“If you want to hit me, at least wait until I’ve checked the injury and applied the medicine. I promise I won’t fight back. I’m begging you now—don’t move, and let me see where you were hit, alright?” Yun Huizhou caught Lian Li’s hand as it swung down again, squeezing it gently as he coaxed him in a low, humble voice.
Lian Li gave a huff and forcefully pulled his hand back. He didn’t say yes or no, but he did stop thrashing about, allowing Yun Huizhou to undo his belt and clothes.
The outer robe and inner tunic were pulled open, revealing a waist that was more slender than the average person’s.
Though he was still slender, compared to the frail thinness of a year ago, he had put on a bit more flesh. Because of his martial arts practice, his waist was fleshy yet firm.
However, now was not the time to admire his waist. Although his clothes were undone, the location of the hip bone was further down, just covered by the waistband of his pants.
To see the place where he had been hit, the pants had to be untied and pulled down a bit.
Yun Huizhou did not hesitate, reaching his hand toward Lian Li’s waistband.
Sensing that Yun Huizhou was undoing his pants, Lian Li looked up. He felt a bit strange and a little embarrassed—even shy.
He reached out to pinch his waistband, but Yun Huizhou grabbed his hand and moved it away. “Don’t hold onto it, I can’t pull them down.”
Lian Li: “…”
The more he heard, the stranger it sounded. Lian Li simply closed his eyes and let him be. Since Yun Huizhou was the one who caused the collision anyway, he would see how the man planned to handle it.
Yun Huizhou didn’t intend to strip Lian Li’s pants off entirely. Although the two had lived and eaten together on Drunken Dream Island for a year, it wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen each other’s bodies before.
If it were before, he wouldn’t have given it a second thought; he would have yanked Lian Li’s pants down in one go to make it easier to check the injury and apply medicine.
But now, for some reason, he felt a bit uneasy. He only dared to pull them down a little, exposing the bruised area.
The surrounding skin was already a large patch of red. At the center of the impact, the flesh had been struck into a concave mark that was somewhat pale, though a hint of purple could be seen within the white.
The more Yun Huizhou looked at this wretched sight, the guiltier he felt. He reached out a finger and touched it gently; it was a bit soft, but not excessively so.
This touch set Lian Li off again. “Didn’t you say you were going to apply medicine? What are you touching for!”
Yun Huizhou looked up. Seeing that this person was still shouting so vibrantly despite being injured like this, his gaze swept from Lian Li’s face all the way down to his waist. Suddenly, he reached out and brazenly touched Lian Li’s waist.
Guilty or not, the more the boy shouted, the more he wanted to touch.
Seeing Lian Li staring at him with wide eyes, Yun Huizhou withdrew his hand and stood up to get Lian Li’s bundle from the cupboard.
All sorts of injury medicines were basically kept in Lian Li’s bundle. To be precise, all sorts of miscellaneous things were kept in Lian Li’s bundle.
In the past, Yun Huizhou didn’t carry so many things. It was usually just one or two changes of clothes, a bottle of injury medicine, a bottle of universal antidote, a few silver notes, some loose silver, and a small bag of salt.
It was only after Lian Li joined him that he started liking to carry all sorts of things in his bundle. Now, besides the bundles on their backs, they also had many small pouches hanging from their waists.
The two horses they rode also had small bags hanging from them.
Yun Huizhou felt that if conditions permitted, he suspected Lian Li would even bring their quilts and mattresses from Drunken Dream Island.
After rummaging through Lian Li’s bundle for a medicinal oil specifically for bruises and sprains, he returned to the bedside.
Seeing him approach, Lian Li began to whimper. “It hurts so much. It’s all your fault. You caused it, so you apply the medicine.”
Yun Huizhou’s hand tightened around the bottle. He placed it by the bed and said, “I’m going to wash my hands.”
Lian Li gave a “humph” as a sign of agreement.
Soon, Yun Huizhou washed and dried his hands. He sat by the bed, opened the bottle, and poured the medicinal oil into his palm.
He didn’t apply it to Lian Li immediately. Instead, he rubbed his palms together to spread it. Only after the oil covered his entire palm and was no longer cold did he press it against Lian Li’s right hip bone.
Lian Li had originally wanted to shout a few more words, but seeing him act like this, it was hard to say anything. He could only grumble twice more and turn his head away to show he was still angry.
Yun Huizhou didn’t mind. He increased the pressure slightly and rubbed slowly, allowing the medicine to be absorbed as quickly as possible.
Soon, the area where the oil was applied began to feel slightly warm. It was unclear if the medicine was taking effect or if it was simply warmed by the friction of Yun Huizhou’s palm.
After massaging like this for about ten minutes, Yun Huizhou finally withdrew his hand.
Lian Li looked up again to check his injury. It still looked miserable—even more so because it was covered in medicinal oil.
The anger that had subsided flared up again. He reached out to grab his pants, wanting to pull them up, but Yun Huizhou stopped him.
“The medicine isn’t dry yet. If you pull them up now, it’ll all stick to your pants.”
“If it rubs off, I’ll just put more on.” Lian Li exerted force, trying to pull his pants up.
But Yun Huizhou’s hand was like an iron vice clamped around his wrist. If Yun Huizhou didn’t let go, he couldn’t pull them up.
Lian Li could only release his grip, frowning and glaring at Yun Huizhou to express his dissatisfaction.
The two remained at a stalemate for a while. Realizing that Yun Huizhou did not intend to back down, Lian Li gave another heavy “humph” and let go of his pants.
As soon as he let go, Yun Huizhou released him as well.
Lian Li found the sight of him annoying now. He flipped over to the left, turning his back to Yun Huizhou—out of sight, out of mind.
His clothes were already wide open, and when he flipped over, the fabric didn’t follow. Because Yun Huizhou had prevented him from pulling them up, his pants were currently half-slung.
Yun Huizhou’s gaze involuntarily fell upon that half-exposed white area.
Though it wasn’t fully visible, he could tell it was quite round.
Oh, and quite soft.
The moment he realized what he was thinking, Yun Huizhou startled himself.
He hurriedly withdrew his gaze, recapped the medicinal oil, and put it away. Then, he fetched water to wash the remaining oil off his hands.
He stared out the window in a daze.
On the bed, Lian Li noticed that Yun Huizhou hadn’t made a sound or come over for a long time. He couldn’t help but toss and turn, sometimes thumping the bed, sometimes grumbling twice, as if trying to attract someone’s attention by constantly making noise.
Sure enough, after a short while, Yun Huizhou came over again.
Lian Li felt a shadow loom over him. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Yun Huizhou naturally knew he wasn’t asleep, but he also knew Lian Li was unhappy.
After a moment’s thought, he knelt on the bed with one leg and leaned toward Lian Li, who was curled up on the inside.
He brushed away the stray hairs on Lian Li’s forehead, only to have Lian Li swat his hand away like he was shooing a fly.
He didn’t give up and continued to fuss with the hair. “Don’t be angry anymore.”
“Humph!” Lian Li’s grunt was the only response.
Yun Huizhou propped himself up, hovering over Lian Li. Seeing the boy pretending to sleep with his lips pouted high, he couldn’t resist giving them a pinch.
Lian Li’s reaction was lightning-fast. He opened his mouth and bit down on Yun Huizhou’s hand. He didn’t bite lightly, but it wasn’t hard enough to draw blood.
