Chapter 9: The Kiss

Chapter 9: The Kiss

Shen Lian's fever was real—he had soaked in cold water for so long, otherwise, how would he have fooled Yan Huaixuan?

So the headache was real too, but for some reason, he suddenly felt as if a gentle breeze had swept through his mind, easing the stabbing pain.

He opened his glistening, feverish eyes and whispered, "I'm too weak to go fetch a doctor."

After speaking, Shen Lian glanced at Yan Huaixuan's face, then said sullenly, "And my husband hasn't even come to check on me."

Yan Huaixuan froze, not saying a word. But then, as if remembering something, Shen Lian carefully pulled a stack of copied pages from his pocket and handed them to Yan Huaixuan. "Your Highness, I stayed up copying these for two nights. Please take a look."

Yan Huaixuan took the pages. He'd meant to brush Shen Lian off, but he hadn't expected Shen Lian to have copied them so carefully.

The earlier pages were somewhat stiff, riddled with mistakes, but the later ones were much smoother.

Shen Lian asked in a small voice, "Your Highness, is my copying acceptable?"

Yan Huaixuan closed the stack of pages. "Too weak to see a doctor, but not too weak to copy books?"

Shen Lian pressed his lips together. "I just... didn't want my husband to hate me so badly."

Yan Huaixuan's fingers suddenly froze. He looked up and met the cautious, eager-to-please look in Shen Lian's eyes.

He didn't really have many memories of Shen Lian from back then. In his memory, Shen Lian had been dismissive toward him, always looking sullen. Later, when he saw Yan Huaixuan ascend to immortality, Shen Lian's face had been filled with disbelief, frenzy, and overwhelming regret.

But it wasn't guilt—it was a desperate longing to take his place.

"Why? I've taken care of you, a good-for-nothing cripple, for so long, and you hid from me that you'd entered the path of immortality? Why can't I cultivate?"

That Shen Lian had hatred burning in his eyes and etched into his brow.

But the Shen Lian before him now had eyes full of softness and innocence. He had a few little schemes, but they were all laid out in the open—the look of someone who couldn't scheme his way out of a wet paper bag.

Even if someone was faking it, could they really fake it this well?

It was like... two entirely different people.

Yan Huaixuan frowned almost imperceptibly, his mind drifting back to that mole.

Ye Zhang couldn't be that dumb. Unless he was absolutely certain, why would he just blurt out that there's a mole on the waist?

"Husband?"

Yan Huaixuan was snapped back to reality by that small voice. He looked down to see Shen Lian leaning in again.

Just as Yan Huaixuan moved to push him away, Shen Lian whispered, "So... does my husband hate me a little less now?"

Yan Huaixuan said coolly, "If you behave properly and mind your manners, I won't have anything to complain about."

Shen Lian's eyes immediately crinkled into a smile, tugging on Yan Huaixuan's sleeve. "My husband is so good to me."

Yan Huaixuan was caught off guard by the look in his eyes. Even in illness, they were still bright and sunny, and all he saw in them was himself.

Yan Huaixuan didn't know why, but something in his chest seemed to flutter.

He instinctively looked away. "Since you're done copying, I'll teach you how to read."

He picked up the stack of pages, but Shen Lian suddenly stiffened. "Tomorrow! I-I'm just so tired tonight."

Yan Huaixuan sensed something was off. He'd only been changing the subject, but now he narrowed his eyes slightly.

His gaze swept over Shen Lian's guilty face.

"You're hiding something from me?"

Shen Lian immediately sat up straight. "I'm not!"

Yan Huaixuan didn't believe him. "Then why do you look so guilty?"

Shen Lian hadn't expected to be called out like that.

He coughed. "I'm not—"

Before he could finish, Yan Huaixuan had already pulled out the page at the very bottom.

And there, plain as day, was a little turtle drawn on it.

Yan Huaixuan looked at the turtle, then looked up at Shen Lian.

There was no emotion in his expression, yet Shen Lian inexplicably felt guilty.

Yan Huaixuan flipped through several more pages—a turtle, a rabbit, a puppy.

Aside from the first few pages done earnestly, the rest were all simple doodles.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Yan Huaixuan's mouth. "So this is what you meant by 'staying up all night to copy'?"

Yan Huaixuan almost laughed. No wonder Shen Lian had started chatting him up when he got to the fifth page.

Because if he kept flipping, the whole thing would be exposed.

Seeing Yan Huaixuan about to speak, Shen Lian didn't want to hear another lecture from that mouth. So he reached up, threw his arms around Yan Huaixuan, and pressed his lips to his.

Yan Huaixuan froze.

For a moment, all he could feel was the soft press of lips, mixed with the young man's faint medicinal scent.

Shen Lian felt his whole body go weak and tingly.

Yan Huaixuan's lips—unlike his cold, icy demeanor—were soft and slightly warm.

