UCTOOT CH94

Shi Shu vaguely sensed that Xie Wuchi had come to see him. His back burned with pain, itchy and stinging, and his consciousness wasn’t entirely clear.

This was the most serious injury he had suffered in nearly three years since transmigrating. Shi Shu was in so much pain that he lifted his fair chin: “If only I could go home…”

Modern medicine has anesthetics, anti-inflammatories, and painkillers, but now he could do nothing but endure it with his youth. Shi Shu couldn’t sleep, and Xie Wuchi barely slept either, keeping watch beside him.

Shi Shu thought again about the matter of climbing into his bed. Yes, that was the only way to go home. But was it fair to Xie Wuchi? He went to kill and commit arson, while he usurped his results. Was it fair?

Perhaps in his blurred consciousness, Shi Shu thought about their reunion until now. Driven by the idea of climbing into his bed, he had almost deliberately seduced, toyed with, and humiliated Xie Wuchi’s feelings. Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Shi Shu’s forehead again.

Shi Shu suddenly felt very useless. He couldn’t return home and even harbored some malicious thoughts. Shi Shu turned his face to the side; perhaps because his body also hurt, his eyes were red.

The dizziness from the fever and the burning pain in his back were shrouded by sleepiness as he endured late into the night. Before Shi Shu drifted off to sleep, Xie Wuchi was sitting beside him, tending to his injuries.

“Shi Shu,” that voice was low, “give me a little more time…”

Late at night, past the third watch.

On the bed, long eyelashes hung vertically on a fair and handsome face. After the young man fell into a deep sleep, Xie Wuchi, with dark circles under his eyes, flicked his sleeves and stood up.

Not far away, a faint sound of strings floated on the wind, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, seemingly affecting Shi Shu’s sleep on the bed, causing his brows to furrow slightly in his dream.

Xie Wuchi, dressed in inner garments with his long black hair loose, walked out the door. The guards were waiting at the entrance.

“Have the scouts returned?”

“Replying to my lord, the scouts have just returned and are being invited for an audience.”

Xie Wuchi stood in the courtyard. The moon was pale as ice, spilling into the cool courtyard. The scout entered from outside, and Xie Wuchi stood there to receive him, a tall and upright figure, his white clothes glowing faintly.

“My lord, the destination of those thirty ships of grain at the wharf has been found. We are tracking them along the way. That direction indeed leads to the Bei Min garrison.” The scout said, “My lord, it is true that the grain officer is colluding with Min!”

Xie Wuchi: “Do not alert the enemy. Continue tracking forward along the route.”

The scout was puzzled: “This… my lord, tracking further forward leads to Min-occupied territory. The grain and fodder have already been handed over. Pursuing further is useless and fraught with danger.”

Xie Wuchi stood by the pond, mossy and rusty. He grabbed a few fish food pellets and threw them in; the fish competed to eat them: “The grain officer colluding with Min has crimes to be punished. If you follow the vine up the line and find out Bei Min’s grain route and grain storage location, it will be a great merit.”

This sentence was spoken softly and unhurriedly.

Follow the vine up the line to find Bei Min’s grain route!…

The scout felt as if he had been awakened by a blow to the head: “Subordinate, subordinate understands!”

Xie Wuchi looked at him with gloomy eyes: “Remember, act with caution.”

“Yes!”

In an instant, the scout retreated outside the door and strode away!

Peace was restored in the courtyard. Xie Wuchi threw the fish bait in his hand and went to wash his hands by the well water. Only the lingering sound of silk and bamboo instruments remained. Across the courtyard wall, one could imagine that in Jia Wu’s courtyard at this time, beauties were smiling, surrounded by bees and butterflies, very lively.

Water droplets clung to Xie Wuchi’s fingers as he took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands. These hands were clean; one couldn’t tell how much blood they were stained with.

Xie Wuchi turned back to the courtyard, a clear light in his eyes.

When Shi Shu woke up again, it was noon. The wound on his back didn’t hurt for the time being. While he lay listlessly on his stomach, the room was oppressively hot, and white sunlight shone into the room.

A suffocating feeling of a scorching summer afternoon.

Xie Wuchi wasn’t there. Shi Shu looked around for a while but couldn’t find him. Angrily, he flipped through the letter Du Zihan sent. Footsteps sounded at the door, and Lin Yangchun entered from outside: “How is it, still alive?”

