Ling Miaomiao looked on, dumbstruck, at Duanyang, whose clothes had turned into tatters. Fu Luiyi and Mu Yao, who had just climbed ashore, were also completely taken aback and even Mu Sheng looked blank for a second.
Duanyang sat on the ground, slowly lowering her head to look at her rag-like clothes and ash-covered leg. Then, she raised a small black face and two tear tracks slowly appeared, making her suddenly look like a miner who had just been saved from a coal mine.
She was here to confess.
Heaven knew how many incensed flower petals she had used and how many clothes she had tried on and rejected.
She had walked out of Fengyang Palace glamorously and with the help of Pei Yun, escaped from the imperial city with great difficulty. Then she hurried to reach Liu Fuyi's location at Jinyang Slope just to give him an unexpected surprise.
But now... before everyone, she appeared like this...
And Mu Yao, stood at his side, clean and at ease, watching her together with him...
She turned her head, her bitter gaze automatically going to the black-eyed young man with his hair up in a high ponytail.
He was practically her nemesis. She kept losing face in front of Liu Fuyi all because of him...
Miaomiao saw Duanyang grit her teeth, looking as though she was itching to skin Mu Sheng alive and then pull out his tendons. She clicked her tongue internally while thinking,
'The wolf came and played too much. This time, if the black lotus acts as if he's been wronged, no one will believe him.'
Mu Sheng seemed to not see Duanyang's look and put on an innocent face. "I didn't know it was the princess who was hiding in the dark suspiciously. I wasn't careful enough when attacking and accidentally injured the princess. Ziqi knows he did wrong."
In Duanyang's eyes, this apology seemed to only add fuel to the fire. She extended her arm to point and the shredded clothes which had turned to strips of cloth fell to the ground.
With a scream, she clutched at her chest while shivering.
Liu Fuyi quickly came forward. He took off his cloak and put it on her, a serious yet concerned expression on his face. "Princess, what happened?"
Duanyang clutched tightly at the warm cloak and looked at his face. All her former ire turned into grievance. She grabbed both of Liu Fuyi's hands.
A large pair of eyes followed him for a moment before she opened her mouth and said, "Brother Liu, I...I have something I'd like to tell you."
Liu Fuyi was startled and Mu Yao had already turned around with an awful expression."I'll go and take a stroll in the woods--
"Yao-er!" Liu Fuyi frowned slightly.
Unexpectedly, she stopped at his call. He didn't turn his head around but his voice was unusually steady. "Don't walk off too far, stay within my sights."
Mu Yao froze in place whereas Duanyang's eyes were filled with tears.
The undercurrent between the three people raged.
Miaomiao gauged the mood and tugged at Mu Sheng's sleeve. "...Cough, there's nothing for us here, let's go."
She began beating away the dense mass of tree leaves as she said this. Then she raised the hem of her skirt and swiftly made her way into the woods.
It was a large-scale love battlefield so it'd be best to save the poor second female lead some face.
Mu Sheng saw his sister was still standing in the same place and instead, it was Ling Miaomiao who had gone and done as she pleased, slipping into the woods and disappearing from sight. He cursed at her to himself and quickly moved his feet to follow.
Ling Miaomiao had already found an excellent location.
It was an open place in the woods which wasn't too far from those three. From there, she could vaguely hear their voices but it wasn't clear enough for her to hear any specific details. It also gave a sense of security as well as achieved the effect of helping her avoid that scene.
Mu Sheng collected some twigs then tossed them on the ground. With a bang, sparks appeared and lit the twigs. The crackling flame was reflected on his white-jade-like face. He raised his eyes and shot a glance at Ling Miaomiao just in time to see her sitting under the tree in a daze while hugging her knees.
He poked at the fire and a few sparks flew out. With a straight face, he asked, "Don't you like Liu Fuyi as well?"
Miaomiao let out a laugh, put her arm behind her head and casually leaned back against the tree. " ...whether it be appearance, birth, or talent, I can't compare with the princess. So, why should I bother to throw myself into the mix? I'll just disgrace myself."
Mu Sheng raised his gaze, resting it on the girl under the tree.The flickering light of the fire danced across her pretty face; a pair of apricot eyes gleamed as her gaze wandered, pink cheeks, moist lips... From top to bottom, even the jade-colored bows on her two hanging buns were more pleasing to the eyes than Princess Duanyang.
Keeping a straight face, he nodded and replied, "Well, at least you have some self-awareness."
Catching a glimpse of Ling Miaomiao's glare, the corners of his lips raised slightly. He added in a seemingly offhand manner, "However, you're much better at getting on people's good side than her."
Miaomiao's expression flipped from cloudy to clear within a second. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, "Really?"
His lashes trembled slightly, "No."
Ling Miaomiao's face collapsed immediately.
Mu Sheng focused on stirring the embers. He took out the stick after his hand was feeling rather sore, to rest for a while.
Ling Miaomiao slowly scooted close to his side and wrapped her arms around her knees. She looked into the fire and asked, "Shall we switch watches?"
"What?" He asked, flabbergasted.
"I'll watch the fire for a while, you can rest for a little." Miaomiao looked at him with a puzzled face. "You've been on watch for most of the night, aren't you tired?"
Moreover, he had walked for so long with her on his back. The black lotus seemed to not need sleep. He was practically about to become an immortal.
Mu Sheng was somewhat absent-minded.
Ever since he could remember, from when he was a child till now, he had always handled these kinds of trifling matters whenever they had left home to accumulate experience. He had taken care of his sister for so long but no one had ever asked him to "switch watches" and let him rest.
He had come from the night; hidden himself in a corner of the night. He was the night. He often had to light himself up, pretending to be the light.
