Chapter 33 This bruise is unique to him; it's a reward…
It's like a male demon, hidden in the forest, whose intelligence is not yet developed. He just needs someone to pick him up, dress him, and he will stay quietly at home, raise children, and manage household affairs, truly a good husband and obedient father.
Dodder isn't that good; he's more like a demon child.
I picked it up specifically to annoy her.
"ah?"
The dodder was pulled to sit up by her, scratching its cheek, shivering from the cold: "How did I turn into a human again..."
He instinctively snuggled into the arms of the person next to him. Because he'd been pulled awake in a dream, he was still somewhat groggy: "Host... my butt is so cold, my pectoral muscles are so cold, and my abs... can you touch them?"
She was furious: "Of course you'll be cold if you're not wearing clothes! You're not a chicken with feathers to keep warm."
"Hair? I don't know if I have any, I don't think so, feel it..."
As he said this, he took her hand and reached down.
Leng Cuizhu was a seasoned veteran who had encountered countless oddballs, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a shameless person as Tu Si Zi.
What decent person would let someone touch their genitals while they're naked?
She withdrew her hand and then struck his buttocks hard.
"Get up!"
She took off her cloak and threw it to Cuscuta: "Don't you know to go inside and sleep? What if you catch a cold? I'm busy enough every day, where would I find the time to take care of you?"
Dodder, wearing a lotus root-colored shawl, looked aggrieved: "You didn't tell me I was allowed to sleep inside. Before, when I wanted to come inside, you either kicked me out or only allowed me to sleep on the floor..."
He rubbed his eyelids, his eyes reddening: "You've never treated me like a human being!"
"Since that's the case, if you're angry with me... then kick me, spank my butt! Anyway, I'm just a disobedient chicken, not a person, let alone a man!"
"...Do you know the old saying, 'Sima Zhao's intentions are obvious to everyone'?"
Leng Cuizhu stared at him, her gaze shifting downwards: "Before saying these things, could you at least put on some pants? That way, I might believe your nonsense."
Seeing that she had been exposed, the dodder ran into the house in a fit of rage, but stopped abruptly at the door.
"You unromantic woman, I slept naked in that uncomfortable place, just to seduce you! I just wanted you to touch me more, is that wrong... Fine, don't touch me then, I don't care at all, I'm not like cats or dogs that go into heat, if you don't want to touch me, then don't touch me!"
It wasn't that she was clueless about romance; she just found the boy's seduction methods too simplistic and straightforward, and was too lazy to take the bait.
"Where do you want me to touch you? What's so great about touching you? You might as well touch a chicken's butt; at least it's fluffy and warm."
The dodder blushed with embarrassment and scurried into the house.
After she finished packing her things, she went into the room.
Dodder was huddled on the bed, covered with a blanket, and didn't make a sound.
What are you doing?
He poked his head out, his hair a mess: "Find a way to change back!"
“…Dodder, all done,” she said, taking a comb from the side and sitting down in a chair. “Come here, I’ll comb your hair for you.”
He immediately jumped out of bed and walked happily to her.
Then he knelt down with a thud, resting his head between her legs, his eyes sparkling, a straw still stuck to his forehead.
He lifted her skirt layer by layer.
"I promise, it won't interfere with your business. You do your combing, I..." He moved his lips, then buried his head in his hair.
She sat while he knelt; she combed his hair, and his wet cheeks buried even deeper in her hair.
Just as she finished combing her hair, it was the time when the rain and dew were at their heaviest.
She gripped the strand of hair in her hand, her hand tense.
After a while, Dodder raised his head. His forehead was damp with sweat, and even his eyelashes were covered with water droplets.
"Ah... are you done combing your hair?"
She leaned back in her chair without saying a word.
Dodder raised her hand and touched her head: "Why did you give me a woman's hairstyle? Why are there two buns?"
"This isn't a woman's hairstyle... Children all wear this double bun style, it's so cute, and it makes their hair less likely to fall out."
