Chapter 605 - 492: I... like you...
Above the courtyard on Shallow Study Peak.
A few particularly bright stars twinkled coldly, like shards of ice in the dead of winter—you could see their light, but you couldn’t feel their warmth.
The Milky Way stretched across the sky, appearing thicker than before, a hazy expanse of fragmented light.
If you looked closely, it seemed as if countless stars were crowded together within that light, and yet it also seemed as if they were all sound asleep.
"Oh... my dear girl... what you described just now, that *is* what liking someone is..."
Xu Bei’er had already left Tushan Jing Ci’s courtyard, but Tushan Jing Ci, sitting alone, was still dazedly replaying the words Xu Bei’er had said to her before leaving.
Her eyes were lowered, her lashes fluttering as if she were trying hard to process something.
The young woman’s expression was filled with an indescribable complexity.
’Is this... what it means to like someone?’
She murmured to herself, her voice so soft it was as if she were asking herself, or perhaps asking the silent night.
’Liking someone... is it supposed to be like this?’
’Don’t tell me... I...’ Tushan Jing Ci shot upright, her heart suddenly racing—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—as if it were about to leap out of her throat. ’Don’t tell me... I actually like him?’
’But... how is that possible?’
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks unknowingly, and the thoughts in her mind were a tangled mess she couldn’t sort out.
’Impossible, impossible... How could I possibly like him...’
She pressed her thin lips together tightly. A flicker of panic and confusion crossed her beautiful fox-like eyes, along with a trace of an emotion that even she couldn’t put into words.
Suddenly, Tushan Jing Ci shot to her feet, gathered her skirts, and ran out of the courtyard without looking back.
"Huh? Miss, where are you going? Miss..."
Yue Shi was sweeping the courtyard when she looked up and saw her miss’s rapidly retreating back, and she hurriedly called out.
"Sister Yue Shi, I’m going out for a bit! I’ll be back later!"
The girl, running farther and farther away, just waved her hand as her voice drifted away on the night wind.
"Honestly, Miss... running out so late at night..."
Standing in the courtyard, Yue Shi gazed at the disappearing figure and couldn’t help but grumble under her breath.
A part of her faintly regretted it—regretted being soft-hearted two years ago and letting her miss go visit Xiao Mo.
Ever since then, her miss had become unstoppable, running over to Xiao Mo’s place every few days.
’If this goes on...’
’When the Madam arrives, how am I going to explain this to her...’
「...」
Moonlight, like water, flowed silently through the bamboo forest.
Xian Xichun lay in a hammock strung between two thick bamboo stalks, dozing leisurely.
For the past two years, Xian Xichun hadn’t spent all his time sitting on that green stone—after all, when you do something for long enough, you have to make yourself comfortable.
So he’d set up this hammock between two thick bamboo stalks, allowing him to sleep a bit more soundly while keeping watch at night.
As for whether anyone would try to assassinate Xiao Mo under the cover of darkness, Xian Xichun wasn’t so worried anymore.
For one thing, the Tushan Clan hadn’t sent anyone to cause trouble for Xiao Mo since the assassination attempt two years ago. And even if someone did come, his Lifebound Flying Sword would react.
Just like now.
Xian Xichun’s sentient Lifebound Flying Sword was hovering silently in mid-air, its tip swaying slightly from side to side like an alert hound, cautiously patrolling its surroundings against any potential assailants.
After a moment, the Flying Sword suddenly froze in the air. Its tip quivered slightly as it began to emit wisps of Sword Qi, aimed directly in one direction.
But soon, as if sensing a familiar presence, the sword relaxed and returned to its previous state of leisurely swaying.
Xian Xichun, asleep in his hammock, slowly opened his eyes. He yawned and muttered to himself in resignation, "Honestly, coming here again this late at night? Do all young people have this much energy?"
He shook his head, rolled over, and casually set up a Barrier around himself, hoping to block out all external disturbances.
However, the Barrier was soon entered.
Tushan Jing Ci, carrying a food box, walked up to Xian Xichun, bent down, and called out softly, "Sir, time for a late-night snack. Sir?"
Hearing his student’s voice, Xian Xichun couldn’t help but sigh.
