He wondered whether or not He Zheng had finished dinner and what he was doing at this moment.

On his way back home, Li Zong kept having an urge to fish out his cellphone and make a phone call to He Zheng, but he was afraid that he might have turned in, so he forbore from doing it.

When he returned to the Century Town, it was already a few minutes past eleven.

Li Zong softly pushed the door open without any noise. As a high-ranking officer of the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB), Li Zong believed that he had probably never acted so cautiously in his whole life.

However, the light in the living room was still ablaze. He Zheng was sitting cross-legged on a sofa, a pile of things placed beside him –books, notebooks as well as some yellow blank Fu (Fu is a piece of rectangular paper on which magical figures are drawn by Chinese Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits and bring good or ill fortune) paper.

"Oh, you"re back. That Zu Zhichong guy gave me some ill.u.s.trated books on Fu-craft." He Zheng, who was clearly in a pretty good mood, raised the book in his hand and waved it.

Li Zong"s heart was melted by this sudden smile of He Zheng"s. Seldom had anybody kept the light on waiting for him at such a late hour of night, unless he was in Li family, though the reason why this little guy in front of him was still awake was probably that he was not used to going to bed early.

But a place where there was a light ablaze and a person waiting for someone tended to give a sense of belonging to the one being waited, making them subconsciously take the liberty of calling this place home.

Even Li Zong himself failed to sense that his face, which stood grim almost all the time, gradually softened. In a natural manner, he walked up to He Zheng"s side and sat down. Even his voice was tinged with some kind of warmth that was not usually in there. "Um. How"s it going with your reading?"

"So far, so good. I have a natural apt.i.tude for drawing," He Zheng replied casually and glimpsed at Li Zong, feeling that Li Zong"s complexion was flawless.

Suddenly, as if something had just occurred to him, he tossed a somewhat awkward glance at Li Zong and inquired of him, "Did you have supper?"

In fact, Li Zong had long ago reached the level of Bigu and barely needed food to keep his body functioning. On top of that, he was a picky eater and common food didn"t really take his fancy. Moreover, the meeting had ended at a late hour and he had been in a hurry to get back home, so he had not had the time to get anything to eat.

Li Zong was also dismayed. It had never crossed his mind that He Zheng would ask him a question of this kind.

"I did." Beneath He Zheng"s eyes, Li Zong decisively told a short lie consisting of two words.

"Oh." He Zheng gave a cough. In ordinary times, he was not too bad at manipulating other men. All he needed to do was make full use of his charming looks, and sometimes even this step could be skipped. Never once had he tried so hard.

He briefly bit his lower lip, gave another unnatural cough, fished something out of his pocket and tossed it into Li Zong"s hand.

Li Zong looked at it and, to his surprise, saw that it was a bag of bread about the size of a pocket.

He instantly dissolved into smile.

The sight of the smile on Li Zong"s face reduced He Zheng to a loss of composure, and even his breathing was growing heavier. As his mouth tightened into a thin line, he secretly disdained himself for being such a good-for-nothing, wondering why he was acting like such a coward when faced with such a petty matter. He Zheng could barely forbear to slap himself on the face.

However, this kind of self-goad was probably working well, since He Zheng soon calmed down. He quietly watched Li Zong. Before he met this man, he had instinctively taken a dislike to him, but at their first meeting, he had found that Li Zong was totally different from whom he had imagined him to be.

Besides, this man seemed to like him pretty much.

After that, he had been gradually coming to know Li Zong better all along. Though appearing a man of loose morals, He Zheng was actually fairly heartless. He had been trifling with people"s affections for so many years, yet this was the first time that he had felt truly attracted to someone.

Maybe it was because of that remark of Li Zong "as my partner, you enjoy the privilege..." when he was playing with his cellphone under the tree on this day. Maybe it was because of Li Zong"s notebook. Or maybe it was because of Li Zong"s apathetic and alienating profile he saw on the flight on that day...

He Zheng didn"t know when, but he had begun to grow a fondness for Li Zong.

