After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Yu Qingtang panicked and, with nowhere to retreat, sat down hard. His head struck the table with a loud clang.

“Careful!” Ye Chenyan hurriedly checked his head. “Are you all right?”

Yu Qingtang closed his eyes. He did not know whether the bell had rung, but his head had probably made quite a ring.

He felt embarrassed, turned his head aside, and said quietly, “You don’t have to worry that much. I’m a cultivator, after all. A table isn’t enough to knock me stupid.”

Unless the Heavenly Dao’s plot required it.

“Let me see.” Ye Chenyan held his chin and pulled him a little closer.

The instant Ye Chenyan leaned in, alarm bells blared in Yu Qingtang’s mind. He lifted his hand and covered his mouth.

Ye Chenyan’s movements paused. “...”

He laughed, then wickedly tugged at Yu Qingtang’s fingers. “Why are you covering your mouth? Biehe Sect’s ultimate techniques—begging for mercy, stubbornly holding on—all rely on the mouth. You can’t do without it.”

Yu Qingtang’s face flushed red. His eyes darted everywhere. Perhaps the wine was rising to his head, because he began spouting nonsense on the spot. “Actually, I have another secret.”

Ye Chenyan offered him his ear. “I would like to hear the details.”

Yu Qingtang lowered his voice. “Actually, I’m not human.”

Ye Chenyan raised a brow. “What a coincidence. Neither am I.”

“I’m a fish.” Yu Qingtang looked solemn. “A special species. If someone kisses me, I’ll die, so don’t mess around.”

Ye Chenyan held back his laughter. “But I already kissed you just now. What should we do?”

Yu Qingtang nodded, very easy to negotiate with. “That one just now, I’ll count it as not counting...”

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Chenyan had already tugged him by the collar and kissed that nonsense-spouting mouth of his.

Yu Qingtang got stuck. He stared at Ye Chenyan with wide eyes, unable to react for a moment.

Ye Chenyan smiled at him. “Then this one can also not count.”

Just as he was about to lean closer again, Yu Qingtang lay straight down and peacefully closed his eyes. “Dead.”

Ye Chenyan’s movements halted, and he could not help laughing. “Hey, wake up.”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes remained tightly shut. “I already said I’m dead.”

“Oh—” Ye Chenyan drew out the sound. “Since you’re dead, then I can...”

Before his hand could land, Yu Qingtang had already rolled away in terror. “What are you doing, what are you doing! I’m already dead!”

Ye Chenyan caught him at once, picked him up, and patted him. “Don’t roll around on the floor. You drank too much. Go sleep on the bed.”

Yu Qingtang was trying to resist. “I...”

“You’ll sleep alone.” Ye Chenyan, amused, laid him flat on the bed. “I won’t use the bed. I’ll cultivate.”

Yu Qingtang blinked. “Ah?”

“You just reached Nascent Soul, and you’re already working this hard?”

“No choice.” Ye Chenyan sat cross-legged at the edge of the bed. “They said I have to cultivate to the Out-of-Body stage before they will let me out. I can’t let you stay trapped here with me for a lifetime...”

His voice paused, and he looked thoughtful. “Though that does not seem entirely impossible.”

“Mm?” Yu Qingtang lifted his head warily.

Ye Chenyan laughed. “I was joking.”

“I’ll definitely cultivate properly and try to take you out to eat, drink, and have fun as soon as possible—actually, it isn’t that strict. Once the matter here comes to a temporary end, I can still go around Nanzhou.”

He crossed his legs and prepared to cultivate. “Don’t worry. I definitely won’t make you eat grilled fish every day.”

Yu Qingtang lay on the bed, rolled over, moved a little closer to him, and poked his back. “Can I discuss something with you?”

“What?” Ye Chenyan turned to look at him.

Yu Qingtang lowered his eyes. “Can you just... not like me that much for now?”

