Chapter 43 Eye Contact "Take it out, I'll wipe it for you myself"...

"Lord Qi already said that he got hurt because he was careless, so why are you blaming me, sister?"

Li Yuheng frowned and looked up at her with a wronged expression. He was only a seventeen-year-old boy, and his pitiful appearance always softened people's hearts.

From childhood to adulthood, he knew that Gu Shanyue was most susceptible to this tactic, and it never failed him.

But this time, it seems to have failed.

Gu Shanyue didn't touch his face as usual, nor did she show him any tolerance. Instead, she looked at him with a disappointed expression.

She said, "Who taught you to lie like that?"

Li Yuheng's face turned pale instantly, and he exclaimed, "...Sister, what did you say?"

Gu Shanyue's face was as cold as frost: "Do you really think everyone else is a fool who can be easily fooled by you? If you can't keep your word, fine, but at least don't lie to me."

“I…” Li Yuheng tried to explain.

Gu Shanyue waved her hand to interrupt him, and asked repeatedly, "Who taught you to be like this? When we get to the underworld, how will I explain to my senior sister when she asks me about it? And how will you explain to her?"

Li Yuheng never expected that Gu Shanyue would say such a thing.

In his memory, Gu Shanyue was the silly girl who used to grill fish for him and get her face covered in soot when they were young, the clumsy older sister who believed whatever he said, and the straightforward swordswoman who always protected him and pointed her sword at the world...

It was as if he was discovering for the first time that Gu Shanyue also had this side to her, a side that had nothing to do with him.

"Sister, I'm not what you think, I just..."

"Just what? Just slap him, just hit him a few times?" Gu Shanyue interrupted him again.

Gu Shanyue was usually a woman of few words, and she would always listen to Li Yuheng lazily when he spoke, but this time she seemed not to want to listen to his explanation at all.

Li Yuheng was stunned: "How did you know...?"

Gu Shanyue sneered and pulled down Qi Baitong's collar, revealing half of his back, which was covered with crisscrossing purplish-blue swelling marks and old scars, looking quite horrifying.

"When a martial artist is injured, their aura is naturally impaired. I can sense it without even looking. Do you think no one noticed your little tricks?"

Gu Shanyue looked at him coldly, her tone more stern than ever before.

Not only this time, but also the previous times, she remembered clearly every time they pretended to comply while secretly deceiving her.

Faced with Gu Shanyue's harsh words, Li Yuheng felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. He tugged at her sleeve and whispered, "Sister, I was wrong. I shouldn't have lied to you. Please don't be angry..."

Gu Shanyue withdrew her hand and shook her head at him: "I really don't understand why you keep pressing Qi Baitong. There are many suspicious points about Senior Sister's matter. You noticed them long ago, but you never took them to heart. Senior Sister's birthday is coming up in a few days. Do you even remember it?"

In the end, his words came down sharply and forcefully.

Li Yuheng opened his mouth but remained silent for a long while, his eyes slowly reddening.

His thin body swayed, as if her words had made him lose his balance.

"Sister, is this how you see me?"

His face was filled with sorrow as he gazed at her, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

Gu Shanyue frowned, suddenly realizing that her senior sister's death was suspicious, her trip to the palace had gone wrong, and upon her return, Li Yuheng had lied to her again, refusing to learn his lesson despite repeated admonitions. She was truly...

She slapped her forehead hard, leaving it red, then turned and flew away without saying another word.

Li Yuheng called out from behind her, "Sister..."

Gu Shanyue did not turn around.

As dusk fell, the sky and earth were a deep indigo blue, dotted with stars. Gu Shanyue faced the evening wind, moving so fast that the wind picked up and made it hard for him to open his eyes. Even so, the gloom in his heart was hard to dispel.

Everything was tangled together, like a messy ball of yarn with no end in sight, rolling around in her mind and releasing a torrent of frustration.

But she couldn't throw the ball of yarn away; these were things she couldn't throw away.

