Chapter 56 Tooth Marks This was not a kiss.
Ning Lu was stunned by his question.
have to!
What does it mean to be so carried away that you lose yourself in the moment?
What does it mean when extreme joy turns to sorrow?
Even a sick tiger is still a tiger...
She stared blankly at Xie Qinghe, opening and closing her mouth, speechless.
The other person didn't seem to be much calmer than she was.
His face was deathly pale, his eyes darting around as he stared at the ground, without looking up at her.
She trembled slightly, flustered and uneasy.
After sensing his thoughts, Ning Lu's fear subsided, replaced by a subtle feeling that was difficult to express.
Actually, a month ago in Ying County, she had mentally prepared herself to tell Ji A'ming, the seemingly harmless man who grilled meat on a snowy night, a time-travel story that even she herself found absurd.
As time passed, she understood him a little better, and their entanglement deepened. Yet, she found herself unable to speak, unsure of where to begin.
Ning Lu sat on the round stool by the bed, her hands clasped together, creaking for a long time before she finally lowered her head in frustration.
Before receiving a reply, Xie Qinghe leaned back and turned to her, speaking in a hoarse voice.
"Does this have anything to do with the 'going home' you mentioned?"
His expression was calm, and his tone was gentle, even tinged with helplessness, as if he was afraid of startling her again.
Ning Lu couldn't bear to see this guy make such an expression with such a pale face, so after a slight hesitation, she nodded gently.
wry smile.
"You don't want to talk about it, do you?"
Xie Qinghe was well aware that his actions and words often had a coercive and threatening style, and he also knew that trust was hard to come by. Not wanting to make things difficult for her, he did not press the matter further.
She always swore she had never lied, little did she know he never minded deceiving her, only felt regret...
I regret that I failed to gain her trust.
"If you don't want to talk about it... then forget it."
Ning Lu suddenly looked up, wanting to confirm the credibility of his words.
The man appeared dazed, his lips were purplish, and his breathing was heavy and labored.
What kind of move is this?
To retreat in order to advance, to yield in order to gain advantage?
Ning Lu stood up, poured herself a cup of tea, and took a few sips.
Warm water slid down my throat, and warmth spread throughout my body, calming my mind.
"It's not that I can't say."
As she turned around with a smile, she poured him a fresh cup of tea to warm his hands, her toes rubbing against the cracks in the floor tiles.
After a long pause, she took a deep breath and finally made up her mind.
"I was planning to tell you anyway. So there's no reason I didn't want to."
Her expression was serious, a far cry from her usual playful and carefree demeanor.
"I'm just worried it's too absurd, and you won't believe me."
Ripples spread across Xie Qinghe's palm as he sipped the hot tea, suppressing the metallic taste in his throat.
Suddenly, Ning Lu stammered as she gave him a heads-up: "I know you may not believe in ghosts and gods, but my story is probably even more absurd than those legends."
Xie Qinghe looked at her intently and gently patted the spot beside him: "Sit closer."
“I went to the dungeon in the evening, and I’m afraid I’m not clean.”
Seeing his insistence, Ning Lu had no choice but to circle the charcoal brazier a few more times before slowly sitting down beside him.
Just like the time when the two sat facing each other reading Han Fei in the bamboo house in Ying County.
"You have to start from the day you met me."
Xie Qinghe nodded.
Ning Lu stared up at the carved ceiling, thought for a long time, then slumped her head in dejection: "You definitely won't believe me. It's just too absurd."
"I believe you." The man coughed, covering his mouth, his expression solemn, almost a promise: "If you say so, I will believe you."
"Really?"
He nodded again, with absolute certainty.
Ning Lu, as if she had swallowed a reassuring pill, raised her head and straightened her chest with a look of fearlessness.
"Like I told you, my home is very far away from here. Not in terms of space, but in terms of time. I live in an era of bright lights, advanced technology, and rapid information transmission."
“My mom and dad are very ordinary people. They had me when they were young, and they were afraid that I would be wronged, so they only had me and no other children. But I have many aunts and uncles, and I also have many brothers and sisters of the same age.”
“In our area, both men and women can read and write, take exams, and become officials. I also studied for many years and did very well, one of the best in our small county. Later, I entered a good university and graduated smoothly.”
