Chapter 55 - Honey Tangerine Flavored Shadow Guard Gong (13): The moon is finally round, but...(1/2)
Translator: KunLin
Editor: Vez, Blarghette
*nsfw warning
Wang Li was instantly engulfed by the sea and disappeared. As the ship continued to cruise onward, Wang HaiYi leaned against the handrail and called out.
“Li’er!”
He turned around angrily to glare at Gou Liang and Zhong Quan, but he soon realized the situation, and tearfully begged them to save her.
The sound of Wang HaiYi’s wailings disturbed Li Xi. He hurried over and saw Wang HaiYi on the floor pleading with Gou Liang, his eyes full of fear and resentment.
Upon seeing him, Wang HaiYi threw himself over to him, “Yu Xiu, have the people save my sister, don’t you have servants with very powerful martial arts? Let them save my sister!”
Li Xi saw the tongue on the floor and his expression flickered, he then looked at Gou Liang, and was startled by the scar on his face. Immediately, he guessed that the wounds on Gou Liang’s face and legs must have something to do with Li Yan, and he believed even more firmly that Gou Liang would never help the Crown Prince. Compared to the YongNing Manor’s Wang Family who was far away, Li Xi naturally placed more importance on Gou Liang and the strength behind him. Therefore, he would not interfere and attract the other’s displeasure.
Thus, he anxiously made an ‘ah, ah’ sound and tried to pull Wang HaiYi up from the floor, his appearance fretful—he was only a naive mute ah.
However, Wang HaiYi acted as if he was grabbing onto his last life-saving straw. He hugged onto his leg, refusing to let go.
Upon seeing this, Gou Liang couldn’t help but chuckle, “Has TangLang Hua never heard of the story ‘Carving a notch overboard to find the sword later‘? If that’s the case, I really have to wonder, how did you manage to get the position of TangLang Hua? Or is it..your distress is all a show, so that later on you can better report back to your parents?”
Wang HaiYi’s crying continued, he didn’t respond to his words.
Gou Liang made an ‘oh’ sound like he understood something. He nodded his head and said self-assuredly: “Looks like you really do hate that sister of yours.”
Wang HaiYi continued to cry, but Li Xi was shocked.
He did not doubt Gou Liang’s words, but on the entire way where he saw how Wang HaiYi had looked after and protected his sister, even when the government was attacked, he had closely guarded his sister by his side. It wasn’t an overstatement to say that the bonds between the two siblings ran deep. If Wang HaiYi had been acting this entire time, then his shrewdness and temperament..it made one fearful.
Li Xi took a step back, bowed and said: “May I ask Sir’s reasoning?”
Wang HaiYi suddenly raised his head to look at him, his face betraying an expression of shock.
“Since you’ve stopped, don’t cry anymore, it sounds horrible.”
Gou Liang caressed the Asking Heaven jade xiao, and said lightly: “Let me guess. Wang HaiYi, you knew Zhong Quan didn’t like your sister, and you knew that this matter of asking for marriage will definitely anger me today, but you still did it anyway. Presumably, you wanted to borrow my hands to teach her a lesson, or perhaps, the current result is the one you wanted most.”
“There is hate in your eyes, but not towards me. There is fear in your eyes, but it’s also not towards me..looks like your heart knot towards the YongNing Wang Clan is deep. Young Marquis, finding an ally like this, I’m afraid you’ll eat a loss. The Wang Family also won’t stand behind you just because of his support alone.”
Li Xi stared at Wang Haiyi, his expression unfathomable, “You long knew my identity?”
He and Wang HaiYi met in the capital. He saw the other’s talent and wanted to utilize it for himself, but today he discovered that Wang HaiYi wasn’t as simple as he thought.
Wang HaiYi saw that he couldn’t continue crying, so he might as well retract his tears, he crawled a few steps and leaned against the handrail, exhausted. He rubbed his face that had become stiff from crying and said perfunctorily: “Sir is insightful, this Wang is ashamed.”
“You flatter me, TangHua Lang’s acting skills are admirable, this one feels inferior in comparison.”
Gou Liang looked at him amusedly.
On this ship, other than the big blind spot, the only other person he paid attention to was Li Xi. However, when Wang Li had been kicked into the sea, Wang HaiYi could clearly catch her but only screamed—it was only then did Gou Liang become suspicious.
