TSMITB Chapter10

Sheng Qixiao was called away just after bandaging Shen Que up; judging by the voice, it shouldn’t be the person who previously led the way with a lantern.

Shen Que raised his eyelids, completely shedding his earlier awkwardness, and looked over with a poker face. Under the pitch-black night sky, a faint yellow lamp swayed as it gradually moved further and further away.

Only a few of them remained in the small building. Old Qiu stood at the doorway to look outside again, and after making sure there was no one, he returned to the room, nudged Shen Que, and found an empty spot to sit down.

Shen Que leaned back on the chair, took out a cigarette, and toyed with it between his fingers. He didn’t light it, he only occasionally brought it to his nose for a light sniff.

“Young Master Shen, you cannot provoke anyone in E’yun Mountain. We’ve reached a consensus on this before, and I hope you won’t forget. This Sheng Qixiao is absolutely not as simple as he seems on the surface.”

Old Qiu had a resolute expression. He didn’t care whether Shen Que’s actions all the way had been intentional provocation or unintentional incitement; he still had to give the necessary warning.

Shen Que couldn’t even be bothered to lift his eyelids this time. Of course, he didn’t think any good people would come out of E’yun Mountain, but at least so far, Sheng Qixiao hadn’t done anything to harm them and had even helped them.

As for provoking, he didn’t think he had any overstepping or suggestive behavior… maybe a little, but it was harmless. He could tell that Sheng Qixiao wasn’t resistant to his proximity, and that was what mattered most.

If both sides are willing, what’s the problem with him using this point to provide some convenience for achieving his goal?

He had never claimed to be a moral paragon. Are these people meeting him for the first time?

Gang Zi put his arm on Ah Chao’s shoulder, half-sitting on the rattan chair’s armrest: “That’s right, Young Master Shen, and he did help us as well, so we can’t repay kindness with malice.”

“We are sort of dependent on others now, we haven’t figured out the situation here, and we haven’t found the way to cure the Gu yet either. If you hurt him emotionally, it won’t be as easy to resolve as it is outside. Maybe we’ll all lose our lives here.”

Ah Chao nodded quickly: “Right, Young Master Shen, my legs and feet are not well right now, so it’s not very convenient for me to help you deal with love debts…”

Shen Que was momentarily speechless. “Can you please stop being narcissistic on my behalf? Who said they like me and want to be with me? Even if I had bad intentions, did you see him respond to that yet?”

“Well, aren’t we just preparing for a rainy day? What if, and also…” His attitude towards you and towards us is not the same. Gang Zi forced himself to swallow the latter half of the sentence.

“Fine, fine, I’ll be careful.”

“Careful about what?” Ah Chao asked.

Gang Zi quickly jumped in: “Careful about keeping your distance, or careful about controlling the speed at which you change your mind?”

“Careful about arranging for you to work in India after we get out.” Shen Que sneered and gave both of them an eye roll. “You don’t need to worry about my emotional issues. The current priority is to find a way to save Shen Yi.”

Old Qiu had already made his point and stopped, patted Shen Que’s shoulder, and offered a little comfort: “Young Master Shen is right. We need to seize the time and use Ah Chao’s injury and recovery as an excuse to stay in the stockaded village.” Seeing everyone nod in agreement, he continued, “When we came in today, we didn’t encounter any other people from the village, so we are still unsure of their attitude towards us. We must be very careful in our actions.”

Shen Que turned his head to look outside the door, feeling a sense of unease in his heart. He felt that everything was going too smoothly. It had only been about two days since they entered the mountain. If E’yun Mountain was so easy to enter, then why would outside rumors describe it as so terrifying, and why would so many exploration and scientific investigation teams enter and never return, leaving no trace of their remains?

Most importantly, do Sheng Qixiao and the people in this stockaded village know Gu arts, and can they save Shen Yi?

It’s just that no matter how many questions he had now, he couldn’t verify them. He could only take things one step at a time.

Sheng Qixiao returned very quickly. Almost in the blink of an eye, Shen Que saw him standing at the doorway, carrying something. His light-colored eyes also looked dark and deep at night.

Sheng Qixiao stepped aside, and only then did Shen Que notice three burly young men behind him.

Those young men were all wearing dark blue robes. The embroidery on their clothes was not as delicate as Sheng Qixiao’s. Their hair was completely tied back, and they had almost no decorations on their bodies.

After receiving Sheng Qixiao’s permission, the men walked straight to the dining table and opened the food boxes in their hands. Specialty dishes were placed on the table one after another, and the vase was replaced with freshly picked flowers still bearing dew drops.

The men quickly withdrew, without a single word of exchange during the entire process at all.

Only after everyone had left did Sheng Qixiao walk in front of Shen Que empty-handed. He didn’t know where the items he was carrying earlier had been placed. He bent down, wanting to pick up Shen Que and carry him to the dining table.

This action was a bit too natural, so natural that Shen Que almost thought it had been rehearsed thousands of times before.

Shen Que pressed down on the hand he extended and slowly got up, leaning on the back of the rattan chair. The conversation of the people earlier was still echoing in his mind, and his expression involuntarily cooled down. He quickly looked away. “No need to trouble yourself, I can manage on my own.”

“Huh?” Sheng Qixiao was startled, his eyes veiled with confusion, as if he couldn’t understand why he was fine before he left but became so distant and polite once he returned.

He slowly turned his head, his questioning gaze sweeping over the people around him.

Old Qiu turned his head, avoiding looking into Sheng Qixiao’s eyes. Gang Zi and Ah Chao exchanged glances, pretending to flirt with each other.

The awkwardness was palpable.

They also hadn’t expected Shen Que’s promise to keep his distance to manifest in such an abrupt way right before their eyes.

