Chapter 15: Lantern
Ling Tianshui lowered his eyes and looked at the road under his feet without answering.
However, his ears seemed to be warmer, and his steps were not as steady as before.
Although she didn't get his answer, she already knew the answer, so she didn't wait for him. She just leaned against his back happily, her voice light and soft: "Don't let your mind wander. Pay attention to the road."
He subconsciously tightened his hands that were supporting her legs and remained silent.
Because he did remember some things that he shouldn't have remembered.
In the dark night of Yilan Pavilion, she lost her mind and held him tightly, refusing to let go.
She buried her face in his chest, her breath lingering on his neck and cheek. She whispered and shed tears, searching for the scent of her loved one on him.
The chaotic entanglements, the unavoidable contacts, the tremors in his heart that made him upset, were exactly the same as they were then, except that he could no longer bear to abandon her.
——In fact, perhaps the person who needs to sink into the water and calm down now is not her, but him.
The setting sun shone through the trees ahead, and it was obvious that we had reached the edge of the dense forest.
But he didn't quicken his pace, and she didn't jump for joy.
He thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to carry her on his back for a while longer; she also thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to be carried on his back for a while longer.
"County Lady..." He couldn't suppress the unspeakable stirring in his heart, and his voice was hoarse and low. "Didn't you always tell me that you don't remember anything that happened after you were drugged?"
It was as if a thin and transparent layer of window paper was suddenly punctured, and a bright light shone into their eyes through the gaps between the leaves in the forest, causing Qiandeng's heart to skip a beat.
She buried her face in his shoulder. Because he had the same cold and solemn aura as her father and grandfather, her voice was a little short and embarrassed: "Yeah... Actually, I remember, I lied to you."
This panicked yet forced calm look, accompanied by the sound of her rapid heartbeat as she pressed against him, made him vaguely remember that the girl on his back was only seventeen years old.
But she was carrying too many heavy things, so she held back her tears and gritted her teeth, forcing herself to support the entire Changhua Palace and become the pillar of everyone in the palace. She was unwilling and unable to show this side of herself.
The complex emotions intertwined made him whisper to her again: "County Lady..."
"There's no one else here, so maybe... there's no need to call me the County Lady." At this point, everything was different, so she no longer concealed it.
She hugged his shoulders from behind, her inexplicable emotions making her seem like she was acting coquettishly, yet also sentimental: "It's been a long time since anyone called my name, so I allow you... to call me when no one is around."
Her whispers rang in his ears, as if she had made up her mind to share her most precious thing with him.
A surge of blood rushed through Ling Tianshui's heart like the whistling wind, and his voice couldn't help but lower itself: "Bai Qiandeng..."
Qiandeng hit his shoulder and snorted softly.
He took a long, even breath, and finally spoke, calling softly, "Deng Deng."
Lights.
This was a name that only belonged to her closest and dearest relatives, and it made her raise the corners of her lips unconsciously as she leaned on his back.
Ling Tianshui listened to her breathing next to his ear and felt the slight warmth from her touch on his neck. In silence, his blood flowed faster and faster, uncontrollably.
He heard his own heartbeat, audible in the evening sunset, each beat repeating the same word—
Lights, lights, lights.
The tip of the tongue danced gently between the teeth, suddenly separated and then gently covered again, short and lingering, fast and attached, following the pulsating blood, blending into his chest and piercing his heart.
These two words originally had no meaning, but because they represented her, they became particularly moving.
He heard Qian Deng whisper in his ear, "But don't scream in front of others. Don't let others know... okay?"
The scorching hot emotions surged in his heart like waves. Ling Tianshui didn't understand what it was, but in an instant, he had forgotten everything else.
He forgot the promise his mother had made to him before she died, forgot Meng Lanxi's pleading words while she held his arms, and forgot his original intention of entering the Changhua Palace.
Everything seemed to have vanished with the wind, turning to dust in this moment. Only the body leaning against his shoulder, leaning against him, and the light echoing in his heart were the only things that existed in this world.
He said softly, "Okay."
The sunlight was fading, and night was approaching. The shadows of the trees grew increasingly sparse, and after a short stretch of narrow road, the ruined temple in the valley lay ahead.
The two of them let go of each other tacitly.
He put her down, and she stood on tiptoe, leaning all her strength on him, and slowly walked out of the woods with his support.
"County Lady!"
Before she walked out of the woods, she saw Cui Fufeng at a glance.
His usually clear and bright face was now filled with panic, but the moment he saw her appear, it was as if light suddenly appeared in the darkness, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
There was also Jin Tang, who was pale after being injured but insisted on waiting here. When he saw her, he even forgot about the injury on his foot and limped over.
The Beiya Imperial Guards who were originally guarding the valley entrance saw the thick smoke and quickly entered the valley to search. Now they gathered around them and ran towards them quickly.
Qiandeng sat down on a flat surface, took a sip from his water bottle, and then thought of something urgent: "Mingjiu fell off the cliff. We must go find him quickly."
"It's okay. I remember the way we came. I can just take people there again." It was already dark. Ling Tianshui took the torches from the soldiers and nodded to Qiandeng.
Qian Deng rubbed his feet, looked up at him, and whispered, "The forest is dark and the grass is deep, be careful."
"don’t worry."
The two people's eyes intertwined in the air for a moment, entangled for a moment, and then looked away as if nothing had happened.
She lowered her eyes and stroked her feet as he led his men back into the forest.
It seemed like just a momentary and accidental collision, and only Cui Fufeng next to him caught it.
His eyelashes drooped slightly, and his thoughtful gaze swept across Qiandeng's injured left foot. Because of the chaotic and complicated emotions in his heart, he walked towards Ling Tianshui, and his gaze moved down silently to look at his side.
There were a few faint marks on the outside of his left leg where his clothes had been rubbed by the edge of his shoe.
In an instant he knew how they had gotten out of the forest.
It wasn't like when they appeared in public, and he didn't support her as she walked out.
For a moment, his mind raced with the images of them concealing and yet looking at each other. Cui Fufeng felt his heart swirling with confusion, not knowing what to do.
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