Wang HaiYi said another line humbling himself before facing Li Xi, cupping his hands as he apologized: “Young Marquis, I had no choice but to conceal the truth, I hope you can forgive me. After all, you had also hidden things from this one, so why don’t we call it even?”
“What is going on?”
In the end, Li Xi was still young, he couldn’t remain calm and asked.
Since Wang HaiYi had already been exposed, he didn’t continue to conceal things.
The Wang Family was led by the main branch, but many years ago, the head of the Wang Family had a blood-related younger brother and during this time the second branch was also extremely favored. However, about ten years ago, a fire burned down the entire second branch. Wang HaiYi’s mother was a small concubine of this second branch, but because she was unfavored, she lived further away and managed to survive the fire. She had connections with the main branch, so after the incident she sought out her old sweetheart, the current Wang Family Head. Relying on the fact that she was pregnant, he raised her outside, where she was able to live peacefully a while.
“When I turned eight, because I had some scholarly aptitude I was brought back to the Wang Family. Then, on the tongsheng exam, I managed to score among the top. Thus, I was adopted under the first wife’s name.”
Speaking of the past, Wang HaiYi had a rueful expression.
“Originally, the Wang Family had promised that as long as I got top marks in the imperial exam, they would bring my mother back into the manor and give her the title of Liang Concubine. When she dies they would also bury her in the ancestral tomb so her grave could be looked after. But who knew, the moment news of me getting third place got back, my mother died. I originally thought it was because my first mother couldn’t tolerate her, but after investigating, I found out that this matter has nothing to do with my first mother and father, rather it was Wang Li!”
“She wanted to throw her weight around, and over a single word of disagreement with my mother, she had taken out a whip to hit her. My mother tried to dodge but ended up falling off the pavilion, dying on the spot..” As he told the painful tale, Wang HaiYi’s voice became choked with emotions before he continued hatefully, “The Wang Family went through a lot of trouble to conceal this matter, but heaven is fair, evil will be punished, and in the end it was still discovered by me.”
“I cannot live under the same sky as my mother’s killer, even if she did not mean it, I will not let her have a good end!”
Like this, Wang HaiYi wanting Wang Li’s death was understandable.
Li Xi looked at Gou Liang who, even after hearing such a tragic story, remained apathetic with a trace of an unfathomable smile. Contemplation flashed through his eyes.
Wang HaiYi continued to speak: “Originally, I only wanted Sir to give her a taste of suffering, but unexpectedly your guard has such a big temper. I had even planned to seek a ‘good marriage’ for her during this trip down south, but now, she got off easy.”
It was too easy to make someone die. He originally wanted the other to live a life no better than death, so she could spend the rest of her life paying for her sins. However, things have already developed like this, so he could only accept it.
Gou Liang heard this and smiled: “Robbing you of your target, we’ve been discourteous.”
Wang HaiYi laughed aloud and was about to reply with a nicety when Li Xi asked: “Since it was Wang Li’s fault, where does your hatred for the Wang Family come from?”
“That’s a long story.” Wang HaiYi let out a long sigh, “After my mother died, as I was tidying her belongings, I accidentally discovered something from the past. Didn’t I mention just now that my mother was originally a concubine of the second branch? At that time I still didn’t know of this, but after reading through her personal diaries that were written in the language of the western region, I realized that I wasn’t a son of the main branch, but rather the posthumous son of the second branch.”
Wang HaiYi’s mother was a noble’s daughter who came from a family of officials. Her family held posts in the Ministry of Ceremonies and from a young age she learned the western region’s language from her father. Later on, because of her paternal clan’s transgression, she became a servant.
She only wished for a place to settle down, so after falling from grace she never resented her promiscuous husband. Instead she was grateful that he had saved her from her difficult situation.
It’s just that she didn’t anticipate, because of her appearance, she would be coveted by her brother-in-law from the main branch.
“That bastard forced my mother, my mother couldn’t resist but was also unresigned to die, so she could only compromise.”
Wang HaiYi’s face was full of loathing and resentment.
If it weren’t for the fact that they were in the middle of the sea and Wang HaiYi was afraid that Gou Liang, in order to conceal Wang Li’s death, would also throw him overboard to erase any trails for the Wang Family to investigate, he wouldn’t have brought up shameful events of the past to prove that he and the Wang family had an irreconcilable grudge.
