Before leaving, Sheng Rufei had told him that the demonic energy had seeped into his body and that he might be in pain for the next couple of days. It would gradually disperse, and at most, he would only hurt for two days.
Lin Shijin couldn’t sleep for the pain. Now that his body had been affected by the rabbit demon constitution, he was even more sensitive than usual. Whenever it hurt, he instinctively wanted to burrow against Sheng Rufei, and his temperament had softened by several degrees. The moment he saw Sheng Rufei, he wanted to act spoiled.
His fingertips were still clutching the sleeve of Sheng Rufei’s robe, giving it a light, tentative tug, his eyes shimmering faintly with expectation.
Sheng Rufei sat at the bedside, sword in hand, his cool gaze lingering on him for quite some time before he asked, “Does it hurt that much?”
Lin Shijin nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at grain. The movement tugged at his shoulder, making it ache again. A thin, biting chill seeped from his bones, and his whole body felt ice-cold.
He looked pitifully at Sheng Rufei, yet Sheng Rufei’s gaze only grew more severe. “If you fall asleep, you won’t feel it,” he said.
Lin Shijin: “…”
He had been cold enough already. Hearing Sheng Rufei say that made him feel even colder. His hands and feet were like blocks of ice, and he burrowed further into his quilt, curling himself into a ball.
He glared at Sheng Rufei for a moment, but when he saw no sign of the man yielding, he huffed in annoyance and turned away, refusing to look at him any longer.
There were only the two of them in the room, and every sound either made carried clearly. Lin Shijin was too cold to sleep; the chill at his shoulder was spreading across his whole body, and he truly felt as though he were about to freeze into an ice cube.
Cold as he already was, he could still feel the frigid, wooden gaze of the youth sitting at the edge of the bed upon him. After a long while, Sheng Rufei spoke at last.
“If it were another man here, would you let him hold you while you slept?”
Lin Shijin’s ears twitched. Hearing that, he felt utterly baffled… then even more put out. What was that supposed to mean? What other men? He wouldn’t behave like this with anyone else.
Sheng Rufei was his shixiong. That made him different.
He had wanted to say so outright, but since he was feeling sulky, he couldn’t be bothered. He merely gave a vague “Mm,” deliberately contradicting him.
That single “Mm” made the atmosphere around Sheng Rufei by the bed grow colder still. Lin Shijin scooted a little, terrified the block of ice that was Sheng Rufei would touch him soon.
He was cold enough as it was, he didn’t want to be iced any further.
But the more he inched inward, the colder Sheng Rufei’s aura became. He could practically feel the chill of that gaze on his back.
Lin Shijin wrapped himself tightly in his quilt, but he was still freezing. Sheng Rufei, angry, had stopped speaking to him. Lin had been annoyed a moment ago, but the cold quickly drove everything else out of him, and before long, he instinctively drifted towards the only warm thing in the room.
When one is injured, the body seeks warmth, comfort. Medicine. Lin Shijin was freezing. Cold as Sheng Rufei looked, his body was like a small furnace.
Through the gap of the quilt, Lin Shijin secretly reached out and touched Sheng Rufei’s wrist. It was warm, wonderfully warm… the complete opposite of his own chilled skin.
Sheng Rufei was still displeased, practically radiating frost, but it was all surface. Inside, he was warm.
Lin Shijin touched Sheng Rufei’s hand again. Sheng Rufei didn’t react. His own hands were icy; the moment he touched that warmth, he wanted to do so again. So he tried to secretly reach for it once more.
But before he could touch him this time, Sheng Rufei’s pale fingers shifted around the hilt of his sword to avoid him.
Lin Shijin lifted his head ever so slightly, meeting his gaze. Sheng Rufei’s eyes were cool, with a faintly shadowed cast.
So he withdrew his hand and obediently kept still.
Sheng Rufei remained by the bedside. Lin Shijin, however, didn’t stay obedient for long. Soon he was sneaking a hand out again, only to have Sheng Rufei catch his wandering fingers.
Warmth closed around his wrist. Sheng Rufei never ran this warm; today his body heat was noticeably higher. It was wonderfully comforting.
