Chapter 38: Yaoxing Academy 38 Part 2

The bad news was that Lu Zhou didn’t remember what happened that night.

Maybe it wasn’t entirely bad. Forgetting about Lin Yule meant the surged Blackening Value was like rootless thistledown— a few sparks could burn it away.

Xun Ji watched Lu Zhou freeze in stunned silence upon hearing about the wedding, his Blackening Value steadily dropping. He couldn’t help feeling a bit smug. This Protagonist blackened easily, but he was easy to coax too.

Though he’d only lost one night’s memory, Lu Zhou felt like he’d forgotten something crucial. Not just the reason he fell into the sea or why Xun Ji got a fever, but… some very important words eluded him.

Lu Zhou had asked Xun Ji, but Xun Ji only said he’d had an episode, run out, and fallen into the sea by accident, while Xun Ji had gone looking for him in the rain and caught a fever.

“Sorry, my illness…” Lu Zhou said guiltily, anxiously. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you. After coming back to you, it hadn’t flared up—I thought I was cured…”

“Sorry, Xun Ji. I’ll get proper treatment.” His eyes pleaded. “Give me some time, okay? I promise it won’t happen again…”

“Time?” Xun Ji toyed with the Lip Piercing on his lower lip—a whim he’d had Lu Zhou wear. Lu Zhou only showed it in front of him; outside the room, he always hid it with a mask.

“Next month’s the wedding. If you’re not cured by then, it’s off.”

Of course, he was just scaring Lu Zhou to make him take his meds obediently and avoid another midnight rampage. His illness was a problem that needed fixing, but Xun Ji knew it wouldn’t resolve in days.

But Lu Zhou took it seriously.

He began treatment in earnest, following the doctor’s orders with near-ruthless discipline.

“Xun Ji, the doctor said my condition comes from long-term anxiety and repression. I need to do things that make me feel relaxed and happy.”

Xun Ji lounged on the bed playing games, replying offhandedly. “Then do them.”

Lu Zhou nodded, knelt by the bed, and kissed the fingers holding the Mobile Phone.

Xun Ji’s fingers twitched; his game character got smashed by a skill and splatted dead.

Xun Ji: “…Relaxed now?”

Lu Zhou considered. “Not fully.”

“Oh? So how do you get fully relaxed?”

Lu Zhou climbed onto the bed, encircled him in his arms, leaned down to kiss his chin, then moved up to the corner of his lips, the bridge of his nose, the outer corner of his eye, and finally planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Xun Ji waited patiently until he finished. “Relaxed now?”

Lu Zhou seemed to ponder. Xun Ji smirked coldly, threw off the blanket, rolled the troublemaker up entirely, and shoved him aside.

Lu Zhou obediently became a cocoon, rolling twice before stopping at the bed’s edge.

Xun Ji pinned him down, lightly fanned his cheek with the Mobile Phone, and threatened fiercely. “Disturb my game again, and I’ll toss you in the pot and boil you.”

Then he rested his head on Lu Zhou’s stomach like a human pillow and resumed playing.

After a long while, amid Xun Ji’s intense battle, Lu Zhou’s satisfied murmur slipped into his ear.

“Now I’m relaxed…”

Splut—his game character died again.

A few days later.

“Xun Ji, the doctor said my condition flares up easily without a sense of security. I need to get that security from those close to me.”

Xun Ji nestled on the sofa watching melodramas. Forewarned by last time, he asked warily. “How do you get security?”

Lu Zhou said seriously. “Lots of physical contact. Only when the body feels safe does the mind follow.”

…Yeah, right.

Xun Ji eyed him with a piercing gaze that saw through his scheme and rejected firmly. “We’re not married yet. We can’t.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Heat crept up his face belatedly. He stammered, “Th-that’s not what I meant…”

Xun Ji raised a brow. “Then what did you mean?”

Lu Zhou squeezed onto the sofa, pressed against him, and wrapped his arms around his waist from the sides.

“I moved my pillow and blanket to your bed…”

Seeing Xun Ji’s “I knew it” expression, Lu Zhou slipped a hand under his sleepshirt, massaging his waist and back with skilled hands. He leaned close to his ear and pleaded softly. “I promise I won’t do anything—just sleep beside you, okay…”

Xun Ji squinted comfortably and drawled lazily. “No.”

Both their bodies were fragile as paper now; he wasn’t worried Lu Zhou would try anything. But watching Lu Zhou use his recovery as an excuse—three parts genuine, seven parts ploy—to seek affection reminded him inexplicably of Lu Zhou at Yaoxing Academy, the obedient Little Dog.

That innocent version had way more shame—at least he wouldn’t silently slip his hand under clothes.

Xun Ji shifted to guide Lu Zhou’s hands for better precision. Lu Zhou slid both hands in, massaging while cooing wheedlingly. “Really no? We’re getting married soon. Think of it as practice, okay…”

“Practice?” Xun Ji couldn’t help laughing. “Practice what? Sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded solemnly. “Before Xiao Ting turned three, I napped with her. Having another living, breathing thing beside you feels different from sleeping alone. You’ve got no experience—better adapt in advance.”

Xun Ji turned to look at him. “How do you know I’ve got no experience?”

Lu Zhou stiffened, his face darkening abruptly. “Xun Ji, who have you…”

“You can sleep on my bed if you want.” Xun Ji smiled ambiguously. “But my Samoyed used to sleep at my feet. Start practicing there.”

Xun Ji waited. The imagined scene of the Little Dog humiliated into blushing fury and storming off didn’t happen.

Well, not entirely. He did blush.

Lu Zhou’s ear tips flushed crimson, his gaze infatuated, hot breaths spraying Xun Ji’s slender neck.

“Can I? Xun Ji, you’re the best… I’ll practice well, every night…”

Xun Ji, now covered in sloppy kisses on his neck: “…”

As for how Lu Zhou progressed from sleeping at his feet, to hugging his leg, to wrapping his waist, and finally burrowing into his arms—that was a story for later.

The doctor’s advice wasn’t baseless. Through days of teasing Xun Ji, caring for him, and sticking close, Lu Zhou recovered visibly. His physical wounds and mental condition stabilized, and the Blackening Value dropped steadily.

The day Xun Ji happily saw it reach 50%, their wedding finally took place.