Chapter 25 Part 1

Gu Xiaodeng was fuming the entire way. To him, this kind of thing was utterly absurd. More than fear, he felt shock. He hadn’t yet categorized the incident under passion, lust, or desire. The whole journey, he just kept muttering “dead pervert” under his breath.

Of course, he didn’t forget to thank Ge Dongchen beside him. So he cursed, “Dead pervert!” on the left, and thanked, “Brother Dongchen,” on the right, completely oblivious to the fact that Ge Dongchen, who usually loved to laugh and chat, was silent, frozen, and lost in thought.

The carriage ambled along to Gu Xiaodeng’s unending stream of inventive curses, swaying its way back to the Gu estate and eventually stopping at the entrance of Vast Marsh Academy. It was only when Gu Xiaodeng tried to dismount that he realized he had sprained an ankle, likely from his mad dash down the stairs earlier.

A servant stepped forward to carry him, but Ge Dongchen waved them away and approached himself. “Get on my back.”

Gu Xiaodeng waved his hands frantically. “No need, I can hop on one leg.”

“Do you really think you’re a little rabbit?” Ge Dongchen earnestly ruffled his hair. “I carried you on my back that night you were drunk. Tonight’s banquet gave you quite a fright. Both Yunji and I are at fault. Let me make it up to you.”

“It’s not your fault, Brother Dongchen, or his! Who knew the perverts in Changluo were so hard to guard against, so despicable!”

Gu Xiaodeng started cursing again. Ge Dongchen listened for a moment, then walked over and hoisted him directly onto his back.

Startled, Gu Xiaodeng wobbled twice and had to reach out and wrap his arms around Ge Dongchen’s neck. He patted his shoulders. “Brother Dongchen, I’m pretty heavy. Are you sure you don’t want me to walk on my own?”

“No need. You’re about the weight of a kitten, and I’m much stronger than you.” Ge Dongchen bounced him twice for good measure, his steps steady and sure. “How did you only notice the sprain now? On the way back, didn’t you feel your foot hurting?”

“I didn’t really feel much…” Bounced into leaning against Ge Dongchen’s shoulder and neck, Gu Xiaodeng leaned in and sniffed. “Brother Dongchen, there’s a fragrance on your collar. It smells kind of nice.”

Ge Dongchen laughed. “Does it smell familiar?”

The words were a blatant hint. The incense burning in the private room not long ago was this exact scent.

But Gu Xiaodeng’s attention always landed in peculiar places. “Brother Dongchen, your heart is beating really fast. Am I too heavy? Am I straining you?”

Ge Dongchen stilled. “…Is it very fast?”

Gu Xiaodeng pressed two fingers to the pulse on his neck and let out an “Eee!” “It really is! Are you sick?”

Ge Dongchen felt a headache coming on. This warm little fool was stuck to his back. He didn’t have to do anything; his mere existence was enough to cause someone to toss and turn. He restrained himself, continuing to maintain a facade of peace and calm, but his tongue silently scraped against his canine teeth. Amidst the raging waves, he felt hungry.

“No, perhaps it’s the wine I had tonight.” Ge Dongchen smiled, his eyes, green with hunger, fixed on every step he took. He tried to speak as lightly as a cloud. “I’m sorry. I didn’t choose the place well tonight and caused you to have a bad experience at Candle Dream Pavilion. Next time we go out, we’ll go somewhere safer to have fun.”

Now back at the Gu estate, a sense of security welled up in Gu Xiaodeng’s heart. With bravado, he said, “The place is a good place, it just had a few scumbags. Candle Dream Pavilion is quite nice. If everyone wants to go there again to hang out, that’s fine. If there’s a chance to go back, I’ll find a powerful person. If I meet that dead pervert again, I’ll have that powerful person teach him a lesson!”

Ge Dongchen licked his canine teeth again, holding back the urge to grind them. “Find Jinyu?”

Gu Xiaodeng hadn’t originally thought of his good brother, but hearing this, he nodded along. “Right! Find him to accompany me. He has Blossom Ashes, that big gyrfalcon. Full of security.”

Ge Dongchen’s heart practically flipped over a dozen times. He himself didn’t know how he could become this jealous—just like Guan Yunji didn’t understand how he could be so jealous of Ge Dongchen.

All because he had kissed Gu Xiaodeng.

Because Gu Jinyu had kissed Gu Xiaodeng.

For the first time, Ge Dongchen had irritated himself.

Gu Xiaodeng was still muttering, imagining how if Gu Jinyu had been here tonight, his good brother could have displayed his divine powers to back him up, how satisfying it would have been to have him deal with the two dead perverts.

