Qi Buyan didn’t say whether it was okay or not. Instead, he smiled and started walking towards the inn.
The red and black snakes followed, and He Sui’an hurriedly ran to catch up, not daring to get too close to Qi Buyan for fear of his insects and snakes, but also not daring to stay too far behind for fear that he would abandon her.
The city of Wei was now like a living dead town.
Most of the people here were barely surviving, becoming no different from zombies. They wouldn’t take her in. If He Sui’an was alone, she would either starve to death or freeze to death, or be killed by bandits.
Qi Buyan’s insects and snakes might bite her if they got unhappy, but that was better than dying.
He Sui’an’s eyes started to sting again.
She couldn’t cry anymore.
I have to be strong, she told herself.
Although Qi Buyan hadn’t agreed to let her follow, he hadn’t explicitly forbidden it either. So, until he said otherwise, He Sui’an would shamelessly follow him to stay alive.
The boy had long legs, and his one step equaled her two. He Sui’an clutched her skirt and ran, panting heavily, barely managing to keep up. Despite the cold weather, she broke into a sweat.
The inn hadn’t changed much; it looked the same as when they had left.
Only the charcoal fire in the main hall had burned out.
Qi Buyan went straight up the wooden stairs to the second floor.
He Sui’an, afraid of annoying him by following too closely, suppressed her fear of being left behind and squatted in the main hall, hugging her knees while waiting for him.
Hearing the faint sound of silver ornaments clinking, He Sui’an looked up at the stairs. The boy was coming down, carrying a bundle in one hand, and the silver ornaments coiled around his long boots began to move, crawling down along the boots.
It turned out that the silver ornaments on his boots were actually a small silver snake hibernating.
She quickly stood up.
“Do you really want to follow me?”
Qi Buyan casually placed the bundle on the table, pulled over a long bench, and sat down in front of her.
He Sui’an nodded vigorously.
He rested his chin on his hand, looking at her with his beautiful eyes, seemingly kind as he said, “I’ve raised many insects and snakes since I was young, but I’ve never raised a person.”
He Sui’an opened her mouth, wanting to say that she was easy to take care of, but she couldn’t get the words out. She moved her lips, feeling awkward, and said dryly, “I won’t cause you any trouble.”
Qi Buyan glanced at the empty spot on the long bench: “Sit down first.”
She immediately sat down.
He smiled, “What’s your name?”
He Sui’an replied, “He Sui’an.”
Qi Buyan repeated softly, “He Sui’an… I’m Qi Buyan,” as if introducing himself in return.
Suddenly, he raised his hand and touched the wound on He Sui’an’s forehead.
“Who hit you?”
The boy’s fingertips were warm, slightly calloused, and when they brushed over her sensitive wound, a tinge of unfamiliar numbness mingled with the lingering pain.
He Sui’an pulled her neck back, but Qi Buyan grabbed the back of her neck with his other hand. His palm moved up and quickly found the hole in the back of her head, his fingertips gently rubbing the wound.
It was a wound that could have been fatal.
Hit so severely, yet she hadn’t died.
Was it sheer luck?
“You still haven’t answered me.” Qi Buyan lowered his hand, his fingertips stained with a bit of dried blood.
Yesterday, the old woman had wanted to treat He Sui’an’s wound, but the inn had no medicine left, and hearing her say she was fine, it was left unattended.
He Sui’an tried hard to recall, but her mind was blank: “I don’t remember at all.”
Qi Buyan said, “What a pity.”
She was puzzled, “Hmm?”
“It would be great if we could find the person who hit you. I’d smash his head to pieces.”
He casually fiddled with the silver ornaments at his waist, as if narrating a common occurrence, “Someone once threw a stone at the insects I raised. I smashed his head with a stone.”
He Sui’an’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and she remained silent.
Gradually, she understood the hidden meaning in Qi Buyan’s words and was quite surprised, “You agree to let me follow you?”
Qi Buyan gestured for He Sui’an to bring her head closer.
She didn’t know what he intended to do but hesitated and then obediently leaned her head toward him.
A spider crawled out from Qi Buyan’s wrist guard, heading straight for her forehead. He Sui’an jumped up in alarm, pushing Qi Buyan away, her face full of resistance, almost fleeing.
Qi Buyan chuckled softly, “What are you afraid of? Didn’t you just say you wanted to follow me? Can’t you even accept the insects I raise?”
He Sui’an, with a stiff expression, stood a few steps away from him.
He remained seated, not moving at all.
The boy placed his hands on the table, his fingers tapping rhythmically. His smile remained, his jade-like face gentle as he quietly watched her.
After a long standoff, He Sui’an took small steps back, slowly approaching Qi Buyan again.
She remembered him saying that to gain something, one must pay a price. She thought this was the cost of following him. Just like when she buried the old woman and was bitten by his black snake—it hurt but didn’t kill her.
Qi Buyan moved his hand, and the spider quickly climbed onto He Sui’an’s face. Her heart pounded furiously.
The spider began to bite her.
Not just once, but several times in succession.
Frightened, He Sui’an closed her eyes and blindly reached out, unintentionally grabbing Qi Buyan’s hand.
Qi Buyan leisurely watched the purple spider nibbling at the rotten flesh around He Sui’an’s wound, not minding that she was holding his hand at the moment. “Do you want to leave a scar on your face?”
The girl’s struggling stopped.
It wasn’t just about letting the spider bite her?
He looked down at her hand holding his, curiously hooking her pinky finger. “If you don’t want a scar, let it eat all the dead flesh. I don’t mind if my raised insects look ugly.”
“Everything is up to you.”
What difference is there between raising people and raising insects?
Suddenly, he wanted to try.
As soon as he finished speaking, He Sui’an opened her eyes. She saw Qi Buyan’s profile as he examined her fingers. The boy’s hands were long and broad, different in size and length from hers.
Her thoughts were consumed by the purple spider on her face. “Can this spider heal wounds?”
Qi Buyan responded with a sound of agreement.
Amazing, He Sui’an marveled inwardly, but her fear of insects couldn’t be overcome. Every time the spider moved, she shuddered involuntarily. She kept her eyes open now, looking at the ground to distract herself.
When her eyes were closed, her senses became more acute. She could almost hear the spider eating the dead flesh, making her skin crawl.
It was better to keep her eyes open and focus elsewhere.
Her gaze wandered aimlessly.
She noticed the hem of the boy’s clothes touching the floor. The colors were bright, the embroidery extensive, creating a pattern that seemed like a natural beautiful picture from afar, but up close, it looked like a chaotic mix of strange characters.
In less than a moment, the spider finished its meal and crawled away from He Sui’an’s wound.
Qi Buyan reached out, and the spider’s eight tiny legs brushed her cheek. He picked up the spider with his fingers. “It’s done.”
The wound on He Sui’an’s forehead, which had been occasionally painful, seemed to feel much better now.
“Thank you.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pattern resembling butterfly wings appear on the skin of Qi Buyan’s neck, the colors shifting from dark to light. He Sui’an couldn’t help but wonder and blurted out, “What’s that under your neck?”
The purple spider, full after its meal, curled up and fell asleep in Qi Buyan’s palm. He picked up his bundle. “Are you talking about the butterfly pattern on my body?”
In the blink of an eye, the butterfly pattern disappeared again.
He Sui’an’s eyes widened.
“I forgot to tell you, I come from a village in Miaojiang. My body is somewhat different from others. Occasionally, unique butterfly patterns appear on my skin. They used to appear whenever I got excited from killing people.”