Seeing him, Shi Shu breathed a sigh of relief: “Imperial Physician Lin, can you prescribe me some anesthetic, or knock me out with a punch, and wake me up when I recover?”

“Knocking you out with a punch, no; killing you with a punch is feasible.” Lin Yangchun laid out his medicine chest, which contained acupuncture needles, pulse-taking tools, plasters, cupping jars, and various other equipment.

“………………”

Shi Shu looked up: “Imperial Physician Lin, you’re a doctor, yet you think about killing people with a punch every day. Isn’t this a bit too martially virtuous?”

“Hmph, quite a lot to say. Seems you’re healthy! Lie down properly.” Imperial Physician Lin grabbed a small stool and sat down in front of him.

Shi Shu hugged the pillow. The thin quilt on his back was lifted, revealing a hideous wound. He spoke with a lack of interest: “Teacher Lin has been getting increasingly grumpy lately. Did something happen? Is the situation in Yinzhou City okay?”

Lin Baihe came in from outside carrying a medicine chest: “It’s precisely because it’s not good that Master is throwing a big tantrum.”

Shi Shu paused: “What’s wrong? I caused some trouble these past two days and didn’t come. Yinzhou City is in a tragic state. Can it get any worse?”

“There is no tragic, only more tragic. Yinzhou City is out of ammunition and food. Grain and fodder have been cut off for several days. Now, everyone is plotting to eat meat!”

Shi Shu’s eyes widened. On his back, Lin Yangchun was checking for rotting flesh and applying ointment: “Your brother raised you well. There are many ice blocks in this room to prevent you from getting too hot and the wound from rotting. Fortunately, if it goes on like this, no other illnesses will arise.”

Lin Baihe also wiped his sweat: “It’s really cool in this room!”

Shi Shu pressed: “What do you mean by eating meat?”

“Eating meat, don’t you understand? When there’s no rice to eat, and all the wild vegetables and Guanyin soil are finished, who can resist eating the white meat?”

Lin Yangchun took out the ointment and applied it to Shi Shu’s affected area.

“During the day, they dare not be seen, so they go at night.

They only cut off a piece. That kind of meat expands when cooked! Throw it in the pot, and it cooks into a lot. The taste is good too, fragrant!

At first, people didn’t dare to eat it, but they ate it when they couldn’t stand the hunger.

And they rob! Some people don’t dare to eat, but they get angry if robbed.”

Lin Yangchun said angrily: “You even have to pick the time to avoid leftovers like feet, where the skin is hard and inedible. Take a walk in that Yinzhou City; those who don’t eat are sallow and emaciated, while those who eat are glowing with health.”

Shi Shu was greatly shocked in his heart and looked at him for a long while: “How did you find out?”

“It happened back in Shukang Prefecture. These few days, with ammunition and food exhausted, there was really no other way. In our shed, we always felt someone walking by at night, and the corpses sent over were incomplete. Master questioned carefully and discovered this matter!”

Shi Shu’s eyes rolled, his back cold, unable to say a single word.

Lin Yangchun was furious: “Leaving aside whether this person was infected with miasma, this meat cannot be eaten. In a great famine, when people eat each other, they will get sick!”

Lin Baihe wished he could cover his mentor’s mouth: “Master, don’t spread such words that shake the morale of the army anymore!”

Shi Shu couldn’t help moving, only to be bent over by the stinging pain in his back again, his face pale: “Has Yinzhou City reached this state? But don’t be afraid, there will be a way…”

Shi Shu couldn’t say more. Xie Wuchi knew the clues about the sold grain, the location, and the people. He would definitely retrieve it. The people in the city could be saved; it would definitely be okay…

Shi Shu clutched the letter with his fingertips, his heart churning with stormy waves. Although far away, the artillery fire from Yinzhou City seemed to have reached here. Yinzhou… could not fall. If Yinzhou fell, the flames of war would spread to the entire Great Jing, and by then, the situation of people eating each other would spread to the whole country…

People eating people. Humans evolved for so many years, evolving from survival in the wild to ritual and music education, stressing fraternity and civilization. Shi Shu transmigrated from modern times to ancient times, already feeling a blow to the head, civilization regressing. And this war had destroyed the personalities of hundreds of thousands of people in Yinzhou City. There were still people unwilling to eat; people were using the glow of humanity to resist the threat of death. And those willing to eat were only doing so to survive and defend their country. Was there familiar friends or brothers in the meat they ate…

He really didn’t dare to imagine how many casualties a nationwide battle would cause, and how the crowds would make a living…

Once a war starts, it will continue until one side is powerless to resist, has no strength to fight back, has their head stomped into the mud, and has their neck broken, before it stops.

