Chapter 52 On the way back, Xie Baoqiong...
On the way back, Xie Baoqiong held the hand that Xie Zhuo had touched to her chest the whole way.
Even after Xie Zhuo brought him back to the temporary office of the yamen, his hand was still raised to his chest.
Lu Anzhi, who was passing by, stole a glance at Xie Baoqiong sitting under the eaves.
The latter sat quietly alone on the bamboo chair, his left hand supporting his right, silently watching Xie Zhuo handling matters inside the house.
He sighed enviously to himself, thinking, "Sure enough, other people's children are different." He then walked towards one of the rooms, carrying the items in his hands.
When Lu Anzhi came out, he glanced in Xie Baoqiong's direction again and saw that the latter was still holding that hand.
He scratched his head with a strange expression, secretly thinking that a child being too quiet and well-behaved wasn't necessarily a good thing. He turned to Xie Zhuo and reminded him:
"Lord Xie, is Young Master Xie's hand injured?"
Among those remaining here is a physician who can examine Young Master Xie. I will bring him here now.
Xie Zhuo stopped Lu Anzhi from looking for someone: "His hand is fine."
"Then..." Lu Anzhi's expression was hesitant, his gaze constantly glancing out the window.
Xie Zhuo turned his head and his gaze met that of someone looking in through the window. He put down his pen, stood up, and his gaze lingered on Xie Baoqiong's right hand, which she was still holding.
Rong Feng and his men were still in the valley finishing up when he returned with Xie Baoqiong. The responsibility of settling the newly found children and handling all the matters related to the Fox Fairy Temple fell to him.
Almost the moment he stepped into the courtyard, someone appeared in front of him and asked him how to handle the remaining matters.
Xie Zhuo then told Xie Baoqiong to go and get the ointment to apply herself.
He looked away and ordered, "Go and get a box of ointment."
Finally, he spoke to the window again, "Qiong'er, come in."
Before Lu Anzhi took his leave, he caught a glimpse of the figure outside who had been called out. The figure swiftly stood up from the bamboo chair, braced his left hand on the windowsill, and nimbly flipped over and jumped into the house, taking a few steps to get close to Xie Zhuo.
Despite his usual dignified demeanor, Lord Xie showed no surprise.
He averted his gaze, pretending not to see anything, and quickly left the room.
Xie Zhuo raised his hand and gently pinched the cheek that was close to his face. His words were reprimanding, but his tone was gentle:
"The door is right next to you, what kind of look would it be to climb through the window?"
Xie Baoqiong turned her head away from Xie Zhuo's hand and looked outside.
This room was not as spacious as the Marquis's mansion; the door was only a few steps away from the window.
He pretended to look away nonchalantly and silently raised his right hand.
Xie Zhuo sighed, helplessly grasping the paw extended in front of him, and asked softly:
"Has the medicine been applied?"
"No, I can't find the medicine bottle Dad put there," Xie Baoqiong replied casually, glancing around the room.
Xie Zhuo looked down at the mark on Xie Baoqiong's right hand. It had faded considerably compared to when he saw it in the valley. Now, only a faint mark remained, and even the redness and swelling were not visible.
The plaster hadn't arrived yet. He pulled Xie Baoqiong down to sit and asked, seemingly casually:
How did you get injured on your hand?
Xie Zhuo wasn't blind; of course he could see that the mark on Xie Baoqiong's hand was from a bite.
But the wound on his hand was a tooth mark, and now that he saw Xie Baoqiong was safe and sound, he felt a little strange after relaxing.
"I was bitten," Xie Baoqiong answered matter-of-factly.
Explaining Amei's affairs in detail would easily expose her identity, so Xie Baoqiong was determined not to say a word more.
Xie Zhuo's expression remained unchanged: "Who bit you?" The teeth marks looked like they were from a human bite, and the bitten area was not large, so it was most likely caused by a child.
He was used to Xie Baoqiong's half-answers and half-concealed answers when she asked him questions. He would inadvertently replace the word "who" with "who" in his words, so that his good son would not mistake his own father for a blind man and say that he was bitten by wild birds in the mountains.
As for Xie Baoqiong avoiding the trap in his words, Xie Zhuo glanced at his son's face, but the moment their eyes met, the person in front of him turned his head away.
He actually hoped that Joan was smart enough to completely fool him.
The noise from the courtyard drifted into the house, making the already silent room seem even quieter.
Xie Zhuo's hand twitched and shrank back towards its owner.
Xie Zhuo exerted a little force, preventing the hand from retracting:
"The medicine hasn't been applied yet."
Xie Baoqiong glanced at Xie Zhuo's calm face and didn't dare to pull her hand back too forcefully, but she couldn't pull it back without increasing the force.
He then stole a glance at Xie Zhuo's expression, his gaze slowly moving up Xie Zhuo's chin, past his slightly pursed thin lips, past his fair cheeks, and finally meeting a pair of calm and serene black eyes.
He was clearly caught red-handed, but he stopped pulling his hand back.
His figure was reflected in his clear, black eyes, as if they wanted to take him completely into their gaze, to be able to contain his unrestrained indulgence in it.
Like the owner of these eyes, embrace everything about him.
Simply because he is... Xie Baoqiong.
Xie Baoqiong's voice carried a hint of grievance that he himself didn't even realize, as he slipped his hand into Xie Zhuo's palm:
"Dad, it hurts."
Xie Zhuo's eyes are tolerant enough.
It gave a temporary place to reside for the inexplicable emotions he had suppressed deep in his heart.
Perhaps it was Amei's resolute decision to face death that shocked him.
He was clearly a tombstone, yet he never faced the passing of life.
