Chapter 48
The temperature in the room plummeted, like a Siberian cold front, chilling them to the bone.
“That online tutor, Mu Lin, hired these two thugs to cause trouble and… insult the Porcelain Fairy, which led to this series of unfortunate events…”
Qu Banqing, shivering, tried to remain calm as he stood by the sofa, recounting the incident like a loyal advisor.
The Porcelain Fairy sobbed, her sleeves dripping with tears. The two thugs sat slumped on the floor, their souls seemingly departed. The pothos by the window brought in two buckets of red paint, its vines waving menacingly like instruments of torture, slapping the thugs’ backs and silencing their screams.
Watching the scene unfold like a court trial, Ning Zhixia wasn’t sure what his role was and stood there in confusion.
As a gaze fell upon him, he put down the cat, instinctively clenched his fists, and started massaging Audrow’s shoulders rhythmically.
Audrow, his face expressionless, stared at the remains of his cake, his mind made up, and without hesitation, threw the knife he had been toying with like he was executing a sentence—
“Kill them all!”
Everyone gasped. Such a ruthless judge!
“Don’t kill me, spare me, your Lordship! Your Lordship!”
The two thugs, not finding anything wrong with this feudal scene, kowtowed frantically.
Their crying only darkened Audrow’s expression. Advisor Qu clapped his hands, and several vines instantly entangled their limbs, whipping them repeatedly.
Ning Zhixia winced and whispered a reminder not to actually kill them.
Audrow said coldly, “My cake.”
Ning Zhixia quickly said, “We’ll make another one, I’ll help you!”
Audrow paused, surprisingly silent for two seconds, then replied hesitantly, “…We’ll… see.”
Ning Zhixia: “???”
Damn it! Is my baking that bad?!
The two thugs, having received eighty lashes, lay on the floor, groaning. Audrow, having avenged his cake, ordered the vines to stop and slowly approached them.
A white light flashed from his hand, and the thugs, now missing a chunk of their memories, leaned against the wall, drooling foolishly.
“Eww!” Ning Zhixia made a disgusted sound and called the police.
The police arrived quickly and took the thugs and the paint buckets to the station. Ning Zhixia went along to give his statement.
At the station, the police, seeing the thugs’ disheveled state, asked, “What happened to them?”
“They climbed over the wall and fell into my flowerbed.” Ning Zhixia said, his eyes downcast. “I have a lot of roses and bougainvillea, they must have been injured…”
The two thugs echoed, “Yes, yes, yes…”
The young man’s clear and calm demeanor, his voice slightly shaky from the fright, made the police sympathetic.
His recent collaboration with the museum had brought Yucheng a lot of attention, and it seemed fame had attracted trouble.
After hearing the general story, the police comforted the law-abiding young man: “Are you alright? With the increase in tourists, we’ll be setting up police booths in every district, call us if anything happens.”
Ning Zhixia nodded obediently. With the culprits caught red-handed, he quickly returned home, reassured by the police’s concern.
The thugs confessed that Mu Lin was behind it, and soon, news of his arrest spread.
While people were still discussing the truth of the matter, the police quickly released an official statement.
“Wow, what a way to become famous!”
“Such a brutal business tactic! What was he thinking? Why not steal some tangerines?”
“Lol, haven’t you guys put Mr. Ning through enough already?”
“He has so many rich and famous clients, and he’s a respected artisan invited by the museum, why provoke him?”
“Poor Mr. Ning, he must have been so scared!”
At that moment, the pitied Mr. Ning was nestled on the sofa, happily enjoying a piece of mousse cake.
The cake-maker, however, was lounging beside him, his eyes closed as he rested.
The kittens had been pushed away, and he lay there undisturbed, his breathing so shallow that one couldn’t help but check if he was still alive.
This wasn’t normal, he wasn’t even eating cake.
“Xiao Ao, aren’t you eating?” Ning Zhixia frowned and nudged him, his wrist suddenly grabbed.
Audrow turned his head, his pupils now vertical slits like a reptile’s, calmly reflecting the young man’s confused face.
The cold touch made him shiver, but Audrow didn’t release his hand. Ning Zhixia stammered, “Wh-what’s wrong?”
Audrow brought his hand closer, lowered his head slightly, and his nose gently traced the blue veins on Ning Zhixia’s wrist, then nuzzled his palm.
His gaze was fixed on the young man, until a faint blush appeared on his face—
“Ning Zhixia! Why didn’t you make your bed again?!”
Qu Banqing’s loud roar came from upstairs.
Ning Zhixia flinched, and a sharp pain shot through his fingertip as it was bitten.
Audrow released his finger, his expression returning to its usual indifference, glanced at the stunned young man, and returned to his storage room.
Wh-what was that about? Ning Zhixia looked down, then up at the closed door, confused, thinking that he wasn’t a cupcake, why keep taking bites?!
“What are you spacing out for?”
Footsteps approached, and Ning Zhixia was patted on the shoulder. He turned around, confused: “Huh?”
“I called you several times.” Qu Banqing, holding a laundry basket, pointed with his thumb. “It’s sunny these days, change the bedsheets and air out the comforter.”