What had started as a simple tease now had Shen Lian's heart genuinely pounding.

Thump, thump, thump—beat after beat.

He peeked through his lashes, looking at Yan Huaixuan's face—cold and pure as mountain snow, like a Mystic Immortal from the ninth heaven.

After all, this was Dragon Proud Heaven.

Good-looking, righteous, and ridiculously talented at cultivation.

It was hard not to...

Those words echoed in his ears again: "You are my wife, so of course I'll protect you."

Shen Lian's long lashes fluttered. What was meant to be a quick tease before pulling away turned into him instinctively darting his tongue out for a lick.

"Husband, if I kiss you, will you not be angry anymore?"

Yan Huaixuan snapped back to reality in an instant, pushing Shen Lian away. "How dare you!"

Caught completely off guard, Shen Lian tumbled onto the bed, his eyes wide as he stared at Yan Huaixuan.

But Yan Huaixuan's face was cold as ice, his gaze as cold and unfathomable as a deep abyss.

Yan Huaixuan's reaction caught Shen Lian completely off guard.

Over the past few days, he could clearly sense that Yan Huaixuan was no longer completely cold toward him—there was a hint of reciprocation.

The simple drawings were made and exposed on purpose, all as a way to play coy with Yan Huaixuan—these were little tricks to heat things up between them.

But he never expected Yan Huaixuan to react this strongly.

Yan Huaixuan's expression turned cold, and without a single word, he swept his sleeves and turned away.

Ling Yun couldn't help but say, "Who knows how many people Shen Lian's kissed! Master, want to go rinse your mouth out?"

Yan Huaixuan cast a Purification Art, wiping away the scent from his lips.

Only after completely wiping away that sickly-sweet scent did Yan Huaixuan stop.

He frowned coldly.

The more hope he gave Shen Lian, the bolder Shen Lian got, crossing lines over and over.

Perhaps his initial plan had been flawed all along.

In the room, the System stared at Shen Lian, still lying on the bed. "You're not actually catching feelings for Yan Huaixuan, are you?"

Even though Yan Huaixuan was long gone, why was Shen Lian still staring off into space?

Shen Lian withdrew his gaze. "You're overthinking it. I've been through so many men, I've long given up on them. All I want now is to finish the mission."

He grabbed a towel and wiped his lips.

The System chuckled. "Good to hear you've got that mindset. I've seen plenty of people fall for Heartless Dao cultivators—guess how they ended up?"

Shen Lian paused.

The System said calmly, "Heartless Dao cultivators are born cold and unfeeling. Only by cutting off all emotions can they reach the pinnacle of power."

And in his past life, Yan Huaixuan had breezed through the Heartless Dao.

Shen Lian's fingers paused, then he smiled casually. "Oh, really? That was the past life, not this one. Maybe this time I'll actually win him over."

The System said nothing.

"Of course, I can't wait to see that."

After all, their mission was to drag Yan Huaixuan down—make him fall for Shen Lian, steal his opportunities, and stop him from ascending.

Shen Lian stood up.

The System looked in the direction Yan Huaixuan had gone. "What are you gonna do now? Bake some pastries and send them over like before?"

Shen Lian ran a hand through his hair, a playful smile on his lips. "No."

The System looked at Shen Lian in confusion—hadn't he always done that before?

Shen Lian said calmly, "Using the same trick over and over gets old."

He straightened his clothes and stood up, bracing for dizziness, only to find his headache was almost gone.

He froze, felt his forehead, and realized his fever had gone down quite a bit.

Weird—when he'd arrived, he'd been completely wiped out.

The moment he stepped out, he spotted Yan Huaixuan standing under the tree outside.

Shen Lian instantly put on a pale face, clenched his fingers, let the color drain from his cheeks, then lowered his head and hurried off.

Yan Huaixuan's expression stayed neutral as he walked into the room. It wasn't that he needed to stay here, but he'd set up a spirit-gathering array in this spot, which was good for his cultivation.

But just as he was about to step inside, Shen Lian suddenly coughed, then quickly stifled it.

This wasn't Shen Lian faking it.

Shen Lian frowned slightly, quickly stifled the cough, and moved to speed up and leave.

He didn't notice that behind him, Yan Huaixuan's steps faltered too.

At that cough, Yan Huaixuan's mind inexplicably flashed to an image of Shen Lian curled up on the floor.

Burning up with fever, yet still whispering apologies.

"Husband, please don't hate me, okay? If you don't like me either, then no one in this world will. My father doesn't like me, my mother hates me—I only have you."

For some reason, something flickered in Yan Huaixuan's chest.

Ling Yun's blade vibrated with a hum.

Yan Huaixuan said almost without thinking, "That jade pendant I gave you last time—take it to Chief Imperial Physician Ye. He owes me a favor; he'll treat your illness."