The two stayed in the Yun family mansion for several days. Not going out nor moving around much, sometimes the two of them just lie in bed, and they can talk to each other for a whole day.
This place is like a safe haven, they are all homeless people who talk to each other about many things and are very happy. Xue Huai was so happy to have a place to stay that he put everything else out of his mind. However, Yun Cuo was happy only because Xue Huai was by his side.
He always had a dangerous and secretive desire in his heart—just like this, hiding Xue Huai in the secluded mansion where only he could see and talk to him. Where he relies on him entirely.
The only thing they don’t talk about is being reborn—Xue Huai doesn’t understand why Yun Cuo remained silent, and he only felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that Yun Cuo probably didn’t believe him—saying it once was enough, but saying it twice would probably make Yun Cuo think that he was a bit crazy.
On the second day after moving in, Xue Huai announced, “From now on, I’m with you.”
Yun Cuo, however, looks gloomy and unhappy. Xue Huai noticed it, and after questioning him for a long time, Yun Cuo finally revealed the reason for his unhappiness: “Xue Huai, I kidnapped you in front of your family. Will there be no chance for them to agree to me marrying you in the future?”
Xue Huai was originally feeling a bit down about what happened after he returned this time, but his words almost made him laugh to death—
He corrected him seriously: “It’s not a kidnapping.”
Yun Cuo looked at him, dazed, with a hint of urgency and grievance in his eyes, as if this were something big.
Xue Huai leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, saying, “It’s run away, Young Immortal Lord Yun.”
Today, when Yun Cuo woke up, he found out that Xue Huai had been up long ago and was clumsily pounding breakfast for him.
He went out at some point and bought a bunch of ingredients, pots and pans, and they’re all piled up in a corner—he even started a fire of his own, waiting for the water to boil, ready to blanch the meat that had been cut into pieces on the side.
Seeing him coming, Xue Huai explained awkwardly, “Your house… your house is too big. I searched for a while but couldn’t find where the stove or the balcony were, so I had to cook here. I’ll clean it up in a while. I’m making chicken soup cake1
. Do you want to eat it?”
Yun Cuo looked at him and couldn’t help but smile.
His little immortal was sitting on an ivory stool with his sleeves rolled up, staring eagerly at the water in the pot. Because he was doing something, Xue Huai casually folded a branch of pear blossom and tied up his hair. He looks refreshing and beautiful. Compared to his usual cold and indifferent appearance, this added a touch of endearing closeness.
Seeing him not speak, Xue Huai looked at him with confusion: “?”
Yun Cuo said: “Eat.”
He walked over with a smile, and he couldn’t help but rub Xue Huai’s face. Xue Huai gave him a kiss on the hand, then continued to stare at his pot of water without changing his expression.
Yun Cuo also moved a stool and sat down beside him, then whispered, “My house’s kitchen and stove are underground. The woodshed, the stables, and the fountain are also underground. It’s ten Zhang down there, it’s understandable you couldn’t find them.”
Xue Huai asked him, “Why would you build it underground?”
Yun Cuo smiled quietly and said, “My mother used to live in a palace and had someone to take care of everything. She had never seen places like a woodshed, a toilet, or a kitchen stove. When she bought this place, she scared away 180 carpenters and bricklayers because she insisted on not wanting these decorations and felt that they were just scamming money. It was later that a descendant of Lu Ban enlightened her and suggested that the places be built underground. My mother only settled down in Dongzhou after listening to him.”
Xue Huai vaguely sensed a certain other meaning from it, and just as he was about to ask, he shut up again.
Yun Cuo began to help him knead the dough—while kneading, he said, “That descendant of Lu Ban is in love with her. Later, he asked me for my idea, and then he expressed his feelings to her, but my mother didn’t accept him. Then the man left.”
Xue Huai turned his head to look at him.
Yun Cuo said, “At that time, I actually hoped she could be with him. That man was very kind, he made me a little wooden horse.”
Actually, that man didn’t even talk to him back then.
He is introverted and gloomy, constantly hiding in a dark corner. When discussing the details of the house, the descendant of Lu Ban wrote a letter full of childish humor to him: “Little Highness, do you want a toy room? Each Highness should have a separate toy room with wooden swords, glazed horses, and crystal tokens. When you become an adult, they will become a real one for you to drive and protect your family and people.”
He understood Yun Cuo’s mother’s paranoid and almost insane side—she always fantasized that she could be with Yun Cuo’s biological father, recognize by Yun Zhang, the current lord of the Nine Immortals Continent. She forbade her child to call her mother, and he must call her Empress Mother; The servants at home must bow and call her “Empress.”
In other people’s eyes, they may be a farce-like family. But that man really built a toy room for him, and he made him a little wooden horse too.
Yun Cuo’s mother passed away when he was ten years old, and it was only then that he left home. Before this, his mother demanded that he study hard at home. And to show her loyalty, she never hired men as servants.
