Chapter 28: Obsessed

The attacks only started in the second half of the night. Jiaoran realized it later and opened his eyes to see that Shao Feng was no longer lying on the mat opposite him. He didn't know where she had gone. When Jiaoran got up to look for her, the night light beside him had burned out. The only sound in the room was the young master's breathing.

He was breathing rapidly, and Jiaoran thought that the young master might be having a nightmare again.

In the silence, the breathing sounded muffled.

It must have been a terrible nightmare.

Jiaoran took three or two steps and groped his way to his bed in the dark.

She was going to light the lamp and wake him up like before. Just as she half squatted down to feel for the lamp next to Mu Jin, ready to take out the tinder to light it, she turned her head and his breathing had already moved to her ears.

The tinderbox was blown out to produce some bright sparks, and his eyes flashed with desire. This was the first time she saw such a color in his eyes.

Seeing that he had woken up, Jiao Ran wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand and asked, "Sir, did you have a nightmare?"

His voice came from the darkness, hoarse and gloomy, "No, I just feel uncomfortable..."

He retreated back to the pillow, lay on his back quietly for a moment, and soon tossed and turned in bed again.

Jiaoran hurried to find out where he was and felt that his neck was covered in sweat. Even his hands, which were usually cold, were burning.

Did you catch a cold?

She asked hurriedly, "Sir, what's wrong with you?"

He just lay there, his body tense. "I don't know."

"I'll help you go to the toilet—"

"No need...my stomach doesn't hurt," he said.

"Then why are you so hot? Do you have a fever? Should I ask Sister Xiaoju to call a doctor for you?"

He refused.

Jiaoran was a little anxious. How could he not see a doctor when he got sick?

He explained, "It's late at night, and it would be rude of me to disturb my uncle's sleep."

Is life more important or these etiquettes more important? Jiaoran really wants to chisel open his brain to see.

"Besides, I don't know what's wrong with me. I just feel hot all over. I'm afraid it's the heat. I might have heatstroke."

"Did you eat something you shouldn't have?"

"I didn't eat anything in the evening, and I had some mung bean soup in the afternoon."

Jiaoran's heart moved, and she thought of the mung bean soup she brought back today. She wondered how Chai Hui could be so kind as to let her go and not pursue her for talking back. She really thought he had changed his temper and become a better person.

Could it be that he put something in it to trick her?

When the young master said the taste was wrong, she should have realized it at that time. Blame her for being so stupid.

The more Jiaoran thought about it, the more scared he became. "Master, wait a minute. I'll go get Sister Xiaoju right now. If I'm delayed, it will be a big deal."

She was about to leave when he pulled her back to the bed. She had no idea he was so strong. She had forgotten that Mu Jin was a man after all.

"Don't leave yet." He begged her.

Jiaoran agreed, "Do you want me to get you some tea?"

"Okay, go get me some cold tea. It'll calm me down and I won't have so many crazy thoughts."

"ah?!"

"I'm very upset and my body is hot..." He kept muttering in the dark. His voice was not loud and only Jiaoran could hear it. He couldn't hear clearly from a distance.

Jiaoran sat beside him for a while, as if he had figured out what was going on.

The traveler Xiao Shang told her that she should be careful of knockout drugs when traveling far. If you put some on a handkerchief and put it to the tip of a person's nose, they will become unconscious. If you put a small fingernail on it, they will sleep for a whole day. There are also flower thieves who usually use unconventional methods. They carry Qingfeng Powder with them. If a girl drinks half a cup of this aphrodisiac, her whole body will feel hot and her desire will be hard to quench.

But she didn't know that this medicine was also effective for men.

It’s not difficult to break it, just pour a basin of cold water on it, simple and direct.

But he has always been weak, and now it is a time of heavy dew. If you pour a basin of water on him, he will definitely catch a cold and cough tomorrow and will not be able to get out of bed.

Mu Jin grabbed her hand, pulled her closer, and asked, "Jiao Ran, do you think I'm okay?"

She turned her head and looked at the darkness, not speaking for a long time, but her cheeks were all red. Fortunately, there was no light in the room.

But he kept asking questions like a child, and she couldn't handle it at all. How could she not know whether he was okay or not?

He took her hand and placed it on his chest, and it touched his pounding heart.

Then even the beating became hot, almost burning her hand.

