Chapter 134: Little White-Eyed Wolf

January 31, 2023Merchie

Just like that, Shen Shijiu laid over the side of the bed and fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day, his first instinct was to clench his fingers, but he discovered that there was nothing in his hand.

Shen Shijiu’s eyes shot open.
He realized that he had been laid onto the bed at some point, while Pei Zheng, who had been lying on the bed, was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Shijiu’s mind was flooded with anxiousness, and he suddenly sat up.
However, because he had sat up too quickly, his head spun for a few moments.

Someone walked into the room, before a hand reached out and touched his temples, gently pinching them.

Shen Shijiu lifted his gaze.
Pei Zheng was standing in front of him, his eyes gentle, smiling at him, “You’re awake?”

Shen Shijiu jumped off the bed and crashed into Pei Zheng’s embrace, his arms wrapped tightly around the other’s neck.

Shen Shijiu’s body was pressed against Pei Zheng’s wounds; a thin layer of sweat appeared on his back, but he still reached out and gently held the small man in place, stroking his hair.

“Pei-gege, Pei-gege, Pei-gege…”

He couldn’t say anything else, he could only continue to call for Pei Zheng in a soft voice, calling his name until his words were laced with sobs.

“Pei-gege, you scared me to death, I thought-”

Pei Zheng gently patted the small man in his arms.
His voice was deep as he spoke, “You thought I died?”

Shen Shijiu hurriedly reached out and covered his mouth, “Pei pei pei! Don’t say such inauspicious words!”

Pei Zheng laughed as he grabbed his hand and kissed it.

“Don’t worry, you silly goose.
I’ve been through a thousand years’ worth of disasters.
I won’t die so easily.”

At this moment, Shen Huan also came in, holding a bowl of medicine.

Shen Huan had woken up early this morning.
The moment she woke up, she began cooking medicine for Pei Zheng.
As she was being choked to tears from the smoky, burning firewood, she thought, I must have owed the two of them in my past life.

But unexpectedly, Pei Zheng had risen even earlier than Shen Huan.
He stood outside the bamboo hut, gazing out at the mountains and rivers in silence.

Shen Huan was startled at the sight of a figure standing outside, before she realized that it was Pei Zheng who had woken up.

Pei Zheng walked into the hut and stood behind Shen Huan, watching as she prepared the medicine.

“You’re awake?” Shen Huan asked.

Pei Zheng replied, “Master Shen, you’ve saved my life once again.”

Shen Huan saw that Pei Zheng didn’t look surprised at all; she knew that he must have recognized her in an instant.

“Lord Pei, don’t misunderstand.
I’m doing this for my disciple, there’s nothing else to it.”

Pei Zheng thought of the small man who was still sleeping peacefully in his room, and smiled, “To do something for him is to do it for me as well.”

Shen Huan was almost done cooking the medicine.
Pei Zheng returned to the room, and saw the small man who had just woken up.

Shen Huan had Pei Zheng drink the medicine, before she bustled off to prepare lunch for the two of them.
She sighed again; she must have owed them both in her past life.

Shen Shijiu clutched Pei Zheng’s cuff the entire time and refused to let go; it was as though he were afraid that Pei Zheng would disappear once he loosened his grip.

In truth, Pei Zheng’s body was still extremely weak.
The moment he woke up this morning, the first thing he saw were his incredibly strange surroundings.
Then, he found that someone with an unfamiliar face was slumped over the side of the bed.

But after he caught a clear view of the room, as well as the small man’s soft little hand nestled in his own, Pei Zheng understood everything in an instant.

He lifted Shen Shijiu onto the bed, before he went out alone to take a walk.

Outside, there was endless stretch of mountains and a river covered in a layer of steam.
Although it was extremely cold, everything was still lush and green; the row of bamboo huts really did resemble an otherworldly paradise.

This place had to be the fabled Ghost Valley.

So many people had spent years searching for this place without avail, but Pei Zheng had actually stumbled upon it.

At that time, Pei Zheng had fainted after being attacked by a group of assassins.
Then, he seemed to have fallen somewhere.
When he woke up again, he found himself lying in an endless field of grass.

