Addicted to Acting...

Seeing signs of melancholy on Su Yang’s brow, Gu Feidi leaned closer to Su Yang’s ear and whispered, “You said you will take me to a place to remove the poison, and today you observed the terrain so carefully…My guess is the place you are observing is a restricted area even for the Young Master, right?”

Su Yang knew that Gu Feidi was very sharp, but he would never expect for him to guess correctly in such a short time. 

However, he didn’t plan to hide this from Gu Feidi. Because intruding on the Forbidden Ground was something they needed to do together. 

Su Yang chuckled, using his internal energy to transfer his message directly into Gu Feidi’s mind. “The place we are going is under the Bamboo Garden Island, the Sect Leader’s residence. There is a cave near the surface of the water, which contains many ancient texts of my Sect. Among which should be records of treatment for the Poisonous Gu.”

Gu Feidi asked, “Should be?”

Su Yang pursed his lips. “Must be.”

“Two days have passed since you brought me here,” Gu Feidi commended. “But I haven’t seen the Sect Leader yet. Is he in seclusion?” 

Su Yang nodded. “Yes, he is secluded on the top of the island. The entrance of the Forbidden Ground is near the water at the foot of the mountain, so we don’t have to worry about disturbing the Sect Leader. But we have to be cautious of the petal retainers of the Bamboo Garden Island, especially the ones guarding the Forbidden Ground. Even if their skills can’t be compared with us, I expect their skills could rival Xu Yunzhan and Pu Lingyun.”

Gu Feidi inquired, “So, you are figuring out a way to avoid the guards?”

Su Yang nodded again. “Yes. But these bridges and plank roads make it perilous. No issue on my part, but you can’t use your internal energy. So using light movement skill is completely out of the question. It would be more difficult not to alert the guard.”

The two spent the whole day in the Evil Sect’s Sanctuary, and didn’t return to Iris Island until sunset.

Using the excuse to review the patrol, Su Yang got the map of the Sanctuary and patrol routes from the Plum Blossom Hall elder.

Unfortunately, these documents were the same as abstract painting to him. He made little progress in studying them throughout the night, and could barely get up the next morning. 

He was once again defeated by his underachiever nature. Su Yang pondered over a new and easier strategy. That night, he sent away all of his petal retainers and servants and brought Gu Feidi to pick his brain.

Gu Feidi examined the map and the patrol diagram, and looked back at Su Yang in surprise. “Do you understand the consequences of showing me these?”

Su Yang joked, “When you come to my Sect for bloodshed, remember to avoid the innocents and come straight to me and the Sect Leader.”

In the night's depth, the candlelight trembled in the room. The emotion in Su Yang’s eyes looked like a twinkling, brilliant smile.

Gu Feidi quietly glanced at Su Yang and said nothing for a long time. In conclusion, he sat down at the couch across from Su Yang, reached for the Plum Blossom Hall’s patrol map and documents on the patrolling schedule, and began reading them in silence. 

The suspension bridge and plank walkway were constructed in a way best suited with the local environment, they were connected layer upon layer. However, in this era, there was no three-dimensional technology, making the three-dimensional conceptual view imperfect. All the drawings were drawn by the craftsmen at an odd angle, and there was no accurate perspective and proportional scale. If the craftsmen did not learn under the same master, they might not decipher each other’s drawings.

Fortunately, Gu Feidi worked in his Pavilion on managing affairs. Plus, he had visited the Sanctuary with Su Yang for the past two days, so he could at least form a picture in his head. 

He studied the two maps and read through the Evil Sect’s patrol route from the documents. He found that the pattern actually coincided with the four seasons. It changed every ten days, and the cycle reset every year. 

“Tomorrow is a new period, and the patrol will change.” Gu Feidi whispered. “If I am reading everything correctly, there is an opportunity on the next route after midnight. We…”

In the middle of talking, he raised his head, only to find that Su Yang had fallen asleep on the table. 

It was past midnight, and the candles on the lampstand were half burnt. 

Gu Feidi placed the book down and rested his chin on his right hand. He watched Su Yang’s blissfully sleeping face, watched the shadow under the closed eyelashes that were flickering from the candle fire, watched a loose innocent hair quietly fall at the corner of the lips, watched the shoulders that rose and fell from breathing...

