(T/N: Chapter title can also mean “cruel, or “to no longer feel any tenderness and love toward someone”)
Qin Kaiyi had a long dream.
In the dream, he was just sitting at the table and having lunch, when he saw a man who looked exactly like Wei He walk in from the door. The man smiled and said to him, “The wedding is at two o’clock. Why are you still eating now?”
“Wedding?” Qin Kaiyi had food stuffed in his mouth and his voice was muffled. “Whose?”
“Yours.” Wei He looked at Qin Kaiyi in surprise, “Come on, you will be late if you don’t go.”
“Okay.” Miraculously, the dream Qin Kaiyi did not express any opinion on or protest this matter. He looked at his watch which read 1:45, then happily followed Wei He to his own wedding.
Although it was a dream, Qin Kaiyi was able to clearly see the surrounding scene and characters. He saw his parents supporting each other with tears in their eyes, gazing at him with both sadness and happiness as if he were a daughter being married off.
“Dad, mom.” Qin Kaiyi thought this situation was very strange, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. He scratched his head and asked with doubt, “Who am I marrying?”
“Of course it’s your shidi, silly child.” Mother Qin wiped her tears and looked gratified. “Finally married you out.”
“…” Qin Kaiyi had no expression, but his mouth twitched.
“Go ahead, he has been waiting for you, don’t be late.” Mother Qin patted her son’s shoulder, and said gently, “Being late for your first time getting married will make people have a bad impression of you.”
… what does first time getting married mean? Would there be a second and third time in the future?? Qin Kaiyi thought very calmly. But being late for one’s marriage really wasn’t too good. Of course, Qin Kaiyi at this time didn’t seem to notice which person the shidi his mother spoke of was…
Qin Kaiyi, who walked into the church, changed into a suit miraculously. He looked at the empty church and felt an indescribable panic.
But this is what happens in human dreams, even if you are scared… you have to continue.
After walking a long way, Qin Kaiyi finally saw a figure with its back to him in the first row of seats. The figure wore a white wedding dress, and it looked so slim and graceful from the back that hot tears almost gathered at the rims of Qin Kaiyi’s eyes–finally getting married, finally not a wizard (T/N: Chinese people believed that if a man stayed a virgin until around 30, he would develop magic powers), and finally… yi? Something seems not quite right?
The marriage partner in a white wedding dress slowly turned around, and Qin Kaiyi immediately issued a sharp, miserable shriek when he saw that face-aaaaahhhhhhh, why would Shen Feixiao wear a wedding dress and look at him with such a solemn expression, ahhhhh!!!
Then Qin Kaiyi woke up. After waking up, he realized that he was already covered in cold sweat, and his head seemed to be on the verge of exploding from severe pain.
“Wu…” Supporting his head, Qin Kaiyi felt that his entire person was in chaos. Feeling somewhat like how he had when he experienced a fever in the past, Qin Kaiyi focused with difficulty and began to observe his surroundings.
… He was no longer in that cold wasteland. Qin Kaiyi leaned back on the head of the bead and found himself lying on a somewhat familiar decoratively carved bed. The bed emitted a strong fragrance that made Qin Kaiyi, already in a confused state, even less sober.
Although the state of his entire person was very bad, Qin Kaiyi still stiffened when he recalled what happened before. A private part of his body still felt a sort of burning pain, incessantly reminding him–he had been taken by that dog child Shen Feixiao.
“Fuck.” Qin Kaiyi held back for a long time, then choked out one word from his mouth. A man was forced by someone else; he shouldn’t cry like a woman, but his heart held a depression that he couldn’t take. Qin Kaiyi ground his teeth and slowly crawled up from the bed.
The room where Qin Kaiyi was located was very spacious and empty. A screen blocked the space between the door and the bed, and a thick wool rug covered the floor. Aside from the bed, there was only a not-so-large table and chair, which seemed to be of a set with the bed from the looks of the carved patterns.
The demonic energy in Qin Kaiyi’s dantian was still firmly suppressed by unknown forces. Without the help of demonic energy, the wounds on his body healed very slowly, so now Qin Kaiyi felt like a skeleton about to scatter. Just getting up from the bed almost consumed all his strength.
After getting up from the bed, Qin Kaiyi found out that he had been changed into another set of clothes. The tattered red changshan became a white one with hardly any patterns or decorations on it.
Qin Kaiyi frowned slowly and moved to the door. He reached out and tried to open the seemingly flimsy wooden door, but he found himself helpless, unable to push open this carved door that didn’t seem firm or secure.
After realizing that he didn’t have the ability to escape, Qin Kaiyi swayed back to the bed in despair. He sat cross-legged on the large carved bed, and he looked at the similarly beautiful roof beams with a blank whiteness in his mind–in fact he really did want to seriously consider what he should do, but the pain of his wounds rendered him incapable of calming down. Even if he closed his eyes, things that would cause him pain would clearly flash before his gaze.
“Shixiong.” A voice that Qin Kaiyi didn’t want to hear sounded outside the door. Qin Kaiyi froze, and his breath sped up instantly.
