“Go to sleep, I will stop teasing you,” Hanyu Jiu said in a calm voice. He then closed his eyes, resting his head back on his long, slender arm.
To Yun Qingzhou, it seemed that the man was indeed tired and had no intention of continuing to hands-on harass him. He relaxed his guard and closed his eyes.
It was not until the breathing beside him became even and deep that Hanyu Jiu abruptly opened his eyes, turned over, and faced Yun Qingzhou.
Suddenly, his lips curled into a smile, his brows and eyes curving with immense joy.
Hanyu Jiu reached out a single finger, gently tracing the contours of Yun Qingzhou’s face with a deeply affectionate and obsessed gaze.
This time, it was real, not an illusion.
Hanyu Jiu felt a slight sting in his nose. With a gentle yet firm embrace, he pulled the sleeping Yun Qingzhou into his arms, his gaze lingering continuously over the youth’s face.
Just like that, without daring to rest for even a moment, he watched him all night, terrified that if he fell asleep and woke up, he would find this beautiful reality to be nothing more than a dream once again.
In the early morning, shallow golden sunlight spilled through the beautifully carved wooden window into the palace, making the youth who was still asleep look exceptionally well-behaved. Seeing this, the man’s icy, emerald eyes softened with a warm, sweet affection.
Hanyu Jiu joyfully kissed the forehead of the person in his arms. Noticing that the youth’s eyelids fluttered slightly as if he was about to wake up, he hastily closed his eyes and pretended to be fast asleep.
Sure enough, after Hanyu Jiu closed his eyes, Yun Qingzhou opened his eyes with a bewildered expression, only to see a fair chest right in front of him.
After tilting his head back slightly, he realized he was curled up in Hanyu Jiu’s arms, his face buried against Hanyu Jiu’s bare chest.
Yun Qingzhou was somewhat shocked. He shifted his body, wanting to pull away, only to find that his waist was held tightly in place by the man’s arm, making it impossible to move.
Could it be that he had rolled into Hanyu Jiu’s arms on his own?
Before going to sleep, he was clearly lying right next to the wall. How did he end up over on Hanyu Jiu’s side upon waking up? Besides, he distinctly remembered that Hanyu Jiu had fallen asleep before him.
Having no choice, Yun Qingzhou braced himself with one arm while clutching Hanyu Jiu’s arm with his other hand, trying to pull it off him.
Hanyu Jiu’s hand slowly slid downward. Just as Yun Qingzhou thought he was about to succeed, the sleeping man exerted a burst of strength and grabbed the arm Yun Qingzhou was using to support himself on the soft blanket. Stumbling, Yun Qingzhou fell directly onto Hanyu Jiu.
His head bumped against Hanyu Jiu’s solid chest, making him momentarily see stars. In his daze, he heard Hanyu Jiu’s voice filled with playful amusement:
“Why work so hard to pull my hand away? Give me a kiss, and I will naturally wake up.”
Yun Qingzhou snapped fully alert now. Gritting his teeth, he lifted his eyes to glare at the man whose face was filled with mischievous teasing. He then tried to push himself off the bed to get off Hanyu Jiu, only to be held firmly against him as Hanyu Jiu pressed down on his back.
Hanyu Jiu’s other hand was far from well-behaved. Unbeknownst to Yun Qingzhou, it had secretly slid down to his buttocks and mischievously gave them a squeeze.
“You!”
The Buddhist cultivator’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief, and his fair face instantly turned bright red. His eyes, still glistening with a light mist after waking up, looked exceptionally captivating at this moment.
Hanyu Jiu’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His eyes turned significantly darker as he looked at Yun Qingzhou, his voice raspy as he said:
“Me? What about me?”
Feeling something hard pressing against his lower abdomen, Yun Qingzhou panicked instantly and desperately tried to get off Hanyu Jiu.
This time, Hanyu Jiu did not hold him back. He curled his lips, watching the youth’s embarrassed and annoyed expression.
Yun Qingzhou practically scrambled off the bed, fleeing as fast as he could to get away from Hanyu Jiu as if there were a terrifying beast behind him.
“System!”
“Are you really not lying to me? The male lead hands-on harassed me, and he even reacted!”
The inner mini-version of Yun Qingzhou wept bitterly with a tear-stained face.
The System gave a light cough, assuming an expression as if Yun Qingzhou was making a fuss over nothing. 【Zhou, it is already pretty good that he didn’t use his mouth. Besides, you are a man too, so you naturally know that morning arousal is completely normal, right?】
【Besides, don’t be too full of yourself. You have been gone from this male lead for a hundred years. With his status and ability to attract suitors, what kind of beauty hasn’t he seen?】
Yun Qingzhou felt that this made so much sense that he was actually left speechless.
By the time Yun Qingzhou snapped back to his senses, Hanyu Jiu had already dressed himself and was standing in front of him.
The Buddhist cultivator had restored his composure, offering a polite greeting: “Good morning, benefactor.”
Hanyu Jiu curled his lips, bent down, and whispered softly into Yun Qingzhou’s ear:
“Good morning, Xiao Zhou.”
Hanyu Jiu satisfactorily watched the tips of the monk’s ears flush red. Laughing softly, he took two steps backward to avoid pushing this good-tempered monk into losing his composure completely.
“You may go anywhere in the Demon Palace, but you cannot leave. When I return in the evening, I will take you to revisit our old haunts. How about that?”
Hanyu Jiu’s voice was very gentle, but his eyes carried an indescribable possessiveness and stubbornness.
Yun Qingzhou nodded calmly: “This monk understands. Benefactor, if you have urgent matters to attend to, please go ahead.”
Hearing these considerate words, anyone who did not know better would truly think he was worried about delaying his business.
A sense of helplessness flashed through Hanyu Jiu’s eyes. Was this little monk really in such a hurry to chase him away?
Leaving behind a look full of lingering affection, Hanyu Jiu’s figure vanished from the palace.
Yun Qingzhou immediately breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed back onto the bed like a salted fish.
“System, let’s play games!”
【Hey! Sure!】
One person and one System happily played games together all the way until evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun painted the corner of the sky in shades of red, spreading out in soft, layered hues.
The Buddhist cultivator sat quietly cross-legged on the bed in meditation. The palace was exceptionally quiet and cold, with only a few rays of evening light sneaking in through the window to illuminate his face, making him look like an immortal from the heavens, exquisitely beautiful and glowing with life.
This was the scene Hanyu Jiu saw when he entered. His breath hitched, becoming somewhat hurried once he regained his senses.
He had already settled all matters big and small within the Demon Tribe, allowing him to stay glued to Yun Qingzhou’s side anytime and anywhere for a long time to come. Just thinking about it made him uncontrollably excited.
As he walked cautiously up to Yun Qingzhou, the youth suddenly opened his eyes.
He froze for a moment before reacting quickly: “Benefactor, you have returned?”
Hanyu Jiu swallowed hard, speaking with difficulty:
“Yes.”
He had waited for this day for so long: a day when he would return to his sleeping quarters and find the youth he cherished sitting on the bed, smiling foolishly as he looked up and asked him, “You have returned?”
Now that Yun Qingzhou was right before his eyes, he finally felt alive.
Hanyu Jiu said: “Let us go, I will take you to that place.”
The Buddhist cultivator stood up, and Hanyu Jiu swiftly adjusted his slightly messy collar.
Yun Qingzhou’s body stiffened, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply raised his chin proudly, motioning for Hanyu Jiu to lead the way, leaving Hanyu Jiu both amused and helpless.