NHWSG chapter 78

Geez, Sheng Zhao thought with a poker face, I shouldn’t have asked.

Since starting this job, the only truth Sheng Zhao had learned in over half a year was—don’t ask about things you shouldn’t ask.

He watched as the elevator doors closed, then turned back to the room.

Xing Yingzhu had already recovered from his daze. His clothes lay scattered on the floor, while he was submerged in the pool, leaning against its edge with his back to Sheng Zhao.

Since knowing his original identity as a serpent, Sheng Zhao had become accustomed to Xing Yingzhu’s habit of occasionally soaking in cold water. He picked up his clothes from the floor in a busy manner, behaving like a diligent maiden.

He neatly stacked Xing Yingzhu’s coat on the sofa. Suddenly, he remembered something and hurried a few steps, pushing open the window.

The window in Xing Yingzhu’s living room faced the direction outside the building. He lived high up, with a far-reaching view, able to see all the way along the road leading out of the residential area.

Sheng Zhao leaned against the window and watched for more than five minutes, but still didn’t see the woman’s figure.

He turned back and approached the door, but saw that the number on the elevator indicator in the corridor remained unchanged at the seventh floor.

It was as if… the woman had vanished into thin air.

“What are you looking at?” Xing Yingzhu suddenly asked.

“I was just checking if she left,” Sheng Zhao said.

Sheng Zhao’s answer was casual, and Xing Yingzhu didn’t say anything more, as if he had just asked casually.

Sheng Zhao didn’t pay it much mind either. He leaned against the door frame, poking his head out, very much wanting to press the elevator button to see if it was empty inside.

But this suicidal behavior was vetoed in his mind after just a moment’s consideration—joking aside, if he didn’t look, he could still deceive himself, but if he did look, how could he convince himself?

There was a sound of water behind him, and Sheng Zhao thought Xing Yingzhu was about to come out after bathing. He was about to turn around and ask if he needed a robe, but before he could, he felt a tightness around his waist, as if something had wrapped around him.

Sheng Zhao was pulled forward entirely, stumbling back a few steps. He exclaimed a few times, unable to resist, and was pulled by Xing Yingzhu into the pool.

Sheng Zhao was almost used to Xing Yingzhu’s habit of pulling people whenever he felt like it. He scrambled out of the pool in a panic, complaining, “What are you doing, being so clingy?”

He wiped the water off his face, feeling clueless about his situation, and asked nonchalantly, “Huh? Why is the water in this pool warm?”

Xing Yingzhu retracted the black-gold chain wrapped around Sheng Zhao’s waist, leisurely coiling it back around his wrist, his eyes darkening.

“Is she pretty?” Xing Yingzhu asked coolly.

“Who…” Sheng Zhao subconsciously hesitated for a moment, then reacted and said helplessly, “Why are you jealous of everything? I dare not look at her too much. What if she gets upset and gouges my eyes out?”

“I’m not jealous,” Xing Yingzhu said.

Sheng Zhao thought, I don’t believe you’re not jealous, what are you doing now? You’ve soaked my clothes.

“But I don’t like you looking at her,” Xing Yingzhu said firmly. “So, I’m going to punish you.”

“Wha—” Sheng Zhao was full of question marks, and before he could even say “what,” he was turned over by Xing Yingzhu and pressed against the edge of the pool.

Next, Xing Yingzhuo affectionately approached from behind, holding Sheng Zhao’s wrist and pressing him against the edge of the pool, gently licking his earlobe.

Sheng Zhao’s heart skipped a beat, feeling something cold and hard wrapping around his right ankle under the water.

“What did you promise me at Mount Longhu?” Xing Yingzhu asked softly.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Damn it!

How could he forget about this!

Spring had arrived, and all things were reviving… he already knew that Xing Yingzhu would also revive along with everything else. He would rather die than look at Seventh Princess again!

“In the ‘Jingzhe’ period, there are three stages: the peach blossoms; the thunder wakes the insects; and the hawks turn into doves.” Xing Yingzhu said with a smile, “Do you know how ‘Jingzhe’ is written in the ‘Monthly Ordinances’?”

“No…” Sheng Zhao stammered. “I don’t know.”

“Thunder wakes the earth, and the hundred insects come out,” Xing Yingzhu said. “That’s ‘Jingzhe’.”

“But it hasn’t thundered yet!” Sheng Zhao tried to make a final struggle. “This doesn’t count—”

“It’s coming soon.” Xing Yingzhu reached out and lifted Sheng Zhao’s chin, leaning in to lightly bite his neck, and said vaguely, “It’s about to rain.”

As soon as Xing Yingzhu finished speaking, there was a sudden flash of lightning outside the window, and Sheng Zhao instinctively turned his head to look outside, but then he heard a loud thunderclap, and the first raindrop of early spring hit the window.

It was raining.

“Xing… Xing Yingzhu.”

“Shh—”

Xing Yingzhu moved his fingers, took a short scarf that hadn’t been put away from the hallway cabinet, and blindfolded Sheng Zhao’s eyes.

“What are you covering my eyes for?” Sheng Zhao asked.