Jiaoran felt him take a deep breath and then hold it.

"What are you doing?" Jiaoran couldn't help but ask him.

"As long as I don't pant, you won't be able to hear my chaotic breathing, and it won't upset you."

After hearing this, Jiaoran became even more confused. Should they blame him entirely?

Jiao Ran moved closer and said, "I'm not upset because of you, but because of me."

How could she tell him her origins? That she was a spy, a wild girl from a small town in the wilderness, who had come to steal the secret manual of Huiyingmen?

That she approached him with ulterior motives and was just taking advantage of him?

She couldn't, she couldn't speak. He thought she was so nice to him because she really cared about him, but she was just lying, lying from beginning to end.

Even if she was willing to admit that this was love, it was impure love, and Mu Jin deserved a better woman to love him.

She is not worthy of him at all.

He was the son of a governor, his parents were both extraordinary men, and his uncle was a powerful figure in Xiu Tu. And she, on the other hand, was a useless person from a small sect, lacking both civil and military skills.

He did nothing wrong. Such a kind-hearted person taught her how to write and read, appreciate the moon, make tea, arrange flowers and raise birds without any prejudice against her family background.

He looked like a figure in an ancient painting, and was as clean as a piece of jade in a wooden box.

It was the moon in the sky that she shouldn't have picked.

When everything is over, he will stand alone in the yard and look at the distant mountains again.

They ran away and left all the mess to him.

How would he explain to the Governor's Office about his runaway maid and the missing "Takayama Shou"? He might even try to excuse her, arguing that it wasn't her fault. He might even think that they had held her hostage, and that nothing was her fault.

He was so kind, he would never have thought that she would join others in plotting against him.

But what he didn't know was that she was one of them. They were thieves and she was a liar. None of them were good people.

She didn't think about anything else, her fingertips found his lips and kissed him.

This was the first time she kissed the man she liked.

The darkness was like opening the lid of a jar of wine. Jiaoran felt like he was drunk. His whole body was weak and he couldn't even stand up. He fell in front of him.

She wanted to take a breath and stepped back a little, but Mu Jin followed her eagerly and asked for a kiss from her. He was too impatient, but also too inexperienced, and she didn't know how to relieve herself.

People like him must have never experienced love between men and women. Although Jiaoran had secretly watched his senior sisters, he did not enjoy it. He just feasted his eyes. When it came to his turn, he could only cross the river by feeling the stones.

Slowly lower your hands.

The darkness seemed to no longer be a dead thing, it had shape and breath.

Jiaoran didn't know what she was doing. She just felt that she should do this, or rather, she couldn't control her emotions.

But what she didn't know was that the wind starts from the tip of the green reed. If the desire is caused by love, it is normal, but if it is mixed with guilt and depression, everything will be more complicated. Such love may hardly be pure love in return.

At that time, she thought this was love, just like when she saw Chai Hui defeat Bu Yue, she thought that was the pinnacle of martial arts.

She always understood it very simply.

She felt him in the darkness, a completely different him from usual, heard his moans and sweet gasps, and then she forgot about meeting Yingmen, forgot about "Gao Shan Shou", and even threw the words of Fenghuang Chu and A Niang out of her mind.

He was in her palm, and in a trance, the charming painting was floating in the pavilion. The intertwined desires made him, as a man, feel nauseous. Those wet desires made him unable to face the love between men and women.

But she raised herself up and kissed him. Her lips were cool and moist, with the scent of mountain breeze. It was this scent that reminded him of the freedom between heaven and earth.

He couldn't see her, but he could feel the warmth of her body and the softness of her hands.

He felt that he had been torn to pieces long ago, and it was she who put him back together, gathered the fragments of him together again, and pieced together a new him.

Her long hair fell beside his cheek, and Mu Jin couldn't help but pick up a strand of it and sniff it.

If there really is a way to save him, it must be to send Jiaoran to sink into this darkness with him.

He wanted to say something, but he was so happy that no words came out.

He felt Jiaoran's heartbeat quicken, and it took him a while to realize that it was his own heartbeat.

He could sense Jiaoran's excitement and joy, but he also heard her sigh.

Although she did not leave, she used one hand to cover his lips to prevent him from kissing her again.

Her hand was still there, but her lips refused to linger on his.

