Editor and proofreader: Oceanblue

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The reason Gu Shenyuan was pretending to be unconscious was because he was certain that Ye Qingyun wouldn’t just leave him behind.

He was right; Ye Qingyun indeed didn’t abandon him. Instead, he brought him down and anxiously searched for healing medicine.

Ye Qingyun was too soft-hearted; he couldn’t bear to see others die. If it were him, if he encountered someone stronger than himself who insisted on following him, he would take this opportunity to kill that person.

Gu Shenyuan had always sneered at such mercy, but now that Ye Qingyun was treating him this way, he felt a secret pleasure.

Gu Shenyuan allowed Ye Qingyun to help him up and walk down from the spacecraft, leaning his entire body against Ye Qingyun to soak up his warmth.

After walking for a while, Gu Shenyuan heard Ye Qingyun talking to others and noticed more people gathering around them.

They were speaking in some obscure language, which Gu Shenyuan had learned while researching and could understand.

He overheard them discussing taking Ye Qingyun away to offer him to some so-called “god.”

“Hmph, a god?”

Even if it was a god, anyone who wanted to take Ye Qingyun from him would only have one outcome.

He should wake up now.

But before Gu Shenyuan could open his eyes, he heard Ye Qingyun say they had been to bed together.

Gu Shenyuan wasn’t foolish; with a little thought, he realized this was a lie Ye Qingyun told to avoid being taken away.

In the past, Gu Shenyuan hated it the most when others slandered him in this way. He wouldn’t even have feelings of affection, let alone engage in something as intimate as that when feelings ran deep.

Anyone who boasted of having had relations with him was doomed.

But now, hearing Ye Qingyun say that Gu Shenyuan felt none of the disgust he had before.

“It was fine”. Gu Shenyuan thought, “let him say it; it wasn’t a big deal”.

However, Ye Qingyun didn’t stop there. Gu Shenyuan then felt something soft and warm press against his cheek.

Ye Qingyun was kissing him.

The distance was far too intimate, and Gu Shenyuan’s long-standing aversion to outsiders caused him to instinctively gather his abilities at his fingertips, but he quickly dispelled them once he realized what was happening.

He… didn’t feel disgusted.

Then, Gu Shenyuan heard Ye Qingyun’s earth-shattering declaration of affection.

Gu Shenyuan could no longer hold back; he opened his eyes to see what expression was on Ye Qingyun’s face.

————

Ye Qingyun was frozen in place, staring at Gu Shenyuan: “…”

“Oh my god! Gu Shenyuan is awake!”

“How much did he hear? Was he going to die right now?!”

Ye Qingyun quickly distanced himself from Gu Shenyuan, releasing the hand he was using to support him, no longer caring whether it would arouse the villagers’ suspicions.

Then Ye Qingyun saw Gu Shenyuan cough, shake a bit, and slump back against him, appearing to have no intention of attacking.

Good, it seemed Gu Shenyuan had just woken up and was unaware of what had happened earlier.

Ye Qingyun felt extremely fortunate as if he had narrowly escaped death.

The onlooking villagers voiced their doubts: “Aren’t you two a couple? Why did you just make that expression?”

Ye Qingyun, with a blank expression, asked Gu Shenyuan, “Can you understand what they’re saying?”

Gu Shenyuan shook his head.

Perfect! No matter how much he fabricated a story, he wouldn’t expose himself in front of Gu Shenyuan!

Ye Qingyun felt very relieved. He sighed at the questioning villager and said, “Because we fought.”

Villager: “A fight?”

“…Yes.” Ye Qingyun looked at Gu Shenyuan, speaking with a heavy tone, “Do you see how weak he is right now? Do you know why?”

The villagers all shook their heads.

“Because his father… beat him mercilessly!” Ye Qingyun covered his face. “His father disapproved of him being with me, saying that since we’re both men, he absolutely wouldn’t agree to his son being with another man; otherwise, he would sever their father-son relationship.”

Gu Shenyuan: “…”

“How could this be? And then what happened?” the villagers asked.

“I… I didn’t want to cause tension between him and his family, so I suggested we break up.” Ye Qingyun looked up at the sky with a melancholy expression. “He didn’t agree to the breakup, so he fell out with his family and came to find me after getting beaten up. I refused, so we had a conflict.”

“Oh dear, young man, why are you like this?” the villagers exclaimed in anger.

Ye Qingyun raised his voice: “Am I at fault? What am I, to deserve him breaking ties with his parents? I just want him to have a happy family; am I wrong?”

The villagers watching were stirred by Ye Qingyun’s story, engaging in intense discussions for a moment before speaking up in unison:

“You came here to elope, right?”

“Oh, hurry and make up; it’s making us anxious. Isn’t he doing all this for you?”

“How serious is your partner’s injury?”

Ye Qingyun lowered his eyes, expressing his ultimate goal with a helpless expression: “He’s seriously injured. Could you please give us some medicine and a small room to stay in? Good deeds are rewarded; after he recovers, we will do our best to repay everyone!”

