Orc Priest (11): 

Zhou Qinghao was in turmoil, but he still did everything he was supposed to do without letting anyone notice anything wrong.

Half of the able-bodied youths in the tribe had gone hunting, while the other half, who were supposed to rest in the tribe and guard it, couldn’t sit still. They took fishing nets and caught fish near the tribe.

The prey caught by the hunting team was shared with the entire tribe, but the fish they caught during their rest time belonged to them alone.

They didn’t catch many fish. After dividing them among themselves, they left one big fish, which they respectfully presented to Zhou Qinghao.

When Zhou Qinghao saw their smiling faces full of joy, and thought about their future, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

These people’s fates would all be miserable.

His own fate would also be miserable.

Gu Juntian didn’t like him—on the contrary, he despised him. After Bai Yutian came to the tribe, he would drive him away.

He could think of ways to prevent Bai Yutian from joining the tribe, but that might not succeed, and he also didn’t want to harm Bai Yutian.

His ending, the tribe’s ending, though related to Bai Yutian, was not greatly connected.

Zhou Qinghao cooked the fish and ate it slowly, taking a long time before finishing.

When the tribe members saw this, they whispered, “The priest really does look different.”

“The priest looks so elegant when eating fish.”

They themselves gnawed at fish messily, but the priest’s slow, careful way of eating made him stand out.

Many wanted to imitate him, but after trying, they felt that eating fish so slowly was unbearable, and eventually gave up.

Very soon, the sky grew dark.

Gu Juntian returned with the hunting team, fully loaded.

Zhou Qinghao had thought about many things throughout the day, but once he saw Gu Juntian, all his thoughts condensed into a single one.

Gu Juntian didn’t like him. He only liked Bai Yutian—liked him so much that he didn’t care about the Hippopotamus Tribe, even to the point of leading the whole tribe to its death.

A storm of emotions churned in Zhou Qinghao’s heart, and he felt a suffocating pressure within.

As soon as Gu Juntian came back, he sensed something wrong in the way Zhou Qinghao looked at him.

“Qing, what’s wrong?” Gu Juntian asked.

Zhou Qinghao looked at him as though he had done something to wrong him, but he hadn’t.

He had been honest today, out hunting the entire time.

Could it be that someone in the tribe did something—like confessing to him and making Zhou Qinghao jealous?

It was quite possible. Prehistoric people were warm and open. From time to time, someone in the tribe would publicly declare they wanted to have children with another person.

Zhou Qinghao had liked him for many years, but always suppressed his feelings. If he felt unhappy after hearing someone else’s confession, that was normal.

“I’m fine,” Zhou Qinghao said.

Gu Juntian, not finding an answer from him, asked others while dividing up the meat if anything unusual had happened today.

The tribe members mentioned some things, but none said anyone had confessed to him.

Perhaps someone had said something to Zhou Qinghao that made him upset.

This wasn’t anyone’s fault, after all. People in the tribe didn’t know much about what was between him and Zhou Qinghao.

Now that Zhou Qinghao was unhappy, it was up to him to coax him.

By the time Gu Juntian finished dividing the meat, Zhou Qinghao had already cooked the gruel and had others take it away.

Seeing this, Gu Juntian took some meat and went inside, closing Zhou Qinghao’s door behind him and securing it with wood.

This way, no one could push the door open from outside.

And generally, no one dared to enter when the priest had closed the door.

“Why did you lock the door?” Zhou Qinghao asked.

Earlier, when Gu Juntian wasn’t around, his mood had lightened a little. But now, seeing Gu Juntian again, his feelings became extremely complicated.

Gu Juntian, intent on coaxing him, moved closer and held Zhou Qinghao’s hand. “Aqing, I want to be alone with you.”

Zhou Qinghao lowered his head to look at the hand being held.

Seeing this, Gu Juntian’s heart warmed. He lifted Zhou Qinghao’s hand and kissed it.

Zhou Qinghao froze. “You kissed me?”

“Can’t I?” Gu Juntian asked with a smile. He had long wanted to kiss Zhou Qinghao, but hadn’t dared for fear of scaring him or making him unwilling.

He didn’t even want to stop at just a hand.

Zhou Qinghao said nothing, simply gazing quietly at Gu Juntian.

Was Gu Juntian’s affection now all fake?

Or was there some truth to it?

“Aqing, did something happen to you?” Gu Juntian leaned over and kissed Zhou Qinghao on the face. “You can tell me.”

Zhou Qinghao remained silent.

Seeing that Zhou Qinghao didn’t pull away, Gu Juntian knew he was doing the right thing and that his guess was correct.

Most likely Zhou Qinghao was upset from jealousy… He should let him know his true feelings: “Aqing, you are the most important person to me. I really like you. In this world, I like you the most…”

“Are you telling the truth?” Zhou Qinghao asked.

“Of course it’s true!” Gu Juntian replied without hesitation.

Zhou Qinghao stared at Gu Juntian without blinking.

Gu Juntian was now the chief, already recognized by the tribe. Though he was the priest, Zhou Qinghao couldn’t just change the chief at will.

After all, both he and his teacher had once said Gu Juntian was a good chief.

To remove Gu Juntian, he would need him to do something harmful to the tribe.

In the prophecy, that was exactly what had happened—Gu Juntian repeatedly made mistakes and was driven out.

But mistakes meant death for tribe members.

In the prophecy, Gu Juntian disregarded lives, forcing him out. But he himself could not bring himself to do that.

Nor could he secretly kill Gu Juntian.

At this moment, he even felt swayed, wanting to kiss Gu Juntian.

“Aqing, I’ve liked you since we were young, which is why I’ve never been with anyone else. But since you’re the priest, I didn’t dare confess before, afraid it would harm you or make the tribe misunderstand…” Gu Juntian continued.

His words were sweet to hear.

Zhou Qinghao hardened his resolve and kissed Gu Juntian on the lips.

Besides framing him, Gu Juntian had also told the tribe that he forced him.

If that was the case, then what harm would it be to actually force him?

And if Gu Juntian still tried to harm him afterward, then he could just say Gu Juntian had forced him instead!

As the chief, forcing a priest—that charge alone could strip him of his position.

And Zhou Qinghao also had his selfish reasons.

Since Bai Yutian had not yet appeared, he believed Gu Juntian still had some feelings for him.

Even if he didn’t like his personality, Gu Juntian surely liked his body.

Otherwise, Gu Juntian wouldn’t be so touchy with him.

If they truly ended up together, then wouldn’t Gu Juntian stop paying attention to Bai Yutian?