Lin Qingyun suspected that Xiao He was intentionally stonewalling him, but when he met He Zhuoming’s eyes, he found not a hint of malice in her; she was purely reminding him.
Lin Qingyun argued, “That wasn’t the truth—it was a joke.”
He Zhuoming: “I don’t joke with life-savers I only have an ordinary relationship with.”
Lin Qingyun twitched the corners of his mouth, a smile not reaching his eyes: “What business is that of yours? I like it this way.”
He Zhuoming took the wooden sword into her hand—but still ignored Lin Qingyun and continued walking forward.
Lin Qingyun folded his arms, watching as she headed in the wrong direction. He didn’t speak up to correct her, but followed behind He Zhuoming with a cold, silent sneer.
He thought quite viciously in his heart: Go ahead and be fierce with me, give me the cold shoulder. You only know how to bully me. When you can’t find your way out in a moment, let’s see how you cry!
And he was absolutely determined to stay by He Zhuoming’s side; this wasn’t because he was idle, nor did it mean he was revolving around He Zhuoming. He just wanted to see with his own eyes He Zhuoming realize her mistake in a flood of tears, and then truly repent and apologize to him properly.
When He Zhuoming came to hug his thighs and apologize, he would then ruthlessly reject her—
What should he say then? Yes, he would use the exact words He Zhuoming had just used to retort!
“Didn’t we break off relations? I don’t travel with ‘saved idiots’ I have an ordinary relationship with.”
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t talk to me? I can’t hear you speaking right now, oh!”
…
The sky darkened rapidly. Before the last bit of light vanished, He Zhuoming found a river by following the sound of flowing water.
Because she didn’t know how to start a fire with her bare hands.
She had already resolved not to talk to Lin Qingyun. Even if he followed behind her, displaying an attitude of seeking reconciliation, He Zhuoming would not acknowledge him, nor would she ask for his help in starting a fire.
On a clear night, the riverside would be brighter than other places due to the reflection from the water’s surface, so there was no need to worry about being left in the dark.
It also solved the problem of where to wash up.
He Zhuoming squatted by the riverside and submerged her hands into the water—the coldness of the river at night was in no way inferior to well water, causing her to hiss at the chill.
Lin Qingyun walked up beside her and set down a roll of clean silk cloth and a medicine bottle: “Wash your wounds and apply the medicine, lest you die before you even manage to repay the favor.”
“However, I am more magnanimous and kinder than Xiao He. If you unfortunately die from a wound infection, I will definitely dig a wide and large grave for you.”
He Zhuoming pulled out her dripping wet hands, took the medicine bottle, and turned around, presenting her back to Lin Qingyun.
Lin Qingyun walked around to her front, looking quite dissatisfied: “Why didn’t you say thank you?”
He Zhuoming raised her head, her face taut and expressionless: “Thank you. Once I get down the mountain, I’ll buy new cloth and medicine to compensate you.”
Lin Qingyun: “There’s no need for compensation, because I am very magnanimous; this is a gift for you—haha, I am completely different from people who go around breaking off friendships at the drop of a hat.”
He Zhuoming turned away, continuing to keep her back to Lin Qingyun, gnashing her back teeth as she lowered her head to apply the medicine to her palms.
Although she was using the medicine Lin Qingyun had given her, He Zhuoming felt that Lin Qingyun was truly too annoying. She would never talk to Lin Qingyun again, would never smile at him, and would absolutely never cry in front of Lin Qingyun!
She was going to become a heartless cultivation machine, cultivate into a heartless, world-class master, and then heartlessly repay her debt of gratitude and heartlessly leave Lin Qingyun behind!
Once she returned to the modern era, she would buy the complete set of the male lead’s merchandise, and then heartlessly lock all of it into the depths of a storage cabinet—let it gather dust! Let it never see the light of day!
He Zhuoming thought viciously, feeling saddened that she had become “bad” while simultaneously comforting herself: Lin Qingyun deserves this!
It was understandable that he had played dead before the black-clad youth had left, but even after the enemy was gone, he continued to play dead. He had clearly watched her digging the grave so laboriously and reciting a eulogy in such sorrow, yet he remained completely unmoved… She had offered her sincerity, and this is how he treated her!
As she thought about it, He Zhuoming’s vision blurred, and she couldn’t help but sob: because the medicine Lin Qingyun gave her really stung when applied to the wounds.
