Huo Jingzhao’s expression darkened slightly, but his tone was as gentle as before. “Does Master Pei really want me to leave?”
It’s the middle of the night! Could it be he wants to stay overnight in the Family Head’s room?! Just go already! Cao Xian beside them was very puzzled and couldn’t help but glance up at the future Son-in-law.
At this point, Pei Lianyi from the bed said coolly, “Cao Xian, tell everyone to withdraw. I’m tired.”
Receiving his order, Cao Xian immediately coughed twice and said with a smile, “Young Master Huo, rest assured. The Family Head’s health is meticulously cared for by the hundreds of people in this manor. You should go to the Little Young Master’s side now.”
Huo Jingzhao’s brow smoothed out, and he smiled. “Since it’s Master Pei’s wish, I will take my leave.”
“Mm.” Pei Lianyi by the bed closed his eyes and turned his head away.
“Wait…”
“Does Master Pei have further instructions?” Huo Jingzhao, about to leave, heavily emphasized the word “instructions.”
“Ziying has a spoiled, willful nature and grew up being pampered in the manor. If he… treats you poorly in any way… Mm!” He endured the pain. Even speaking a complete sentence seemed a struggle.
“I understand. Master Pei, rest assured.” Huo Jingzhao took over his words. After agreeing warmly, he strode quickly into the night.
Pei Lianyi on the bed turned to his side, his back to the door. He didn’t see the dark expression on the man’s face.
“Family Head, Young Master Huo has gone far.” Thinking he just didn’t want the junior to see him in such a sorry state, Cao Xian reminded him.
“Gone… that’s good.” Pei Lianyi opened his eyes. Small drops of sweat on his lashes slipped down, flowing into his fair-as-jade neck. He looked utterly exhausted.
Cao Xian immediately led the servants far away, standing about ten meters back, forbidding anyone to disturb the Master’s rest.
Hearing the door close, Pei Lianyi took off the heavy, complicated robe he was wearing, leaving only his sleeping robe.
The outer robe fell to the floor. The neat-freak had no strength to pick it up. He could only swallow the pain alone, leaning against the wide bed edge, drifting in and out of a hazy, drowsy state.
He didn’t know how long had passed. The red ginseng incense in the bedroom had already burned more than half. The luxurious, soft bedding had become hot. Yet the cold pain inside him showed no sign of subsiding.
At that moment, the tightly shut door was suddenly pushed open.
“Cao Xian, I said no one is allowed to come in and disturb…!” Pei Lianyi was enduring excruciating torment internally. He couldn’t help but scold sternly.
Just as his words fell, a foot shod in a black, silver-inlaid boot stepped over the threshold. “Such a temper…”
Hearing that hoarse, sinister voice, as deep as a blade scraping leather, Pei Lianyi’s waist instinctively shuddered. His usually melodious voice drew in a cold gasp. “You… ugh… how did you get in?!”
The moment he asked, he inwardly laughed bitterly at himself for being so pain-addled.
This strange madman always came and went without a trace. Despite multiple appearances, he had never been able to catch a single trace of him. What was so surprising about him showing up now?
Why did it have to be this very moment…? Remembering that wild, rainy night, Pei Lianyi propped his elbows on the bed and tightly clutched his stomach. His face flushed with red.
“If I wanted to come in, I just came in.” The Ghost-Faced Man standing by the table tilted his head. The dark eyes beneath the mask spread with deep amusement. “You’re not welcoming me?”
The room was very bright. The imposing black armor covered the man’s broad shoulders and narrow waist. He looked impeccably dressed. Even that eerie, terrifying Azure-Fanged Ghost Mask was worn extremely beautifully.
Yet Pei Lianyi knew clearly what kind of madness and desire was hidden beneath that superior, upright facade.
“…”
Welcome? He wished he could just end him with a blade! Pei Lianyi grit his teeth and turned his gaze away in humiliation.
Seeing him silent, the Ghost-Faced Man’s breath quickened slightly. He walked towards the person on the bed. “Pei Lianyi, let me tell you! Even if your Pei Manor is made of iron walls, to me, it’s as if I’m entering an uninhabited land!”
Pei Lianyi was stunned for several seconds by his arrogant, grandiose words. Snapping out of it, he had already grabbed the silk blanket nearby and retreated, trembling, to the deepest part of the bed.
“No… Don’t come closer!”
