Chapter 6
Shen Aheng never expected that he would fail in just one day after boasting to Ashina Yu that he would catch another female scorpion as soon as possible.
That night she set up the "trap" and placed the bamboo cage containing the male scorpion in the most conspicuous place at the gate of the yard. She also placed some rotten grass, which the white-tailed scorpion loved to eat, next to the cage, and served it with good food and drink, hoping that it would comfortably release the scent of its own kind.
But from early morning till noon, there was not even a shadow of a scorpion outside the bamboo cage.
Shen Ah Heng thought about it and simply moved a small wooden stool to hide next to the flower bed behind the trap. He kept his eyes wide open and even took a cold corn tortilla for lunch. He sat there eating while watching. He watched from the sun at noon to the sunset. His butt was numb from sitting, but the female scorpion still did not show up.
"I said, are you a eunuch?"
Shen Ah Heng, who had been waiting in vain, picked up the bamboo cage and stared at the male scorpion for a while. He simply reached out and turned it over with a small iron clamp, poking its abdomen and muttering, "Let me see, are you...hiss, it turns out you are not small. What about your wife? Where did your wife go? Did she run away with someone? Otherwise, it is impossible for you to be so big and not even have a companion. Are you not capable..."
She poked as she spoke, her voice crisp and with a hint of faint resentment. The male scorpion, which had been sunburned and limp, seemed to understand her "humiliation". Suddenly, its limbs kicked wildly, and even its tail stinger was raised high and poked around, looking so angry that Shen Ah Heng couldn't help but laugh out loud.
In the hall, Ashina Yu sat quietly, his thin back leaning against the wall, half of his body immersed in the dim light, making his skin look even colder and paler.
He didn't move, but his eyes fell on the yard. The lively figure was squatting beside the bamboo cage, poking the poisonous scorpion and cursing "Single dog, no one wants you", humiliating the scorpion. The voice was crisp, and even the grass debris in the hair revealed a fresh and light breath.
The fingertips hanging on his knees curled slightly, so fast that it seemed like an illusion.
"Give you a few more days!"
Shen Ah Heng's mouth was dry as he spoke, and he threw the male scorpion back into the bamboo cage while cursing. He patted the dust on his hands, rubbed his numb legs and stood up, and threatened fiercely: "If you can't find your wife again, I will really cut off your balls and turn you into a eunuch scorpion!"
After "threatening" the scorpion, Shen Aheng walked towards the hall carrying the iron clamp.
When Ashina Yu heard the noise, her eyelashes slightly raised, and the girl's rosy cheeks were reflected in her empty eyes. When that bright red color came into her eyes, it was like a peach petal falling in the vast snow, quietly adding a bit of life.
Shen Aheng, who had not been able to snoop on the female scorpion the whole day, refused to believe it and came out to guard for a while before going to bed. It was not until the middle of the night that he was so sleepy that he could not bear it anymore and his eyelids were fighting. He rolled back into the quilt and fell asleep with his head touching the pillow.
The next morning, after hurriedly finishing two shepherd's purse cornmeal cakes, he moved a small stool and sat beside the bed to change Ashina Yu's dressing.
Shen Ah Heng reached out and gently grasped his arm. Seeing the scabs on his arm begin to fall off, revealing the pale pink new flesh underneath, he couldn't help but mutter with some pride: "Look, my homemade medicine is good, isn't it? The external injuries healed so quickly. Once we catch the female scorpion, the poison in your body can be cured too."
When applying the medicine to him, her fingertips touched the newly scabbed flesh, and she applied it gently: "Be patient, this medicine may smell bad, but it heals very quickly."
Ashina Yu said nothing, but just raised her arm obediently and let her play with it. She held her cold white wrist in her hand and moved it back and forth without any resistance.
As soon as the brown ointment was applied, the pungent smell instantly filled the entire hall, and he just drooped his eyelashes a little.
The sunlight outside the hall fell in, casting a shadow under the long and dense eyelashes. He did not look elsewhere, but just kept his eyes on her face, watching the girl frowning, mumbling to herself, and carefully picking out the residue in the ointment with a cotton twig. There was also a bit of imperceptible worldly air in her empty eyes.
After Shen Aheng changed the medicine for Ashina Yu, he hurried to the yard with a bench to guard it.
This went on for three days, until Ashina Yu's wounds completely scabbed over and he spent longer periods of time sitting. Every day he would move to sit on the threshold of the hall, from morning till night, his thin body wrapped in loose clothes, leaning against the door frame, immersed in the sunset, which was dyed with warm tones, like a piece of jade soaked in light.
He said nothing, but with his eyelashes drooping, his gaze fell on the girl squatting beside the bamboo cage in the yard. Her hair was a little messy and her cheeks were red from the sun. Occasionally, she would get so angry that she would curse the scorpion for being ruthless, ungrateful, and untrustworthy, etc.
Occasionally the wind would mess up his long hair, and he would just raise his hand and gently smooth it down.
His thin shoulders still showed a bit of frailty, but somehow they added a bit of warmth to this previously deserted mountain temple.
Shen Ahheng used to feel that since her master left, the days in the Mountain God Temple were just a repetitive routine, and she could only talk to those non-human things. But now, even if she squatted in the yard all day, she could always see the young man sitting on the threshold when she looked back. He was quiet, but it seemed that he had given her a place to return to while she was waiting.
Even though she didn't understand many of his sentences and couldn't answer her, she didn't feel empty inside. Instead, she felt warm. The annoyance she had felt for not being able to wait for the female scorpion for several days was diluted a lot.
