WPCID 34: Shen Zhou Would Never Misbehave

For a long while, Shen Zhou tilted his head and stared at him. The spot on his finger, scraped raw by the silver clasp, throbbed faintly. His already foul mood grew even more violent, his eyes turning astonishingly dark.

“But last time you told me Lu Buzhu knew everything, that he remembered every single detail clearly,” he said, tilting a wolf ear, his voice soft. 

“Forgot so soon?”

“Lu Buzhu”: “…”

Why did this little wolf cub seem a bit off?

But having managed to get out, he certainly couldn’t go back empty-handed.

“What I said was merely memories I glimpsed from his soul.” “Lu Buzhu” casually fiddled with the pair of furry wolf ears.

“As for what happens three years from now, whether he knows or not, why don’t you just ask him yourself? Why bother clinging to me?… Ouch.”

The wolf ears had slapped him hard several times.

“So you hold a grudge.” “Lu Buzhu” pulled his hand back, rubbing his fingers together with a smile. 

“You’d best be the same way towards him.”

“Where is Lu Buzhu? Where did he go?”

“Asleep. It’s all thanks to the continuous supply of soul-nourishing medicine these past few days that I was able to come out and see you.” “Lu Buzhu” sat down. Seeing various pastries on the table, he casually picked one up and put it in his mouth. His expression stiffened, and he furrowed his brow. 

“…Sickeningly sweet. By the way, did you know that the Sect Master of Kunlun Ruins has a sword?”

Shen Zhou glared at him, snatched away the pastry plate, and kicked the stool.

“Get up. He has a sword, what the hell does that have to do with me?”

“But that sword was a gift from Lu Buzhu, just like your silver clasp.” As soon as he finished speaking, he was satisfied to see Shen Zhou’s face darken. He then added with a grin, “My mistake, it was far more thoughtful than the silver clasp. He spent a year searching for rare materials and the world’s finest craftsmen, and even drew the pattern on the hilt himself, all to give his junior brother a gift on the day he formed his golden core.”

“…”

“Don’t you just want that Kunlun Ruins Sect Master to leave on his own? If something were to happen to that sword, he’d probably have to avoid Lu Buzhu at all costs.”

Shen Zhou remained silent, his expression grim. He nearly crushed the plate in his hands.

After a moment, he said, “I can’t get that sword.”

That Chu Xuan was a sword cultivator. The sword was the man; if the sword was destroyed, the man was destroyed.

Unless he went to Kunlun Ruins right now and cultivated his demonic arts to mastery, there was simply no chance of getting his hands on the other’s sword.

“I can,” “Lu Buzhu” said. 

“I’m his Senior Brother.”

Shen Zhou’s head snapped up.

“…Why are you helping me?” he said coldly. The cut on his wolf ear from the silver clasp stung even more sharply, almost overlapping with the notched wound from long ago, the pain causing his heart and fingertips to spasm. 

“Back then, you couldn’t wait to beat me to death.”

“Don’t say that. We’re both pitiful souls.” “Lu Buzhu” smiled, speaking nonchalantly. 

“I was trapped in the Bamboo Dwelling and couldn’t get out. Seeing you inevitably annoyed me, so I just hit you a few times. It’s not like you died. When it comes down to it, it’s all Lu Buzhu’s fault.”

He changed the subject. 

“But I do indeed need your help with something.”

“Not helping,” Shen Zhou refused.

“Just a small matter.” “Lu Buzhu’s” smile deepened. His gaze swept lightly over Shen Zhou’s face, oozing a sweet meaning, and his tone became even more similar to Lu Buzhu’s. 

“I quite like that pendant around your neck. Give it to me, won’t you?”

The wolf ears perked up alertly.

“This has a life-sharing curse on it. What do you want it for?” Shen Zhou clutched it through his robes, slapping away the hand that reached for him. His gaze grew colder. 

“Try to touch me again, and I’ll break your fingers one by one.”

“Lu Buzhu” shrugged, indicating he didn’t mind. It wasn’t his body, after all.

He then continued eagerly, “I’ll remove the life-sharing curse for you. Two favors in exchange for one pendant, how about it?”

“…” The offer was a bit too good to be true. Shen Zhou took out the pendant and looked at it. He couldn’t see anything special about it, but he still didn’t want to give it away. After a moment’s thought, he made a gambit to get something for nothing. 

“Get me the sword first.”

“That’s not difficult. As long as we find a way to make him consume more soul-nourishing elixirs, I’ll naturally have a chance to appear and get that sword for you.” “Lu Buzhu” winked at him, raised an index finger, and made a shushing gesture. 

“This is a secret between us. Don’t tell anyone else.”

Suddenly, his brows furrowed, as if fighting against something. A moment later, he stumbled back to the bed, fell down, and went to sleep.

Shen Zhou watched warily for a long while, then went over and pushed him. No reaction. He pushed again.

His wrist was suddenly grabbed. He looked up and met Lu Buzhu’s sleepy, hazy eyes, as gentle as the sea.

“Why are you standing there, feeling hot from sleeping?” he mumbled in a low, slurred voice, pulling the man into his arms. 

“You sleep, I’ll go open a window for some air.”

Shen Zhou was bundled messily into the quilt, a little dazed.

After a moment, he peeked his head out and watched Lu Buzhu, eyes half-closed, go to prop open the window. He then came back drowsily and casually stroked Shen Zhou’s ear.

Upon feeling the wound, his eyes snapped open, looking very nervous. 

