“Old Xing Xing,” Seeing the Xing Xing, who was standing behind the arched door, Kang Gu arrived by the Xing Xing’s side within a few large steps. He said happily, “You’re fine?”
Back when the heavenly tribulation had struck them, old Xing Xing was the first to vanish under the lightning strikes and despite staying in the human world for such a long time, they still hadn’t found any of his traces. Seeing him alive and well now, the gigantic stone in his heart could finally be put to rest.
The Xing Xing and Kang Gu were the earliest to get to know each other. Kang Gu was gullible and had a simple personality, so he was frequently deceived by the other little yaoguai. Only after getting to know the Xing Xing was Kang Gu spared from the fate of constantly being deceived. The Xing Xing was quick but not adept at offensive technique. Coupled with the fact that his flesh was considered by yao cultivators to be a huge source of nourishment, he frequently adopted a policy of fleeing whenever he encountered overly violent yao beasts. This situation finally stabilized after he got to know Kang Gu and Feng Ruizhong.
Both Kang Gu and Feng Ruizhong disliked working their brains, while he was a more dependable and careful yao. So when they were together, their personalities complemented one another well. Now that the Xing Xing was seeing these two people yet again spouting brainless words, he was in a complete state of helplessness yet not at all surprised.
“I was worried that you brainless people would be sold off without me, so I had no choice but to live on well,” The Xing Xing smiled, clapping Kang Gu and Feng Ruizhong on the shoulder. All emotions were in the words unspoken.
The Baize strode out of the inner rooms. Seeing the Xing Xing standing together with Kang Gu and Feng Ruizhong, he took off his glasses and made his way over to the three yao. He said with a gentle smile, “You’re back?”
“I’m back.”
“Let’s go,” Fu Li tugged on Zhuang Qing’s sleeve, shooting him a meaningful glance.
The two juniors detoured around the elders and went to the flower garden at the back. Fu Li dragged Zhuang Qing to a seat, took out food and drinks from his Qiankun pouch, and then told Zhuang Qing, “The elders are on very good terms, they would frequently gather in the past to drink tea and wine, and discuss cultivation. Now that they’ve reunited, they must have many things to say.”
Everyone had their own secrets, whether it was an elder or a junior. Fu Li felt that he ought to give the elders their personal space.
Zhuang Qing took a snack, and it was Fu Li’s favorite flavor at that. Fu Li stared at the snack packaging in his hands and rubbed his chin in an effort to make himself appear extremely generous, as if he didn’t mind in the slightest.
“Eat,” Zhuang Qing tore open the packaging and held it out to Fu Li’s mouth.
“You’re not angry at me anymore?” Fu Li stared at the snack, not quite daring to eat.
“Will you not dare to eat if I’m angry?” Zhuang Qing raised a brow.
Fu Li lowered his head and took a bite. “I will. I dare to eat anything you feed me.”
Fu Li’s human form was very easy on the eyes. The way he lowered his head to eat was extremely cute to Zhuang Qing. He stroked the back of Fu Li’s head, sighing. Since he took a fancy to such a simple-minded yaoguai, what else could he do other than treat him well?
“I’ll go to my room and change my clothes,” Zhuang Qing threw the snack wrapper into the rubbish bin and got up. “I ran into Wang Liang today, his bad luck got on me.”
Fu Li stared blankly. Hadn’t dark yaoguai like Wang Liang long been sealed? Why was it still running to the human world to do evil? His gaze fixed on Zhuang Qing’s back, Fu Li secretly fished out his phone.
As everyone already knew his online name, he specially chose to go anonymous before running over to the forum to raise a question.
Nameless Netizen: Question – if there is such a thing as past and present lives, your boyfriend liked you in his past life and did many things for you, but you still didn’t like him. In this life, you finally get together, but when you do, your boyfriend finds out that someone in your past life liked you very much. You say that you have no feelings towards the person in your past life in front of your boyfriend. But all of a sudden, your boyfriend discovers that the person in your past life is him and even asks you if you really had no feelings towards the person in your past life. How would you reply to make him happy?
Beany Beancurd: OP, reading a little less mythology-related works will be of benefit to your IQ.
Qingke Barley Wine: The person upstairs went a bit overboard. OP already said ‘if’, although there is no such ‘if’ in this world. On the surface, this problem is very easy to resolve. For them to be involved with each other in both past and present lives, they must have quite the affinity. But on closer thought, this is actually a question that is sure to get one killed. If OP said that he had feelings for the boyfriend in his past life, then the boyfriend will feel that you’re treating him as a substitute. But if OP said that he didn’t, the boyfriend will feel that you’re very heartless despite his past self doing so much for you and question whether or not you truly love him. I’ve thought about it very deeply. OP, you’d better act coquettishly to your boyfriend. Ask him who he’ll save if you and his mom fall into the water.
