UCTOOT CH92

Inside the bed canopy, Shi Shu lay face down against the bedding. Blocks of ice were set around the room. Sprawled over the soft, cool-silk quilt, he had only just managed to ignore the throbbing pain and drift off.

At first, he had been too exhausted and passed straight out. Upon waking, he was both aching and drowsy, enduring for a long time before finally falling back asleep.

Shi Shu slept heavily. He vaguely sensed another figure lying beside him, but didn’t think much of it. When an unknown amount of time passed and he opened his eyes, he felt the warmth of a body beside him.

“Xie Wuchi, you’re here?”

Xie Wuchi opened his eyes, propping a hand on the edge of the bed. Dark shadows lingered beneath his eyes; it seemed he had only rested for a short while after pulling an all-nighter. He asked, “How do you feel?”

Shi Shu said, pleased with himself, “Pretty good now. Doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

Xie Wuchi asked, “What are you smiling about?”

Shi Shu stopped his smile. “Was it that obvious?”

Xie Wuchi stood up, picked up the medicine resting on the cabinet, and instructed the servants to prepare lunch. Lying flat on the bedding, Shi Shu found the scene remarkably familiar. Long ago, when they were on the run from the Mingfeng Office pursuers, his back had been injured too, and he had spent his days lying on the bed while Xie Wuchi tended to him.

Unable to rein in his excitement, Shi Shu blurted out, “Xie Wuchi, didn’t I tell you? I ran into Yuan He and Yuan Guan yesterday. Do you remember them? Those two brothers from the Street of Northern Slaves.”

Carrying a bowl of milk, Xie Wuchi walked over. “I remember.”

Shi Shu: “I was eavesdropping on their conversation behind the hillside, but who knew their mounted scouts would suddenly appear? I bolted on the spot.”

Xie Wuchi sat down by the edge of the bed: “And then?”

“And then, there was no way I could outrun horses! Luckily there was a drainage ditch by the road, so I jumped right down, at least two or three meters deep, gulp…”

Xie Wuchi held out the bowl. Without looking closely, Shi Shu leaned in, took a swallow, and continued recounting, “Then I kept running in that ditch. It was pitch black, filled with thorns and thick brush, but someone leaped down ahead to cut me off. You get what I mean? Pincer attack! Gulp…”

Xie Wuchi’s fingers rested against the rim of the bowl. Shi Shu was so eager to talk that he didn’t even look at the milk, taking a sip with every sentence.

“I thought to myself, this won’t work, two against one and I’m a goner for sure! So I turned around to fight back, gulp, and it turned out to be Yuan He! Good heavens, do you know how ripped he is? Built like Superman.”

Xie Wuchi lowered his eyes. Seeing the faint trace of milk lingering at the corner of Shi Shu’s mouth, he wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

Shi Shu had fresh, handsome features that lit up with pure charm when he smiled. Looking at Xie Wuchi, he went on, “Anyway, in a straight brawl I stood zero chance against him. Everyone has their strengths, right? So he slashed my back with his blade, making a bloody mess so I could lie down and play dead.”

“It was heart-stopping! When that Min soldier talked about severing my head, my blood ran cold. Yuan He stopped him too. Back then, escorting Xiao Shu for forty li, it was only a mere forty li after all!”

Shi Shu ducked his head to drink another mouthful of milk. “Still, how is she already married? How old is she? Has she even turned eighteen?”

Xie Wuchi tilted the bowl, patiently letting Shi Shu drink. After barely two swallows, Shi Shu looked up again: “I remember now, back then, when I came home too late, you even got angry with me! And now? Who’s gonna scold me now, huh?”

“Hater, speak up!”

“…”

Xie Wuchi pinched his chin. “Taking half an hour to finish a single bowl of milk. How did your parents raise you?”

Shi Shu took the bowl in both hands and gulped it down in a few quick swallows, declaring, “Pure skill!”

Xie Wuchi’s fingertip lightly brushed the corner of his lips. “The day we made our relationship official, you weren’t even half this happy.”