The villagers, filled with goodwill, discussed for a while and then took Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan to an unoccupied little house, giving them healing herbs.

On the way to the house, Gu Shenyuan asked Ye Qingyun, “What did you tell them?”

Ye Qingyun wore a blank expression when facing Gu Shenyuan, his tone strict as he perfectly played the role of a venomous supporting character: “What’s it to you? Haha, listen up, later I’ll sleep on the big bed, and you sleep on the small bed. If you make me support you while walking, you’d better be prepared to be my servant!”
Ye Qingyun thought that after he confronted Gu Shenyuan, he would no longer pay him any attention. However, the look in Gu Shenyuan’s eyes showed no anger or coldness; if anything, it could be described as gentle.

Ye Qingyun shivered a bit and, upon looking at Gu Shenyuan again, saw that Gu Shenyuan had already returned to his normal expression.

The villagers led them to the small wooden house and opened the door: “The previous owner of this room was the one chosen by the god last time, so no one has lived here since. You just need to clean it up a bit.”

Ye Qingyun thanked them and sent the villagers away before looking inside the room.

It seemed the previous owner had fantasized about returning, as most of the items in the room were covered with dust covers, making cleanup easy.

The furnishings in the house were quite simple and could be taken in at a glance.

So Ye Qingyun noticed that there was only one bed in the room.

Yes, only one bed, and there wasn’t even a sofa where one could lie down.

“So how were he and Gu Shenyuan supposed to sleep?”

According to the character setup, he should push Gu Shenyuan off to sleep on the floor. In reality, he didn’t dare let someone who could crush him with a single finger, like Gu Shenyuan, sleep on the floor.

Gu Shenyuan pulled off the dust cover in the room, coughed softly, and sat on the bed.

The implication was too obvious; it was suggesting that he should be conscious enough to sleep on the floor and not take the bed!

Ye Qingyun crossed his arms and stared at Gu Shenyuan for a while before turning to walk outside.

“Where are you going?” Gu Shenyuan’s cold voice sounded.

“Where am I going? Of course, I’m looking for a place to rest. Can’t you see there’s only one bed?” Ye Qingyun replied sarcastically.

As soon as Ye Qingyun finished speaking and was about to leave, he heard Gu Shenyuan bark, “Stop!”

Gu Shenyuan stood up from the bed: “You’re sleeping here.”

Ye Qingyun turned around and saw Gu Shenyuan walk over to a chair and sit down, leaning on the table as if he wanted to make do with resting there.

He wasn’t so out of his mind as to let an injured person sit on a cold chair while he happily slept in bed! How could anyone sleep like that?

Ye Qingyun continued to lift his leg to walk outside. After taking just a couple of steps, he felt someone grip his shoulder. Turning back, he saw Gu Shenyuan pressing his lips together and looking at him with a gloomy expression.

Gu Shenyuan was holding Ye Qingyun back, wanting to ask him why he still wanted to leave, why he couldn’t just sleep here, and whether it was because he didn’t want to be in the same room with him.

But at that moment, looking into Ye Qingyun’s warm-colored eyes, a new thought flashed through Gu Shenyuan’s mind.

Ye Qingyun wanted to leave; perhaps it was because he was concerned about him and didn’t want him to sleep sitting down.

With this thought in mind, Gu Shenyuan blurted out, “This bed is big; let’s sleep together.”

Ye Qingyun: “Sleep together… who wants to sleep with you???”

Seeing that Ye Qingyun was about to walk away again, Gu Shenyuan added, “One person on each side; no one can cross the middle. It’s late; don’t disturb others. That would be rude.”

Ye Qingyun felt that Gu Shenyuan had a point. He scratched his head and looked at the large bed.

“Since they had established a clear boundary, sleeping on the same bed shouldn’t be a problem… right?”

————

In the middle of the night.

Gu Shenyuan opened his eyes and looked at the person lying not far away.

Ye Qingyun’s breathing was audible. He had never shared a bed with anyone in years and thought he would feel uncomfortable, but surprisingly, he felt a sense of peace.

… He didn’t reject Ye Qingyun’s support, didn’t reject Ye Qingyun’s kiss, and even didn’t reject lying on the same bed as Ye Qingyun.

Remembering how Ye Qingyun had spun a web of lies just to secure him a packet of healing herbs, he even felt quite happy about it.

This was very dangerous; too dangerous.

This wasn’t good news for him at all. Emotionally and rationally, he should stay away from Ye Qingyun, in case one day he truly couldn’t control his feelings.

He should leave now, get up immediately, and go outside to rest.

The quietly sleeping Ye Qingyun turned over, one hand crossing the boundary he had set, perfectly landing in the palm of Gu Shenyuan’s open palm.

Despite saying so many things before bed about not crossing boundaries, the one who was most undisciplined in his sleeping posture was Ye Qingyun himself.

Gu Shenyuan stared at the dark ceiling, feeling the warm temperature of the hand in his palm, and the thought of leaving shattered into pieces.

He gently grasped the hand in his palm.