That man was the first man he had ever met—someone who could barely relate to his imaginary “father.”
“But I don’t know his name.” Yun Cuo said.
“I know.” Xue Huai interjected.
Yun Cuo kneaded the dough and watched as Xue Huai became more playful. He began kneading the dough into various shapes—he hesitated for a moment before letting out a questioning sound. “En?”
Xue Huai tried his best to make the dough look like a gluttonous ghost while recalling, “There are only a few descendants of Lu Ban, and only one has settled in Dongzhou in the past decade. His name is Lu Huayu, with the courtesy name Shu Gu. He once opened a cultural and entertainment shop in the south of the city, but later got married and moved away. He was handsome and especially loved children, but wasn’t big on making things for others with his own hands. My family used to get sword charms made by him before he left and moved into someone else’s house.”
Yun Cuo was stunned for a moment and said, “So it’s like this.”
Xue Huai glanced at him and suddenly remembered something, shouting, “Done for!”
Yun Cuo’s attention was quickly drawn to him. “What’s wrong?”
Xue Huai showed him the dough on the chopping board and said, “I’ve been playing with it all this time. I originally wanted to make noodles.”
Yun Cuo suggested, “Then roll it out and cut it again?”
Xue Huai refused: “Look at this. It’s not easy for me to make it look like Xiao Tao. Why don’t we just eat steamed mantou this morning?”
Yun Cuo said, “Okay.”
Xue Huai became happy and divided some dough for him to knead. Yun Cuo’s hands were not as skilled as his, and he didn’t know what to make for a moment. He just clumped this thing around and couldn’t figure it out for a long time.
Finally, Xue Huai squeezed three gluttonous ghosts and two kittens out, while Yun Cuo obediently squeezed out a few plump and tender dough balls.
He nervously handed the finished product to Xue Huai to see.
Xue Huai didn’t say anything—he casually make a few slices of fragrant clove sprouts, mint leaves, and beans from the vegetables he bought and put eyes and tails on the dough ball that Yun Cuo made. “Let’s just pretend you’re making a rabbit.” He said.
At last, they had mantou and chicken soup for breakfast.
After the two of them tidied up the place, Yun Cuo led him floor by floor, leading Xue Huai to recognize the room.
Xue Huai gradually realized that every room in Yun Cuo’s house is exquisite and gorgeous, but it has no aura of life. It is as new as if it had just been built, and one can’t tell the owner’s temperament and living habits at all. All it has is absolute purity and tranquility.
On their way up, they also captured a few solitary ghosts that were residing in the corner, which were packed up by them and sent to the underworld by the green bird.
“Will you come back to live in the future?” Xue Huai asked Yun Cuo.
Yun Cuo looked into his eyes, “Why do you ask that?”
Xue Huai blinked at him, “If you would come back to live, I’ll decorate your place, okay? There’s no aura of life here at all. Look, even wild ghosts dare to come in and live here.”
He glanced at Yun Cuo and snorted, “If you hadn’t given me up by that time yet, Young Lord Yun.”
Yun Cuo first froze for a moment, then stuttered and said, “I… I want you. I want you all the time.”
Xue Huai remained silent, with only a faint smile hidden in his eyes. After inspecting each room one by one, he opened the windows for him, replaced withered potted plants and immovable ornaments, then ran downstairs to bring paper and brushes, telling Yun Cuo about his plans.
Yun Cuo listened attentively, he hardly says anything—he agreed with everything Xue Huai said, only hesitating when Xue Huai proposed a plan that was clearly biased towards him: for example, replacing the previously dark windows with red willows; for example, opening up several rooms that were no longer useful and transforming them into weapon room and meditation hall; for example, making a separate room that the cat likes for the silly cat.
Seeing that Yun Cuo had been silent for a while, Xue Huai immediately thought of something and whispered, “But these are all some of my little plans… What your mother left behind should not be moved too much.”
Yun Cuo shook his head and asked him, “No, you can move. You can change it any way you want. Then what about you, Xue Huai? What kind of place do you want to live?”
Xue Huai stared at him.
Yun Cuo hesitated for a moment and asked him, “Why don’t you design a room for yourself?”
Xue Huai’s face suddenly heated up. “I should consider this matter now?”
Yun Cuo nodded. “If you’re still willing to take me at that time.”
“……” Xue Huai rubbed his face and averted his gaze, as if to cover it. “Don’t use my words, you’re so annoying.”
They sat side by side, and Yun Cuo suddenly reached out and pulled Xue Huai into his arms, along with the hand that was holding the brush. He grew faster than Xue Huai, and his bones were much longer than his. Holding onto Xue Huai seemed like holding onto a small thing.
Yun Cuo lowered his head and buried it in his neck with attachment. Xue Huai’s soft hair rubbed against his face. “By that time, would you still want me, Xue Huai?”