She straightened her skirt and said to the person between her legs, "Alright, get up now."
Dodder nodded listlessly: "...I can't get up."
"My legs... my legs are numb."
"Numb?"
"It's numb."
"I'm exhausted from selling so much stuff, so please don't be stubborn."
Leng Cuizhu didn't believe it and reached out to pull him up. She had just lifted him up a little when he suddenly fell to the ground, almost causing her to fall off the chair as well.
He slumped down in front of her in a fit of despair, lifted his shirt to reveal his legs, and pointed to the marks on them: "Look for yourself, look for yourself! I wasn't being petty at all..."
Perhaps because he had been kneeling for too long, his legs were covered in bruises, especially his knees, which were covered in bluish-purple marks.
She hadn't expected the dodder's skin to be so delicate; after kneeling for a moment, marks appeared on her legs.
He insisted on kneeling and licking it himself.
"Isn't this great? From now on, when you see the marks on your legs, you'll remember me," she teased. "Am I good to you? Nobody else has this; it's just for you."
The dodder plant looked up in surprise.
What she said was so strange, yet he couldn't refute it, and was even unusually delighted.
Yes, only he has this bruise; it's a reward.
The reward his mother gave him.
He was very touched.
Her soft, boneless hands gently caressed his cheeks, her fingernails lifting strands of his damp hair.
"You're at home, aren't you? You haven't even weeded the yard."
"……sorry."
He climbed up the woman's skirt and buried himself between the fabric, his legs exposed, the bones of his legs reddening from the floor.
In the following days, Leng Cuizhu came back to visit Tu Sizi a few times. On one or two occasions, You En was also at home, and the three of them would have a meal together, like a family.
Since being caught slacking off, Dodder has become much more diligent, keeping the house in perfect order, which made her wonder if he had some kind of divine power.
As a result, one night when the dodder got drunk, it told her the truth.
"The flight attendant cleaned it up, hiccup... I don't have time to clean..." He buried his face in the pillow, his cheeks flushed and his eyes hazy.
"...Who is the flight attendant?"
“Eun, he hasn’t had any flight missions these past few days, so he’s been staying home cleaning. He even gave your son’s attic a thorough cleaning.”
Leng Cuizhu understood perfectly.
Eun always did many things quietly, which greatly reduced her burden.
For example, Yin Yuan has been listless these past few days. In particular, after drinking the Poria cocos cream after each meal, he always needs to sit in the four-wheeled carriage for a short rest for one or two hours. This gives her the opportunity to daydream or simply leave Yin Yuan in the pavilion and go out for a stroll herself.
It's impossible that Eun was involved in this, but she doesn't know how he did it.
Dodder yawned repeatedly, waved its hands and closed its eyes: "So sleepy, I'm going to sleep now..."
"You brat," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed and lightly slapping his cheeks several times. "Don't sleep. I made you some hangover soup, aren't you going to drink it?"
Seeing that the dodder didn't react, she pinched his cheeks again, turning his slightly red face into a peach pink.
He had really drunk too much, and instead of complaining, he chuckled, revealing his dimples and prominent teeth, making him quite the comedian.
"Could you feed me some? You mean, put the soup in your mouth and then feed it to me? If you can, hehehe..."
She asked defiantly, "Or should I just drink it all and pee in your mouth?"
He paused for a moment, then smiled brightly, his dimples appearing shallow: "Okay, okay, I'll definitely drink it all, not a drop left."
Is this something a humane young person would say?
Leng Cuizhu shook her head and sighed deeply, "...It's hopeless."
She left the unconscious dodder and went to the kitchen to oversee the soup.
Passing by the attic, I saw Eun come out, carrying a tattered medicine basket.
"I heard you cleaned the attic?"
"Hmm, Madam, do you still need these things?" He emptied the contents of the medicine basket, piling them all over the floor.
"Huh? What is that..."
She was terrified and turned pale at just one glance, tears streaming down her face.
