Tong Mo turns pale but before anyone can say another word, Zhou Wen Wu appears at the door. He is not wearing his mask and his face is like a piece of finely carved jade. Of course, no one would mistake that he has a pleasant disposition to match that beautiful face with that perpetual fierce furrow between his brows. His hair is slightly damp as if he washed up hurriedly before rushing over.
Zhou Wen Wu has always assumed that Xu Zhi is well-taken care of by her attendants but he is furious at their incompetence today. Or can one only expect so much from “servants” who have grown up in the lap of luxury? Had their families not undergo a close brush with total extermination, would any of them be forced to become servants?
Striding across the room, he sits on the other end of her bed and asks without permeable. “Have you tried looking for Sun Shi Yang’s disciple?… Why are you looking at me like that?”
Xu Zhi thinks back on the things he has said when he is under the spell of the Soul Snatching Bell but fails to find any logical thread to explain this contradictory man. “Nothing.”
“What about his Master? or fellow classmates in medical school? Have you tried looking for them?”
After studying him for a while, Xu Zhi replies. “Sun Shi Yang is a self-learner. He does not have a Master and I’m not sure if he has any disciples. If he does, they should have been famous but I have never heard of them too. Zhou Wen Wu, are trying to assess my chances of survival? Are you pleased to learn low the probability is?”
He is angered by her assumption but keeps his temper on a tight leash in order to continue civilly. “How long have you been plagued by these headaches?”
“Ten, maybe twenty years? I can’t remember.”
He cannot count the number of times he has ran into her in the last twenty years, but never once has he suspected that she could be suffering from migraine. Is she too good at concealing or is he too inobservant?
“Xu Zhi, I seriously think you should travel to Wei. They may not have a High Deity there, but that old doctor did say that they have plenty of good doctors in Wei. The earlier you seek medical help, the higher are your chances of recovery, and the earlier you can escape the torment of these headaches. Even if you and Xu Da are not close, you are blood sisters when all is said and done, and on that reason alone, I am sure that the Empress of Wei will help find you the best doctors in Wei.”
When she only looks at him without comment, he sneers. “You can rest assured that I am not trying to create an opportunity to go to Wei and look for Xu Da. I am probably more concern than you that I may not get to return to Xi Xuan if I follow you to Wei. But, even if you are going without me, you must promise me that you will return to Xi Xuan alive. “
Both Tong Mo and Jiu Xing look downwards at the floor to conceal their puzzlement at his concern while Xu Zhi presses a finger to her temple. “A little confusing. My head is starting to ache again.”
“Again?”
“Hmm. By the way, what is so good about me that you are trying to assure my good health?”
Zhou Wen Wu’s expression turns cold. “Indeed, there is nothing good about you and I am not really that concern over your health. I just feel that Xi Xuan needs their Xi Xuan Xu Zhi that’s all.”
While Xu Zhi try to digest his words, Bai Hua appears with her medicine. Zhou Wen Wu takes the bowl from her to try feed Xu Zhi. When Bai Hua mutters sarcastically that he is trying to act like His Majesty, Zhou Wen Wu stops in the midst of stirring the medicine and turns his poisonous gaze at her. When she shuts up mutinously, he turns back to face Xu Zhi. “Well, so he has fed you medicine before. How does it feel to have the king attending to you?”
She sighs. “To be frank, I cannot remember. Ah Wu, since you are a man from my harem, you can feed me if you want.” What is the big deal about who is feeding her? She is more concerned about finishing her meds quickly so that she can go to the dungeon and interrogate her kidnappers.
Mollified, Zhou Wen Wu tastes the brew before placing a spoon of medicine right under her lips. “This brew is not bitter. At least your servants have the presence of mind to add some sugar.”
Xu Zhi swallows the spoon of medicine obediently, before turning her head to one side and spits out the contents in her mouth. Zhou Wen Wu is so angry that he nearly squeezes the spoon into pieces. Before the spoon can break, Xu Zhi has turned towards Bai Hua. “Have you added something to the meds?”
