Bab 30: Jealousy and Possessiveness

"XiaoXu, don't dwell too much on Xiao Weimin." Zhen Yuan suddenly said.

"Why? Are you jealous?" Shen Xu asked with a mischievous smile in his eyes.

At first, Zhen Yuan didn't want to admit it.

However, after thinking about it, he felt there was no reason to hide his feelings.

Since they were husband and wife, it was best to openly talk about some things.

"That and because you don't need to dwell on him too much."

"What do you mean?"

[You are a character that survived to the last page of the novel. Do you know what that means?]

When he heard that, Shen Xu fell into thought.

After passing through the book, he always focused on severing the connection between himself and the main protagonist.

However, he had never taken the time to really think about his character.

Now that he thought about it, he was suddenly enlightened.

[Since Shen Xu could survive from the beginning to the end of the book, it means his talent is not low and his opportunities are not few.] He muttered and his eyes widened in disbelief.

[Correct. In the book, Shen Xu did not have the chaos flame space and the god-level chaos flame cultivation technique. Now that you have them, combined with your knowledge of the plot, are you afraid you will be inferior to Xiao Weimin?] Zhen Yuan explained and quickly continued.

[Xiao Weimin is talented and his luck is very good. However, don't always use him as your standard. See him as a milestone you must pass on your way to a higher peak.]

When he heard that, Shen Xu looked at Zhen Yuan and then burst into laughter.

"What's wrong?" Zhen Yuan couldn't help but be confused.

"You are wrong." Shen Xu said and his eyes softened as he looked at Zhen Yuan.

"Wrong about what?"

[The chaos flame space, the chaos flame technique, and my knowledge of the novel are not my greatest opportunities. You are my golden finger.] The double said and reached out to hold his husband's hand.

Although he didn't understand everything, Shen Xu always felt that Zhen Yuan was an extraordinary existence. Even Xiao Weimin seemed less special compared to Zhen Yuan.

[In modern times, there is something called a flash marriage. You and I are in a flash marriage.] Shen Xu continued.

[Flash marriage? What is it?]

[It's a marriage where strangers marry for one reason or another. In novels, this type of relationship is tagged 'marriage first, love after'. Although we started like this, I have no doubt that our relationship will only get better and never worse.]

[Ayuan, you don't need to be jealous of Xiao Weimin. I promise I will never let you down.] Shen Xu assured.

Hearing this, Zhen Yuan smiled.

In fact, he wasn't worried Shen Xu would let him down.

He just didn't want his wife to pay so much attention to another man.

However, he understood Shen Xu's situation.

It had only been a few months since the double entered the book world.

Considering that, it was only natural that Shen Xu dwelled too much on the plot and main characters.

"I believe you." Zhen Yuan said and placed a piece of meat onto his wife's plate.

"Try it." He said.

"Good."

With a happy smile, Shen Xu took the meat and put it into his mouth.

A moment later, his eyes lit up and Zhen Yuan chuckled while looking at him.

"Is it good?" He asked.

"Mmmm." Shen Xu nodded and continued to eat.

Seeing this, Zhen Yuan continued to serve his wife and occasionally took a bite from his plate.

In this way, the two focused on eating and drinking while subconsciously listening to gossip.

An incense stick later, Shen Xu was about to take a sip of wine when he heard something that made him frown.

With a bad look, he put the wine cup down and looked at the female cultivators who were previously talking about Xiao Weimin.

"When did our Anyang city have such a person? He is more handsome than the seventh young master Xiao." One of the female cultivators sighed.

At the same time, they looked at Zhen Yuan with curious expressions.

"Have you ever seen the seventh young master Xiao? How do you know this fellow Daoist is better looking?"

"I have never met the seventh young master but I know what I know. This fellow Daoist is too handsome."

"I also think he is the most handsome person in the Canglan continent. How can he be so good-looking?"

"I wonder who he is. I want to talk to him."

"Wait until night to start dreaming. Don't you see there is a double beside him?"

"Which powerful cultivator doesn't have three wives and four concubines? Can't I deal with a little double?" One of the women snorted.

In her opinion, doubles could only be married as concubines.

As a beautiful woman, as a wife, couldn't she deal with her husband's concubine?

"He could be his brother." Another said.

"Are you trying to console yourself?"

"Aren't you also hoping he is his brother?"

Listening to their nonsense, Shen Xu felt irritated.

Subconsciously, he didn't want others to covet Zhen Yuan or to disregard him as just a 'brother' or 'concubine'.

