Zang Liujiang’s face was so close that Yu Huishui could see his eyelashes trembling non-stop, and a faint scent of blood wafted to his nose, just like the day they hunted wolves.
“Are you hurt?” Yu Huishui instinctively raised his hand to grab Zang Liujiang’s collar, trying to find the source of the smell on his clothes. “Why does it smell like blood?”
Zang Liujiang was pulled down a bit by him, and the closer they got, the more he could hear the thunderous beating in his chest.
This is dangerous.
Zang Liujiang bit his back teeth, his gaze swept forcefully over Yu Huishui’s features, his hands clenched tightly, but his tone softened.
Like he was greatly wronged, Zang Liujiang raised his hand to pull Yu Huishui’s hand off his collar, his broad palm leaving a smudge on Yu Huishui’s otherwise clean wrist.
“Yeah… I got hurt by a wolf.”
“A wolf?” Yu Huishui looked skeptical.
No wonder he doubted it; Zang Liujiang’s skill in dealing with two wolves last time was not something that would easily be injured by a wolf.
“Are there that many wolves on the mountain?”
“Yeah.”
Zang Liujiang raised his eyebrows high, a bit nonchalant, but he didn’t let go of Yu Huishui’s hand, instead guiding it to pull at his own clothes.
Yu Huishui thought he was just being a rogue, making up stories to deceive him, and was about to break free, but then he saw that there was indeed blood under the thick coat.
“What happened?”
Yu Huishui got nervous, craning his neck to look inside Zang Liujiang’s coat.
The half-open clothes were still in the way, so Yu Huishui simply flipped Zang Liujiang onto the edge of the bed, quickly tossing the black lambskin coat to the ground.
With the clothes undone, the wound had been hastily bandaged, with rough cloth wrapped around his waist, faintly seeping blood, the source of the bloody smell.
“See?”
Zang Liujiang was surprisingly obedient, his gaze falling on Yu Huishui’s knees on either side of him, speaking softly, afraid of startling Yu Huishui and scaring him away.
“I wasn’t lying, was I?”
“What kind of wolf is so fierce…”
Yu Huishui had never seen anyone injured by a wolf, so he had no reason not to believe it. He frowned, wanting to reach out and gently touch it, only to remember his hands were still covered in black soot.
Seeing Yu Huishui’s gaze shift away, Zang Liujiang quickly grabbed his hand, keeping his attention firmly in his grasp.
“Aren’t you going to ask if it hurts?”
Yu Huishui was pulled so hard he almost fell on top of him, afraid of pressing on Zang Liujiang’s still bleeding wound, Yu Huishui braced himself on his shoulder, his legs tightly wrapped around his waist for support, avoiding the wound.
“Why are you pulling me, what if I hit it…”
Yu Huishui was startled, about to scold him, but then he met Zang Liujiang’s shimmering eyes.
What a pitifully beautiful bandit, looking like he was about to cry.
Yu Huishui was momentarily speechless, stammering out a question after a while, “Does it… hurt?”
“It hurts.”
Zang Liujiang pressed Yu Huishui’s hand to his face, the golden earring on his ear pressing between his cheek and Yu Huishui’s palm, cool and smooth, itching its way into Yu Huishui’s heart.
“Care for me a little…”
Zang Liujiang was unwilling to miss such a good opportunity, holding onto Yu Huishui’s hand, “If you care for me, the wound won’t hurt.”
Yu Huishui knew this was Zang Liujiang’s nonsense, but being watched so intently, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything else.
“Don’t take me for a fool…”
Yu Huishui’s voice was as small as a bird’s chirp, yet he still leaned closer to Zang Liujiang’s face, “Close your eyes, I’ll wipe it for you…”
Zang Liujiang immediately closed his eyes.
He knew that once his eyes were closed, it wouldn’t just be a wipe.
A gentle touch fell on Zang Liujiang’s burning face, a few round fingertips brushing over, warm and soft, like a handful of reed flowers slowly wiping across his cheek.
Then, something even softer pressed against him.
A wet kiss landed on the side of Zang Liujiang’s face, and the one giving the kiss seemed to think it shouldn’t be too heartless, pausing for a moment before moving to leave another gentle kiss.
Zang Liujiang never knew a kiss on the face could make someone so restless, if not for the fear of scaring Yu Huishui, he would have opened his eyes to see it all.
He boldly reached for Yu Huishui’s hand, grabbing it on the bed and holding it tightly in his palm, his fingers interlocking with Yu Huishui’s.
“Ouch…!”
Zang Liujiang was too excited, using a bit too much force, making Yu Huishui cry out in pain and shake his hand.
Hearing this, Zang Liujiang forgot Yu Huishui was still close to his face, opening his eyes to see Yu Huishui’s face flushed to the ears.
The moment their eyes met, Yu Huishui’s palm was already coming over.
It was a reflex, Zang Liujiang didn’t expect it, and neither did Yu Huishui.
With a crisp sound, Yu Huishui jumped up from the bed, not even bothering to put on his shoes, grabbing them in his hands and running out.
As the door opened, Yu Huishui ran straight into Cuicui Nainai, who was bringing food.
Cuicui was still sewing clothes and hadn’t returned, so the task of delivering food fell to this old lady. She didn’t expect that on her first delivery, she’d see the new bride of the head of the family running out with a red face.
