Chapter 29: Applying the Medicine
This action made Sang Ying's face flush instantly. She hurriedly tried to get up, but the young man's hand was clenched tightly, and she couldn't move at all.
Sang Ying was both embarrassed and annoyed. "Xie Lingyu! I'm really fine, you don't need to see me."
The young man had large hands; one hand could easily encircle her ankle.
Her skin was fair, and it looked delicate and fragile in his palm, like jade made of water, which would break if he bent it with the slightest force.
Xie Lingyu moved as quietly as possible, taking off her shoes and rolling up her skirt as she spoke softly, "Junior sister can't even walk properly, yet she's still trying to be strong?"
The fabric brushed past, leaving her calves exposed to the cool air. Warm, long fingers parted her knees. Sang Ying froze, overcome with embarrassment, and struggled to stand up, "Xie Lingyu..."
She tried to break free from his grasp, and in her haste, she stepped on his shoulder. The young man was clearly startled, and his movements froze.
Thinking she had worked, Sang Ying stepped on his shoulder and pushed him back, her fair toes curling up shyly, her ears turning bright red: "Xie Lingyu, don't look! What kind of injury is that that people can see? Don't I have any shame?"
"..."
The young man remained silent for a while before speaking, his voice sounding much hoarse for some reason, "Junior sister finally admits she's injured?"
Sang Ying gave a muffled groan.
"Since you're injured, let's apply medicine."
Xie Lingyu conjured a golden lotus in his palm, with a jade-white ointment as smooth as cream inside. Sang Ying was about to take it when he dodged her hand.
Sang Ying was taken aback: "...Xie Lingyu?"
Xie Lingyu parted the lotus heart, dipped her fingertip in some ointment, and said indifferently, "Junior Sister has used up all her trust in me."
This implies that she promised to apply the medicine herself yesterday, but she only did it perfunctorily.
...So he's going to apply medicine to her?
Sang Ying's face burned at the thought of that scene, and she immediately objected, stammering, "How can this be! How can I let you, let you touch me!"
Why not?
Xie Lingyu slowly melted the ointment with the warmth of her fingertips, then raised her dark eyes, "Junior Sister, have you forgotten yesterday?"
He raised his hand to encircle the ankle that was resting on his shoulder, his fingertips pressing against the ankle bone, his low, unhurried voice saying, "Not only have we touched it, but my junior sister has also tasted it and given her feedback... very comfortable."
Upon hearing this, Sang Ying felt her blood rush to her head, her face flushing red to the roots of her neck. His words instantly pulled her back to yesterday—a day of confusion and entanglement…
Her amber eyes welled up with tears, and she unconsciously pulled her leg back, her toes landing just on the young man's chest.
The young man suddenly groaned, then tightened his grip on her ankles. "Junior sister, don't move."
Sang Ying was confused and thought she had stepped on him and hurt him. She said "Oh" and stopped moving.
She thought that what he said made some sense. They had already touched each other yesterday before they were officially a couple, and even been more intimate. Now that they were officially a couple, wouldn't it be a bit much to say that he wouldn't let her touch him?
Sang Ying didn't understand these things very well. She was always clueless about relationships, only having a vague understanding. No one taught her what it was like to like someone or what she should do.
She knew absolutely nothing about how husbands and wives should get along, and she only learned about the practice of joint cultivation recently. The meaning of the Cloudy Cave Master was very clear: joint cultivation between husband and wife was a perfectly normal thing.
Since joint cultivation is normal, then helping fellow Daoists apply medicine should also be a very normal thing... right?
Sang Ying thought to herself with her ears turning red, watching the young man in front of her melt the ointment in his palm. Finally, she didn't struggle or resist and agreed, letting him spread her knees apart.
However, just as he was about to look up at her, Sang Yingxin panicked and instinctively reached out to cover his eyes.
The young man was clearly taken aback, and paused for a moment, then asked, "Junior Sister?"
Sang Ying stammered, "...You're not allowed to look."
Although she didn't understand those things, Sang Ying knew herself well; if he were to see them, she would be so embarrassed that she would want to crawl into a hole.