"What...what are all these things..." She covered her face and hid behind Eun.
The mass of things was sticky and dripping with blood, a large puddle of paste, still wriggling.
“It looks,” Ewan turned and smiled at her, “like body parts.”
She swallowed the remaining saliva in her mouth, feeling inexplicably thirsty.
"...body parts?"
Why were there body parts in Leng Zhen's room? What kind of creature were these body parts...? The more she thought about it, the thirstier she became, and her mind became restless and turbulent.
While she was thirsty, she also felt a little hungry, staring longingly at the pile of meat.
It's strange that I actually have an appetite for such disgusting food.
She didn't know what was wrong with her.
"Yes, body parts."
Eun picked up a stick from the ground, poked at the pile of minced meat, and picked out a few pieces of bloody bone, saying, "These few broken bones should be rat bones; these are its incisors."
"Such a large mass of meat must contain more than one rat, at least twenty. It's probably going to be used as pet feed."
She tugged at the man's shirt and blinked, "Hey, who are you talking to?"
To find out, she went into the attic with Eun.
She had entered Leng Zhen's room once before, when Yin Yuan led her in. That time, the lights were off, and the room was pitch black, so she couldn't see anything clearly.
This time, she and Eun still couldn't find the candlesticks inside the house, but they brought lanterns.
Moreover, with someone by her side, Leng Cuizhu felt no fear.
Through the orange-yellow lantern light, she discovered that the room's layout and furnishings were completely different from when she first moved in; all the rooms in the attic had changed.
It's all messy and chaotic, and you can easily slip and fall if you're not careful.
There was also an unpleasant fishy smell, unlike blood, earth, or grass... It was more like the greasy smell of cooked pig lung leaves, which was very sticky in the throat.
She covered her nose with a handkerchief, took Eun's arm and walked away, then suddenly handed him the handkerchief.
“There’s too much of a strange smell in here. Use this to cover your nose. I also brought a handkerchief.” She lowered her head to untie the towel around her waist, and looked up to see the man carefully clutching the blue-green handkerchief, deep in thought.
Could it be because he often holds the handkerchief in his hand and it gets sweaty that he doesn't want to use it to cover his nose?
"How about...we switch?" She pointed to the handkerchief in her hand. "This is a new one I just changed. I've been wearing it around my waist and haven't used it before."
“It’s alright, madam,” he said. “It’s fine as it is.”
He held the palm-sized handkerchief to his nose, inhaling its scent.
The cold wind outside rattled the windows. The two walked to the window, and suddenly a huge creature lunged at them.
"ah!"
At the critical moment, Eun stepped in front of her, and with lightning speed, grabbed the thing by the neck.
The lantern shone on her, and she finally saw what the newcomer was.
It was a pure white python!
The python hissed and flicked its tongue, instantly breaking free from Eun's grasp. It lay dormant on the ground, wriggling around the two of them.
The snake's body wasn't entirely white; it was covered in bluish-green stripes, and its back was stained with mottled blood.
Yuen drew his sword from the sword rack and stood in front of Leng Cuizhu.
Leng Cuizhu was about to faint.
Leng Zhen, how could Leng Zhen keep such a ferocious python in the house! She never imagined that such a small place as the attic could keep such a big snake. Doesn't that mean that people and snakes live together every day, eating, sleeping and traveling together?
"No, don't kill it..." She grabbed the man's hand holding the sword. "If he comes back one day and finds that his pet snake is dead, he will be very sad."
She stared at the white snake licking the minced meat off the ground and muttered to herself, "This snake is so plump, he must have raised it for a long time and put in a lot of effort..."
She suddenly heard a sob.
“Mother,” Leng Zhen emerged from behind the screen, “How could you be so foolish? It’s trying to kill you. If it pounces on you, you’ll be dead.”
He was still wearing the clothes he had worn the day he fled the hut. His clothes, sleeves, and chest were all stained with blood, which had dried into clumps. His face was thin and much more haggard than before.
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