Shu Bai chuckled as he watched Li Yuheng swaying in a daze.
The laughter was soft, yet exceptionally clear amidst the hustle and bustle of the night market.
He lazily spread his arms, the movement as natural as if he were just stretching his muscles.
“I’m tired,” he said, his voice carrying just the right amount of weariness. “Carry me back.”
Li Yuheng was immersed in a self-indulgent romantic atmosphere when he heard this and suddenly stopped swaying, staring at him through the blue-faced, fanged mask.
"ha?"
"Are you deaf?" Shu Bai raised an eyebrow, his arms still outstretched. "I said, you, carry, me, back, to, the, place."
In that very instant—
"Whoosh—Bang!"
Huge fireworks exploded in the night sky without warning.
Golden light cascaded down like a waterfall, instantly illuminating half the sky and reflecting off the empty eye sockets on Li Yuheng's mask.
Then came the second shot, the third shot...
Countless dazzling orbs of light burst forth one after another, crackling and popping throughout the sky.
The dazzling colors were all reflected in Li Yuheng's eyes, which peeked out from the holes in his mask.
He blinked, and fireworks exploded in his pupils.
"Shubai, did you see that?"
"What do you see?" Shu Bai turned his head at the sound of the voice. "Fireworks?"
"No." Li Yuheng slowly raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "This is my heartbeat, materialized."
Shu Bai: "..."
His outstretched arms were getting a little sore, and just as he was about to put them down, Li Yuheng suddenly turned around and squatted down with his back to him.
"Come on up!"
Shu Bai stared blankly at his straight back, which wasn't particularly broad but stood ramrod straight, as he suddenly appeared before her.
"Really bad luck?"
"Nonsense!" Li Yuheng turned his head, the side lines of his mask appearing even more ferocious in the flickering light. "A man's word is his bond! He goes back on his word, no questions asked!"
Shu Bai stared at the back of his head, a silent smile playing on her lips.
Without any hesitation, he took a step forward, wrapped his arms around Li Yuheng's neck, and leaned down on him.
Li Yuheng steadily supported his knees and helped him stand up.
"Hehe, it's so light and airy."
"If you think it's too light, you can put me down."
"Dream on!" Li Yuheng immediately tightened his grip and took a step forward. "Once you're on my back, you're my cat!"
The fireworks continued to bloom, stretching and shortening the two figures on the bluestone path.
Passersby were immediately drawn to the scene.
After all, the combination of a person wearing a terrifying ghost mask carrying a person wearing a beautiful white fox mask is rather jarring.
Despite feeling the gazes coming from all directions, Li Yuheng didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he straightened his back and walked more steadily.
He even adjusted the hand supporting Shu Bai's knees to make her more comfortable.
“Sparse and white”.
"Um?"
Do I look like Pigsy carrying his wife on his back right now?
"..."
Li Yuheng's voice, muffled through the mask, couldn't hide his smugness. "However, Pigsy was carrying Miss Gao, but I'm carrying the heir of the Prince of Zhenbei! The class is instantly elevated!"
Shu Bai rested her chin on his shoulder, too lazy to argue.
Li Yuheng, however, became interested and began to improvise:
"Look at the night sky, as clear as water, the fireworks in full bloom. I, with my unparalleled beauty, walk hand in hand with my beloved, through this bustling world..."
He paused, as if considering his words, "Should I compose a poem in this situation?"
"...Are you kidding me?"
Li Yuheng pretended not to hear, cleared his throat, and began to hum in his off-key style:
"Carrying my wife home on my back, I scattered dog food on the way home, splatter splatter~"
The tune went off-key, and the lyrics were completely nonsensical.
Shu Bai, unable to bear it any longer, raised her hand and covered his mouth: "Please, stop singing."
Li Yuheng mumbled two protests under his palm, then stopped making any more noise.
After walking a short distance away from the bustling night market, the surroundings quieted down.
There were only footsteps and the occasional muffled sound of a firework in the distance.
Shu Bai lay on his back, able to clearly feel the rise and fall of his muscles and the temperature beneath the fabric, as well as the unique cool fragrance emanating from Li Yuheng.
He closed his eyes briefly, then suddenly spoke in a low voice: "Li Yuheng."
"Um?"
"Why did you suddenly want to reveal yourself just now?"
Li Yuheng didn't stop walking and answered matter-of-factly, "I can't stand those people staring at you."
