Chapter 98 I am your dog. He thought, to hell with the gods.
It got light exceptionally early.
Before dawn, a faint sliver of white appeared on the horizon, and after a short while, the room was as bright as day.
The drizzle continued, the rain carrying the scent of spring, making the time before daybreak seem exceptionally long.
Lou Yan knelt on the ground, counting on his fingers.
Another half hour passed, and the sound of rain suddenly intensified. The rainwater flowing down from the eaves was like fine, moist beads strung together by spider silk, each drop hitting the heart and making one's thoughts particularly chaotic.
Lou Yan was completely exhausted, with a fine layer of sweat on his forehead, swaying as if about to fall off, his whole body tense.
The Clairvoyance technique was still working relentlessly, and he had no choice but to use that sliver of pale golden spiritual power to glance at the bed. He saw that Heng Qichun had turned away from him and was lying on her side, with the blanket still not covering her. Her snow-white back was only covered by a cascade of white hair.
He must have been dreaming something, but even from just his back, one could see his rapid breathing, which seemed to carry a slight tremor.
Lou Yan almost lost control again.
The time that followed was therefore exceptionally long, and every shift of light and shadow felt like being entangled by tangled raindrops, trying to confuse one's mind and break one's back.
Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
The person on the tatami mat gradually calmed down.
When Lou Yan realized this, he was still kneeling limply on the ground, his face flushed, his mouth slightly open, and his body was so weak that he had no strength left.
His hands were covered in sweat, his fingertips so slippery that he couldn't grasp anything. For a moment, he didn't know whether to kneel down first or clench his wrists tightly.
Before he could make a choice, he noticed the sharp, piercing gaze from the person above him.
"Lou Yan." Heng Qichun, still slightly hoarse after waking up, asked him through gritted teeth, each word deliberate, "How dare you."
Lou Yan instinctively shuddered, and a penetrating technique was shattered between his palms. His dantian stirred, and the ceaseless spring rain of the night once again lost its restraint.
A small patch of ground in front of him was wet. He hurriedly moved his knees to kneel down, his hands clasped tightly together, his fingertips pressing firmly against the flesh of his wrists.
"Master...Master, I...I didn't!" he cried out in protest, his knees shifting with difficulty on the ground. His underpants, which had been pulled down to his calves, were soaked with a sticky substance and were awkwardly pressed down below his knees.
Having knelt for almost the entire night, even the thickest wolf hide couldn't withstand such torment. Its knees were already slightly red and swollen, and coupled with its anxious eyes, it inexplicably looked somewhat pitiful.
But Heng Qichun did not let him get up.
Separated by a gauze curtain, he propped himself up and sat up, only realizing he was neither dressed nor covered by a blanket when a chilling sensation washed over him.
No wonder I dreamt of a waterfall that had been covered in snow for two hundred years.
Heng Qichun was somewhat dissatisfied, his brows furrowing slightly. He first reached out to pick up the blanket and cover himself with it, then couldn't help but press his brow.
After a moment of silence, he reached out and pulled up the bed curtains, reluctantly turning his head to look at Lou Yan kneeling below.
When he woke up, he only smelled a faint fishy odor. Now, a sticky water stain was right in front of him. Heng Qichun endured it for a while, but his expression changed several times. He pointed at the water stain and asked him, "You call this what you don't have?"
Lou Yan, who was eager to defend herself, was momentarily speechless.
He knelt there with his mouth agape, his head tilted back, his hands still clasped tightly behind his back, his face turning from a flushed red to a horrified pale.
He lowered his head, his long eyelashes obscuring the beauty mark under his eyelid, trying to recall what Heng Qichun had said to him last night.
"Master said—"
"Have your hands behind your back, clasp them together... and kneel down."
He clenched his wrist even tighter, and somehow, he suddenly felt more confident, and his tone became firmer.
He imitated Heng Qichun's tone and scolded fiercely, "Kneel up straight, back straight, shoulders open, and don't put your hands in front of you!"
Heng Qichun frowned slightly, not understanding his sulking behavior, and continued to look at him coldly.
Lou Yan suddenly deflated. He moved his mouth slightly, revealing a hint of grievance, and grumbled, emphasizing, "I knelt properly, but my hands weren't stretched out in front..."
This movement made it easy for him to see the pools of white liquid in front of his knees. The clever wolf brain instantly figured out why Heng Qichun was angry, and he became even more flustered and anxious, almost crying out: "...I didn't know I had to hold it in!"
This time, it was Heng Qichun's turn to look at him in surprise.
The deity hadn't slept well and was still feeling sleepy. He stared intently at his sullen little disciple in front of him and vaguely remembered the time he found him on the back mountain of the Eighteen Realms.
And so it was; the big wolf cub curled up like a spoiled child, whimpering and shedding tears in his arms, as if it were overwhelmed by a tide of grievances.
Heng Qichun touched his forehead with some self-loathing, wondering why he liked this kind of thing so much.
