Chapter 3 (2/2)
“You sure are willing to bend over yourself to protect others You’d rather bow your head low than have your cousin s her pride”
“I am her elder Whatever she does, I need to take responsibility for”
Xiao Liu lowered her head and thought for aHe stood up and picked up the bowl of wine and gulped it down He sincerely cohed “Please Brother Liu come more often in the future”
Xiao Liu added “You don’t need to bring wine over to apologize Just send two jugs of your best wine to Lao Mu” “Fine, whatever Brother Liu says” The pretty boy bowed and went back to running the shop
At dusk the pretty boy ca and he even hired two s of his wine from his shop slowly down the street to the clinic He did it so all the neighbors could see and that was enough to give face to Lao Mu Hai Tang bowed her head in apology to Lao Mu, it was clear she wasn’t happy to do so but it was done all respectfully and properly as befits someone from a well-born household
Lao Mu sat there with his face dark and self- y”
The pretty boy told Hai Tang to go home first and hi of wine and poured tls for himself and Lao Mu Lao Mu was down-to-earth and since it wasn’t the pretty boy who offended hi with the pretty boy
The bowls of ent down like water and Lao Mu started talking more and more He even started arentleman nor did he kno to read Army drink chants he learned in the arly the pretty boy knew it as well
“You drink to a juicy white thigh, I drink to rosy red lips, you drink to a plump white breast……” the two of the while Chuan Zi and Xiao Liu stood there gaping while shi+ Qi silently sat with his head down
Lao Mu guffawed at shi+ Qi “So shy and modest! A feords and your ears are red?” Xiao Liu noticed that shi+ Qi didn’t hide from the pretty boy which ed Xiao Liu “Lao Mu is laughing” Xiao Liu glanced at the pretty boy – the guy was definitely soant to crass, he could handle theh born lady to run aith his of wine, Lao Mu and the pretty boy were nearly BFFs and the only thingthe pretty boy off, he re Lao Mu and Chaun Zi were both drunk so Xiao Liu hurried to clean up the dishes shi+ Qi said “I’ll do it, you rest” Xiao Liu laughed “Can’t have you doing it all”
shi+ Qi washed dishes while Xiao Liu wiped down the stove, not a word spoken shi+ Qi glanced at Xiao Liu a few times but Xiao Liu smiled as he did his chores and even when he lance he didn’t look away and would instead oofy face with a smile After shi+ Qi finished with the dishes and reached out for Xiao Liu’s rag, Xiao Liu held on “I’o rest”
shi+ Qi quietly stood there After sory”
“Huh?” Xiao Liu pretended not to get it “No, Lao Mu is now all buddies with hi to accept Ah Nian like a little sister and let her win this tiry?” shi+ Qi kneas avoiding the topic and stared at hi to me”
“How so? I talk to you every day Aht now?”
“I…want…you to be like before I want to hear you talk”
“Before?” Xiao Liu acted stupid “Hoas I different now than before? Don’t I treat you the same as I do Ma Zi and the others?”
shi+ Qi lowered his head and didn’t have the glib tongue to counter He could only use his silence to endure it all, his voice lingering of loneliness Xiao Liu hung up the rag and wiped his hand on his shi+rt “Okay, all done Time to rest”
Xiao Liu hurried back to his rooain It was his moment of softened pity that caused hi clear again Every person arrived alone on this Earth and would depart alone There was no one to rely on How much hope and reliance one had today, was howone would endure down the road Rather than that happening, it was better to not have it to begin with
Since shi+ Qi teo back, then he’ll let him stay for now A te life would one day be forgotten
Things went back to noror He shopped, he cooked, he went aboutfor Chuan Zi Xiao Liu was the type who never worried while shi+ Qi’s words were as rare as gold, leaving Lao Mu with all sorts of things he wanted to discuss and no one to talk to He ended up getting even chummier with that pretty boy Xuan
He often stopped by the wine shop after grocery shopping and would drink sohter of the Dong fahter of the Xi family……… The few drunkards in the wine shop offered up ideas for Lao Mu
Chuan Zi’s future spouse was nowhere to be found yet but Ma Zi’s wife Chun Tao bore hi tears of joy and vowed to continued working on Chuan Zi’swater and the pretty boy’s wine shop finally beca Shui Town family and the people on Xi He Road finally accepted Xuan in earnest
Xiao Liu initially pondered why Xuan stayed in Qing Shui Town but as the days passed even he forgot to think about it and poured all his attention into researchingweird deadly poisons so Xiao Liu had to get up his energy to deal with him Xiao Liu stood by hisandLiu would choke to death on his food, choke to death drinking water, fall while walking and die
Afterthe wish he closed theand was about to carry his happy hopeful wish to bed when he turned around and saw Xiang Liu dressed all in white laying on his pallet with his cold eyes staring at hi you!”
