Chapter 29

“Junior Sister,” Gu Shuyu asked, expression grave, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes, “when you and Junior Brother were traveling together, did he bully you in any way?”
“Of course not, Senior Sister.” Jiang Yu waved both hands quickly, then spoke with solemn seriousness. “Junior Brother took care of me the whole way. He knew I was scared, so he let me stay with him…”
“Stay… together?” The teacup slipped from Gu Shuyu’s fingers and clinked back onto the table. Her disbelieving gaze swung between Shen Anzhi’s calm profile and Jiang Yu’s earnest expression. “With Junior Brother Shen?”
“Yes.” Jiang Yu nodded vigorously, doing her best to look sincere. “And he was already injured on top of that. Can we… maybe not punish him?”
Shen Anzhi’s brow arched slightly. He fought the urge to look, then gave in, casting her a sideways glance as she threw herself into the performance. Watching her, a quiet laugh escaped him. “Senior Sister really can’t bear to see me take a little punishment, hm…”
His last note rose, shading the words with a teasing lilt.
“Yes,” Jiang Yu said, without a shred of hesitation. And for once, she didn’t feel there was anything wrong with that at all.
Shen Anzhi’s fingers stilled on the copper coin, whitening around the edge as he clenched down. For the first time in his life, her words left him at a loss, and his heartbeat, utterly disobedient, stumbled twice.
Why ask her that…
“I see…” he murmured, eyes dropping in thought. His lips curled up as his fingertip tapped lightly against the table.
In the dark lake of his heart, a strange voice kept bubbling up, over and over in Jiang Yu’s familiar tones, like, like.
If he’d known it would be like this, he never should’ve… never should’ve used that True Word Technique pell to stir up his own heart.
Jiang Yu’s bright eyes blinked, full of hope that Gu Shuyu would believe her.
All right, all right, I’ve put in this much effort, Shen Anzhi, you are not allowed to go full blackened villain and hold this over my head later, got it?
“Men and women should keep their distance.” Gu Shuyu’s gaze flicked to Shen Anzhi, something complicated and unreadable surging in her eyes. After a long silence, she let out the faintest sigh and softened her tone. “Eat first.”
“Senior Sister, I’m full.” Jiang Yu took two mechanical bites of her bun and could barely swallow. She hid behind her teacup, watching the expressions of the two across from her.
Shen Anzhi silently finished his breakfast, rose without a word, and headed toward the rear courtyard. Jiang Yu had no choice but to lower her head and follow at Gu Shuyu’s side. The moment they stepped through the gate, a chilling, austere pressure washed over her.
Several disciples stood at rigid attention on either side. The leading one bowed to Gu Shuyu, his voice especially clear in the still courtyard. “Senior Sister, the punishment tools are ready. We may carry out the sentence at any time.”
Gu Shuyu inclined her head.
Shen Anzhi walked unhurriedly to stand in the center, back to Jiang Yu, straight as a bamboo stalk that would rather snap than bend.
The disciple tasked with the punishment wore a hard, impassive expression. There was not the slightest hint of hesitation.
“First lash!”
The long whip split the air with a shrill crack before smashing down. Skin tore open in an instant.
“Second lash!”
The whip struck like a lunging viper. A deeper line of blood blossomed across his back; his muscles tightened, every line of his spine taut as a bow.
“Third lash, sentence carried out.”
The final blow landed with a dull thud. A few drops of blood arced through the air, spattering across the cold blue bricks.
The whisper of the whip’s passing lingered, echoing faintly in the empty yard.
Three strokes from the Enforcement Hall’s disciple, and Shen Anzhi hadn’t moved a muscle. He casually swept his loosened black hair back behind him; the ink-dark fall of it hid the three livid marks across his back.
From beginning to end, he hadn’t let out so much as a grunt.
Jiang Yu’s eyes burned red at the corners. Why would no one believe her, and why, too, would no one believe him…
Shen Anzhi turned, offering the disciple a shallow bow, his expression as calm as if the man had whipped someone else.
