The Protagonist is Always Intimidating Me - Chapter 41

By dawn the next day, the first rays of brilliant crimson light, like shattered brick dust, broke through the remnants of night, slicing through the darkness like a sharp sword and illuminating the world.

Bai Meng groggily opened his eyes, finding himself nestled in Mo Hankui’s embrace. As he breathed in and out, all he could smell was the scent of the other.

Mo Hankui lay on his side, with Bai Meng fully enclosed in his arms. His long, gray hair hung softly, partially covering Mo Hankui’s face, and with his eyes closed, his usual cold, sharp demeanor seemed softened.

Seeing this side of Mo Hankui, Bai Meng simply smiled before trying to turn and slip away.

This was because Mo Hankui’s hand was resting on Bai Meng’s ass.

Bai Meng: “……”

This scene was all too familiar.

In the ancient wilderness, Bai Fan would also hold the newly transformed Tuanzi this way. Every morning upon waking, the other’s paw would similarly rest unrestrained on his ass, sleeping soundly.

No matter how many warnings he would give before going to sleep, Bai Fan would always nod along, only to wake to the same scene the next morning.

Bai Fan never changed this habit.

Until he later disappeared.

Standing by the bedside, Bai Meng dressed himself. After a moment’s gaze at the peacefully sleeping Mo Hankui, he leaned down, and, taking advantage of the other’s slumber, planted a kiss as light as a dragonfly skimming water on his handsome cheek. Then, stumbling in his haste, he slipped out of the room.

His retreating figure, with hurried, panicked footsteps—if Bai Meng were captured on camera and captioned, it would make a perfect addition to a popular reaction meme series:

—“Sneaking away.”

However, Bai Meng didn’t notice that as he turned to leave, Mo Hankui opened his eyes, a faint smile on his lips.

Rushing downstairs, Bai Meng found the entire first floor silent and empty.

Then he saw an unidentified creature lying under the table.

Bai Meng: “……”

“Hey, wake up!” Bai Meng unceremoniously grabbed Lan Wei, who was curled up under the table.

“Hey! Can’t you be a little more gentle?” Lan Wei grumbled as he was forcibly hauled up, visibly displeased.

Bai Meng remained unfazed. “You’re neither delicate nor precious, why would I need to be gentle?”

Lan Wei: “……”

What he said made so much sense, I can’t even argue.

“Need more rest? I’ll have Jiuge carry you upstairs.” Bai Meng set him against the wall and began tidying up the mess.

Lan Wei’s dark blue hair fell disheveled around his face, exuding a kind of decadence from the previous night’s drinking. He sat there, lazily crossing one leg over the other, and waved him off. “No, I’m fine.”

“Hmm?”

“I just had a beautiful dream. If I go back to sleep, it’ll turn into a nightmare.”

Bai Meng’s hand paused in mid-motion as he raised his eyes to look over at Lan Wei nearby.

“A spring dream?” Bai Meng raised an eyebrow slightly.

“…What are you implying, shorty?” Lan Wei gave him a disdainful look. “With such a small body, all you think about is filthy stuff!”

Bai Meng: “……”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”

“Oh, shut up!” Bai Meng, both embarrassed and angry, threw down the old rag he was using to clean the table. “From the way you were smiling so tenderly, you were absolutely dreaming about your sweetheart!”

“……”

Lan Wei’s narrow eyes widened, his ocean-blue pupils filled with an unreadable complexity.

…Sweetheart…

“…Shorty, I don’t have a sweetheart. Haven’t you heard?” Lan Wei scoffed, leaning back against the wall with a self-mocking smile, gazing into the distance. “Lanxi Hall’s Lan Wei—a brilliant, unrestrained spirit, laughing at the world alone.”

“……” Bai Meng shook his head resolutely. “Never heard of it.”

Lan Wei: “……”

Bai Meng shot him a look of disgust. “Then why were you smiling so… sleazily?”

“…It wasn’t a sweetheart,” Lan Wei seemed to confirm, repeating his words with a stiff smile on his face. “It was my disciple.”

“I was only dreaming about my disciple.”

Bai Meng: “……”

“Hey! What’s with that look?! Shorty, are you trying to start something? Just wait until I recover! I’ll beat you to a pulp!”

“Heh.”

Bai Meng shrugged in disbelief, then stomped back upstairs to wake Mo Hankui.

Outside, faint sounds of dawn began to drift in. Lan Wei’s voice, still hoarse from his hangover, held a fatigued decadence unique to post-drinking exhaustion, tinged with a seductive and melancholic weariness. Sitting in a patch of mottled light, his blue hair and deep, ocean-colored eyes gave him an air of allure as he leaned back, exuding a captivating sense of indulgent fatigue.

“It’s just my disciple…”

He told himself.

He drifted off to sleep, finding himself dreaming of his naive young disciple, whose carefree laughter echoed—warm and light.

“I don’t want to go on this mission! Those damned old geezers in the council are so annoying! F*ck them! No, f*ck their ancestors too!”

“Master!”

“Hm?”

“Let me go instead.”

The young man’s frame was still slightly immature, yet his expression was full of unprecedented resolve.

“Master, if you don’t want to… Let me handle it.”

Then the dream shifted, slipping into another memory. It was the time when his disciple was being surrounded and taunted by men sent by the Hall Master’s younger brother, only for Lan Wei to chance upon the scene while coming to fetch his disciple.

“Who do you think you are? Just some kid lucky enough to have Elder Lan Wei drag you out of a brothel! Who knows if you’re still selling yourself there? Don’t get arrogant just because I touched you!”

His young disciple said nothing, silently enduring the taunts.

Lan Wei was livid, feeling as though he were on the verge of exploding. This precious disciple he had cherished and protected was now being bullied, and there was no way he could stand by—he wouldn’t be Lan Wei if he did!

He struck out at them immediately, swift and relentless, stopping only when Lan Cheng called out to him.

“Master, that’s enough.”

Startled, Lan Wei looked up to see Lan Cheng across from him, a gentle smile on his face that seemed both forgiving and comforting.

“…Master, let’s go.”

The morning sunlight filtered through in a gentle, pale glow, enveloping Lan Cheng in a soft, ethereal light.

Lan Wei felt a sharp pang in his heart, though it quickly faded.

He knew Lan Cheng was silently telling him not to worry, that he didn’t mind, and wanted Lan Wei to let it go as well.

But how could he not mind? Right then, he only wanted to pull him close.

But Lan Wei couldn’t quite explain the feeling he had—he only knew that from that moment on, he would protect Lan Cheng even more carefully, because Lan Cheng was his, someone who would be by his side for a lifetime.

At the end of his dream, he was back in the Lanxi Hall, teaching Lan Cheng. He tossed aside his brush for drawing talismans and, without a second thought, threw his arms around his earnest, focused young disciple with a shameless grin.

“Aah! I’m so bored! Xiao Chengzi, sing me a tune!”

“Master, I…”

“Xiao Chengzi, I’m not happy! You promised we’d stick together for life, and now you’re pushing me away just because I’m getting older, is that it? Tell me! I want to listen to a tune! If you don’t sing, I’ll go to the brothel to listen instead!”

“…All right, I’ll sing… Master…”

The young man’s face was slightly flushed as he was held by Lan Wei. Lan Cheng tried to push him away but couldn’t, eventually resigning himself to remain in that position, his voice soft and world-weary.

“If our meeting was destined by fate…

Then why am I lost in longing…

Why consumed by madness…

Only to find emptiness in the end…

If there’s a way to fulfill this…

I would rather be buried in dreams, never to awaken…”

But then, Lan Wei awoke from his dream.