Chapter 34: I’ll Sleep with You
Feng Yuzhen was too scared—perhaps it was because of her fear that she had been half-willing, not thinking too much about it, and had lifted her soft lips, seeking a temporary place of refuge.
But when Cui Jingkong really pressed down on her, biting and grinding against her, even wrapping around her lower lip and sucking on it without much care—
A fatal tingle shot up her spine. The intimate mingling of lips and teeth was enchantingly wanton. She could feel her ears burning, her already weak legs now utterly useless.
The young man kissed her urgently and fiercely. Feng Yuzhen was ashamed and unconsciously leaned back, but her waist was firmly held by his arms, and she couldn’t move. By the time he was finally willing to let go, his widowed sister-in-law had been completely lifted into his arms, her delicate, fair cheeks kissed red.
Cui Jingkong’s gaze was dark, fixed on her red lips. He had wanted to stroke her loosely tied long hair to comfort her, but he had accidentally touched the back of her neck. It was smooth and slightly cool to the touch. He couldn’t help but linger there, kneading that small patch of skin, and asked with his head bowed, “Are you feeling better?”
Feng Yuzhen reached up and touched her numb lips. The terrors of the night had been half-scattered amid the lingering intimacy. Unaware that her eyes were still misty, reddened from his rough kiss, she stirred a restless itch in Cui Jingkong’s heart. He lowered his head and lightly pecked her cheek twice.
This was really endless. Feng Yuzhen felt a surge of shame and anger. This person, with a face that seemed to be above worldly matters, was acting like a libertine. She simply turned her face away, avoiding the lips that were about to fall on her.
She quickly threw out a topic. She was still worried about the drunkard. She asked, “…How is he? Was he seen by anyone else?”
Only then did Cui Jingkong stop his attack. He glanced at her unnatural expression, led her to a chair and sat her down, then said slowly, “Heaven knows, the earth knows, you know, and I know.”
Feng Yuzhen had only roughly wiped her face before. The remaining blood on her hands had already dried and coagulated. Cui Jingkong wet a handkerchief and carefully wiped it clean for her, reaching into the gaps between her fingers. Feng Yuzhen held out her hand, still unsettled, and said hesitantly, “Kong’ge’er, what if the authorities send someone to investigate…”
This was very different from the last time she had tacitly allowed Cui Jingkong to hurt someone. Tonight, with just one slip of the hand, she and Cui Jingkong were both burdened with a living human life.
Feng Yuzhen had been honest and law-abiding for two lifetimes, only ever being bullied by others. She had never thought that one day she would be the one with blood on her hands.
Cui Jingkong unhurriedly reached into her sleeve, wrapped the wet handkerchief around her wrist, and said lightly, “If the constables come, Sister-in-law just has to insist that you’ve never seen him. A homeless, ruffian drunkard, perhaps he got on someone’s bad side after drinking, or just tripped on a stone and accidentally fell into the water. It was a dark and windy night, after all. Who knows?”
He held the woman’s clean hands, satisfied. He opened his mouth to dispel her doubts. “That beast had designs on you first. If it weren’t for your knife, I would have taken his life too. His time was up. He was meant to die here.”
That made sense. Feng Yuzhen calmed down a little. She saw that he was travel-worn, his clothes now stained with blood in addition to the mud. Only then did she remember that it had only been about ten days since he had left. Why was he back so early tonight?
Hearing her ask, Cui Jingkong’s voice suddenly lowered. He looked up at her, and each word seemed to strike her heart. “I wanted to see Sister-in-law.”
The word “Sister-in-law” and his direct confession were intertwined. Feng Yuzhen stared into his eyes in a daze. Only then did she realize that he was still wearing the crescent-white robe she had made for him.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she lowered her head. She thought, if Cui Jingkong were not her brother-in-law, perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult.
She wanted to reach out and untie the knot between them, but she couldn’t. And if they were to break this weak relationship, the two of them would have no connection at all. She knew this clearly, but she still had to walk on the ice with a turbulent undercurrent. The more affectionate they were, the more incestuous and sordid it seemed.
It was late, but Feng Yuzhen didn’t dare to go back to the side room. As soon as she entered, the pool of dark red blood on the floor suddenly pierced her eyes. Her mind went dizzy, and she had to lean against the wall to steady herself.
Cui Jingkong told her to wait outside. He would go and clean up first. He would drag it clean and make sure there wasn’t a single drop of blood before letting Feng Yuzhen in.
He then made his bed on the floor in the main room as usual, took off the tattered crescent-white robe, dusted it off, and lay down with his inner clothes on. He had been traveling day and night for nearly two days. The horse was so tired it had collapsed to the ground, its tongue hanging out. He hadn’t had time to see Feng Yuzhen when he had entered, but had seen her being pressed down, covered in blood.
Even just thinking about it made his killing intent rise again. He wished he could have tortured the man to death before drowning him.
He closed his eyes and waited. Sure enough, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the door to the side room quietly opened. Feng Yuzhen, wearing an outer robe, walked to his side, her face pale. She squatted down and called him a couple of times, “Kong’ge’er… I’m really scared.”
Although the traces on the floor were gone, it was inevitable that some blood had splattered on the edge of the bed. Fearing that the drunkard’s ferocious face would appear outside the window again, she had to force herself to close her eyes, but the image of the man, who had been beaten until he was unrecognizable, like a dead pig, appeared before her eyes. No, her heart was pounding. She couldn’t stay for a moment longer.
Cui Jingkong got up, lit the candlestick by his side, and held it up to illuminate the woman’s anxious expression. He had already untied his hair, and his long, raven-black hair fell over his shoulders, making his dark eyes seem bottomless. He opened his lips and asked in a deep voice, “Why don’t I… sleep with Sister-in-law?”
