Chapter 75: Flurry Arrives on Greedy Winds
This translation is by Lily (BC Novels) at bcnovels d͎o͎t͎ c͎o͎m͎
He reckoned that Luo Binghe had already prepared to be kicked off at once and did not entirely anticipate that Shen Qingqiu would actually nod.
He went stiff on top of Shen Qingqiu on the spot, his expression freezing.
Shen Qingqiu finally realized what he had just done and the meaning of that nod just now. He wanted to kill himself out of shame and even had the heart to kill someone to silence them.
Nononononono it’s not what you think━let me explain!!!
But, Luo Binghe didn’t give him this opportunity. The hand holding his waist suddenly tightened, his voice lowering. “… You really missed me?”
Shen Qingqiu’s brow creased. Luo Binghe, his breath harried, wouldn’t abandon this path of questioning. “You really did?”
You’re covering my mouth. Even if I wanted to respond I can’t!
Does this mean I can only either nod or shake my head?
Shen Qingqiu nodded and shook his head in succession, messing around for a time. Luo Binghe pressed, “Did you miss me or not?”
Seeing his expression like he was about to cry, Shen Qingqiu really didn’t have a way out━time to admit defeat.
An ineffable tragic emotion stirring within him━time to sacrifice this old face━he slowly nodded again.
This time, Shen Qingqiu could see full and clear. He could confirm that in that split second, Luo Binghe’s breath froze.
A faint spark slowly ignited in his eyes, quickly engulfing his whole face, his whole body, growing with the force of a prairie fire.
Just when Shen Qingqiu thought he would break down crying tears of joy, Luo Binghe lowered his head and buried his face deep in the crook of Shen Qingqiu’s neck. The hand covering his mouth slowly let go.
And then, like a chick pecking at rice, he began to lay a broken and dense thicket of kisses on the corner of Shen Qingqiu’s mouth.
Shen Qingqiu finally extricated himself to breathe, forcing three words through the gaps in his teeth. “… Making a scene.”
Luo Binghe muttered, “I also missed you a lot━a lot. There wasn’t a time, a moment when I wasn’t thinking of you…”
The breath that was rising in Shen Qingqiu’s chest slowly drained back out.
Laying flat on the couch like a dead fish, he stared at the roof of the bamboo house in despair. After a while, he sighed. “… Then why didn’t you look for this teacher in the dreamscape these last few days?”
Luo Binghe’s dark and moist eyes stared at him. “Shizun, don’t you think I’m annoying?”
He’s sticky during the day, he’s sticky in dreams at night, twenty-four hours of the day and always looking at this face━of course, it’s annoying!
But, in a moment of incaution, he had gotten used to the stickiness. Now, Luo Binghe was lying right on top of him, and Shen Qingqiu didn’t even feel like it was something unbearable…
How did it get to this stage? Isn’t this a bit excessive!
Shen Qingqiu said dryly, “You know you’re annoying, and yet you still don’t restrain yourself.”
Luo Binghe said, “Either way, this isn’t the first time Shizun turned his back on me. If he’s annoyed, then so be it.”
Hearing him say this, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t resist feeling a bit sick at heart.
How much does Luo Binghe like him after all?
Even though he suffered that sort of treatment the days when he first entered Cang Qiong Mountain, as soon as Shen Qingqiu showed him a drop of kindness Luo Binghe swept away every injury he had suffered, clean and tidy. He put him in the bottom of his heart without the slightest hesitation.
A glass heart had been shattered by Shen Qingqiu just like that, completely unaware. Like a young wife, he had picked up the pieces one by one by himself and stuck them back together to gently and carefully hand back over, heart full of expectation, only for it to be shattered again, stuck back together…
Luo Binghe said softly, “Every time Shizun was on Cang Qiong Mountain with others, he smiled so happily. I thought you wouldn’t miss me very much.”
Master Shen had spent so many years putting on a mask until it became habit, especially in Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. At most, it was a meaningful look, like a smile yet not. Or, it was a smile on the skin but not the flesh, making it impossible for others to guess his true thoughts underneath. Otherwise, it was a half-hearted performance of a fake smile. Since when did he “smile so happily”?
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t accept it. “Nonsense.”
Luo Binghe said, “Indeed, Shizun would never show an open-hearted smile on his face. But whether or not Shizun was smiling in his heart, of course, I knew.”
Lying on someone’s body and acting like a spoiled child while playing with a strand of their hair, are you a little schoolgirl!
Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and said, “Yes. You’re the roundworm in my stomach.”
Luo Binghe said, “I don’t want to be a roundworm.”
Shen Qingqiu smacked the hand playing with his hair like he was swatting a mosquito. “Then, what do you want to do? Tell me, who did this teacher smile at before?”