“Da Gu Niang, this is your usual meds….”
“Dare you repeat it? Usual?”
It finally occurs to Zhou Wen Wu that the medicine could have been poisoned and he is about to kick the wretch to death when Bai Hua falls to her knees. “Da Gu Niang, I am doing this for you! Your headache is so bad that you can barely get a few hours of sleep each night. Besides, the Wei doctor has also said that these meds are good for you! If only you can have a good night sleep, you will be more ready to face the next day!”
“I have said before that I will not take these meds. They have the effect of dulling my brain and can also be addictive. “
“What is so bad about being a bit dull? Da Gu Niang is so clever, you will still be cleverer than the average person even if that happens. As for getting addicted, at least you get to sleep….”
“So you have decided for me and added these herbs time and again to my meds?” Xu Zhi is irritated that she is required to spell out her instructions clearly. “Leave. I do not want to see you ever again.”
At this point, Bai Hua starts to cry and beg. “Da Gu Niang, Da Gu Niang, please forgive me! I will not do it again! I will not dare do it again! Please let me stay! You need me to take care of you….”
Xu Zhi is out of patience. “Tong Mo!”
Jiu Xing is flabbergasted when Tong Mo walks over to pull Bai Hua away. In the past, whenever the servants have done something to make him angry, they would team up together and coax, cajole or humor him, until kind Young Master has forgiven his errant servants. Why are the servants in this household so self-centred and uncaring towards each other?
Even Zhou Wen Wu is unsympathetic as he takes in the scene coldly, his voice without a trace of emotion. “Who are you trying to fool with this pitiful-me performance? As a servant who has disobeyed her Mistress, you should be thankful that she is not asking for your life. Are you only going to stop making a din until someone drags your corpse out?”
When Bai Hua only cries louder, Xu Zhi presses her finger to her temple once more. “You, shut up. I have a headache.”
Bai Hua really stops crying and Xu Zhi turns to study her. With 2 streams of tear streaks on her face, Bai Hua does not look the least bit unattractive and instead is looking tragically pitiful. She would not have noticed this in normal circumstances but now that Zhou Wen Wu has mentioned it….”How did you guess that she is only trying to act pitiful. Is it because you are a man?”
Zhou Wen Wu turns to glares at her. “I suggest you should just kill her. Since she is already showing signs of betrayal, there can be no good thing to keep such a person by your side. A woman’s best weapon is clearly visible on her face and looking at this one, I’ll say she is just waiting for an opportunity to get back at you.”
“You are lying!” Bai Hua protests, her voice hoarse from crying. “Da Gu Niang, Da Gu Niang,please, you should know me. I would never….” Her words trail off when she sees Xu Zhi closing her eyes and she has to bit her lips from agitating Xu Zhi’s headache.
Finally, Xu Zhi opens her eyes and sighs. “Perhaps, it is a mistake to take you in all those years ago. Bai Hua, do you know why Ah Jiu and Tong Mo would never dare to take such decisions into their own hands?” Xu Zhi shoots a look at Jiu Xing. “And he would not either. What do you think the 3 of them have in common?”
Bai Hua’s tear-ravaged face takes on a bewildered look. “I…. I have no idea.”
Xu Zhi closes her eyes and after a long moment of silence, she speaks. “Your presence is a nuisance and I do not want to see you before the Hunting Festival. You may remain in the house, but I do not want to see you.”
Bai Hua is stunned and only came out of her daze when Tong Mo gestures to her. “Thank you, thank you! I will definitely not appear before you until the Hunting Festival is over. After that, I will do my best to serve you….”.
Tong Mo helps her up from the floor and helps her out of the room. Bai Hua intentionally gives Zhou Wen Wu a wide berth. After hesitating, Jiu Xing figures he is no longer needed and leaves too, leaving the door slightly agar on his way out.
