"I—I think I will be alright."

"No, you won't," Bai SHijue said. He gently held Han Shun's palm and transferred heat to Han Shun's body. After he measured that Han Shun was warmed enough, he nodded, "You're good now, take care of your health. You can't practice if you're sick. 

Han Shun swallowed his saliva hardly. He didn't know if it was just his imagination or Bai Gege looked so beautiful in his eyes. Bai Gege was always beautiful, of course. But he rarely smiled at him, he didn't even show a perfunctory smile at Han Shun for some reason, and Han Shun was used to it.

But now, even when Bai Gege looked nonchalant as always, it looked different in his eyes.

'Bai Gege... why do you look so breathtakingly beautiful?' Han Shun asked in his heart.

"Han Shun?"

"Y—Yes, Bai Gege?"

"Why are you holding my palm now? Go cultivate. I will watch," Bai SHijue said.

"Oh—" Han Shun quickly pulled his hand, and his cheeks reddened. He was ashamed to admit that he wanted to hold Bai Gege's hand for a long time. 

"Cultivate now. I will be watching," Bai SHijue said. He summoned his Guqin and started plucking the string in front of Han Shun. 

Meanwhile, Han Shun kept staring at him with such a hot gaze. But Bai SHijue gradually got used to it because that was just how Han Shun cultivated. 

Bai SHijue checked on Han Shun's qi refining process inside his body and shook his head. He only sighed and continued plucking the string of his Guqin. 

Of course, since Han Shun cultivated with his eyes wide open, he asked Bai Gege, "Gege, is there something wrong?"

"It's nothing," Bai SHijue replied, trying to brush off the topic. "Focus on your meditation."

"Bai Gege, I am meditating right now. Is there something wrong? Did I do anything wrong?"

…

Bai SHijue finally stopped plucking his string and stared at Han Shun meaningfully. He weighed whether he should say this or not. He didn't want to discourage Han Shun, but it was pretty apparent that Han Shun had slowed down so much.

"Han Shun, do you need anything? Or is there something that's bugging your mind right now?" Bai SHijue asked.

"Huh? Uh… I don't understand, Bai Gege…."

"Your cultivation has slowed down by a lot after the incident in the waterfall. Maybe you're just too exhausted tonight. Go to your room, and we can cultivate tomorrow."

Han Shun was shocked by Bai Gege's order, but he actually knew the exact reason. 

Because he kept perversely thinking about Bai Gege, he couldn't focus on his cultivation. When he closed his eyes right now, he kept imagining Bai Gege's body.

And when he opened his eyes and looked at Bai Gege, he just couldn't stop thinking about it as well. It was like a lose-lose situation for him. 

Maybe it was true. He needed a rest. 

But he didn't want to make Bai Gege wait. He knew that they were in a tight situation and were being targeted by those demonic sect cultivators. 

"Bai Gege, I can't stop now. I need to cultivate. I don't want to slow you down and harm you just because I'm way too weak," Han Shun insisted.

"You're only 13 to 14 years old right now. You don't need to rush," Bai Shijue said. But Han kept on shaking his head, refusing to give up for the day. 

Bai Shijue could force Han Shun to sleep by tapping his nape, but that felt unnecessary, especially for Han Shun, who had a good intention right now.

In the end, Bai SHijue had to coax this willful teenage boy, "Okay, what do you want to sleep? Do you want any food? I can retrieve it for you."

"… I can ask anything?"

"Yes, just tell me if you need something."

Han Shun was thinking for a second and had decided upon his request. He looked at Bai Gege's chest and had such a simple request in his mind right now.

"Bai Gege, can I sleep in your embrace?"

"… huh?" Bai Shijue was baffled by Han Shun's request. "Sleep in my embrace? Why?"

"I—I just feel like it," Han Shun said. 

"… if that would help you to sleep, fine then," Bai Shijue snapped his finger, and his Guqin disappeared. He still sat cross-legged and opened his arm for Han Shun. "Come here, sleep in my embrace if it will help you. I will regulate your heat as well."

Han Shun paused for a few seconds. He couldn't believe that Bai Gege actually accepted his request. He slowly slid his butt to approach Bai Gege and carefully sat on Bai Gege's lap. 

He shivered all over when he could feel the heat around Bai Gege's body and rested his head on Bai Gege's chest. Han Shun could hear the heartbeat of his Bai Gege like this, and it was his favorite thing to do. 

He loved listening to Bai Gege's heartbeat and his heart. He loved to see that Bai Gege was alive and well because that was the most important thing in his life.

Han Shun slowly closed his eyes, seemingly drowsy because of Bai Shijue's warm body. He buried his face on Bai Gege's chest and circled his hands around Bai Gege's waist. 

Bai Shijue felt that Han Shun was too intimate. Before he could check whether Han Shun was already sleeping or not, he suddenly felt Han Shun's lips brushing on his nipple.

Of course, he was covered with the new robe from the inn. But it was quite thin, so he felt that Han Shun's lips were really brushing against his nipple right now.

Then he felt something—

Chu.

Bai Shijue's eyes widened when he felt Han Shun's lips smooching his nipple. He grabbed his collar and checked whether this kid intentionally did that or not.

But when he saw that Han Shun was actually in a deep sleep, Bai Shijue was left confused, "What's in his dream anyway? Is he dreaming about kissing someone?"