“The day the fire broke out in the second branch, my mother discovered that she was pregnant. She wanted to tell my birth father and use this chance to escape that bastard’s entanglement, but instead she witnessed the happening of a tragedy.”
“In the diaries, my mother had written that it was that bastard and grandfather who forced my father to die. Of course, my birth father wasn’t willing to just die, but his hands and feet had been bound to prevent him from escaping. He vehemently questioned them, wanting to at least die knowing why. It was only then my grandfather told him the reason. The deposed Crown Prince isn’t the Emperor’s true son. That year, Concubine Gao had given birth to a daughter, but the Gao Clan switched in a raccoon dog for a Crown Prince! And this matter was found out by the former State Teacher, so they planned to kill the State Teacher’s entire clan to silence their mouths&#k2014;”
“What does this have to do with the Wang Family?!”
Gou Liang sat up straight, and asked with a frown.
Wang HaiYi was startled by him, he looked at Gou Liang suspiciously, questioning in his heart what relation he had with the Zhong Clan that would cause him to be so stimulated.
But he answered without a change in expression: “I was also very surprised when I learned of this.”
“Logically speaking, YongNing Manor is far away from the capital, and the Wang Family also has no relations with the Zhong Clan. Not to mention, this involves the imperial family’s secret, the Wang family shouldn’t get involved no matter what. It was only after that I learned, the Wang Family was simply carrying out orders from someone else.”
“Because the bloodline of the State Teacher held some mysterious power, it was impossible to kill them all with just the Gao Family’s suicide soldiers, so someone found grandfather and had the Wang Family send the killers they had cultivated in the dark to finish this matter, ensuring that the Zhong Clan will be left without a single survivor.”
“My birth father was confused, this matter had nothing to do with him, so why were they making him die? My grandfather heard him say that if he doesn’t explain things clearly, then even if he dies he’ll come back as a ghost to haunt them, and only then did he reveal everything.”
“It turns out, the people who went to find my grandfather weren’t the Gao Clan, but the Zhong Clan—the Zhong Clan from TianJi mountain!”
“My Wang Clan, since ancient times, has been a vassal of the Zhong Clan—we must obey the orders from them. As for why the Zhong Clan wants to harm the State Teacher’s Clan, grandfather was also clueless. It’s just that after the matter was done, the Zhong Clan had sent over another letter..saying the Wang Clan needed to offer up a branch and a male member’s life in order to break the karma, otherwise the entire Wang Clan would be met with a death calamity. Grandfather had only two sons, and my birth father was promiscuous without any achievements. Naturally he was the one who was forsaken..”
Li Xi listened to this and couldn’t but glance over at Gou Liang.
In Gou Liang’s eyes there was only deep contemplation. There was none of the rage he thought he would see, and the scar that ran across his entire face also remained smooth.
But how could this matter be insignificant?
Gou Liang didn’t think he would learn of such news from Wang HaiYi’s mouth.
The original host had stayed in the capital for a long time. Even if in the beginning the main Zhong Clan was unaware that he was still alive, given his many entanglement with Zhong Yue, it was impossible for the Zhong Clan to not know of his existence. But for some reason they didn’t send people to kill the original host, and seeing how Zhong Yue only felt disdainful towards the capital Zhong Clan but was without hatred or guilt, he probably doesn’t know of this matter..
Thinking up to here, Gou Liang asked: “Did your mother happen to hear, who was the person from the Zhong Clan instructing the Wang Family?”
Wang HaiYi shook his head, “My mother didn’t even know about TianJi Mountain, she just knew this matter must be of great importance, so she recorded everything she heard word for word. Then later on, the second branch was destroyed in a fire, but my mother had been on guard so she fortunately escaped. She then disguised me as the bastard’s son, preserving the life of us mother and son. It’s just who would’ve thought..I studied strenuously for more then ten years, and just as I finally gained the ability to take care of her, everything was ruined by Wang Li!”
Hatred seeped through Wang HaiYi’s eyes.
Gou Liang pondered thoughtfully.
Zhong Quan looked at him worriedly, pulling him out of his thoughts. Gou Liang waved his hand indicating to him that he was alright, he then smiled at Wang HaiYi and said: “Seems like it’s true that the people instructing your Wang Family are indeed from the clan of mysterious arts. If even a single person lived from the branch Zhong Clan, then karma has not been broken and a calamity will befall the Wang Family..what an accurate prediction.”
