Chapter 80: Nian Yuzhuo
Two grown men roughhousing in a bath barrel, what a sight. Li Dong shielded himself with a hand, took a few harmless swats, then hunched his neck and said, “I was in the wrong. Sect Leader, spare me.”
“Hmph. Still calling me ‘Sect Leader’?” Nian Yuzhuo narrowed his eyes. On his handsome face, joy and anger mixed, one part delighted that he and his beloved were of one mind, one part angry at the other’s glib tongue.
“I’m used to it.” Seeing his displeasure, Li Dong quickly changed tack. “Yuyu.”
“Mm.” Nian Yuzhuo answered with fitting dignity.
“You stay here. I will fetch you some medicine.” After the bath, Li Dong settled the Sect Leader on his own bed and said as much.
“What medicine?” The Sect Leader idly combed his long hair, lazy and at ease, his voice just as languid.
“Just…” Li Dong considered. “An ointment to reduce swelling and ease pain.” He fled as soon as the words left his mouth.
A woven rattan pillow sailed after him and thumped to the floor. On the bed was the Sect Leader’s face, half vexed, half amused. Had the man not run off like a guilty thief, why would he mind it at all?
At the Zixiaot Sect’s pharmacy, Li Dong requested a box of salve.
When he returned to Jingzhe Tower and pushed the door open, he saw Nian Yuzhuo sitting cross-legged on the bed, circulating his qi.
At the sound of the door, the man glanced over, saw it was Li Dong, and closed his eyes again.
Only when a small cycle was complete did he slowly draw his qi back and exhale.
“No trouble with your body now?” Only then did Li Dong step forward to disturb him.
“None.” Nian Yuzhuo lifted his gaze, eyes bright with admiration and a growing fondness. “Did you not go to fetch medicine for me?”
“Here.” Li Dong drew the little box from his sleeve. When he opened it, a clean fragrance rose at once. “Lie on the quilt, face down.”
With a quiet hum, Nian Yuzhuo loosened his under-robe without hesitation and lay prone upon the quilt.
Such a shameful side, yet in this life he showed it before one person without reserve.
He had thought he would feel resistance, humiliation; surprisingly, he did not. Even turned away, unable to see the other’s face, he felt calm, for he could well picture what the man behind him looked like now.
“Does it hurt?” Li Dong asked softly as he worked, his touch practiced and gentle. “Apply once before bed tonight, then twice tomorrow. It should be fine.”
“Mm.” Truth be told, it was no grave matter. Left to himself, he would never have thought to put on salve; wounds worse than this he had weathered many times over.
“Done.” Li Dong drew back his hand and helped the Sect Leader fasten his clothes.
Nian Yuzhuo said nothing, though the feeling between his thighs was a little strange.
“Rest.” Li Dong tucked the salve into the bedside cabinet, paused, then drew the Sect Leader close by the shoulders and brushed a light kiss to his lips. “I will go bid my junior brothers farewell and try to set an early day to descend the mountain.”
Nian Yuzhuo raised a hand to take Li Dong by the wrist. He spoke no word, but his silent protest was rare and eloquent.
“Very well…” Li Dong had no help for it. He sat on the edge of the bed. “I will find a moment and go later.” For now, he had no time.
Behind him, Nian Yuzhuo smiled and lay back to rest.
His glossy black hair spread over the pillow.
Seeing this harmless side of him, Li Dong thought, dazed, that without those many calamities, Nian Yuzhuo would surely have been a gentle young lord from a wealthy house.
“Will you regret leaving the demonic sect?” Li Dong could not help asking. His fingers strayed into the Sect Leader’s hair. The feel was just as imagined—playing with it was a pleasure.
“No.” Nian Yuzhuo did not open his eyes, yet he keenly sensed that hand lingering in his hair.
He liked feeling so cherished.
The world feared him, revered him, hated him, wished him dead.
Beyond that, there had been no other feeling.
They rested till midday. At noon a disciple came to invite them. Li Dong accompanied the Sect Leader to dine with Master.
At the table, fine wine and delicacies. The Sect Leader, not good with words and naturally dignified, only focused on eating, occasionally answering one or two questions from this place’s sect leader.
Or he answered the one beside him, matters like “Is it good?” “How does it taste?” “Which is better?” Idle talk, perhaps, yet never too much.
When the talk turned to their departure, Li Dong proposed to leave five days hence.
“So it is decided?” Wang Muxin looked to the man at his disciple’s side. Like the eldest disciple, from the first he had taken his beloved student to be the one in the lower seat, the side that “married out,” with little say.
“Mm. Decided.” Li Dong caught his master’s little thought, only smiled, lifted the teapot with both hands, and filled his master’s cup.
Setting the pot down, he very naturally picked up his chopsticks and served Nian Yuzhuo a dish that was a bit far yet looked quite appetizing.
