TSMITB Chapter13

Sheng Qixiao’s tone was as calm as ever, but there was unconcealed displeasure between his eyes.

“……” Shen Que was a little helpless. Sheng Qixiao was much more sensitive than he had imagined. He pursed his lips and half-crouched down. “Why do you ask that? You don’t like people calling you by your full name?”

“You didn’t call me that before.”

“Therefore, you think that the reason I’m calling you by your full name is because I’ve reached my destination, don’t need you to lead the way, have no more use for you anymore, and so I’m being impolite to you, is that right?”

“Isn’t it?”

Shen Que felt like laughing. He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer, wanting to see the expression on Sheng Qixiao’s face more clearly. If it were in the past, he would have long been impatient with someone trying to “get angry” with him over such a trivial matter, but now he found it extremely interesting, and his tone when explaining was also surprisingly good.

“For me, a form of address doesn’t define the closeness or distance of a relationship. Or are you saying that in your eyes, I’m an untrustworthy person who burns bridges once they cross them?”

Sheng Qixiao didn’t answer, but his expression softened. He raised his hand to pluck a petal that had drifted onto Shen Que’s head and awkwardly changed the subject. “The Luminous Butterfly Grass looks the same as the surrounding grass during the day, and can only be distinguished at night. The valley outside the stockaded village is unsafe at night, which is why the reserves are small.”

Shen Que nodded thoughtfully. He couldn’t quite gauge how dangerous the ‘unsafe’ Sheng Qixiao spoke of truly was.

Silver Moon Valley was not close to the stockaded village. The two of them spent a lot of time on the road, and after resting under a tree for a short while, the sky gradually darkened.

A slender silver crescent moon lingered in the sky, its light mirrored in the deep pool, coaxing the butterflies that had concealed themselves among flowers and grass during the day into view. Each time a butterfly fluttered its wings, it shed a layer of faint light, and only then did the Luminous Butterfly Grass become visible.

Shen Que followed beside Sheng Qixiao, imitating him by pulling up the Luminous Butterfly Grass by the root and stuffing it into a small basket. Before long, he already had gathered a full basket.

The night in the valley was far from the dense blackness of the night in Shen Que’s memory. Even without the illumination of colorful neon lights and the hustle and bustle of flowing traffic, it was not lonely here.

Overhead, the branches “traded blows” in the night wind, while fireflies with warm yellow lights flickering at their tails stepped across fallen petals and drifted down into Shen Que’s palm.

“Is summer arriving in the mountains? Why are there fireflies?”

Sheng Qixiao looked toward Shen Que, the silver bells fastened at the ends of his hair giving a soft, gentle jingle. “The mountains have these all year round.”

The fireflies quivered their wings and drifted toward the heart of the pool, weaving together as they danced with their companions beneath the moonlight.

“This place is beautiful.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“If you like it, you can stay here forever.” When he said this, Sheng Qixiao’s voice was very soft and light, but his eyes were fixed on Shen Que, unwilling to miss any change in his expression.

Shen Que’s eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly. The weight of Sheng Qixiao’s gaze was far less restrained than he believed, nearly condensing into a tangible force that pricked against Shen Que’s face. Even a face as thick as a city wall couldn’t withstand such scorching.

In Shen Que’s view, such probing was not sophisticated. He had met too many people who beat around the bush, implicitly and explicitly trying to trick him into promises, they were countless.

One acts because one seeks gain.

What was Sheng Qixiao seeking then?

Shen Que casually turned his head to meet his gaze, originally intending to just give a casual affirmative with the best possible answer in mind, but the moment he clearly saw the other party’s eyes, he lost his composure.

Sheng Qixiao’s eyes held unconcealed anticipation. His originally light-colored pupils became dark and deep under the cover of the night, reflecting the scattered points of faint light. In that bit of brightness, Shen Que slowly shook his head: “I can’t stay here forever; my family is still waiting for me to go back.”

A moment of surprise flashed across Sheng Qixiao’s face. He had been prepared for Shen Que to nod perfunctorily, but what he got was the truth, which instead caught him off guard and brought a little joy.

Shen Que mistook Sheng Qixiao’s surprise for disappointment and quickly compensated: “Why do you want me to stay here?”

“I like you, didn’t you know?” Sheng Qixiao’s reply was forthright, direct, and matter-of-fact.

“I knew ah… that’s not it, you like me?”

Shen Que was truly flustered now. It wasn’t that he failed to notice how Sheng Qixiao’s manner toward him differed almost entirely from the way he treated others, and he harbored faint suspicions, yet he mostly ascribed it to simple curiosity toward an outsider. He hadn’t expected him to express it so directly.

Sheng Qixiao’s tone gradually became tinged with annoyance, and the silver ornaments on his forehead also began to jingle loudly: “Are you that surprised? Didn’t your companions tell you to stay away from me, precisely because they noticed I like you? You didn’t know?”

The misunderstanding was enormous.

Shen Que’s expression went blank for a few seconds before he connected with Sheng Qixiao’s thought process. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn’t say the phrase “They were afraid that I had ill intentions towards you.” He could only give a dry explanation: “They didn’t mean any harm.” They were actually trying to protect you, he swallowed that sentence back. “We only met two days ago. What do you like about me?”

Sheng Qixiao fell silent, as if suddenly detached from a certain state. The emotional fluctuation just now felt like an illusion. His tone also returned to calm, stating plainly, “Don’t you outsiders have a term called ‘love at first sight’?”

The phrase “love at first sight,” has different meanings to different people. For Shen Que, it might be an excuse he casually fabricated when he was bored and looking for amusement, which is why he had always scoffed at such statements. But coming from Sheng Qixiao’s mouth, it seemed to carry some weight.

