After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Ye Chenyan gave him a faintly amused look. “You don’t actually think you’ve been... hiding it well, do you?”

Yu Qingtang guiltily looked away.

“...”

“Not really. I do have some self-awareness.”

“So what happened?” Ye Chenyan stepped closer and leaned in to look at him. “You two left for a while earlier. Who did you go see?”

“Academy Head Wen,” Yu Qingtang answered honestly. “We talked about a few things. Ah, it’s not important.”

He patted Ye Chenyan, then suddenly pointed at the bed.

“You get on the bed first.”

Ye Chenyan’s eyes slowly widened.

He looked at the bed.

Then back at Yu Qingtang.

In a low voice, he confirmed, “Get on the bed?”

Yu Qingtang had not thought anything of it at first, but the moment he met Ye Chenyan’s gaze, a certain possibility abruptly occurred to him.

He immediately took a solemn step backward and assumed a defensive stance.

“Don’t start thinking weird things! I’m trying to talk to you about something serious!”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow and asked with perfect justification, “What serious business has to be discussed in bed?”

Yu Qingtang choked.

His ears reddened as he guiltily looked away.

“...Keep talking nonsense and we won’t discuss serious business or anything else!”

“All right, all right.” Ye Chenyan obediently agreed and flipped onto the bed. He sat there looking at him expectantly. “There. I’m being good and sitting on the bed. Now what?”

Yu Qingtang cleared his throat, trying very hard to look serious.

“Here’s the situation.”

“Senior Tianji Zi told me before that I, uh... affected your fate...”

Ye Chenyan froze.

He clearly had not expected Yu Qingtang to actually begin with something serious. His brows immediately drew together and he started to get up.

“Why does he tell you everything?”

“Hey—!” Yu Qingtang instantly pointed at him. “No getting up. Sit back down!”

Ye Chenyan pursed his lips but obediently sat again.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s always babbling about fate and destiny.”

“What does any of that have to do with this? What did Wen Tianxia tell you?”

“‘Wen Tianxia’?” Yu Qingtang gave him a complicated look. “He’s still your senior. At least call him Academy Head Wen.”

Then he leaned in mysteriously.

“He taught me a formation that can redirect fortune.”

“Remember how, before, whenever I touched you, your fortune would improve? He said that’s because our fortunes are connected, and because I altered your original fate. This formation can increase the efficiency of how much my fortune affects yours...”

As Ye Chenyan listened, his expression gradually became strange.

“Why does this sound like a scam?”

Yu Qingtang choked.

“If—and I mean if—some roadside fortune-telling Daoist waving a little banner told me this, I’d definitely think he was a scammer too.”

“But Academy Head Wen taught me this method!” Yu Qingtang said with a perfectly serious face. “It definitely only sounds like a scam. It has to work in practice.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “Did you learn the formation?”

“I did...” Yu Qingtang scratched his head and guiltily glanced at him. “It’s just that the position is a little weird.”

Ye Chenyan abruptly became interested.

He leaned closer. “What kind of position? Isn’t it a formation?”

Yu Qingtang muttered quietly, “He said you use the body itself as the formation. A cultivator’s body can be regarded as a formation in its own right...”

Under Ye Chenyan’s gaze, his voice grew quieter and quieter.

“I-I admit it sounds a little scammy, but Academy Head Wen must have had his reasons.”

Ye Chenyan pressed his fingers to his brow, took a deep breath, and asked, “And the position?”

Yu Qingtang continued with deadly seriousness.

“Academy Head Wen said cultivators meditate with the five centers facing heaven. So if I want to transfer my fortune to you, then my five centers have to meet your five centers!”

He reached out and straightened Ye Chenyan’s head.

“First, crown to crown. Then palm to palm...”

He took Ye Chenyan’s hands.

Then he lowered his head to look at his own legs.

Then Ye Chenyan’s.

“I still haven’t figured out how we’re supposed to get sole to sole.”

Ye Chenyan: “...”

With his forehead pressed against Yu Qingtang’s, he could not hold back a muffled laugh.

He tightened his grip on Yu Qingtang’s hands, amusement slipping into his voice.

“So the reason you kept looking me up and down just now was because you were figuring out how to get all five centers lined up with mine?”

“Mm.” Yu Qingtang nodded honestly. “I just thought maybe we could do it like two turtles flipped onto their backs...”