But Lin Qingyun was right nearby, and fearing he would see her crying, He Zhuoming simply plunged her head into the river—before her head was even fully submerged, it was abruptly hauled back up by her collar by an external force.
He Zhuoming coughed repeatedly as the collar choked her, and Lin Qingyun’s shocked voice sounded in her ear: “Why is your temper so volatile? I only said the honest truth that I am more magnanimous and kinder than you, and you immediately try to throw yourself into the river?”
He Zhuoming was stunned by his words, taking several seconds to slowly grow angry as she wiped the dripping water droplets from her face with her hand.
As a result, the ointment she had applied to her palms ran into her eyes with the water, making them sting and ache—He Zhuoming burst into tears, her throat too choked with sobs to find the time to retort to Lin Qingyun.
Lin Qingyun scratched the back of his head, not even noticing that his short hair had been ruffled. He now only felt that He Zhuoming was incredibly troublesome. Why was she crying again?
He was the victim, and even he hadn’t cried! Why was Xiao He crying so loudly?!
He raised his hand and then lowered it, walking from He Zhuoming’s left to her right, and then from her right to her left. He raised his sleeve, intending to wipe her face, but upon seeing his dirty sleeve, he retreated in disappointment.
Lin Qingyun stared at her for a long while before finally spreading his hands in defeat: “Xiao He, stop crying. Your hair is so messy. Crying like this, you look even uglier than when we first met.”
He Zhuoming was enraged, cursing back between sobs: “You’re the one who’s ugly! You even had liver spots back then; you were uglier than me!”
Lin Qingyun: “No, I looked good even with liver spots. It’s impossible for me to look uglier than you do when you’re crying.”
He Zhuoming: “We’ve already broken off relations. Don’t talk to me! Whether I cry ugly or not is none of your damn business—and I wasn’t trying to throw myself into the river, I was washing my face! I would never throw myself into the river over a big liar who’s only a life-saver I have an ordinary relationship with!”
After finishing, He Zhuoming turned away, kept her back to Lin Qingyun, and continued to scoop up water from the river to wash her face.
Under the repeated rinsing of the river water, the blood stains on He Zhuoming’s neck and chin were washed away. A knife wound extending diagonally from her jaw to her neck was no longer covered, lying conspicuously across her skin.
The knife mark was very shallow, having only broken the skin and flesh in the middle, while both ends were only slightly red and swollen.
Lin Qingyun suddenly reached out, pinched He Zhuoming’s chin, and pried her face upward.
He Zhuoming struck his arm a few times in a fit of temper, but Lin Qingyun didn’t budge, only asking: “Did he cut your neck with his blade?”
He Zhuoming struggled to pry his fingers away, ignoring his question. But Lin Qingyun’s fingers were clamped down with unusual tightness; the harder she pushed, the less she could move them, and her chin even started to ache from the pressure.
She made up her mind not to speak to Lin Qingyun; even if she couldn’t pry his hand away, she wouldn’t speak to him, so she only glared at him unhappily with her eyes.
He Zhuoming now felt that Lin Qingyun was even more annoying—she didn’t feel that Lin Qingyun asking about the wound was a sign of concern for her at all. If he truly cared, he wouldn’t be prying her chin with such force. They hadn’t made up yet, and He Zhuoming refused to talk to a strange life-saver who didn’t respect her.
They looked at each other for a long time, and finally, it was Lin Qingyun who let go first.
He Zhuoming rubbed her chin and quickly turned her face away, leaving only the back of her head facing Lin Qingyun.
However, reminded by Lin Qingyun, she couldn’t help but touch the wound on her neck—it hurt quite a bit to the touch.
She couldn’t help but stretch her neck to look into the water, observing the shape of the wound through the reflection: it looked shallow and likely wouldn’t leave a scar.
Lin Qingyun squatted beside her, rubbing his head and ruffling his own short hair until it looked like a hedgehog.
Seeing that He Zhuoming simply wouldn’t look at him or speak to him, he sighed gloomily and asked: “Are you really that angry?”
He Zhuoming remained silent, only shifting away to a spot further from Lin Qingyun. Lin Qingyun followed casually, closing the distance, and said: “Xiao He has lied to me too, right? When we first met, telling me something about going to seek out relatives—that was clearly nonsense… I didn’t raise any objections.”
