"No, I didn't... Ah!" Chai Xiaomi was distracted answering Jiang Zhiyu when she suddenly felt a tight grip around her waist.
The young man's hand gripping her waist suddenly exerted force, his knuckles pressing exactly against her most ticklish soft spot. A painful yet numbing sensation shot up, and she let out a short gasp.
At the same time, an index finger stained with a bead of blood pressed against her lips.
The slightly metallic, warm touch sealed all her unspoken words, forcing her to shut her mouth.
"Why waste words with him?" Wu Li's voice was low and deep. "I told you to swallow it, didn't you hear me?"
The words were spoken to Chai Xiaomi, but his eyes slanted toward Jiang Zhiyu, carrying an unmistakable warning.
Jiang Zhiyu's spine suddenly stiffened.
Wu Li's gaze carried an imperceptible chill, like frost condensed on a blade in the deep winter night—sharp and dangerous. It was as if, should he interrupt with even one more word, he'd better prepare to collect his own corpse.
Jiang Zhiyu's Adam's apple bobbed. He then secretly shook his head at himself; he was truly judging a gentleman with the mind of a petty man. Although this younger brother always wore a cold face and had a sharp tongue, he had never done anything to truly harm him, yet here he was, thinking so poorly of him.
Perhaps seeing Xiaomi looking unwell made him lose his composure out of concern.
Besides...
Jiang Zhiyu suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier in Yuebai. He remembered when Wu Li extracted the Crimson Blood Silkworm from his body to give to the Yuebai clan leader—it was fed with his own vital blood.
The secret arts of the Gu magic clan were bizarre and unpredictable. Perhaps this blood really could ward off evil and suppress spirits?
Thinking of this, he also chimed in softly, "Hurry and swallow it, Xiaomi."
As soon as the words fell, he felt his collar suddenly tighten.
Song Yueyao grabbed him and yanked him half a step back. Pressing close to his ear, she hissed through her teeth, "Can't you see Xiaomi's face is completely red? Staring at her wide-eyed like you're watching a street monkey show! How is a young girl supposed to not feel embarrassed?"
She had noticed it long ago. Xiaomi's eyes were cast down, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her dark eyes shimmering with moisture—she was completely flustered.
If everyone's attention hadn't been focused on her, she probably would have swallowed that drop of blood long ago. Perhaps it was exactly because of the awkwardness that she subconsciously answered Jiang Zhiyu first.
Even being stared at intently while eating a normal meal would make anyone uncomfortable, let alone an action that was somewhat intimate like this.
Yet this blockhead was as dense as a pig!
After being scolded, Jiang Zhiyu felt a little wronged. He thought Xiaomi's face was red from being stuffed under the quilt. Besides, he wasn't the only one who didn't notice.
Dragged to the side, Jiang Zhiyu muttered softly, "Yaoyao, why are you only scolding me?"
He pointed behind him, dragging Yan Xingxiao down with him.
Look, there's still a burly big brother standing right there!
Yan Xingxiao stood by the bed with his arms crossed, his thick brows furrowed, as if he hadn't fully grasped the undercurrents of the situation.
Pointed out by Jiang Zhiyu, he gave a blank "Uh" and blinked in confusion.
Yet despite this, he remained standing there without moving away.
Just as he was about to ask why Jiang Zhiyu was pointing at him, he suddenly felt an intense itch all over his body. It felt like a dense swarm of ants crawling from his spine all the way up to his neck.
Yan Xingxiao's face drastically changed. Before he could even make a sound—
"Bwahahahahaha!"
The burly man suddenly burst into a loud, booming laugh. As if pulled by invisible strings, he began dancing and waving his arms around the room. He twisted his waist and slapped his legs, laughing so hard that tears nearly burst from his eyes. The scene was so comical it caught everyone off guard.
"..." Chai Xiaomi's mouth twitched. She turned her head to look at Wu Li. "Could he... be possessed by a ghost?"
Do we need to throw a handful of sticky rice? Or smack him with pomelo leaves?
Wu Li nonchalantly lowered his eyes. At his cuff, a wriggling centipede tail quickly retracted, disappearing into the folds of the fabric.
"Escort Yan's yang energy is very strong, how could he be possessed by a ghost or monster?" He tugged at the corner of his lips, smiling with a bit of eccentricity. His gaze, however, fell back onto Chai Xiaomi's forehead, where a thick mass of black mist seemed to faintly hover. "Perhaps he just wanted to perform a dance. Look, isn't he laughing quite merrily?"
The young girl's paper-white face, having quietly bloomed with two faint blushes of embarrassment just now, barely added a touch of living vitality, but she still didn't look much better.
Humans all have three hun and seven po souls, but the expression on her face right now clearly showed the frail, hollow look of someone missing a po soul.
"As for you," Wu Li's gaze didn't waver, fixing entirely on her face. His voice was low and slow. "Don't you feel something strange inside your body?"
Chai Xiaomi's eyelashes trembled.
"That little ghost has already crawled inside."
The young man's light and airy words were equivalent to dropping a nuclear bomb.
Her pupils dilated in shock, trembling as terrified tears gathered in her eyes. She babbled incoherently, "In... inside... my body..."
Ahhhhh where is the sticky rice! Where are the pomelo leaves!
Throw them all at me! Hurry!
Chai Xiaomi unconsciously shrank back into the young man's embrace.
In her terror, she saw his eyes suddenly flash. The young man tilted his head slightly, his gaze landing on her lower abdomen. He scrutinized it carefully for a moment, as if discovering something, before slowly raising his eyes.
A half-smile curved his lips. His heterochromatic eyes swirled with a beautiful yet icy light beneath the shadow of his lashes.
"Haven't you always been saying you have a child in your belly?" he said meaningfully. "Congratulations, your wish has come true."
Wu Li's lips curled up slightly. He deliberately leaned in close to her ear and lowered his voice. "It's right inside your belly."
"Once it sucks your vital essence dry, it will be able to 'be born' smoothly."
Amusement gradually spread in his eyes, yet he leisurely observed her frightened expression, looking completely like someone watching a fire from across the river, unconcerned.
He even tapped the edge of the bed with great interest. "While you still have some energy, why not think about the style of your coffin? Nanmu is heavy and mothproof, while cypress won't rot for years... Oh, right."
As if suddenly remembering, the corners of his eyes lifted slightly, and his gaze floated lightly back to her face. "As your husband, I'll have to personally place you in the coffin, bury you, and erect your tombstone. I still have to worry about these trivial matters."
"Do you want to decide for yourself how you want your funeral handled? Keep it simple or make it a grand affair?"
There truly is no such thing as true empathy in this world.
She was really going to break down.
Who could understand!!!
"Considering you are my first 'wife', I suppose I should give you a grand and glorious funeral. It'll be more decent, at least..."
Chai Xiaomi couldn't listen to another word.
Like grabbing the last piece of driftwood, she suddenly grabbed the finger in front of her that was still seeping a bead of blood, and without a second thought, opened her mouth and took it in.
The warm fingertip was caught off guard, enveloped by wet, soft lips and a tongue.
She frantically and eagerly licked away the metallic sweetness on the pad of his finger, curling her tongue around the blood bead and hastily swallowing it, as if it were the only medicine that could save her life.
The young man beside her suddenly went silent.
Chai Xiaomi couldn't care about any sense of shame. She stuck out the tip of her tongue and, along the tiny cut on his finger pad, licked it earnestly, stroke by stroke.
