Chapter 63
The night enveloped the forest. The cramped tree hollow was dim and pitch black.
He had sweated a lot during the day. His dirty clothes had just been taken off, and the owner of the tree hollow was sitting shirtless on the bamboo bed. He held a thin, sharp Sichuan peppercorn thorn in his left hand and held his right hand up in front of him, his gaze deep, his expression a little conflicted.
It was a do-or-die situation. After several moments of indecision, Hua Shi’an steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and the sharp Sichuan peppercorn thorn in his hand quickly and swiftly pierced his right palm.
The sharp thorn pierced the translucent blister on the ball of his palm, and a clear liquid slowly oozed out. Hua Shi’an put down the sharp thorn and squeezed it with two fingers. His brow instantly furrowed, and the corner of his mouth twitched as he sucked in a breath of cold air.
“Hiss—”
Cleaning stones, swinging a hoe to dig the earth… after a whole day of hard work by the river, Hua Shi’an’s hands were almost useless. His left hand was slightly better, but his frequently used right hand had several blisters that hurt at the slightest touch.
It was killing him. Hua Shi’an endured the pain and pierced the large blister, squeezing out the tissue fluid. A thin layer of sweat had already appeared on his forehead. He slid off the bamboo bed and was about to find some cool, boiled water to wash his hands when the bamboo door was suddenly knocked, and a hoarse voice came through the cracks of the bamboo slats.
“Shi’an, Shi’an, are you in the tree hollow?”
The voice was very recognizable. Hua Shi’an knew who it was as soon as he heard it and replied softly, “I’m here. The door is not bolted. You can come in.”
With a “creak,” the bamboo door opened. A tall and large beastman ducked, turned sideways, and squeezed into the tree hollow, which was not quite a match for his size, a little uncomfortably.
He had clearly rested for a while, but the beastman looked as if he had just returned from outside, his cheeks red and beads of sweat on his forehead. Just as Hua Shi’an was about to ask him where he had been, his peripheral vision inadvertently swept over the hands he was holding in front of him, and he instantly understood everything.
The fresh scent of plants filled the tree hollow. A leaf was wrapped around a ball of dark green grass paste.
As he opened the door and entered the tree hollow, the beastman was clearly taken aback, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have. He quickly turned his face away, averted his gaze, and timidly held out his hands, handing over the leaf. “Dandelion paste. Shi’an, you, you… you can apply it to your hands.”
What happened? Why is he stuttering like this all of a sudden?
Hua Shi’an took the leaf and raised an eyebrow at him. “I was wondering where you’d been, with all the sweat on your forehead. Did you go and pick dandelions for me?”
Mo Huaishan grunted haphazardly and was about to turn and leave.
“Hey, Huaishan!” Hua Shi’an called out to him. “What are you running for? I’m not finished talking.”
Mo Huaishan froze in place. It took him ten breaths to slowly turn around, his head bowed.
As if he had done something wrong, Hua Shi’an found it inexplicably amusing and gestured with his chin. “Help me get the bamboo tube for drinking water. I need to wipe my hands. I just pierced the blisters. I have to wash them before—”
“Pierced? You pierced the blisters?”
Mo Huaishan’s reaction was huge. He rushed forward in two or three steps, took the leaf with the grass paste from Hua Shi’an’s hand and placed it on the table, then grabbed his wrist, opened his hands, with a hint of urgency in his panic.
After squeezing out the tissue fluid, the blister had completely deflated, but the skin that had been stretched to transparency had not yet recovered. Mo Huaishan looked at Hua Shi’an’s scarred palm, his brow furrowed, his eyes filled with deep worry. “Why did you pierce it? It would have healed on its own in a couple of days with some grass paste. This, this is so painful.”
That one pierce was quite painful, but it didn’t hurt after squeezing it.
The words “it doesn’t hurt” were already on the tip of his tongue, but Hua Shi’an swallowed them back and changed his words. “Yes, it is quite painful, but it will heal faster if I pierce it, and it won’t delay my work.”
“N-No need to work. I’ll dig faster tomorrow. You’re injured, Shi’an. You should rest well.” The beastman’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter, his expression serious and incredibly earnest.
It was too mean to deliberately make someone worry. Hua Shi’an looked up at the beastman’s eyes, his heart softening completely. “Alright, alright, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt now. Quick, help me get some water to wipe my hands. I just squeezed the blisters. It’s so dirty.”
“Oh, okay.” Mo Huaishan let go of his hand and anxiously rummaged on the bamboo table.
Hua Shi’an retreated to the bedside and sat down, holding out his hands obediently.
He dipped a piece of sheepskin scrap in cool, boiled water. Mo Huaishan squatted in front of Hua Shi’an, took his hand, and gently wiped it. Palm, ball of the palm, fingers, the beastman was very careful, his touch exceptionally gentle, like a tickle. The fine, numbing itch made Hua Shi’an want to laugh.
After washing both hands, the beastman’s fingertips dipped in the grass paste and slowly applied it to the wound on the ball of his palm. He applied a layer to one wound, and after he was done, he still felt it wasn’t enough. He turned with difficulty in the aisle and looked under the bamboo table, as if he were looking for a coir sheet to bandage Hua Shi’an.
It was just a small wound. Applying medicine was already superfluous. Bandaging it would be too much. Hua Shi’an patted the beastman’s shoulder with the back of his hand and quickly called out to him, “Alright, Huaishan, you can get up now. It’s just a small wound. It will heal quickly with the medicine. There’s no need to bandage it.”
Finally realizing that he had been overly nervous, Mo Huaishan came out from under the bamboo table, patted his coir skirt, and stood up, looking down at the ground. “Alright, then, then I’ll be going. I’ll bring you dinner later.”
