UCTOOT CH102

“You’re seeing me off?”

“I cannot rest easy. I will walk you a bit further.”

The guards could not help but caution: “My Lord, danger lies ahead!”

Xie Wuchi: “I know. You do not need to follow me; remain here and wait.”

Despite their repeated attempts to dissuade him, Xie Wuchi took Shi Shu’s bundle, saying: “Let us go.”

Shi Shu: “Then just walk with me for ten more minutes. I felt a bit nervous crossing over just now; maybe walking for a few minutes will settle me.”

Shi Shu looked left and right. A stream murmured before them, crossed by an abandoned bridge spanning the water. Weeds grew as tall as a man along the desolate path; this was likely the route people used to sneak across. Shi Shu walked toward the bridge, Xie Wuchi walking alongside him.

The ropes along the parapet were frayed. With a creak, the bridge swayed beneath Shi Shu’s footing, drawing a startled “Whoa!” from him. Only Xie Wuchi was by his side. In a momentary daze, Shi Shu suddenly recalled the countless times they had traveled the roads before: Xie Wuchi leading the donkey behind, Shi Shu darting back and forth across the hills and valleys, stopping to drink whenever they found a stream, bathed in warm, pale sunlight.

With clean, handsome features and bright eyes, Shi Shu said: “Xie Wuchi, don’t you think this feels just like when I accompanied you to Shukang Prefecture to manage the epidemic?”

Xie Wuchi: “It does.”

Pleased, Shi Shu looked back. Seeing the many guards at the head of the path gazing worriedly toward Xie Wuchi, he paused again, looking down at their reflections in the river, feeling an inexplicable sense of shifting stations and changing times.

Shi Shu hopped down from the bridge: “Xie Wuchi, head back once we reach the front. Escorting someone a thousand li must end in parting eventually. Sooner or later, I have to walk this road on my own. You have plenty of official duties to tend to; delaying them would be bad.”

Xie Wuchi: “Then let them be delayed.”

“Heh, generous of you.” Shi Shu stepped onto the soil of Beimin. Through a lush expanse of woods, occasional travelers—women, children, and the elderly—passed by, pushing handcarts or carrying farming tools over their shoulders.

Shi Shu had crossed the border once before at Bai Family Settlement, but back then it had been as a soldier; now, he was an ordinary civilian. As long as he kept a low profile and played dumb, he wouldn’t necessarily draw scrutiny. As Shi Shu looked around with curious eyes along the path, he suddenly heard the rhythmic clatter of hooves—a patrol squad was approaching from the end of the road.

“…”

Shi Shu’s back went taut in an instant. He and Xie Wuchi stepped aside to the edge of the path. The patrol’s officers rode tall mounts, long sabers at their waists, whereas Shi Shu and Xie Wuchi, to avoid suspicion, wore only plain clothes and were virtually empty-handed.

As the horses drew near, Shi Shu felt appraising gazes sweeping over them from above, staring intently. Yet the riders seemed in a hurry on pressing business, spurring their mounts forward and vanishing swiftly down the path without asking a single question.

Shi Shu exhaled in relief: “Scared the life out of me.”

Xie Wuchi said, “This side path is secluded; young men appearing here easily arouses suspicion. Once we reach the main thoroughfare ahead where travelers are plenty, it will be better.”

Shi Shu: “Then while they’ve just passed, why don’t you head back?”

Xie Wuchi: “I will escort you to the thoroughfare, then turn back.”

“Fine, fine.” Shi Shu turned around and continued along the path. The mountains, streams, and foliage looked identical. Nearing the eighth month, paddy fields belonging to the commoners of the Min region could be seen here and there, with elderly folk and women occasionally standing along the ridges, clearing irrigation ditches or tending their plots.

These people had mostly mixed features, though there were pure Min faces and pure Jing faces as well; in short, ordinary appearances all around. Shi Shu also wore exceedingly humble clothing, doing his best to blend into the background.

Before long, a crossroads leading to the main thoroughfare appeared ahead. It also had a checkpoint set up, where several Min soldiers sat fanning themselves. There were indeed far more people on the main road, yet as Shi Shu and Xie Wuchi approached, their unfamiliar faces were noticed.

“Where are you from?” one of them interrogated.

Shi Shu said, “We humble servants belong to Master Xu, a provincial graduate from Ning County. Because Master is celebrating his eightieth birthday, he sent us to Yuan County to deliver an invitation to Elder Master Chishan.”

The Min soldiers exchanged glances: “Let’s see the invitation.”

