Warning: Sexual Content
The wind was a fleeting caress inside the bamboo hut, a stark contrast to the storm raging within Ma Jingguo. From the bed, his eyes, wide with a desperate, primal fear, devoured Mu Dishi's face. It was an anchor in the swirling agony that threatened to consume him. His right hand, still throbbing, clenched Mu Dishi's dress in a death grip. This hold was essential; if the pain claimed him, if he lost consciousness, this was his desperate, unspoken plea for Mu Dishi to stay, to not abandon him. And in that fierce focus, in the captivating lines of Mu Dishi's handsome face, the torrent of his other emotions blessedly faded, lost to the intensity of his gaze.
After Mu Dishi finished stitching Ma Jingguo and meticulously bandaged the wound, he walked to the bed, a fresh robe from Ma Jingguo's bag draped over his arm.
"Let me help you dress," Mu Dishi stated, his voice cool but not unkind.
Ma Jingguo, ever the flirt, managed a pained grin. "Why put it on, only to take it off as soon as xiao shushu climbs into bed?"
"Don't be stupid," Mu Dishi snapped, a blush creeping up his neck. In a flash of irritation, he tossed Ma Jingguo's clothes onto the bed. "Do it yourself."
Ma Jingguo chuckled, a wince of pain escaping him. "Xiao shushu, you'll have to help me. I cannot move my right hand at all."
"No, do it yourself," Mu Dishi insisted coldly, walking to the table and sitting down on the stool, his back stiff.
Ma Jingguo watched him, a hopeful question in his eyes. "Xiao shushu, do you want to go to Jiangnan and cruise around the Yangtze River with me?"
Mu Dishi looked up, his gaze sharp. "Don't you have a wedding to attend?"
"I gave Shijie the reason why I can't marry her," Ma Jingguo replied, his voice soft.
"What is the reason?" Mu Dishi probed, a strange tension in his posture.
"I told Shijie that I've given my entire heart to xiao shushu and there is no more room left for anyone else," Ma Jingguo confessed, his gaze unwavering.
Mu Dishi shot to his feet, anger radiating from him. "Ma Jingguo!"
Ma Jingguo knew the full name meant Mu Dishi was beyond furious. When Mu Dishi reached this point, someone would get hurt, or something would break. Yet, even so, he loved Mu Dishi. No one is perfect, everyone has their own flaw. Those were the two phrases he kept reminding himself, a mantra against despair.
With a thunderous crack, Mu Dishi slammed his palm onto the bamboo table. The fragile wood splintered, breaking into pieces.
Ma Jingguo blinked, feigning innocence. "Xiao shushu, the bamboo table was still in perfect condition."
"Either that strike hit you or the table," Mu Dishi snarled, his eyes blazing.
Ma Jingguo smiled, a genuine warmth spreading through him. "Xiao shushu, I'm so touched. You love me and were unable to hit me, so you hit the table instead..."
Mu Dishi looked coldly at Ma Jingguo, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving a charged silence in his wake.
A fresh wave of worry washed over Ma Jingguo. He feared Mu Dishi would leave him. He quickly jumped out of bed, ignoring the sharp protest from his wounds, and chased after Mu Dishi. He grabbed Mu Dishi's left hand, his grip tight. "Xiao shushu, are you leaving me?"
Mu Dishi turned around, his eyes still blazing, but his voice was laced with exasperation rather than true anger. "I am going to boil you some medicine!" He pulled his hand away from Ma Jingguo's grasp. "Go rest."
That night, Mu Dishi didn't climb into bed with Ma Jingguo. Ma Jingguo groaned in pain, sitting up, his eyes fixed on Mu Dishi who remained seated at the table, a silent, unmoving sentinel. "Xiao shushu, why don't you come to bed?"
"I..." Mu Dishi began, then hesitated.
"What is it?" Ma Jingguo prompted gently.
"I don't want to do anything with you," Mu Dishi finally stated, his voice low.
Ma Jingguo burst out laughing, a genuine, joyful sound despite his discomfort. "Xiao shushu, I'm in so much pain! Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Unless..."
"Unless what?" Mu Dishi asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
Ma Jingguo teased, his voice dropping to a seductive whisper, "Unless xiao shushu wants to climb on top of me. I can help xiao shushu thrust with this left hand."
