57

Yun Qing said a lot, and it all went into Xiao He's ears, but he just felt too shocked, shaken and incredulous.

Hong Qing and Yun Qing were one person? They were actually the same person?

But...but…

That's right. Everything suddenly became clear.

Why couldn't they be the same person?

Their features were almost exactly the same, their figures were exactly alike, and even their voices were completely similar!

Their personalities were so different that he had never thought they were the same person before, but now that Yun Qing had said it, was there still any room for doubt?

"Master…" Once Xiao He came back to himself, he asked anxiously, "You're not lying to me?"

"I wouldn't lie to you." Yun Qing assured him slowly.

Xiao He frowned, then said, "But Hong Qing told me that he was your junior disciple, and he said…"

"That's quite normal." Yun Qing explained, "We don't share memories, and our personalities were divided, so we seem just like two different people sharing the same body. It's understandable that he wouldn't want to be taken as me."

Xiao He was startled, and there were still a few things he couldn't figure out.

Yun Qing stroked his back gently and said softly, "I've been weakened mentally lately due to some matters, so Hong Qing might take the opportunity to come out. When that time comes, you can discuss it with me."

Once Xiao He thought of Hong Qing's threats, he felt a little nervous. "What should I do?"

"Listen to him." Yun Qing smiled and said, "He is me, Xiao He, don't be nervous. I trust you know what true love is better than me."

Xiao He hesitated for a moment. "But…"

"Trust me, he won't hurt you. And he can't hurt me."

Xiao He fell silent for a while, and in the end he nodded.

Yun Qing left again at noon, and Xiao He didn't know what the other man went to do. But he waited and waited until the moon was in the center of the sky, and that willful, brash, red-haired man arrived.

When Hong Qing saw him sitting by the door, he was startled at first, but he soon walked closer and embraced Xiao He, bending to kiss him. "You were waiting for me?"

Xiao He replied, "Yes."

He was so well-behaved that Hong Qing was surprised, but he soon recovered, sneered and said, "You were waiting for him, weren't you."

As his words landed, he picked him up and walked straight into the house.

Xiao He didn't struggle or resist, leaning against him, and it wasn't until they entered the room and Hong Qing was about to press him down that he said, "Hong Qing, I know everything."

Hong Qing leaned down and looked at him, stiffening slightly.

Xiao He looked at him without evading at all, his eyes not blinking in the slightest. "My master told me everything. You two are one person, the same person."

Hong Qing's movements stopped. His eyes quirked up slightly, the corners of his mouth full of derision. "He's him, and I'm me. I can tell us apart clearly myself."

Xiao He opened his mouth, about to say something.

Hong Qing held him, laughed softly and said, "Or is it you who can't tell us apart? No worries, I'll let you feel the difference, and you'll be able to tell us apart very soon."

A wicked, wanton smile hung on his lips, but there was a wisp of a dark, violent haze in the depths of his gorgeous eyes.

Xiao He didn't want the conversation to end like this, so he simply hugged Hong Qing and said urgently, "Hong Qing, I like you."

It was only one simple sentence, but it made Hong Qing abruptly stop. He looked down at Xiao He, the incredulity in his eyes not concealed in the slightest.

Xiao He took a deep breath, and said loudly, "I like you. I couldn't figure it out before, but now I understand. You're you, and no matter what kind of you it is, I like them all."

Hong Qing looked at him quietly, not saying a word for a long time.

Xiao He felt a little nervous, but he still wrapped his arms around the man and said softly, "Hong Qing, I know that your memories aren't shared, but both of you are incomplete. Yun Qing is too steady and restrained, so calm that he lacks some of the vigor and vitality that a man should have. And you're brash and willful, daring to feel both love and hate. You're a bit headstrong and unruly, but you're full of all the emotions a man should have."

Hong Qing's lips rose a little, but the sneer that made its way to his mouth fell away at Xiao He's next words.

"I know what you're thinking. You must feel like I'm only being like this to you because I know that you're my master, but actually, you don't need to think that way at all. You were him from the beginning, and you've always been him. You can't be separated—it's impossible for you to be separated. Whether it's the indifferent Yun Qing or the passionate Hong Qing, you're both my master, and you're both the one I love."

"One heart can't hold two people, and one love can't possibly allow for the existence of a third party. But Hong Qing, love isn't only about investment and gain, but tolerance as well. I love you, so I love all of you, whether it's your strengths or your weaknesses, your virtues or your faults. Everything that you are forms my love."

No voice on earth could be more moving than the one at this moment.

Hong Qing stared blankly at the boy before him, the warm feeling stirring in his heart making him crease his brows unconsciously.

What he thought he could never obtain was actually within his reach.

The relationship that he thought could only exist in fantasy all his life was actually right in front of his eyes.

He couldn't read Xiao He's mind at all.

But he was willing to believe in what he said.

Even if this were only poison wrapped in a sugar coating, as long as Xiao He was the one who gave it to him, he would swallow it without the slightest hesitation.

This was the first time Xiao He and Hong Qing stayed together all night without doing anything.

They talked a great deal, lots and lots, so much so that Xiao He didn't close his eyes all night.

Throughout Yun Qing's long life, the number of times Hong Qing had appeared was actually very few. Most of the time, he lay dormant.

But every time he came out, he always caused a terrible mess, so people couldn't forget his existence at all.

As Xiao He listened on, he couldn't help but laugh. "I never knew Mistress Hong Shuang was so interesting."

Hong Qing sneered. "What's interesting about her? Every time, she always conceitedly believed I loved drinking, and she even used wine to bribe me. If I hadn't been bored and found her pitiful on top of that, I'd never have bothered to drink with her."

Xiao He said, all smiles, "That's right, Mistress Hong Shuang can't hold her liquor like you."

"Of course she's not as good as me, and she doesn't learn her lesson either. Last time, I got her drunk for seven times seven, forty-nine days, but she actually still dared to provoke me…"

As Xiao He listened to Hong Qing go on, he often laughed until he couldn't contain himself.

To tell the truth, he'd never thought that a day like this would come, when he would chat so peacefully with Hong Qing like this.

Actually, if you were to compare the two, Yun Qing had always treated him like a child, and there were many matters that the man wouldn't talk to him about. Of course, the shortcomings in Yun Qing's character were a factor in this, but Xiao He had to say that he'd been feeling the lack of a little fun.

When two people got along, they'd always want to know more about the other person. Before, Xiao He hadn't had a way to find out more, but now that he had Hong Qing, he instantly learned many things.

So many that Xiao He's eyes were crinkled all night long, filled with smiles.

Hong Qing had only known that Xiao He was beautiful when he was in the grip of passion. He hadn't thought that when the boy was chatting calmly like this, he'd also be so terribly good-looking.

This feeling was hard to describe in words. Before, he'd taken Xiao He nonstop, but his heart had felt empty. But tonight, he hadn't even kissed Xiao He, but his heart was overflowing with a warm feeling, so full it was a complete mess.

He liked seeing Xiao He smile, he liked seeing his eyes curve until they were crescents, and he liked to listen to his voice even more…

This feeling was very beautiful, so beautiful it was enough to fill his heart to bursting.

Xiao He looked at Hong Qing with his chin resting in his hand, and when the sun rose, he seriously asked him a question. "Hong Qing, have you ever wondered why you've been coming out so frequently ever since I appeared?"

Hong Qing was a little startled.

Xiao He said with crinkled eyes, "You represent all of his hidden, suppressed emotions and desires. You came out, because...you love me."