The sudden firmness seemed to make Chóng Fēi forget what he had been doing.
His breath stopped, his mouth pressed tightly shut as he stared at Lìngxiāo, who was not far from his face. His eyes still twitched, painfully watery.
'I carried away too much. Unexpected things kept happening since the day I stepped into here. But this is the only incident I feel like… complaining about.'
Lìngxiāo himself blinked when he realized his perfectly developed, formal, and gentle character had shown too much—more than it should have—at a time that was not even clear enough to justify as right or wrong.
"I do not like anyone raising their voice with me either," Chóng Fēi hissed, side-eyeing the needle that had already gone into its place. He could not move that arm because of it. His fingers twitched, trying to regain control, glaring at Lìngxiāo helplessly like any wounded animal still trying to scare its captor.
Lìngxiāo regained his composure, forcing his focus back to the task at hand. He kept the other needle-less arm under his control while the other hand lay unconscious beside Chóng Fēi.
"Apologies. I accidentally got carried away, Gōngzǐ." Lìngxiāo said—back to his usual tone, which was never close to any kind of anger, only humbleness and kindness. He had never thought of anything big either. "After all, I am made of the same soil as you, even if I do not seem like it."
"You—you just only 'carried away' dangerously on me." Chóng Fēi silently panted as the needle worked into his muscles. His left hand stopped completely working for a while. "I do not trust your temper either. Yours is even more ugly… without being ugly—"
He blinked with widened eyes as his words were stopped.
"Mph!"
Lìngxiāo's hand was over his mouth lightly while his other hand prepared the next needle. "Shh… you should speak in a low tone in this condition."
He slowly looked at the door lightly, hoping Chóng Fēi's father would not show up out of nowhere while he was not done with the effective plan right away—since he was at the top of the list where he suspected him the most. Everything was possible when it came to power.
Yet he needed Chóng Fēi to trust him and do as he said—or the forcing would lead to nothing, and the peacekeeping until the case was solved would become another problem.
He turned back to Chóng Fēi, who had also tilted his head toward the door after seeing Lìngxiāo look there as if any danger could be outside. Then he looked silently back at Lìngxiāo with a raised eyebrow. His panic wasn't too life-threatening right now—more questioning.
Lìngxiāo did not answer. He just shook his head once, removed his hand from Chóng Fēi's mouth, and smoothly took the needle to his next pressure point—which Chóng Fēi did not even notice until it poked into his skin.
He hissed sharply, speaking in a tight, frustrated, low yet angry tone—more likely angry at the needles. "F-fuck… is it not done yet? How many more?! You are going to kill me instead of saving!"
"Only three more, Gōngzǐ." Lìngxiāo reminded gently.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Nothing censored was coming from Chóng Fēi's mouth while he was torn between getting healed from those marks or getting saved from those needles instead.
"You have seen it is five in number, Gōngzǐ." Lìngxiāo worked faster, now moving to Chóng Fēi's knees while his hands lay unresponsive at his sides.
"So what? Needles are needles!" Chóng Fēi looked at his own unresponsive arms like they had been clipped from his body. He realized just now that he could not move. "M-my arms! What have you done?!"
"They are just resting, Gōngzǐ." Lìngxiāo exhaled when four needles were done, only one remained.
"Like dead?!" Chóng Fēi tried to move his legs too, yet he was left lying, and none of his body parts listened to him.
"Paralyzed for a temporary time, actually, Gōngzǐ." Lìngxiāo said lightly, as if the word itself would feel too big to Chóng Fēi—like any lightning.
"PARALYZED?!—"
Lìngxiāo used his silence charm this time—Chóng Fēi's mouth shut down on its own while Lìngxiāo was much farther from his mouth, near his knees.
"MMNN!!!" Chóng Fēi heavily laid his head back to the pillow. Sweat glazed over his fair face while he flushed red, his eyes shut tight.
"If the marks spread, it would be more painful. Please kindly understand, Chóng Gōngzǐ." Lìngxiāo kept talking to keep him distracted, then remembered that Chóng Fēi wanted to plan some reward for this stunt.
'I should probably let him feel like he is in control—the authority. It is what keeps him in his place.'
"If you also let me finish this simple task, I would accept any prize you think is of similar weight to the stunt I showed you. You would choose anything you wish. I would not deny it." Lìngxiāo quickly added.
Chóng Fēi froze, as if he had not expected this idea from him—not while Lìngxiāo was no less stubborn than him, but just more flexible. He opened one eye and looked at him.
"Then…" he slowly spoke, trying to regain his voice after the panic once the silence charm was gone. He was too determined to have some play with the prize.
Lìngxiāo came closer with the last needle and covered Chóng Fēi's eyes. For a while, Chóng Fēi did not pay attention to where the last needle could land. His mouth thoughtfully parted, as if thinking seriously about the prize.
"Yes? I am listening." Lìngxiāo said gently as he angled the needle near somewhere at Chóng Fēi's neck.
'He seems too in love with challenging plays and prizes. Perhaps he likes the role of any cultivation competition handler.'
He blinked thoughtfully while analyzing the marks. 'Too detailed and reddened. It has become irritated from his overreacting.'
Chóng Fēi swallowed silently before speaking like having a bet on catching dragons. "Then you would tell me three secrets.. and then I will think about whether I will share anything about myself… or it would be any other prize."
Lìngxiāo stopped the needle right near the pulse—where the mark throbbed the most—at Chóng Fēi's words.
A pause stretched between them—almost strangly fragile like glass.
Chóng Fēi's pulse beat against the needle's tip, rapid and warm. Lìngxiāo could feel it through the metal. He did not move nor spoke, just gaze unfocused over the pulse.
And in that silence, the curtain shade of the situation shifted. Lìngxiāo wasn't sure if it was only him or both.
'Oh Lord. Now what is this new problem? I have to share three secrets while I do not remember what is normal to speak about myself?'