UCTOOT CH40.1

The sound of fireworks exploding outside the window suddenly illuminated the entire room, casting light on Shi Shu’s fair features.

The noisy chatter from next door once again assaulted his ears, making Shi Shu’s head spin.

A cold hand brushed against him, and coupled with the warm abdominal muscles his hand was touching, Shi Shu’s drunkenness finally cleared!

His fair face was aghast. “Xie Wuchi, you.”

You!

Shi Shu didn’t even dare to look down! But the thing in his peripheral vision was still hard to ignore!

With a gentle push from Xie Wuchi’s hand, it pressed against his palm. Its heat, thickness, and hardness were instantly and clearly measured, there were even throbbing veins, and it was slick with a bit of fluid.

Shi Shu let out a “Wah!” and his entire arm went limp as he pulled it back. He looked up and frantically questioned Xie Wuchi, “What are you doing! What are you trying to do!”

Xie Wuchi draped a handkerchief over his waist. “Did you get a good look?”

Shi Shu’s head spun. How outrageous, how outrageous! Absolutely absurd! He had seen Xie Wuchi’s… thing, yet Xie Wuchi himself was completely calm and composed.

Shi Shu had never touched a man’s abs before. He would have scrambled away, his face beet red, and run for his life. But Xie Wuchi was so unnervingly calm; you couldn’t even imagine what kind of education he had received.

Shi Shu: “You, you, you, I didn’t say I wanted to touch it!!! Why did you act on your own!”

Xie Wuchi: “I pulled my clothes up. Is it that scary?”

Shi Shu rubbed his weak arm, the lingering sensation still on his fingertips. He yelled, “This isn’t a question of whether it’s scary or not! You’re so licentious!”

Shi Shu couldn’t hold it back. “You—you slut!!!”

“………………”

After that heartfelt cry, there was a dead silence.

Being described with such a word, Xie Wuchi didn’t get angry and instead smiled. “Mm, well, now that we’re in this mood, I still haven’t shown you the thing I mentioned last time.”

Shi Shu was panting, his attention surprisingly diverted. “What thing?”

Xie Wuchi: “The tattoo. Want to see it?”

“Huh?”

Xie Wuchi turned and pointed downwards. “You can see it with a blink of an eye. Why don’t you look?”

“………………”

Shi Shu stared at him, his mood describable by the archaic word “devastated.” Before transmigrating, he was a pure university boy. After transmigrating, his worldview had been violently assaulted. Forgetting the complete transformation of his lifestyle, he had actually met such a man!

Shi Shu often had a sense of detachment, always feeling that knowing Xie Wuchi was a dream, because in any of his originally planned life paths, he would never have crossed paths with this person. Even if he had, it would probably have been a fleeting encounter, their lives diverging far apart.

What was even more terrifying was that Shi Shu found his own threshold was rising! The dizzy feeling from being drunk was starting to return.

Shi Shu: “Bro, you’re not wearing a shirt or pants right now. You want me to look at your leg? How can I look?!”

Xie Wuchi: “Take a look. I’ll cover it up so you don’t see anything else.”

Xie Wuchi’s words sounded like he was about to share a piece of his art, and this piece of art was clearly hidden in a private place, a secret covered by a handkerchief. The veins on the back of Xie Wuchi’s hand, which was holding the handkerchief in place, were knotted, hiding his aggression.

With such a cordial invitation, Shi Shu’s train of thought was thrown into disarray.

Shi Shu: “What if I don’t look?”

Xie Wuchi: “I will be disappointed.”

“…”

“Does your tattoo have some unspeakable secret? You insist that I see it.”

“Perhaps it does. Come here.”

To be honest, with Xie Wuchi promoting it so enthusiastically, and with the help of alcohol, Shi Shu steeled himself. “You’re the one who asked me to look! Don’t say I’m taking advantage of you.”

“So righteous.”

“…I just want to see what it looks like.” Before looking, Shi Shu stood up first. “Is the door shut tight?”

When he returned, caught off guard, Xie Wuchi had already revealed the tattooed area. “Come.”

“………………”

Wanting to understand a person more, like those restless summer nights, was filled with a sense of excitement.

Xie Wuchi seemed to take great interest in displaying his beauty. He sat on the edge of the bed with his feet on the wooden bed frame. As the light shifted, his long, tight muscles were full of physical tension.

It was a strange scene in the rear chamber of the academy. Xie Wuchi’s long black hair cascaded down. A living man, actually wanting to show someone else his tattoo. Shi Shu used to play sports and was on good terms with the other guys, but never to this extent. And Xie Wuchi, being stared at directly by Shi Shu in this state, was completely nonchalant.

