Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mountain roads were hard to travel at night, especially when Qiao Ying had a head injury and was utterly exhausted. A dull ache throbbed in her skull, but she did not dare stop, terrified those men in black would catch up.

Her steps grew more and more unsteady, and the soles of her feet had been rubbed raw with pain.

Yet no matter whether she walked quickly or slowly, the young man’s pace remained steady and unhurried. Qiao Ying looked back at him several times, worried he might fall, but to her surprise, he walked perfectly well.

It was just like what had happened in the dungeon not long ago. After the candle went out, everything had been pitch-black, yet he had been able to take her hand and lead her around those men in black to escape. Perhaps it was precisely because he could not see that he had gained the ability to move across flat ground even without light.

Who knew how much farther the road down the mountain stretched? It was late autumn, and the night air was bitterly cold.

The young man could feel that the hand holding his had grown somewhat cold. If anything, it only made him more curious. How much longer could she hold on?

Wouldn’t she have a better chance of surviving if she abandoned a burden like him?

All of a sudden, his other hand was taken. Her handkerchief wiped his hand clean, barely enough to count as presentable.

“We still don’t know how much longer we’ll have to walk. Eat something to fill your stomach and recover some strength.”

Half a steamed bun was stuffed into his freshly wiped hand.

It was a bun Qiao Ying had hidden away earlier. Though it was cold, hard, dry, and truly awful to eat, under circumstances like these, she had no right to be picky.

Qiao Ying bit into the other half of the bun and made casual conversation with him. “My name is Qiao Ying. What’s yours?”

The young man’s fingertips lightly rubbed over the bun’s rough, hard surface. Then he brought it to his lips and took a bite, saying with a smile, “Shen Qingyu.”

“Qingyu…” Qiao Ying smiled. “That’s a very nice name.”

He only smiled without replying.

Qiao Ying asked again, “You were dragged up the mountain for no reason at all. Your family must be very worried about you, right?”

He said, “I don’t have any family.”

Qiao Ying hurriedly said, “I’m sorry.”

Shen Qingyu shook his head, his temper remarkably mild. “It’s all right.”

Qiao Ying said, “I don’t remember my past. I don’t know if I still have family either, or whether they’re looking for me.”

“Being alone is good too.”

Afraid she had brought up something painful for him, Qiao Ying stopped talking about family. After walking for who knew how long, she finally saw lights in the distance.

She said excitedly, “We’ve reached the foot of the mountain. There’s a town up ahead. Let’s hurry!”

The young man smiled. “Mm.”

Qiao Ying had been on the verge of giving out, but the sudden sight of hope filled her with excitement and renewed strength. She headed in the direction of the lights.

The town was very quiet in the dead of night. Only a few houses had faint lamplight glowing inside.

Qiao Ying did her best to tidy her appearance. Then she looked at Shen Qingyu and said, “We shouldn’t frighten anyone. Let me fix you up a little.”

Shen Qingyu took another bite of the unfinished half bun, the corners of his lips lifting as he gave a gentle nod.

Qiao Ying reached out, then noticed the blood from the wound on her right hand was still there, so she switched to her left hand and smoothed his white hair for him. It felt softer than she had imagined-remarkably pleasant to the touch.

Finally, she patted the dust from his clothes, cleared her throat, gathered her courage, and knocked on the door of a lit house.

Before long, a man’s voice came from inside. “Who’s knocking at the door this late at night?”

The door opened, and a man in coarse linen appeared. When he saw the young man and woman standing outside, then noticed the young man’s head full of white hair, he jumped in fright.

“A ghost!”

“We’re not ghosts. We’re people.” Qiao Ying stood in front of Shen Qingyu and hurriedly explained, “We’re siblings. We ran into bandits on the road and only barely managed to escape, but then we lost our way.”

She added, “Please don’t misunderstand, sir. My elder brother is only ill, which is why he looks somewhat different from ordinary people. He definitely isn’t a bad person.”

A woman’s voice sounded from inside. “Dalang, are there guests?”

A gentle-looking woman came out carrying a swaddled infant. When she saw the two strangers at the door, then caught sight of Shen Qingyu’s unusual appearance, she grew frightened as well and hid behind her husband. “Dalang, who are they?”

Dalang patted his wife’s hand soothingly. “Sanniang, they’re siblings who just escaped from bandits. They’re not bad people.”

Qiao Ying was bright and beautiful, and the clothes and jewelry she wore were quite expensive, though she did look rather disheveled.
Though Shen Qingyu’s hair was as white as snow and his eyes were covered by a white silk blindfold, the smile on his face was gentle and friendly. If anything, it made people feel sorry for his disability.

