"If Miss Ji is afraid of me, why would you let me help you dress?"
Xie Qingyan's hand gently stroked her ankle, his voice lowered: "I also helped Miss Ji put on her socks and shoes, didn't I?"
"At that time, Miss Ji sat on the bed with one foot resting on my knee and the other in my hand. If Miss Ji were truly afraid of someone, would she let them do that for her?"
Ji Zhaoxi's mood finally calmed down a bit. Her face showed some hesitation, teardrops still clinging to her eyelashes.
Xie Qingyan looked at her red, teary eyes. He lowered his gaze and gently rubbed the back of her neck, causing Ji Zhaoxi to shrink right into his embrace.
"After bathing, Miss Ji would lean against me just like this. Are you still afraid of me?"
He gently cupped her face, looking into her eyes. A trace of darkness hid within his calm gaze, and his voice was full of temptation.
"Miss Ji isn't afraid of me."
"Rather, you like me."
Ji Zhaoxi stared at him blankly, as if trying to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Xie Qingyan leaned closer, holding her a little tighter, the corners of his eyes slightly red: "Otherwise, why would Miss Ji follow me all the way from Qingxi Town to here? And why have you stayed by my side all this time?"
Ji Zhaoxi felt her eyelids gradually growing heavy; his voice sounded as though it came from far away.
"Xixi, say you like Xie Qingyan."
Ji Zhaoxi groggily repeated after him, "I like Xie Qingyan..."
Xie Qingyan continued to coax her softly, "Who likes Xie Qingyan?"
Ji Zhaoxi slowly closed her eyes, her voice growing fainter: "Ji Zhaoxi likes Xie Qingyan."
Xie Qingyan was finally satisfied. He kissed Ji Zhaoxi's hand and gently pressed his forehead against hers. Scorching Yang energy surged into her body, gradually dissipating the cold Yin energy within her.
"Forget how this started..."
Ji Zhaoxi finally fell into a deep sleep, but even in her dreams, someone kept disturbing her.
Her cool lips were fiercely covered by a searing touch. Her lips were pried open in an extremely forceful manner. She struggled to escape, but could only sink deeper into an unyielding embrace.
The vital energy that usually soothed her spirit was now filled with a predatory aggression, shattering her consciousness into pieces.
Ji Zhaoxi felt somewhat breathless. She felt her foot being grasped by a pair of scalding hands; those slightly calloused fingers slowly and deliberately circled the prominent joints of her foot.
Ji Zhaoxi finally cried out helplessly, and only then did the hands leave.
"Such a pitiful Xixi..."
By noon the next day, the cat in the courtyard was relentlessly chasing butterflies, while the dog lay panting in the shade with its tongue hanging out. The courtyard was very quiet, completely isolating the noisy clamor from the outside.
When Ji Zhaoxi woke up, she was completely dumbfounded.
Flushing red to the tips of her ears, she stared at the ceiling. Why would she suddenly have that kind of dream...
She couldn't remember everything, only vaguely recalling a few details.
Scorching breaths hit her neck as Xie Qingyan groggily wrapped his arms around her.
Ji Zhaoxi's face turned beet red. In the past, she felt that interacting with Xie Qingyan like this was no big deal, but now it felt incredibly strange.
Xie Qingyan treated her so well—transferring vital energy to her and even helping her put on her shoes—yet she ended up fantasizing about him in her dreams.
Is this something a proper ghost should do?!
Ji Zhaoxi carefully pushed the sleeping Xie Qingyan away, wanting to get up and dress herself. However, the moment her hand touched him, he pulled her straight into his arms.
"Daoist Xie..." Ji Zhaoxi's voice trembled slightly.
Seeing that he still wasn't awake, Ji Zhaoxi struggled to prop herself up on the bed beside him. But suddenly, his grip on her waist tightened, and she fell right back into Xie Qingyan's embrace, accidentally kissing his cheek.
Xie Qingyan, who hadn't woken up until now, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Ji Zhaoxi in his arms with a hint of surprise: "Miss Ji?"
Ji Zhaoxi was scared to death. She frantically tried to explain, "It's not what it looks like, Daoist Xie. I was just careless, it was you who..."
Xie Qingyan looked at her gently: "It's alright, Miss Ji."
Now it was even harder to clarify, but Ji Zhaoxi knew she had to explain herself clearly!
"Daoist Xie, you were the one holding my waist just now, which is why I fell into your arms." Ji Zhaoxi looked at him accusingly.
It wasn't entirely her fault, after all.
Xie Qingyan smiled faintly and nodded: "I know, Miss Ji."
Ji Zhaoxi: ...
No, you don't know!
By the time Ji Zhaoxi snapped back to reality, Xie Qingyan was already helping her get dressed. She had long grown accustomed to his care.
Looking at Xie Qingyan who was so close, Ji Zhaoxi awkwardly turned her head away: "Daoist Xie, I'll dress myself from now on. I have to learn to do it myself eventually."
Xie Qingyan's hands paused for a moment before he nodded: "Alright."
Ji Zhaoxi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In the afternoon, Zhixuan came looking for them to eat, fuming with anger.
During the meal, he kept complaining about how useless the local officials were; it was obvious he had suffered a lot of grievances.
"Those people don't even care about human lives when money is involved. Senior Brother, you must come with us tomorrow, otherwise those government officials will keep putting on airs."
Zhixuan ate in large mouthfuls. He glanced up, and the chopsticks in his hand couldn't help but tremble.
He saw Miss Ji take only a tiny bite—he even suspected she hadn't bitten anything at all—and then his Senior Brother ate her leftovers without batting an eye.
What was going on?
"Senior Brother, there's still so much food in the bowls, why do you have to eat Miss Ji's leftovers?"
If word got out, outsiders would think their Taichu Temple couldn't even afford to eat.
Ji Zhaoxi hadn't wanted to eat in the first place, but Zhixuan had insisted on dragging her along, saying that eating together felt more like a family. She could only take a symbolic bite and then inhale the essence of the food.
Zhixuan particularly admired Ji Zhaoxi's appetite, getting full after just one tiny bite of each dish, but eating like that was bad for her health.
"Senior Brother, this is where you're wrong. Miss Ji has such a poor appetite, and you aren't even helping her nourish her body."
"If Miss Ji were the girl I liked, I would definitely make lots of delicious food for her to keep her healthy."
As if realizing something, Zhixuan looked at Xie Qingyan in disbelief: "Senior Brother, you wouldn't be deliberately letting her eat only one bite just because you think she looks prettier this way, would you?"
No wonder Miss Ji didn't dare to eat!
Xie Qingyan glanced at him: "Junior Brother, don't come looking for Miss Ji and me anymore."
Zhixuan immediately shut his mouth, lowering his head to eat in silence.
Regardless, he felt he wasn't wrong.
How could looking pretty be more important than a healthy body? How could his Senior Brother be like this?
When leaving, Zhixuan kept looking at Ji Zhaoxi with a very pitying gaze, shaking his head from time to time.
Ji Zhaoxi completely failed to understand his expression.
