Я обнял крепкого мужчину за тонкую талию

Глава 5

"Women? There shouldn't be any at the academy." I decided to keep that a secret, otherwise, if she found out about a woman, she'd be crying her eyes out like my infatuated mother. I don't need to think about sleeping anymore.

Upon hearing that there were no women around, Bingning jumped up excitedly again, then grabbed my arm and said, "I'm telling you, Yuzhou, you fucking aren't allowed to fancy any man, aren't allowed to flirt with him, aren't allowed to flirt around, and aren't allowed to use your seductive face as a selling point. You hear me? And you better remember this, if you seduce my Yingxue again, I'll make you regret it." Her attitude completely changed 180 degrees.

"I understand. I'll take good care of Yingxue, so don't worry," I replied helplessly.

"Husband, you can only think of me every day, only think of me, think of my soup, think of my words, every word I said, I..." Then, under Bingning's nagging, I fell into a drowsy state. Finally, I heard her shout angrily: "You are not allowed to seduce wild women or wild men."

"Don't you have another little spy?" I said, feeling annoyed. She sent Yingxue here just to spy on me.

"Husband, how can you say that's surveillance?" Her tone shifted to a sweet, dependent one. I was really struggling to keep up with her.

"If you call it taking care of me, then thank you very much, my lady." I suppressed my fiery temper and continued to speak kindly.

"My lord, there's no need for that. It's a wife's duty," Bing Ning said with a smile, the unspoken message being, 'Take it easy.'

"I still need to pack my clothes, so I'll be going now." If she keeps talking, I'll be so angry I'll die. Just now I was the one who was going to teach Bing Ning a lesson, how did it turn into Bing Ning teaching me a lesson?

"Husband, I've finished packing for you." Bing Ning hurriedly ran over. If I let you pack my clothes, I won't be leaving the valley for half a year.

I quickly returned to my room, but that brat still wouldn't let me go, constantly banging on my door. Desperate, I packed not only my clothes, but also her portrait, and covered every book and even my clothes with writings like "Yu Zhou's wife is Bing Ning." Even my rations were covered in these words written with pinholes.

Bingning even jokingly tried to get a tattoo on me, but luckily I dodged quickly, or I would have become a victim of her needles.

After Bingning's hesitant and reluctant farewell, Yingxue and I finally left Tianchi. However, Bingning's mournful eyes and cold words caused Yingxue to repeatedly utter the phrase "Young Master, please have some self-respect" all the way. Yingxue was the only "human" animal adopted by Tianchi, and also the only female animal that Bingning recognized and allowed to approach me. In fact, Bingning usually eliminated any animal that approached me that was associated with a female.

Yingxue's face was completely disfigured. She was the same age as Bingning, and she would take in any animal that was beautiful despite its imperfections, including Yingxue. Yingxue had now become her little spy, her lackey, and my little shadow. Yet, there was an unseen air of nobility about Yingxue; she was clearly not from an ordinary family. But she didn't want to say it, and she hadn't done anything to harm Tianchi. I pretended not to know.

[confusion]

A woman in a white dress, veiled and carrying several bags, followed closely behind a young man in black. The young man, though pale and coughing occasionally, possessed an androgynous beauty that was breathtaking, especially his cold, intelligent eyes. This strange pair of master and servant attracted frequent glances from passersby.

This master and servant duo were none other than Yu Zhou, who had just emerged from Tianchi. Yu Zhou casually tied her hairband, revealing her stunningly beautiful face, previously concealed, now particularly striking under the bright sun. Her beauty had caused chaos on the street; many people stopped to catch a glimpse of her, making it impossible to pass through the road. People stood there, dumbfounded, staring at this sickly-looking young man. While everyone appreciates beauty, fighting over her was a minor matter; some couples even separated, abandoning their parents. This was something she hadn't anticipated at all. Beauty could also be a curse. Yu Zhou was very careful.

Yingxue took out a notebook that Bingning had given her, instructing her to record what Yuzhou did and said each day. She was to fly over daily to deliver the notebook to Bingning, completely unaware of Yuzhou's actions. Yuzhou frowned; she hadn't expected her appearance to cause such a situation. It had disrupted the town's peace.

They tried to avoid those people. But unexpected things kept happening.

"Get out of here! It's an insult to look at someone like you." Woman A shoved Woman B, who angrily grabbed Woman A's hair, and they started fighting.

"What a beautiful person!"

I want him to be my husband.

Are you worthy?

"A celestial being has descended to earth."

I said she was a woman.

No, he's a man.

The arguing and chatter reached Yu Zhou's ears. A woman in purple stumbled and nearly fell while trying to see Yu Zhou. Yu Zhou kindly caught her. The woman stared blankly at Yu Zhou, but immediately the women and men around her began to violently attack her. The woman being attacked chuckled and murmured, "He touched my hand."

The woman in purple had been beaten into a pulp, but her mouth still had a silly, upturned curve, and blood was still seeping from it. Yu Zhou clenched his fists helplessly and continued on his way, but the crowd was growing larger and larger, so bustling and noisy that Yu Zhou and Ying Xue couldn't move forward. Yu Zhou's pale face clearly showed his impatience, but the crowd only grew stronger, blocking their path.

Yingxue knew that her young master had been enduring all this time. His appearance was already unparalleled in the world. These people in the town had never seen an ordinary beauty, let alone a peerless beauty like him. But now, the only thing to do was to get away as soon as possible. Her young master's illness could not withstand the torment of these people.

