People often said that in the southern regions during March and April, the drizzle was continuous. With willow-lined banks in the morning breeze, sailing downstream by boat, colorful clothes hung to dry outside homes during the day, and lights twinkling like stars at night – it was truly a beautiful sight in the mortal world.
However, now there was neither drizzle nor continuous rain. Instead, there were cats making a ruckus. Their eerie, wailing sounds irritated Lu Xiaochan to his core, making him want to kick over this small boat.
Ever since the Wuyi Jingtian had been reduced to ruins by Chaos, all the golden leaves and beans were gone, except for those that remained in Shu Wuxi’s belt.
This small boat was bought by Lu Xiaochan with a silver ingot, counting every copper coin precisely. If he kicked it over now, just thinking about it made his head ache.
Life in this desolate land wasn’t easy – without money, it wouldn’t be love till the end of time, but poverty till the end of time.
A poor couple… no, poor husbands, faced hardships in everything!
Although they hadn’t reached poverty yet, they would soon run out of resources!
To make Lu Xiaochan comfortable at night, Shu Wuxi specially bought a soft pillow. Even though the nights were cool, and he had Shu Wuxi embracing him, surrounded by his favorite scent, when that “bang” sound came from the boat’s roof, Lu Xiaochan immediately woke up.
The small town where they were staying had beautiful scenery, many waterways, and various delicious snacks, but there were too many stray cats at night.
Just now, another one had jumped onto their boat’s canopy, and it seemed quite large!
“It’s nothing, go back to sleep,” Shu Wuxi’s hand gently caressed Lu Xiaochan’s cheek, truly gentle.
The moonlight faintly outlined Shu Wuxi’s profile. Since Lu Xiaochan had regained his sight, he could see everything clearly. Especially at night, Shu Wuxi would always remove his “Blocking One’s View with a Leaf,” letting Lu Xiaochan look his fill.
Just like now, Lu Xiaochan deliberately used his spiritual energy to push the small boat, making it tilt slightly. The moonlight flooded in, making his Brother Wuxi so beautiful it made his heart tremble.
Just as Lu Xiaochan was about to lean in for a kiss, the stray cats on the boat’s roof started acting up again, wailing like lost souls.
Then, as their small boat passed under a bridge, the cats’ thin cries echoed one after another, with reverberations.
As if expressing endless dissatisfaction.
Lu Xiaochan was extremely annoyed. He lifted his leg and kicked the canopy, only to find another cat had jumped down, making it two…
Lu Xiaochan was forced to listen to their nighttime activities. He kicked the canopy several times, but unexpectedly, the two cats became even more energetic.
“I want to set the boat on fire!” Lu Xiaochan said angrily.
Shu Wuxi covered Lu Xiaochan’s ears with both hands, his bright eyes looking at him as he said softly, “Just don’t listen.”
Shu Wuxi turned Lu Xiaochan’s face back toward him.
Suddenly feeling mischievous, Lu Xiaochan raised an eyebrow.
“Brother Wuxi, what do you think those two cats are doing?”
Shu Wuxi just looked at Lu Xiaochan without saying anything.
After a while passed, the two cats were shaking the boat’s canopy almost to the point of splitting it open. Lu Xiaochan shifted slightly.
“Brother Wuxi, why are your palms so hot?”
Lu Xiaochan felt like he was about to sweat from Shu Wuxi’s hands covering his ears.
He lifted Shu Wuxi’s hands slightly. The way Shu Wuxi looked at him now was different from those days right after they left the Wuyi Jingtian.
Before, it was a kind of post-survival cherishing and joy, where even a simple embrace carried delicate emotions, like embracing at the end of the world.
No matter where Lu Xiaochan squeezed through to watch the excitement, he never forgot to hold Shu Wuxi’s hand, turning back to smile at him carefreely.
Knowing that the South had many rainy days in March, they had gone to find an oil-paper umbrella. Lu Xiaochan let Shu Wuxi choose, and Shu Wuxi selected one painted with two fighting crickets. Indeed, whatever Lu Xiaochan liked, that’s what he would choose.
Days passed by leisurely, and even Lu Xiaochan felt that Shu Wuxi was truly his now, able to restrain his mischievous thoughts and daring.
But at this moment, Lu Xiaochan sensed an impending storm about to break.
The two stray cats on the canopy became increasingly bold, especially in the quiet night of this small town, making it impossible not to hear clearly.
Just as Lu Xiaochan’s mind wandered, Shu Wuxi suddenly kissed him.
His heartbeat accelerated like thunder striking a mountain range.
His kisses and movements were deliberate and forceful. With Shu Wuxi’s hands covering Lu Xiaochan’s ears, the noisy cats couldn’t be heard anymore, but the sound of their kissing was as loud as waves crashing against rocks, while the gentle, lingering sounds during the ebb tide nearly took Lu Xiaochan’s soul away.
When Lu Xiaochan regained a bit of consciousness, Shu Wuxi was already pressing down on top of him. His hair tie had come loose, thousands of strands falling down like they would bind Lu Xiaochan. Though everything was incredibly gentle, even breathing wasn’t allowed to escape.
His kisses were meticulous, as if claiming every part of Lu Xiaochan, unwilling to miss even the slightest bit. Without the burning flame, there was no reason to stop him from possessing the only person he wanted.
As if suddenly realizing this, his kisses became forceful and direct.
And those two cats on the canopy seemed like heaven’s hint, telling him it was tonight, this very moment.
Lu Xiaochan was kissed until dizzy, his whole body in disarray.
Shu Wuxi’s fingers ran through Lu Xiaochan’s forehead hair, seeming loving yet allowing no rejection.
Lu Xiaochan looked at him, first confused, then finally coming to his senses.
He nervously swallowed, the slight movement of his throat drawing a great fire in Shu Wuxi’s eyes. He suddenly lowered himself, and Lu Xiaochan only heard the sound of clothes tearing and felt his throat being kissed, or perhaps bitten.
“Brother Wuxi…”
Lu Xiaochan called out hoarsely, deliberately adding a hint of fear.
But Shu Wuxi came to his ear and said, “I won’t make it hurt more than being burned by the karmic fire.”
Lu Xiaochan’s heart skipped a beat.
What did he mean by not hurting more than being burned by the karmic fire?
This was the first time Lu Xiaochan truly and completely experienced Shu Wuxi’s presence, without any disguise, truly uninhibited.
At some point, heaven and earth were connected by continuous drizzle, finally embracing softly despite being separated by ten thousand miles.
And Lu Xiaochan and Shu Wuxi were in the embrace of heaven and earth, seemingly tiny yet occupying everything.
Lu Xiaochan struggled, not to leave Shu Wuxi, but because he didn’t know how to respond to such unrestrained passion.
He breathed heavily but was immediately kissed again, his hand that had just reached outside the boat to touch the cool rain was pulled back.
Like mighty thunder, an endless conquest rushing down from the Ninth Heaven, Shu Wuxi was reclaiming everything that belonged to him, his Lu Xiaochan.
He wasn’t a god worshipped by anyone; he was destined to fall from the clouds, only for this one person.
Lu Xiaochan heard him calling “Xiaochan,” obsessively, as if forever yearning and never satisfied.
Lu Xiaochan’s tears fell, and at his ears, Shu Wuxi’s breathing was heavy yet like howling wind, coming recklessly from ten thousand years ago, stopping before him, driven mad with desire.
