3rd Person's POV
"Uncle Ning, how did you know we're out for a night-hu-- Ah!" Sizhui hissed from the pain as Wen Ning pulled his left hand from the web. The whole palm of his hands was reddening that's caused by the acid within the silk. They were glad that the acid wasn't that strong or else their skin will burn and it might leave a scar on it.
"Shanli asked me to look out for you in case you encounter danger." Wen Ning replied to Sizhui's unfinished question.
"Now, take off your inner and outer robe. It seems it's also stuck with the web." Wen Ning directed.
Right now, Wen Ning is helping Sizhui from separating him from the web that's wrapped in Jingyi's body. Two of his hands are finally peeled off from the web.
Sizhui asked first for help to unfasten his belt around his waist to remove his inner and outer robe. After Wen Ning unfastened Sizhui's belt, Sizhui kneeled to the ground and slowly laid Jingyi's body at the ground as he slowly slipped his arms off from his cloth. He was finally free from being stuck at the silk.
The only problem is Jingyi...
After taking off his inner and outer robe, he was only left with his undergarment shirt and trousers. With his thin clothes, he shivered from the cold wind. "Uncle Ning... do you have any spare clothes?"
"Spare clothes..." Wen Ning mumbled. He took off his gloves first that he wore to pull Sizhui's hands from the web. He grabs his qiankun pouch and looked for a piece of clothing that Sizhui can use. Gladly, there was a long-sleeved robe. Wen Ning took it out and passed it to Sizhui.
"Thank you, uncle." Sizhui wore the cloth that was given to him.
"Uncle Wen, why do you have all kinds of things inside your qiankun pouch? What's else inside it?" Jingyi questioned, silently lying down on the ground.
"I don't know either. It was Shanli who prepared it for me." Wen Ning replied.
Lan Shanli had carefully put her thoughts about it. All of the things inside the qiankun pouch were only for emergencies especially if something bad happened to the juniors. It was good that it's in good used.
After Sizhui was freed, they all turned to Jingyi who was still wrapped in silk lying down on the ground. They all stared at Jingyi silently while the man himself on the ground was growing uncomfortable and impatient.
"D-dont just stare at me. Help me get up and remove this web from me!" Jingyi snapped, rocking his body side to side.
"The web is quite thick so it will be hard for us to remove it. We need a physician that can deal with this thing." Wen Ning said.
"Can't we use our sword to cut off these webs?" Jingyi asked.
"It's dangerous Jingyi. We might accidentally cut your skin. It's best to find a physician." Sizhui concerned.
Jingyi let out a hopeless sigh, "I want this webs out of me right now. My whole body is burning. I'm serious!"
Jingyi has been wrapped with the web for a couple of hours now. His skin will probably have burn marks and without proper treatments, it will result in a burn scar around his body which it could destroy the image of a perfect male body. More importantly, he was a Lan, a clan full of beauties! Jingyi surely won't let his body have an ugly scar.
"But where can we find a physician? Wei Wuxian already mentioned you're not allowed to go back to Cloud Recesses past 7 pm." Jin Ling said with his arms crossed together.
It was already past 7 pm and it is one of the rules in Cloud Recesses that no one's allowed to come inside Cloud Recesses at past 7 pm so they couldn't go back. However, as if the three shared one mind they all looked at Jin Ling simultaneously.
Jin Ling noticed this. A frown was written on his face as he stepped back a little and asked, "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Sizhui spoke, "We apologize for troubling Young Master Jin. We could only think of your sect that could help Jingyi's situation."
Jin Ling's brows twitched from the mention of "Young Master Jin". He had told Sizhui countless times already not to call him with honorific only to end up still calling him with an honorific.
Jin Ling stared at Jingyi for a moment and sighed, "Fine, you can come to my sect."
"You might as well stay there for the night." he added.
Sizhui whole face lit up as he cupped his hands and said, "Many thanks to Young Master Ji--"
"Jin. Ling." the vermilion boy reminded.
"Haha... yes, thank you, Jin Ling." Sizhui repeated.
—
"Is he going to be fine?" Sizhui anxiously asked. Both he and Jin Ling were standing outside Jin Sect's treatment room.
"He'll be fine." Jin Ling replied. Despite the reply, Sizhui was still concerned about Jingyi. Just peeling off the web from his hands does hurt a bit but how will it go for Jingyi if his whole body is wrapped with the web?
A few seconds later, there came a loud shilling scream from inside the Treatment Room.
Was he going to be alright?
"He-- he will be fine. Your uncle is there and our best physician is also there so no need to worry. Let them handle Jingyi." Jin Ling assured, trying his best to ease the young Lan's worries.
The two youth stood before the door, only to hear Jingyi's unending scream of pain. They felt pity for Jingyi just by hearing him scream every minute.
