"Are you still asleep?"
The next morning, when Ji woke up, he felt a sense of ease in his shoulder blades. The swelling and tearing sensation from the previous day had almost disappeared, replaced by a slight itching sensation unique to wound healing.
He carefully moved his shoulders and was surprised to find that they were surprisingly flexible, as if the fierce battle and rigorous training had happened just days ago.
"What kind of medicine did Senior Huaiqing give me? It's so powerful," Ji Wang murmured to himself.
He was about to sit up when he felt his right hand being firmly grasped.
Looking to the side, Bu Jiu was still asleep, his face peaceful, his dark hair spread out on the pillow, but he seemed to be sleeping even more soundly than yesterday.
His hand tightly enveloped Ji Wang's hand, and a warm current flowed through their contact.
Ji Wang felt a warmth in his heart, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
He gently rubbed his hand a few times with the pad of his thumb before reluctantly pulling it away, drawing the bed curtains for Bujiu, and quietly getting out of bed.
Huaiqing was standing beside several clumps of exotic flowers and plants in the courtyard, slowly watering them with a small jade pot. His green robe trailed on the ground, and he looked relaxed and at ease.
"Xiao Bao, you're up?" Huai Qing glanced at him, her gaze sweeping over his shoulder, and raised an eyebrow. "You're better so quickly?"
"Hmm." Ji Wang stretched his shoulders and smiled, "Perhaps the senior's medicine really is miraculous."
Huaiqing put down the jade pot and walked over, her expression carrying a hint of inquiry: "Give me your hand, let me see."
Ji Wang, not understanding why, stretched out his hand as instructed.
Huai Qing placed three fingers on his wrist. At first, he remained calm, but after a moment, his eyes narrowed and his expression changed slightly.
“Something’s not right.” Huaiqing withdrew her hand, her expression clearly surprised and suspicious. “How could your blood and qi have recovered so vigorously? How could there be Bujiu’s aura in your meridians?”
Ji Wang was stunned: "Bu Jiu's aura? Inside my body?"
“Although it was well concealed, almost merging with your own spiritual power, it couldn't fool me.” Huai Qing frowned, looking towards the room Ji Wang had come from. “Could he have taken advantage of your sleep to convert his own primordial demonic power into spiritual power and give it to you? With such a drain, no wonder he slept so soundly today…”
Ji Wang's mind went blank for a moment. Yesterday, Bu Jiu's low growl, "Do you think I want this?", those red-rimmed eyes, the hand that tightly gripped his hand last night... all the images connected together pointed to a fact that made his heart clench.
He spared no effort, even at the cost of his own life force, to compensate for the damage caused by what he considered to be "rigorous" training and to accelerate his recovery.
Ji Wang could no longer care about anything else and turned to rush into the room.
Ji Wang pushed open the half-closed door and strode to the bedside. He saw that Bu Jiu was still fast asleep, but at some point, he had unconsciously curled up into a ball, facing outwards, with his back slightly hunched, a posture that indicated a lack of security.
He was fast asleep and was not even awakened by the noise of Ji Wang rushing in.
"Not to blame?" Ji Wang reached out to touch him, but fearing to disturb him, he could only leave his hand suspended in mid-air.
Huaiqing had already followed in. Upon seeing this, she immediately stepped forward, her fingertips glowing with a soft blue light, and gently touched Bujiu's brow.
After a moment, his tense expression slowly relaxed, and he let out a soft sigh.
"How is it?" Ji asked anxiously.
"It's alright." Huaiqing withdrew her hand, her tone tinged with helplessness. "He's just exhausted. Let him get a good night's sleep, and he'll naturally recover. It's normal for him to be sleepy right now because he's not feeling well."
Hearing this, Ji Wang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. He sat down quietly on the edge of the bed and asked in a low voice, "How... can he feel better?"
Huaiqing crossed her arms and said with a hint of teasing, "Foxes, they have some ingrained habits that they can't change. They recognize scents and are attached to their nests."
He glanced at Ji Wang and said, "Just slip him one of your clothes."
"Huh?" Ji Wang was taken aback.
“Yes, the one you’re wearing.” Huaiqing raised her chin and pointed to Ji Wang’s outer garment. “Take it off and cover him with it, or put it in his arms. The two of you are now in sync, so to him it’s like… well, like the most familiar rock next to his nest.”
