TSMITB Chapter38

Sheng Qixiao watched what he was doing with his brows lifting ever so slightly as though faintly confused.

“Before you came back, I hammered a nail into the outer wall and hung it outside.” Shen Que explained through obvious reluctance, his tone thick with tightly restrained impatience, each word sounding as though it had been forced out between clenched teeth.

Sheng Qixiao was silent for a moment, then slowly walked to the window, followed the direction Shen Que pointed, and peered out. Sure enough, he saw the black backpack hanging tightly against the wall. He turned his head, his gaze drifting unhurriedly back to Shen Que. Taking in his claws-bared demeanor with quiet amusement, he rested a hand on the windowsill and leaned half his body against it. His entire being exuded the lazy, satisfied satiety of someone who had just eaten their fill.

“Then now,” Sheng Qixiao deliberately stretched out each syllable, a trace of amusement lacing his tone. Lowering his gaze, his eyes subtly swept over Shen Que’s hand pressed against his lower back before he asked at an unhurried pace, “Are you going to go get it yourself?”

His long hair lay in disarray across his chest, veiling a broad stretch of pale skin. His cheeks and neck were covered with overlapping finger marks and bruises, almost winding all the way beneath his clothing. Whether he was in discomfort or overwhelmed by pleasure, Shen Que never held back from leaving marks on him, and he had bitten him more than a few times as well; teeth marks nearly covered the entirety of his forearm.

Shen Que had been secretly watching Sheng Qixiao. As their eyes met for a second, his cheeks immediately felt somewhat hot. If it had been in the past, he would never have felt the slightest bit embarrassed by these marks or this ambiguous gaze. But now, looking at Sheng Qixiao’s calm and composed expression as if nothing had happened, as though he had not been the one who lost control earlier, threatening him with his comrade’s life, and now even daring to tease him.

A surge of nameless anger instantly shot up. He knew Sheng Qixiao was doing it on purpose by deliberately laughing at him. He immediately glared back fiercely, “Stop pretending.” His gaze swept over the mask quietly lying on the table. Shen Que took three steps forward and, in a gesture of defiance, swept it onto the floor. The mask struck the floor with a sharp clatter, but he still felt it wasn’t enough, so he lifted his foot and viciously kicked it away. It skidded a long distance across the floor before finally coming to a stop against the door panel.

His anger had found an outlet, but the force of that wide kick tugged painfully at the soreness and lingering ache in his rear. Shen Que instantly drew a sharp breath. The pain in his rear mixed with the humiliation in his heart, making his face look extremely awful. Yet he stubbornly endured it, unwilling to let Sheng Qixiao notice even the slightest hint, so he could only crane his neck stiffly and put on a bold front, “Can you hurry up?”

He turned his head aside to stare out at the still-thick night beyond the window. Clenching his teeth hard, he could no longer force out a single word.

A breeze from outside streamed in, bringing with it the distinctive chill of the early morning hours, scattering the faint lingering ambiguity between them in an instant, which was immediately replaced by a sharp, tense confrontation—Shen Que’s unilateral one.

Sheng Qixiao said nothing, only observing in silence, his gaze slowly drifting over Shen Que’s faintly trembling shoulders, the reddened corners of his eyes, and that fully ignited, desperate, almost bristling state he was in. A wicked pleasure secretly rose in his heart.

Sheng Qixiao got what he wanted, but he showed no intention of leaving at all. Instead, he sat directly on the edge of the bed before placing the mahogany box casually on the low cabinet beside him, displaying it clearly right in front of Shen Que.

“When exactly are you going?” Shen Que urged him ceaselessly; the anxiety in his heart made him restless.

Sheng Qixiao remained completely unmoved, slowly and methodically gathering his long hair in front of him, combing his fingers through the strands and occasionally smoothing them back into place.

Just as Shen Que started to guess whether he was hinting for him to braid his hair, he spoke nonchalantly.

“I can’t go out without a mask.”

“Isn’t the mask right there?” Shen Que pointed to the mask he had kicked to the door, his anger almost erupting again. “What are you going crazy about now?!”

