Thank you @1Mtea for the Kofi.
Origin
Chapter 669: Heart
“…” Watching Wen Jianyan laugh out loud, Wu Zhu couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
A part deep within his chest suddenly began to clamor uncontrollably again, making a fluttering sound.
In his memory, he seemed to have seen the other person laugh many times.
But this was the first time he had seen him look quite like this.
Those bright, clear, smiling eyes looked at him without any guard. There was nothing but happiness inside, shallowly brimming with only his reflection.
Cute.
Why was he so cute everywhere, no matter how you looked at him?
Whether it was the unconsciously raised tips of his eyebrows, the small indented arcs at the corners of his mouth when he smiled, or his nose tip, fingers, eyelashes, strands of hair…
Halfway through Wen Jianyan’s laugh, he saw the other man suddenly lower his head without warning and kiss his eyebrow hard, making a loud mwah sound.
He was kissed into a daze:
“What are you doing?”
Wu Zhu didn’t think about anything; he just followed the first thought that popped into his head and kissed him heavily again.
This time it was the tip of his nose.
Then his cheek.
Ear.
Lips.
Wen Jianyan was forced to lean back under his pressure. A broad palm supported his shoulder and back, both holding his weight so he wouldn’t fall and stubbornly trapping him in place so he couldn’t escape.
“Hey, what are you doing…” Wen Jianyan was somewhat overwhelmed by his chaotic, raindrop-like kisses. He could only push at his shoulders while turning his head away to dodge, “It tickles…!”
His neck stretched out into a taut line, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
Wu Zhu couldn’t hold back and took a bite.
“Hiss!” Wen Jianyan shuddered from the bite, “Are you a puppy or something?!”
Wu Zhu scraped his sharp teeth against that soft patch of skin. The fresh, warm, and fragrant scent filled his nose. In the end, he couldn’t bear to actually bite down, so he just held it in his mouth like that.
“Don’t push your luck!” Beneath the small piece of flesh held between his teeth, the throat bone rolled tremblingly, vibrating with the young man’s muffled voice as he threatened with false bravado, “A couple of kisses is enough. Any more and I’ll get mad!”
By the time Wen Jianyan finally broke free from Wu Zhu’s embrace, it was hard to calculate exactly how many times he had been kissed—but in any case, it was definitely more than two.
Wen Jianyan angrily wiped his face: “What’s wrong with you? Getting your saliva all over my face—”
Wu Zhu licked his lips and looked up at him.
Even though he still clearly didn’t look human at first glance, he perfectly hid the terrifying, man-eating aura around him, like a fierce beast that had retracted its claws and teeth, eagerly displaying its gorgeous fur to him.
“I like.”
This time, he was perfectly able to express himself fluently.
Without hesitation, straightforward and direct.
“Couldn’t hold back.”
“…”
These words came too unexpectedly. Wen Jianyan was stunned, his heartbeat skipping a beat defensively.
After blanking out for a long while, he finally realized that he had accidentally missed the window to get angry.
Wen Jianyan’s eyes flickered, and he pressed his lips into a straight line.
…………Forget it.
Considering this guy had just broken free.
But thinking of this—
Wen Jianyan straightened his expression and looked intently at Wu Zhu standing in front of him. His expression suddenly grew slightly solemn:
“Right, come here.”
Although he didn’t know why, Wu Zhu would never refuse such a request. He immediately leaned in close, pressing his whole body against him.
Wen Jianyan even had to press against his shoulders and hastily call a stop: “Not so close!”
“?”
Wu Zhu’s movements paused, and he looked at him in confusion, clearly not understanding why the other person told him to come closer one moment and then stop the next.
Wen Jianyan hesitated for a moment and pointed at his chest.
“Here… do you feel any discomfort?”
Wu Zhu nodded.
Wen Jianyan instantly grew tense: “What do you mean?”
“When I see you, when you touch me,” Wu Zhu thought for a brief moment, then answered honestly, “There’s a sound jumping wildly inside.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” He was so exasperated he almost laughed.
“Look.” Wu Zhu pressed against the back of his hand, pressing his palm even tighter against his chest.
Perhaps because the ritual wasn’t completed, the temperature of Wu Zhu’s body wasn’t freezing cold like in Wen Jianyan’s memory. Instead, it was very hot, blazing like a candle flame—the chest beneath his palm was robust and broad, involuntarily tensing up when touched, as if failing to do so would unleash the terrifying power that could erupt from beneath at any moment.
