Chapter 9
“You little coward.”
Xie Tinglan’s soft chuckle brushed Ye Rui’s ear like a passing breeze, leaving the outer rim of it tingling, as if those fingertips had truly skimmed there.
“Being this timid—how are you supposed to amount to anything?”
Xie Tinglan kept needling her, and with each word, Ye Rui seemed to soften further. The bone-deep chill inside her had already been stirred into heat by their earlier contact; with Ye Rui’s restrained, wavering gaze fixed on her, Xie Tinglan had almost forgotten all about the cold poison.
Ye Rui bent over until her body nearly pressed against Xie Tinglan’s. Desire surged between them, only to stall in the tight tangle of their short, unsteady breaths.
They were so close now that she could no longer make out Xie Tinglan’s expression, nor the teasing curve of her lips. All she could hear was that uneven breathing, and feel the body heat beneath it, warmer than before.
“Lingchao, why are you doing this… because it’s fun?”
Ye Rui pressed Xie Tinglan’s hands down hard, refusing to let her move, refusing to let her resist, as if only then could she speak to her properly.
She was just a poor mountain hunter. Yes, she had a decent face, but the woman in front of her was no ordinary person. There was no way she’d fall for someone just because they were good-looking.
She didn’t like her, so why keep doing all these teasing things? Aside from amusement, Ye Rui couldn’t think of any other reason.
Xie Tinglan didn’t answer. She only felt Ye Rui’s breath brush lightly over her lips, and a flood of desire-soaked words rushed through her mind. If she merely lifted her chin a little, she could kiss that stubborn mouth. But…
“Ye Rui, my wrists hurt.”
Xie Tinglan’s voice turned soft, faintly weak. It was enough to pull Ye Rui back to herself. Ye Rui immediately let go of Xie Tinglan’s wrists, then scrambled away from her like a startled bird—only to clumsily tumble off the bed.
Xie Tinglan’s wrists really did ache a little, but she hadn’t expected Ye Rui to react so dramatically that she’d actually fall. She instinctively reached out to help, but only managed to catch Ye Rui’s arm before hearing a dull thud and a muffled groan.
“Pfft…”
Xie Tinglan couldn’t help laughing. Ye Rui, meanwhile, cried out in pain, and that ridiculous fall instantly scattered the ambiguous atmosphere from a moment ago.
In truth, Ye Rui hadn’t fallen very hard at all. She reacted quickly and braced herself with her elbow to lessen the impact; the reason she was making such a racket was partly to cover up the awkwardness of not knowing how to end things just now.
“It’s all your fault, and you’re still laughing.”
Ye Rui sat up and rubbed her waist. Xie Tinglan, understanding without needing to be told, didn’t bring up what had just happened again. She patted the empty space beside her and said, “Come back up quickly; I’m afraid of the cold.”
Ye Rui hesitated for a long while before climbing back up. This time, she lay on her back beside Xie Tinglan without leaning in to hold her.
The room was very quiet. Outside, the drizzle drifted down softly, making only the faintest, gentle sounds; just listening to it was enough to make Ye Rui sleepy.
“Ye Rui.”
Just as Ye Rui was drifting toward sleep, she heard Xie Tinglan’s voice, like a tender call from a dream.
“There is no room for play in my life.”
Ye Rui heard it, but it felt as though she were dreaming. In the end, she gave a vague response and fell into a deep sleep.
The drizzle was gentle, like a thin veil separating everything from the mortal world; beneath the night sky, it stole away one night’s warmth, a warmth that had nothing to do with interests or profit.
**
For the next two days, neither of them mentioned what happened on that rainy night. But in daily life, there were always unintended touches, especially when practicing writing. Xie Tinglan especially liked to stand behind her and hold her hand while teaching. At first, Ye Rui had been a little uneasy, but seeing how calm Xie Tinglan remained, her own reaction seemed to have been overblown.
So she forced down the flutter in her chest and acted as if it were no big deal. That made getting along with her much more comfortable.
“Wrong.”
Once again, Xie Tinglan leaned over from behind Ye Rui, bringing with her a swirl of cool fragrance. Her hand, roughened by calluses from holding a brush, wrapped around Ye Rui’s as she wrote stroke by stroke: “When the brush goes down, it should be crisp; when you hook, it should be light.”
Xie Tinglan spoke patiently, like a teacher coaxing a student along; if not for the breath that kept brushing Ye Rui’s ear, she might have believed her.
Coaxing indeed. She was very good at coaxing.
When she finished, Xie Tinglan still didn’t let go of Ye Rui’s hand. Instead, she leaned even closer to her ear and, watching the redness spread across it little by little, smiled softly. “Soon, someone will come to take me away.”
Only then did she release Ye Rui’s hand, as though reluctant to part from the warmth of the body in front of her.
“So you really have been keeping in touch with your family. No wonder I keep finding suspicious footprints nearby.”
Hearing that Xie Tinglan would be leaving soon, Ye Rui’s heart suddenly felt hollow, and her mind went blank at once. The words under her brush started to look wrong no matter how she wrote them. She had actually guessed long ago that Xie Tinglan was in contact with someone, but because she had never seen that person and was worried the person might be an assassin, she always made a careful circuit around the area before going to sleep.
“So that’s why you patrol around before bed every night?”
Xie Tinglan lowered her voice, as if speaking of a secret known only to the two of them. In the morning light, every syllable, every stroke of her words, seemed to grow ambiguous.
Ye Rui said nothing; only her hand moved, and Xie Tinglan let go. Ye Rui gathered herself and continued writing, saying in a low voice, “Today is already the third day. You still owe me an answer.”