“How did you hurt your ear?”

Shen Zhou: “.”

The softest part of his heart was unexpectedly touched, and a strange sense of guilt arose, as if the pent-up ferocity was momentarily swept aside, nearly letting the other see the不堪 ugliness hidden beneath.

Feeling a bit guilty, he wagged his wolf ears and had to pretend he couldn’t speak clearly. 

“Took it off, it bled.”

Lu Buzhu was instantly wide awake. He found the ointment, held Shen Zhou in his arms, and carefully applied a layer to the wound. Then he tugged gently at the wolf ear. 

“Where’s the silver clasp?”

Shen Zhou took it out.

Lu Buzhu ran a finger along the edge, then tested the clasping mechanism, looking slightly puzzled. 

“There are no flaws. I made it myself, how could it hurt your ear? Try putting it on again.”

The wolf ears perked up eagerly, ready to try.

Shen Zhou pressed his ears down and looked at him, not quite believing him. 

“You said, someone else made it.”

“Only the pattern was commissioned by Chu Xuan. Don’t you like it?” Lu Buzhu fiddled with it and removed the thin decorative plate. 

“How about this?”

Shen Zhou… Shen Zhou couldn’t hold back. He lowered his head and offered his ear.

The silver clasp once again covered the notch, making the wolf ear look whole and perfect, glinting with a beautiful silver light in the candlelight.

Shen Zhou looked in the mirror for a while and forgave Lu Buzhu a little more.

“Time for sleep.” Satisfied, he tucked the quilt in for his Dao Companion.

The candlelight in the room gradually dimmed.

Shen Zhou lay on his side on the bed. He couldn’t see Lu Buzhu’s face clearly, but he could feel that he was very close.

The two of them seemed to be trapped in a dark chaos, their breaths entwined, intimately close. The night wind and the chirping of insects were shut out, leaving a void filled only by each other.

Shen Zhou liked this.

No one else but the two of them. Not even the moonlight was allowed to shine in.

The longer he looked, the more he liked it. He propped himself up, cupped Lu Buzhu’s face, and repeatedly kissed him, making soft, wet sounds, like a wild beast devouring its prey in the dark.

…

A dark tide of demonic energy surged, silently engulfing his pupils, spurring an ever-greedier possessiveness that echoed in his mind like a curse.

He would break Chu Xuan’s sword and make it so Lu Buzhu could never see anyone else again.

The next day.

Just as Lu Buzhu was about to head out as usual, his sleeve was tugged from behind. He turned to see Shen Zhou.

“Together,” Shen Zhou said, full of pleading. 

“Dao Companion.”

His wolf ears were drooping pitifully.

Lu Buzhu was slightly surprised.

Ever since the porridge-splashing incident, he could feel a sinister gaze on his back every time he left.

When he turned to look, he would see the other’s face practically screaming, “Running out all day, who knows what shady business you’re up to,” “I’m just a little muddle-headed half-demon, there’s nothing I can do about you, anyway,” and “Go on, get out, and don’t you dare come back.”

“…”

Shen Zhou was definitely more at fault that day.

But he himself was also to blame, for letting Chu Xuan and Xie Xianqing into the courtyard and then failing to keep an eye on things. But how could he explain that… He could only pretend nothing had happened and coax his unhappy Dao Companion whenever he could.

Unfortunately, his Dao Companion was not receptive.

Today, Shen Zhou was finally willing to voice an opinion, which was a bittersweet development.

“You want to come along? I’m just going for treatment,” Lu Buzhu explained, pointing at the courtyard wall. 

“It’s right there. You can see it if you peek over the wall.”

Shen Zhou nodded.

“It’s boring over there. It’s just the two you hit last time.”

Shen Zhou continued to nod, very insistent.

“…If you must go, then you can only sit there. No misbehaving.”

“Okay.”

Lu Buzhu had always been helpless against a droopy-eared and obedient Shen Zhou, so he had no choice but to take him along.

Xie Xianqing was sterilizing his golden needles.

Hearing a noise, he turned his head, only to see a half-demon glaring at him with a ruthless expression. A chill immediately ran down his back, and he reached for the folding fan on the table.

Before he could make a move, the half-demon was dragged away.

“You can’t stare at the doctor, and you can’t touch anything randomly,” Lu Buzhu said. 

“Otherwise, you go back and wait.”

The half-demon retracted his fearsome gaze and found a stool to sit on.

Xie Xianqing: “…”

Xie Xianqing: “Did you know Chu Xuan isn’t here today and specifically brought him over to cause trouble? I’m warning you, if he takes the opportunity to hit me while you’re asleep later, I won’t go easy on him.”

“Shen Zhou won’t misbehave.” Lu Buzhu appeared completely confident in his Dao Companion. 

“That day was just an accident. He knows he was wrong.”

The words had barely left his mouth when a bottle of elixirs on the shelf clattered to the floor.

Both of them looked over.

Shen Zhou wagged his ears innocently. 

“An accident.”

While Lu Buzhu turned his gaze away, taking off his outer robe to lie on the fumigation bed, Xie Xianqing intended to clean up the porcelain shards on the floor.

The moment he squatted down and touched them, the shards were kicked.

He watched as the other man glanced at the scattered elixirs, stepped on them, and then stared back at him with that terrifying gaze. With a provocative lift of his brow, he pressed down with the tip of his shoe and slowly ground them to dust.

Xie Xianqing: “…”