Rabbit Tuan was held in Dao Qing’s arms as they entered the village together. They discovered that the villagers had channeled lake water into the area, and it was planted full of A Cizi flowers.
Snow-white flower trees bloomed elegantly with a faint fragrance along the roadsides and in the courtyards. Bamboo baskets were placed beneath the trees to collect the fallen petals.
Once these petals were dried, processed, and ground into powder, they became excellent demon-repelling powder that fetched a high price. The villagers made their living from it, and every household lived a prosperous and affluent life.
The fragrance filled the air. Rabbit Tuan lifted his little head and gazed worriedly at Dao Qing. Dao Qing stroked his rabbit fur and whispered to him, “I’m fine.”
Though Dao Qing said this, Rabbit Tuan had seen him cough up blood earlier—how could he possibly relax?
Especially since the leader had mentioned that the fragrance of A Cizi flowers had an even stronger effect on injured large demons, damaging their heart meridians. Rabbit Tuan was truly worried that Dao Qing’s heart meridians had already been harmed. But in front of so many people, he couldn’t question Dao Qing closely. He could only wait until they reached their lodging.
That night, they were borrowing empty rooms from the villagers. The leader had specially spent extra silver to persuade one family to temporarily move out, leaving the entire courtyard for Dao Qing to stay in.
Along the way, whenever conditions allowed, the leader always tried to let Dao Qing and Rabbit Tuan stay alone, so as not to disturb the immortal master’s rest with us mortals.
This family was delighted to give up their house upon seeing that Dao Qing was a Daoist priest capable of subduing demons and exorcising evil. Before leaving, they even cleaned the rooms spotless and changed out the bedding for new ones.
The small courtyard was planted full of A Cizi flowers. After Dao Qing entered the house, he immediately closed all the doors and windows and spat out a mouthful of blood. Rabbit Tuan jumped down from his arms, transformed into human form, and supported him, asking worriedly, “Are you badly hurt?”
Dao Qing shook his head slightly. With Qixue supporting him, he made his way to the bedroom and sat down on the bed.
Qixue noticed A Cizi flower branches still on the table and quickly removed them, tossing them into the stove pit. He lit a fire with flint and burned the branches.
Qixue then drew two buckets of water from the courtyard well and used the household ingredients to cook vegetable porridge for Dao Qing. Although Dao Qing could easily handle these tasks with spells, seeing how badly he was injured, Qixue didn’t want him to use any more demon power. So he did it himself.
Fortunately, back in the imperial palace, he and Luxiangqiu had often sneaked to the small kitchen out of gluttony to watch the imperial chefs cook. The porridge he brewed was a bit clumsy, but it turned out thick and smooth, with a pretty good taste.
Qixue carried the porridge bowl into the bedroom and found Dao Qing meditating to regulate his breathing. He said softly, “I cooked some porridge. Do you want to come down and eat, or should I feed you?”
Dao Qing opened his eyes, revealing golden pupils. He was no longer maintaining his human form but had reverted to his demon form with silver hair, vertical pupils, and dragon horns on his head. However, he hadn’t changed back into a youth; he remained in the form of a young man.
Qixue guessed that this was Dao Qing’s truest appearance. As for why Dao Qing had turned into a youth to approach him, he wasn’t sure, but he had no time to dwell on it now.
Dao Qing’s gaze fell on the hot porridge. “You made this for me?”
“Yeah, eat up.”
Qixue thought for a moment, then brought the porridge over directly. He sat down, scooped up a spoonful, blew it gently to cool it, and fed it to Dao Qing’s lips.
He said, “Besides making sweet soup for His Majesty, you’re the only one I’ve cooked porridge for. Feeding someone by hand is a first for me too—you should feel honored… Open up.”
He knew it was just a small thing, but he wanted to do something for Dao Qing. All along the way, Dao Qing had been taking care of him, and now he wanted to return the favor.
Moreover, Dao Qing was in such poor condition partly because of him.
It had been about a month since they’d returned to the past. Dao Qing had slain countless powerful man-eating demons. Even with his unfathomably deep demon power, it would eventually be exhausted. Yet earlier in the carriage, he’d asked Dao Qing to use his Transformation Technique to cheer him up, which had consumed even more demon power. The less demon power he had, the weaker his resistance to the A Cizi flowers.