Lin Shijin almost wished Sheng Rufei would keep holding him like this forever. The warmth made him brighten, his rabbit ears perking up a little. Softly, he said, “Shixiong… I’m cold.”
“Come and sleep with me.”
He began shifting to make space for Sheng Rufei, but Sheng Rufei frowned, took his wrist, and firmly tucked him back under the quilt.
His voice was cool.
“You are not to share a bed with just anyone.”
Lin Shijin: “…”
Sheng Rufei tucked his quilt so securely that he looked like a silkworm cocooned in its chrysalis, only his head sticking out. Lin Shijin looked at him, thinking resentfully that his shixiong really did have too many scruples, and muttered softly to himself…
“It’s not even a normal day. Must Shixiong really worry about everything…”
“And I am genuinely cold.”
He reached out for Sheng Rufei’s hand again. Sheng Rufei’s fingertips twitched slightly, but this time, he didn’t pull away.
Lin Shijin’s eyes lit up. He happily grabbed Sheng Rufei’s arm and pulled it into the quilt with him.
That tiny concession almost ended with Sheng Rufei being dragged onto the bed entirely. Lin Shijin held onto his arm like a personal heater.
“Shixiong is so warm…”
He even noticed that Sheng Rufei’s posture looked uncomfortable, so he tugged part of his blanket over to share with him. First he hugged Sheng Rufei’s arm, and finding that warm, he instinctively moved on to hugging Sheng Rufei’s waist.
“Shixiong, I’ll just hold you for a little while. You’re so warm…”
Sheng Rufei’s whole body went stiff. The youth’s hands were restless; when he hugged him, he unconsciously nudged his head against him. Sheng Rufei reflexively wanted to push him away, but then he saw those soft rabbit ears drooping, the way Lin Shijin curled into a helpless little ball beside him, his lips faintly bluish from the cold…
And Sheng Rufei indulged him.
Indulged him once, and the little rabbit immediately took advantage, burrowing straight into his arms.
Lin Shijin had always been good at taking advantage of the smallest opening. Sheng Rufei hadn’t refused, so surely that meant he’d agreed. He nestled into Sheng Rufei’s embrace, clinging to his little furnace, and finally felt warm again.
“Shixiong, you’re so good to me.” Lin Shijin’s voice was gentle, edged with a cautious sweetness. “I’ll be fine soon… once the pain eases, I’ll go sleep by myself.”
Sheng Rufei’s cold retort rose to his lips, but the youth’s slender arm was looped around him. He lifted those damp, pleading eyes to him, his rabbit ears drooped softly, and he refused to let go.
Sheng Rufei’s fingertips hovered uncertainly. He brushed against Lin Shijin’s waist by accident, and the youth melted limply into his arms, clinging even tighter.
“Shixiong, if you don’t say anything, that means you agree,” Lin Shijin murmured, the chill at his shoulder seeming to fade. Held against Sheng Rufei, he no longer felt cold. “As long as you don’t dislike me, I wouldn’t act like this with anyone else.”
Ye Lang and Jun Yewu had hugged him before, but that hadn’t been voluntary. Being forced and being willing were entirely different things.
Sheng Rufei knew perfectly well that the youth in his arms was sweet-talking him. He’d seen this fool act spoiled with their shizun before. He knew Lin Shijin was shamelessly lying out of fear of pain.
And yet, his heart wavered all the same. Especially when Lin Shijin pressed close and breathed that soft, syrupy “Shixiong” into his ear, each word more enticing than the last, filling him with a strange, shameful joy at being held like this.
“Shixiong… I’m so cold. May I hold you while I sleep?”
That soft, sticky-sweet voice murmured by his ear. He was always nibbling pastries, Lin Shijin even carried a faint dessert-like sweetness with him. It made one want to gather him up.
Lin Shijin, unwilling to give up his little furnace, had initially said he would only cling for a moment… but now he had changed his mind again. Acting coquettish came naturally, and he noticed that Sheng Rufei’s aura shifted every time he whined.
