Chapter Summaries

Shen Yangge suffered another attack of his strange illness during the night camp and found relief by grabbing Chu Xuanzhen’s hand. After Shen Yangge gave a vague explanation, Chu Xuanzhen ordered him to stay by his side at all times.

• Chu Xuanzhen examined the lingering bite mark on Shen Yangge’s cheek and rubbed it with his thumb.
• At the camp, Song Lianrong argued with Shen Rongfei while Shen Zhi blamed Shen Yangge for ruining his plans and vowed to get rid of him.
• Shen Yangge roasted meat by the fire while Chu Xuanzhen watched from his carriage.
• Shen Yangge’s illness returned, and he rushed to Chu Xuanzhen, grasping his hand to stop his discomfort.
• Chu Xuanzhen asked Shen Yangge what illness he had, and Shen Yangge claimed he needed more contact with people to recover.
• Chu Xuanzhen told Shen Yangge to remain by his side at all times.

During the journey to Lingnan, Chu Xuanzhen stole Shen Yangge’s food, made him trim a black gauze hat, and saved him from an assassin’s attack. After returning bloodied from fighting the attackers, Chu Xuanzhen pulled Shen Yangge into his arms, leaving Shen to fear the Crown Prince’s post-killing madness.

• Chu Xuanzhen ate Shen Yangge’s last pastry, then asked him to trim a black gauze hat and gave it to him to wear while traveling.
• A black-clad attacker dragged Shen Yangge out through the carriage window, but Chu Xuanzhen pulled him back and kicked the attacker away.
• Chu Xuanzhen ordered Shen Yangge to stay in the carriage, then went into the night to fight the attackers.
• Chu Xuanzhen returned with blood on his clothes and asked Shen Yangge about his condition.
• Chu Xuanzhen suddenly pulled Shen Yangge into his arms, and Shen worried that the Crown Prince had become mentally unstable after killing people.

Chu Xuanzhen bit Shen Yangge’s neck, then led him toward the river to wash off the blood on their clothes. On the dark path, Shen Yangge tore his trouser leg and underdrawers after getting them caught on something, leaving him stunned and exposed.

• Chu Xuanzhen restrained Shen Yangge, bit his neck, and insisted he repay the kindness he had received.
• Chu Xuanzhen led Shen Yangge out of the carriage to wash up by the river because their clothes were stained with blood.
• Shen Yangge followed Chu Xuanzhen through the dark woods and nearly stepped into empty air.
• Shen Yangge’s trouser leg caught on something, and he tore half of it and part of his underdrawers while trying to pull free.

Shen Yangge narrowly escaped a wolf attack when Chu Xuanzhen killed the animal with a precise sword strike. Chu Xuanzhen took Shen Yangge to the river to wash, but his intense concern and attempt to inspect him left Shen Yangge fearing he would be tormented again.

• Shen Yangge froze when a wolf caught his torn trouser leg, and Chu Xuanzhen killed it with a sword before it could attack him.
• Chu Xuanzhen checked Shen Yangge for injuries, then summoned and dismissed the hidden guard who had failed to spot the wolf.
• Shen Yangge noticed that the wolf and hidden guard had vanished, then followed Chu Xuanzhen to the river.
• Chu Xuanzhen tried to undo Shen Yangge's clothes, but Shen Yangge stopped him and insisted on washing by himself.
• Shen Yangge washed in the river with his clothes partly on and worried that Chu Xuanzhen would keep finding new ways to torment him.

Shen Yangge tried to keep Chu Xuanzhen at a distance while bathing with him, mistakenly taking Chu Xuanzhen’s questions about marriage as friendly concern. After Shen Yangge scrubbed Chu Xuanzhen’s back with a torn trouser leg, Chu Xuanzhen pulled him close and warned him not to stray because dangers still lurked nearby.

• Shen Yangge bathed in the river and tried to avoid Chu Xuanzhen’s attention, but Chu Xuanzhen grabbed his shoulder and asked what sort of person he liked.
• Shen Yangge said he would marry a woman he liked, and Chu Xuanzhen told him to let him vet her when the time came.
• Shen Yangge offered to scrub Chu Xuanzhen’s back while privately hoping to build goodwill and eventually get himself killed.
• Shen Yangge scrubbed Chu Xuanzhen with a torn trouser leg, then panicked and backed away when he realized what he had used.
• Chu Xuanzhen seized Shen Yangge’s wrist, pulled him close, and warned him not to stray because dangers remained nearby.

After Shen Yangge lost his boots in the river, Chu Xuanzhen carried him back to the carriage. Shen Yangge fell asleep in Chu Xuanzhen’s arms, and Chu Xuanzhen secretly kissed him.