How much were those five fire sparrow herbs worth, exactly? During every spare moment, Ye Rui kept turning that question over in her mind, thinking that if she could get a sum of “huge” silver, then she could go down the mountain to have some fun and slowly think about what to do next.
Most of all, she still needed to hire a teacher to teach her to read and write. She had learned a lot already, but there were still many characters she didn’t know.
Ye Rui worked hard to shift her attention and not keep focusing on the matter of “parting.”
“You’ll know in a bit.”
Xie Tinglan continued to keep her guessing. This person really was patient; for the past several days, she hadn’t even asked about the fire sparrow herbs.
She really could endure.
Today, Xie Tinglan had finally finished reading Two Beauties Play at Love. Seeing that Xie Tinglan wasn’t reading, Ye Rui asked curiously, “Is this book a storybook? What is it about?”
She had actually been curious for a long time. Every day, she saw Xie Tinglan holding it and reading with great interest. She had guessed it was probably some kind of book about court affairs or strategy; somehow, she felt that the books Xie Tinglan read were all things that would be useful to her in some practical way.
“Tell you later.”
Again, later.
Ye Rui rolled her eyes at Xie Tinglan and then continued practicing her writing. She had once hoped Xie Tinglan would teach her the title of the book, but Xie Tinglan absolutely refused, saying those few characters were too profound and she wasn’t ready to learn them yet.
But every time Xie Tinglan said that, Ye Rui could always catch a trace of mischief in her eyes. To this day, she still didn’t understand why.
Ye Rui glanced at the sky. It was almost time for her to cook. If Xie Tinglan’s people were coming soon, then she wouldn’t make a portion for her. Thinking of that, Ye Rui’s heart inexplicably felt even more disappointed. The time she had spent with Xie Tinglan had been pleasant enough, and it had even stirred up feelings she shouldn’t have had; how could she not be reluctant to let go?
She liked Xie Tinglan a little; that much was beyond doubt. Ye Rui felt desire toward Xie Tinglan, but she understood that Xie Tinglan didn’t like her, so there were some things she shouldn’t cross the line on. She couldn’t keep her heart from wanting, but at least she could keep her own bottom line.
“Y-you… are you still eating lunch later?”
Truthfully, Ye Rui still wanted to have one last meal with Xie Tinglan. But Xie Tinglan’s expression was calm as she picked up her brush and prepared to write again. “No need.”
“Oh…”
Ye Rui dragged out the last syllable a little. Even without looking at her face, Xie Tinglan could still hear the disappointment in it.
“However, shouldn’t you help me change the dressing?”
The injuries on Xie Tinglan’s leg and collarbone still hadn’t fully healed, but with the healing medicine delivered by Yin Yue and Ye Rui’s careful care, they were now about seventy or eighty percent better.
“Mm.”
Ye Rui never forgot about changing her dressings; this was the first time Xie Tinglan had reminded her of it herself. As always, Xie Tinglan sat back down by the bed, then pulled down the collar on her left side, revealing the clean strip of cloth wrapped in medicinal dressing, as well as that smooth, white shoulder that was rounded yet still undeniably alluring.
Ye Rui carefully removed the strip of cloth. The wound had already begun to heal, but it still looked shocking. A straight brown knife mark crawled across the collarbone like a worm, standing out starkly against the snow-white skin.
Ye Rui dipped a little ointment onto her fingers and gently smeared it over the scabbed wound, keeping her eyes on the injury and her mind on nothing else. But just as she started to smooth it downward, Xie Tinglan caught her wrist. The instant contact stirred up some nameless romantic thoughts in Ye Rui’s heart. Then Xie Tinglan asked in a low voice, “When you touch me, what are you thinking about?”
What was she thinking?
Ye Rui looked up at Xie Tinglan. Sometimes she just liked to push back against her; the more unfavorable the situation, the less willing she was to show weakness.
“What do you want me to think about?”
Ye Rui’s fingertips stayed still. That cool palm held her wrist in place; it wasn’t even that tight, yet she couldn’t break free.
Anyway, Xie Tinglan was leaving soon. Couldn’t she be a little bolder now?
“Naturally, I want you thinking of me.”
Xie Tinglan guided Ye Rui’s hand to her own collarbone. A faint curve touched her lips; it wasn’t really a smile, more like a hunter’s interest in watching prey. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re like a wild horse?”
Ye Rui wanted to laugh. She didn’t even know that many people; how could anyone possibly have described her like that?
Before Ye Rui could answer, Xie Tinglan went on, “Do you know that what you’ve said to me would be enough to get your head cut off?”
Ye Rui wasn’t afraid at all after hearing that. Instead, she laughed, her palm taking the initiative to rest against Xie Tinglan’s collarbone, where she felt the soft curve beneath the skin. She shrugged and said, “If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn’t need to wait until now.”
“That person comes and goes without a trace. If she wanted me dead, I’d probably die without even knowing what happened. So why bring this up now?”
Was it a threat? No. Ye Rui didn’t think Xie Tinglan would bother with something so boring, because she knew it wouldn’t work on her.
“It’s naturally for…”
Xie Tinglan released Ye Rui’s hand, then tilted up her chin instead, her thumb slowly stroking it as if in silent provocation. “To get you.”
Get me?
Xie Tinglan’s beautiful eyes shimmered with watery light. She no longer looked like the lone wolf she had at first; at this moment, she looked more like a red fox full of bad intentions.
“You little coward, that book is called…”
Author’s Note:
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Hehe~ the next chapter is on Friday, hahahahahaha!
[dog head][dog head] Don’t hit me; there’ll be updates on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.