Chapter 85

Chapter 85

I shook off Bai Jingmo and ran straight toward Liu Junyan.

Liu Junyan reached out and drew me in, pulling me into his arms. His long, narrow eyes remained fixed on Bai Jingmo, but the corner of his mouth curved faintly upward.

Bai Jingmo narrowed his eyes as well, meeting Liu Junyan’s gaze head-on.

A silent pressure surged back and forth between the two of them.

After a long moment, Bai Jingmo finally raised his voice and said, “Xiao Jiu, I’m heading back to Jiangcheng first. See you in Wufu Town.”

With that, he got into his car and drove off without looking back.

Even after the glow of the taillights had disappeared from sight, Liu Junyan still hadn’t let go of me.

I squirmed in his arms and looked up at him.

Only then did Liu Junyan release me. He lifted a hand and pinched at my clothes, his tone lazy. “That happy to see your childhood sweetheart? You couldn’t even be bothered to change out of your wet clothes? Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?”

That tone… Why did it sound a little sour?

Annoyed, I said, “I already told you last time, there is no childhood sweetheart.”

“Oh?” Liu Junyan raised an eyebrow. “But the way he looks at you isn’t exactly innocent.”

I had been about to explain, but on second thought, forget it. This wasn’t something I could explain clearly.

Tonight, Liu Junyan seemed to have gone right back to the night of our wedding chamber on the First Day of the Eighth Month.

How could I have forgotten? He did have a bit of a sharp tongue.

I wasn’t good at trading barbs, but I was excellent at acting weak.

I immediately wrapped my arms around myself and gave an exaggerated shiver. “There’s wind at night. It’s cold.”

The next second, Liu Junyan pulled me back into his arms and led me away.

I asked, “Where are we going? I haven’t even said goodbye to my senior.”

“Home.”

Liu Junyan stuffed me into the car parked by the roadside. He had come in Li Qingying’s Off-road Vehicle.

Once the car started moving, he turned on the heater, warm air blowing through the vents.

I took out my phone, wanting to call Tang Tang, only to find that it had been ruined after getting soaked.

Liu Junyan said, “Don’t worry. I already told the gate guard I was here to pick you up.”

Oh.

He could have said that earlier.

Liu Junyan focused on driving, eyes straight ahead.

I tilted my head and looked at him. I had to admit, this man’s profile was absolutely lethal.

The lines of his face were perfect, his jaw sharply defined. Because he was concentrating, his lips were pressed together slightly, and his Adam’s apple moved gently with each breath. Handsome and sexy.

I stared a little too hard. Suddenly, Liu Junyan laughed and said, “Like what you see?”

Without thinking, I replied, “I do.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I snapped back to my senses and immediately sat up straight, not daring to let my eyes wander anymore.

To ease the awkwardness, I asked, “Has the matter at Wangting Mountain been settled?”

Liu Junyan nodded. “Mm.”

After a pause, he added, “Xiao Jiu, you don’t need to be afraid of them, and you don’t need to pay them any mind. Understand?”

I shook my head. “But… aren’t they your family?”

“A long time ago, maybe,” Liu Junyan said. “But not anymore. If they behave themselves, we can stay out of each other’s way. But if they insist on jumping around and making their presence known, I won’t show them mercy.”

This time, I understood.

Whether that middle-aged man was Liu Junyan’s father or not, whether Second Master Liu was his elder brother or not, the ties between them had long since been severed.

Concerned, I asked again, “Why did you come out of seclusion early? What about the Hexagonal Palace Lantern?”

“It’s in the Black Coffin,” Liu Junyan said. “I worked pretty hard, so I came out early. Good thing I made it in time to save you.”

I said sincerely, “Liu Junyan, thank you.”

If he hadn’t arrived in time tonight, the three of us probably would have all died on Wangting Mountain.

Liu Junyan glanced sideways at me. “Say that again.”

Huh? What was that supposed to mean?

Then it hit me. He didn’t like me calling him Seventh Master, and he didn’t like me constantly using his full name either.