• Shen Yangge scrubbed himself clean in the river, then saw the bodies downstream and worried that Chu Xuanzhen might eventually kill him.
• Shen Yangge accidentally let his boots drift away in the current and was left barefoot.
• Chu Xuanzhen caught Shen Yangge when he stumbled, then carried him after the grit cut his feet.
• Chu Xuanzhen carried the sleeping Shen Yangge through a swarm of fireflies and kissed his lips and nose.

Chu Xuanzhen discovered that Shen Yangge had a high fever and cared for him through the night, even learning acupuncture from Physician Liu. Shen Yangge woke in Chu Xuanzhen’s arms with little memory of what had happened, while System 615 remained under repair.

• Chu Xuanzhen carried the unconscious Shen Yangge into the carriage and realized he had a fever.
• Chu Xuanzhen held Shen Yangge and cooled him with wet cloths while Physician Liu instructed him in acupuncture.
• Physician Liu said Shen Yangge should rest until dawn before taking medicinal broth, and Chu Xuanzhen stayed by him through the night.
• Shen Yangge woke in Chu Xuanzhen’s arms and tried to recall the previous night, but remembered little.
• Shen Yangge questioned System 615, which only repeated that it was undergoing repairs.

Shen Yangge woke from a fever in Chu Xuanzhen’s arms and tried to understand the Crown Prince’s unusually personal care. After feeding him medicine, Chu Xuanzhen insisted on helping him relieve himself, leaving Shen Yangge alarmed about what he might want.

• Shen Yangge woke in Chu Xuanzhen’s lap and thanked him for looking after him, but Chu Xuanzhen refused to let him get down.
• Shen Yangge noticed faint teeth marks on his hands and wondered whether he had bitten himself while unconscious.
• Chu Xuanzhen covered Shen Yangge with a gauze hat whenever someone approached, explaining that his fever meant he should not see anyone.
• Chu Xuanzhen fed Shen Yangge bitter medicinal food and wiped medicine from his chin.
• When Shen Yangge said he needed to relieve himself, Chu Xuanzhen insisted on helping him, and Shen Yangge feared the Crown Prince’s intentions.

Shen Yangge traveled with Chu Xuanzhen while recovering from a fever, struggling to keep his distance despite the Skin Hunger Syndrome forcing them together. After reaching an inn near Lingnan, they booked a room for two, and System 615 returned from its upgrade.

• Chu Xuanzhen gave Shen Yangge medicine and clothes, watched him dress, and kept him from opening the carriage window while he was still recovering.
• When the carriage jolted, Chu Xuanzhen caught Shen Yangge and helped him sit beside him to satisfy the Skin Hunger Syndrome.
• After five or six more days of travel, Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen reached a border town near Lingnan.
• Chu Xuanzhen made Shen Yangge wear the black gauze hat and paid for a room for two at the inn.
• System 615 returned and explained that it had cleared its data and upgraded rather than broken down.

Shen Yangge tried to avoid sharing a bed with Chu Xuanzhen at the inn, but Chu Xuanzhen kept him close. When Shen Yangge reached out to manage his skin hunger syndrome, Chu Xuanzhen pulled him into his arms and bit his neck, leaving Shen Yangge flustered and eager to escape.

• Shen Yangge suggested sleeping on the floor, but Chu Xuanzhen took the only quilt to the bed and stopped him from asking the innkeeper for another.
• Chu Xuanzhen refused to let Shen Yangge explore town until he woke, so Shen Yangge stayed by the bed and waited for night.
• System 615 told Shen Yangge that sharing a bed with the male lead could help protect him from an assassin.
• Shen Yangge reached to touch the sleeping Chu Xuanzhen, but Chu Xuanzhen caught him, pulled him into his arms, and bit his neck.
• Shen Yangge urged Chu Xuanzhen to get up for food, then bolted from the room and drew a startled look from the waiter.

Shen Yangge traveled with Chu Xuanzhen toward Lingnan, frustrated by Chu’s orders and worried about his Skin Hunger Syndrome. When their party reached the Yong'an mountain stronghold, an enemy attack sent the carriage careening into chaos.

• Chu Xuanzhen ordered Shen Yangge to keep his face hidden, made him finish his meal, and told him to stay in the carriage at Yong'an.
• Chu Xuanzhen burned a secret letter and warned Shen Yangge that he would return before Shen’s condition flared up.
• The party reached Yong'an, where the Mountain Bandits controlled the surrounding routes and demanded payment from travelers.
• As Shen Yangge’s Skin Hunger Syndrome neared its next flare-up, System 615 suggested he call someone into the carriage.
• Before Shen Yangge could lift the curtain to call for help, someone shouted that enemies were attacking, and the jolting carriage was swept into the fleeing chaos.

