Luo Nanchen's hands were trembling as he tried to suppress his anger. "Just how many things have you been hiding from me?"
When Lin Qiao told him these things, there was surprisingly little emotional turmoil in her heart. She didn't even feel the slightest bit of grievance. "Don't be angry. It's because it happened so long ago. I've actually forgotten about it. I only remembered when I saw a similar scene in the Xie Mansion today."
"I'm not angry," Luo Nanchen tightened his embrace around Lin Qiao. "I'm angry at myself. I can't even protect you well..."
Lin Qiao didn't cry, but Luo Nanchen's voice started to choke, sounding like a whimpering little beast.
In a daze, Lin Qiao felt that Luo Nanchen was still the stubborn and vulnerable child he was five years ago.
Apart from growing taller and more imposing, everything else seemed to remain the same.
He was so delicate and fragile, like a porcelain doll that made people feel sorry for him and couldn't help but want to protect him and hold him in the palm of their hand.
"Alright," Lin Qiao patted Luo Nanchen's back, as if soothing a child. "How could you have protected me? At that time, you probably weren't even born yet."
Luo Nanchen hugged Lin Qiao even tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
He nuzzled against Lin Qiao like a large dog, as if it was never enough.
Lin Qiao smiled. "I was in a bad mood just now. How come I'm the one comforting you now? Alright, alright, it's okay. It's all in the past, really."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Luo Nanchen's voice was hoarse. "I didn't know, I didn't know you would find those things unpleasant. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Luo Nanchen seemed to not know what else to say. All he could say was sorry, and it was unclear what he was apologizing for.
But Lin Qiao was stunned.
She understood what Luo Nanchen's apologies meant.
After hearing about Lin Qiao's adoption and knowing that she felt disgusted by matters between men and women, just two days ago, she had helped him with some physical needs...
Well, it was more like semi-forced and semi-coaxed help.
Luo Nanchen probably felt guilty and sad.
However, whether it was because too much time had passed or for some other reason... although Luo Nanchen's... was quite impressive, Lin Qiao didn't feel disgusted.
When she saw it, she didn't recall those unpleasant memories either.
"I don't hate you," Lin Qiao held Luo Nanchen's face in her hands. "Maybe it's because too much time has passed, or maybe it's because you're too charming. Anyway, I don't find it unpleasant, and you don't have anything to be sorry for. Do you understand?"
Luo Nanchen's eyes were still red. "Really?"
Lin Qiao gasped. She couldn't imagine that the once domineering and all-powerful Nanchen Emperor in the book would one day cry over something as trivial as sex.
Crying! This was crying! The author of the fantasy novel would never write about the male protagonist crying, because it would make him seem greasy, weak, and incompetent.
And in the past, if anyone dared to associate such a thing with Luo Nanchen, they would be regarded as a black fan!
Now, Luo Nanchen was like a large dog that was constantly afraid of being abandoned by its owner.
A very clingy large dog at that.
"Maybe, what I hate is not the act itself, but... violence," Lin Qiao sighed deeply, her eyes looking blank. "I don't know. Anyway, I don't hate you..."
Luo Nanchen didn't say a word. He pointed at Lin Qiao's collarbone.
Lin Qiao looked at her own but couldn't see anything. Then Luo Nanchen pointed at his own collarbone.
What?
Was this an attempt to seduce her?
She had just told Luo Nanchen that she didn't find it unpleasant, and now this was happening so soon?
Was Luo Nanchen really that efficient?
And her period wasn't even over yet...
Seeing Lin Qiao's increasingly strange look, Luo Nanchen quickly explained, "See this butterfly? Do you see it?"
On Luo Nanchen's collarbone, there was a blood-red butterfly-shaped mark, like a birthmark.
It was very eye-catching and shiny, emitting a blood-red glow.
Lin Qiao nodded. "I see. Is this a birthmark?"
Luo Nanchen held Lin Qiao's hand. "It's the Bond of Life and Death."
Lin Qiao was stunned.
On her collarbone, there was also a butterfly-shaped, blood-red mark.
The Bond of Life and Death was a rather mysterious and forbidden technique in the history of Yunjin.
It was a contract. After the contract was formed, a butterfly-shaped mark would appear on both the person who initiated the contract and the person who was bound by it.
The pain felt by the person bound by the contract would be transferred to the person who initiated the contract. That is to say, the person who initiated the contract was willing to bear the pain for the other.
However, the pain and injuries of the person who initiated the contract would not be reflected on the person bound by it.
Even if the person bound by the contract died, the person who initiated the contract would not be able to survive.
That is to say, the effect of the contract was one-way. If the person who initiated the contract died, the person bound by it would not show any abnormalities. But if the person bound by the contract died, the person who initiated the contract would surely die.
Moreover, once the contract was formed, it could never be revoked.
It was a very cruel spell. In the past, when people in Yunjin got married, they would form such a contract. However, no one wanted to be the person who initiated the contract.
Because once they did, it was like handing their lives into the hands of another person. They had no control over their own life and death, pain and illness, and would never be free again.
So later, the emperor of Yunjin banned this spell, and it became extinct.
At first, when Lin Qiao didn't read about this forbidden technique, she always thought that the mark on her collarbone was a birthmark.
Later, when she found out, she wasn't very scared either because she had checked the forbidden books and knew that the mark on her body was the mark of the person bound by the contract.
No matter who it was with, it didn't affect her anyway.
After that, she put her mind at ease and never thought about it again.
It was only when Luo Nanchen mentioned it today that she suddenly realized, "...Don't tell me you're the one who formed the contract with me?"
Luo Nanchen nodded. "Yes. I didn't expect it to be useful at the time when I formed the contract. But now it comes in handy. Are you still scared?"
"Hey, what's there to be scared of?"
Luo Nanchen smiled but didn't say a word. His deep eyes reflected Lin Qiao's stunned expression.
Lin Qiao lowered her head, not daring to look at Luo Nanchen.
She was afraid that Luo Nanchen would also be violent, although in the book, Luo Nanchen disdained using violence...
But one had to be prepared for danger in times of peace, right?
After seeing the things between Xie Kuihai and Xue Tingyu and thinking about her adoptive parents, she had developed a deep fear of marital life.
Although Luo Nanchen was extremely kind to her.
Once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of the rope for ten years.
What Lin Qiao had been wanting to ask just now was whether Luo Nanchen would one day be violent towards her. But unexpectedly, Luo Nanchen had already seen through what she wanted to say and had kindly provided a solution.
Dude, you're the one being suspected and guarded against!
Can you not be so proactive?!
Moreover, if Lin Qiao hadn't mentioned her fear of violence tonight, would Luo Nanchen have never mentioned the Bond of Life and Death contract?
Would he have just silently endured and protected her like this?
No wonder her period pains had been much less since she entered the book. She had originally thought it was because the original owner's constitution was different from hers.
So, it was all Luo Nanchen who had been suffering the pain for her?
Lin Qiao suddenly felt like crying.
"When did you form the contract? How come I don't know..."
Luo Nanchen thought for a while. "The day you were captured by Luo Junhao. You were in a coma for a long time."
Wasn't that the turning point in the original book when Luo Nanchen turned dark? It seemed to be... on the Mid-Autumn Festival?
"So early?"
"Yes," Luo Nanchen smiled. "I originally thought that if you died like that, I might as well die too. The book said that people who had formed the Bond of Life and Death contract would go to the underworld together even after death. That sounded good."
Lin Qiao felt like crying even more.
What did she do to deserve the love of such a wonderful Luo Nanchen...