EHEWASS CHAPTER 72

Chapter 72: Nian Yuzhuo

Hiding in the shadows and pretending he didn’t exist, Wan Muchun was genuinely surprised. Why was the Sect Leader so gentle with that young lord called Rongqing?

As a veteran of three reigns, he’d joined Xuanyin Sect in his thirties and had now been here thirty years.

In those thirty years, he’d witnessed three leaders take office and step down (dying). Clearly, being Xuanyin’s leader was a high-risk career, two leaders dead in three decades.

In Wan Muchun’s mind, Nian Yuzhuo was ruthless and cold-blooded. He’d never seen the leader this soft with anyone.

Inside the sect, Hua Sanniang, the Right Protector, had one lifelong wish: marry the leader.

Unfortunately, the Sect Leader didn’t seem to like her. He was only indifferent towards her.

You hour, at the foot of Taicang Mountain, Qingfeng Daoist Temple.

“Third Junior Brother still hasn’t shown up,” Zhang Junluo said, brows drawn tight. “Let’s go. Mobilize all our disciples and search for him.”

“Young Hero Zhang.” Daozhang Xiwei, abbot of Qingfeng, came in. “I heard your junior brother’s whereabouts are unknown, so this poor Daoist has gathered thirty disciples to help you search.”

“Daozhang Xiwei?” Zhang Junluo bowed as a junior. “Many thanks for your aid, Daozhang. I’m deeply grateful.”

“You’re welcome,” Daozhang Xiwei said.

The temple rallied. Torches lit, disciples swept the grounds around the mountain.

“Third Senior Brother!” the young junior cried, on the verge of tears. “Where are you?”

Crying, he thought, if only First Senior Brother had led everyone to search sooner.

Waiting till You hour… if something really happened, the body would be cold by now.

Cut to Xuanyin Sect. Li Dong slept rather long this time.

He didn’t know that during his sleep, Nian Yuzuo had already moved him to another place.

“Old Cai.” Hua Sanniang stepped into Cai Jiugao’s courtyard. “Who did the leader bring back?”

“A young lord called Rongqing.” Cai Jiugao sat by the stone table drinking. “Sit. Keep your Ninth Brother company for two cups.”

Hua Sanniang glanced at the table, beef on one plate, peanuts on another. “No need. I’m heading to Xiaofeng Hall.”

Her water-red figure spun and vanished.

Xiaofeng Hall was Nian Yuzhuo’s residence, in the very heart of Xuanyin.

Here, every ten steps was a guard. Security was tight.

You had to admit, the leader’s residence was luxurious. Everywhere you looked were heavy furnishings and exquisite finishes.

Li Dong lay on a wide bed, sheer curtains floating around him, dyed a dreamy lavender-gray.

“Gurgle…” His stomach, empty all day, finally rumbled.

“Shadow guard,” Nian Yuzhuo called from outside the curtain.

“Sect Leader.” A black-clad youth dropped into the room. Today’s watch was Chuanbai.

“Send someone to Fuqu Courtyard for the medicine,” Nian Yuzhuo said. “And send someone to the kitchen for a meal.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.” Chuanbai didn’t dare lift his head. He only saw a flash of white toes, and by then he was already out the door.

“I need to pee,” Li Dong said, scrambling out of the heap of quilts. He wore only white silk underclothes, which made him look even more ethereal.

“Rongqing.” Nian Yuzhuo moved fast and caught him.

“Mm?” Li Dong’s soft, jade-like foot landed right in the leader’s palm.

“Don’t touch the floor without shoes and socks.” Nian Yuzhuo found socks and slipped them on for him. “Try putting your shoes on yourself.” Even if he adored him, the dignified leader needed to keep some face. How could he…

“I don’t know how,” Li Dong said with a pout.

“Very well.” The leader abandoned all principle and put the shoes on for his sweetheart. “The privy’s next door. Do you need me to hold you, or…”

He trailed off, because Li Dong had already lifted his arms.

Sect Leader Nian pretended to struggle once. He couldn’t refuse. “Fine, fine.” He swept Li Dong up and carried him to the privy.

“At least your pants… I don’t have to…” He didn’t finish.

“Don’t know how to take them off,” Li Dong cut in.

So Nian Yuzhuo raised the hands he used for killing and, with painstaking care, slipped down the soft silk pants. “Go ahead.”