Lost in her thoughts, Xu Zhi did not notice their departure. “What is Bai Hua thinking? When she first joined this household, I made her do a jigsaw puzzle and from that exercise, I know that she is not very smart. If she is not smart, why am I unable to see through her?” When Zhou Wen Wu starts to laugh, she looks at him in surprise. “You are still around?”
“You know Xu Zhi, had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe that you can give in so easily. If I were still the Second Highness, I would have ordered her to be killed. Why have I mistaken you to be more politically savvy than I am? And I think I am not alone. Probably all the people in the Capital have been fooled by your all-powerful image. Is the clever and manipulative Xu Zhi only a creature of our imagination? Are you really the woman who forced her father to retire and return to the countryside all those years ago? Old Master Xu was indeed riding on dangerous political waters and if he has continued to hold office, he would have probably brought everyone in your family down. I too had thought at one time that you are behind his retirement but that is your attendants’ doing, am I right?”
“Xu Zhi, do you remember that many years ago, you ran into Imperial Concubine Zhang at the palace and is very rude to her? At that time, I was so impressed by your bravado that I idolized you on the spot. It was something that I would never dare to do and I have always thought that you are someone far above me, like the moon in the sky. But never have I thought that you could be someone within my reach after all. What blatant disregard for power? In the end, you are only a nerd who does not know how to deal properly with people outside your books! Ha-ha-ha!”
Xu Zhi is not bothered by his criticism but neither can she see what is so funny. “Ok, since you have your laugh now, you can leave.”
He stops laughing and only pushes himself nearer to her, medicine in hand. “I am not done yet, see? Take a sip.” and he places a spoon of medicine carefully under her lips. When she did not react, he looks at her in the eye. “Have you ever wondered why you have these headaches? Could it be because you are constantly thinking or because you are so clever? If you become more like a normal person, would your headaches disappear?”
Xu Zhi is genuinely impressed by his imagination – and stupidity. “The herbs that Bai Hua added to this brew helps to suppress pain and does not have any healing properties beyond that. And there is insufficient evidence to convince me that headaches bears any relation to one’s intelligence.” Besides, she has just chastised Bai Hua over the meds, how silly would that make her, if she turns around to take the medicine now?
Zhou Wen Wu is undeterred and is not about to let her get her way. When Xu Zhi shrugs off her outer coat and starts to get up – presumably to the dungeon – he says lazily. “If you drink this medicine, I will tell you of the side-effect of coming out of the spell of the Bell.”
That got her attention and she turns back immediately. He did not bother to look at her and continues slowly. “You should have noticed all my reactions when I was under the spell of the Soul Snatching Bell, but how do you know how I felt when I snapped out of it? Do you think that your prisoners would give you the answer unreservedly if you just march in now and ask them? But if you finish this bowl, I will tell it to you.”
In the end, she really drinks the medicine whike Zhou Wen Wu smarks at her total u-turn. Actually, Xu Zhi, she has done her maths. The medicine will likely make her drowsy but with the Tu Yue Troupe locked up in her dungeon; they will still be around tomorrow for questioning so she loses nothing in the bargain.
Besides, how can she pass up on such a good interview opportunity? She remembers that he has always been pretty supportive of the scholars when he is still the Second Highness, and there is no reason why he would suddenly stop being helpful now. Why not make use of him?
She drinks what he feeds her obediently and some of the medicine dribble down the corner of her lips. Like his brother, Zhou Wen Wu has never fed anyone in his life so it is understandable that he is lousy at feeding people. Still, she is irritated and with a flick of her hair, she grabs the bowl and finishes the whole bowl in one gulp.
“Ok Ah Wu, I’m done. You can tell me now on how you feel when you come out from the spell of the Bell. Please do not leave out any details.”
It is only at this moment that Zhou Wen Wu noticed her state of undress and it is apparent that her assistants have no intentions of letting her leave her room tonight. For some reason, the thought makes him angry all over again. So what is going to happen if she has to remain in her bedroom? Who is going to attend to her? Spend the night here? Just look at how easily she can be pacified with a plain bun outside Yuan Bao Lou; will she be just as easily pacified no matter who comes to attend to her? Jiang Jiu? Or that young man? Zhou Wen Wu has always been the suspicious sort and he is drowned by all the possibilities as anger mounts.
