Chapter 226: Encountering a Sunny Day Chapter 203: A Unique Intimacy

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Shaowei's thoughts were still unorganized; regarding Liu Qi, there were things she had yet to fully understand. Seeing him appear now, her subconscious wanted to uphold the harsh words she had once spoken forbidding him from coming to see her without permission. Having been deceived was already unseemly; she absolutely could not be too easy to talk to anymore, otherwise she would truly seem too easy to bully.

Jumping onto the small boat was a sudden act done without much thought; Shaowei herself felt her movement was unbelievably fast, but she did not expect the other party to react so quickly, immediately chasing and pouncing onto it, wetting the sleeve corner. Without further ado, he propped up the pole, and the small boat quickly sped away—a sudden lake outing.

Shaowei said she wanted to go ashore, and Liu Qi readily agreed, rowing straight toward the opposite bank. The former was furious and widened her eyes; the latter innocently bared his teeth in a smile.

This mountain villa had been left idle for many years. Since being bestowed by the Emperor and gaining a new master, it had been roughly managed. The houses and scenery were old but not messy or broken, prepared for the master to visit at any time, or to order a complete renovation.

The small boat had obviously been cleaned and repaired as well. However, since it was too old, besides repairing the hull, the tattered boat canopy had been temporarily removed. It was only used by servants to clean debris from the lake surface. The pleasure barge truly prepared for the master was moored on the other side of the lake shore.

Beneath the vast blue sky, upon the secluded green water, the canopy-less small boat was like a yellowed autumn leaf. Carried on the leaf were two youths: one sat cross-legged motionless, the other poled and rowed the boat.

The midday autumn sun was especially bright. The lake surface stirred by the small boat became a shattered mirror, reflecting dazzling light. Shaowei, whose sight was too sharp, raised her arm and pressed it over her head, using her sleeve as a cover.

Liu Qi rowed the small boat toward a patch of lotus roots and lotuses. In late autumn, the lotus leaves began to wither and curl, but there were still a few green leaves. Liu Qi bent over and broke off the most vibrant, large green lotus leaf.

The unique fresh scent of the lotus leaf fell down along with the shade. Shaowei looked up and saw the large lotus leaf held above her head. Turning her head again, she saw Liu Qi squatting beside her, one arm holding the leaf for her, the other arm resting horizontally on his bent knee as he knelt on one knee. Smiles flickered between his eyebrows and eyes, and his snow-white teeth were revealed. His brilliant smile was dazzling to the sight.

The gurgling water flow seemed like a heartbeat. Shaowei snatched the lotus stem and held it herself. Since she noticed that smiling gaze fixed on her without letting go, she lay down in the boat, covering her head and face with the lotus leaf, blocking out everything.

This act seemed nonchalant and indifferent. However, under the cool lotus leaf, a pair of round eyes were wide open, unable to close.

Liu Qi changed from squatting to sitting down, smiling as he watched Shaowei lying flat on one bent knee, then looking at the lotus leaf on her face. Earlier, when she had snatched this leaf, he had thought she would throw it into the water. He had followed her onto the boat having already prepared himself to be thrown into the water.

Heeding the good plan offered by Master Zhuang—"Better to be beaten crippled than to be neglected"—Liu Qi had come this trip with the resolve to take a beating.

However, she did not lay a hand on him, nor did she show much anger, nor did she speak to him.

This place was far from human habitation, with wild energy rising and sinking. She dwelled here, becoming more and more like a wild creature of the mountain forest, harboring unknown secret thoughts. Before she made a decision and was willing to reveal them, no one could pry into them.

He was a wrongdoer awaiting divine punishment from the mountain lord, inevitably nervous and anxious, as if a sword hung over his head.

Yet despite ten thousand confusions, joy and peace arose from this moment of crossing the lake with her. As if facing the danger of the sky falling down, he instead cherished and craved this time of a fairyland that might or might not continue.

The sky and water were clear and bright, people were quiet and still. Setting the boat adrift to flow on its own.

Shaowei kept her eyes open under the lotus leaf for a long time, not knowing what expression Liu Qi had or what he was thinking. Until she noticed that he actually also learned from her, bending his knee to lie down. The two were so close. He opened his mouth, but said: "Shaowei, thank you."

"Earlier I saw you sitting and talking with Yu'er from the south..." Liu Qi said softly: "Such a situation is actually more perfect than what I saw in my dreams."

Shaowei turned her head slightly, her gaze secretly peeking through the raised edge of the lotus leaf. She saw Liu Qi lying with one arm as a pillow, his head turned toward her, his pair of eyes still holding a smile.

"Shaowei, if you don't want to talk to me, then let me just ramble on."

Liu Qi's voice was very soft, like the originally clear and cold zither strings being brushed by a cool breeze: "Last time I said, when I met you at Yundang Mountain, forcibly dragging you to flee was truly not right... These words are not false. But stopping you then was one of the two things I have done that I regret the least."

"Since forcibly getting to know you back then, every step I have taken afterward seems to be escaping from the sea of bitterness."

