Yan Yu’an whimpered and gave him a tearful look.
“I like you.” Ning Bingque said quietly. His voice was husky, seeming to carry a trace of desire.
Yan Yu’an’s face grew even redder—but fortunately it was very dark here. An ordinary person definitely wouldn’t be able to see his blush, but Ning Bingque was different.
A bird’s innate eyesight let him see the person he liked perfectly clearly even in the dark.
He curved his lips in the darkness and asked: “And you?” He tried to stroke Yan Yu’an’s face. The pretty youth trembled, wanting to suppress his moans—but this wasn’t something he could control. In the end he could only barely manage to let out a very tiny sound.
Even this little sound couldn’t escape Ning Bingque’s ears. “I know now.” He gave a light laugh, his hand already wrapped around Yan Yu’an’s waist.
“Hey! Don’t you push your luck, you!”
Just as he wanted to go further, the door was suddenly pushed open.
Instinctively Ning Bingque and Yan Yu’an looked toward the door, and saw Xie Ji standing there full of fury—while Shen Yuanzhou, though he appeared somewhat calmer than Xie Ji, had eyes full of disapproval too.
Ning Bingque’s face darkened. He’d actually forgotten there were two other fellows in this house, always ruining his good business.
He was furiously impotent.
And beneath him, Yan Yu’an couldn’t help burying his head in the pillow. Shen Yuanzhou stepped forward and lit the fire.
The room brightened at once, and everyone’s gaze was drawn to Yan Yu’an on the bed—especially Xie Ji, whose sound of swallowing was especially obvious.
The Yan Yu’an on the bed was small, his body pink. His hands hung by the bedside, his fingers slender and long, carrying a faint pink too—he looked utterly adorable.
Yan Yu’an didn’t dare look at them at this moment, but he could feel their burning gazes on him.
The pretty youth was like a statue for people to admire and play with, and all of them harbored indescribable feelings toward him.
“What are you looking at!” Xie Ji was the first to react. He hurried forward and pushed Ning Bingque away from the bedside, gently draping a large bear hide over him—one they’d gotten hunting before.
Shen Yuanzhou’s breath caught, and he turned his gaze away uncomfortably, while Ning Bingque continued to stare at Xie Ji and Shen Yuanzhou with hostile eyes.
If not for these two suddenly barging in, An’an would have been his! What business did these two self-important fellows have here!
Tonight the most disappointed one had to be Ning Bingque. Xie Ji, meanwhile, took the opportunity to scoop Yan Yu’an up in a princess carry and said smugly: “Today you treated An’an badly—you wanted to do bad things—so An’an’s sleeping with me tonight!” As he spoke, he smiled slightly at the clearly stunned Ning Bingque, and like a victor, carried his An’an away.
Hearing this, Ning Bingque naturally wasn’t happy. Seeing Xie Ji about to take Yan Yu’an away from him, he instinctively reached out and grabbed Xie Ji’s wrist.
“That’s not how it works!” He said discontentedly. “If you’ve got the ability, let An’an go with you himself—what’s this forcing him!” Ning Bingque glanced guiltily at Yan Yu’an.
Back when Yan Yu’an agreed to sleep in the same room with them, it was only because they’d repeatedly assured him they wouldn’t do anything bad to him.
But now… Ning Bingque knew he was in the wrong, but he still felt a little unwilling inside.
He pressed his lips together and looked at Yan Yu’an, that expression utterly aggrieved.
“Th-this…” Yan Yu’an’s heart softened. He could never bear to see them look aggrieved. He was just about to tell Xie Ji to forget it—and the next second, he saw tears begin to well in Xie Ji’s eyes.
Yan Yu’an: “…” What kind of mess was this?
And Shen Yuanzhou, who had been standing quietly outside the door, seemed to think of something. He smiled faintly and unobtrusively took a step forward.
The next second, he successfully saw Yan Yu’an’s finger point at him.
“I’m sleeping with Shen Yuanzhou tonight!” Yan Yu’an jumped down from Xie Ji and jogged behind Shen Yuanzhou, taking his arm.
His feet stepped on the ground, and the three of them felt their hearts tighten at the sight.
Xie Ji and Ning Bingque exchanged a glance, each seeing contempt for Shen Yuanzhou in the other’s eyes.
Bah—this damned little schemer!
But they couldn’t stop Yan Yu’an’s decision either, and could only watch eagerly as Shen Yuanzhou led Yan Yu’an away by the hand.
After half a second of silence, Ning Bingque was the first to break the calm.
“It’s all your fault!” He roared, about to come hit Xie Ji—but he didn’t dare. He was afraid that if they started fighting it’d drag on endlessly and make Yan Yu’an unhappy again.
Xie Ji wasn’t happy either. He glared viciously at Ning Bingque. He didn’t dare tell him that just now he’d gone to find Shen Yuanzhou and had him come over to give Ning Bingque a bit of a scare.
Regret it now!
Strangely, Xie Ji didn’t retort to Ning Bingque’s words. He couldn’t help slapping his head. “It’s all my fault!” He was dejected and couldn’t help muttering something.