The mark Ah Mei left on his body was not worth mentioning, but it was as if his heart had been branded with it, and a variety of emotions he had never felt before were seamlessly imprinted on his heart along with the mark.
To him, Amei was just an insignificant little demon, but he couldn't understand why Amei would give up her cultivation to fight for someone else's life.
A cool breeze blew on her right hand, and Xie Baoqiong looked down at it.
My hand doesn't actually hurt, but the emotions in my heart are unresolved, and the injury on my hand becomes an excuse to attribute the unbearable emotions to the pain.
There might be some truth to the folk remedies passed down from humankind, even though his hand didn't hurt.
Xie Zhuo held his right hand and gently breathed on it:
"The pain will subside after the medicine is applied."
Xie Zhuo looked at the faint mark on Xie Baoqiong's hand, seemingly having forgotten the topic they had just discussed. Since Xie Baoqiong was unwilling to answer, he didn't bring it up again.
But Xie Baoqiong had a new idea and brought it up himself. He lowered his head, moved his hand, and fully exposed the bite mark to Xie Zhuo's eyes:
"Dad, it was bitten by a bad kid."
The eyes before him could tolerate his half-truths and half-lies.
A soft chuckle came from above, so soft it seemed like his imagination; Xie Zhuo's gentle voice drifted into his ears:
"That's really bad. Which naughty child bit Daddy's baby?"
He looked up at Xie Zhuo's affirmative words and saw a pair of eyes filled with a faint smile.
Xie Baoqiong shrank further into the cushions behind her:
"He died, he died for others."
Xie Baoqiong's words were dry and stilted, but Xie Zhuo understood them. The smile in his eyes faded, and he pulled her into his arms, stroking her back.
"Is Qiong'er afraid?"
Xie Baoqiong nodded, then shook her head twice:
"I'm not afraid."
He can live a long time; death is a distant matter for him. Moreover, he might even advance further in his cultivation by then and live even longer.
Xie Baoqiong hesitated for a moment, her lips trembling, before saying:
"Father, why did he do that?"
Xie Zhuo observed his expression and, seeing that he indeed showed no signs of lingering fear, rubbed the head beneath his hand and asked in return:
"Is Qiong'er worried that she will make the same choice as him?"
Xie Baoqiong was stunned. This was a question he hadn't considered, but since Xie Zhuo had asked, he took the opportunity to think it over and was certain that he would never do such a thing.
He adjusted his posture, looked up at Xie Zhuo who was looking down at him, shook his head slightly, and did not respond.
Xie Zhuo's lips curled into a smile:
"Although I don't know if you shook your head to mean you're not worried or that you wouldn't do it, I hope you won't make the same choice as him. No matter who needs to be saved, you must put yourself first."
Xie Baoqiong's eyes darted around, but her gaze remained fixed on Xie Zhuo's face:
"What if that person is Father? Would Father want me to come and save you?"
"I don't want to," Xie Zhuo answered without hesitation, then his tone became ambiguous.
"Qiong'er, your father still hopes you can be a little afraid."
Xie Baoqiong didn't understand Xie Zhuo's meaning, but kept urging him on:
"Father, you still haven't told me why? Why would he risk his life for someone else?"
"Qiong'er, it doesn't matter. Just remember not to give up on yourself for anything."
Xie Zhuo's eyes surged, turning into a pool of gentle water that poured over Xie Baoqiong.
He knew what choice Xie Baoqiong would make:
"Qiong'er won't make the same choice as him, so there's no need to worry about the answer to this question."
This is a path you won't take, so you don't need to put too much effort into it.
Qiong'er should just focus on walking her own path.
Xie Zhuo knew the answer behind it, but he was unwilling to reveal it to Xie Baoqiong.
It seems that this is how Xie Baoqiong can be separated from her.
The genuine emotions behind the answers always drive people crazy, yet also make them addicted.
He hoped that Joan could continue to walk calmly on the road.
Xie Baoqiong lay down on Xie Zhuo's lap with a tense face. Xie Zhuo was right.
He shouldn't have cared so much about Amei's choice.
...
Xie Zhuoren let him lie on his lap for a while, and after getting the ointment, he applied a layer of ointment to the mark that had faded to the point of being almost invisible.
"You sleep here for a while. I'll wake you up to have dinner together when I'm done with my work."
In his drowsy state, he felt a soft cloth, carrying Xie Zhuo's scent, draped over his body.
Consciousness gradually faded into darkness.
In the darkness, he saw a white light, and his consciousness slowly drifted toward the direction of the white light.
The moment you touch the white light, your consciousness is instantly drawn in.
All I could see was a vast expanse of white.
He remained quietly in place, as if he were still a pebble.
A pair of hands appeared in the white space, embraced him, and took him away from the white space.
A magnificent and exquisite palace appeared before him, and he was placed on a desk in one of the rooms.
The owner who had been holding his hands finally appeared before him.
But before they could even make out the person's appearance, the scene before them vanished in an instant, as if smoke and dust had turned to nothing.
He returned to the vast, white space.
After an unknown amount of time, the space changed once again. It was still those same hands that held him and carried him away from this white, misty space.
In a flash, the owner of the hands reappeared before my eyes.
This time, he pushed forward with all his might, trying to see the person's face clearly, but it was as if he were looking through a layer of misty glass; he couldn't see the person clearly.
A sliver of red light emerged from the hand that had once held him, pierced through the glass, and came before him.
The red light floated silently in the air, and his gaze was drawn to it. He reached out to catch it.
Just as he was about to catch it, the red light flew towards him and disappeared into his brow.
When he had a moment to look outside, the people outside had already vanished.
But this time, the external environment did not become a white blur, nor was it unclear.
A clear blue sky and green trees, along with a milky white fog, appeared before his eyes.
There was also a red fox that hopped in from a distance.
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