Chapter 14

Editor: Byff

Proofreader: T

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The convoy traveled for around a month before returning to Black Hawk Castle in the northern grasslands. It was the first time I saw such vast grassland, and I was so excited that I was reluctant to lower the carriage’s curtain.

But no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it can’t stop the endless chattering behind me.

“Let me remind you that Black Hawk Castle is not like your demon sect. Don’t bring those intrigues into the castle, or else Castle Master will definitely rectify you!”

I rolled my eyes when I heard these words. I lowered the curtain and turned around to slap Cheng Xiaoyu on the head.

“Are you sick, have you taken your medicine?”

The kid clutched his head and wailed, “You hit me again!”

I didn’t bother paying attention to him and turned around to lift the curtain again.

They probably feared that I would be bored alone, and due to the friendship we developed while he was delivering my medicine, Cheng Xiaoyu was sent to accompany me inside the carriage since the second day we departed. It was pretty good at first, there was another person to talk with, but after some time, I felt that the kid was bothersome and especially noisy. He was annoying to death.

Psycho is still better; he talks less, works diligently.

The sky outside the carriage window was so blue, the grass so green, and the horses beside the carriage beautiful in color and with slender limbs. These, together with the lofty man riding the horse, complemented one another well, forming a pleasing landscape.

The man noticed that I was looking at him. He slightly moved his gaze and gestured with his eyes in my direction, wondering if there was something wrong.

I hurriedly said, “It’s okay, I’m just taking a breath of fresh air.”

Xiao Zhongnan nodded, and said casually, “Don’t take too long, it’s cold outside.” Then he urged his horse up to the front of the procession.

I watched his back as he left. I sighed and then losing my mood to look at the scenery, I retracted my head into the carriage.

Cheng Xiaoyu saw that I was back and seated; maybe he still wasn’t afraid after I gave him that smack, but he opened his mouth and asked, “Does your demon sect really have demon arts?”

I lifted my eyelids and looked at him with a hand supporting my head as I lay on my side. “Why did you ask this?”

“If not, then why would the Castle Master take a fancy to you?”

Xiao Zhongnan had been so caring to me during this journey, and so many eyes witnessed when he carried me into the carriage that day, so I‘m afraid the entire procession already knows of my relationship with him. It’s just that other people are under Xiao Mobei’s control, and it’s not like Cheng Xiaoyu would dare to ask anything without guarding the door.

“Why can’t he fancy me? It’s his blessing that I am willing to follow him.” I smiled a smile that was not quite a smile. My eyes couldn’t match it because of my weariness.

Cheng Xiaoyu’s gaze snapped to me instantly and he snorted, “Shameless!”

I closed my eyes to take a nap before lazily warning him for his words, “Beware of me beating you up, little brat.”

He had been straightened out by me during this month, so knowing that I did what I said I would, he shut his mouth obediently.

When the carriage slowly came to a halt, we had already reached the front gates of Black Hawk Castle.

The place where I lived the longest in my life was in Partridge Mountain, where the demon sect was located, and then in the cave at the bottom of the valley which changed my life. The demon sect has little money and their dwellings were not stylish, while the broken cave is not even worth mentioning. So, when I saw the magnificent Black Hawk Castle standing firm on the vast plain, the shock in my heart was simply beyond words.

Psycho is really a wealthy local landlord! No wonder even the Wulin Alliance Leader asked to borrow money from him.

There was a group of people waiting at the gates, all dressed as disciples and servants of Black Hawk Castle. The bearded middle-aged man in front looked very capable and efficient. When Cheng Xiaoyu saw him, his eyes lit up and he whispered, “Father.” I realized that this must be the famous “Iron Calculator,” Cheng Ming of Black Hawk Castle.

I said he was famous, but in fact, it was mostly bragging I heard from Cheng Xiaoyu on the road. However, it is said that in the five years that Psycho was missing, if it were not for the assistance of the Iron Calculator in regards to finances, Xiao Mobei alone would probably not have been able to support their huge family business.

“Uncle Cheng, we’re back!” Xiao Mobei greeted him with a big smile.

I snorted in a low voice when I saw this. This guy was giving me this look on his face all the way here and didn’t bother talking to me, but now he was smiling.

“Uncle Cheng, is everything in the castle well?” Xiao Zhongnan’s first sentence when he saw him was this.

Cheng Ming smiled and stroked his beard. “Fine, it’s just fine. A hawk brought your message, so I already knew that you were coming back. I have asked the kitchen to prepare lunch. You can have a meal after a short rest.”

Xiao Zhongnan nodded. “I’ve troubled Uncle Cheng.”

The rest of them greeted Cheng Ming one by one, and when it was Cheng Xiaoyu’s turn, the kid swooped into his father’s arms, causing his father to nearly fall flat on his bottom.

When it was my turn, the atmosphere turned awkward for a moment, and I touched my nose. “Nice to meet you, Butler Cheng. My name is Ah Qing. The Castle master saved me on the road…”

I wanted to make up an identity indiscriminately, so I wanted to say I was a person being persecuted by the demon sect who Xiao Zhongnan rescued on the road, which is half true and not entirely wrong, but I didn’t expect that Castle Master Xiao would speak out and amaze the world with a single brilliant feat before I could finish.

“He’s my sworn brother.”

I was stunned; everyone was stunned. He was the only one whose face didn’t change.

This month, the way Xiao Zhongnan treated me was nothing special. Although I ate at the same dining table as him, we stayed in different beds and different rooms, and there was also no intimacy in our words. I was still wondering if I was a male pet or a younger brother, but he directly gave me a push and bestowed me an incredible identity.

The sworn brother of the Black Hawk Castle’s Castle Master… well, it sounds much better than a male pet.