This statement was straightforward yet carried a hint of teasing characteristic of the demon race, making Ji Wang's ears burn slightly.
But thinking that it would make Bu Jiu feel better, he immediately took off his outer garment, which was still warm from his body, and gently covered Bu Jiu with it, carefully tucking the corner of the garment in.
Almost instantly, Bu Jiu seemed to sense something. His tightly furrowed brows relaxed at a visible speed, his nose twitched, and he rubbed his cheek against the familiar fabric. He completely relaxed, like a cub returning to a safe haven.
Huaiqing nodded in satisfaction and patted Ji Wang on the shoulder: "Alright, let him sleep. Don't just stand here like an idiot, go out and do what you need to do, don't disturb him."
Ji Wang took one last look at Bu Jiu's peaceful sleeping face before quietly following Huai Qing out...
Exit? Not a chance!
Huaiqing's words, "Just do what you're supposed to do," were still echoing in his ears when Ji Wang turned on his toes, strode to the table in the outer room, grabbed the leftover talisman paper and ink from yesterday's practice, and turned to walk towards Bujiu's room.
Huaiqing was about to go check on the herb garden when she saw this and asked, "Why are you going back?"
Ji Wang remained unfazed, readily offering his reason with a touch of self-righteousness: "It's quiet inside, and the lighting is just right. I can calmly draw a few calming talismans; they might help him recover!"
After saying that, before Huaiqing could react, he slipped into Bujiu's room.
Huaiqing watched the door close quickly, shook her head with a smile, and did not stop it any further.
Ji Wang tiptoed to the table not far from the bed and sat down, arranging the talismans, writing brush, and ink.
He did need to practice drawing talismans, but choosing to do so here was simply out of selfishness—he wanted to stay with Bu Jiu, even if it was just to be in the same space quietly like this.
He dipped his brush in ink, composed himself, and began to carefully outline the runes according to his memory and Bu Jiu's previous instructions.
The pen tip landed on the specially made yellow talisman paper, making an extremely faint rustling sound.
Occasionally he would stop writing and look up at the person on the couch.
Bu Jiu was still asleep, his complexion seemed to have regained some color, and he even turned slightly to the side, burying half of his face in the fabric that carried the scent of Ji Wang.
“I’m staying right here, not going anywhere,” Ji Wang thought to himself, with a sense of righteous indignation.
Time slipped by quietly, and Ji Wang was focused on drawing the final stroke of the intricate runes, a faint light swirling at the tip of his brush.
Just then, a slight noise came from the couch.
Bu Jiu seemed disturbed by a nightmare, and opened his eyes in a daze. His eyes had lost their usual clarity and were covered with a layer of mist. He looked unfocusedly at the top of the tent, and then slowly turned to the only source of sound in the room—Ji Wang, who was looking at him.
The dizziness from overexertion and the disorientation of waking from a deep sleep intertwined, making him momentarily unable to distinguish between day and night.
The silhouette of the person holding the pen before him slowly overlapped with the figure that had been imprinted in the depths of his soul for three hundred years.
"Ji Wang?" he called out uncertainly, his voice low and indistinct.
Then, as if realizing something, or as if driven by instinct, he slowly stretched out a hand towards Ji Wang's direction.
His gaze was still somewhat unfocused, yet he stubbornly stared at Ji Wang. This time, his words were clearer, his tone a mixture of grievance and weariness as he drawled, "Ji Wang..."
Ji Wang's pen fell onto the talisman paper with a "thud," leaving a small smudge of ink, but he didn't care at all: "Where does it hurt?"
He immediately stood up, strode to the bedside, and without the slightest hesitation, reached out and tightly grasped the hand that was being offered to him: "I'm here."
Bu Jiu felt soothed as his warm hand enveloped her, and she let out a soft sigh of relief.
The lingering dreams and the sense of chaos brought on by overexertion led him to subconsciously follow older, more intimate habits.
He held onto Ji Wang's hand without letting go, and instead, in a daze, he moved slightly towards the direction where Ji Wang was sitting, following that arm.
Then, before Ji Wang could react, Bu Jiu tilted his head up slightly and, with an almost instinctive intimacy, gently pressed his lips to Ji Wang's cheek, which was very close to his.
It was a touch that didn't even qualify as a kiss.
Ji Wang froze instantly, his mind went blank, and the spot on his cheek that had been touched felt like it had been branded with a hot iron, yet a strange tingling sensation spread from it to the top of his head.