Shi Shu handed over the forged invitation. The soldiers inspected it, but being rough men who couldn’t read much anyway, they had nothing to say: “Move along.”

With that, the soldiers sat back down beneath the shelter, lifting their shirts to cool off, muttering about current events: “Did we lose at Yunzhou?” “Word is they’re withdrawing. Who knows when those scattered routing remnants will spill over to our parts.” “Alas.”

Shi Shu overheard a couple of lines, but catching the man’s gaze, he hurriedly moved forward. Only when he had walked completely out of their sight did Shi Shu finally let out a long breath, his back rigid and his legs trembling with weakness.

The psychological pressure of this ordeal truly couldn’t be overstated!

Reaching the shelter of the woods, Shi Shu stopped: “Go back, Xie Wuchi. I can walk on my own now. If you don’t turn around soon, the dangerous stretch of your journey back will be too long.”

Xie Wuchi remained behind him, having kept silent throughout the entire encounter, observing Shi Shu’s adaptability. Up to this point, no fault could be found, and Shi Shu had carried himself bravely. Xie Wuchi’s brow lifted slightly.

Amid the canopy blotting out the sky, pines and cypresses stood evergreen, the occasional hoot of an owl echoing through the wilderness. A cool breeze drifted through the trees, lifting loose strands of dark hair. Xie Wuchi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his dark eyes rested on him, standing in the forest with no apparent desire to leave.

Shi Shu smiled and said, “Xie Wuchi, don’t worry! I eat when I’m hungry, drink when I’m thirsty, run when there’s danger, sleep soundly when I’m tired, and I’ve even learned how to lie. You can head back in peace; I’ll reach the foot of Mount Meng in no time. But if you delay any longer, it won’t be easy for you to return.”

After a long silence, Xie Wuchi finally spoke: “Shi Shu, I do not want to go back.”

Shi Shu blinked, taken aback: “Huh?”

“I want to walk with you as far as I can.”

A warm current welled in Shi Shu’s chest. Looking up with genuine surprise, he said: “Still, Xie Wuchi, you are the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army right now. At such a critical juncture, shouldn’t you consider the bigger picture?”

Xie Wuchi: “You are considering my bigger picture?”

As if struck by something in his chest, Shi Shu looked away: “Only you have the ability to forge a better country. Even if your motives might not be pure, even if you simply enjoy playing games of power, your results have always achieved justice. Haven’t you worked day and night, calculating and laboring all these years? You can’t just run around with me before you’ve even become emperor, only for the two of us to end up dead together, right?”

Shi Shu looked at him with a grin, his tone playful.

Yet as he spoke those words, the dagger strapped around Shi Shu’s thigh pinched uncomfortably, wondering if it had been bound too tightly.

Knowing what dark demon lurked in his heart, Shi Shu turned his head. Under the blazing sun, having walked a fair distance, he sat down on a clean boulder to drink water. Sunlight illuminated his fair face, yet for some reason, he did not look up at him.

Once he finished drinking, Shi Shu handed the waterskin to Xie Wuchi: “Drink.”

Taking it, Xie Wuchi asked, “Shi Shu, do you truly wish to see this plan succeed? Dividing the enemy from within, ending the war as swiftly as possible with minimal casualties, achieving unification, and ultimately securing peace and prosperity for the realm?”

Shi Shu: “Yes. Assisting Lin Yangchun in Yunzhou, there were too many corpses, countless bodies. Every night I had nightmares filled with artillery and battlefield ashes… I don’t like war…”

Xie Wuchi drank, then screwed the cap back on. Reaching over to put it into the bundle, Shi Shu’s fingers brushed his hand; the temperature was burning hot. “This is your wish. When a person perseveres for their own convictions, they can harvest happiness and joy along the way.”

Shi Shu looked toward the overgrown woods. A broad road rose and fell among the rolling hills before vanishing beyond the ridge. In this unfamiliar land behind enemy lines, only their two small silhouettes stood together.

Xie Wuchi’s voice drifted on the breeze: “Therefore, Shi Shu, beyond doing things for me—”

“—I hope you can also pursue your own invincible victories.”

Shi Shu’s fingers tightened abruptly. The wind chilled his back as his Adam’s apple bobbed, his brown eyes looking toward him: “Xie Wuchi.”

“Since you chose this path, I want to keep you company a little longer.”

Amid the mountains, the wind whistled through the pines. The hand gripping the waterskin went numb, his heart beating at an extraordinary cadence. When he had first met Xie Wuchi, the man lived almost solely for his own interests, caring for no one else in his sight.

