zChapter 1045 - The more you have, the more you fear
Chapter 1045: The more you have, the more you fear
Han Yunxi’s heart clenched as she flew up the mountainside. Behind her, Gu Qishao followed close in silence. By the time she reached the peak, it was to see Long Feiye and the rest standing by a nearby cliff to stare at the mass of white smoke below. Han Yunxi exhaled in relief to see them unharmed, but suddenly had a mischievous thought at the sight of Long Feiye’s back. “Idiot, I’m already here and you still haven’t noticed?”
That wasn’t Long Feiye’s fault. It was hard to see anything in the dark, much less with clouds over their head, thunder booming, and torrential storm brewing above. Even if she was standing right next to him, it’d be difficult to see who she was. Moreover, this mountain range was huge. Han Yunxi didn’t even bother getting her bearings after escaping the smoke but just circled around before making for the nearest peak. She had taken a path completely opposite of Long Feiye and the rest, causing them to miss each other.
While Han Yunxi was staring at Long Feiye, Gu Qishao was staring at her. After chasing her all the way here, he was now standing to one side and muttering in a doting tone, “Idiot, I’m here too, but you still don’t know.”
Han Yunxi was about to call out to Long Feiye when she stopped. A crafty gleam shone in her eyes before she silently approached him. Perhaps the wind and thunder were too loud, or perhaps Long Feiye was too concentrated on the valley below, but he didn’t even notice her approach, much less Tang Li and the rest. The shadow guards did see her, but it was so obvious that she was doing it on purpose that they didn’t give her away.
Just like that, Han Yunxi snuck up behind Long Feiye.
“Big bro, what do we do? It’s been so long but sister-in-law still hasn’t come up?” Tang Li fretted.
“Has the poison dissipated?” Pill Furnace Master was also worried.
“Your Highness, should we send some poison guards down there to search?” Baili Mingxiang spoke up.
Long Feiye didn’t answer any of them. If possible, he’d search for Han Yunxi himself, but all he could do was wait. There was no antidote to earthly fire’s poison, which would cause death as soon as it came in contact with the body. Sometimes he wished Han Yunxi knew no martial arts at all, because then she wouldn’t take risks.
Seeing Long Feiye remain silent, no one dared to press him. All of them kept their eyes on the smoke as he slowly clenched his fists.
It was then that Han Yunxi reached out from behind to wrap her arms around his waist. Shocked, Long Feiye grew guarded, but when he touched the hands hugging his torso, he recognized who she was.
“What are you worried about? A little poison like that can’t hurt me! And I got the thing we wanted!” Han Yunxi was very happy and ready to let go when Long Feiye tightened his grip on her hands.
Unhappily he asked, “When did you climb up?”
“Just now. I couldn’t find you guys so I searched all the way up here,” Han Yunxi replied honestly. She tried to struggle free, but Long Feiye wouldn’t let go. Panicking, she used more strength. All she did was play a joke, so how could he hold onto her without letting go in front of so many people? Wasn’t he embarrassed?
“Why didn’t you speak up if you found us?” Long Feiye asked.
“I…I wanted to give you guys a surprise!” Han Yunxi emphasized you guys so Long Feiye could get the hint that they were in public. He was supposed to show some propriety.
Tang Li glanced at Long Feiye’s waist. He couldn’t say whether it was Han Yunxi hugging Long Feiye’s waist or the latter holding her hands. In any case, the two looked very intimate with their entwined fingers. Long Feiye was very tall and big, so he had to tilt his head to even see Han Yunxi hiding behind him. At the sight, he was sure it was Long Feiye maintaining the contact, because Han Yunxi’s face was practically plastered against Long Feiye’s back. It was impossible to see her expression with her head buried against his shoulders.
Han Yunxi was probably the only one who could manage a “backhug” like this.
“Since sister-in-law’s fine, I’ll be leaving first. If it starts raining, it’s going to be huge!” Tang Li had the tact to slip away.
After he left, Baili Mingxiang immediately disappeared as well. Xu Donglin escorted Pill Furnace Master away, soon leaving Han Yunxi and Long Feiye alone by the cliff. The fact that everyone had the insight to leave them alone only made Han Yunxi flush harder. Luckily, her head was buried in Long Feiye’s back so no one saw. Finally she burst out, “Long Feiye, let go!”
“Give me a reason to let you go?” Long Feiye retorted. Did this woman know how worried he’d been? Yet she still had the mood to joke with him.
Actually, Han Yunxi wasn’t playing hide-and-seek with him on purpose. She too, had been scared to death the whole way up. “I’m uncomfortable, you’re holding me too tight!” Han Yunxi complained pathetically.
Whenever she brought up “uncomfortable,” Long Feiye would always relent. He turned and planned to glare at her, but saw a bruise on her nose instead.
“Long Feiye, I was searching–”
“Don’t move!” Long Feiye’s voice was fierce as he lifted her chin to study the bridge of her nose. “How did you get hurt?”
Han Yunxi finally remembered her throbbing face and grinned. “I couldn’t see my way in the smoke and accidentally ran into the stone pillar. It’s a minor wound, no issues.”
Long Feiye pressed on it gently and asked, “Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t, it’s fine,” Han Yunxi smiled.
