A minute later, Zixiu ran back in a panic, panting. âMy dad is gone!â
âHuh? Have you looked all over the house?â Nangong Du was still lying in bed calmly as if nothing had happened.
Zixiu flared up in an instant. He rushed to the bed and lifted the quilt while yelling, âWhy are you still sleeping? Itâs all your fault! My dad must have been abducted as a meat coupon(In Chinese, âmeat couponâ is an informal synonym for âhostageâ.)! â
âA meat coupon?â Nangong Du looked at him blankly. âWhat does it mean?â
Zixiu was so anxious that he almost jumped up. He was in no mood to explain to Nangong Du, and he even forgot how aggressive this prince was.âGet up! Iâm not going to go easy on you if something happens to my dad! Get up! Get⦠â he shouted while trying to pull Nangong Du out of the bed.
âWhat are you doing?!â Infuriated, Nangong Du roared in a low voice with a sullen look.
Zixiuâs heart shuddered and he immediately fell silent.
âGet your hand off me!â
ââ¦â Zixiu loosened his grip obediently.
âYour dadâs formation isnât so easy to break! The signal flare only means those people are still trapped in the formation!â
âReally? How did you know?â
âItâs simple! Itâs unnecessary to send flares for help when dealing with a couple of people who were either sick or old or injured!â Nangong Du was tired of satirizing Zixiu for his slowness. He guessed that the âmeat couponâ Liu Zixiu said must be âhostageâ. Really⦠how could this guy come up with such a completely impossible thing? âNow your dad is the most capable one among the five of us. Whatâs the point they take him away and leave us here? For fun?â
âUhâ¦â Needless to say, Zixiu was not naïve enough to think that those people would kidnap his dad for fun. However, a bunch of killers who had come for Nangong Du were hiding near his house and sending signal flares at midnight. Moreover, his dad was missing! It was no wonder that he was so anxious.
âHave you searched every corner of your house?â Nangong Du repeated. Actually, though he looked calm, he felt restless about Liu Wuyiâs sudden missing as well.
âYes!â Zixiu lowered his head with a worried look.
The next second, he suddenly grew irritable, âMy house is not so big. If my dad is here, thereâs no way that I canât find him!â
Nangong Du still looked calm. âAre there any new footprints in the snow outside?â he asked.
Hearing that, Zixiu rushed out of the room in the blink of an eye.
A minute later, he ran back again, panting. âNo! All the footprints outside were left by me when I went back and forth between the woodshed and the kitchen during the day!â
With his eyes half-closed, Nangong Du poked his brows with his fingers. After a while, he continued, âYour dad is very skillful in Qing Kung.â
His voice sounded so calm that Zixiu could not tell whether he was affirming or inquiring. As it was related to his dadâs life and death, he had to keep as low-profile as possible. âMy dad said that was just a small trick!â
A small trick? Nangong Du sneered, thinking of Liu Wuyi and his son escaping from under his nose that night. It turned out that Liu Wuyi had played this small trick more than once!
Maybe because he was too worried, Zixiu did notice Nangong Du was sneering maliciously at all. He asked anxiously, âWhat are you laughing at?â
Of course, Nangong Du would not answer this question. He withdrew his hands under the quilt and said, âYour dad doesnât want to expose his whereabouts!â
âWhy?â
âGo ask your dad!â
After a while, hearing no response from Zixiu, Nangong Du grew impatient. âIf you donât trust me, just go outside and look for him! Why are you still standing there?â
âNothing will happen to my dad, right?â After pondering for a while, Zixiu thought Nangong Duâs speculation was reasonable, but he still could not relax. âThose people wonât kill the innocent, right? My dad has never offended them!â
ââ¦â Nangong Du did not want to waste his time explaining anymore.
Without noticing his impatience, Zixiu kept nagging until Nangong Du suddenly sat up and blew out the oil lamp because he could no longer stand his drowsiness.
The sudden blackness around him made Zixiu forget what to say. He blurted out, âGosh! The power is off!â
âZip it!â Nangong Du patted the bedside table hard. Liu Zixiu did not even see him get up. âWhat a blind idiot! Wait⦠Power is off?â
âWhy did you blow out the oil lamp?â Zixiu finally came back to his senses, but he was in no mood to think about what he had blurted out. While blaming Nangong Du, he fumbled in the darkness and was about to light up the oil lamp again. âThose people are just around! How come youâre still sleeping?! I donât want to die with you⦠â
âWhy are you still nagging at this late hour?â Tired and sleepy, Nangong Du became more irritable. âIf you dare to nag next time, Iâm going to kill you!â
âAm I nagging?â He just wanted to find someone to pour out his troubles, but this asshole was complaining about his nagging! At the thought of this, Zixiu was burning with fury. âNangong Du, how could you blame me! You wanted to pry into my privacy and kept asking me to tell you more, but now youâre blaming me!â
âI asked you to go on, and then you went on? Since when have you become an ass kisser!â
âAn ass kisser?! You⦠âNangong Du! You have slept for a whole day! Are you a pig?â
âLiu Zixiu! How dare you curse me?â
âSo what?â Zixiu shot back angrily and even forgot that he was in the darkness. Unfortunately, when he was holding his head high and challenging Nangong Du, he bumped against the edge of the kang and fell onto it. To be precise, it was his big belly that pressed against Nangong Du!
âYou little brat, you want to pick a fight?â Nangong Du was so annoyed that he pulled Zixiu onto the kang and pinned him under his body.
Needless to say, Zixiuâs big belly could not bear the weight. He struggled hard while shouting, âLet go of me! My belly is going to explode! Hurry up, you damned pervert!â
âPervert?â Nangong Duâs voice suddenly turned cold.
Even in the darkness, Zixiu seemed to have seen the icy look in his eyes. He was so frightened that he stopped shouting and changed his attitude in an instant. âNangong Du, Iâm really uncomfortable. Let go of me⦠I didnât mean to fight or argue with you. I was just too worried about my dad⦠I promise I wonât disturb your sleep anymore! Please let go of me!â
To Zixiuâs surprise, what he said worked! It seemed that Nangong Du was really sleepy and he almost fell asleep on him! But Zixiu did not know that Liu Wuyi had added some sedative to Nangong Duâs decoction.
So, when Nangong Du âkindlyâ got off him and lay close to him, Zixiu kept his word and did not move or make a sound anymore!