Shen Yangge was mistaken for the Crown Prince, kidnapped by bandits, and forced into a wedding with their second chief. Chu Xuanzhen appeared in disguise to play along with the ceremony, but the deception was exposed as his men attacked the stronghold.

• Shen Zhi identified Shen Yangge as the Crown Prince, and the bandits seized him and took him to their stronghold.
• The second chief declared Shen Yangge his stronghold bride and ordered preparations for their wedding.
• The bandits dressed Shen Yangge in red wedding robes and bound him for the ceremony.
• Chu Xuanzhen secretly joined Shen Yangge at the wedding and told him to stall while his men arrived.
• As Chu Xuanzhen carried Shen Yangge toward the bridal chamber, an arrow knocked away Shen Yangge's veil and someone announced that the second chief was dead.
• Chu Xuanzhen set Shen Yangge down, removed his disguise, and drew his sword as the bandits prepared to seize them.

Chu Xuanzhen and Shen Yangge defeated the bandits at Yong'an Stronghold, but an archer’s ambush left Chu Xuanzhen demanding to know who had touched Shen Yangge. Chu Xuanzhen ordered the guilty bandits executed and dragged Shen Yangge toward a bamboo house.

• Chu Xuanzhen fought the Yong'an Mountain Bandits while Shen Yangge stayed close to him, until Chu Xuanzhen’s guards arrived and subdued them.
• Shen Yangge spotted arrows aimed at Chu Xuanzhen and knocked him aside; Chu Xuanzhen shielded Shen Yangge, then killed the hidden archer with a concealed weapon.
• Shen Yangge revealed that Chu Xuanzhen was the Crown Prince, and Chu Xuanzhen ordered the chief and the other guilty bandits punished or killed.
• Chu Xuanzhen asked who had touched Shen Yangge in Yong'an Stronghold, and Shen Yangge said he remembered the second-in-command touching him.
• Chu Xuanzhen seized Shen Yangge by the nape and ordered his subordinates to execute everyone in the stronghold who had killed someone before taking Shen Yangge to a bamboo house.

Chu Xuanzhen examined Shen Yangge’s injuries, then showed him the tortured second-in-command before carrying him down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, Shen Yangge challenged Shen Zhi for trying to get Chu Xuanzhen killed, and Chu Xuanzhen withdrew his promise to spare him until Lingnan.

• Chu Xuanzhen stripped Shen Yangge to inspect his injuries, then covered him in one of his own robes and told him to cooperate with Physician Liu’s treatment.
• Chu Xuanzhen showed Shen Yangge the mutilated second-in-command, who was still alive in a barrel.
• Shen Yangge stayed silent on the descent, and Chu Xuanzhen caught him when he stumbled before carrying him down the mountain.
• At the foot of the mountain, Shen Zhi demanded priority treatment, and Shen Yangge accused him of trying to get Chu Xuanzhen killed.
• Chu Xuanzhen said he had planned to keep Shen Zhi alive until Lingnan, but now saw no reason to do so.

Shen Yangge rejected the Shen family’s pleas for mercy and left Shen Zhi to face the Crown Prince’s command. His touch starvation flared as he brushed Chu Xuanzhen’s hand, and Chu Xuanzhen followed him into the carriage and reached for his neck.

• Shen Zhi begged Chu Xuanzhen to spare him and urged the Shen family to kneel, then tried to bargain with an offer of lodging in Lingnan.
• Shen Zhi invoked his fatherhood to demand that Shen Yangge plead for him, but Shen Yangge reminded him that he had disowned him and struck his name from the family genealogy.
• Shen Susu offered to serve Chu Xuanzhen in exchange for her father’s life, but Chu Xuanzhen ignored her and ordered the guards to drag Shen Zhi away.
• Shen Rongfei asked Shen Yangge to plead for their father, but Shen Yangge refused and left, saying he had no ties to the Shen family.
• Shen Yangge’s touch starvation began to flare, and he accidentally brushed Chu Xuanzhen’s hand as he passed him.
• Chu Xuanzhen followed Shen Yangge into the carriage and reached for his neck.

Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen arrived in plague-stricken Lingnan, where Shen tried to keep his distance from the Crown Prince but found himself increasingly drawn to him. After discovering that only one room in their courtyard had a bed, Shen heard Chu Xuanzhen confess that he wanted to kiss him in every corner of the place.

