Chapter 38 Endure it: "I'm burning up right now"
Gu Shanyue sat down at the dining table. In front of her were bowls of rice and soup, with chopsticks and spoons already laid out for her to eat.
Gu Shanyue didn't move, and looked at Qi Baitong: "You're not in pain anymore?"
Qi Baitong shook her head: "It doesn't hurt."
"Aren't you feeling unwell? You don't look well," Gu Shanyue asked again.
“I don’t feel uncomfortable at all. I’ve taken the antidote and I’m fine,” Qi Baitong explained, as if afraid Gu Shanyue wouldn’t believe her. “If we had to rest for a few days every month when the poison flares up, how would the Imperial Guards operate?”
That seemed to make sense. Gu Shanyue felt relieved and picked up her chopsticks to eat. The food was hot and fragrant, and the dishes were simple, but they inexplicably made her mouth water. They were more tempting to her than the Liaodong snacks that Li Yuheng had laid out on the table.
After taking a few bites, Gu Shanyue called out to Qi Baitong, who was still standing and watching her, "You should eat too."
They usually eat together.
Qi Baitong smiled and pointed to her mouth: "I can't eat anymore. I'll have a bowl of vegetarian noodles later."
No wonder his voice sounded muffled and his mouth barely opened; Gu Shanyue had forgotten about the wounds covering his mouth.
“Alright,” Gu Shanyue waved his hand as he saw him still standing in front of the dining table, “Go downstairs, you don’t need to wait by my side.”
"good."
Qi Baitong left, but did not prepare any vegetarian noodles as he had said. He leaned against a tree outside the kitchen, head hanging down, limbs slumped, and a trace of blood spilled from his mouth.
How could it not hurt? It hurt terribly.
This Gu worm has survived in my body for many years. I take the antidote every month to suppress it. After more than ten years, it no longer has the immediate effect it once did.
The pain was still deep within my bones, but it wasn't so bad that it would twist and stiffen me, rendering me unable to move.
Everyone knows about this, but nobody cares. As long as the Gu worms are still effective and can control them, who cares whether the guards are in pain or not?
Qi Baitong leaned quietly against the tree, treating herself like a lifeless stone, trying her best to ignore the strangeness in her body, hoping that she could just endure it and it would pass.
After a while, he timed it roughly, added hot water to the washroom, adjusted the water temperature, added some hibiscus leaves, and then put away the nightgown that Gu Shanyue was going to change into. After doing all this, Gu Shanyue had just finished eating in the main room, so Qi Baitong went to clear the table and reminded Gu Shanyue to take a bath.
Everything was as usual, no different from any other ordinary day before.
Gu Shanyue washed up as usual, but when she came out, she didn't see Qi Baitong. After searching around, she finally found him in the corner of the west room.
Just like when we first met in the dilapidated temple, he was huddled in the shadows of the corner, so quiet that it was almost impossible to detect his presence.
Gu Shanyue stepped in: "Qi Baitong?"
After a moment of silence, Qi Baitong spoke, her voice hoarse: "I'm here."
What are you doing in the corner?
Gu Shanyue walked over, and the overly long wick on the table drooped down, most of it submerged in lamp oil, making the candlelight dim and barely able to illuminate Gu Shanyue's profile.
The lacquer-white tung tree was completely shrouded in shadow, and Gu Shanyue could only see a vague shadow.
He gazed at Gu Shanyue's damp hair, his dark eyes calm as still water: "Do you want to wring out your hair? I'll go get a dry cloth."
"Don't move."
Gu Shanyue frowned slightly, lifted his face with her fingers, and still looked calm, seemingly no different from usual.
Gu Shanyue let go of him, sat down at the table, propped her cheek with her hand, and looked at him sideways.
Qi Baitong stood up in the corner, but didn't step out of the shadows, and whispered, "What's wrong with you?"
Gu Shanyue was always frank and direct, but at this moment, a veil of worry hung between his brows.
She sighed softly, "I want to take you to the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers and Butterflies, right away, but I have already promised Yu'er that I will stay in Shengjing until his wedding."
Qi Baitong listened attentively: "Is that why you're unhappy?"
Gu Shanyue nodded: "I feel guilty."
Although she didn't inflict the Gu poison on Qi Baitong, she couldn't help but think that if she had eliminated the Gu worms of the Blood Mirage Tower more thoroughly back then, perhaps Qi Baitong wouldn't be tormented by these Gu worms today.
For her, the lacquered white tung tree was ultimately different.
"You saved my life today, you have no idea how grateful I am to you, so why should I feel guilty?"
Qi Baitong stepped out of the shadows, his pale face flushed slightly. He knelt down on one knee in front of her, gently took her hand in his, and lightly touched her knuckles with his hot lips.
“It’s not exactly saving a life,” Gu Shanyue didn’t pull her hand away, but instead pressed the back of her hand against his slightly red face. “Your face is very hot.”
"Of course you count. No one cares about the life or death of a bodyguard except you."
Qi Baitong's nose gently brushed against the back of her hand that was pressed against his, his breath rapid and hot.
Gu Shanyue sensed something was wrong: "You have a fever?"
He was not only burning up, but he also rubbed against her like a cat, his high nose rubbing back and forth against her wrist bone, as if he wanted to swallow her hand whole.
Qi Baitong tilted his head back, his face flushed, his pale lips becoming brighter, his messy black hair falling across his face like a mist, and his cold, handsome eyes showing a hint of affection as he gazed at her intently.
"Ah Yue, you fell asleep the night we agreed on taming, do you want to try it now?"
Gu Shanyue: "...Hmm?"
The topic shifted a bit too quickly; she had just been worried about his health, and suddenly it was about taming him.
