Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Bian Feibai had twisted his ankle, making it difficult to move.
When he needed the bathroom in the middle of the night, he looked at Zuo Qingquan asleep on the single bed opposite him. In the end, he was too embarrassed to trouble him again. Gritting his teeth, he sat up and prepared to get down. The moment his foot touched the floor, a piercing pain shot through his ankle, making him suck in a sharp breath.
It was not loud, but Zuo Qingquan’s eyes still flew open.
His clear gaze gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight. “Where are you going?”
Bian Feibai froze, then scratched his head in embarrassment. “Did I wake you?”
Zuo Qingquan did not answer. He repeated, “Where are you going?”
“The bathroom.”
“I’ll help you.” Zuo Qingquan sat up and walked over.
Bian Feibai felt inexplicably awkward, but then he thought: what was strange about two grown men going to the bathroom together? Girls always went in groups. They never seemed embarrassed.
With that thought, he immediately accepted the help without guilt. He grasped Zuo Qingquan’s lean but sturdy wrist and used it to stand, his mouth still taking liberties. “Little Quanzi, how could this dowager ever live without you?”
“True. Without me, you would never have become Empress Dowager Cixi.”
“…I’m not playing that gutless old hag! History had plenty of empress dowagers. Couldn’t you pick a more impressive one for me?”
Zuo Qingquan was speechless. “Do you still need the bathroom or not?”
“I do, I do. Much obliged, Brother Quan.”
Although the courtyard was built in a historical style, it contained plenty of modern facilities, including bathrooms. This was not an archaeological ruin, after all, so no one had been thrown centuries backward in terms of basic living conditions.
Before Bian Feibai went in, Zuo Qingquan looked uneasily at his swollen ankle. “Do you need me to come inside?”
Bian Feibai laughed carelessly. “What, you going to hold it for me?”
Zuo Qingquan took a deep breath, his gaze still cool as moonlight. “…I could.”
“No need.”
Now Bian Feibai was the one who had made things awkward. He rubbed one ear, then limped into the bathroom.
Zuo Qingquan waited outside for a while, staring at the overlapping tree shadows on the ground, his thoughts unknown.
The night flowed like water. A light breeze passed, making the tangled shadows on the ground sway. The faint rustle of leaves and branches sounded beside his ears.
Suddenly, a barely audible opera melody drifted from deep within the bamboo grove. It slowly grew louder, as though approaching.
Zuo Qingquan narrowed his eyes at the grove, turned, and silently slipped into the bathroom.
Bian Feibai had just managed to pull up his pants. Startled, he opened his mouth to yell, only for Zuo Qingquan’s cool palm to cover his lips again.
“Shh. There’s a ghost outside.”
The anger in Bian Feibai’s chest vanished instantly. He nodded and instinctively pressed his lips together.
His lips were rather full, and their sudden softness against Zuo Qingquan’s palm sent a tingling sensation through it.
Zuo Qingquan quickly withdrew his hand and lowered his lashes unnaturally. Bian Feibai kept staring outside and noticed nothing. As he listened intently, he also hurried to redeem an item.
Fortunately, he obtained another Immobilization Talisman.
Reassured, he raised the talisman toward the door. The opera singing could now be faintly heard through it. The ghost was clearly very close.
“A thread of fine silk drifts into the idle courtyard, swaying like spring upon a string…”
The two men stared tensely at the door.
As the voice approached, Bian Feibai instinctively swallowed. Then something seemed to move at the edge of his vision.
His back went rigid. His eyes slid uncontrollably to the right. Almost instantly, a skeletal hand settled on his shoulder.
A fleshless skull slowly entered his field of vision. Reddish-brown mud clung around its pitch-black sockets as it watched him in silence.
Bian Feibai’s pupils abruptly dilated. It was as though his soul had been torn from his body, and he dragged in a loud breath.
“She pauses to arrange her jeweled hairpins…”
The opera song stopped without warning. Zuo Qingquan frowned at Bian Feibai, then froze for an instant when he spotted the skeleton.
The Opera Ghost outside seemed to be listening. She made no sound and did not resume singing.
Inside, the skeleton raised one stark-white hand as if preparing to shatter the silence.
Zuo Qingquan quickly pulled Bian Feibai aside, snatched the Immobilization Talisman from his hand, and slapped it onto the skeleton first.
The skeleton froze. Roughly a minute later, the ghost outside began humming again. “She pauses to arrange her jeweled hairpins, never expecting the mirror to steal half a glimpse and send her cloud-soft hair askew. How can I step from my fragrant chamber and reveal myself in full…?”
The song gradually receded. Neither man rushed to leave. Only when faint footsteps sounded some time later did they finally breathe out.
This time, she should truly be gone…
They exchanged a glance. Seeing the skeleton beside them beginning to stir, they dared not linger. Crouching low, they pulled open the bathroom door.
Outside remained dark and gloomy. Peeking out, they could still see the female ghost’s departing back.
She was heading… toward the servants’ quarters!
That was where the streamers were resting. What did this female ghost intend to do?
-I got excited for nothing. I thought these two were done for, but not only did they survive, they even started flirting…
-These two are old acquaintances of I’m Your Dad. They won’t go down easily.
-You all keep talking about I’m Your Dad, but isn’t he just a Blue-Name Streamer? What’s so scary about him?
-He’ll become a Red Name after clearing this Instance!
-Brag after he actually becomes one. Heh.
-Believe it or not, he’s seriously powerful. And incredibly good-looking. He’s a couple with that Black Name expert Bu Yan Er Yu. Don’t you like pretty faces?
-Aren’t they both men? Ew~ I don’t like gays. Neither male nor female.
-Then don’t like them. They have a different sexual orientation, not a confused gender! Thanks ever so much.
-No, you misunderstood. I didn’t mean anything bad. I was just… making a joke.
-Whatever. I’m done talking to you. I’ve gotten all the sweetness I can from this side, so I’m leaving. I’m going to watch the little beauty and his boyfriend instead. Romance is more fun when other people are doing it… Oh, right. I’ll leave a gold coin before I go.
-+1. Leaving a gold coin too.
-+2. Leaving a gold coin too.
-Huh? You’re all going? Then I’m coming too!!
Elsewhere, Qiao Yu lay in bed trying to force himself to sleep, without success.
His heart was pounding like a drum. No matter what he did, he could not settle down.
After enduring it for a long time, Qiao Yu finally turned toward the other person nearby. Shang Yan’s flawless face was hidden in the dark, but that burning gaze was impossible to ignore.
Qiao Yu coughed lightly. His pale, slender fingers instinctively tightened around the sheet.
In Shang Yan’s eyes, even that became another captivating sight. After a long while, he asked in a slightly hoarse voice, “Can’t sleep?”
How could I sleep with you staring at me like that?!
Qiao Yu sighed and was about to speak when the faint sound of a door opening interrupted him.
He immediately held his breath and looked through the narrow gap. A Ghost in a gray vest stood outside, staring directly at Qiao Yu’s face with sick obsession in its eyes…
Current Charm: 59%
Qiao Yu: ??
Was this thing insane? His Charm rose without even saying hello first?