Ling Yue went to check out the other rooms, but pretty much all of them were leaking.
It had always been his Master who repaired the roofs. Ling Yue stayed in the tower after his Master left, so he was completely unaware that situation occurred in the temple whenever it rained.
It was unsafe to wander around the mountain in such a downpour.
"Only Junior Brother's room isn't leaking. You go sleep there."
Ling Yue avoided the leaking areas and walked to the bedside.
Shi Sheng hugged the blanket as she sat on the bed. Her brief stint outside had caused her hair and clothes to get soaked, plastering themselves to her skin.
"Where are you sleeping?"
"I'll sleep here." Ling Yue pointed at the bed Shi Sheng was sitting on. He was fine with making do for the night.
"Then I'll sleep here too."
Ling Yue, "" 'This bed can only fit one person ah! The other side is getting soaked by the rain!'
"Then I'll go sleep in Junior Brother's room."
'If she won't go, I'll go, okay?'
"I'm going too." Shi Sheng made to get off the bed with her blanket.
"Prime Minister, men and women should keep their distance." Ling Yue emphasised the last word through gritted teeth.
Shi Sheng cocked her head to the side with an innocent expression on her face. "I wasn't planning to do anything to you, just sharing the bed. Once you enter my residence[1], we'll also be sleeping together, so this counts as practice."
'Who needs to practice to sleep???'
Ling Yue felt he had no way to communicate with this woman. But just as the two fell into a stalemate, it started leaking where Shi Sheng was sitting too.
She shrugged and spoke with a smile, "This ain't my fault."
The two of them still ended up sharing Gu Su's room in the end.
Though Ling Yue said Gu Su's room wasn't leaking, he meant it wasn't leaking near the bed.
Some thatch had been placed above the bed to divert the rainwater towards the side instead.
Shi Sheng gave Ling Yue an odd look, making him feel a bit awkward.
He rarely came to this place. Most of the time, Gu Su was here alone, so he didn't know about these things.
Gu Su's bed was very small, barely large enough for two people to fit on it with a sliver of room between them.
Shi Sheng let Ling Yue sleep on the inside.
Ling Yue felt rather nervous as he dawdled, before climbing onto his side of the bed.
The leaking rainwater seemed to fall into his heartwhich was racing so fast, he thought it was beating in time with every drop of water.
Shi Sheng clambered up on the bed. Seeing Ling Yue leaning away from her, she frowned. "Come over here."
"I don't take up much room." Ling Yue shook his head, slight wariness appearing in his eyes.
Shi Sheng, "" 'Do I look that desperate? Really now.
Besidesthere's nothing embarrassing about wanting to screw my own man! I just want to, okay?'
"Let me help you dry your hair." Shi Sheng raised the towel that had appeared at in her hand some point.
Ling Yue's hair was even wetter than hers, because he had gone out to check the other rooms in the rain.
Ling Yue flushed. 'Just what was I thinking?'
He sat up and moved over. Shi Sheng half-knelt on the bed and untied his hair, before gently helping him wipe it dry.
He could feel her body heat and the tips of her fingers occasionally brushing against his neck.
Their cool tips seemingly caused small currents to dance across his skin, which soon extended to the rest of his body.
"Alright." Shi Sheng ran her hand through his hair. Although it wasn't very dry, it was still better than before.
Shi Sheng gave her own hair a perfunctory drying, planning to strip off her wet outer garments.
"What are you" Ling Yue shrank back at some point.
"Taking off my wet clothes!" She swiftly stripped off her outer garments, revealing the dry clothes beneath.
"Your outer garments are wet, too. You'll easily get sick if you keep wearing them, so take them off."
Ling Yue stared at Shi Sheng for a moment before slowly taking his outer garments off.
"Time to sleep."
The two had their own separate blankets.
Only after seeing Shi Sheng cover herself with her own blanket, did Ling Yue let out a mental sigh of relief.
Even without the rain, the temperature at this altitude was very low. But now that it was pouring, the temperature plummeted even further.
Meanwhile, Shi Sheng had only a thin blanket to ward off the cold, and she clearly wasn't having much success keeping warm.
