When Su Yang managed to complete the breakthrough of Half Withered Red’s third level, it had been twenty-seven days since Gu Feidi was poisoned.

During this period of time, Gu Feidi’s condition went from bad to worse and he kept coughing up blood for the next few days. Fortunately, he could still eat, he was still pretty clear-headed and he still could sit at the table and write as usual.

The Cold Pond Ice Spirit in Su Yang’s body had erupted again when he achieved a breakthrough in the second level of the technique, causing him to lose consciousness for a long time. Gu Feidi was then tortured by Gu poison until his face turned pale when he used his internal strength to help him warm up.

Fortunately, everything was within control and no more troublesome instances occurred.

Su Yang returned to the stone chamber; his entire person suffused with a chilly aura and he sat down facing Gu Feidi.

The brush in Gu Feidi’s hand paused and a cloud of ink smeared the paper but he didn’t seem to notice anything. He lowered his eyes as usual and asked: “Broken though?”

“Mmm, broken though.” Su Yang nodded. “So, mmm…, when do we start detoxifying?”

Gu Feidi put down his brush and raised his eyes to look at Su Yang: “If you are willing, anytime is good.”

Su Yang coughed lightly, pretending to be calm: “Then, as soon as possible. Sooner is better than later… to avoid any mishaps.”

“Alright.” Gu Feidi’s expression was calm and did not reveal any feelings.

The atmosphere was strangely awkward and both were silent for a while. Su Yang got up first, moved to Gu Feidi’s side and sat down next to him.

He licked his lips unconsciously, trying to suppress the inexplicable anxiety in his heart and turned his head to look at Gu Feidi.

Gu Feidi also looked over, the pupils in his eyes reflected the glow of the fire, appearing more and more unfathomable.

This look made Su Yang even more nervous.

“You—you, you don’t look at me like that. Close your eyes!” He said fiercely, “Don’t open them!”

Gu Feidi chuckled and obediently closed his eyes.

Su Yang tentatively moved forward and tried several times but still couldn’t bring himself to kiss Gu Feidi’s lips.

He gnawed his nails in irritation and thought: It shouldn’t be aa, previously under Jade Mirror Pond, there was really no psychological pressure to give Gu Feidi artificial respiration. Why can’t I do it now? Could it be…?

Could it be that there are too many bright lights around?

Yes, it must be because the cave in Jade Mirror Pond was completely dark and there was no great psychological pressure like this.”

With this thought, Su Yang said, “Wei, let’s change the place… mmm, change the place to detoxify.”

Gu Feidi opened his eyes suspiciously. Seeing Su Yang’s confused face, he couldn’t help but laugh: “What is it?”

Su Yang kept a straight face, “It’s too bright here. I look at you and I can’t do it.”

Gu Feidi’s eyes darkened and he asked in a low voice, “You…… can’t accept being with a man……?”

“Nonono, that’s not it.” Su Yang immediately denied. “Yes, it’s…… just a little nervous, mmm, afraid you can’t accept it, hehehe……”

Gu Feidi asked: “Originally under Jade Mirror Pond, were you also this hesitant?”

Su Yang’s neck was firm, “There was no light in the cave, so I wasn’t nervous!”

Gu Feidi smiled and shook his head, stood up and said, “Well, let’s go to the stone block room.”

Su Yang stood up silently and followed behind Gu Feidi into the archway where the Half Withered Red stone block was placed.

After turning past two stone wall corners, they came to a spot which was pitch black all around.

Gu Feidi said, “Good, there is no light here, it’s fine.”

Su Yang swallowed and raised his hand to find Gu Feidi’s position.

His arm touched a piece of clothing and then, his fingertips were held by a warm palm, leading them to Gu Feidi’s soft cheek.

It was dark and silent all around. All they could hear was each other’s breathing steadily increasing.

Su Yang thought he would be calmer when he couldn’t see Gu Feidi, but he didn’t expect that he would even be more nervous after changing locations; so nervous that his throat was a little dry and he couldn’t speak.

