CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49 : KEEPING A SECRET (1)

Xie Jianyu felt extremely weak when he regained consciousness. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Zhang Fengxi, who was meditating without wearing a single layer of clothes.

And there was no blue barrier between him and Zhang Fengxi.

Xie Jianyu pushed himself up in trepidation. He fumbled at his body, searching for any sign of violation.

He was fully clothed, but his clothes were relatively clean and dry. Also, his wounded leg was bandaged properly.

"..."

A more thorough look at his outer robe told him that it was not his robe at all. It carried the sigil of Longjing Palace, a fierce tiger with a golden coat.

In front of the meditating Zhang Fengxi, Xie Jianyu’s outer robe and inner robe hung out to dry over a fire array. Soft steam rose from the fabric, heating their surroundings.

Xie Jianyu clenched his fists. He quickly grabbed Winter Frost, stabbed it into the ground again, and re-established its barrier.

His heart thumped violently in his chest as he pondered about what happened between him and Zhang Fengxi.

Zhang Fengxi did not touch him, did he?

If he did, he would leave some marks, right? Some stain...

His elder brother told him that he would bleed. The private region between his legs would feel sore and painful...

"Are you awake?"

Xie Jianyu almost jumped out of his skin when he heard Zhang Fengxi’s voice.

"I took your clothes off to wash them," Zhang Fengxi quickly said in his defense. "You contracted a high fever. You needed dry and clean clothing."

Xie Jianyu tightened the robe around his form and glared at Zhang Fengxi.

"Did you see?" he asked.

"Of course, I did," Zhang Fengxi said with a soft sigh.

When he saw the fiendish look on Xie Jianyu, he quickly added, "I had to. Look, would you rather I close my eyes and blindly touch your body?"

"..."

No, of course not.

Xie Jianyu flushed pink and looked away in embarrassment.

Anyway, Zhang Fengxi was quite proud of himself. He did not touch Xie Jianyu inappropriately. He was probably the most virtuous alpha in the entire heavenly realm.

"Thanks," Xie Jianyu said in a small voice. He nodded toward his bandaged leg.

"Ah. Well, thankfully it isn’t broken. The wound was huge, but it was not deep."

"Mmm."

Zhang Fengxi scratched his head.

"Hey, are you hungry?"

"... Is there any food?"

Zhang Fengxi pointed at the pond next to him.

"The water stream carried several fishes. I saw them."

Zhang Fengxi rose to his feet, and Xie Jianyu cried out, "Pervert! At least wear some clothes!"

"..."

Was Xie Jianyu blind? Did he not see that the only other set of clothes was currently steaming over the fire array?

Zhang Fengxi grabbed the inner robe first. It was relatively thin, so it dried up quickly. He clothed himself in the inner robe and pulled the sash tightly around his waist.

"You can look now, I am no longer naked," Zhang Fengxi said with a teasing tone.

Xie Jianyu was red all over. He took off his barrier and dragged himself toward the pond.

Zhang Fengxi squatted by the pond, watching the faint forms swimming beneath the water’s surface. If only he had something to catch the fishes with...

Zhang Fengxi turned his head to the side and stared at Xie Jianyu. The latter was hugging his sword like a child a doll.

"..."

"Don’t you dare use my sword to catch a fish!" Xie Jianyu cried out.

"Ck."

Zhang Fengxi pursed his lips. What a prude. He would rather starve than use his sword to catch some fishes.

Zhang Fengxi took off the upper part of his inner robe and tied it around his waist. Xie Jianyu averted his eyes when he saw the broad shoulders, the sturdy back, and the toned arms that were wrapped around his body a while ago when they used Winter Frost to reach the tunnel.

So embarrassing.

Zhang Fengxi, the show-off. Did he not have the slightest sense of decency?

A moment later, he heard the sound of something falling into the water.

Xie Jianyu gaped at the water in disbelief. Zhang Fengxi had already disappeared. He actually went into the water to catch some fish!!!

"Zhang Fengxi...!!!"

Xie Jianyu immediately regretted his choice. Why didn’t he just lend Winter Frost to Zhang Fengxi? The water must be so cold...

Before long, something flew out of the water. Or better said, it was thrown out of the water.

Xie Jianyu dodged the fishes skillfully as they were thrown in his direction one by one. Lastly, a few wooden sticks were also hurled out of the water.

And then, Zhang Fengxi emerged from the water. His long hair hung like seaweed from his scalp. The self-sufficient grin on his face made Xie Jianyu want to slap him.

"I even found us some sticks to roast the fish with. Am I not great?"

"..."

The alpha was fishing for some compliments that he did not get. Xie Jianyu gave him one cold glance and that was it.

Zhang Fengxi put both hands against the edge of the dry ground.

"Help me up, will you?" he asked.

Xie Jianyu held out one hand while using the other to press against the tunnel wall.

Zhang Fengxi climbed out of the water with Xie Jianyu’s help. The inner robe was wet again.

Zhang Fengxi reached for Xie Jianyu’s outer robe, but Xie Jianyu went ahead of him.

"It’s mine," he said, his cheeks glowing red again in an adorable manner. He quickly took off the robe from Longjing Palace and handed it to Zhang Fengxi in exchange.

A while later, they sat side-by-side while roasting fish together over a humble fire pit.

Xie Jianyu’s heat had already subsided, but he still emitted some faint fragrance. It was very pleasant to smell. Zhang Fengxi could smell it for hours and not get sick of it.

He was even a little unhappy when Xie Jianyu’s smell was masked by the smell of melting fish fat and charred white flesh.

Sitting next to him, Xie Jianyu looked tense. He seemed to be occupied with a lot of thoughts.

"Hey," he then said after a while. "Can you keep my gender a secret?"