Shen Aheng stayed there until the fifth day.
When she first started guarding the bamboo cage, she was always peeking out, thinking about what kind of detoxification method to use after catching the female scorpion, and how to prepare it, whether to use salt or rice wine. When she heard the hissing sound of grass leaves, she thought the female scorpion was coming, and she stood up nervously, clutching the corner of her clothes. But after waiting for several days, this excitement had been worn into numbness by the endless waiting.
That afternoon, the sun was hanging slantingly in the sky, stretching the shadows of the decaying wooden pillars in front of the mountain temple. Gusts of wind blew locust leaves onto the edge of the bamboo cage. Shen Ahheng just sat on the bench with his hand supporting his chin, glancing lazily, not even bothering to move.
Shen Ah Heng was so sleepy that his head felt heavy and his eyelids felt like they were stuck together with glue. He had to blink hard to keep his eyes open. He forced himself to rub his eyes and saw that Ashina Yu was still sitting on the doorstep.
The mountains are different from the town. The cold wind blows directly on people. The thin shoulders wrapped in loose clothes look very thin.
Shen Ah Heng hurried over to pull him, urging him, "Why are you still here? You just recovered from the external injuries not long ago. It's windy at night. Be careful not to catch a cold. Go back to sleep."
Ashina Yu didn't speak or move, only lowering her eyes, her long eyelashes casting a shadow on her cold, pale cheek. Her gaze fell on the back of her hand that was pulling at her sleeve. Her cold, white fingertips curled slightly, still with that indifferent expression, but with a silent rejection. It was as if he didn't want her to be left alone in the yard.
Shen Ah Heng was helpless, wondering why he hadn't noticed before that this little foreigner was so stubborn. He knew that no matter how much he said to him, it would be useless, so he had to bend down and half-drag him into the hall.
This man looks thin, but he is already a teenager who is almost an adult. He is really heavy, but it doesn't matter, she, Shen, has plenty of strength.
When I pulled his arm, I could clearly feel that he had no flesh on his arm, and I could feel the outline of his bones through the cloth.
When Shen Ah Heng dragged him to the bedside, he took a deep breath, then reached out to help him pull the collar of his clothes. His movements were not too gentle, and he fiercely warned him: "You lie down obediently and don't move. I will guard it for a while. If the female scorpion doesn't come, I will take it. I won't wait any longer. I will use one of its husbands as medicine and make it into a widow scorpion! If you dare to mess with me again, I will catch you and use you as medicine to make my elixir!"
As soon as these words came out, Ashina Yu's originally cold and indifferent face finally showed some reaction. Her eyelashes trembled rapidly, like a frightened butterfly. A hint of paleness seemed to pass across her cold white cheeks, and even her dangling fingertips shrank slightly.
This time, he didn't hold back anymore and obediently followed her strength, as if he was really afraid of being "drugized". His eyes fell on her face for a moment, then quickly dropped down.
Shen Aheng felt it was novel and a little like laughing. He couldn't help but curled the corners of his lips. After "threatening" the little Hu man, he walked out of the hall with ease and came to the yard.
Shen Ah Heng continued to sit on the small bench in the yard, rubbing his legs that were numb from sitting, waiting sleepily and bored.
This time, I didn't last long. Sleepiness came over me like a tide. My head nods back and before I knew it, I fell asleep leaning against the bamboo cage.
I don’t know how long it took.
While she was half asleep, a strong medicinal fragrance wrapped in warmth wafted over. The smell was very familiar. It was the medicine for external injuries that she often prescribed. Then, a feeling of warmth suddenly fell on her shoulder.
Shen Aheng suddenly opened his eyes, and saw Ashina Yu, who was originally lying inside, suddenly appeared in front of him. His thin figure looked particularly thin in the moonlight, and his face was even paler than during the day.
I found that his purple silk coat, which carried his body temperature, was still draped over my shoulders, carrying his faint warmth and medicinal fragrance, blocking out the chill of the night.
Shen Ah Heng was startled, stood up immediately, and said, "Why are you here?"
Without waiting for his answer, she quickly put her clothes back on him. Her fingers touched his slightly cold arm, and she said anxiously and helplessly, "Didn't I tell you to rest early? You're still weak. If you get cold again, won't all the medicine I applied be in vain?"
Ashina Yu didn't answer immediately. His Adam's apple rolled gently against his cold white neck, as if he was trying hard to recall the pronunciation of the original words. After a long while, he slowly raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the bamboo cage with trembling fingertips. His voice was light and hoarse, with a hint of a Western accent. He enunciated each word with great difficulty: "Come, come..."
Shen Ah Heng looked in the direction of his fingertips. Under the bright moonlight, there was indeed another crimson scorpion in the bamboo cage, circling around the original male scorpion.
It's a female scorpion!
Shen Aheng was surprised and happy, and almost screamed out. She turned around to say thank you, but saw Ashina Yu standing in the moonlight, her eyelashes drooping lightly, her lips tinged with a light white, and it was obvious that she had expended a lot of energy to say these words.
Shen Ah Heng's heart suddenly softened. He went to pick up a stone and put it on the bamboo cage. Then he came back and took his hand and walked towards the hall. He found that his hand was very cold, with a little sweat on his fingertips. He whispered, "Thank you. I'll go to bed after I settle the two scorpions. I won't lie to you this time."
Ashina Yu let her pull him, his cold white fingertips curled up in her hand, unconsciously rubbing against her warm palm. He said nothing more, his eyelashes trembling slightly under the moonlight, and a hint of natural obedience was quietly hidden between his originally cold and indifferent eyebrows.
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