VL Chapter12

It was midday, and with few customers browsing the market, the vendors finally had a rare chance to take a breather. Some were eating their meals, while others were taking a rest.

Yan Jiang was not one to mingle with the other stall owners. Usually, he would quickly finish his lunch and sit by himself to read for a while. On the other hand, Brother Lin, who ran the flatbread stall next door, was his complete opposite. Incapable of sitting still, he loved to corner anyone nearby for a chat. After gossiping with the middle-aged woman across from them, he turned around and slunk over to Yan Jiang’s stall. “Scholar Yan, what are you up to?”

“Why are your lips so red today? What’s got you so worked up?” Brother Lin grabbed his small wooden stool and plunked down beside him without the slightest hesitation, raising his voice boisterously, “Spill it, let your brother here help you figure something out.”

Surprised, Yan Jiang instinctively raised his hand to touch his lips. His fingertips were slightly clammy, and as they grazed the small wound on his lower lip, a sharp prickle of pain shot through it.

His expression turned unnatural for a brief moment. Still, he managed to maintain a facade of calm. Stammering slightly, he gave a vague reply, “No, it’s just… well… I probably didn’t sleep too well.” Yan Jiang waved his hand dismissively. “Thank you for your concern, Brother Lin.”

“That’s all?” Brother Lin tilted his head, looking suspicious.

Yan Jiang had never been good at lying, so he naturally felt guilty. He gave a haphazard “en, en,” then hurriedly picked up the book on the table to avoid the other party’s gaze.

Fortunately, Brother Lin didn’t think much further of it either.

After a short while, he slapped his forehead and quickly brought up another topic, “Hey! Remember those letters I asked you to read for me last time?”

Brother Lin glanced left and right, then suddenly leaned in close to Yan Jiang, lowering his voice with a face full of gossip. “You know, the ones about my relatives in the provincial capital who squandered their entire family fortune, had nowhere else to go, and were writing to my parents to play the pity card?”

He was leaning in a bit too close; as he spoke, a wave of warm air brushed against Yan Jiang’s earlobe, accompanied by the smell of egg flatbread. Sensitive to the touch, Yan Jiang involuntarily shivered and instinctively tried to shrink back. Midway through, he suddenly remembered that the person in front of him wasn’t the Ghost King. He hurriedly halted his movement, feeling thoroughly embarrassed under Brother Lin’s puzzled gaze.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re acting so weird today.”

“Nothing, nothing!” Yan Jiang answered hastily. To cover it up, he followed through with his earlier motion and set down his book, turning back to sit upright again. “I remember a bit. What about it?”

Brother Lin had finally found someone to vent to.

“Guess what? Yesterday when I got back, I found out that this family of relatives actually showed up at my house with all their bags and baggage to seek refuge! Taking advantage of how my parents cherish old ties, they really have no shame, ptui! Weren’t they quite snobbish back when they had wealth? Now those two old faces are grinning like…”

Yan Jiang listened quietly. Brother Lin was the type whose chatterbox opened wide and couldn’t be shut, but having never experienced these mundane family disputes himself, Yan Jiang had no idea how to respond. He could only nod every now and then to show he was listening.

Halfway through, Yan Jiang drifted off. By the time he snapped back to attention, the other party had already shifted his tone, breaking into a bright grin like a master of quick-change acts, winking slyly at Yan Jiang, “Anyway, that’s not the main point. Let’s get back to business, don’t say your Brother Lin doesn’t look out for you.”

Seeing Yan Jiang’s flat reaction, Brother Lin nudged him with his elbow, mimicking the exact demeanor of the local elders, “Those two old foxes’ daughter, my cousin, is actually quite a looker. She turned sixteen this year. Things got delayed because of all that mess at home, so no one’s arranged a match for her yet! I think she’d be a great fit for you. Do you want Brother Lin to set up a meeting?”

“Brother Lin wants to arrange a match for me?” Yan Jiang finally reacted.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Seeing this, the other party’s matchmaker spirit flared up with enthusiasm as he rubbed his hands together, “My cousin has a great personality too, she is sharp and capable. You’re so quiet and reserved, you need someone clever to balance you out. They call that complementary!”

