Xue Zi Hui flapped his long and wide purple sleeves with silver patterns without replying to An Bing Qing before continuing his way.
"Wait!" An Bing Qing lost the grasp she had on his robes, she didn't take back her hand but stretched it more.
"Ouch!" Just as she gave a step forward to follow him, she tripped with her long white skirt and she fell on the ground. Her knees touched the ground first and then her hands; she avoided an uglier fall.
Xue Zi Hui halted his steps and turned his body back. He lowered his sight and scrutinized her deplorable looks as he heard the whispers from the people around.
An Bing Qing's head felt dizzier with her sudden fall. She blinked hard a couple of times but she didn't get up. She raised her head and she could only see Xue Zi Hui's fuzzy figure, standing five paces before her.
She tilted her head and blinked again, she was so cute and mesmerizing that some hard breathings and hot gazes could be perceived.
Xue Zi Hui's annoyed mood worsened.
He waved his sleeve and a purple fabric was thrown to An Bing Qing.
"Ugh!" An Bing Qing felt something heavy hit her head but that feeling disappeared as the fabric covered her body; it was a big purple robe trimmed with silver thread.
She sat and then she uncovered her face with one of her dusty hands.
When she did so, Xue Zi Hui was just a step from her; she saw all purple with glittering silver patterns.
She raised her sight and she was able to discern his icy purple eyes. She smiled silly and said as she touched the robe on her head, "Don't you think is a bit too late for this?" She had already been seen by many people, it was pointless at this time.
As he usually did, he ignored her and turned around, saying impatient, "Aren't you coming up? This lord will not squat down".
When An Bing Qing processed his words, her eyes shined brightly like the stars in the nocturnal sky. She sprang to her feet without thinking and she felt as though the ground beneath her moved that she stumbled with Xue Zi Hui's back, "Auch!"
Xue Zi Hui took a deep breath this time before turning his head back. He saw her rubbing her red nose but then he heard, "Zi Hui, can you do something about your hair? It is pretty annoying and I can't climb", An Bing Qing said as he moved his white hair with her free hand.
His always cold face was now covered by black lines, 'Just remember that you need her, you can't kill her… yet', he repeated this line in his mind, trying to excuse himself.
His silky white hair moved as if carried by the wind and landed on his right shoulder, descending like a waterfall.
His frown deepened when he saw her nodding at him.
She was about to climb but he stopped her, "Wait".
"What?" She asked with displeasure as she raised her head to look at his face.
"Secure the robe I gave you".
"Eh? Ah! Aye" She nodded in agreement but she couldn't tie up the robe; she was only getting dirty the sleeves of his robe.
He couldn't endure it anymore and he finally turned around and secured it himself.
As he did it, most of the people around didn't dare to look at them anymore; as the time passed, the mood of Xue Zi Hui had grown worse, making the surroundings chilly. But An Bing Qing didn't perceive anything of that, of course.
When he finished, he saw her dirty skirt and said, "Clean your hands and your skirt".
"Aye", she obediently nodded her head. She patted her skirt but there wasn't much she could do.
As she was trying to shake off the dirt, Xue Zi Hui thought of something and asked, "Do you have something under?"
"Under?" An Bing Qing raised her head with a frown.
She didn't understand but after seeing through her fuzzy eyes, she was able to detect his sight on her skirt.
"Oh…" She nodded as she approached mischievously but with staggering steps towards him, "Hu hu, of course. I jumped through a window today while escaping, how could I have not something long under? Or did you…"
Before she could finish her words, he turned around and said in annoyance, "You have three seconds. Three…"
She forgot whatever she was saying and quickly climbed like a monkey at his warning words. Then, she hugged him from behind like a koala; with her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, she rested her drunken face on his left shoulder.
"You are comfortable as ever", she giggled as she rubbed her face near his.
Xue Zi Hui felt goosebumps with her sudden move but this doesn't make him not pay attention to her words, 'As ever?' he wondered for a split second before walking forward, totally disregarding and unhindered by the flocking eyes.
When both left the restaurant, there were plenty of figures following them from different sides; some were in the darkness while others mingled in the boisterous streets.
Xue Zi Hui felt those presences but didn't pay them any heed.
He walked at his own rhythm but from time to time he would speed up his pace but it wasn't because of the people tailing behind but for An Bing Qing's nonsensical and endless chattering.
"He he, I remember when you first carried me like this but I was hurt at that time…"
"There was also the time when we were escaping and…"
"Oh and the time when we first met, I'm sure you carried me with you but I never knew how…"
"… and also…"
He listened to her but he wanted her to shut up, she was making him doubt his own memory and she was also playing with his patience and composed self; from time to time she would repeat the same phrases again and again without saying much. He did truly felt the urge to kill the little girl but whenever the thought rose in his heart it would be quickly subsided by a strange feeling without actual killing intent emerging.
And like this, they began to shorten the distance between them and the inn.