Chapter 30 Someone is licking her hand.

Leng Cuizhu did not tell Leng Zhen about Yin Yuan's upcoming visit.

After she and Yin Yuan got off the carriage, Leng Zhen, who ran out of the thatched hut, was clearly stunned for a moment.

Then he started swearing.

"Leng Cuizhu, did I offend you? Who told you to bring this unlucky thing here? I've only had a few days of peace and quiet, and you're already so jealous of my good fortune. Even if I die today, I will never go back to that godforsaken place! I'd rather die with you!"

Yin Yuan was also somewhat surprised, but the surprise quickly vanished as he turned to stare at the woman beside him, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Seeing that the two were in the same mood as she had expected, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Zhenzhen, he didn't come to arrest you, he just came to see you."

"Look at me? Good heavens, what a big face! Why don't you wait until I'm dead to come and see me in the underworld?"

He snapped at Yin Yuan, "How can you look at me with those dead fish eyes? Are you looking with your father's brain or your mother's bile? I don't want to see you at all. Come find me when I can see you just by looking up!"

"..."

Yin Yuan raised his eyelids: "So?"

Leng Zhen was very excited, but Leng Cuizhu and Yin Yuan ignored her completely and went straight into the thatched hut, with Tu Sizi, who was serving soup, following closely behind.

Leng Cuizhu called out to the man who was cursing and yelling at the door, "Leng Zhen, come back for dinner."

Leng Zhen turned around and glared at her hatefully before gritting her teeth and walking into the house.

After setting out the bowls and chopsticks, Leng Cuizhu seized the opportunity to sneak out of the room with Tu Sizi.

Dodder: "Watch them drink the soup, then come out. I'll wait for you outside."

What if it doesn't work?

"Oh dear, I'm just a low-paid worker with no clients, so I can just do whatever I want."

"I'll be waiting for you outside, host. Be careful not to accidentally eat the chicken soup, or I'll be really sad, sob sob sob." He covered his face and pretended to cry.

Leng Cuizhu: "...Oh."

This chicken clearly drank five large bowls of chicken soup before the medicine was even given, and even ate the chicken's belly. What a wicked chicken!

When she returned to the house, the father and son were sitting and waiting for her, neither of them having touched their chopsticks.

The atmosphere was heavy and silent. She sat at the table, silently picked up her chopsticks, and calmed her breathing: "Eat your food, or it will get cold."

The two people in front of her continued to stare at her without moving an inch.

Finally, Leng Zhen was the first to give up: "Mom, it's too vegetarian. What did you make? The vegetables are green, and the plate is green too. It's definitely not going to taste good. Is there any kimchi?"

"...Didn't you enjoy eating eggs before?" She put a piece of scrambled egg into Leng Zhen's bowl. "Eat more eggs, now you can eat them without having to ask anyone."

She turned to Yin Yuan and said, "My lord, you also eat vegetables? They were all made by my own hands. I don't think most of the cooks in the manor have nearly twenty years of experience. They all look like young girls."

"Ah, it's good to be young. You have work to do and you're well-liked."

"……Um."

Yin Yuan's eyes darkened.

After her chuckle, the two people in front of her picked up their chopsticks and started eating, becoming as quiet as chickens.

Leng Cuizhu sat on the cushion, straightened her back, and secretly glanced at the father and son in front of her. Both of them only picked up food, and the chicken soup in the middle of the table remained untouched.

Leng Zhen hid one hand under the table and used the other hand to stir the contents of her bowl with chopsticks. After a short while, she muttered again, "I haven't seen you bring me such good rice the past few days... You've been making me drink porridge every day."

Leng Cuizhu laughed and replied, "Because your mouth is rotten. Your lips are just a lump of rotten flesh, understand?"

"Your mouth is so sore and you're still thinking about eating well. I never realized you were so greedy. You must have been starving in prison."

Leng Zhen was surprised, and her tone softened: "...You've already prepared a good meal for him today."

"You don't like it? I'm sorry, I didn't know you liked swill. I'll make you swill rice from now on."

She didn't actually want to argue with Leng Zhen and Yin Yuan, but she couldn't help it. For some reason, Leng Zhen kept picking on her today. She used to tolerate it, but now she didn't want to anymore. She cooked all the meals herself; if they weren't good, she wouldn't eat them. Why was she being criticized? She had been told her cooking was bad for over a decade, and this was the first time she had truly realized this problem.

Yes, why are you saying that about her? She's not a servant who only serves others.

Moreover, the thought of what she would have to do later made her extremely irritable.

Leng Zhen pondered for a moment, then lowered her head and ate her food.

"Try this soup, I've been simmering it for a long time." She ladled out a bowl of chicken soup and handed it to Leng Zhen. When she went to ladle out a second bowl, she caught a glimpse of Leng Zhen returning the chicken soup and placing it in front of her.

