Chóng Fēi's POV
'This much punishment is at least enough. My tiny revenge is done—and he already has enough hair, since he looks like he's terrified of going bald.'
Chóng Fēi huffed faintly.
His breath trembled just a little. His mind whispered: it might have gone too far. But he told himself: this was who he was. He could have clipped the whole lock, but he had shortened his demand over the punishment—simply because Lìngxiāo's face had twitched like... it had really made him scared.
He slowly removed his hand from Lìngxiāo's mouth.
His eyes traced the redness on Lìngxiāo's nose, lips, cheeks—like all the blood had rushed to his face. His lips were parted, his blinking tight. Even his eyes looked bloodshot, a little glassy—but still trying to glare through his lashes.
'Damn.. he looks like I have stepped on a peaceful fox's tail.. glaring at me again.. even while he looks worked up..'
'Am I dreaming? I thought I knew what was happening here.'
He blinked when Lìngxiāo's eyes actually looked extra moistened than usual. The rims were trembling—like moonlight over a restless river at night.
'Would he cry or.. something..?'
'Nothing is ever expected under this roof, no matter who I'm with.'
Chóng Fēi couldn't figure out what was going on inside him—only his own frustration. But he just couldn't help it. He had taken it too personally.
Not that he was really asking about Lìngxiāo's background only for political reasons. He just wanted to know who he was—since people barely knew more than his name, his smile, his outfit, his profession.
'He is not something so simple, right?'
'He should have a root. Maybe he lives alone, but he has a root. A tree cannot grow without roots. And here he says he does not even remember the fake roots that raised him?'
This single thing made Chóng Fēi go crazy with impatience—and a boundary Lìngxiāo was making, which reminded him of his father's unnecessary ego. Though his father's was far more cruel.
And lastly—while he was treated, plumped with power, obedience, fear—while Lìngxiāo broke all of it, which he sometimes mindlessly wrote in his diary like a fictional story—he would just pull away like nothing happened.
He was sure this guy was up to something. Hiding.
But again—he couldn't voice it directly. So he voiced it and punished him like this—because this was the only way he had ever learned to communicate.
"You should have been glad that I shortened your punishment—even after you pushed me out of the clan, avoided me like I was some lowly beggar, and then that slap with the needle threat." He listed them one by one, raising his fingers with each name.
"You know, I sometimes make disrespectful people go bald. But you.." This time he didn't touch Lìngxiāo. Nor curse.
At the end of the day, he really didn't want any of those treatments to come back on him—like the heavy lesson books his father threw at him.
'This man does fight back—not only with a smile and golden silk.'
He thoughtfully tied the clipped lock of hair into a small knot and slipped it into his robe. His nerves felt tight, as if more blows were left to dodge.
'My instincts say it's him. I just cannot prove it. But he's too daring. And.. wasn't he a normal person to become someone like him..?'
A normal boy.. exorcist..? It does not make sense.
His thoughts grew wilder.
With everything happening—the new things, the needle snake—he couldn't help but wonder about that boy. The one who used to take all the blame for stealing his father's luxurious showpieces or adult food when he was young. The one who threw lessons at him just to spite his father for not giving him time.
That boy was the only one who ever stayed. Even if he was just a caretaker's son.
His father called himself a father—but it felt cheap if everyone had his length beneath their bedsheets. Still, he was his father. He gave him this prince-like life, even if it was isolated.
Perhaps for his own safety.
'But was he even alive after that.. creepy face took him away..?'
He was trying to force-find the answer from Lìngxiāo instead.
He slowly tilted up his chin with his handfan. The handfan's head felt heavy under his chin—as if he was locked in one position, or simply released his weight onto it. Their eyes met directly.
"But according to my perspective... you would look more scary than any gûi if I did." He said with his strange dry humor—flat, yet truthful.
It did horrified him—trying to picture Lìngxiāo bald. He would look like a featherless bird or furrless fox.
"And your reaction just from a tiny lock of hair.." He clicked his tongue, half-pity, half-amazed, shaking his head slowly. His lips curled in a way that screamed dissatisfaction. "It would not be fun. Only a pain in the ass. But yeah—glad you are human. Congratulations for your clarification."
Lìngxiāo still said nothing. His eyes just looked like they were struggling to stay open.
'The way his eyes are flickering like a lamp about to blow out.. I didn't even cut a single piece of his skin to get him this pale, like blood loss. And here he stands like this, rather than just telling me why he's bluffing out of nowhere.'
'Or was he always this hot-headed, and his smile barely shows it?'
'Some people said right—peaceful humans are more dangerous than a screaming husky like me..'
'No wonder they respect his commands more than mine.'
'But he has his mistakes too. I was just..kinda about to make up for my ego—but before that, he SLAPPED me.'
'What did I possibly say more than a 'fuck you'? Others say far more disgusting things. I use the most basic curses.'
His eyes widened just a little at a random guess that could be real.
'Like hell I want to fuck him in reality. But perhaps he took it that way.'
'He has a fine mind—yet cannot tell if I meant it or just cursed?'
He thought, with the faintest flush at his ears, lips pressed into a thin line as he waited for an answer—his mind racing, his chest tight, as if his heart was paused, waiting to pound harder.
'Well.. his eyes do.. make me daydream about that boy.'
'He looks so like him. Even his name is the opposite of what he had.'
'Those eye rims—is that common? Lord knows. But I have never seen anyone but 'him' with that. I even read it IS rare.'
When he was about to add more of his logic and unclear frustration—the moment took the most unexpected turn.
Lìngxiāo's eyes rolled back, and he fell over Chóng Fēi's left shoulder—like the most unexpected lightning, more shocking than any slap.
Chóng Fēi's breath caught. His eyes widened like it was being poked by the tip of the sword.
'What the fuck, LÌNGXIĀO!?'