The human eye can hold another person inside it. Reflections cast upon the eyeball can record and duplicate every trace of their smiles and expressions.
Gu Daosheng saw his own face reflected within those deep, dark, abyss-like eyes, an expression of surprise born from unfulfilled expectations and the sudden appearance of someone entirely unexpected.
The two were standing so close they could almost feel each other’s breath. Gu Daosheng looked up and, within that dangerous proximity, realized that Lou Hongchen was significantly taller than him.
By more than half a head.
Someone of shorter stature never liked tall people getting too close; it gave off a sense of pressure, almost like a provocation.
Most importantly, a face that perfectly aligned with his own aesthetic taste, one that was utterly flawless yet completely out of his reach to enjoy as he pleased, offered zero benefits, serving only to torment his already restless heart and make it itch even more intensely.
Gu Daosheng leaned his body back and voluntarily took half a step backward, hinting to Lou Hongchen that he had probably mistaken him for someone else.
They had only just met; they weren’t familiar with each other yet.
He hadn’t expected Lou Hongchen to push his luck and advance that same half-step forward instead.
Gu Daosheng couldn’t figure out what he meant. Standing there without saying a word, relying solely on displaying an earth-shatteringly, heaven-weeping stunning face wouldn’t work either. Clearing his throat, he spoke up amidst his wildly thumping heart.
You…
You, you, you? What ‘you’?! So what if you’re a servant and he’s a young master? Sweeping the yard for him is only natural! If you’ve got the skill, why don’t you work hard and try to climb into Mr. Lou’s bed too?! An impolite voice chimed in rapidly and discontentedly, cutting in right on the heels of Gu Daosheng’s words.
It was almost as if the person were deliberately picking a fight.
Gu Daosheng turned around and saw the male servant who had been slapped the previous night standing stock-still in the middle of the yard.
The man stood as if rooted to the spot, swinging a broom and sweeping the ground with a vengeance. It looked as though he wanted to tear up the earth itself and whip up a dust storm.
There was no one else around helping him clean, nor did he raise his head. Slouching his body sideways, he acted as if he hadn’t noticed Gu Daosheng’s return, timing his solitary rant with impeccable precision.
Burning paper in the yard again! Burning paper for whoever comes! Burning paper for whoever comes! This one is even more unhinged, actually setting up array formations with stones! If you love performing rituals so much, why don’t you go become a ghost-hunting Taoist master? A perfectly good house, made to look like a literal haunted house. The male servant kicked over the stone formation Gu Daosheng had set up in the middle of the yard the night before to burn paper and query the present. His broom swept right into the paper ashes, causing fine grey dust to billow into the sky. Aren’t you afraid a real ghost will cling to you and scare you to death at night?
Hey, can’t scare me to death. Fire suddenly ignited between Gu Daosheng’s fingers. He rubbed his fingers together as if counting money, his youthful, vindictive nature fully exposed. Yellow talisman paper burned back and forth in both of his hands, held out right in front of the servant’s face, circling and advancing to burn directly before his eyes. Can’t scare me, can’t scare me, can’t scare me to death~ Mad yet, mad yet, mad yet~.
Two balls of fire igniting out of nowhere right before his face was frightening enough, not to mention almost singeing his eyelashes. The male servant let out a terrified shriek, burying his head deep into the crook of his arm while flailing his limbs to keep Gu Daosheng away, stumbling over his own feet and falling backward.
You actually practice demonic arts! And you do it right out in the open! The male servant clutched his broom while sprawled on the ground, his face pale. His attempt to intimidate had backfired entirely, and the bright red five-finger mark left by Lou Guangrui’s slap from the previous night remained swollen on his face without fading. Now, with his eyes and nose scrunched up in terror, the mark became exceptionally conspicuous. If Mr. Lou finds out about this, you won’t hear the end of it! He hates this kind of stuff the most!
Nonsense. Gu Daosheng blew on his fingertips to extinguish the flame, deliberately trying to trick information out of him. I just finished paying respects to the First Lady with him and came right back. We were worshiping her spirit tablet. If he didn’t allow it, would he let anyone worship the spirit tablet? Or are you suggesting that after the First Lady died, she turned into some kind of evil thing?
I didn’t say that! The male servant grew frantic, his eyes rolling around wildly as he blurted out chaotic excuses. I’m just a servant, what do I know?! You’re a young master, how can you lower yourself to hold a grudge against me?!
So what? Gu Daosheng replied with supreme confidence. I’m only eighteen. I just had my coming-of-age ceremony the day I left the mountain.
You’ve truly gone mad. Last night you said you had a master, and now you say you came down from a mountain… The servant’s voice plummeted from sharp interrogation into a sudden, choked stutter, as if an invisible hand had gripped his throat. Young… Young Master… E-Eldest Young Master.
