Chapter 94

Chapter 94

"094"

Xiao Lancui gave the golden bead a few light flicks, and after waiting a while, Lu Ao still hadn't returned. He threw off the thin blanket and got up from the couch.

The couch sat in the small sitting room. He headed back to the master bedroom to find Lu Ao, but a few steps in, he spotted a door on the left that was cracked open.

His old bedroom didn't have this door. Xiao Lancui hesitated, then changed course and walked over.

The door wasn't locked. Xiao Lancui gave it a light push with two fingers, and it swung open slowly.

The fish-oil lamp was burning here too. Xiao Lancui took in the whole room and was caught off guard for a second.

It was a living space, fully stocked with toiletries, and there was even a hot spring pool dug into the floor. A hundred years had gone by, yet the water was still clear and warm.

The clean feeling on Xiao Lancui's skin was thanks to that hot spring.

Lu Ao's words flashed through Xiao Lancui's head.

"I walked this tomb passage for a year."

Xiao Lancui's mind wandered.

A year.

From the day he died to the day Lu Ao passed—had Lu Ao really lived in this tomb chamber every single day?

Xiao Lancui quickly left the living space and went back to the bed in the bedroom. Lu Ao's body had already been put back in place, lying next to his own corpse.

The complicated feelings from before had mostly faded. This time, Xiao Lancui really took a good look at Lu Ao's remains.

They hadn't decayed in hundreds of years, as if he were just in a deep sleep. Xiao Lancui's eyes soon landed on a glowing pearl hanging around the corpse's neck.

Round and plump, about the size of a small egg, it gave off a faint blue glow.

The imperial secret records mentioned a pearl that could keep a corpse from rotting for ten thousand years. Lu Ao's father had always had people searching for it, but there was no word even by the time he died. Xiao Lancui never expected Lu Ao to have actually found it.

Soon, Xiao Lancui's eyes moved to Lu Ao's body.

Not much different from when he'd left—those sharp features and that nose bridge were still so young and handsome.

What a waste.

Even though he knew Lu Ao had died for him out of love, he still felt it was a shame. If Lu Ao had lived, the history of Dali definitely could have been rewritten.

As Xiao Lancui was thinking this, he was suddenly wrapped up in a tight hug from behind. The plastic bag dangling from Lu Ao's wrist swung into Xiao Lancui's view as he moved.

The bag had a convenience store logo on it.

On the way to the imperial mausoleum, Lu Ao had picked up a Matcha Milk Pudding Ice Bread and some yogurt.

Lu Ao had gone to the car to grab some food.

"Does it still hurt?" Lu Ao's hot breath grazed Xiao Lancui's skin. "Want me to put the medicine on again?"

Xiao Lancui didn't answer, just turned his head to look at Lu Ao.

His dark eyes were calm and deep. Lu Ao got a little nervous under that stare and tightened his arms. "No use regretting it now. I was a virgin—you slept with me, so you're stuck with me forever."

Xiao Lancui, "..." He paused for a second, then said, "Switch your face back."

Lu Ao paused, then pressed a firm kiss to Xiao Lancui's left cheek. "You like my original face better?"

It came out as a question, but it was basically a statement.

Xiao Lancui nodded, and an urgent kiss slammed into his lips. They kissed for a long time before Lu Ao finally pulled back, breathing against Xiao Lancui's nose. "A Lan, say it again—tell me you love me."

But Xiao Lancui wouldn't say it. He caught his breath, pushed Lu Ao away, and changed the subject. "You..."

He turned back to look at his own sleeping body on the bed and finally asked, "All that time you lived in the tomb, you didn't do anything to my corpse, did you?"

Silence hit behind him instantly.

Xiao Lancui's eyelids twitched hard, totally shaken. He turned his face back. "You..."

One look at Lu Ao's sly grin told him he'd been played.

At the same time, Xiao Lancui breathed a sigh of relief. At least Lu Ao wasn't that messed up.

"Couldn't bring myself to," Lu Ao said, wrapping an arm around his waist, his eyes deep as the sea. "And I was scared. No matter how I kissed you, you'd never kiss back—that would've driven me crazy."

Xiao Lancui hadn't expected that answer. His heart pounded hard.

After two seconds of silence, he wrapped his arms around Lu Ao's neck, pulled his head down, and kissed him properly on the lips. "Now you've got a response."

*

The tomb wasn't a place to hang around. After a quick bite, the two headed back.

Before Xiao Lancui could even get up, Lu Ao came over and crouched in front of him, back turned. "I'll carry you."

Xiao Lancui instinctively refused. "I've got legs now."

The sudden mention of feet still made Lu Ao's heart ache. He said in a low voice, "The tomb passage is hard to walk, and you're still uncomfortable. It'll be rough. Be good."

"..."

Lu Ao said it so naturally, but Xiao Lancui's earlobes turned red from hearing it. A ruler telling his subject to obey wasn't new—it had happened before—but now their relationship was different, and Xiao Lancui found it unbearably intimate.

He was silent for two or three seconds, then finally climbed onto Lu Ao's back, saying, "Don't make a habit of this."

Lu Ao didn't respond, just steadied him, stood up, and walked out, saying, "You'll get used to it. This isn't the second time I've carried you."

Xiao Lancui searched his memory. The only time Lu Ao had carried him was during the assassination attempt. A second time? He thought hard and soon found a lost memory.

"That night after the coronation, when I was drunk—you carried me back to the mansion?"

In the tomb passage, Lu Ao's footsteps were light and slow. He wanted to carry Xiao Lancui a little longer. He curled his lips and replied, "Smart."

Xiao Lancui thought carefully for a moment but had no recollection. He still cared, so he asked, "How did you carry me?"

