Iron Bull fait son retour

Chapitre 20

The man bound Tao Rujiu's hands and then took off his shirt. He leaned down again, and this time Tao Rujiu felt a body as hot as his own pressed against hers. Her sensitive skin immediately shivered, and it felt as if a low-voltage electric current was running through her body, carrying a tingling fear.

"Well……"

He made a sound unconsciously, but his next sharp movement turned the groan into a low cry.

The man lowered his head and stroked the young man's smooth, flat chest. Then, he suddenly lowered his head and gently squeezed one of the still-unawakened pink nipples into his mouth.

Tao Rujiu jerked as if electrocuted, squirming restlessly, but this only aroused his senses more. Ling Li didn't give up because of his struggle; instead, he gently bit Tao Rujiu's nipple with his teeth, licking the areola with his tongue. The light and heavy friction completely awakened the young man's sensitivity. He involuntarily arched his body, letting out helpless yet alluring sounds.

"See? I told you so, didn't I?"

Ling Li stopped speaking, looking up at the young man's dazed expression with satisfaction. "Your body isn't very sensitive yet... So from now on, I'll be in charge of teaching you. Have you done this with anyone before?"

He asked with malice, while reaching out to caress the young man's body, gradually moving downwards, his fingers gently pressing on the small navel, and then continuing to slowly wander down.

"Ah...what, no, I didn't..."

The initial itchy discomfort gradually transformed into a strange arousal, and Tao Rujiu shook his head slightly. He had no experience in this area whatsoever. At first, he barely reacted to the intense caresses. However, as time passed and the atmosphere intensified, the desire buried deep within him was gradually awakened. Each bold move the man made became a severe stimulus. Half shy, half intoxicated, and bewildered, he could only follow the man's commands, relaxing his entire body and anticipating what was to come.

The man's hands quickly removed the sash of the yukata. Between the yukata, like scattered white petals, lay the young man's completely naked body. His skin, a blend of ivory white and pale pink, was breathtakingly beautiful in the dim light. His sharp, greedy gaze made Tao Rujiu awkwardly twist his body and bend his legs, trying to avoid his burning gaze as much as possible.

"What are you blocking? I saw enough when I was helping you bathe earlier." The man chuckled softly, reaching out to wrap his arms around his waist. "See, you're getting aroused here too."

As a fellow man, Tao Rujiu naturally understood what Lingli meant. His mind was in complete turmoil.

Don't think about anything, I'll take care of it for you.

As they spoke, the man's hot hand left the young man's upper body and grasped the half-awake organ. He gently manipulated it, clearly feeling the soft little thing gradually struggle and swell in his hand, throbbing and pulsating. Even clear tears welled up in its eyes.

Tao Rujiu's increasingly frantic moans sounded like an alluring invitation to his sharp ears. His breathing also became rapid.

Knowing his own limits were limited, the man gently embraced Tao Rujiu's waist, turned him over so he was lying face down on the bed, and slowly slid his right hand along the tailbone into the young man's buttocks. However, his fingers only found the anus and gently pressed it. Suddenly, he heard the young man beneath him groan, and his breathing subsided. Ling Li's heart tightened, and he quickly turned him over to check on him. It turned out that he had finally reached his climax and then collapsed unconscious from exhaustion.

“Useless fellow…” Ling Li looked at the young man, whose face was still flushed, and gave a wry smile. “Forget it, let’s continue when you’re feeling better. You owe me for now…”

As he spoke, he leaned down and touched Tao Rujiu's slightly parted, deep red lips, then gently loosened his tie. He removed the bathrobe beneath him, quickly wiped away the traces of passion, and finally pulled the covers up and turned off the light. He then slipped into the adjacent bathroom to relieve himself.

Thanks to Ling Li and the exposure he had that night, Tao Rujiu's fever spiked the next morning, and only his low cough could be heard in the quiet villa. Fortunately, Ling Li had a doctor examine him at the city health clinic and determined that there was nothing seriously wrong. After taking several doses of antipyretics, his fever finally subsided by evening.

"What sins have I committed?" Ling Li lazily complained, leaning against Tao Rujiu's old bed. "How did I end up picking up such a useless thing like you?"

Tao Rujiu knew that Ling Li had been taking care of his daily needs all day, and it was understandable that someone who never served others would complain. So he just smiled faintly and did not refute her.

When Ling Li's provocation failed, he awkwardly leaned closer, wanting to share a cushion with Tao Rujiu. The young man was still a bit dizzy, so he simply gave the cushion to the man, but Ling Li pulled him close, and he leaned against Ling Li's chest.