He stared wide-eyed at Bu Jiu's still bewildered face in disbelief.
Bu Jiu seemed somewhat puzzled by Ji Wang's reaction.
He tilted his head, as if wondering why the other person's movements were so stiff. This somewhat childish gesture was quite different from his usual image.
However, it was this brief moment of doubt that brought a sliver of clarity back to his scattered mind.
The astonished, wide-eyed person in front of him suddenly separated from a more mature figure deep in his memory.
Something's not right...
Bu Jiu snapped back to his senses instantly, and was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a moment.
He jerked back sharply, pulling his hand away from Ji's palm as if he'd been electrocuted.
He wanted to escape, but his already unsteady body completely lost its balance, and he fell directly off the outside of the bed.
"Watch out!" Ji Wang snapped out of his shock, stretched out his long arm, and barely caught Bu Jiu as he was about to fall off the bed, pulling him firmly back into his arms.
The two lay on the couch, their breaths mingling, staring at each other in bewilderment.
Bu Jiu's cheeks, ears, and even neck quickly turned a startling crimson, even redder than Ji Wang's simply "attacked" cheeks.
His eyes darted around in a panic, his lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to explain or rebuke, but he couldn't utter a single complete syllable for a long time.
"I..." After a few breaths, Bu Jiu finally found his voice, low and urgent, filled with obvious shame and anger, "I didn't... I just..."
“I know.” Ji Wang interrupted him, tightening his grip slightly to prevent him from escaping again, his voice tinged with amusement, “You’re still half asleep.”
Bu Jiu was speechless at his words, all her words of explanation stuck in her throat, leaving only an overwhelming sense of shame. In the end, she could only angrily hiss, "...Let go!"
Ji Wang obediently released his arm, but still lay on his side next to him, propping his head up with one hand and looking at him with a smile.
Bu Jiu immediately sat up, hurriedly tidying up his disheveled long hair and clothes.
Ji Wang's gaze fell on him, and he slowly said, "What you're wearing... is my outer garment."
Bu Jiu froze as he adjusted his collar: "...?"
He looked down at the clothes covering him. The fabric was dark, the texture familiar, and there was even a faint burn mark from spiritual energy at the collar.
That was something Ji Wang accidentally got on his hands yesterday while practicing fire talismans.
Bu Jiu's already red earlobes were now almost dripping blood, and the burning heat quickly spread to his entire neck and cheeks.
He felt another wave of dizziness, but this time it was purely due to embarrassment and anger.
He ripped off the outer garment that seemed to be covered in thorns, as if throwing away a hot potato, but then, realizing that he was only wearing an inner garment, his movement froze in mid-air. He couldn't keep it, nor could he throw it away. He was so embarrassed that he almost wanted to disappear into the ground.
Looking at his helpless appearance, Ji Wang found him incredibly cute, and the initial surprise in her heart was quickly replaced by affection and satisfaction.
He suppressed a laugh, sat up, and reached out to take the wrinkled outer garment that Bu Jiu had been clutching.
“What’s mine is yours. Wear it, don’t catch a cold.” He spoke naturally, as if he were talking about something very ordinary. He casually draped the outer garment back over Bu Jiu’s shoulders and carefully adjusted it.
Bu Jiu was taken aback again by his matter-of-fact attitude and actions, and felt uncomfortable wearing the outer robe that carried the other person's scent.
He turned his head away, and after a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "...Meddlesome!"
Although the voice was firm, the momentum was significantly weaker.
Ji Wang laughed, stopped teasing him, and instead picked up the half-drawn talisman paper on the table next to him, which was smudged with ink, and sighed: "It seems that this calming talisman is ruined."
Bu Jiu glanced at the talisman and recognized it as a rather complex prototype of a high-level talisman. He asked, "Did you draw this?"
Ji nodded, looked at him, and said with clear eyes, "I think if I finish drawing it, it might help calm your mind."
After a moment of silence, Bu Jiu said in a low voice, "...At the third turn of the rune, the spiritual power should be injected even more gently, otherwise it will easily dissipate."
Ji Wang's eyes lit up: "Okay, I'll remember that!"
After Bu Jiu finished speaking, she still refused to look at him, but instead pulled the outer robe that belonged to Ji Wang closer to her shoulders and quietly buried her face in it.
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