"Why did you stop drinking?" Chai Xiaomi frowned. Remembering how he had once drunk from a water skin she used by pouring it into his mouth from a distance, she said, "Can't you just not touch the rim? Isn't that how you drank before?"
"I'm not thirsty." He pushed the water skin away. As he stood up, he casually plucked a slender blade of grass from the lake's edge, twirled it between his fingertips, and popped it directly into his mouth to chew.
"Hey, why do you just stuff whatever into your mouth? What if it's poisonous!"
Chai Xiaomi grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled the half-chewed blade of grass from his lips.
Wu Li looked at her, speechless.
It was bad enough that she wouldn't let him drink the lake water, but now she wouldn't even let him chew on a blade of grass.
But meeting the undisguised annoyance in her eyes, he fell silent for a moment before helplessly explaining, "This grass is called sour wood sorrel. It tastes tart and astringent, but it produces saliva and quenches thirst."
Seeing her listening intently, he paused and added in a low voice, "It also clears heat, dries dampness, softens hardness, and dissipates nodules."
When he was teaching her archery stances earlier, she hadn't been this focused. Now, talking about wild weeds, her eyes were wide and round, like a small animal with pricked-up ears.
He couldn't help but bend down, gently pinching her cheek with his fingertips. The corners of his lips curled up imperceptibly. "It's not a poisonous weed, understand?"
Chai Xiaomi stared at him blankly. He knew so much about a random blade of grass.
Was this what they meant by true knowledge coming from practice?
He probably... had tasted it long ago when he was a child, remembering even its medicinal properties so clearly.
So, at the end of the day, he was still thirsty.
That was why he needed this sour weed to quench his thirst.
He didn't even mind the lake water, yet he insisted on being repulsed by someone else's water skin.
She was really speechless.
Chai Xiaomi raised her hand and pointed to a household in the distance. A delicate bamboo house surrounded by a fence looked particularly tranquil in the empty outskirts.
She had noticed it for a long time while drawing on the ground earlier. It seemed to be the only household nearby.
"Then I'll go to that house and borrow some water and a cup. I happen to be hungry too, so I'll ask if they have any food and buy some from them. You go rest in the shade so you don't get heatstroke."
After saying that, she ran to return the water skin to Song Yueyao. Turning back and seeing Wu Li still standing there, she returned, took his hand, and led him toward the tree.
The young man let her lead him, but his gaze fell on the bamboo house. He had wanted to insist he wasn't thirsty, but hearing her say she was hungry, he thought for a moment and said, "I'll go with you."
"No, you sit right here! You are not allowed to go anywhere except under the shade of this tree." Chai Xiaomi pressed him down onto the grass, her tone leaving no room for argument. "If you faint from heatstroke, Sister Yao and I will have a hard time carrying you back."
Saying so, she pulled out a delicate little handkerchief embroidered with fine cherry blossoms from the side flap of her skirt.
Wu Li remembered that she had bought this at the market in Qianwu Town. It came as a set with that cherry blossom embroidered coin purse.
She always liked to buy things in complete sets. Her clothes had to match perfectly, and the colors had to be meticulously coordinated.
If she wore a deep pink sheer skirt inside, she absolutely had to wear a pale pink outer robe, and dangle two small pink crystal pendants from her earlobes.
To complete an outfit, she had lingered before the jewelry stalls in the market countless times, never hesitating to spend money.
The ribbons and floral hairpins in her hair changed frequently, but only that silver step-shake hairpin was never replaced.
No matter the color or pattern of her clothes, she stubbornly wore it. Swaying with every step, its faint silver light seemed to guard some kind of obsession.
As for this cherry blossom embroidered handkerchief, she had kept it hidden inside her collar since buying it, reluctant to use it.
It seemed as if it had been bought purely to complete the set with the coin purse, meant only to be admired.
Yet at this moment, she was using it to wipe his sweat.
Kept close to her body, the handkerchief had already taken on a familiar, warm fragrance.
The silk was slightly cool, yet it carried her body heat, gently wiping across his sweaty nose and forehead, stroke by stroke.
That scent drifted into his nasal cavity like threads, as if growing invisible wings, silently seeping into every meridian of his body, gently tugging at something.
He stared at her focused and serious features. She wiped so lightly, so softly, as if touching a fragile treasure. He suddenly remembered the words she had once said.
"Even if a pearl is temporarily covered in dust, give it a wipe, and it's still a supremely beautiful pearl!"
A pearl...
But he knew he was not.
He was wet algae growing in a dark gutter, rotten to the bone, so dirty that it seeped into the marrow and could never be washed clean. Did he deserve to be treated so preciously?
Wu Li suddenly felt a wave of helplessness.