Li Dong wanted to die of fcking embarrassment. Nian Yuzuo actually helped him take it out without asking… taken it out…

“I’ll hold for you,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

…F*ck, what else can this humble one do!

“Can’t go?” Nian Yuzhuo said. “Want me to coax you to pee?”

Li Dong didn’t answer.

A soft whistle sounded by his ear.

Great. This male-lead shou was still a lot to handle.

Under the leader’s unwavering gaze, Li Dong trembled and finally peed. At the end he shivered in Nian Yuzhuo’s hand. Mission accomplished.

He watched helplessly as Nian Yuzuo took out a lotus-colored handkerchief to wipe the remaining water traces.

Li Dong shivered all over again.

At this point he felt a twinge of regret. He shouldn’t have picked “age three.” If he hadn’t, Nian Yuzhuo wouldn’t have the chance to sneak in private benefits.

C’mon. Who’d believe the leader had pure intentions toward “Rongqing”?

“All done,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

He drew a basin, took Li Dong’s hands, and dipped them in the water.

The soap smelled nice.

“Sect Leader.” A shadow guard knelt outside, head lowered to the threshold.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Nian Yuzhuo squeezed Li Dong’s fingers. “Come on, let’s eat.”

He lifted a soft cotton cloth to dry Li Dong’s hands.

Li Dong slipped free and ran out.

“Rongqing.” Nian Yuzhuo frowned and called once.

“What’s your name?” Li Dong squatted in front of the shadow guard Chuanbai. “And why’s your outfit so ugly?”

Chuanbai glanced up, body locked tight. “Sub… Sub…”

“Your name’s ‘Sub-Sub’?” Li Dong tugged his clothes. “My name is…” He stalled. “What’s my name again?”

His mouth puckered. He looked back at Nian Yuzhuo with big, pleading eyes.

The leader, however, was staring at those two pale fingers.

“Forgive me, Sect Leader.” Chuanbai smoothly pulled his clothes back into place. The Sect Leader’s gaze was terrifying.

“‘Forgive me, Sect Leader’?” Li Dong said. “Is your name Nian Yuzhuo or Forgive-Me-Sect-Leader?”

“You little fool,” Nian Yuzhuo said when those clear eyes met his. “Forget it.” He walked over and picked Li Dong up. “My name is Nian Yuzhuo, and you are…”

“Little Fool?” Li Dong hooked his arms around his neck. “My name’s Little Fool.”

Chuanbai knelt, shoulders shaking.

“Withdraw,” Nian Yuzhuo said with a sideways glance.

“Yes.” Chuanbai fled. He was afraid if he stayed, he’d anger the leader.

“You’re not Little Fool,” Nian Yuzhuo said. “You’re Rongqing.”

“Then why’d you call me Little Fool?” Li Dong asked.

The leader’s heart felt very tired.

“Why?” Li Dong tugged his ear. Why, why?

“Come eat,” Nian Yuzhuo sighed. “Stop asking me strange questions.” He couldn’t answer, and he didn’t want to.

“What’s strange?” Li Dong pinched the leader’s ear and pressed.

“Rongqing,” Nian Yuzhuo said stiffly, “let go of my ear.” Even if the grip wasn’t hard, he was the leader…

“Tastes bad.” Li Dong leaned in and bit. “Peh, peh.”

“You…” The leader’s chest rose and fell. “Behave for me.”

If not, then once those wounds healed…

“Waa…” Li Dong curled up, trembling in his arms, and burst into tears.

“You…” Nian Yuzhuo had never dealt with anything like this. Holding him felt like holding a hot potato. He didn’t know what to do. “Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to scold you…”

“Waa,” Li Dong kept crying.

“I’m apologizing,” Nian Yuzhuo said, forcing down a surge of frustration. Not at Li Dong, his mood soured whenever Li Dong cried.

“Waa,” Li Dong still cried.

“That’s enough,” Nian Yuzhuo warned, cold.

Li Dong flinched hard and stared at him, stunned. His forehead might as well have read: You actually yelled at baby?

“Eat,” Nian Yuzhuo said, secretly exhaling. “Aren’t you hungry?”

The table was full of dishes. He set Li Dong on a small round stool.

“I don’t want to eat,” Li Dong huffed, looking away.

