chapter 34

After sitting in the tea shop for an hour, Xuean seemed to have gotten the information he wanted. He then led Fengguang to the exit in single-line formation. He didn’t say anything and neither did she.

The weather was unpredictable. It had been sunny but now, there were dark clouds gathering in the sky. All of a sudden, it started raining heavily and the pedestrians in the streets rushed to find shelter. Even the peddlers quickly closed their stalls. The amount of people in the streets lessened significantly. Xuean and Fengguang stood together under an eavestrough of a house to avoid the rain. Because their walking pace was rather fast, they hadn’t gotten too wet.

Xuean was watching as an old couple share an umbrella as they passed by when he felt a strange stare. He took the initiative and glanced down at the girl who didn’t even reach his shoulders in height. He frowned as he asked, “What is it?”

“Your face…” She seemed hesitant and didn’t finish her sentence.

Xuean touched his ear and noticed that it had gotten wet so his skin mask had started to fall off at the ends. He laughed without reason. “Do you want to see my face under my mask?”

She nodded her head at first but then instantly shook her head.

“Relax. Even if you see it, I won’t kill you.”

She felt suspicious when he said this. “Really?”

“I swear that if I lied to you, then I won’t ever marry a woman I truly love.”

Wow, such a poisonous oath!

“But…” She still felt suspicious of him. “What if you like men?”

Xuean froze and then smacked her on the forehead. “Is this what you think about all the time? I swear on my honor, I like women.”

Fengguang relaxed a bit. “Alright, after looking, you have to promise you won’t kill me.”

“Hm.” He impatiently nodded his head.

She really was dumb girl. He said he wouldn’t kill her but he never said he wouldn’t make her permanently blind or comatose.

He pulled off his mask and his pale face that hadn’t seen the light of day for so long was exposed to the air. His features were distinctive with a sickly pale white skin-tone. He had light-coloured lips and a pair of misty peach blossom eyes one could accidentally get lost in. He was beautiful except for the left side of his face which contained burn scars. He was like a white piece of paper covered with a little ink. The first thing everyone would notice was the ink.

Fengguang went quiet as she looked at him.

One, two… Xuean silently counted in his heart. By the time he gets to three, she would definitely let out a piercing scream but when he got to three, the scream never came. Instead, an icy cold hand pressed against his left cheek.

Xuean froze when he locked eyes with her.

Fengguang then quickly pulled back her hand and glanced around. Unexpected, she ran to a dessert shop not too far off. Xuean didn’t understand as he watched her shadow return back to their eavestrough through the rain as quickly as she had left. The whole process didn’t take more than two minutes.

Her hair was wet and sticking to her face and her wet clothes had become wrinkled. Her white shoes had stepped into a puddle and were stained with mud. She extended her hand to him and let out a faint smile. She said with a small voice, “When I was young, every time I got hurt, my mother would give me osmanthus flower cake. Eating something sweet can make even the worst pain just a little better. This cake is for you.”

The atmosphere became heavy and long. Her extended arm was growing tired and he still didn’t make any movement. After a few more seconds, he suddenly let out a laugh and finally reached out, only to hit the item in her hand.

The osmanthus flower cake came out of the paper bag and fell onto the ground. It quickly became ruined by the heavy pouring rain…

She helplessly took a step away from him.

He felt comfortable once he felt the feeling of being feared again. His gaze was icy but his voice was gentle as he said, “This is food that only a child would eat.”