Chapter 4

After taking care of Xie Tinglan for another two days, Xie Tinglan could already sit up on her own and even get out of bed to walk a few steps. Her recovery speed was enough to surprise Ye Rui a little.

She looked like the sort of person who had never been in good health to begin with; how was she recovering so quickly?

Ye Rui stared blankly at the medicinal dregs she had just dumped into the ash, still unable to make sense of it. These were only ordinary blood-activating, pain-relieving herbs. Were they really that effective?

She shrugged and stopped overthinking it. Carrying the hot water she had just boiled, she poured it into the wooden basin. Steam rose in thick curls, misting her features as well. She was preparing to wipe Xie Tinglan down. “Wipe her body” was only a figure of speech, really; at most, Ye Rui would help Xie Tinglan wipe her hands and feet. She didn’t dare cross that line.

Xie Tinglan was already sitting up, reading the copy of Two Beauties Play at Love that lay by her bed. Ye Rui set the basin beside the bed, wrung out the cloth, and Xie Tinglan naturally raised her hand for her to wipe it. The cloth passed between Xie Tinglan’s fingers, carefully cleaning those pale, delicate hands that looked as smooth as scallion-white jade.

“Feeling better today?”

Ye Rui asked the usual question. As she twisted the cloth dry, she looked up and noticed that Xie Tinglan’s face was a little flushed, and immediately asked with concern, “Have you got a fever again?”

She reached out to check, but Xie Tinglan leaned back slightly. “I’m fine.”

Xie Tinglan looked away, lowered her gaze to the blue-covered book she had just set down, and couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed with herself. Her left hand curled and uncurled, as if trying to brush away the lingering, ambiguous thoughts.

But Ye Rui had a task to do; she didn’t care whether Xie Tinglan said she was fine or not. Who knew whether this woman was forcing herself through something again? She still pressed a hand to Xie Tinglan’s forehead. When Xie Tinglan tried to evade it, Ye Rui immediately stopped her. “Don’t move. You’re injured.”

Xie Tinglan’s brow furrowed slightly. Only after Ye Rui withdrew her hand did Xie Tinglan reach out and grasp her wrist. The warmth in her palm was almost scalding. How could this person always be so warm?

“You’re not afraid of me anymore?”

Xie Tinglan’s gaze sharpened. When she looked at Ye Rui, there was a kind of blood-and-iron aura in it, which made Ye Rui a little flustered, though her face remained perfectly calm.

“Even if I were afraid, I still have to cure you. I have to see this through.”

I don’t want to turn into cosmic trash.

Xie Tinglan lifted a brow, her beautiful eyes half-lidded, amusement rippling faintly in them. “You do have a sense of responsibility.”

“Of course I do!”

Xie Tinglan let go of Ye Rui, and only then did Ye Rui continue wiping her hands. When she reached Xie Tinglan’s wrist, the other woman seemed to shrink back unconsciously. The motion was so slight that Ye Rui almost thought she had imagined it. There were still a few minor scrapes on Xie Tinglan’s arms, but those weren’t what caught Ye Rui’s attention. What she noticed instead were the old wounds there. They looked as though they had been there for a long time, yet faint scars remained, crisscrossing one another.

After finishing with her hands, Ye Rui moved on to Xie Tinglan’s legs. Before she could wipe them down, she had to change the medicine. She removed the splint, cleaned off the topical ointment, and saw that the bruising on Xie Tinglan’s pale leg had already faded quite a bit.

Ye Rui gently lifted Xie Tinglan’s leg and said, “I’m going to massage it a little. If it hurts, tell me.”

Xie Tinglan nodded. Her knee bent slightly, her skirt lifted a little, and Ye Rui sat at the foot of the bed, raising Xie Tinglan’s leg and kneading it lightly.

“Mm, it hurts a little.”

Xie Tinglan felt Ye Rui press harder. The dull ache grew more obvious, so she spoke up. Only then did Ye Rui lower her leg gently, looking puzzled. “You look so frail. How are you healing this fast?”

Xie Tinglan was momentarily at a loss for words. Then she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “Do you want me to recover slowly? Are you worried that if I leave, no one will teach you to read and write?”

“You’re not wrong, actually.”

