The Villainous Shizun Is As Beautiful As A Flower

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At the hour of the tiger (1), the street was deserted, and the night wind rustled the fallen leaves along the roadside.

Shen Liuxiang lifted his hand to shield the little black bug nestled in his palm from the wind and looked down at it. “When do you plan to change back?”

“In a while,” Zhou Xuanlan ambiguously replied, leaving people puzzled about his intentions.

The street wind turned chilly, causing Shen Liuxiang to shiver slightly, quickening his steps.

The main gate of the Cloud Pavilion was closed. He circled around to a secluded back entrance and pushed the door open in the quiet surroundings.

A figure suddenly dashed out. “So you still know how to come back.”

Startled, Shen Liuxiang protected his palm and saw Xu Xingchen’s stern face. He held a lantern in his hand and looked him up and down.

Seeing only one person, Xu Xingchen’s expression softened a bit. “Out all night, where did you go?”

Shen Liuxiang widened his eyes in disbelief. “You stayed up all night just to catch me?”

“I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed that a certain someone was missing from the Cloud Pavilion. I was about to go out to search,” Xu Xingchen replied.

Seeing a fallen leaf in his hairline, Xu Xingchen reached out and plucked it, then tossed it disdainfully to the ground. “Enough beating around the bush, tell me honestly where you went. Did you rendezvous with that Demon King?”

Shen Liu Xiang, who had never had his whereabouts questioned before, found the situation novel. “What do you mean by ‘rendezvous’? Use a different word.”

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“That’s as good as admitting it.” Xu Xingchen furrowed his brow slightly. “You didn’t forget about the task His Majesty assigned you, did you? The Ninth Demon King is also our suspect. Maybe he has a scroll on him too.”

Shen Liuxiang smiled ambiguously. “Stop it, I’m sure you’ve already used magic to check. There’s no scroll on him.”

“That doesn’t prove his innocence,” Xu Xingchen said meaningfully, a sneer on his lips. “Moreover, even if there were, you’d surely defend him. Don’t think I don’t know. You’re partial towards him, to the point of twisting the truth.”

Shen Liuxiang was taken aback, his gaze shifting to his palm. He quickly defended himself. “Don’t talk nonsense. I would never do that.”

“Don’t deny it,” Xu Xingchen said coldly. “I heard in the Imperial Palace that when you were at the academy, His Majesty asked among the Demon Kings who was the most formidable among them. You were willing to endure daily beatings just to claim that the Ninth Demon King was the strongest. But as everyone knows, it’s the Grand Demon King who holds that title. Isn’t this twisting the truth and showing favoritism to the extreme?”

Shen Liuxiang blinked and glanced at his palm, his cheeks growing warm. He hurriedly said, “Don’t talk about it, how long has it been since then?”

“I just wanted to remind you,” Xu Xingchen said, his hands crossed behind his back, his tone serious. “Before, I didn’t feel comfortable saying this while he was around, but from now on, you shouldn’t get too close to him.”

Shen Liuxiang retorted, “I haven’t been getting too close to him.”

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“Then why would you rather turn into a rabbit just to sleep next to him?” Xu Xingchen hmphed. “I see through it like a clear mirror. I’m just not revealing it. I heard from Xing Lian that after His Majesty took your jade tablet, you spent several sleepless nights grieving. I didn’t believe it at the time, but now it seems…”

Cough cough—

Shen Liu Xiang coughed heavily twice, his cheeks flushing. “What grieving? I didn’t… You’re making baseless accusations. I didn’t do any of that.”

Xu Xingchen looked incredulous. “You’re still not admitting it? Who was it that played the erhu on His Majesty’s palace in the dead of night, shamelessly begged for the jade slip, and stayed up all night?”

Seeing that everything had been exposed, Shen Liuxiang hurriedly covered Xu Xingchen’s mouth, diverting his attention. “Let me tell you some good news. I made a deal with Wenren Qin. If I find the Illusory Pill, he’ll hand over the scroll!”

Xu Xingchen blinked, his face showing excitement. “Really?”

Shen Liuxiang nodded vigorously. “Yes, if you can’t sleep, go find out where the Illusory Pill is.”

Xu Xingchen was solely focused on the task and didn’t say much more. He picked up his lantern and left.

Shen Liuxiang breathed a sigh of relief. When the surroundings grew quiet again, he felt somewhat embarrassed. “Don’t listen to him. I… I played the erhu in the middle of the night on a whim. I didn’t feel sad after losing the jade slip.”

Zhou Xuanlan’s voice mixed with the night, sounding particularly deep and low. “I understand.”

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Shen Liuxiang knew he wasn’t believed, so he pouted his cheeks in a somewhat awkward manner, then turned and walked towards his room.

After a night of weariness, Shen Liuxiang returned to his room, tidied up a bit, and couldn’t help but want to rest.

