Chapter 36 - 3#

Most importantly… even if Rong Jiu knelt in front of him, he didn’t give off a feeling of reverence at all.

It was more like…

Being greedily watched by some monster, and if there was even a slight lapse, he would be gnawed to pieces.

Jingzhe sat by the fire, but could still feel that sticky, strange gaze.

Rong Jiu was still staring at him, as if… he was something delicious, tasty…

Jingzhe suddenly slapped his face, throwing away all those strange fantasies.

It’s not like that… Jingzhe unnaturally hugged himself, avoiding Rong Jiu’s gaze… He looks normal, he’s Rong Jiu, he… he should be obedient now…

—“Jingzhe, I didn’t kill anyone, I behaved myself. Am I obedient?”

Suddenly, Jingzhe remembered Rong Jiu’s words after he stabbed the soft sword into Huang Yijie’s abdomen.

…Was that obedience?

Jingzhe didn’t want to think about it anymore. In this strange, continuous silence, as if unable to bear the quietness, “…You, what’s wrong with that sword of yours…”

Rong Jiu drew a soft sword from his waist. The movement was astonishingly fast, and then the soft sword sprang open, revealing its sharp edge.

“You like it?”

The soft sword was offered towards Jingzhe.

Jingzhe understood Rong Jiu’s meaning and immediately shook his head: “No, I just, want to see it.”

He looked down at the soft sword. There was no trace of the blood that had just wounded Huang Yijie on it, it was as smooth as new.

As he looked, he made small talk, “You, you said, Huang Yijie controlled many people in Qianming Palace, so what about you…”

Rong Jiu: “Didn’t you hear what she said?”

The man said indifferently.

“I wasn’t poisoned by Gu because I still have poison in my body that hasn’t been completely removed.”

Gu poison and regular poison have always been intertwined.

Whether the poison devoured the Gu, or the Gu ate the poison, depended on which was more ferocious.

At the thought of the poison in Rong Jiu’s body, Jingzhe suddenly looked up at him, but after meeting Rong Jiu’s dark gaze, he instinctively looked away, “That poison… hasn’t been completely removed?”

Rong Jiu: “It will take some time.”

“How long?”

“At least one or two years, at most two or three years.”

Jingzhe pouted. Wasn’t that like saying nothing at all?

But Rong Jiu still had to suffer for so long.

Jingzhe fell silent at the thought of this.

No, what was he thinking about?

Rong Jiu’s poison was a problem to be considered after this matter was over… Speaking of which, could they really live until then? The thought of the burned Fengxian Hall and the current state of the small hall made Jingzhe’s stomach ache… they could really survive, right…

And Rong Jiu.

The person he was worried about just now was now the most dangerous presence.

Even if he had just shown a very rare restraint under Jingzhe’s words, this restraint was insignificant.

Jingzhe could still sense that pervasive fanaticism.

It made the back of his neck ache with swelling.

It was the place Rong Jiu had pinched.

Speaking of which, Rong Jiu had previously lectured Jingzhe, saying that he had no defenses at all, always letting people get close to the back of his neck casually.

For any creature, the back is the most vulnerable place.

From the neck to the spine, no matter which part is broken, it will be extremely tragic. One can survive losing limbs, but an attack from behind means there is no way to survive.

Jingzhe subconsciously touched his neck.

Since just now, he had felt a strange swelling sensation on the back of his neck, which was really strange, as if…

A tiny black insect was caught by Jingzhe without any resistance.

Jingzhe looked at the black insect in his palm, his hand inevitably trembling, and a great fear swept over him. He instinctively flicked his hand, throwing the black insect away, and then pounced on Rong Jiu in horror.

Rong Jiu, who had just been a danger Jingzhe avoided, now became Jingzhe’s life-saving medicine.

Jingzhe huddled in Rong Jiu’s arms, whimpering, trembling and burying his face in the man’s shoulder, feeling utterly disgraced, but that panic that felt like his scalp was about to explode… Wuwu, he was really scared, so many insects!

He could hear Rong Jiu’s comforting voice.

“It’s okay, it’s just that one.”

Jingzhe’s voice was tearful: “Really? Don’t lie to me, was my neck bitten? Rong Jiu, help me check.”

He actively turned his head, exposing his neck.

It was as if he was actively offering his vulnerable vital point to the hunter.

Rong Jiu looked at the slightly red neck, and his cold fingers touched it. Jingzhe’s body trembled uncontrollably. It was an instinctive fear.