After finishing, he had hit him on every word, but that idle hand still wouldn’t be driven off. Luo Binghe actually began to count. “Many people. Liu… Liu-shishu, Sect Leader Yue, Shang Qinghua, Ming Fan, Ning-shijie, the people at Xian Shu Peak, Wan Jian Peak, Qian Cao Peak, Qiong Ding Peak, Bai Zhan Peak, the gate guards, the stair sweeps…”
He wouldn’t even let off the gate guards and the stair sweeps━where would this kid stop his grudge? The whole of Cang Qiong Mountain would get swallowed by this special concentrated-flavor vinegar from the Demon Realm!
Shen Qingqiu criticized, “The way you called Shishu was too insincere. From now on, don’t call him that.”
Luo Binghe said resentfully, “When he calls me a little brute or a thankless wretch, he’s sincere enough.”
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t resist laughing at that. His folding fan was sitting beside the couch, and he picked it up to give Luo Binghe a few taps on the head. “Was he wrong? You dare lay your wolf claws on this teacher’s body. If you’re not a little brute, then what?”
The words were coming too smoothly, not even he himself realized that this was pushing the bounds of propriety. The tail end of his words lifted the corner of his mouth, seeming frivolous yet heavy, a bit coquettish, and extremely undignified.
Luo Binghe looked down from above. When this scene entered his eyes, he only felt some sort of fire tickling its way up to burn wildly in his heart and stomach. He subconsciously moved to place a leg between Shen Qingqiu’s knees, but fearing getting kicked off the bamboo couch after discovery, he hurriedly moved his head over to let Shen Qingqiu hit him with his fan to his heart’s content. “Even if I am a little brute, then I am only Shizun’s little brute. Other people can’t call me that.”
Hearing this, Shen Qingqiu felt like a liter of sour plum juice had been forcibly poured down his throat, sickening enough to make his hair stand on end. He almost snapped his fan in his grip. He hurriedly used it to jab Luo Binghe in the chest to prop him up. “Get up.”
If they wanted to speak of official matters, they had to be sitting upright in a proper position. With one person on top of the other, no matter how serious the topic of conversation, it would turn indecent. Luo Binghe wasn’t quite willing but still climbed up to sit on one side of the couch.
After sleeping for five days, Shen Qingqiu felt like his old waist was about to break, but at least he could still straighten. He thought he looked like some old man with pursed brows and pained face beating his legs and rubbing his back, but in others’ eyes it was a completely different scene: hair in disorder, loose over the shoulders; inner robe with collar askew, showing a strip of pale shoulder and neck, throat and collarbone clearly defined. Because he had just been rolling around on the couch, a pale layer of red was painted across his cheeks, silently frowning and rubbing his lower back. In this type of situation, errant hearts couldn’t help but stray further and further.
Luo Binghe, not blinking a single blink, scooted closer, slowly helping him rub his back. Shen Qingqiu said, satisfied, “Good. Considerate.”
Luo Binghe said, “Shizun still doesn’t know how considerate I can be.”
[T/N: I’m about 90% sure this exchange is supposed to be some sort of innuendo. 贴心 (tie1 xin1) is a term that can mean “intimate”, “close”, or “considerate”. SQQ is most most likely using the latter meaning, and LBH’s response is more literally translated as “Shizun still doesn’t know the benefits of being more 贴心 with me,” with a double meaning between the first and second translations. I changed this line a bit so I could use the same English term.]
He really knows how to ask for pampering. Luo Binghe continued, “When facing Tianlang-Jun if Shizun needs my assistance at any point, don’t hesitate to call for me.”
Shen Qingqiu had been avoiding the topic of Tianlang-Jun to keep from upsetting Luo Binghe. He never thought he would raise the topic himself━sure enough, it was a bit too considerate. He thought for a bit, then said deliberately, “Your father…”
Luo Binghe buried his head in his shoulder, saying stuffily, “I don’t have a father. Only Shizun.”
…
Why do I feel like I’m your dad?
Shen Qingqiu waved away this helpless feeling and said earnestly, “If you are reluctant, by all means, don’t force yourself.”
No matter how much of an exotic flower he was, he was still Luo Binghe’s father. In any case, he was still a person Luo Binghe had once secretly longed to meet, even if in reality he was far from the image of Luo Binghe’s longings.
The movements of Luo Binghe’s hand never stopped. He said indifferently, “I’m not reluctant.”
Shen Qingqiu carefully examined him. En, sure enough, this face… was an honest expression of one who sincerely wished to help gang up on someone and beat them up. No traces of reluctance at all.