Mu Dishi's cheeks burned, a deep crimson spreading across his face. "Never!"
Ma Jingguo chuckled, a soft, contented sound. "I'm kidding. Come to bed. It's getting late."
Mu Dishi slowly, almost reluctantly, climbed onto the bed and lay beside Ma Jingguo. Ma Jingguo reached out and held Mu Dishi's right hand. Mu Dishi tried to pull his hand away, a familiar resistance.
Ma Jingguo held Mu Dishi's hand tighter, his voice earnest. "Xiao shushu, I promise nothing more than just holding your hand." He turned to look at Mu Dishi. "I just want to make sure if you leave me, I will know."
"Jingguo," Mu Dishi asked, his voice softer than before, "why are you always afraid of being left behind?"
Ma Jingguo sighed sadly, the weight of old wounds in his voice. "Because everyone I know has left me behind. Including you."
"Seven years ago, I chased you away because..." Mu Dishi began, his voice trailing off. "Never mind. We should rest."
Ma Jingguo hated this. Mu Dishi's "thin face"—his profound embarrassment—often made him stop mid-sentence, withholding crucial information. If Mu Dishi felt whatever he was about to say would sound "cheeky," he would simply clam up.
"Xiao shushu," Ma Jingguo pressed, his voice firm, "I deserve to know why you chased me away."
Mu Dishi knew that sooner or later Ma Jingguo would ask him about it. He finally relented. "It was because I didn't want you seeking revenge with me when it wasn't yours to begin with. Also, if I were to lose to the three sectors and four clans, you wouldn't have to see how they ended my life."
"Xiao shushu..." Ma Jingguo murmured, a wave of understanding washing over him.
"But who would have guessed that the young man I saw in that temple was you," Mu Dishi mused, a hint of surprise in his tone.
"Xiao shushu," Ma Jingguo asked, "do you honestly not remember me, or do you pretend you don't remember me?"
"I didn't remember you because the face I remembered was the young boy with the brighter smile, with his puppy eyes," Mu Dishi admitted.
"Puppy eyes? You see me as a dog?" Ma Jingguo asked, a playful accusation in his voice.
"You are a dog to begin with," Mu Dishi retorted, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Ma Jingguo sighed, a touch of sadness in his voice. "Xiao shushu, you can call me a dog if you like. I am willing to be your dog for the rest of my life." He turned to his left, facing Mu Dishi. "I know that my parents wronged you, hurt you, framed you, and humiliated you because of that map. No matter what, they were my parents, and it hurts me every time when xiao shushu calls them dogs."
"What do you want me to call them?" Mu Dishi asked, a rare concession.
"You can call them 'that man and woman' or 'the couple who stole my map.' Anything else," Ma Jingguo suggested.
"Mm..." Mu Dishi agreed, a soft sound of acknowledgment.
Ma Jingguo moved his head closer to Mu Dishi and kissed him gently on his right forehead. "Thank you... xiao shushu."
Mu Dishi and Ma Jingguo stayed at the bamboo forest for two months until Ma Jingguo was fully recovered. The three clans and four sectors, true to their word, did not seek further revenge.
Ma Jingguo was secretly glancing at Mu Dishi while cooking lunch for the two of them. He noticed that Mu Dishi had aged beautifully. The older Mu Dishi became, the more handsome and ethereal he seemed. Mu Dishi's long eyelashes and his slightly pinkish lips always ignited a spark of excitement in Ma Jingguo. Whenever his eyes fell on Mu Dishi's lips, he wanted nothing more than to kiss him. When they made love, Mu Dishi's narrow waist and his soft, smooth skin immediately heightened Ma Jingguo's desire. He loved holding Mu Dishi's narrow waist in his hands as he thrust inside him. He was so lost in his deep thoughts; he completely forgot that he had just put some pork into the hot oil in the wok.
Mu Dishi, his nose twitching, smelled burnt meat. "Jingguo, your food."
Ma Jingguo, still spacing out, neither heard Mu Dishi nor smelled the burnt pork. He was too busy replaying all the sex positions he and Mu Dishi had explored. He concluded that his absolute favorite was the lotus position. During their lovemaking, the lotus position most satisfied him because he got to see Mu Dishi's face, hold Mu Dishi's beautiful narrow waist, suck Mu Dishi's nipples, help Mu Dishi with the thrusting by holding onto both sides of his soft buttocks, and still be able to kiss Mu Dishi. Thinking about all these intimate details made Ma Jingguo's member hard.