Ye Rui didn’t bother hiding it. She always felt that any little scheme was ridiculous in front of Xie Tinglan. This woman was too clever; it felt as though she could tell what Ye Rui was thinking with just a twitch of her fingers.

Hu Tu: [Not with a twitch of her tail?]

Ye Rui: […] Shut up!

These past few days, Ye Rui had learned quite a few characters. She considered herself fairly quick to learn; she had already mastered the numbers and a lot of common, simple characters. She had to give Xie Tinglan credit for that; she really was a good teacher. Now that she was feeling better, she could even get out of bed and write a few characters for Ye Rui to study, though she still couldn’t sit for too long.

Speaking of writing, Ye Rui thought Xie Tinglan’s handwriting was simply beautiful. The lines were graceful, yet the strokes were sharp, like a blade hidden in its sheath. They said a person’s writing reflected their character; Xie Tinglan probably was like that too.

She was a blade hidden in the dark, impossibly sharp.

“I only made a casual remark, and you immediately exposed your true thoughts. So forthright; you may be easily controlled by others.”

Seeing that Ye Rui was carefully wiping her leg, Xie Tinglan thought that if anyone else had dared touch her like this, their fingers would already have been cut into one hundred and eight pieces and fed to the dogs. Ye Rui was different. Her movements and eyes carried not the slightest hint of lewdness, and that was what put Xie Tinglan at ease enough to allow her touch.

“Well, you could tell anyway. If I denied it, wouldn’t that just be insulting you?”

After Ye Rui finished speaking, she had just completed her work and was about to pull the skirt back down when Xie Tinglan caught her wrist again. “Your words and behavior don’t resemble those of a hunter.”

There was amusement in Xie Tinglan’s eyes; cold amusement, though. It was as if if Ye Rui said one wrong word, the little blade hidden somewhere on her person would slash her throat open in an instant.

“Then what do they resemble?”

Ye Rui wasn’t afraid either. She lifted her eyes and stared straight into Xie Tinglan’s. Those ink-dark pupils were like a deep pool; it was impossible to tell what Xie Tinglan was thinking.

Xie Tinglan didn’t answer. The smile in her eyes deepened. She loosened her fingers and let Ye Rui go. “Help me up. I’ll teach you to write.”

“Sure.”

After that brief exchange, the two of them tacitly let the moment pass with unusual ease, as though nothing had happened, and went back to doing the sort of things they usually did.

Ye Rui helped Xie Tinglan to the table, ground the ink for her, and rolled up her sleeves. Xie Tinglan then picked up a brush and wrote a few characters on the Xuan paper.

As she wrote, Xie Tinglan couldn’t help curling her lips. She found the moment somewhat interesting. In ordinary times, it was a judge’s brush that she held; with every stroke, she decided other people’s lives and deaths. Now, she was doing the work of teaching and instructing instead.

“What characters are these?”

Ye Rui was eager to learn. Bending over beside Xie Tinglan, she studied the ten neat, elegant characters, wondering how long it would take before she could write something with such backbone and spirit.

“Observe the changes of wind and clouds with composure; the human heart is as deep as an abyss.”

The moment Ye Rui heard that, her scalp tingled. Especially when she saw the curve of Xie Tinglan’s lips, it felt as though Xie Tinglan were playing a game; a game of intellect and wits.

“Do you know what it means?”

Xie Tinglan asked, turning to look at Ye Rui. Ye Rui happened to look back at her at the same time. Their distance was a little too close, their breaths immediately tangling together, and Ye Rui froze. The whole contest abruptly changed flavor.

Ye Rui looked away first. “I do.”

Xie Tinglan withdrew her gaze, set down the brush, and let out a soft sigh before smiling. “That’s why I say you don’t resemble a hunter.”

Ye Rui shrugged, unconcerned. She pulled over a chair and sat down, then picked up a brush and began trying to write herself. “Then think of me as a hunter with a lot of potential. People can improve.”

Xie Tinglan merely curved her lips and let her gaze fall on the characters Ye Rui had written. Compared with her earlier awkward, crooked attempts, her writing was much neater now. It still lacked real brushwork, but it was already better than many people’s.

“Do you have a way to get a tub so I can bathe?”

Ye Rui’s brush paused.

Actually, she did have a bathtub in another small thatched hut. She and Hu Tu had spent ages figuring out how to make it, because there was no way she could wash in the river.