He coughed lightly and tapped the edge of the bed beside him, reminding the wolf cub, who wanted to howl but dared not, to look up at him.
"What's wrong?" he chuckled, half-helplessly asking, "Is it my fault for making you feel stifled?"
Hearing Heng Qichun's tone soften, Lou Yan's grievances vanished instantly, but she still put on an arrogant expression and even boldly raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye with her sleeve.
The school uniform of the Eighteenth Realm disciples was made of rough fabric, which rubbed the skin around his beauty mark red, making him look like he had been crying, and making him look even more pitiful.
Lou Yan shook her head pitifully, the frequency so great it sounded like a frantically shaking rattle, then pouted and protested, "Of course not."
Seeing that Heng Qichun had no intention of paying attention to his hand, he simply reached forward and touched his own hand with his already sore and numb fingers.
Seeing the bamboo shoots springing up again after the rain, Lou Yan curled her lips into a smug smile, looked up at Heng Qichun with a boastful expression, and said, "I'm really great..."
Heng Qichun: ...
The drizzle fell incessantly against the window, making the room exceptionally quiet, and no one made a sound for a long time.
Lou Yan pouted and thought for a while. After figuring something out, he suddenly raised his knees, crawled forward a few steps, crossed the mess he had created, and knelt down in front of Heng Qichun's bed.
“Master…” He raised his hand, not daring to press Heng Qichun down without explanation as he had done last night. Instead, he carefully and tentatively placed his hand on the edge of the bed where Heng Qichun had just knocked.
Those sinister eyes suddenly appeared incredibly innocent. He blinked and asked Heng Qichun, "Didn't Master believe what I said yesterday?"
Heng Qichun raised an eyebrow, puzzled. When he looked up, he saw his neck, which had been bitten and bruised by Lou Yan the night before, and a patch of red swelling on the corner of his lips.
He also pondered Lou Yan's almost absurd "explanation" to him last night, and couldn't help but close his eyes. However, he still couldn't bear to lie to his sincere little apprentice in front of him, so he could only say, "Of course I believe you."
Lou Yan's mood didn't improve much because of those words. He tilted his head as usual, and his whining explanations turned into groveling pleas.
He whispered to Heng Qichun, "Then, Master, could you also like me...?"
Heng Qichun met his gaze.
The biting spring wind suddenly unleashed a torrential downpour, and the branches and leaves of the Endless Tree rustled in the rain, adding an extra layer of turmoil to this already turbulent world.
In the unsettling silence, Lou Yan shifted his knees nervously, but still didn't urge them on.
Heng Qichun was still staring at him.
The Endless Tree outside was connected to his divine essence; as its branches and leaves swayed incessantly, his heart rose and fell, restless and uneasy.
He recalled his master's dying words of admonition.
He remembered how the wolf cub would obediently lick his fingers when it was a cub.
He recalled how Nanyu Mountain mercilessly struck him like a ruler in his palm.
He recalled how Lou Yan had crawled into his bed when he was seriously ill.
He recalled the desolate place in his dream, where he had endured two hundred years of freezing snow, yet he could not find that lingering soul.
He recalled a phrase that had echoed in his ears for thousands of years: "God must not love people."
He thought, "To hell with the gods."
Lou Yan's expectant gaze was still vivid in his mind when Heng Qichun's heart was suddenly filled with this last thought.
Heng Qichun chuckled, not answering Lou Yan's question, but instead unexpectedly reaching out and giving him a hard rub, calling out to him.
"puppy."
Although he did not receive a satisfactory answer, Lou Yan was still made to stand up straight by Heng Qichun's words. A wolf tail popped out from his tailbone and swayed behind him.
Even at this point, he still turned his head away, avoiding Heng Qichun's smiling gaze, and deliberately pretended to be annoyed, saying, "I am a wolf."
Heng Qichun burst out laughing.
Lou Yan's stubbornly pursed lips were finally broken down by this smile, revealing a smug grin.
He felt that he had probably passed Heng Qichun's test.
But then, almost like a sudden spring rain, a torrential downpour, the fear and helplessness of those in those positions overwhelmed his heart.
The demonic bone, concealed by the Demon-Concealing Pearl, seemed restless, constantly reminding him of his despicable status before Shenming.
The immortal realm and the demon realm are irreconcilable enemies. If his identity is ever exposed, he will inevitably be dragged to the divine realm by his own master to receive divine punishment, just like Nan Xu a thousand years ago.
Heng Qichun considered the well-being of the people his own responsibility, so how could he possibly let him go on that day?
What should he do...?
What should he do...?
He should...
He suddenly thought of a way to try to gain the trust of the gods with his inferior sincerity.
Lou Yan stood up, pressed one bare knee against the edge of the mattress, leaned his upper body towards Heng Qichun, and asked eagerly, "Master, if I were a puppy, could I get on the bed?"
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