Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 2

by Priest

there was a sense of happiness and anticipation in the act of opening a letter, especially if the person who’d written it was special to him. Every single word was full of life, and letters could be kept forever.

Each and every one was of Zhao Yunlan.

Shen Wei had done everything imaginable to protect this one person—the one person he could never touch. And yet those people dared…

“I’ve just lost my love. Can’t a man drown his sorrows?”

“Listen to me. The way Shen-laoshi looks at you says it all. I don’t believe for a second that he doesn’t feel anything for you. He must just be deep in the closet. As your coworker, I’ll help you out this one time.”

Shen Wei had picked up on the very first ring.

Shen Wei caught him, and Zhao Yunlan fell headfirst into his arms.

Shen Wei had left the car running to keep it warm as he went upstairs to collect him. Zhao Yunlan noticed it as soon as he got in, and the gesture warmed his heart.

“Why are you so appallingly bad at taking care of yourself?”

He’d pursued Shen Wei the same way he’d pursued plenty of others, but somehow, ever since the hope of romance between them

seemed to wither on the vine rather than blossoming, everyone else he met seemed dull and uninteresting.

Deep down, Zhao Yunlan had always yearned for a certain kind of life: a life two people shared companionably, where they could even enjoy silence together.

Like they had always lived together, existing in their own private world, needing nothing but each other.

It was clear to Zhao Yunlan that he held a special place in Shen Wei’s heart.

“Stop trying to fight me and stop trying to fight yourself.

I thought, if you were willing to be with me, you wouldn’t need to drive to work anymore and you could sleep a little later in the mornings.

For Shen Wei, it felt like being torn in two. Half of him was nearly swept away with joy. The other half had plummeted into the depths of the Huangquan. He was on the verge of losing his mind entirely.

Millennia of loneliness and desolation had failed to drive him to insanity, but a few offhand sentences passing through the lips of this one man were enough to send his emotions careening out of control.

For love, the living may die, and the dead may live again. Could those unwilling to die or those unwilling to live ...

Shen Wei had believed that Zhao Yunlan would never know he was the sole reason for Shen Wei’s existence, or that he alone was why Shen Wei had made it this far.

Why did he have to be the Soul-Executing Emissary?

But he’d been unable to help himself, unable to resist.

Of all that I am, the only part worth anything may be my heart. If you want it, it’s yours.”

After a long moment, he took Zhao Yunlan’s hand in his and held it against his chest, closing his eyes.

He was at an utter loss as to how Zhao Yunlan hadn’t died of food poisoning yet.

But if it was something Zhao Yunlan had made, even if it were a bowl of rat poison, Shen Wei was still willing to eat it all without the tiniest change in expression

I’ll have to go beg for food at my parents’ place—unless you want to sponsor me? I can warm your bed.”

Why did Director Zhao bring “family” along on a case? Maybe Shen-laoshi is sick?

Lips almost brushing Shen Wei’s ear, voice pitched so no one else could hear,

The tips of Shen Wei’s ears reddened,

Shen Wei was far too much of a gentleman to bear even whispering to each other about such intimate things in public. His ears felt as if they were on fire.

Zhao Yunlan shut his mouth but not his eyes.

“Never seen a couple of hot gay guys before?”

“Then how can I help?” Shen Wei asked. Zhao Yunlan replied, “I know a restaurant a bit south of here that’s pretty good. Come eat with me.”

With the three of them grilling him, it was as if Zhao Yunlan had found a sugar daddy, not a partner.

Zhao Yunlan’s heart ached for him. He reached out to pull Shen Wei into his arms. “I was wrong, babe. I’m sorry.”

With no more warning than that, he leaned in to ambush Shen Wei’s icy lips.

His words were punctuated with a pout.

“Kiss me again. Coax your forgiveness from your lord’s lips.”

If he was already so thoroughly wrapped around Zhao Yunlan’s little finger, how would he fare in the future?

“This is horrible. I finally managed to gain a little ground with my lord, so I thought maybe I could get you to put out a little tonight. Now I’ll be spending the night lonely and unsatisfied.”

he even had some spare time to think about love and lust.

“The only people I don’t dare offend are my mother and my wife. Which of them are you fit to run errands for?”

“Don’t you dare touch him with your filthy hands.”

Shen Wei’s expression turned to ice.

Shen Wei hurriedly banished his blade to keep from injuring him, then caught him steadily.

“Consider who you are. You could have anyone you want. Even if… Do you really need to fear loss so badly that it keeps you from attaining what you want most? Even I pity you.”

Shen Wei, who had started to get anxious, took hold of his hand. “Yunlan?”

As Shen Wei was about to answer, Zhao Yunlan reached out with unerring precision and caught Shen Wei’s hand in front of his face. It was cold as ceramic.

It made Shen Wei nervous when Zhao Yunlan kept his thoughts to himself, so he tried to keep him talking.