A Lifetime of Peace - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The man was dead. But what was I supposed to do with the body?

I was stumped.

Lu Shi’an, whom I had washed clean and settled back into place, said, “Aside from his lifelong fondness for sexually abusing and tormenting young children, Song Cheng loved training beasts.

“He kept a tiger at a villa on the outskirts of the capital. No outsiders know about it. Throw the body into the beast cage, and even if someone discovers he’s dead, they’ll only think the tiger’s wild nature got the better of it.”

I nodded.

That night, after disposing of the body, I climbed into bed.

Lu Shi’an went stiff.

“Miss…”

He was about to start on propriety and rules again, so I covered his mouth. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Seeing that he had settled down, I reached out and pinched his ears, which had gone bright red.

“Hurry up and get better, young master. I’m the one doing all the killing and body-hauling. Surely you ought to put in some effort in bed.”

Lu Shi’an’s fair face flushed crimson in an instant.

Deep into the night, just as drowsiness overtook me, I suddenly heard him ask through the haze,

“You… aren’t human, are you?”

How rude of him.

I jolted fully awake.

Only then did I notice something was wrong beneath the quilt.

It was that restless vine again. It had emerged at some point and was now winding around Lu Shi’an’s waist and abdomen, coiling around his fingertips as it swayed.

No wonder he’d asked.

I leaned closer, rested my chin lightly on his shoulder, and held his hand as we pinched the little leaf together.

“That’s right. I’m a demon.”

“Are you afraid, young master?”

“No.” Lu Shi’an lowered his eyes. “People can be more wicked than demons at times. You have saved me again and again, miss. Why should I be afraid?”

Then he asked, “Why save me?”

Why?

Memories from a thousand years ago roared through my mind, but I did not want to say it was because I owed him. I only said,

“Because you’re beautiful, young master, and you please me. I came to the mortal world to accumulate merit. I saw you, wanted to save you, and so I did.”

I reached out and stroked his broken legs. The bones jutted outward, already twisted out of shape.

“If you form a bond with me and marry me, you can borrow this demon’s energy. These legs of yours will heal. What do you think, young master?”

Lu Shi’an caught my hand instead, spread my palm open, and rubbed his face against it.

There seemed to be stars fallen into his eyes, and a flame kindling there as well.

He said, “Please save me.”

Chapter 4

I had once kept vigil over a memorial tablet for more than a thousand years as a widow.

Now I was thirteen hundred years old, yet this was my first time getting married.

I set a pair of red candles in the room and changed into wedding robes with Lu Shi’an.

After we each drank a cup of thin wine, the ceremony was considered complete.

When night fell, we lay shoulder to shoulder on the bed.

Lu Shi’an lay on his back against the pillow, his black hair spread loose, his beauty refined and otherworldly.

The vines wrapped around him again and again, treating him as their own possession. Delighted, I called to him, “Husband.”

I coaxed him, “From now on, you have a demon wife. You don’t need to be afraid of anything. Whatever happens, your wife will bear it for you.”

My An’an would never suffer the slightest unhappiness again.

An’an’s greatest unhappiness right now was his pair of broken legs.

I stuffed a vine into his mouth and said solemnly, “Bite down if it hurts.”

Then I poured demonic power into his meridians.

His misshapen bones were broken apart by that power, then slowly corrected and regrown.

Lu Shi’an let out a muffled groan, and sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

The little vine nudged itself farther into his mouth, urging him on.

Lu Shi’an did not bite it. With trembling hands, he took the vine out and gripped it tightly, as if clutching at a lifeline.

He clenched his teeth hard and refused to make another sound.

After a long time, he unclenched his jaw. His whole body was slick with cold sweat, his lashes damp, his eyes wet, and in that wretched state, he smiled at me.

It felt as though someone had carved into my heart, sending a dense, needling pain through it. I said softly, “Why didn’t you bite? It would have helped, at least a little.”

Lu Shi’an blinked. His long, slender fingers curled around the emerald vine, their knuckles smooth and pale as jade.

He said earnestly, “It’s enough for me to hurt alone. Why drag you into suffering with me? Besides…”

Color rose across his face. “You are my wife. I want to treat you well.”