Actually, this was a good thing. Though joining up with the son to entrap the father wasn’t a very upright path, if Luo Binghe truly wanted to join hands with the cultivation world to dethrone Tianlang-Jun, not only would the human realm gain a ferocious ally, Luo Binghe would also max out his righteousness points while he was at it. He would be able to remedy the losses he incurred at Zhao Hua Temple a bit.
Before Yue Qingyuan had left just now, he had told him to rest well and that “This matter can be handed over to our other comrades to handle,” meaning that he didn’t want him to go to battle. Shen Qingqiu muttered, “Sect Leader-shixiong might not let me go to battle. When the snow begins to fall, Luochuan. It’s best if you be mindful of this time and this place.”
Luo Binghe softened the grip on his waist, saying in a warm tone, “Sometimes, I feel Shizun really has an excessive understanding of some things.”
Shen Qingqiu’s heart thumped in his chest.
Luo Binghe continued, “Just like that time in the Holy Mausoleum. Shizun had clearly never entered the Holy Mausoleum before, but he knew the layout of the rooms inside and the demonic artifacts guarding the tombs like the back of his hand, and could even exploit them to his own advantage. It draws this disciple’s esteem and makes him sigh in admiration.”
Shen Qingqiu deliberately traced out, “All those ancient books Qing Jing Peak has accumulated over the years are not worthless scraps of paper and verbose nonsense. There’s always useful information inside.”
Luo Binghe let out an “Oh.” Done massaging his waist, he began to use his fingers to slowly comb out the long hair loose at Shen Qingqiu’s back. “This disciple has also read some of those ancient books but didn’t catch sight of this much. Sure enough, he is still too far from Shizun’s ability.”
… How could he have forgotten? Luo Binghe also had a heaven-defying top student halo. If he said he’d “read some,” that means he already knows all of those dusty old books on Qing Jing Peak by heart. Of course, he’d know if there was any “useful information.”
This child was not Yue Qingyuan. If he didn’t want to talk, Yue Qingyuan wouldn’t ask, but Luo Binghe would definitely pester him to death to get to the root of the issue. He wasn’t that easy to deceive. Shen Qingqiu was still racking his brains to figure out how to detour around this bend when, suddenly, Ning Yingying called from outside the bamboo house. “Shizun, you’re awake, right? Can Yingying come in?”
Good kid, what an obedient disciple!
Shen Qingqiu said quietly, “You go first.”
Luo Binghe’s hands paused. “Why is it that I have to go and they don’t?”
Ming Fan also called from outside. He yelled, “Shizun, a few of our shishu are already here. Is it convenient for you to get up?”
Why did this many of them come at once! Shen Qingqiu jumped off the couch, pushing Luo Binghe out the window. Luo Binghe threw back while leaving, “So it turns out Shizun likes to sneak around like this…”
Shen Qingqiu knocked him on the forehead with his fan. “Who’s the one being sneaky? Whose fault is it?”
Why do you have to make it look like a secret love affair every time!
Luo Binghe soundlessly flipped out the window but stretched his hand in again to grab Shen Qingqiu. He said softly, “Shizun, after these affairs have been settled, do you want to leave with me?”
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t quite tear down his face and could only stay reserved. “This teacher is still the Qing Jing Peak Lord.”
If Luo Binghe wants to see him, can’t he just come to find him? Why insist on leaving with him? He didn’t want to contribute any more source material for Resentment of Chunshan.
Luo Binghe sighed. “I thought so.”
He had just closed the window when the bamboo house’s door opened. Qi Qingqi’s voice arrived before her person did. Lifting the curtain to show her bright and beautiful face, she pouted, “You really are more and more pampered. At Zhao Hua Temple, were you struck a few times or beaten until you were spitting blood? You slept five days in one go!”
Shen Qingqiu turned and said half-sincerely, “Don’t be like this Qi-shimei, you’ve always known about my debility.”
Qi Qingqi snorted. “I’ve always known you’re inconvenient and troublesome.”
Liu Mingyan followed behind her, bowing in greeting after entering. Behind her was Liu Qingge. Ming Fan and Ning Yingying followed Mu Qingfang at the very back. The modestly-sized bamboo house was crammed full of people all at once. Shen Qingqiu began to sweat. Fortunately, Luo Binghe had left through the window, or else there’s no way he’d be able to hide now.
Mu Qingfang smiled, “I was saying that Shen-shixiong’s complexion was normal, no unusual signs of sickness; he really was just sleeping. You should believe me this time, no?”
Shen Qingqiu voiced his shame, pointing out seats for each Peak Lord. Seeing Liu Qingge sweep his eyes over every part of the room after he entered, his gaze cold, he said, “Liu-shidi, I’m over here.”
Liu Qingge looked back, turning towards Shen Qingqiu. “Who was here just now?”