She could only suppress her temper and follow the ball of yarn, winding and winding, but she could never find the end.

Li Yuheng, who should have been on the same path as her, once again acted as if it were none of his business. Is he really her senior sister's son?

Gu Shanyue grew angrier the more she thought about it. With a clang, she drew her sword, Wugou, but didn't know where it landed. She looked around and rushed towards the osmanthus tree by the river.

The longsword weaved through the twilight, its light flashing like lightning, while withered and rotten leaves fell with a whoosh, hitting her head and face.

The fragrance of osmanthus is so strong it's almost pungent, its sweetness spreading from the nasal cavity to the lungs.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Shanyue finally lowered his sword, the petals still falling softly.

She tilted her head back, and the cool, tiny osmanthus blossoms brushed against her face like a dry, fragrant rain.

Gu Shanyue called out softly in her heart, "Senior Sister, Senior Sister."

A-Yue isn't good at this kind of thing, she really isn't.

What should she do now?

suddenly.

"Ah Yue!"

A familiar voice rang out.

Gu Shanyue opened her eyes, and in the swirling rain of golden osmanthus blossoms, Qi Baitong walked towards her.

Osmanthus blossoms fell on his head, small and yellow, shining brightly in the night like tiny stars.

With a faint smile on his lips, Qi Baitong held up several wine jars in his hand and showed them to her. The wine jars clinked back and forth, making a crisp sound that cleared her mind.

He asked, "Would you like to drink?"

"drink!"

Gu Shanyue took a jar of wine directly, flicked off the cork with one hand, and the first thing that rushed to his nose was a sweet fragrance, followed by the smell of wine.

"This is a new osmanthus wine from autumn. Would you like to try it and see if it suits your taste?" Qi Baitong's gaze was gentle as he raised a jar of wine and clinked it against hers.

Gu Shanyue tilted his head back and gulped down the wine. It was indeed very fragrant, but the wine was not intoxicating. After finishing the whole jar, the aftertaste was mostly the fragrance of osmanthus.

"This wine is weak," Gu Shanyue said, wiping his mouth.

As she drank, Qi Baitong drank with her. When she let go, he let go too, and the two empty cans collided on the ground, swaying left and right.

"If we get too drunk, I'm afraid we'll fall off someone's roof again. I'm injured today and not as agile as I used to be. I'm afraid I'll break my arms and legs and won't be able to stay by your side."

Qi Baitong spoke slowly, his gaze earnest and sincere.

Thinking of the embarrassing situation she had when she was drunk last time, Gu Shanyue smiled and raised her hand to pinch Qi Baitong's shoulder.

Qi Baitong's face remained unchanged, but the involuntary twitching of his muscles couldn't lie.

"How many blows did you receive? Does it hurt?" Gu Shanyue asked.

"Twenty-eight blows, it hurts," Qi Baitong said softly, with a hint of relief, "At least the blows won't leave scars."

Gu Shanyue remained silent, then laughed in anger.

She patted his face: "You look like an idiot to me."

Qi Baitong looked at her intently, his dark eyes bright and smiling, without arguing.

Gu Shanyue laughed as well: "It looks even more like it this way."

Qi Baitong suddenly raised his head and pointed to his eyes. Gu Shanyue was puzzled. As soon as he looked over, he noticed that Qi Baitong's two black pupils had moved inward and stopped at the corners of his eyes, making him look comically crossed-eyed.

He tilted his head and winked at Gu Shanyue.

Gu Shanyue: "...Hahahahahahaha!"

Qi Baitong was always serious, calm and never smiled. It was a stark contrast to his usual self when he suddenly acted ridiculously.

That's hilarious.

Gu Shanyue laughed for a long time, bending over with laughter. Qi Baitong held her arm and watched her laugh heartily with tenderness.

He knew that Gu Shanyue rarely laughed, so he cherished these moments all the more, and because he was the one who caused the laughter, he felt even happier and more satisfied.