Lou Hongchen was standing right behind Gu Daosheng, silent as a ghost, without uttering a single word.
Gu Daosheng: …Why do you always walk without making a sound?
, A… pologies, Lou Hongchen said softly. His eyes and voice seemed to turn shy, as if he didn’t dare to speak loudly.
Then, when he turned toward the male servant, his expression changed as fast as flipping the page of a book, much like his father. However, unlike Lou Guangrui’s furious face-slapping, he lowered his voice and asked with a chilling, bone-piercing coldness: You speak… to him… like this?
There was an unusual pause between his words, lacking smooth coherence. It was likely the natural result of someone who rarely opened his mouth to speak over the years, causing his language faculties to gradually regress.
This was the first time Gu Daosheng had heard Lou Hongchen speak.
That vocal tone felt like a soft feather, impolitely and leisurely teasing his ear, burrowing inside like thin smoke. The resulting itch traveled along his bloodstream, awakening a restless sensation through all his limbs and bones. Gu Daosheng couldn’t help but shudder, pressing hard on his ear to warn his legs to keep a respectful distance, firmly taking a step to the side.
Forget it, forget it. He doesn’t look that old either; it’s normal to have such a foul temper, refusing to submit to anyone. My master said people are all like this when they’re young, Gu Daosheng said, looking up at the sky, down at the earth, glancing at the stone formation, and then at the servant. Putting aside his distracting thoughts, he adopted a friendlier demeanor and changed the topic to chat with the servant. How old are you?
The male servant stared at Lou Hongchen in sheer terror, trembling frantically on the verge of tears. His upper and lower lips quivered like two autumn leaves in the wind, and the color drained completely from his face: E-Eighteen…
Same age as me, Gu Daosheng muttered to himself. An eighteen-year-old should still be in school, so why was he working as a servant here?
Since he was the master of his own courtyard, he casually waved his hand to dismiss the man: Be more polite to me in the future. You dislike me, and I don’t care for you either.
…Yes.
What’s your name?
Lou Ling.
You’re named Lou too?
…Anyone who stays in the Lou family takes the surname Lou.
Nonsense. His surname was Gu. Gu Daosheng said, You can go now.
Thank you, Twelfth Young Master!
Lou Ling scrambled up in a panic, clutching the broom in front of himself like a protective talisman. He looked at Gu Daosheng as if wanting to say something, but due to Lou Hongchen’s presence, he didn’t dare. Ultimately, he said nothing at all, hunching his shoulders and bowing his back as he scurried away in a hurry.
When passing by Lou Hongchen, he made himself extraordinarily meek and subservient, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
Lou Ling was afraid of Lou Hongchen.
Terrified, in fact.
Gu Daosheng stole a glance at Lou Hongchen.
He looked completely normal and proper; what was there to be so afraid of?
Still, this person was indeed strange.
He had followed him over for no apparent reason and stayed without leaving, never stating his intentions even now.
Gu Daosheng stood up straight, thinking that since he was technically his stepson, he should speak to him properly and act a bit more affectionate. Who knows, he might even gather some useful information from him.
Since they were bound to see each other often under the same roof, it was better to keep things smooth for the future.
Putting on a deep, solemn tone, he adopted the air of an elder: Hongchen, is there something on your mind? Is there anything you need my help with?
Lou Hongchen lowered his gaze, his eyes fixing onto Gu Daosheng’s hand.
The fingers that had just burned the yellow talisman paper were stained with a tiny trace of grey ash, forming a sharp contrast against his cool, fair skin. His fingers were long and slender, his fingertips rounded and extraordinarily delicate, with even his knuckles displaying a soft rosy hue.
Gu Daosheng let out a slight Ah. Naturally, he wasn’t stupid enough to outright tell Lou Hongchen that he was a Taoist master. Whether the man believed it or not was one thing, but the fact that a Taoist master couldn’t catch a ghost and resorted to burning talismans to scare ordinary people was both unprofessional and embarrassing, something Gu Daosheng had no desire to admit.
He rubbed his fingers together and, drawing on ample experience, lied through his teeth with his eyes wide open: This… is a magic trick.
Then, taking advantage of the moment when the other wasn’t paying attention, he hid both hands behind his back to put on a profound front, quietly forming a hand seal. That tiny bit of ash vanished without a trace, as if washed away by a fine stream of running water.
When it was too cold in winter and he really didn’t want to take a bath, he would use a Body Cleansing Seal, it was both convenient and clean.
If Gu Daosheng knew that ancient eunuchs were also fond of body cleansing, he probably wouldn’t like using this term so much.
Lou Hongchen didn’t reply. Slowly raising one hand, he lifted an exquisitely crafted, multi-layered food container and said: Break… fast.
