Chapter 29 Beautiful and Distant "Are you shy?"
After crying enough, she fell asleep. At dusk, the first to wake up was Qi Baitong.
I had a dull ache in my head, a sharp, astringent pain in my throat, a dry mouth, a tight face, and felt like I had been roasted over a fire.
Only the soft, gentle touch in his arms remained. Looking down, he saw Gu Shanyue quietly nestled against his chest, her little face pressed against his skin, sleeping soundly with her eyes closed.
A warm feeling welled up in Qi Baitong's heart. He reached out his finger, wanting to touch her face, but then stopped.
He was afraid of waking her.
Suddenly, a bird's call rang out.
Qi Baitong moved more gently, glanced at her surroundings, and the memories in her mind gradually surfaced one by one.
Qi Baitong: "..."
A look of annoyance appeared on his usually calm and composed face. How could he have gotten so drunk?
Gu Shanyue smacked her lips and opened her eyes.
Headache, eye pain, and sore throat—she scrunched up her face, stretched, and sat up.
"You've come to the suburbs again?"
She seemed to be adapting well. A possibility arose in Qi Baitong's mind, and she tentatively asked, "Do you remember what happened this morning?"
"I remember."
Gu Shanyue responded, and seeing Qi Baitong's evasive eyes, she laughed: "Are you shy? You're quite interesting when you're drunk."
Qi Baitong's ears warmed slightly. He forced himself not to think about the embarrassing things he had done while drunk, nor to look at Gu Shanyue's teasing expression. He stood up and said seriously, "I'll go fetch water."
The two were very drunk, and now they reeked of alcohol.
Gu Shanyue also stood up and slowly followed behind him: "I'll go with you."
Qi Baitong didn't answer; she walked ahead alone, her ears red.
Following the trail of the plant and the sound of flowing water, the two quickly found a mountain spring with clear, gurgling water.
Gu Shanyue washed her face thoroughly, rubbing away the dry, tear-stained skin.
After washing her face, she looked up and realized that Qi Baitong was not beside her, but a dozen steps downstream, squatting there washing herself.
The moon's shadow was blurred in the sky, and the evening stars were dim.
Gu Shanyue drew his Wugou sword. The Wugou sword was stained with blood and had not yet been wiped clean. The bloodstains on the long sword, which was as bright as the moon, were particularly unsightly.
Gu Shanyue frowned, lifted his robe to cut off a piece of cloth to wipe his sword, when suddenly a clean white silk cloth appeared in front of him.
"Use this." Qi Baitong, his face still dripping with water, stood in front of her.
Gu Shanyue took it: "You brought it again?"
Qi Baitong hummed in agreement and asked her, "Are you hungry?"
Gu Shanyue didn't have a free hand to touch her stomach, but it was definitely flat.
She nodded: "Hungry."
Would you like some grilled fish?
"eat."
After a brief conversation, Gu Shanyue sat by the mountain spring to clean his sword, while Qi Baitong walked downstream to catch fish in a slightly wider part of the water.
As dusk fell and insects chirped incessantly, Qi Baitong prepared a fire to roast fish, while Gu Shanyue continued polishing his sword.
The grilled fish sizzles and turns on the fire, releasing a delicious aroma that whets the appetite.
"Ah Yue, should we investigate what happened today?"
Qi Baitong shouldn't have said that. Gu Shanyue is a member of the martial arts world, and Xi Feng is obviously also a member of the martial arts world. Even if they wanted to investigate, they had no right to use the Imperial Guard.
But by saying this, he was clearly trying to take a step toward his private rights.
Gu Shanyue asked, "Investigate what?"
"Find out who this person is. Since he committed the ambush and assassination, a thorough investigation will surely reveal that he has a murder case on his hands. Then we will naturally find a way to punish him."
His tone was calm, but his words made it clear that he had no intention of giving Xifeng a way out.
In the world of martial arts, who doesn't have a few lives on their hands? If you were to investigate thoroughly, they would all be wanted criminals and thrown into jail.