How could he not know? She wasn’t really bringing him a late-night snack.
’She clearly wants me to take the hint and leave, so I don’t disturb her private meeting with Xiao Mo...’
Xian Xichun sat up in his hammock, a look of resignation on his face. "Jing Ci, I can just sleep inside a Barrier. I won’t be able to see or hear anything anyway. You don’t have to drive me away, do you?"
"That won’t do." Tushan Jing Ci pouted, saying seriously, "I have something very important to discuss with Xiao Mo later. What if you eavesdrop, Sir?"
"..."
Xian Xichun was speechless. ’Xiao Mo can’t even hear you. What could you possibly have to say to him?’
But in the end, Xian Xichun just scratched his head, got out of the hammock, and took the wine and roasted chicken Tushan Jing Ci offered. "Fine, fine. I guess I’ll have a late-night snack at the Hour of the Ox..."
With that, Xian Xichun walked resignedly toward the other side of the bamboo forest, muttering as he went, "Honestly, who eats a late-night snack at the Hour of the Ox..."
Only after Xian Xichun had walked far away did Tushan Jing Ci turn and enter Xiao Mo’s courtyard.
Sitting down beside Xiao Mo, Tushan Jing Ci cupped her delicate chin in her hands. Like a quietly blooming peony, she simply sat there, gazing at him in silence.
"Xiao Mo, I came to see you again tonight..."
Tushan Jing Ci began to speak softly, as if the Xiao Mo before her wasn’t in seclusion but was listening quietly to her words.
"Xiao Mo, I actually came to tell you something tonight." Tushan Jing Ci sat up straight, placed her hands properly in her lap, and began in a serious tone, "This evening, Bei’er came to see me."
"Bei’er is the girl I’m good friends with, the one who used to cry all the time when we were little. You remember her, right?"
"But ever since you went into seclusion, Bei’er doesn’t cry much anymore. And now she has a sweetheart—that demon named Xu Chu."
"The two of them like each other and are even engaged, but something happened recently, so Bei’er came crying to me. Luckily, she figured things out on her own in the end and ran off to find Xu Chu."
"I’m getting sidetracked..."
Tushan Jing Ci quickly waved her hands, as if to brush away all the irrelevant topics.
"Anyway, the point is... the point is..."
As she spoke, a faint, shy blush slowly spread across the young woman’s cheeks, like a peach blossom in spring gradually taking on color.
"Bei’er and I were talking, and she asked if there was anyone I liked. I said no."
"Then Bei’er asked me if there was anyone I cared about."
"I said... that I did care about someone."
Tushan Jing Ci lifted her eyes and gazed at the motionless man before her, her expression so gentle it seemed about to overflow with tenderness.
"I said that I think about him all day, that my mind is completely filled with him. Even though he can be really stubborn and make me angry sometimes, the moment he shows up, it’s like I forgive him instantly... Whenever he’s around, my whole world seems to brighten."
"Then I asked Bei’er... what it truly means to like someone..."
Tushan Jing Ci lowered her head, her fingers hooking together. Like a small child who had done something wrong, her fingertips unconsciously intertwined.
"And Bei’er said... she said..."
Her voice grew quieter and softer, until it was as faint as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings.
The faint blush on the young woman’s cheeks had already spread to her ears, tinting even their tips pink.
Finally, the young woman summoned her courage, took a deep breath, and said slowly:
"Bei’er said... this is what it means to like someone."
She looked up, her beautiful eyes filled with shyness and trepidation, like a single, crystal-clear dewdrop trembling on a flower petal at dawn, ready to fall at any moment.
"Xiao Mo, is this... really what it means to like someone?"
"Liking someone... is this really... what it feels like?"
The moment she spoke her heart’s truth, it was as if something within her had been gently unveiled, revealing the hot, beating heart inside.
"Xiao Mo... so it turns out I like you?"
As she spoke, the young woman stood up, clenched her small fists, and puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
"You silly Xiao Mo... did you hear me..."
Her voice was as soft as a whisper, yet it carried an endless tenderness and shyness.
"Xiao Mo!"
"I... I like you..."