Someone she'd secretly liked for a long time had suddenly given her an explanation for his actions. It was such a pleasant surprise!
Han Yunxi was a girl who dared to love and dared to hate. She didn't hide any of her excitement or joy, so she had no idea how foolishly happy she looked at this moment. How much did she like this man to feel that an entire world had opened up just from his explanation?
Long Feiye had shifted his gaze away, but couldn't resist glancing back at her again. Han Yunxi seized the moment and purposely teased, "Are you or aren't you?"
Even after asking him twice, Long Feiye still didn't answer. He simply buried her head in his chest again so she couldn't stare at him. Once he escaped her eyes, his lips drew up into a silent smile, as if he'd finally found joy after casting off his cares. Han Yunxi couldn't struggle when she was held so tightly in his arms. In the end, she gave up. It wasn't easy to tease such an icy king of Hell. She was surprised that he'd even managed to explain himself to her. If she didn't stop and went too far, Heaven knows how he'd react.
In the end, all she wanted was his explanation.
There were many other questions that were still unanswered. For example, how did he find her? Why did he suddenly chose to explain himself now, instead of in the past? Was it because she left? And also, did he kidnap Mu Linger as revenge for her sake?
Han Yunxi may have dared to love and dared to hate, but she was still a silly girl at heart. All of the answers to these questions had suddenly turned unimportant. Nestled in the scent of his embrace, she much preferred to lean there quietly without thinking about anything beyond counting his heartbeats. Long Feiye held Han Yunxi as he strolled through the quiet night, though his eyes resumed their icy glint as soon as they left her form.
He started out walking slowly enough, but soon sped around a few corners with breakneck speed so as to lose Gu Qishao, who'd been stalking them the entire time. Ever since they left the Mu estate, Gu Qishao had been tailing them. Han Yunxi didn't know, so Long Feiye didn't tell her. Very soon, he brought Han Yunxi back to the inn. Of course, this wasn't the inn that she had stayed in with Gu Qishao, but a completely different one. Long Feiye had no idea where Lil Thing had ran off to, but he'd never let Han Yunxi know how he'd chased after a squirrel to find her.
He placed Han Yunxi on the bed and asked, "Tired?"
Han Yunxi finally discovered that while Long Feiye's voice wasn't warm or gentle, it wasn't as cold as before. She shook her head, half expecting Long Feiye to ask her all sorts of questions. For example, where she got the guts to run off? Or which path did Gu Qishao take to avoid him? Or where she was planning to go, and whether she was going to avoid him for the rest of his life? But Han Yunxi soon realized she was overthinking things, because this fellow actually asked her a question unrelated to any of the above.
He asked her, "What's the matter with that Mute Granny?"
Han Yunxi hesitated for a long time before deciding to reply honestly. Of course, she didn't tell him how Gu Qishao had been investigating the relationship between Mu Xin and the remaining survivors of the Poison Sect.
"Gu Qishao brought you over there?" Long Feiye was sharp enough to pick up on the key points.
"I'd been searching for my mother's origins to begin with and found a clue in her belongings, so I had him take me there," Han Yunxi made up a lie. She could choose to say nothing to Long Feiye, but she couldn't sell out her friend's secrets.
Long Feiye stared at her. Afraid that he wouldn't believe her, Han Yunxi quickly showed him the Xin embroidered on her medical pouch. Only then did Long Feiye murmured, "My investigations led me to Medicine City too, but I didn't think it was the Mu Clan, much less…" Long Feiye trailed off for a long time before he added, "Much less that you really were a descendent of the Poison Sect."
Gu Qishao didn't know that Han Yunxi wasn't Han Congan's biological daughter, so he hadn't been sure that she was related to the Poison Sect. But Long Feiye knew everything. Mu Xin was Lady Tianxin, the same Mu Xin who had an affair with someone from the Poison Sect. When she was a month pregnant, she married Han Congan, so the baby in her womb had to be descended from the Poison Sect.
It wasn't that Gu Qishao hadn't bothered to find Han Congan and ask himself, but that Long Feiye had long locked up Han Congan into a secret prison cell, making it impossible for anyone to find him. Han Yunxi didn't realize it either until Gu Qishao told her that Mu Xin was Lady Tianxin. Then she knew her biological father had to be someone from the Poison Sect. There were still a lot of questions left. For example, why did Lady Tianxin change her name and marry Han Congan? How did she die from a difficult labor? What was her biological father's position in the Poison Sect, and was he still alive? Did he know about all this?
These were invariably questions for Mute Granny. At the very least, she'd know about Mu Xin better than anyone else. But Han Yunxi still had one other question she had to ask now. "Long Feiye, why have you been investigating me and my poison skills?"
Actually, it wasn't just Long Feiye, but Gu Qishao and Jun Yixie who were interested in her poison skills. Even Gu Beiyue had asked her once out of curiosity. Gu Qishao obviously had more than just curiosity as his motivation, the same as Long Feiye. That's why both of them did their own investigations that led to Medicine City.