As if feeling the sensation of being stared at, Su Yang’s eyelash shivered and he woke up.

Gu Feidi’s eyes were meaningful. “Go to sleep if you are sleepy.”

Su Yang gave him a grunt and slid down to lay on the couch. He curled up and bundled himself with a thin blanket, muttering, “No, too comfortable…I will sleep here…”

“It will be too cold at night.” Gu Feidi gave a helpless smile. He got up and came beside Su Yang to pull him up. “Let’s go, we are sleeping in the bedroom. I will take you.”

Su Yang was pulled up by Gu Feidi unwillingly, but he followed Gu Feidi to his bedroom just around the corner. He climbed onto the bed while taking off his clothes in a daze and instantly fell back asleep with a pillow in his arms. 

Breaking into a quiet laugh, Gu Feidi bent over to cover Su Yang with a quilt and blow out the two candles in the bedroom. 

As he was about to leave, he suddenly heard Su Yang calling something in his dream. 

Gu Feidi walked around and leaned over Su Yang’s lips. He asked as if lost in his thoughts, “What did you say?”

Su Yang didn’t form words to him in his dreamlike state before. He just mumbled a series of inaudible sounds in a low voice and fell back asleep. 

Gu Feidi gazed at Su Yang’s lips, which were pressed tightly against the pillow. Gu Feidi’s throat bobbed and he couldn’t help licking his lips as he leaned closer. 

Su Yang’s calm breathing tickled the tip of Gu Feidi’s nose, making his lips tremble slightly. His breathing started coming a little short. He seemed to be afraid of something, but he had it in a death grip. 

Leaning even closer, the two’s lips were inches apart, and Gu Feidi slowly closed his eyes. 

However, he stepped back and sighed in silence.

He raised his hand to brush the loose hair back behind Su Yang’s ear, and murmured, “If tomorrow doesn’t come, and tonight stays eternal…it won’t be so bad.”

After a long time, he stood up straight and went to the room outside to clean up the scattered papers on the table. Then he softly and quietly returned to Su Yang’s bedroom and lay down beside the sleeping man. 

The next day, they didn’t go out. They buried themselves in the Bamboo Garden Island topographic map. 

Although it was autumn, the temperature did not decline under the intense sun. The two were nestled on the couch to write out their plan of action. They were in their middle robes and used a hairpin to clip their hair in a simple manner.

Su Yang took a glance at Gu Feidi’s rare, lazy appearance and chuckled. “You looked like you were doted on all night long. Your entire body looks soft and boneless.”

Gu Feidi raised an eyebrow. “Doted on?”

“That’s right,” Su Yang gave a wicked smile. “This Young Master likes men. My underlings must be making up stories in private from the number of times you spend the night in my bed. Saying how your entire self was…” Su Yang interrupted briefly with fake coughs. “Doted on by me excessively!”

Gu Feidi inquired, “You said you were into men, yet I don’t see you summon any male bed servant to serve you. Wasn’t there a rumour that you had dismissed all the beauties you had captured a few years ago?”

Su Yang wetted his lips and narrowed his eyes to glare. He exaggerated his tone while studying Gu Feidi. “Why would I have eyes for others with you here? Why doesn’t the Young Hero Gu serve me?”

Gu Feidi’s expression changed slightly. 

Thinking he had angered Gu Feidi, Su Yang was about to change the topic. However, he saw Gu Feidi put down his pen and paper, he leaned over and stared at him straight in the eyes. “That’s fine.”

Then, he stretched out his hand and lightly pinched Su Yang’s jaw, dragging his prey in. 

Su Yang quickly jumped back to hide. “I am kidding!”

Gu Feidi withdrew his hand and asked, “Kidding?”

Awkwardly scratching his nose, Su Yang didn’t know how to answer.

Gu Feidi asked another question, “You don’t…adore me?”

Su Yang: ...Isn’t Gu Feidi acting way into his role?

Could it be from socialising with him for too long? It infected Gu Feidi with his bad habit of teasing others consciously? There was the saying of ‘who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl’.

