He would wait until they had been apart for a while and his feelings had faded before saying anything more.
Seeing that Lian Li did not respond, Yun Huizhou gave him a strange look, only to find the youth’s head bowed, his expression hidden.
He wanted to lean in to see Lian Li’s face, but he paused halfway through the motion, a conflicted look surfacing on his own features.
In the past, he would have moved closer without hesitation. However, ever since realizing that afternoon that he might actually like the cross-dressed Lian Li, he felt he could no longer act this way. It was too intimate.
He liked women, yet he was infatuated with Lian Li’s beauty in female clothing. Because of the distinction between men and women, he was particularly mindful of the distance between them when Lian Li was dressed as a girl. Yet, he subconsciously sought every kind of closeness with Lian Li when he was in his male identity—all while Lian Li remained completely in the dark.
This was truly unfair to Lian Li.
It was taking advantage of him; it was acting like a total rogue.
At this thought, Yun Huizhou felt another wave of agitation. Why couldn’t they just have a pure brotherhood? Why was he such a person who was easily swayed by physical beauty?
The atmosphere grew cold once again. As the night deepened, the sounds of fighting in the distance showed no signs of stopping. Yun Huizhou was injured and lacked his usual stamina. Lian Li, meanwhile, had spent the past few days drawing blood and caring for Yun Huizhou; although he had caught up on some sleep that afternoon due to his drunkenness, both of them were now feeling quite tired.
Finally, Yun Huizhou broke the silence. “Go inside and rest. I’ll regulate my breathing out here while I wait for Martial Uncle to return.”
The East Island Matriarch’s small courtyard only had two rooms. One belonged to her. Although she was quite uninhibited, she was still a woman; it was impossible for Lian Li to go into her room and sleep in her bed.
That left only one room to choose from. If Yun Huizhou and Lian Li went to rest together, they would inevitably have to lie on the same bed.
Both of them felt uneasy in their hearts, so naturally, neither wanted to share a bed. If they hadn’t realized their feelings before, it would have been fine. But now that they were aware, what if they fell asleep and ended up groping the other person in the night?
Even if the other party didn’t necessarily think much of it, the two of them possessed such a high sense of morality in this regard that their consciences felt heavy.
Thus, for once, Lian Li did not try to persuade Yun Huizhou to come inside and rest with him, nor did he decline and suggest that Yun Huizhou go inside while he stayed out.
Without a single word, he simply turned around and entered the room.
Seeing him go straight inside without even speaking to him, Yun Huizhou felt a sense of disbelief.
His suggestion for Lian Li to go rest while he stayed outside had been sincere, not just polite talk. However, usually at a time like this, Lian Li would have urged him to come along. Now, he hadn’t said a word.
Something was wrong!
Yun Huizhou began to panic. Was Lian Li lying when he said he hadn’t seen that book?
He even began to think irrationally: Is it because there’s a rift between us now that he’s gotten so good at lying? So good that I can’t see through it at all?
Yun Huizhou wanted to go in and drag Lian Li out, but he felt that he was being far too unreasonable.
He felt that continuing to be so plagued by gains and losses wasn’t the way to go, but he didn’t dare go to Lian Li and lay his cards on the table either.
In his nineteen years of life, this was the first time Yun Huizhou had been so conflicted over a single matter.
He leaped onto the roof and lay down with his hands tucked behind his head. He didn’t close his eyes, nor did he circulate his energy to regulate his breathing. He simply stayed there until dawn. When he sensed the commotion of the fight in the distance vanish, Yun Huizhou knew that Martial Uncle and the flute player had finished their battle.
He sat up and watched as the East Island Matriarch flew swiftly from afar, landing beside him.
“Why are you lying here?” the East Island Matriarch asked, giving him a kick.
It was naturally impossible for him to tell her about his troubles. Setting aside the fact that she had never been in love and understood nothing of such matters, if he did speak of it, she would undoubtedly mock him mercilessly.
Furthermore, while she wouldn’t spread it everywhere, she would certainly go to his Master and two Junior Uncles to embellish the story.
Talking to her was simply asking for trouble.
Seeing that Yun Huizhou only glanced at her and lay back down without even a greeting, the East Island Matriarch found it quite peculiar. She kicked him twice more and said, “I’m talking to you, boy.”
Yun Huizhou blinked, finally reacting. He called out, “Martial Uncle, how did the battle go?”
The East Island Matriarch sat down beside him. “That old thing ran too fast; I didn’t manage to kill him. It’s all Xiyu’s fault. If he hadn’t left, the two of us working together definitely could have kept that old geezer here.”
“Did Junior Uncle go to the Spirit Cult?” Yun Huizhou asked, recalling Lian Li’s analysis from yesterday. He wanted to know the West Island Lord’s exact whereabouts.
The East Island Matriarch nodded and replied, “Yes. He thought those insects pulled out of your body were quite interesting. He also felt those two old fossils were too shameless, so he tinkered with the insects a bit and prepared to return them.”
Hearing this, Yun Huizhou suddenly remembered a common plot point in Lian Li’s storybooks.
After a conflict arises between the protagonist and a cannon-fodder villain, once the protagonist beats the younger one, an older one always shows up.
Junior Uncle Xiyu going over to retaliate like this made them seem like the cannon fodder in those storybooks.
Shaking off these stray thoughts, Yun Huizhou brought up the theory he and Lian Li had analyzed last night—that the Spirit Cult might be in league with the Demonic Sect.
After listening, the East Island Matriarch’s casual expression turned serious. She pondered for a moment before saying, “When Xiyu returns, we’ll ask if he discovered anything over at the Spirit Cult.”
Yun Huizhou nodded, leaped down from the roof, and walked toward the courtyard where Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan were staying.
From a distance, he could hear the sound of the two of them sparring. He leaped onto the perimeter wall and watched Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan exchanging moves in the yard. A faint surge of envy actually rose in his heart.
It felt like it had been a long time since he had sparred with Lian Li.
If Lian Li knew what he was thinking, he would surely grab him by the shoulders and shake him awake. Their “exchanges” weren’t sparring; they were one-sided beatings!
He waited until Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan finished their bout before jumping into the courtyard. “Brother Zhao, Miss Qu, I have something to discuss with you.”
Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan had known he was there for a while, so they quickly tidied themselves up and invited him to sit at the stone table in the yard.
Yun Huizhou took a sip of water and repeated the analysis he and Lian Li had made the previous night. After finishing, he added, “Lian Li and I are only speculating; we don’t have any concrete evidence. We just felt it was too suspicious, so we wanted to mention it to you. I hope you will be more on your guard. After all, Miss Qu possesses something they desperately want. If they really are connected to the Demonic Sect, Miss Qu’s situation might be even more dangerous than we imagined.”