Xie Lingyu couldn't help but laugh. Letting you touch but not look—only she could do something like that.
He agreed, letting her cover her eyes. "But I can't see, I can't find the wound, how am I supposed to apply medicine for my junior sister?"
Sang Ying covered his eyes tightly, feeling his long eyelashes lightly brush against her palm, making her feel a little itchy.
She was momentarily stunned when she realized the problem, but she quickly came up with a solution: "That's easy, I'll help you."
She covered his eyes with one hand, and with the other hand grabbed his knuckles, which were stained with medicine, and pulled them open the covering fabric.
The reddened wound slowly came to light, looking rather pitiful, with a little blood and slight swelling because it hadn't been properly treated.
Sang Ying grabbed his hand and pulled it toward the wound. Just as the young man's fingertips were about to touch the wound, she suddenly realized that something was wrong and froze in mid-air.
Wait, what is she doing?
Should I take his hand and let him touch me?
Sang Ying's eyelashes trembled, and her face instantly turned as red as a boiled shrimp.
The young man, however, remained oblivious, his expression calm and his voice unwavering: "What's wrong, Junior Sister?"
Sang Ying bit her lip, her heart pounding. She didn't know what to say, and held his fingers tightly without moving.
"Let me do it, junior sister."
The young man waited a while but didn't hear a response. He then reached out to pull down her hand that was covering her eyes. Sang Ying panicked and hurriedly said, "No!"
Sang Ying held his hand tightly in her palm, extremely nervous, her long eyelashes trembling, her amber eyes flickering.
The young man didn't urge her, and just let her slowly, like a tortoise, pull his hand closer to the soft wound.
The moment the warm fingertips touched her, Sang Ying's eyelashes trembled and her whole body stiffened.
His hands are usually a little cool, but perhaps to avoid upsetting her, he warmed his fingers with his spiritual power, so that they didn't cause any discomfort when applied to the wound.
But Sang Ying was still too shy to look, turning her head away to gaze at the hot spring in the distance.
It was just applying medicine, she thought, and it would be fine soon after.
But the young man seemed to be working against her, moving very slowly.
He gently touched the wound with his fingertips, exploring the area around it, and lightly pressed on the slightly swollen wound. "Does it hurt here? I remember I accidentally pinched it a bit too hard yesterday, and it turned red."
Sang Ying's face turned bright red. "Just apply the medicine, don't talk!"
The young woman chuckled, "You're not allowed to look or ask. Junior sister really knows how to make things difficult for people."
Because they were covering their eyes, the two were very close, and the young man's breath fell on their necks as he spoke, making them tickle.
Sang Ying fluttered her eyelashes and angrily bumped her head against his forehead.
"How dare you say that? It's all your doing!"
Once she started talking, she couldn't stop. Sang Ying muttered, "And that day when you almost went into a qi deviation during your hot flashes, I helped you, and then you bit me like a farmer and a snake, I haven't settled the score with you yet."
Unseen by either of them, her slender fingers moved very gently, carefully parting the swollen wound to reveal the most severely affected area, which was bright red with faint streaks of blood.
The girl was frail and had very delicate skin; a slight pinch would leave a red mark, and the same was true for other areas.
He was angered by her words yesterday and couldn't control his temper. He acted rashly, and even though he stopped in time, his wound was still torn open.
Xie Lingyu pursed her lips slightly, put away those thoughts, carefully applied the ointment, and meticulously used her warm spiritual energy to dissolve it, helping it to be absorbed and healed.
The wound, which had been painful and numb, felt cool and soothed after the medicine was applied. Sang Ying gradually relaxed, and her head unconsciously rested on his shoulder, while she grabbed his clothes with one hand.
For some reason, when he gently applied the medicine, that strange feeling from yesterday resurfaced. It felt light and airy, and Sang Ying felt lazy all over, so she narrowed her eyes slightly.
After the medicine was applied to the outside of the wound, the young man used his fingertip to part the wound a little, dipped it in the ointment, and probed it a bit inside. Sang Ying trembled violently and couldn't help but let out a sob.