Shen Feixiao called to Qin Kaiyi and then pushed open the door and walked in. He held a basket in his hand. The basket was covered with a cloth, and judging from the aroma emitted, it contained food.
The moment Qin Kaiyi saw Shen Feixiao, he wanted to shrink against the wall as far away as possible from him, but the remaining bit of pride in his heart prevented him from retreating.
As soon as Shen Feixiao entered the room, he saw Qin Kaiyi’s wan face that was paler than paper. He didn’t say anything, but instead gently smiled. “Shixiong, are you hungry?”
“…” Qin Kaiyi didn’t want to talk to Shen Feixiao. He would never admit that… he was really scared of the seemingly harmless shidi in front of him now.
“I brought you something to eat.” Shen Feixiao came forward a few steps, put the basket on the wooden table, and then turned to stare at Qin Kaiyi. “Won’t you eat a bit?”
“Shen Feixiao!” Qin Kaiyi knew that Shen Feixiao was asking him this on purpose. He had long passed the fasting period, why would he still need to eat?
“You should eat.” Shen Feixiao seemed to know what Qin Kaiyi was thinking, and softly explained, “Shixiong is now no different from ordinary people. If you don’t eat, you will starve to death.”
His tone was clearly gentle, but his words were so vicious. When Qin Kaiyi heard what Shen Feixiao said, his eyes revealed that he didn’t dare to believe him. “What did you do to me?”
“Nothing.” Shen Feixiao didn’t want to entangle further with Qin Kaiyi on this issue. “Eat a bit.”
“I won’t eat!!!” Qin Kaiyi gritted his teeth and said, “Shen Feixiao, what do you actually want?? I don’t owe you anything… you, you!”
“Shixiong doesn’t owe me.” Shen Feixiao saw Qin Kaiyi unhesitatingly reject him, but wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he showed a smile that gave Qin Kaiyi chills all over–every time Shen Feixiao smiled like that Qin Kaiyi would meet with misfortune. “It’s me who owes shixiong.”
“… You let me go!” After that, Qin Kaiyi was easily suppressed by one of Shen Feixiao’s hands on the bed. He wished badly to bite Shen Feixiao’s hand. “Shen Feixiao, you let me go, wu!!! “
“Sometimes my mood is very bad.” The other hand stuffed the cakes from the basket into Qin Kaiyi’s mouth. Shen Feixiao’s pupils were a gloomy purple. “When my mood is bad, shixiong must not provoke me, because I also won’t be able to control myself… understand?”
“You, wu…” Qin Kaiyi, whose mouth was stuffed with pastries, struggled uselessly. In order not to be suffocated to death, he had to swallow down what Shen Feixiao had shoved into his mouth.
Forcing Qin Kaiyi to eat like this little by little, Shen Feixiao only stopped when he felt that it was enough. At this time, Qin Kaiyi already completely lost the strength to struggle.
“Shixiong, you have a fever.” Looking at the abnormal red of Qin Kaiyi’s face, Shen Feixiao reached out and checked the temperature of his forehead. He then used a handkerchief to clean up the crumbs from Qin Kaiyi’s mouth. “I’ll get the medicine for shixiong.”
“…” Pulling on the corners of Shen Feixiao’s clothes just as he prepared to leave, Qin Kaiyi’s voice was acerbic, “What do you actually want, Shen Feixiao, do you want to kill me?”
“How could I be willing to let shixiong die?” Shen Feixiao looked at Qin Kaiyi with indifferent eyes. “Did you see this room? I specially prepared it for shixiong. Shixiong will accompany me for a lifetime, okay? Don’t go anywhere… only accompany Feixiao.”
“You are mad,” Qin Kaiyi said despairingly.
“En, shixiong be obedient, I will be back in a moment.” Shen Feixiao didn’t care about what Qin Kaiyi said. He pulled Qin Kaiyi’s hand away and took the basket out, and of course, he didn’t forget to close the wooden door.
Qin Kaiyi lay alone on the bed with a dull expression. When he first woke up, he still had some hopes about his situation, but Shen Feixiao… using his actions, unhesitatingly shattered Qin Kaiyi’s thought processes and used the cruelest method to tell Qin Kaiyi that he couldn’t go anywhere.
Where were things not right? What went wrong?? The motionless Qin Kaiyi raised his head, only to find that his storage ring and the bracelet given by Qing Xuzi were all gone. Except for the piece of clothing that covered him, Shen Feixiao left him nothing…
“There’s still twenty-five percent,” Qin Kaiyi murmured. “What can I do to return home?” … How can I leave this place?
Qin Kaiyi talked to himself and didn’t notice that Shen Feixiao had exited but hadn’t gone far, instead leaning against the wall. He listened carefully to Qin Kaiyi’s mumbles through the wall. When he heard “return home” and “twenty-five percent,” a flash of doubt slid past in his gaze, and then he narrowed his eyes slightly… his shixiong, what exactly was he hiding from him?