Mu Dishi walked to Ma Jingguo. He noticed that Ma Jingguo's eyes were fixed on him, and his face was contorted in a wide, almost terrifying smile—the smile of a perverted demon. He looked at the blackened pork in the wok, but Ma Jingguo paid no attention to the ruined food. Ma Jingguo's face still held that perverted smile, like an excited dog with its tongue sticking out, a hint of drool at the corner of its mouth. He reached out his right hand and pinched Ma Jingguo's left cheek hard.
Ma Jingguo suddenly snapped back to reality, yelping. "Xiao shushu, it hurts!" He rubbed his stinging cheek.
Mu Dishi sighed, then said, "Look down."
Ma Jingguo looked down at his wok and saw the charred pork. He quickly removed the wok from the stove. As he moved the cooking wok he mumbled, "Xiao shushu, why didn't you tell me?" He quickly grabbed a wooden bowl, fetched some water, and poured it into the burnt wok.
"I did," Mu Dishi said coldly. "You weren't listening. You were in some deep thinking. What were you thinking about that was so important you didn't smell the burnt pork?"
Ma Jingguo looked at Mu Dishi with a guilty conscience. "Mm... I was thinking..."
"What?" Mu Dishi prompted, his gaze unwavering.
"I was thinking... about us..." Ma Jingguo admitted, his voice trailing off.
"I hope it's not something perverted," Mu Dishi said, a hint of suspicion in his tone.
Ma Jingguo tried to recover by laughing it off. "Perverted? Never!"
Mu Dishi looked at him coldly, a knowing glint in his eyes. "It is something perverted, isn't it?"
"Xiao shushu," Ma Jingguo protested, trying to deflect, "don't question me like a judge questions his prisoner! I'll cut more pork and fry it again."
"Don't try to change the subject," Mu Dishi warned. "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it."
"I'm not afraid of letting other people know," Ma Jingguo countered, a sudden defiance in his voice. "It is you who is always afraid."
Mu Dishi rolled his eyes coldly at Ma Jingguo, a rare, almost human expression. He started walking away toward the bamboo hut. "Call me when you finish making lunch."
Ma Jingguo sighed in relief after Mu Dishi finally decided to walk away. If Mu Dishi knew what he was truly thinking, he would never see that beautiful body again. When it came to love or relationships, Mu Dishi was always a "thin-faced" person. Every little thing would embarrass him so profoundly that he would stop doing it entirely. For example, he had once told him he loved when they kissed with their eyes open; since then, every time they kissed, Mu Dishi always closed his eyes. Therefore, if he told Mu Dishi that Mu Dishi's narrow waist and smooth skin always turned him on, and that his favorite sex position with Mu Dishi was the lotus position... if Mu Dishi knew, he would no longer do that position or might even stop having sex with him entirely. No, Mu Dishi could not know that his mind was filled with such desires and "dirty thoughts" of him.
After Ma Jingguo recooked lunch and placed the food onto the stone table outside, he walked into the bamboo hut and saw Mu Dishi handsomely meditating on the bed, a picture of serene beauty.
"Lunch is ready," Ma Jingguo announced softly.
Mu Dishi opened his eyes and walked out of the bamboo hut with Ma Jingguo. They sat at the stone table and began to eat.
"Xiao shushu, shall we go to Jiangnan?" Ma Jingguo asked, hoping to revisit his dream.
"Let's go up North toward Tianshan," Mu Dishi suggested, his gaze distant.
"Why?" Ma Jingguo asked, surprised.
"When I was coming here, I heard that Tianshan had very beautiful mountains and a lot of places to see," Mu Dishi explained. "That Suo dog said she won't seek revenge."
"Then we will go to Tianshan," Ma Jingguo agreed instantly, his face lighting up.
"Why do you agree so easily?" Mu Dishi asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Ma Jingguo smiled, his eyes full of love. "I will go anywhere as long as I am with you."
"Tomorrow we will head to Tianshan," Mu Dishi declared, a decision made.
The next morning, Mu Dishi and Ma Jingguo packed their bags and walked out of Mu Village, heading North towards Tianshan, their future uncertain but their bond undeniable.