“Ah Wu?”
Pulling himself together, he studies at her enthusiastic face cynically. Her interest, he reminds himself, has never really been on him. “The moment the bell rings, my mind turns blank. Until I came out of its spell, there are no thoughts in my head nor can I remember a thing. Even if I am under the spell of the bell for an entire day, it feels only like a moment for me.”
Xu Zhi nods. “It is the same for me as well, but the only difference is that my blackout only lasts for a second. Do you…. well, do you recall none of the questions that the man asked you when you were hynoptized?”
He looks at her suspiciously. “What did he ask?”
But Xu Zhi has already run off with her theory in her head. “It takes time to spin a lie and if the Soul Snatching Bell obstructs one’s thought process, then what is spoken while under its spell should be the truth. To desire her so and yet hope for me to die, is really so contradictory…”
Zhou Wen Wu is distracted by the wide expense of exposed skin revealed by the deep V of her chemise, and he only caught the last line. “Who is hoping that you will die?”
She ignores him. “What about the side-effects? Did you have hallucinations?”
He controls his irritation at her dismissal. “When I came to, my chest aches.”
She thinks back to Lou Guang Quan who pressed his hand to his chest, directly above his heart. “Is it like muscle ache? Or are your wounds causing you pain?”
He looks at her straight in the eye. “The pain comes from deep within and has nothing to do with my wounds.”
He loosens his collar as if to let her see for herself and she peers at the bandages beneath. The bandage appears damp and some of the cuts that are not covered by the bandage appear to be bloated and white. This usually happens when a wound is not kept dry and will likely fester. Remembering that she has vomited on him, it occurs to her that he must have hurriedly showered before rushing over. Before she can think further, he snatches hold of her wrist and pressed her hand over his wound. “Aren’t you going to examine me carefully?”
Tong Mo turns pale but before anyone can say another word, Zhou Wen Wu appears at the door. He is not wearing his mask and his face is like a piece of finely carved jade. Of course, no one would mistake that he has a pleasant disposition to match that beautiful face with that perpetual fierce furrow between his brows. His hair is slightly damp as if he washed up hurriedly before rushing over.
Zhou Wen Wu has always assumed that Xu Zhi is well-taken care of by her attendants but he is furious at their incompetence today. Or can one only expect so much from “servants” who have grown up in the lap of luxury? Had their families not undergo a close brush with total extermination, would any of them be forced to become servants?
Striding across the room, he sits on the other end of her bed and asks without permeable. “Have you tried looking for Sun Shi Yang’s disciple?… Why are you looking at me like that?”
Xu Zhi thinks back on the things he has said when he is under the spell of the Soul Snatching Bell but fails to find any logical thread to explain this contradictory man. “Nothing.”
“What about his Master? or fellow classmates in medical school? Have you tried looking for them?”
After studying him for a while, Xu Zhi replies. “Sun Shi Yang is a self-learner. He does not have a Master and I’m not sure if he has any disciples. If he does, they should have been famous but I have never heard of them too. Zhou Wen Wu, are trying to assess my chances of survival? Are you pleased to learn low the probability is?”
He is angered by her assumption but keeps his temper on a tight leash in order to continue civilly. “How long have you been plagued by these headaches?”
“Ten, maybe twenty years? I can’t remember.”
He cannot count the number of times he has ran into her in the last twenty years, but never once has he suspected that she could be suffering from migraine. Is she too good at concealing or is he too inobservant?
“Xu Zhi, I seriously think you should travel to Wei. They may not have a High Deity there, but that old doctor did say that they have plenty of good doctors in Wei. The earlier you seek medical help, the higher are your chances of recovery, and the earlier you can escape the torment of these headaches. Even if you and Xu Da are not close, you are blood sisters when all is said and done, and on that reason alone, I am sure that the Empress of Wei will help find you the best doctors in Wei.”
