Morning Mist
The dim morning light dispelled the night's haze and illuminated the mess inside Xianyue Pavilion.
Broken door panels, overturned shelves, velvet flower fragments and silk threads scattered on the ground, and... those gradually freezing corpses, and the thick smell of blood in the air.
Jingzhe was rapidly examining the corpse, searching for clues, his face grim. Wancui, frightened by the sounds of the fight and the sight before her, turned pale. Suppressing her fear, she fetched some water and stood by, bewildered.
In the center of the workshop, Xie Wuqi still held Xu Xianyue tightly, as if if he let go, she would dissipate like the morning mist. The wound on his back had ruptured again from the intense movement, soaking a large area of his black suit dark red. But he was completely unaware, all his senses focused on the cold, frail body in his arms.
Xu Xianyue could feel the unusually hot temperature coming from his chest, and the hint of disorder hidden beneath that strong heartbeat. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes had regained a calm clarity.
"Let me go." Her voice was a little hoarse, but with unquestionable calmness.
Xie Wuqi's body stiffened, but the strength in his arms did not relax at all.
"You are injured and need treatment." Xu Xianyue added, his tone as calm as if he was stating an objective fact.
Xie Wuqi then slowly let her go, but his gaze was still fixed on her face like a branding iron, filled with scrutiny, fear, and a possessive desire so strong it was almost paranoid that he himself did not fully understand.
Xu Xianyue didn't look at him. Her gaze fell on the dark, expanding scar on his back, her brows furrowed imperceptibly. She turned to Wan Cui and said, "Go get the bottle of wound medicine and clean towels from my medicine box."
Wan Cui woke up from her dream and ran over immediately.
Xu Xianyue said to Jingzhe again: "Please trouble Guard Jingzhe to... clean up these." She pointed to the corpses on the ground.
Jingzhe nodded and immediately sent a signal to summon the secret guards lurking outside. They quietly dragged the body away and began to clean up the scene.
Xu Xianyue then helped Xie Wuqi sit on a chair that hadn't been knocked over. His face was unusually pale from the blood loss and his previous emotional excitement, and his lips were pale, almost transparent, but the eyes he looked at her with were terrifyingly bright.
Wan Cui brought the medicine box. Xu Xianyue opened it, took out a pair of scissors, and with a deft movement, cut through the blood-soaked clothing on his back. A deep, bone-deep wound lay exposed, the flesh turned inside out, and blood still seeped out.
Her fingertips were cold, and when they touched his hot skin, Xie Wuqi trembled almost imperceptibly.
Xu Xianyue's expression remained unchanged as she carefully cleaned the blood stains around the wound with clean water, her movements focused and gentle, as if she were working on a delicate piece of art. Then, she picked up the bottle of specially prepared wound medicine and sprinkled the pale yellow powder evenly over the wound.
The moment the powder touched the wound, it brought a sharp stinging pain. Xie Wuqi groaned and cold sweat oozed from his forehead, but he clenched his teeth and refused to make any more sounds. His gaze was still fixed on Xu Xianyue's lowered, extremely focused profile.
The morning light filtered through the broken window frames, casting a faint golden halo on her long eyelashes. She pursed her lips, her expression solemn. An almost holy tranquility enveloped her, forming a strange contrast with the blood and chaos in the room.
She was saving him.
She used her hands, which were supposed to touch only silk threads and rhythm, to treat the hideous wounds on his body that belonged to the world of killing.
An indescribable, bitter, and surging emotion raced through Xie Wuqi's chest. He wanted to ask her why she had rushed over so recklessly just now? He wanted to ask her what that strange, trembling sound was all about. He even wanted to ask her what the phrase "going to another world" actually meant.
But when he opened his mouth, he found his throat was too dry to make any sound. He was afraid that if he asked, he would still receive those icy eyes and a resolute answer.
Xu Xianyue carefully bandaged his wound and tied a tight, neat knot with a cloth. After she finished, she stood up, exhaled softly, and a thin layer of sweat formed on her forehead.
"The wound is quite deep. Don't let it get wet in the near future. Don't use force. The dressing needs to be changed on time." She explained the precautions, her tone like a doctor talking to a patient, professional yet distant.
