Chapter 101 The Hidden Father: Will He Choose His Aunt or Me? ...

His waist and abdomen tensed instantly, and he spun around to look outside the red curtain. Before he could even see the figure outside through the gap in the curtain, his hands had already gripped Nian Nian's wrists tightly.

Li Xunhuan, his face pale, pushed her away. His lips parted, his breathing was short and rapid, and he asked in a muffled, trembling voice, "What are you doing?"

He didn't hold back, but Niannian clung to his waist like a dodder vine, and Li Xunhuan couldn't pull her off no matter what he did.

Within moments, he broke out in a cold sweat. His heart felt like it was boiling, the overflowing heat almost bursting his chest.

Seeing that his whole body was tense and harder than iron, Niannian couldn't help but smile quietly.

She jumped onto his back, pressed her pink lips against the back of his neck, and said slowly, "After seeing Auntie, Father's hearing isn't working properly anymore?"

The humid heat climbed up her shoulder blades, seeping into her very bones. Li Xunhuan shuddered, abruptly turning his shoulder and grabbing her twisting waist, intending to pull her off.

He said, his face deathly pale, "How could I..."

How could he do such a thing with her in front of outsiders?

There is absolutely no such absurd thing as a father tying his daughter's bellyband.

His cousin was still in the outer room. If she saw him committing such a vile and immoral act, he—

Niannian lifted her eyelashes and drawled, "But Father has made my undergarment ill-fitting. Does Father only want to rub it..."

She suddenly raised her voice, but before she could utter a single word, a cold hand abruptly covered her mouth and nose.

This was extremely fast and forceful, as if all the strength in the body was used to prevent her from speaking.

His palms were slightly damp, the veins on his back bulged, and even his knuckles stood out. His arms trembled as if they were being plucked on a musical instrument.

This string can't be stretched any tighter.

The intermittent footsteps clearly penetrated the thin red curtain, the sound of shoes scraping against the ground, the sound of boxes being overturned and opened, mixed with the conversation between my cousin and Jing Shu, all boiling like hot oil, pouring into my ears.

Li Xunhuan finally understood Niannian's intention: she deliberately forced him to do shameful and sordid things with his cousin in front of her.

She wanted him to never again be able to meet those beautiful eyes in his entire life.

Niannian smiled and suddenly knelt on the wedding bed, snuggling into his arms. She lifted her clothes and said, "Father, hurry up, be careful that Auntie doesn't find out."

Her voice held a hint of eager anticipation.

Anyway, with the three rules agreed upon beforehand, I'm not worried about him not keeping his promise. Even if he intended to break the agreement, being within the 'boundary,' how could he not distinguish between what's important and what's not?

The moment the waist, covered in pinch marks, was exposed to the air, Li Xunhuan's pupils contracted, and he gasped as he turned to the side, blocking the entire expanse of skin.

The turquoise hem of her dress rolled up little by little, slowly coming to rest on her shoulder blades.

The lush greenery contrasted with her mottled back, like a ripe, rotten fruit emerging from a branch covered in dense foliage. While the other tender fruits were still basking in the sunlight, she had already fallen from the branch amidst the collisions and sucking of the leaves.

Her juices were covered by only a thin layer of skin, and with a slight pinch, one could almost break the skin to suck out the tender juices—that was her youth.

Li Xunhuan's fingertips dug deep into his palm, and everything before his eyes became upside down and distorted. Only the faint sound of footsteps in his ears grew heavier and closer, as if they were about to lift the curtain and enter, carving sins into his eyes with their clear gaze.

No one could resist the filth and disgust, not even Shion, who still believed he was Nian Nian's biological father.

An inexplicable fear pressed down on him. Li Xunhuan abruptly pulled down her hem, completely covering her muddy, snow-covered back, and said in a trembling voice, "No...we can't..."

He wanted to say, we can't go on like this anymore.

But he had done such filthy things countless times. The hemp rope was tightly bound around his neck, and even broken bones could not erase the filth.

How could he have the nerve to say such high-sounding things?

Looking at the large hand pressing firmly on the hem of her dress, Niannian smiled and said, "Then I'll have to ask Auntie to help me tie it up."

These words rang in Li Xunhuan's ears like a bell, leaving his mind blank.

Putting aside Lin Shiyin's meticulousness, even a careless person would have guessed the cause and effect upon seeing the marks all over her body.

At that time, how could Niannian possibly cope with his situation? And how could he possibly dare to live on?

Li Xunhuan felt as if his throat had been choked. In the increasingly unbearable suffocation, he could only tighten his jaw, lift her clothes, and stiffen his body to search for the two thin red ribbons.

The wrinkled red bandage tightened instantly, and the cool fingertips and the hot, rapid breathing fell on her shoulder blades.

A tingling, itchy sensation startled her, causing her to tremble all the way. She instinctively climbed onto his back, clutching the fabric in her hands helplessly.

After the two ties were intertwined, only a short section remained. Li Xunhuan could hear the faint noises from outside, his pupils trembled, his fingers shook, and he couldn't tie it no matter what he did.

These hands, which had practiced throwing knives for decades, suddenly became uncontrollable puppets.

His breathing became more and more rapid, his palms were damp, and even his forehead was sweaty.

"Niannian, why are you all so quiet? Did you find anything?" Jing Shu's voice suddenly exploded in his ears. Li Xunhuan's breath hitched, and his hand tightened, causing the red ribbon to dig deep into his flesh, leaving red marks.

The embroidery of mandarin ducks playing in the water blended into the snow-white background, and Niannian couldn't help but sob out: "Ooh...it hurts, Uncle, be gentle."

A drop of sweat fell from his forehead into the muddy ground, meandering down his spine.