Shaowei was somewhat stunned, watching a flicker of teardust slowly appear in his smiling eyes as he spoke.

In a daze, Shaowei couldn't help but ask: "What is the other thing you don't regret?"

As soon as she asked, she felt she had fallen for it, as if she had stepped into his trap to trick her into speaking. But having one foot in the trap, she still couldn't help but be curious and wait for his answer.

The smile in the youth's teary eyes deepened: "It was that year at Tianlang Mountain, when the busy inspectors went to the back mountain, and I had the fortune to meet you."

If one were not an experiencer, hearing his words and seeing his gaze like that, one would instead mistake it for an experience of how peaceful and leisurely those days were.

Watching that layer of serene tears in his eyes, Shaowei suddenly felt that the Liu Qi she had killed in her previous life had returned.

The fragility and peace that he had only been able to reveal before dying in his previous life actually had something in common with this moment. In this instant, Shaowei clearly touched the deepest soul essence of this person. This essence seemed to have been awakened by her ahead of time.

Shaowei was somewhat confused. She looked at his body outside of his soul. He lay like this, his neck, chest, waist, and abdomen completely without shield or armor protection, like prey actively exposing its most vulnerable parts.

Now far from the shore, with no dark guards or external forces as protection, identity was useless. Fine clothes were merely a burden. In such a situation approaching the primitive, people reverted to pure animals. And Shaowei was a top expert; anyone would have to become prey under her power.

Liu Qi was in an absolutely inferior position. If there was any mistake, he would call to heaven and heaven would not answer, call to earth and earth would not respond.

His soul's flickering was touched by her. Life and death safety were controlled by her. This naked trust being delivered here was the most intimate expression between animals, fundamentally needing no more words to prove.

Shaowei felt it between breaths, and vaguely realized: Liu Qi would definitely not deliver everything to a second person as dangerous as her. This intimacy was unique and one of a kind.

Unique and one of a kind?

Shaowei slowly blinked her eyelashes, sweeping over the green lotus leaf, making a sound only she herself could hear.

Liu Qi did not know the thoughts under the lotus leaf. As he had said earlier, he did not need her response; he could also talk to himself for a long time.

I don't know if Shaowei had carefully read the letter. He once again explained the lying thoughts that had already been stated in the letter: "The matter of the leg ailment was meant to deceive the people of the capital. Because the deception lasted too long, it gradually became a habit. When in front of people, I often forget that I am pretending..."

Something originally meant to deceive the world unknowingly forgot where the boundary lay. And the first time he clearly realized he should not hide it from her anymore was during the assassination operation at Nanshan.

He chose to flee with her. In a moment of crisis, such matters suddenly became urgent; otherwise it would become a teasing of her. He had originally wanted to say it. However, when the two rolled down from a high place together, unfortunately he happened to injure that leg. The fake injury became a real injury.

She pulled him to escape. He was dizzy and disoriented. After escaping danger, lying together on the grass with her, thinking she was about to leave, sensing her anxiety in searching for someone. And at that time he was still unsure whether the person she was looking for was male or female, or what kind of affection... But hiding it was ultimately unbearable. So he nervously thought, or should choose a more suitable time to formally confess to her.

Dragging it out again and again, he instead became more and more afraid.

"Actually that night I pounced onto Lingxing Terrace and no longer pretended."

It was just that at that time everyone's attention was on the Great Sacrifice. He suddenly appeared from behind the crowd, his movements too urgent and too fast. In the instant he pounced up to block the arrow, he fell to his knees. In the commotion, this subtle abnormality was covered up.

He had already made an explanation in the letter. But now Shaowei heard him say it in person, yet felt differently.

Blocking the arrow at Lingxing Terrace. He was so reckless, not caring whether he would be exposed, only wanting to be faster, even faster, so that she would not fall into an irrecoverable calamity.

With such perception, and such unique intimate trust surrounding his whole body, Shaowei could only admit that her brain had not yet come up with a way to calm her anger, but her heart had already made its own decision to calm down.

Shaowei turned her head straight, no longer peeking at Liu Qi. Under the lotus leaf she closed her eyes and said: "Although deceiving people is deceiving people, after hearing your explanation, I am indeed not that angry anymore."

Liu Qi was overjoyed. Then he heard her say: "But I indeed still have some other things I haven't figured out, and there are other decisions to make. Therefore, I have to wait until I think it through before I can truly settle this matter with you."

Although her thoughts were confused, she was still firm. And she told him so frankly. Although Liu Qi had much unease and uncertainty, such a her was truly the "her." He had always been dazzled by such a her.

Her existence was unparalleled in the world. Her thoughts were extremely autonomous. The plan offered by Master Zhuang ultimately could not be copied wholesale onto her. No matter what she finally figured out, he would not easily retreat and let go. And the only suitable remedy was nothing other than offering all his sincerity.

For now, he just suppressed his anxiety and said to her: "Alright, you think slowly. No rush."