Shi Shu: “Official what?”

What relationship do we have?

“…………”

It took Shi Shu a whole second to remember that the man was his boyfriend. Xie Wuchi’s hand lingered on his cheek for a long moment. Snapping out of it, Shi Shu bared his neat white teeth: “Xie Wuchi, stop touching me.”

Xie Wuchi pulled his hand back as hard-boiled eggs were brought in from outside, taking the dish from the servant. Looking at his formal attire, Shi Shu asked, “Are you heading out again soon?”

Xie Wuchi replied, “The office is overwhelmed with matters these couple of days, so I need to go there often. Your clue was crucial. We must not only recover the military grain, but there is an even more important matter at hand.”

Shi Shu hummed an “Oh.” With the egg peeled, Xie Wuchi sat beside him to feed him. “There is a bowl of congee as well. After you finish eating, rest for a while. I need to return to the council hall.”

Shi Shu took two bites of the egg held out to him before pausing: Wait, do I not have hands?!

“Ah!”

Shi Shu reached out to take it, but the moment he moved, a spike of pain made him bury his face straight into the pillow: “I still have to say, that guy Yuan He really didn’t pull his punches! Hurts like hell!”

Subconscious hesitation truly had a point.

Shi Shu was bare-backed, covered only by an exceptionally thin, soft quilt. Hearing him cry in pain, Xie Wuchi lifted the coverlet with his free hand. Crisscrossing lacerations had formed dark crimson scabs, stretching from his shoulder blades down to the hollow of his lower back, with fine nicks peppering his neck and hips.

Xie Wuchi’s gaze darkened. His eyes traced down Shi Shu’s slender nape, sweeping down to the pale curve of his thighs, before pulling the light quilt back up.

“There are many wounds on your back,” he said.

Shi Shu said, “I figured. Wounds are wounds, surviving is what matters. A real man’s body has to be tempered through fire and steel.”

Just as Shi Shu finished speaking, he saw the egg offered close to his lips and took another bite.

Munching away, once he swallowed, he remembered Xie Wuchi. Suddenly, a stray thought crossed his mind, and he looked up with a hint of awkwardness: “You don’t like it?”

Xie Wuchi: “I like it.”

“…………”

When he said that, Shi Shu’s heart skipped a beat. He always treated Xie Wuchi like the good friend from before they parted, only to remember in moments like this that their relationship had long since ceased to be that.

Shi Shu kept forgetting about the climbing-into-bed plan, too; only when he remembered the man was his boyfriend did the phrase pop back into his mind.

“…”

Flustered, Shi Shu focused earnestly on eating the egg without saying another word.

Xie Wuchi said, “The new flesh healing over the skin looks like flower petals. It is not unsightly, so do not let it bother you.”

Shi Shu: “It doesn’t bother me.” Heaven knew how much Shi Shu admired those ripped, alpha dudes covered in battle scars the moment they stripped their shirts, brimming with raw sensual tension. Later on, he realized he could never become one, but Xie Wuchi fit the bill.

One could only call it a strange turn of fate, a different sort of compensation.

After the egg, Xie Wuchi fed him congee. Shi Shu remained quiet for only a brief moment before chattering away again, analyzing his psychological state when facing danger. The moment Xie Wuchi drifted, Shi Shu called him right back, recounting his story with colorful embellishments while Xie Wuchi steadily spooned food into his mouth.

Shi Shu said, “Wait, who on earth is Prince Yinkun? Looks familiar, yet I can’t quite place him.”

“Two more bites. Eat first, the food is getting cold.”

“Do you remember him, Xie Wuchi?”

Xie Wuchi: “One last bite. Open up, baobao.”

Shi Shu parted his lips, clamping his teeth down on the spoon and refusing to let go. Xie Wuchi stroked his lips with his thumb, trying to retrieve the spoon, but Shi Shu stubbornly held on.

Only when his chin was pinched with slightly firmer pressure did Shi Shu realize Xie Wuchi could easily dislocate his jaw if he wanted to, yet was currently coaxing him with endless patience, so he unlocked his teeth.