Shi Shu’s drunkenness seemed to be clearing. “Wait, why did I agree to look at this?”

He glanced at it quickly. “Bro, I can’t see it clearly.”

“Come closer?” Xie Wuchi spread his legs a little wider.

Xie Wuchi had broad shoulders and long legs, his thin skin filled with explosive power. It inexplicably reminded Shi Shu of the men with wolfish waists in game concept art. When his shoulders and back were slightly hunched, he looked like a stalking leopard, his body tinged with the cold scent of gunpowder. He was, without a doubt, a man among men.

Shi Shu: “It’s… too dark…”

“Lie on my knees.”

Shi Shu squatted down, unable to resist muttering, “I feel like this spot is very weird. Any other place would be fine. You just let people tattoo you in such a private place?”

Xie Wuchi: “I tattooed it myself.”

“Hmm?”

“Tattooing is using a needle with pigment to pierce the bottom layer of the skin to draw a pattern. I have a foundation in painting, so I tattooed it myself back then.”

Shi Shu: “Back then?”

Shi Shu focused his gaze on his body again. The lingering effects of the alcohol made his head spin. He really did muster the courage to stare.

On the skin that rarely saw sunlight, a few strands of dark hair peeked out from under the handkerchief. There was an area that was obviously darker in color, in a very hidden place at the root of his thigh near his pubic bone, which is to say, to the left of the thicket. Without distinction, it was the part of the human body next to what the handkerchief covered.

Shi Shu looked carefully in the dim light, staring at the tattooed area. “Oh…”

Sharp lines flew out from the edges, faded and mottled into a deep cyan color, completely different from the skin all over his body. That patch of skin was covered in wounds that had repeatedly healed and been pierced again, and it was also uneven and bumpy. But on its surface was a black, dangerous Ouroboros swallowing its own tail. The circle it formed was expanded into a radiant, shining sun, with traces of light pointing towards the center, mutually reflecting with the mottled wounds.

“Is this a snake or a sun? Both? It suits you quite well.” The pattern had a kind of forbidden beauty, especially on Xie Wuchi, who appeared particularly proper and elegant when he put on his clothes, creating an extreme contrast.

Shi Shu: “But this pattern is dangerous, and there are so many wounds. How did you do it?”

Xie Wuchi: “When I couldn’t bear it, I would use a needle to prick out the Ouroboros, also known as the ‘self-devourer,’ symbolizing self-destruction and self-rebirth. A tattoo expresses a belief. Tattooing it on the body might allow a person to merge with their will.”

As Xie Wuchi spoke, his throat vibrated lowly. Shi Shu turned his gaze back to the sun formed by the Ouroboros, the pattern tattooed on his skin tissue, and thought, “For someone like Xie Wuchi who cares so much about physical contact, to have a tattoo on his body, it must mean this pattern is exceptionally significant?”

Shi Shu blinked. “Why this? Why a tattoo? What was your thought process at the time?”

“I’ve said it before, I like pain. There is nothing more punishing to oneself than to create pain with one’s own hands.”

The handkerchief on Xie Wuchi’s thigh moved, his voice low and hoarse. “Shi Shu, look at it a little longer.”

Shi Shu: “What’s wrong?”

“I like your gaze. It feels good to be watched by you.”

“………………”

Shi Shu: “Bro, do you think you’re a pervert?”

“Does being different from ordinary people mean I have to live in isolation? At least I can enjoy different levels of pleasure and pain. Don’t you think that’s a good thing?”

Shi Shu tasted a hint of… He lowered his head again. In the darkness, he couldn’t see anything clearly, only the back of Xie Wuchi’s hand with its well-defined knuckles and throbbing veins, cast in black and gray by the candlelight’s shadows.

Xie Wuchi’s breathing grew heavier. He half-leaned over, gazing at Shi Shu’s fair, clean profile. A bead of sweat rolled down his chin, his voice raspy. “Shi Shu, is it beautiful?”

Shi Shu: “It’s quite beautiful…”

But for Shi Shu, it seemed there was a subtext beneath this tattoo. According to what his parents had told him since he was young, he would never have come into contact with this world.

“Touch it,” Xie Wuchi said hoarsely.

Shi Shu: “Huh? Bro, are you being a little too familiar with me?”

“You can touch any part of my body.”

Shi Shu always felt like he was being cordially invited, like someone was very satisfied with a certain part of themselves and wanted to show it to you. It would be impolite not to play along. He reached out a finger and poked the center of the sun.