Nameless Netizen. My boyfriend’s mother passed away a long time ago. I’m a guy and don’t know how to act coquettishly.
25 Cent Apple: OP, ignore Beancurd. Although, OP, I do think that you have quite the wild imagination to be applying this situation to yourself. There is no way such a thing will ever happen, but on account that it isn’t easy for people of the same gender to be together, I’ll help the OP answer this illogical question. Firstly, nothing cannot be resolved by papapa. If it can’t, then papapa twice. Humans have to live in the present. Only fools would allow illusory things like past lives to affect their happiness in this life.
Nameless Netizen. What’s papapa? A kind of game?
Long Wind Floating Past: The deadly earnest OP is very cute. Papapa refers to a type of athletic game on the bed, one of the most harmonious human exercises that benefits both the country and the people. It’s also a huge contribution towards our race’s reproduction.
But mating…
Zhuang Qing came out after changing his clothes. Seeing that Fu Li was still playing with his phone, he rapped the desk. “Stop playing with your phone and accompany me to the meal room to cook.”
He was wearing black pants, his upper body clothed in a white shirt and his sleeves rolled up slightly. There was a kind of languid male beauty about him. Fu Li licked the corners of his lips, suddenly feeling some anticipation towards the great harmonious activity of a race.
“Hungry?” Zhuang Qing sighed after noticing him lick his lips. “Forget it, you sit here and snack, I’ll cook.”
Watching Zhuang Qing walk off, Fu Li stood up and embraced Zhuang Qing by the waist. “Zhuang little dragon.”
“What’s wrong?” Zhuang Qing patted the arm wrapped around his waist. “Don’t make a fuss, do you still want to eat?”
“We’re yao cultivators, skipping a meal is fine.” Fu Li spoke softly into his ear, “Let’s mate.”
Zhuang Qing stared blankly. A long while later, he turned to look at him. “Feeling guilty because of what happened in the past?”
Fu Li: …
How was he still able to link it to past lives?
“You…” Zhuang Qing sighed helplessly. Hugging Fu Li, he pecked him on the forehead. “Don’t think too much. I’m not angry and I don’t blame you. I’ll go cook, you sit here first for a while, I’ll be done very soon.”
Fu Li: …
Nameless Netizen: I’ve tried it. My boyfriend said he’s not angry and doesn’t blame me, but he’s still not willing to papapa with me.
Qingke Barley Wine: There’s only one truth – your boyfriend’s having an affair.
25 Cent Apple: To be unwilling even to papapa, OP’s boyfriend must either still be angry or have another man or woman outside. OP, you’d… better keep watch.
Beany Beancurd: Do those few upstairs have a functioning brain? Such an obvious green post and you’re still replying to it?
Nameless Netizen: Green post? I’m using black-colored words.
Beany Beancurd: To not even know what a green post means, is OP a villager who just discovered the internet, or is he pretending to be pure?
Long Wind Floating Past: OP, Beancurd is saying that you made this post to cheat others.
Nameless Netizen: Everything I said is the truth. Why is everyone saying that he has someone else outside? I’m with him every day and never discovered anything off about him.
Beany Beancurd: OP is a fool. When men want to cheat, they will be able to find a way even if you’re with them 24 hours.
After mentions of cheating, a clandestine love affair, and whatnot were brought up, the post that originally had few replies suddenly became very lively. Many netizens popped out to share their personal experiences on how they had discovered their partner cheating, broadening Fu Li’s horizons in the process.
Despite how short human lifespans were, they went quite far when it came to being disloyal to their partners.
In the end, the conclusion was that the OP’s boyfriend was clearly picking a quarrel. He was having an affair and still used this sort of absurd reason to condemn the OP. He was quite plainly the world’s most unrivaled scum man. The OP was also brainless, since he believed such words and regarded a trash man as treasure. How base.
Fu Li: …
How exactly had things progressed to this stage?
He kept his phone and made his way to the meal room. Zhuang Qing was in the middle of killing fish; the sparkling and translucent slices of fish nearly arranged on bamboo leaves on a plate made for a beautiful sight. Fu Li moved to Zhuang Qing’s side. “You really don’t need my help?”
Zhuang Qing stuffed a small piece of fried fish into Fu Li’s mouth, putting down the vegetable knife. “It’s fine, I’ll be done soon.”
