Having not executed a mission in so long, the techniques of the Wind-Moon House male courtesans survived only because Shadow Twelve had never stopped rehearsing them in his mind.
He felt fortunate he remembered all of it — so that now, when Master wanted him, he could produce it.
Tongue pressed to his teeth, Shadow Twelve rehearsed once through. He was ready.
The shadow guard delayed and delayed; Yin Wuji had assumed he was stumped. Even with a head full of such things, the shadow guard was green after all. Could he really know how… what was the shadow guard doing?
Yin Wuji looked down — and watched the shadow guard bite open his waist sash with his teeth, cheeks bulging. Yin Wuji could almost feel that warmth already.
Was this allowed?
The shadow guard’s breath was nearly upon him. Yin Wuji had never felt so undone. He raised the shadow guard’s head, and the flushed face met his eyes.
Above all, there was the craving in the shadow guard’s gaze — so persistent, so open… the shadow guard wanted this even more than he did.
No one could remain unmoved by such a beckoning look — and Yin Wuji was no gentleman, whatever else he was.
His teeth ached from clenching; his hand tightened involuntarily. He truly wanted to let the shadow guard have his way — it was voluntary, after all.
He wanted it; so Yin Wuji would give it. He was still Yin Wuji.
But letting the round-bellied shadow guard serve him… it might trigger some other bad reaction. The image of the shadow guard’s deathly pale, vomiting face flashed through his mind. Torn, Yin Wuji decided he was not so heartless as that.
“Forget it.”
Hearing this, Shadow Twelve blanked for an instant — and with that face covered in desire, asked, “Master, why forget it?”
Anxious to prove himself: “This subordinate can do it.”
Promoting himself so desperately — not for a mission, but offering his own pillow. What kind of shadow guard was so utterly without tact?
Even as he spoke, his hands did not stop. Yin Wuji stifled a sound, gripped the shadow guard’s jaw, and demanded viciously, “You brought this on yourself.”
He had given the shadow guard a chance. The shadow guard was the one who would not relent — he had no reason to spare him further.
The last shred of reason burned away. Intolerable — no more tolerating.
The shadow guard’s face was flushed, his once-dry clothes damp and clinging; paired with that hazy expression, Yin Wuji’s temper flared just looking at him. Wiping him down with a cloth still felt insufficient. “Go wash,” he said impatiently.
Shadow Twelve braced on his knees, several attempts to rise ending only in ragged breaths, and the room’s atmosphere grew stranger still.
Letting it continue would only make things worse than before. Looking at the shadow guard he had dirtied, Yin Wuji condescended to pick him up.
He had gotten dirty too.
That made Yin Wuji’s brow twitch. This shadow guard truly kept exceeding his expectations, provoking his limits again and again. His hand deliberately patted the shadow guard’s rear — through the trousers, he said, surprised, “Wet here too?”
The shadow guard immediately buried his face in Yin Wuji’s chest, weakly pushing at it. He liked it far too much.
Liked it too much to say aloud.
Worried something was wrong with the belly, Yin Wuji moved to check; the shadow guard’s fair face went scarlet, and he said hurriedly, “This subordinate is fine.”
Master disliked his hand… Shadow Twelve dared not touch Yin Wuji rashly. Fortunately Yin Wuji stopped, snorting, “So now you know shame?”
Head lowered, the shadow guard’s slight frame trembling.
He wanted to do this and that to this body, and then this and that again — but right now he could do nothing. Though relieved, Yin Wuji still felt uncomfortable.
When that day came… he would… until the shadow guard fainted.
What Yin Wuji was thinking, Shadow Twelve did not know — he only felt a scorching gaze traveling over him, seeing him through completely.
The curtain lifted; the bath was already full of hot water. Yin Wuji stripped the shadow guard and set him in.
By the time he had undressed and looked again, only the shadow guard’s black-hair-covered back remained — even his ear tips were red.
No peaches today yet, it seemed.
Truthfully, Yin Wuji didn’t much like peaches — but with the shadow guard here, he suddenly craved one.
Craved it until his self-control began to slip.
Water sounds came from behind him. Shadow Twelve turned and gaped at Yin Wuji, who was stepping in as well.
He was somewhat embarrassed — but though the bath was large, holding two men left Shadow Twelve no room to retreat.
No way out; wanting to flee, he steeled himself and said, “Since Master wishes to bathe, this subordinate will first… mm.”
Master had taken his earlobe into his mouth, playing with it without any measure.
Shadow Twelve trembled violently, hands weakly gripping the bath’s edge, utterly at Master’s mercy.
Marked.
Yin Wuji’s face darkened. He knew this shadow guard thought of nothing but seducing him every waking moment — yet the moment he actually moved, the shadow guard got scared.
The evasion made Yin Wuji’s mood worse still.
Circling the shadow guard into his arms, Yin Wuji asked, “Didn’t you beg for this yourself?”
Awkward, the steam wreathing every inch of exposed skin into tempting pink, Shadow Twelve said stiffly, “Master, this subordinate…”
The shadow guard suddenly went rigid, even his amorous color turning unnatural. Noticing, Yin Wuji held him tighter. “What is it?”
Guessing blindly: “Belly hurts? Or nauseous again?”
“N-no…” The shadow guard’s voice shook, hand resting on the round belly, his eyes showing unmistakable helplessness. “Master, the belly just moved.”
Moved?
Yin Wuji eyed the shadow guard’s fair skin skeptically — not the slightest ripple. He began to suspect the shadow guard was talking nonsense.
Would he really be so petty, just to make him stop?
Seeing Master’s disbelief, sweat broke out on Shadow Twelve’s forehead; ripples spread across the water from his movements. “Master, it truly moved.”
Half-believing, Yin Wuji laid his hand over the shadow guard’s belly — and stared at his own palm, startled. Something had genuinely, unmistakably nudged it.
A feeling he had never known. So this was his bloodline? His expression complicated, Yin Wuji suddenly felt the belly become more real.
Out of the bath, Yin Wuji dried himself first, then went to carry Shadow Twelve; by the time they returned to the inner chamber, the physician was already waiting.
Quick, at least.
Seeing their dripping hair, the physician’s pupils contracted. They couldn’t have… again —
Hadn’t he said restraint!
The physician fumed silently. Yin Wuji said, “Examine him.”
Examine nothing, he would.
But the physician still feared Yin Wuji and didn’t dare truly act up in front of him.
Taking the shadow guard’s pulse, the physician asked, “What happened?”
“The belly… moved.”
Startled even the child… The physician glanced at Shadow Twelve’s belly. Shadow Twelve explained, “It’s stopped now.”
“It moves,” the physician said succinctly. “It may grow more frequent.”
He added a reminder: “Deliberately making the belly move is not covered by this.”
