Lin Shijin faltered for a moment at the question. He followed their gaze to his wrist; the finger-marks that had barely been visible before were now faintly bruised.
If his wrist looked like this, the rest of him hardly bore thinking about. Judging from Sheng Rufei’s expression, his neck must be much the same.
He had felt nothing at the time when Jun Yewu pinched his neck. He was probably too anxious to notice… and it didn’t hurt now either.
Being asked this question made him feel rather awkward. Although Jun Yewu had indeed laid hands on him, this was hardly the moment to be discussing it.
“Shixiong, let’s talk about it when we get back. It’s still dangerous here…”
Before he could finish, a noise came from the boundary array. All the dancing girls in the main hall dissolved into black mist, and the hall fell into chaos.
With Su Lian and the others present, it was quickly brought under control. The city lord’s guards gathered in layers around them. Once Su Lian and the city lord had finished their discussion, he came over to them.
“Are the two of you unharmed?”
Lin Shijin shook his head; he had not been injured.
Sheng Rufei was still staring at the breach in the array, but at the question he withdrew his gaze and replied, “We are both fine. What of the city lord?”
“He’s unharmed. Those dancers were conjured illusions; once the array broke, they vanished with it. As for the purpose behind those demons’ actions, it remains to be investigated.”
Su Lian still had much to deal with and clearly had no time to linger. Seeing that the two were safe, he felt reassured and told them to return to the inn.
Jing Qiuhong had been terrified as well. Seeing they were all right, he breathed out in relief, greeted Lin Shijin, and chose to stay behind to assist Su Lian.
Only a few disciples remained in the city lord’s manor. The others were sent back first… especially Lin Shijin and Sheng Rufei, who were to be kept under strict protection.
After all, the pair had been directly involved with the demonic manifestation, and Fuguang Sect always placed its disciples’ safety first.
Lin Shijin followed Sheng Rufei back. On the way, the red thread at his wrist coiled twice more, clinging to the inside of his wrist. Sheng Rufei stayed very close beside him.
By the time they returned, night had fully fallen. They set up layers of protective arrays in the inn and in their rooms. The red thread tugged him into Sheng Rufei’s room. Candles were lit on the table; Sheng Rufei set his sword aside.
Lin Shijin knew Sheng Rufei wanted to ask what had happened. Before he could speak, Lin Shijin told the whole story from beginning to end.
“When I went to buy pastries, I bumped into someone. He apologised, and I saw his face. Then at the banquet I thought the zither-player looked like him, so I glanced at him a few more times.
“After that I don’t know what happened. I fell into his illusion and couldn’t control my body.
“But I found out who he was. He’s the Demon Saint Lord, Jun Yewu.”
Sheng Rufei listened quietly, adjusting the candles and lighting the lamp by the bed. Hearing this, he looked over.
His eyes made his meaning obvious: How do you know?
“Because he threatened me,” Lin Shijin said, still a little shaken at the memory, instinctively taking two steps closer. “He said if I didn’t listen, he’d turn me into a ‘beauty bone’. He uses soul-capturing arts and likes collecting beauty bones. Aren’t those all written on the wanted notices?”
Both details were indeed on the notices, and Jun Yewu’s wanted posters were posted in every city.
“Come here.” Sheng Rufei did not answer but called him over, giving the red thread a light tug.
Lin Shijin was pulled forward by the wrist. After what had happened, he felt unsafe anyway. Being closer to Sheng Rufei was better, so he went over quite readily.
He sat down beside him. The candlelight flickered. He blinked. “Shixiong, did you hear what I said just now?”
Sheng Rufei let out a “Mm.” Then said, “I’ll send Su Lian-shixiong a voice transmission later.”
Hearing that, Lin Shijin relaxed. The rest no longer concerned him.
Sheng Rufei remained right beside him, staring. The intensity of it made Lin Shijin uneasy. The other reached out; Lin Shijin felt his earlobe brushed.
The youth lowered his gaze at him, candlelight playing across his features. His brown eyes were unreadable. His fingertips touched Lin Shijin’s earlobe, the rough pad of his finger warm against his skin.
“Besides your ears and neck. Where else?”
Back to that question. Lin Shijin felt distinctly uncomfortable, as though a husband were interrogating a wife who had been taken advantage of, ready to draw his sword in vengeance.
He opened his mouth. “He hugged me once in the illusion. There was nothing else.”
Sheng Rufei’s voice was flat. “Where did he hold you?”
Why so specific? But he knew Sheng Rufei was simply worried. Outside, he was the shidi, and Sheng Rufei, as shixiong, was responsible for looking after him.
“It was just a quick hug…”
Where else does one hug someone? he was thinking, when Sheng Rufei said:
“Take off your clothes.”
Lin Shijin froze. Sheng Rufei looked perfectly serious. Why did he want him undressed?
Perhaps to check for marks?