He Zhuoming: “The nature of it is different! We had just met back then, and you didn’t count as my good friend yet. Not to mention, I only told a tiny little lie, and it didn’t hurt your heart.”
Lin Qingyun: “Then when did we start to count as good friends?”
He Zhuoming thought for a moment and said: “From the time we buried the villagers’ corpses together; going through hardships together makes you good friends.”
Lin Qingyun: “Since we are good friends who have been through hardships together, then Xiao He, you…”
Before he could finish his sentence, He Zhuoming covered her ears, stood up, and walked along the riverside.
Lin Qingyun, interrupted in his speech, stood up and followed her.
The river water flowed downward with a rush, and the reflections of the two people, one behind the other, flowed downward as well.
He Zhuoming walked faster and faster out of anger. After walking for who knows how long, her physical strength gradually exhausted. Glancing at the river surface, she saw that Lin Qingyun was still following behind her.
Tired of walking, she simply squatted down on the spot.
Lin Qingyun walked around to her front and squatted down as well, lifting the soft sword at his waist—the Wuyi sword transformed into a flower-bearing swallow, fluttering its wings and landing on He Zhuoming’s knee.
He Zhuoming resisted the urge to pinch the bird, her gaze passing over the swallow to look at Lin Qingyun.
Lin Qingyun was squatting in a relaxed posture, his arms folded over his knees, his back completely hunched. Half of his face was buried in the crook of his own arm, and of the remaining half, the most conspicuous feature was his eyes with their dense eyelashes.
At the moment their gazes met, Lin Qingyun blinked—the swallow, holding a begonia flower, leaned forward and gently rubbed its furry head against He Zhuoming’s damp face.
He Zhuoming didn’t know if the swallow’s movements were out of its own consciousness or Lin Qingyun’s will.
After a moment of silence, Lin Qingyun spoke: “I won’t lie to you next time.”
He Zhuoming: “You also need to apologize to me.”
Lin Qingyun paused. A moment later, he squeezed three incredibly unfamiliar syllables from his throat: “Sorry…”
He Zhuoming reached out to cradle the swallow, squeezing the small bird gently within her palms, and said cheerfully: “I forgive you.”
Lin Qingyun: “But you were also very fierce with me, and I didn’t do it on purpose. Although the lie I told was a bit bigger than the one you told before, you also spoke too loudly to me.”
He Zhuoming raised her eyes, looking at him—He Zhuoming’s eyes were round and bright, her brows thick and black. When she wasn’t deliberately tightening her expression to make a cold face, there was a very upright, handsome quality to her.
And the noticeable baby fat on her cheeks, combined with the raw, childlike quality in her brows and eyes, gave this handsomeness a gender-ambiguous, youthful spirit.
Lin Qingyun stared at her face, and in an instant, he completely forgot how he had previously been resentful and determined to make He Zhuoming kneel and beg for mercy.
He only saw He Zhuoming, and clearly felt that He Zhuoming was looking at him—the intense feeling of being watched once again enveloped Lin Qingyun.
He Zhuoming spoke slowly, her tone softening, “I wasn’t being fierce with you… alright, I was also a little bit in the wrong, sorry.”
Lin Qingyun listened to her speak, and for the first time in his life, felt embarrassed, saying: “Actually, you weren’t particularly in the wrong either… are we still breaking off relations?”
He Zhuoming shook her head: “We apologized to each other, so that counts as making up, and we aren’t breaking off relations—but you aren’t allowed to lie to me like this again. In here,”
She pointed to her own heart: “Even though my heart wasn’t stabbed by someone else, being let down by you was very painful. If you weren’t my good friend, I wouldn’t feel so bad.”
After a pause, He Zhuoming added: “The eulogy I gave was completely sincere. If you were harmed and died, I think helping you get revenge would be more important than going home—this much.”
She held up her index finger and thumb, measuring out half of a finger joint in front of Lin Qingyun’s eyes. Although it was only a tiny bit, it made Lin Qingyun feel a sudden burst of happiness in his heart. He couldn’t help but smile, his dimples floating lightly onto his cheeks.
While feeling happy, he also felt dissatisfied.
Why did I only meet Xiao He now?
Why did I only become friends with Xiao He now?
Xiao He is so interesting, I should have gotten to know her the moment she was born—whoever arranged for her to grow up away from my side, go to hell.