Chapter 302: Side Story: Joy Record 17

Side Story: Joy Record 17

Their eyes met, and for a moment, the surroundings instantly became quiet.

At this time, although Pei Yaoguang was wearing clothes, Shui Yun was naked, so after a brief silence, Shui Yun was the first to come to her senses, and then she shifted her gaze away.

"You..."

Shui Yun also wanted to say something to break the intimacy before her. But the words reached her lips, and she didn't know what to say. Pei Yaoguang, however, was looking at her the whole time, and hearing her, he couldn't help but reflexively respond.

"Hmm?"

Pei Yaoguang only made a simple nasal sound, very light, but he still didn't move his eyes away. Being stared at so quietly, Shui Yun, who was already at a loss, felt her heart beat even faster, but then she pursed her lips and struggled in Pei Yaoguang's arms, feigning calmness.

"I'm fine, you... just let go..."

As she spoke, Shui Yun even raised her hand to push Pei Yaoguang away, but it was only then that Pei Yaoguang's gaze suddenly shifted, and he came to his senses.

"What do you mean you're fine? If this counts as fine, then are there any good people left in the world?"

"Don't worry, I can hold on, this little..."

"Shut up!"

"You..."

"What about me? Let me tell you, I'm the one in charge here!"

His eyes turned sharp, and Pei Yaoguang once again assumed his usual overbearing manner. Seeing him like this, Shui Yun instinctively wanted to retort, but before she could speak, she saw Pei Yaoguang first hold her steady, and then take the clothes from the side and drape them over her.

Pei Yaoguang's movements were natural, and there wasn't a trace of anything unusual on his handsome face. After draping the clothes over Shui Yun, Pei Yaoguang lowered his eyes to look at her once more, then stood up and walked out.

Pei Yaoguang didn't say anything, and Shui Yun didn't ask. But her eyes couldn't help but follow him after he stood up and walked out... and it was only then that Shui Yun discovered that the clothes on Pei Yaoguang's body were also torn!

Suddenly, Shui Yun understood in her heart that Pei Yaoguang must have been injured as well. And at the thought of this, a feeling that could not be described washed over Shui Yun's heart...

Shui Yun was lost in her own thoughts, dazed and distracted. And while she was in a daze, Pei Yaoguang had already walked back from outside, then bent down and sat in front of Shui Yun again.

Shui Yun suddenly came back to her senses, but before she could figure out what was going on, Pei Yaoguang suddenly raised his hand to tuck the loose hair hanging on her face behind her ear, and then picked up a dampened silk handkerchief and began to wipe her face.

So, he had gone out just now to wet the handkerchief...

In an instant, Shui Yun understood. Perhaps because she had been independent for so many years and had never been served like this, the moment the silk handkerchief in Pei Yaoguang's hand touched her, Shui Yun didn't know if it was because she wasn't used to it or because she felt shy, but she first stiffened, then reflexively dodged backward.

But this time Pei Yaoguang was not happy. His expression hardened, and he reached out and pressed her head back.

"What are you dodging for? You're as dirty as a calico cat, and you still have the nerve to dodge?!"

"... I'll do it myself."

"Hmph! Then lift your arm and let me see!"

"..."

Pei Yaoguang probably had this flaw for his whole life; even kind words turned sour when they came out of his mouth. At this moment, being provoked by him, the stubborn Shui Yun suddenly got angry. She pursed her bloodless lips, glared at Pei Yaoguang, and then actually made a move to lift her arm...

Unfortunately, Shui Yun was still too weak at this moment. As soon as her hand moved slightly, pain flooded in. Shui Yun gritted her teeth to hold on, but then she was pressed down by Pei Yaoguang.

At this very moment, Pei Yaoguang was also furious, and his complexion looked three times worse.

"You woman, are you doing this on purpose to go against me? I told you not to move, so don't move!"

This time, Pei Yaoguang learned to be smart. To prevent Shui Yun from being disobedient again, as soon as he finished speaking, he reached out and confined her in his arms, while continuing to wipe Shui Yun's face with the silk handkerchief in his hand.

For a time, the surroundings became quiet again. Shui Yun was held and couldn't move, so she could only lower her head and purse her lips without a word, while Pei Yaoguang wiped Shui Yun's face, one stroke after another; although his movements couldn't be called gentle, they were extremely serious.

Time passed, and after an unknown amount of time, Pei Yaoguang finally stopped his hand... By this time, Shui Yun's face had been wiped very clean, but precisely because of this, her already pale complexion became even more obvious.

And it wasn't just her complexion; even her originally rosy lips were as pale as paper.

Pei Yaoguang couldn't help but reach out his finger to gently stroke her lips, and Shui Yun shuddered all over, reflexively dodging slightly.

It was a direct reaction, and at her movement, Pei Yaoguang also came to his senses again. He hurriedly put his hand down, turned his head to the side, and couldn't help but clear his throat.

"Cough... uh... are you hungry? I... I'll go find something to eat..."