Jin Ling was wincing from every scream while Sizhui was growing more worried.
Jin Ling couldn't endure it anymore. He spoke, "Follow me, I'll show you to your room."
Jin Ling led the way while Sizhui only silently followed the young Jin. Before the two could arrive at the guest's residence, they passed by a lake filled with lotus flowers and seed pods.
The wide, verdant leaves and the smooth, pink blossoms brushed shoulders against one another. As a breeze flew over, the petals and the leaves swayed as if they nodded their head.
Without realizing it, Sizhui had stopped on his steps and stared at the lotus lake in front of him, getting attracted by its natural beauty that's giving off a sense of purity and grace. He couldn't take off his eyes from the lake, he thought it felt like Lotus Pier.
Koi Tower was usually surrounded by Spark Amidst Snow Peonies, who would have thought that they were hiding a small lotus lake at the back of Koi Tower.
"Aunty said my father prepared this lake for mother." Jin Ling suddenly spoke, who was also looking at the lake. When he said 'auntie', he was talking about Sizhui's older sister, Lan Shanli.
Lan Shanli is the only person Jin Ling recognizes as his aunt. Shanli was only a close friend of Yanli but it was reasonable enough for him to call her aunt. His mother only has Jiang Cheng as her younger brother and his father is the only legitimate son of Jin Guangshan. If ever Jin Ling has other aunts, then they would probably be Jin Guangshan's illegitimate daughters that he has from other women he met. Jin Ling doesn't even know them and doesn't care about them hence only having Lan Shanli as his aunt.
"I see... Your father truly loves your mother." This was the only thing Sizhui could reply to. They stared at the lake for awhile, the silence surrounding them.
Jin Ling suddenly walked up near the end of the wooden plank pathway as he plucked three lotus seed pods from the lake. He walked back to Sizhui and gave the other two to him.
Lan Sizhui, "This..."
Jin Ling said, "You can have one, the other one is for Jingyi. If he doesn't like it then he can throw it as he wants."
Sizhui was rather surprised from receiving a seed pod coming from the lake that was specially prepared for the young Jin's mother in the past. He was a bit hesitant.
Jin Ling easily noticed this, his brows knitted. He asked, "You don't want it?"
Sizhui hurried, "T-that's not it! I mean... is it really okay for me to receive those seed pods?"
Jin Ling sighed as he grabs Sizhui's hands and put the lotus seed pods on top of his palm.
Jin Ling said, "The lake is under my care now. No one has ever laid a hand on those flowers and seed pods except uncle and aunt. You're the first person I gave lotus seed pods so you should accept it."
Sizhui couldn't believe, he was the first person to receive a seed pod other than his uncle and aunt?
Sizhui flashed a smile and clasped his hands, "Since it was given to me then I shall accept it. Thank you, Jin Ling."
Jin Ling nodded and continued making their way to the guest's residence. A few servants passed by them, greeting the two young masters. Sizhui greeted back while Jin Ling only nodded back. Jin Ling asked them to prepare a herbal bath for Sizhui and especially for Jingyi.
"Prepare one for me as well at my room." Jin Ling added as his back was still hurting a bit.
The servants saluted for the last time and hurriedly left to prepare the herbal bath they were asked for.
Jin Ling and Sizhui continued walking until they finally arrived at the guest's residence.
"Stop worrying about that dumb idiot. He will be fine, trust me." Jin Ling assured.
Lan Sizhui, "Jin Ling, Jingyi isn't an idiot..."
Jin Ling rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I'll be going now to my room. Just call a servant if ever you need something."
Lan Sizhui hummed in response, "Have a good night's sleep, Jin Ling."
Sizhui watched Jin Ling's hair flutter in the wind, watching him leave the guest residence until he finally turned into a corner. Sizhuu couldn't see the young Jin anymore so he proceeded inside the room that was arranged for him and Jingyi.
The room was rather spacious and rather ornate. A set of exquisite teacups and small bowls made of smooth white porcelain had even been placed onto the table.
Sizhui removed first the long-sleeved robe his uncle gave him, folding them neatly as he put it aside on the bed. He walked toward the table and sat in front of it as he took out from his sleeves the seed pods Jin Ling gave him. He didn't have anything to do and so he started peeling the seeds.
When the skin was torn off, the creamy green seeds could be seen hidden right inside the brown, puffy coats. Dig them out, peel the coats off, and there were the seeds, soft and snowy. They had a refreshingly sweet taste. Even the centers were made of watery greens, not at all bitter.
A knock suddenly came from the door alerting him. Sizhui immediately stopped from peeling and stood up, grabbing the piece of cloth on his bed, wrapping it around his body. A young maiden's voice came from outside the door.
"Young Master Lan, we apologize for troubling you but we would like to come in to prepare your bath." the female servant said.