The soft sound of her heartbeat confirmed that her feelings for him had begun sometime in the past. Perhaps it was when they were fighting over that one jade soup dumpling? Tao Rujiu vaguely remembered that they disliked each other back then.

“Lingli…” he suddenly said softly, “I have a question for you.”

"What?"

If someone you really like leaves temporarily and goes to a faraway place, and asks you to wait for them to come back, how long would you wait?

"Strange question." Ling Li frowned. "What do you mean by 'like'? A lover or a family member?"

"...Either is fine."

“Then let’s wait two years,” Ling Li replied in a mischievous low voice. “I’m in high demand, and I don’t have much time to be a complaining woman. If it were you, I might not even wait.”

Although Tao Rujiu knew he was joking, his heart still tightened, and he silently thought to himself: You only wait two years, while some people have waited seven lifetimes. The next day, Tao Rujiu remained in the villa as usual. It was like a separate space, completely isolating him from what was happening in Hailing City. Ling Li went to the control room as usual in the morning, leaving Tao Rujiu alone, bored out of his mind. Fortunately, the man turned on the computer for him before leaving, saying that he was allowed to go online to relieve his boredom.

Tao Rujiu opened his browser, but couldn't think of where to go for a moment, so he just browsed the recent news. Suddenly, he remembered something Dongli Bupo had told him, and on a whim, he entered a few keywords into Baidu.

The results showed that the story was indeed true; Tao Rujiu even found many versions of the legend, most of which were fabrications combining seaside tales with historical facts. It seems that the Dongli family remained very popular even hundreds of years later.

He casually clicked on an article that seemed rather realistic and glanced at it. Suddenly, he saw a strange title in the navigation bar on the left.

"Silver-haired, Qilin-eyed—The 'Divine Child' of Dongli Legend"

Clicking it, the bookmark automatically jumped to that section of the text. Tao Rujiu frowned; it turned out to be a research paper by a folklorist. It seemed to be an analysis of the "divine child" phenomenon that appeared periodically in the Dongli family.

"These so-called 'divine children' all wore snow-white robes, which blended seamlessly with their pure white hair and unblemished skin. Their extraordinary sea-blue eyes were as azure as the sea frontier that the Dongli people had guarded for generations. These people were so different that they even emitted a white light when standing in the dark. Thus, people began to speculate that they were divine beings sent by the sea god to save the sea people, and the Dongli family, which had a 'divine child' born every so often, naturally became the absolute leader in the hearts of the sea people."

Tao Rujiu was secretly surprised. In fact, he had seen the Sea God Temple in other parts of Xiyao before. In addition to the traditional Sea God and Tide God, there were also some statues with snow-white bodies. However, the young man had always thought that they were just unfinished rough pieces, and never imagined that they were actually Ling Li's ancestors.

He clicked the mouse and continued watching.

"Everyone believes that the 'children of gods' are gods sent down from heaven, but only those who are treated as gods know that if they had a choice, they would never have wanted to be born like this—accompanying the silver hair and scaly eyes is congenital deafness and muteness, and in severe cases, even other physical defects and facial deformities..."

Tao Rujiu thought to himself, "That's it!"

This is not a myth or legend, but a familial genetic disease. The symptoms are albinism and deafness, like a blue-eyed white cat. Tao Rujiu further thought that the sharp blue eyes were a partial inheritance of that terrifying "divine child" trait.

He stared at the screen, lost in thought, completely unaware that the villa door had been opened and another person had entered the study. Ling Li pushed the door open with a lunchbox in his hand and saw the bold, 32-point calligraphy title on the computer screen: "Decoding the Legend of the Eastern Fence Divine Child".

"When did you become interested in these things?" he said casually, walking over and placing the lunchbox on the desk.

Tao Rujiu suddenly looked up, trying to close the webpage at the same time, but the man shook his head and said, "It's really not easy for you to have found out this far."

As he spoke, he took off his light brown sunglasses, revealing his captivating blue eyes.

"Sharp and piercing..." Although he had already confirmed this fact, this was the first time Tao Rujiu had truly looked into those blue eyes. In the natural light, the man who had removed his sunglasses exuded a gentle and refined air, captivating the young man's gaze.

“As you can see, this is a family trait. My mother is what they call this…” He pointed to the word “divine child” on the screen. “I’m lucky that I only inherited blue eyes. But to avoid gossip, I still wear sunglasses.”

