"Uncle―"

Lu Qiange and Huanan Jiyan rushed all the way to finally catch up with Leng Qingtang and his wife at the riverbank of Eagle Eye Mountain.

"Uncle, Tulia is just a savage. Please don't take his words seriously."

Lu Qiange held his rein to stop the couple from going away as he hastily explained before his horse stopped. His glittering purple eyes fixed on Lu Qiange's face, dying for Lu's forgiveness and understanding.

The horse puffed heavily as the sad man rotated two rounds.

"You may find a little offensive that my Father directly asked you to serve our country, but he just appreciates your talent so much that his words become too blunt. Hope you don't mind."

"It's alright. You don't have to worry about me. I just thought that it was getting dark and everybody got tired, so I just wanted to go home early to have a rest."

Leng Qingtang's features were cool and calm. One couldn't find any trace of anger on his face.

However, the calmer he was, the more worried Lu Qiange felt.

"Uncle..."

Gu Yunxi rode her horse to walk up to Lu Qiange, saying to the worried man with a smile,

"Take it easy, Hua'er. We've been through a lot with you and Jiyan together. How can we possibly hold a grudge against each other owing to some words? Your uncle is grateful to your Father, but he can't serve as your Father's Minister. More explanations will only made him suffer, so he'd better avoid things like that now."

Leng Qingtang nodded and agreed,

"Yeah. Your aunt knows me the best. You don't have to overthink it. Now you can come with us to our home and enjoy the wine. Your aunt will cook us dinner. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we have dinner together?"

Seeing his smile got brighter, Lu Qiange got relieved.

On the inside he still had doubts, so he awkwardly smiled and pointed to the opposite riverbank with his horsewhip, saying,

"Great. I know there's a short path to your home nearby. Please follow me."

Riding across the river and through a less-lush forest, and then riding ahead another five miles, they found a vineyard with ripe grapes, among which stood some peasants' lofts sparsely set in the sun without any covering.

From afar they noticed one of the yards was quite bustling.

They found the scripture banner in the loft flew in the wind as many totems with creepy patterns were embroidered on the banners in black and cyan.

The yard was enveloped in smoke, and there were civilians viewing and musicians playing the wind instruments.

An exorcising performer in sackcloth walked back and forth in the yard as he made threatening gestures, mumbling some kind of curse.

The beats and rhythms of the wind music were quite queer as the breeze brought in a weird and smelly odor.

Huanan Jiyan's nose slightly moved before she put her hands on her chest and frown.

"Who's conducting a religious ritual? What kind of incense is it? It's smelly."

Lu Qiange stopped his horse and cocked his neck toward the place where the wind music was sounded. His purple eyes rolled before going serious,

"It's not any kind of religious ritual. It's a 'heart-by-heart blood bond'. Someone is holding a ritual of it."

Batting her eyelashes, Gu Yunxi asked wonderingly,

"What's a 'heart-by-heart blood bond'?"

Lu Qiange's handsome features turned dark as his young face became as hard and cold as a blank paper.

"It's ancient witchcraft. It's said that a certain amount of human blood and secretions can make a person or several persons become a certain person's 'Evilshield', that is, the so-called living substitute, who serve to counteract all the illness and wounds for the certain person. If something evil happens to a certain person, it'll only hurt those 'Evilshields', so the secret magic is called 'heart-by-heart blood bond'."

Huanan Jiyan got extremely fearful as she couldn't help hugging herself with her arms. A sheen of sweats was on her back as she grimaced and said,

"Horrible! That's too ruthless. We've also got 'Evilshields' in Da Yi, but I've heard that they should make living people be an 'Evilshield' as western tribes do."

Lu Qiange smiled unassumingly,

"You think it's ruthless? Whereas people in the western tribes don't think so. People in the blood signatories are mostly family members, best friends, couples, and lovers. They're so in love that they hope their family members and lovers can be safe in their whole lives, so they find witches to make the signatory for them while they're alive."

"What's more, in Udan, when people reach the age of marriage, he'll never be qualified to propose to his girl, unless he becomes his fiancee's 'Evilshield' via 'heart-by-heart blood bond' first."

