"Lin er, why are you sitting in here?" After giving specific instructions to his staff, Xiao Yun Qi went to the garden to find Song Xiao Lin only to discover she had never left the room.
"I was feeling a little faint so needed to sit down. I feel better after Pu Tao brought me some tea." Song Xiao Lin awkwardly tried to back away from Xiao Yun Qi's hand as he tried to place his hand over her forehead.
"I'll get the maids to bring Hao Hao back in a bit. Why don't we go back to your courtyard so you can rest? You only woke up today and have been on your feet all morning. What was I thinking letting you come here?" without waiting for Song Xiao Lin to reply, Xiao Yun Qi scooped Song Xiao Lin up into his arms and strode out of the courtyard.
"Are you crazy? Put me down! What would people say if they saw us! Xiao Yun Qi STOP!" Song Xiao Lin didn't want any more rumours about their relationship to develop – especially after overhearing the gossip earlier on. But all her shouting fell on deaf ears and he carried her all the way back like she was a fragile treasure.
"Xiao Yun Qi. How old are you now to still keep acting like this? You are still recovering from your injuries and on top of that, the Crown Princess hasn't even been laid to rest, you should be more understanding – what if Hao Hao woke up and saw us like that?" Song Xiao Lin was embarrassed and angry that she didn't realise she was calling him by his full name.
"Ok, I heard you. Don't be mad anymore hm?" As Xiao Yun Qi put her down gently on her bed, Na Na walked in with all the ingredients she had asked for earlier.
"Princess, most of the ingredients and equipment were easily sourced from the palace gardens and kitchens. Shall I leave them here?" Na Na placed the tray on the table and retreated to the side.
Song Xiao Lin walked to the table and observed the tools and ingredients laid out on the tray. "Na Na, serve his Highness some tea whilst I prepare a balm to apply on the wounds". The ingredients were fresh and the mortar and pestle was of good quality. 'This won't take long' thought Song Xiao Lin as she busily prepared a salve that can heal fourth degree burns without leaving scars.
After a quarter of an hour, Song Xiao Lin instructed Xiao Yun Qi to sit on the bed. "Disrobe please Yun Qi gege, I need to apply this to all affected areas." Xiao Yun Qi glanced at Na Na for her to retreat outside the bedroom.
"Cough… that erm, I can do this myself. The burns are quite hideous and they reach across most of the left side of my body. I can just ask Dou Zi…" Xiao Yun Qi blushed furiously whilst fumbling with the waist tie.
"Don't move, I'll do it." Without battering an eyelid, Song Xiao Lin gently removed the outer layer of clothing and placed it beside him. She was a mother who was used to helping her son get dressed everyday in her former life. She was also double her current age of this body's tender year of sixteen. Moreover, she truly felt a familial love and care towards Xiao Yun Qi and treated him like a younger brother, even though he was twenty-five.
As Song Xiao Lin removed his inner robe, Xiao Yun Qi sucked in a deep breath. "Did I hurt you?" asked Song Xiao Lin as she gently held her hand over his bare shoulder. Feeling her warm hands against his good shoulder and having her stand so close to him when he only had his underpants on made him feel shy yet strangely excited. Xiao Yun Qi shook his head and stared ahead, which just happened to be right where Song Xiao Lin's bulging chest was. She stood right in between his legs, so close that he could smell a light sweet peach blossom fragrance from her.
"I will first cleanse the area and then apply the balm on. Be good and don't move." Song Xiao Lin was extremely gentle as she cleansed his wounds. Every wipe made his mood so happy as nobody had ever touched him in such an intimate way before. When she began to start applying the salve from the left side of his face, she tilted his face to meet hers so that she can apply it bending down low in front of him. At this moment, all he could see was the sweet lips in front of him, her large phoenix eyes carefully observing his wounds and her gentle hands that was holding his face. His heart started thumping so hard and he had to strongly resist the urge to just pin her down and kiss her.