After sitting down, the pressure of the dagger against his thigh grew even more pronounced. Rising slowly to his feet, he murmured: “I…”

A wave of indescribable dejection washed over him: “I’m truly awful.”

Whether Xie Wuchi heard those words or not, his back was already turning forward: “Let us move. Though you passed during the day, the night carries its own hazards. I will accompany you for another stretch.”

The Min territory was likewise gripped by sweltering summer heat. As evening approached, travelers on the road grew more frequent. Passing occasional hamlets, they saw plenty of inhabitants living there, all speaking the Han tongue and observing Han customs.

These prefectures had been occupied for over twenty years, yet most of the original population remained people of Dajing. Though the Min had intended to migrate their own kin in, the presence of Dajing folk remained substantial.

“They generally refrain from slaughtering Dajing gentry and elders who hold sway among the commoners, as that easily incites rebellion; instead, they adopt a collaborative stance, co-opting these Dajing gentry to govern the common people at the bottom together.”

Walking along the highway flanked by swaying willows, white walls, gray tiles, and towering, lavish manors occasionally came into view, while across vast brownish fields, gaunt, emaciated slaves toiled under the sun.

Shi Shu followed closely behind. As twilight deepened, he asked: “Should we find a place to rest our feet?”

“Yes. There is a town not far ahead, which would be more comfortable, but areas with strong governance require real-name registration, easily leaving traces and clues, making escape difficult in sudden danger.” Xie Wuchi’s gaze swept over the terraced plots, wooded hamlets, and scattered outposts. “Lodging with villagers is unrealistic; border zones are geographically sensitive, and villagers risk charges of colluding with the enemy if not careful, so they will not take us in. We will find another place to rest.”

Having walked all day, Shi Shu wiped the sweat from his forehead, genuinely worn out. Stepping over overgrown grass and jagged slope stones, Xie Wuchi navigated through the wilderness.

After an unknown time, Shi Shu noticed clusters of mound-like graves within his line of sight, exclaiming: “Xie Wuchi, we’ve walked into a graveyard again! You manage to find graves with pinpoint accuracy every single time!”

Xie Wuchi: “Graveyards are good; few dare venture into them at night, making them safer by contrast. When you travel alone later, if you encounter a graveyard, you can sleep right where you are.”

“…”

Shi Shu: “So we’re sleeping here tonight?”

Shi Shu skirted around the messy ruts and hollows, terrified of stepping atop someone’s head, murmuring apologies—”Excuse me, sorry”—as he wove between the mounds alongside Xie Wuchi.

Xie Wuchi’s robes occasionally brushed against the dense thatch over the graves, his stride steady and quiet until a dilapidated little City God temple appeared before them. Stepping inside, an altar table stood before a mottled, eroded idol. The stone slabs beneath the altar were swept clean, and he sat down: “We can rest here tonight.”

The sun sank in the west, and frightening darkness swiftly swallowed the deep night. Shi Shu said: “Alright.”

They had to walk a short distance to a well by the stream. Shi Shu filled his waterskin and found a makeshift container. While drawing water, a patrol squad jogged briskly past along the highway not far off.

Standing behind him, Xie Wuchi murmured, “You do not need to travel at night from now on; being spotted only invites greater suspicion. Once night falls, find a place to sleep soundly.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

After setting the water inside the door, neither ventured out again. Sitting beneath the altar platform, Shi Shu opened his bundle. Having brought dry rations and bought steamed buns along the road, in the gathering gloom, he shared a rough meal with Xie Wuchi. After enjoying luxury with Xie Wuchi for so long, returning to plain steamed buns, the taste remained sweet and wholesome all the same.

Pale blue moonlight shone through the window lattice into the room. Shi Shu looked up at the idol: covered in cobwebs, its weathered, grotesque features glaring outward, sending an eerie shiver through him.

“Xie Wuchi…”

Shi Shu looked up. Xie Wuchi had unfastened his collar, tossing his outer tunic into the wooden basin to wash, his powerfully muscled torso bare. Given the spartan conditions on the road, Shi Shu suddenly realized it had been a long time since he had seen him stripped like this, radiating raw, untamed presence.

Pulling a towel from his pack, Shi Shu handed it to him: “Take a rinse.”

Xie Wuchi reached out to take it. Shi Shu looked at his hand illuminated by moonlight—faint veins traced across the lean, powerful hand, fingers long and knuckles defined, as though capable of easily pressing down a blade hilt or caressing skin to incite raw desire.