People are always good at self-deception.

Repeatedly probing, repeatedly pulling, in this back and forth, no matter how keen one’s perception of danger, it is easy to be deceived.

Especially in front of familiar people, deception becomes even easier.

It’s not his fault, right?

It was that tiny insect that was too hard to detect, which was why Rong Jiu didn’t notice it.

Jingzhe… would believe him, this small oversight.

Rong Jiu held Jingzhe. This trembling body was very slender, and the two thin butterfly bones on his back were even more so, clinging so tightly, like honey that couldn’t be torn apart, melting together stickily.

Jingzhe’s voice still carried a hint of fear: “Rong Jiu, check again for me…”

He said vaguely, fearfully.

“Are there really no strange… Gu worms on my body?”

Just thinking about those black insects calling him mother made his face turn green. If there was this thing on the back of his neck, what about other places? There wouldn’t be this thing in his crown, his hair…

At the thought of these, Jingzhe couldn’t help but pull off his crown and hurriedly smoothed his messy hair.

Rong Jiu grabbed his frantic hand.

“I’ll do it.”

A large hand stroked Jingzhe’s hair, slowly from the top of his head to his back. Some wet hair skillfully spread out in the man’s hand.

This seemed like respectful service.

But it was more like a strange caress, each stroke filled with greedy desire.

Under Rong Jiu’s caress, Jingzhe became drowsy.

He couldn’t be blamed for this… right? After being drenched by the heavy rain and overwhelmed by the insect tide, he could still remain conscious and deal with the out-of-sorts Rong Jiu. He felt that he had tried very hard.

The rapidly depleting mental energy made Jingzhe’s head feel a little dizzy.

He could still smell the faint dampness at the tip of his nose.

The burning fire was continuously emitting warmth. This warmth baked the two of them, and even Rong Jiu’s body became warm. The only exception was probably his hands.

Those hands were still as cold as ever.

Every time he touched Jingzhe, there would still be a slight tremor.

People are greedy for warmth.

So, by the time Rong Jiu finished tidying Jingzhe’s somewhat frizzy hair, the person had almost shrunk into Rong Jiu’s clothes, and his consciousness was a little blurry.

“…Hair…”

Jingzhe murmured, looking at Rong Jiu in a daze.

“What’s wrong with your hair?”

“Your hair is beautiful and soft to touch; my hair is frizzy and yellow, not good to touch.”

“It’s very soft to touch.”

Jingzhe buried his face in Rong Jiu’s shoulder, “No, even the gift… I can’t give it away…”

The warm temperature and the man’s unusual gentleness numbed Jingzhe’s sensitive nerves. In his drowsiness, he revealed the little secret he had intended to hide.

“What gift?”

Jingzhe pursed his lips and whispered, “You gave me a lock of hair before.” The body and hair are from parents. Even if it’s Rong Jiu, the meaning of hair is different. “I thought… I’d give you a return gift.”

But after much thought, no matter how precious those things were, they couldn’t outweigh such profound meaning.

“…So, I used, my hair, and a red string, to weave you a safety knot…”

Jingzhe’s voice was slow, as if he was hesitant, speaking slowly, as if each word had to be thought about a little before it could be spoken.

“Where is that safety knot?”

“Hidden, on me.”

Jingzhe slowly sat up straight, hesitantly looking at Rong Jiu. The man’s beautiful face, illuminated by the firelight, showed a strange gentleness and obedience.

It was as if the previous coercion was an illusion, and that extremely flamboyant presence was reined in, as if he held the reins that could tame him.

Jingzhe had no doubt that at this moment, Rong Jiu would do anything for him.

He remained silent, slowly lowering his head.

Jingzhe fumbled for a while and found the small safety knot in his bosom. He carried this item with him every day, fearing it would fall off, and even tied it with a string. After all the events of today, this small safety knot was still on him.

Jingzhe’s usually nimble fingers, at this moment, seemed a bit clumsy. It took him some time to finally untie the safety knot and carefully place it in Rong Jiu’s palm.

His movements were a bit stiff and awkward, “If, you don’t like it, there’s no…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Rong Jiu suddenly clench his palm, and even Jingzhe’s hand, which he hadn’t withdrawn yet, was also grasped.

Jingzhe was startled and looked at Rong Jiu uneasily.

Rong Jiu stared at him, then slowly released his grip and said in a hoarse voice, “Help me put it on.”

