CH 86

Chapter 86: The Night Is Long And I Can’t Sleep, So I Came To Find You To Drink Some Wine.

With a start, Qi Ci moved away from Bian Zhonghua’s playful fingers and lifted the quilt again to cover his naked body.

“Hmm?” Bian Zhonghua slowly withdrew his hand and asked: “What’s wrong? Does it hurt?”

Qi Ci swallowed twice and shook his head: “No, it doesn’t hurt. Don’t worry, it’s just that I felt a bit cold.”

Bian Zhonghua felt some regret inside his heart, but on the surface, he continued to smile as usual: “Alright. Since you don’t have any pain, you must not have any injuries.”

While the two of them talked, Granny Yao walked into the wooden house with the borrowed clothes. When Qi Ci saw that he didn’t need to cover himself with the quilt anymore, he couldn’t stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief. After taking the clothes, he thanked Granny Yao.

Granny Yao stared at him and suddenly said: “Child, after you get dressed, let me check your pulse.”

Qi Ci nodded in response, got up, and went to the outer room to get dressed.

Granny Yao walked to the outer room, moved a wooden chair, and sat down. She was still feeling a bit dazed.

‘At that time, I clearly saw that Qi Ci had….’

‘How could this….?’

Granny Yao, puzzled, muttered softly: “Is that child really not human?”

While Granny Yao was caught in a daze, Qi Ci had already changed into clean clothes and walked out of the outer room.

When Granny Yao noticed this, she pointed at the chair opposite her and asked Qi Ci to sit down. Qi Ci obediently sat down, lifted his sleeve, and presented his arm to Granny Yao.

Granny Yao took a piece of cloth, folded it, and placed it under Qi Ci’s wrist. Then, she pressed three fingers on Qi Ci’s wrist to check his pulse. At that moment, she could feel that Qi Ci’s pulse was stable, did not fluctuate, and didn’t feel any different from the pulse of normal people. However, this only caused Granny Yao to fall into deep thought and frowned slowly.

When Qi Ci saw her like this, he asked: “Granny, is something wrong?”

“You….” Granny Yao hesitated, not knowing what to say. “Do you feel any pain?”

Qi Ci shook his head.

“So, have you felt anything strange at all?”

“Strange?” Qi Ci was confused. “Strange how?”

“Never mind.” Granny Yao shook her head, sighed, and muttered: “Forget it. One’s life is determined by the Heavens, it’s good nothing really happened.”

Qi Ci wanted to ask more questions but was persuaded by Granny Yao with a few words. However, Qi Ci suddenly remembered something, walked back into the inner room, and asked Bian Zhonghua anxiously: “You looked at the back of my neck, right? Did you see any old wounds or scars?!”

After seeing Bian Zhonghua shake his head with certainty, Qi Ci froze.

“What is it?” Bian Zhonghua asked.

“I should have a scar on the back of my neck. After I was sold to the brothel, they branded me with fire. I should have a burn mark.” As Qi Ci said this, he untied the front of his robes to look at his chest, to see if his red birthmark was still there. 

Indeed, it was still there. It looked as eye-catching and dazzling as ever, as if to remind him of something from the past.

As soon as Bian Zhonghua heard Qi Ci’s words, he frowned thoughtfully.

Not long ago, Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua were so overwhelmed with the joy of having reunited that they didn’t think of the inconsistencies. However, when they began to ponder over the things they went through, there were some that made no logical sense.

If the two had fallen off the cliff together, then why did it take Qi Ci seven days to wake up? And how could he be unharmed?

What the hell happened in the middle?

The two looked at each other without knowing what to say, when all of a sudden, Granny Yao’s alarming cry was heard from outside the wooden house.

Without delay, Qi Ci immediately rushed out: “What happened?! Granny?”

As soon as Qi Ci came out, he saw Granny Yao standing outside the house. With trembling fingers, she pointed at the lake.

Qi Ci followed the direction pointed out by Granny Yao with his gaze and was stunned by what he saw.

It was the coffin that Granny Yao had pushed into the lake seven days ago.

The lid of the coffin was wide open. Inside, there was only a book of paintings, completely soaked.

There were no bones inside the coffin.

Due to his mobility problems, Bian Zhonghua was the last to walk out of the house. After seeing the strange situation in front of him, he was shocked for a long time, but then he frowned.

“This, this is….” Granny Yao stuttered for a while, unable to say a full sentence. “What’s going on?”

The question was blown away by the wind, and no one could give an answer.

After the initial shock, only confusion remained. Granny Yao planned to tell the villagers about this matter. After letting Bian Zhonghua and Qi Ci go back into the house, Granny Yao hurried to the village.

