Chapter 66

Steam filled the air, and hot water droplets slid down his jaw, soaking into the hand towel.

Pei Muxiu raised the outer corners of his eyes. His long, thick eyelashes blinked unceasingly as he stared with extraordinary intensity at the stain of water gliding down her cheek.

"I'll rub it for you, and it won't hurt anymore."

His fingertips lingered on her delicate, tender skin. Underneath his touch, the pale, smooth, and flawless skin gradually flushed with red, resembling a dragonfly alighting upon a pink lotus flower just blooming in the summer.

Whether it was due to the rising steam or something else entirely remains unknown.

Qingwu braced her hands against his pressing chest and pressed her lips into a thin line.

She needed to maintain a safe distance to avoid having her mind bewitched and committing acts that would be detrimental to both of their physical well-being.

Pei Muxiu suddenly lowered his gaze, a muffled chuckle escaping from the depths of his throat.

Qingwu suddenly felt a light tremor. She looked up in confusion to see the glistening moisture belonging to her still lingering at the corner of his lips, and higher up, his striking and noble brows and eyes.

Lacking any backbone, she swallowed hard.

Pei Muxiu's smile was filled with the utter satisfaction of having achieved his goal. His eyes held deep affection as he placed his large palm against the small of her back.

Of course, Qingwu knew what he wanted to do. Fearing that in the next second she would lack even the strength to speak, she panicked and almost jumped off his lap.

"No!"

Pei Muxiu pulled her back into his embrace, pondered for a long moment, and then spoke. "The poison hasn't flared up yet."

Qingwu: "……?"

Was she the kind of person who would mercilessly exploit him just because his body was still somewhat normal?

Clearly, it was not because of that!

While she was bathing just now, Qingwu had been thinking about how, back at the imperial banquet, her father had introduced Qi Yu to her as the sole legitimate son of the Southern Dynasty's queen. Yet, his face was an exact match for Pei Muxiu's.

However, the scars of varying depths on Pei Muxiu's body showed that he had not been born with everything given to him on a silver platter, unlike Qi Yu.

Not the slightest sound could be heard outside the tent. Recalling his aggressive demeanor earlier, Qingwu figured he would certainly not let those people outside off easily.

"By the way, I couldn't understand what they were discussing inside the tent. Only Qin S susu was present at the time. Don't kill her; keep her alive so we can question her."

Pei Muxiu shot her a sideways glance and uttered a low "Hmm."

In truth, that chieftain posed no threat to him whatsoever. Even if he did, Pei Muxiu could simply go and question the two people who had been conversing directly, without having to take convoluted detours.

However, since Qingwu said so, he naturally would not object.

"Do you still remember Qin S susu?" Fearing that the shadow guards, whose eyes were as sharp as knife tips, might prefer wrongful executions to letting anyone slip by, Qingwu noticed that there were still quite a few camp followers inside the tent.

Pei Muxiu toyed with a strand of hair at his fingertips and said with dissatisfaction, "Why should I remember who she is?"

"Aren't I afraid you might mistakenly kill off an important clue?"

After all, Qi Yu had traveled such a long distance, and it was unlikely he had come merely to speak of trivial matters. Furthermore, the chariot-and-cavalry general must have allied with Qi Yu long ago; Qin S susu's appearance here was by no means a coincidence.

Yet, remembering the time Qin S susu had crossed paths with the two of them, Qingwu's tone inevitably carried a hint of sour, teasing jealousy.

"At that time, you were waiting for me in the carriage. She came over to stir up trouble, and the moment she laid eyes on you, she took a fancy to you and even thought about snatching you away from me."

She smacked her lips, staring at his razor-sharp jawline mere inches away. His deep, striking facial features were so superior they were almost dazzling to look at directly.

The saying "a beauty is a disaster" apparently applied to men as well, especially when this particular "disaster" possessed the ethereal, aloof nobility of an immortal descending to the mortal realm.

"Didn't Your Highness also take just one look back then before deciding to forcefully keep me in the manor?" Pei Muxiu pronounced the middle words with deliberate weight, offering them as his retort.

At the time, he had merely thought her a mindless, pampered princess, and had intended to use the princess's estate to conceal his whereabouts.

He had never expected that in a single night, she would lure him into the manor and thoroughly purge every single personal guard he had deployed around himself.

Her methods were so ruthless and decisive that even he could not help but look at her with newfound respect.