Jingzhe touched the safety knot, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and hung it on Rong Jiu’s belt. He paused slightly, then pursed his lips and said, “This looks strange.”

Rong Jiu’s outer garment was already spread on the ground, and both of them were wearing thin shirts. After all, spring and summer were hot, unlike winter, so they couldn’t wear too many clothes.

Now, the somewhat mottled safety knot worn outside the plain white shirt looked a bit out of place.

Especially the red string, which was matched with incompatible colors, always made Jingzhe feel that it was a bit unpresentable.

He awkwardly picked at his hand, wanting to untie it: “Or maybe give it back to me, and next time, I’ll give you a better-looking one…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt his body lift into the air, picked up by Rong Jiu, and then laid down on the ground.

Jingzhe lay on the somewhat hard floor, looking at Rong Jiu blankly.

The man’s pupils constricted, staring at Jingzhe as if he were some sweet food. That sticky, scorching feeling made Jingzhe suddenly realize something, and his body instinctively sat up, “Rong Jiu—”

“Jingzhe, I’m sorry…” Rong Jiu’s voice still sounded so calm, completely unaffected by the fanaticism and strange excitement that climbed onto his face. He even apologized politely, “I might be a little rough…”

Click.

A cold soft sword was placed beside them.

“When you feel uncomfortable, use it to cut my body,” the man’s fingers casually pointed at his shoulder, chest, and abdomen. “Don’t aim for the limbs or neck. The former is useless, the latter… I might not be able to control my instinctive reaction…”

Bloody, cruel words flowed from his thin lips. Jingzhe didn’t want to understand, nor did he want to look at the strange excitement on the man’s face.

He rolled over, wanting to run.

A heavy body pressed down from behind. Just as Rong Jiu liked, Jingzhe’s body was too slender compared to Rong Jiu’s…

Ha, a perfect fit.

Jingzhe struggled desperately, his fingers gripping the clothes on the ground, creating several wrinkles. “Rong Jiu, get off, you, you have to be obedient, you can’t do this!” His voice became a little sharp in his fear, and he tried his best to give orders.

Rong Jiu bit Jingzhe’s nape.

The fear of a vital point being attacked made Jingzhe’s throat feel as if it was being choked, and he could no longer speak.

“Obedient… I will be obedient…” The man’s restrained voice was filled with malicious fanaticism. “Jingzhe, this is what you deserve, a reward.”

Look, he was so obedient, so submissive, so… understanding, bringing Jingzhe to a safe place, providing shelter for him who was afraid… Yes, he was just asking for the reward he deserved.

That’s all.

Outside Fengxian Hall, Ning Hongru, who was having a headache dealing with the aftermath, suddenly heard a strange rustling sound.

It was initially very small, just a faint buzzing, almost imperceptible in the rain. Then, layers of sounds gathered, forming a tide.

“Manager Ning, look!”

A guard screamed in horror, seeing densely packed black insects crawling from all over the palace walls. Their numbers were not as many as before, but they surged towards the small hall like a tide.

Ning Hongru’s face changed drastically. He picked up the unburnt wood from Fengxian Hall and shouted, “Quick, take the things!”

He rushed towards the small hall first.

The rustling sound quickly engulfed the entire small hall. People outside could see the horrifying scene, while people inside… could hear the overwhelming rustling sound.

[Save. Save.]

[Mother. Afraid. Mother. Afraid.]

[Kill. Save.]

Overlapping whispers, strange rustling sounds, and distorted darkness covered the light outside the small hall, turning the entire inner hall into a strange place.

Jingzhe’s panic, before it could even rise, was soothed by another cold voice. That originally clear voice suppressed immense violence and fanaticism, “Jingzhe, it’s okay, don’t listen.”

Yet, he greedily gnawed at the fragile, tired prey, even his arms and body were firmly bound, leaving no room for escape.

Thump, thump—

He heard the man’s frantic heartbeat and the continuous sound of rain.

The rain was gradually overwhelmed by the strange sounds, transforming into eerie rustling.

But the heartbeat was still there.

Safe.

A strange, twisted, yet indeed safe place.

The terrifying insect noises outside, just as he said, could not break through this thin wall and enter the palace. It was as if danger could only be defeated by an even more dangerous and terrifying existence.

The rustling sound of wings rubbing, the sticky sweet scent, the damp sound of rain, and the fervent atmosphere in the hall burned together, turning into a terrifying tide.

“…You damn… where on earth… were you obedient…”

Clearly, Rong Jiu was the greatest danger.