Gu Shanyue carefully wiped each section of the sword and said calmly, "He is Xi Fengxiao, the son of Xi Tianzhao, the former master of the Blood Mirage Tower."
Qi Baitong paused slightly: "You knew he was..."
Gu Shanyue: "I knew it the moment I saw him."
Her tone was natural, without any anger at Xi Feng for offending Wu Shanyu; rather, it was as if she were talking about a familiar old friend.
Even though Xi Feng offended Wu Shanyu and plotted to assassinate Gu Shanyue, she didn't seem to intend to take his life.
Qi Baitong lowered her eyes and after a long while, she spoke again: "You are familiar with him, so you won't let me chase after him, is that right?"
Gu Shanyue shook her head: "I'm not familiar with him. He and my senior sister have a relationship, and my senior sister feels guilty towards him. I've only met him a few times over the years."
"You've only met him a few times, and he was wearing theatrical makeup, but you still recognized him at a glance."
Qi Baitong looked at Gu Shanyue quietly. Gu Shanyue was puzzled. "He looks a lot like Xi Tianzhao. He's not hard to recognize."
Qi Baitong pursed her lips slightly: "I see."
He lowered his head and continued grilling the sizzling, oily fish, while Gu Shanyue continued wiping his sword.
The atmosphere was just harmonious, but now it feels strangely odd.
Gu Shanyue wiped the cloth until it was spotless and shiny, without a speck of dust, before regretfully putting it down, lamenting that it couldn't be oiled.
"Sword oil and deerskin."
The thought had barely crossed her mind when Qi Baitong pulled out a paper package from somewhere and handed it to her.
Gu Shanyue was surprised. She took it and saw that it really was the sword oil she often used.
"You even carry this with you?"
Qi Baitong lowered her eyes and said, "Mm."
They are sparing with words.
Gu Shanyue then carefully applied the oil to her beloved Wugou, and only remembered him after a while.
Qi Baitong looked at her, while Gu Shanyue's gaze was still fixed on Wugou. She casually asked, "Is the fish ready?"
Qi Baitong: "...Not done yet."
Gu Shanyue realized something was wrong. Qi Baitong had always been very attentive to her food and drink, so why would he just dismiss her with the words "not ready"?
She finally turned to look at him: "Are you in a bad mood?"
Qi Baitong's eyelashes trembled, and she opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
He knew nothing about Gu Shanyue's past; he was just a bodyguard who had been assigned to her. What right or position did he have to interfere in her affairs?
"The fish will be ready soon; you can eat it after you wipe your sword," Qi Baitong replied softly, avoiding the question.
Gu Shanyue: "Oh."
She continued wiping the sword, and Qi Baitong couldn't help but look at her.
The moonlight, like a thin veil, draped over her. She focused intently on wiping her sword, the blade's gleam reflecting on her face, like a spirit transformed from mountain spring water arriving in the mortal world in the silent night, examining the creations of humankind.
She and he are from different worlds.
She is beautiful and distant, with a past he cannot participate in and an endless, vast future.
He knew everything, he knew it all, but...
He thought there was only Li Yuheng and Yu'er, but he didn't expect that Xi Feng would appear so soon.
Wu Shanyu felt guilty towards Xi Feng. As soon as he said this, Qi Baitong knew that this person was also someone who could not be messed with.
Gu Shanyue's eyes could not hold many people to begin with, and now there was one more.
He recalled that when he broke into the house, Xi Fengguang's naked body was wrapped with a leather rope with bells, the bells making a soft, chaotic sound. Could it be that Gu Shanyue liked that?
If she likes it...
"Qi Baitong?" Gu Shanyue called to him.
Qi Baitong snapped out of his daze and saw Gu Shanyue sheathing her sword and walking towards him, sitting down beside him, her sleeve brushing against his hem.
The firelight flickered across her face as she leaned forward to sniff, then turned to look at him, her gaze open and reliant: "I'm hungry."