His lips trembled as he stiffly said, "The search isn't finished yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, he managed to tie the two red ribbons of different lengths into a loose slipknot.

Before he could even exhale, Jing Shu's voice grew closer from outside: "We're almost done here. I'll help you out. Wait..."

The sound of shoes rubbing against the ground was amplified dozens of times in his ears, and every step Jing Shu took felt like a slowly approaching guillotine.

Li Xunhuan grabbed the hem of his clothes that was tucked into his shoulder blades. Before he could remove it for Nian Nian, she suddenly raised her waist, gripped his arms tightly with both hands, and tilted her head back to bite his thin lips.

Li Xunhuan's pupils shrank to needles in an instant, and shimmering blue light rippled in his eyes.

Yu Guangzhong, with his well-defined knuckles, lifted the red curtain. — As soon as he lifted the curtain, their hidden, chaotic filth would have nowhere to hide.

The wind rushed in through the increasingly larger gaps, crushing my spine in an instant.

Li Xunhuan's face turned ashen, and suddenly he felt numb and cold from the soles of his feet, unable to even breathe.

"this......"

Lin Shiyin's murmured voice came from behind her. Her hand, which was gripping the red curtain, suddenly loosened. The curtain swayed once or twice, and the footsteps faded into the distance.

The tense, aching muscles suddenly relaxed. Before Li Xunhuan could recover from the shock, Nian Nian had already nuzzled his nose affectionately and whispered in a sticky voice, "Coward."

He staggered back two steps, then, without looking back, lifted the red curtain and fell out.

His inner garment was already soaked with sweat, and his hair was plastered to his neck, making him look like someone fleeing a disaster. Who would guess that this was the famous Little Li Flying Dagger?

"It's boring," Niannian shook her head and pulled off the clothes piled up in front of her heart one by one.

"Found it—"

Nian Nian lifted the red curtain and said with a smile, "Have you found 'Little Sister'?"

"It's a marriage certificate." Lin Shiyin raised her head, the smile on her lips suddenly faltering when she saw the crimson corners of her eyes.

She subconsciously furrowed her brows, unable to pinpoint what was wrong, and simply paused, momentarily stunned.

Jing Shu said repeatedly, "The marriage certificate states the wedding date, but not the year or month; it only states the 22nd."

His voice lowered again, "How strange, the marriage certificate only lists the groom's surname."

This marriage certificate had more than one strange aspect, yet Li Xunhuan couldn't bring himself to look at it closely.

The ink on the bright red stationery spread before his eyes, and the words and phrases that formed were like cotton wool, filling his lungs in no time.

“Du Ping is from Zhongnan Ancient City in Yongzhou.” Lin Shiyin murmured, then suddenly looked up at Li Xunhuan.

She already had a guess in her mind, and she guessed that he must have thought of it too.

Unexpectedly, Li Xunhuan stared at a corner of the marriage certificate without raising his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Lin Shiyin curled her knuckles, only to be suddenly disappointed by that look.

That's right, that's right—

Ten years have passed.

Jing Shu's eyes flickered slightly as she leaned closer to her and asked with a smile, "Sister, has something come to mind?"

Lin Shiyin pursed her lips and said, "Marrying off my sister and Du Ping remind me of a story."

Li Xunhuan lowered his eyes, "Zhong Kui is marrying off his sister."

Niannian took the marriage certificate, looked at the densely packed words on it, and quickly threw it into Li Xunhuan's arms, "What does the story say about Zhong Xiaomei?"

Li Xunhuan held the marriage certificate, lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice: "This story tells of how Zhong Kui was stripped of his title as the top scholar by the emperor because of his ugly appearance. In a fit of anger, he committed suicide by hitting his head against the steps. His friend Du Ping had given him gold and silver to help him take the imperial examination, and after his death, he gave him a grand burial. To repay his kindness, after Zhong Kui became the King of Ghosts, he betrothed his younger sister to Du Ping. [1]"

Asking him to personally recount the story of marrying off his sister to repay a debt of gratitude is tantamount to cutting one's own flesh with a soft knife.

Everything from ten years ago surged up and overwhelmed him. After he finished speaking, Li Xunhuan's eyes were bloodshot.

Jing Shu clasped his hands together, puzzled, and said, "Why should his sister repay the debt he owes? Does that mean that Sister Zhong resents her own brother because of this?"

Li Xunhuan remained silent. If he spoke again, he would be unable to suppress the sob in his throat, nor the burning tears in his eyes.

He could only bend his back and let the blood stain his mouth and teeth.

Lin Shiyin's lips parted, and after a long while, she said in a trembling voice, "Even if I resent him, I will not hate him."

She hugged the red lantern tightly, then closed her eyes and said, "The blame doesn't lie with Sister Zhong, so could it lie with Zhong Kui?"

Niannian turned her head away, looking utterly bored, and said, "What is he complaining about? Is it his ugly appearance? Or was he stripped of his title as the top scholar?"

Li Xunhuan took a deep breath, glanced at the sky outside the window, suppressed the tearing pain in his heart, and said in a deep voice, "It's to marry off his sister. He wants to repay Du Ping's kindness."

He flipped through the marriage certificate again, frowning as he said, "There's not much time left. The marriage certificate doesn't have the woman's surname, so we can't get married. Let's fill in the surname first."

Seeing him pick up the pen, Nian Nian's eyes crinkled into a smile as she asked, "Whose name is Father planning to write?"

Li Xunhuan was taken aback, and a sense of unease arose in his heart. "Zhong Mei'er."

Niannian said sweetly, "How could there be such a simple good thing? I didn't realize that this demon wanted you to choose one to be sent as a bride?"

"Father, will you choose Auntie or me?"

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The author's note: [1] This is the story of Zhong Kui marrying off his sister.