Chapter 78: The Popular Chu Feng
Chu Feng had just come back from the small market when Duoduo came charging at him, hugging his leg tightly and howling like a wolf.
“Duoduo! What are you doing?” Chu Feng looked down at his tear-streaked face, wondering if he had caught some kind of rabbit rabies.
Duoduo looked up at him, eyes red, and said excitedly, “I want to sleep with you!”
Chu Feng was completely thrown off. Kids in this world are this bold and precocious?!
Then Hill came running over and clung to his other leg, also crying that he wanted to sleep with him.
Looking into the distance, Chu Feng saw Delice and Shirley also eyeing him with anticipation. He rolled his eyes endlessly.
Since when did I become so popular?
Do these little brats even know what “sleeping together” means?
Chu Feng picked the kids off one by one, but as soon as he got one off, another would throw themselves at him. It took quite a bit of effort for him to finally break free.
Amid the chaos, Chu Feng finally figured out what was going on—
Illya had told everyone that after “sleeping” with Chu Feng, he’d gotten the lightning-shaped mark and was able to travel to the other side of the sea.
But when Illya said that, he probably didn’t fully understand what had really happened. Even though the two of them had indeed been physically intimate, Illya had been completely dazed at the time, and likely didn’t truly grasp what they had done.
Rubbing his forehead in frustration, Chu Feng waved his hands as if shooing chickens away.
“Shoo, shoo! Go play somewhere else!”
Duoduo looked at Chu Feng with puppy-dog eyes, clearly unwilling to give up.
Hands on his hips, Chu Feng stared at the little ones in exasperation.
Illya walked up to him and said, “Sorry about that!”
Chu Feng gave an awkward smile. “Why are you apologizing?” Honestly, if anyone should be apologizing, it was him.
Illya puffed out his cheeks. “I think I caused some trouble for you.”
Chu Feng: … How can I blame Illya? If anything, it was me losing my head in the heat of the moment.
“Is this becoming a problem?” Illya asked.
Everyone was so curious about the other side of the sea that they kept pestering Illya about how he got there. Illya, confused himself, had no idea how to explain it.
When pressed too hard, Illya had finally blurted out that he’d gotten the mark on his hand after sleeping in the same bed with Chu Feng.
Only those with the mark could safely travel through the portal—otherwise, they’d end up like the rabbit, bleeding from all orifices and dying tragically.
Chu Feng hesitated, then asked dryly, “When you said you were sleeping… who else was there?”
Illya frowned. “Not many people. Duoduo was there.”
Chu Feng: … Duoduo was there. No wonder that silly bunny asked such a weird question earlier.
Duoduo must’ve overheard and spread the news. One kid told ten, ten told a hundred—now every child in the village probably knew that he and Illya had “slept together.”
Realizing that, Chu Feng felt his face heat up. The whole village knew now. He seriously considered moving to avoid any “accidental visits” to his bed in the middle of the night…
Being too popular has its downsides.
Gray looked up at Illya and said sweetly, “Big Brother, you’re back?”
Illya nodded.
“So you really got across by sleeping with Chu Feng?”
Illya pressed his lips together and stayed silent.
He’d blurted it out when people were pressuring him, but the truth was, he’d never fully understood what happened that night. Afterward, some well-meaning folks had explained things to him—only then did Illya truly realize what they’d done.
After that little “lesson,” Illya began to understand some things he hadn’t before—
Like how the “fighting sounds” he used to hear from married couples at night… weren’t really fighting.
Looking at Gray, Illya nodded slightly and said, “Something like that.”
Gray rested his chin in his hand. “But you’ve shared a bed with Chu Feng lots of times before. Why did you only teleport this time?”
Illya: … Because this time, we didn’t just sleep—we did something else too…
“Why are kids so nosy?” Illya said, flustered.
Gray pouted, “I’m not the only one curious!”
Illya blinked, cheeks flushing. “There are others?”
Gray nodded. “Yeah! A bunch of people have asked me, but I didn’t know the answer, so I couldn’t tell them.”
Illya: …
“Big Brother, is the other side of the sea really fun?”
Relieved by the change of subject, Illya said, “There’s so much to do over there.”
Honestly, if he hadn’t worried about Gray or the village, he might not have come back at all.
“Big Brother, can you go there now whenever you want, like Chu Feng?”
Illya shook his head. “Probably not.”
Chu Feng’s lightning-shaped mark allowed him to open a portal and bring others along. Illya’s mark only protected him during the crossing; it didn’t let him open the gate.
Gray sighed. “So you can’t go? I really wanted to see it too…”
Illya tilted his head, thinking to himself: The other side really is fascinating. Not going isn’t so bad—but after going once, you’ll always want to go again…
Chu Feng, overhearing their conversation, scratched his head awkwardly and said, “I’m going to check on the castle construction site.”