Cheng Ming was stunned for a short moment, and then he put away his stunned expression, and said with a smile, “It turned out to be Young Master Qing. You can call me Uncle Cheng in the future. What big butler, little butler, it doesn’t make a difference.”

As soon as he smiled, I remembered those righteous wily old foxes’ big smiles containing hidden intentions. They can see everything clearly in front of their eyes, and they would entertain you perfunctorily. It is very tiring to deal with. But in any case, it was good to have a place to stay for a time.

Although this place isn’t perfect, it’s the best for stability and safety, and I can live with peace of mind.

I don’t know if, later on, Cheng Ming learned about the ambiguous relationship between me and my “sworn brother” from his youngest son, but he arranged my courtyard to be next to Xiao Zhongnan’s courtyard. The distance between the two places was quite small. Sometimes when I go out for a walk, I would meet him several times, which was truly somewhat awkward.

Xiao Zhongnan was probably afraid that the servants would see him right when his illness would start to act up, so there would no longer be servants left to wait on him after nightfall. On the other hand, I have never been used to strangers wandering around, so I kept one of the servants sent by Cheng Ming but often asked him to go to his room early to rest.

As a result, on the fifth night since settling in Black Hawk Castle, I was suddenly pressed down and hugged by a familiar body halfway through my sleep. Aside from shock, I also felt that “it’s finally here”. Somehow, I just had the feeling that this kind of thing could not happen only once!

But this time, he didn’t fuck me on the bed without any explanation; instead, he was hugging me while shaking.

“What’s wrong with you?” I worriedly touched his forehead, and when I felt that there was no fever, I went to check other parts of his body. “You have to speak, what’s wrong with you?”

His head was near the crook of my neck as he held me tightly. As he repeatedly knocked his head against the headboard, he groaned in pain, just like that night at the inn.

“NanNan…head…urgh, my head really hurts!”

Headache?

I was alarmed and felt the need to push him away, “You’re ill, I will call a physician for you!”

Qi deviation can’t be taken lightly, if it hurts and it turns him into a dumb psycho… who knows if he can get lucky once more and be able to change back again.

“Don’t go!” He saw that I was about to leave, so he held on tighter, causing our bodies to seamlessly press together.

I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do, and I was very worried. Suddenly, inspiration flashed in my mind. I injected my newly recovered internal force into my fingertips to massage the acupoints on his head, hoping to relieve his pain. I don’t know if I accidentally found a way to soothe it, but after a while, Xiao Zhongnan’s body wasn’t trembling as badly as before.

I asked him in a low voice, “Better?”

He didn’t answer me, but the breaths he was puffing onto my neck was moist and warm, making me feel a palpitating tingling. I had no choice but to brace myself and continue to massage him until the internal strength in my dantian was exhausted.

“Xiao Zhongnan?” I pushed the heavy body on top of me. “Psycho?”

The response I got was a soft snore. The other party actually fell asleep under my massage! I could hardly breathe underneath his crushing body. I was forced to turn him over to the side, but he whispered “NanNan” as if being awakened, and then he used his powerful arms to confine me in his embrace, unable to move a single step.

I haven’t healed from my internal injury yet, and I just used up my internal strength for him. At this time, my body has no more energy, and I was too tired to fix our inconvenient sleeping position, so I fell deep asleep.

The next day, compared to the time at the inn, I opened my eyes first. I did not move or try to leave Psycho’s sleeping embrace. I looked up at the sleeping man.

Xiao Zhongnan is one hundred percent, a great husband in both figure and appearance, the kind that women especially love. Mrs. Xiao was quite blessed to have such a husband. Maybe Mrs. Xiao was also an unparalleled beauty in her generation; otherwise, it wouldn’t have made Castle Master Xiao like this, still unable to forget.

Last night, I only relieved his headache with a temporary solution, alleviating the symptoms but not the root cause. If I can sneak into the demon sect’s hidden chamber, maybe I can find a cure.

There are bizarre books and strange things that have been plundered by the sect masters of the successive generations in the demon sect’s hidden chamber. I remember once when I was free to browse through it; I chanced upon a rare book that specialized in teaching people how to treat symptoms of qi deviation caused by carelessness that leads to obstructed qi and blood. I didn’t read it carefully because I didn’t need it at that time, and now I really regret it.

I was thinking about this when Xiao Zhongnan’s eyes suddenly opened. Except for the faint redness, there was nothing to tell that he had just been asleep.

When he saw me, he was stunned at first, but soon after, he released me from his confinement and sat up.

He wiped his face, his voice thick and hoarse as he just woke up, “Did I hurt you last night?”

Hurt? There was no hurting at all, but the fright was real.

Immediately afterward, I sat up and smiled as I said, “Last night, the two of us indeed slept together, but aside from holding each other, we didn’t do anything else. Castle Master can rest assured.”

He sighed, seemingly too exhausted. “Don’t say anything about this. I don’t want Mobei and the others to worry.”

I knitted my brows. “But you can’t always do it like this. Why don’t you ask a famous physician for treatment? Maybe there’s a way to cure you.”

“Do you think I haven’t looked for it before?” His brows also creased as they rose. “I know my own body, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

I was shocked by his clear detached way of speaking. I felt bitter, my lips pursed together, and I couldn’t speak for a while.

Probably realizing that his tone was too harsh, he calmed down. “You can go back to sleep. I’ll get up first.”

After he left, I stared at the door for a long time before I grabbed the pillow on the bed and hurled it over, feeling awfully depressed.

“Unable to tell good from bad¹mostly refers to not being able to understand the kindness of others!” I said fiercely.

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Thank you very much Meowmeow for the ko-fi (´,,•ω•,,)♡ You inspired me to write another chapter~

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  mostly refers to not being able to understand the kindness of others