Shi Shu asked, “Are you heading to the office now?”

Xie Wuchi: “Yes. The scouts sent to that ferry landing should be returning soon. I need to hear their reports.”

Shi Shu buried his fluffy head straight into the quilt: “Xie Wuchi, I hate you, don’t leave.”

Stepping back to the bedside, Xie Wuchi studied Shi Shu intently for a moment. He realized Shi Shu was probably in pain, bored, and craving company; spending days lying in bed sick was agonizingly slow.

Xie Wuchi: “I will return early.”

Shi Shu: “I’m sleeping now, snooze, snooze, snooze…”

Normally, Xie Wuchi never worked from his private quarters. He was unyielding about certain personal habits: for instance, he never got into bed outside of sleeping hours, and the moment he woke, he changed out of his sleepwear, grooming himself so he was presentable to step outside at any moment. Reading belonged in the study, martial practice on the grounds, and work at his post; he disliked blurring the lines between them.

Thus, though Xie Wuchi suffered from hypersexuality and his private conduct was worlds apart from his aloof, upright public facade, no one aside from Shi Shu had ever seen his other face.

Xie Wuchi lowered his eyes. After a pause, he instructed, “Tidy the front hall. Say that I am feeling under the weather these days, and have them all come to the lodge to confer.”

From beneath the pillow, Shi Shu peeked out one eye, blinked, and then revealed both eyes. Xie Wuchi returned to the bedside and smoothed the corner of the quilt over him: “Baobao.”

Xie Wuchi’s voice had grown increasingly mature, carrying the magnetic, sensual pull of an older man. At times, hearing the nuance in his tone, it took Shi Shu a moment to realize the man was addressing him.

Being gay was so strange. Accustomed to heterosexual dynamics, Shi Shu had always viewed men as peers and brothers on equal footing. The tenderness laced within Xie Wuchi’s voice often left him unaccustomed.

Shi Shu: Alright, this definitely doesn’t feel like brothers anymore.

Shi Shu buried his face back into the pillow.

Throughout the afternoon, whenever someone arrived, Xie Wuchi headed to the front hall to confer, returning to the room in between, clearly busier than in previous days. Amidst the coming and going of figures, the topic of deliberation remained the military provisions.

Shi Shu faintly overheard heated arguments from the front hall. Before long, once the strategists and commanders departed, Xie Wuchi stepped back through the door. In the summer heat, a light sheen of sweat coated his skin, his brow touched with contemplation.

Shi Shu asked, “The military grain?”

Xie Wuchi walked over and helped support his body: “Do you need to relieve yourself?”

Shi Shu’s heart skipped a beat. Xie Wuchi produced a chamber pot, helped him into position, and placed it between his legs. Shi Shu’s knees were scraped as well; leaning against Xie Wuchi’s arm, he had little strength, and he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

“Huh?”

Supporting him against his chest, Xie Wuchi said, “We are deliberating on how to handle Jia Wu’s embezzlement and resale of the military grain.”

Shi Shu: “Can’t you just arrest him directly?”

Xie Wuchi: “We cannot.”

Shi Shu wished he could burrow into the ground and disappear, but ultimately surrendered to relieving himself in the chamber pot. When he finished, Xie Wuchi wiped him clean with a cloth, then cleaned his hands with a damp towel before saying, “Jia Wu is the Empress’s cousin and the supreme commander assigned to resist the Min army. Arresting him is tantamount to rebellion. We must first submit a secret memorial to His Majesty and await imperial instructions.”

Held in his embrace, Shi Shu was helped back onto his stomach on the bed: “How long will that take?”

Xie Wuchi looked at the wounds on his back: “Round trip, an urgent dispatch still takes seven days.”

“Seven days? Doesn’t that mean seven more days of stalling?”