“…” Shi Shu rummaged through his bundle again, pulling out a pair of shorts with drawstrings: “Xie Wuchi, this pair is loose, and the waistband has give, which suits you better. It’s hot out; once washed and wrung out, clothes and trousers dry within a few hours.”

“You have more?”

Shi Shu: “Yeah, I packed several pairs.”

Xie Wuchi dipped the towel in water, wiping away the day’s sweat. Shi Shu took the opportunity to wash up as well. Logically, having known Xie Wuchi for so long, seeing him bathe was routine, not to mention their even closer intimacy; yet even now, Shi Shu still didn’t dare look directly, feeling his eyelids burn at a single glance.

Shi Shu stripped off his clothes, also unfastening that dagger and tossing it aside.

While Shi Shu was agonizing over whether to look or not—would looking be impolite? But if I don’t look, isn’t he my boyfriend?—a shadow fell across his shoulders. The damp towel in Xie Wuchi’s hand began wiping Shi Shu’s back in the moonlight.

Cold water flowed over the newly healed flesh, sending a tingling, prickling shiver through him, while the wet fingers were rough and burning hot like poker irons. With Xie Wuchi breaking the ice first, Shi Shu looked at him naturally, fishing for words: “Was our marching pace normal today? Should we speed up tomorrow? Just so I know what to expect.”

Xie Wuchi asked, “Do you want to do it?”

“…”

Though Shi Shu had half-expected it, Xie Wuchi truly initiated with zero wind-up. Vaguely anticipating it in his chest, before he could even nod, a powerful, conditioned arm pulled him straight into his embrace.

The moment Shi Shu looked up, warm breath descended. Xie Wuchi kissed him with open lips, one hand cupping his jaw, his fingers slipping inside like prying open a shell to taste the sweet, tender flesh within—swift and feverish.

Holding onto him, Shi Shu glanced out the doorway, looking directly at an untended burial mound. Looking up, there was the idol again. He had no choice but to bring his eyes back to what lay before him, hands clutching Xie Wuchi’s shoulders, breathing with a tremor.

Initially, Shi Shu hadn’t liked the scent of another man, but in this moment, taking in Xie Wuchi’s scent, he felt his presence, his desire, and his hunger. Xie Wuchi cupped Shi Shu’s cheek, kissing deep into his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing, the pads of his fingers caressing with restrained fervor.

That touch felt as though he were measuring his possession, his most treasured prize. Looking at those hands again, Shi Shu thought that Xie Wuchi’s hands were simply too erotic.

Drawn tight into his arms, their bodies pressed flush together. Xie Wuchi’s hands caressed from his shoulders and back down past the hollow of his waist, his kneading touch gripping the pale, taut flesh firmly enough to leave red marks.

Kissed until he was breathless, the youth’s eyes were shut against his fair, handsome face, his brows lightly knit. He too wrapped his arms around Xie Wuchi’s dripping neck, surrendering to this sudden, torrential surge of passion.

The backs of Shi Shu’s knees trembled with weakness, but his support rested entirely in Xie Wuchi’s embrace. Clinging to his shoulders, Shi Shu’s palms traced the undulating shoulder blades of his back and the cervical vertebrae beneath his thick hair, feeling the tidal pull of the man’s rough, wild animal instincts.

With his thighs drawn together, his face burned furiously. In the disarray, he buried his face into Xie Wuchi’s shoulder, stubbornly parting his teeth to sink his sharp canines into the flesh of his shoulder.

Shi Shu gripped him hard several times. By the time Xie Wuchi regained clarity from his frenzied trance, his eyes clearing, he leaned in to kiss Shi Shu’s earlobe once more.

Shi Shu couldn’t articulate what he felt in this moment. Slender fingers clung to Xie Wuchi’s shoulders, light and dark contrasting; everything he leaned upon was scalding hot. As another man, the Xie Wuchi before him was like a breathtakingly feral hawk or beast of the forest. Shi Shu caressed the skin beneath his breathing neck and collarbones, every inch radiating health, vitality, and boundless vigor.

Shi Shu reached out instinctively to touch him, soothing the hunger of skin against skin, tilting his chin to kiss and lick, tongues entwining. It was a sticky, warm, and slick sensation, yet Shi Shu found himself liking it, panting unconsciously.

Shi Shu lowered his head, hiding his face in his shoulder: “W-We right now… feel like we’re filming one of those… outdoor videos…”

Xie Wuchi: “This is merely foreplay. There are forty minutes left.”

Shi Shu: “You think you’re a fire poker?”

Silence reigned in the dark. Moonlight shifted from the ground up to the ceiling beams, illuminating eroded carvings etched into the mud walls—mottled characters and faded designs, revealing only faint outlines and painted pigment.