With that in mind he hesitated, but he trusted Sheng Rufei more and shrugged off his outer robe.
“Shixiong, why do I need to undress?”
Sheng Rufei did not answer. “Only the upper garments.”
Cultivators’ robes were cumbersome; Lin Shijin spent ages dressing each morning. Later, to save trouble, he tied the inner layers rather carelessly.
He murmured an “Oh” as he loosened his inner robe, and the undergarment followed, exposing the marks on his neck. He glanced at them, touched them. They didn’t hurt now.
Feng Rugao had prepared medicine for him; he would apply it later and it would heal in two days.
Just as he was about to undo his undershirt, his elegant collarbones appeared. Then then smooth, fine, a tiny mole at one edge hinting at his slender frame.
He was still loosening it when Sheng Rufei suddenly said, “Stop.”
Lin Shijin halted and looked at him, puzzled.
“Only remove the middle layer.” Sheng Rufei’s brown eyes had cooled. He re-fastened the part Lin Shijin had undone; his fingertips brushed Lin Shijin’s collarbone, making him feel faintly ticklish.
Lin Shijin reflexively shrank back; his cheek brushed Sheng Rufei’s fingers, making it look as though he were nuzzling him. Embarrassed, he heard Sheng Rufei say, coolly:
“Before marriage, undergarments must not be removed in view of others.”
So he had meant only the outer robe and middle layer. He had misunderstood.
Lin Shijin: “…”
He wasn’t a woman; why follow these rules? Even if he were, the world was far more open now. Bare shoulders and high waists were everywhere. “No removing undergarments before marriage” was an eight-hundred-year-old custom.
“Shixiong, I saw you in the cold spring last time.”
He hadn’t seen anything at all, but he couldn’t resist arguing. Sheng Rufei was clearly young. How was he so old-fashioned? Lin Shijin gave him a troubled look on purpose.
“Does that mean I should take responsibility for you?”
“You and I are different.”
Sheng Rufei looked at the youth before him. The youth wore only a snow-white undershirt, fastened but not tightly. His skin was like untouched snow, his long dark hair falling about him, his amber eyes shining under the candlelight, bright and alive.
He could not imagine him undressing before anyone else.
“But we have a marriage contract. Can’t we at least look?”
Lin Shijin was speechless at the logic. It sounded as though Sheng Rufei didn’t mind him seeing, but wouldn’t allow anyone else.
“We’ve not formally married,” Sheng Rufei said. Meaning he would not look either.
You’ve already kissed me, but there are still rules? Lin Shijin muttered inwardly. He would not dare say it aloud; he always sensed Sheng Rufei disliked him talking back. Every time he did, Sheng Rufei froze him out.
Lin Shijin sat on the edge of the bed, clothes scattered about. His waistband had ridden up slightly; Sheng Rufei’s fingertips brushed the skin of his waist, and a sharp pain shot through him.
“Ow—” He tried to pull away, but looking down he saw two finger marks there. Sheng Rufei held him still.
Retracting his hand, Sheng Rufei asked, “Besides here, where else did he touch you?”
Lin Shijin slipped away like a fish from his reach. He had no idea what Sheng Rufei meant to do. Thinking hard, he recalled that during his struggle Jun Yewu had touched his lower back.
“Also on my back.”
He turned slightly, feeling a cool draft at his lower back. Sheng Rufei’s fingertips touched there; he felt the contact keenly, uncomfortable.
A strange feeling spread from his waist. Lin Shijin tried to move, but Sheng Rufei’s voice came from behind. “Don’t move”. He was held firmly still.
Then he felt an icy chill, seeping into his bones. He flinched in pain, but Sheng Rufei’s next words froze him.
“A curse has been placed on your body. If it isn’t removed soon, it will merge into your body.”
Lin Shijin stared. He had never even noticed when Jun Yewu placed a curse on him.
He had no time to think. The next moment a sharp pain ripped through his lower back. He stifled a whimper, clutching the blanket, and asked between small gasps:
“What sort of curse…? Shixiong, I won’t die, will I?”
He had been in this world less than three months. Surely he wouldn’t die “within two pages” like in the original story? Wuwuwu…
The youth lying on the bed had his robe slightly lifted, revealing a slender waist. Two glaring finger-marks marred his pale skin, faint black miasma coiling around them.
At the first touch of Sheng Rufei’s fingertip, the youth began to struggle, whimpering softly. Sheng Rufei’s gaze fell briefly on his ears; a single touch was enough to turn them bright red.
The black curse script drew itself out of his skin. Sheng Rufei withdrew his hand and looked away.
He crushed the talisman in his hand, then glanced once more at the youth on the bed. Because he had not responded, in just that short moment the youth had gone utterly dejected, burying his face in the blankets and muttering miserably, voice small and aggrieved:
“I’ve only lived for less than three pages…”
Sheng Rufei: “…”