“Stalling for seven days aside, His Majesty may very well choose not to touch him. Removing him would first deny the Empress face, and second, the court is reluctant to move against him. During wartime, profiteering off national catastrophe through reselling military resources, there is nothing beyond what people will dare to do. Humanity is simply too selfish; the more people revel in wealth and comfort, the more they think only of themselves.”

Shi Shu remained silent.

Xie Wuchi was haughty, and the proud understood their own kind best.

“Yet if we do not touch him, the provisions cannot be recovered. I am considering what must be done.”

Shi Shu blinked, resting against the cool pillow.

On the surface, Jia Wu was an envoy dispatched from the central court; moving against him directly was treason. Yet following official channels offered no guarantee of touching him, and the more players involved, the more volatile the variables became.

To ordinary ears, trafficking military supplies sounded like a monstrous crime. Yet the graver the crisis, the more predators emerged to make a fortune. Merchants who hoarded grain during spring floods to sell at exorbitant prices; local governments that hoarded seed grain during droughts to force commoners into usury; those who caught early wind of wartime manufacturing quotas to establish production lines and monopolize profits; and those who hoarded critical supplies, specifically waiting until people were starving or dying of disease before selling at extortionate rates.

High-minded ideals on their lips, pure profit in their hearts.

They profited off life-or-death desperation. Everyone wanted to live, and with the desperate obsession to survive, people would surrender anything. These predatory demons seized upon that vulnerability, brazenly extorting wealth.

Jia Wu had come to this war precisely to line his pockets.

They cared only for their own pleasure, indifferent to life, death, or the fall of the empire.

At the thought, fury surged in Shi Shu’s chest. He wanted to march straight into Jia Wu’s residence and land a couple of punches on him.

“Ah!” The pain flared across his back, and Shi Shu collapsed back down.

Xie Wuchi stroked his hair: “Do not be anxious. I will find a way.”

Before Shi Shu, Xie Wuchi appeared exceedingly composed. Yet his eyes were seasoned to slaughter; they darkened slightly before brushing the shadows away, gently smoothing Shi Shu’s hair.

Throughout the afternoon, the lodge was busier than usual. In the drowsy summer heat, Shi Shu eventually grew tired from lying still, and sleepiness overtook him.

Sleeping on his stomach pressed heavily against his chest. Shi Shu seemed to have a nightmare: there was nothing distinct in the dream, only a suffocating sense of panic.

When he suddenly opened his eyes, twilight had gathered, and outside the window lay deep gloom. An unfamiliar unease swelled in his chest as he looked around: “Xie Wuchi…”

Not far away, by a low couch, a figure was writing with brush on paper. Xie Wuchi had changed into his casual loungewear and was keeping a journal. The instant Shi Shu saw him, the fear in his heart evaporated.

Ever since transmigrating into this world, whenever Shi Shu woke around dusk, a profound sense of isolation and dread would grip him. For that reason, he generally avoided afternoon naps, having only drifted off because of sheer boredom.

“Xie Wuchi.”

Setting down his brush, Xie Wuchi walked over: “Awake?”

Shi Shu: “I slept too long, my head hurts.”

Xie Wuchi placed his hand against Shi Shu’s face, smoothing from the curve of his ear to his temple, his long fingers gently massaging acupoints along his scalp. Looking up at him, an absurd question popped into Shi Shu’s head: Are you rubbing my head as a best friend, or as a boyfriend?

Shi Shu caught hold of the corner of his robe. The tangible texture of the fabric slowed his racing heartbeat. Xie Wuchi brought over a small wooden stool and sat down beside the bed, bringing his gaze level with Shi Shu’s.

Shi Shu held onto his hem until Xie Wuchi stopped massaging his scalp.

Then, Xie Wuchi leaned in, kissing his eyelids and the tip of his nose.

Shi Shu felt awkward again: “No kissing.”

Xie Wuchi pulled back and asked, “Are you hungry?”

Shi Shu didn’t answer, yet his grip remained on Xie’s robe. After a brief pause, Xie Wuchi said, “Du Zihan sent you a letter. Do you want to hear it? I will read it to you.”