Yet, toward the people around her—regardless of their status—she showed the utmost consideration.

Qingwu was more like a twin lotus blossoming from both light and shadow, her contradictions fraught with a fatal allure, which was why he had grown so obsessed with her.

"Why bring up things from so long ago?" Qingwu frowned and glared at him, warningly covering his lips with her hand.

Pei Muxiu felt she was changing the subject, but reacting after the fact, he let out a cold snort.

Annoyed as he was, he still used the space between his fingers to grip the neck of the small gourd while his palm massaged her injured area, though he neither spoke nor looked at her.

Helpless, Qingwu was almost amused to the point of laughter by his aggrieved expression. "It's not that I wouldn't let you..."

That phrasing sounded rather strange, making it seem as though she were the one eager to force herself upon him.

The steam-filled air persisted.

Let's salvage this slightly.

Qingwu raised one leg and pointed at her knee. "It hurts here."

Earlier, in order to subdue her, that chieftain had continuously pressed his knee and elbow against hers. When she scrambled down from the table to reach Pei Muxiu, it had hurt almost to the point of fainting, though she hadn't noticed while being carried by him.

If her knee couldn't bend, she wouldn't be able to do anything at all.

Pei Muxiu had noticed her limping when she ran over, and now he pinched her protruding kneecap with two fingers.

"It hurts, hurts, hurts—" Qingwu let out two cries of "Ya, ya."

"It's dislocated."

The skin on her knee was slightly swollen, surrounded by bluish-purple bruises caused by heavy pressure.

After inspecting it, Pei Muxiu's lip line gradually straightened. He spat out three words, then stood up and placed her on the recliner.

Everything else could be set aside for now; healing her injury came first.

Qingwu lowered her head to look. "Don't you know how to set bones? Then pop it back in."

Pei Muxiu crouched on the ground, gripping the lower leg that she claimed hurt.

Qingwu tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "Gentle, please."

She still remembered when she had fallen off a cliff in the past; he had set her dislocated shoulder with his bare hands without changing his expression or blinking an eye.

If he used that kind of force on her now, she couldn't imagine what kind of screams she would let out.

After a long silence, Qingwu squinted and opened her eyes by a tiny sliver.

"Is it fixed already?"

She noticed a dense layer of fine sweat on his forehead.

"Not yet. I'm afraid you'll hurt." Pei Muxiu lifted the sole of her foot and rested it on his thigh.

"It's just a snap and it'll be done. Hurry up." Seeing his reluctance, Qingwu urged him on.

When he was inspecting the injury just now, this spot had already begun to ache again; a long pain is worse than a short one.

"Then bear with it for a moment." Pei Muxiu raised his eyelashes to look at her.

"Mn, it's fine! Do whatever you need to do. When I practiced martial arts before, I fell and left my body covered in bruises—worse times than this happened countless times, and I didn't even make a peep!" Whether she was comforting him or numbing herself, Qingwu closed her eyes once more, bracing for the final moment.

This was the first time Pei Muxiu had heard her speak of her childhood. Remembering what Mammy Zhao had said, the strength in his hands involuntarily grew a fraction heavier.

"Hissss—"

Qingwu bit her lower lip, not daring to draw a deep breath. She wanted to curl up into a ball, but he locked her firmly in place, leaving her unable to move.

Pei Muxiu instantly stopped moving as well, watching her expression with a hint of helplessness.

Hurt acutely by that last maneuver, Qingwu couldn't help but feel a bit perplexed.

What she had told him hadn't been an exaggeration; in the past, she had frequently fallen from horses and sustained injuries, never paying those minor hurts any mind. Often, imperial physicians weren't even needed; she would simply pour some clear wine in her chambers and tend to it herself.

Why was she suddenly so afraid of pain now?

Could it be that, knowing how much Pei Muxiu would ache for her, her body's natural instincts had also begun to act spoiled and plead for mercy?

After another long moment, Pei Muxiu abruptly relaxed his force.

A close inspection would have revealed his hands trembling in subtle, imperceptible ways.

He strode outward, masking the dark chill and anger in his eyes.

"I'll go call Du Jin over."

He didn't care what happened to himself since he was already used to it, but ultimately, he couldn't bring himself to be harsh with her; he simply couldn't bear it.

——

The guards outside the tent stood like a forest in the distance. Seeing their master emerge, they stepped forward with disciplined precision and tightly surrounded the tent where Qingwu had bathed.

