DDAM 29

Jun Jiewu’s long eyelashes fluttered, then stilled.

After a few moments of silence, the light and shadow around him began to shift. A spiritual radiance rose from beneath his feet; the silver-trimmed outer garment slowly reverted to his customary moon-hued, wide-sleeved attire, while the features and contours of Shen Runze’s face gradually faded to reveal his true appearance.

Li Zhuochen raised his arms to embrace him and tilted his head to kiss his temple, but Jun Jiewu turned away, causing the flurry of soft kisses to land instead upon the curve of his ear. Li Zhuochen pressed his thumb against Jun Jiewu’s earlobe and murmured softly,

“Silly Qingqing…”

Jun Jiewu raised a hand, and the bedroom door closed, sealing off the last sliver of an opening. He cast a barrier over the room to ensure no one outside could catch even the faintest glimpse or sound; only then did he withdraw from Li Zhuochen’s embrace to look him in the eye:

“Why did you keep it from me?”

Li Zhuochen countered with a question of his own:

“What about you? Why didn’t you acknowledge him earlier?”

Jun Jiewu fell silent. Li Zhuochen sighed softly and, after a pause, said,

“…I only found out recently myself.”

Jun Jiewu scrutinized him, as if he were trying to discern how much truth lay in his words:

“That skylark was him too, wasn’t it?”

Li Zhuochen nodded.

“Yes.”

Jun Jiewu murmured,

“No wonder he felt so familiar the moment I saw him…”

Li Zhuochen explained,

“He accidentally swallowed the Ice Luan egg and was afraid you’d blame him–”

“You might fool him with a story like that,” Jun Jiewu interrupted coldly.

Li Zhuochen’s voice trailed off; he held the other’s gaze in silence for a moment before lowering his eyes:

“…Yes, I have my own concerns.”

“Ever since returning to the Heavenly Court, you have refused to acknowledge me, refused to acknowledge the events of the mortal world. How can I know you won’t refuse to acknowledge him as well?”

He raised his eyes to look at Jun Jiewu, and lowered his voice until it was barely audible:

“He misses you so much, Qingqing…”

“I can stand your cold words and keep pestering you shamelessly, even when you try your hardest to distance yourself from me. But he endured hardships just to ascend to the Heavenly Court and find us–”

“He might not be able to bear it.”

Jun Jiewu felt a tug in his chest. He closed his eyes and pursed Read onhis lips into a thin, straight line; he bit down on his lower lip, leaving a indentation from his teeth.

The next instant, a finger gently parted his lips. He was taken aback; upon looking up, he saw Li Zhuochen pressing a thumb against his lower lip, specifically over the teeth marks, and rubbing the spot gently.

“How many times have I told you not to bite yourself when you’re distressed? You’ve carried that habit all the way from the mortal world to the Heavenly Realm, why haven’t you broken it yet?”

“I had originally intended to sound you out indirectly over the next couple of days before deciding on a course of action. I never expected you to follow me here…” He paused as realization dawned on him. “Did Shen Runze tell you?”

Jun Jiewu didn’t confirm; he listened instead as Li Zhuochen frowned and murmured,

“I never actually told him the truth… What did he say to you? How did he manage to persuade you?”

Jun Jiewu: “…”

A complex array of emotions flickered briefly in his eyes. He steered the conversation back to the matter at hand:

“So, what now? Have you finished sounding things out? When do you plan to tell him?”

Li Zhuochen was taken aback; true to expectation, he didn’t dwell on the previous stolen contentquestion. He chuckled helplessly,

“Doesn’t that depend on you?”

When he looked at the elegant, beautiful figure before him, his peach-blossom eyes curved as he gave a resigned smile.

“Qingqing, you’re feeling a bit of homesickness jitters too, aren’t you?”

Jun Jiewu remained silent. Li Zhuochen wound his fingers through the ends of Jun Jiewu’s hair and pulled him into his arms once more. Breathing in the scent of flowers and wood clinging to the other man’s neck, he murmured,

“You even put up a barrier, were you afraid he might overhear us arguing?”

“Or perhaps…”

He wrapped his arms around Jun Jiewu’s waist. His tone changed as he hooked his fingers into Jun Jiewu’s jade belt. He traced the curve of his hip, sliding his fingers slowly downward.

“You knew you wouldn’t be going back tonight, and you were worried he might hear something unsuitable for young ears?”

As the words left his lips, Jun Jiewu’s mouth was sealed by a kiss. Their noses touched, and their breathing grew heavy; the heat of their exhales seemed to raise the temperature of the surrounding air.

When the kiss finally ended, Jun Jiewu’s breathing was ragged. He clutched Li Zhuochen’s lapels and tilted his head back slightly to evade the pecks landing at the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t do anything rash…”

To Li Zhuochen, such a half-hearted refusal was tantamount to consent. He picked up Jun Jiewu and walked toward the bed curtains.

“We haven’t tried it in my palace yet, Qingqing. Aren’t you curious what it’s like?”

Amidst the lavish bedding, Jun Jiewu was laid down upon layers of dark silk. His robes were disarrayed, revealing a stretch of jade-white waist and abdomen. It was nearly impossible to distinguish which was more lustrous, his skin or the brocade beneath him.

The sheen of the silk blended with the warm, smooth glow of his flesh; in the dim, golden candlelight, one could hardly tell if the fabric was smoother or the skin more delicate.

Li Zhuochen leaned down to kiss him:

“The way I see it, there’s no need to pick a specific moment to reveal the truth to that brat. If you wake up in my bed tomorrow morning, do you think he won’t figure out exactly what happened?”

Jun Jiewu turned his head away; his eyelashes caught the flickering reflection of the candlelight.

