Xie Wenqiao wanted to speak again.
But the agitated villagers kept shouting for him to leave.
Worried that the villagers might do something uncontrollable in their anger, which wasn’t the result he wanted, Xie Wenqiao reluctantly said he would leave now and planned to return another day.
Then, Xie Wenqiao walked over to He Sui’an, bowed to her and Qi Buyan, and carefully chose his words, “Miss, young master, may I have a word with you?”
The villagers of Hongye Village stared intently at them.
He Sui’an thought for a moment and agreed.
Qi Buyan ignored the villagers’ gazes and gave the same answer as He Sui’an. He only had one transaction with the villagers—to extend Zhong Liang’s father’s life by a month.
This didn’t mean his actions would be constrained by them. Qi Buyan would still do whatever he pleased. Their grievances had nothing to do with him.
Even if they fought to the death, he would only watch coldly.
Xie Wenqiao left Hongye Village.
As an official, he could obtain the map of Hongye Village, making it easy for him to come and go.
He Sui’an and Xie Wenqiao walked to a spot near the entrance of Hongye Village, where he decided to talk to them. Since the villagers wouldn’t allow Xie Wenqiao to stay in the village, he moved to the entrance.
The entrance of Hongye Village was close to the road leading up to Dengyun Mountain. Xie Wenqiao looked at the road, momentarily lost in thought, before recalling the people in front of him and gathering his thoughts. “Why are you in Hongye Village?”
“We came down from the mountain last night and stayed in Hongye Village for the night,” He Sui’an said.
Xie Wenqiao found this hard to believe.
The villagers of Hongye Village wouldn’t let them stay without reason.
He asked, “You don’t seem to be villagers here, nor do you look like Qingzhou locals, especially this young master. Did you do something? I noticed the villagers don’t seem hostile towards you.”
He Sui’an looked at Qi Buyan.
She wasn’t sure if answering this question would disrupt his plans.
Qi Buyan calmly said, “The villagers aren’t hostile towards us because we made a deal with them. If you want to know, you can also make a deal with us.”
Xie Wenqiao was puzzled. “A deal?”
He pressed further, “What kind of deal did you make with the villagers?”
“As I said, if you want to know, you can make a deal with us.” Qi Buyan removed a leaf that had fallen onto He Sui’an’s head. “After the deal, the truth you seek should surface.”
Nothing comes easily, not even the truth. Qi Buyan only made deals; he wouldn’t provide clues for free.
He Sui’an touched the top of her head.
The leaf had made her a bit itchy when he removed it.
Hongye Village was full of trees; she didn’t know when the leaf had fallen on her head.
Xie Wenqiao pondered for a long time, looking at the boy in front of him who wasn’t yet twenty. He shifted from his usual gentle demeanor to a rare seriousness. “Do you know the truth I seek?”
Qi Buyan smiled but said nothing.
In the end, Xie Wenqiao did not agree.
As an official of the court, he couldn’t make deals with unknown people from the martial world, especially not with a boy more than ten years younger than him. Xie Wenqiao simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.
After refusing Qi Buyan’s proposed deal, Xie Wenqiao got into the carriage he had arrived in and left Hongye Village, heading away from Dengyun Mountain.
The carriage gradually moved farther away.
Until He Sui’an could no longer see it.
She frowned, her face looking like a bitter melon. “He didn’t want to make a deal. Will that affect you?”
Qi Buyan, on a whim, pinched He Sui’an’s cheek. “No, making deals with others just gives me more options. Not making a deal won’t affect me.”
He Sui’an covered her cheek where he had pinched her.
She let out an “oh” and ran back to the village, as if afraid Qi Buyan might pinch her again.
The villagers of Hongye Village didn’t question He Sui’an about her conversation with Xie Wenqiao. They had likely figured out that their relationship was purely transactional and had no right to constrain their behavior.
As long as they didn’t harm the village, the villagers wouldn’t interfere, especially for the sake of prolonging Zhong Liang’s father’s life by a month.
In the evening, Zhong Liang came to bring them food.
He Sui’an took the food and climbed up to the treehouse. She understood that the villagers didn’t like seeing outsiders. Unless necessary, she would stay in the treehouse during her time in the village to avoid making the villagers uncomfortable or unhappy.
Qi Buyan was also in the treehouse.
It wasn’t because he cared about the villagers’ discomfort with outsiders, but because he wanted to stay and read his Gu book.
He Sui’an couldn’t understand the Gu book. She unintentionally glanced at a page and nearly blacked out.
The book had illustrations of various Gu insects.
The person who wrote the book had excellent drawing skills, making the Gu insects look lifelike. Just by looking at a picture, He Sui’an felt as if the insect was right in front of her, making it impossible to continue.
After they finished the meal Zhong Liang brought, Qi Buyan continued reading his Gu book while braiding He Sui’an’s hair. His fingers deftly moved through her hair, dividing it into several sections.
With the weather getting warmer, braiding her hair was cooler.
He Sui’an had asked him to braid her hair because she always made a mess of it.
She sat obediently in front of Qi Buyan, tearing a piece of paper to fold a butterfly. The paper came from another Gu book.
Qi Buyan had said he didn’t need it anymore.
He Sui’an planned to give him the paper butterfly once he finished braiding her hair. However, halfway through, Zhong Liang called out to them from below the treehouse.
He Sui’an leaned out to look down.
“What is it, Brother Zhong?”
After learning his name, He Sui’an began calling him Brother Zhong. Qi Buyan, still holding her hair, also looked down. Though he had a naturally aloof demeanor, his appearance softened it somewhat.
Zhong Liang, looking at the two young people, felt embarrassed as a man in his thirties.
The treehouse was rarely used.
Zhong Liang had left a book he’d finished reading in there and only remembered it today. He wanted to retrieve it but didn’t know how to explain.
Asking them to fetch it would mean they’d see the book, and the title was quite explicit. Asking them to leave the treehouse so he could find it himself? That would also be awkward.
“Um, I left something in the treehouse,” Zhong Liang finally said, looking a bit sheepish. “Could you… could you help me find it? It’s a book, and… it might be a bit embarrassing.”
He Sui’an and Qi Buyan exchanged glances. He Sui’an climbed down the ladder and said, “Sure, Brother Zhong, we’ll find it for you. What does it look like?”
Zhong Liang described the book, blushing slightly, and He Sui’an quickly located it among their things. She handed it to him without comment, understanding his embarrassment. He took it with a grateful nod and hurried away.
Returning to the treehouse, He Sui’an sat back down. Qi Buyan continued braiding her hair, a faint smile on his lips as he resumed his reading.
It wasn’t very convenient.
The treehouse held their belongings, making it somewhat inconvenient for Zhong Liang to go up and search for something.
Zhong Liang, being an adult man with certain needs and unattractive, couldn’t find a wife. In the past, he used to read such books to relieve himself.
Since his father fell ill, Zhong Liang, busy taking care of him, hadn’t read any such books.
That’s why he forgot about the book in the treehouse.
Otherwise, he would have taken it away long ago.
Judging by their appearance, they didn’t seem to have discovered the book. It was placed in a corner. If they hadn’t found it after staying a night, they probably wouldn’t find it in the future.
Zhong Liang hesitated.
He Sui’an noticed that Zhong Liang called them but remained silent. She repeated her question, “What’s the matter, Brother Zhong?”
Qi Buyan finished braiding He Sui’an’s hair. He smoothed the long braid, took the ribbon she handed him, tied it at the end, and made a bow. He wasn’t interested in why Zhong Liang was looking for them.
Zhong Liang quickly changed his words, “Nothing. You two should rest early.”
He walked away quickly.
It was almost like he was fleeing.
“Oh? Alright… Brother Zhong, you should rest early too.” He Sui’an retracted her head, puzzled by Zhong Liang’s sudden visit and abrupt departure.
Qi Buyan was indifferent.
He Sui’an lay down, holding her braid in front of her, studying it as if she wanted to learn how to braid properly. She couldn’t always rely on Qi Buyan to braid her hair; she needed to learn to do it herself.
With Qi Buyan’s consent, He Sui’an tried braiding his hair.
Switching to his hair in her hands, He Sui’an slowly braided it. He could accurately feel where her fingers touched his hair, an intense ticklish sensation.
Qi Buyan lowered his eyes, finding it hard to focus on the words and images in the Gu book.
His fingertips pressed against the page.
His attention was drawn to the hands behind him. Qi Buyan knew he was distracted from reading but chose not to stop her.
The ideal was beautiful, but the reality was less so. The braid He Sui’an made was quite unsightly. She quickly undid it, realizing that some things shouldn’t be forced.
“Aren’t you going to keep practicing braiding?” he asked.
He Sui’an replied, “No, I’m not.”
It was getting late, but He Sui’an still wasn’t sleepy. She found braiding hair too difficult and decided not to continue, but she had become addicted to folding butterflies.
Mostly, it was because staying here was so boring.
If she didn’t find something to do, she’d go crazy.
She lay in the treehouse folding butterflies, her elbows propped in front of her, her feet lifted and occasionally swaying behind her. Her skirt slid down to her ankles, revealing her delicate ankles and tiny feet.
Qi Buyan watched He Sui’an fold butterflies for a while, then put down his Gu book and lay beside her. For some reason, whenever he was with He Sui’an, he couldn’t help but want to be close to her.
He wanted to constantly smell her scent.
To touch her, or be touched by her.
“Here are some butterflies for you,” He Sui’an said, pushing a dozen paper butterflies towards Qi Buyan, her lashes lowered, and her small hands still folding another one.
Gifts.
So, these were gifts.
Qi Buyan touched the paper butterflies and suddenly leaned down to kiss her cheek.
The butterfly in He Sui’an’s hand got crumpled. They had never kissed each other’s cheeks before. Even though they had kissed on the lips, kissing on the cheek felt different.
She looked up at Qi Buyan.
Qi Buyan moved back a bit, “He Sui’an, I remember you said that kissing signifies a very close relationship.”
His fingertips slowly traced her features. “I also asked you if we could become closer, and you haven’t answered me yet. He Sui’an, what is your answer?”
He Sui’an was stunned for a few seconds.
“Um…” She blinked in confusion, unintentionally making a sound as she thought.
Hearing the sound she made, Qi Buyan chuckled softly.
The young man buried his head in her neck, kissing her collarbone. “Closer than kissing should be kissing the body. He Sui’an, I want to kiss your body, to become closer to you.”
His warm, thin lips lightly brushed her collarbone.
Indeed.
Qi Buyan felt they had become closer, as the pleasure he felt increased, almost touching ultimate joy. He sucked on her collarbone, kissing it as if it were her lips.
His kisses gradually moved down.