Shen Que was momentarily at a loss. He had always been proactive, enthusiastically pursuing anyone he liked. Moreover, countless people usually offered themselves up, asking for his “care,” and as long as they were pleasing to his eye, he basically accepted all of them. Those who weren’t good enough couldn’t even get close to him. Even if he got bored and wanted to end things, he didn’t need to do it himself either. He had genuinely never had to personally reject anyone’s advances before.

Shen Que lightly coughed twice, feeling as if Sheng Qixiao’s gaze was about to bore two holes into him.

Forget it, let’s talk about it next time. Everything requires a gradual process. Don’t say he didn’t try. Sometimes rejecting too strongly can hurt people.

He lowered his eyelashes, his eyes darting slightly. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed the aroma of the food in the air, then proactively pinched Sheng Qixiao’s sleeve. “It smells so good, Sheng Qixiao, are you hungry?”

Sheng Qixiao let out a chuckle, the sound trapped in his throat, and to Shen Que’s ear, it conveyed a hint of gritted teeth. Instead of answering, Sheng Qixiao countered with a question: “You don’t seem, very hungry?”

“I’m hungry, I’m hungry! Didn’t you see I was talking nonsense just now because I was hungry?” After saying this, he lightly patted Sheng Qixiao’s hand again before looking up at him, and played the fool, “Are you also so hungry you’re dizzy? Why is your complexion so poor?”

Shen Que maintained a smile on his face, but inwardly, he had thoroughly cursed Old Qiu and the others. He had never played the role of a thoughtless idiot in his life, and now he was experiencing it.

Sheng Qixiao’s expression softened a little, and his eyebrows relaxed, returning to his initial gentle and detached appearance. He bent his arm, waiting for Shen Que to take hold.

Shen Que always felt something was off. Sheng Qixiao’s gentleness at this moment was somewhat different from when they first met by the river, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly how.

Not thinking any further, Shen Que sensibly supported himself on Sheng Qixiao and hopped to the dining table to sit down, not sparing a single glance for the other men.

Gang Zi and Old Qiu exchanged a look, their mouths moving in silent communication: “Something is going to happen sooner or later.”

Old Qiu sighed. Who made him end up with an overly emotional employer? It felt like he was about to get into a relationship again if he wasn’t careful.

There were seven or eight dishes on the table, a rich variety, all steaming hot. Everyone ignored formalities, grabbing their chopsticks and beginning to eat right away.

After the meal, Shen Que, for once, proactively started clearing the dishes and chopsticks. Just as he was about to ask where the kitchen was, Sheng Qixiao stopped him.

“These are from someone else’s house; they will come to collect them later.”

Gang Zi secretly cursed Shen Que for playing it up, while his radar went off again. Could this guy also be a young master? Is that a trend even deep in the mountains?

“My house’s water storage tank, is broken these two days, there’s no water…”

So that was it.

Everyone suddenly realized, no wonder even the food was cooked elsewhere and brought over.

Shen Que was a master at feigning thoughtfulness, his face showing genuine emotion and guilt: “Thank you, we’ve caused you trouble.”

Sheng Qixiao shook his head and said seriously, “You’ve helped my home, become lively.”

Not dwelling on the matter of washing dishes anymore, Sheng Qixiao got up and pushed open two doors. Shen Que followed and glanced at them; they looked like bedrooms.

Sheng Qixiao considerately pointed to the room on the left and said, “There are two connected rooms here.”

Gang Zi immediately said, “How about the three of us staying in this room, and Young Master Shen… Shen Que stays in that room alone?”

Old Qiu looked at Shen Que with some reservation. “Why don’t the four of us just stay in these two rooms here? We can squeeze in, it’s not a problem.”

Shen Que naturally knew what Old Qiu was worried about; it was nothing more than being unable to fully trust Sheng Qixiao, afraid that he would encounter misfortune if he was alone.

Such worry was not unreasonable, but since they had already arrived here, no matter what happened, they could only deal with it as it came.

Sheng Qixiao spoke before him, saying a little awkwardly, “The room inside is smaller, with a small bed that, only one person can sleep in.” He then turned to look at Shen Que. “Are you guys, going to have three people sleep in one bed?”

Shen Que thought about that scene, decisively got up, and hopped to the right side, pushing open the door that was slightly ajar.

Borrowing the light from the hall, Shen Que roughly made out the room’s layout. Windows were open on the left and front sides. Outside the window were tree branches swaying in the wind. The curtains, made of an unknown material, were billowing and flapping in the wind, restlessly covering the rattan chair and small round table placed by the window. A bed was placed against the wall on the side near the door, and to the right upon entering was a low wooden cabinet. The entire room revealed a just-right blend of nature and refinement.

“Can I sleep in this room then?” Shen Que blinked at Sheng Qixiao.

Old Qiu also leaned in to look. Was this room not custom-made for Shen Que? Heaven knows how much Shen Que loved this style, simple and grand, yet with a hint of antique charm. With the faint yellow lamp shining there, Shen Que’s lifelong pursuit—written as ‘aesthetic’ but read as ‘showing off’—wasn’t it fully displayed?

To object now would really be a buzzkill. Old Qiu got up and thanked Sheng Qixiao, saying that if he ever needed him in the future, he should just ask.

Sheng Qixiao accepted with a smile.

Shen Que took a lamp and entered the room that was temporarily his. He placed the lamp on the low cabinet and limped over to close the wooden, carved window, before pulling the curtains shut as well.

That lamp was still quietly glowing on the low cabinet. Shen Que didn’t know what was burning; it was very different from a candle. It was small, enclosed in a transparent container, and emitted light for a long time.