“My mask is on the table, not on the floor.”

“……” Shen Que took a deep breath. He desperately told himself to calm down, not to get angry again and not to give him any more room to make an issue out of nothing. Sheng Qixiao’s current calmness was only superficial; inside, he had already gone mad and became unreasonable. A mad mind was simply irreversible!

Shen Que clenched his teeth, forcing himself to endure the discomfort in his rear as he bent down to gather the masks scattered in two places, and, with extreme reluctance, carefully stacked them into a neat pile on the tabletop. “Now! Is that okay?!”

Only then did Sheng Qixiao nod condescendingly, even with a hint of approval. “Next time you get angry, remember to keep it in check.” He paused, letting his gaze deliberately sweep over Shen Que’s rigid posture. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Hehe.” Shen Que laughed out of extreme anger, only feeling that this person was completely sick. “Since when does the chief culprit have the right to lecture people?”

Sheng Qixiao thought seriously for two seconds. “It seems I truly don’t. However, I don’t recall saying that I would let them go though?”

“You!” Shen Que choked, almost unable to catch his breath. He hadn’t actually directly promised anything, it seemed. “But you… we already…” He was left speechless; was everything that had happened only moments ago, that chaotic closeness between them, still not enough to count as an exchange? He couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“Come here.” Sheng Qixiao patted the bed beside him, his voice not loud. “Can you still stand?”

“Stop changing the subject. What do you mean? Are you toying with me?” Shen Que remained motionless. Just as Sheng Qixiao understood him, he naturally knew that Sheng Qixiao wanted to start using a policy of appeasement to trick him into submission.

The clothes on Shen Que were a size too large for him; they were Sheng Qixiao’s and now hung unsuitably on him. The collar was slightly big, exposing his collarbone and the mottled marks on his chest. The blustering anger in his voice sounded completely unthreatening to Sheng Qixiao’s ears.

“How could I bear to toy with you? Come here, okay?”

Shen Que had originally steeled himself to stand his ground and confront him, but after what could only be described as a rather strenuous “equestrian” ordeal, he simply lacked the strength to hold out; the physical exertion had been far too much. He stood stiffly for less than two minutes before his body’s protests took over. Finally, resignedly, and with a heart full of resentment, he moved over and sat on the edge of the bed, deliberately maintaining a distance from Sheng Qixiao.

“What exactly do you want?”

“I said, it’s not enough. All of this is far from enough.”

“Then what exactly is enough!” Shen Que abruptly turned to glare at him, his eyes filled with unrestrained fury and a trace of imperceptible panic. “You tell me, what exactly do you want?”

“I want you.” Sheng Qixiao’s gaze fixed on Shen Que.

“Didn’t we just already……”

“I want your person, your heart. I want you to stay with me forever. I want you to remain here.” Sheng Qixiao braced his palm on the bed and leaned slightly forward. “Is that clear enough?”

Shen Que’s expression changed as he gripped the bedding beside him. Sheng Qixiao’s words were like a bolt from the blue welding him to the spot.

He knew Sheng Qixiao liked him, and he thought he, at most, just wanted to sleep with him, but he never expected that he would actually want him to stay in this remote mountain forever.

He couldn’t describe the feeling in his heart at the moment. His heart hadn’t known a moment of ease this entire night.

After that muddled ceremony, Sheng Qixiao led him, step by step, from the high platform into the crowd.

Separated by the cold mask, and amid the deafening drums and clamorous human voices, Shen Que could distinctly feel his own heartbeat, slightly beyond his control. He saw genuine, burning affection in Sheng Qixiao’s eyes, and he also knew that, deep down in his heart, he was not entirely resistant.

He wasn’t without hesitation. He was fully aware of Sheng Qixiao’s deception and concealment, but wasn’t he guilty of the very same thing as well?

So, when Sheng Qixiao asked him again what wish he had that the Spirit of Nature would surely grant him, he even impulsively considered letting the deception and concealment between them cancel each other out. Should he risk believing him just once by telling him the truth, and asking for his help? Or if he was willing… to take him away from E’yun Mountain.