Xue Huai perfunctorily said, “Want, want, want. I won’t abandon you or Xiao Tao. Although you both are a bit silly with poor taste and often cause trouble for me…”
Yun Cuo leaned closer and gently kissed him. Xue Huai didn’t get to finish his words and quietly endured the kiss. From shallow to deep, from dragonflies skimming the water to lingering weariness.
After the kiss ended, Yun Cuo whispered, “I didn’t even dare to think about it… I feel like I’m dreaming.”
Xue Huai lazily leaned against his arms and pulled out a piece of paper to draw for Yun Cuo to see: “Do you think I haven’t thought about it? It would be too easy for you to just renovate the existing house. If you want me to live here, you need to rebuild a courtyard for me. I want a pavilion with a spring pond and rockery, a lake promenade where I can enjoy snow in winter, and a lake that can’t be too shallow for fish and boats. There should be a garden of the four seasons: plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums; a martial arts training ground, a library… that’s all for now. I’ll tell you about the rest when I think of any.”
Yun Cuo said, “Okay.”
Xue Huai glanced at him. “Don’t be too demanding of me. You know, I used to be the Young Master of the Xue family…”
He didn’t go on.
The title changed, and from the moment Yun Cuo took him away from Xue Zong, it meant that he cut himself off from this family.
He smiled and looked at Yun Cuo. Xue Huai naturally knew that the last thing Yun Cuo lacked was money. He has this way of developing and enlisting forces of his own, but he has never mentioned it to him in this lifetime.
“Now it’s still the same. You’re Xue Huai. Xue Huai’s family has Yun Cuo, the gluttonous ghost, and the idiot. You’re the Young Master of our family.” Yun Cuo said.
Xue Huai muttered, “Who are you then? The Young Madam?”
He didn’t really resist this statement.
Yun Cuo himself began to ponder this question: “Then, if I were your wife, then when we dual…”
After hearing only one word, Xue Huai suddenly turned around and glared at him, “Dual what?”
Yun Cuo whispered, “Dual cultivation. Xue Huai, which side do you want to be on?”
Dual cultivation luck is concerned with the two sides penetrating into each other’s cultivation during interc*urse, the two people’s circumference of the sky, joint luck, using the Yuanyang as a medium. Naturally, only one of the two can inherit the Yuanyang, which also gives them the distinction of cultivation positions.
Xue Huai was a thin-skinned person himself and had never been much of a fan of these. However, he had always refused to give way and was never in a passive position, so Yun Cuo was a little uneasy.
He didn’t dare say that during these many days and nights when he slept with Xue Huai, he had dreamed in turn. He dreams of Xue Huai murmuring underneath him, with his eyes filled with spring each time. He woke up several times in the middle of the night due to thirst. He is afraid that he won’t be able to talk well when the time comes, and Xue Huai would not accept it and be upset.
He can only keep this in his mind.
Upon hearing Yun Cuo mention it, Xue Huai’s cheeks began to heat up. “What-whatever. We’ll talk about it by then.”
“What is whatever?” Yun Cuo asked him reluctantly.
“Just…whatever.” The man behind him held him too tightly, and Xue Huai twisted unnaturally, wanting to struggle a bit, but Yun Cuo’s body became tighter and tighter.
He’s hard again.
There’s nothing to hide now. Xue Huai felt like he was going to burn with shame—coincidentally, his face was flawless, he pretended to be calm and only pushed Yun Cuo’s hands. “I’ll go… I’ll go pour water, you-you can handle it yourself.”
Yun Cuo, however, was hesitant to let him go and be hugged even tighter—his voice carried an indescribable thirst, like some beast encountering prey, sniffing in his ear, inhaling, then kissing him.
Kissing his earlobes and their roots, gently sucking and biting on his beautiful and white cheeks—this behavior of his was completely unconscious, as if deluded. Yun Cuo complained in a muffled tone, “Xue Huai ge, you’re so fragrant. Why are you so fragrant?”
Xue Huai couldn’t hold his tension anymore, and he was eager to get up from Yun Cuo’s arms. “How’d I know? My own sachet matched exactly the same as yours.” He said.
Before he could take a step, he was lifted up by Yun Cuo—it was not Yun Cuo’s favorite way of holding him. He picked him up from behind and lifted his feet off the ground, as if holding a small doll.
Yun Cuo was much taller than him, and he easily took him by the waist and fell with him onto the bed a few steps away. He pounced on him as if fascinated, kissing him, tasting his lips and tongue, repeatedly kneading his lovely earlobes and delicate neck—he dared not touch anything else.
Not letting him kiss him would kill him—Xue Huai clearly noticed this from his expression.
He was discouraged and simply gave up resisting—he’s a big man, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Yun Cuo likes him, and he also likes Yun Cuo. This matter is considered a success.
“You go ahead.” Xue Huai mustered up his courage and reached out to untie Yun Cuo’s belt, his blush still lingering on his face. “All… up to you.”