Xie Lingyu paused, stopping her movements. "Does it hurt a lot?"
Sang Ying was stunned for a moment when she realized what was happening, and her ears turned bright red, not because of any pain. It was just a strange feeling, a kind of indescribable comfort, that made her even want him to treat her like he had yesterday.
But she would never say it aloud, and vaguely replied, "A little."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingyu, who was already moving very gently, became even more so, carefully applying the ointment to the inside of the wound.
The lighter his movements were when he applied the medicine, the more uncomfortable Sang Ying felt, as if she were being tickled; the lighter the movements, the clearer the tactile sensation.
His fingers were warm, but the ointment was slippery. The pale white ointment had a lotus fragrance that lingered between the two of them.
As she applied the ointment to her wound, Sang Ying felt herself getting warm, whether it was due to the effect of the ointment or because of the hot springs around her.
Her eyes welled up with tears, and she leaned against Xie Lingyu, her fingers gripping his clothes tightly as he moved.
"Hmm..." She vaguely felt that she wanted his fingers to press harder.
But Xie Lingyu noticed her reaction and thought that she had hurt her when applying the medicine, so she became even gentler.
He lowered his eyelashes. She was already dissatisfied with him before, and now that their first time practicing together had left her with such a painful impression, his image in her eyes must be even worse.
If she dislikes him, she can go find another male cultivator...
The thought of this possibility caused a surge of intense anger to rise in Xie Lingyu's dark eyes. He lost control and accidentally pressed his long finger into the wound.
The girl nestled in his arms suddenly trembled, let out a soft "woof," and started shaking slightly against him.
Xie Lingyu quickly realized, "Did I aggravate my wound?" She was very delicate, and he was afraid that he would hurt her if he used too much force.
The girl's wet eyelashes trembled, her mind a little hazy. It took her two seconds to react, "...No."
His voice was hoarse, and sounded somewhat nasal, muffled, like he had been crying.
Xie Lingyu felt increasingly guilty. She withdrew her long finger, took a handkerchief, and wiped her finger. "This medicine is a natural elixir nurtured by the golden lotus. The body will absorb it naturally, and the wound will heal in a while."
The girl's voice sounded somewhat sluggish, and she spoke slowly, "All... done?"
Xie Lingyu gave a soft "hmm", "The hot spring you wanted to soak in is right next door, would you like to soak for a while... ouch."
The girl leaning on his shoulder suddenly opened her mouth and bit his neck, sounding both dissatisfied and aggrieved, with a muffled nasal tone, "...bad."
Xie Lingyu laughed, thinking she was talking about the injury, "Isn't it a bit late for Junior Sister to reprimand me now?"
The girl clutched his shirt tightly, her fingers digging into his chest, her voice filled with anxiety and grievance, sounding as if she were about to cry, "Xie Lingyu... isn't feeling well..."
Hearing her say she wasn't feeling well, Xie Lingyu became serious. He pulled down her hand, which had long since become too weak to cover his eyes, and pushed her away slightly, looking into her misty eyes.
He softened his voice slightly: "Junior sister, where do you feel unwell? Is it a pain in your chest?"
The girl was clearly not fully conscious. She drooped her eyelids and looked at him with a confused gaze, as if she had been thinking for a few seconds.
Then she raised her hand and grasped his fingers. Just like before, she guided his hand and covered the wound where the medicine had just been applied.
"here……"
Xie Lingyu was taken aback.
The ointment had been absorbed, and the wound should have been dry, but his fingertip touched a wet patch of lotus dew.
The warmth slowly seeped into his fingertips.
The fragrance of golden lotus in the air became richer, almost cloyingly sweet.
"Xie Lingyu, Xie Lingyu..."
The girl called his name softly and confusedly, at a loss for what to do, her nose wet and her eyes red.
She just watched him, her slender fingers pressing against his fingers on the wound, her voice soft and nasal. Like a little fox that hadn't been satisfied, innocent and unaware, begging him for food when it was hungry.
"...I want more."
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