Chapter 23
Thanks for the KoFi LollyMadonna! Extra chaper for you
Zhang
Que Siming snatched the sword from his hand and pushed him far away. His movements were as swift as lightning, weaving between several black-clad figures. The silver-white sword flashed in and out of sight, beautifully striking down one enemy after another. The smell of blood in the air was so thick it felt suffocating. In an instant, all the black-clad figures had fallen to the ground.
The sword in Que Siming’s hand clattered to the ground, and he followed it, falling backward.
Jinbao rushed up and held him, tearing off the mask from his face.
Que Siming’s face was deathly pale, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Jinbao’s hand was stained with his blood, giving him the illusion of being burned by the scalding liquid.
Jinbao quickly applied pressure to his pressure points to stop the bleeding, but it only reduced the flow slightly, with no sign of it stopping. “Divine Doctor! Divine Doctor! How are you?”
The wound from the sword on his shoulder seemed quite deep, and Jinbao’s voice was trembling with fear.
Que Siming took a deep breath and whispered, “Little Hu, have you ever treated wounds before?”
“No… no…”
“Then you’ll have to try it today.”
“How…?”
“They poisoned their blades. Although I’m not afraid of these poisons, they will erode and necrotize the flesh, preventing the wound from healing. I need you to cut away the flesh on my shoulder that was sliced by that sword.”
Jinbao felt a shiver run down his spine, staring at Que Siming in terror.
Que Siming smiled, “It’s okay. As long as you cut away the dead flesh and apply some medicine powder, it won’t be fatal. Why are you so scared? You’re such a coward.”
Jinbao wiped the sweat off his forehead, “I’m… I’m not afraid. I’m afraid it will hurt you.”
“You can endure it. If you don’t dare to do it, my arm will be useless.”
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it. How… how do I do it?”
Que Siming pulled a dagger from his boot and handed it to him. “It’s simple. Just cut away the blackened flesh.”
Jinbao shakily took the dagger, and they sat facing each other. He pressed Que Siming’s head to his chest, first using the dagger to cut open the back of his shirt.
The gaping wound was over three inches long, and the exposed flesh had indeed turned a dark purple-black, oozing with black blood. In the dim light of dawn, it was even more horrifying to behold.
Jinbao gritted his teeth, holding the dagger but unable to bring himself to use it.
He shouldn’t be afraid of this; cutting an enemy’s throat would be over in an instant. But cutting the flesh of someone close to him made his heart feel as though it was being wrenched, and sweat poured down his face like a river.
Que Siming’s head rested heavily against him. “Hurry up.”
Jinbao brought his hand to Que Siming’s mouth. “I’m about to start. If it hurts, bite my hand, but you must endure it.”
Que Siming pushed his hand away, rubbing his head against Jinbao’s firm chest. “I don’t want that.”
“Ah?”
Que Siming suddenly reached for Jinbao’s clothing.
“What… what are you doing?”
Que Siming continued unfastening Jinbao’s clothes, extending his tongue to lick his chest.
If it weren’t for the situation, Jinbao would have slapped him, furious. “At a time like this, what the hell are you thinking?”
Que Siming chuckled a couple of times, then took the small, brownish nub in his mouth, sucking and mumbling, “I want this.”
Jinbao nearly passed out from anger but realized this wasn’t the time to argue. He was genuinely frightened. “You… you can’t bite that… if you use force, it’ll be gone…”
Que Siming continued to suckle at his nipple, as if he were a baby at a mother’s breast. “Don’t worry, I won’t use force. I want to save some for next time.”
Jinbao’s scalp tingled, and he barely managed to shift his focus away from his own chest.
Even if Que Siming bit it off, Jinbao would just consider himself unlucky. It wasn’t that big a deal.
Gritting his teeth, Jinbao drove the dagger into the blackened, purple flesh on Que Siming’s back and began to cut.
Aside from an initial sharp shiver, Que Siming didn’t move much. He remained focused on sucking and licking Jinbao’s nipple, though his trembling shoulders and the large beads of sweat on his forehead showed the immense pain he was enduring.
Jinbao focused all his attention on the wound, afraid to even breathe too deeply, worried that a slip could damage healthy flesh. His own lips were bloodied and mangled from biting them so hard.