"Just like this." Lu Ao adjusted his hold on Xiao Lancui's legs and said with a smile, "Carried you all the way from the palace back to the Xiao residence."

Lu Ao's voice deepened. "I said 'my heart belongs to you' 280 times, and you didn't remember a single one."

Xiao Lancui was about to say something, but Lu Ao cut him off. "Better that you didn't hear. If you had, you definitely would have rejected me."

Xiao Lancui couldn't argue.

Now he knew he loved Lu Ao too, but back then he'd had no idea. He couldn't answer what he would have done if he'd learned of Lu Ao's earth-shattering love at that time.

The only way to make up for it... Xiao Lancui tightened his arms around Lu Ao, his face pressed against Lu Ao's broad back. "That won't happen again."

"I regret it," Lu Ao admitted. "That day I rushed back and saw you lying in the snow, I thought that if I could save you, it wouldn't matter if you hated me or resented me—I'd hide you away for a lifetime, letting no one see you."

Xiao Lancui lifted his face. As they walked farther into the tomb passage, the light dimmed gradually, and Lu Ao's profile was caught between light and shadow. Xiao Lancui knew he wasn't lying.

Lu Ao smiled again, but it was a bitter smile. "I was too selfish, so you never gave me a chance—you kept your eyes shut and ignored me."

Xiao Lancui didn't say anything, and Lu Ao apologized again, "I was wrong. I didn't want to lie to you anymore—I really did think that way back then."

"I'm not angry," Xiao Lancui said, letting out a soft laugh. "There's something I should tell you too."

"What?"

Xiao Lancui poked Lu Ao's neck with a finger. "When I went to confront you, I figured if you admitted it, I'd knock you out, stash you in the house, and never let you leave."

Lu Ao turned his head, dark eyes gleaming. "Really?"

Xiao Lancui didn't confirm or deny, just said, "Too bad this body couldn't handle it—I didn't knock you out, I blacked out myself first."

Lu Ao took it as flirting, leaned in for another kiss, then kept walking out.

The ride back was long, and they talked the whole way. By the time they got back in the car, Xiao Lancui had the full picture of what happened after he died.

Lu Ao had turned into a tyrant—all for him.

He'd wiped out all traces of their existence to protect the tomb, so that hundreds or thousands of years later, they'd still be together even in death.

Before Lu Ao took his own life, he had also killed all the tomb robbers in the world, putting an end to that profession, making their tomb even safer.

Xiao Lancui paused for a second, then commented, "Love-crazed idiot."

That phrase was originally used for Xiao Anfeng's admirers, but Xiao Lancui thought those people didn't qualify—Lu Ao was the perfect fit for it.

Lu Ao took it in stride. "Guilty as charged." He opened the passenger door, his eyes blazing. "Can you sit in the front now?"

On the way over, Xiao Lancui had only ridden in the back. Seeing Lu Ao's brazen look, he ducked into the passenger seat.

The seat already had a soft cushion on it. The medicine must have worked, as there was no longer any discomfort down there, and Xiao Lancui finally had time to check his phone.

A ton of messages.

A check-in from Xie Jingfang and Xiao Mian, and one from Jiang Xing.

"Hey Xiao, my advisor's project just got new funding! If you're interested, I can put in a good word for you. (No ulterior motives—even if we can't be a thing, I'd love to be friends! For real!)"

"Jiang Xing?" Lu Ao's voice suddenly cut in. "I saw you walking with a young guy at City University—that was him, wasn't it?"

Xiao Lancui replied to Jiang Xing, "I invested. So I'm involved in a different way. Thanks."

He casually raised his left hand and pushed Lu Ao's face back. "You're younger now. Focus on driving."

After a pause, he added, "It's not that I'm interested in men—only you."

The moment he said it, the familiar scent pressed in again.

The seat was reclined, and Xiao Lancui's face tilted up as Lu Ao pressed him into a kiss. His gaze occasionally flickered past the car roof, thin slivers of light falling into his eyes, and Xiao Lancui felt like a starving dog had finally been let out of its cage.

After kissing for a while, Xiao Lancui couldn't take it anymore and shoved Lu Ao back. Lu Ao pulled away, adjusted the seat upright, draped a thin blanket over Xiao Lancui's legs, and said from the driver's seat, "It's too late today—how about we get a room near the civil affairs bureau and be first in line tomorrow morning..."

"Civil affairs bureau?" Xiao Lancui was still catching his breath, turning his head with a flush of rosy color from the kissing.

"Yeah." Lu Ao started the car. "In this era, men can marry men. We can get our marriage certificate."

"..." Xiao Lancui reminded him, "Lu Ao, you're only 18 now."

"Almost 19 in a few months." Lu Ao grinned. "Besides, the law here allows men to register at 18. Age is no issue."

Lu Ao had clearly come prepared. Xiao Lancui thought it over briefly—he wasn't opposed, really.

He loved Lu Ao, and Lu Ao loved him. Marriage was inevitable; Lu Ao wanting to register now was just a bit rushed, but it was doable.

There was just one matter left unresolved.

Xiao Lancui asked, "What are you going to do about the Lu family?"

Lu Ao's attitude toward the Lu family had already shifted. Lu Qing was competent at work, and he'd originally planned to keep Lu Qing around to earn money, but Lu Siye daring to covet Xiao Lancui changed everything.

Killing was illegal in modern society, so he couldn't cut off Lu Siye's head—instead, he'd destroy Lu Siye's protection.

Crush Lu Qing and his wife, and Lu Siye would become nothing more than a worm on the roadside.

Lu Ao smiled. "The person who set fire to the youngest son of the Lu family back then is waiting at the hotel for my signal. After we register tomorrow, he'll go to the police station and deliver our first wedding gift."