As he struggled to stand up, Pei Zheng temporarily sealed his qi and blood to prevent the blood from dripping onto the grass and leaving traces.
Then, he began to walk step by step, extremely slowly.
In the end, he had no clue where he was; everything went dark and he finally passed out.

And when he woke up again, he immediately got out of bed and took a walk; right now, Pei Zheng was already a bit unsteady on his feet.

He sat on the side of the bed.
Shen Shijiu obediently sat beside him, staring at him.

Pei Zheng stretched out his fingers, and Shen Shijiu immediately asked nervously, “What’s wrong, Pei-gege? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

Seeing how concerned Shen Shijiu was for him, Pei Zheng’s heart felt quite warm and comfortable, “I’m fine.
Just thirsty.”

Shen Shijiu immediately said, “I’ll pour some water for you!”

Then, he stumbled to the table and poured a cup of water.
His eyes were still fixed on Pei Zheng as he stumbled back and held the cup out to him.

Pei Zheng took the cup, but he lifted it to Shen Shijiu’s lips instead.

“Drink up.”

Shen Shijiu shook his head, “Pei-gege, I poured it for you, you drink it.”

Pei Zheng’s hand didn’t move, “You drink first.
I’ll drink after.”

In truth, Pei Zheng wasn’t thirsty.
He only felt that Shen Shijiu was worrying a tad too much about him; he was so worried that his lips had gone slightly dry, so Pei Zheng merely wanted him to drink a bit more water.

Shen Shijiu obediently received the cup, “All right then.”

When he finished speaking, he took several small sips, before he returned the cup to Pei Zheng.

After Pei Zheng took it, he placed his lips where the small man’s mouth had been and drank the rest of the water, before he licked the corner of his lips.

When Shen Shijiu spotted this, his earlobes suddenly reddened.

Pei Zheng put the cup down, and pinched his earlobe, which made his delicate, round ears flush an even fiercer shade of red.

Pei Zheng laughed softly, “What are you thinking about? Hm? What are you blushing for?”

Shen Shijiu looked as though he had been caught committing a crime.
He shook his head continuously, “N-nothing, I wasn’t thinking about anything…”

But Pei Zheng wasn’t planning on letting him go so easily, “You weren’t thinking about anything? But I’ve been thinking about a lot.”

Pei Zheng leaned into to the small man’s ear, and said softly, “You left without a word, and you drugged me too? Weren’t you scared that I’d be poisoned to death? I must have spoiled you for nothing, you little white-eyed wolf2.
You really are cruel.”

That deep voice was actually laced with a bit of aggrievement and petulance, which made all of Shen Shijiu’s guilt rush out in an instant.

“I-I… I’m sorry, I didn’t know either, I didn’t want to either, Pei-gege, don’t be angry, okay? Y-you can drug me too, so don’t be mad, all right?”

Shen Shijiu grabbed Pei Zheng’s sleeve and jiggled it; he looked even more aggrieved and petulant.

Pei Zheng pretended to mull over his suggestion, “That’s not a bad idea.”

But as for what kind of drug would be used… that was yet to be decided.

Shen Huan came back into the hut and knocked on the door, “My Lords, it’s time for lunch.”

When she finished speaking, Shen Huan found that she was beginning to sound like an old lady.

Shen Shijiu supported Pei Zheng as they walked out.
Shen Huan had already scooped out rice and laid out the dishes for the two of them.

Although Shen Huan’s cookery was not at the level of the chef at Yi Pin Xiang, every dish was fragrant and beautiful.

Shen Shijiu kept piling side dishes into Pei Zheng’s bowl; in the end, there was a small mountain inside of it.

Meanwhile, Shen Huan had been silently helping herself to the food.
When she looked down at her own empty bowl, she was ready to cry.
Now that her disciple had grown up, she couldn’t keep him by her side any longer.
He was about to be kidnapped right before her eyes.

No, he had already been kidnapped.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Shen Shijiu placed a few vegetables in Shen Huan’s bowl, and even presented her with a sweet smile.

Shen Huan’s spirits lifted a bit.