Isn’t that so.
If it wasn’t for meeting Wang HaiYi, the Zhong Clan and Wang Family’s involvement with the extermination of the capital Zhong Clan would’ve never been known by Gou Liang or the original host. Now that he knew, however..feeling the original host’s rapidly multiplying negative soul force, Gou Liang curved his lips, how could he not return the favor to them ah.
Wang HaiYi didn’t understand his intentions. He wanted to ask, but Gou Liang raised his hand to stop him, saying: “I owe you a debt for this matter, and since it’s like this, I’ll help you with one matter.”
“Sir’s meaning?”
Wang HaiYi was puzzled, but he saw Gou Liang blow the jade xiao. The melody was out of tune, but it made a person’s heart nervous listening to it. He couldn’t help but tense his entire body.
Following after, the intense sound of roaring waters arose from the distance. A majestic wave was approaching them, heading straight for the boat.
This scene was like a violent sea storm, it could easily swallow the insignificant ship!
The Quan shadow guards on board all successively came over, their expressions heavy. Only after seeing Zhong Quan’s signal did they relax, retreating back to their own respective duties. As the three meter high wave approached the ship, it stopped, seemingly timid, not daring to get any closer. Something was then tossed onboard.
Following the sound of the xiao, the wave quickly retreated and in the blink of an eye, the sea returned to its previous tranquility. And the thing tossed onto the ship was actually Wang Li who should’ve long ago been at the bottom of the ocean—and she was still breathing!
Li Xi and Wang HaiYi looked at Gou Liang who placed down his xiao. The shock in their hearts was ineffable.
—This god and demon-like sort of power, they had only ever heard of it and had never seen it before!
Gou Liang ignored their loss of composure. He pointed his jade xiao at Wang Li and asked: “This is my gift in return, does TangHua Lang like it?”
Wang HaiYi swallowed, his ears were buzzing. He nodded subconsciously.
“If that’s so, then we are now even.” Gou Liang smiled and motioned towards Zhong Quan. The latter gently lifted him up. Gou Liang said: “Have grandfather come take a look at this person, don’t let her die, lest ruining TangHua Lang’s fun.”
Wang HaiYi and Li Xi glanced at one another, and they both saw a deep sense of reverence in each other’s eyes.
Zhong Quan carried him back inside the room. Seeing his cold expression and how he had hidden all emotions underneath his apathetic eyes, he felt extremely worried.
“Master, are you alright?”
Gou Liang smiled at him, but his eyes completely lacked any warmth. He said: “What’s there not to be alright about? No matter how many people were involved back then, the death of grandfather and the rest is already a foregone conclusion and cannot be reversed. It’s just TianJi Mountain Zhong Clan..it is indeed unexpected.”
Zhong Quan furrowed his brows, “Master, are you going to divine this matter?”
“What, you don’t agree?”
Gou Liang glanced at him.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Quan nodded and said: “Although this subordinate is not versed in metaphysics, I’ve heard the elders say that if one wants to divine the fate of oneself and oneself’s kins, it is very taxing on the diviner. Even if you are of the son of heaven, it would be hard to bypass this rule..your body has only gotten a bit better after many difficulties, please do not ruin your foundation again. Please allow this subordinate to take over this matter, Zhong Quan will clearly investigate this matter for Master!”
Gou Liang originally also had no intention of wasting his strength on this, so naturally he agreed.
Night began to creep in.
Gou Liang looked at Zhong Quan who was undressing in front of him and, unbeknownst why, amidst his anticipation, a feeling of nervousness also welled up.
“Master, his subordinate will help you undress.”
Zhong Quan, who was completely naked, was unperturbed. Gou Liang blushed furiously, feeling uneasy he pushed away his hands and said: “I-I’ll do it myself.” He did not dare to look at Zhong Quan. His fingers fumbled around nervously, but after half a day he still couldn’t undo the knot over his robes.
Zhong Quan’s large hand covered his, his voice was hoarse as he said in a low voice: “Master, don’t be afraid, Quan will be careful.”
Gou Liang raised his head to look at him. He loosened his hands, and at the same time seemed to let go of a certain perseverance.