“Oh my! What’s going on here!”
Yu Huishui ran out with black hands and bare feet, and Cuicui Nainai thought something had happened, so scared she didn’t even want the food box, quickly going to meet him.
“Nainai!”
Even in his panic, Yu Huishui didn’t forget to greet her, hopping down the steps and stepping into his shoes.
“What’s with your hands… and why is your mouth black too?”
Cuicui Nainai was frightened, thinking he had eaten something bad and was poisoned, quickly reaching out to support him.
“No, it’s not that!”
Yu Huishui was still a bit flustered, waving his hands to refuse Cuicui Nainai’s help, and ran off in the direction of the study.
Cuicui Nainai was slow to react, turning around only to see Yu Huishui’s back, and then hearing a clatter at the door.
“Wife!”
Zang Liujiang, disheveled, chased out of the room, his appearance, coupled with the bleeding wound on his stomach, completely frightened Cuicui Nainai.
“Oh heavens, what’s happened here? What’s with the head of the family’s face…”
Cuicui Nainai hurriedly went to meet him, almost scared to tears by the young couple.
“Nainai, don’t stop me… Where’s Huishui?”
Blocked by Cuicui Nainai at the door, the eager Zang Liujiang steadied the trembling Cuicui Nainai, helping her sit inside.
“You sit down, just leave the food in the room, I’ll go find my wife, don’t worry about it.”
With that, Zang Liujiang didn’t wait for Cuicui Nainai to respond, and ran off towards the study.
After the commotion in the room, it quieted down again.
Cuicui Nainai clutched her wildly beating heart, calming down after a while.
The older generation was used to tidying up for the younger ones, so after setting the food, Cuicui Nainai shakily got up to tidy the inner room.
She sighed as she opened the bed, shaking out the tangled bedding.
“Oh, old people can’t handle scares, young couples… oh my, why is there so much soot on the bed… heavens, what on earth happened?”
Zang Liujiang, who had chased out, relied on his long arms and legs to reach the study before Yu Huishui.
With a mix of coaxing and acting, Yu Huishui finally helped Zang Liujiang back to the bedroom amidst his cries of “Oh, my stomach hurts again.”
Today was truly fruitful, Zang Liujiang energetically heated water for Yu Huishui to wash his hands and face, then washed their clothes together until they were clean, before climbing into bed feeling refreshed.
Zang Liujiang had made the room so warm that Yu Huishui was already curled up in the bedding, snoring softly.
Zang Liujiang watched his peaceful sleeping face for a while, then reached out to extinguish the candle by the bed.
But he didn’t lie down, instead tucking the bedding in tightly, quietly getting out of bed, putting on his coat, and heading out.
In front of a certain door a few rooms away, stood a few bandits Yu Huishui had seen today.
“Boss.” The chubby bandit who had witnessed the couple’s kiss earlier greeted Zang Liujiang as he approached.
His face no longer had the playful smile from earlier, opening the door to let Zang Liujiang in, speaking in a low voice, “We’ve found out, it wasn’t that old guy from the county who did it.”
“It wasn’t him?”
Zang Liujiang extended his hand, and the village doctor stepped forward to untie his clothes, removing the rough cloth to reveal the wound on his waist.
The wound was shocking, running from his side to his lower back, the flesh turned out and blood oozing, having already soaked through the bandages, clearly not a wolf scratch, but a knife wound.
“It won’t do without stitches, Boss, bear with it.”
The village doctor frowned, skillfully laying out his tools, applying anesthetic powder to the wound, then picking up a silver needle.
He looked conflicted, taking out a cloth to offer to Zang Liujiang, hesitating to speak.
“Stop dawdling, stitch it.”
Zang Liujiang took the cloth and bit it between his teeth, nodding at the chubby bandit to continue.
“It was those thieves from the West Mountain causing trouble again, I captured a few of the ambushers today, interrogated them separately, and none of them changed their story.”
“They really went heavy, what madness is this now.”
The bandit on the other side couldn’t bear to look at Zang Liujiang’s bloody wound, gritting his teeth and turning to look out the window.
“Today was my fault, I wasn’t prepared, if it had been me who got hurt…”
The chubby bandit, who had been looking serious, now showed a guilty expression, but before he could continue, he was interrupted by the bandit beside him.
“Lin Datou! What does this have to do with you, if it weren’t for the Boss taking that blow, we’d be dead.”
The incident was sudden and indeed dangerous, Lin Datou understood that if it weren’t for Zang Liujiang’s skill, he would have lost his life.
Thinking of this, Lin Datou felt even more ashamed.
“Boss, I owe you my life.”
“Cut it out.”
With most of the stitching done, Zang Liujiang finally couldn’t help but speak, spitting out the cloth from his mouth.
“Stop with the smooth talk, pay me back the money you owe me first.”
Lin Datou was taken aback, then broke into a simple smile, “I will, I will! I’ll pay you double!”
The atmosphere in the room finally relaxed, Zang Liujiang hissed as the needle pricked him, steadying himself and speaking in a deep voice:
“There’s something fishy about this, it definitely has something to do with that old guy from the county, send someone to find out, I won’t take this stab for nothing.”