But Long Feiye soon made it impossible for her to smile as he applied more force.
“Ah…hurts! Lighter!” Han Yunxi shouted.
“Find a doctor!” Long Feiye’s face was frightening as he pulled her away.
Han Yunxi stopped him. “It’ll be fine after a little pain. I can apply the medicine myself.”
Long Feiye ignored her. He was already thinking of writing a letter to Gu Beiyue after they found a doctor down the mountain. Then Gu Beiyue could write them a prescription. If the doctor knew that his talents were being used on such a little thing, it was a wonder how he’d feel.
Very soon, Han Yunxi stopped Long Feiye with a single sentence. She said, “Long Feiye, can you just wait a second? Let me hug you properly. When I couldn’t find you back then, I was–”
Long Feiye pulled her into an embrace before she finished speaking. She wasn’t the only one who panicked. He too, wanted to hold her tight.
“A little tighter, okay?” Han Yunxi murmured.
Long Feiye held her tighter without a word, but Han Yunxi still wasn’t satisfied. Her muffled voice was extremely soft and almost pleading. “Feiye, it’s not enough. Hold me even tighter.”
They said experience built courage. But why was it that after all their life and death experiences, she only felt more fearful and reluctant towards danger? They said possession provided security. But why was it the more she had, the less she could take losing any bit of it? It made her more insecure instead. Sometimes, she wanted to keep her distance from him, but when that actually happened, she ended up panicking all too soon.
As long as it was a request from Han Yunxi, Long Feiye would fulfill it no matter what. Still, he was afraid that hugging her too tightly now would hurt her instead. He simply pushed her aside, bent down, and locked lips. Gradually, his kiss grew more passionate as she wrapped her arms around his neck and raised her head to meet him. She gave him what he wanted while desiring more, allowing his tongue to drive straight into her mouth.
After the descent of heavenly lightning, the bolts in the skies returned to their normal selves. A flash of lightning illuminated their kissing forms. Soon after that, raindrops the size of peas began to fall, but the two of them ignored it all to lose themselves in the kiss. When feelings were passionate, who cared about thunder and lightning?
Han Yunxi was kissed until she was dizzy. In the end, Long Feiye picked her up princess-style and brought her back, although she had no recollection of how they made it. Before she could break the good news about the Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons, Long Feiye thoroughly ate her up. After they both calmed down, he took her to the pool behind the house to soak in the hot springs and get rid of the chill.
Han Yunxi leaned lazily against the edge and wished she could go to sleep, but Long Feiye wouldn’t let her. He carefully dried her hair first and carried her to bed.
—
When Tang Li and the rest saw Long Feiye and Han Yunxi at breakfast the next day, all of them were bewildered. When did these two get back last night?
“Your Highness, Old Pill master is leaving,” Xu Donglin hurried to report.
Long Feiye and Han Yunxi quickly got to their feet. Pill Furnace Master had given them huge help this time, but they didn’t even get to thank him.
Xu Donglin ended up taking out a box and presenting it respectfully to the pair. “Your Highnessn Old Pill master is already gone. He was in a hurry to refine the dan pellets and said he didn’t need to be sent off. He only asks that you give this item to Gu Qishao.”
Long Feiye took the box and wanted to open it, but stopped after some hesitation. He didn’t ask where Gu Qishao was but simply kept it on his person. “Go to the poison grounds and recover the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace,” he said. “Deliver it to Old Pill master, think of it as a thank-you gift.”
Even without earthly fire, the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace was of unusual make and much better than the other furnaces in the old man’s hands. Tang Li was too busy to probe into Gu Qishao’s affairs and asked, “Sister-in-law, can you let us see the Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons?”
Han Yunxi took out the poison teardrop created from the fire and everyone looked at it curiously.
“Sister-in-law, how do you use thes poison teardrops?” Tang Li was still lost. If the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion and these items were supposed to break through the Poison Gu human’s constitution, were they supposed to forcefed it all to Bai Yanqing? That wasn’t realistic!
Han Yunxi was lost, too. She tried mixing all the poison teardrops together, but found that they refused to assimilate. Before they gained the last two teardrops, she wouldn’t risk trying any experiments. After she stored the teardrop away, Tang Li spoke up again.
“Big bro, sister-in-law, you two should hurry on.”
Today was the eighth day of the second lunar month, so Celestial Mountain’s snows should have already started melting. There was less than a month to go before they could scale the peaks. Tang Li had been keeping track of time all along. It was time for him to return to Three-Way Black Market too. Ning Jing’s delivery date was approaching fast, so even if he couldn’t be by her side, he could at least be slightly closer, geographically speaking.
Naturally, Han Yunxi understood Tang Li’s anxiety.
“Mm, we’ll set off for Celestial Mountain today. You should hurry back too. Don’t worry, we’ll go and be back in a jiffy, so wait for our good news!” She truly wished to give him a parting boost.
Tang Li nodded seriously. “I already told my parents last night, so I’ll be leaving in a bit!”
Long Feiye didn’t speak beyond resting a large hard on Tang Li’s shoulder. After patting it, he released him and said, “Wait for our return.”
“Definitely!” Tang Li’s voice was steady.