Beneath that, Wen Jianyan felt the sound of a heartbeat.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Clear and intense, as if trying to drag him into that out-of-control rhythm too.
“Okay, I get it,” Wen Jianyan only felt his fingers go slightly numb from the vibrations. His breathing seemed to fall into disarray as well, the pounding sound of blood flow echoing in his ears. He could only lower his eyes, avoiding the other party’s overly distinct gaze. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you, you… you let go first.”
Only then did Wu Zhu release his grip.
Wen Jianyan shook his hand, which still seemed to retain the other’s warmth, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down and think carefully.
The heart pendant he brought over from his own timeline was still in that old hag’s hands. That meant there were currently two of Wu Zhu’s hearts existing simultaneously—perhaps this was exactly why the pendant had become dull and lightless. In other words, this was likely why the old hag didn’t realize what she had in her hands. Although Wu Zhu was perfectly intact right now and seemingly unaffected, it was hard to say what would happen over time. After all, that was the most crucial part of Wu Zhu’s fragments—
A cool nose tip pressed against his cheek, nuzzling endlessly.
A part—
The tip of his ear was licked.
P-part—
His earlobe was bitten.
Wen Jianyan: “…………”
This guy was way too much of a distraction!
Sigh, forget it, let it be.
Wen Jianyan pinched the bridge of his nose with a slight headache and raised his hand to peel Wu Zhu off of him—he had done this so many times that he was completely proficient at it.
“Let’s go.”
Although there were still many things he hadn’t figured out, no matter what, that heart was an excessively critical piece of Wu Zhu’s fragments. He absolutely could not leave it in that old hag’s hands and ignore it. Therefore, he cut the Gordian knot and made a straightforward decision:
“We’re going back to that town.”
Wen Jianyan felt top-heavy. He swayed on his feet, steadied himself, and waved his hand:
“I’m, I’m fine, I’m okay.”
Even though he had just said he would never do that again, in order to save time, Wen Jianyan ultimately, albeit reluctantly, decided to let Wu Zhu use his method to take him back to the town.
However, whether it was because he had gotten slightly used to it, or because Wu Zhu held back compared to last time, Wen Jianyan didn’t throw up right away like before, although he was still somewhat dizzy.
He shook his head, looked up, and the familiar town appeared before his eyes.
The crooked bluestone road, the low wooden houses on both sides—everything was no different from his memory, but… there was something inexplicably different.
Wen Jianyan stared blankly for two seconds before realizing what was different.
It was far too deserted here.
Although the population was already considered sparse when he first arrived, it was nowhere near like this—the air was dead silent, with only the howling wind swirling through the streets. Looking around, not a single silhouette could be seen, neither on the streets nor in the houses.
It had been less than twenty minutes since he last left, yet the entire town had turned into a hollow dead city, devoid of any human presence.
How could this be?
Wen Jianyan frowned, turned to look at Wu Zhu, and asked: “Although I don’t know how to explain it… can you feel it? Is there a part of you nearby?”
Wu Zhu shook his head.
Alright. But this didn’t prove anything—after all, given how dull and grey the heart pendant was in Wen Jianyan’s memory, it was hard to say whether it would still be recognized by the rules as a part of Wu Zhu.
Wen Jianyan’s frown deepened, and he walked quickly toward the dilapidated house where the old hag lived.
The dilapidated house was equally dead silent.
There was no A-Yuan, no heart, and even the oil lamp he saw last time had disappeared.
Could it be that because they knew the ritual had failed, to avoid facing the fury Wu Zhu might direct at them, everyone had fled together overnight?
Although this explanation seemed to make sense, for some reason, Wen Jianyan just felt something was wrong. This town had stood guard here for so many generations, even going so far as to betray all the rules and gods they believed in just to hold the ritual… Would they give up so easily?
That was highly unlikely.
In the dark, an ominous premonition seemed to be rising.
Wu Zhu glanced around, the lightless sky reflecting deep in his eyes, and said, “There is no one here.”
Unlike Wen Jianyan, he could survey everything in a more transcendent manner.
From his perspective, the entire town was already an empty city, with no other living person present.
Wen Jianyan was pulled back to reality by his voice. He froze, then his gaze suddenly fixed: “No… no, there is one more.”
It was just that, perhaps they could no longer be completely called a living person.