An image immediately appeared in Ye Chenyan’s mind.

He closed his eyes and barely managed to suppress his laughter.

“...Let me tell you a secret.”

“Hm?” Yu Qingtang tilted his head slightly and met his gaze.

Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved with laughter as he lowered his voice.

“My master once told me that Four Books Academy sounds like the kind of place upright gentlemen would gather, but in reality, what they’re best at is spouting nonsense with a completely straight face. You must never trust them too easily.”

He blinked lightly.

“Especially Wen Tianxia.”

Yu Qingtang froze.

Slowly, he straightened.

His hands were still held by Ye Chenyan, palm to palm.

His mind turned that over for several seconds before he finally understood. He stared at Ye Chenyan in disbelief.

“You mean...”

“I got tricked?”

The corners of Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved.

Then he cleared his throat.

“You can’t really °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° blame yourself. Wen Tianxia went too far.”

Yu Qingtang’s expression briefly went blank.

“Huh?”

“That shouldn’t be right...” He still seemed unwilling to accept reality. “What does he even gain from tricking me? No way.”

Ye Chenyan’s gaze flickered.

He tentatively offered, “Entertainment?”

Yu Qingtang stared at him blankly.

“He...”

“One of Central Province’s dominant figures. Head of Four Books Academy. One of the legendary Mahayana cultivators you could count on one hand beneath heaven.”

“He went to that much trouble to trick me...”

“Just because it was funny?”

“No way!”

Ye Chenyan held his hands and gave them a soothing little shake, suppressing his laughter.

“Then think about Four Books Academy as a whole. Isn’t the general atmosphere kind of...”

“If all the lower beams are crooked in every possible direction, the upper beam probably isn’t particularly straight either.”

“Think about Scholar Xiao. Do you still think Wen Tianxia wouldn’t do something like this?”

Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes.

“...You know what?”

“You actually have a point.”

“His entire character image just became gossipy and devious in one shot.”

Ye Chenyan finally seemed unable to hold it in any longer and threw his head back, laughing as he swung their joined hands.

“Ah, you really are...”

Yu Qingtang slowly turned his head toward him.

Ye Chenyan instantly reined in his laughter and cleared his throat.

“Ahem. You’re just too innocent. That’s why all these old foxes manage to trick you.”

“Actually, if you want to give me some good fortune, there’s no need to go through all that trouble.”

He looked up at Yu Qingtang.

“Want to try?”

Yu Qingtang leaned his head closer.

“Hm?”

Ye Chenyan suddenly pulled hard.

He caught Yu Qingtang around the waist and rolled onto the bed with him.

There was a muffled thump as he pressed Yu Qingtang down into the soft bedding.

“Ow!”

Yu Qingtang toppled onto the bed and stared at him in alarm.

“Y-you—you...”

Ye Chenyan braced himself above him and sighed lightly.

“Ah.”

“If you ever wandered the cultivation world alone, how could anyone possibly stop worrying about you?”

He tapped Yu Qingtang between the brows and chuckled.

“Think about it. Tianji Zi is his friend. I’m Tianji Zi’s disciple. So naturally, I’m also...”

Yu Qingtang slowly pulled up the corner of the blanket and barely managed to shield himself with it.

With a trembling finger, he pointed at Ye Chenyan.

“You’re no good either!”

Ye Chenyan gave a muffled laugh and raised an eyebrow.

“Correct.”

He even tilted his head, looking blatantly provocative and entirely unashamed.

“You’ve already fallen for it twice. You ought to pay some kind of price...”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened.

He opened his mouth to yell “Stop!”

Ye Chenyan moved faster and clapped a hand over his mouth.

He chuckled.

“I did say I’d stop whenever you told me to...”

A sly smile appeared on his face.

“But if you can’t say it, then technically I’m not breaking my word, am I?”

Yu Qingtang stared at him in shock, raising one trembling hand.

Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved.

He lowered his head and kissed Yu Qingtang’s fingers.

Then, still looking down at him, he deliberately swept his gaze over him from head to toe and slowly hooked a finger into his collar.

“First...”

Yu Qingtang covered his chest with the expression of a man prepared to die.

“Not here?” Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow.

He regretfully withdrew his hand and moved downward until his fingers hooked around Yu Qingtang’s belt.