Grinding his canines, Ge Dongchen almost blurted out that he was one of the perverts, what would he do then? But after his muttering, Gu Xiaodeng tilted his head onto his shoulder and let out a long, drawn-out “Ah” of a yawn. Truly like a kitten that had finished showing its claws before raising a paw and flopping down.

Ge Dongchen’s irritation dissipated by seven or eight parts for no apparent reason. Unconsciously, he slowed his pace, carefully and securely carrying him through the long pavilion dappled with moonlight. He glanced up at the night sky and only then realized how deep the night had become.

He suddenly wished very much that Gu Xiaodeng would fall asleep on his back. Right now, without a covetous Guan Yunji lurking nearby, he could carry him back to his own quarters to care for and watch over him. He wouldn’t do anything untoward, just… while this little fool was asleep, he would look at him carefully, meticulously.

Look at him meticulously, carefully, at that face that repeatedly threw people into utter chaos.

But Gu Xiaodeng didn’t fall asleep. After his yawn, he thanked him for his “help.” Whether it was due to an overly strong psyche or a brain missing a few screws, even after all this, he was still light as the wind.

Ge Dongchen didn’t understand why this wind wouldn’t blow his way. He wanted to ask Gu Xiaodeng why he always avoided him, but there was no need to ask.

As long as this question existed, he could find a string of excuses for his own madness.

He carried Gu Xiaodeng back to his residence. Gu Xiaodeng’s two personal servants were no longer surprised to see him and could tactfully retreat to the side.

He set Gu Xiaodeng down and examined his neck. The teeth marks were deep but hadn’t broken the skin. Guan Yunji was arrogant yet cowardly, ultimately not daring to do much. He then crouched down to look at his ankle. Just as he was about to reach out, Gu Xiaodeng’s hand pressed on the top of his head, pushing him away playfully.

He looked up and saw his clear, smiling eyes. “Brother Dongchen, thank you so much. It’s very late now. You don’t need to mind me. Why don’t you go back and rest early? You probably have things to do tomorrow, right?”

Ge Dongchen looked at him for a moment, then chuckled softly and nodded. “Alright. I’ll talk with you a bit more, then I’ll go.”

Shooing me away again.

“Talk about what?”

Still crouching on one knee before him, Ge Dongchen pretended to think for a moment. “Xiaodeng, have you ever considered that the person who offended you wasn’t a stranger, but someone who went out with us tonight?”

Gu Xiaodeng let out another “Eee!” his expression incredibly animated. “No way, Brother Dongchen. Although some classmates harbor ill intentions, they’re not perverts. Everyone’s just rough-and-tumble stinky boys… ah, except for Young Master Su.”

Ge Dongchen gave a mental “Heh.”

“Stinky boys arguing noisily, roughhousing—that’s perfectly normal. But this,” Gu Xiaodeng pointed at his own mouth, “this isn’t normal! If it were me, I would never think of sacrificing myself like this just to prank someone.”

Ge Dongchen’s tongue pressed against his canine. He smiled. “There are still many bad people in the world. What if everyone in the academy has an abnormal side?”

Gu Xiaodeng’s eyes were too innocent. He didn’t know where to begin.

He himself hadn’t expected Gu Xiaodeng’s situation to evolve like this. Admittedly, at the very beginning, he was the one with the malicious intent to make things hard for him, threatening others to ostracize him together. Back then, he wanted Gu Xiaodeng to bow his head—bow to him, bow to Changluo, wipe the naive smile off his face, and extinguish the fearless light in his eyes.

He grew up in the military camp. The military camp was a closed collective; he had seen this tactic many times.

But the academy was not a military camp, and Gu Xiaodeng did not bow his head.

This academy was stuffed with the children of the powerful and influential. Not a single one had a simple mind. The burgeoning restlessness and impulsive desires of adolescence were unavoidable. Furthermore, their environment was saturated with a strong sense of status hierarchy and power dynamics. An unspoken “unspoken rule” was already quietly prevailing—I can use my burgeoning masculine strength and the power granted by my status to bully others. Those I can bully are, first, those whose strength appears weaker than mine, and second, those whose status is lower than mine.

Gu Xiaodeng fit both criteria perfectly. Lowest status, the most slender build, looking like he couldn’t fight back against anyone.

What was fatal was that he was also good-looking, his appearance standing out jarringly. He had both a cute, naive charm akin to a girl’s and the rough, reckless manner common to boys, a sense of sturdy “unbreakability.” Although he also bore the surname Gu, compared to the five legitimate young masters and misses of the Gu family, it was the difference between heaven and earth. And Ge Dongchen’s initial display of hostility further isolated him, leaving him helpless.

So they prepared to play with him to their hearts’ content.

That night at the rockery was a test, a group effort to play with him, a natural escalation of bullying.

A defiant Gu Xiaodeng would only be more fun to play with. The fiercer the temperament, the more enjoyable the play.