“Why?” Seeing his curled-up legs, Huo Jingzhao stopped first.
Pei Lianyi lowered his eyes and gasped weakly, “Only tonight… I can’t.”
Right now, he was in so much pain his vision was going dark. If this madman tormented him for another night, he probably wouldn’t live to see tomorrow’s sun.
Hearing his plea, the Ghost-Faced Man stood still.
The burning red candle on the table flickered, dripping sticky, crimson wax. The space between the bed curtains was terrifyingly silent. Pei Lianyi felt his own heart was being burned as well.
What was Huo Jingzhao doing right now…?
Was he staying in Ziying’s room, talking late into the night, intimately sleeping together in their clothes?
Even though his head was in chaos from the pain, he still couldn’t help but think of that face.
Just as Pei Lianyi was lost in thought, the Ghost-Faced Man had already reached the bedside.
Carrying the night wind, his gaze examined the red and white interwoven patches on Pei Lianyi’s skin inch by inch, as if calculating something.
“Today… I can’t. I really can’t. Go away…”
“Ugh, ha! What are you doing?!” That oppressive aura, like dark clouds looming over a city, made Pei Lianyi even more miserable. He was still murmuring lowly when the Ghost-Faced Man silently grabbed his foot and began dragging him out of bed.
“No—! Let go… let go of me!” Pei Lianyi’s body was damp with cold. Grabbed by his large, hot hand, he shuddered uncontrollably.
Seeing him so resistant, the Ghost-Faced Man suddenly stopped moving. He gently held Pei Lianyi’s ankle, placing his right foot against his chest and carefully examining it.
The smooth, elastic touch. The thin, pale skin with faint blue veins beneath. The well-groomed nails… Every pore seemed to shimmer with a light pink hue…
Ha, it felt better than through a boot. Huo Jingzhao let out a short, mocking laugh.
Listening to his raspy, husky laughter, Pei Lianyi shook his head in terror. He was so mortified he couldn’t speak.
“What use is this crappy thing!” After watching for a bit, the Ghost-Faced Man suddenly yanked Pei Lianyi into his arms and snatched the hand warmer from him, throwing it away.
The exquisite red copper engraved hand warmer crashed to the floor, making a harsh, ear-scraping sound.
“Ah—! Ugh…!” His sudden, illogical, rough action without any warning made Pei Lianyi both shocked and ashamed.
His hands now empty, he could only lean against the Ghost-Faced Man’s embrace unwillingly.
“What… what exactly are you trying to do?” He averted his gaze with disgust, asking hoarsely.
Looking down at his subtly rolling Adam’s apple, Huo Jingzhao felt his mind wandering.
“What do you think?” he countered.
Pei Lianyi’s expression froze for a moment, then he closed his eyes, resigned. “If you came to humiliate me, then do it quickly.”
Seeing that he was about to faint yet still putting on a brave face, the Ghost-Faced Man didn’t make a sound, nor did he make a move. He just took a red pill and stuffed it into Pei Lianyi’s mouth.
Swallowing the sweet and astringent taste in his mouth, Pei Lianyi asked, “What did you give me?”
“Poison,” Huo Jingzhao answered. Then, in a teasing tone, he said, “Are you afraid?”
Pei Lianyi lowered his eyes, ignoring him.
“Speak!” Huo Jingzhao instantly became agitated, turning his shoulder and urging loudly.
His hands bore thin calluses from years of wielding whips and blades. Even through the sleeping robe, they chafed painfully.
Pei Lianyi’s brows furrowed slightly. Again, he sensed a nervousness from this madman.
For whom was he nervous? For him? Pei Lianyi found it utterly laughable.
“Answer… Pei Lianyi, you…!”
Seeing him staring blankly at the broken hand warmer, Huo Jingzhao relentlessly pressed further. At that moment, Pei Lianyi suddenly turned around in his embrace. His two jade-colored arms lightly climbed onto Huo Jingzhao’s shoulders. Leaning close to the man’s face, he said, word by word, “Right now… I am already living a fate worse than death. What… do I have to fear from death?”
Pei Lianyi gripped the Ghost-Faced Man’s shoulders, tightening his slender fingertips, harder and harder, until even the black fabric on the man’s shoulders was pinched between his fingers.
