CH 11

Chapter 11: Do You Want Me To Treat The Wounds On Your Body As Well?

After listening to Qi Ci’s story, Bian Zhonghua placed the pinwheel on the wooden table and said: “You’re unlucky even when meeting people.”

Qi Ci didn’t want to talk too much about this matter and became silent.

Suddenly, Bian Zhonghua was attracted to something. As he reached to pick the candlestick on the table, he leaned close to a pair of broken paintings on the wall, and squinted at them.

In the painting, there was a quiet woman holding an embroidered fan and wearing a blue dress with cloud patterns, looking elegant and dignified.

“That’s my mother.” Qi Ci followed Bian Zhonghua’s gaze and explained.

Bian Zhonghua hummed, looked away, and put down the candlestick. However, he couldn’t help but mutter in his mind.

‘Weird, why does the woman in the painting look so familiar?’

Bin Zhonghua held his chin with one hand, and after thinking for a long time, he couldn’t figure out why she would look familiar.

There were no valuable things left in the wooden house, so Qi Ci simply cleaned up and went into the depths of the bamboo forest. The moonlight was thin and cool as the two of them walked along the path for a short while, until they found a deserted and solitary burial.

Qi Ci bowed three times as he whispered: “Mother.”

In the middle of the night, the breeze passed by as the cicadas sang under the moonlight, which remained as white as silk. When Bian Zhonghua saw the words ‘Qi Rulan’ engraved on the tombstone, the strange sense of familiarity filled his mind again, like a small thorn rooted in the flesh; unbearable and disturbing.

After paying his respects, Qi Ci knelt under the pine and cypresses beside the grave, and reached out to dig the earth. Seeing this, Bian Zhonghua asked: “What are you doing?”

Qi Ci explained: “I buried a relic here before. Ah! I found it!”

Then, Qi Ci picked up a wooden box from the earth, skimmed away the floating dust, and gently opened it. Inside, there was a jade pendant.

The jade pendant was odd in shape and It had a lifelike double dragon with its head biting its tails engraved on it. The two dragons formed a circle, and it was empty in the middle, as if something was missing.

Qi Ci gently blew away the soil on the jade pendant, and said: “My mother and I have a part of this jade pendant, my part is a fire pearl, which can be embedded into the jade pendant to form a dragon protecting a pearl. After my mother died, I buried her jade pendant here and wore the fire pearl myself. Now, that pearl was robbed, and this is the only relic my mother left behind for me.”

“This… this is… a mother-son jade pendant?” Bian Zhonghua opened his eyes slowly.

At that moment, he suddenly understood where that weird familiarity came from.

‘It can’t be just a mere coincidence, right?! There’s no way!’

Bian Zhonghua suddenly felt an unreal sensation of vertigo. As he looked up, seeing the deep and quiet forest ahead, the bamboo shadows were mottled, and the bright moon looked down on all beings from the sky. The bright moon was the only one who could see the karma others weren’t able to.

After Qi Ci finished paying his respects to the grave and put away the relic, he stood up and said to Bian Zhonghua: “Let’s go to the Capital.”

With his hands behind his back, Bian Zhonghua’s gaze at Qi Ci had changed drastically to a confused expression mixed with bewilderment as he said: “No, let’s go to an inn first.”

“Why an inn?”

“To get a room.”

“You want to rest for the night before leaving?”

“No, because it’s more convenient for you to take your clothes off.”

“What… what… huh?!”

…

The two of them sat opposite to each other at the end of the bed in the inn, staring at each other, completely speechless.

After a long time, Bian Zhonghua finally broke the silence: “Uh….Well, it seems that you’re too embarrassed to take your clothes off on your own. So why don’t you take off a piece and I take off another?”

Qi Ci: “……”

Qi Ci touched his forehead and then lowered his head, slowly starting to untie his belt: “Forget it, I’ll take it off. But, didn’t you say that-…. Why so sudden….?” Qi Ci was hesitant to say it, so he took long pauses from time to time.

“Huh?” After hearing this, Bian Zhonghua was confused, but then he suddenly understood. As he waved his hand, he hurriedly explained: “Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not trying to do anything to you. I just want to see if you have a birthmark.”

“A birthmark?” Qi Ci froze, and then pulled open his robe, revealing his chest: “I have a red birthmark on my chest.”

Bian Zhonghua leaned over and approached Qi Ci. Before, in the brothel, Qi Ci’s body showed several bruises provoked by the beatings. At that moment, although only his upper body was naked, Bian Zhonghua didn’t pay attention to any traces on his body, but now, when he looked carefully, he was able to see a red birthmark on his chest.

Bian Zhonghua covered his face with one hand and breathed a long sigh.

“What, what’s wrong?” Qi Ci was nervous.

Bian Zhonghua moved his hand and asked instead: “How can the bruises on your body disappear so slowly? They’re still green and purple.”

Qi Ci replied: “The bruises won’t disappear that easily. Moreover, after you left that night, the next day I tried to escape. But because I couldn’t escape, I was beaten up again.”

Bian Zhonghua looked up to the sky and sighed heavily, as if he would collapse at any moment.

Qi Ci asked: “What’s the matter?”

Bian Zhonghua thought for a long time, opened and closed his mouth several times, waiting to say something but stopping himself every time. Until finally, he said: “I…. you…. forget it. I’d better get you some blood-activating ointment first. Wait here.”

Bian Zhonghua got up, but before he could go, Qi Ci grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the bed: “Would you please stop hesitating to speak?! Why do you like to arouse people’s appetite so much1?”

Bian Zhonghua looked at Qi Ci and said: “Your mother was once the personal maid of Empress Dowager Xianyi. And your father…. Is the former Emperor of the current Dynasty, who’s already dead. You’re a Prince….”

Qi Ci slowly loosened Bian Zhonghua’s arm as his mouth opened slightly and his eyelashes fluttered. At first, he laughed, trying to treat Bian Zhonghua’s words as a joke, but when he saw Bian Zhonghua quietly looking at him, Qi Ci’s laugh became dry.

Qi Ci was silent for a long time before he could say: “You…. go and get the medicine. And while you’re on the way, take some medicine that will prevent you from talking nonsense.”

Bian Zhonghua knew that he wouldn’t be able to accept it for a while, so he simply shook his head helplessly. Then, he got up and took out a bottle of medicine from his bag. When he came back, he saw Qi Ci staring down at the birthmark on his chest in a daze.

As Bian Zhonghua handed the medicine to Qi Ci, he said: “Apply it on your body and the bruises will disappear overnight.”

However, Qi Ci didn’t take the medicine, he simply raised his head and asked: “You were talking nonsense just now, right?”

Bian Zhonghua pulled up one arm of Qi Ci, wrapped up his sleeve, and rubbed the medicine for him: “Yes, I was talking nonsense. It’s quite fun to fool people like you who have never been outside the Northern border, and have never seen the world!”

Qi Ci: “…..”

Once Bian Zhonghua finished applying the medicine on the wounds of both arms, he looked at Qi Ci, who was still in a daze. At that, he raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: “Do you want me to treat the wounds on your body as well?”