Jiang Yu thought that if it had been her under that whip, she’d be in so much pain she couldn’t even roll on the ground.
“Junior Brother…”
His steps were steady as he passed her. He noticed the red rimming her eyes, and the way she deliberately lowered her gaze to avoid his.
He looked straight at her anyway. When the girl in scarlet’s long lashes trembled, his mood, perversely, improved.
He continued on and bowed to Gu Shuyu behind her. “Senior Sister, I’ve taken my three lashes.”
“Go and tend your injuries,” Gu Shuyu said with a nod, and the disciples parted to open a path for him.
Jiang Yu hurried after him. “Junior Brother, wait for me.”
He slowed, waiting for the little figure trailing him, not missing the worry and tangled emotion on her face.
She scurried along at his side in small, quick steps. “Junior Brother, are you all right? It must hurt a lot…”
“Does it hurt?” he echoed softly, almost to himself.
No one ever cared whether he hurt, just as no one ever had before.
“Senior Sister, will you always worry about me?” Shen Anzhi glanced sideways, his tone as lazy as ever, but threaded with a rare seriousness.
“Of course. As your Senior Sister, worrying about you is only natural. I saw your back bleeding.” Jiang Yu produced a jar of medicine and held it out to him.
He didn’t take it. Folding his arms, he tilted his head and looked at her, lips quirking into a careless smile as he suddenly changed the subject. “Senior Sister, have you cooled off yet?”
“Cooled off?” Jiang Yu blinked, confused.
Seeing her like this, he figured she’d forgotten Gu Shuyu’s words, or else…
He suddenly leaned in, close enough that she could see her own reflection in his clear, dark eyes.
His usual smile was gone, lips pressed in a straight line. His voice dropped, threaded with a quiet probing. “Senior Sister Gu wasn’t entirely wrong. Dragging you into danger like that, you really don’t mind?”
“I… can’t say I don’t mind at all.” Jiang Yu let out two awkward laughs. “But since you did save my life, I’ll be generous and not hold it against you.”
“Not hold it against me” Shen Anzhi’s fingers moved faster over the copper coin. It had only been a little “threat” to get her to fetch the herb, and yet, inexplicably, a strange irritability coiled through him. He curved his lips. “Senior Sister is truly broad-minded enough to sail a boat in that belly of yours.”
Looking at his expression, Jiang Yu suddenly felt that if she did mind, it was wrong, and if she didn’t mind, it was also wrong…
Truly a black lotus.
She didn’t bother arguing. She shoved the medicine into his hand. Something faintly ticklish brushed her palm, so light she almost thought she imagined it.
“If you need help applying the medicine, I’m always available,” she said.
She was certain he’d refuse, maybe even mess with her a little. She expected he’d toss her out of the room before they even reached his door, just like last time.
She privately congratulated herself on guessing right.
Arms folded, Shen Anzhi nodded, lips curving into something that was not quite a smile. “All right, Senior Sister.” The way he drew out “Senior Sister” had a subtle, inexplicable note to it.
Jiang Yu froze, breath catching.
He turned his head slightly; his eyes, when they met hers, were surprisingly full of emotion.
“Ah?” Her exclamation cut off as something clamped around her wrist.
His fingers were warm and unyielding, closing over her like a shackle.
Caught off guard, she stumbled as he tugged her along. The shadow of the corridor corner swallowed them in an instant. A heartbeat later, he had pulled her into a half-open room.
Behind them, the door swung shut with a soft, abrupt creak that echoed down the empty hallway.
The upstairs room was simple and spotless, much like him when he hid his moods, nothing out of place. The air held the faint fragrance of the tea he loved to drink, fresh and clean.
Over the past few days sharing a room with Gu Shuyu, she’d learned this was also the tea her Senior Sister favored.
Shen Anzhi released her wrist. The medicine bottle landed on the table with a soft tak as he set it down, then gave her a pointed look.