Qi Baitong swallowed hard, his throat feeling a little itchy. He coughed lightly and said, "It's all better now."
Gu Shanyue took the grilled fish, raised her hand to fan her face in front of him, and asked with concern, "Do you want to rest for a while? Your face is all red from the heat."
"I..." Qi Baitong touched her burning face, her eyelashes fluttering. "It's alright, no need."
Gu Shanyue hadn't eaten much all day and was extremely hungry. The fish was grilled until crispy and delicious, so she buried her head in her food and ate.
When Qi Baitong calmed down and looked over, she saw that the fish had been completely devoured, leaving only a clean skeleton with the head and tail attached.
Qi Baitong couldn't help but feel a little regretful as he handed over the next grilled fish.
"Eat slowly, there's still plenty left."
"Mmm." Gu Shanyue didn't even look up, just kept eating.
The small fish in the spring were thin and delicate. Gu Shanyue ate five of them before he was even slightly full.
Qi Baitong tried to offer her some fish, but Gu Shanyue waved her hand and refused, saying, "You eat it."
Was she concerned about him?
Qi Baitong smiled and said, "I'm not hungry, you eat."
“Eat the rest, then we’ll go back,” Gu Shanyue said, turning her gaze toward Shengjing. “Otherwise, Yu’er will have to wait for me again.”
Even though they rarely see each other on weekdays, Li Yuheng insists on waiting for her whenever she's not around at night, without exception, completely disregarding his own health.
Qi Baitong's smile froze instantly, and after a long while, she responded softly, "Okay."
He devoured the remaining fish he had grilled for her, one bite after another, startling Gu Shanyue so much that she couldn't help but glance at him again.
"You don't need to eat so quickly, it doesn't matter if you eat a little earlier or a little later."
Qi Baitong paused, looked up at her and said, "If we go back earlier, His Highness the Crown Prince will have to wait less; if we go back later, His Highness the Crown Prince will have to wait longer."
After he finished speaking, he continued to stare at Gu Shanyue, as if waiting for something.
Gu Shanyue thought for a moment and said, "That's true."
Qi Baitong lowered his eyes, then ate in large mouthfuls, looking rather disheveled.
Perhaps only by constantly swallowing food can one suppress the aching pain in their chest.
He ate quickly, and after finishing, he hurriedly got up and went to the spring to wash his face with his back to Gu Shanyue. His thin back was cold and lonely.
Gu Shanyue called out to him: "Qi Baitong?"
Qi Baitong walked back, her face wet, water dripping from her chin, and her eyes red.
"Let's go back. I've wasted your time."
Gu Shanyue felt that his words were strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why, so she could only say "Oh".
The two silently extinguished the fire and packed up, leaving the dark, desolate mountain and returning to the brightly lit Shengjing.
To Gu Shanyue's surprise, the lights in the courtyard were off, and Li Yuheng was not waiting for her.
Gu Shanyue didn't think much of it and walked in with a normal expression. When she passed the west room, she suddenly remembered the bunch of flowers that had been trampled. She frowned, thought of a certain possibility, and immediately turned around and walked out.
Qi Baitong followed her and noticed her strange expression: "What's wrong?"
Gu Shanyue opened her mouth, then shook her head, frowned, and flew towards Li Yuheng's courtyard.
The lights were on full display, and the guards were on high alert.
Gu Shanyue flew up to kick someone, but the guards panicked for a moment when they saw it was her and immediately made way.
Gu Shanyue barged into the courtyard, but found no one in the study or bedroom, nor Bai Yan. Frustration grew within her, and she grabbed a servant at random.
Where is Yu'er?
The servant was speechless, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
Gu Shanyue shoved the person away, her face full of anger, and looked around the courtyard.
Qi Baitong understood: "Are you worried that Xi Feng has been captured by His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Gu Shanyue's eyes showed surprise. She was not sure at first, so she did not want to make a judgment, but she did not expect Qi Baitong to see through it directly.
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