“Oh, oh…”
Ning Zhixia nodded quickly, curling his fingers and rubbing the bite mark, about to stand up, but his small action was noticed by Qu Banqing.
Qu Banqing’s expression froze, as if realizing something, he glanced at the closed storage room door, and quickly called out, “Meow Meow!”
Ning Zhixia: “Hmm?”
Qu Banqing lowered his voice: “Don’t go out at night, no matter what you hear, for the next few days.”
Ning Zhixia paused, then asked immediately, “Is there something unclean in the house again?”
Yes, a very large one.
But Qu Banqing said evasively, “It’s getting dry in autumn, Audrow’s kind doesn’t like this weather, they easily lose control of their instincts.”
Ning Zhixia asked blankly, “What instincts?”
His expression was too innocent and clueless. Qu Banqing hesitated, his lips trembling, unable to say it out loud, and simply patted his head with a sigh, “Maybe I’m just overthinking it, just remember what I said.”
“Okay…” Ning Zhixia agreed obediently.
Just not going out at night, that was easy!
Audrow didn’t come out of his room after returning, much to the delight of the fox cubs who came to visit that evening.
No one was fighting over the remote control, and they snuggled comfortably in Ning Zhixia’s arms, watching cartoons and listening to him tell the story of Pipi fighting the lizard monsters in the Sigrid Continent. Before leaving, they even declared they wanted to spar with the little wolf familiar next time.
“My house isn’t big enough for you to play around, we can only play video games.” Ning Zhixia flicked their ears and saw the chattering cubs off.
The collaborative press-on nails still needed to be made, and even with Popokula’s help, it was a lot of work. It wasn’t until late at night that Ning Zhixia stretched and went to wash up and sleep.
He was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The room was quiet, and the ticking of the clock on the wall was especially clear.
Soon, the hour and minute hands aligned, and an enchanting melody, ethereal and captivating, echoed in his ears, and the young man in bed slowly opened his eyes.
“Click.”
The door opened, and light footsteps fell on the carpet.
Ning Zhixia walked unsteadily, past the sleeping kittens sprawled on the floor, down the stairs, and stopped in front of the storage room, his head bumping against the door with a thud.
The ethereal melody paused, then resumed.
Ning Zhixia, his expression dazed, rubbed his head and opened the door without hesitation—
A wave of dizziness washed over him. He lay on a floating wooden plank, surrounded by dark, bottomless seawater, as if he would be swallowed at any moment.
The alluring singing drew closer, and amidst the whirlpools and currents, giant rocks, like dark ink stains in the night, loomed on the surface.
Ning Zhixia didn’t have the energy to wonder why there were strange rocks in the middle of the ocean, because a familiar figure appeared in his unfocused eyes.
Cold, salty water splashed, a silver fishtail disappeared beneath the waves, and the singing stopped abruptly.
Ning Zhixia looked around frantically, a large, dark shadow approaching the wooden plank.
The next second, the plank flipped!
A pair of hands emerged from the surging waves, pulling him into a tight embrace, and the enchanting melody resumed.
A moon-like fishtail arched gracefully, splashing water.
Ning Zhixia’s hands grasped at the air uselessly as he was pulled deeper.
The ethereal singing was replaced by a joyful chuckle, a cold, slippery sensation sliding across his skin, suffocating him, stealing the last breath from his lungs.
Falling… falling…
Silver-gray hair brushed against his face in the water, and Ning Zhixia opened his mouth silently, struggling to utter a name…
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Cool air, like bubbles bursting, filled his lungs.
Ning Zhixia jolted awake, his face flushed as he coughed, covering his nose.
His breathing was rapid and heavy. He looked around at the familiar furnishings of his room and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?”
A soft voice sounded beside him.
Ning Zhixia’s eyes snapped open, and he saw Audrow lounging on the bay window seat, his legs crossed, his eyes half-closed as he observed his expression.
Still dazed, Ning Zhixia rubbed his face and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Audrow stood up and sat beside the bed, saying casually, “You sleepwalked into my room, so I brought you back.”
Having lived for over twenty years, he was suddenly diagnosed with sleepwalking. Ning Zhixia nodded woodenly, not saying whether he believed it or not, just staring at Audrow.
Audrow chuckled and brushed the hair away from his forehead: “What’s wrong?”
Ning Zhixia said faintly, “I think I had a dream…”
“Hmm.” Audrow raised an eyebrow, his voice surprisingly gentle, “What did you dream about?”
Ning Zhixia mustered his courage and said, “Falling into the ocean, almost drowned by you.”
The hand caressing his cheek paused. After a long silence, Audrow nuzzled his head affectionately and whispered in his ear, “You said it was just a dream.”
Ning Zhixia’s lips moved, about to say something, when a cold finger traced his lips, then, without warning, parted his teeth.
Ning Zhixia’s eyes widened in disbelief as the finger entered his mouth, like a popsicle on a hot summer day, saliva pooling as he swallowed.
“No need to suck.”
Audrow’s voice was soft and calm, like a different person, as he patiently said to the mortified young man, “I’m apologizing for what happened during the day, so—”
“You can bite back, or, anything you want.” He whispered against the young man’s flushed ear, his words like a love confession.