At the end of the shopping street, the tailor shop stood silently. The front door was wide open, the lighting was dim, and everything was exactly as he remembered.
Wen Jianyan quickly rushed inside.
“Wait… it’s you?”
Uncle De, who was still hanging in his original spot, was stunned. He clearly hadn’t expected Wen Jianyan to appear in front of him again—he thought this guy would leave and never return, never showing his face again.
He saw the young man not stop for a second, taking a few large strides to arrive before him. He grabbed his collar with one hand and violently yanked it up, getting straight to the point and demanding concisely:
“Where did everyone else go?”
Yanked like this, Uncle De recovered from his shock. Looking at that detestable face so close at hand, his expression turned sharp.
During the time Wen Jianyan was gone, Uncle De had been slowly, bit by bit, breaking free from his restraints. By now, he had actually recovered a large portion of his mobility.
“Since you delivered yourself to my door.”
Uncle De’s expression became ferocious, his mouth twisting for a moment. In the next second, the entire tailor shop seemed to vibrate. Countless human-skin clothes were driven by some invisible force, and his body began to recover its entirety at a visible speed:
“Then don’t blame me for not being polite!!”
However, in the next second, a more terrifying, more incomprehensible power flooded into the shop from top to bottom. Like gently brushing away a flicker of flame, it instantly obliterated everything. The terrifying scene that was about to erupt was suppressed without any power to resist, unable to take any effect.
But… but…
How is this possible?!
Uncle De’s pupils shrank, almost unable to control the expression on his face. He stared in astonishment at the young man in front of him, almost entirely unaware that the force keeping him suppressed as a human-skin garment had also failed. His limbs rapidly returned to normal.
Wen Jianyan took a step back, making room.
In front of him, Uncle De had fully recovered.
However, he still didn’t seem to have recovered from the sudden turn of events, his expression full of shock, doubt, and bewilderment.
“Have you gotten what you wanted to ask?” A wide, well-knuckled hand pressed onto Wen Jianyan’s waist, pulling him into his embrace.
“…”
Uncle De’s eyes rolled slightly. His sluggish gaze moved slowly, falling behind Wen Jianyan for the first time.
He saw a second person.
The tall man stood in the shadows. He stood slightly sideways, half his face buried in the young man’s hair, his only exposed eye flickering slightly.
Both his gaze and posture seemed to be saying—
Mine.
That could not be a human.
At the first glance of Him, Uncle De immediately and clearly realized this.
Absolutely impossible to be human.
It had nothing to do with His face, but rather that freezing, strangely evil aura surrounding His form. It was absolutely impossible for any human to possess it.
“Not yet.” The human young man turned his head in His direction. His attitude carried an unconscious familiarity, showing no resistance to His presence whatsoever. Behind the two of them, their shadows overlapped and intertwined closely, as if they were born to stand together.
“What, are you angry?”
“No,” He said.
A pair of unpredictable, golden eyes turned, looking fixedly in Uncle De’s direction, the gaze displaying a meaning completely opposite to His words.
“Don’t be mad,” the young man chuckled softly and said, “We’ll leave as soon as we get the answer, be good.”
“…”
Uncle De stood frozen in place. He only felt an intense shudder rise from the depths of his bones. His entire body was trembling uncontrollably in tiny shivers, every nerve representing rationality in his mind refusing to believe it—How could it be possible?
How, could it be possible?
Yet, in the unseen, it seemed as if a voice was telling him—
His judgment was not wrong.
Whether it was his appearance during the first ritual, or his understanding of that land of death, or even the god’s name engraved on his body… Everything pointed to a clear fact that he refused to admit.
“He…” Finally, Uncle De spoke.
Even though only a few dozen seconds had passed, his voice was hoarse and raspy, almost distorted.
“Where the others are… I do not know.”
As the words left his mouth, Uncle De seemed to have suddenly aged decades.
“But… if they have all left this place, then… their destination… I can roughly guess.”
His speech was somewhat incoherent, but the basic logic could still be discerned, “Besides us, the other half of the town’s people are there—if the rest of the town is gone, they probably headed in that direction—leave the town, follow the tracks. With Him here, you should be able to find it very quickly—”
“Find it?” Wen Jianyan’s eyes flickered. His gaze landed on Uncle De as he continued to press, “Find what?”
Uncle De’s lips moved, and he forced out two words with great difficulty.
“…The Dead Sea.”