When she didn’t move, he smiled and leaned in slightly. “Senior Sister, what are you waiting for?”
Jiang Yu went blank for a second. Her stupid mouth insisted on speaking. “I was thinking about how to undo your robes.”
“Untie the belt first. Then the front.” He said it like he was commenting on the weather. “Why hasn’t Senior Sister started yet?”
Her fingers crept up to her hot cheeks, scratching lightly at the heat there. She took a deep breath.
In a healer’s eyes, a body should be nothing more than five sections of bone and a bit of flesh and blood.
She forced herself to calm down, but the slight tremble in her hands betrayed her, as her fingertips finally reached for the front of his robe.
The air seemed to thicken and grow warm.
Shen Anzhi stood motionless, long lashes lowered over eyes as dark as ink.
That gaze, though veiled, felt solid, locked on the head slowly drawing closer, its nervous tilt easy to read.
His eyes followed the faint quiver of the silver wings on her butterfly hairpin, then slowly traced downward with infinite patience.
Her face, open and unhidden, was written with reluctance and inner struggle, clearly reflected in his half-lowered gaze.
Mm.
Her flustered state right now was… far more entertaining than he’d imagined.
A little closer and her bean-colored nails and flushed, smooth cheeks were clearly visible. Her slender fingers shook as they hesitated and drifted lower.
Something in him stirred. “If Senior Sister keeps dawdling like this,” he said lazily, “I’m afraid all my blood will be gone before you ever touch the medicine.”
Jiang Yu bit her lower lip. Her pale earlobes flushed scarlet. She squeezed her eyes shut and brushed her fingertips against the hollow of his waist, fumbling at the golden belt knot, and promptly got herself stuck.
Being handled like this made Shen Anzhi’s breath catch; his Adam’s apple rolled slowly. For a moment, the emotions he kept buried nearly broke loose.
Sweat broke out on her brow. She looked up, face full of distress. “Junior Brother, how… how does this even come apart”
His brows lifted. Leaning forward slightly, he flicked the wing of her butterfly hairpin with his little finger, silver trembling with a soft chime, then stepped back half a pace.
Her fingers met air.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
At that, Jiang Yu let out a huge sigh of relief. She spun around and retreated behind the folding screen on her own, raising her voice. “Don’t worry, I won’t peek.”
A brief laugh drifted over.
Short, bright, not like his usual quiet huffs or mocking chuckles.
Jiang Yu pressed her cold palms to her burning cheeks over and over, willing the heat down. Shen Anzhi was more mercurial than ever now.
A complete menace.
The rustle of fabric eventually stopped. “You can come out now.”
As soon as she stepped past the screen, her gaze collided with the sight on the bed.
Shen Anzhi was lying on his stomach, his upper body bare. His shoulders broad and waist narrow, every line clean and graceful, now marred by three vicious new lash marks slashed across his back, flesh torn and raw.
Beneath them lay layers upon layers of old, crisscrossing scars like cracks across shattered jade.
He had been resting with his eyes closed. At her footsteps, his lashes lifted lazily. Those long, fox-like eyes, carrying that almost demonic languor, locked straight onto her. The vermilion mole at his eye-corner glowed startlingly vivid as his thin lips curved. “Scared?”
The last word dragged out low and hoarse. “Too late to be scared now.”
“I, I’m not scared,” Jiang Yu protested, grabbing the medicine and perching on the edge of the bed to apply it.
He stayed where he was, letting her sweep his black hair to the side. Her fingers brushed over the scars on his back, warm and careful as they spread the cool ointment.
How many of these wounds, she wondered, had been left by battling demons and ghosts.
“How did you get all these?” Her heart ached, but her hands didn’t stop.
“Some of them are just what’s left from not starving to death.” His tone was unreadable, and she couldn’t see his expression from where she sat.
Then his voice shifted. “Senior Sister, ever seen stray dogs fight over food?”