In a daze, he abruptly turned his head away, dodging her hand, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.
"...Stop wiping."
He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing, and forced the words out through his teeth:
"I'm dirty."
Chai Xiaomi glanced at him, turned his face back straight, and continued wiping the sweat from his temples. "Where are you dirty? Sweating is perfectly normal. Everyone secretes sweat."
"Dirty everywhere." Wu Li suddenly raised his hand and grabbed her wrist. His grip wasn't heavy, but it was enough to stop her wiping motion.
His dark gaze fell on their overlapping hands. That section of pale wrist was currently being held by his hand, a hand stained with countless slaughters and blood. His sharp black fingernails dug slightly into her soft, pinkish-white skin, creating a stark contrast.
Chai Xiaomi was stunned by his sudden movement. Immediately, a look of what kind of fit are you throwing now appeared on her face. She unceremoniously pulled her hand back. "If you're dirty, just go back and wash up. It's no big deal. Tonight, I'll draw you a bath with petals, and I guarantee you'll smell wonderful from head to toe!"
Seeing his lips move as if he wanted to say something else, she cut him off cleanly, stood up, and patted the dirt off her skirt. "Alright, stop talking. Save your energy and keep your saliva to stay alive."
Chai Xiaomi had only taken a few steps before she suddenly turned around, putting her hands on her hips in a posture that was both charming and bossy. "Stay here and behave. I'm going to beg a bowl of water for you. You are not allowed to drink lake water or eat wild grass. If I catch you, I'll beat you up when I get back, got it?"
As she spoke, she specifically raised her small fist, trying to add a bit of intimidation.
But that little fist held absolutely no threat in Wu Li's eyes.
He could even imagine easily wrapping his entire hand around it.
If it struck him, it would probably be like the lightest raindrop in spring, carrying a soft, warm itch, too weightless to be worth mentioning.
Yet he stared at her blankly, and then incredibly, submissively replied, "...Got it."
His voice was a bit dry, but surprisingly obedient.
Huh?
Chai Xiaomi's raised fist paused in mid-air, and she herself froze.
This reaction truly caught her off guard. It was just a casual warning, a threat she didn't even take seriously herself, and it actually worked?
Was this guy completely dizzy from the sun, or dazed by the heat?
She looked closely.
The young man sat on the ground in the shadow of the tree. His high ponytail let loose strands of hair that clung alluringly to his damp neck, resembling some mysterious totem.
The sweat on his face had been carefully wiped clean by her, revealing a pale yet undeniably sharp visage. His eyes rippled with a watery gleam, and the gaze he fixed upon her felt somewhat clingy, exuding a docile mix of confusion and reliance.
He looked exactly like a little puppy tied to the spot.
Afraid of being abandoned by his master, yet not daring to disobey commands, he could only gaze eagerly in the direction his master left, enduring every second of waiting as a cautious yearning.
Chai Xiaomi's heart softened for no apparent reason.
She lowered her fists and cleared her throat unnaturally. Good that you know.
The moment she turned around, a thought inexplicably popped into her head: if she asked him to call her Sister right now, he might actually do it obediently with his hoarse voice.
He just looked far too obedient like this.
Her footsteps unconsciously quickened, and it was not until she had walked quite a distance that she quietly glanced back.
Wu Li was indeed still sitting in the same spot. His figure appeared exceptionally quiet in the dappled light and shadows, with only his gaze stubbornly following her direction.
Chai Xiaomi turned her head back and softly clicked her tongue.
Looking down, she saw a chubby snake coiled by her feet.
She reached out her hand to let Hongjiao climb up. Did Lili tell you to follow me?
Hongjiao wrapped its cold body around her arm in a wronged manner and nodded, its vertical pupils shimmering with a fearful, watery glint.
The snake's body trembled slightly, and even its scales lay flat and listless.
What was wrong with it?
Chai Xiaomi asked, Did he scold you or hit you?
Hongjiao listlessly drooped its head on her shoulder, looking like a cowardly survivor of a catastrophe.
It was more than just a beating or scolding; it had almost died!
The master sending it to follow her this time was clearly giving it one last chance. If there was even the slightest mistake, it would have to find a prime burial spot and lie right in, not for hibernation, but for eternal sleep.
Boo hoo... After following the master for all these years, going through thick and thin, its status was actually lower than this little medicine human who had not been by the master's side for very long.
The snake was bitter in its heart, but the snake would not say it.
While grumbling inwardly, it wrapped around Chai Xiaomi's arm even tighter.
It knew better than anyone that this was the absolute best lifeline to cling to right now. If it wanted to survive, it had to stick to her obediently, make absolutely sure to protect her well, and not allow even the slightest mishap.