At that thought, I suddenly remembered that dream, and the woman in the bronze cauldron beneath the water calling him Ah Yan.

That was probably his childhood nickname, right?

With that in mind, I tentatively stammered, “Ah… Ah Yan, thank you for coming to save me.”
Liu Junyan’s body went visibly rigid.

The next second, he actually pulled the car straight over to the side of the road. Leaning toward me, he pinched my chin, lowered his head, and kissed me.

I had no idea what nerve that form of address had struck in him. I was forced into a kiss until I could barely breathe. When he finally let me go, he rested his forehead against mine and said in a hoarse voice, “Xiao Jiu, say it again.”

I bit down hard on my lip, turned my eyes away, and ignored him.

Liu Junyan didn’t get angry. Instead, he asked, “Why did you go to Wangting Mountain? Who told you to go?”

It was a long story. I reached out and pushed at him lightly. “Let’s go back first. Once we’re home, I’ll tell you everything.”

Liu Junyan said no more. He started the car again and drove us back.

By the time we returned to Wufu Town Pawnshop, Li Qingying was sitting on the steps outside the Pawnshop, waiting.

As soon as I got out of the car, she ran over and asked worriedly, “Xiao Jiu, how did you end up like this? Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. Just a few scrapes. Nothing serious,” I said.

Only then did Li Qingying relax, though she clearly had a stomach full of things she wanted to say to me.

But Liu Junyan said, “Qingying, Xiao Jiu is tired.”

Li Qingying choked for a second, then quickly caught on. “Then I’ll go to bed first. Xiao Jiu, let’s talk tomorrow.”

I agreed again and again, then went into the Pawnshop, closed the door, and bolted it.

Liu Junyan told me to go back to my room first to shower and change.

When I finished cleaning myself up and came out of the bathroom, I saw Liu Junyan sitting by my bed, holding the thing I had brought out of Furong Cave.

It was a perfectly square… thing that was very hard to describe.

It wasn’t a box. It was a pale blue cube made of flowing water.

In the center of the cube, there seemed to be a golden bead sealed inside.

Liu Junyan kept staring at that bead. I could feel the grief radiating from his entire body.

I walked over, sat down beside him, and said, “This is what I went to Wangting Mountain to find.”

I told Liu Junyan everything-about the dream that night, and every word the woman in the dream had said to me.

At the end, I raised my left hand and showed Liu Junyan the Water Ripple on my middle finger.

Liu Junyan grabbed my hand and stared at the Water Ripple for a very long time.

I kept watching the changes in his expression, and I even saw his eyes redden slightly.

Just then, the Water Ripple suddenly moved.

It separated where its head and tail met, and like a tiny Dragon, it climbed along my middle finger to my fingertip. Then it suddenly bit down on the tip of my finger.

Blood welled up at once and slid down from my fingertip.

Directly below it was the cube Liu Junyan was holding.

In that split second, I understood.

This Water Ripple could not only guide me to the thing Mother Liu wanted me to find-it was also the key to opening the cube and taking out the bead inside.

Once this drop of blood landed on the cube, the water flowing around the bead should be broken.

But before that drop of blood could fall onto the cube, Liu Junyan abruptly moved the cube away. Then he took my bleeding fingertip into his mouth.

My face was full of confusion. “Why won’t you let the blood drip down? Your mother said I had to give you the thing inside.”

Liu Junyan shook his head. “It isn’t time yet.”

I asked, “Then when will it be time?”

“When you’ve grown stronger,” Liu Junyan said. “Xiao Jiu, when the day comes that you can stand on your own, then we’ll open it.”

My temples throbbed. There was far too much information packed into Liu Junyan’s words.

He had only just come out of seclusion today, and I had successfully brought back the thing his mother wanted to give him.

We could clearly open it right away, yet he said we had to wait for me to grow stronger.

All kinds of possibilities churned through my mind, finally converging into a single thought.

A thought that filled me with absolute terror. “So… once it’s opened, you’re going to leave, aren’t you?”