Gu Feidi let go of Su Yang’s fingers, followed his breath and held his cheek with his palm.

Su Yang dodged for a moment, attempting to regain his initiative: “You, you don’t be so nervous, just detoxify, that’s all.”

Gu Feidi smiled: “I’m not nervous.”

Su Yang said: “It’s nothing, really, you should just treat it as if you’re drinking a bowl of medicine.”

Gu Feidi said, “No matter, come on.”

Su Yang said to himself: “If you can’t accept it, after detoxifying, you can—”

Before he could finish, Su Yang felt Gu Feidi’s palm holding his cheek moved to support his nape.

Soon afterwards, he exerted a gentle force that made Su Yang lean forward.

Immediately, a passionate breath approached and he felt two warm, soft things pressing onto his lips.

Su Yang only sensed a burst of numbness, a tingling rush from his heart which instantly gushed into his limbs, as if something strange had opened a gate and his whole body was submerged in the midst of an indescribably stormy sea.

This is a kiss.

This thought emerged in Su Yang’s mind.

This is not a detoxification, not treating an illness or saving a life.

This is just…… simple and pure……

A kiss.

The dark space was quiet all around.

All the senses are concentrated in one place, breaths lingered and lips were pressed against each other.

It was as if there was only this square inch of space left in the entire universe.

A shallow kiss, a light peck.

Gu Feidi quickly retreated.

After a moment of silence, he whispered, “So, there’s no harm.”

Su Yang: “…oh.”

Gu Feidi let out another light laugh.

“Then, detoxify,” Su Yang toughened himself and said calmly, “Come on.”

After speaking, he didn’t hesitate, holding Gu Feidi’s cheeks, he raised his lips.

It wasn’t until the tip of his tongue entered Gu Feidi’s mouth that he lingered around for a while and Su Yang vaguely realised that he seemed to have forgotten something.

Suddenly, Su Yang shuddered and pushed Gu Feidi away.

“What is it…?” Gu Feidi asked.

Su Yang was silent for a long time, then let out a sigh, “…blood on the tip of the tongue—we forgot.”

For a while, no one spoke.

At that moment, Gu Feidi laughed and immediately began laughing uncontrollably until he couldn’t stop. His forehead pressed against Su Yang’s shoulder and he rested his whole body on him.

At first, Su Yang was a little embarrassed by his laughter, then he unknowingly raised the corners of his mouth and laughed along with Gu Feidi.

After laughing for a while, Su Yang pushed away Gu Feidi who was lying on his shoulders and said, “Okay, detoxify the poison, quit fooling around.”

Gu Feidi did not answer for a long time.

Su Yang urged: “Did you hear me? Are you ready? Have you already nipped your tongue?”

After a long silence, Gu Feidi said, “…There is one more thing.”

Su Yang: “Say it.”

Gu Feidi mumbled to himself for a moment and asked in a serious tone, “You are sure that after you’ve suppressed the Gu poison with Half Withered Red, you can find a way to completely eliminate it?”

He had asked this question several times.

Su Yang rolled his eyes in the dark and flattened his mouth: “Then what if I’m not sure?”

Gu Feidi said: “If you cannot be sure, I won’t transfer the blood Gu to you.”

Suppressing the tremor in his heart, Su Yang snorted pretentiously, “You said you trust me, but now you ask this and that. You really trust me or was that fake trust aaa?”

Gu Feidi didn’t answer this question, but he said in a low voice: “If you need to exchange your life with mine, I… would have no meaning to go on living.”

Su Yang opened his mouth but was speechless for a long time…

In the end, he released a soft sigh: “Don’t worry, I am not that noble to use my own life to save you. I am sure that there is a way to completely get rid of the Gu poison on the southwest Snow Mountain. But to get rid of the Gu worm, we must first suppress it, so I will bring you back first. When I extradite the Gu worm into my body, I will immediately go to the Snow Mountain to eliminate it.” 