Instead, his arms encircled her around her waist and pulled her gently closer to him between his legs. "Lin er, all I have is Hao Hao and you now. Please don't leave me." With her in his embrace, his face was nestled against her busty chest and he rested it there and couldn't help but feel mini dragon react strongly. As Song Xiao Lin's thighs were right up against his precious member, she felt his erection poking her thigh.
Despite having realised his feelings for her, Song Xiao Lin was still a little shocked and delayed to react to this dangerous situation. If she hugged him back to comfort him, things will no doubt move quickly in a way she had no wish to or had control of. So once she recovered, she took a step back and took his face in her hands again to apply the salve. "Be good and don't move. Besides, where can I leave to? You know that I have to return to Sky Kingdom soon to settle things with my father. But I'm always traveling between here and there anyway."
As Song Xiao Lin's hands travelled from the neck to his chest, covering the affected burn areas with the salve, Xiao Yun Qi closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to regulate his breathing. His heartbeat and body temperature was definitely at a record high and he was a hairline away from losing control. The person he has always loved is standing within reach of embrace and the feeling of bare skin on skin was driving him insane. Even though the wounds were burning and stinging mad, her gentle hands and the coolness of the aloe vera neutralised the pain and heightened the closeness of the pair. Just as he was about to lose control when she was rubbing the lower abdomen area close to the pubic region, Song Xiao Lin asked him to turn to the side so she could apply the balm to his back.
Song Xiao Lin's movements were extremely quick and once the job was done, she bandaged him from his side to avoid any awkward moments. "Ok, it's done. You can put your robes back on now."
Song Xiao Lin quickly turned to the tray to put the extra balm she made into a bottle for him so that she didn't have to help him dress. "Here is a bottle of the balm that you can use to apply on every day after you bathe and cleanse the wound. Ask Dou Zi or your bath maids to help you just the way I did for you. Within the week, you should be able to see results. Some areas may still leave a scar, but the burns on your face should completely heal."
Xiao Yun Qi put on his robe quietly and frowned. "I don't have bath maids Lin er. I'll come by here every evening and you can dress my wounds. I don't trust anybody else. I'll hold you personally responsible if I scar."
"I'll instruct Dou Zi later on how he should do it. I won't be able to do it for you anyway once I return to Sky Kingdom. I'll be preparing to pack over the next few days."
"Let's wait until Hao Hao awakens. I'll go together with you." Xiao Yun Qi grabs her hands and pleads with her with his handsome face.
"I'm going to visit him again first thing tomorrow morning. I believe he should be awake soon."
Song Xiao Lin gently puts the medicine balm into his hands, "Go and see Hao Hao, he may already be awake even now! I need to wash up and have a nap. My body is still feeling weak since I haven't been able to eat or drink in the last few days."
Xiao Yun Qi looked at Song Xiao Lin's face and he seemed to want to say a hundred things to her. In the end, he gently tucked a stray hair from her face behind her ears, "Ok, get some rest. We can have breakfast with Hao Hao tomorrow morning when he wakes up." With that, Xiao Yun Qi walked out of her bedroom.
"Sigh… that was a close one. Way too close! How am I supposed to react with my cousins stiffy?" Song Xiao Lin patted her chest and sat on her bed. As her hands rested on her chest, a warm feeling under her palms lit up in her subconsciousness.
'Hm, what is this?' Song Xiao Lin closed her eyes and focused on the warm feeling and followed it all the way to her dantian. Suddenly, she felt her conscious mind get sucked into another dimension within her. "No kidding!! This is awesome!"
Song Xiao Lin observed her surroundings and couldn't help but be impressed with the richness and purity of this dimension space. A perfect climate, clear skies, lush green fields. It was a perfect little world to plant an abundant garden!
'I must have more affinity with the blood on my mothers side to have access to an Earth dimension space. From what I know, it's totally rare. This former body also had an aptitude in healing too so I guess it makes sense that she would have an Earth dimension. That means it's like having a portable greenhouse with me wherever I go. I don't ever have to worry about starving!'
Song Xiao Lin was extremely excited to discover this dimension and spent the rest of the day making a list for Na Na to collect all the seeds that she wanted to start nurturing in her earth dimension right away.