Shi Shu felt an inexplicable panic rise, as if seeing Bei Min’s iron hooves moving south, scimitars trampling fleeing civilians, war fires burning temples and pavilions, the Confucian orthodoxy of the Central Plains for a hundred generations being slaughtered and looted, crowds splashing blood in the flash of swords and shadows, then falling to the ground screaming and dying…

Shi Shu’s back felt cold and painful.

His wound was cleaned, and Lin Yangchun packed up the medicine chest. A figure walked in from outside the door. Xie Wuchi had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, dressed in dignified and proper vermilion official robes with silver-white arm guards. A section of pale white gauze was exposed on his slender wrist. He walked in with a look of calm contemplation.

Lin Baihe hurriedly bowed: “Greetings, my lord.”

Xie Wuchi said evenly: “Oh, you’re here? How is he?”

Lin Yangchun said: “He still needs to recuperate. Don’t eat spicy or stimulating food to avoid worsening the wound. Take care of him carefully, and he’ll be fine after getting through these ten days or so.”

“Understood. Keep him company and talk to him. Eat here before you leave.” Xie Wuchi walked forward, lifting the quilt to check Shi Shu’s back.

Shi Shu had sweat on his forehead, so he wrung out a wet towel to wipe the sweat from Shi Shu’s face, holding up his entire face. Under everyone’s gaze, Shi Shu closed his eyes: “Brother.”

Lin Yangchun hesitated as if wanting to speak, but was hugged by the waist by Lin Baihe, who said: “My lord, Master and I will withdraw first. If Brother Xiao Shu feels any discomfort, we are at your service anytime!”

While signaling Lin Yangchun with his eyes, “Master, I know you’re anxious to save people, but are matters like military grain something commoners like us can speculate on and ask about? Those who eat meat make plans; what concern is it of ours! Life is important; don’t meddle in other people’s business, let’s go down first!” After speaking, he coaxed and tricked this old bones out.

Shi Shu grabbed Xie Wuchi’s wrist: “Brother.”

Xie Wuchi: “What is it?”

Shi Shu: “I’m out of patience. When will this injury heal? I really want to be jumping around lively. Lying here all day like a cripple. How is Yinzhou now?”

Xie Wuchi pulled up the thin quilt for him: “The Min army is still attacking the city. They probably guessed that the grain and fodder in the city are exhausted, so their attack is fiercer than usual. They traveled a long way to get here and also need grain supplies. I’m afraid they are also tightening their belts now. Wait a little longer.”

Shi Shu: “Will there be good news?”

“Wait for the scouts. Once we follow the vine and find out Bei Min’s grain route and garrison location, there’s a way to win.”

Ripples rose in Shi Shu’s heart: “Back in Beilainu Street, you said you had the ability to change the status quo, letting the powerless and weak live, and extinguishing the arrogance of the arrogant. Xie Wuchi, you can really do it.”

Xie Wuchi looked at the wound on his back and said: “Shi Shu, I’ve told you ten thousand times, I’m not that good of a person. Fairness and justice are the glory that many people strive for all their lives, including you. But I’m different. Everything I do is only for myself because trampling on others makes me feel good.”

Shi Shu turned his head to look at him.

Xie Wuchi: “Until now, I can’t empathize with anyone, just putting on a show on the surface. If I have even a shred of kindness, it’s only because of you.”

Reflecting Xie Wuchi’s angular face in his eyes, Shi Shu felt slightly touched. Xie Wuchi said: “All along, on this road I’ve walked, there has been only me. I hope you think carefully about whether you can survive before making choices in the future. The world might get better if you’re alive, but if you die, I won’t consider anyone else anymore and will only walk my own path.”

Since transmigrating, Xie Wuchi had been walking his own lonely path without any companions.