“My school is in a big city, like Beijing. I saw a lot of the world and was exposed to a lot of fun things. I’m good at having fun, but not very smart. I spend a lot of money on the things I like and hardly earn any. So after graduation, I haven’t been able to find a suitable job. But the things I like really need a job to support them.”
Ning Lu talked on and on, then belatedly realized that none of what she was saying had anything to do with time travel.
She stuck out her tongue and smiled apologetically: "Sorry, I went off-topic."
She skipped over all the previous details and fast-forwarded to that night.
“I remember it was a full moon that night. I had finally found a part-time job, and I was walking home late at night when I fell from a great height while trying to avoid a two-wheeled vehicle that was going very fast.”
To make it easier to understand, she skipped all the modern terms like food delivery, electric bikes, and overpasses, and simply stated the facts.
The person in front of her visibly tensed up, and Ning Lu quickly joked with a smile, "Wasn't it scary? I thought I was definitely going to die back then too."
"Just when I thought I was about to be crushed into mincemeat by the car, I saw a very big, round moon getting closer and closer to me. Then, a flash of white light, and I fell onto the soft, flat ground. When I opened my eyes again, I had a different face and had become Liu Yunying."
“However, apart from the memory of Liu Yunying being chased by Zhao Yue before she fell off the cliff, I have no other information about her. So I don’t know that I am Liu Yunying, nor do I know that you are Xie Qinghe. I really didn’t lie to you.”
The tea in his palm had cooled down considerably, but Xie Qinghe still tilted his head back and drank it all, trying to digest the things she was saying that he couldn't understand.
For example, he didn't know what kind of era would leave students who had studied hard for more than ten years without a way out, or what kind of job would require a woman to walk on an unsafe road in the middle of the night to make a living...
"I know it sounds like I'm crazy."
Despite it being true, Ning Lu inexplicably felt that she had boasted a lot and was afraid that the person wouldn't believe her.
She spoke more than she had planned, while looking at that face.
She had to admit that no matter how unpredictable Xie Qinghe was, she couldn't help but tell him everything.
She will still choose to believe him.
Or rather, she always wanted to believe him and always hoped that he was trustworthy.
Xie Qinghe's gaze moved upwards, landing on her arms and shoulder blades, and then he carefully examined her from top to bottom, like a belated comprehensive physical examination.
He remembered that when they encountered wolves that night, she ran faster than a rabbit.
Several months have passed, and she hasn't complained of pain. She's also become increasingly plump, so she must be alright.
He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head again.
His silence made Ning Lu nervous. She bit her lip and called to him softly.
"Xie Qinghe."
After a long silence, before her heart stopped, Xie Qinghe finally spoke.
He stared into her eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately: "You said you fell from a great height on the night of the full moon, and woke up here..."
"Um."
"You don't know how you got here, nor how you'll get back?"
"Um."
Ning Lu continued to nod.
"Then can you tell me, is there a day... when you, like Buddha, suddenly disappear?"
Stunned by his question, her eyes welled up slightly, and she looked up abruptly.
What did he mean by that?
Her eyes were unfocused, her brows furrowed as she gazed intently, her gaze filled with a turbulent emotion that seemed to overwhelm her.
Before she could think any further, she saw his fingertips trembling violently, causing the last bit of tea in the teacup to bounce and nearly spill onto the quilt.
His chest heaved rapidly, his face turning ashen.
"Xie Qinghe? Are you feeling unwell?"
“Answer me.”
He seemed completely unaware of his condition, and asked in a hoarse voice.
"I...I don't know."
Ning Lu sensed something was wrong, rushed forward, and grabbed his wrist: "Are you alright? Should I call Wei Chun and the others?"
She never imagined that someone as composed as him, who could remain unfazed even when questioned by others, would be so flustered and breathless over such a trivial matter.
Her hands became increasingly frantic, and she even turned around to call for help.
A large hand gripped Xie Qinghe's shoulder tightly, his eyes reddening, bordering on obsessive.
His lips were crimson, and he was choking on his breath, unable to catch his breath, yet he still stared at her blankly.
That wasn't the answer he wanted...