“There’s no need…”

“—Most importantly, the girl doesn’t take after her parents; her character is pretty solid. Your household is simple, not to mention you’re literate and good-looking. Brother Lin guarantees she’ll take a liking to you! Besides, our Lin family used to be prominent too, going back…”

Yan Jiang was naturally bad at turning people down. Having been cut off, he choked on his words for quite a bit. Seeing that Brother Lin was practically about to recite his family genealogy, he finally found a gap to interject again, “I appreciate your kindness, Brother Lin, but my household is completely destitute, and after years of studying, I haven’t achieved a single title to my name. It really is best not to hold back…”

Being thin-skinned, he was naturally embarrassed, he instinctively avoiding the other party’s gaze. However, Brother Lin mistook this trace of embarrassment for bashfulness. With a quick movement, he stood up, gave Yan Jiang’s shoulder a heavy slap, and cut in glibly, “Aiya! What are you so bashful about? Brother Lin knows you don’t have elders at home to look out for you, so you have to take these things to heart yourself. Starting a family isn’t something to be ashamed of! So what if you’re a bit poor? What does that matter? Settling down leads to a successful career, once you start a family, your career will naturally take off—”

“Brother Lin.” Yan Jiang felt helpless.

“Alright, it’s just a meeting, not like anything is set in stone.” Just then, a customer arrived at the flatbread stall. Brother Lin turned back to call out a greeting, then hurriedly instructed him, “I’ll find an excuse to have her come to the market to find me in a few days and introduce you then. You better not make me look bad!”

With that, he dragged his stool back to tend to his business, leaving no chance for any refusal. Looking at his departing back, Yan Jiang felt an immediate surge of pressure and let out a silent sigh.

He tried to pick up his book and keep reading, but his mind was in such turmoil that he couldn’t process a single word, uncontrollably drifting back to the events of the previous night. Shielded by the book, he secretly touched his lips, his gaze gradually floating into a daze.

The Ghost King’s unusual behavior last night, his lips, tongue, and embrace, along with that almost reproachful remark—”insensitive bookworm.”

Things that had felt completely natural while happening felt subtly off when recalled during the day. A faint intuition told him this was far from normal, yet whenever he tried to probe deeper, he could only grasp a few scattered, fleeting clues.

Having been confined to the ways of being a refined gentleman since childhood and growing up without a father or elder brother to teach him about romantic affairs, he was utterly clueless about physical intimacy. Naturally, he couldn’t comprehend what those actions signified in short order.

Besides, he had been consumed by fear at the time and was not in the least bit immersed in it.

He only had a vague feeling that… the Ghost King ought to be much fiercer. He was merely the “food” the other party needed, so the Ghost King shouldn’t treat him with such pleasant favor. Something was definitely wrong.

As for anything beyond that, he couldn’t quite articulate it.

He brooded over this the entire day, remaining deeply restless all the way back home after closing his stall. As a result, when he stepped into his own courtyard, he almost treaded right onto the dead wild pheasant mysteriously lying in front of his door.

Yan Jiang took two big steps back.

The wild pheasant had been tossed carelessly onto the ground. Looking down, a clean knife slash gaped at its throat, still dripping with bright red blood. Its claws were still twitching; it seemed to have breathed its last only moments ago.

He looked around, feeling a bit lost. Just as Yan Jiang was wondering whether he should go ask his neighbors, the broken door slowly creaked open from within without him making a sound as if those inside had known of his presence all along.

Shi Xiao was not standing at the doorway; instead, he reclined in a purple wood chair inside the room. Compared to the courtyard outside, the darkness within the room lent him a somber, eerie aura. He said nothing, simply staring straight at Yan Jiang from a few steps away. Only after Yan Jiang began to fidget in awkward helpless confusion did he finally speak at a deliberate, leisurely pace, “No need to go. This is this venerable one’s reward to you.”

“My Lord?”

“No wonder your soul energy is so thin and weak eating coarse chaff and wild herbs all day.” The Ghost King picked up the white jade teacup from the table, casually lifted the lid, and took a sip. Capable of perceiving all of Yan Jiang’s thoughts, he added after tasting, “It is a wild creature from the nearby mountains. Eating it will fill your belly; it won’t kill you.”

Yan Jiang had no choice but to swallow the doubts swelling in his mind.

After psyching himself up for quite a while, he went forward to pick up the pheasant, setting it temporarily on the crude stove in the courtyard. He then turned back into the inner room, lowering his eyes as he offered his thanks to the Ghost King, “Thank you for the reward, My Lord.”

As usual, he walked to the corner to unshoulder his basket. When he bent down, his coarse white cotton clothes clung tightly to his body, clearly outlining a spine so lean its vertebrae were sharply defined.

Shi Xiao did not answer immediately, merely watching his back.

Though a little thin, he felt soft and warm when held in his arms.

Just then, the scholar happened to turn his head. A hint of confusion and restraint in his brows hadn’t been hidden in time and was caught right away. Ghosts possessed no concept of patience or accommodation; the faint trace of displeasure from last night resurfaced in his heart once more. Shi Xiao set down his cup and hooked his finger, summoning the person to step before him, “How are you going to thank this venerable one?”

Yan Jiang’s focus had been wandering all day, and caught off guard by the sudden question, he answered instinctively, “This humble one… shall toil like a beast of burden, unable to ever repay your grace.”