"You may come in." Sizhui replied. The door opened revealing a two young woman holding a basket filled with bottles and jar and some herbal leaves and flowers, they seemed to be a servant in Koi Tower. They stepped across the threshold walking closer to Sizhui. The two female servants clasped their hands and bowed.
"Good evening Young Master Sizhui. We would like to start preparing your bath now, kindly wait for us until we finish." the female servant said.
Sizhui showed a warm smile and said, "Sure."
With the handsome young man's warm smile, they felt a burning sensation on their cheeks. They immediately lowered their head to hide their blushing face, soon after that the male servants arrived, each of them carrying a bucket of water ready to fill two of the wooden tub, each one for Sizhui and Jingyi. A screen was standing in front of the two tubs and also one between the two, making it possible for them to see each other's faces.
While the servants prepare their herbal bath, Sizhui went outside to have fresh air bringing with him the peeled lotus seed pods.
He stared at the well-round full moon, It's moonlight lit up the whole surface. He started thinking about all the things that happened these past few days.
The incident in Yueling, Mister Liu's son's severed body, the bandits in the inn, Shanli's nightmare, the unknown sender of the letter, the giant snake at Baling Lake, and now the human-headed spider and the giant spider in Goddess Temple.
Many things happened but he thought that everything will be fine this coming following day, it will go smoothly like a normal day.
His older sister's crying face suddenly flashed in his mind. Sadness and worry clouded his face but it immediately turned into a frown when he thought about the unknown sender of the letter for Shanli.
"I miss you. It's been awhile since we met each other. Let's meet soon."
"Last night, when I was taking my bath, I was about to close the window but I felt someone was staring at me. And I'm just thinking that maybe the person who sent this letter and those pair of eyes staring at me came from the same person, but... I don't know... I'm not sure."
His frown deepened not realizing that the seed between his fingers has already been smashed.
"A-Yuan? Is something wrong?" a hoarse voice suddenly joined making Sizhui jolt. Sizhui turned around to see Wen Ning carrying the asleep Jingyi on his back, wearing a different cloth.
Sizhui noticed the redness around Jingyi's skin, starting from his neck to his arms and hands and down to his legs. Jingyi's appearance truly was a pity.
They entered the room and laid Jingyi on his bed. Sizhui asked, worried, "Uncle Ning, is Jingyi alright?"
"He's fine. The physician said that his skin color will return back if he continues to take
a herbal bath for 2-3 days but since Cloud Recesses has their cold spring then maybe it will take less than a day." Wen Ning replied.
"Once you arrive at Cloud Recesses, don't forget to remind him to take a bath in the cold spring. And regarding your hands, just put an ointment on it." Wen Ning added as he passed an ointment to Sizhui. Sizhui accepted it with his hands, at the same time whispers between the servants could be heard.
"Isn't that the Ghost General?"
"What is he doing here?"
"Did Young Master Jin let him in?"
"Young Master Sizhui just called him uncle, does that mean he's a Wen?"
"Aish, you guys, go back to work!"
One of the female servants hushed the others to go back to their work. Sizhui and Wen Ning heard it but they only turned a deaf ear to it.
Wen Ning reached his hands beside Jingyi's neck as he pulled out something.
"A needle?" Sizhui questioned.
"ahh... There was another physician woman inside the treatment room and I guess she got irritated from Jingyi's scream and silenced him with the needle...." Wen Ning replied that made Sizhui speechless.
Jingyi was originally supposed to be given anesthesia but he refused to say he could take it but it still ended up with him screaming in pain. Jingyi regretted refusing the offer.
Jingyi's eyes fluttered open. His eyes roamed around the room, "W-where am I?"
"Jingyi, are you alright? How do you feel?" Sizhui asked worriedly.
"My... body feels numb." Jingyi replied with a low voice.
"Young Master Sizhui, the herbal bath is ready." the servants just finished their task. Sizhui smiled and nodded, "Thank you."
"Then we will take our leave. Have a pleasant night Young Masters." the servants saluted before leaving the room.
After the servants left, Sizhui and Wen Ning helped Jingyi get up from the bed. Another pair of servants arrived holding a wooden tray and there laid the food for dinner. They immediately ate their food.
After regaining their energy back, they took a bath from the herbal bath. Jingyi had to stay in the water for at least thirty minutes to heal the redness covering his skin.
It was an exhausting day for both of the Lan especially for Jingyi who had just escaped death again. After taking the bath, they meditated for awhile until the curfew time came. They got onto their bed, saying goodnight to each other. Wen Ning was outside their room. Since he was a corpse and couldn't sleep, he could only sit on top of the roof waiting for morning to come.
Inside the room, Sizhui had just drifted to sleep and slowly entering a dream.