His recent trips had been hectic—he hadn’t even handed out the work tokens, and he wasn’t sure what condition the place was in now.
Illya nodded. “The Highlanders were saying they hope you can open a small store over there too.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Sure.”
The Highlanders’ main castle was still a long way from completion, but a secondary castle nearby was nearly finished. Many of the workers were staying there temporarily instead of traveling back and forth.
Illya looked at him and asked, “Are you thinking of moving to the castle?”
Chu Feng glanced at Illya, hesitated, and said, “If I do, would you come with me?”
Illya nodded. “Sure!”
Chu Feng breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
He’d finally gotten a taste of intimacy, and if he moved out and lost the perk of sharing a bed… well, that would be a real shame.
Illya furrowed his brows and sighed. “But… not these next few days.”
Chu Feng asked, a bit puzzled, “Why not?”
“Xuerui was captured. I have to go save him,” Illya replied.
“Who’s Xuerui?” Chu Feng asked.
Illya shook his head. “He’s a half-elf.”
Chu Feng frowned. “Is there such a person in the village?”
“You haven’t seen him. He left the village a long time ago,” Illya explained.
Chu Feng nodded. “Oh, I see.”
Illya continued, “Yeah. A merchant caravan passed through before, and Xuerui fell in love with the young master of that caravan. We advised him not to go with them, but he didn’t listen. I think the caravan ran into trouble with their business and ended up selling him off.”
Chu Feng: “…How did you find out?”
“He managed to send a message through a flying courier,” Illya said.
“Flying courier?” Chu Feng nodded to himself. This world has no phones, so communication is difficult… but it also has its own ways. For example, some beastkin train birds to deliver messages, and human nobles have magical communication stones for instant contact.
Chu Feng looked at Illya and asked, “So you’re going to go rescue him?”
Illya nodded. “Yes. I’ll go with Fei Ying. We might be gone for a few days.”
Chu Feng sighed. “Then be careful.”
Illya nodded. “Okay. When I’m back, you can take me over there again to have fun.”
Chu Feng smiled. “Sure.”
Word of Chu Feng and Illya’s relationship spread quickly throughout the village. Soon, it became the hot topic.
“So Chu Feng really did sleep with Illya!” Duvean blinked.
Sterling rolled his eyes. “I always thought that guy was staying by Illya’s side with ulterior motives.”
Duvean rested his chin in his hand. “Well, if it means getting to go to the other side of the sea, it’s not a bad trade.”
Sterling looked at Duvean and hesitated. “Don’t tell me you want to… sleep with Chu Feng too?”
These past few days, the kids in the village had been going wild. These clueless brats didn’t understand a thing but kept shouting nonsense.
Duvean shook his head. “I just want to go see the wood carvings over there. Not sleep with Chu Feng.”
Sterling thought: Thank goodness someone’s still got a rational head around here.
Duvean tilted his head. “I heard that tons of people want to sleep with Chu Feng. There’s already a queue. Even if I wanted to, it’s not my turn.”
Sterling frowned. “Maybe there are other conditions. Maybe sleeping isn’t enough.”
Duvean nodded. “That’s possible. Illya is a gifted individual. I’ve heard that when two gifted people come together, sometimes their powers react in strange ways.”
Gifted individuals were rare, and pairs were even rarer. Duvean hadn’t heard of many such cases.
Two days after returning to Crescent Village, Illya left again. With Illya gone, Chu Feng felt strangely empty.
He sat in a rocking chair, glancing around, a bit bored.
He’d found that the village was full of skilled craftsmen. Someone had seen a picture of a rocking chair in a book Chu Feng brought and had made one just like it.
As Chu Feng lounged in the chair, he overheard whispers from a few nearby half-elves.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Recently, his physique had changed a lot—his hearing was sharper too. Normally, he wouldn’t have been able to hear their conversation at all.
“Do we really have to get into bed with him?”
“Maybe just lying on the same bed is enough?”
“I don’t know… feels kinda wrong.”
“But you’d get to go to the other side of the sea! Didn’t you hear Illya say it’s full of endless delicious food and fun things?”
“What if we do get in bed with him and still don’t get to go? Then we’d be taken advantage of for nothing.”
“Well, how will we know unless we try?”
“If you’re gonna act, do it fast! Once Illya comes back, it’ll be too late!”
“So who’s going first? You or me?”
…
Chu Feng gritted his teeth and stood up. At first, he thought the villagers were pretty conservative—but clearly, appearances were deceiving. He felt like he had become a walking temptation, and everyone wanted a bite of him.
“I’m going to see the shaman,” Chu Feng muttered as he got up.
Gray nodded. “Okay.”
Chu Feng scratched his head. The shaman might be the only peaceful place left in Crescent Village… though maybe even that’s not safe anymore.
“Forget it, I’ll head over to the Highlanders’ area,” he said.