In the meantime, Pei Zheng had been focused on eating.
Whatever Shen Shijiu gave him, he ate.
If Shen Shijiu didn’t refill his bowl, he wouldn’t eat.

Shen Huan couldn’t help but cast him a sidelong glance; he had passed this bad habit onto her little disciple.

After they finished their meal, naturally, Shen Huan was in charge of clearing the dishes.

Out of the two others present, one was seriously injured, and the other was pregnant.
How could Shen Huan dare to make them do something like this?

Shen Shijiu helped Pei Zheng back to the room to rest.

Shen Huan peeled off her and Shen Shijiu’s masks.
There wasn’t anyone else here in the Ghost Valley, so there was no use in wearing them.

Pei Zheng stayed in the bamboo hut to rest for two more days.
During this time, Pei Zheng had been sleeping on Shen Shijiu’s bed, Shen Shijiu had been sleeping on Shen Huan’s, and Shen Huan had to make do with that little bamboo bed.

This continued into the third day; Shen Huan really couldn’t take it anymore.
If she continued to sleep on that bamboo bed, her old skeleton would fall to pieces.

“Lord Pei,” Shen Huan asked, “It seems to me that your wounds aren’t causing you too much trouble anymore, you can run and jump just fine, can’t you? So when do you plan on going back?”

Pei Zheng replied lightly, “There’s no rush.”

No rush? Shen Huan hadn’t slept on her own fluffy, spacious bed for several days, and she hadn’t been sleeping well either.
She had been so tired during these past few days that she had been yawning for hours on end; there were even a few instances of her adding the wrong ingredients while she was developing recipes.

She was in quite the rush!

“Lord Pei, without you, the arguments in the Imperial Court must be loud enough to flip the sky on its head3! Shouldn’t you hurry back and get the situation under control? If you don’t go back soon, you’ll be held accountable by His Majesty!”

Pei Zheng lifted his eyelids to look at Shen Huan, “I’m waiting for them to flip the sky on its head.
Then I’ll go back and flip it back over.”

Shen Huan choked; if anyone else were to say such arrogant words, she would definitely laugh in their face.
But this was Pei Zheng; she believed that he could actually do it.

Shen Shijiu said, “Shifu, just let Pei-gege stay here and recover for a little bit.
His wounds haven’t even healed yet.”

Just as Shen Huan was about to argue, Pei Zheng said lightly, “Master Shen, don’t forget what you owe me.”

Shen Huan suddenly remembered the prodigious amount of money she owed the Prime Minister’s Manor.
She shot Pei Zheng a glare, but she couldn’t think of any more excuses to shoo Pei Zheng out of here.

However, if Pei Zheng were to stay here, she still felt a bit uneasy.

“You can stay here to recuperate.
However.
Lord Pei, you must agree to a few conditions.”

The corners of Pei Zheng’s lips hooked.
He could already think of all the excessive requirements that Shen Huan would come up with.

“All right.”

Shen Huan outlined a few conditions on a piece of paper:

“Do not pursue the matter of Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu drugging you.

Do not forcefully take Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu back to the Prime Minister’s Manor.

Waive the debt Shen Huan owes to the Prime Minister’s Manor.

While you are staying in the Ghost Valley, you must follow all of Shen Huan’s rules and instructions.

Right now, I can’t think of anything else, I’ll add things whenever I think of them.”

With the wave of a brush, Pei Zheng signed his name, and even pressed his fingerprint beside his signature.

Shen Huan immediately shoved the paper beneath a large trunk, out of fear that Pei Zheng would go back on his word.

Pei Zheng saw how panicked she was, and found it a bit funny.

If he really wanted to go back on his word, would he really care about this scrap of paper?

 

Notes

Unfortunately, the next chapter will take 3~ days because it’s 9000 words fshhhhhh

Thanks for reading~

1.呸 (pei): It’s a sound that’s used to express disapproval, and it sounds a bit like spitting.

2.
白眼狼 (bái yǎn láng): white-eyed wolf.
Refers to someone who is ungrateful and cruel.

3.
翻天 (fān tiān): refers to throwing something into chaos/upheaval.
I had to use the literal translation (flipping the sky on its head) because Pei Zheng decided to be clever.