Chapter 2
At the foot of the green mountain, Xiao Wu led the horse to graze beneath a tree.
The winter sunlight was gentle, bathing everything in a pleasant warmth that made it difficult to resist feeling sleepy.
Leaning against the carriage, Su Changzai couldn’t help yawning again. Suddenly, a figure appeared through his tear-blurred vision. His drowsiness vanished instantly, and he hurriedly straightened up, not even daring to wipe the sleepy tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Your Majesty.” Su Changzai leaned forward and lifted the carriage curtain. “It’s cold outside. Your Majesty, please hurry into the carriage…”
Xiao Mixing’s mud-stained robes swept past him. Su Changzai’s gaze settled on them, and he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, your cloak has gotten muddy. Shall I fetch you another one?”
The winter mornings were already heavy with cold dew, and after yesterday’s rain, the mountain paths were even muddier. Water droplets still clung to the wild grasses and branches that grew haphazardly along the winding trails. After making the journey twice, the hem of Xiao Mixing’s robes was thoroughly soiled. Even his shoulders and arms were soaked, the damp fabric clinging to his body and making his already slender frame appear even more gaunt.
“It’s fine.” Xiao Mixing lowered his eyes, glanced at his robes, and stepped into the carriage.
Su Changzai did not dare persuade him further and retreated to one side. Xiao Wu hurried forward with the horse.
Half an hour later, the carriage stopped outside the courtyard gates. Su Changzai was just about to step forward and help Xiao Mixing down when the carriage curtain was lifted from within.
Xiao Mixing strode past him in a hurry, leaving only the faintest trace of fresh camphor fragrance in the chilly air.
Su Changzai was momentarily stunned. When he came to his senses, he hurried after him at a trot.
“Your Majesty, has something happened today? Shall this servant arrange for someone to…”
The door in front of him abruptly slammed shut, nearly striking him on the nose.
One of the maidservants stationed by the entrance approached quietly and asked in a hushed voice, “Eunuch Su, then…”
Su Changzai shook his head, took a step back, and said, “There’s no need to prepare any food. His Majesty went to Chongming Temple today.”
Every time the emperor returned from Chongming Temple, he would shut himself away in his room for an entire day, refusing even food or tea during that time. He had maintained this habit for three whole years.
“Yes.”
In the blink of an eye, all the maidservants at the entrance had withdrawn.
Su Changzai glanced at the tightly shut door and sighed softly.
Back then, after the emperor returned from Chongming Temple and secluded himself in his room, a guard sent by the Retired Emperor had entered the courtyard without permission because he had urgent matters to report. Unexpectedly, despite searching the entire residence, he had been unable to find His Majesty anywhere.
It was not until the following day that the emperor finally appeared. Seated in a wooden chair, he looked down at the guard kneeling before him, his pale face completely devoid of emotion.
“I heard you entered my chambers without permission yesterday?”
Xiao Mixing’s eyelashes were half-lowered, and the skin beneath his eyes bore a faint bluish tint.
Su Changzai caught sight of the young emperor’s fingertips toying with a camphor leaf beneath his sleeves. Instinctively sensing that His Majesty was in a foul mood, he hurriedly lowered his head.
The guard cupped his fists and bowed his head respectfully.
“Yes, Your Majesty. This subordinate was acting under the Retired Emperor’s orders. There was an urgent matter to report, but I could not find Your Majesty, so in my haste…”
Su Changzai stood not far from the guard. Out of the corner of his eye, he vaguely saw the fingertips concealed beneath the emperor’s robes move slightly.
Immediately afterward, a streak of crimson burst from the guard’s neck, and warm liquid splashed onto the back of Su Changzai’s hand.
Su Changzai’s entire body went rigid. Even his breathing stopped. All he could feel was the warm blood on the back of his hand gradually cooling, slowly sliding down his skin before finally dripping onto the ground with a faint plop.