"Who taught you all this?"

Gu Shanyue finally recovered and leaned against him to catch her breath.

Qi Baitong's palms were warm as she gently massaged her lower abdomen, which was tense from laughing.

"I learned it from the little sparrows on the eaves; they always tilt their heads and look at people with their eyes crossed," Qi Baitong said softly.

Gu Shanyue laughed again: "Who said Xiao Que has crossed eyes? She clearly looks like that."

Qi Baitong nodded and explained, "I see you often look at it, so I suppose you like its appearance."

Gu Shanyue hummed in agreement: "I do like it quite a bit."

She liked to fly like a bird, liked to perch on high places, and liked to see the birds in the imperial city flap their wings and fly away.

The two sat on the ground under the osmanthus tree. Although Gu Shanyue didn't mind, Qi Baitong insisted on taking off his outer clothes to use as a cushion.

So Gu Shanyue sat on his clothes, which were still warm from his body, once again.

The river breeze was damp, the tree trunks were rough, and the stars hung low.

Gu Shanyue looked up at the sky, while Qi Baitong pushed the remaining few jars of wine in his hand back.

Gu Shanyue glanced at the corner of his eye: "Hmm?"

Qi Baitong: "..."

He had no choice but to obediently hand a jar of wine to Gu Shanyue.

Gu Shanyue uncorked the bottle, took two sips, and put it down. She used to want to get drunk whenever she was troubled, but for some reason, she didn't have that thought anymore.

She leaned back against the tree trunk, relaxed, while the white-tung tree beside her carefully adjusted its position so that she could lean her head on its shoulder.

The two sat quietly for a long time before Gu Shanyue spoke: "I left you for so long today, and you still don't know why, do you?"

Qi Baitong showed no resentment and said calmly, "You must have something important to do."

“Yes, it is indeed very important,” Gu Shanyue nodded, then asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about your injury?”

Qi Baitong paused for a moment, remembering Gu Shanyue's questioning of Li Yuheng.

Did he lie to her too?

Qi Baitong panicked slightly and hurriedly explained, "I know you and His Highness have a close relationship, I'm just afraid that if I say something... Besides, it's just a minor injury, don't worry."

Gu Shanyue smiled, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes: "Even you care more about my relationship with him than he does. He always says I don't understand, but actually, he's the one who doesn't understand."

Qi Baitong pursed his lips. He didn't care about the relationship between Gu Shanyue and Li Yuheng; he cared about the relationship between himself and Gu Shanyue.

"You're very angry today, aren't you?" Qi Baitong asked in a low voice, her gaze shifting over before looking away before Gu Shanyue could look back.

Gu Shanyue nodded: "Very angry."

Li Yuheng's actions disappointed her greatly, whether it was regarding her senior sister's matter or Qi Baitong and her.

Qi Baitong gently tapped the wine pot in Gu Shanyue's hand with the wine pot: "Are you feeling better now?"

Gu Shanyue tilted her head back and took a sip of sweet osmanthus wine, then smiled and said, "Much better."

After taking a few sips, Gu Shanyue remembered: "Did you apply the medicine?"

He arrived almost simultaneously, so there probably wasn't enough time to properly apply the medicine.

Qi Baitong paused for a moment: "...Not yet."

He was already used to this kind of injury. If the skin was torn open, it would need to be treated, otherwise he would definitely get a high fever. But he could still withstand being hit several times.

Gu Shanyue clicked her tongue in disapproval, saying, "I knew it, did you bring medicine with you?"

Qi Baitong's Adam's apple bobbed: "I brought it."

Gu Shanyue casually said, "Take it out, and I'll wipe it for you myself."

As expected, it was just as he had hoped.

Qi Baitong's pupils trembled, surging with a scorching heat, but his expression remained calm.

He took out the ointment from his pocket and handed it to Gu Shanyue, saying calmly, "Thank you for your help."