“You were cursing er Xiao Liu step by step walked up to hi Liu didn’t use his hands and instead used his mouth, he bit down hard on Xiao Liu’s neck and sucked his blood Xiao Liu closed his eyes and this wasn’t like last ti his blood
After some time he released Xiao Liu but his lips remained on his bite mark “Scared?”
“Scared!”
“Liar!”
Xiao Liu candidly said “That night I knew you discovered the secret with ht you would think of ways to eat ht you came and all you want isLiu said with a half-smile “Maybe I currently want your blood, but one Winter I may want to stew you to nourish hed and opened his hands “I belonged to my lord you already My lord can do whatever you ith ain!”
Xiao Liu looked at Xiang Liu – tonight he seemed different His white hair was still not a strand out of place, his white robe was still spotless but appeared not as perfect as before “You’re hurt”
Xiang Liu stroked Xiao Liu’s neck as if picking a spot to bite next “What exactly did you eat to grow up? If demons were to discover that your blood was ical ofis left”
Xiao Liu laughed but didn’t respond to Xiang Liu’s words and instead asked “What bringsLiu took off his outer robe and laid down co your pallet to sleep”
“Then where will I sleep?”
Xiang Liu glanced at him and Xiao Liu immediately squatted He understood, he could sleep sprawled anywhere
Xiao Liu glared angrily – that’s my blanket, shi+ Qi took it out and aired it under the warm sun all day and beat it until it was nice and fluffy Xiao Liu wrapped himself up in a blanket and curled into a ball in the corner of the pallet and resentfully fell asleep
In theLiu’s body and he opened his eyes Xiao Liu grabbed his neck and laughed wildly “You’re using your power to heal yourself, right? Don’t interrupt and stop now otherwise you’ll exacerbate your injury andLiu closed his eyes
Xiao Liu slapped his left cheek “How about I whip you 40 tiht cheek “You stupid demon, you’re not afraid of pain If I cut off your left arht arm and eat it”
“Hee hee…” Xiao Liu jurab some coal from the stove He slithered back to the room and jumped on the pallet and hooted “Even you have a day like this! Don’t be angry and focus on healing your injury, don’t let rabbed the coal and started carefully drawing over Xiang Liu’s face
After Xiao Liu was done and approved of the results, he grabbed his preciousLiu’s face “Take a look but don’t getLiu opened his eyes which were sharper than knives but Xiao Liu was on a roll “Look!”
Inside theLiu’s left eye was three ht eye was three more eyes, and there was one more eye on his forehead Xiao Liu counted “One, two three………a total of nine”
Xiao Liu used his blackened fingers to rub those eyes until it beca Liu stared at hiine what nine heads looks like One of these days you have to showLiu’s lipsto devour you”
Xiao Liu used his dirty fingers to rub on his lips “If you don’t o ahead and eat!”
Xiao Liu flipped off the pallet and cocked his head to stare at Xiang Liu “I’ to disappear for a few days until your teood side then I’ll be back” Xiao Liu grabbed some snacks from the kitchen and was about to leave when he saw shi+ Qi
Xiao Liu just finished torreeting to shi+ Qi with a bright smile shi+ Qi hurried up his footsteps and there was a twinkle in his eye until he noticed the teeth mark on Xiao Liu’s neck For all intents and purposes it looked like a mark left by a kiss shi+ Qi’s eyes darted to Xiao Liu’s room and the twinkle disappeared fro Liu is in my room Don’t bother him and let his to do so I need to leave Tell Lao Mu not to look forfor shi+ Qi to respond, thinking to hi deo? As he thought and walked he ended up sneaking into the pretty boy’s wine shop
The sun hadn’t come up yet and Xiao Liu entered the store when it was still pitch black He did it without being spotted and was feeling terribly pleased with hiainst a tub of hen he heard Xuan enter to grab so
“How are they?”
“Three died and one escaped back Master, it’s not that we’re useless but this ti demon Nine Lives But three of our ed to injure hiot injured?”