But Huo Jingzhao felt no pain whatsoever. He held Pei Lianyi’s waist tightly with both hands, watching his chest rise and fall beneath the white sleeping robe. The corners of his eyes reddened with excitement, his voice trembling. “Who made you feel worse than death?”
Pei Lianyi looked towards the golden bed canopy and said nothing.
Sniffing the fragrance emanating from his neck, Huo Jingzhao suddenly raised his right palm.
Seeing him raise his hand, Pei Lianyi instinctively tried to dodge. But what surprised and astonished him was that the Ghost-Faced Man’s large hand landed on his stomach instead, rubbing there back and forth.
“What are you doing…” Realizing this madman was rubbing his stomach, Pei Lianyi’s face gradually reddened.
He didn’t know if it was the man’s strong massage or the unknown pill he had just swallowed, but he felt the pain in his abdomen lessen considerably.
A thread of warmth spread from within, flowing through his limbs and bones, making his whole body comfortable. He even felt drowsiness creeping in.
“Don’t…” Pei Lianyi couldn’t accept relying on someone else, let alone a madman who had deeply humiliated him. He struggled, wanting to escape.
“Master Pei, if you don’t want me to snap your waist, then lie still and don’t move!” Huo Jingzhao easily pinned him down, his fingertips drawing circles on his navel.
“You! Ugh… Madman! Lewd! Faceless… Bastard!” Pei Lianyi still wanted to curse, but he was rubbed into such a state that his limbs ached and went weak, losing all strength.
“You still dare curse?” Huo Jingzhao leaned close to his ear.
Inadvertently brushing against his rock-hard mask, Pei Lianyi’s heart pounded violently.
“Curse all you want! Tonight, you’re still sleeping in my arms.” The Ghost-Faced Man let out a smug, strange laugh. His voice suddenly softened. “Father-in-law, I’ll let it pass today…”
“Next time, you’d better be ready for this worthy son-in-law.”
Hearing him deliberately address him that way, Pei Lianyi stiffened completely. His face so red it seemed blood would drip. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. “When you get lost… fix the hand warmer.”
Huo Jingzhao didn’t respond. He just stared at him as he fell asleep.
The exhaustion, bitterness, and unbearable disgrace from the days on end descended upon him. Pei Lianyi quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Hearing his even breathing, Huo Jingzhao looked at the hand warmer broken into two pieces at his feet and let out a “Tch.”
The next morning, the sun was already high. Cao Xian was in the Side Courtyard, briefing Huo Jingzhao on a new round of manor rules. At that moment, a maid came running over in small steps, saying that Pei Lianyi had woken up, and his complexion was even much rosier!
“In the past, the Family Head would be in pain for two or three days! Ai, this truly is a blessing from heaven…” The Old Steward pressed his palms together and chanted.
Sang Sha, hiding behind the rockery, curled his lip and shook his head.
Last night, at the third watch, as soon as Huo Jingzhao returned to the Side Courtyard, he had demanded medicine from Sang Sha. Looking at the man’s face, as dark as the bottom of a pot, Sang Sha found it very peculiar, but didn’t dare to probe further.
Ever since his teens, when the Young Sect Master’s Internal Cultivation reached the level of formless infiltration, he had frequently suffered from reversed blood flow, rampages, and injuries. For this, the Old Sect Master specially used the rare herbs from Ziyun Peak to create a type of pill for him.
This pill was blood-red in color. It could clear Meridians and prolong life. Only a few could be produced every three to five years. It was extremely precious.
Huo Jingzhao, however, intensely detested that Red Pill. He would rather endure injuries and bear it alone than ever take the medicine on his own initiative. Several times, Sang Sha had secretly force-fed it to him while he was unconscious, braving the risk of being choked to death…
Asking for the medicine on his own initiative like yesterday was truly a first in over a decade.
If not for the Old Steward’s words just now, even if Sang Sha had cracked his head thinking, he never would’ve imagined the man used the Red Pill just to treat Pei Lianyi’s minor stomach pain.
If the Sect Master found out, what would he say? He’d probably say the Young Sect Master really goes all out for playing with people, right?!
But was this really just play? Hidden in the corner, Sang Sha looked at the man’s back as he stretched his legs in the courtyard and fell into deep thought.
Perhaps, before the situation spiraled completely out of control, it would be better to report to the Old Sect Master first…
Thinking this, his figure, a wisp of purple, transformed into drifting fluff and left the Pei Manor.
