Incurable Chapter 29 Part 2

Chapter 29 (2/2)

“Can I have a little?”

After she asked, Liu Qianxiu turned his head to look at her.

She looked back at him, black pupils bright under faintly furrowed brows.

“This has a strong aftereffect,” Liu Qianxiu said evenly. Then, seeing the slight brightening in her face, he added, “Don’t drink too much.”

“Okay.” Her eyes lit up at once, and she nodded.

“Then I’ll drink it here.”

Mu Wan went to the kitchen and brought back a small cup. Sitting cross-legged on the cushion, she poured herself some. The waxberry wine was still red. As it flowed out, it made a clear, crisp sound and released a cool, fruity scent of alcohol.

After pouring the cup, Mu Wan lifted it and looked out beyond the temple. A crescent moon hung high in the sky, with thin clouds drifting past now and then. The moonlight was pure and cold, and the night sky was deep black and clean.

“So beautiful.” She took a sip. The wine was not strong. In fact, the sweetness nearly covered the alcohol. Only as she swallowed did she catch the faint taste of liquor.

Liu Qianxiu held a book in his hand. He glanced sideways at the night sky, the scent of waxberry wine floating in the air. When he looked back, Mu Wan was already on her second cup.

His lips pressed together slightly. Lowering his eyes, he watched Mu Wan. The cup touched her red lips, vivid against the white porcelain. Sensing his gaze, she looked back at him, pulled the cup away, licked a trace of wine from the corner of her mouth, and offered it toward him.

“It’s good. Want some?”

Her eyes shimmered with light. The fingers holding the white porcelain cup were long and fine.

Liu Qianxiu’s gaze fell on the wine inside. The clear red liquid reflected the light of the main hall, immaculate and unstained.

He shook his head.

“No need.”

Mu Wan drew back her hand and emptied the cup in one swallow. His eyes stayed on her face. As if savoring something playful, she puffed out her cheeks and let the sweetness of the waxberry wine linger all through her mouth. Only after tasting enough did she finally swallow.

After drinking, warmth slowly spread through her body. Staring at the distant moon, she poured herself another cup.

“My mother liked looking at the night sky.”

Her words were disjointed, as though alcohol had loosened buried memories, making the scenes in her mind overlap with the present.

Mu Wan’s life in the Mu family had not been entirely unhappy. Though she had always suffered their coldness, while her mother was alive, she had still lived in relative ease and comfort. Her mother had not been powerful, but she had been strong enough to protect her.

In the blink of an eye, it had been ten years since her mother’s death.

Ten years since she had become a weed growing wild with no father and no mother.

The corners of Mu Wan’s eyes turned cold. She drank the wine in her cup again.

No one protected her now.

But someone was with her.

Mu Wan’s cheeks had grown hot. She slumped onto the table and turned her head to stare at Liu Qianxiu beside her. He had stopped reading. Watching the flush deepen in her face, he set the book down on the table and said, “Go rest first.”

“No.” Her breath was warm when she spoke. She lifted a finger and shook it. “I’ll keep you company.”

Liu Qianxiu was not reading.

He was watching her.

Mu Wan set the porcelain cup down. The base struck the tabletop with a soft sound. Resting her cheek on the back of her hand, she tilted her head toward him, her watery eyes narrowed, her gaze keen.

“You can’t calm yourself anymore.”

“Mm.” Liu Qianxiu remained calm. Looking at her, he admitted it.

Mu Wan’s eyes stirred. Her lashes trembled. The memory finally tore through that thin sheet and came flooding back like a tide.

She remembered what Liu Qianxiu had said to her last night.

Both hands flat on the table, Mu Wan fixed her eyes on him, light flickering within them, and said, “Last night, you said the environment wouldn’t affect your state of mind.”

She pushed down lightly on the table and leaned toward him. The corners of her eyes were flushed, her pupils black, her voice low and husky.

“You said only people would affect your state of mind.”

The distance between them grew smaller and smaller. Liu Qianxiu lowered his gaze to her.

Mu Wan leaned farther in and caught hold of both his arms.

The moment she grabbed him, the aftereffect of the wine surged up. Her head went heavy, her feet light, and she toppled straight into his arms.

The clean scent of sandalwood thinned out the wine.

Resting against his chest, Mu Wan tipped her face up, lips trembling.

“Liu Qianxiu, who is that person?”

The woman in his arms was white as snow, soft-bodied, dark-haired.

Like a newly formed demon, she had come before his seat to question his Dao.

Innocent and heedless, she did not know danger or measure.

She clung to him, arms curling around his waist, her long fingers interlacing as she drew their bodies closer. Looking down, he could smell the wine on her. Looking up, she could smell the sandalwood on him.

“The third time,” the man said in a low voice.

His lips pressed tight. Liu Qianxiu reached for the wine jar.

The cool waxberry wine flowed into the porcelain cup with a clear sound. He lifted the cup and drank it in one swallow.

His throat moved. In the man’s cool, silent black eyes, some emotion seemed to begin stirring at last.

He set down the cup.

Then Liu Qianxiu placed both hands at the woman’s waist and lifted her, settling her directly in front of him.

Now the scent of alcohol on him had grown stronger, too. His dark eyes rested quietly on the woman in his arms. His voice was deep and hoarse, the tone long and drawn out.

“Did you really think I had no desire?”

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