Xiao Mixing slowly rose to his feet, walked toward the guard, and crouched beside him. He pulled the camphor leaf from the blood vessel in the guard’s neck, where only a tiny sliver of green had remained visible.
With the obstruction removed, blood immediately sprayed from the guard’s neck, splattering across Xiao Mixing’s pale cheek.
The instant the camphor leaf was withdrawn, the guard collapsed with his eyes wide open, unable to utter another word.
“It’s dirty now\…”
“Changqing won’t be happy…”
Su Changzai heard two barely audible murmurs. Gathering his courage, he raised his eyes, only to discover that the emperor was carefully wiping the blood-soaked camphor leaf with his luxurious robes.
Su Changzai’s heart pounded like a drum, and all the color drained from his face. He hurriedly averted his gaze and lowered his head even further, not daring to breathe too loudly.
The maidservants and guards standing on either side were equally deathly pale. For a moment, the only sound in the hall was the faint rustling of the leaf against the silk fabric.
Only when not a single trace of blood remained on the camphor leaf did Xiao Mixing stop. He carefully tucked it into his robes as though it were an extraordinarily precious treasure.
He stood up without sparing the lifeless guard on the ground another glance, stepped over the pool of blood, and said in a completely flat voice, “Clean this place up.”
Su Changzai barely managed to recover his senses and answered in a trembling voice, “Yes…”
From that day onward, no one dared disturb the emperor on the day he returned from Chongming Temple.
A gust of cold wind swept past, abruptly pulling Su Changzai back from his drifting thoughts. He shook his head as he looked at the tightly shut door, then silently withdrew.
Inside the room, Xiao Mixing shut the door and removed the cloak stained with mud and dew, tossing it aside. Wearing only a black inner robe, he walked farther inside.
The wooden window framed the camphor tree in the courtyard, making it look like an enormous painting.
And beside the wooden window at the innermost end of the room hung an actual painting. The camphor tree depicted in it had spreading branches and a remarkably lifelike appearance. From a distance, it looked almost identical to the camphor tree outside the window.
A trace of emotion appeared in Xiao Mixing’s eyes. His slender fingertips gently brushed over a tiny leaf on the camphor tree in the painting.
The moment his fingertip touched the painted leaf, an extremely faint click sounded inside the room.
A narrow gap immediately appeared in the smooth, level floor.
The floor slowly slid backward, widening the gap until it revealed an underground passage large enough for one person to enter.
Xiao Mixing gently brushed the camphor leaf once more before stepping into the passage.
After he entered, the floor slowly slid back into place, eventually closing without leaving even the slightest gap.
The underground passage was brightly illuminated. Along the walls on both sides, iron stands had been installed at regular intervals, each holding a luminous pearl the size of a fist.
At the bottom of the steps, a pool of water came into view, but there was not the slightest trace of warmth in it.
Xiao Mixing removed his robes and stepped naked into the freezing pool.
A quarter of an hour later, he slowly emerged. Even his lips, which had previously retained a faint hint of pink, had now lost all their color.
Xiao Mixing dried his body, changed into the black robes hanging on a nearby wooden rack, and carefully wrapped his soaking hair in a cloth towel, drying it bit by bit. Only then did he slowly walk behind the folding screen.
Behind the screen, golden threads crisscrossed in every direction, resembling an enormous spiderweb suspended in midair.
Sheets of Xuan paper covered in intricate Buddhist scriptures were draped over the golden threads, spreading outward from above and hanging all the way to the floor. The edges of some sheets had already begun to yellow, clearly indicating that they had been there for quite some time.
Several luminous pearls on the floor were covered with sheets of Xuan paper, their light illuminating the densely written scriptures until the paper appeared almost transparent.
As Xiao Mixing passed, the sheets swayed, and the scriptures seemed almost ready to break free from the paper and drift into the air, only to remain imprisoned upon their pages.
Xiao Mixing did not stop. He raised a hand and pushed aside the hanging sheets of Xuan paper that obscured his vision like curtains, walking into the deepest part of the underground passage.