His heart raced, unsure if he was scared or what, feeling the blood rushing to his head, his mind in a panic.

He instinctively wanted to crawl out of the pool, but as soon as he moved, he felt something tightening around his right ankle, causing him some pain.

—From Sheng Zhao’s understanding, that should be Xing Yingzhu’s tail.

Xing Yingzhu chuckled lowly, kissing him again satisfiedly, saying, “You’re scared.”

Sheng Zhao keenly sensed something, the sound of water in his ears incessant, but Xing Yingzhu briefly loosened his grip on his hand.

“…That’s normal,” Xing Yingzhu continued, “But if you hide, I won’t be happy, so I have to cover your eyes.”

He said this low and heavy, sending a shiver down Sheng Zhao’s spine, almost giving him a premonition.

Sure enough, he immediately felt something cold and smooth against his back, the sensation transmitted clearly to his brain through the wet pajamas.

In fact, he could vividly imagine the scales on Xing Yingzhu’s body.

At home, behind closed doors, with his boyfriend behind him, Sheng Zhao, as an adult male, almost immediately realized his situation.

There was no escape.

The spring rain came quickly and urgently, with a few claps of thunder, the rain outside grew louder, pouring down heavily, sounding close to his ears.

Sheng Zhao didn’t know if he was cold or scared, shaking uncontrollably, his teeth chattering, trying hard to make himself appear calm, but failing.

But regardless, he knew that when Xing Yingzhu had his serpent body, he could be relatively honest, because he knew the other was not a mindless beast, but—

“Sheng Zhao,” Xing Yingzhu suddenly said, “If you resist the urge to hide, I’ll give you a reward.”

Sheng Zhao was about to ask what the reward was, but he only opened his mouth and couldn’t make a sound.

Xing Yingzhu’s serpent body coiled a few times around his right leg, the cold scales rubbing gently between his legs.

Sheng Zhao let out a gasp, instinctively wanting to remove the scarf from his eyes, but as soon as his hand reached halfway, he felt something wrapping around it tightly, binding his two hands tightly.

The thin chain exerted a slight force, causing him to uncontrollably fall forward, his hands being pulled forward.

Xing Yingzhu’s “collection” was very methodical, Sheng Zhao felt this scene was extremely familiar, exactly like that day under the waterfall at Longhu Mountain, even the posture hadn’t changed.

He didn’t know what Xing Yingzhu looked like now, or how he planned to collect this ‘debt’, he just felt his heart pounding, head spinning, limbs numb, and indeed had the urge to crawl out of the pool and run away.

In a daze, he only felt a chill all over—Xing Yingzhu had torn his clothes off in a simple and crude manner.

…

…

The big snake tilted its head, tenderly licking away the tears and cold sweat from Sheng Zhao’s eyes, then chuckled softly, as if responding to his previous “sweetness.”

“Sheng Zhao,” Xing Yingzhu said, “I quite like you.”

…

The thunder outside grew louder and more intense, and Sheng Zhao felt his feet trembling, as if the “thunder” really was “moving the earth.”

“I always keep my word,” Xing Yingzhu said with a smile in his ear, softly saying, “Your whole life belongs to me—If you want, you can come to me in the next life too.”

“Aren’t you looking for something?” Sheng Zhao asked impatiently.

This time, Xing Yingzhu didn’t answer. He chuckled softly, then leaned over and bit Sheng Zhao’s throat with his teeth.

The sharp teeth were only separated from the artery by a thin layer of skin, causing Sheng Zhao’s body hair to stand on end, suddenly not daring to even breathe loudly.

…

…

The rain outside grew heavier and heavier, and in no time, the daytime sky darkened as if it were evening.

Occasional flashes of lightning struck Sheng Zhao, illuminating the large serpent coiled around him.

Until later, Sheng Zhao almost couldn’t remember what he had said or done. He vaguely remembered that he seemed to have angrily scolded Xing Yingzhu a couple of times, but Xing Yingzhuo, having eaten and drunk his fill, didn’t get angry. Instead, he just kept smiling.

Xing Yingzhu’s cold scales warmed by Sheng Zhao’s body temperature, feeling warm and smooth to the touch, Sheng Zhao touched them absentmindedly, feeling a sticky substance on his hand.

He really didn’t want to bother thinking about what it was, he felt hot all over, limbs weak, until he passed out, his last impression being “If Xing Yingzhu kills me like this, will he be struck by lightning.”

Fortunately, Xing Yingzhuo had been doing this for many years and had a good sense of things, so he pulled Sheng Zhao out of the pool before he completely lost consciousness.

He hugged Sheng Zhao, wrapped him in a blanket, then pinched his chin and looked at him for a while, affectionately kissing him.

“I see,” Sheng Zhao muttered in a daze, “All that jealousy talk is just an excuse… you just want to collect a debt.”

Xing Yingzhu chuckled softly, pinching his chin, tacitly agreeing.

“You…,” Sheng Zhao couldn’t open his eyes from exhaustion, his breath heavy. After holding it in for a while without finding a fitting word, he could only angrily curse, “You… you scoundrel!”