Leng Zhen smiled brightly, her tone inexplicably gentle: "Mother, you drink."

"I spoke rather casually just now, please don't be angry with me, Mother."

Leng Cuizhu had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

Did Leng Zhen find out something? Was she going to use her as a test subject? She didn't even know if the aphrodisiac in the soup would still be toxic after being diluted with so much water...

"Sigh, Mother doesn't like soup."

She awkwardly handed the soup to Yin Yuan: "This bowl of soup should be given to you, sir. You and your son can try my cooking."

After saying that, she ladled another bowl of meat for Leng Zhen and also put the chicken leg into his bowl.

Yin Yuan didn't say anything, and simply lowered his head to scoop up some soup and drink it.

"Mom, then you should eat more chicken."

"I'll eat, I'll eat..." she said, but in her hand she picked up a rag from the table and started wiping the corner of the table.

Although she kept her head down, she could still sense that gaze.

Leng Zhen kept staring at her.

"Mother, I left the hairpin you gave me on the stone steps outside. Could you go out and get it for me?"

After speaking, Leng Zhen picked up the soup bowl and took a sip of chicken soup.

She felt relieved.

"Okay, Mom will go get it for you."

Dodder sat on the stone steps by the door waiting for her, toying with a wooden hairpin in his hand.

Dodder: "Is the door locked?"

Leng Cuizhu: "...It's locked."

Dodder took off its straw hat and turned to fan her: "Host, what's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

"No, I just..." she stammered, "I just felt something was off."

The mission was progressing much faster than she had imagined. At the same time, Leng Zhen's attitude made her feel a little strange. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt a tightness in her chest.

"Strange? Don't think too much about it, the more you think about it, the more anxious you'll become." He raised his eyebrows and smiled, leaning down to press his cheek against hers, nuzzling his head against hers.

Let's kiss.

"……What did you say?"

"Anyway, there's nothing to do while waiting, or you can let me crawl in." Dodder poked her knee. "Anyway, we still have to wait a long time."

"I can't hold on much longer, I'll probably turn back into my original form soon. Can't you even grant me this small wish? Please, please, please..."

She touched the dodder's forehead, and sure enough, it was warm and a little hot; it really had a fever.

"It's not good to be so lewd in broad daylight... especially in public. And I don't understand, what do you take me for? Do you treat everyone like this? That's too lewd."

Dodder said a little aggrievedly, "I'm just a little more proactive than others, but I also think I'm pretty flirtatious. Didn't you notice how flirtatious I was that night?"

"Don't say anymore..." she said, feeling embarrassed.

“Oh, okay.” He nodded, then asked, “So, can I kiss you?”

"No, it's disgusting." She expressed her disgust at the dodder.

Why does this child always think about those things? She's practically driven by lust. Is she trying to become Jia Rui? She's not Wang Xifeng; she doesn't have that kind of guts. If she keeps being teased, she might just give in halfway.

"Oh...is it because you don't like me? Or did I not satisfy you that night, and you have a bad impression of me?"

"A little bit of both."

Actually, it's not for those two reasons.

The biggest reason was that Dodder's face looked too young. It was fine if they didn't light candles at night, but during the day she couldn't be too intimate with him, let alone kiss him... She would feel very guilty.

After all, she was in her thirties, a middle-aged woman, and if others knew that she was having an affair with a younger man, she would be laughed at.

Dodder's skills in bed are indeed superb, comparable to Eun's, but they are also quite lacking. Apart from her appearance, there is nothing about her that Eun likes, and she always says things that Eun doesn't understand.

The dodder lowered its head, its fingernails scratching at the cracks in the stone bricks, remaining silent.

The sunlight made his cheeks slightly flushed, and a strand of golden bangs swayed gently in the wind.

"Give me the hairpin, I'll go in and take a look."

He quickly raised his head: "Go in now? Aren't you afraid of getting a sty? After all, your husband is so stingy, he could fire me with a wave of his hand."

"Okay, let's go in now."

Leng Cuizhu locked the door from the outside.

But the back window of the house is open, so Leng Zhen might find a chance to run away.

As soon as she pushed open the door, she smelled a strong stench of blood and heard intermittent sobs.

Leng Zhen came out carrying a knife.

His face was splattered with blood, his hand holding the knife trembled, and his arms were covered with tearing and cracking knife marks.

He stood by the window, his lips deathly pale, looking like a ghost.

What are you so shocked about?

"Didn't you know this would happen? I was being so confrontational with you, but you wouldn't leave. You just had to watch me make a fool of myself!"

He glared at her with bloodshot eyes and shouted, "It was you! It was you who insisted on bringing him here! You know how much I hate him!"

“Fine, I’ll do as you wish,” he chuckled. “Don’t you hate him just as much? I’ll kill him then.”

Before Leng Cuizhu could recover, Leng Zhen had already jumped out of the window and escaped.

She rushed into the inner room.