Qiao Ying removed the jeweled hairpin from her hair and placed it in Sanniang’s hand. “We truly have nowhere else to go. Could you two take us in for one night? Consider this our payment, all right?”

Dalang and Sanniang exchanged a look. In the end, their hearts softened, and they nodded. Their family was not well-off either, though, so all they could do was hastily clear out a storage room and lay down a pallet on the floor, just enough for the two of them to make do for the night.

Fortunately, the couple were honest people. Qiao Ying’s hairpin was far too valuable, and seeing how dirty Qiao Ying’s clothes were, Sanniang specially brought out an outfit she had barely worn and gave it to Qiao Ying to change into.

Compared with Qiao Ying, Shen Qingyu was much cleaner.

After washing up briefly, Qiao Ying changed into the blue cotton dress and sat on the floor pallet. She took off everything valuable she had on her and wrapped it all in a handkerchief, estimating in her heart that they should be able to exchange it for some money. When she looked up again, she saw the young man sitting nearby.

Shen Qingyu seemed to sense her gaze. He turned his face slightly toward her and slowly curved his lips into a smile.

He was truly quiet. Bathed in the warm candlelight, he looked clean and clear, almost unlike a real person.

Qiao Ying put her things away and shifted a little closer to him. Carefully, she asked, “Um, the conditions are limited. If you mind-”

He smiled. “I don’t mind.”

There was only one quilt and one floor pallet. They could only sleep together.

When Qiao Ying lay down, she still could not help looking at the person beside her.

There was some distance between them, but it could hardly be called far.

Qiao Ying caught sight of his scattered white hair, like crushed moonlight. The lines of his profile were so pure and translucent they seemed almost fragile. Even the slight tremble of his hair with each breath was so beautiful that it made one afraid to make a sound.

Her gaze had only paused on that patch of white for a moment when he suddenly said with a hint of a smile, “Are you very curious about me?”

For a moment, Qiao Ying did not know how to answer.

He said, “You often stare at me.”

The white silk blindfold cast a faint shadow. It clearly covered the place that should have hidden his emotions the most, yet the curve of his jaw in profile and the lingering smile at the corner of his lips made his entire being exude a fragile, breathtaking beauty.

He said, “It’s neither the disgust of the people on the mountain nor the fear of this household. When you look at me, your gaze is very strange.”

Qiao Ying said, “Do I have to stare at you because of disgust or fear?”

Shen Qingyu seemed to become somewhat interested. At last, he turned his face fully in her direction, as if he were “looking” at her. “If it’s not disgust, and it’s not fear, what else could it be?”

“Because you’re beautiful.”

The smile at the corner of Shen Qingyu’s lips paused again.

After admiring his beauty for a while, Qiao Ying comfortably closed her eyes and slowly said, “Beautiful things are meant to be looked at a few more times. Like the clouds on the mountaintop, or the moon hanging from the eaves. Do you need a reason like disgust or fear to look at them?”

Her voice grew softer and softer. At last, she tugged at the edge of the quilt and murmured, “I hope that after a full night’s sleep, I’ll wake up tomorrow looking a little better too.”

She was both exhausted and sleepy. Before long, she had fallen asleep.

Shen Qingyu, however, felt no drowsiness at all. He had only known her for a short time, yet she had already done one unexpected thing after another.

This feeling of seeming unable to control the situation was deeply unpleasant.

The person who had entered dreamland seemed to be dreaming of something. Her body trembled faintly, her brows knitting tight. Her injured hand gripped the quilt, and the wound that had finally stopped bleeding showed signs of tearing open again.

Her breathing was rapid. She was trapped deep in a nightmare, unable to free herself.

After a long while, Shen Qingyu finally reached out and lightly touched the space between her brows with the pad of his finger. The next instant, he let out a cool, thin chuckle.

“I thought you were bold. It was only killing one person, yet it frightened you this badly.”

In the dungeon, the image of the man whose neck she had stabbed lying in a pool of blood, eyes wide open as he stared at her, surfaced again and again in her dreams.

For some unknown reason, the endlessly looping nightmare was suddenly filled with white mist. In that vast, white world, she could see nothing and hear nothing.

Qiao Ying’s brows slowly relaxed. Her hand loosened on the quilt, and her hurried breathing returned to a long, slow rhythm. The nightmare was gone. Perhaps now, she could have a good dream.