He Zheng stroked his forehead and recalled that spell of scorching heat. Zu Zhichong had told him that injecting a portion of primordial spirit into another person would take a heavy toll on the one who performed the enchantment.

"Li Zong is being unduly good to me.

Why is he doing this?"

Though Li Zong had already shown affection to him once, He Zheng still couldn"t help but intend to confirm it on this occasion.

He calmly spoke.

"Li Zong."

"Um?"

"Are you serious?" He Zheng shook his palm. There was a ring around his ring finger. It was put on rather casually that day, but at this moment, reflecting the lamplight, it looked beautiful.

However, in Li Zong"s eyes, He Zheng"s unperturbed face when he asked this question was even more beautiful.

His eyes were sparkling, his countenance rather white-skinned and attractive.

Li Zong"s heart slightly lurched. Without saying anything, he held He Zheng"s hand somewhat forcibly, their fingers crossed tight. He conveyed all he wanted to say with his stare at He Zheng.

"Yeah."

This reply instantly brought He Zheng"s heart fluttering violently and he abruptly dissolved into laughter.

In the night sky hung the bright moon amid a sea of stars. Rays of the incandescent lamp mingled with starlight were shed over He Zheng. To the noises from the street, delight welled up inside him, his heart hammering madly. He uncontrollably raised a big smile on his well-featured face.

He abruptly flung himself onto Li Zong, pressed him down onto the sofa and kissed him on the lips skillfully. Soon, their tongues and lips tangled up. He propped himself up on his hands, looked down at Li Zong and blurted, "I"m also serious about this. From this moment on, I"m also serious."

The look in Li Zong"s eyes grew deeper, but He Zheng smiled even more happily. He bit Li Zong"s lips hard, his breathing getting heavier.

It had never crossed Li Zong"s mind that He Zheng would suddenly become so ardent. Under the pa.s.sionate kiss, his sobriety was dissolving quickly. When He Zheng"s hand moved to his belt, Li Zong reached out his hand and stopped him. In a slightly husky voice, he said, "Tonight is not the right time."

"Um?" He Zheng frowned, propped himself up on his hands and impatiently looked at him.

"We didn"t make any preparations. You"ll feel uncomfortable tomorrow morning if we do this," Li Zong said into He Zheng"s ears after pinching He Zheng"s crimson ear lobes, his voice hoa.r.s.e with desire.

For some reason, He Zheng, who had always been thick-skinned, instantly flushed so scarlet that it seemed as if blood was about to ooze out of his cheeks. He gave a cough and, in fidgetiness, reached into Li Zong"s clothes.

"Then we use hands." He Zheng had had enough of s.e.xual repression. In the past, when he had been with previous partners, he had seldom had s.e.x with them. Most of the time, they had used hands to give him s.e.xual pleasure. He Zheng had moved into Li Zong"s apartment for quite some time and, as a young man with normal s.e.xual needs, he had been suffering from s.e.xual repression all along.

Li Zong, in resignation, shifted his position and carried He Zheng in his arms. He Zheng"s back was against Li Zong"s attractively muscular chest, and a certain body part of Li Zong"s was pressed against He Zheng from behind. He Zheng"s scalp tingled and he had a somewhat weird feeling, but he was not afraid.

The way Li Zong was using his hand was just like the way he did all other things –calm but inexplicably possessive. He Zheng nearly blacked out due to the overwhelmingly intense pleasure and was even reduced to tears.

As a man who valued courtesy and reciprocity, He Zheng returned the favor doing the same thing for Li Zong.

Eventually, the two of them lay on the sofa, gasping for breath. None of them said anything, but Li Zong had He Zheng in his arms all along.

Face against Li Zong"s chest, heart fluttering, He Zheng looked at Li Zong"s face by lamplight. He was prominent-nosed, deep-eyed and all his features were sharply contoured. Seen from whatever angle, he was He Zheng"s favorite type.

He felt that he ought to have met this man earlier.

And he wished he had known the legendary Li Zong earlier.