Shen Yuanzhou was the first to snap out of it. His eyes were heavy, and his voice was a little hoarse. “Not strange.” As he spoke, he was the first to step forward and touch the ends of Yan Yu’an’s still-dripping hair. His rough hand, bearing a few calluses, touched Yan Yu’an’s neck.
Yan Yu’an couldn’t help trembling. The next second, Shen Yuanzhou was yanked away by the furious Xie Ji, who stared at Shen Yuanzhou with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Ning Bingque unhurriedly followed Xie Ji up. He glanced at Yan Yu’an, cleared his throat, and said: “You go rest first. The few of us need to have a good talk.”
Yan Yu’an frowned. He moved his lips, wanting to say something, but the next second he was pushed into the room by Ning Bingque, and the door was slammed shut.
By the time the stunned Yan Yu’an came back to his senses and opened the door, Xie Ji and the other two had already vanished.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
After the three of them came to an open place far from the house, Xie Ji finally couldn’t hold back and spoke. He stared at Shen Yuanzhou, his tone carrying an indescribable mockery.
Shen Yuanzhou looked at him coldly, and only after a long while gave a huff. He seemed a little puzzled, and the corner of his mouth curved into a smile too—but that smile that didn’t reach his eyes made Xie Ji even more irritable.
A sinister, cunning snake.
Ning Bingque thought. He stepped forward, cutting off Xie Ji’s line of sight, then turned to look at Shen Yuanzhou.
“Let’s have a talk.” Ning Bingque smiled.
…
Yan Yu’an had nearly dozed off waiting before they came back. Seeing all three of them with their heads lowered when they returned, he felt something was off.
“Lift your heads and let me see.” His voice was heavy, no joy or anger to be heard.
The three instinctively raised their heads.
There was a large patch of black, tainted blood on Xie Ji’s face. Ning Bingque’s face was covered in scratch marks too. Shen Yuanzhou wasn’t much better—he was filthy all over, with quite a few wounds on his body as well.
Yan Yu’an: “…” His teeth couldn’t help chattering. He looked them over one by one carefully, and only after a long while did he grit his teeth and say: “Did you three beat each other up?”
The three were silent.
Yan Yu’an understood.
The corner of his mouth curved into a cold smile, then without hesitation he turned and went into the room, not sparing them a glance.
“An’an!” Xie Ji hurried forward, wanting to say something, but what greeted him was Yan Yu’an with his eyes tightly shut, looking like he didn’t want to say anything at all.
He viciously shot the other two a glare, then continued humbly begging Yan Yu’an to forgive him.
But Yan Yu’an had made up his mind not to pay them any mind. He turned over, not wanting to see Xie Ji.
Shen Yuanzhou frowned. He shifted back into snake form and cautiously coiled around Yan Yu’an’s waist. Yan Yu’an immediately gave an impatient “tsk,” and Shen Yuanzhou hurriedly retreated.
Seeing that neither of them was succeeding, Ning Bingque simply sat down beside him and said softly and aggrievedly: “My wounds hurt.”
These three words seemed to have some magic to them—Yan Yu’an immediately opened his eyes.
But before Ning Bingque could be happy, he saw a trace of heartache flash through Yan Yu’an’s eyes, and then Yan Yu’an unhesitatingly closed his eyes again, not saying a single word to him.
The three fell silent. Xie Ji picked at the animal hide, pulling several soft hairs off it. He signaled the other two with his eyes to think of something, but who knew—neither of them spared him a glance.
Ning Bingque was sitting right beside Yan Yu’an. He pressed his lips together, wanting to say something, but the next second Yan Yu’an raised his hand to cover his ears, looking like he wouldn’t listen to anything.
Ning Bingque was completely out of options.
“I was wrong…” Xie Ji said quietly.
Yan Yu’an still ignored him. There was no lamp in the room—only faint moonlight spilling onto Yan Yu’an’s body. Shen Yuanzhou suddenly squeezed Ning Bingque aside and lay down beside Yan Yu’an.
“Going to sleep.” His voice was low, but if you listened closely, you could hear a hint of laughter. Ning Bingque suddenly understood, directly shooed Xie Ji away, then lay down on Yan Yu’an’s other side.
“Mm.” He was a little smug.
Xie Ji: “…” Miscalculated.
He gritted his teeth, wanting to push Ning Bingque away, but he suddenly thought of something and withdrew the hand he’d reached out. He viciously ground his teeth and lay down beside Ning Bingque.
Though he wanted to stay far away from Ning Bingque, the bed was only so big—bodily contact was unavoidable.
Xie Ji had no choice but to keep turning sideways, and in the end he nearly got squeezed off.
Yan Yu’an actually wasn’t asleep. He felt a cold sensation on his right side and immediately understood who it was.
Then who was on his right? Ning Bingque? Or Xie Ji?
Yan Yu’an thought it should be Ning Bingque—if it were Xie Ji, he’d definitely be holding him tightly. Thinking this, he noticed the far left of the bed kept moving, as if trying to avoid contact with Ning Bingque.
Yan Yu’an understood.
He thought hazily—perhaps because of the hot bath, his eyelids felt a little heavy. In a daze, he felt a burst of white light appear before his eyes.
Someone was also constantly calling his name by his ear. Yan Yu’an wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and in the end he sank into sleep.