Ye Chenyan’s expression stirred, and he was just about to refuse when he heard Yu Qingtang say, “I haven’t thought it through yet.”

“If you act like this right now, you’ll get fooled by me so easily. What a loss for you.”

Ye Chenyan bent down until his eyes were level with Yu Qingtang’s and said softly, “But I just like you.”

Yu Qingtang closed his eyes, lay on the bed, and covered his face. “Ah—”

Ye Chenyan laughed, pulled his hand over, and sighed. Then he lowered himself, raised his eyes to look at him, and said, “But I also don’t want to make things hard for you.”

Yu Qingtang secretly opened his eyes again to look at him.

“Then let’s do this.” Ye Chenyan hooked his finger around Yu Qingtang’s, his eyes bright and unblinking. “I’ll listen to you. If you think I’ve crossed the line, say stop and I’ll stop. Tell me to step back, and I’ll step back.”

“All right?”

Yu Qingtang slowly shrank backward, then swiftly buried his head under the pillow.

Ye Chenyan raised a brow and was just about to press him for an answer when he heard Yu Qingtang say, “All right.”

Then his muffled voice came from under the pillow. “Hurry up and cultivate. Stop talking to me. If you keep going, I feel like karmic fire is going to roast my butt!”

Ye Chenyan turned his head away, holding back laughter. Then he could not help turning back. “Let me look at you a little longer.”

Yu Qingtang hooked the blanket with his foot and swiftly wrapped himself up tightly.

...

Yu Qingtang had slept plenty the day before, so he opened his eyes blearily early the next morning.

He stretched, looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling, then turned his head and saw Ye Chenyan sitting by the bed cultivating.

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Memories from when he had drunk too much yesterday came back to life. He slowly closed his eyes and wished he could punch himself twice.

Useless, Yu Qingtang! What did you do? How did you confess everything? Was that wine or truth serum?

That said, the wine had tasted quite good. Even after drinking too much, he did not have a headache when he woke the next day. As expected of immortal wine, it could not be mentioned in the same breath as the little fruit juice his master brewed with fruit from the back mountain.

Yu Qingtang’s thoughts drifted until Ye Chenyan braced himself against the bed and greeted him. “Morning.”

Yu Qingtang secretly lifted his eyelids and gave a vague response. “...Morning.”

Ye Chenyan leaned in front of him, his smile bright. “Today—are you Yu Qingtang, or Yu That-One?”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Dead memories suddenly began attacking him.

He closed his eyes, rolled over onto his back with his belly facing up, and said, “Today I’m a dead fish. Belly turned upward. Just pretend I’m dead.”

“No talking nonsense.” Ye Chenyan moved closer and poked his cheek. “What do you mean, dead? You still have a very, very long time to live.”

Yu Qingtang kept his eyes firmly shut and decided to play dead to the end, saying nothing.

“Not moving?” Ye Chenyan raised a brow and rolled up his sleeves. “Then I’ll touch you.”

“Hey—” Yu Qingtang immediately flipped upright like a carp. “Alive, alive!”

“Master Ye’s miraculous hands restore spring. I’ve come back to life!”

Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved with laughter. He reached out to pull him. “I’m afraid there may still be some discomfort. Let me take another look...”

“Waaah!” Yu Qingtang dodged left and right, then suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

Ye Chenyan’s movements paused, and he obediently stopped.

Yu Qingtang froze. “You really... really stop when I say stop?”

“Mm.” Ye Chenyan raised a brow. “I promised you.”

His eyes curved as he leaned close. “I keep my word as worth a thousand gold. One sentence lasts a lifetime.”

“What lifetime?” Yu Qingtang dodged his gaze and muttered quietly, “You... you’d better not speak too absolutely.”

“A lifetime is long. The story has only just begun. Later, you’ll still meet lots of people...”

Ye Chenyan was unconvinced. “What people?”