Beneath the countless overlapping layers of scripture, an ice coffin stood prominently in the center of the chamber.
The closer he came to the ice coffin, the colder the surrounding air became. At some point, the water droplets still clinging to Xiao Mixing’s eyelashes had frozen into tiny crystals of frost.
Inside the ice coffin lay a man dressed in white, his eyes closed as though he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Xiao Mixing knelt on the ground and opened the coffin lid. A rich, refreshing camphor fragrance immediately filled his nostrils.
He bent forward and called softly, “Changqing, I’m back.”
But the white-robed man he called Changqing gave no response. He simply lay quietly inside the ice coffin.
His robes were neat, his face was clean, and even his hair had been carefully combed into place.
Unlike Xiao Mixing’s deathly pale complexion, his face even retained a healthy flush, while his lips resembled peach blossoms blooming in March.
Xiao Mixing gently brushed his fingers across Ning Changqing’s pink lips. A smile slowly appeared on his pale face.
“Changqing, you must be hungry, aren’t you?”
A green camphor leaf sliced across his cold, pale wrist, and blood immediately began flowing along the wrist bone.
Before Xiao Mixing could even bring his wrist closer, the Corpse Marrow Gu beneath the white-robed man’s skin had already detected the familiar scent. It began stirring restlessly, wriggling with impatience.
The Corpse Marrow Gu was a parasite that inhabited corpses, preventing them from rotting or decaying. The price was that the person who implanted the Gu had to feed it fresh blood regularly every month.
If the Corpse Marrow Gu failed to receive blood at the appointed time, it would leave a deadly poison inside the corpse before crawling out to seek a new host.
The original corpse would then begin to rot, eventually dissolving into a puddle of putrid liquid.
Xiao Mixing had already fed the Corpse Marrow Gu his blood on the first day of the month. Its next feeding should have been on the first day of the following month.
However, the Corpse Marrow Gu possessed no intelligence. Upon smelling the familiar scent of blood again, it naturally assumed that it was time for another feast.
Xiao Mixing lowered his eyes and watched the Gu worm continuously wriggling beneath Ning Changqing’s skin.
Jealousy surged within him, nearly overflowing.
He wanted to become that Gu worm.
That way, he could move freely inside Changqing’s body and remain together with Changqing forever.
If he were that Gu worm, he would never escape.
He would hide inside Changqing’s body forever and ever.
He would die inside Changqing’s body and remain with Changqing for all eternity.
Xiao Mixing slipped his fingertip between Ning Changqing’s peach-pink lips and gently stroked the smooth, even surfaces of his teeth.
Curling his finger slightly, he slid the joint into the cold mouth.
“Be good, Changqing. Drink.”
Xiao Mixing turned his wrist and pressed the open wound against those cold lips. Bright red blood immediately flowed into Ning Changqing’s mouth, staining his lips a vivid crimson.
“Changqing… Changqing…”
Even though blood was rapidly draining from his body, a faint blush rose to Xiao Mixing’s pale cheeks.
His entire being seemed to sink into an overwhelming sense of pleasure. His back curved into an arch, and even his body began trembling faintly without his realizing it.
Having received another feeding of fresh blood, the Corpse Marrow Gu was now writhing happily.
Xiao Mixing watched the delighted Gu worm with an emotionless gaze.
A moment later, he silently extended his fingers and gently pressed them against the patch of skin near Ning Changqing’s collarbone.
The flow of blood suddenly increased.
Before the Corpse Marrow Gu could react, it was flooded with an excessive amount of blood.
It had not yet completely absorbed the blood it had consumed half a month earlier, and now an overwhelming quantity was being forcibly poured into it.
The Corpse Marrow Gu finally sensed the danger and struggled to escape, but Xiao Mixing held it firmly in place, forcing it to endure an endless influx of blood.
Just before the Corpse Marrow Gu was about to burst and die, Xiao Mixing abruptly relaxed the pressure of his fingers.
No.
That filthy little worm was not allowed to die inside Changqing’s body.
The moment Xiao Mixing loosened his grip, the Corpse Marrow Gu instinctively seized its chance to escape. It burrowed out through the center of Ning Changqing’s collarbone, leaving behind a tiny circular hole.
But the instant it emerged from his skin, its body burst apart, killing it.
The Corpse Marrow Gu had died outside Changqing’s body.
That realization filled Xiao Mixing with pleasure.
Xiao Mixing threw the Corpse Marrow Gu’s remains out of the ice coffin and carefully wiped away the bloodstains around Ning Changqing’s collarbone.
His large hand encircled Ning Changqing’s fair, slender ankle. Taking the Bodhi-bead bracelet Master Jikong had given him, he slowly slipped it over Ning Changqing’s toes and up around his delicate ankle.
“Don’t be afraid, Changqing. This Bodhi-bead bracelet can bind your soul in place.”
The red cord was tied into a knot that could not be undone, and the Bodhi fruit rested just beneath the protruding ankle bone. Somehow, it suited him perfectly.
Xiao Mixing tilted his head and gently rubbed his cheek against the top of Ning Changqing’s foot, again and again.
“It’s been three years. Changqing must have grown to hate that Corpse Marrow Gu, haven’t you?”
Xiao Mixing’s pale lips slowly traveled upward along Ning Changqing’s instep, leaving one cold kiss after another.
“I’ve already driven it out of your body, Changqing.”
Xiao Mixing gently lowered Changqing’s leg and meticulously straightened the hem of his robes.
“So, Changqing, will you wake up tonight? Please?”
“But don’t be afraid. If Changqing doesn’t want to wake up, that’s all right too.”
Xiao Mixing lay down inside the ice coffin and reached out to hold Ning Changqing’s cold hand.
Lowering his head, he gently kissed those lips, now made even more lush and alluring by the blood staining them.
“I’ll stay with you, Changqing.”
Xiao Mixing’s fingertips lightly touched the tiny hole in the center of Changqing’s collarbone.
A slender white Gu worm crawled into the opening and disappeared beneath his flesh in an instant.
“This is the mother Gu of the Life-and-Death Gu.”
Xiao Mixing raised his hand and closed the lid of the ice coffin before lying down beside Changqing again.
“The offspring Gu is inside my body.”
Xiao Mixing reached out and gathered Changqing into his arms, his expression tender as he gently stroked his brows and eyes.
“If Changqing’s soul is unwilling to return tonight, the mother Gu will die, and the offspring Gu will die along with it.”
Xiao Mixing pressed a kiss over Ning Changqing’s heart before slowly closing his eyes.
“When the offspring Gu dies, I will die too.”
Such an unbearably grave declaration was spoken with astonishing casualness, even carrying a trace of longing that no one else knew about.
Xiao Mixing held the person in his arms tightly and whispered, “Go to sleep, Changqing. I’ll sleep with you.”
Inside the transparent ice coffin, the black-robed man held the white-robed man’s shoulders in his embrace.
The white-robed man’s head rested against the black-robed man’s chest, while the hems of their black and white robes intertwined and overlapped, inseparably entwined.
Soon, more and more blood flowed from Xiao Mixing’s wrist, gradually staining Ning Changqing’s white robes a deep, bloody red.
Author’s Note:
Xiao Mixing is a refined little crazy wolf cub who makes sure to wash himself squeaky clean and change into fresh clothes before seeing his wife!
Changqing will appear in the next chapter!
Xiao Mixing really is unhinged. His behavior includes, but is not limited to, feeding Changqing blood, kissing Changqing’s feet, being jealous of every worm that can burrow into Changqing’s body, deciding to die too if Changqing doesn’t wake up, and personally making a coffin big enough for both himself and Changqing to lie in…
He only pretends to be obedient in front of Changqing.
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