“Oh,” Fu Li carried a small bowl of deep-fried fish to the steps outside and sat down. Listening to the sounds of chopping vegetables and stir-frying, Fu Li thought about how the netizens had said that Zhuang Qing might be having an affair outside, and the deep-fried fish in his mouth instantly lost all taste.
Zhuang Qing came out after finishing cooking and was surprised that Fu Li hadn’t touched much of the fish in his bowl. “Why aren’t you eating?”
Fu Li stuffed the bowl back into Zhuang Qing’s hands. “It’s turned cold and tastes bad.”
“They slipped your mind while you were playing with your phone?” Zhuang Qing swapped the bowl for a new one, filling it with freshly-fried fish. “Come, eat while it’s hot.”
Fu Li accepted the bowl, the soles of his shoes rubbing a good few times against the sides of the stairs. “Zhuang little dragon, you’re having an affair?”
“What?” Zhuang Qing didn’t hear him clearly.
“I asked whether you’re having an affair!” The soles of his shoes rubbed even faster.
Zhuang Qing hadn’t expected Fu Li to have such a misunderstanding. “What’s inside your head? One of you is capable of coming out on top of a hundred third persons. Fu Li, don’t have reckless thoughts, you’re the only one I like. This was the case in the past, it still is the case now, and it will continue to be the case in the future.”
“Since you’re not having an affair, then why do you not want to mate with me?” Fu Li slammed the bowl on the ground, saying aggressively, “I don’t believe you.”
Zhuang Qing rolled down his sleeves, looking at Fu Li’s deliberately provocative manner with a straight face. “Where did you learn to act like this?”
The female lead and her boyfriend in yesterday’s dog blood drama seemed to have also argued in this way?
“I’m expressing the fury in my heart!” Fu Li jabbed Zhuang Qing’s waist. “Got it? Fury.”
“Got it,” Zhuang Qing took off the scarf around his waist, erected a heat-preservation barrier in the kitchen, and then stooped over, picking Fu Li up and heading towards the palace hall.
“Why are you carrying me upside down? It’s uncomfortable.”
“Are we going to mate?”
“Shut up!”
“Then I’ll change my wording, are we going to papapa?”
“…”
With a kick of Zhuang Qing’s foot, the door swung open. He tossed Fu Li onto the bed and peeled off his shirt.
“Wait, I don’t seem to know how to do it, do you?” Fu Li sat up on the bed, his brows furrowed. He was the picture of anxiety. “Zhuang little dragon, why don’t we research first?”
Zhuang Qing smiled coldly. What research was there to be done at such a time?
The setting sun shone onto the window frame, its golden rays of light penetrating the window. The spring wind swept past, and the tree branches in the yard shook slightly, emitting rustling sounds.
Again and again, seemingly unstoppable.
“The sky’s turned dark,” Kang Gu, who was currently immersed in conversation, looked up. “Why have no female attendants come to get us to eat today?”
The Baize: “Little Zhuang and Little Li may be busy with something, I’ll go take a look at the kitchen.” He glanced in the direction of the bedrooms thoughtfully.
On this night, neither Zhuang Qing nor Fu Li appeared even after the elders retrieved the food from the meal room and finished their meal.
“Little Zhuang and Fu Li couldn’t have quarreled, right?” Kang Gu was extremely worried. “If I’d known that Little Zhuang would see those things about Little Li’s past in the Recollection Mirror, I would have gotten old Fenghuang to close off the mirror.”
Feng Ruizhong sat at the table, looking somewhat dispirited.
“No wonder you told Little Zhuang something about Fu Li having no feelings towards Bo Lian the moment we came back,” The Xing Xing sighed. His head felt like it was aching. “But do you guys know that Zhuang Qing was Bo Lian in his past life?”
“What?” Kang Gu and Feng Ruizhong simultaneously received this bolt out of the blue. Even the Baize revealed a flabbergasted look. He asked in disbelief, “Zhuang Qing is Bo Lian?”
Given heavenly law’s usual way of handling things, how could it have allowed Little Li and Zhuang Qing to meet if Zhuang Qing was Bo Lian?
“I’ve seen Little Zhuang’s past, he was Bo Lian in his past life,” The Xing Xing was silent for a moment. He said in a very complex tone of voice, “Zhuang Qing paid too huge a price for this emotion.”
He might not have seen all of Zhuang Qing’s past, but to a young yao, the things Zhuang Qing had encountered in this life were all painful.
If he hadn’t lingered in the underworld for eighty years in his past life, how could Zhuang Qing have encountered all this in his current life?