The time seemed endless, and this was not only a torment to Que Siming’s body but also an unrelenting strain on Jinbao’s nerves.
After painstakingly removing all the blackened flesh, the wound began to ooze bright red blood.
Only then did Jinbao let out a long sigh of relief.
Looking down at Que Siming, he found that he had fainted from the pain.
Seeing his sweat-drenched face and those bewitching eyes tightly closed, with the blood vessels on his eyelids unusually prominent and closer to his brow than before, Jinbao felt a pang of distress.
He sprinkled the medicine powder on the wound, and it worked wonders. Soon, the bleeding stopped and the blood began to clot.
Jinbao tore his own undergarment into strips and clumsily but carefully bandaged Que Siming’s wound.
Then he gently lifted Que Siming onto his back and walked deeper into the forest.
He feared that there might be reinforcements, and if they encountered more enemies now, they would both be doomed. He could only hide as deep in the mountains and forest as possible, hoping that Que Siming would wake up soon.
He carried Que Siming until dawn, finally finding a dry cave. As he set Que Siming down, he felt as though his arms, waist, and legs were all breaking, overcome with soreness and numbness.
Children really have it tough. First, he was thoroughly used and abused by the tyrant Que Siming, his legs still trembling from the ordeal. Then, he was relentlessly pursued and battered by Que Siming’s enemies. Exhausted and starving, he still had to carry Que Siming on his back for over an hour along the mountain path.
He felt deeply that his misfortunes were either due to bad luck or a curse tied to Que Siming. Since the moment he met him, nothing had gone right, only misfortune piling up.
Jinbao carefully laid Que Siming down on the ground. He had made the best of the situation: using his outer garment as a cushion and tearing his undergarment into strips to bandage the wound. He was now bare-chested, wearing only his underpants, and shivering with goosebumps from the cold.
He knew he needed to find some water and food. He could endure, but Que Siming, having lost so much blood, couldn’t hold out for long.
Jinbao first cut a bunch of weeds to cover the cave entrance, then followed the sound of water through the mountains.
He was gone for two hours, returning with a large leaf full of clean water, several fish, and some fruit.
When Jinbao returned, Que Siming was still unconscious. He tried to prop him up and give him some water, but Que Siming wouldn’t open his mouth.
After several unsuccessful attempts to pour water into him, Jinbao had no choice but to hold the water in his own mouth and transfer it to Que Siming’s. At this point, he wasn’t concerned about feeling awkward anymore.
After a few mouthfuls, Jinbao noticed something strange. Que Siming, who had been as lifeless as a corpse, began to suck slowly, swallowing with a gurgling sound, and even extended his tongue into Jinbao’s mouth.
Jinbao quickly pulled back, unable to believe his eyes.
The divine doctor slowly opened his beautiful eyes and looked weakly at Jinbao.
Jinbao hesitated, “You…”
Que Siming continued to look at him weakly.
Jinbao sighed, “Are you okay now?”
Que Siming shook his head and said, “Thirsty.”
Jinbao brought the leaf with water to his mouth, “Drink.”
Que Siming turned his head away.
“Aren’t you thirsty?”
“Feed me.”
“Damn it!” Jinbao was inwardly furious.
“Will you drink or not?”
Que Siming continued to turn his head, “Feed me.”
“Damn it, if you want to drink, just drink!” Jinbao turned away, ignoring him.
Que Siming coughed weakly and continued to look at him.
Seeing Que Siming’s face as white as paper, lips dry and cracked, Jinbao felt a pang of sympathy. He thought about the wound on Que Siming’s shoulder. If not for Que Siming protecting him, it would have been Jinbao suffering that flesh-cutting pain. Now, it would be Jinbao lying here in this state. After all, Que Siming was his lifesaver. He couldn’t just leave him like this; his conscience wouldn’t allow it.
The large bandage on Que Siming’s shoulder was distressing to look at. Jinbao sighed, took another sip of water, and fed it to Que Siming’s lips.
Que Siming’s only functioning arm wrapped around Jinbao’s neck, and his long fingers gently moved through Jinbao’s thick hair, kissing him tenderly.