“Lingli…” Tao Rujiu hurriedly said, “I didn’t mean to get to the bottom of this, I was just curious.”

Not wanting to be perceived as intruding on his privacy, he urgently defended himself, "What color are your eyes, to me..."

Ling Li nodded, but didn't listen to his further explanation.

“I don’t want anyone else to know about this. Because I love my mother very much—she was married into the Ling family like a lucky ornament, but she lived a life of suffering. The last reporter who exposed her story is already dead.”

"I really didn't mean that..." Tao Rujiu was a little angry at the man's deliberate misinterpretation, and also because he used the fate of other reporters to threaten her. "Don't you even believe me...?"

Ling Li paused for a moment, then gently patted his shoulder.

“I believe you won’t betray me…” He lowered his head and pulled Tao Rujiu into his arms, “but this is something I can’t joke about. I hope you understand.”

Tao Rujiu was held in his arms, but only felt a chill. She couldn't say anything to argue with him anymore. She only felt his sharp chin gently touch the top of her head, then slowly move down her cheek to her collarbone, and then his left earlobe was gently sucked in her mouth. Her increasingly sensitive body was about to react involuntarily, but at this moment Ling Li released her and asked in a low voice, "Where did you know that my surname is Dongli? I remember that my mother's side of the family changed their surname to Dong three generations ago."

Tao Rujiu hesitated for a moment, unsure of the correct answer, and could only vaguely reply, "...It was the ancestor you worship who told me, he..."

Before the young man could finish speaking, Ling Li released him, saying only, "Don't think that just because you've left the underground palace, the whole world is full of ghosts and monsters. You can tell me what you've been hiding, but I only hope that you won't betray me on this point... if you think that's betrayal."

After saying that, he moved the lunchbox he had brought to the young man and opened it for him. Then he sat down on the sofa next to him, smoked a cigarette, and left the villa without saying a word.

After finishing this difficult lunch, Tao Rujiu turned off the computer and stared blankly at the clear sky outside the window. Suddenly, he realized that it had been several days since he had returned to Cuiying Pavilion.

These past few days have been plagued by problems, and the opera troupe's performances haven't resumed. A few members of the troupe who knew a little about the situation but weren't very bold simply made excuses to take a long vacation. As a result, Ling Li also took the opportunity to have the opera troupe suspend operations for a while. Master Lü, however, became worried, thinking that the opera troupe's business had come to an end. Tao Rujiu comforted him for a while, and then, together with Xiao Li and the others, fabricated a story about Wang Baihu's current situation, talking about it intermittently for a while, until it was already getting late.

The remaining members of the opera troupe went to the canteen for a meal. To appease everyone, the food in the canteen had been quite good these past few days. However, looking at the empty hall, Tao Rujiu felt only helplessness and an indescribable fear.

Will the population continue to decrease?

During the meal, Hua Kai sat down next to him and handed him a note.

"Have you thought about what happened that day?"

Tao Rujiu then realized that Dongli Bupo would come to ask him for the answer tonight.

To agree or disagree? To be honest, he still hasn't made up his mind.

Tao Rujiu turned to look at Hua Kai, a thin blush spreading across his delicate face, shy about what was about to happen. After all, if Dongli Bupo's wish were fulfilled, it would be his own body, Tao Rujiu, that would be in contact with Hua Kai in reality.

"You...don't mind?" Tao Rujiu couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

Hua Kai paused for a moment, slowly lowered her head, nodded gently, and then typed on her phone:

(We have waited for each other for seven lifetimes, and in this life we have finally reunited, hoping only to feel each other again. If we lose this opportunity, who knows how many more centuries we will have to wait for the next one, or perhaps... we will never have another chance at all.)

"But you... can you feel its presence?" Tao Rujiu continued to ask, his face also turning slightly red. "I... I think you can feel his caresses."

Upon hearing this, Hua Kai's face nearly fell under the table. He gestured that they should change the subject. Tao Rujiu quickly finished his meal, and the two headed back towards the patch of grass where they had spoken last time.

Along the way, Hua Kai wrote down her thoughts in short messages and sent them to Tao Rujiu's phone.

(I could indeed sense him, but it was just an illusion created by his abilities. He, on the other hand, never sensed my body at all.)

"That's how it is..." Hua Kai's words confirmed Tao Rujiu's earlier guess. But he still felt somewhat uncomfortable with Dong Li Bu Po's actions. "But that's my body after all..."

