunately, Xianwang had no crackdown, so we continued to let it flaunt as it pleased…

Sedative-hypnotics were something Third Master Ren could never detach from in his life—like an opium addiction. The moment he left that bottle of pills, he seemed utterly unable to sleep peacefully. Even if he managed to fall asleep, it was only a light slumber for a short while, and he would suddenly wake up in the dead of night, then lie there wide awake until dawn. Perhaps it was also because of the medication that, on ordinary days, once Third Master Ren truly fell asleep, he usually wouldn’t wake up until around noon.

But there were exceptions.

Wen Jing personally attended to Third Master Ren taking his medicine. Watching those beautiful yet strangely pale, cold hands pick up the pills from the table, Wen Jing handed him some warm water. He watched the man on the bed slowly swallow the medicine, take a sip of water, and then murmur softly, “Please rest well.”

After helping Third Master Ren lie down properly, Wen Jing collected the cup and walked over to the bedside table to refill the incense—another thing Third Master Ren couldn’t do without. It was the sandalwood incense he had been using since childhood, something that had been around even when the eldest Master Ren was still alive. As for whether it had any miraculous effects, no one could say for sure; it was just something Third Master Ren was accustomed to.

If one were to press the matter, it might be because Third Master Ren felt that, compared to the smell of medicine, the fragrance of sandalwood was a bit more pleasant.

Before stepping out the door, Wen Jing added, “Third Master, if you need anything…”

Third Master Ren didn’t reply. He lay on his side, silent and still, as if already asleep.

Wen Jing carefully lightened his footsteps. He had been by this man’s side for over a decade. He wouldn’t claim to understand his temperament completely, but at least seventy or eighty percent of it he grasped. The young master Ren had returned to school this morning, and it would be a while before he came back to stay at the house again.

Not that it made much difference. Even when the young master came home, he would never come up here for even a glance, let alone offer a greeting.

Third Master Ren had gone to bed earlier than usual tonight. In the past few days, when the young master Ren had rarely returned to the main residence to stay for two or three days, up until this morning when he left, Third Master Ren had still confined himself to his room. Only during meals did he occasionally go downstairs—but at such times, the young master was never at the dining table. When asked, the servants said the young master ate with Old He and his wife, who worked as general laborers.

This wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened. After a while, whenever the young master Ren came back, the household head, Third Master Ren, would instead stay in his room, not even going to the company.

The servants also felt the relationship between the uncle and nephew was truly distant. As for what was going on in Third Master Ren’s mind, Wen Jing could somewhat guess.

Outsiders said Third Master Ren was a cold-hearted man, not even particularly close to his own mother, but they didn’t know that a man like him, if he truly cared for someone, had no sense of boundaries—sooner or later, he would drag himself down too.

—Tonight, Third Master should be able to sleep a little better, Wen Jing thought.

Third Master Ren had taken one more pill than usual tonight. Presumably, he was feeling restless. This time the young master had come back, but the two hadn’t seen each other even once…

Turning off the light, Wen Jing quietly withdrew.

In the dead of night, he finally fell asleep, recalling past memories.

For Third Master Ren, there were too few things he could reminisce about. Or rather—in all the years he had lived, the things worth cherishing, or the beautiful memories, were pitifully scarce.

His life was just like him: plenty of blank spaces, but far too many dark ones too.

Whenever something could be called beautiful, he couldn’t help but savor it carefully before sleep. Bit by bit, even after so many years had passed, he had never forgotten a single detail.

Perhaps it was because he had been thinking too much these past few days that when Third Master Ren hazily opened his eyes, he could viscerally feel that he was in a dream—maybe because, aside from in dreams, that person would never be willing to approach him, speak a single word to him, or even cast a glance his way.

In reality, such things were utterly奢侈.

Yet in the dream, he saw that person lying on his back on the grass—a tender yellow, lush green stretch, with the faint fragrance of flowers drifting on the wind. In truth, he didn’t like standing in the sunlight. To him, that feeling was too dazzling, as if it were scorching every inch of his skin—a sensation of dying.

But when that person turned his head to look at him, he still couldn’t help but walk over.

In a dream, no matter how much he touched, it could be forgiven.

His constitution was cold, as if a chill emanated from his very bones. So when he touched that delicate, warm face, he couldn’t help but be extremely cautious.

This was someone… even in a dream, he had to handle with care.

His hand gently traced the contours. That person blinked his eyes as he looked at him, lips slightly parted, as if tempting him, and slowly opened his mouth—

It was a chaotic dream, as if reflecting the beastly desires churning restlessly in his heart.

Even just a kiss in the dream made him tremble uncontrollably. Urgently, frantically, he pulled that warmth toward himself, every part of his body seeming to scream out.

This is a dream—

That person… was right there in his dream.

Sucking on those rosy lips, biting like a beast at the skin hidden beneath the clothes, he could even clearly feel the other’s hands caressing his body in return. Everything was so beautiful that he almost wanted to cry and roar.

From kissing to caressing, he didn’t even need to lower his head or open his eyes to know exactly every place his hands passed over. This was the beautiful body he had once recklessly explored and thoroughly possessed. He had deeply memorized every expression of that person, as well as the posture of indulgence in pleasure, like returning to a primal soul, tightly clinging to each other.

He stripped off that person’s clothes and kissed every inch of skin meticulously. He knew clearly that when he traced his tongue lightly over the erect nipples, alternating between gentle and pressing with his teeth at the edges—he understood how to please the body beneath him. From beginning to end, he could suppress the nearly explosive male desire within himself, but he would not let slip any spot that could drive the person beneath into ecstasy.

He tightly embraced that already heated body. Even just rubbing their bodies together filled him with such satisfaction that he couldn’t speak. He embraced that person from behind, pressing close to the sweat-dampened back. That sensitive, pink-flushed body curled up involuntarily as slowly, gradually, he pushed himself into that warm passage…

But at that moment, the person turned his head to look at him, and in his eyes was that familiar, overwhelming sorrow and helplessness.

“Third Uncle…”

Third Uncle… Please let me go…

“——!!”

He opened his eyes.

Complete darkness. The lingering scent of sandalwood. And a feeling of coldness.

He suddenly sat up in bed, fumbling blindly to the side. His hand, which had been reaching for the call button, slowly withdrew halfway.

He trembled, taking a few deep breaths…

He turned his head and suddenly, frantically, yanked open the drawer of the bedside table, rummaging through it for something.

It was too dark to see anything.

In the end, he half-lay there, limp and defeated, tilting his head back, eyes slightly closed.

His hand slowly reached into the bedding.

Even though he had been bedridden with illness for years, he was still a normal man. Perhaps he wasn’t as detached from worldly desires as he appeared on the surface. He knew very well what… filthy thoughts he harbored.

This night’s dream was not the first.

He was a man of extraordinary self-control.

But he couldn’t control his desire for that person.

He leaned over the headboard, his hand gripping the sheet tightly, the other moving quickly. At the height of emotion, he nearly felt faint, gritting his teeth, and at the very end, he couldn’t help but cry out lowly, like sobbing, the name that overflowed from his lips time and again.

Qiqier…

At the final moment, what came surging in was an overwhelming sense of guilt.

He rose from the bed. After the release, his steps felt somewhat weak. An easel by the window held a painting.

By the moonlight, he saw a silhouette.

His fingertip gently traced over it.

This was all he could do.

That was all…

This was…

The sin he had to atone for.

His—original sin.