"Yeah?"
"Otherwise what?" Li Yuheng turned his head, the hard edge of his mask brushing against his sparse white temples. "My wife, of course only I can see her. Who do they think they are?"
Shu Bai smiled silently and said nothing more.
A while later.
“Sparse and white”.
"What now?"
"I think I'm lost."
"...Didn't you call yourself a living map?"
"...It was a mistake, a complete mistake. Mainly, carrying you distracted me by 99 percent of my attention, leaving only 1 percent of my brain capacity for finding my way, which was really a bit of a stretch."
"Put me down, let me see how to get there."
"No way!" Li Yuheng refused decisively. "We agreed to carry it back, and that means we'll carry it back. Not a single step less counts!"
He stood still, looked around, then chose a direction and continued forward with full confidence.
"Trust me, this is the right place!"
…
Half an hour later.
The two stood at the entrance of a completely unfamiliar alley, where even the lights were sparse.
Shu Bai jumped off his back, took off her mask, and looked at him expressionlessly.
"So this is what you said, right?"
Li Yuheng also took off his mask and scratched his head: "This... the layout of the capital is unpredictable. Someone must have secretly changed the feng shui while we weren't paying attention!"
The more he listened, the more sense it made, and he nodded vigorously: "That's right! It must be that old bastard Qin Lu's doing! He's jealous of how good our relationship is!"
Shu Bai was too lazy to listen to his nonsense, so she raised her eyes to check the direction.
"This way." He lifted his foot and walked away.
Li Yuheng quickly followed, putting the ghost mask back on his face, and said, "See, I told you it was this way. I deliberately went the wrong way to test your sense of direction."
Shu Bai didn't even turn his head: "What are the test results?"
"The result is—" Li Yuheng quickened his pace to stand beside him, grinning, "You and I are both terrible with directions! A match made in heaven!"
Shu Bai scoffed and ignored him.
After turning a few more corners, the familiar outline of the inn's backyard finally came into view.
Li Yuheng immediately perked up: "Hey, what did I tell you? In the end, I still found my way home thanks to my superb intuition!"
Shu Bai stopped and turned to look at him, slowly asking, "Wait a minute, you just said you'd carry me back, not a single step less?"
Li Yuheng's heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling: "...That's how it is in principle."
"Oh." Shu Bai nodded and pointed to the dark road they came from. "Then please carry me back from the alley where we got lost. Not a single step can be missed."
Li Yuheng: "!!!"
The smile on his face froze instantly.
"Shubai... isn't that unnecessary? Look at the middle of the night..."
“A man’s word is his bond,” Shu Bai mimicked his tone, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, “and cannot be taken back.”
Li Yuheng looked at Shu Bai's composed demeanor, then turned to look at the long and dark road they had come from.
He remained silent for a few seconds.
Then, he made a decision.
Suddenly, he lunged forward, clinging to Shu Bai as if he had no bones.
Burying its head in the hollow of its pale neck, it began to act spoiled:
"I don't care! I'm tired! I can't walk anymore! Carrying you just now used up eight hundred years of my cultivation! Now I'm so weak I can't even beat an ant!"
As he spoke, he rubbed his bare shoulder forcefully.
"How about you carry me back? Or we can just make do here at the door for the night? Using the sky as our blanket and the ground as our mat, that would be quite romantic..."
Shu Bai felt an itch on her neck from his rubbing and tried to tear him off: "Li Yuheng! Get up!"
"No, no!" Li Yuheng hugged her tighter, his voice muffled. "Unless you promise not to let me walk back!"
"you……"
Shu Bai looked at his shameless behavior and finally sighed helplessly.
"Alright, get up and go back."
Li Yuheng immediately looked up, her eyes sparkling: "You're not letting me walk back?"
"Um."
"Yay! Shu Bai, you're the best!"
He instantly regained his energy, grabbed Shubai, and rushed towards the backyard of the inn, his steps so light that it was as if the weak ghost from before was not him at all.
"Quickly! Go back to sleep! I want to hold you while I sleep tonight! To make up for my wounded heart and exhausted body!"
Shu Bai was pulled along by him, looking at the backyard of the post station in front of him, and then glancing at the guy next to him who was overjoyed because he didn't have to retrace the Long March route.
The fireworks have long since faded, and the night sky has returned to its inky blackness.
Only this guy's eyes were brighter than all the fireworks combined.
He couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"idiot."
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