(Tao Tao, Brother Dongli really just wants to use your body to sense my presence. We won't do anything. I promise!) Hua Kai was almost pleading. (Can you imagine the feeling of liking someone but never being able to touch them no matter what? Your constitution is special. You're the first person Brother Dongli has met in years who can communicate with spirits. If you don't help us either, then I...I...)

By this point, the boy was already in tears. Tao Rujiu felt a pang of sorrow and, without thinking, went up and hugged him. Just then, a chill ran down the back of his head, followed by a sharp pain, as if someone had used a wedge to split open his skull.

Back at the villa from the control room, Ling Li impulsively decided to drive Tao Rujiu to the city for dinner. The young man had been surviving on thin porridge while feverish and needed some nutrition. Thinking this, Ling Li couldn't help but laugh at himself for sounding like a nagging nanny. Although what happened at noon had displeased him, the man comforted himself, telling himself that he should at least trust Tao Rujiu this once.

To his surprise, Tao Rujiu was not in the villa.

Ling Li frowned, then guessed that the young man must have returned to Cuiying Pavilion. So he tried calling his mobile phone, but no matter how many times he tried, the answer was always "user not in service area". Looking at the time, it was almost six o'clock, and the sky was about to get dark.

"Going off to cause trouble again?" Ling Li sighed almost helplessly, grabbed his keys, and pushed the door open again. Tao Rujiu realized he had been tricked by Dongli Bupo. Hua Kai must have made a prior arrangement with the ghost, having the young man lure him to the bushes behind Cuiying Pavilion, whereupon Dongli Bupo forcibly entered his body. Although Tao Rujiu hadn't willingly accepted his soul, it hadn't caused much damage to the young man's body or mind.

I just feel a splitting headache.

Tao Rujiu felt himself suddenly curl up into a ball, but his body didn't move accordingly. The current situation was somewhat like a dream, or rather, he could only control his soul, while his body was dominated by another powerful spirit. Tao Rujiu knew that was Dongli Bupo.

It seemed he would have to give himself away tonight, the young man thought with a wry smile, but a sense of relief washed over him. Although it was a forced choice, it was still much more reassuring than indecisiveness. He comforted himself, telling himself to just sleep it off and pretend nothing had happened tomorrow.

However, he quickly sensed the surprise.

Because he did not lose consciousness as Dongli Bupo had said. On the contrary, Tao Rujiu saw every detail of the affair between the boy and the ghost without reservation.

Dongli Bupo kissed Huakai with his lips, caressing the boy's youthful body with his hands. He heard the boy's heavy breathing and felt his burning skin. Huakai's body gradually opened in his hands, revealing his youthful intimacy. Tao Rujiu tried to close his eyes, suppressing the strange discomfort in his heart, but his body was completely beyond his control. He heard his own mouth constantly expressing his love for Huakai, slowly evolving into breaths of burgeoning desire, and then... Dongli Bupo actually leaned down and took the boy's youthful body into his mouth, sucking it deeply with affection.

Just like the night before last, Tao Rujiu was not at Cuiying Pavilion. Hearing from others that the young man had left with Huakai after dinner, Ling Li composed himself slightly and sent Huakai another text message, but received no reply for a long time. By this time, the sky had turned dark blue, and double the worry weighed on his heart, prompting him to immediately rush out to search for her.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, he soon followed the unusual breathing sounds and found two people locked in a passionate embrace in the grass.

"What...what are you doing!"

Almost unable to believe what he was seeing, the man's surprise turned to anger, and he strode over.

Tao Rujiu felt the sorrow of Dongli Bupo. He closed his eyes, and countless unfamiliar memories flooded his mind.

It is the memory of the unbroken eastern fence.

An ancient sea, wooden warships. The Dongli family in armor, and a pristine white "divine child." Each member of the family, shrouded in the halo of the sea god, has lost the right to enjoy an ordinary life. Not to mention the forbidden pleasures of same-sex relationships, which are considered shocking and outrageous.

Tao Rujiu stood by the sea, watching a pair of same-sex lovers entwined on the rocks in the distance. It was like the blossoming of flowers and the eastern fence in the past, their two figures overlapping in the blood-red sunset. But happiness would not come to them.

They were discovered and secretly tried by the Dongli family. Huakai was imprisoned, while Dongli Bupo was forced to return to the battlefield at Huakai's risk, never to return.

The first thing Hua Kai saw when she was released from her cage was a street full of pure white.

So he threw himself into the sea.

The tide of memories receded, replaced by a sorrow that had lasted for seven generations, a sorrow of loss and unfulfilled desires.