Chapter 54
Chapter 54
The temple had plenty of empty rooms, so spending one night there would be no problem.
Qiao Ying chose a room with Shen Qingyu and pushed open the door. To her surprise, it was remarkably clean, as though someone had lived in this supposedly abandoned temple not long ago.
She stopped in the doorway.
Shen Qingyu swung their joined hands. “What’s wrong?”
Qiao Ying asked cautiously, “There aren’t any Yaoguai here, are there?”
“No,” Shen Qingyu said.
“What about ghosts?”
“None.”
Being exceedingly thorough, Qiao Ying asked, “Could there be a Sword Spirit?”
Shen Qingyu laughed softly. “No.”
Only then did she relax. She ushered him inside and was about to leave again to find a room next door for herself.
Still smiling, Shen Qingyu said, “There may be no Yaoguai or ghosts, but perhaps another man-eating Living Corpse will appear.”
Qiao Ying pulled back the foot she had placed over the threshold. She retreated one step at a time, closed the door, and turned to smile at him. “I thought it over. We’re in a strange place, so you might be frightened at night. I’d better stay with you.”
Shen Qingyu said gratefully, “Qiao Ying, you’re so kind. Thank you.”
She took his hand, raised her pretty face, and blinked her bright eyes at him. “Shen Qingyu, we’re so close already. There’s no need to thank me. Since we get along so well, you can call me Yingying from now on.”
His lips curved upward. “Yingying.”
His clear voice was particularly pleasant to hear.
Qiao Ying sighed deeply inside.
At first, she had been reluctant when Shen Qingyu proposed returning to Yunling Prefecture together. She had tossed out an excuse: the weather was turning cold, snow might soon fall, and the road would be difficult.
But Shen Qingyu had immediately replied, “That’s why we must return to Yunling Prefecture before the snow comes, while the road is still passable.”
She could never win an argument with him, so she had no choice but to accompany him.
Shen Qingyu was truly unbelievable. Rather than take the perfectly good main road, he insisted on leading her through the mountains. Despite being blind, he could roam everywhere without getting lost.
Outside, the rain grew heavier.
Qiao Ying heard voices. The elderly couple entered the room on their left, and the betrothed couple took the one on their right. The young cousins settled into the room directly across from them.
The wind blew open the window. Qiao Ying hurried to close it, then turned and found Shen Qingyu already seated on the bed.
Both hands rested around the Blind Staff across his lap. His lips held a faint curve, and a gentle air surrounded him. He faced her as if he had been “watching” her all along.
That strange feeling returned.
He was always watching her, like a beast lying in wait, ready to spring upon its prey at any moment. Until the moment came to pounce, it would possess endless patience.
Perhaps all beautiful things in nature were poisonous. Shen Qingyu was no exception. A peculiar aura emanated from him, silently enticing her closer.
Unable to resist, Qiao Ying approached one step at a time. As she drew near, the figure in the candlelight seemed to glow softly.
It was as though someone had turned the beauty filter all the way up.
The phrase abruptly surfaced in her mind, leaving her confused. What was a “filter”?
She stopped moving.
This time, the silent one lost patience first. He asked softly, “Aren’t you coming to bed?”
She returned to her senses and sat beside him.
“Shen Qingyu.”
“Mm?”
“Who knows how long it’s been since this quilt was washed? I don’t want it touching me.”
“What should we do?” Shen Qingyu asked.
Qiao Ying looked at him. “Yes, what should we do?”
Shen Qingyu remained perfectly still, his smile as fixed as a mask.
Her patience snapped. She took the Blind Staff from his lap and propped it against the bed.
Shen Qingyu was not entirely stupid. After a belated moment of understanding, he leaned against the headboard and opened his arms to her.
Qiao Ying promptly crawled over and nestled against his chest. His arms soon closed around her.
Thunder continued to explode beyond the window, while wind and rain lashed the ancient temple’s latticework. Yet in their small corner of the world, there was only the slow, lingering rhythm of two heartbeats.
Sinking into his warm embrace and breathing in his pleasant scent, Qiao Ying grew drowsy. She could not help murmuring, “This is so comfortable. Shen Qingyu, I wish we could stay like this forever.”
His chin rested atop her head, and his fingers lightly touched the long black hair down her back. New confusion mingled with the habitual smile on his lips.
She truly was strange, he thought.
When they first met, she had barely been able to save herself, yet she had still tried to take him out of the dungeon with her.
Later, she had witnessed his brutality, but she had not screamed and called him a monster. She could not even muster the energy to run away.