Shen Que didn’t ask where he heard it; it was likely taught by another “outsider” he had saved before. Thinking of this, a new question arose—what kind of relationship did they have that they had reached the point where this phrase could be used? Who had fallen in love with whom at first sight?

His mind full of doubts, Shen Que missed the best time to reply. By the time he came back to his senses, Sheng Qixiao had already stood up, picked up the small basket, and looked as if he was about to leave.

Shen Que raised his hand and grabbed the ornament hanging from his waist: “Where are you going?”

Sheng Qixiao lowered his eyes and glanced at the hand grabbing him. “To the cave. It’s dangerous outside at night.” As he spoke, he bent his leg and nudged Shen Que’s wrist with his knee. “You’re pulling my waist belt. If you pull any harder, it’s going to fall off.”

“……” Shen Que let go and watched Sheng Qixiao turn around and leave without hesitation. The back view and the departing footsteps were quite resolute, utterly without lingering.

Shen Que couldn’t help but reconcile things in his mind: someone just confessed to me, right? That person was Sheng Qixiao, right? He just said he liked me and then immediately brushed me aside and ignore me. Is he playing hard to get with me?

Sheng Qixiao stopped at the mouth of the cave without turning back while lifting his gaze to the moon half veiled by drifting clouds as he waited for Shen Que to catch up.

He rested his slightly cool palm on his chest, and his violent heartbeat transmitted clearly through the flesh and bone. Sheng Qixiao knew he had been impulsive. He believed he understood Shen Que well enough, knew what a wretched sort of person he was who never took sincerity seriously, and had long since steeled himself to accept every lie Shen Que might tell.

Therefore, when Shen Que unexpectedly revealed a tiny bit of sincerity, he was momentarily pulled back to the past and for a rare moment, felt emotional, impulsively expressing his feelings.

Hopefully, he didn’t scare this fox away.

The rustling sound of soles rubbing against the grass then started, moving from far to near.

Shen Que stood side-by-side with Sheng Qixiao. “I still want to ask, who taught you your Han language?”

“You’ll know, when you like me too.”

“I don’t dislike you; a friend’s liking is also liking.”

Sheng Qixiao curved his lips, and the dimples on his cheeks filled with a pool of moonlight: “It’s not the same.” When you like me, I will know.

The cave was not too big. The innermost part was carved out into a stone bed, and large and small stone niches were also artificially chiseled into the surrounding stone walls, filled with various brown jars. In the corner, there were even piles of firewood and containers resembling pots and bowls. The entire cave revealed signs that someone had lived there for a long time.

“Sheng Qixiao, has someone lived here, or do you come here often?”

“Mm.” Sheng Qixiao didn’t even raise his head.

“What does ‘Mm’ mean?”

“Someone lived here, and I also come here often.”

Sheng Qixiao hung the collected herbs high above the ground, skillfully started a fire, spread the dark cloak he carried over the stone bed, and then motioned for Shen Que, who was still studying the wall, to come over “Shen Que, come to sleep now.”

Shen Que answered with a sound and didn’t say much more. After a day of travel, he was indeed tired, but his hand still lingered on the stone wall. He realized that someone seemed to have carved some pictures onto the wall, but the light was too dim to see clearly. He would have to find a chance to take a good look before leaving tomorrow.

The stone bed was very hard, the most uncomfortable bed he had ever slept on in his life. He expected to toss and turn sleeplessly, but unexpectedly, his eyelids started fighting as soon as he lay down.

In his drowsy state, a faint jingle of silver ornaments broke the silence, followed by a warm touch on his fingertips. Shen Que quickly realized that Sheng Qixiao was secretly holding his hand while he was sleeping.

Then his sleepiness vanished almost instantly.

Only then did Shen Que realize that the distance between them was minimal, just a few inches. If it weren’t for a few layers of cloth, they might have been able to feel each other’s body heat directly.

Sheng Qixiao liked him, and Shen Que began to face this fact squarely. A strange sense of pleasure welled up in his heart; perhaps he had found a breakthrough.

Emotion is a double-edged sword. When used improperly, it can hurt both oneself and others. To Shen Que, his mother was the greatest cautionary example: a heart devoted with utter sincerity had been wantonly crushed underfoot by scum like his father, ending in nothing but bitterness.

However, if it could be refined and given proper guidance, it would become the handiest weapon.

Shen Que slowly opened his eyes in the darkness. Using the faint light of the fire, he used his peripheral vision to examine Sheng Qixiao’s peaceful sleeping face. His long, thick eyelashes trembled slightly with his shallow breaths.

Even though Shen Que had met many people, Sheng Qixiao was undoubtedly the most to his taste: beautiful and refined, paired with an innocence unique to the mountains and a just-right wildness, and covered with a layer of mystery added by E’yun Mountain. This was naturally attractive.

Yet more than winning a beautiful lover, what drew Shen Que was Sheng Qixiao’s usefulness; leveraging his affection and trust to extract information advantageous to himself, which was what mattered most.

Although it was immoral, as long as it could save Shen Yi, what did it matter if he discarded something he never truly possessed anyway?

As for Sheng Qixiao, Shen Que thought for a moment, seriously summarizing past experiences. Barring any accidents, his final outcome with Sheng Qixiao would undoubtedly end with his own boredom, but he would certainly not treat him poorly. What kind of material compensation could he not afford to give?

Shen Que felt that his ideological and moral standards had truly improved; he was now even planning ahead and considering the feelings of others.

He just didn’t know how much Sheng Qixiao truly liked him. In any case, he first needed to properly maintain this affection.

The author has something to say:

Sheng XX: I like you, didn’t you know?

Shen X: Time to make good use of this.