Xie Wuchi was like a demon in a magic cave enduring cold silence, capable of fulfilling all his wishes. The little shepherd’s wish was for his family to be healthy and for world peace. All this made the demon pay with his power, yet he didn’t die in the magic cave as agreed, accompanying the eternally lonely demon.

Shi Shu’s heart moved slightly. Xie Wuchi had always been walking on the road of fighting for power, and this road never ended until death. He was a monster with a sinful appearance but possessing power. Perhaps one day he would also be destroyed alone in the vortex of power, feared, spat upon, isolated, and die alone.

Finally, his value would be squeezed dry, and then he would vanish into ashes.

Shi Shu grabbed the letter paper, feeling a bit thirsty: “I want water.”

Xie Wuchi brought him water. The cold water moistened his lips. Shi Shu stared at his fingers. Slender knuckles, clean and rounded nails; his hands were washed very clean.

Shi Shu took a look and turned his head to look elsewhere: “I, a straight guy, took this script. The script of bringing disaster to the country and the people.”

“Kissing men, jerking each other off, engaging in borderline sexual behavior, and still a straight guy.”

“…………”

Shi Shu: “Straight guy slightly bent, understand?”

“Will you still be a straight guy after being fucked by a man in the future?”

“…”

Shi Shu clutched the cold quilt tightly: “Try it, Xie Wuchi. Anyway, you’re capable. Fuck me to death.”

“Fuck you to death isn’t certain; fucking you until you’re in ecstasy is possible.”

Shi Shu sniffled. He admitted defeat. He tried to desensitize himself but still broke defense after a few sentences. Shi Shu lifted his handsome and elegant boyish face, looking at him with a slight sense of offense.

Xie Wuchi had just returned from the council hall and made a special trip on horseback to the wharf. He was covered in sweat, rarely finding time to relax and drink a cup of tea. Sweat beads still hung on his straight nose, and his brows were lowered in thought. Whatever Shi Shu said, he replied faintly.

Shi Shu looked at him. Xie Wuchi belonged to the type of male who looked slim in clothes but had meat when undressed. However, even in clothes, one could see his posture was very tall and steep, one meter ninety. Without clothes, his muscles were powerful, his abdominal muscles distinct, and his legs very strong.

Shi Shu’s vision went black again and again.

Previously in bed, Shi Shu’s strength was far inferior to his. His arms were clamped immobile, soft and allowing him to manipulate him. Now he probably couldn’t escape. He admitted defeat. Shi Shu never thought in this life that he would be the bottom.

But thinking carefully, his ears turned red again.

Shi Shu hesitated for a long time before saying: “Can you be gentler in the future?”

Xie Wuchi looked up, seeing Shi Shu didn’t know what he was saying: “I haven’t dated either, nor have I felt it. Can you be gentler in the future…”

Shi Shu talked endlessly: “Dating too, I haven’t dated either. I always forget about you, can’t remember you’re my boyfriend. I don’t know how to date someone either.”

Shi Shu’s fair face was flushed red, a few stray hairs sticking up: “I don’t know how to act coquettishly or say nice things either. Anyway—”

Xie Wuchi: “Anyway what?”

Shi Shu: “I can date you seriously. I won’t say I’m a straight guy anymore. I lost. I’m gay, okay?”

Shi Shu only said a few sentences, but his mind was full of infinite thoughts. Xie Wuchi turned the tea lid with one hand. Instead, there were sudden signs of people walking outside the door.

When Xie Wuchi stood up, he resumed his calm composure before the army. Looking at Shi Shu, he said: “Recuperate well. Don’t think about these for now.” After speaking, he walked out the door.

At this moment, someone came to report outside the door: “My lord, we saw those carriages leaving the city again.”

Xie Wuchi: “Tell them to be ready. Don’t alert the enemy first. Act when the time comes.”

Shi Shu was still in the room. Hearing these voices, he wondered if Xie Wuchi was going out again and was about to close his eyes in boredom. Unexpectedly, he heard footsteps moving, one sound, two sounds—

Shi Shu’s eyelid was kissed: “I’ll come back tonight and talk to you again.”

Shi Shu lifted his eyes, only seeing the departing robe sleeve and back at the door. Fine, Xie Wuchi is familiar with this identity anyway.

Shi Shu closed his eyes, waiting for tonight.

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