After saying this, without waiting for Shui Yun to speak, Pei Yaoguang placed Shui Yun back in her original position, let her lie down, covered her with the clothes, and then stood up and walked out again.

Hearing that Pei Yaoguang was going to find food, Shui Yun didn't come to her senses for a long while.

After all, in Shui Yun's impression, although Pei Yaoguang wasn't delicate and had a sharp mind, he was still just a scholar. Coupled with his wealthy background, she really had some doubts about him finding food in this dense forest...

But he had already left, and she couldn't move now, so she could only wait. Shui Yun's body was weak, so before long, she fell into a drowsy sleep again. And when Shui Yun woke up again, the sky had already darkened.

Opening her eyes, Shui Yun squinted uncomfortably, but then she remembered Pei Yaoguang who had gone out earlier. She turned her head abruptly, only to find Pei Yaoguang sitting by the campfire with his back to her, not knowing what he was doing.

Seeing that Pei Yaoguang was fine, Shui Yun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She opened her mouth to say something, but could only let out a hoarse and dry sound.

"... Uh..."

The sound was very small, but fortunately, the cave was very quiet. So, upon hearing the sound, Pei Yaoguang, who had been sitting with his back to her, turned around immediately. Seeing that Shui Yun was awake, he immediately said in a low voice.

"Awake?"

"... Hmm."

After adjusting, Shui Yun's voice finally sounded a bit better.

"Hungry?"

"... You caught fish?"

Even though Shui Yun, lying on the ground, couldn't see what Pei Yaoguang was doing, the smell of grilled fish diffusing in the air at this moment made Shui Yun guess correctly. Hearing this, Pei Yaoguang raised his eyebrows and looked at Shui Yun, then said with his chin slightly raised.

"Your nose is quite sharp; you knew what I was doing as soon as you smelled it!"

As he spoke, Pei Yaoguang took the branch he was holding, and sure enough, there were two fish skewered on it that were not too big, but not too small either.

At this time, the fish were grilled black on both sides; it was obvious they were a bit overcooked!

Shui Yun's face darkened, and she instinctively blurted out a complaint.

"Why is it burnt?"

Actually, Shui Yun really didn't mean it. After all, in Shui Yun's view, grilling two fish was like child's play, so how could they get burnt?!

It was just that Shui Yun forgot that Pei Yaoguang was not her; let alone in a dense forest, he had almost never even camped out in the wild before. Plus, from the moment he was born, he had a bunch of people serving him, so why would he need to do it himself?! So, just burning the fish at this moment was already quite an achievement!

It was just that Shui Yun said it too smoothly. So smoothly that as soon as her words came out, Pei Yaoguang's face darkened. For Pei Yaoguang, who had always been proud, how could he admit his failure?! So, hearing this, he immediately glared and retorted.

"What do you mean burnt?! Let me tell you, I did it on purpose, understand?!"

On purpose?!

Deliberately burning the fish?!

Shui Yun was completely speechless. Seeing Pei Yaoguang being stubborn, she didn't say anything more. Seeing that Shui Yun had stopped talking, Pei Yaoguang pursed his lips, reached out to take the fish, and then tore off a piece of fish meat, carefully picking out the fine bones.

Pei Yaoguang was very serious. Because the light was dim, he lowered his head and brought the fish meat to his eyes. After carefully picking out all the fine bones, he raised his hand and placed it by Shui Yun's mouth.

"Eat!"

At this moment, Pei Yaoguang was still acting as arrogant as ever, but looking at the piece of perfectly processed fish meat placed by her mouth, Shui Yun couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in her heart...

Touched, warm... and a hidden shyness.

So, staring at the fish meat for a long while, Shui Yun didn't move. Seeing this, Pei Yaoguang's face immediately turned ugly. But just at this moment, just as Pei Yaoguang was about to say something, Shui Yun suddenly opened her mouth and ate the fish meat.

In an instant, Pei Yaoguang's face brightened again. There was even a visible look of triumph in the corners of his eyes. Afterward, Pei Yaoguang didn't say anything else; he tore off another piece of fish meat, carefully removed the bones, and fed it to Shui Yun again...

Back and forth, until Pei Yaoguang had finished the whole fish and was about to attack the remaining one, Shui Yun finally shook her head, indicating that she was full.

Seeing this, Pei Yaoguang was initially a bit insistent, but after a second thought, he felt that Shui Yun had eaten quite a lot, so he raised his hand and threw the fish meat he had been holding to Shui Yun's mouth into his own mouth.

Uh... so fishy!

Only then did Pei Yaoguang know how terrible the fish he grilled was. But thinking about it, it made sense; the fish wasn't processed much after being caught before being grilled, and there wasn't even any salt, so it would be strange if it wasn't fishy! But thinking about how Shui Yun had eaten so much without a word, without even a single complaint, Pei Yaoguang felt a bit strange in his heart.

It felt like a small blade of grass had suddenly sprouted in a corner of his heart, itchy, yet making him feel indescribably comfortable!

