Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Her fingertips traced the skin at the corner of his eye. It was smooth and warm, carrying the young man’s uniquely clear vitality.
The sensation was almost perfect. There was no roughness from scars, no hollow indentation, only a flawless curve descending slowly along his brow bone and outlining the shape of an eye.
Its outer corner tilted slightly upward, the line clean and elegant as the work of a master painter. When her fingertip passed over it, his eyelid trembled like a startled butterfly, somehow looking pitiable even beneath her touch.
Then she found long, dense lashes, soft as feathers brushing her palm.
There was no mutilation and nothing terrifying. His eyes possessed an almost excessive perfection, so delicate that she hardly dared use any pressure for fear they might shatter.
Unfortunately, she could not see them and could not imagine what color such beautiful eyes might be.
Qiao Ying became dejected. “Shen Qingyu, I want to see what your eyes look like.”
He smiled. “You cannot.”
She sighed, slipped her arms around his neck, and pressed herself to his chest. Her chin rested on his shoulder, her listless posture full of disappointment.
Shen Qingyu patted her back. Perhaps her breath made him itch, for he turned his face and unconsciously nuzzled her cheek.
As his prisoner, she should have been helplessly confined in his arms. Instead, it now seemed more as if she had attached herself to him and refused to move.
The atmosphere was so peaceful and harmonious that their relaxed bodies fit together with surprising comfort.
Something soft suddenly swept across Qiao Ying’s wrist. She jumped. “Shen Qingyu!”
The young man tilted his head. “What is it?”
“Something touched me.”
“Did it?”
Everything had returned to normal. Frowning, Qiao Ying wondered if she had imagined it. She relaxed against him again. “Perhaps I was mistaken.”
Then the soft, furry thing stroked her cheek.
Qiao Ying immediately sat upright. “Shen Qingyu, there really is something here!”
He repeated, “Is there?”
Every part of her went on alert.
When softness brushed the left side of her neck, she lunged for it, but caught nothing.
When it caressed her right wrist, she threw herself in that direction instead, only to find empty air again.
Shen Qingyu watched her flail about, her chains clanking without end. Delighted laughter spilled from his lips. When Qiao Ying lost her balance and nearly rolled off the bed, he kindly caught her waist and pulled her back into his arms.
She felt like a cat being tormented by a feather toy. Each time she nearly caught the mysterious soft thing, it escaped.
“Shen Qingyu, something really is touching me!” she protested.
“Oh,” he replied perfunctorily.
Qiao Ying did not know what was teasing her, but the mischievous Shen Qingyu had to be involved. Angrily, she wrapped his outer robe around herself and buried even her face against his chest.
Now it would have no chance to toy with her.
After a while, she asked in a muffled voice, “Is this how you used to play by yourself?”
“Perhaps,” Shen Qingyu answered with equal carelessness.
“Is my situation now the sort of life you were accustomed to?”
Her hands and feet were bound, her freedom confined to a tiny space, and she could see nothing.
Shen Qingyu did not understand why her mood had fallen. He assumed she was merely unhappy because she had failed to catch the culprit.
Stroking her back, he said cheerfully, “Every day when I opened my eyes, I never had to wonder where I would find food or dig a burrow to live in. People visited me every day and spoke to me. Whenever I nearly died, everyone rushed to use the finest medicines to keep me alive. Yingying, everyone liked me so much.”
He was describing happy things, and his voice was light and joyful. Perhaps his delight infected her, for she seemed happy for him. Her arms tightened around his neck, drawing her body even closer.
For some reason, Shen Qingyu’s excitement abruptly quieted. Feeling her touch, he looked confused.
Qiao Ying called his name again. “Shen Qingyu.”
“I’m here.”
“You’re an idiot.”
The smile froze on his lips. After pressing them together, he seemed unconvinced. He pinched Qiao Ying’s chin, tipped up her face, and gave her an ambiguous smile.
“Yesterday, you said I was adorable.”
“Yesterday you were adorable. Today, you’re terribly stupid.”