Shi Shu looked up: “Huh?”

Fetching the letter and setting the candle on the bedside cabinet, Xie Wuchi read line by line: “‘Xiao Shu-bao, what have you been up to lately? Didn’t we agree you’d write to me once you got there? Where is your letter, may I ask? You haven’t replied to the ones I sent either.’“

Shi Shu stammered awkwardly, “I’ve been too busy. I treat everyone equally, I don’t reply to anyone’s messages.”

Xie Wuchi glanced at him and continued reading: “‘Bai Family Settlement is sweltering, hot enough to make me want to jump in the river. What is the situation over there? It’s a war zone! Squeak at least once so I know you’re alive, otherwise you could be dead and rotting and I wouldn’t have a clue.’“

Shi Shu chuckled: “Hehehe, that idiot dog.”

Xie Wuchi read on: “‘How are things between you and your boyfriend?’“

Shi Shu: “Uh…”

Shi Shu suddenly wanted to snatch the letter back.

Xie Wuchi: “‘Do you even know how to date him? You aren’t being spun in circles by him, are you? I forgot to warn you last time: your boyfriend looks like a massive scumbag. Men from privileged backgrounds are very likely NPD, masters at playing with people’s emotions…’ “

Shi Shu’s hand twitched at his side: “Well.”

Xie Wuchi: “I would never play with your emotions.”

“…”

Having said that, Xie Wuchi turned to the next page: “‘Also, two guys need to pay attention to hygiene. Getting an infection ruins your whole life. You should subtly probe whether he has any STDs. Stay safe, remember that.’“

Shi Shu: “……………”

Their eyes met. Lifting his gaze from the parchment, Xie Wuchi’s jaw clenched slightly: “I have never contracted an STD. In the modern world, I could show you my annual physical exam reports; here, you may inspect me at any time. My medical history is purely psychiatric.”

Shi Shu: “……………”

Shi Shu wanted to tear his hair out. Du Zihan, what on earth are you babbling about every day! Fighting through the pain in his back, Shi Shu waved his hand: “Don’t read any more of that letter. I’m terrified of what other embarrassing stuff is on there.”

“That is all,” Xie Wuchi said, laying the sheet before him. “On the back is a drawing he made of Bai Family Settlement, with Laifu and Song Sinan in it.”

Looking closely, Shi Shu saw that was indeed the end and exhaled in relief: “Who would reply to a letter like that? Left on read, definitely not replying.”

Xie Wuchi: “You could write ‘Reviewed’ and send it back. It would grant him peace of mind.”

“…”

Shi Shu felt Xie Wuchi was dropping a subtle hint about something. Before he could dwell on it, Xie Wuchi added, “Du Zihan’s words are crude but sound. He genuinely has your best interests at heart, even if he sounds rather nagging.”

Shi Shu: “Fine, I’ll write back to him.”

Xie Wuchi went to fetch paper and brush. As Shi Shu struggled to write while lying on his stomach, Xie Wuchi murmured beside his ear: “Shi Shu.”

“Hmm?” Shi Shu scribbled crooked characters.

“I have never been intimate with anyone else, nor have I dated anyone. I only like you.”

Shi Shu jerked his head up to look at him: “It’s not that I don’t believe you. Is that really so important?”

Xie Wuchi: “I care about it, so I wanted you to know.”

Shi Shu wrote only a single line: Hands and feet injured, following dictated to my brother: Then he thrust the brush toward Xie Wuchi: “Write it for me.”

Placing a sturdy book beside his pillow, Xie Wuchi laid the paper over it and listened as Shi Shu dictated: “I’m doing great, healthy and everything’s going well, oh, right, I did something incredible…”

“…”

Lifting his eyelids, Xie Wuchi listened as Shi Shu chattered non-stop. For sensitive military information, Xie Wuchi substituted English terms, penning an adventure story based on Shi Shu’s narration.

