Crossing the Threshold Part 2

In the mirror, the youth's body was half snow-white, the other half marred by damaged skin. Although obscured by green lotuses, the clear leaves and white rocks ultimately could not conceal the winding, crisscrossing old scars, which were not nearly as natural-looking as the red lotus blooming at his waist.

He pressed the red lotus petals blooming on his lower abdomen.

His damaged primordial spirit was stimulated and immediately acted up.

But it was just a chronic pain, coming and going, that he had gotten used to.

Feng Rugu leaned on the bronze mirror, looking at himself in the reflection.

He had always loved being beautiful. Back then, when his injuries had healed, he looked at himself in the mirror and saw his body ruined to such an unsightly degree. He was so pained and irritated that he threw several tantrums and smashed several precious mirrors.

Thinking about it now, it was quite a waste.

Recalling his willful behavior when he was first injured, the corners of Feng Rugu's mouth curled into a smile. In a whimsical mood, he pointed his finger towards the bean-sized lamplight.

When he was young, he could already conceal sword energy in his fingers. Casually pointing at the moon, he could cut off a piece of moonlight to coil in the hair of the sleeping Little Hongchen.

But now he couldn't even extinguish a lamp.

Feng Rugu was not too discouraged.

With a self-mocking chuckle, he walked to the lamp, leaned over, and blew out the oil lamp with a "whoo".

The moonlight of the long night sky fell like green salt along the window lattice, divided into small patches of light.

Feng Rugu flopped onto the bed, rolling over without hurrying to cover himself with the quilt. He stared at the top of the canopy, raised a hand and covered his intact left eye.

Instantly, the light in the room dimmed, and everything around seemed to be veiled in a green gauze curtain, indistinct.

He hugged the quilt and rolled into a sitting position, suddenly feeling an inexplicable loneliness and chill.

It would be ridiculous to confide this state of mind to his two disciples.

His senior brother had been overly caring for him in recent years, to the point of making Feng Rugu feel helpless.

He had no intention of arousing his senior brother's worries.

After much thought, Feng Rugu could only think of one person who would allow him to be willful and unrestrained at this moment.

...In any case, he was already set in stone as an old shameless person in his eyes, so he probably wouldn't dislike him any more.

Compared to relying on an intimate relationship, Feng Rugu was more accustomed to being disliked.

He was no longer an eighteen-year-old boy.

At eighteen, people cherish their reputation the most. When others speak ill of them behind their backs, they can still laugh and say you're all just jealous.

Now, his feathers were already in a mess, what did reputation and face matter to him?

He entered Ruyi's room using the most annoying method: climbing in through the window without a word of greeting.

But unfortunately, he pounced on empty air.

Ruyi and Hai Jing had gone to attend evening lessons.

The rules of Buddhism were much stricter than those of Taoism, with daily routine practice sessions that everyone from the abbot to the sweeping novices had to follow.

Today, Ruyi and he had fallen into the water and wandered around, delaying a lot of practice time.

Since Ruyi was unharmed, he naturally had to attend the lessons.

He had always been one to abide by the rules.

This guest room was divided into inner and outer sections. Hai Jing and Ruyi had different statuses. He slept on the small bed in the outer room, while the main bedroom naturally belonged to Ruyi.

With no owner temporarily watching over this place, Feng Rugu simply kicked off his shoes, wrapped himself in a layer of cold air, and crawled into the main bedroom bed, bundling himself up snugly, determined to give Ruyi a fright when he returned.

He tossed and turned on the bed, wondering if it would be better to hide under the covers with half his face exposed, or to wrap himself tightly and trick Ruyi into thinking he had stripped off all his clothes.

Thinking of Ruyi's flustered and indignant face, Feng Rugu felt a bit of the wicked pleasure of bullying his junior.

As he was thinking, Feng Rugu actually felt drowsy.

Just now, he had walked out of his own room and personally climbed through the window. For the current Feng Rugu, this was a great exertion.

With his cold hands and feet tucked in, he curled up like a cat in Ruyi's quilt and fell asleep.

Unknowingly, his plan had gone awry.

About two incense sticks later, Ruyi and Hai Jing returned to the room.

During the earlier practice session, Hai Jing had already noticed Ruyi's bracelet, but didn't dare to ask.

Entering the room, he poured a cup of warm water for Ruyi and couldn't help but inquire: "Junior Martial Uncle, I've never seen this bracelet of yours before."

Ruyi counted a few beads on the red bean prayer beads and answered concisely: "It was a gift from someone."

Hai Jing saw the interconnected patterns on the bracelet, with faint silver hidden markings appearing, and was very curious. He wanted to reach out and touch it, but Ruyi stepped towards the inner room, passing by him, and Hai Jing grasped at air.

He awkwardly scratched his little bald head, thinking that while the red beans were nice, using the meaning of "longing seeds" was a bit off and too undignified.

Hai Jing watched as Ruyi walked around the screen, his steps pausing, emitting a questioning nasal sound: "Hm?"

About to make the bed, Hai Jing heard the sound and asked: "Junior Martial Uncle, what's the matter?"

Ruyi gazed at Feng Rugu sleeping on his bed, the corners of his mouth slightly curling up: "Nothing. A cat jumped in through the window."

Author's Note:

To Senior Brother Han: The most painful thing about a secret crush is never having possessed them for even a second.