Chapter 33 - 1#

—We need to talk.

Because of Jingzhe’s insistence, they found a secluded place to talk after dusk. On the palace road, it was uncertain when someone would come by, and Jingzhe always felt unsafe.

In the end, they slipped into the Xie Fang Hall.

There was no other reason, because there were many palaces here, but no master lived here.

Except for the palace staff who cleaned and guarded it every day, it was very quiet.

Jingzhe tried his best not to think about what he shouldn’t think about: stay calm, stay calm, stay calm…

He repeated it until only these three words remained in his mind!

Rong Jiu suddenly called him: “Jingzhe.”

Jingzhe subconsciously said what was on his mind: “Stay calm!”

Rong Jiu: “You don’t look calm at all.”

Jingzhe coughed twice, indicating that he had just made a small mistake.

Before starting the conversation, Jingzhe felt that he needed to set the tone for this conversation.

So, he spoke first.

“We can argue, but no fighting.”

Jingzhe emphasized heavily.

Rong Jiu, whether he found it novel or interesting, held Jingzhe’s fingers with one hand. The slight coolness made Jingzhe want to pull back unexpectedly.

The sudden tightening of his grip made him unable to move.

“This kind of contact is also not allowed?”

Jingzhe reluctantly replied, “Only this far.”

After speaking, Rong Jiu scratched Jingzhe’s palm.

Jingzhe: “…”

Why are you so annoying!

The two of them sat awkwardly on the steps of the palace. Jingzhe occupied a small space on the left. Rong Jiu had long arms and legs. He sat on top, and his boots were already on the ground, a picture of casual elegance.

Jingzhe stared at the man’s side profile under the moon for a while before remembering the important matter.

Rong Jiu slowly curved his lips into a smile.

Although it was not obvious, it made Jingzhe immediately withdraw his gaze.

Jingzhe: “You… what did you mean by being poisoned before?”

He hesitated for a while, but still asked this first.

Rong Jiu’s previous madness was all because of this. He was also concerned about Rong Jiu’s health. Despite all the troubles, this was what he was most concerned about.

Rong Jiu said coldly, “My parents turned against each other. My mother’s love turned to hatred. She didn’t like my birth, so she hoped I would be buried early.”

A simple sentence stunned Jingzhe.

He paused for a while, and said with a difficult tone, “…That poison, was it given to you by your mother?”

He could feel that Jingzhe’s relationship with his parents was not very good, but poisoning?

How cruel.

Rong Jiu’s expression was indifferent. This was a trivial matter not worth mentioning. If Jingzhe hadn’t asked, he wouldn’t have even said it.

Whether it was Rong Jiu’s words and actions, or his expression, they all nakedly expressed this point.

But this was not irrelevant.

—“Jingzhe, not everyone will like their children as much as your parents. Some people are not expected from birth, and they wish they could be strangled in their swaddling clothes. To be able to survive depends on some luck and a shameless desire to live.”

Jingzhe couldn’t help but think of Rong Jiu’s expression that day.

The man’s face was expressionless, which made his overly pale and beautiful side profile look like a finely carved stone statue. Every word he uttered made Jingzhe feel a suffocating pain in his long memories.

Parents, children, how could there be such a cruel and violent relationship.

It was something that Jingzhe could never have imagined.

Jingzhe wanted to ask, but he felt that this was Rong Jiu’s sore spot. He was silent for a while, not knowing what to say. Any more words would be just empty.

Rong Jiu seemed to know Jingzhe’s difficulty, “It’s all from a long time ago, a grudge from the previous generation.” He said coldly, “Anyway, they’re all dead, and they all died cleanly.”

Jingzhe paused and said softly, “No matter what the grudge is, it’s not right for it to affect you… What did the doctor say?”

Rong Jiu: “I won’t die that quickly.”

Jingzhe raised his foot and kicked the side of Rong Jiu’s boot, muttering, “Don’t say ‘die’ or ’not die’.”

Rong Jiu pinched the bridge of his nose. This ordinary action, when he did it, inexplicably gave the illusion of endurance.

“Originally, I wouldn’t have lived past thirty. After finding a doctor, I can probably live to be fifty or sixty.”

The age of fifty or sixty is already considered a long life for most people.

Jingzhe looked at Rong Jiu suspiciously, afraid that he was lying. But Rong Jiu, this person, should not be so disdainful.

Jingzhe: “If this accident hadn’t happened, would you… not have told me anything?”

Thirty years old?

…He didn’t even know Rong Jiu’s specific age now, but Rong Jiu’s age was definitely over twenty-five.

Didn’t this mean that there were only a few years left?

Jingzhe didn’t know that his tone naturally revealed how far he wanted to go with Rong Jiu. Rong Jiu’s eyes fell on him: “Of course I will tell you.”

Before he died.

This tone was a bit gentle, but it contained a strange bloodlust.

At a certain distance, Jingzhe and Rong Jiu’s hands were the only place they touched.

Rong Jiu always held Jingzhe’s hand tightly.

The cool body temperature had been warmed by Jingzhe, and it seemed that he could also feel the vigorous sound of blood flowing.

“I will tell Jingzhe, and then, I will take you away.”

Jingzhe’s fingers subconsciously stiffened. When he was about to slip away from Rong Jiu’s palm, he was caught tightly again.

The suffocating feeling of not being allowed to escape made Jingzhe frown slightly. He looked at Rong Jiu, meeting his dark eyes.

“Don’t you think that sometimes… the words you say are a bit scary?”

Jingzhe reminded him tactfully.

It wasn’t “a bit,” it was “quite.”

He always had a feeling… if it was revealed now that Rong Jiu was a serial killer, he wouldn’t be surprised at all.

He had once despaired of Rong Jiu’s personality.