Time passed quickly. A ray of sunlight spilled onto the sleeping Yan Yu’an. He couldn’t help raising his hand to block the sunlight, but found that his arm wouldn’t move no matter what. He blearily opened his eyes and only then saw that his arm was imprisoned in Shen Yuanzhou’s embrace.
He wanted to turn over, but unexpectedly, the moment he turned, a sharply defined face appeared before his eyes.
Yan Yu’an was startled. He shot upright—and with that, he was truly awake now.
“Awake?” Shen Yuanzhou’s sticky, sleepy voice reached his ears, and Ning Bingque on the other side also yawned and sat up.
The next second, Ning Bingque let out a scoffing laugh.
Yan Yu’an followed his gaze and immediately saw Xie Ji lying on the floor, his hair a complete mess from sleep.
Xie Ji looked like he still hadn’t figured out what had happened. He looked at Yan Yu’an and couldn’t help grinning.
What a silly look… Yan Yu’an couldn’t help thinking. But seeing Xie Ji grin at him, he couldn’t help curving his lips too.
Suddenly, his gaze landed on Xie Ji’s swollen face, and he withdrew his smile at once, looking at him expressionlessly.
“I’m going out for a walk.” He said this coldly, then pushed aside Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque beside him and walked out without looking back.
Mu Shu was chopping wood with an axe at the moment. Seeing Yan Yu’an awake, his eyes lit up. “You’re awake?” His voice was crisp, like a lively oriole.
Yan Yu’an nodded lightly, and the next second an axe was stuffed into his hand by Mu Shu.
“Come on, help me saw wood. This afternoon I’ll teach you iron-smelting.”
Yan Yu’an’s eyes lit up, and he unhesitatingly joined the wood-chopping crew.
“Where’s Xie Chen?” Yan Yu’an asked, a little puzzled.
Mu Shu raised his hand to wipe the sweat from the corner of his forehead. “Him? He went hunting.” As he spoke, he tossed the wood onto the pile. “Why did you wake up so early? I thought it’d be a while.”
As he spoke, he winked at Yan Yu’an, looking like “I get it.”
Yan Yu’an felt he was a little strange, but couldn’t say why, so he didn’t pay him any mind and laboriously continued chopping wood.
“An’an!” Xie Ji was the first to run out. When he saw Yan Yu’an holding some unknown thing and endlessly chopping wood, he immediately snatched it away. “I’ll do it!”
Before long, Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque had come out too. Mu Shu was overjoyed at once—he stuffed an axe into each of their hands, then took Yan Yu’an’s hand and affectionately led him into the house.
“An’an said whoever finishes chopping this wood first, he’ll forgive.”
“I didn’t say…” Before Yan Yu’an could finish, Mu Shu gave his arm a light pinch.
Yan Yu’an found it a little funny. Then he saw the three of them—like three double-door refrigerators—gripping axes and chopping away with all their might. Though at first they didn’t chop very well, they quickly got the hang of it.
Watching that pile of wood get chopped through by the three in no time, Yan Yu’an couldn’t help giving Mu Shu a thumbs-up.
“How did you know we had a fight?”
Yan Yu’an was a little puzzled. He tilted his head, his black hair hanging smoothly. Seeing him like this, Mu Shu couldn’t help raising his hand to mess up his hair, then said with a grin: “My eyes are a ruler!”
“I’m the fastest!” Xie Ji came over, squeezing the two of them apart. A big smile appeared on his handsome face—though the purple bruises on his cheeks made him look a little comical.
“…” Yan Yu’an now knew how Mu Shu had figured out they’d fought.
Right after, Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque also gathered around. Mu Shu raised an eyebrow, then walked off. “After we eat, I’ll come get you to smelt iron.”
Yan Yu’an saw from afar Mu Shu walk toward Xie Chen, who had just returned, and shook his head helplessly. “You can’t fight anymore.”
This time the three were exceptionally in sync—they nodded in unison, then repeatedly promised not to fight again.
In the end, Yan Yu’an forgave the three of them.
“Finished chopping this fast today?” Xie Chen raised an eyebrow when he came back and saw the chopped wood.
In the past, this guy always slacked off, waiting for him to come back and chop—he hadn’t expected today…
But soon, his confusion was answered. Looking at the three covered in wood shavings and dust, he couldn’t help nodding.
So that’s how it was…
Xie Ji glanced at the prey Xie Chen had dragged back, then took Yan Yu’an’s hand. “Let’s go hunting together?” As he spoke, he proudly showed off his muscles. “I’ll protect you well.”
“Narcissist.” Shen Yuanzhou gave a cold laugh, then said to Yan Yu’an, “Come with me.”
Seeing this, Ning Bingque was displeased and hurriedly said: “Come with me, I’m amazing too.” He paused, and as if thinking of something, continued, “I can even take you up to the sky to have a look.”
The moment his words fell, Yan Yu’an thought of something and his face went pale. He hurriedly waved his hands. “The sky—let’s forget about that.”
“Hmph… idiot.” Shen Yuanzhou gave a mocking laugh.
“You!”
Yan Yu’an’s eyes went wide. He hurriedly grabbed Ning Bingque, then said: “Can’t we all just go together?” He saw the three freeze for a second, then nod, and felt a little helpless inside.
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