It was the Sect Leader’s first taste of that dish. Before Li Dong could ask whether it was to his liking, he hesitated two seconds and judged, “The bamboo shoots are passable.”
Li Dong blinked. “Oh, as long as you like it. I will give you more.”
After such a round, the master himself was muddled: just who, between his love-disciple and the former demonic Sect Leader, truly held the say?
Leaving a place lived in for a decade and more, there were matters to settle with care.
Leisurely, Li Dong packed, bade farewell to his junior brothers, and agreed to meet again at next April’s Martial Gathering.
Time was ample, ample enough to spare several hours for the smallest of small things.
It was not a waste of life.
While Li Dong was basking in the courtyard, a shadow came to his side.
“We set out tomorrow.” The Sect Leader’s cool voice sounded at his ear.
“Good,” Li Dong replied.
All around was quiet. He reached out and tugged the Sect Leader into his arms.
“Lingya?” Seated on his lap, Nian Yuzhuo’s eyes were puzzled. A man raised in antiquity knew nothing of “wall-pinning” and such words.
Li Dong then discovered that teasing the Sect Leader gave little sense of triumph.
For whenever he showed even a hint of desire, the other would immediately begin to disrobe. Shyness was not to be found.
“I wish to kiss you,” Li Dong sighed, unwilling to concede defeat.
“So that is all.” Nian Yuzhuo looped his arms about his beloved’s neck and offered up his lips.
After a long while of tender murmurs, the Sect Leader’s cheeks were rosy, his gaze luminous with charm, proof enough that he was not entirely without shyness.
Master gifted them two red jujube horses. When they left, each took one.
They descended the mountain and followed the official road.
“Yuyu, where shall we go?” Li Dong asked.
“Mm?” Nian Yuzhuo was a touch surprised, having thought Li Dong had somewhere in mind. “Then let us make a circuit of Guanzhong.”
“Very well.”
The two horses ran neck and neck.
The vast jianghu had time in plenty to roam.
Li Dong was content. Save for the occasional pursuit by old enemies, all else was well.
He and Nian Yuzuo unintentionally gained a nickname in the martial world the following: the “Black-and-White Duo Fiends.”
Black for Nian Yuzhuo of the demonic sect; white for Su Lingya of the righteous path.
Perhaps it came from that brawl in Guanzhong during the first month with a local sect, or from thrashing a few hypocrites at the Martial Gathering in the fourth.
In the fifth month, a letter arrived from the Zixiaot Sect.
Eldest Senior Brother Zhang Junluo was to be married and hoped Third Junior Brother would return for the wedding.
“If only you could help me have two little ones,” Li Dong said offhand.
“Hmph…” The Sect Leader sulked for two days.
He could not give Li Dong children. He had no such ability.
One evening in the seventh month, Li Dong was boiling water and reading in their current lodging.
No sooner did the door sound than he set the book aside and looked over with a smile. “Yuyu.” The smile withered at once. “Where did you steal that baby?”
The Sect Leader held a swaddled infant in his arms.
“Found it,” he lied without a blush.
“Nonsense!” Li Dong examined the bundle from every angle. This was plainly a child carefully tended. “Return it at once!”
“You do not like it?” Nian Yuzhuo frowned. It was the best-looking baby he had picked.
“I like your—” Li Dong’s face went dark. “Go. Otherwise, you need not come back tonight.”
By the measure of the last few months, this was the one line the Sect Leader most feared.
“Lingya,” he said. “If you wish for a child as fair as you, I fear there is none to be found.” Evidently he thought Li Dong found the baby lacking in beauty.
“Go,” Li Dong said.
Only after much persuasion did the Sect Leader believe he truly disliked the idea of raising a child that it had been no more than a jest.
“That was the fairest child within a hundred li,” he muttered on returning.
Li Dong was speechless. So he had been observing for quite some time?
But he could not keep his temper. He knew the Sect Leader had suffered a great shock when they returned to attend Zhang Junluo’s wedding.
When a man came of age, he married and had children. That was the path of life.
The Sect Leader had not snatched a child without a care. He was only afraid that, when the time came, the one he loved would tread the same road, marriage and sons.
He chose a fitting, romantic time: Shangyuan, the Lantern Festival.
In the lively capital, atop the highest building.
They sat on the roof, drinking wine and watching fireworks, like taking in a play with a bucket of popped grain.
“Yuyu,” Li Dong said solemnly. “We have kept company for over a year. When should we discuss marriage matters?”
A jolt went through Nian Yuzhuo’s heart. His fists clenched, his face went pale. “You wish to be wed?”
“To wed you.” Li Dong seized his hand and pried his fingers open. “You block of wood. Most days you seem clever enough.” Yet at matters of the heart, he lost his footing, stealing children and all.
“I see.” The Sect Leader’s heart settled. “Look.”
Li Dong followed his gaze. With a crack, the fireworks blossomed.
This day, this year, all is well.
【Author’s Note: Happy New Year! 2018, may all be well, kisses】
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