Nian Yuzhuo said nothing. He lifted a bowl, scooped a spoonful of egg custard, and held it to Li Dong’s lips.

“I…” Li Dong met the leader’s chilly gaze and instantly chickened out. “I want to play horsey. If you play horsey with me, I’ll eat.”

“Take one bite first,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

“I want to play horsey,” Li Dong muttered, full of mischief. “Ah-woo.”

He already knew the leader would do anything for his sweetheart but seeing Nian Yuzhuo actually get on all fours still left Li Dong dumbstruck.

“Get on,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

Li Dong didn’t move, stunned. Was he really going to play this childish game… and pretend to enjoy it?

Who wrote this dumb plotline? Unbelievable.

“Careful,” Nian Yuzhuo said, bracing him.

“Mm…” Caught between tiger and saddle, Li Dong swung a long leg over the leader’s back.

“Hold my shoulders,” Nian Yuzhuo said, prying those fingers off his ear and placing them where they belonged. “We ride.”

With the leader’s strength, even carrying a full-grown man was steady as a rock.

To his shame, Li Dong discovered riding the leader was… kind of fun.

“Nian Yuzhuo,” he said, face in his hands. “Crawl a little faster…”

“I know,” Nian Yuzhuo said. Hearing his name from his sweetheart’s mouth changed his whole expression.

To coax Li Dong to eat, he crawled two laps around the room and stopped by the table. “Good boy, Rongqing. Have a bite.”

With that sincerity, how could Li Dong keep making trouble like a jerk?

Out of the leader’s line of sight, he took two big bites, eyes suspiciously misty. “Rongqing ate two bites. Now crawl two laps around the table.” Why did this feel so good~

“Fine,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

What were two laps around a table? Back on Yandang Mountain, he’d dueled and slipped into a ravine. Clawing out of the river had drained his strength.

He’d still pulled himself up a sheer cliff in one go, never once giving in.

After becoming leader, days like that were far behind him, leaving only marks that wouldn’t fade.

Too lazy to reach, Li Dong just held the bowl and ate, smacking his lips while ordering Nian Yuzhuo where to crawl.

“Giddyup~” he said, nudging with his leg.

The leader’s knee went weak. He almost became a lame pony.

“Bad pony,” Li Dong said. “Run faster.”

“Don’t forget to eat,” Nian Yuzhuo reminded, sweating as he crawled over the plush carpet.

“Leader.” Hua Sanniang pushed the door open. Her personality had always been bold. She usually didn’t fear the leader’s killing aura.

So among everyone in Xuanyin, she alone dared push open Xiaofeng Hall’s door.

This time, she picked the wrong moment.

“Out,” Nian Yuzhuo snapped toward the entrance.

“Leader…” Hua Sanniang’s jaw hit the floor. “Y-you-you…” The shock was too much. She wanted to scream. This couldn’t be real.

“Pretty sister,” Li Dong said around his spoon, wiggling his tender little paw at her.

Hua Sanniang’s heart cracked right down the middle. So the leader wasn’t incapable of love, he just gave his tenderness to someone else.

“Still not leaving?” Nian Yuzhuo raised a hand. One more second and he’d strike.

“Yes… I’m leaving,” Hua Sanniang said through her teeth, bowed, and left without looking back.

This was the same Right Protector from the original novel. From start to finish she loved Nian Yuzhuo, a chivalrous woman with a soft heart.

When Li Dong read the book, he didn’t dislike Hua Sanniang. He even wished Nian Yuzhuo would be with her. It’d be better than being wrecked by the scummy gong.

“Yuyu,” he muttered. “I’m done.”

Nian Yuzhuo looked at the empty bowl, and his heart went soft. “Another.”

Bowl two went down under coaxing. Li Dong figured, fine, call it payback for the leader’s sacrifice.

“Have a third,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

“@￥%#…￥”

There was a sedative in the medicine. After he drank it, Li Dong felt woozy.

He dimly remembered Nian Yuzhuo washing him, then carrying him to bed. “Rongqing…” The leader’s voice brushed his ear, too pretty for the content: “When your wounds heal…”

He couldn’t remember the rest. He did remember his butt getting pinched.

F*ck. He almost bolted upright, but he was too sleepy and didn’t make it.

Qingfeng Daoist Temple, deep night.