"Xie Qinghe?"
it hurts.
I don't know where this guy got his brute strength from, he almost crushed her.
A sharp, labored wheezing sound rose and fell in his chest, and cold sweat trickled down his dark hair as he moved.
Ning Lu was completely focused on this person's safety, fearing that he might not be able to catch his breath and would faint.
The first aid knowledge she had learned during her past military training flooded into her mind. Without hesitation, she leaned down, hooked her arms around Xie Qinghe's neck, and covered her cool lips with his.
It's soft.
The uneasy body in her arms suddenly stiffened, and the grip on her shoulder gradually loosened.
it works!
Ning Lu sensed his obedience, so she quickly supported his neck with one hand and protected the back of his head with the other, helping him to lie down gradually.
The buzzing in his mind was enveloped by the girl's sweet fragrance, and all the noise disappeared.
As their lips clashed, Xie Qinghe almost forgot to breathe, and also forgot the panic that had just been spreading through his mind.
In a daze, she gained the upper hand and held his shoulders tightly.
The lips moved downwards, without any rhythm or structure.
But something seems off...
call--
The restless little hand reached upwards, pinched the tip of his nose, and rhythmically breathed into him.
Xie Qinghe finally realized that something was wrong.
This is not a kiss.
Unable to discern her intentions, his thoughts were in turmoil. Even raising his hand to push her was no match for the brute force between her arms. Feeling both ashamed and angry, he could only desperately try to dodge her absurd actions.
"Ning Lu!"
Finally finding a flaw in her chaotic actions, Xie Qinghe stepped back to the side and used his arm to separate her chest.
The skin that had been pressed together slowly separated, the warmth on their sides dissipated, and their bare arms, exposed to the air, felt cold.
Xie Qinghe turned his head inward, concealing the astonishment and anger in his eyes, and tried to calm his breathing.
My heart was beating so fast it made me dizzy.
"Nonsense."
Ning Lu wanted to defend herself, but in the blink of an eye she noticed that his cheeks were not as flushed as usual, and she couldn't help but mutter.
"I'm not taking advantage of you."
She tugged at his sleeve: "You were like that just now, I was worried you couldn't breathe. Do you feel better now?"
"Ning Lu, don't you have any shame?"
"I know," she said dismissively. "Isn't this a special case?"
As soon as she spoke, she silently increased the frequency of her blinking.
It seems that ever since they met, she has been using this excuse to take advantage of Xie Qinghe.
Ning Lu scratched her head, her face turning red.
"I... what I just did is called artificial respiration. It's a method of saving lives where I'm from. Don't misunderstand."
She hurriedly got up and put the stool back on the tea table: "It's getting late, you should rest too. I'll be going now."
"Ning Lu!"
What is a method of saving a life?
What does it mean to avoid misunderstandings?
Is she really willing to risk everything to save anyone?
Xie Qinghe was about to get out of bed when he saw Ning Lu stop running towards the window and suddenly take two steps back.
"Um, there's something important I forgot to tell you. I have a new lead, and I'm thinking of going to the outskirts of the city to investigate it tomorrow. I won't be able to come to my shift."
Before he could speak, Ning Lu tilted her head and asked with a smile, "But I think if there's nothing else, you shouldn't go out tomorrow."
He stopped struggling to get up and looked back.
The petite figure had already squeezed out from the crack in the door. Before Xie Qinghe could wonder why she had suddenly changed her attitude and was walking openly through the main entrance, he heard voices outside, a scene of chaos and turmoil.
Wei Zhan hurriedly pushed open the door and entered, only to find Xie Qinghe sitting peacefully on the edge of the bed, at which point he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please forgive me, Master." He knelt down, "Miss Ning said you were unwell and instructed me to..."
Make a fuss over nothing.
Exaggeration.
Xie Qinghe glanced at the man indifferently, and the man understood his intention and quietly withdrew.
The room fell silent again, the aroma of medicine lingering and thick, and a chill seeped into the bones.
His eyes were downcast, his expression one of deep melancholy.
Having gotten used to her constant presence and her making a fuss over nothing, he himself has become increasingly spoiled.
He had never dared to truly imagine what he would do if one day she suddenly disappeared...
What could he do...?
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