“Er…” Su Yang gave Gu Feidi a look of disgust and returned his own mocking smile. “What adoration? I am good to you because of our relationship as fellow disciples of the House of Jade! I never meant to treat you as a bed pet…once we find a way to enter the Forbidden Ground and get rid of the poison, I will release you.”

After that, he reached for a few drawings and pretended to study the image. 

After a long time, he heard no movement or words from Gu Feidi, so he lifted his head cautiously. 

Gu Feidi was staring at him, and the emotion in those dark eyes was obscure. 

Su Yang’s heart trembled, and he asked offhandedly, “What’s the matter with you?”

Gu Feidi lowered his gaze and picked up his pen. “Nothing.”

Nervousness crawled up out of nowhere. Su Yang couldn’t sit still and informed his companion, “Then, I am going to check on the dried fruit bar that I ordered from the kitchen.”

He had purchased a large quantity of honey, milk, and dried fruits from the stores around the Sanctuary. These materials were needed for him to make a convenient and filling food that was also high in calories. He was making an ancient version of an ‘energy bar’. This was in preparation for their stay at the Forbidden Ground, something they could allay their hunger with while he detoxified Gu Feidi. 

In the script, Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun were trapped in the Forbidden Ground for several days, but Su Yang didn’t calculate the specific number of days. However, he could use the following plot where the Young Master pursued the love birds which, if he remembered correctly, was winter. 

It was mid-autumn now, and he was calculating how advanced the plot had progressed. The process of detoxification should be about less than the one month's time limit Gu Feidi had. It would be a close call.

After putting on his outer coat, he arrived at the kitchen, and as expected, saw the Lotus Hall servants in charge of the meal had delegated his orders to several underlings.

Without an oven to use, Su Yang described his idea and let his minions figure it out. Unexpectedly, his minions really came up with a way of using a simple iron cooking pot with an indoor fire pit. Those servants really forged out a decent energy bar. 

Breaking a small piece from the bar, Su Yang threw it into his mouth and chomped on it. The taste was pretty good. He rewarded the head servant, knowing that the rewards would be distributed to the other subordinates on the project. He selected a few bars and placed them on a plate. He planned to bring them back to Gu Feidi for a taste test. 

Seeing their Young Master departing, Lian Jiu, who stopped by the kitchen to inspect the project, laughed and called out to Mei Shisan, who was on his way out.

Lian Jiu asked, smiling, “During your time out travelling with the Young Master, did you learn whether that one infamous rumour spread by the Jianghu is true?”

Mei Shisan raised an eyebrow. “What rumour?”

Lian Jiu lowered his voice, “The Young Master dismissed and released the children in the Tiger Lily Hall because of the Young Hero Gu.” 

Mei Shisan shared, “The Young Master and Young Hero Gu are only disciple mates. Why should there be a connection between them and the Tiger Lily Hall?”

“Oh, you weren’t aware?” A mysterious smile appeared on Lian Jiu’s face as he came closer to Mei Shisan’s ear. “Nowadays, the Young Master and Young Hero Gu are always together. You can’t find one without the other. Also, the Young Master permitted Young Hero Gu to spend the night in his room. Even the servants I oversee reported to me that they share the same bad. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Mei Shisan’s expression did not change. “It’s the Young Master’s business if he wants to be intimate with Young Hero Gu or not. The Young Master has his own method to subdue Young Hero Gu. We don’t have to worry too much.”

Lian Jiu said, smiling, “Since the Young Master came out from the House of Jade, it has been much easier to serve him. There have been no dead servants in the past two months. Even the incident at the soaking tub didn’t arouse his anger. These days, I no longer fear for my life. I no longer need to be afraid of dying under the Young Master’s hands from a mistake.”

Hearing this, Mei Shisan frowned slightly, and quickly smoothed them out and said with a small smile, “Isn’t that good?”

Lian Jiu nodded. “Very. I hope the Young Master will stay this way. I just don’t know how long his good mood and temper would last.”

Mei Shisan wondered, “Maybe he would stay this way, if…”

Lian Jiu was puzzled. “If?”

Mei Shisan smiled. “It’s nothing.”