Zhong Quan methodically undid his clothes. He was like an old expert, completely unfazed, that is if you ignored his somewhat ragged breathing.
Before he had completely undressed Gou Liang, Gou Liang’s waist suddenly trembled.
“Ah!”
The poison was acting. In an instant it was like his body was being roasted in an inferno. An itchiness that couldn’t be suppressed with willpower was rapidly spreading throughout his body from the inside, tyrannically overtaking the aloof and refined youth’s rationality, wanting to turn him into a slave to desire.
“So hot..”
Gou Liang struggled like a fish that left the water. Sweat immediately dampened his body, the heat cooking him from inside out—the poison was fiercer than Gou Liang had thought without the Lust Quelling Pill to cancel his senses. Almost immediately it clouded the reason in his eyes, “Z-zhong Quan, I’m so uncomfortable..”
Zhong Quan hurriedly brought him into his embrace. He clamped down the legs that the other couldn’t help but kick and sank a hand into that place behind, entering through the opening without any hesitation. He spread apart the soft flesh of the buttocks and shoved two fingers into the hole.
“Ah..hurts..”
Gou Liang had become extremely sensitive, especially in that place. Any sensation would be magnified many fold.
“Master, please bear with it, it’ll be over soon.”
The person in his arms was buring hot, and twisted about ceaselessly, making it hard for him to hold back.
Zhong Quan had already been warned by the old man that Gou Liang might be completely without reason tonight, and wouldn’t be able to withstand the poison’s effect.
At this moment, Zhong Quan looked into Gou Liang’s eyes. They were tearful and fragile, but still stubbornly held onto a shred of resistance. An urge to bully him suddenly rose in his heart. He hated that he couldn’t pin down this person who kept tempting him this instant and completely take possession of him. But the tenderness and love visibly overflowing from his heart made him ignore his own needs as he urgently used his fingers to expand that place. He kissed the other between his brows and said in a soft voice to comfort him: “Master, don’t be scared.”
The entrance was hot and wet, and tightly clamped onto Zhong Quan’s fingers. It acted like it was rejecting the foreign intruder but also seemed like it had been waiting for it for a long time.
Gou Liang’s mind was a complete mess. His body was slack and without any strength, powerless to stop anything the man was doing to him.
“Zhong Quan.. itch..I’m uncomfortable, so uncomfortable..”
Gou Liang couldn’t bear it anymore and cried—fuck, what the shit is this poison? It was many times stronger than when he first removed the pain shield to experience it, even for him it was hard to maintain his reason. He hated that Zhong Quan could not enter him faster and bring him release.
He used his hands to grab the two nubs on his chest that were incomparably itchy. Their natural cherry color, under his fierce pinching, became dark red and like a drop of blood. Gou Liang was uncomfortable everywhere. He rubbed his entire body against Zhong Quan, feeling as though he was about to be incinerated by lust.
“Y-you touch, touch me here, q-quickly!”
Gou Liang’s hand was already strengthless, he weakly slid it down the chest in front of him.
He urged Zhong Quan, but one of the latter’s hands was being eaten by the gluttonous place behind and the other hand was holding down his legs, making sure he didn’t flail about. Having not instantly received a response, Gou Liang glared at him angrily: “Useless, what’s the use of only having two hands, I’m uncomfortable, uncomfortable everywhere!”
“Master.”
That one glance made both Zhong Quan’s heart and body react hotly, carefully pressing Gou Liang against the bed, he kissed his eyes and said hoarsely: “Master, don’t be impatient, I’ll let you feel good..”
He gazed at the redness on Gou Liang’s chest, the bump on his throat bobbing as he swallowed. He lowered his head and bit down hard on Gou Liang’s nubs, sucking it with force.
“Ah..hurts..feels good..”
Gou Liang hugged Zhong Quan’s head and raised his chest, but he felt that this wasn’t enough to express his urgency, so he cried while pressing him: “Harder, l-left too..ah, hurts, make it hurt more..”
Zhong Quan used his own legs to lock Gou Liang’s legs in place. The completely erect, purplish and black object pressed against the other’s fair and soft leg.
The hand that had been freed impatiently travelled over Gou Liang’s body, from his leg he harshly groped towards his stomach, his chest, his collarbones, his neck, before pinching the trembling point on his chest. He rubbed them with his palm, his two fingers swirling around the point, pinching and kneading it.