Gu Daosheng, who had assumed this person had some important business, otherwise he wouldn’t have shadowed his stepmother and walked all the way back with her, stiffened: …
I happen to be hungry, thank you. He was secretly shocked at his own blindness for not even glancing at Lou Hongchen’s hands earlier. Coupled with the disruption caused by Lou Ling, he had only just noticed the food container. Hastening forward two steps to take it, he uttered a casual courtesy, though his actual intent was to usher the guest out: Have you eaten breakfast? If not, why don’t you join me?
Haven’t… eaten, Lou Hongchen said, pausing after every word. O… kay.
Gu Daosheng: …
My master explicitly said that people down the mountain love to put on an act! If you don’t want someone to eat with you, you have to insist on keeping them; the more polite you are, the faster they run!
What on earth does this guy mean?
Trying to seduce his stepmother?!
Gu Daosheng felt suspicions rising in his heart. Filled with doubts, he walked alongside him, stealing glances at Lou Hongchen every now and then.
Looking completely like a thief.
He just suited his taste way too much. After sneaking a few glances, he almost couldn’t pull his eyes back.
Fortunately, a small white shadow flashed past. This time, the ghost infant had truly arrived… snapped Gu Daosheng out of his trance of being intoxicated by beauty. He blinked a few times rapidly, straightened his head, and let out a breath.
No, there was something wrong with Lou Hongchen.
Why was he acting like some soul-snatching incubus…
The ghost shadow flashed past once more. Exposing such an obvious flaw was clearly aimed at luring the young Taoist master into catching it. The ghost infant wasn’t big, but its desire to play was far from small, and its nerve was even greater, it actually dared to keep playing tricks on a Taoist master.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; but there wouldn’t be a third time. In his heart, Gu Daosheng had already dug up the ghost infant’s ancestral grave. On the surface, however, he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, pretending not to see a thing as he strutted grandly into the room.
Master had said that some kids just loved to play; the more adults ignored them, the more they sought attention.
Gu Daosheng, acting the calm and composed adult, believed he understood the ghost infant completely. He sat his bottom down on the stool beside the dining table, opened the food container, and prepared to taste the delicious food that people down the mountain enjoyed every day.
Surely it tasted much better than the wild mushrooms, mountain rabbits, wild bamboo shoots, pheasants, and wild green apples back on the mountain, right?
People down the mountain really do eat well… Gu Daosheng fell into deep thought as he stared at the vibrant array of colors before his eyes.
The entire box of food was brightly colored and exquisitely arranged. It didn’t look like food meant for humans to eat; it looked like something meant to consume humans.
The prettier a thing is, the more poisonous it is. Gu Daosheng suddenly recalled this saying and didn’t dare to move his chopsticks recklessly.
You… aren’t eating? Lou Hongchen sat properly beside him, asking in confusion.
Gu Daosheng placed both hands on his knees, sitting up properly as well, and said: I’ll eat in a bit… Why don’t you head back first?
Lou Hongchen shook his head: Father said… he must see you finish it.
Gu Daosheng: …
Now that you’ve put it that way, who would dare to eat poison? He didn’t want to die, so there was no way he would gamble with his small life.
This deadly realm of ghost-tracing hadn’t even been broken yet, and before reaching the if you can’t get out, you die stage, he had actually ushered in other methods meant to claim his life.
Was Gu Daosheng an emperor or something?
There are always treacherous subjects trying to harm this Emperor!
As if discerning his worries, Lou Hongchen said: In the breakfast… Father added something. That thing can make you fall in love with him… and obey him forever… This isn’t the breakfast he prepared. I prepared a different one… nothing is inside it. It’s clean.
Without this explanation, it might have been less suspicious; with it, not a single period of his words could be trusted. Every micro-expression on Gu Daosheng’s face screamed skepticism, as if saying: I’d sooner believe that you and I are husband and wife than believe this total nonsense.
Otherwise, why would he be so attentive?
His feeling of treacherous subjects trying to harm this Emperor didn’t fade; instead, it grew stronger. Refusing to step into the traitorous minister’s trap, Gu Daosheng nodded. He picked up his chopsticks, tapped the tips against the lid of the food container to align them, picked up a piece of plastic-looking, vibrantly colored vegetable, and sincerely delivered it to Lou Hongchen’s mouth: Then you eat first.
Lou Hongchen didn’t open his mouth. In fact, he remained completely motionless, his pupils not even twitching once. Only his quiet breath fluttered against the inner side of Gu Daosheng’s wrist.
After a long silence, he finally spoke again: Do you… have anything you want to say to me?
Gu Daosheng didn’t understand his meaning, choosing to stay calm to deal with all changes: Hmm?
Deep within Lou Hongchen’s pupils, Gu Daosheng’s face was reflected. He stared so intensely and spoke with such unyielding conviction: Sheng-Sheng… you were supposed to be my wife.