He had returned to his state from when he had first entered the door, his gaze fluttering, not daring to look at him. Hua Shi’an’s face showed confusion, and his slightly upturned lips drooped. “What’s wrong with you tonight, Huaishan? Did you drop something on the ground?”
“N-No.”
Mo Huaishan no longer looked at the ground and stiffly turned to look at the entrance of the hollow.
Looking at the ground was fine, and looking at the entrance of the hollow was fine, but he just wouldn’t look at him. Hua Shi’an sighed and held his forehead, chuckling softly. “You haven’t looked me in the eye since you came in. Huaishan, this will make me misunderstand. I’ll think you don’t want to see me.”
“N-No, it’s not like that.” Mo Huaishan suddenly turned his head and, for the first time tonight, faced Hua Shi’an directly. In just two or three breaths, his cheeks turned an abnormal red, which quickly spread to his ear tips.
This was too strange. Hua Shi’an asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
He only lasted for a few seconds. Mo Huaishan averted his gaze again and stammered with a red face, “C-Clothes. Shi’an, you… where are your clothes? It’s still a little cold. Why don’t you, why don’t you put them on?”
Hua Shi’an was stunned for a moment and looked down at his bare upper body.
He had sweated a lot from working, and it was sticky and uncomfortable. Hua Shi’an had taken off his clothes as soon as he returned to the tree hollow. But what was the problem with that? He had been shirtless for a long time last year and had only put on clothes in the winter. He was almost used to it.
Wait.
Blushing, not daring to look at him, telling him to put on clothes, could it be…
He was shy. Hua Shi’an vaguely guessed it. He stared at the beastman with great interest, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably lifting. “Now that you mention it, it is a little cold. But I’ve put medicine on my hands, so I can’t put them on. Huaishan, why don’t you help me?”
Mo Huaishan’s breath hitched. His chin was pressed against his chest, and his head was almost in the cracks of the ground. It took him a long time to squeeze out a few words, “N-Not appropriate.”
He was just teasing him. It wasn’t a serious injury, so it wasn’t that he couldn’t put on clothes. Hua Shi’an smiled and said, “Alright,” then used his fingers to pick up the clean coir shirt from the head of the bed.
Perhaps his voice sounded a little dejected, or perhaps he was worried he would catch a cold. The hesitant Mo Huaishan suddenly turned around, took the coir shirt from Hua Shi’an’s hand, and, like dressing a small child, rolled up the coir shirt and slowly, gently, pulled it over his head.
He was focused on helping him with his clothes. The beastman’s body was slightly bent forward, and the distance between them suddenly became very close. Hua Shi’an felt his hair brush against his chest.
One standing, one sitting, one tall, one short. From this angle, the beastman was ridiculously handsome. His sharp jawline and thin, rosy lips were all in view. Hua Shi’an, as if bewitched, reached out and loosely wrapped his arms around the beastman’s firm and smooth waist.
It was a perfect distance for a hug. Hua Shi’an thought, and he did it.
With a slight exertion of his wrist, he felt another person’s warmth. His body temperature was very high, as warm as his beast form. It was just that he had been running in the forest for a long time and often did manual labor, so the muscles on the beastman’s waist and abdomen were firm and hard, not as soft as his beast form.
His head was buzzing. The suddenly hugged Mo Huaishan was stunned, as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. His lips were slightly parted, his eyes wide as saucers, and he stood there stiffly, like a piece of wood.
The arms wrapped around his waist were too present. The beastman’s breathing clearly stopped for a moment, and his expression was extremely complicated, with surprise and astonishment, and a hint of bewilderment and helplessness.
A sub-beastman was hugging him, his arms wrapped tightly around him…
This was not right. They had not yet become mates. It shouldn’t be like this. The beastman wanted to step back and create some distance, but just then, Hua Shi’an, who was hugging him, suddenly turned his head, and his slightly cool cheek pressed against his stomach.
“Buzz—”
Reason was gone. His hands lifted faster than his mind. Mo Huaishan, as if he had obtained a priceless treasure, hugged Hua Shi’an back, his arms very strong, as if he wanted to rub him into his body.
“Shi’an, Shi’an…”
A low, hoarse murmur lingered in his ear. Hua Shi’an, buried in his embrace, grunted in acknowledgment and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
“I, I…” Mo Huaishan was so nervous he was incoherent. His lips opened and closed, but he couldn’t form a complete sentence for a long time.
Hua Shi’an did not speak, but gently rubbed his cheek against his stomach as encouragement.
The hands wrapped around his back tightened again, so tight that Hua Shi’an could barely breathe. And the beastman, as if he had made up his mind, his voice trembling slightly, his tone exceptionally firm, “I touched you. I, I will be responsible for you.”
Those words were really a bit of a mood killer. Hua Shi’an let out an inappropriate laugh.
If physical contact meant taking responsibility, then he would have to be responsible for Chief Mu as well.
Understanding that the beastman was clumsy with his words, Hua Shi’an patted his back and asked proactively, “How do you plan to be responsible?”
This time, he did not hesitate. Mo Huaishan: “I want to be your—”
“Lord Priest!”
The bamboo door was not closed. Yan Zhile’s furry head popped in from the entrance without any warning, and his little mouth was still chattering, “Dinner is ready, Lord Priest. I’ll bring it to you—oh my heavens!”
He had just squeezed half his body into the tree hollow when his eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness, saw the two people hugging by the bed. Yan Zhile stumbled and fell on his butt at the entrance.
Without caring about the bamboo tube that had fallen on the ground or his butt that had been split into eight pieces, Yan Zhile, as if he had seen a ghost, scrambled up from the ground and turned to run.
“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t see anything!”
