Yi Xiao indulged in Feng Suige’s long, deep kiss, feeling her body go numb and her vision loses focus. Could she forget everything and fully immerse herself?
“Look at me,” Feng Suige breathed, pulling away from her lips. Whenever her gaze wasn’t on him, an unnamed anger burned fiercely in his heart. Those captivating eyes—filled with a beauty and stubbornness that made men willing to risk everything to possess and crush…
His lips were soft—did she want to let her emotions prove how much she liked him, to prove whether this feeling had reached a point of no return? Thinking this, Yi Xiao bit down hard, piercing his lip with her sharp teeth. She reveled in the taste of blood flooding her mouth and his slight tremor. The salty, metallic taste drove her mad with a desire to destroy everything.
In response to her aggression, Feng Suige replied with gentleness and indulgence. His tightly sealed lips continuously drew in her breath, waves of passion intertwining with profound tenderness.
So she became intoxicated, eyes closed, savoring this wonderful feeling. However, his next move made her whole body stiffen—Feng Suige’s hot palm slowly traced down from her shoulder, his fingers and palm gliding along her arm. She could almost hear every pore on her body screaming.
Feng Suige gently took her injured hand, his thumb softly caressing the few wounds on her palm, wordlessly conveying his concern and apology.
The slight pain brought some clarity back to Yi Xiao’s eyes.
She hated herself for being so easily moved by a piece of armor. She had meant to sever all ties with him, to completely expel him from her life, yet instead she had been consumed by him.
But it was too late for regrets now. From today, from the moment she accepted Feng Suige’s kiss, everything had changed, and there was no going back.
Yi Xiao angrily left his lips, biting down hard on the side of his neck. For a moment, she almost wondered if she wanted to tear out his throat and drain all his blood.
Feng Suige couldn’t help but groan, with a hint of surrender, his breathing extremely chaotic. But he didn’t dodge at all, nor did he push Yi Xiao away. He knew that at this moment, Yi Xiao was like a long-caged beast finally released. Unless he let her attack to her heart’s content, she would never retract her sharp claws and fangs.
He just didn’t expect her to be so vicious. No, not vicious—biting. He inwardly sighed.
After a long while, Yi Xiao slowly relaxed her jaw. “Why didn’t you push me away? Are you willing to endure such pain?”
Feng Suige laughed hoarsely, “I still haven’t figured out how to make up for the mistake I made that day. So, if you don’t feel it’s enough, you can bite a few more times. Just don’t dwell on my past mistakes anymore, okay?”
Yes, things had come to this point, why keep entangling with the past? Let the mutual suspicion and hurt, the dodging and escaping, the coldness and despair all be blown away by the wind. From now on, believe and rely on each other—a soft voice in her heart gently narrated.
Mutual suspicion, and mental and physical torment, yet both possess excessive, stubborn pride. So they kept entangling and hurting each other in their respective stubbornness. Have you considered it? Can you coexist peacefully?—another voice still lingered.
“Alright,” Yi Xiao said with some effort, “but I won’t promise you anything…”
“I don’t need you to promise anything,” Feng Suige stared at her face. “I just want you to throw away those so-called rules, let down your guard against me, try to understand me, accept me…”
Yi Xiao finally couldn’t help but punch him. “You call this not wanting me to promise anything?”
Feng Suige took the opportunity to grasp her hand and pull her into his embrace, beaming with joy. “This is good—I originally thought that as long as I showed you my determination, you would let go of all your inner knots. But I didn’t expect that whenever you’re with me, you’d just burrow deeper into that stubborn mindset. You don’t know how anxious I’ve been watching from the side. Sometimes I wanted to give you a good beating to vent my frustration, but I couldn’t bear to…”
He should have said this earlier, should have let go of the past, should have held her tightly like this and never let go earlier.
Lowering his head to kiss the person in his arms, Feng Suige felt his heart full of joy, like the warmth of sunlight appearing outside after the dispersal of dark clouds.
Several consecutive days of heavy rain affected their journey. Finally getting a clear day, they had only traveled half a day when, before the sun could even set, rain poured down like thousands of troops advancing from afar. Xia Jingshi had no choice but to order them to make camp again.
The trees on both sides of the mountains swayed wildly in the rain. The raindrops fell as diagonally as possible, aided by the wind, stinging people’s faces. In the torrential rain, Ning Fei, bare-chested, wiped the rain from his face and continued to swing the large mallet, driving stakes into the ground to secure the carriages and horses. Ling Xue Ying crouched nearby holding an oil-paper umbrella. Suddenly, she twirled the umbrella, and the water collected on its surface shot towards Ning Fei like arrows along the spinning umbrella edge.
“What are you doing?” Ning Fei shouted, rubbing his eyes in exasperation. “You’re just causing trouble. I told you not to come—you’ll be soaked through in a moment, and then you’ll get a cold and complain about a headache.”
“You told me not to stay alone with her,” Xue Ying pouted. “Besides, even that stinking rock is working. I couldn’t bear to stay in the carriage like her, watching everyone else busy.”
“Then move back a bit,” Ning Fei wiped his face again. “Don’t make mischief. Wait for me…” Before he could finish, Xue Ying giggled and twirled the umbrella at him again. Ning Fei looked at her, gritting his teeth. Suddenly, he threw down the mallet, pressed his hand to the ground, and raised his mud-covered hand to smear her face.
Caught off guard, Xue Ying instinctively leaned back. With a shriek, she fell sitting in the muddy water, managing to smear Ning Fei in return. Immediately both angry and amused, she tossed aside the umbrella, grabbed a handful of rain-soaked mud from the ground, and lunged to press it against Ning Fei’s face.
Ning Fei laughed loudly as he dodged, evading her muddy hands while looking for chances to counterattack. Soon, half of Xue Ying’s face was covered in mud. She didn’t bother to wipe it off, chasing and hitting Ning Fei. Their laughter filled the entire camp, drawing the attention of nearby guards working in the rain, who gathered in small groups, pointing and laughing.
Suddenly, Ning Fei stopped, saying solemnly, “Wait, listen—”
Xue Ying rushed forward, smearing the mud in her hand all over his face. Hands-on her hips, she laughed, “Trying to trick me…” Halfway through her laugh, her expression changed. “What’s that?”
A thunderous rumble came from the nearby valley, and the ground trembled slightly. Several horses pulling carriages were so frightened they fell to their knees. Even some of the well-trained war horses had broken their reins and galloped away in panic.
Xia Jingshi had already pushed through the crowd, shouting, “Take the supplies and horses, retreat to the mountain quickly! Hurry!!!”