Shi Shu leaned in to look at Xie Wuchi’s handwriting. Compared to his own grade-school scrawl, Xie Wuchi’s calligraphy was effortless and vigorous, strokes like iron carvings and silver hooks; just looking at the handwriting made one imagine an exceptionally striking man behind the brush.

Shi Shu lay on his stomach dictating for half an hour. Xie Wuchi faithfully recorded the tale, filling several sheets of paper. His eyes shining as he looked over the open letter, Shi Shu pointed to a line: “What does this mean?”

Xie Wuchi: “Army provisions. Grain supplies.”

When Xie Wuchi spoke English, his voice was remarkably attractive.

Shi Shu: “And this?”

Xie Wuchi: “Alien races. Foreign tribes.”

Shi Shu: “What about this one?”

“Jia Wu. J-i-a-W-u.“

“…”

“My bad, almost forgot my native tongue,” Shi Shu chuckled. “Can Du Zihan even read this?”

Xie Wuchi: “He can. This vocabulary is very basic.”

Watching Xie Wuchi finish, Shi Shu took the brush and scribbled his name at the bottom: Xiao Shu-bao!

“Now we can send it! It’ll be a total surprise. I never reply to anyone with such long messages. I hope he memorizes this whole letter and recites it back to me next time he sees me~” Shi Shu beamed with pride.

Xie Wuchi slipped the sheets into a fresh envelope and sealed it with wax. By now, the lingering unease in Shi Shu’s chest had completely faded. He said, “I’m hungry.”

“I will fetch food for you.”

Lying on the cool silk pillow, Shi Shu watched Xie Wuchi rise, his dark robes catching the breeze as he stepped outside to order the evening meal brought in.

Watching his retreating figure, Shi Shu felt like he was back on that first night he had sought him out at Xiangnan Temple. Xie Wuchi had treated him so kindly back then too, only Shi Shu hadn’t known at the time that Xie Wuchi was merely keeping him around as an experimental specimen to be eliminated whenever necessary.

Shi Shu lay resting. Moments later, steaming dishes were brought in, and the servants were dismissed. A square wooden stool was placed by the bedside, bearing several dishes.

Shi Shu turned his head away, his pale ear showing beneath fluffy hair: “I’m mad.”

Xie Wuchi: “Baobao.”

How was one supposed to love a beast whose claws and fangs were drenched in human blood?

Shi Shu lay there, losing his appetite. The steamed egg custard emitted curls of steam; everything on the table was easily digestible and highly nourishing. Holding a deep blue porcelain bowl, Xie Wuchi ladled out a rich, golden broth.

Neither spoke for a moment, yet neither broke the quiet.

Approaching midnight, a pale crescent hung outside the window, the courtyard alive with cicadas and frogs. As Shi Shu lay flat, he heard Xie Wuchi set down the bowl. A hand reached over to cradle his chin, keeping him from suffocating in the bedding, the warmth of his fingers brushing against Shi Shu’s cheek.

The pad of his thumb stroked Shi Shu’s lip once before pulling back. When Shi Shu looked up, he saw an uneasy restlessness churning in Xie Wuchi’s eyes.

Xie Wuchi was going out of his mind wanting to touch him.

Shi Shu didn’t mind Xie Wuchi touching him; he never had. Tilting his head slightly, his lips brushed against the calloused pad of Xie’s thumb once more.

Shi Shu had clean, youthful features, his peach-blossom eyes bright and dark, always smiling at people with an endearing trace of boyish innocence. Xie Wuchi lowered his gaze. Perhaps emboldened, his fingers gently caressed Shi Shu’s chin.

Moving upward, he rubbed and stroked Shi Shu’s lips.

The pad of his finger was both burning hot and rough, while the lips beneath were tender and soft. As Xie Wuchi stroked him with deliberate slowness, Shi Shu, for once in a very long time, did not look away.

A gentle press of a fingertip would easily part his teeth and slip inside.

Yet Xie Wuchi lowered his eyes and withdrew his hand.

Shi Shu’s eyelashes fluttered. In the very next second, Xie Wuchi leaned over and kissed him.