“Then...”

Yu Qingtang clutched his waistband with both hands and stared even harder.

The smile on Ye Chenyan’s face grew wider and wider.

Then he suddenly rolled over, released him, and lay beside him, shoulders shaking with laughter.

“All right. I was just scaring you. How could I really...”

Yu Qingtang turned his head toward him.

Their eyes met.

Ye Chenyan lightly pressed his lips together, stared into Yu Qingtang’s eyes, and said,

“Would you say this counts as sharing a bed and pillow?”

Yu Qingtang blinked and glanced at the pillow beneath his own head.

“You only seem to have one pillow on your bed. But I’m not fully on it. Half my head is hanging off...”

Ye Chenyan placed a hand behind his head and pulled him closer until Yu Qingtang was nearly in his arms.

“Then come a little closer.”

Their breaths mingled at such close range.

The kiss that followed seemed almost inevitable.

Yu Qingtang was kissed until his head felt pleasantly fuzzy.

Ye Chenyan gently kissed his forehead. One hand lightly brushed over the soft lobe of his ear as he spoke in a hoarse voice.

“I already feel like I’ve been blessed with extraordinary good fortune.”

“You don’t have to keep thinking about repaying me.”

Yu Qingtang did not answer.

After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head slightly and pressed his forehead against Ye Chenyan’s.

Ye Chenyan glanced upward and chuckled.

“What?”

“Maybe it really works a little,” Yu Qingtang muttered. “If all five centers would run at full power, then one center should still do something, right?”

Ye Chenyan laughed softly, his eyes curving.

“Sure—”

His eyes shone as he looked at him.

“So are you sleeping here tonight?”

Yu Qingtang gave him a wary sidelong look.

Ye Chenyan pointed innocently at his own forehead and widened his eyes.

“I can’t exactly take my head off and let you carry it back to your room.”

Yu Qingtang: “...That’s terrifying.”

After hesitating, he shifted into a more comfortable position and lay flat, then took Ye Chenyan’s hand.

“Let’s connect this center instead. It’s easier.”

“I’m sleeping.”

He had barely closed his eyes before abruptly opening them again.

“Wake me up early tomorrow. I’ll sneak back to my room before Brother Chi and Brother Xiao get up.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“So he can’t gossip about it.” Yu Qingtang squeezed his palm. “You definitely wake up earlier than I do, so remember to wake me! Otherwise...”

He narrowed his eyes and made a vicious throat-slitting gesture.

“Yes, sir!” Ye Chenyan answered solemnly. “I’ll definitely wake you.”

He propped himself up and looked at Yu Qingtang.

“What if you won’t wake up?”

Yu Qingtang tilted his head.

After thinking for a moment, he patted Ye Chenyan on the shoulder.

“Then put some effort into it. It’s not like I sleep through lightning strikes.”

“Oh—” Ye Chenyan chuckled softly. “All right. I’ll definitely wake you.”

A short while later, slow and even breathing sounded beside him.

Ye Chenyan opened his eyes.

He turned his head slightly and called in a low voice,

“Qingtang?”

No response.

After a quiet moment, he slowly sat up—

One of his hands was still clasped in Yu Qingtang’s, so he could not make any large movements.

He lowered his gaze to their joined hands and gave a quiet laugh, helplessly shaking his head.

With his back to Yu Qingtang, he sat cross-legged, one hand propping up his chin while the other gave their joined hands a small shake.

He muttered under his breath,

“Keeping you here... I’m not even sure which one of us is being tortured.”

“Ah.”

He reached toward his storage ring and began feeling around inside.

Did he still have those Heart-Cleansing pills Du Heng had given him before?

“Pork hock...”

Yu Qingtang mumbled indistinctly in his sleep.

Then he rolled over.

His hand slipped free—

Only for both arms to wrap directly around Ye Chenyan’s waist.

Ye Chenyan immediately straightened.

His entire body went rigid.

He did not dare move a muscle.

Slowly, he lowered his head and stared at the arms wrapped around his waist.

He drew in a deep breath and asked through gritted teeth,

“Are you pretending to be asleep?”

The only response was steady breathing.

Then Yu Qingtang smacked his lips.

Ye Chenyan gently held Yu Qingtang’s hand.

He closed his eyes, ears burning red, and muttered,

“...Just you wait.”

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