Yin Yuan lay on his back on the ground, his body riddled with bloody holes, from which blood gushed out and pooled on the floor.

He was on the verge of death, and when he saw her, his lifeless eyes turned to her.

"This...this..." She bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

How did it turn out like this?

This was absolutely not her intention.

“Ling Niang…”

That soft call was like a death knell, pulling her straight toward the man. As she drew closer, she suddenly snapped out of her daze.

The man had grabbed her ankle, forcing her to bend over.

Yin Yuan's skin was as white as if frozen, and he was coughing up blood while mumbling something incoherently. His white hair on his shoulders was stained with blood.

"Let me go..." she cried, her shoulders trembling, but the man held her ankle tightly and wouldn't let go.

She stumbled, stepped on the bloodstains on the ground and fell, landing right on top of the man. Her hands touched his wounds and became covered in blood.

The man sighed, "My days are numbered..."

“Lingniang and I have been together for twenty years. Perhaps I was wrong,” he said, his eyes dimming and his thin cheeks flushing. “I shouldn’t have been so close to you. I was too naive before.”

"I'm sorry."

Naively believing that since she was always full of enthusiasm, it wouldn't matter if he were a little indifferent.

Who would be willing to sacrifice more than a decade of self-respect to seek even a sliver of love?

His love was not precious, and his affection was nothing special.

He often thought that nothing had happened between them, that there were no children, and that there was no affection.

He wasn't there either.

There's no going back.

Leng Cuizhu looked at her hands covered in blood, trembling all over and unable to breathe.

“Yin Yuan…”

What should she do if he really dies?

He never taught her what to do without him; he just kept telling her to wait for him at home, to wait for him to come see her.

Why was he so stingy, only teaching her how to love him?

She reached out to wipe the bloodstains from the man's lips, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed.

"you……"

The man kissed her from her slightly protruding wrist bone all the way to her fingertips, each kiss from his cold lips sending shivers down her spine.

Looking at Yin Yuan's demure and reserved demeanor, she didn't know what to do. She turned her head away and whispered, "Wake up."

"I'll go out and find someone for you, you won't die..."

She was about to get up when she was suddenly stunned and sat frozen in place.

Someone is licking her hand.

Yin Yuan was licking her hand.

He licked away the bloodstains on her palms, bit by bit.

“It’s no use,” the man said, glancing sideways. “He poisoned the soup.”

"Lingniang, stay with me a little longer, just a little while... please don't leave again, okay?"

Could it be that the aphrodisiac in the soup worked?

No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't pull her hand away.

Watching Yin Yuan lick her hand, the bloodstains on her palm being licked away little by little, she felt a ticklish sensation in her heart. Listening to the man's pleading and seductive words, she couldn't help but lie down.

Entangled with him, let him devour you.

"...What poison did he put in the soup?"

The man kissed her palm with his crimson lips, his eyes hazy: "I don't know."

"I'm sure I won't live much longer..."

"Lingniang, after I die, don't marry anyone else," he whispered in her ear, "promise me, okay?"

"Promise me..."

"Promise me..."

"Promise me..."

Leng Cuizhu was taken aback.

The man had already kissed her arm, and was now lifting her sleeve to gently bite her skin, burying his face in her arm.

It wasn't like a little beast wagging its tail and begging for mercy, but rather like a wild wolf about to bare its fangs and tear her into hundreds of pieces.

Then, he swallowed her whole, skin and bones.

"Your contract can only be in my hands, and will always be in my hands."

"I won't give it to you even if I take it to my coffin, unless you're willing to die with me."

"Are you willing?"

Are you willing?

"Or is it that you love your lover more and can't bear to part with him? Or...them?"

Leng Cuizhu was horrified. She didn't want to argue with Yin Yuan about whether she had a lover or not. She did have one, whether she had one or two, it was undeniable. An affair was an affair, and she knew what she was doing.

I didn't want to care about the dense knife marks on his body or the dried blood from his wounds.

She just thought Yin Yuan was a complete madman.

A madman who will lead her astray.

"You...you let me go..."

Before she could break free after speaking, the man had already bitten through the skin on her arm.

Intense pain spread from her arm throughout her body, and her head felt as if it were submerged in water, making her dizzy and disoriented. She vaguely heard a sigh.

Yin Yuan traced the teeth marks on his arm with his fingertips and murmured, "If I swallow a piece of flesh, it will be as if Ling Niang will accompany me on my journey to the Yellow Springs."

"It's just that it stays in my mouth to keep me company."

He seemed to have regrets. He lowered his head and licked the blood that seeped from the fleshy teeth marks. He slowly opened his lips, his tongue and teeth stained with blood and unrecognizable.

Leng Cuizhu opened her lips wide, her eyes bulging as if they were about to burst.

He tried to bite again!

"Smack—"

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Author's Note: A red envelope (cash gift) will be given away in this chapter! [Milk Tea]