Morning came earlier than expected. Bai Shuyin felt like she just had her eyes closed for a second and voila, it was already morning.
Yawning, she raised her arms and stretched like a cat until her body gave out satisfying cracks and pops that she finally sighed in relief. Despite how comfortable she thought she felt, her body seemed to think otherwise. She still slept on a thick layer of leaves that did nothing to soften the stiff and cold floor of the cave.
A soft and even breathing came from her side. For a small child, Wang Heiyue was quite peaceful while asleep. He had subconsciously scooted closer to her, searching for the closest source of warmth and snuggled.
Unable to resist herself, she reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately, unwittingly letting out a smile. She poked his cheek and almost squealed at how plump it was. Wang Heiyue had yet to shed off this baby fat and she hoped he never did.
Bai Shuyin prepared to stand up; washing up didn't seem to be a bad idea. It might freshen her up for another day of walking, besides she recalled seeing a small river near the cave.
Sadly, she wasn't able to take her next step without falling face first on the ground. Bai Shuyin would have gone --Splat!-- on the ground if she didn't have extraordinary reflexes and pushed her arms out to catch herself. She wanted to curse her leg for disappointing her, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Both of her legs were functioning well, no cramps for sleeping on the hard and cold ground, no octopus-like legs, nothing at all. They were perfectly healthy, however, there was something thin; green in color that caught her attention.
It looked like a vine with healthy roots growing from the ground just below her. Her cerulean eyes trailed the vine and followed it, only to see where it ended up on. It had wounded itself around her right ankle.
Like a wedding cake where there were decorations made with the purpose to increase the appeal, a blue rose sat snugly among the vines.
"What the hell…?" Bai Shuyin almost shrieked but somehow she managed to catch herself. She didn't want to wake Wang Heiyue up.
Was this what happened when you camped in a cave? Have vines growing on you?
She had read a few gruesome stories about vines, trees, branches, anything that associated themselves with that planty photosynthesis family kingdom. She had caught a glimpse of those books about plants growing in the human body and destroying from inside out before shutting them close. Then xianxia novels where they used humans as natural fertilizer and said humans didn't even know that their bodies were slowly destroyed because they were too deep in hallucinations.
'Yikes!'
She glanced nervously at the blue rose on top and shivered. No matter how pretty that rose was, she wanted these vines off of her! She still had a long list to do before dying!
Like…. taking care of the villain and leading him in the right path before he was corrupted completely, she also wanted to try wearing hanfu, or maybe cheongsam too! She wondered what era they were in.
But first she needed to survive this vine. Baby steamed bun wouldn't remain a steamed bun if she failed her task!
Over the years, she had grown accustomed to daggers. She whipped out a small dagger she always hid under her sleeves and sliced the vines easily. However the horror didn't stop there, those vines wiggled and sunk back into the ground, leaving only the blue rose visible.
'Fuck! It's moving!'
Bai Shuyin jumped back. The hair in the back of her neck had raised so high as she shuddered heavily. In her point of view, these things were disgusting. She needed it gone. What if the moment she left to wash up, it would go after Wang Heiyue and swallow him up?
OAO!!
Better kill that thing off!
Bai Shuyin pulled at the rose and cleanly cut it off and threw it into the bushes as she made her way down to the river. While the white-hair transmigrator was busy contemplating about her life, Wang Heiyue, who was laying flat on his back pretending to sleep, used his peripheral vision and peeked at his sister's dramatic changes in expressions and weird antics.
***
Humming, Bai Shuyin reorganized their stuff, trying to minimize the weight so that they could travel light. Her long white hair was still wet, dripping droplets of water onto the ground but she paid no heed to it. She needed to get this done so they could start their journey right away after Wang Heiyue washed up.
"Yin Yin!"
"Hmm?" She hummed without glancing at him. "Wait a minute~" She called out as she shoved their belongings into the small space and struggled to cramp them inside.
Once she was done, she turned to glance at Wang Heiyue, feeling bad for not giving him her utmost attention the first time. Believe it, she had always placed Wang Heiyue's needs above all her priorities. Look how spoiled he had become.
She hadn't managed to take a look at him properly before a familiar blue rose was shoved right in front of her face. Her eyes widened comically, almost letting out a startled scream, she choked out a gasp instead.
Where the hell did he find that?
It was a miracle that her unsynchronize body worked very well as she blurted out the question horrifyingly. "Where the hell did you get that?"
Wang Heiyue cocked his head to the side, his large eyes blinking and Bai Shuyin had to restrain herself from pinching his cheeks cause this was not the moment, goddammit!
"Where did Ah Yue find this?" Bai Shuyin repeated her question.
"Ah Yue found this beside him and since Ah Yue thought it was so pretty, Ah Yue wanted to keep this for Yin Yin…" As if getting scolded, Wang Heiyue explained himself with a slight wobble on his lips, startling Bai Shuyin.
Bai Shuyin spluttered, shocked at the turn of events. Heaving a heavy sigh, Bai Shuyin gathered Wang Heiyue into her arms before talking in a quiet whisper. "Ah Yue, be good and don't cry. Sister is not angry at you. Next time, don't go pick up strange things, okay? What if it turns into a monster that attacks you, eats you and gobbles you up?"
"Later you can't see Sister anymore if that happens, you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"
She felt him shaking his head. "But it looks so pretty…"
"The more beautiful it appears, the more dangerous it is." Bai Shuyin released him but she kept him at arm's length. "You understand?"
"Then Ah Yue has to be careful with Yin Yin because Yin Yin is soooo pretty!"
Bai Shuyin felt her cheeks heated up. Never in her life had she been complimented like this before. Unable to resist it, she pinched his cheeks. "Such a cute gentleman. Sister won't have to worry about your lovelife anymore. So young but already a god-tier flirter!"
She gently touched his head and gave a ruffle, his slightly wet hair had yet to dry off. "Come, Sister will help you dry your hair!"
"Uhn!"
Bai Shuyin gave an expression of delight as she fiercely kissed the little villain's cheek. Wang Heiyue flashed her a wide smile. Once Bai Shuyin turned to fetch a towel from their bags, Wang Heiyue dropped the smile before he slightly lowered his eyelids. His delicate eyelashes were thick, creating a shadow on his cheeks as they trembled twice, hiding the sneer in his eyes.
'Lovelife!'
Wang Heiyue thought he was going to puke blood just at the thought of it.