“I touched it.”

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Xie Wuchi’s forehead.

“Put your hand on it, palm covering it.”

“Isn’t this inappropriate? This spot is too…”

As Shi Shu spoke, he placed his entire hand on it. But the moment he touched it, he was extremely shocked. The skin on Xie Wuchi’s leg was also burning hot.

Xie Wuchi seemed to smile. “Covering it with your palm, whether intentional or not, has the meaning of care and caress.”

That inch of skin was like silk that had been baked by the midday sun, extremely hot. Shi Shu looked away and stood up. Xie Wuchi’s voice sounded from above his head again. “I forgot to mention one of my preferences. When you’re giving me a blowjob, I like it if you can caress this tattoo.”

Shi Shu: “Bro, you…”

Once he had confirmed that a person was a pervert, their words and actions didn’t seem to scare him as much. Shi Shu couldn’t help but say, “Even if you’ve transmigrated to ancient times, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to find a partner, right? It’s not good to always hold it in like this.”

Xie Wuchi: “They are not worthy of touching me.”

“…………” Rich guy.

“Alright, I’m done looking at the tattoo.”

Shi Shu moved closer, grabbing Xie Wuchi’s pressed-down pants and pulling them up. “Xie Wuchi, hurry up and get dressed! Even though you’re a man, we men also have to follow the rules, otherwise you’ll be very sorry to your other half in the future. Next time, don’t just take off your pants and show them to anyone you meet!”

Xie Wuchi definitely had psychological problems. A different attitude towards sex was also a sign of a different psychology. Thinking of it this way, Shi Shu understood him a little better.

Shi Shu muttered, “You have to love yourself, cherish yourself.”

Xie Wuchi lowered his gaze and paused slightly. Shi Shu’s knees were against the edge of the bed. With both hands, he quickly pulled Xie Wuchi’s underpants up to his waist, transforming him back into a proper and demure appearance.

Shi Shu’s brown eyes looked at Xie Wuchi and he nodded earnestly. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret for you. No one will know.”

“…” Silence.

Xie Wuchi: “Keep my secret for me?”

“Just these secrets. If they get out, it will affect your image.”

As Shi Shu spoke, he even found an outer robe and draped it over Xie Wuchi’s shoulders.

Xie Wuchi looked away for a moment. “You really are drunk.”

Shi Shu tidied up Xie Wuchi, finally sweeping away all the ambiguous atmosphere in the air and returning everything to normal. Just as Shi Shu was about to pat the quilt and lie down, he heard Xie Wuchi’s voice again.

He was looking at him in the darkness, the lamplight reflecting a scarlet red in his pupils.

“Shi Shu, I want to have sex.”

Shi Shu was so stimulated by those words that he almost fell headfirst. He managed to compose himself, and after a long moment, his ears red, he squeezed out, “Bear with it, bro. We don’t have the conditions.”

After saying this, Shi Shu felt as if ants were crawling all over him, extremely uncomfortable. My god, being friends with such a pervert is truly unbearable.

“Why don’t you find a partner and start dating.”

Xie Wuchi: “I am looking.”

Shi Shu said seriously, “Then when you find that person, tell them. I can’t help you.”

Xie Wuchi’s face was as calm as water. He said no more, his gaze on Shi Shu, his expression seemingly thoughtful. After a moment, he chose to shut up.

Shi Shu tidied up, preparing to sleep. Outside the door, another commotion sounded.

Shi Shu rushed out with a “swoosh” to see what was happening. It turned out to be the group of people from earlier. Somehow, other people had mixed in with them, and a disagreement had led to a loud argument.

“Say it clearly! Are you asking for a beating!”

A young man in splendid clothes was pushed out, smiling. “Alright, alright, everyone, no fighting!”

Next to him stood a tall, well-built man. It was hard to see clearly in the night, but his physique was strong and robust, far from what an ordinary person could have.

Someone said indignantly, “You were chatting just fine, but you had to bring up the Great Min, and even said the northern border has changed masters. Don’t blame us for getting rough!”

This person cupped his hands. “My apologies, my apologies. I just heard you all cursing, saying that the Great Min are all bald, scabby, crooked-mouthed, gap-toothed people, so I just mentioned it casually. This humble one has traveled the whole country, and I go to the northern border often. The Min people there are indeed taller than our Great Jing’s men! Have you not heard, ‘A barbarian child can ride a horse at ten’?”

“Then have you not heard of ‘carving stones at Yanran’ or ‘enfeoffing at Langjuxu’! I never thought that among the people of the Great Jing, there would be someone like you who speaks up for outsiders.”

