He shifted her onto his lap and gently felt the forbidden areas of her chest, and the deep valley between them, recalling as he did so, that fateful night on her roof when he saw her bathing...
He wondered if she was in a lot of pain every day with how tightly she was binding her chest to try and hide her curves.
He wished he was in a position to tell her not to keep doing that; was her mother aware of this unhealthy practice?
When he was done, he had to stop and take a moment to recompose himself.
His mind was really in overdrive now. It had wandered into places it shouldn’t and then kept right on wandering... off the cliff and into the fiery pit.
He tried chanting his Confucian Analects.
It was definitely the right call to avoid looking. Touching had already been more than he could handle without adding another vision he knew he wouldn’t be able to forget in a hurry... Make that, ever...
He took a few precious moments to practise his qigong breathing until he was of sound mind again.
One sting, thank goodness.
He strode deeper into the cave, collecting moss and wetting it to make a poultice for the sting.
Returning to her side as quickly as possible, he gently pressed the green paste over the swollen area, blowing on it to try and cool her angry red skin.
The rough soldier couldn’t help but notice that he had laid her on her chest, so she was pressed down on her cleavage which was visible against her ribs. He wasn’t sure if this would be hurting her, but after his earlier temporary delirium, he thought it best not to try anything to alleviate the problem.
When she came to her senses, he would have enough trouble on his hands.
Right on cue, Meili stirred and groaned in pain.
"Mei Meili," he called anxiously.
"My back," she croaked, "burning".
"You’ve been stung by a murder hornet. But don’t worry, you’ll be okay. You were lucky you only got stung once so it won’t kill you. I’m sorry but you’ll have to endure it Mei Meili."
"It hurts, Bai Li," she gasped with shock and pain.
Finally, she drops the ’Master Bai’, he thought.
If this is what it took, he wondered with jealousy what methods Tan Bowen had used with her to move past ’Master Tan’. He wouldn’t trust that guy as far as you could throw him...
"Tufei?" she asked him fearfully.
"He hasn’t reappeared yet, but he will, so don’t be concerned. A few hornet stings can’t kill a horse of that size. He’ll come back when the pain subsides."
"Tricky?" she asked.
"He couldn’t keep up with the horses, but he was on our trail. He’s a smart dog; I’ve seen him hunt. He’ll find us soon."
She tried to sit up, suddenly realising he had undressed her.
"Stay where you are Mei Meili," he said sharply. "I had to remove your top to treat your back."
Finally, she started to cry.
So she doesn’t cry when she gets stung by the most painful insect in the Empire, but she cries because he bared her back to save her life...
"I’m sorry Mei Meili, but your life was in danger. I was careful not to look beyond your back."
Now she started sobbing.
"Pass me my top," she cried, trying to cover herself.
"You can’t put anything on your back. Here," he wrapped her in his cloak leaving the back open.
"It’s so painful Bai Li," she sobbed. "It burns and burns."
His heart ached. He pulled her against him and held her while she cried.
A short bark announced the arrival of Tricky-Wu, who finally emerged from the bushes, racing over to them.
He climbed straight into Meili’s lap, and she stroked him while she cried.
Bai Li held them both, a tiny girl with a dog almost as large as her.
Tricky licked her hand, sadly sniffing at her sore back.
"Tricky," she said to him through her tears, "go find Third". Sniffle... "Go find Third."
The dog jumped off her lap and stood at alert. He looked at her, head cocked.
"Go on boy, go find Third."
The puppy ran off into the gathering darkness.
"He knows how to do that. He does it for me at home all the time," she sniffed.
Bai Li hoped like hell that the dog wouldn’t get eaten by a tiger on its long trek to find her brother.
"I need to build us a fire before it gets too dark."
He didn’t want to frighten her with why, but the wild animals around here were dangerous. They would need a fire to stay safe.
She curled into a little ball after he left, hugging her legs, covering herself with his cloak. Her back burned and burned without any relief.
He quickly lit them a large fire and started roasting some of the game.
"Don’t bother for me Bai Li," she groaned. "I can’t eat. My back feels like it’s on fire."
Bai Li checked on her back, and it was indeed swelling alarmingly now.
The man tended to her tirelessly. He went back and forth, fetching more of the cool moss, constantly reapplying it and wiping her forehead with a dampened handkerchief.
Finally, in the early hours of the morning, "it feels slightly better," she breathed. "I’m hungry now."
He heaved a sigh of relief. The worst was over.
Bai Li passed her one of the quails he’d cooked.
"It’s cold, but it should fill you."
She nibbled on just enough meat to take the edge off her hunger.
"Turn around Bai Li," she said picking up her top.
He thought this was premature, but he wasn’t going to say anything. He understood her embarrassment.
In the gentle firelight she pulled her top loosely across her shoulders. Thankfully she wasn’t going to attempt that chest binding, or he might have had to intervene.
Bai Li stared straight ahead.
Unfortunately, her silhouette was cast by the fire onto the huge cave wall so that he felt like a voyeur, even with his back turned.
The huge shadow play was ridiculously erotic, and he started to wonder if this whole episode was arranged by the Heavens to test his mettle.
Had he passed, or been found wanting?
Were the gods up there just laughing at him?