It was just that carrying water was a hassle.

“If you don’t mind me using one I’ve already used, I can draw the water for you.”

What else could Ye Rui do? Her task was to take good care of Xie Tinglan, or else she’d become cosmic trash. More labor, then.

“Fine.”

Xie Tinglan had already long since concluded that Ye Rui was odd. The privy looked no different from one used by a wealthy household, just a little rough in workmanship, and now there was even a bathtub. As a hunter, she lived far too delicately.

After saying that, Ye Rui continued writing. Once she finished a line, Xie Tinglan pointed to one place. “Here; make this one a little longer.”

“Okay.”

Xie Tinglan was a very good teacher; also a very strict one. Ye Rui felt that even the parts she thought were fine would look better after Xie Tinglan’s guidance.

After practicing a few rounds, Ye Rui helped Xie Tinglan back to rest. She turned her head to look out the window. The clouds were thick and gray-white like cotton, and she couldn’t help worrying. “It looks like it’s going to rain today. I should chop more firewood and make sure we have enough fire.”

Mountain temperatures were not as warm as those down below. Even though Ye Rui was strong and healthy, she still felt cold when it rained; let alone Xie Tinglan. She only had a thin blanket. It looked like she’d have to find time to go down the mountain and buy some cotton quilts.

“Mm.”

Xie Tinglan agreed obediently enough, but Ye Rui naturally didn’t think that her obedience ran that deep. This woman was frightening.

Ye Rui went to fetch water, making several trips before finally hauling it back. When she moved her shoulders, she felt a tearing pain.

“Hiss—”

Ye Rui had been eager to get everything done quickly; while she was moving around just now, she hadn’t noticed. Now that she had stopped, she could feel the pain. It seemed like she had rubbed the skin raw, or maybe she had carried too much and her muscles were aching. The coarse hemp straps had chafed back and forth over her shoulders so many times that it would be hard not to break the skin.

Still, Ye Rui didn’t pay much mind to the injury. She first helped Xie Tinglan into the other small hut. Originally, she had intended to let Xie Tinglan make herself comfortable while she went back out, but before she could leave, she was called to a stop.

Xie Tinglan looked at the complicated knot on her belt. Her left hand couldn’t exert any force at all, and she seemed a little troubled. “Get a cloth and blindfold yourself.”

“Huh?”

Ye Rui was visibly confused. In that cramped little hut, Xie Tinglan’s face quickly turned red from the steam. She still looked calm on the surface, but Ye Rui somehow felt that the faint flush gave her an extra layer of shyness.

“I get it; you’re embarrassed.”

Ye Rui blurted it out directly. As expected, she saw Xie Tinglan’s brow twitch. So she really was afraid of having her thoughts exposed.

Interesting.

“Undo the knot and clasp on my belt for me.”

Ye Rui took one look, then fetched a clean cloth and covered her eyes. To make it easier for Xie Tinglan to bathe, she had even washed a few pieces of cloth earlier and left them to dry.

But once her eyes were covered, darkness fell instantly, and Ye Rui felt rather lost. Then a cool hand reached over and caught one of her fingers. “Here.”

Xie Tinglan guided Ye Rui’s hand to the icy jade clasp. Perhaps because her eyes were covered, hearing Xie Tinglan’s soft, shallow breathing made Ye Rui feel nervous instead.

Nervous about what? She didn’t know. But when Ye Rui realized she was undressing someone else, and imagined the clasp opening, the pale yellow garment spreading out like a lotus blossom...

She had been thirty in her past life, and her orientation was female. Having a little desire was normal, right?

Thinking of that, Ye Rui’s breathing gradually grew heavier. The method she had already mentally rehearsed for undoing the clasp suddenly went blank; her fingers fumbled too, growing so tense that they trembled slightly.

Right then, a cool fingertip touched her face and lightly traced across it, like a spring breeze stirring the surface of a lake and raising a faint ripple.

“So even when you can’t see, you still get nervous.”

Author’s Note:

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I’m here!

Next chapter on Thursday!

Current Xie Xiang: Help me undo my belt clasp.

Future Xie Xiang: Help me undo my belt clasp...

Current Xie Xiang: Blindfold yourself.

Future Xie Xiang: Blindfold yourself...

[dog head][dog head][yellow heart]