Because no matter what, Jingzhe’s thoughts were very simple most of the time.

To be with a person, if you are lucky, then be together for a long, long time, peacefully, and comfortably… But with Rong Jiu, why is it so difficult?

Rong Jiu’s actions were forceful. He slowly opened Jingzhe’s palm, which wanted to curl up, and then, their ten fingers intertwined. It was not very forceful, but Jingzhe had a thrilling feeling of being targeted.

“Scary?” Rong Jiu said unhurriedly, “Jingzhe, what I’ve used on you is probably not even one percent.”

The man’s voice, if you listened carefully, had a bit of forbearance.

“I’ve used all my patience on you.”

Rong Jiu had never been so gradual in his life.

Jingzhe: “…”

Huh?

One percent? Hahahaha… it must be an exaggeration… right, but patience?

Where was the patience!

Jingzhe found it hard to control his desire to roar. He had always thought that Rong Jiu was fast, accurate, and ruthless, otherwise their relationship would not have changed so quickly.

If this could be called patience…

Then now Jingzhe really wanted to know what Rong Jiu was like when he was not patient… wait, Jingzhe’s mind flashed back to the tragedy of New Year’s Eve, and he immediately coughed.

It’s better not to seek death.

He cautiously avoided the dangerous place, “Let’s not talk about the problem of patience… Rong Jiu, you always make me a little scared,” Jingzhe said softly, so honest that it was pitiful, “I don’t know… if at some point, I won’t be able to bear it…”

Since he had decided to talk, Jingzhe didn’t want to… ignore these problems anymore. There was a huge gap between him and Rong Jiu. This gap was not created by them, but was formed naturally.

But they couldn’t always ignore these gaps and then expect Jingzhe to be able to endure it forever…

He had no confidence in himself.

Jingzhe liked Rong Jiu, and this liking would probably continue. But love would not turn Jingzhe into an obedient fool.

In the midst of crisis, he was still keenly aware that many times, the source of his danger…

was Rong Jiu himself.

His existence was already so.

“You have always been overly sensitive, so sensitive that it’s a bit pitiful,” Rong Jiu shook Jingzhe’s fingers and said lightly, “Jingzhe, do you believe what I say, are you a gentleman, or a person with a serious face? (*)”

He grabbed Jingzhe’s hand and pulled him over, looking down at him.

“Do you believe what I say?”

“It’s important to have unity of knowledge and action,” Jingzhe licked his lips nervously, “and to judge by actions, not by heart, to look at actions, not words, is also common sense… but,” he looked down at their intertwined fingers. Under the moonlight, the man’s skin looked paler than his, but it was not a healthy pinkish white, but a suppressed cold white.

“You, if you say it, I will believe it.”

Jingzhe said almost gently.

It was indeed difficult to trust a person wholeheartedly. Jingzhe had spent so many years and had only managed to open his heart to Mingyu.

Jingzhe’s heart was very small.

It couldn’t hold too many things.

But if Rong Jiu was willing to come in, he would also try hard.

Rong Jiu was silent for a moment, and his softened tone sounded a bit gentle, “Are you not afraid of me anymore?”

He could actually say such soft, heart-stirring words.

Jingzhe, completely unaware of his own power, could easily shake the thick ice on Rong Jiu’s body, smooth out the wanton malice, and then give birth to more, terrifying desires.

Jingzhe said aggrievedly, “I’m scared.”

He was naturally… still afraid of Rong Jiu. How could he not be afraid at all?

Compared to Rong Jiu’s violent temper, those imposing auras were nothing. Anyway, after being suppressed… he got used to it.

Jingzhe raised Rong Jiu’s hand and placed it on his own throat, then looked up at Rong Jiu.

From his angle, the moonlight fell on Rong Jiu’s back, blurring his outline and making it soft, but he couldn’t see his expression clearly.

But Jingzhe could feel the heavy, lingering gaze.

“Do you want to kill me?”

Sometimes, even Rong Jiu couldn’t figure out what was going on in Jingzhe’s mind. How could there be such a fool who would actively provoke a tiger?

A large hand landed on Jingzhe’s neck, fingers spread apart, accurately pinching the lifeline.

Thump—thump—

It was a slightly rapid heartbeat.

A fragile neck, a fragile life, was in his hands.

So, Rong Jiu also learned Jingzhe’s tone, “I do.”

This burning desire would torture him day and night, pulling out his intestines, throwing his flesh on the ground and stepping on it… like a vulture chasing after carrion, the paranoid possessiveness would never be satisfied.

“Jingzhe, you are very good.”

The cold words, for some reason, seemed to condense a scorching temperature.

“Your eyes are beautiful, your nose is comfortable to touch, your lips are soft, and you smell sweet…” the man said straightforwardly, even somewhat vulgar words. His dark eyes, at a time when Jingzhe couldn’t see, were surging with endless gloom and violence, “Who wouldn’t want to choke your throat, so that the airflow can only pass through the windpipe under control…”

To completely control the person under him, the intense panting would be so wonderful. Every inch of breath taken… all depended on his bestowal.

The heartbeat changed.

It became rapid. It became panicked.

But the fingers pressed on Rong Jiu’s palm did not move.

Jingzhe took a deep breath, and a large mouthful of fresh, sweet air passed through his lungs and was finally exhaled by him.

I don’t know if he remembered that day, the fear of almost being unable to breathe.

“If so, would you be satisfied?”

Jingzhe tentatively threw out this sentence.

Rong Jiu restrained all his emotions, and his cold gaze, like a blade, cut open the delicate skin, causing people’s nerves to tingle wildly.

Jingzhe didn’t know how terrible the words he said were.

It would easily release a beast.

To bring upon himself an unstoppable hell.

“No.”

Rong Jiu said lightly.