"I'm talking to you, why are you in a daze?" The girl waved her fair hand in front of his eyes. She yawned and impatiently urged him, "Hurry up and decide, I'm getting sleepy."
After enjoying the retirement life for three months in the palace, her biological clock had become adjusted to a particularly healthy schedule. And now, after running through the woods in the middle of the night, she could hardly keep her eyes open.
Mu Sheng's long fine lashes were like a row of black feathers, slowly drifting down. In a very low voice, he told her, "...Go sleep."
Her words had just left her lips and Ling Miaomiao had fallen straight down into a carpet of leaves. The sound of her even breaths could immediately be heard.
She was too sleepy, she had actually fallen asleep right then and there.
"..." He froze then pulled the cloak she had been lying on out from under her. After holding it in his hand for a while, he spread it out and covered her with it.
The girl had her eyes tightly shut, the curled lashes casting shadows on her eyelids, her cheeks rosy. She slept without any wariness. Even though she was by a person like himself, she was still able to fall into the embrace of sweet dreams completely unaffected.
This person...
His hand slowly made its way down and cupped her face on its own. Then it drifted lower, brushing her slightly cool lips; soft, pink lips which were always carelessly turned up.
He recalled the first time he had met her, she had rouge outside her lips. Back then, he had brazenly and arrogantly stroked her lips, starting from the corner and stopping at the center. At the time, her autumn-pond-like eyes shook as she looked at him, his figure reflected.
How did he not notice how captivating this face was...
His expression suddenly turned cold. His hand jerked away like it had been electrocuted and then, he harshly pushed her awake.
"Huh?"
She woke abruptly with a start and then struggled to sit up. She looked at him for a while, confused, then she looked around at their surroundings. There was only a spread of darkness which came from the night. Immediately, she blew up. "What is this? I thought it was morning! I only slept for a few minutes and you decided to go and wake me up?"
"You've slept for long enough." The young man's lashes lowered, hiding the emotions in his eyes. Tersely, he told her, "...We're switching watches."
"..." Ling Miaomiao rubbed her face and accepted the stick in his hand, poking at the fire with a dull look on her face.
Had she slept for a long time? How come it didn't feel like that to her at all...it felt more like she hardly slept.
The young man leaned against the tree and closed his eyes to rest, feeling his unsettled heart which wouldn't return to normal for a while.
At first, his mind was cluttered and swirling with distracting thoughts. But slowly, after listening to rustling and the whistling of wind gusts, the darkness turned into a dark halo, swallowing him into it.
"Ding dong——" Bells tinkled. At the top of a dark green mosquito net, there were four bells ringing.
The bed was shaking.
The sunlight was filtered through layer upon layer of a soft canopy. Once it reached the girl's face and forehead, only a soft ambiguous light remained.
Her face was very red, eyes half-closed and slack. Her fair neck was exposed and her long hair which was glowing a chestnut color was spread out messily beneath.
Beneath... was her.
His kiss swept across her soft underbelly, his hand following her waist up, little by little, lifting her top 1.
The short coat was made of camel-colored silk and embroidered with a lotus damask 2. Lying against her skin, the contrast only made her skin seem paler than snow and like a tempting little pastry with him as the starving diner. Despite knowing the fine delicacy before his eyes had to be peeled layer by layer before slowly savoring, he still couldn't help tearing off the packaging and consuming it in one bite.
He was impatient. He had never felt so empty, felt so much... longing.
She reached out a hand to stop him, though her eyes were misty with desire. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't stop himself. Her beauty was enough to stop people in their tracks.
He firmly pressed her moving arm down beside the pillow and approached her bit by bit. Then he kissed her lips, from the outer corner to the center, tossing and turning with her until she was completely immobile, her lashes quivering.
He released her hand and she pliantly wrapped her arms around his neck, like a soft vine climbing onto him.
The plant emanated a gentle warmth. The skirt hem was ripped and was raised up following the curve of her leg from her ankle up. She only cried pleadingly into the air, "Ziqi..." But even this sound was feeble, as if she was instead, inviting him to completely and thoroughly swear sovereignty to her inside and out.
A squall swept through the sea, causing waves to crash and surge on its surface. The boat which persevered in floating on the surface was unnerved and anxious and could only cry. Cool fingers wandered aimlessly over his back, making his heart tremble. He pulled her hands off his back, holding her ice-cold hands.
He pressed her hand close to his heart; it was warm. She opened her eyes, looking at him. He slowly closed the distance between them, leaving a gentle kiss on her forehead.
She had completely become a lone boat in the sea, only able to rely on him, completely under his control. Truly and completely owned by him.
Scarcely did they know that in the middle of this vast, even through the howling wind and torrential rain, the lightning and the thunder, there was only this small boat.
.....
*
Ling Miaomiao squatted at the black lotus's side, looking suspiciously at his face while holding his cloak in her hand.
She hesitated a bit and looked at his motionless figure. Was he asleep or not?
After debating about it for a long while, she made up her mind and threw his cloak on him. However before she could turn around and scram, the young man reached out a hand and suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulling her right into his arms——
At that moment, she noticed a blank look in his eyes.
"...Z-Zi-Ziqi?" She let him stare at her until she began to feel flustered. It was fine before she called out, but after she called out, he seemed to immediately come out of his daze. After a moment of confusion, rage flared in his black eyes and he stood up at once.
Before Miaomiao had even opened her mouth to begin complaining, he had already avoided her gaze and scooched backwards twice. As if he had encountered a great threat, he quickly scrambled to his feet and stumbled in his rush out the woods.
"F*ck!" She let out a curse, unable to contain herself. Then she picked up the stick and threw it at his retreating figure but missed.
What was wrong with this guy? He was so weird!