Spring breeze brings another piece of candy.
In the stillness of the night, the lights are dim, and a cool fragrance wafts through the air.
Yan Huanyue ruffled Pei Xuanzhi's hair, but he didn't react at all.
Yan Huanyue looked down and saw that his eyes were lightly closed and his breathing was gentle.
He rested his cheek on the back of his hand while one hand was pressed against her leg, and he loosely held the hem of her clothes with the other, sleeping soundly.
The usual hazy, distant air was transformed into a peaceful and serene demeanor by the dim candlelight.
Yan Huanyue leaned closer to observe him, and the cool, faint fragrance of mountain spring water, like melting snow, spread out.
His skin was clean and translucent. Although the sickly pallor never completely disappeared, it was rare to see such fair and delicate skin.
His features were not gentle; in fact, they were somewhat cold and sharp.
His eyelashes were long and thick, but not curled. Like his hair, they were stiff and straight, giving him a cold and aloof look. Adorned on his thin eyelids, they inevitably made him appear indifferent and heartless.
Yet, when he was awake, there was always a subtle, indescribable quality floating beneath his aloof and detached gaze...
Yan Huanyue reached out and gently touched his eyelashes with the tip of her index finger, but he didn't react.
She gently ran her fingertips along his eyelashes again; they were soft, not as cold and hard as they looked.
At one point, she suddenly wondered why she had been so impulsive.
But the way he frowned in his sleep gave her a strange sense of pleasure.
She reached out and smoothed the furrow in his brow, which was furrowed in annoyance at being disturbed from his sleep. A hint of triumphant satisfaction rose within her, and she whispered:
"I told you not to sleep in the middle of the night, your eyes are bloodshot, and now you're all frowning and looking droopy, who are you trying to impress?"
Pei Xuanzhi grew increasingly dissatisfied, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, clearly showing signs of waking up.
Yan Huanyue quickly pulled the blanket over him, patted him gently a few times to comfort him, and couldn't help but smile and whisper to him, "Okay, okay, I won't talk to you anymore, go to sleep, go to sleep."
Perhaps it was her gentle and soothing voice that worked, as Pei Xuanzhi's slightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
After a while, she calmed down and fell asleep peacefully.
His even, steady breathing carried a warm breath, which, through the thin fabric, gently seeped into the skin of her legs, so real that she couldn't ignore it.
Yan Huanyue untied the gold hair tie on his head, and his black hair was spread out, smooth as silk, and cascaded onto her light blue skirt.
The boy slept soundly, appearing even more pure and white as jade amidst the large expanse of light blue gauze and his long, black hair.
No matter how fine the brushwork in the world, it cannot capture his state of mind at this moment.
Yan Huanyue carefully examined him by candlelight.
My gaze traveled along his eyebrows and eyes, across his smooth, high nose, and finally to his thin, slightly pinkish-white lips.
In that instant, Yan Huanyue suddenly gained a more direct understanding of the succubus bloodline in him.
Birds, insects, fish, and all the forms of the world are not born for humans. Only a few are pleasing to the eye, bringing joy and tranquility, making one forget the past. Greed for their sight stirs the heart and mind, causing one to stagger and become delirious...
Just like some people who are afraid of scaly snakes but love fluffy kittens.
The succubus's original form, Golden Mist, is eerie, ferocious, and insane, making it difficult for people to like her. However, her appearance is extremely aesthetically pleasing.
Yan Huanyue covered his neck with the blanket, sat in her original position, and began to circulate her spiritual energy through hand seals.
The Five Elements Spiritual Veins decompose the Five Elements spiritual energy in the world, gradually merging with the innate spiritual energy.
The five elements continuously regenerate and transform within her soul.
The not-so-strong spiritual consciousness was first dispersed outwards through the method of circulating spiritual energy, like tender tentacles, brushing against the fire in the furnace, the rain outside the eaves, and the wind on the leaves.
After the spiritual energy circulated for several cycles, the sunlight outside the window gradually awakened, and the pattering rain outside the eaves made the room exceptionally quiet.
As her spiritual energy settled into her spiritual sea, she realized that her legs were almost numb from being pressed down. She gently moved Pei Xuanzhi onto his soft pillow and placed him down.
As soon as Yan Huanyue got out of bed, Pei Xuanzhi coughed a few times, opened his eyes, and looked around sleepily.
Seeing herself lying alone in bed, she closed her eyes again, still somewhat sleepy, and asked softly, "Sister, what time is it?"
Yan Huanyue drew the bed curtains tightly shut, went to the side to change her clothes, and said:
"Why don't you get some more sleep? It drizzled at dawn, and I don't know when it will stop. We might have to wait a while longer today. By the way, you didn't eat anything last night, did you?"