Dao Qing gazed steadily at Qixue for a moment, as if seeing through his thoughts. He said, “You don’t need to feel guilty. I chose to use the Transformation Technique to make you happy. It’s not your fault. Don’t trouble yourself.”
Qixue’s heart softened, and his tone grew even gentler. “Alright, you don’t need to feel embarrassed either. By your logic, me taking care of you is my choice too—not to atone for anything, but because I’m happy to and willing to. Can you drink the porridge now, Dao Qing-daren?”
Dao Qing reached out. “I’ll do it myself.”
Qixue glared at him. “What, I serve you and you’re unwilling? So many people would beg for this and not get it. Less talk, drink!”
He forcefully shoved the spoon into Dao Qing’s mouth. Dao Qing let his raised hand drop. “I’m not unwilling. Thank you.”
Dao Qing finished one bowl, then had three more refills. The last three he drank himself—Qixue’s arm was sore from holding it up, and he really couldn’t continue serving. Who would have thought Dao Qing could eat four bowls of porridge? He’d never seen him with such an appetite before.
But Qixue quickly realized why Dao Qing’s appetite had suddenly become so good: it was because he’d made the porridge himself. His heart felt sweet again. Having someone appreciate his handmade food like this was truly fulfilling.
Qixue himself ate a bowl and a half of vegetable porridge, finishing it all off. They also shared some fruit. Happily, he carried the bowls and chopsticks down, intending to try washing them. But Dao Qing got out of bed and took them. “I’ll do it.”
“You sure you can?” Qixue blinked.
“It’s just washing dishes.” Dao Qing said, “I can’t do nothing.”
He scooped water from the vat and washed the bowls and chopsticks with practiced ease, as if he’d done plenty of rough work like this before.
Qixue leaned against the doorframe watching him wash dishes. Suddenly, he had a feeling: the two of them really seemed like a pair of little husbands and wives living an ordinary life.
The feeling was a bit strange, but even stranger was that Qixue didn’t dislike it at all.
He stared a little dazedly at Dao Qing. Dao Qing dried his hands and turned to look at him.
Perhaps Dao Qing felt something similar. As their eyes met, unfamiliar emotions stirred in his cold, light-colored pupils. He walked toward Qixue, drawing closer and closer until he was right in front of him.
He leaned down, gazing quietly at Qixue, his pupils reflecting Qixue’s face, growing larger and larger.
Qixue’s heart skipped a beat, a faint flush rising to his ears. He closed his eyes, waiting for Dao Qing to kiss him. But after a long wait, no kiss came. Puzzled, he opened his eyes and saw that Dao Qing had retreated to the side, far away from him.
In disbelief, Qixue glared angrily at Dao Qing. “What do you mean by that?”
Dao Qing averted his gaze. “I can’t kiss you.”
“Can’t? Why not?”
Qixue laughed in anger. “It’s not some big deal—just four lips pressing together, two tongues tangling. Do you not have lips or a tongue? Tell me why you can’t kiss me!”
Dao Qing closed his eyes. “I’d lose control and hurt you.”
“We’re at this point, and you’re still holding back?”
Qixue said, “Fine, I admit I planned to pass you some demon power while kissing you. You’re hurt so badly—how can I not worry?”
“You promised to send me back to the future safely. But like this, can you even make it to Shangjing alive? If you die, what am I supposed to do—wait alone to die?”
“I won’t die,” Dao Qing said. “I drink your milk every day, and my internal injuries are gradually healing. Once they’re healed, I can fly you straight to Shangjing to find Zheng Yuan Zhenren.”
“Healed? When will your injuries heal?”
Qixue questioned coldly. “Without A Cizi flowers, maybe they’d heal quickly. But now? When? A month? Two months?”
Dao Qing didn’t answer.
“You need me, Dao Qing, and I’m willing to give myself to you.”
Qixue walked toward Dao Qing. His stunning brows and eyes blazed with anger, their vivid beauty impossible to look away from.
“You’re just afraid you’ll fall into emotional tribulations and fuck me to death. But you haven’t even tried—how do you know I can’t handle it? Maybe I can.”