Bian Zhonghua knew full well that when strange things happen, demons must be involved. So, he said to Qi Ci: “Let’s set out tomorrow and return to the Capital.”

Qi Ci said: “It’s too sudden.”

Bian Zhonghua said: “As I escorted you back to the Capital, we ran into strange creatures one after the other. More than what I saw and heard when I was on duty throughout the years. If we don’t go back, I’m worried that something else will happen. However, I also wanted to ask…do you have any treasures with you?”

As Bian Zhonghua put his hands on Qi Ci’s shoulders, he looked at him left and right.

Qi Ci let Bian Zhonghua play with him as he asked: “Will your body be able to withstand the hardship of the journey?”

Bian Zhonghua deliberately lowered his head and sighed faintly: “Haa, actually, about my injuries….”

Qi Ci immediately tensed up.

When Bian Zhonghua glanced at Qi Ci through the corner of his eye, he saw his uneasy expression and couldn’t stop himself from gently raising the corner of his mouth, suppressing a laugh. Then, he pressed Qi Ci’s shoulders and said with a somewhat sad tone of voice: “My wounds hurt, ahh…”

Qi Ci panicked: “What’s wrong with your injuries?!”

Bian Zhonghua’s eyes were empty of emotion as he stared into the distance, as if he was hopeless: “It’s very likely that my injuries will heal in a few days, which means I won’t be able to loaf around even when I return to the Capital.”

Qi Ci: “….”

…

The next day, the two of them packed up what they had and bid their farewell to Granny Yao. At that moment, Granny Yao returned Qi Ci’s belongings to him, who put them away with great care, and thanked Granny Yao with extreme gratitude.

Granny Yao didn’t mention the matter of Qi Ci’s death. Instead, she asked him to be careful on his journey.

Like this, Bian Zhonghua and Qi Ci embarked on their way back to the Capital.

In the meantime, Bian Zhonghua tried to guide his qi through his meridians by regulating his breathing1, but every time he tried, he felt extreme pain run through his entire body, rendering him unable to use his strength. Because of this, he had to give up and wait until they returned to the Capital to ask State Master Li for help.

The trip to the Capital was long, and they didn’t know how long it would take them to get there by foot. Along the way, they found a town and planned to rest for the night, then buy two horses the next day to continue their journey.

Since the story about a town where all its inhabitants and animals were killed and thrown into a ravine had spread far and wide, other towns and villages in the surrounding area fell into a panic. In this town, all the innkeepers and waiters seemed frightened by the unknown danger, and the streets were empty even before the sun dipped below the horizon.

Bian Zhonghua and Qi Ci asked for two rooms, and each settled on their own to rest. Qi Ci asked for a basin of hot water, but not to wash himself. After taking out the token and the copper coin that Granny Yao had kept for him until now and had just returned to him this morning, Qi Ci carefully washed away the blood stains present on them. Then, he carefully dried both objects and put them away.

After doing this, Qi Ci remembered that Granny Yao had also given him something else, so he rummaged through his luggage until he found a wooden box.

This was the box Bian Zhonghua gave Qi Ci for safekeeping when he fought the Taotie.

When Qi Ci saw that the wooden box was also stained with blood, he took out the incense inside and placed it on the table. After wiping the wooden box clean, he carefully picked up the incense spread out on the table and planned to put it back, but as he motioned to do so, he accidentally dropped one on the ground.

Qi Ci hurried to pick it up, but as he did so, he saw that the incense had a line of small letters. Curious, Qi Ci held the incense closer to the flame of the candle to see what was written on it, but he didn’t know that the incense was extremely flammable. Of course, as soon as the incense got close to the flame, even if it wasn’t touching it, it lit up!

Startled, Qi Ci hurried to separate it from the flame, but it was already too late…the incense was already lit.

Qi Ci had no other choice than to insert the incense into the gap of a stone brick at the corner of the room, planning to compensate Bian Zhonghua later.

As soon as he inserted the incense in the stone brick, he heard someone knocking on the door of the room.

“Who is it?” Qi Ci asked somewhat suspiciously.

“It’s me.” Just as he heard the familiar cheery voice, Qi Ci’s heart skipped a beat.

At that, Qi Ci hurried to open the door, only to see Bian Zhonghua standing outside with two jars of wine and a big smile: “The night is long and I can’t sleep, so I came to find you to drink some wine.”

Wooohhh Qi Ci accidentally lit the incense! The one it made Bian Zhonghua realize his feelings for Qi Ci 

The wine  Bian Zhonghua isn’t missing the chance lol