The two overlapping silhouettes stretched long across the floor. Shi Shu sat face-to-face in Xie Wuchi’s lap, a thin quilt spread simply beneath them. Arching his back slightly, Xie Wuchi enveloped Shi Shu’s entire frame in his arms.

Beneath the shifting light and shadow, a finger slid into an intimate, wet warmth, probing gently several times.

Resting against his forehead, the backs of Shi Shu’s ears burned as if in a high fever, his words halting and broken: “Xie Wuchi, what kind of medicine did you take as a kid? …Why? Where am I lacking compared to you…”

Kissing the corner of his lips, Xie Wuchi pressed in deeper: “Being taken by me is good too.”

Shi Shu bit him: “I hate you.”

Shi Shu felt that everything was madness. In this twisted world, he ducked his head to target Xie Wuchi’s Adam’s apple, wanting to bite down, but only let out a breath and kissed him gently instead.

That wet warmth was gently kneaded and taken in bit by bit. Cold sweat surfaced on Shi Shu’s forehead: “N-No…”

Xie Wuchi halted his hand, stroking his face with soft kisses: “No rush. Get used to my fingers first.”

Shi Shu nipped him again: “The ointment and the sheep casings—I didn’t bring either of them…”

“You still need ample time to adjust; today is already very good.”

Shi Shu let him hold him while Xie Wuchi nudged lightly, as if indulging a private fascination. Shi Shu’s brow furrowed in his embrace, his expression rather strange: “Xie Wuchi… how much longer are you going to keep doing this?”

“The night is still long; I could leave it in all night.”

Shi Shu’s brow pinched tighter, seemingly too mortified to raise his voice: “…Are you treating this like a toy?”

Xie Wuchi kissed him again, a hot, desire-laden kiss: “I like it very much.”

“…”

Xie Wuchi possessed an intense libido, his passion and stamina in this regard enduring and fervent. Resting in his embrace, Shi Shu naturally relied on him deeply and could tolerate Xie Wuchi’s quirks, allowing him to explore and toy with him as he pleased.

Yet Shi Shu’s face stayed burning red the entire time, enduring as best he could while holding him. Only when it grew truly unbearable did he murmur: “Ge…”

Xie Wuchi: “Cannot take it anymore?”

Shi Shu said, “Of course not! We still have to travel tomorrow. There’ll be chances later—I’ll let you go deeper then, alright?…”

Xie Wuchi withdrew his fingers and kissed Shi Shu’s lips again. The feverish kiss left Shi Shu’s mind hazy, as if numbed. By the time his senses cleared slightly, Xie Wuchi had already settled him comfortably, rising to wash away the sweat and mess from both their bodies, cleaning up the aftermath.

Tolerating that lingering, strange sensation, Shi Shu sat awkwardly on the clean quilt on the floor with messy hair. Watching Xie Wuchi from behind, every piece of this scene felt strikingly identical to the memories he had replayed so many times from before their separation.

Shi Shu nearly felt a sense of temporal disorientation.

Shi Shu watched him for a while, then lay down on the hard floor: “Xie Wuchi, you’re truly a capable man who always finds things to take care of. Whoever ends up with you gets blessed.”

Xie Wuchi: “From the very beginning, only you have been with me.”

Shi Shu smiled: “Then my luck is pretty good. Not long after arriving here, I ran into you.”

Through the window, Shi Shu gazed at the moon and stars strewn across the deep blue night sky. Suddenly, he felt in very good spirits. The battle of Yunzhou was over; next, he was going to accomplish something brimming with hope.

Shi Shu muttered to himself in his heart: Once this is done, this brother is washing his hands of it all. Heroes across the realm are as numerous as carp crossing a river! I can’t do everything all by myself—gotta leave some room for others to succeed too, right?

Turning his bright, starry eyes, Shi Shu suddenly felt something hard pressing beneath his arm. Looking down, it was that bothersome dagger again.

Shi Shu’s heart jolted. Seeing Xie Wuchi approach, he said: “That thing I did wrong by you—I’ll tell you when I get back. It’s a huge deal and might take a long time to explain. Since we have to part ways temporarily, I’ll tell you once the big mission is accomplished.”

Water glided down Xie Wuchi’s shoulders and chest as he dried his hair with a towel, walking closer: “Make your own arrangements. As long as you are willing to find a time to confess, that is fine.”

Shi Shu turned his face, tapped his fingertip lightly against his brow, straightened his posture, and took the cloth to help dry his damp, dark hair.