Jun Liyou had the type of physique that would come down with a cold after being out in the rain for a bit, so Shi Sheng had a bit of trouble sleeping.
Plus, it seemed like her space didn't have any spare blankets
'Seems like I'm going to have to stock up on a few from now on.'
"Achiu[2]" Shi Sheng covered her mouth upon feeling her nose itch before sneezing.
'Fuck!'
Shi Sheng turned to look at Ling Yue. Her eyes flashed, and she scooted over.
However, who knew that Ling Yue would suddenly sit upright? Shi Sheng could only make out his vague outline in the darkness.
"Cold." Shi Sheng gave him a pitiful look. "Achiu"
Since Ling Yue had inner energy to protect him, he didn't feel all that cold.
"It really is cold. Don't believe me? Have a feel." Shi Sheng stretched a hand out.
After a while, he finally reached out to hold it. Unlike the radiating warmth he'd felt before, her hands now emitted a piercing coldness, as if she'd been left in an ice cellar.
That strange ache emanated in Ling Yue's heart again. He tightened his grip on Shi Sheng's hand slightly, hesitating for quite a while before lifting his blanket and speaking in a hushed voice, "You're not allowed to molest me!"
"En." Shi Sheng's voice had already taken on a nasally quality. She hurriedly scooted into Ling Yue's blanket.
Shi Sheng let out a contented hum at the new warmth enveloping her.
Ling Yue got up to grab Shi Sheng's blanket but found that her side of the bed was freezing cold and the blanket was rather damp.
'Why didn't she say anything?!'
Ling Yue gave up on the idea of using her blanket and carefully lay back down.
Now that he and Shi Sheng were sharing both a bed and a blanket, Ling Yue's already-tense mind grew even more tense.
Shi Sheng's cold hands pressed against Ling Yue's body. He stiffened but didn't move. Shi Sheng seemed to take this as permission to lean against him completely.
"Prime Minister!" 'You promised you wouldn't molest me!'
"En?" Shi Sheng shrunk back, speaking very pitifully. "Cold."
Ling Yue, "" 'You're a woman okay? Why are you acting as delicate as a man?'
In the end, Shi Sheng still got her wish and hugged him to sleep.
Ling Yue had no chance of falling asleep. His mind was filled with the sounds of the pouring rain and her steady breathing.
He didn't know when he had dozed off. In his stupor, Ling Yue felt something licking and biting at his lips. He opened his eyes to find Shi Sheng's smiling eyes right in front of his face.
She was so close that he could easily make out the subtle changes in her expression.
Shi Sheng slowly inserted her tongue in his mouth. Only once she was sure he didn't object did she probe further.
But Ling Yue came to his senses then and shoved Shi Sheng away.
His hands somehow ended up pressing against her chest, the soft sensation making him jerk back as if he'd been zapped by electricity.
"Y-you"
'What happened to not molesting me?!'
"I didn't molest you!" Shi Sheng had an innocent expression.
'I just snuck a kiss[3]!'
Ling Yue's face was red. Though whether that was from anger or embarrassment, Shi Sheng didn't know.
'Liar! All women are liars!'
"Okay, okay, I was wrong! Don't get mad!" Shi Sheng hurriedly apologised upon noticing Ling Yue's expression turn unsightly. "I won't touch you anymore without your consent, okay? Don't be mad, it's not good for your body to be angry in the morning."
Ling Yue wordlessly got off the bed, picked up his outer garments, and made to leave.
Shi Sheng, "" 'It was just a kiss! Waifu, don't be angry! I'll let you kiss me back!'
Shi Sheng scurried after him and apologised profusely without a single care for her dignity.
[1] This is a more subtle way to say "once I marry you".
[2] Sneezing noises, in case you didn't know. And yes, I know "achoo" is used more often, but it sounds less cute.
[3] Ling Yue's terms were "" which literally means, don't use your hands and feet on me. Shi Sheng's reply to this was "" which means "I used my mouth". Verbal acrobatics, man
Author's note:
Shi Sheng: Come on! Kiss me back, waifu!
Ling Yue: Shameless!
Shi Sheng: Not shameless = no waifu