Yu Qingtang counted on his fingers. “If I remember right, next there are something like Tianxin, Ziyun, the Girl in the Bamboo, Li Ji...”

“What people? I’ve never even heard of them.” Ye Chenyan caught his counting fingers. “Things I haven’t done and people I haven’t met are not allowed to be put on my head!”

Yu Qingtang looked away and muttered quietly, “Once you meet them, you’ll know.”

“My heart is no stone; it cannot be turned.” Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes and leaned closer, staring fixedly at him. “I have already chosen the person. No matter what anyone says, I will not change.”

He crouched down, turned Yu Qingtang’s head back toward him, and looked up at him pitifully. “Don’t wrong me.”

“I didn’t say it was certain.” With him looking like that, Yu Qingtang’s heart softened again, and he guiltily echoed, “I was just saying that you can still change your mind... Hey! All right, all right, don’t look at me like that. I surrender!”

He stood up at once. “Grilled fish, right? Do we still need to catch fish?”

“I’m good at that. Today I’ll catch fish for you and let you see the grilled-fish skills I trained since childhood at Biehe Sect!”

He strode out in high spirits. Only after he caught the fish, coaxed Ye Chenyan into tasting his cooking, and Ye Chenyan went off to cultivate on his own did Yu Qingtang belatedly react—had that kid done it on purpose?

Though Yu Qingtang could be moved by both hard and soft tactics, he was especially vulnerable to soft ones.

Damn it. The kid had learned.

Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes, lifted a hand to pat his own face, and warned himself to stay clear-headed. He absolutely could not so quickly...

“Qingtang.”

He turned his head. Ye Chenyan stood behind him and tossed him a red fruit with a smile. “Try it. It’s sweet.”

As if possessed, Yu Qingtang put it in his mouth.

It really was sweet.

“Is it sweet?” Ye Chenyan leaned close and asked, his eyes bright, as if anything Yu Qingtang said would make him happy.

“Mm.” Yu Qingtang deliberately did not look at him, only peered toward the forest. “Where did you pick it?”

“There.” Ye Chenyan pointed out a direction for him. “But many strange and unusual things grow in Nanzhou. Not everything is edible, even if it looks similar.”

He handed over a booklet. “Take this. I had someone find me an illustrated guide. It lists what can be eaten and what cannot.”

“If you want to pick fruit for fun, remember to compare it. If you aren’t sure, you absolutely cannot eat it!”

“Mm-hmm.” Yu Qingtang flipped through the booklet with great interest. “Don’t worry. If I’m not sure, I’ll bring it back and feed it to you first.”

He deliberately showed a wicked smile. “When that happens, we’ll gamble on whether the Heavenly Dao’s son has a hard enough life!”

“All right.” Ye Chenyan did not refuse either. “When the time comes, I’ll eat whatever you give me. If anything happens after I eat it...”

He smiled. “I’ll extort you for a lifetime.”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened. He froze for a moment, then slowly flushed red, grabbed the booklet, and ran.

—Couldn’t win. Running away.

“Hey!” Ye Chenyan called after him from behind. “Be careful!”

He smiled and shook his head. The moment he turned around, his silver battle spear fell directly into his hand and almost struck someone in the face.

He drew a deep breath, helpless. “Uncle Snake, could you not appear and disappear so unpredictably?”

“Silent approach and ambush from the shadows are also features of my Flying Serpent totem,” Zhu Jiuyin said calmly. “Do you plan to go today? Which one will you start with?”

Ye Chenyan had already thought it through. He took a stone from his sleeve. “I’ll start with this.”

“The Henggong Fish.” Zhu Jiuyin nodded slightly. “Their line is not fond of battle. Starting with them can be considered peaceful.”

Ye Chenyan smiled. “That’s not the reason.”

Zhu Jiuyin was curious. “Then why?”

Ye Chenyan tossed the little stone carved with strange patterns and smiled until his eyes curved. “Because lately, I’ve wanted to eat fish.”