The timing Li Zhuochen had chosen was cunning. It came just as Jun Jiewu’s emotions were in turmoil. Chu Huaiji’s appearance had acted like a mirror; he reflecting all the warmth of their shared past in the Human Realm.

No matter how cold his words were, or how determined he was to draw a line between them, Jun Jiewu could not deny that his body had long since grown accustomed to this man’s proximity; he could no longer summon any real resistance. After a few futile attempts to push him away, he slowly let his hands drop.

Oh, well… he whispered to himself. After all, I did come here of my own accord tonight…

The gauze curtains draped down, softening the light; the candlelight filtering through the fabric bathed the room in an intimate warmth.

Amidst this warmth, Jun Jiewu slowly closed his eyes.

Yielding would not make a jackal back off in the slightest; it would only embolden him to push further. This thought surfaced in Jun Jiewu’s mind, but it barely flickered before being swallowed by a wave of heat.

…

The first ray of morning sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting a pale, golden glow across the floor. When Chu Huaiji opened his eyes, he felt disoriented, as if he were still dreaming.

Perhaps it was because he was in his father’s home, or because his spiritual energy had finally stabilized ​visit our site​after the previous day’s turmoil, but he felt this was the soundest sleep he had enjoyed in years, allowing him to cast aside the long-accumulated burdens and worries right there by his pillow.

Listening to the sound of water from the Zhuoyu Pond outside the window made him feel calm; this unfamiliar morning suddenly gained a comforting feeling.

Since he still held a post at the Minglu Hall, he did not linger on the couch for long. After shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, he washed up and stepped out the door.

Morning light bathed the covered walkway, and the surface of the Zhuoyu Pond shimmered with scattered golden flecks. He walked along the corridor to the entrance of Li Zhuochen’s bedchamber and knocked twice.

“Father, I’m heading to work.”

There was no response from within.

Chu Huaiji waited a moment, then knocked again.

“Father?”

This time, there was a sound from inside. A flurry of small, clattering noises rang out, followed by a dull thud, as if someone had bumped into something.

Chu Huaiji tilted his head. Was he still asleep? Just as he was [visit our site]about to knock again, Li Zhuochen’s voice finally came from within, slightly hoarse:

“…Understood. Go ahead.”

Chu Huaiji murmured an acknowledgment and lowered his hand. He felt that something was amiss, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. He glanced at the closed door, but without dwelling on it, he turned and headed toward the Minglu Hall. What he didn’t see was that inside his father’s bedchamber, a red outer robe and a white one lay scattered about, a jade belt coiled within their folds, and an overturned teacup sat by the bedside.

Li Zhuochen bent his elbow and rubbed his palm gently against the forehead of the person cradled in his arms:

“Did you hurt yourself?”

When their silly son had knocked earlier, neither of them heard the first knock due to the barrier. A few moments later, Jun Jiewu was the first to sense the spiritual fluctuation outside the barrier; he lifted a hand to dispel it, only to hear the word “Father.” Startled, he had tried to sit up and slammed his head right into Li Zhuochen’s chest.

Li Zhuochen had let out a muffled grunt from the impact, which snapped him fully awake as well.

After sending the brat outside away, Li Zhuochen turned on his side to embrace the beauty beside him, and murmured drowsily,

“It’s still early; let’s sleep a bit longer…”

Jun Jiewu’s body still felt weary, but unauthorized copyhis mind was wide awake. He nudged his knee against the man who was holding him:

“You go back to sleep; I’m getting up.”

Li Zhuochen refused to let go; he nuzzled against him while mumbling,

“Qingqing…”

Just as Jun Jiewu was about to speak again, he felt something pressing against his waist, something with an all-too-obvious presence, and which was currently standing at attention.

He froze for a moment, then bent his knee and kicked the man straight out of bed. Li Zhuochen landed on the floor with a dull sound. Before he could even look up, Jun Jiewu’s icy voice came down from above:

“You hardly looked like someone intending to sleep.”

Sitting on the floor with his robes hanging open, Li Zhuochen tilted his head back to look at him. He took a breath, as if he were swallowing words he shouldn’t say, before finally rasping,

“…It’s morning.”

Jun Jiewu didn’t look at him; he simply pulled the thin quilt ​Read on​up to cover his waist, sat up with his back turned, and began putting on his outer robe in silence.

Li Zhuochen sighed softly.

“Turning cold the moment you leave the bed. Qingqing, you weren’t like this before…”

Jun Jiewu’s expression grew even colder.

“Then go find the person who suits your fancy. Search the heavens and the earth, see if you can dig up your Ji Heqing again.”

Li Zhuochen regretted his words the moment they left his lips; he cursed himself for bringing up a sore subject. He stood and walked to the bedside, reaching out to pull the other man into his arms.

“Where else could I find someone who suits me better? Isn’t the person who suits me best in all the world already standing right before me?”

Without waiting for a reply, he leaned in to kiss the corner of Jun Jiewu’s mouth:

“Whether you turn cold or throw a little tantrum, you look so lovely that I can’t tear my eyes away.”

Jun Jiewu lowered his lashes ​visit our site​and said nothing. A few moments later, he adjusted his outer robe and pushed Li Zhuochen away.

Morning light poured in through the wide-open doors, casting his silhouette in contrast between light and shadow. He had barely stepped one foot over the threshold when Li Zhuochen’s languid voice came from behind him:

“I still need to help Huaiji channel his spiritual energy today.”

Li Zhuochen had moved from the bedside to the doorway, where he now leaned against the frame. He watched him with a smile.

“Shall I bring him to Lingwu Palace to see you this evening?”