When she only looks at him without comment, he sneers. “You can rest assured that I am not trying to create an opportunity to go to Wei and look for Xu Da. I am probably more concern than you that I may not get to return to Xi Xuan if I follow you to Wei. But, even if you are going without me, you must promise me that you will return to Xi Xuan alive. “
Both Tong Mo and Jiu Xing look downwards at the floor to conceal their puzzlement at his concern while Xu Zhi presses a finger to her temple. “A little confusing. My head is starting to ache again.”
“Again?”
“Hmm. By the way, what is so good about me that you are trying to assure my good health?”
Zhou Wen Wu’s expression turns cold. “Indeed, there is nothing good about you and I am not really that concern over your health. I just feel that Xi Xuan needs their Xi Xuan Xu Zhi that’s all.”
While Xu Zhi try to digest his words, Bai Hua appears with her medicine. Zhou Wen Wu takes the bowl from her to try feed Xu Zhi. When Bai Hua mutters sarcastically that he is trying to act like His Majesty, Zhou Wen Wu stops in the midst of stirring the medicine and turns his poisonous gaze at her. When she shuts up mutinously, he turns back to face Xu Zhi. “Well, so he has fed you medicine before. How does it feel to have the king attending to you?”
She sighs. “To be frank, I cannot remember. Ah Wu, since you are a man from my harem, you can feed me if you want.” What is the big deal about who is feeding her? She is more concerned about finishing her meds quickly so that she can go to the dungeon and interrogate her kidnappers.
Mollified, Zhou Wen Wu tastes the brew before placing a spoon of medicine right under her lips. “This brew is not bitter. At least your servants have the presence of mind to add some sugar.”
Xu Zhi swallows the spoon of medicine obediently, before turning her head to one side and spits out the contents in her mouth. Zhou Wen Wu is so angry that he nearly squeezes the spoon into pieces. Before the spoon can break, Xu Zhi has turned towards Bai Hua. “Have you added something to the meds?”
“Da Gu Niang, this is your usual meds….”
“Dare you repeat it? Usual?”
It finally occurs to Zhou Wen Wu that the medicine could have been poisoned and he is about to kick the wretch to death when Bai Hua falls to her knees. “Da Gu Niang, I am doing this for you! Your headache is so bad that you can barely get a few hours of sleep each night. Besides, the Wei doctor has also said that these meds are good for you! If only you can have a good night sleep, you will be more ready to face the next day!”
“I have said before that I will not take these meds. They have the effect of dulling my brain and can also be addictive. “
“What is so bad about being a bit dull? Da Gu Niang is so clever, you will still be cleverer than the average person even if that happens. As for getting addicted, at least you get to sleep….”
“So you have decided for me and added these herbs time and again to my meds?” Xu Zhi is irritated that she is required to spell out her instructions clearly. “Leave. I do not want to see you ever again.”
At this point, Bai Hua starts to cry and beg. “Da Gu Niang, Da Gu Niang, please forgive me! I will not do it again! I will not dare do it again! Please let me stay! You need me to take care of you….”
Xu Zhi is out of patience. “Tong Mo!”
Jiu Xing is flabbergasted when Tong Mo walks over to pull Bai Hua away. In the past, whenever the servants have done something to make him angry, they would team up together and coax, cajole or humor him, until kind Young Master has forgiven his errant servants. Why are the servants in this household so self-centred and uncaring towards each other?
Even Zhou Wen Wu is unsympathetic as he takes in the scene coldly, his voice without a trace of emotion. “Who are you trying to fool with this pitiful-me performance? As a servant who has disobeyed her Mistress, you should be thankful that she is not asking for your life. Are you only going to stop making a din until someone drags your corpse out?”
When Bai Hua only cries louder, Xu Zhi presses her finger to her temple once more. “You, shut up. I have a headache.”
