Chapter 31 (1/2)
A cool breeze rose in the early morning, carrying the sweet freshness of growing things.
Mu Wan’s ears softened with heat as she looked up at the man before her. He was looking at her too—just as he always had, and yet not the same as before.
So this was what mutual affection felt like. Even the way the other person looked at you tasted sweet.
Mu Wan clutched at Liu Qianxiu’s Taoist robe. A trace of chill clung to the fabric, while her own breath burned hot in her throat. Rising onto her toes, she leaned toward his lips.
“Then I want to kiss—”
Before she could reach him, Liu Qianxiu lifted his gaze and pressed her head into his chest. Her ear landed against him, and the steady beat of his heart rang through her like sound carried inside a conch shell, the echo enough to leave her tingling.
“Qingchan is coming.”
Mu Wan wrapped both arms around his lean, firm waist. Her face was burning, yet she let out a low laugh.
Qingchan had only been afraid Mu Wan might not be able to find Junior Brother Qianxiu, so after setting down his broom, he hurried after her. But his little legs were slow, and by the time he arrived, he saw that Junior Brother Qianxiu had once again gathered Sister Mu Wan into his arms.
Qianxiu looked calm, as though he were used to handling this sort of situation. Which made sense. After all, the same thing had happened last night, too. Clearly, Sister Mu Wan was often held like this by Junior Brother Qianxiu.
The little Taoist stopped where he was, his cloth shoes flecked with a little mud, small and adorable, and asked, “Is Sister feeling bad again?”
The woman in Liu Qianxiu’s arms gave a soft laugh and bit his shoulder. The pressure was light, her small teeth only gently closing, soft and faintly ticklish. Liu Qianxiu’s Adam’s apple shifted. He lowered his gaze to Qingchan and said, “No. She just wants me to hold her.”
Qingchan’s world was still very small. He did not understand why Sister Mu Wan, already so grown, liked clinging to Junior Brother Qianxiu so much. In his mind, only children like himself were clingy, the ones who needed adults to coax them to sleep.
Still, since she was fine, he relaxed. Tilting his head up, he said to Liu Qianxiu, “Junior Brother, I’m hungry.”
Qingchan trotted back to the Taoist temple first, his footsteps fading into the distance. Mu Wan straightened out of Liu Qianxiu’s arms. She glanced after the child; his back had already disappeared from sight. Then she turned back to Liu Qianxiu and looked up at him. Her face was red to the tips of her ears, but her mouth was still stubborn.
“Not only do I want you to hold me,” she said, “I also want you to ki—”
She never finished.
The man cupped her face in both hands, his palms dry and cool. Mu Wan’s red lips parted. She looked at him, and then he lowered his head and kissed her.
Her mouth was nothing like stubborn. It was soft, warm, like a perfectly ripened peach—pink at the center, sweet and brimming with juice.
When the kiss ended, Mu Wan could barely remain standing. Liu Qianxiu lowered his head to look at her, his eyes dark. He gazed at the damp sheen gathered at the corners of her eyes and lips, still slightly parted, and his voice dropped low and rough.
“What else do you want?”
It was as though her mind had detached from her body. Everything in her felt numb and weak. She could still feel the warmth of his mouth lingering on hers. Looking up at him, her throat dry, she managed at last to say in a trembling voice—
“I still want breakfast.”
His brows lifted slightly.
Liu Qianxiu looked at her for a long moment, the depth in his eyes gradually clearing. A quiet sound escaped his throat. He reached out and ruffled her hair, then took her hand.
Their fingers interlocked. Liu Qianxiu’s hand closed around hers. As he led Mu Wan away, he asked, “Mm. What do you want to eat?”
In the end, the sun never quite rose above the horizon. Dense clouds gathered again, and once they became too heavy for the sky to contain, they broke into rain.
August was approaching, and the rain was no longer as fierce as it had been in July. Fine threads of rain fell like crystal curtains from the dark sky, washing the stone slabs in the courtyard until they gleamed clean.
The incense burner at the center of the courtyard had gone out. There was nothing to shelter the temple on the mountaintop, and the wind swept in as well, carrying damp, rain-cool air that felt clean and refreshing.