His slender, tall figure stood quietly with his hands behind his back, watching Du Jin walk toward the tent carrying a medical box.

The camp guard stationed at the tent lifted the flap, and Du Jin stepped inside.

Pei Muxiu raised a hand to block the tailing shadow behind him. "The physician is going in to treat an injury. What are you going in for?"

"What business is it of yours where I go?" Gu Hanjiang stamped his foot in irritation after being blocked.

The foul temper that Du Jin had worked so hard to mend was always effortlessly provoked by this man's few words.

Pei Muxiu's tone was flat. "Come with me."

The moment he turned away from Qingwu, the whirlpool in his eyes was bottomless, so dark and gloomy it almost sucked in everything around it.

An Qi emerged from who knows where and walked ahead to lead the way.

"You really are a shameless flatterer," Gu Hanjiang said with a tone of mock pity, shaking his head as he followed behind.

The three of them arrived at a place reeking heavily of blood.

This was a makeshift prison constructed from several tattered tents, holding people of relatively high status within the tribe. Qi Yu, meanwhile, was kept under the strict guard of Xi Zhi and Xi Xing.

Although countless people wished to hack him to pieces, who else could cure the poison in Pei Muxiu's body?

Pei Muxiu walked into the centermost tent. The chieftain was bound by his arms inside a cage, his tall torso folded backward into a distorted posture.

"You... bastard!"

Mistaking the person before him for Qi Yu, the chieftain cursed vehemently.

Years of licking blood from the blade allowed him to quickly sense a hint of something amiss.

The oppressive, terrifying aura radiating from the man before him, coupled with the fierce, piercing light reflecting in his pupils, made it clear this was not the person he had been speaking with earlier.

A smile played at the corners of Pei Muxiu's lips, as though something terrifying was about to crawl out from the depths of his pool-like eyes.

"Which hand did you use to touch her?"

He leisurely picked up a shaving blade.

The blade was only as long as a man's finger, shaped overall more like the sickles farmers used to harvest wheat.

Two guards stepped forward, hoisting the man up to bind him to a wooden cross.

The chieftain struggled with all his might, but the men subduing him possessed formidable martial arts, giving him no chance of escape.

Once tied down, the chains were whipped against his body.

"Lord, the person has been brought."

An Qi tossed someone carelessly to the ground, where Qin S susu slumped forward.

"I heard you know something." Pei Muxiu toyed with the small knife in his hand, listening to the chieftain's shrill screams.

Qin S susu stared at the scene before her with a look of sheer terror, as though the people and objects around her had all dissolved into illusions.

The handsome face of the man she had once mocked remained as refined as ever, yet the biting chill and gloom upon his features made him resemble an Asura crawled straight up from hell.

"No, no, no! I don't know anything!" Qin S susu's legs shook violently as she frantically denied it.

Hearing this, Pei Muxiu did not pressure her further. With an obscure, chilling chuckle, he turned and walked back toward the chieftain.

The miserable screams ended abruptly; the chieftain didn't even last through the third strike before passing out.

Pei Muxiu moved as if sculpting a statue, every movement meticulous and patient.

"Lord, leave the rest to us." Approaching and witnessing the scene before him, An Qi felt the muscles in his face begin to twitch uncontrollably.

Pei Muxiu's voice was indifferent. "No need, it's already done."

When his voice emerged, it was frighteningly hoarse, his once gentle and aloof demeanor now growing increasingly erratic and eerie, as if a tangible smell of blood were drifting from his impeccably tailored robes.

Stooping down, he casually pulled out a blood-stained stool, flipped his robes, and sat down with effortless nonchalance.

His sharp, icy eyes lacked focus, yet he looked as though he were admiring a masterpiece carved before him.

Qin S susu rolled her eyes back, but before she could faint, a basin of cold water splashed her awake.

"Ah—"

Catching sight of the figure not far away out of the corner of her eye, she could not suppress a scream.

The chieftain hung breathlessly behind Pei Muxiu like a backdrop.

His suspended hands had been shaved down until only bare bone remained, trails of blood snaking down the wall. Large patches of thick blood, resembling countless crawling little snakes, slipped into Pei Muxiu's snow-white robes.

Sitting on the long stool a few meters away from Qin S susu, Pei Muxiu lifted his gaze, fixed it upon her, and curled his lips into a cold, bleak arc.

"Now then? Have you figured out what you want to tell me?"