Bai Hua really stops crying and Xu Zhi turns to study her. With 2 streams of tear streaks on her face, Bai Hua does not look the least bit unattractive and instead is looking tragically pitiful. She would not have noticed this in normal circumstances but now that Zhou Wen Wu has mentioned it….”How did you guess that she is only trying to act pitiful. Is it because you are a man?”
Zhou Wen Wu turns to glares at her. “I suggest you should just kill her. Since she is already showing signs of betrayal, there can be no good thing to keep such a person by your side. A woman’s best weapon is clearly visible on her face and looking at this one, I’ll say she is just waiting for an opportunity to get back at you.”
“You are lying!” Bai Hua protests, her voice hoarse from crying. “Da Gu Niang, Da Gu Niang,please, you should know me. I would never….” Her words trail off when she sees Xu Zhi closing her eyes and she has to bit her lips from agitating Xu Zhi’s headache.
Finally, Xu Zhi opens her eyes and sighs. “Perhaps, it is a mistake to take you in all those years ago. Bai Hua, do you know why Ah Jiu and Tong Mo would never dare to take such decisions into their own hands?” Xu Zhi shoots a look at Jiu Xing. “And he would not either. What do you think the 3 of them have in common?”
Bai Hua’s tear-ravaged face takes on a bewildered look. “I…. I have no idea.”
Xu Zhi closes her eyes and after a long moment of silence, she speaks. “Your presence is a nuisance and I do not want to see you before the Hunting Festival. You may remain in the house, but I do not want to see you.”
Bai Hua is stunned and only came out of her daze when Tong Mo gestures to her. “Thank you, thank you! I will definitely not appear before you until the Hunting Festival is over. After that, I will do my best to serve you….”.
Tong Mo helps her up from the floor and helps her out of the room. Bai Hua intentionally gives Zhou Wen Wu a wide berth. After hesitating, Jiu Xing figures he is no longer needed and leaves too, leaving the door slightly agar on his way out.
Lost in her thoughts, Xu Zhi did not notice their departure. “What is Bai Hua thinking? When she first joined this household, I made her do a jigsaw puzzle and from that exercise, I know that she is not very smart. If she is not smart, why am I unable to see through her?” When Zhou Wen Wu starts to laugh, she looks at him in surprise. “You are still around?”
“You know Xu Zhi, had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe that you can give in so easily. If I were still the Second Highness, I would have ordered her to be killed. Why have I mistaken you to be more politically savvy than I am? And I think I am not alone. Probably all the people in the Capital have been fooled by your all-powerful image. Is the clever and manipulative Xu Zhi only a creature of our imagination? Are you really the woman who forced her father to retire and return to the countryside all those years ago? Old Master Xu was indeed riding on dangerous political waters and if he has continued to hold office, he would have probably brought everyone in your family down. I too had thought at one time that you are behind his retirement but that is your attendants’ doing, am I right?”
“Xu Zhi, do you remember that many years ago, you ran into Imperial Concubine Zhang at the palace and is very rude to her? At that time, I was so impressed by your bravado that I idolized you on the spot. It was something that I would never dare to do and I have always thought that you are someone far above me, like the moon in the sky. But never have I thought that you could be someone within my reach after all. What blatant disregard for power? In the end, you are only a nerd who does not know how to deal properly with people outside your books! Ha-ha-ha!”
Xu Zhi is not bothered by his criticism but neither can she see what is so funny. “Ok, since you have your laugh now, you can leave.”
He stops laughing and only pushes himself nearer to her, medicine in hand. “I am not done yet, see? Take a sip.” and he places a spoon of medicine carefully under her lips. When she did not react, he looks at her in the eye. “Have you ever wondered why you have these headaches? Could it be because you are constantly thinking or because you are so clever? If you become more like a normal person, would your headaches disappear?”
Xu Zhi is genuinely impressed by his imagination – and stupidity. “The herbs that Bai Hua added to this brew helps to suppress pain and does not have any healing properties beyond that. And there is insufficient evidence to convince me that headaches bears any relation to one’s intelligence.” Besides, she has just chastised Bai Hua over the meds, how silly would that make her, if she turns around to take the medicine now?