She hesitated and said, "Your body..."
“It’s alright. Once the antidote takes effect, your body will become hot,” Qi Baitong grasped Gu Shanyue’s wrist and pressed it against his burning chest. “At times like this, taming him will become very easy.”
"Really?" Gu Shanyue casually pinched his taut chest. "Why is it so easy?"
"It's easy as long as it's you."
Qi Baitong knelt on the ground, his hands slowly encircling her waist, tilting his head closer, stopping at Gu Shanyue's lips, their breaths audible between them.
"I'm burning up right now, can you kiss me?"
To be honest, Gu Shanyue was no longer that interested in those taming remarks.
But she didn't refuse the invitation that Qi Baitong had sent her at this moment. Because he seemed to be seducing her, and he looked like he was easy to bully.
Gu Shanyue pinched his chin and applied slight pressure, causing his thin, crimson lips to part slightly, curving upwards.
Gu Shanyue simply leaned down and kissed his lips before getting up and leaving.
Qi Baitong leaned closer and pursued her lips.
She wagged her finger at him, as if to stop a disobedient puppy.
"You have a wound in your mouth, I don't want to taste blood."
Qi Baitong stopped immediately, her eyelashes drooping, and still leaned forward, her hot, soft lips brushing against her cheek, sniffing and kissing like a small animal.
Knowing that her lips were forbidden territory, he still couldn't help but gently kiss them back and forth, then lingered on her ear, pecking at it tenderly.
Gu Shanyue squinted and let him kiss her. When her ears started to itch, she shrugged slightly to avoid him. Qi Baitong then rubbed his nose and lips against her earlobe, licking it wetly.
"alright."
Gu Shanyue pushed him, making his ears numb and itchy, which was uncomfortable.
Qi Baitong is usually very well-behaved, but this time she might be delirious from the fever.
The more Gu Shanyue pushed him away, the more excited he became. He put his arm around her shoulder and buried his face in hers, kissing her as if he wanted to swallow her ear whole.
"Ah Yue, Ah Yue..."
Qi Baitong called out to her in a hoarse voice.
Gu Shanyue shrank back, tickled, and snuggled into his arms, the chair creaking under the weight.
"Stop biting me, or I'll beat you up."
Gu Shanyue reached out and grabbed his ear, pulling hard.
His ears were burning hot too.
Qi Baitong then raised her head, her face flushed, her eyes glazed, her gaze fixed on her as if she were melting.
Gu Shanyue was stunned.
Qi Baitong once said that she had tamed him.
Gu Shanyue only realized today that what he said might actually be true.
He was like a dog on a chain, forever held in her hand, inseparable and impossible to kick away, his eyes only for her.
Qi Baitong lowered his head, his hot breath mingling with the gentle, even cautious, force of his kisses on her neck.
Gu Shanyue hooked her arm around his sweaty nape, tilted her head back, and Qi Baitong's hot kiss came down, even though he was burning up, it still felt like a gentle drizzle.
He was always very careful, restraining his desires, treating her like a fragile porcelain vase, never daring to go too far.
Gu Shanyue pinched the back of his neck, and Qi Baitong raised his face, panting with his lips open. Even though he hadn't done anything, just allowed him to kiss him, he seemed to have reached the peak of pleasure.
She's so easily satisfied.
Gu Shanyue's lips curled up, and she tightened her grip, drawing Qi Baitong closer to her with the force of her pull.
Gu Shanyue kissed him on the corner of the lips with a soft plop. Qi Baitong's eyes shone even brighter, his chest heaving: "A-Yue..."
Before he could finish speaking, with a crack, the chair that had been pressing down on the two of them finally shattered, and the two of them fell down together.
Without a second thought, Qi Baitong shielded Gu Shanyue's head with his hands, pulling him completely into his arms until his back touched the ground.
Gu Shanyue trembled in his arms, her hair falling onto his arm without getting a speck of dust on it.
Qi Baitong let out a muffled groan, which didn't sound like pain.
Gu Shanyue smiled, leaned against his chest, kissed his lips, bit them, and mumbled, "Are you afraid of the pain?"
Qi Baitong stared intently at her, his eyes burning with a fierce intensity: "Not at all."
"Then let's kiss..."
The final syllable was misty and moist, as if swallowed suddenly by a wild beast, losing its clarity.
It seemed that only in moments like these would his desperate attempts at self-control fail, his muscles trembling uncontrollably, and his strength uncontrollable, wanting to meld the person into his bones, kissing them so tightly that it was almost suffocating.
Still not satisfied, Qi Baitong stretched out his long legs and encircled her, pressing his palm against the back of her head, like a cage.
He was the one who was trapped in it, bewildered and confused, while Gu Shanyue was the one who was watching.
The wound on her lips reopened during the intense movement, and the sweet, metallic smell of blood spread. Gu Shanyue let out a soft moan. Qi Baitong regained his senses, stepped back slightly, and pressed his forehead, with its veins bulging, against hers, his eyes deep and filled with emotion.
He was trying to gauge her expression; even though he was losing control, what he feared most was being disliked.
Gu Shanyue pouted her moist red lips, as if dissatisfied, while Qi Baitong's lips curled up, and he cupped her face and kissed her deeply.
Gu Shanyue held his collar with her hand and pressed her forearm against his hot, throbbing chest.
Qi Baitong let out a soft breath, straightened his chest, and moved even closer to her.
Gu Shanyue slid her fingers down and pulled open his shirt, revealing his fair and jade-like chest, along with several scars.
Qi Baitong reacted quickly by pulling his collar together. Gu Shanyue looked over and saw the veins bulging on the back of his hand.
She laughed: "What, you won't let me see?"
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