“No.” Jiang Yu paused, instincts prickling. “Have you?”
“Not only have I seen it, I’ve fought them for it.” He gave a low, cold laugh. “You can guess the result. Naturally, I won.”
Her fingers faltered.
Ten years ago, when Crane Sect brought Shen Anzhi back, he’d been only nine.
Children here grew up fast, sure, but still. At nine, she’d been playing in the mud. He’d been living through that…
“Heh. Senior Sister wouldn’t really believe that, would you?” He turned his head and ran straight into a pair of clear eyes brimming with pity. He froze, fingers knotting in the bedsheet.
“If you were lying, that would actually be better,” Jiang Yu said quietly. “It would mean that awful thing never actually happened.” She pressed her lips together and kept working, adding, “Junior Brother, bear with it. Don’t worry about the scars, I read in a pill manual about a scar-removal pill that can erase even old scars no matter how many years they’ve been there. I just happen to have a bottle. It’s perfect for you…”
“Scars are nothing.”
“Having none is still better than having them. Just take one as thanks for me playing healer, all right?” Her tone sounded jokingly extortionate, but her eyes didn’t bother hiding the concern.
He fell silent for a moment. “Fine.” He hesitated, then added very quickly, very softly, “Thank you.”
It was so quiet Jiang Yu almost thought she’d imagined it.
Did he just thank her or curse her?
She smiled and let it go.
Her fingertips dipped in salve, smoothing it gently over his back. Her lazy, unhurried touch had an oddly soothing quality. The faint medicinal scent mingled with the warmth of her hands, seeping slowly into his skin.
Bit by bit, like threads of warm water, it soaked in.
The string that was always pulled tight inside him loosened, inch by inch, with no sound at all.
Even someone as wary as Shen Anzhi couldn’t hold out against this kind of slow, gentle erosion. His long lashes drooped lower and lower as an unfamiliar drowsiness crept in.
It felt almost like that time, her hands wrapped in cloth, casually toweling off his dripping hair.
When she finished, Jiang Yu snuck a look at him. Shen Anzhi lay on his stomach with his eyes closed, lashes long and curled, enough to make most girls jealous.
With his eyes shut and face relaxed, he looked simply like a beautiful, handsome youth.
She wiped her hands clean, about to slip away, when she realized one sleeve of her robe was caught.
At some point, his hand had closed over the fabric, pinning it under his palm.
She tugged lightly. His fingers only tightened.
Seeing him sleep so deeply, she leaned on the bedside and watched him quietly. Curiosity got the better of her; she reached out to gently brush his lashes. When they fluttered, she yanked her hand back at once.
He didn’t wake.
She sighed in relief.
She was so tired.
Resting her chin on her arms, she let her eyes drift shut. Fragments of scenes she’d never seen before flickered through her dreams, but every time she surfaced, they slipped away from her grasp.
His sleeping face reflected in her jewel-bright eyes.
She almost forgot where she was. Heart big as ever, she just conked out at his side, not caring about anything else. Who knew how long she slept there like that.
Outside the window, dusk had deepened. The sky was painted in molten gold, clouds dyed into layered shades of warm orange.
Propping her chin on her hands, Jiang Yu was staring off into space when the sound of breathing at her side pulled her back.
She rescued her wrinkled sleeve. This time, Shen Anzhi let go.
His breathing never changed. Jiang Yu smiled silently.
He was sleeping so deeply he hadn’t even noticed her beside him.
She couldn’t help thinking back to a few nights ago, when she’d first stayed in his room. Back then he’d gone to bed later than a dog and risen earlier than a rooster, coming and going without a sound, like a ghost. A face like that, sleeping this peacefully right in front of her, was a rare sight indeed.
A soft breath brushed the air. His lashes trembled.
Her expression flipped in an instant. She held her breath and leaned back, quietly putting distance between them.
Before leaving, she set a set of black robes neatly on the table.
The door creaked faintly as she eased it shut.