The more he acted this way, the more flustered Sheng Rufei became. His fingers, formerly at Lin Shijin’s waist, were now completely lost, not knowing where to go. And just as Lin Shijin leaned in again for another cling—
Sheng Rufei suddenly caught him by the wrist.
“Don’t move.”
Lin Shijin knew how to behave once he’d reached the limit. He stopped at once, nestling obediently in Sheng Rufei’s arms. He inhaled, catching the faint scent of fallen plum blossoms. Feeling that Sheng Rufei wasn’t moving at all, he held him tighter and mumbled, “Why does shixiong always smell of fallen plum blossoms?”
Sheng Rufei didn’t dare move. His voice was cold and stiff. “Red plums bloom year-round by the Cold Spring. Some fall into the spring water.”
Lin Shijin understood. Warmth seeped into his limbs, and sleepiness washed over him. Even as he grew drowsy, he didn’t forget to ask—
“Shixiong… how are things on the demon side?”
Sheng Rufei closed his eyes, suppressing the stir of emotions within him. “The array on the golden platform was only a decoy. The true teleportation array is linked to the city lord’s manor altar. Several demons have been captured there already, and the remaining scourge-slayers are lying in wait.”
Lin Shijin made a soft “Oh,” deciding the city lord’s manor was none of his concern.
His eyelids drooped, warmth blanketing him like a tide. Just before he drifted off, he dimly felt something soft brushing against his rabbit ears.
His rabbit ears twitched lightly.
Lin Shijin fell asleep in Sheng Rufei’s arms.
And just before he fully slipped under, he made a mental note…
Sleeping in shixiong’s arms was very comfortable.
…
Fuguang, Changgao Peak: Changming Hall.
The entire hall lay shrouded in night. In the side chamber stood a statue of the deity, its lowered gaze filled with gentle compassion, radiating silent solemnity. Before it sat seven candles of uneven heights.
Carved densely into the wax were ancient incantations. None of the candles were lit.
Feng Qing, as always, kept vigil before the statue. He reached out and brushed away the dust as his master often did, cleansing the divine visage of the impurities of the mortal world.
Suddenly, a long wind swept through the chamber. Feng Qing stepped back. Before him, one of the candles flared alight for a fleeting moment… then extinguished just as quickly.
Feng Qing nearly thought he had imagined it. For a thousand years, the soul candles had never once lit. Yet just now, one had flickered to life.
His heart surged with unspeakable joy. But soon, his gaze fixed upon the candle that had glowed for that single breath, and his expression gradually froze.
It was the third candle. The Love Candle, one of the Seven Souls of Emotion and Desire.
For that candle to light meant one thing:
Love had stirred.
Even for a single instant, it had stirred.
“Why must it be the Love Candle…” Feng Qing murmured, dazed. He stared at the incantations for a long moment, but no answer came.
The deity’s serene gaze dropped, shadows of the trees outside pooling across the hall, draining it of colour.
Feng Qing stepped out of the side hall. The disciples had all gone on their trials; Changming Hall was still and empty. He hesitated at the threshold.
A spell ignited at his fingertips, burning with a deep blue flame.
When the talisman burned out entirely, silence fell. Feng Qing spoke.
“Sword Master… just now, the Seven Soul Candles lit.”
There was no sound in response, not even the whisper of wind. Feng Rugao gripped his longsword, and as his blade fell, every demon beast across the mountain turned to dust.
He heard Feng Qing’s words and faltered, if only for a breath… even the radiant Snow Lotus Sacred Heart before him failed to hold his attention.
A terrible aura swept across the range. And when Feng Qing spoke again, the mountain trembled. From Feng Rugao’s position, half the peak quaked with the force of his sword, which cleaved a ninth-tier demon beast cleanly in two.
Blood splattered across Feng Rugao’s face. His sword dripped with it.
Feng Qing, imagining how Feng Rugao would react, felt a chill run down his spine. His voice sank, tinged with a trace of sorrow.
“The one that ignited was… the Love Candle.”
*
Author’s Note:
Lin Mianmian inside the secret realm: eyes full of shixiong, secretly in oestrus.
Lin Shijin after leaving the secret realm: that was the rabbit bloodline acting up, not me, shiftingblame.jpg
