When Jiang Jinyue woke up, she was in a dark cave. Her temple throbbed with pain, and she couldn't remember a thing...
When she came to her senses, the faint moonlight revealed a foreign-looking young man leaning against the cave wall.
His face was flushed, sweat beaded at his temples, and the tendons stood out along his long neck. He seemed to be struggling to keep something under control.
Jiang Jinyue asked uneasily, “Y-you... what's wrong?”
The young man fought against the heat caused by the Lover's Gu in his chest. Looking at the girl's innocent, rabbit-like eyes, he rasped, “Come here.”
He raised a hand, the silver ornaments around him jingling. His eyes were dark and unreadable. “Help me...”
Only after leaving the cave with him did Jiang Jinyue discover that this mysterious, vast land was... Miaojiang.
*
Shi Ye picked up a fair, delicate little girl, intending to feed her blood to his Gu insects. He never expected to bring home a troublesome little princess.
Her daily meals had to be exquisite, her jackets and skirts had to be pretty, and even the venomous scorpions and snakes he'd carefully raised for years ended up wearing pink bows...
Gradually, he wore fewer and fewer silver ornaments, while the little girl's clothes and accessories grew ever more luxurious.
Then one day, the Lover's Gu in his body flared up again. As he bit his lip and struggled to endure it, Jiang Jinyue somehow entered his room. Her voice was soft as she said, “I heard from my elder sister that there's another way to cure the Gu...”
Under Shi Ye's gaze as he fought to restrain himself, she boldly touched his Adam's apple, then slowly pulled down the bed curtains...
But Shi Ye never expected that after their night together, Jiang Jinyue would disappear from Miaojiang without a trace, as though she'd never been there.
He heard someone say that Jiang Jinyue was a little princess from the Central Plains who had been lost outside the palace. She'd been brought back, and in the future she was sure to marry a good man and enjoy a life of wealth and glory.
“Marry?” A black snake slowly slithered up his wrist, its bright red forked tongue flicking. The smile at the corner of Shi Ye's mouth grew colder.
How could anyone else marry the girl he'd put so much effort into raising?
*
In a palace's hidden chamber, Shi Ye advanced on Jiang Jinyue. Countless little snakes slowly crawled toward the girl. His face was pale, his eyes full of malice. “Do you want to try the Lover's Gu too, ”
The next moment, Jiang Jinyue threw herself into his arms with red-rimmed eyes, her voice breaking as she sobbed, “Why didn't you come sooner...?”
She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes and complained, “Did you put a Gu on me? Why have I been thinking about you all this time...?”
Shi Ye froze, at a loss, holding her in his arms. After a moment of silence, he thought: I did want to. I just hadn't had the chance yet...
Theme: Stand on your own feet and be strong.
