Chapter 64: A Kiss on the Hair Ribbon

Pei Liu served the dishes from the food box one by one, placing them on the offering table, and finally, he served a bowl of fragrant milk tea.

“I made this. Would you like to try it?” Pei Liu smiled, his eyes curving into crescent shapes.

Xie Wuyu didn’t say whether it was good or not, but reached out to pick up the porcelain bowl first and took a sip.

“Is it good?” Pei Liu leaned in closer and asked.

Xie Wuyu nodded, “Very good.”

Pei Liu smiled in satisfaction, handed Xie Wuyu chopsticks, and even placed tofu and fresh bamboo shoots into his bowl. These two were the tastiest.

Xie Wuyu finished everything Pei Liu had put in his bowl.

When Pei Liu returned the food box, Qin Wu looked at the empty bowls and plates, his face full of disbelief.

The god actually ate it…

“Do you know what dishes the god likes to eat?” Pei Liu asked.

Qin Wu thought for a long time, and finally shook his head in defeat. Ming Kong gave the same answer.

Pei Liu also carefully recalled the future Xie Wuyu’s tastes, but Xie Wuyu had always just eaten whatever he ate, showing no preference, as if he really didn’t have any favorites.

***

At night.

Pei Liu was still sleeping on the cushion. There was no room for him here. However, he also preferred to stay with Xie Wuyu.

At midnight, the yin energy was at its peak.

Above the ancestral hall, dark clouds rolled, looking as if they would crush and swallow the entire building—highly terrifying.

In the pitch blackness, countless scarlet ghost eyes watched greedily.

The Xie clan believed Xie Wuyu was already a deity, and as long as they provided enough offerings, he could realize any of their wishes. But in reality, Xie Wuyu still retained a human body and could only be considered a demi-god.

A deity yet not a deity, possessing power coveted by a hundred ghosts, yet not as peerless as a true god.

Therefore, many evil ghosts would always attack, attempting to devour the demi-god’s power.

When the yin energy rushed into the main room, Xie Wuyu stepped out from behind the shrine and pulled the sleeping Pei Liu into his arms, protecting him from being disturbed and frightened by the ghosts.

Xie Wuyu’s body emitted a faint light, silently warding off the hundred ghosts.

But even so, the sudden drop in room temperature and the bone-chilling cold still made Pei Liu uncomfortable, and he unconsciously frowned and struggled.

Sensing his struggle, Xie Wuyu immediately pinned him down, holding him even tighter.

Outside, the evil ghosts shrieked shrilly, the yin energy overflowing.

Only the small area where Pei Liu was remained warm and quiet.

He continued to sleep deeply.

Not until a sliver of dawn appeared on the horizon did the evil ghosts quickly disperse.

When Pei Liu woke up, he was lying safely on the soft cushion. Aside from his clothes being slightly messy and wrinkled, nothing was different.

He got up, greeted the deity statue first, and then went to wash up and eat breakfast.

Just as he was about to return to the main room, he suddenly heard some noises. Turning his head, he actually spotted a young girl climbing onto the wall, peering inside curiously.

The young girl was a hunter’s daughter from the neighboring mountain. Having accidentally discovered a strange large house here, she wanted to come take a look. Never did she expect to see a celestial beauty, and she was instantly stunned. She was illiterate and didn’t know how to describe him, but she felt there was surely no one more beautiful than him in the world. He shouldn’t be in the mortal world, but in heaven.

Lost in thought, the young girl nearly fell from the wall, startling Pei Liu into a hurried warning: “Be careful!”

The girl quickly grabbed the wall, her face flushed with embarrassment, and withdrew her head. A few seconds later, she poked her head out stealthily again and whispered: “…You are too beautiful, can I marry you?”

Pei Liu was stunned: “…?”

In the end, it was Qin Wu who angrily drove her away. But that girl was also a bold and candid person, always sneaking over to climb the wall to look at the beauty.

Pei Liu stood below the wall, advising her.

Watching this, Qin Wu felt a sense of crisis arise. Through these back-and-forth interactions, couldn’t they develop some unwanted feelings? That was how it was written in storybooks.

Pei Liu was the deity’s sacrifice; his mind and eyes should only hold the deity. How could he get close to others?

Qin Wu ran to the main room and reported this matter to the deity.

But Xie Wuyu’s reaction was very flat, seemingly unconcerned, saying to leave it be.

Qin Wu grew anxious, “He told that girl that he has someone he likes in his heart! How can this be? He is the deity’s sacrifice, and he arrived wearing wedding garments, just like the River God’s bride. He is the deity’s person; he should be wholehearted, without reservations, dedicating everything of his to the deity!”

Xie Wuyu, who had been reading his scroll, stiffened, and the air around him seemed to freeze instantly. But in just a flash, he said indifferently again: “He is not my person. He is merely an innocent passerby, and he will eventually return to the place he belongs, to reunite with his family, friends, and… lover.”

At the end, Xie Wuyu paused, his voice low.

Qin Wu couldn’t understand, let alone accept this, but he couldn’t disobey the deity’s words, so he could only bow his head in agreement.

Left alone in the room, Xie Wuyu remained calm. As usual, he held his brush with composed ease, writing annotations beside the pages of the book. But what his brush wrote was—the name Pei Liu.

Expressionless, he stared coldly at the page. After the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, he turned the page and continued reading.

Pei Liu went to the main room. Just as he stepped through the door, he felt a strange sensation. He couldn’t describe it, but the atmosphere felt off, and Qin Wu had glared at him earlier for some unknown reason. He wanted to ask why, but the other turned and walked away.

He looked at Xie Wuyu, who was as usual, finding nothing amiss.

Pei Liu tilted his head in confusion, a strand of long black hair falling down, brushing past his cheek and causing a tickling sensation.

When he traveled here, he was wearing the red wedding garments, and his hair had also become waist-length. He didn’t know how to tie a hair bun, merely tying it loosely, and since it wasn’t done well, it easily came loose.

Pei Liu thought for a moment, and asked tentatively: “Deity, could you please help me tie my hair?”

Xie Wuyu looked up at him, a trace of surprise in his eyes.

A person’s hair and skin are received from their parents; to them, hair was a very important existence, not something just anyone could touch.

“Come here.” Xie Wuyu still nodded.

Through their interactions over the past two days, Pei Liu discovered Xie Wuyu had a very good temper. No matter what he requested, he wouldn’t refuse.

He walked over and sat before Xie Wuyu, with his back to him.

Xie Wuyu held the wooden comb, slowly combing his long hair, his fingers lightly brushing through the strands, skillfully and nimbly braiding it, coiling it behind his head together with the rest of his black hair into a bun on the crown of his head, and finally putting on a jade crown.

His force was neither heavy nor light, and the bun wasn’t tight, so it didn’t pull his scalp. With his long hair tied up, Pei Liu instantly felt much more refreshed and relaxed. He turned his head to thank Xie Wuyu, his face blooming with a smile.

Xie Wuyu said: “No need.”

It seemed to be a minor matter, not worth mentioning, let alone keeping in his heart.

But his gaze unconsciously fell on Pei Liu. With his long hair tied up, his slender, fair neck was naturally completely exposed, looking like a handful of soft, fine snow, making one unable to resist wanting to touch it, to leave a finger mark of one’s own, or some other trace.

By evening, Pei Liu went to the side room for dinner. Although Xie Wuyu had eaten with him before, it was only that once. Afterward, Xie Wuyu still didn’t eat, saying he didn’t need to and didn’t want to waste food. Therefore, Pei Liu could only go over alone, returning after finishing his meal.

With Pei Liu gone, the main room returned to a dead silence.

Xie Wuyu sat in silence, just as he had for the past decade, and as he would after Pei Liu left here.

He was already used to it.

It was supposed to be like this.

Xie Wuyu’s eyelids moved slightly, looking at a corner of the desk, where the hair ribbon Pei Liu had left behind lay. Because he used a jade crown, he didn’t need the hair ribbon, so he had forgotten it.

Xie Wuyu picked up the hair ribbon, holding it in his palm, and stared at it for a moment.

Then, he lowered his head and kissed Pei Liu’s hair ribbon.

A very light, very restrained kiss.

Like treating a fragile, precious treasure.

One touch, and he pulled away.

When Pei Liu returned, the hair ribbon on the corner of the desk was already gone, but he didn’t notice.

***

At night, when Pei Liu prepared to sleep.

Xie Wuyu suddenly asked him.

“What is your wish?”

Pei Liu was stunned, instinctively asking: “Is the deity going to help me fulfill my wish?”

Xie Wuyu nodded.

Pei Liu was somewhat confused. Because he clearly remembered Qin Wu saying that praying to the deity required a complex ritual process—bathing, burning incense, fasting for seven days beforehand, earnestly copying scriptures, and offering a large number of gifts…

But he hadn’t done any of those, yet the deity actively asked him what he wanted.

Once again, he was given unique and special treatment.

Pei Liu’s heart softened, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curling up.

He suddenly realized that he had never formally spoken of his inner feelings to Xie Wuyu. Perhaps because they weren’t deep enough yet, or because his heart still harbored some reservations, as if saying it first meant he had lost. Therefore, he had deliberately ignored it, letting things take their natural course, feeling that keeping things as they were was also quite good.

But thinking about it now, many of Xie Wuyu’s actions had already explained everything.

He probably didn’t need to be so persistent about who went first.

He should just say what was on his mind.

What was wrong with living a candid life?

Pei Liu curled his lips, his smile soft like blooming peach blossoms: “I do have a wish. I want…”

Xie Wuyu’s face was calm. He believed he actually already knew what Pei Liu’s wish was. If possible, Pei Liu of course wanted to return home to reunite with his family and loved ones; he wouldn’t want to stay here.

Since he had to leave eventually, it was better to deliver this opportunity to Pei Liu’s hands so that he could… achieve his wish sooner.

Expressionless, Xie Wuyu listened to Pei Liu’s wish, listening to him about to speak that sentence—I want to leave.

Xie Wuyu thought he could accept it calmly.

He had thought so.

But his heart was turbulent, with surging undercurrents, unable to be calm at all.

He only wanted Pei Liu to stop, to shut up, unable to say another word.

Even wanting to lock him up.

To make his eyes hold only him, to look at him alone.

Frantic to possess him.

To make every inch of his body stained with his own scent.

Xie Wuyu’s eyes became extremely dark, glinting with traces of scarlet. The black mist, like a monstrous wave, poured out. Completely out of control, it quickly spread to occupy the entire main room.

The black mist swallowed Xie Wuyu’s form. He seemed to have become the black mist, his consciousness melting, forced to sink into the deep sea, while another consciousness took control and surfaced.

Completely different from his gentle and calm side during the day, the Xie Wuyu at this moment was entirely covered in black mist, driven only by primal desire and vigorous power, like a frenzied, twisted beast, no longer repressed or restrained.

Wrapped in a fiery black mist, he lunged at Pei Liu, pinning him to the floor.

Everything happened too fast. Before Pei Liu could finish his sentence, the surrounding air felt like boiling water—scalding hot. When he noticed something was wrong, Xie Wuyu’s eyes were already blood-red, and in the next second, he was forced to lie on the cushion. His vision was entirely occupied by black mist, and except for Xie Wuyu, he could see nothing.

Xie Wuyu suddenly lowered his head and bit his neck hard. It was painful and numbing, and he couldn’t help but groan, struggling. But Xie Wuyu was like a hunting beast pressing down on the prey beneath its claws, only wanting to tear him apart and eat him bit by bit. The moment the prey wanted to escape, he would fly into an angry frenzy.

The black mist formed a massive cocoon—cold and clammy—enveloping them. Meanwhile, Xie Wuyu was very hot, like a furnace.

Pei Liu felt hot and cold, as if experiencing ice and fire simultaneously—an immense torture.

He tried to pinch Xie Wuyu’s neck, stroking his hair to soothe him, and whispered his name, hoping he would wake up. But in the next second, Pei Liu felt his fragile Adam’s apple nipped. The force wasn’t heavy, like a lick and a bite, but it caused him to tremble uncontrollably, his voice instantly losing its tone.

Just as his sash was torn apart, another mass of black mist violently charged into the room, instantly shattering the pitch-black cocoon.

The weight on Pei Liu’s body suddenly vanished.

Then, he was pulled backward, falling into a familiar embrace.

The future Xie Wuyu had arrived.