Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Xie Licheng, seeing that Gu Zhangyuan had agreed, ... had Gu Zhangyuan sit in his lap, facing him.

Gu Zhangyuan found this position awkward, and shyly tried to press his legs together. But unexpectedly, Xie Licheng not only didn't let him have his way, but rather mischievously helped spread them apart again.

Gu Zhangyuan reached out a hand to scratch him, and seeing this, Xie Licheng hurriedly leaned over to kiss his lips.

First a gentle press, and once Gu Zhangyuan was pleased, he began slowly conquering ground.

Then when the kiss got too intense, Gu Zhangyuan would get angry and reach out a hand to scratch him again.

At times like this, Xie Licheng would stop and look at him, trying to tell whether he was truly upset or just being coy.

If he was truly upset, then he would temporarily stop kissing.

If he was just being coy, it meant he could be even more intense.

Xie Licheng hadn't understood these things before. It was only as he got to know Gu Zhangyuan better that he learned some of Gu Zhangyuan's little signals.

Watching his own robes fall to the ground one by one, Gu Zhangyuan felt a moment of fear, but he looked seriously at the person before him.

This person was no stranger—he was the man he loved, his lawful husband.

The fear in Gu Zhangyuan's heart gradually gave way to a stronger, more excited emotion.

He thought, it's fine, they were husbands, there was nothing wrong with what they were doing.

Besides, he wanted to have a child—how else could he get pregnant?

With that thought, Gu Zhangyuan grew bolder and directly reached out to undo Xie Licheng's clothes himself.

The two of them fooled around once in the farm's pavilion, and after returning, they had another round in their bedroom.

Gu Zhangyuan couldn't take it anymore and eventually fell asleep directly.

As for how he was bathed, or how he was carried back, he had no memory of any of it.

He slept straight through until the next morning before waking.

When he woke, his whole body ached terribly, and his lower belly was throbbing dully.

He groaned in discomfort, and Xie Licheng, who had been watching over him, hurriedly leaned over and asked, "What's wrong? Where do you feel unwell?"

Gu Zhangyuan was still groggy. He blinked his big, pretty eyes and said to Xie Licheng groggily, "My body hurts, husband. Did I get hurt?"

Hearing this, Xie Licheng picked him up, undid his clothes, and checked him over again.

When he had taken him to bathe last night, he had checked—the worst spots were just a little red and swollen.

Seeing him so uncomfortable now, Xie Licheng had no choice but to give him another thorough check-up while it was still light out.

He checked him over from head to toe, inside and out.

Xie Licheng asked, "Where exactly does it hurt?"

Gu Zhangyuan pointed at his lower belly, then at him...

Xie Licheng remembered what the wet nurse had told him last night, so he pulled him into his arms and gently rubbed it for him.

Still groggy, Gu Zhangyuan was slow to react. It wasn't until Xie Licheng had rubbed several times that he started squirming shyly in Xie Licheng's arms.

Gu Zhangyuan protested in a soft, timid voice, "No, you can't do that."

Xie Licheng was equal parts exasperated and amused. "Why can't I? When we were in bed together, I even—"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Seeing Gu Zhangyuan's eyes welling up, and worried he might actually cry out of anger, Xie Licheng quickly raised both hands in surrender.

Xie Licheng: "Okay, okay, I won't say anything, and I won't touch you either."

Gu Zhangyuan grabbed a piece of clothing and wrapped it around himself, then said to Xie Licheng in disbelief, "You've never treated me like this before."

Could it be that because he'd been so passionate last night, he'd... given Xie Licheng the wrong idea?

Xie Licheng explained, "Last night when I was bathing you, the wet nurse gave me a book of avoidance-fire diagrams. She also said... that a boy's body is different from a man's, and taught me some ways to take care of a boy."

Normally, the wet nurse really couldn't have taught Xie Licheng about such things.

But yesterday, when Xie Licheng and Gu Zhangyuan had been fooling around, the wet nurse saw Gu Zhangyuan faint directly, and she worried the two young men were being too reckless and would do lasting damage to Gu Zhangyuan's body.

So while Xie Licheng and the wet nurse were caring for Gu Zhangyuan together, the wet nurse steeled herself and offered a bit of guidance.

Hearing that the wet nurse had taught him those things to take care of him, Gu Zhangyuan was both embarrassed and in disbelief.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "That wet nurse, honestly. I'm not a kid anymore—how could she, how could she teach you all that?"

Seeing that he was no longer angry, Xie Licheng found the avoidance-fire diagram book and pulled it out.

He flipped open one of the pages and asked with a serious, earnest expression, "It says here that if a boy becomes pregnant, due to the pregnancy, he'll strongly want to sleep with his husband. At this time—meaning the first three months and the last three months of pregnancy—they can't sleep together. If the boy is really suffering, then the husband needs to..."

Before Xie Licheng could continue, Gu Zhangyuan threw the book aside.

"Don't read that stuff, and don't go studying it. I know what I need to know—you don't need to know all that."

Xie Licheng didn't bother with the book, but asked curiously, "If you get pregnant and want to sleep with me, how should I handle it?"

Should he seriously refuse, or take care of him some other way like the book said? He needed Gu Zhangyuan to give him a straight answer so he'd know what to do.

Gu Zhangyuan didn't want to answer that question, because he didn't know what state he would be in either.

So he blinked his eyes, looked at Xie Licheng, and said, "I don't know either. Let's talk about it then. I'm afraid that even if I say something now, I'll end up changing my mind later."

Xie Licheng nodded at that, then got up to find Gu Zhangyuan a fresh set of clothes.