The disciples of Zixiao Sect and Qingfeng searched half the night with everything they had. They didn’t find even the corner of Su Lingya’s robe.

“Looks like we’re not getting results tonight,” Zhang Junluo sighed. “Daozhang Xiwei, let’s go back. Searching like this won’t help.”

“Don’t worry, Young Hero Zhang.” Daozhang Xiwei patted his shoulder. “Perhaps your junior just left on urgent business.”

“I hope so,” Zhang Junluo said.

“There are no beasts around the temple,” Daozhang Xiwei analyzed, “and outsiders are rare. Your junior shouldn’t be in mortal danger.”

“Thank you for the comfort,” Zhang Junluo said, bowing again. “I’ve troubled you.”

“You worry too much,” Daozhang Xiwei’s voice drifted away.

Back at the temple, Zhang Junluo wrote through the night and sent a pigeon to Zixiao Sect, informing Wang Muxin, the sect master and the teacher of both him and Su Lingya: “Master, Third Junior Brother disappeared at Qingfeng.”

Wang Muxin doted on the well-behaved Su Lingya. When he received the letter, his face changed. “Lingya!”

How could a man disappear out of nowhere?

“Whose letter?” his wife Ji Jianqiu walked close.

“It’s from Junluo,” Wang Muxin sighed. “He says Lingya’s missing.”

“Ah?” Ji Jianqiu was shocked.

When the shock faded, a thoughtful look came over her face.

Early morning, Li Dong had already woken.

He opened his eyes to the same antique furnishings and felt a little dazed.

Three seconds later, his focus snapped back.

“Hungry!” He lifted his foot and gave the male-lead shou beside him a hearty kick. “Yuyu—”

By the time Li Dong spoke, Nian Yuzhuo was already awake. “…” He stared at his sweetheart, hungry and demanding, and felt that familiar, bone-deep weariness. “Shadow guard.”

“Sect Leader.” Today’s watch was still Chuanbai.

“Bring breakfast,” Nian Yuzhuo said.

“Yes.” Chuanbai ran faster than a rabbit. He swore yesterday and today were the most surreal days of his life.

Under the Sect Leader’s meticulous care, Li Dong got up and dressed √ peed √ washed face and brushed teeth √ ate breakfast √

And took Medicine X.

“I don’t want the stinky stuff today.” Li Dong sprawled over the table and snuck his fingers toward the jujubes in the fruit plate.

He was this close to grabbing one then the wicked leader picked up the entire plate. The entire thing!

“Drink the medicine,” Nian Yuzhuo said. “No medicine, no fruit.”

Li Dong lunged for the fruit side of the table. “Then let me eat one first…” In a blur, he snatched a handful of dates. “Silly Yuyu, I tricked you.”

“You…” Nian Yuzhuo watched his sweetheart bolt. With his lightness skill, there was no one in the world he couldn’t catch. “…” But facing a sweetheart with the mind of a small child, he willingly played dumb. “Here I come.”

Li Dong stopped at the door. “Come on, chase me.”

“Watch where you’re going,” Nian Yuzhuo said, panicking. He flew across the room and scooped Li Dong up sideways. “No medicine, then we’re going to Fuqu Courtyard for acupuncture.”

“No needles.” Li Dong pouted then remembered the dates in his hand and quickly stuffed one into his mouth.

Nian Yuzhuo carried him toward Fuqu.

“Yuyu, eat,” Li Dong said, popping a sweet jujube to the leader’s lips.

Expressionless, Nian Yuzhuo caught it with his mouth. His lips brushed those tender scallion-like fingers.

Around them, the guards and shadow guards maintained perfect poker faces, silent as monks. Who knew what they were thinking.

“Yuyu,” Li Dong said, little paw on the leader’s face. “You’re really good-looking.”

Nian Yuzhuo endured that sticky date-hand pawing his cheek.

“Ah~ ahm,” Li Dong chomped, not to hurt him, more like to smear him with drool.

“Pa-pa!” Nian Yuzuo mercilessly spanked his bottom twice. “No pouting, no crying, no drooling on my collar.” Then, through clenched teeth, “And throw away that crushed jujube in your hand…”

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Author’s Note:

~
Nian Yuzhuo: I’m going to lose my mind!
【Hahaha, please water me with nutrient solution~】
【And the persona isn’t a little-puppy gong; he’ll recover his mind soon】

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