Mu Wan sat on a prayer cushion, one hand holding a book, the other propping up her cheek as she gazed outside.
Across from her sat Liu Qianxiu. Beside Liu Qianxiu sat Qingchan. The three of them each occupied one corner of the table.
After breakfast, Mu Wan had not yet had time to be all lovey-dovey with Liu Qianxiu before Senior Brother Qingchan had already urged Junior Brother Qianxiu to come to the main hall for morning lessons. Qingchan did not know too many characters, but he had a steady nature and especially loved the anecdotes from The Art of War. Listening again and again, Mu Wan had practically memorized the Thirty-Six Stratagems by now.
While the Taoist brothers did their morning lesson, she joined them with a romance novel of her own, one of those sweet, sticky pampering stories where the hero and heroine understood each other completely and every interaction was sugary enough to rot teeth.
Then she looked at Liu Qianxiu.
His brows were pale and elegant, his expression cool and clean. Lowering his eyes, he read from the book in his hand. Draped in a plain Taoist robe, he looked every inch the upright gentleman. She was sitting directly across from him, and yet he seemed entirely unmoved.
This morning, he had clearly said that if she wanted affection, he would give it; if she wanted desire, he would give that too...
But the present Taoist Liu seemed to have nothing at all to do with those words.
Mu Wan drew back her gaze and glanced lightly at Qingchan. The little Taoist was propping up his chin in both hands, listening to Junior Brother Qianxiu’s explanation with bright interest, utterly engrossed.
She turned a page in her novel, lowered her eyes, and let the corners of her lips lift.
From the moment she had sat down, she had been barefoot. At first, her feet were tucked under her legs, and she could not feel much. But once she slid them out, the air immediately felt cool against her skin.
Without changing expression, she stretched out both legs. Her toes probed forward.
And at last, they touched something warm.
“This part is about...” The voice across from her stopped.
Mu Wan kept her head lowered, a smile faintly curving her lips. Her toes stroked twice across his knee. Her feet were white as snow, her toenails painted with bright red lacquer, charming and playful.
“And then? Junior Brother, what happens next?” Qingchan noticed nothing. He lifted his little face eagerly toward Liu Qianxiu and pressed for more.
Liu Qianxiu raised his eyes.
Across from him, the woman’s lips were tipped in a smile. She kept her head lowered over her book, her expression unchanged. At the same time, her toes brushed him again, light and teasing.
“And then...” Liu Qianxiu lowered his eyes once more and continued the lesson.
At the same time, he reached out and caught both of her misbehaving feet in one hand.
His palm was dry and faintly warm. The force was not strong, yet it felt as if he had suddenly seized the very point most fatal to her. A numbing sensation shot from the soles of her feet straight to her heart. Mu Wan shivered and looked up in a rush, unable to stop a soft little cry.
“Ah.”
She did not pull free. The two Taoist brothers’ eyes landed on her at once. Heat flooded through her body. Meeting Liu Qianxiu’s gaze, she frowned. She shifted her feet slightly, her eyes telling him to let go.
“Sister, what’s wrong?” Qingchan asked with concern.
“I...” Mu Wan braced both hands on the low table, trying to hold herself steady. Her face was hot, and a cold sweat had already broken out. Looking at Liu Qianxiu, she said, “I need to...”
“Her feet are cold,” Liu Qianxiu said calmly.
Mu Wan’s struggling halted.
The man’s hand shifted at her feet. The soles that had been cold a moment ago slowly began to warm beneath his palm.
He was warming her feet for her.
Mu Wan’s lips curled upward at once.
“Oh? Then should you put on shoes...” Qingchan started to duck under the table to check for himself.
Before he could go any lower, Liu Qianxiu reached over and straightened him upright again. Without looking up from the book, he said to Qingchan, “No need. They’re warm now.”
Mu Wan’s lips curled upward at once.
“Oh? Then should you put on shoes...” Qingchan started to duck under the table to check for himself.
Before he could go any lower, Liu Qianxiu reached over and straightened him upright again. Without looking up from the book, he said to Qingchan, “No need. They’re warm now.”
Kya
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