Pei Xuanzhi lay quietly in the dimly lit curtained room, clutching her blanket.
Hearing this, she yawned, blinked away the tears at the corners of her eyes, and replied listlessly, "Mm."
The woman outside the tent sighed and said, "What are we going to do about this? Why do you always have no appetite?"
A moment later, the curtain was lifted a crack, and she held a pure white pill to his lips, saying, "Eat it before you sleep."
Pei Xuanzhi put the pill in his mouth. Perhaps due to the rainy day and his laziness, he didn't swallow it directly, but instead savored it slowly between his lips and tongue.
This medicine was made from countless qi-tonifying herbs; it was initially sweet, but gradually developed a sour and astringent taste.
In the end, all he could taste was bitterness. His cough was bitter, and even his breath was bitter. It was as if he were soaking in bitter water, the bitterness seeping into his very bones.
But his expression remained unchanged, extremely calm.
Overwhelmed with grief, he reached under his pillow and pulled out the paper-cut kitten.
I looked at it from the front, from the back, examined it from a distance, and scrutinized it closely, playing with the overly rounded cat paper cutout for a while.
After a long while, he said to the outside of the tent, "I bit the pill open, it's bitter."
Yan Huanyue had just finished combing her hair and was rubbing her slightly dark circles under her eyes when she heard this, she said:
"It's been so long, have you been playing cat and mouse with me? If you don't swallow the medicine that's been fed to you, you'll suffer the consequences. Are the candied fruits gone?"
Pei Xuanzhi's gaze drifted into the distance. He gently touched the paper cat cutout with his fingertip, and it gracefully hovered on his fingertip before slowly flying into the air.
If you don't swallow it, you'll suffer...
But he couldn't bear to part with it, and after sipping it again and again, he felt that even if it was bitter, he was willing to accept it, at least there was still some flavor for him to savor.
They shouldn't leave him without any qualifications, leaving him empty-handed and penniless.
"The last time you bought me candied fruit was when I was seriously ill and injured. We've run out of it long ago, and it would have gone bad by now."
Yan Huanyue doesn't particularly like sweets. If Pei Xuanzhi hadn't vomited several times because the medicine was too bitter and strong, she wouldn't have thought of buying candied fruit or anything like that.
They searched the entire treasure pouch and finally found a single piece of candy, which seemed to have been casually placed into the pouch by Young Master Jiang of Tianqing City during his banquet.
She poured herself a glass of water, took the sugar, and lifted the curtain.
The paper-cut kitten, which was spinning aimlessly in the air, seemed to be startled and suddenly landed on Pei Xuanzhi's left eye.
He blinked, and his long eyelashes lifted the kitten again, slipping down to his temples.
Pei Xuanzhi looked over with a pair of clear, bright eyes, as if washed clean, and Yan Huanyue said:
"If you feel bitter, drink some water. I also have a piece of candy for you. It was originally from Young Master Jiang's banquet. It's made with pine nuts and granulated sugar. It may not be very sweet, but it should make you feel better."
Pei Xuanzhi did as instructed, got up, took the water, and held out his hand, whereupon a piece of candy was placed in his palm.
Yan Huanyue turned around, tying the thin red ribbon around her waist, and said, "I'll go to the street later and get some more candied fruit and pastries to prepare. But it's not good to eat the same things all the time. How can you make me want to eat more?"
Pei Xuanzhi peered through the gap in the curtains at her waist, bound by a red ribbon. His gaze trembled, and he couldn't help but follow her every move.
When she turned around with her hands behind her back, he immediately withdrew his gaze and hid behind the curtain.
She lowered her head, took a sip of the warm water in her glass, and said in a calm tone, "I understand, and I will change in the future."
Yan Huanyue said, "Junior Brother Pei, why don't you sleep a little longer? It's still early."
Pei Xuanzhi put the candy in his mouth.
He wasn't actually afraid of hardship, but his body couldn't handle it.
When he was seriously ill as a child, Madam Lu could only afford to give him a few doses of medicine, but he would try his best to drink them all up, but he would always vomit after drinking them.
Madam Lu said he was born with a lowly nature, neither able to die nor prosper, and that just looking at him brought bad luck.
Even the newborn puppies in the family look more presentable than him.
Senior Sister Keyan said that if something is bitter, you should eat something sweet to counteract it. So when he had a cold last time, he ate almost all the candied fruit he had eaten over the past ten years. He also never vomited the medicine she fed him.
Pei Xuanzhi looked at his reflection in the cup and asked himself, "She's clearly been very good to you, but what more do you want? What more do you want...?"