Gou Liang strenuously raised his neck and looked at him. The person buried in his chest was using his tongue to tease his sensitive point, his large honey-colored hand covered his pale chest, and the number of fingers entered behind had already increased to four. The quick thrusts made that extremely sensitive place feel both hot and numb, yet it couldn’t make him feel satisfied—because even though it had only been entered once, his body had already firmly remembered the maximum that it could accommodate.
“Zhong Quan..”
Gou Liang’s vision was blurry, he used a hand to grab Zhong Quan’s hair, wanting the other to hurt like him, but he also used a hand to gently caress Zhong Quan’s side profile, like he was apologizing, but also like he was seeking comfort.
Zhong Quan straightened his body. He caught Gou Liang’s hand and brought it to his lips, kissing his finger. In his eyes were bone-deep gentleness.
Gou Liang was burned by his gaze, he cried out, “Zhong Quan, don’t let me go..don’t..”
As Zhong Quan looked at the other who was biting his lips and gripping against the bed sheet, his heartbeat surged more violently than the sea outside the window. He wanted to kiss him so much. He wanted to use both the passionate and gentle techniques that he had specially learned to lock their lips together as they exchanged fluids.
But in the end, he didn’t dare to act on his impulse.
“Master, don’t be impatient, Zhong Quan will give you, will give everything to you..”
He pulled out the fingers from the hole sucking onto him. The hole that lost its support quickly tightened again, earnestly trying to bite onto something, causing Gou Liang’s flat stomach to spasm as well.
“Itchy! You, you quickly come in..Zhong Quan!”
Zhong Quan’s fingers were soaked, the clear strings of liquid connecting from his fingers to the back entrance broke, and for a moment, Zhong Quan’s reasoning snapped as well.
He held his breath and pressed down the idea of breaking Gou Liang. Carefully he took Gou Liang’s legs, spreaded them and placed them over his own shoulders. He then used his hands to lift the other’s ass, spreading apart the cheeks. Because of intense lust, the tightly curled chrysanthemum had become a deep red, and was twitching constantly, the contrast of its dark red color with the pale skin surrounding it caused Zhong Quan’s nose to heat up, like it was about to bleed.
He couldn’t hold back anymore, he pressed his scalding meat rod against the place where Gou Liang would soon be accommodating him.
“Zhong Quan..”
Gou Liang was a bit afraid, the fragility in his eyes intensified.
Zhong Quan gently kissed his forehead and said softly: “Master, I’m going to come in.”
Not waiting for Gou Liang’s reply, his object had already pushed itself into the tightly curled chrysanthemum, its large head easily bringing the flower to a full blossom. Obviously, it was swallowing very laboriously, the wrinkles around the entrance had all been smoothed out forming a taut circle, but it still greedily wanted more, wanting an even bigger object to cram it full..
“Ah! Ah, ah..
Being forcefully entered, the pain and pleasure of his body being penetrated made tears roll from Gou Liang’s eyes. He gritted his teeth, suppressing the scream in his throat as harsh sounds of breathing came from his nose.
The excessive tightness and hotness caused Zhong Quan’s forehead to be similarly drenched in sweat. The entrance gripped onto him impatiently, the flesh wall hated that it couldn’t meld together with his member. Every inch deeper was a battle. Zhong Quan furrowed his sharp brows and slowly but steadily, he stuffed his entire length into the narrow passageway, opening up the place deep inside where fingers could never reach.
“Zhong Quan..too deep..”
Gou Liang was taking in deep breaths incessantly. It was unavoidable for it to hurt, but the pleasure of being fully opened and dominated made him ignore the pain.
It felt too good, it made him want to cry and scream.
Zhong Quan lowered himself onto him, he stooped his head to plant a kiss on the left and right side of his arching chest, and then said with a sigh: “Master, you’re sucking onto me so hard..so greedy.”
Gou Liang’s body that had just begun to cool down began to burn again, Zhong Quan had stuffed his hole to the brim. Having temporarily resolved the itchiness, reason slowly returned to him. Hearing Zhong Quan’s words, his stunned face reddened, “Y-you shut up!”
Zhong Quan smiled.
He had never expressed his feelings in such a carefree and open manner before, a dense positive soul force enveloped Gou Liang, causing him to be intoxicated. He tightened his back h-->>