So he started to act naughty and started breathing heavily again. Jiaoran hurriedly covered his mouth, fearing that the sound he made would attract Xiaoju, Shaofeng and the others.

She wanted everything to be over quickly, so she was no longer so gentle.

He took a breath, seemed to be in pain, bit his lip and said, "Don't."

Jiaoran hesitated for a moment and was no longer so anxious.

Soon, in the darkness and silence, her voice sounded like a frightened rabbit. She said in a low voice, "Are you feeling better?"

"Hmm." He hummed softly through his nose.

He already felt the sensation of falling into the abyss and rising to the sky.

She probably didn't know that even her fingertips were trembling.

When she lifted his underwear, she began to tremble.

Later, he didn't know how long they lay there. It was almost dawn but not yet dark. She lay beside him with her eyes closed and her clothes still tidy because he didn't touch her at all.

Mu Jin pulled the quilt over her. He could hear his heart beating fast. The room was still dark. Xiao Ju did not make any sound when she walked in, but he was very sensitive to the approaching. He slightly turned sideways to cover her who was sleeping inside, so she slowly backed out without making any sound.

After a while, he touched Jiaoran's hand, grabbed her hand, kissed it lightly on his lips, and held her hand in his palm.

Everything is different, he told himself.

He thought about when she woke up and she looked into his eyes, and then he would tell her the truth.

She was the prey in his trap and the stepping stone for his freedom, but now he has changed his mind and will not deceive again.

Instead, he wanted to dismantle all traps that could harm Jiaoran.

It all turned out to be a trick of Phoenix Chick, and he decided to ruin the deal.

He was planning in his mind, and it seemed that he had started walking on a road paved with flowers. There were no more thorns and the gravel had been weathered. This was a new road that he had never expected, but it still appeared before his eyes.

He wanted to tell her, I have never been as simple, innocent, kind and good as you think.

I have long learned when to show my fangs and seize the right moment to deliver a fatal blow to the opponent. I am not gentle at all and the word "kind" has never been associated with me.

But if I am with you, I can try my best to become the person you like, and I can be a kind and compassionate person.

He thought about this and slowly fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was already daylight.

Jiaoran was no longer by his side.

Soon Susu and another maid came in to serve him. He hurriedly asked, "Where's Jiaoran?"

Su Su said, "I was on guard last night and went to sleep this morning."

He resisted the urge to see her and waited until she woke up in the afternoon. They still had time to be honest with each other, Mu Jin thought.

She was indeed very tired.

He was practicing calligraphy in the afternoon, but he couldn't write a single word properly, and his handwriting was all crooked and twisted, because he was waiting for her.

Not long after, Jiaoran came in, greeted him, and walked to his side to pick up the papers he had written on.

He looked at her, but Jiaoran avoided his gaze and didn't even look at him.

At first he thought she was just shy, but after writing for a whole hour, his arms were sore, and she didn't speak to him or even look at him.

He decided to give her another chance, so he asked, "Was it cold last night while you were on guard?"

Jiao Ran looked at the table and said, "It's not too cold. I stayed up for half the night and then went back to sleep."

He sat there for a long time, wiping his hands, which were stained with ink due to his impatience, on the handkerchief again and again, until his fingers turned red.

He was almost angry, but his face remained expressionless, his back teeth clenched tightly.

Then, he decided to give her another chance. No matter how many lies she had told before, as long as she was willing to be honest now, "Jiao Ran, have you ever deceived me or used me?"

Jiaoran hesitated for a moment, then shook his head decisively, "You are overthinking it, sir. Jiaoran has never lied to you about anything."

No deception?

No deception? ! !

He felt that he was back in the quagmire, so he desperately grabbed at the straw on the shore. He thought he was giving her a chance, but in fact he was giving himself a chance.

Last night, it turned out to be all fake. She was just feeling sorry for him and giving him alms.

He understood that Jiaoran had never intended to be honest with him. Last night was just a misunderstanding. In order to complete her mission, she was willing to do this no matter who it was, as long as it did not delay their actions.

He clenched his fists under the table and asked with a smile, "How many days until the wedding?"

Jiaoran agreed with him and said, "About ten days."

The straw he thought was his salvation was just an illusion. Mu Jin laughed coldly again and gradually came to his senses. It was not difficult for him to reweigh the pros and cons.

He was just momentarily deluded, he told himself.