Chapter 89

u Residence. Another guest room…

That night, Xuanji was feeling restless, drifting in and out of sleep. In the moments she was half awake, she felt his arm beneath her head gently pull away.

There was a stir.

Long Fei Li had seemingly sat up.

In the still darkness, Xuanji’s eyes remained closed but she could feel his gaze on her. Moments later, his hand reached out to caress her face before his lips softly enveloped hers in a kiss.

Her heart seized at his sudden action. He shouldn’t be stealing kisses from her like this, she silently lamented.

When they had gotten in bed, he had only embraced her. He hadn’t tried to do anything else so what exactly was he doing now? Pretending to be asleep was not something she had wanted to do in the first place. But now, continuing to pretend was impossible but if she didn’t, she was at a loss of how she should respond.

She didn’t want to be intimate with him but her body couldn’t resist his touch any longer, making her feel conflicted at heart.

There was so much warmth from his kiss, the way his lips gently brushed against hers, she couldn’t help but shudder…..she waited and waited, but his hands remained well-mannered, never once reaching for her body.

He continued kissing her until he was finally content and pulled away. A soft exhalation escaped her lips but in the next instance, she felt his hand on her and she momentarily froze.

“You’re awake?” he asked, his voice a soft caress.

Xuanji opened her eyes. Thankfully, the room was dark and he wasn’t able to see her cheeks which were beet red. He was the one that had stolen a kiss so why was she feeling embarrassed?

Biting her lip, she sat up but kept her head lowered as she did not know how to respond. She couldn’t very well criticize him for being insolent, she feared in his eyes, he thought she had reciprocated interest.

She was worrying over how to respond when he suddenly said, “I’m going out for a bit, I’ll return soon.”

Hearing this, Xuanji suddenly recalled where his hand was on her body and looked up at him, suspiciously asking, “Just now, you wanted to seal my sleep accupoint?”

After a moment of silence, he responded, “Yes.”

His expression was unreadable in the darkness. Xuanji’s heart sank as she asked, “You want to go out?”

“Hmm.”

So the kiss just moments ago was merely to compensate for sealing her accupoint? Displeasure and anger swelling within her but she didn’t know why. In a dull voice she said, “You don’t have to seal my accupoint when you leave.”

“If you wake up and find me gone, you’ll run about,” he explained.

Xuanji coldly scoffed. “Why would I run about? Without you I can’t sleep well?”

He seemed to smile, his voice a bit hoarse as he asked, “You can’t sleep well without me?”

Xuanji blinked her eyes momentarily before angrily roaring, “My point is that I can sleep very well without you—”

His lips pressed against hers once more, his tongue prodding in a deep, heavy kiss.

Xuanji shook with anger but could not shake away from his advances. Once he finally released her, she hammered her fists against his chest furiously.

But he merely got up from the bed as though nothing had happened and got dressed. He let out a sigh and instructed once more, “Don’t run about, I’ll be right back.”

After a momentary pause, he then smiled and said, “But you can’t really run about, the hidden guards are stationed here, all watching over you.”

Xuanji was furious but seeing him seconds from leaving, a sliver of panic rose, and without regard to her shoes, ran barefoot to his side. She grabbed onto his robes, asking, “Where exactly are you going? You said I shouldn’t run about, but what about you? I know you know martial arts but still, you shouldn’t be running about in this awful place.”

Turning around, Long Fei Li wrapped his arms around her, lowering his head, his warm breath stirring against her ear as he asked, “You’re worried about me?”

“Of course not!” Xuanji said matter of factly but she could clearly discern her own lies.

***

With a slight wave of Long Fei Li’s hand, the Purple Guard, who had been leading the way in the still night, bowed respectfully and instantly retreated to the shadows.

Long Fei Li looked ahead and saw the pavilion. There was also a person standing there, their back facing towards him, their cloak stretching towards the ground.

Long Fei Li made his way to the pavilion alone.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, the person quickly turned around and slowly pulled back the hood of the cloak.

Brows creasing momentarily, Long Fei Li finally spoke up, asking, “Why are you here?”

The person’s gaze lowered, remaining silent for a long while before taking a step forward and rushing into his arms.

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have come. We’ve been together for so many years… but this time I couldn’t help myself, I…”

Like the shimmering water beneath the moonlight, those eyes that were undulating with gentleness belonged to none other than Ruyi who should’ve been in the forbidden capital, hundreds of miles away.

“Last night, we were supposed to meet but in a moment of anger, I decided not to go. But this morning when you set off, I instantly regretted my decision right away. I’ve been making mistakes, one after another all day in the palace. The Empress Dowager said I must be tired and told me I could go back and rest for a few days. I have the jade seal from the Empress Dowager which allows me to go in and out of the palace freely….. I was going insane missing you so I asked the Purple Guard you left by my side to bring me here to see you.”