“Your hand…” Anping sat up, her voice softening unconsciously, filled with worry.
"It's nothing! Just a superficial wound!" Lu Xiao tried to hide his hand behind his back, but the movement aggravated the wound, causing him to gasp in pain.
"Don't move!" Anping frowned, her tone carrying the unquestionable authority of a healer. She immediately rummaged through her medicine basket for hemostatic herbs and clean strips of cloth, and carefully pulled Lu Xiao's arm.
When those slightly cool, calloused yet remarkably nimble hands touched his bloodied and mangled arm, Lu Xiao's body stiffened abruptly, his heart pounding erratically. He looked down at An Ping, head bowed, intently cleaning, applying medicine, and bandaging his wounds. Long eyelashes cast a small shadow beneath her eyes, her expression unusually earnest and…gentle? The setting sun cast its soft glow upon them, outlining their gentle features.
Lu Xiao's heart felt as if it had been gently brushed by a feather, both itchy and numb. The previous panic, self-loathing, and the grievance of being misunderstood... all seemed to be soothed by the focused tenderness before him at this moment. He forgot the pain, forgot his identity, forgot all his concerns, and just greedily looked at the face so close to his, feeling the warmth and careful movements of the other person on his arm.
"Alright. The wound is deep, so you can't get it wet or exert yourself for the next few days." Anping finished bandaging the wound, looked up, and met Lu Xiao's unwavering, deep gaze, as unfathomable as a whirlpool. That gaze was so focused, so complex, containing too many emotions she couldn't understand, that her heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks inexplicably felt hot.
She quickly looked away, packed up her medicine basket, and her voice returned to its usual cool tone, but without the deliberate aloofness: "...Thank you for saving my life, Your Highness. This place is not safe to stay any longer, we...should go back." She stood up, her back to Lu Xiao, concealing her slightly disordered breathing and inexplicably quickened heartbeat.
Lu Xiao also came to his senses, looking at his bandaged arm and then at An Ping's somewhat hurried back. A faint, yet genuine smile appeared on his lips. He struggled to his feet and said, "Okay, let's go."
The setting sun cast long shadows of the two of them as they silently descended the mountain, one in front of the other.
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