There was another moment of silence, Gu Feidi said, “Then, I will accompany you there.”

Su Yang thought about it. The story arc of seeking the doctor on Snow Mountain was originally undertaken by the protagonist and heroine after detoxification. Since he had hijacked the heroine’s storyline to detoxify Gu Feidi’s poison, then… it seemed there’s nothing wrong if Gu Feidi goes with him to Snow Mountain to seek the doctor.

So he said, “Okay, let’s go together.”

Having reached a consensus, the two repeatedly confirmed the process of extradition of the blood Gu. Only then did they nip the tips of their tongues and press their lips and tongue tips together.

The smell of blood suddenly filled their breaths, but neither flinched. They entwined each other with wounds, feeling a light but sharp pain.

Su Yang drove his internal strength in accordance with the Half Withered Red technique and began to saturate along the route to extradite the blood Gu.

After a few breaths, Gu Feidi’s breathing suddenly paused and he became a little unstable. He was sometimes anxious, sometimes relaxed, as if he was enduring great pain. As soon as Su Yang wanted to retreat, he was tightly embraced by Gu Feidi who held him at the back of his head.

His fingertips wrote a word on Su Yang’s back: ‘Gu.’ 

Su Yang understood that Gu Feidi was using internal strength to urge the blood Gu to move up. This process was undoubtedly extremely painful, but it was a necessary experience to extradite the Gu poison and couldn’t be avoided. 

So he wrapped his hand around Gu Feidi’s waist and patted lightly on his back twice to comfort him.

In no time at all, the blood Gu moved to where their tongue tips were joined. Following the mingled blood on the tongue tips, following the scent of Su Yang’s internal strength, it slowly penetrated into the wound on the tip of Su Yang’s tongue.

“Mmmph!” Su Yang shuddered abruptly. His hand that was on Gu Feidi’s back instinctively grasped Gu Feidi’s clothing as he shivered in pain.

Gu Feidi subconsciously wanted to push Su Yang away and interrupt the process, but Su Yang pinched the back of his head and forcefully held him in place.

The degree of pain was beyond Su Yang’s expectations. He didn’t make any provisions for this; cold sweat dripped to the ground.

The internal strength cycle paused slightly and the Gu worm which was squirming in the tongue suddenly stopped. For a moment, it seemed to be retreating.

Su Yang let out a muffled groan from his throat, his tears streaming out uncontrollably. But he did not relax in the slightest, still stubbornly sustaining against the tip of Gu Feidi’s tongue and continuing to run his internal strength—the more the delay, the longer the pain would last and if it fell short, he would have to endure pain again. He understood this theory.

Gu Feidi moved his lips but since it was inconvenient to speak, he began to hum through his nose the song that Su Yang taught him to comfort him. His hands slowly stroked Su Yang’s back, as if to reassure a kitten, gently but full of power.

Finally, the blood Gu separated itself from Gu Feidi’s body and completely penetrated into Su Yang’s body.

Gu Feidi sucked slightly on Su Yang’s lips, withdrew his arms, hugged him tightly and said softly, “So, it still counts as ‘sharing joy and suffering’……”

The Gu worm completely entered Su Yang’s body. It was enveloped by the extremely cold internal strength and suppressed by the Cold Pond Ice Spirit from the side, so it couldn’t churn out any more onslaughts.

Su Yang energy was almost exhausted as he leaned on Gu Feidi’s body, rubbing the tears that had been forced out onto his shoulder. He exhaled heavily and complained: “It hurts! Where’s the ‘shared joy’, clearly there’s only ‘shared suffering’!”

Gu Feidi smiled and raised his hand to wipe away the sweat dripping from Su Yang’s forehead.

He finger followed down Su Yang’s cheek, gently lifted his chin and kissed him softly again.

Their lips were separated for a long time.

Gu Feidi whispered, “But… I’ll gladly endure this suffering…”