Zhou Wen Wu is undeterred and is not about to let her get her way. When Xu Zhi shrugs off her outer coat and starts to get up – presumably to the dungeon – he says lazily. “If you drink this medicine, I will tell you of the side-effect of coming out of the spell of the Bell.”
That got her attention and she turns back immediately. He did not bother to look at her and continues slowly. “You should have noticed all my reactions when I was under the spell of the Soul Snatching Bell, but how do you know how I felt when I snapped out of it? Do you think that your prisoners would give you the answer unreservedly if you just march in now and ask them? But if you finish this bowl, I will tell it to you.”
In the end, she really drinks the medicine whike Zhou Wen Wu smarks at her total u-turn. Actually, Xu Zhi, she has done her maths. The medicine will likely make her drowsy but with the Tu Yue Troupe locked up in her dungeon; they will still be around tomorrow for questioning so she loses nothing in the bargain.
Besides, how can she pass up on such a good interview opportunity? She remembers that he has always been pretty supportive of the scholars when he is still the Second Highness, and there is no reason why he would suddenly stop being helpful now. Why not make use of him?
She drinks what he feeds her obediently and some of the medicine dribble down the corner of her lips. Like his brother, Zhou Wen Wu has never fed anyone in his life so it is understandable that he is lousy at feeding people. Still, she is irritated and with a flick of her hair, she grabs the bowl and finishes the whole bowl in one gulp.
“Ok Ah Wu, I’m done. You can tell me now on how you feel when you come out from the spell of the Bell. Please do not leave out any details.”
It is only at this moment that Zhou Wen Wu noticed her state of undress and it is apparent that her assistants have no intentions of letting her leave her room tonight. For some reason, the thought makes him angry all over again. So what is going to happen if she has to remain in her bedroom? Who is going to attend to her? Spend the night here? Just look at how easily she can be pacified with a plain bun outside Yuan Bao Lou; will she be just as easily pacified no matter who comes to attend to her? Jiang Jiu? Or that young man? Zhou Wen Wu has always been the suspicious sort and he is drowned by all the possibilities as anger mounts.
“Ah Wu?”
Pulling himself together, he studies at her enthusiastic face cynically. Her interest, he reminds himself, has never really been on him. “The moment the bell rings, my mind turns blank. Until I came out of its spell, there are no thoughts in my head nor can I remember a thing. Even if I am under the spell of the bell for an entire day, it feels only like a moment for me.”
Xu Zhi nods. “It is the same for me as well, but the only difference is that my blackout only lasts for a second. Do you…. well, do you recall none of the questions that the man asked you when you were hynoptized?”
He looks at her suspiciously. “What did he ask?”
But Xu Zhi has already run off with her theory in her head. “It takes time to spin a lie and if the Soul Snatching Bell obstructs one’s thought process, then what is spoken while under its spell should be the truth. To desire her so and yet hope for me to die, is really so contradictory…”
Zhou Wen Wu is distracted by the wide expense of exposed skin revealed by the deep V of her chemise, and he only caught the last line. “Who is hoping that you will die?”
She ignores him. “What about the side-effects? Did you have hallucinations?”
He controls his irritation at her dismissal. “When I came to, my chest aches.”
She thinks back to Lou Guang Quan who pressed his hand to his chest, directly above his heart. “Is it like muscle ache? Or are your wounds causing you pain?”
He looks at her straight in the eye. “The pain comes from deep within and has nothing to do with my wounds.”
He loosens his collar as if to let her see for herself and she peers at the bandages beneath. The bandage appears damp and some of the cuts that are not covered by the bandage appear to be bloated and white. This usually happens when a wound is not kept dry and will likely fester. Remembering that she has vomited on him, it occurs to her that he must have hurriedly showered before rushing over. Before she can think further, he snatches hold of her wrist and pressed her hand over his wound. “Aren’t you going to examine me carefully?”