Feng Yuzhen did not speak. The dim yellow candlelight jumped in her pupils, and only then did she nod.
And so, Cui Jingkong’s bedding was moved into his widowed sister-in-law’s west side room in the middle of the night. He still slept on the floor, but this time, there was no barrier. He was right next to Feng Yuzhen’s bed, with only a narrow path between them for her to walk through.
Both of them were exhausted and didn’t say much. Perhaps it was because she knew she had company, and the sound of the young man’s light breathing in the darkness gave her a sense of security. Feng Yuzhen was able to fall into a drowsy sleep, but in her dream, she unexpectedly ran into a familiar yet strange person.
He looked as if he had completely shed his youthfulness. He had grown taller, and his whole body was a circle sturdier.
His features were deep, the angles of his cheeks sharp, and his phoenix eyes were chillingly cold. His broad, firm shoulders supported a brocade robe with shimmering ripples. He was looking down, casually playing with the jade thumb ring on his thumb. The old prayer beads in his sleeve were faintly visible.
The tall man sneered at the woman who was collapsed on the ground, covered in jewels and silks. He said contemptuously, “If the princess does not know her place in the future, although I cannot touch the princess, this lover’s head… may not be so lucky next time.”
The woman looked at him as if she were staring at a demon and quickly nodded. Only then did the man allow his servants to bring up her dying lover. When the princess saw her beloved in such a state, she rushed to him to check his injuries, scolding him for his treachery, for being a complete and utter sinister villain.
“If the two of you had been more well-behaved, I have always been tolerant and generous, and would have just treated you as two idle people in my residence. It’s just that you were too greedy and tried to reach for my power. By the way, he said his bones were hard and he wasn’t afraid of torture.”
He revealed a bloodthirsty smile. “I was very curious, so I skinned him. I wanted to weigh his bones and see how much they weighed.”
Just then, the princess’s hand touched her lover. He immediately whimpered in pain. She tremblingly lifted his clothes and saw that his back was a bloody mess, the skin gone, revealing a large patch of bright red, writhing flesh.
“Ah—!”
The princess was scared out of her wits. The man on the side was calm, and even seemed to be enjoying their pain.
However, in a certain moment, his expression froze, as if he had sensed something. He looked up, and his hawk-like gaze accurately locked onto the mid-air. Feng Yuzhen, who was forced to meet his gaze, felt her scalp tingle, as if her soul had been captured by those sinister eyes.
Feng Yuzhen suddenly broke free from the dream, waking up in a cold sweat. Only then did she slowly realize that the man in her dream was the Cui Jingkong from the storybook, who had already reached the age of thirty.
It’s different… Feng Yuzhen thought. The man in the dream seemed to have completely detached his emotions from his body, leaving only a thick filth that seeped into him day after day, and the last bit of humanity was annihilated in the airtight darkness.
But the Cui Jingkong of this life—he was still sharp and deadly, but it was as if he had deliberately wrapped himself in a soft cushion, becoming approachable and close.
At that time, the sky was just beginning to brighten. Once bitten by a snake, the window had been tightly shut before she went to bed. Feng Yuzhen couldn’t sleep anymore and simply sat up on the edge of the bed.
The room was stuffy, and she was too lazy to get out of bed. She only dared to unbutton the top two buttons of her collar. The bed was high, so she dangled her two feet over the edge, swaying them slightly, trying to create a breeze.
It was originally a very slight arc, but because she was greedy for the coolness, she swayed them too fast for a moment, and her toes uncontrollably went forward, kicking something.
She only heard a muffled grunt, and the foot she had subconsciously pulled back was suddenly caught.
Cui Jingkong lifted the hem of her dangling skirt, his fingers reaching into the wide trouser leg and pinching her slender ankle, making her foot step directly on his knee. His voice was slightly hoarse. “Still not willing to sleep?”
His palm was hot and slightly sweaty. Feng Yuzhen’s face flushed red, and she said in a low voice, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault for not being careful and waking you up. But Kong’ge’er… I’m not wearing shoes. You… you should let me go first.”
It wasn’t that she wasn’t wearing shoes, she wasn’t even wearing silk stockings. It was unclear where she had gotten such courage. Now, her fair feet were on him, her nails neatly trimmed and rounded, her toes curled up in embarrassment.
After a while, the young man gave a low “mm” and let her go.
“Did Sister-in-law have a nightmare and can’t sleep?”
His voice sounded a little off, as if he were suppressing something, but it was just very hoarse.
“Mm… I’m fine now.”
Feng Yuzhen quickly brushed it off, and the room returned to its quiet.
While the sky was still dim, Cui Jingkong, for a rare occasion, did not wake up before her. He was not made of iron, after all. He had been traveling day and night, and had also killed and disposed of a body. After all that, he couldn’t hold on anymore.
Feng Yuzhen turned over and got dressed, tiptoed to open the door, and saw a tall horse tied in the backyard, but it seemed very tired and was lying on the ground.
While Feng Yuzhen was cooking and washing clothes, Cui Jingkong woke up. When he came out, he saw the woman bending down, feeding the cat in the corner with the dried small fish she had hung out to dry before.
She had, after all, lived here for half a year and had become familiar with the creatures here. The thought that after she left, she didn’t know if anyone would remember to come and feed them, made her feel a sense of pity and a desire to compensate.
Cui Jingkong stood in the doorway, taking in the gentle expression on her face as she looked down. The cat saw him, and Cui Jingkong just glanced at it. The cat’s fur stood on end, its pupils contracted, and it jumped far away.