The tender and affectionate kiss felt incredibly wonderful. Jinbao, unable to help himself, began to respond, surrendering to the sensation.
A small movement made Que Siming shiver all over, deepening the kiss. He closed his eyes and slowly enjoyed the softness of this person, and the initiative that had made his heart race the first time.
Both of them were breathless from the kiss before they finally pulled away.
Que Siming looked at Jinbao with a half-smile, making Jinbao feel embarrassed. Blushing, he asked, “Um… do you still want more to drink?”
Que Siming, with a seductive lick of his lips, asked, “Do you want to do it again?”
Jinbao quickly avoided his mesmerizing gaze. “N-No, if you’re not thirsty anymore, I’ll go get something to eat. Do you want to have a fruit to fill your stomach first?”
Que Siming took the fruit, took a bite, and spat it out. “It’s so sour, is this meant for people?”
Jinbao sighed, “We’re in a place like this, and you’re still picky?”
“I’m not hungry enough to eat this.”
“Well, I caught some fish. I’ll go roast them for you.”
“Alright.”
Jinbao was about to put him down.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Going to roast the fish?”
“Carry me over. The ground is hard and cold. Are you just going to leave me here?”
Jinbao had no choice but to support him under his arms, carefully avoiding the wound, and helped him outside the cave.
Que Siming hung on Jinbao like he had no bones, sensually caressing his bare chest and back. Under Jinbao’s irritated glare, he watched Jinbao struggle to gather dry twigs and then sit down to start a fire to roast the fish.
By noon, around the fire, it was unbearably hot. Even Jinbao, bare-chested, was sweating profusely.
Que Siming seemed tired and forced his eyes closed, lying in Jinbao’s arms. Sweat beads constantly appeared on his forehead, some trickling into his eyelashes, making him blink uncomfortably.
Jinbao glanced over and wiped his sweat away.
Que Siming half-opened his eyes and looked at him with a gentle, weak smile that Jinbao had never seen before. It was so beautiful that Jinbao was almost afraid to look at him.
After some hesitation, Jinbao mustered up the courage and said, “Divine Doctor, I need to thank you…”
“Oh?”
“Um… you protected me from the knife… It’s all my fault…”
“I’m your man. How could I let you get hurt?”
Jinbao blushed deeply. Although it sounded awkward, he didn’t know how to refute. He thought for a moment and said, “I’ll… repay you properly in the future… I… I’ll treat you well…”
Que Siming looked up at him with bright eyes. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Then does that mean you’ll listen to whatever I say?”
“Uh… just don’t be unreasonable.”
“So, when I want to sleep with you, you’ll have to cooperate?”
Jinbao was deeply embarrassed, his hand holding the stick trembling, and sweat was pouring down his face, not knowing how to respond.
Que Siming lifted his chin and licked his jaw. “It’s settled then.”
Jinbao’s face turned red from his ears to his neck.
If it weren’t for the inappropriate timing, Que Siming would have laughed out loud. After so much effort, he had finally made this fool willingly submit to him. His mood lightened, and although the blood curse had been awakened, he felt it was worth it if it meant Little Hu no longer rejected him.
The fish was soon cooked, and the aroma filled the air. Que Siming took this opportunity to make Jinbao serve him, refusing to lift a finger and insisting that Jinbao remove the bones and feed him.
As the injured party, especially one who had been injured for him, Jinbao squinted as he removed the bones and fed him the tender fish.
The weather was neither too cold nor too hot, with sunlight filtering through the tree shadows, warming them. Que Siming, lying weakly in Jinbao’s arms, enjoyed the food being fed to him. If it weren’t for the occasional sharp pain in his shoulder, it would have been an incredibly pleasant moment he wished could last forever.
After feeding him, Que Siming let Jinbao help him reapply the medicine to his wound, then lay down to rest.
Que Siming’s frail and tired appearance, needing care and protection, greatly satisfied Jinbao’s sense of masculinity. Even though his chest felt tight and he was short of breath from being pressed down, he didn’t complain.
The two of them planned to rest now and leave the mountains when it got darker.
The cave was cool and comfortable, and they soon fell asleep, holding each other.
