12. Below the Mountain (1)
Yu Qingjia finally finished putting her clothes in order. She quietly carried her undergarments away to find a secluded place to hang them up. Once everything was arranged, she looked up and discovered that the tips of the vixen's ears had already turned bright red.
Yu Qingjia was embarrassed too, but the vixen was being far too exaggerated. They were both women, so they should understand and accommodate each other.
Yet the vixen's reaction always made Yu Qingjia feel as though she were the one teasing her.
Yu Qingjia, influenced by Murong Yan, became self-conscious as well.
She said in a barely audible voice, “I'm done.”
Despite him hearing her say this, Murong Yan still didn't turn his face around.
Murong Yan thought he might have lost too much blood and was feeling a little dizzy.
Sometimes, not seeing something only made it easier to imagine.
Every time he thought about Yu Qingjia wearing nothing but her middle garment, he felt that he could no longer stay in this cave.
Seeing Murong Yan still awkwardly keeping his face turned away, Yu Qingjia assumed he had his own difficulties, so she generously said,
“Don't worry. I won't look. Your wound hasn't been bandaged yet. Do you want me to—”
"No."
Murong Yan refused coldly and mercilessly.
Yu Qingjia's words were cut off. She pursed her lips lightly.
“All right. But you really need to bandage your wound. You were soaked in the rain. What if you develop a fever tomorrow because you didn't treat it?”
She had a point.
If his wound worsened, then at the very least, surviving tomorrow would become a problem.
Murong Yan certainly could not count on Yu Qingjia.
This place was sparsely populated and clearly unsuitable for staying long-term.
He still had to find a way back to a town and reconnect with Yu Wenjun and the others.
Murong Yan understood that perfectly well, but he simply could not bring himself to move right now.
He is a man.
There was no reason for him to be embarrassed about taking off his clothes.
But no matter how deceptive his face might be, a man's bone structure and physique were completely different from a woman's.
And Yu Qingjia was still here…
At last, Murong Yan slowly turned his face away from the stone wall, but he still refused to look at Yu Qingjia.
His gaze merely rested somewhere on the ground.
“Go outside.”
Yu Qingjia froze before staring at him in disbelief.
“What did you say?”
The rain outside fell steadily, with dull thunder rumbling from time to time.
Sending an unmarried young girl who had not yet reached her hairpin ceremony outside under such circumstances really did seem inhumane.
Murong Yan could only reluctantly compromise.
“Turn around. Don't look back.”
Yu Qingjia glared at him unhappily and muttered as she turned around,
“So Fussy. As if I even wanted to look at you.”
Murong Yan stared at her back.
He sat behind the fire, where its light could not possibly cast his shadow onto her side. Even so, Murong Yan still felt uneasy.
“Cover your eyes with your hands. Don't move.”
Yu Qingjia nearly ground her teeth in frustration, but remembering that he was injured... And that he had just saved her life—she suppressed her temper and covered her eyes.
“Now I really can't see anything. Are you satisfied?”
Murong Yan watched her cautiously for a while. Once he was certain she was obediently covering her eyes, he finally used his dagger to cut a strip of reasonably dry cloth from his middle garment and swiftly bandaged the wound on his shoulder.
Throughout the entire process, his fingers moved quickly, but his eyes remained fixed on Yu Qingjia.
Suddenly, he felt that something was strange.
Why did his movements seem as though he were doing something improper?
Although Murong Yan was thirteen years old at the time of the incident, he was still only fifteen years old now.
He had been born into the imperial family.
The men of his family were hardly paragons of restraint, especially when it came to women.
Thus, there were things Murong Yan should and should not have known that he understood all too well.
He refused to think about it any further.
He hurriedly tightened the bandage and quickly pulled his sleeve back over it.
Yu Qingjia kept her eyes covered, listening to the constant rustling behind her.
Even without looking, she could imagine how roughly Murong Yan was treating his wound.
She couldn't understand why this vixen was so stubborn, preferring to endure the pain rather than let her help.
After waiting for a while, she sensed that there was no longer any movement behind her and tentatively asked,
“Are you done?”
Murong Yan's collar was fastened all the way to the top, making his neck appear even longer and his features as flawless as jade.
Naturally, Murong Yan had already dressed himself properly again. But when he heard Yu Qingjia's question, he found it strangely awkward.
Was he supposed to respond like some young lady and say, 'I'm done'?
He waited another moment.
Seeing that the idiot Yu Qingjia was still foolishly covering her eyes, he finally could not bear it anymore.
“You can put your hands down.”
Yu Qingjia lowered her hands.
Her eyes narrowed slightly from the sudden brightness. Once she adjusted to the light, she saw that Murong Yan was already leaning against the stone wall with his eyes closed, apparently asleep.
Yu Qingjia did not bother him.
She opened the bundles they had salvaged from the carriage. After running through the forest, the clothes inside were soaked as well. She spread out whatever dry pieces she could find and then chose an extremely small corner for herself.
She hugged her knees, and quietly buried her face against them.
Today had been more exhausting than any other day in her life.
Yu Qingjia's body was utterly exhausted, yet her mind remained tense and refused to relax.
She sat there for who knew how long. Gradually, the fire dimmed until it finally went out.
The world fell into darkness once more.
Because she could no longer see anything, the sound of the rain outside seemed especially clear.
Yu Qingjia could even faintly hear the howls of wild beasts.
The darkness inside the cave suddenly seemed to thicken as well, as though countless eyes were hiding within it, waiting for the chance to pounce on her and tear her apart.
Yu Qingjia was cold and frightened.
She gritted her teeth and endured it for a while, but she still couldn't bear being alone. She was terrified that some wild beast might drag her away without anyone ever knowing.
She quietly called, “Vixen, are you asleep?”
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