“You’re sick!” Gu Daosheng cursed with a refined restraint, his anger so polite it was almost courtly. He was like a cat kicking out in fury, its leg fully extended, the sole of its foot planting itself squarely on a human face.
He wanted to grind it in.
Yet Lou Hongchen didn’t flinch. A sickly curve touched the corners of his lips.
His ink-black eyes stared straight ahead, fixed on Gu Daosheng’s calf, exposed as the pant leg rode up when he lifted his foot. It was straight, well-proportioned, and smooth, beautiful.
“Feel better?” Lou Hongchen smiled faintly. “If not, maybe… you should step on me a few more times.”
If he hadn’t said that, Gu Daosheng really would have wanted to keep stomping, to crush this indecent bastard to death. But hearing those words, Gu Daosheng felt a bizarre sense of being toyed with. He yanked his leg back and braced himself against the sofa in a defensive posture.
Lou Hongchen murmured, “Sheng Sheng…”
Sheng Sheng was furious. His chest heaved with ragged breaths, but his heart hammered in a different kind of rhythm, the physical thrill disconnected from his mental anguish. He truly couldn’t get past the stepmother-stepson dynamic. With heartbreaking earnestness, he emphasized, “I am your stepmother.”
Gu Daosheng loved Lou Hongchen with a desperate, suffocating intensity. He kicked Lou Hongchen, but the blow landed without pain. Gu Daosheng’s heart felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over it, freezing and rotting the core until it was a hollow void.
From then on, the mountain wind howled through the cave, leaving only an ancient, enduring ache.
Lou Hongchen’s fingers curled slightly as he lifted his hand, gliding like a slithering snake toward Gu Daosheng’s calf. He stopped just before touching it, as if afraid his own mortal flesh would defile the sacred.
“How… how could you accept the relationship between me and your father so quickly?” Lou Hongchen’s lips curved into a smile. His hand hovered, inches from Gu Daosheng’s calf, while his eyes remained fixed on him. He leaned forward on the sofa, his entire being, every sense, every limb, poised for an attack. “How could you forget the relationship between us so quickly? I knew you first. I possessed you first.”
“You… you are not… my stepmother. You are not.”
His question struck like a bolt of thunder from a clear sky, deafening and world-shaking.
Gu Daosheng shrank back, his back pressing firmly against the chair’s backrest. Yet Lou Hongchen continued to lean in, his towering frame nearly enveloping Gu Daosheng in his embrace.
Both were fully clothed, yet the atmosphere felt strangely charged.
Gu Daosheng couldn’t answer any of these questions. He couldn’t even answer the one Lou Hongchen had asked yesterday: Why did you marry my father?
He hadn’t dreamed up an answer overnight.
He could only tilt his head back, hold his breath, and feign a look of profound difficulty, as if he wanted to speak but couldn’t.
“Sheng Sheng, why… why won’t you look at me? Look at me, look at me, just like you used to. Keep your eyes on me, only me, only… me.”
His hand finally gave in to temptation, his true nature breaking free as he gripped Gu Daosheng’s ankle.
The pant leg fell over his hand, as if concealing an illicit affair.
A stepmother… and his stepson…
Gu Daosheng hissed, reflexively trying to pull his leg away. “Cold…”
But the large hand remained motionless, clamped to his leg like a vice.
After savoring the temperature for a moment, his fingers slowly glided upward along the smooth skin. When they touched the hollow of Gu Daosheng’s knee, Gu Daosheng hissed again, pressing his lips together and glaring at Lou Hongchen.
Lou Hongchen’s fingers were so long that when they moved back down, they easily and completely encircled Gu Daosheng’s slender ankle, making the pale, lustrous ankle bone stand out sharply. The pant leg seemed a bit loose; with a slight tug, Gu Daosheng’s ankle was lifted off the ground.
“Hmm?” Lou Hongchen asked him. “Why… aren’t you saying anything?”
“Don’t let anyone else see…” Gu Daosheng’s heart pounded with guilt, fearing their secret would be exposed. If the servants saw his stepmother and stepson together, especially this close, he wouldn’t be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River. He still considered himself a moral person.
Unable to answer any questions, he stopped struggling and resigned himself to his fate, half-jokingly complaining, “Your hands are so cold… Why are you gripping me so hard? Trying to crush me to death?”
“The real force… comes later.” Despite his words, Lou Hongchen obediently loosened his grip, not actually hurting him, and slowly stroked the ankle bone with his thumb. “We have… plenty of time.”
Lou Hongchen kept stroking him for a long while, showing no intention of letting go. His hand was unnervingly cold, sending a chill through Gu Daosheng.
Just as Gu Daosheng reached his breaking point and was about to slap Lou Hongchen to snap him out of it, Lou Hongchen seemed to awaken from his trance and finally noticed his distress.
A heavy silence fell between them. Lou Hongchen closed his eyes, as if fighting back a powerful emotion, and finally released his grip.
If he hadn’t let go, something terrible might have happened.
His temper was as volatile as an inaccurate weather forecast. When he spoke again, the oppressive aura had vanished, replaced by a cloying, seductive tone. “I know you’re avoiding me because you’re afraid my father will find out, aren’t you? He won’t find out. And he can’t hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“Trust me, Sheng Sheng.”
“Don’t trust him,” Lou Mingzhang piped up, his voice childishly sweet. He was clinging to the doorframe, his body hidden outside, with only his large head poking in. His bright eyes were fixed on Gu Daosheng and Lou Hongchen, and it was impossible to tell how long he had been watching.