That Shen Yuanzhou—a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have gone to call him over.
That fellow was nothing like that stupid bird Ning Bingque—he was deeply scheming!
Only now did Xie Ji truly understand what “regret it now” meant.
So much so that later that night, back in his room, lying in bed, he kept thinking: why did I go find that scheming dog Shen Yuanzhou?
And Ning Bingque was thinking about how to beat the two of them up without Yan Yu’an finding out.
And so the next day, Yan Yu’an was surprised to discover that both Ning Bingque and Xie Ji had very thick dark circles under their eyes.
He couldn’t help freezing. His rosy lips moved, and he couldn’t resist asking: “Did you two not sleep well last night?”
Though Shen Yuanzhou had also kissed his lips last night and discontentedly badmouthed Xie Ji and Ning Bingque to him, they’d stayed up quite late and he hadn’t gotten dark circles.
Instead it was these two fellows who looked like they’d been outside fighting in the middle of the night.
Xie Ji and Ning Bingque looked at Shen Yuanzhou, who was drinking water looking fresh and clear-headed, and in unison let out a cold laugh.
Yan Yu’an: “???”
At this moment A Xuan jumped out. The wise little thing naturally knew why these two fellows hadn’t slept well last night. It shook its head and lifted its tail, then fawned against Yan Yu’an’s hand. “Master, you’re about to leave, aren’t you?”
It had heard it all last night—that fellow Shen Yuanzhou told master the half year was up and it was time to go back to the place they used to live. So early this morning it had gone out to gather many spiritual herbs, preparing to give them to master.
Yan Yu’an froze, seemingly not having expected it to say this, and for a moment was at a loss.
Last night he’d still been worrying about how to tell A Xuan—he hadn’t expected it to come ask him this very morning.
So he simply nodded cleanly and touched its head. “Right. We’re leaving soon.”
Xie Ji and Ning Bingque weren’t surprised—they’d long been prepared. Though they liked the life here very much, this place wasn’t their home after all.
Thinking this, they couldn’t help looking up at this cozy little house. By the door still hung the string of dried chilies Yan Yu’an had sun-dried, looking especially warm.
The four pairs of eyes seemed to notice each other. They didn’t speak, but they could feel an indescribable emotion.
They quieted down at once, and an inexplicable feeling flowed through the air.
“Wuu…” A Xuan felt a little aggrieved. It was a monster—from childhood to now, only master hadn’t despised it. Ever since master descended into this world, it had stayed by master’s side.
Back then, because of its own mistake, master had been stranded in another world. It had finally managed to bring master back from that place—and even let three of master’s capable generals die in that hellish place.
A Xuan sobbed quietly in sorrow. Yan Yu’an was a little at a loss. After thinking for a moment, he simply pulled A Xuan into his arms and comforted it softly.
Xie Ji raised an eyebrow. Thinking of something, he glanced at Ning Bingque, then suddenly whispered—secretly eyeing Shen Yuanzhou as he spoke, as if terrified of being found out.
“How about we come back here twice a year, without Shen Yuanzhou. How’s that?” He raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes showing smugness. “I’m fast, you can fly—the two of us teaming up to squeeze that fellow out is just perfect.”
Ning Bingque tilted his head, seeming to consider the feasibility of this.
After thinking for a long while, he reluctantly nodded.
And so, he watched as Xie Ji went up to claim credit from Yan Yu’an. “An’an! How about we come back here every summer and winter—that way this little monster won’t have to cry so sadly.”
Hearing this, A Xuan, who’d had its head buried in Yan Yu’an’s embrace, couldn’t help lifting its head and looked at Xie Ji tearfully. “Really?” It sniffled.
Xie Ji nodded. He looked at Yan Yu’an and, seeing his face full of delight, the tail behind him couldn’t help lifting.
“You’re so smart. How didn’t I think of that?” A smile rose on his face.
Xie Ji’s tail immediately lifted even higher. He looked at Yan Yu’an cheerfully, not knowing what he was plotting inside.
Once they confirmed they were leaving, they started packing their things today.
Having lived here for over half a year, it would be a lie to say they weren’t reluctant to go.
Yan Yu’an looked at the stove he’d made in winter, at the chilies and potatoes he’d planted—he’d even made a fishing rod to pass the time.
Though he hadn’t caught a single fish, he remembered that time he’d been disappointed all day because he hadn’t caught any.
The next day Xie Ji had coaxed him into going fishing again—and that day, the fish they caught were enough to feed them for a year.
These three idiots still didn’t know that he’d long since figured out that Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque had been in the lake that day, frantically forcing those fish onto his hook.
Perhaps they didn’t know that before the apocalypse arrived, he’d already started fishing—fished for three years and only caught two fish.
Of course, Yan Yu’an wouldn’t tell them this.
By the time everyone had more or less finished packing, it was almost evening.
“A Xuan, we’re planning to leave early tomorrow morning.” Yan Yu’an said quietly. Reluctantly he patted the little monster’s head. “We’ll come back to see you often.”
A Xuan actually wanted to say: you can come back alone—the others really don’t need to.
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