"Hey, did you suspect me of having connections with Medical City's Poison Sect from the very beginning?" Han Yunxi made her words even more obvious. She was always open and upright when it came to him and topics like the Poison Sect or Shadow Clan. Long Feiye was clearer than anyone else that Han Yunxi was a fool who didn't know anything about her origins.
"Yes!" This time, he admitted it outright "Your lordship hopes that I can use the Poison Sect." He took out the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion and gave it to her again. "One who holds the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion gains the Poison Sect as well. Protect it well…"
When he got to this point, Long Feiye gave Han Yunxi a penetrating look. Though his eyes weren't cold, they were filled with a terrifying warning. "If you lose it again…"
He suddenly pressed closer, a wicked look on his face. Though he didn't finish his sentence, the intense heat emanating from his body made Han Yunxi tremble. She was certain that the consequences would be more severe than this time.
Long Feiye, will there ever be a day of escape for me in this lifetime?
Long Feiye personally stuck the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion in Han Yunxi's sleeve. He was about to rise and leave when he noticed a lump in her sleeve. Han Yunxi followed his gaze to the lump and gave a start. It was already too late for her to hide it. When Long Feiye touched the lump it actually started to tremble. Long Feiye gave a questioning glance at Han Yunxi, who wanted to cry from Lil Thing's stupidity. Didn't it know to stay still when he was around? She looked at Long Feiye, still thinking of how to explain things, when he suddenly tightened his grip around the lump.
"You'll hurt it if you squish it!" Han Yunxi panicked. She thrust aside Long Feiye's hand and took out Lil Thing from her sleeve, only to see it curled up into a shaking ball. It had been chased willy nilly by Long Feiye so that it was completely unwell. After seeing its master at the Mu Clan, it dove for cover in her sleeve, but just then, Long Feiye had actually touched it with his hand. It was thus exposed instantly. If even master was afraid of him, why shouldn't it be afraid as well? Lil Thing tried to curl up even further into a ball in Han Yunxi's hands until it was a complete furball.
"It's a new pet I'm raising, a squirrel," Han Yunxi said with a grin.
But Long Feiye only replied with two words. "Poison beast." It wasn't a question, but a clear statement of a fact. This little creature ate medicine and ran extremely quickly. It even knew how to swallow and spit up his gold card. How could it be any ordinary animal? If Lil Thing hadn't belonged to Han Yunxi, he might have assumed it was an ordinary beast, but he'd appeared by Han Yunxi's side only after she left him in Medical City. The clues couldn't be any more obvious. This squirrel was the very poison beast that had disappeared without a trace that day in the Sky Pit. Han Yunxi was able to treat Long Tianmo's poison because of its existence.
As expected, nothing could escape his eyes!
Han Yunxi was rendered mute by Long Feiye's words. She anxiously hugged Lil Thing to her chest and said, "You can't hurt it. Its blood can't cure a hundred different poisons anymore!" Lil Thing had eaten its fill, and its teeth were still full of poison, but its blood had yet to recover. She didn't know when it would, but Gu Beiyue had said it'd take a while. Everyone in the world was fighting over the Gu Shu just because of its blood. When Long Feiye saw Han Yunxi's serious expression, he stared at her for a long time in interest without saying a word. Han Yunxi felt goosebumps from his staring and subconsciously shielded Lil Thing against her chest, feeling even more cautious.
Long Feiye narrowed his eyes and slowly drew closer. Of course he knew that the poison beast needed a long time to recover after its blood was used once. Moreover, he also knew that it ate a tremendous amount of food. Han Yunxi only felt more pressure from his proximity and backed away to a corner of the bed. She was about to let Lil Thing run away when Long Feiye said coldly, "It's enough if your lordship has you. What do I want it for?"
Urk. Han Yunxi was dumbfounded. His words…
Long Feiye suddenly reached out and grabbed Lil Thing from Han Yunxi's hands before flinging it outside.
"Cheeeee..!" Lil Thing gave a wretched cry as it flew out the window and disappeared into the night.
"Lil Thing!" Han Yunxi's heart ached. She was about to rise and chase after it when she bumped into the body of Long Feiye. Only then did she realize how close they were to each other. She hastily backed away until her back was resting against the headboard. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten so close, but it was the first time that both of them was sharing a bed.
Long Feiye's reticent gaze suddenly deepened. He'd already thrown Lil Thing aside, but he didn't plan on backing off just yet. Gradually, his breathing grew heavier. His strong, slightly fragrant masculine scent washed over Han Yunxi, causing her heartbeat to quicken. In the silent room, time itself seemed to stop.
Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door. Soon afterwards, Tang Li's voice carried inside. "Big bro, are you inside? There's news of Han Yunxi from the City of Daughters."
Long Feiye recovered his senses and said, "Rest well. I'll be right outside. Chu Xifeng's taking Mute Granny back to Tianning first, we'll depart ourselves tomorrow."
So speaking, he quickly got off the bed and left without turning back.