But Pei Yaoguang was proud after all. He would absolutely never talk about such things, let alone admit that the fish he grilled tasted bad. In fact, to prove that he had done a good job, he tore up the remaining fish and ate it all up.

After eating the fish, Pei Yaoguang stood up to go out and wash his hands, then walked back and sat down beside Shui Yun again.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Much better."

"Really?"

Raising his eyebrows, Pei Yaoguang clearly didn't believe Shui Yun's words. So, after the words fell, Pei Yaoguang reached out to pick Shui Yun up, leaned her against his body, and then unwrapped the cloth bandage to start checking the wound.

Suddenly, the physical contact made Shui Yun tense up all over again, but she knew in her heart that even if she broke free or refused now, it would be of no use. So, thinking of this, to divert her attention, Shui Yun cleared her throat slightly and said in a low voice.

"Where is this?"

"A cave under the cliff."

"Under the cliff?"

"Hmm."

He helped Shui Yun remove the cloth bandage, carefully examined the wound, and then responded while re-applying medicine to the wound. Hearing this, Shui Yun immediately remembered what Pei Yaoguang had said during their bickering earlier in the day, so she leaned against him, turned her eyes to glance at Pei Yaoguang, and asked.

"By the way, how exactly did you fall down?"

Actually, Shui Yun didn't know very clearly about Pei Yaoguang falling off the cliff.

At that time, she was organizing the luggage. Although she knew Pei Yaoguang had gone to the edge of the cliff, she understood Pei Yaoguang; although he looked erratic, he was actually very careful in doing things. Plus, the place where the cliff and the cave were was relatively small, so even if the men in black were in ambush, they wouldn't be in that place, which was why Shui Yun let him go out while she took the opportunity to organize things.

But it was at this time, before she could finish packing the luggage, that she heard Jiang Ping'an scream his name. When she looked up, she saw Pei Yaoguang's body suspended in the air, falling toward the bottom of the cliff. So at that time, she didn't think much, or rather, her body reflexively rushed out... and when she woke up again, she was already here.

Therefore, based solely on what she saw and heard, Pei Yaoguang should have been standing on the edge of the cliff looking down when his foot slipped, and he accidentally fell down. But was that really the case?!

Shui Yun instinctively didn't believe it, but she couldn't say why, so she could only be suspicious. But now, thinking back to Pei Yaoguang's furious appearance during the day, Shui Yun could be certain that something must have happened at that time!

But what exactly?! Could it be that someone was hiding in the dark and used a hidden weapon or some other method to push Pei Yaoguang off the cliff?! But if so, why didn't she discover it? And since the other party's martial arts were truly at a level where even she couldn't discover them, why didn't they rush out themselves and kill her and Pei Yaoguang completely?

"See the person alive, see the corpse dead." This was the common principle of death squads, assassins, and killers, which made Shui Yun even more puzzled!

Speaking of serious matters, Shui Yun became serious for a moment. Hearing this, Pei Yaoguang, who was seriously helping Shui Yun apply medicine, suddenly had a look of near-ferocious anger on his face, and then said coldly.

"What else could it be? I was pushed down!"

"Pushed down?!... You mean Jiang Ping'an?!"

Even if she were stupid, she could guess the answer now that Pei Yaoguang had said this much. Thinking about it this way, things became simple; after all, people were just like this—the simpler things were, the less likely they were to be noticed. Everyone was like this, and Shui Yun was naturally no exception.

At this time, Pei Yaoguang, with blood rushing to his head, gritted his teeth, and then his gaze shifted, falling back onto Shui Yun's back, which was full of scars.

"Who else but him?! Hmph! I spend all day hunting geese, only to have my eyes pecked by a goose! I really didn't expect that the man surnamed Jiang could hide it so well, even talking to me while he was making his move. Who would have thought that he would strike a dark blow while we were talking!"

Pei Yaoguang was truly furious. Seeing him so angry, Shui Yun couldn't help but sigh, but after thinking about it, she couldn't help but ask in return.

"However, if you think about it, isn't it a bit strange? If that Jiang Ping'an really had ulterior motives, then what was that about the men in black coming to the county office to assassinate? Li was dead at the time; could that also be a fake?"

Shui Yun had seen with her own eyes how sad Jiang Ping'an cried at that time. So now, telling Shui Yun that those were all fake, Shui Yun was really a bit... but Pei Yaoguang wouldn't lie, at least he wouldn't lie to her, so for a moment, Shui Yun became even more confused.

"Hmph! Rather than saying it was fake, it would be more accurate to say it was pushing the boat with the current."

"What does that mean?"

"It's very simple, because that night's assassination, killing you and me was only secondary; killing Li was the other party's true purpose!"

While speaking, Pei Yaoguang had already applied the medicine, and then took the cloth strip to start helping Shui Yun bandage it again.

"This case now, needless to say, was certainly not done on a whim; the person behind the scenes must have been planning it for many years. And if I'm not mistaken, Jiang Ping'an is an important pawn under that person behind the scenes." ===== CHAPTER 303 =====