Luo Chaoxi stopped her hesitant steps and turned to look at him, her eyes filled with hope.
Murong Ling's expression softened for a moment. "What kind of fragrance are you using?"
The woman was clearly taken aback by his question, and after a long pause, she hesitantly replied, "What fragrance? I never use incense."
Murong Ling frowned, strode forward and grabbed her arm, "No incense? Impossible, you clearly smell of incense!"
Luo Chaoxi was pulled by him forcefully and almost fell again. Then the man lowered his head and sniffed her neck and clothes, his actions extremely blatant.
"Ah! What are you doing?!"
Luo Chaoxi's face flushed red instantly. She hurriedly pushed him away and slapped the lecherous man across the face.
The sound of a snap was especially clear inside the room.
After hitting him, she seemed to belatedly realize what she had done. She trembled as she withdrew her hand and unconsciously took a step back to widen the distance between them, so that she could run away if the man tried to fight back.
She never expected that after just dodging three inexplicable thieves, she would attract another lecherous man.
Murong Ling was caught off guard and slapped across the face, his face turned to the side, and five finger marks appeared on his pale face.
"presumptuous!"
Murong Ling's cold eyes flashed with anger, and his voice unconsciously became sharp.
But after seeing the woman's expression—clearly frightened and flustered, yet forcing herself to remain calm—his anger inexplicably subsided.
He had acted rashly in his haste. He thought he had found a way to relieve his headache, but after what he did, he realized that it was probably just her natural body fragrance.
And the recent close encounter confirmed one thing: his headaches could be relieved as long as he was near her.
His headache was incurable, and even the imperial physicians said he wouldn't live past thirty. As time went on, the pain intensified. The abbot of Baohua Temple said it was due to his excessive sins of killing. During his time in seclusion at the temple, although his headaches stopped worsening, they still tormented him daily.
He suddenly realized that the woman's body fragrance could relieve his discomfort, and he didn't want to miss this opportunity.
If he can find a way to keep her by his side, is it possible to cure his headache?
Murong Ling was silent for a moment, then spoke again in a gentler tone, "I apologize, I was abrupt and offended you, young lady."
Luo Chaoxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they didn't retaliate. She didn't dare to stay there any longer. "I... I'll go first."
"Wait a minute." Murong Ling called out to her, "You just said that there are thieves looking for you outside. They probably haven't left yet. It would be dangerous for a young lady like you to go out alone. Just stay here for now."
Luo Chaoxi looked up at him in confusion, as if wondering why he had suddenly changed his mind when he had just coldly and ruthlessly chased her away.
Murong Ling pretended not to see the doubt in her eyes and walked straight to the bedside to sit down.
“You don’t need to worry. I’ve lived in this temple for over a year and I’m very familiar with it. You also don’t need to be afraid of me. I’m planning to be ordained here soon and become a half-monk.”
Luo Chaoxi immediately nodded gratefully, "So you're from the temple. I'll stay here for a while until the people outside leave, then I'll leave."
Luo Chaoxi walked towards the desk not far away, intending to sit down and wait for a while.
Murong Ling, “…” How can he relieve his headache when he’s sitting so far away?
"Come sit here."
"Um?"
Luo Chaoxi followed his finger to the footstool by the bed. "Isn't this inappropriate?"
“I have many important things in my house, so you can’t touch or look at them. Just sit here.”
The man's tone left no room for argument, so Luo Chaoxi had no choice but to abandon the chair and sit on the footstool by the bed.
"Don't worry, I won't touch anything. I'll stay right here and won't move around," Luo Chaoxi assured him earnestly.
Upon hearing this, Murong Ling lay down and closed his eyes.
The faint fragrance filled his nostrils, and his headache was no longer as unbearable as before. He quickly fell asleep.
Luo Chaoxi, sitting on the edge of the bed, rolled her eyes, feeling like a night watchman.
Haha, what a jerk!
...
The three men outside the courtyard searched all the small courtyards in the area, but they couldn't find anyone and had to return empty-handed to report back.
The next morning, Murong Ling opened his eyes in bed and felt refreshed. His mind was no longer as muddled as before; it was clear and lucid.
This was the deepest sleep he had had in the past five years.
He tilted his head slightly and saw a dark, furry head lying on the edge of the bed, its fingertips unconsciously resting on his arm, clearly fast asleep.
Murong Ling didn't rush to wake her, enjoying this rare moment without the pain.
After a long while, the person beside the bed stirred and woke up.
Luo Chaoxi held her neck; she had slept face down all night and her neck was almost ruined.
She met Murong Ling's deep gaze and quickly explained, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Last night I originally planned to sit for a while and then quietly leave, but I was too sleepy and accidentally fell asleep."
"It's alright. You can't see the road clearly at night, so you're safe here with me." Murong Ling smiled slightly and sat up from the bed.
He wore the monk's robe from the temple before going to bed, and when he got up, he didn't need to change his clothes. He simply got out of bed, went to his desk, and found a bottle of wound medicine.
"I noticed the wound on your hand just now. I was too rough with you last night. Let me apply some medicine for you."
The system secretly complained, "If you hadn't applied the medicine any later, the wound on your hand would have healed completely."
Luo Chaoxi said, "I've figured it out. This man is a real scoundrel. He'll do anything to achieve his goals. He's definitely trying to gain my trust right now."
On the surface, she seemed flattered and said, "Thank you, but I can do it myself. You took me in for one night, which is like saving my life. How can I let my savior help me apply the medicine?"
Murong Ling did not insist. He handed her the medicine and stood a step away from her, watching her apply it.
“I saw you in the main hall yesterday. Your hairstyle was that of a married woman. Are you already married?” Murong Ling brought up the topic.
Luo Chaoxi nodded, not hiding anything from him, "That's right, I came up the mountain to pray for my husband's well-being."
Murong Ling clicked her tongue inwardly, thinking how lucky her husband was to have married such a beautiful wife.
If he were to force her to stay by his side and serve him, I'm afraid her husband wouldn't agree.
However, he never needs anyone's consent to do things.
After applying the medicine, Luo Chaoxi stood up and thanked her, "Thank you. I don't know how to address you."
"My Dharma name in the temple is Jingye."
Luo Chaoxi smiled gently, "Master Jingye, my surname is Luo, and my given name is Chaoxi. Now we can say we know each other. It's already dawn, so those people must have left by now. I need to go back and check on my maid. I'll take my leave now."
Before he could stop her, Luo Chaoxi got up and left in a hurry.
A fragrant breeze wafted past him, and Murong Ling's nose twitched. In the delicate fragrance, he seemed to also smell a... milky scent?
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