Then came their first embrace, their first kiss, and all the times they had “treated their illness.” Now she could sleep soundly in his arms.
Why wasn’t she the least bit afraid of him?
Shen Qingyu could not understand. He lowered his face and murmured, “You’re so strange.” Then he called her name. “Yingying.”
He paused, apparently delighted by how novel and amusing the name sounded. It became an entertaining new game. Winding a lock of her black hair around his finger, he laughed.
“Yingying.”
“Yingying.”
“Ying…”
A palm shoved his face aside.
“You’re so noisy!”
Shen Qingyu closed his mouth and touched his cheek. Then he hunched over her once more, holding her tightly without another word.
The candle went out. Amid the howling wind and rain, more shadows crept slowly closer.
A black substance like sticky mud approached from afar and clung to the walls and windows. It tightened its circle inch by inch, oozing toward the figures on the bed.
Holding the sleeping girl, the young man raised his face slightly. The white silk blindfold draped over his eyes as he touched one slender index finger to his lips.
“Shh.”
His voice was still clear as a spring, gentle and pleasant.
As though sensing something, the viscous black current stopped three feet from the bed. It trembled with a faint rustling sound, then retreated at tremendous speed and vanished.
The night grew colder. Even curled in the young man’s arms, Qiao Ying felt the chill closing in from every direction. The moment she tucked her body tighter, warmth and comfort suddenly enveloped her.
Qiao Ying began to dream again.
She fell into the clouds and sank into their softness. Everything around her was impossibly plush.
A fox sat upright atop the clouds, watching her with crescent eyes and a beaming smile.
Unable to resist, Qiao Ying climbed out of the clouds and pounced.
The fox did not struggle. It obediently let her bundle it into her arms and bury her face in its fur, inhaling to her heart’s content.
After a night of heavy rain, the sky cleared the next morning.
Qiao Ying had not slept enough, but she did not want to travel with the strangers. She dragged Shen Qingyu out of bed. Too lazy to walk, she climbed onto his back, and they left Guang’en Temple early in the morning.
Shen Qingyu could not see, yet she made him carry her. She truly did not treat him like a blind man, or even like a person.
For some reason, Qiao Ying felt exceptionally drowsy and listless. Something seemed wrong, but she could not say what.
Limp against his back, she muttered, “Shen Qingyu, did I sleepwalk last night?”
His pace remained unhurried. “No,” he answered with a soft laugh.
“Did another person awaken inside me and take my body out to steal chickens and rob dogs?”
He laughed again. “No.”
Qiao Ying brushed a droplet of water from his face and rested her chin on his shoulder. “Then where did the thing in my hand come from when I woke up?”
She opened her right hand. A small tuft of white fur lay in her palm.
“I can’t see it,” Shen Qingyu said.
He avoided a puddle, circled around a stone in the mountain path, and carried her onward as smoothly as if walking across level ground.
Qiao Ying fell silent.
Everything about it was strange.
After some thought, she tucked the mysterious tuft into her purse. Perhaps she could ask someone what animal it came from someday.
They traveled all day. As darkness approached, clouds massed overhead and threatened more rain.
Qiao Ying spotted candlelight. She slid from Shen Qingyu’s back, took his hand, and hurried toward the glow. “There’s a building over there. Shen Qingyu, let’s get out of the rain.”
The deepening night concealed the words “Guang’en Temple.” Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and rain began pouring down. The instant she pushed open the door, a girl screamed.
“Ghosts!”
The girl in the main hall hid behind a young man, staring in terror at the man and woman who had appeared.
“Sorry! We didn’t mean to frighten you.”
After speaking, Qiao Ying stood in the doorway, blinking blankly.
At the sight of her, the black sludge lurking in the darkness stirred and tried to approach.
But Qiao Ying turned to the person whose hand she held. “Shen Qingyu, haven’t we been here before?”
The young man slowly emerged from the shadows. His tall shadow swallowed the girl’s figure whole, while his mild smile remained as innocent and friendly as ever.
“Yes. Haven’t we been here before?”
The Black Tide swiftly withdrew into the darkness without a sound.
His shadow covered her from head to toe, leaving even her breath confined to the tiny space he had claimed. Yet she remained oblivious. She merely tugged him farther into the room, rose on tiptoe, and whispered in his ear, “This place is very strange. You’re the clever one, so make sure you don’t get separated from me.”
He laughed, radiant and dazzling. His fingers shifted until they were interlaced with hers. Bending down, he whispered into her ear in return.
“Yingying, you’re so silly.”
Qiao Ying puffed out her cheeks.