Shen Qingyu immediately became argumentative. “I am not stupid. You are not allowed to call me stupid.”
“You are. Your silly little head is full of stupidity.”
“I’ll open my skull and let you inspect it…”
A light kiss at the corner of his mouth cut him off.
Qiao Ying withdrew and said solemnly, “Silly Fish, I’ve cured you. You’re not allowed to be so foolish anymore.”
Shen Qingyu touched his lips. The fleeting sensation remained. For some reason, compared with all the times they had used their tongues to “cure” each other, this light touch lingered more powerfully in his memory.
Unable to see the small gesture, Qiao Ying received no answer. Puzzled, she took his hand and pressed it to her cheek. “Shen Qingyu, what’s wrong?”
After a long pause, he said, “That is incorrect.”
“What is?”
His fingertip settled at the corner of her lips and rubbed it faintly. “That treatment cures a burning body and racing heart. It cannot cure stupidity.”
Shen Qingyu laughed as though he had won a war. “Therefore, I am not stupid. You are.”
Qiao Ying fell briefly silent. “Fine. You’re right. Then I’ll never treat you that way again.”
This time, Shen Qingyu was the one who fell silent.
The chains suddenly rattled as Qiao Ying tugged a lock of his long hair. “I’m hungry. Are you?”
“Yes.”
She raised her face with a smile. “Then I’ll go eat with you.”
He did not answer.
Still smiling, Qiao Ying continued, “I want to share a meal with you. Two people together are always livelier than one. After we eat and come back, you can tie me up like this again. All right?”
From the beginning, she did not seem to realize he was imprisoning her. She treated it only as a game, indulging his malicious amusement.
That incomprehensible strangeness filled him again.
Shen Qingyu had always believed that ordinary people were most amusing when they screamed and fled in terror.
Yet no matter how outrageous his actions became, Qiao Ying seemed willing to cooperate. Her indulgence gave him a sensation he had never experienced.
His heart tingled, and the feeling spread through his blood. It was as though someone plucked the sinews throughout his body, each vibration bringing an indescribable, aching itch.
It felt like torture and pleasure at once.
Qiao Ying caught his hand and swung it gently, her voice softening. “Shen Qingyu, please?”
After a moment of silence, he poked her cheek and laughed. “All right.”
The chains fell from her wrists and ankles, and the white silk blindfold was removed. When she opened her eyes, the young man was directly before her.
His flawless face remained as exquisite as ever. Though the white silk blindfold covered his eyes, it could not conceal the tenderness that entered his expression when he smiled.
Qiao Ying leaned closer and studied him. “Shen Qingyu, when I woke today and discovered that I was tied up and couldn’t see, I was frightened for an instant.”
The young man lowered his face and listened intently.
Hooking her little finger around his, she said softly, “So if you want to play a game like that again, could you warn me first? Then I can prepare myself.”
His throat moved. Speech suddenly seemed difficult. After a moment, he breathed a hoarse, quiet answer. “All right.”
Then he heard her laugh.
The bright sound brushed his heart like a spring breeze. From the inside out, his body seemed to become melting snow, every rigid edge smoothing into a warm tide that rolled slowly through his chest.
He became an ordinary young man again, a reckless boy eager to steal a kiss from the girl before him.
Shen Qingyu lowered his head. Just before his lips touched hers, his arms were suddenly empty.
Qiao Ying had bent over the bed. She picked up a tuft of white fur, inspected it, and narrowed her eyes. “Shen Qingyu, I suspect the thing teasing me was a White-Furred Fox.”
Shen Qingyu smiled. “Do you?”
Qiao Ying opened her purse. A considerable amount of white fur had accumulated inside. She added the new tuft, then stared expressionlessly at the white-haired young man with his warm smile.
“It must be a White-Furred Fox that sheds terribly. If he keeps eating wild fruit instead of proper meals, he will soon go bald. Surely a furless fox loses the right to attract a mate.”
Shen Qingyu could no longer smile.
Later, when Qiao Ying took him to eat, he finished an unprecedented two bowls of rice.