Chapter 515 - He Did Not Dare Lie Again. (1/2)

Ling Zhang stiffened with alarm. Yuwen Tong standing opposite him inwardly gave a mirthless smile as he saw Ling Zhang’s face registering embarra.s.sment as though he were caught red-handed.

Ling Zhang blanched, cold sweat breaking out over his forehead. He had believed that his pretence was flawless.

“I’ll tell you!” said Ling Zhang, feeling terribly upset at Yuwen Tong’s mirthless smile. Worried that Yuwen Tong might overthink the situation, he hastened to confess.

With that he admitted the Child Worm in him had been causing him pain on occasions. “The pain is only occasional, really. Believe me. It’s okay as long as I‘m not experiencing an intense mood swing.”

Looking at Ling Zhang’s bearing of mingled nervousness and alarm, Yuwen Tong came to know that this time around he was telling the truth, but recently this guy had always been trying to keep things back from him, and he would have still been in the dark about this matter had he not found out about it by himself; he needed to mete out punishment to this guy. As regards what kind of punishment would be suitable, he had to give it some thought before making a decision. Though inclined to punish Ling Zhang right away, he restrained himself in the knowledge that the Child Worm was still inside Ling Zhang, that if by any chance he caused Ling Zhang’s mood to fluctuate and the worm to make trouble again, he would end up suffering from guilt and heartache.

“I want you to have a nice rest in the next couple of days. I’ll handle all the military affairs before Mr. Mu arrives, so don’t concern yourself with anything, and don’t give the worm the chance to cause you pain,” said Yuwen Tong, caressing him.

Ling Zhang scrutinized his face. He was letting it go? He was not mad any more?

Naturally Yuwen Tong perceived that Ling Zhang was furtively studying his countenance. He inwardly snorted but showed nothing on his face. “Just sleep here. Don’t go back to that tent. Don’t make me worry. Okay?”

Ling Zhang, who didn’t dare say no in these circ.u.mstances, immediately replied with a nod, “Okay. I’ll sleep here.”

Having found no sign of anger on Yuwen Tong’s face, Ling Zhang inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He did everything Yuwen Tong told him to do. He even obediently let Yuwen Tong help him take off his clothes and shoes.

“Do you feel any pain when I touch you like this?” Yuwen Tong asked him gently.

Ling Zhang shook his head. “No.”

Now relaxed, he had better control over that Child Worm. He carefully circulated his internal energy and the worm remained calm, unable to do him any harm.

“Good. Now lie down,” said Yuwen Tong in a low and deep voice.

Ling Zhang meekly settled himself in the bed. After tucking him in, Yuwen Tong felt like kissing him on the brow but forbore from doing so for fear of stimulating the worm inside Ling Zhang. Instead, he patted Ling Zhang’s chest which was covered with quilt. “Sleep. I won’t leave until you get to sleep.”

What with the process of extracting the Gu worms, Yuwen Tong had not left this tent for hours. Worrying that there might be something urgent that Yuwen Tong needed to deal with, Ling Zhang closed his eyes immediately after hearing Yuwen Tong’s words. He did not try to convince Yuwen Tong to leave directly. Yuwen Tong not being mad at him struck him as amazing enough, not to mention Yuwen Tong being so gentle at this time … Ling Zhang instinctively felt that he must not disobey Yuwen Tong in these circ.u.mstances.

As Yuwen Tong saw Ling Zhang meekly close his eyes to sleep, his pat on the quilt became lighter, the look in his eyes turning impenetrable. He softly moved a strand of loose hair behind Ling Zhang’s ear and then just looked at Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang was indeed tired. Also, he was anxious for Yuwen Tong to clear his mind and leave to perform his duty, so after closing his eyes, he began to circulate his internal energy slowly, deepening his breathing in an effort to calm down. Gradually, he relaxed and after a few moments, he really drifted off to sleep.

…

Ling Zhang had a very long sleep. It was early the next morning that he woke up. Dawn had not broken yet, and there were torches still ablaze outside.

The moment he awoke, he felt Yuwen Tong’s arms around him with the quilt in between. Yuwen Tong’s embrace was so warm that even his act of opening his eyes was languid. When his eyes were fully open, he realized something, hurriedly twisted his head around and felt relieved as he saw that Yuwen Tong was covered with a quilt as well.

“You’re awake.” Yuwen Tong woke up shortly after Ling Zhang. As he saw Ling Zhang looking at him with burning eyes, he felt a constriction in the throat and subdued an urge to kiss Ling Zhang. “Are you experiencing any discomfort? Is it aching again?” he asked.

“No discomfort. No pain,” replied Ling Zhang honestly, looking at Yuwen Tong with earnest eyes, hoping that Yuwen Tong believed he was not lying.

Now Ling Zhang didn’t dare even thinking about lying to Yuwen Tong, because Yuwen Tong had found out about what he had believed he had been doing a very good job concealing.

Because Ling Zhang looked well and had slept the whole night through, Yuwen Tong knew that he was not lying. “If you’re experiencing any discomfort, you must tell me. I need to know,” he said.

“I will,” Ling Zhang promised immediately.

“We’re breaking camp today. The army depart in two hours. Have something to eat after was.h.i.+ng. You haven’t had anything since last night.”

“Okay.”

Yuwen Tong wanted very much to hold Ling Zhang for a little while longer, but considering Ling Zhang’s hunger, Yuwen Tong got up, scooped Ling Zhang out of the quilt and dressed him before allowing him to go outside to wash, pee and make himself more presentable.

Xie s.h.i.+ had got up very early and supervised the cooks preparing Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong’s breakfast. On hearing the movement in the main tent, he came to know that the imperial couple had got up and then he brought their breakfast into the tent.