CH 18

Chapter 18: Gentleman Gui Debuts (part 5)

The man slowly opened his eyes, revealing the pretty gold of his irises. He looked up at Bai Xi wordlessly, ignoring the proffered grilled fish.

“You can be at ease. It isn’t poisoned,” said Bai Xi, as if in response to the man’s refusal the other day. On the way here, she had told herself that the reason that she had returned was that she couldn’t leave him injured, not because he was handsome, and especially not because of his golden eyes. Absolutely not.

After a long time, when Bai Xi’s patience was about to wear thin, the man reached out with a slender, white, jade-like hand to take the grilled fish. He then picked up the chopsticks Bai Xi made and started to eat the fish. His movements were graceful and made for a striking scene.

“How is it? The flavour isn’t bad.” She knew her own handiwork, but she wanted to hear this person’s evaluation. However, after she had asked, she realised that she shouldn’t have said that.

But it seemed that he hadn’t heard her and continued chewing, expressionless. She couldn’t figure out if he thought the food was delicious or disgusting.

She also didn’t know how long it had been, but from the glow of the setting sun, she estimated that it was approximately 7 pm. This man had spent close to 1 hour eating roughly 1.5 kg1 of fat fish. This speed was really unmatched.

“Hey, do you want to drink some water?” She wasn’t expecting a reply. She intended to give him some water anyway, but heard the man let out a faint sigh.

“You aren’t mute? Earlier I blamed myself for prying into your painful memories,” Bai Xi grumbled, but when she saw his handsome, indifferent face look up at the setting sun, she decided to forget it. She would not fuss over this wounded man.

Regardless of Bai Xi’s efforts to make him speak, she was not successful.

For example, she asked, “Hey, what’s your name? You cannot let me continuously say ‘hey, hey’ when addressing you.”

“Do you want to take care of the injury on your body?”

“Have you discovered Fo Yin Temple nearby? The guards and masters of Fo Yin Temple surely didn’t cause your injury, right?”

“Hey, the sky is getting darker quickly. Do you want to continue staying here?”

Bai Xi did not know how many questions she asked. No matter how many she asked, the other party remained silent.

“Forget it. If you like staying here, then continue!” She was tired. About 4 hours had passed since she had started her expedition, and then she had spent close to 2 hours with him. It would be a miracle if she wasn’t tired.

The man’s gold eyes appeared particularly brilliant at night. His golden eyes tracked her until she had left entirely. He looked away, but he eventually looked over at the place where Bai Xi had been once again.

Since Bai Xi was tired after the day’s events, she thought she’d be able to fall asleep quickly, but somehow she ended up tossing and turning in bed. She was unable to relax and sleep. Maybe it was because the bed was hard, or maybe it was because she was worried. She would not be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

The day was still dark when Bai Xi was awoken by the sound of the bell in the monastery. She washed up and dressed. She looked up to see that the sky had already started to turn the colour of a fish belly. Bai Xi hurried to the forest. From yesterday’s events, it seemed that she was concerned about the man. Was he still there? He shouldn’t have been attacked by forest animals, right? She didn’t know why she was concerned. Why should she care? Perhaps his golden eyes were enough to evoke her interest, or maybe it was because he was wounded.

When she saw the familiar figure leaning against the large tree, her worry lessened considerably. The man opened his eyes and looked at Bai Xi briefly, his eyes then sliding shut, his face blank.

She really didn’t know what was wrong with her. For her to actually run here…

“Hey, you can’t have been lying here all night, have you?” The man’s posture before she left yesterday was exactly the same. Is it possible that he hadn’t even drunk a drop of water last night, or even gone to the toilet? Was this possible? To not even have gone to the toilet all night?

“Really, what happened to your injury?” Bai Xi asked after she pushed aside her messy thoughts.

Bai Xi didn’t wait for the man to reply and immediately went to deal with the wound. She was surprised that the man didn’t stop her. Rather, he opened his eyes and quietly watched Bai Xi assist him with his injury.

“This injury was caused by a hidden weapon. The hidden weapon has already been removed and the poison in your body has been forced out, but the wound has already started to decompose. I will need to dig out some of the flesh so that the wound will not fester.”  Who was this man? After receiving such a heavy wound, his complexion was normal. And even yesterday he was able to eat the grilled fish so gracefully. She suddenly admired the man in front of her somewhat.

“You will need to bear the pain for a moment. If you can’t endure, then feel free to shout. Nobody will ridicule you.”

The man didn’t say a word, his gold eyes flat as he gazed at Bai Xi’s ordinary appearance. Bai Xi suddenly felt helpless.

Bai Xi sighed inwardly. She pulled out a dagger and started to prepare to deal with the wound. But, as the tip of the knife approached the rotting flesh, her jade hand paused. Didn’t she use the knife yesterday to kill some fish? Did she clean it?

Just when she hesitated on whether she had cleaned it, the man produced a dagger and offered it to her. After glancing at the man, Bai Xi took the dagger and cut directly into the rotting flesh.

Bai Xi’s movements were extremely cautious and she was highly skilled, having done this sort of thing frequently. During the process, the man’s eyebrows didn’t move, and his expression remained indifferent. It was as if the wound being treated wasn’t his.

After about half an hour, Bai Xi had finally removed all of the rotting flesh. The man pulled out a white porcelain bottle and sprinkled powder on the wound that Bai Xi had just treated. Bai Xi then tore the sleeve of the man’s robe and wrapped the wound.

“Since you had the tools and medicine, why didn’t you treat the wound?” This man was really strange. He obviously had a knife and medicine, but he had let the wound fester for a night. Did he want to die?

The man remained silent, giving no indication of offering an explanation. Upon seeing this reaction, Bai Xi deflated like a balloon and leaned against the tree. Why did she bother? She knew the other party was not going to answer her. What was she doing asking questions?

“That is light combat.”

“Eh?”

1.(三斤) three jin – jin is a measurement of weight, which is equal to roughly 0.5 kg or 1.103 lbs. So, 1.5 kg or 3.306 lbs. Come to think of it, why is pound abbreviated to lb? The imperial system is so strange.