“Our et rid of him once and for all but he can’t be found”
“Hhhmmm”
“Your servant I shall leave now”
The door to the wine cellar closed and silence descended Xiao Liu finally let out a pent up breath softly He went back to sleep, feeling nothing in particular General Gong Gong and Xuan Yuan had been fighting for a couple hundred years now In the beginning, the Yellow Emperor sent army reinforcements, but the Middle Plains were still not conquered, Gao Xing was to the other side, Gong Gong was in an advantageous physical location so the Yellow E Gong cornered and wait for hiradually went from open battles to secret scuffles and underhanded schemes of assassination……whatever Xiao Liu couldn’t even think of, someone already tried it
Xuan Yuan even announced a reward, and Xiang Liu was the nu The reason was very odd – Gong Gong was nobility fro royal family so if anyone killed him for the bounty that would incur the wrath of the entire world But Xiang Liu was fine – he was just a demon, and a hideous freakish nine-headed demon at that So to kill him for the money reouldn’t even cause anyone to have a sleepless thought
Whether Xuan wanted theelse, Xiao Liu would need to think about it Everything in this world could be boiled down to money and power
Xiao Liu hid in the wine cellar for three days and on the fourth day sneaked into the kitchen for sooose o with it?”
Xiao Liu froze and turned his head to see Xuan leaning against the kitchen door gently looking at Xiao Liu
Xiao Liu giggled “I…your food tastes better than Lao Mu makes”
“It’s even better warm”
“Erm…then heat it up?”
“Sure!”
Xuan put some dishes on the stove and then fired it up Xiao Liu sat beside him and Xuan poured him a bowl of wine and Xiao Liu slowly sipped it “If you like, you can drink more”
“Uhhm…thanks”
Xuan handed the warmed up food to hiht that if it wasn’t theuninvited, this scene would be rather war
Xiao Liu asked “Did Ah Nian ood cook”
“Ah Nian only kno to eat” Xuan’s voice contained a gentle coddling
“Can’t believe you kno to make wine and cook Ah Nian is very lucky”
“She calls ht to take care of her”
“I haven’t seen Ah Nian recently” It wasn’t recently, it was alhed “Brother Liu ” Best never to see her ever
“I asked her to e in her room”
Xiao Liu was startled to realize the reason that demon wench was so quiet was because the pretty boy used a trick to keep her occupied
Xuan appeared to knohat he was thinking “In the future if Ah Nian does anything that is rude, will Brother Liu please forgive her considering she’s just a girl”
In the future? There is a future……so he’s not going to quietly get rid of hiht? Xiao Liu smiled “No problem, no problem, I’ll definitely let it slide” Xuan stood up and sincerely asked again so Xiao Liu said it again that he’ll let Ah Nian’s actions slide until it becaood to be your sister”
That was probably the ht and even Xuan felt it His ood brother” In his words there was the hint of sadness Xiao Liu drank his wine “I’ home”
Xuan said “I’ll walk you out” Xiao Liu stood up and Xuan walked hio back, no need to accompany me any further”
Xiao Liu ran back in a jiffy and flipped the wall into the courtyard then slipped into his rooe of the pallet and Xiao Liu was so startled his back was to the door
It was death laying down or standing up so et it over with Xiao Liu closed his eyes and shook “I…I…rong!”
Like a cat, using the gentlest voice to cajole an owner’s forgiveness, hoping Xiang Liu would remember his ability to , then perhaps he wouldn’t be beaten half to death Except…after a few moments, there was still nofuriously and finally he couldn’t take it anymore and opened his eyes It Was shi+ Qi!
Xiao Liu was furious! He was so scared out of his wits! He pointed at shi+ Qi and wagged his finger “You…you…how come it’s you?” shi+ Qi’s face was ashen and he voice despondent “I’ in my room?”
shi+ Qi bit his lip and lowered his head and turned to leave Xiao Liu quickly tried to apologize “I’ht you were someone else That…that…my tone of voice was harsh but don’t feel bad I’ my room”
“It’sthe door tightly behind him
Xiao Liu hadn’t sleep comfortably in days so quickly took off his clothes and burrowed until the covers He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths – clean, warm, the faint scent of soap and sunshi+ne
The comforter had been laundered and dried under the sun Xiao Liu laughed and reet used to it All people will leave and he can’t get coddled, his life was to sleep in a cold blanket, in a dirty blanket Xiao Liu finished re fast asleep