“Dao Qing, if you have feelings for me, you shouldn’t run from them.”
“I’m not running.” Dao Qing finally opened his eyes to look at Qixue. “It’s just not the right time yet.”
Qixue: “Now is the perfect time.”
Dao Qing: “It’s not.”
“I’ll ask you one last time.” Qixue’s voice turned cold. “You really don’t want to kiss me, right?”
Dao Qing lowered his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want to—it’s that I can’t. Don’t tempt me anymore, Qixue.”
Qixue: “Fine, no more tempting you. Ever.”
“…” Dao Qing looked at him, his interlaced hands tightening slightly, but he said nothing.
Qixue transformed back into Rabbit Tuan and hopped out. “Then I’ll just seduce some handsome villager. I’m so beautiful—someone’s bound to want a spring romp with me. I won’t stick around with you, you stubborn old mud eel!”
“Qixue!”
Anger flashed in Dao Qing’s eyes, but still in demon form, he couldn’t chase immediately. Injured by the A Cizi flowers, his internal wounds worsened, and he couldn’t wield the Dragon Tendon Rope to catch Rabbit Tuan. He could only watch helplessly as Rabbit Tuan ran out of the courtyard.
At his fastest speed, he transformed into his black-haired, black-eyed human form and strode out of the courtyard. Using the Shrink Ground to Inch spell, he rapidly closed in on Rabbit Tuan.
Their distance shrank until Rabbit Tuan reached the lake’s edge, just a step away. With a “plop,” Rabbit Tuan jumped into the lake.
Dao Qing’s expression changed. Without thinking, he followed Rabbit Tuan into the water.
The lake wasn’t deep but was bitingly cold. He immediately cast water-avoidance and cold-avoidance spells on Rabbit Tuan and swam over quickly, grabbing him.
Only after pulling Rabbit Tuan into his arms did his racing heartbeat calm. He cast a water-avoidance spell on himself so he could speak, sternly scolding Rabbit Tuan, “What are you fooling around for?”
Rabbit Tuan transformed back into his stunning human form. He stretched out his lotus-root-like, snow-white arms to hook around Dao Qing’s neck and gave him a sly smile. “Dao Qing-gege, you can’t dodge me now, can you?”
Dao Qing’s hands paused, then he wrapped them around Qixue’s lower back. “You deliberately tempted me?”
“Exactly.”
Qixue drew gradually closer to him. “Who told you to be so pigheaded? You clearly wanted to kiss me so badly but held back. I had to take the initiative.”
“I said I wouldn’t tempt you anymore, and you actually believed me? I’m a rabbit who doesn’t keep his word—I lie a lot. You’ve all been fooled by me…”
They embraced, not surfacing but sinking slowly to the lake bottom.
The lake bottom was serene and beautiful. Fine white sand was filled with glowing stone powder, emitting a faint, soft light like the Milky Way reflected underwater.
Qixue leaned close to Dao Qing’s handsome face and kissed the vermilion Virgin Mark between his brows. Then he extended his rosy tongue tip and slowly licked over the cinnabar symbolizing chastity.
“It’s mine sooner or later anyway.”
He trailed his fingertip, the soft pad rubbing repeatedly over the Virgin Mark, then down to Dao Qing’s thin lips, chest, and below the navel. “Here, and here—all mine… Your Primordial Yang that you’ve guarded for so many years will be eaten clean by me, not a drop left.”
Dao Qing’s breathing suddenly grew heavy.
Qixue hugged his broad back and whispered softly in his ear, seductively, “I’m definitely passing you demon power today. As for whether you can hold onto your Virgin Mark tonight, that depends on your willpower.”
“I’ve already given you a chance. The water here’s so cold—it can help suppress your desires. If your resolve is strong enough, we’ll do nothing but pass demon power.”
“If you can’t hold back, that’s fine too. I can take it. Even if you turn into your true form, it doesn’t matter. This is underwater—the villagers won’t see.”
“Ruin me, Dao Qing-gege…”
“I want to know just how much you love me…”
As the last words fell, Qixue’s lips were captured by a pair of slightly cool ones.
Hot breath surged in relentlessly, igniting everything in an instant. Qixue hugged back the man kissing him fiercely and gently closed his eyes.