Xie Wuqi looked at her, then suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist as she was about to withdraw it. His palm was hot and calloused, but his strength was still unyielding.
"Xu Xianyue," he said in a low, hoarse voice, weak from a serious injury, yet with a stubborn strength, "Tell me, what exactly is that 'other world'?"
He finally asked.
Xu Xianyue's wrist was gripped by him, and she could clearly feel the abnormally high heat and slight trembling in his palm. She raised her eyes and met his bloodshot yet unusually bright phoenix eyes.
Their eyes met.
It seemed as if there were invisible threads in the air tightening and pulling.
Jingzhe and Wancui had already retreated to a distance, facing away from them, cleaning up the mess.
Xu Xianyue looked at the unmistakable fear and obsession in Xie Wuqi's eyes. It was as if a stone had been thrown into the frozen lake in her heart, causing extremely subtle ripples that she herself had not even noticed.
She was silent for a moment, and instead of answering his question directly, she gently twisted her wrist and said, "The prince has a fever and needs to rest."
Xie Wuqi refused to give in, gripping it even tighter, his eyes blazing: "Answer me!"
His stubbornness borders on brutality.
Xu Xianyue looked at his pale, stubborn face and suddenly felt a little ridiculous and a little pathetic. Between them, there was a gap in identity, a gap in experience, a completely different world, and perhaps even... time and space. Was there any meaning in such an entanglement?
She lowered her eyelids, hiding the complex emotions in them. Her voice was as light as a breeze, yet it carried a chilling piercing edge: "Your Highness, why must you cling to such an illusory statement? Perhaps, it's just a metaphor, meaning that after the heart dies, everything is empty. Or perhaps..."
She paused, raised her eyes, and looked deep into his with a clear gaze. With an almost cruel honesty, she said: "...I am leaving this world in the truest sense of the word."
Xie Wuqi's pupils suddenly contracted, and the force with which he gripped her wrist instantly became so great that it almost crushed her bones!
"I won't allow you to do that!" He growled, his excitement causing the wound to tug at him. He started coughing violently, his face flushing abnormally, but his eyes were filled with desperate madness, like a trapped animal on the verge of death. "Xu Xianyue! Listen carefully! I won't allow you to do that! You are my princess! You are not allowed to go anywhere! Even if you die, you must die by my side!"
His words were overbearing, paranoid, and filled with Xie Wuqi's unquestionable possessiveness.
If it were in the past, Xu Xianyue would only feel disgusted and ridiculous.
But at this moment, looking at his eyes which were red from the high fever and excitement, and listening to his almost unreasonable declaration, the icy lake in her heart actually cracked into an even deeper crack.
She didn't try to break free, nor did she say anything in rebuttal.
Just looking at him quietly, looking at the undisguised emotions in his eyes that were so strong that they almost burned each other to death.
The workshop fell into an eerie silence.
There was only Xie Wuqi's heavy breathing and suppressed coughing.
After a long time, Xu Xianyue sighed softly, the sigh was barely audible.
"Your Highness," she began, her voice tinged with a hint of fatigue and... compromise that she herself hadn't noticed. "You have a fever and need to rest. I'll make you some medicine."
She didn't mention leaving again, nor did she respond to his paranoid declaration.
Just by taking action, the tense atmosphere was temporarily eased.
She gently pried open his clenched fingers, with an irresistible tenderness (perhaps even she herself was not aware of it), and turned to walk towards the small kitchen.
Xie Wuqi looked at her departing figure, her straight but thin back. The rage and panic in his heart seemed to be gently pressed down by an invisible hand and gradually subsided. Instead, he felt a deeper sense of powerlessness filled with endless sorrow.
He knew he couldn't keep her.
At least, you can't keep it using this tough approach.
He slowly leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, felt the stinging pain from the wound on his back and the heat surging in his body, and a bitter arc appeared at the corner of his lips.
Xu Xianyue...
What should I do with you?
The morning light completely dispelled the morning mist and shone brightly into this workshop that had experienced life and death and fierce confrontation.
Broken objects need to be repaired and the blood-stained floors need to be cleaned.
And the taut string between the two of them, after experiencing the extreme pull, seemed to... enter a more complicated and more dangerous state of stillness.
It's like the suffocating calm before the storm.
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