Yingxue pulled off her veil, and the townspeople gasped. They had never before witnessed the most beautiful woman and the ugliest person in the world; the former was pleasing to the eye, the latter utterly repulsive. The townspeople covered their mouths in discomfort. Yingxue's face was covered in sores, some infested with maggots, and reeked of rotting flesh. The veil, originally meant to conceal both her ugliness and the stench, now filled the air with a thick, foul odor that permeated the surrounding area. Many vomited uncontrollably, squatting down to vomit. The townspeople gradually dispersed, but the sounds of vomiting could still be heard.

"This woman is so ugly!"

"This woman is actually staying next to that young master, and that young master can actually stand this smell."

"Yeah, it stinks!"

"Mother, that sister is disgusting, her face is covered in white worms!" She started wailing. Yingxue's eyes grew heavy, filled with a complex mix of sadness, indignation, resentment, and hatred.

Yu Zhou knew Yingxue was helping him, and a pang of pain shot through his heart. He put his arm around Yingxue's shoulder, stroked her rotting cheek, and smiled, saying, "Even Chong'er loves Yingxue to death." He then lifted Yingxue's veil, smiling. Holding Yingxue's hand tightly, he whispered in her ear, "You don't need to do this anymore. Yingxue's face can only be seen by me." Yingxue was stunned. Indeed, only Yu Zhou had ever seen Yingxue's face. Even Bing Ning couldn't bear it and hadn't seen it all.

Yingxue just stared at Yu Zhou's face, tears welling up in her eyes. Even their earlier sarcasm hadn't brought her to tears. But Yu Zhou's words completely moved her; her eyes were deeply stung, and she shed her first tear of her life.

Since that incident, Yu Zhou has been wearing a black cloak and hat to prevent such a thing from happening again, while Ying Xue remains as cold and unapproachable as before. However, there's a subtle difference in how she seems to feel less distant from Yu Zhou.

To avoid being recognized, Yu Zhou and Ying Xue chose a secluded path. Ying Xue and Yu Zhou, who rarely went out, foolishly bought two donkeys. But the donkeys would walk a few steps, then stop and circle around a few times, ending up in the same spot. Eventually, Yu Zhou bought some carrots, hung them on a bamboo pole, and tried to lure the donkeys along. But now the donkeys were giving up.

"Grandpa Donkey, Grandma Donkey, please move!" The donkey was completely unmoved and continued to lie on the ground. Yu Zhou was so angry that his teeth itched. Ying Xue also took out a carrot and kept waving it in front of her donkey, but the donkey ignored her and even started licking Yu Zhou's donkey.

"Hey, donkey, all you do is eat and bray. Why don't you do something?" Yu Zhou tried her best not to provoke the donkey, since she was counting on it for the journey. But this was the first time the proud Yu Zhou had ever asked for a favor, and it was from a donkey no less.

"Ah—Eh—Ah—Eh!" The donkey raised its beautiful face, glanced at Yu Zhou, then looked at the fruit by the roadside, indicating that it wanted to eat it. Yu Zhou was speechless; he hadn't expected an ancient donkey to be ordering its master around. It even flicked one of its legs, pointing to the water pouch, then to its own mouth.

"Anything else?" Yu Zhou asked weakly. This donkey had been making all sorts of demands along the way, and she was used to it. But this donkey always spoke with heavy breathing, and after saying one thing, it would start another. Yu Zhou didn't want to waste her time. She finally understood that kindness is often taken advantage of, and a good horse is often ridden. But this donkey was practically riding her.

Yingxue had no choice but to fill her water pouch. Although Yingxue's martial arts skills were still inferior to Linlie's, with Yuzhou as her living secret, no one in the martial arts world could defeat her. Yingxue had a bad temper to begin with and really wanted to kill those two donkeys, but she couldn't find any other means of transportation. Now she had become the servant of these two donkeys, serving them tea and water, and was almost ready to wash their clothes and scrub their backs.

"You damned donkeys, I'll slaughter you all when we get to the Six Arts!" Yu Zhou said angrily, still struggling to pick a few wild fruits. However, a sound from not far away attracted Yu Zhou's attention. Normally, no human could hear it here, but Yu Zhou's hearing was very strong. He started moving towards the large rock following the sound, and Ying Xue also arrived at the foot of the rock with the hearing of a martial artist.

Yu Zhou gestured for Ying Xue to be quiet, and the two of them hid under a large rock and watched silently.

A large group of people stopped a magnificent carriage. A burly man spoke to the man inside, saying, "I planted this tree, I opened this road. If you want to pass, hey! Da Niu, what's the second half of that saying again?" The burly man asked the man behind him in a low voice.

"Uh, boss, it seems like they want to pay a toll to get through here," the man called Da Niu whispered in the big man's ear. The big man continued, "Ahem, to get through here... Ah! Da Niu something... I forgot."

"Leave the toll, boss," Da Niu reminded him again. "Oh, leave the toll for what? What was it again?" The bandit leader seemed to have forgotten again, scratching his head vigorously. He slung his broadsword over his shoulder, his brows furrowed tightly. His henchmen looked anxiously at their leader. Finally, a stuttering boy stammered, "B-B-Boss, it's...it's the toll for the toll!" He was still breathing heavily on the last word.