• Chu Xuanzhen told Shen Yangge that the Yong'an Stronghold captives had been released, while the stronghold's surviving children left its bloody ruins.
• Five days later, Shen Susu and the party entered Lingnan despite warnings about the contagious plague and saw the city overwhelmed by sickness and death.
• Chu Xuanzhen warned Shen Yangge to avoid contact with others, and Shen began taking notes as the carriage approached a group of beggars.
• Shen Yangge urged the driver to investigate the beggars, but they fled when the carriage kept coming, revealing their attempt to extort food.
• At their courtyard lodging, Shen Yangge learned that only one room had a bed and followed Chu Xuanzhen through the rooms until he believed him.
• Chu Xuanzhen told Shen Yangge that he wanted to kiss him in every corner of the courtyard.

Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen met Chengnan Prefecture Magistrate Lu Guangchen after arriving to deal with the epidemic. Shen Yangge challenged Lu Guangchen’s offer of a welcoming banquet, leaving the magistrate to apologize for his mistake.

• Chu Xuanzhen told Shen Yangge they would share the courtyard’s only room with a bed, and Shen Yangge ignored his suggestive remark.
• A guard announced that Lu Guangchen, the magistrate of Chengnan Prefecture, had come to visit, and Chu Xuanzhen ordered Shen Yangge to hide his face beneath a hat.
• Chu Xuanzhen brought Shen Yangge to the reception hall and seated him beside the place of honor.
• Lu Guangchen arrived with several women and respectfully greeted Chu Xuanzhen and Shen Yangge, while Chu Xuanzhen glared when Lu Guangchen stared at Shen Yangge’s hand.
• Lu Guangchen offered a welcoming banquet, but Shen Yangge pointed out the city’s dire condition, prompting Lu Guangchen to admit his mistake and apologize.

Lu Guangchen tried to placate Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen with beauties, but they rejected his advances and he left empty-handed. Shen Yangge mistook Chu Xuanzhen’s restraint for improving madness, while Chu Xuanzhen’s savage emotions continued to boil beneath his elegant composure.

• Lu Guangchen knelt and blamed his limited abilities for failing to address the plague, while Shen Yangge doubted his excuse.
• Lu Guangchen sent beauties to serve Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen, but Shen Yangge threatened them with a sword and made them retreat.
• After Lu Guangchen left, Chu Xuanzhen held Shen Yangge’s hand until his skin hunger eased, then questioned whether Shen Yangge was unwilling to be touched.
• Shen Yangge withdrew his hand and went to arrange dinner, thinking Chu Xuanzhen’s madness might be improving.
• After Shen Yangge left, Chu Xuanzhen smashed the tea and teaware as his suppressed violent urges surged again.

Shen Yangge tried to understand Chu Xuanzhen’s sudden agitation, but Chu Xuanzhen drew him close and revealed that he knew Shen Yangge’s secret. The chapter ended with Chu Xuanzhen holding and sniffing him as Shen Yangge tensed, fearing what he might do next.

• Shen Yangge noticed two ragged children watching the courtyard before they hurried away.
• Shen Yangge returned to find the hall cleaned and the tea set gone, then wondered whether Chu Xuanzhen had lost his temper.
• Chu Xuanzhen told Shen Yangge that he was agitated and insisted Shen Yangge could resolve what troubled him.
• Chu Xuanzhen took Shen Yangge’s hand, sniffed his wrist, and said he knew Shen Yangge had to touch other people’s skin.
• Chu Xuanzhen asked how Shen Yangge had developed his condition while holding him close and repeatedly stroking his wrist.
• Shen Yangge denied knowing how the condition began and clenched his free hand, bracing for Chu Xuanzhen to go further.

Shen Yangge fumed over Chu Xuanzhen’s advances, then spent the night tied up after sleepwalking and climbing onto him. When he urgently needed the toilet, Chu Xuanzhen refused to untie him unless he begged, and Shen Yangge threatened to piss on him.

• Chu Xuanzhen stopped his advances when dinner arrived, and Shen Yangge left the table angry and embarrassed.
• Shen Yangge tried to sleep far from Chu Xuanzhen, but woke in the night tied up and held in Chu Xuanzhen’s arms.
• System 615 explained that Shen Yangge had sleepwalked, straddled Chu Xuanzhen, called him a pervert, and tried to go home.
• Needing the toilet, Shen Yangge called out to Chu Xuanzhen, who asked whether it was urgent but did not release him.
• Chu Xuanzhen said he might untie Shen Yangge if he begged, and Shen Yangge threatened to piss on him.