The man in splendid clothes said, “I’m just stating the facts. In terms of physique alone, the foreign people are indeed superior. Can’t everyone just accept reality? Why must you deceive yourselves?”

He waved his fan. “This person next to me is of mixed Min and Jing blood. His mother was a foreigner, and his whole family was bought by me as slaves. Look how tall he is. Walking down the street, few are taller than him, right?”

“And so, what are you trying to prove? That the people of the Great Jing are an inferior race?”

“That’s not right!”

Someone remembered. “There was an extremely tall and imposing man next door just now. Let’s have him come out and show you.”

“…”

Shi Shu: “Next door? No way, I’m still growing. Xie Wuchi, you go.”

Sure enough, these few scholars really did come and knock on the door. Xie Wuchi had just put on his outer robe, his expression already as calm as usual. As soon as he was called, he walked out the door.

“See clearly? Is he not tall and majestic, with a dignified appearance?”

The man in splendid clothes turned to scrutinize him. Xie Wuchi met his gaze. Whether it was the man in splendid clothes or the “mixed-blood” man standing in the shadows, their gazes were extremely sinister when they first clashed, then slowly softened.

Xie Wuchi stood there without speaking. After a moment, the man in splendid clothes laughed. “Jǔ shāng báiyǎn wàng qīngtiān, jiǎo rú yùshù línfēng qián. (Raising a cup, I gaze at the blue sky with white eyes; as dazzling as a jade tree standing in the wind.) Good, good, your Great Jing indeed has such martial men.”

Shi Shu was also pushed forward. “When it comes to handsome men, who isn’t better looking than the Min people?”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Shi Shu turned to run but was forcefully pulled in front of the crowd. The man in splendid clothes was convinced. “Xúnxún gōngzǐ, měisè wúbǐ. (A gentle and refined young master, of incomparable beauty.) Good. Tonight, this humble one was wrong.”

“Then why aren’t you leaving yet? Waiting to be scolded?!”

This man said, “In a few days, there will be a poetry forum at Hedong Academy, where various famous scholars and great Confucians will debate the classics. I came here specifically for that. It would be a bit too overbearing of you to tell me to leave just like that, hahaha!”

Being repeatedly berated, he still didn’t show any change in expression, remaining smiling.

“Forget it, do as you please.”

Seeing that scolding wouldn’t make him leave, they flicked their sleeves, greeted Shi Shu and Xie Wuchi, and returned indoors.

Shi Shu looked at these two. There was nothing more to say, but the man took the initiative to greet them cheerfully, cupping his hands. “What are your esteemed surnames?”

Xie Wuchi: “Please leave.”

“Hahaha, are you afraid I’m a menace and dare not say? With your appearances, one could easily find out your names just by asking around a little at Hedong Academy. What’s the use of refusing? I’ll introduce myself first. Yuan Yin. This is my brother, Yuan Tushu.”

Yuan Yin scrutinized the two of them again and said with a smile, “My brother and I have traveled the whole country and have seen all the rivers and mountains of the Great Jing. Tonight, you have caused me and my brother to be humiliated. Sooner or later, I will flay the skin from both of you, hang it on the city tower to dry, and let more people gaze upon your beauty.”

“…”

“?”

Shi Shu had seen him smiling and thought he was speaking normally. Hearing this extremely perverse statement, he reacted at once. “Hey! What did you say! Flay what skin?”

Yuan Yin: “Gentlemen, we will meet again.”

After speaking, he opened his folding fan and walked shoulder to shoulder with the tall man beside him, disappearing unhurriedly into the dense night.

A burst of anger rose in Shi Shu. “Who was that?”

“Judging by the surname, a foreigner.” Xie Wuchi returned to the room with him. “Judging by his accent and posture, he seems to have been educated for a long time and takes pride in his culture.”

“But the surname Yuan is very old. Besides the people from the northern slave regions who still use it, foreigners who change their names rarely use it. It’s only common among the nobility. It seems these two are from a prominent Min clan. They say they are traveling through the Great Jing, but they are probably gathering intelligence.”

Shi Shu: “Should we report them to the yamen?”

“No need to meddle. For this person to be so flamboyant and still be unharmed, he naturally has someone protecting him.”

Shi Shu: “I’m speechless. It’s a crime to be handsome now.”

“Whether one is handsome or not involves racial advantages and national confidence. Of course he would care a lot. Go to sleep.”

Lying down, Shi Shu only then realized how much he had been through tonight. Sleepiness washed over him, and the sound of conversation from the next room also quieted down. Shi Shu slept all the way through.

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