Seeing that the clothes he brought were a practical, close-fitting outfit, Gu Zhangyuan asked curiously, "Why are we wearing this?"

Xie Licheng: "Taking you up to the mountains to have some fun for a couple of days."

Hearing he was going to take him out, Gu Zhangyuan perked up immediately.

Gu Zhangyuan sat up as he asked, "What about your workshop, then?"

Xie Licheng: "It'll be fine. I'll hire some workers when we get back."

But thinking of how clingy Gu Zhangyuan was last night, Xie Licheng still decided to take him up to the mountains for a couple of days.

By the time Gu Zhangyuan finished dressing, Xie Licheng had already packed everything they needed.

Clothes, shoes, socks, food, drinks, lighting equipment, tents, and the like. Xie Licheng's backpack had plenty of compartments, so they could bring quite a lot of stuff.

The two of them headed out in the morning. To save Gu Zhangyuan's energy, Xie Licheng carried him piggyback up the mountain.

Normally, in a situation like this, Xie Licheng would have gone up the mountain first, and Gu Zhangyuan would have just teleported there.

But the young couple were feeling clingy right then, wanting to stay glued together the whole time.

Along the way, Xie Licheng asked, "Is your stomach still bothering you?"

Gu Zhangyuan, lying on Xie Licheng's back, shook his head. "It doesn't bother me anymore. It didn't hurt before either, it was just a little sore."

He figured it was because they had been too wild last night, and his body couldn't quite take it.

Xie Licheng carried him on his back for a while, then switched to carrying him in his arms.

Going up the mountain was usually a troublesome and dangerous affair, but for Xie Licheng, even with someone in his arms, it was a breeze.

Once they were deep in the mountains, Gu Zhangyuan got down and walked for a bit on his own. His legs were still a little shaky, and before long, he asked Xie Licheng to carry him again.

This time, it wasn't Gu Zhangyuan being fussy; it was Xie Licheng's lack of self-control yesterday that was to blame. Otherwise, Gu Zhangyuan wouldn't still be feeling off.

Xie Licheng carried him a little farther and spotted a wild pheasant not far away.

He set Gu Zhangyuan down and took out a crossbow, teaching him how to shoot.

Xie Licheng said softly, "Come on, use this to kill that pheasant."

Gu Zhangyuan had used a crossbow before. With Xie Licheng guiding him, he fired a bolt.

The shot was a little off target, but Xie Licheng didn't say anything about it. Instead, he coached him to keep aiming at the prey.

The main reason they came up the mountain this time was to have fun, so Xie Licheng wasn't too picky about his aim.

But... Gu Zhangyuan did have a knack for it. After trying a few more shots, he gradually got the hang of it.

Once he had used the crossbow to bag a rabbit and a pheasant, Xie Licheng took out a gun and handed it to him.

Xie Licheng said, "Try this instead. I'll teach you how to use it."

With that, Xie Licheng put his arms around Gu Zhangyuan and taught him how to use the gun.

The gun was also known as "the great equalizer." With such a weapon in hand, even a frail young man like Gu Zhangyuan could easily kill a burly man.

The first time he used the gun, Gu Zhangyuan was scared.

He leaned against Xie Licheng's chest and muttered, "This... why is it so scary?"

Xie Licheng chuckled. "Once you're used to it and have practiced a bit, it won't be scary anymore."

Gu Zhangyuan tried it a couple more times, but he still found the gun quite scary.

He whined at Xie Licheng, "I don't want to use it anymore. I don't want to practice."

Xie Licheng didn't force him. "Alright then, we'll try again another time."

With that, Xie Licheng put the gun back into his backpack and was about to head deeper into the mountains with Gu Zhangyuan.

Just then, the two came across a majestic big cat.

The big cat was a tiger, also known as the king of the mountain.

This was the first time Gu Zhangyuan had seen a live tiger. At first sight, he didn't realize how dangerous it was.

He pointed at the tiger and said, "Husband, that... looks like a tiger?"

Xie Licheng had already seen it. He hadn't warned Gu Zhangyuan because he was afraid Gu Zhangyuan would be scared.

Seeing that Gu Zhangyuan seemed fine and didn't look particularly frightened, Xie Licheng lifted him up into a tree.

Xie Licheng said, "You stay up here. I'll handle it quickly."

Gu Zhangyuan sat on a branch, and only then did the fear hit him.

He hugged the trunk and watched the tiger slowly approaching them from not far off.

He said, "Husband, be careful."

Gu Zhangyuan hadn't felt scared earlier because he was in Xie Licheng's arms. Now that he was separated from him, the fear crept in.

Gu Zhangyuan realized that Xie Licheng was his courage.

Without Xie Licheng, he went back to being his usual timid self.

Xie Licheng waved a hand in acknowledgment, then walked toward the big tiger.

And then Gu Zhangyuan watched Xie Licheng kill a tiger with his bare hands.

Honestly, that scene was a bit bloody and terrifying.

But knowing that man belonged to him, he couldn't really be scared of him.

After Xie Licheng killed the tiger, he used the system to process it. Then he wiped the blood off his hands and went back to the tree to help Gu Zhangyuan down.

Gu Zhangyuan noticed the blood on him and said nervously, "You've got blood on you. Don't get it on me."

Xie Licheng: "There's a stream up ahead. I'll wash up once we get there."

Gu Zhangyuan nodded, then couldn't help asking worriedly, "It's not summer anymore. Won't you catch a cold bathing in the mountains?"

Xie Licheng took his hand and walked on slowly, replying calmly, "No, I won't. I'm in great shape."