This scene was actually something he liked, or perhaps, something he was familiar with.
Lou Mingzhang said, “Big Brother is definitely just like Papa. When Papa plays with other people, he says the same thing, ‘You’re different from everyone else, I’ll treat you well, trust me.'”
Gu Daosheng was quite surprised. To be able to say so much at two years old, and to express it so clearly…
After Lou Mingzhang had simply repeated those words Lou Guangrui used to say, because they were familiar and fun, Lou Hongchen’s cold gaze fixed on him like a venomous snake.
Nan Ying stood by the corridor with his hands behind his back, his back to the door. He looked up, pursed his lips, and whistled, his toes tapping the ground one by one. He couldn’t see or hear anything.
Lou Mingzhang, however, had none of these subtle tricks. Today, he was just showing off, joyfully asking Gu Daosheng, “Mama, are you going to play those bang bang bang games with Big Brother in front of me? Papa always makes me watch from the side.”
Gu Daosheng: “…”
What kind of nonsense was this!
Who’s your mama?!
He fought the agonizing urge to die as “Gu Daosheng,” as well as the desperate desire to embrace Lou Hongchen right then and there, and of course, the fact that he was so utterly captivated by Lou Hongchen’s face that he couldn’t tell north from south, his lust insatiable.
Gu Daosheng was only eighteen and had never even been in a relationship. He was purer than the Pure Yang and Pure Yin Hexagrams of the Qian and Kun, completely unable to resist such temptation. He could only force himself to turn his head away in one swift motion, kick Lou Hongchen far away, and decisively declare, “Leave the breakfast. You, leave.”
“…”
After a long silence, Lou Hongchen finally stood up. His gaze remained fixed on Lou Mingzhang as he replied, “…Fine.”
Sensing something was wrong, Lou Mingzhang realized this was different from what he usually saw. His father wouldn’t interrupt him halfway through, and his older brother was clearly more temperamental than usual. He whimpered in fear, stepped back on the pinwheel on the floor, then turned and ran.
Lou Hongchen took only two steps and effortlessly caught up to the fleeing two-year-old. Like a malevolent ghost, he hoisted the child up, covering his open mouth as he tried to cry out for help. Lou Mingzhang could only stare at Gu Daosheng in terror, his limbs flailing wildly.
Turning around, Lou Hongchen began searching for the other non-human ghost child, intending to take him along as part of the package deal.
The ghost child lived up to his nature. The moment Lou Hongchen left the living room, he vanished and reappeared, clinging to Gu Daosheng’s head and wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. “Mommy!” he shrieked.
“I’m not your mommy! Stop calling me that!” Gu Daosheng yanked the ghost infant off him, ready to drop him on the floor for a lesson. But catching a glimpse of Lou Hongchen’s expression, he smoothly pulled the ghost child back into his embrace, shielding him. “I can use him.”
Lou Mingzhang: “Waaaah?!”
What about me?!
Nan Ying crawled onto Gu Daosheng’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Aren’t you going to save him?”
In Lou Hongchen’s eyes, the ghost child, who should have been utterly annihilated, was nuzzling into Sheng Sheng’s embrace, and Sheng Sheng was gently stroking his head.
Gu Daosheng extended a single finger, pressing Nan Ying down to keep him still. His lips didn’t move, but a faint voice drifted out: “Nine ghosts and a madman delivering a child to my doorstep… it smells too much like a trap.”
He shook his head. “I’m not keeping him.”
Nan Ying retorted, “You’re so smart.”
Gu Daosheng turned to Lou Hongchen. “He’s your younger brother. You’ll take good care of him, won’t you? You’re not like your father, Hongchen. I know you best.”
He lied through his teeth, maintaining his persona as “Gu Daosheng” with a straight face. He needed to seize the opportunity to shut down any future questions from Lou Hongchen about their past intimacy, lest it lead to further complications.
Moreover, he had to fulfill “Gu Daosheng’s” wish. He couldn’t truly push Lou Hongchen a thousand miles away; he had to coax him instead. “As for what you said, I’ve taken it all to heart. But now that we’re in this house, it’s best not to bring up the past too much… Hongchen, as long as you and I remember our feelings, that’s enough.”
Lou Hongchen smiled, completely satisfied.
He set Lou Mingzhang on the ground, affectionately patted his clothes to smooth out the wrinkles, and gently took the boy’s small hand, playing the part of the devoted older brother.
Before leaving, Lou Hongchen seemed to remember something. He tried to put on a surprised expression, but his timing was off, making the look of shock on his face appear completely forced.
“Oh, by the way, Sheng Sheng, I haven’t asked yet: when did you start seeing ghosts? Ghosts are so scary. Aren’t you afraid?”
“…”
Gu Daosheng studied his expression, confirming that he wasn’t surprised at all. He asked bluntly, “Why didn’t you ask yesterday?”
“I was too scared. I forgot.”
Nan Ying commented, “He’s such a fake.”
Lou Hongchen glared at the Ghost Infant, not at all concerned with when Gu Daosheng had started seeing ghosts or what his connection to them was. Instead, he said, “Fearfully,” “Sheng Sheng, ghosts have heavy yin energy. You’re human, so don’t let him get too close to you. Him hugging you like that is meant to harm you. Don’t let him sleep in your bed tonight. Make him sleep on the floor.”
“Do. You. Un-der-stand?”