But before he could sort out his chaotic thoughts, the side hall caught fire.

“If I don’t agree, then you won’t release them?”

Sheng Qixiao stood up without warning and, disregarding Shen Que’s resistance, pulled him into his arms, then gently placed him in the middle of the bed and covered him with the quilt.

“What right do you still have to disagree?” Sheng Qixiao sighed at Shen Que’s naivety at this moment. After a brief silence, he “kindly” offered Shen Que a suggestion, “Or, you could choose to lie to me.”

“I just need to hear you say that you are willing to stay and never leave me.”

Shen Que fell silent as he leaned against the headboard, his face blank and his thoughts unreadable. He didn’t believe Sheng Qixiao’s words, yet seeing the sky already turning a pale white, after hesitating until the very last moment, he finally forced his mouth open with difficulty, vaguely voicing the lie that both of them understood all too well, “As long as you let them go, I am willing to stay and accompany you forever.”

Sheng Qixiao took his hand and took out a small jar of ointment from nowhere before carefully applying it to his palm.

In a moment, the faint purple marks left by the venom completely disappeared.

“Although I did say your acting isn’t good, you could at least pretend a little,” Sheng Qixiao sighed with a hint of helplessness. “Saying it so reluctantly makes things difficult for me too.” Sheng Qixiao returned Shen Que’s hand before tucking it under the quilt. “However, I will let them go.”

“Thank you.” Shen Que spoke in a low voice.

Sheng Qixiao smiled, “That sentence actually makes me much happier. Someone will bring them back later.”

“But I am actually very jealous.” Sheng Qixiao still had a smile on his face, but his words were chilling. “Those three, are unimportant people, yet you are willing to make a deal like this with me for their sake.”

He leaned in closer, his breath lightly brushing against Shen Que’s cheek, and pointed at his own chest with a hint of distress. “My heart is very sad.”

Shen Que looked at him, the earlier anger already faded into a kind of numb calmness: “It was you who forced me to choose this path, you were the one who made those demands, you’re the one coercing me.”

“It’s you who doesn’t trust me, Shen Que.” Sheng Qixiao slowly blinked, seeming a little aggrieved. “I gave you a choice.”

“Enough! What’s the point of arguing about this now? Do two liars really need to decide who’s better than the other?”

Sheng Qixiao hummed, quickly agreeing with Shen Que’s statement, “You are right. In that case, don’t we suit each other perfectly?”

“When can they return?” Shen Que lowered his eyes to avoid looking at him.

“Soon.” Sheng Qixiao stood up, his shadow looming over him. “I will be very busy for the next while. Be obedient and stay in the small building, okay?”

Shen Que shook his head with a hint of provocation, “What if I say no?”

Sheng Qixiao didn’t answer. He simply reached his hand under the quilt, accurately grasping Shen Que’s ankle. The next second, a cold sensation swept over him, and Shen Que immediately tried to pull his leg back. Sheng Qixiao didn’t force him either, simply letting go, then turned to pick up the mask and handed it over. “Help me put it on.”

Sheng Qixiao bent down and brought his face closer. The slap mark had faded, leaving only a very shallow trace. Shen Que didn’t refuse. He sat up and reached out, placing the mask over Sheng Qixiao’s face, hiding all of his expressions beneath it.

At the threshold between day and night, light and darkness could not be fully distinguished. The faint, ambiguous glow fell unevenly across the mask, lending it a chilling, unsettling air.

The eyes behind the mask stared unblinking at Shen Que, a slowly gathering vortex deep within them as if it were gradually consuming the person in front of him.

It wasn’t until Sheng Qixiao’s footsteps completely disappeared outside the door that Shen Que dared to lift the quilt and look at the spot that had just been held.

A thin silver chain was tied there, and a small bell was attached to the chain. Whenever he moved, the bell chimed.

He studied it for a long time, but no matter how hard he pulled, the silver chain wouldn’t budge. In the end, he could only give in, lying back in resignation, allowing the sound of the bell to follow him like a lingering shadow.