Chapter 2
Chapter 2
After wandering around for an entire day without finding a way out, I watched the sky begin to darken. I didn’t dare linger any longer, so I had no choice but to tuck the walnut away and return to Lanyin Temple.
Just like yesterday, a thin gauze scarf was still hanging on the door. Only this time, it was a deep, sinister purple, and the fragrance was so strong it hit me in the face, making me sneeze several times in a row.
This time, I didn’t take it. I let it hang there on the door.
But once night fell, the front door was knocked on again.
“Young lady, young lady~~~”
A long, thin human silhouette paced beneath the window. “I left my scarf behind. Take it down and give it to me, all right~~”
I huddled under my quilt and answered in a muffled voice, “You tell me to take it, so I take it? What if you’ve wiped your armpits with it before? Wouldn’t I lose all dignity?”
“…”
Clearly, this one was harder to deal with than the one from last time. Seeing that I wasn’t budging no matter what, it simply began slapping the door, shrieking in a long, piercing voice as it did. “Young lady, young lady~~~ Open the door~~~~ Young lady, young lady~~”
I was just wondering whether I should smash the window and flee when, outside, a few scattered notes of a zither drifted over. They were faint and fragmented, almost too ethereal to belong to any melody of the mortal world.
The knocking stopped at once. I peered out through the crack in the door and saw something long-who knew what it was-wriggling its body as it darted away along the base of the wall.
My nerves had barely settled when the clear, ringing sound of the zither beside my ear seemed to grow even louder.
After weighing my options, I opened the door and followed the sound.
-Huh. There was a pavilion here?
I had clearly been here yesterday, yet I had never noticed this exquisite little pavilion. Now the moon hung high overhead, and a wisp of desolate moonlight fell within, carving that tiny space into something like a crystal palace.
The man who had knocked on my door yesterday was sitting inside that quiet palace, both hands resting on the zither strings. His face was dazzlingly beautiful, his skin like jade, his eyes warm as spring…
Startled, I quickly backed away.
As if I had disturbed him, his satin-black hair slid down from his shoulder, carrying a strange, uncanny beauty.
Was he an immortal?
Or a demon?
I steadied myself and glanced at him from the corner of my eye… Thankfully, though his figure was as elusive as mist, he did have a shadow.
“Was it you who drove that thing away?”
“…”
He did not answer, as though the question was beneath him.
“Thank you.”
Seeing his aloof attitude, I bent at the waist and gave him a deep bow. “Yesterday, I thought the scarf had no owner and rashly used and ruined it. I’m sorry!
“And tonight, you saved me as well. I can’t express how grateful I am.”
The zither music stopped.
“How do you intend to show your gratitude?”
The man looked at me, drawing out each word slowly. Paired with that pleasant cadence, it was as if he were reciting a line of poetry.
In that instant, a shiver spread through my entire body. The feeling was like a tingling itch, yet also like a spring breeze brushing over me. It was impossible to describe, but it made my whole self feel strange.
Under the pressure, my lips trembled. “Th-then what kind of gratitude do you want?”
He gazed at me in silence for a long while. Then, all at once, he rose and walked over to me, his sleeves swaying. “…I’m so cold.”
I had no idea why he would say that, so I stood there blankly for a moment.
“I’m cold too.”
“Then we…”
“Should each go back to our own rooms. It’s warmer inside.”
“…”
He stared at me coldly, giving me goose bumps in waves. I could only shiver and stammer, “Don’t look at me like that. I understand what you want now.”
“Oh?”
At that, the man’s red lips curved slightly. There was even a small, rouge-red bead at the center of his upper lip. “Then tell me. What do I want?”
With my heart aching, I said, “You just want my quilt, don’t you? Fine, you can have it.”
“…”