The most anxious person claims not to be anxious; the only one truly not anxious is probably hoping this little boat never reaches shore.

Whether it was the sincerity of her heart that drove the wind and water, the little boat slanted into the gaps among the lotus plants.

Because the direction changed slightly, the roots and stems below brought slight resistance; the little boat rocked gently, the lotus leaf covering Shaowei's face slid off, and many lotus leaves entered her sight above, the scorching sunlight was blocked, sailing among the lotuses as if suddenly straying into some hidden private place.

The situation arose suddenly, Shaowei couldn't help but turn to look at Liu Qi, their four eyes meeting in the flickering sunlight and waterlight.

The two people in the boat were like two momentarily at a loss animals, having been injured together and lost their way together, now as if they had hidden together in a secret realm unknown to heaven and earth, the whole world left only with each other, that unique intimacy that could not be replaced or stolen by anyone completely exposed.

The lotus leaf scent was heavy and astringent, the underwater lotus stems hooked and woven like a net, the center of the lake seemed to truly have grown a heart, beating so that heaven and earth shook, the fish under the boat scattered in surprise, and the boat suddenly filled with vivid heartbeats.

The small boat became crowded; Shaowei had once slept on the same bed with A Jie, when practicing martial arts in Taoxi Township if tired she often lay side by side with Shan Gu by the small river to rest, and as a child she had even slept in Mother's embrace, just now still lying close against Great Mother's body... in any case, such distance was not an abnormal existence, but Shaowei had never once had her heart want to burst out like this moment.

The abnormal reaction revealed a special relationship, the unique intimate cognition became concrete again, being unique intimacy seemed to mean she and he could do many things not allowed with others... but what should be done?

In panic, curiosity, and exploration, Shaowei held her breath and widened her eyes looking at Liu Qi before her, but saw him face red and ears red, breath disappeared, Adam's apple rolling with tension, as if some helpless secret had surfaced.

With a "Boom—", the little boat was completely blocked, the ship body shook violently from the obstruction, Liu Qi suddenly came back to his senses, urgently raised a hand to protect Shaowei's head from bumping, and at the same time couldn't help but prop up his upper body leaning toward Shaowei, just as Shaowei was also a quick-reacting expert among them and had already made a movement to get up, like two people panicking and choosing no path suddenly collided, amidst the entangled and swaying lotus leaves above, Shaowei's cool lips bumped into Liu Qi's hot side face.

Heaven and earth fell silent for an instant, Liu Qi slowly blinked, not making eye contact, Shaowei suddenly pushed Liu Qi away, scrambled up, truly like a fur-bristling civet cat: "... How did you pole the boat, got trapped!"

"Don't, don't be anxious... I'll pole us out!" Liu Qi also hurriedly got up, grabbed the boat pole haphazardly, and fiddled with the chaotic roots and stems entangling the ship body underwater.

Shaowei also bent over to pull and tear at the lotus plants by the boat's side, her movements very rough.

The two stood back to back, each busy with their own, as if fighting an extremely chaotic and sorry battle.

After finally escaping with difficulty, the two's clothes were wet, their faces hung with beads unknown whether sweat or water, the boat was covered with many broken lotus leaves, counting as returning with a full load. The way back along the original route was especially quiet; just as the boat neared the water's edge, Shaowei immediately jumped ashore.

Liu Qi followed closely, throwing down the boat pole, and hurriedly chased after.

The two strode into the fruit forest; as if making amends, Liu Qi reached out and picked a pear, carefully wiped it clean with his sleeve, and handed it to Shaowei.

To show calm and composure, Shaowei took it and bit into it haphazardly.

Liu Qi had a smile at the corner of his mouth he couldn't quite hide, as if finding something to say, yet also like some kind of intrusion amidst the chaos; he bent over and turned his head to ask: "Shaowei... have you decided?"

Shaowei stared wide-eyed: "... How could it be so fast!"

She said to let her think slowly, and she hadn't even had a chance to think yet!

She bit into the pear again, but unfortunately saw a worm wriggling in the pear flesh; Shaowei glared, angrily threw it aside. Liu Qi's scalp went numb, feeling his crime added one more level, and hurriedly apologized again.

The two passed through the forest; Jiang Fu and Feng Zhu in the pavilion saw the two chasing figures hurry past, bickering with their mouths.

"Shaowei, let's go horseback riding someday?"

Shaowei tightly held onto her principle: "Wait until I think it through before saying anything."

"In a few days it will be Lu Hou's birthday; I have prepared a birthday gift—"

Shaowei refused again: "Great Father does not wish to hold a birthday banquet; he only wishes to go to the Outer City West Queen Mother Temple to pay respects as in past years."

"I don't know how Xiao Yu regards me now? Is she still unwilling to see me?"

Shaowei simply wanted to cover her ears: "You'll know when you see him later!"

Passing through the fruit forest, they saw another pavilion; inside the pavilion Xiao Yu heard the voices, hopped out of the pavilion, and came toward the Young Master.

Good Night Everyone~