However, he saw that Zhou Xuanlan was still in the form of a bug and hadn’t changed back. He took out a piece of silk handkerchief, folded it, and placed it on the bed. He then carefully placed Zhou Xuanlan on it.

Worried that he might get squashed if he moved during sleep, Shen Liu Xiang intentionally slept near the edge of the bed, leaving a large space for Zhou Xuanlan.

The room gradually quieted down. He closed his eyes and couldn’t help but fall into a deep slumber.

The night wind flowed in through the open window, filling the room with a serene tranquility.

Shen Liuxiang lay on the bed, feeling a bit chilly on his back. He pulled the blanket closer, burying half his face within it.

At this moment, there was an extra person on the bed.

Zhou Xuanlan gazed at the sleeping figure, extending his hand to lift a strand of hair that covered the person’s cheek.

A face incomparably handsome emerged, with eyebrows like ink paintings and delicate features. Because of his crying, a faint redness graced the corners of his eyes. Upon closer inspection, there were still traces of where his lip had been bitten and wasn’t yet healed.

Zhou Xuanlan’s fingertip gently touched the spot, rubbing it lightly as he sighed. “Master…”

Although his desire for this person was ready to burst from his bones, he still had to play the role of a disciple wholeheartedly. In his heart, he struggled between the eagerness to gain a response from the other and the desperate urge to keep his intentions hidden.

He didn’t have absolute certainty that Shen Liuxiang would accept him, so he could only test the waters bit by bit.

“Master, do you like me? Do you like me, is it true?”

A sensation of pain mixed with a hint of tickling reached his lips.

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Shen Liuxiang furrowed his brows slightly, and in his drowsy state, he opened his eyes, only to see the familiar face. He closed his eyes again with relief. Then, he slightly parted his lips and mumbled in a drowsy voice, “Stop fooling around.”

Zhou Xuanlan’s fingertip hesitated in the wake of the words, then, while Shen Liuxiang’s lips were slightly ajar, his finger stealthily slipped inside. It touched the tip of his soft tongue.

As Shen Liuxiang spoke, his voice carried a faint trace of moist heat. Unintentionally, he licked Zhou Xuanlan’s fingertip that had intruded his mouth.

Zhou Xuanlan’s eyes darkened abruptly.

After an unknown period of time, he gently withdrew his fingertip from Shen Liuxiang’s lips. His fingers, which had distinct joints, now shifted to grasp the fair jaw.

Zhou Xuanlan’s gaze fell on those lips, and in the dead of night, he silently leaned in for a kiss.

Having tasted a bit of sweetness, he gradually calmed the heated turmoil within him.

Shen Liuxiang had slept soundly throughout the night and woke up only when the sun was already high in the sky.

Upon realizing he was being held, he stared blankly for a moment, then raised his gaze to see the proud and shard jawline.

It was Zhou Xuanlan.

He reckoned that Zhou Xuanlan had changed back last night.

Shen Liuxiang’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. He had never been so close to someone else while sleeping and felt a bit panicked.

He couldn’t recall how he had ended up in Zhou Xuanlan’s embrace. He vaguely remembered feeling cold last night and unconsciously moving closer to the warm presence.

Shen Liuxiang strongly suspected that he had initiated the closeness himself and now regretted it. He was afraid that if Zhou Xuanlan woke up and found them like this, it would be awkward. So, he carefully and slowly tried to extricate himself from Zhou Xuanlan’s embrace, delicately prying open the hand that rested on his waist, holding his breath. He was almost successful when suddenly, his waist was gripped and Zhou Xuanlan pulled him back into his arms.

Shen Liu Xiang: “…”

Zhou Xuanlan’s chin nestled against his hair, and as if to confirm the presence of the person in his arms, he gave a light nuzzle.

Shen Liuxiang wasn’t sure how to react to this.

Just as he was hesitating, the door opened with a loud “bang.”

Xu Xingchen had been poring over ancient books all night and finally found a clue about the Illusory Pill. Unable to contain his excitement, he burst into the room.

“Don’t sleep! Look at what I’ve found! The former number one alchemist of the continent, Lan Lin…”

Suddenly, his words halted.

Xu Xingchen saw two figures lying on the bed. Perhaps due to the heat, the blanket only covered them up to their waists.

His elder brother, dressed in a white inner robe, had a slender figure. His back was turned toward Xu Xingchen, and his silky black hair scattered over the pillow. One of his arms was stretched across his waist, cradling a man. It wasn’t clear whether they were asleep or awake, but Zhou Xuanlan held him in his embrace like that.

A deafening roar seemed to echo through Xu Xingchen’s mind, and everything went black before his eyes.

“You… You two…”

T/N: Why do I get the impression that Xu Xingchen is like a mother catching their child doing rebellious acts?

(1) – The hour of the tiger refers to the time period between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM