The rain had only stopped in the latter half of the night. In Hongye Village, the uneven ground was filled with puddles, and a faint dampness permeated the air.
Qi Buyan had dressed He Sui’an in a skirt but hadn’t tied her hair with a ribbon. Her long hair flowed freely around her, making her face look very small, almost as if it couldn’t fill a single hand.
Because she wasn’t feeling well, her skin had an abnormal flush, mixed with a pallor.
A red dress typically accentuates a fair complexion. On a healthy He Sui’an, it looked vibrant, but today it made her seem frail. The crimson color highlighted her thin and weak appearance.
The morning breeze was gentle, not cold.
Yet, He Sui’an still shivered.
She was so feverish that she was barely conscious, clinging tightly to Qi Buyan, her fingers seemingly pressing through his dark blue garment, digging into his flesh.
Qi Buyan let her hold on, seemingly unfazed by the pain, and even seemed to enjoy it.
He Sui’an’s lips moved constantly as if she were whispering something in her delirium, but it was inaudible. She kept burrowing her head into Qi Buyan, as cold as if she were in an icehouse.
Feeling He Sui’an’s increasingly burning temperature, Qi Buyan slightly adjusted his hold on her.
His expression remained calm.
Soon, Zhong Liang arrived with an ox cart.
“Young Master Qi, get on quickly,” Zhong Liang said, stopping the cart in front of them to let them board. In wealthy families, people used horse carriages, but for ordinary families, having an ox cart was already fortunate.
However, this ox cart wasn’t Zhong Liang’s.
He had explained to a villager that he urgently needed it, and the villager lent it without hesitation. Zhong Liang hurriedly led the ox out of the village, not forgetting to wear his veil hat.
He had to wear it.
The people of Qingzhou didn’t welcome villagers from Hongye Village. If they needed to go to Qingzhou to buy something, they would wear veil hats to cover their faces and avoid revealing their identities.
Thus, wearing the veil hat, Zhong Liang appeared to be a sturdy young man. Even with his uneven legs, others wouldn’t pay much attention, thinking he just had a physical disability.
Zhong Liang placed a low stool beside the ox cart to make it easier for people to get on.
One could jump directly onto the cart, but if carrying someone, it was safer to use the stool. So, he had brought a low stool from a villager’s house.
Qi Buyan carried He Sui’an onto the ox cart.
Unlike horse carriages, ox carts didn’t have wooden sides or fabric covering all around, nor did they have soft cushions inside. The ox cart had only a wooden plank covered with dry straw, typically used for transporting goods.
After getting on the ox cart, He Sui’an sat on Qi Buyan’s lap. Being unwell was already uncomfortable enough, and she couldn’t bear any additional discomfort.
The wooden planks of the ox cart were too hard.
Although Qi Buyan’s body was rather firm, it was much better than the hard wooden planks of the ox cart.
His body temperature was one of the reasons why He Sui’an wanted to be closer to him. She wanted to be even closer, as close as possible.
He Sui’an’s face was against Qi Buyan’s.
Her breath was hot and slightly damp, seeping into his collar along with her faint fragrance, as if it could raise his temperature as well.
Qi Buyan’s wrist guards were loose, and inside his sleeves were two small hands. He Sui’an treated this place like a hand warmer, slipping her hands in and firmly pressing her palms against his wrists, drawing warmth.
The butterfly silver chain under He Sui’an’s palm was also heated by their body temperature.
Zhong Liang drove the ox cart with a whip.
He occasionally turned back to look at them. Seeing them so close, he turned his head away again, feeling a bit envious. They were good-looking and venturing into the martial world at such a young age.
Even when Zhong Liang was healthy, he wouldn’t have dared to wander the martial world recklessly.
Everyone knows the martial world is full of dangers.
Zhong Liang didn’t doubt that Qi Buyan could handle himself in the martial world. Encountering a young man like Qi Buyan only confirmed for Zhong Liang how difficult it was to navigate the martial world. Perhaps the ruthless are more suited for it?
One thing had puzzled Zhong Liang for a long time.
Why was He Sui’an following this young man? They were completely different types of people.
Logically, people who are not alike would find it hard to get along, but they seemed to be exceptionally harmonious. This was something Zhong Liang couldn’t figure out. He stopped pondering it, as it was their business.
The journey from Hongye Village to Qingzhou was not short; the two places were quite far apart. Zhong Liang could only speed up to try to arrive as soon as possible.
When the ox cart entered Qingzhou, it was already late in the morning, nearing noon.
The long street was bustling with people, lined with shops, and vendors on both sides were shouting. The ox cart could hardly move in the middle of the street and had to wait for some pedestrians to pass before moving forward.
Zhong Liang looked around, trying to find another route out of the crowd, when he suddenly felt a lightness behind him.
He turned to look.
Qi Buyan had effortlessly jumped off the ox cart with He Sui’an in his arms. He casually asked someone nearby where the best medical clinic was.
The passerby glanced at the young man, who looked as beautiful as a girl, then at the girl in his arms. Without much hesitation, they told him where the clinic was.
Qi Buyan smiled faintly, “Thank you.”
Despite being in a hurry to get He Sui’an to a doctor, Qi Buyan remained calm and even smiled. But when they were stuck on the ox cart in the crowded street, he got down to ask for directions.
Driving the ox cart, Zhong Liang also heard the directions to the clinic provided by the passerby.
He understood Qi Buyan’s plan.
They would go to the clinic first, and Zhong Liang would slowly follow with the ox cart, saving time. It had been a long time since Zhong Liang had been to Qingzhou, so he didn’t know which clinic was the best.
Qi Buyan navigated through the long street, attracting many gazes. While the people of Great Zhou were open-minded, it was still rare to see someone carrying another person down the street, especially someone as strikingly handsome as Qi Buyan.
With his long legs and quick sense of direction, it took him less than a quarter of an hour to find the clinic.
The clinic wasn’t busy today.
The doctor was writing prescriptions, and the assistant was preparing medicine.
Before Qi Buyan even entered, the doctor and assistant looked up towards the door. They had heard a clear sound of silver ornaments, like a musical note.
There was no need to ask who needed medical attention; it was obviously the girl with the flushed cheeks. The doctor put down his pen and walked out from behind the counter.
To the left of the clinic was a bed hidden by a screen, meant for patients who couldn’t move.
The doctor led them there, instructing Qi Buyan to place He Sui’an on the bed.
She clung to him, unwilling to let go, her fingers red from gripping so tightly.
He Sui’an had only fallen ill that morning. Aside from being weak, she still had some consciousness, but now, after burning with fever for so long, she was barely aware of her surroundings.
Qi Buyan sat on the bed with her in his arms. “Take her pulse like this,” he said.
The doctor understood.
Without further words, he lifted his robe and sat on a wooden chair beside them, gently taking He Sui’an’s wrist to check her pulse.
Whether it was the fever causing her discomfort or something else, He Sui’an’s brows were tightly furrowed.
Qi Buyan’s hand rested on hers.
He gently stroked her forehead with his thumb, as he had done before, but this time it didn’t smooth out the crease.
A fog seemed to envelop He Sui’an, burning with fever. In her delirium, she felt like she was stepping into the fog, losing her footing, and falling off a cliff, the wind roaring past her ears, the intense sensation of falling suffocating her momentarily.
She opened her eyes to find herself still surrounded by fog.
He Sui’an waved her hands, trying to disperse the dense fog and find a path forward.
But the fog wouldn’t clear.
In the fog, in the seemingly soundless darkness, He Sui’an heard her own heavy breathing, one breath after another. Gradually, other sounds emerged, belonging to two girls.
“Tomorrow is the end of the college entrance exam. We’ll finally be free! If I stay up late studying any longer, I’m going to collapse. By the way, He Sui’an, do you still have that novel I lent you?”
There were sounds of chairs being moved.
“I do. But I haven’t started reading it yet; I was planning to wait until after the exams.”
“That’s fine, take your time. No need to return it, consider it a graduation gift. I’ve already finished it, and it’s really good. Haha, the frugal me has saved some money again.”
“Thanks.”
“Wait, let me warn you first. The ending of that novel isn’t great; almost everyone has a tragic ending. Can you handle that?”
The voices faded.
Once again, He Sui’an felt herself falling through the fog, unable to breathe, as if being thrown and caught, suspended in mid-air. She couldn’t quite understand these conversations. What was the college entrance exam? What was a novel?
Was it like a storybook?
Her name was mentioned in the conversation, and He Sui’an recognized one of the voices as her own. She couldn’t place the other voice, though it was very familiar.
There were no images, only voices. She couldn’t picture where they were having this conversation.
Her head hurt.
And she was very cold.
The bone-chilling cold made it impossible for He Sui’an to think clearly. She started to run, trying to escape the fog.
But the fog grew thicker, as if it wanted to swallow her whole. As she ran, she tripped over something and fell to the ground. When she looked up again, the fog in front of her began to clear.
He Sui’an looked ahead.
A girl in a red, high-waisted ruqun stood tall and slender. Her shawl hung at her sides, and her skirt, embroidered with mountain and river scenes, fluttered in the wind.
She had her hair styled in a butterfly bun, with crimson silk ribbons woven through it. Two strands of hair hung in front of her, with silver ornaments at the ends, tinkling softly. Her face was bare of makeup, her lips naturally red.
As if hearing the commotion from He Sui’an’s side, the girl turned around.
He Sui’an felt bewildered.
The girl looked exactly like her.
And dressed the same.
“Are you…me?” He Sui’an got up from the ground and tried to walk over, but hesitated, wondering if she was dreaming.
“I am you, yet I am not you,” the girl said, glancing aside. “The real you is her. You have forgotten.”
He Sui’an followed the girl’s gaze.
At the end of the fog stood another girl, dressed strangely.
She wore a white short-sleeve shirt with a school emblem on the chest and a blue school skirt that reached her knees, revealing her evenly proportioned legs and arms, a stark contrast to the attire of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
She didn’t have a complicated hairstyle or long silk ribbons tied to her hair, nor did she have silver ornaments at the ends of her hair. Instead, she had a simple high ponytail, exposing her slender white neck.
“I am the real you,” she said.
“Remember quickly, you do not belong here. Let’s go home together, shall we?” This girl, who also had He Sui’an’s face, slowly reached out her hand to He Sui’an.
Though it seemed eerie, He Sui’an felt strangely enchanted by the familiar face. She wanted to grasp the girl’s hand and lifted her own.
The distance between their hands shortened.
Just as He Sui’an was about to touch the girl’s hand, a clear voice echoed in her ear: “He Sui’an.” It was a boy’s voice, as gentle as water tapping on white jade.
Who was it? Who was calling her?
He Sui’an looked around but saw the girl in the white short-sleeve shirt and blue school skirt moving slightly away, gazing at her with an indescribable look.
“He Sui’an,” the voice called again.
It was Qi Buyan.
The fog around her completely dissipated, and the figures of the two girls who looked exactly like her vanished with it.
He Sui’an opened her eyes to see Qi Buyan. Her eyes moved, seeing others as well. Zhong Liang stood to their left, and the doctor in blue sat to their right, taking her pulse.
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