Unsurprisingly, a sneer broke from the Ghost King.

“This venerable one has no need for that,” Shi Xiao said, fixing his gaze on the bridge of the scholar’s nose. After a moment’s thought, he sat up slightly straighter. “Come closer to this venerable one.”

Yan Jiang felt a powerful sense of threat, yet he had no choice but to obey. As he drew near, the non-human chill enveloped him entirely, bringing with it an aura that sent shivers down his spine.

“If you truly wish to thank me, then let this venerable one…” Shi Xiao deliberately lowered his voice, giving his tone a deceptive illusion of tenderness, almost akin to seduction and coaxing, “…kiss you again. What do you think?”

Yan Jiang snapped his head up abruptly.

Before he could clearly register anything, he felt a terrifying tug around his waist in the very next second. As the force pulled inward, he lost his balance and tumbled forward, falling straight into an icy embrace.

“Be a good boy, Ah Fu; don’t make this venerable one angry.” Shi Xiao whispered slowly against the scholar’s ear using his breath alone, calling him by his pet name, sounding every bit like intimate pillow talk between lovers.

The kiss pressed down without the slightest hesitation.

Yan Jiang tried to shrink back, only to realize he had nowhere to retreat. With a single arm slung across his lower back, the Ghost King had effortlessly constructed a cage built exclusively for him. The tongue remained freezing cold, licking against his philtrum with a dominance markedly different from before. Shi Xiao offered Yan Jiang no room to breathe; using his other hand to pinch his jaw, he forced his lips apart, allowing that tongue to stride brazenly into the warm oral cavity.

This was a real kiss; bold and crossing every boundary, with no extraction of soul energy, nor any other excuse to rely upon.

Without causing him any physical discomfort, it allowed Yan Jiang to experience the Ghost King’s movements with unprecedented clarity for the very first time: the other party’s agile tongue entwined with and brushed against his own, their soft lips sliding over each other, occasionally sucking and teasing. The sensation was chilling and strange, lapping at him until he couldn’t stop shivering. As the kiss deepened, the tip of that tongue actually probed against the back of his throat, prodding with small, rhythmic movements. Meanwhile, the hand cradling his jaw slowly slid downward with its thumb settling on the corresponding spot on his neck, gently massaging it in circles.

The Ghost King’s actions were ambiguous and erotic, working from inside and out, leaving the back of Yan Jiang’s throat tingling and itchy. It was a sensation he had never experienced before, because the location was so intimate and hidden, the feeling shot straight to his heart like a maddening, clawing itch.

Forced to swallow the saliva generated during their deep kiss, the human felt a numb, tingling wave running through his scalp. With trembling hands, he tried to push the Ghost King away, but trapped in the other party’s embrace, he had nowhere to leverage his strength. His body held fast, he succeeded only in crumpling the black fabric of the clothes tightly in his grip.

Whether because of the kiss itself or the ghost energy radiating from the entity, his entire body gradually began to go limp beyond his control, even sliding down along the soft fabric of the other party’s garments. Shi Xiao tilted his head slightly, pursuing the human’s lips to press the two of them even closer together.

A moment later, he shifted to support Yan Jiang’s legs, bouncing him upward slightly to shift him into a more comfortable posture. He leaned his tall frame back against the chair, settling Yan Jiang on his lap in a kneeling position, with his body resting against his chest.

This kiss was too deep and too long, gradually warming even Shi Xiao’s tongue.

By the time he was finally willing to let the poor scholar go, the other party had already lost all strength to resist. Resting against Shi Xiao’s upper arm with his mouth slightly open, he panted heavily, his lips bright red and wet with an ambiguous glint.

Shi Xiao lowered his head, deeply inhaling the scent behind Yan Jiang’s ear.

It was an indescribable, elusive fragrance. The Ghost King had previously thought it was a scent inherent to living souls, but only now realized it wasn’t; it was a far more hidden, subtle aroma, wrapped deep inside Yan Jiang’s body and concealed within his soul. No other human or living creature possessed such a scent. Once tasted, it became addictive, which was why the scholar had been constantly stirring up the restless ghost energy inside him lately.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had his doubts, but the scholar was indeed a real, powerless human.

Shi Xiao’s eyes shifted from black to red. He suddenly applied force with his right hand, pressing Yan Jiang’s lower back toward himself. Feeling the human’s warm inner thighs pressed against his hips, he let out a low hum from his nose; it was a light sigh akin to satisfaction.

Yan Jiang had not even caught his breath yet and remained completely oblivious to it all. Only the Ghost King himself knew that despite his unhealed severe injuries, he had actually…

Gone into heat over an ordinary male human.