At this moment, he suddenly felt the need to assert his claim and make the female cultivators give up right away.

Before he could think more carefully, Shen Xu turned around, grabbed Zhen Yuan's clothes and pulled him towards him.

A moment later, he kissed the man's lips and looked at the female cultivators with a triumphant look in his eyes.

Seeing this, the female cultivators stared in shock.

At the same time, Zhen Yuan froze in place.

He didn't expect Shen Xu to suddenly kiss him.

Most importantly, the double kissed him in a public place; in front of many people.

"XiaoXu…" Zhen Yuan started but his throat was strangely dry.

For the first time, his mind was blank and Zhen Yuan didn't know what to do or say.

"What? Is there something wrong with kissing my man?" Shen Xu demanded, his lips curled in a nonchalant smile.

However, the double was not as calm as he pretended.

He kissed Zhen Yuan to stake his claim and discourage the female cultivators.

However, he hadn't expected his own reaction to the kiss.

'Is this what kissing is all about?' He wondered with a dazed expression.

In his previous life, Shen Xu had never held a person's hand, let alone kissed.

Now that he had, he suddenly felt dazed and at a loss.

Seeing the look, Zhen Yuan immediately regained his vigour.

"I am yours. How can it be wrong to kiss your husband?" Zhen Yuan said with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Do you still want to kiss?" He asked.

"Rogue." Shen Xu admonished and quickly sipped his wine to relieve his embarrassment.

After that, the two ignored the female cultivators and drank while eavesdropping.

An incense stick later, they held hands and left the restaurant.

"Do you want to find an inn or look around?" Zhen Yuan asked.

"I heard there is a big market in Anyang city. Let's go there." Shen Xu said.

"Okay."

Although they decided to go to the market, the two didn't head there right away.

Instead, they slowly walked while shopping.

When they saw a clothing store, Shen Xu would enter to buy a few sets for himself and Zhen Yuan.

Similarly, Zhen Yuan would enter every bookstore they came across.

Since he was young, Zhen Yuan had a special love for books and knowledge. Because of this, he had bought hundreds of books from the Myriad Treasures pavilion and other bookstores.

Along the way on their journey, he visited many bookstores and bought a lot of books.

Now that he was in Anyang City, he naturally could not pass up the opportunity to acquire more books.

"If you lived in modern times, you would definitely be a top student." Shen Xu said as he thought of the pile of books his husband had just bought.

"Weren't you also a top student?"

"I was but only because I didn't want to fail my exams and disappoint my mother. If I had a choice, I would never study things I was not interested in."

"You have a choice now." Zhen Yuan said with a doting look in his eyes.

"Aren't you afraid I will become an ignorant person which will embarrass you?" Shen Xu asked and his hands subconsciously clenched into fists.

Although he was a modern man and believed in equality, the cultivation world was not accommodating.

The conduct of women and doubles affected their partners and relatives.

If he did something wrong, Zhen Yuan would be implicated.

Because of this, Shen Xu was a little unsure of himself and didn't know how to position himself in the Canglan continent.

On one hand, he wanted to be himself, and on the other, he didn't want to cause trouble for Zhen Yuan.

If he insisted on standing on an equal footing as his husband, wouldn't the world look down on Zhen Yuan?

"If I didn't meet you, I would live in this world without leaving a mark." Zhen Yuan started and looked at Shen Xu with a trace of solemnity in his eyes.

For as long as he could remember, Zhen Yuan always felt like an observer.

He never could connect to the things around him and never got attached to anything or anyone. Even his feelings for his adoptive parents were perfunctory and failed to leave a deep mark on his heart.

It was not until he and Shen Xu formed a Taoist contract that he felt a little attachment to the world.

However, this interest was limited to Shen Xu.

The opinions of others still held no meaning to Zhen Yuan.

"In my eyes, you are perfect as you are. You don't need to change yourself to meet the standards of irrelevant people. You can do whatever you want and I will make up for the rest. Don't care about what others think."

Hearing this, Shen Xu smiled.

As a human being, he naturally couldn't live an ignorant life and as a man, he didn't want others to look down on his partner.

Fortunately, Zhen Yuan was not an ordinary man and didn't expect Shen Xu's unconditional submission.

"XiaoXu, I don't need you to push me from behind or pull me from the front. It's enough for us to walk side by side." Zhen Yuan said while tenderly rubbing his wife's hair.