"Fellow Daoist Yan! What a coincidence, have you eaten yet?"
As soon as Yan Huanyue opened the window, Yun Ruoliang passed by the window carrying a food box.
Upon seeing her, Yun Ruoliang immediately stopped, waved the food box in his hand, and said with a warm and cheerful expression:
"Fellow Daoist Yan, this is cloud silk cake, side dishes and hot porridge. Consider it a reward for your generous gift of pills and brocade that day. Of course, this is not enough. Please accept the rest as an apology for now. I will repay you when I have the opportunity."
Yan Huanyue said, "Thank you, but no need."
Yun Ruoliang bowed and placed the food box on the south window sill. He then stepped back a few paces, stood in the drizzle outside the eaves, slung his long sword over his shoulder, and waved his hand with a carefree and elegant gesture, saying:
"Spring is almost over, and I must hurry north to catch up with spring. If fate allows, I hope to meet you again on our journey to seek the Dao. The way of Heaven is constant, and I wish you peace and safety."
Without waiting for Yan Huanyue's reaction, he turned around and strode into the courtyard gate, heading towards the front hall of the inn.
There was a noise by the bedside.
Yan Huanyue turned her head to look.
Seeing Pei Xuanzhi dressed in a plain white nightgown, with a gloomy face, clutching a cup, getting out of bed, taking a few steps to the south window, picking up the food box on the edge, and about to walk out.
Yan Huanyue put her arm around his waist to stop him, took the food box from his hand and put it on the table, saying, "Don't chase after me, it's raining. If you don't like it, you can ask the shopkeeper to take it away later."
Pei Xuanzhi didn't resist her, standing coldly by the table, and asked, "So, do you like it?"
Yan Huanyue said, "I wouldn't say that. There's a breeze blowing by the window. Why did you run down here without wearing a coat?"
Pei Xuanzhi looked down at her intently, his voice cool as he said, "He'll stay halfway, claiming something happened on the way, or that he helped someone. He'll also try to find ways to owe you something, even making you owe him. He owes you, you owe him, it's a never-ending cycle of debt..."
Yan Huanyue beckoned an outer garment to him, draped it over his shoulders, tiptoed to tug at his collar to straighten it, and then looked up with a beaming smile, saying:
“Junior Brother Pei, you are even better at calculation than him. If you can always do as you say, then I will become your disciple.”
Pei Xuanzhi was stunned by her smile and suddenly fell silent, unable to utter a single word, letting her manipulate him and help him put on his outer robe.
He completely forgot what had just happened and why he had been holding his breath all night.
He blankly followed her movements and pulled up his sleeves, forgetting what he had just said.
He just blinked as he watched her slender white fingers awkwardly tie the belt around his waist.
Yan Huanyue loosely tied his belt, casually patted his sleeve, and said, "Go to bed and read a book for a while. I'll go get some food later, and we'll set off once the rain stops."
Pei Xuanzhi didn't listen and silently lingered beside her for a while.
Seeing that he had nothing to do, Yan Huanyue glanced at the discarded talisman papers scattered on the ground under the west wall. He had done wrong, so she dismissed him, saying:
"If you don't want to rest, go and put away those talismans."
Pei Xuanzhi responded and turned to go to the west to collect the broken yellow talismans.
He felt that the loneliness and helplessness that had spread from yesterday until this morning, as well as the suppressed anger, were simply dispelled by her.
Several blood-red talismans were hidden in the abandoned ground.
He picked them out one by one and put them away. Looking at each stroke, he could still recall the overwhelming killing intent he felt towards "Yun Lang" when he drew the talisman.
He knelt on one knee, clutching a blood-red talisman, and turned to look at Yan Huanyue, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
“Senior Sister Yan, the person he’s trying to fool is you. If I’m right again this time, you’ll owe me a favor and you’ll have to do me a favor.”
Yan Huanyue opened the door, and a refreshing breeze blew in. She took a deep breath, not taking his words seriously.
"Okay, we'll do it your way."
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-06-12 23:44:13 and 2024-06-20 00:14:45!
Thank you to the little angels who threw the landmines: Van Helsing, Gu Su (1 person);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: "Make a Little Rich Woman" (16 bottles); "I'm Very Aloof," "Twenty-Year-Old," and "No Dreams of a Salty Fish" (10 bottles); "Empty Branch" (6 bottles); "024," "Orchid Garden," and "Peach Blossoms Blossom Red Leaves" (5 bottles); "Fat Fatty Not Pan" (4 bottles); "Spring Breeze Comes" and "kurosakiiji" (2 bottles); "Raging Water Buffalo," "Distant Rain on the Roadside," "L☆D," and "Summer Brightness" (1 bottle).
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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