Deep in thought, Huanan Jiyan nodded. She suddenly thought of something as she playfully put one of her hands on her hip. asking loudly,

"Zhu, would you still love to marry me if I ask you to be my 'Evilshield' first?"

Lifting up the corner of his eyes, Lu Qiange rode near her and answered with a sly grin,

"You've got me to accompany and protect you. How dare all the woes bold enough to bother you!"

The girl was so naive that she was easy to please. The boy's words made her over the moon, and she applauded,

"Terrific! Terrific! Zhu's my living bodyguard. I don't need any 'Evilshield' since you'll always protect me by my side."

Leng Qingtang swiveled to look at them with a gentle smile and said,

"Giddy up! Let's hurry up! It's almost dark."

Outside the short wall, Gu Yunxi stared at the spectacular bonding ritual for a while on the horseback with her brows frowned.

She didn't follow Leng Qingtang back muddle-headedly until he swiveled to find her.

―

It was late-night and they had fallen asleep, except Leng Qingtang leaned against the wooden fence alone. Lifting up his head with long hair, he stared at the lonely crescent moon for long as he's as lonely as it was.

Ever since the marriage, it was the first time that he tossed and turned in the bed, losing sleep.

Light steps gradually got closer, and then his back was covered with a cloak, which brought a bit of warmth to his cool body.

Turning around, he found his beautiful wife's doe eyes with smiles in them.

"Darling..."

Acting as if nothing had ever happened, Leng Qingtang's secret worries were exposed by his sorrowful eyes and the exhaustion between his frowned eyebrows.

"Are you still thinking about unhappy things?"

His rare expression of depression really made Gu Yunxi's heart hurt as she stroked his face with her warm and soft hands, comforting him amiably,

"Every choice we've made and everything we've done may not be understood by everyone, so you don't have to bother yourself with someone's rudeness."

Leng Qingtang's eyes were filled with gratitude, he smiled gently as he held her tight in his arms and affectionately gazed at her, sighed in a small voice,

"Maybe I've got tired after all those years of service in the court, so I just wanted to find a place isolated from our past and live a simple life with you, and then nobody will know about our history."

However, today I just found that I'm not able to totally get rid of our past and start a new life. Darling, what I fear the most is that I might make a wrong choice which inflicted unfair treatment on you with me..."

Gu Yunxi's eyes instantly narrowed and hastily covered his mouth with her hands.

"You don't have to think so much. You used to work in the center of power where we could live an extravagant life that was too dangerous and unstable. Now the peaceful life is what I've longed for..."

Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips on the man's ear, affectionately whispering,

"Thank you, my love. Right now I'm very happy and satisfied."

With the delight of gratitude coursing in his body, Leng Qingtang suddenly bent over to lower his head, pressing a hot kiss to Gu Yunxi's lips.

Gu Yunxi responded passionately. They hugged each other tightly as their intertwined bodies rolled over two or three times on the ground of the porch.

He suddenly carried her in bridal style. Without saying a word, he took her to the second floor in a hurry.

The drapery over the bed was set down. The silky curtains shook like the tumbling sea waves as the bed rhythmically rocked.

The candles paired with their own shadows, illuminating the erotic scene in the room...

It finally came back to silence after long.

Gu Yunxi crawled as she cocked her body to the side of Leng Qingtang. Still lost in the passion, she pressed her hot face to Leng Qingtang's sweaty chest, carefully listening to the strong and powerful beating of his heart.

Leng Qingtang lovingly cuddled her as he stroked her back with his fingers and left a trail of kisses in her wet hair.

"Darling, Prime Princess and her son have helped us a lot, so we should not continue to accept the presents from the Udan Palace."

After a moment of silence, Gu Yunxi suddenly suggested.

Leng Qingtang's eyes wandered to the drapery over the bed as his black pupils combined with the dark night as one,

"I also think so. We've got enough gold and silver from Da Yi. Only some cash can't be used until they get exchanged in the money shops."

Gu Yunxi got up a little bit as she propped against her head with her hand. Her clear eyes shone brightly in the dark like a pair of glittering diamonds.

"Darling, let's go to the business street on the border tomorrow. I've got a good idea. I'm sure we can use it to get lots of money."