A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

67

In the darkness, the light delicately bounced off a long hairpin in her silky hair. Yangfeng had given her the expensive, highly refined, jade hairpin.

Chu Beijie saw that she was only bending down in a nearby undergrowth, secretly relieved that she hadn't gone very far. There were a lot of wild beasts and poisonous plants in the forest, meaning that most normal people wouldn't be able to walk out safely. Having that thought in mind, his anger softened and his gaze refused to leave Pingting.

Not long later, Pingting walked back, her war bag filled with various things and spilled them out in front of Chu Beijie. There were some barely ripe fruits and a few roots of plants he didn't know the names of. Chu Beijie had long turned his gaze away and it was back to the original indifferent expression.

Pingting sat down, picking up a fruit. "There's enough wild berries in this forest to fill our stomachs, but as I've decided to kill you, it's better if you don't eat."

Chu Beijie didn't answer, so Pingting grabbed the roots that she'd just collected. "Of course these roots also have poison, it's better if you don't have them. It's better to be a one-armed general then being killed by an evil woman after all."

She pouted annoyedly, but Chu Beijie continued to show no interest, and she lost her enthusiasm quickly. She quietened, chewing a few berries, but quickly threw them away as they tasted bitter in her mouth. She sat back at the tree.

The forest wind was even wilder at midnight, chilling one's heart.

The two were utterly silent, their gazes not touching. Pingting looked down at her feet and Chu Beijie's face turned north. They were only a few feet apart, yet it felt like a thousand miles. No matter how hard they tried, they'd never get any closer and both were indescribably disheartened.

What had happened before the tampered route was like a dream. If it was a dream, they had woken way too fast.

Pingting's eyes blinked wearily yet they refused to close properly, although they wanted to just collapse. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the unmoving Chu Beijie. Blinking again, tears dripped out silently. At first she rubbed them away, but after a while she gave up. Let them flow, she thought, it seems to lessen the pain a little.

Chu Beijie was listening to Pingting with his ears. His heart twitched at the sound of her crying, but he still refused to look back, silently cursing himself that despite being part of the Dong Lin Royal House, he lacked perseverance. A moment later, he heard a muffled cough. She seemed to have blocked her mouth, letting only a barely audible sound through. He slowly turned around, unable to last any longer. He grabbed his robe that had been blown dry by the wind and softly tossed it. It flew and fell accurately close to Pingting's eyes.

Pingting froze and stared at the robe as if it was like some rare thing she'd never seen before. A long while later, she put it over her shoulders. Her sad eyes moved towards Chu Beijie and she bit her lip as she stood up. She picked up the roots on the ground and crept towards Chu Beijie.

She uneasily touched Chu Beijie's badly bandaged right arm. This man had almost never been injured and was therefore very clumsy when bandaging.

Chu Beijie's body was rigid and his expression was dark. Surprisingly, he didn't make any sound or action. Pingting sighed in relief and sucking on her lip, she undid his shabby bandages. Looking for a rock, she ground the roots and spread the paste evenly over his wounds.

Her right arm felt cool, an indescribably comfortableness. Pingting's nimble fingers tenderly touched Chu Beijie's developed muscles.

She continued to do so and then re-bandaged his wound. Pingting examined it with a somewhat tired expression, nodding in satisfaction. She stood up to go back to the tree.

Feeling her knees tighten, she realised that Chu Beijie was holding onto her ankle.

Pingting carefully turned around to look at him.

Chu Beijie didn't say a word, only pulling Pingting down to sit down with his left arm. His right arm was raised and lightly brushed across Pingting's face.

Pingting's trembling eyes looked at Chu Beijie's, which were barely visible in the moonlight. Lovingly obeying him, she leaned into his arms.

Baddump, baddump...Chu Beijie's thumping heart was in her ears.

Maybe it was her own heartbeat.

"Am I wrong?" Chu Beijie sighed, "Pingting, tell me."

"Should Pingting be pleased?" Pingting replied softly, "Whoever in this world could make Chu Beijie misunderstand?"

Chu Beijie felt helpless, a feeling he had never experience since birth. "How am I supposed to deal with you? What else are you lying to me about?"

"Will you believe me if I tell you?"

"Tell me, ever since becoming the advisor of the Bei Mo army, why have you been using delaying tactics? Are you waiting for something?"

Pingting's star-like pupils gazed at Chu Beijie as she replied honestly, "I'm waiting for the news from the King of Dong Lin." Feeling Chu Beijie stiffen, Pingting softly laughed, leaning comfortably in his arms. "Give Pingting one last chance. Let Pingting prove herself to you with the truth, Pingting would never do anything to hurt you."

Chu Beijie whispered, "What's going to happen to the Royal House?"

"No matter how bad the news is going to be, it's just a misunderstanding." Pingting's beautiful eyes shone softly in the dim light. In a sweet, dreamy voice she said, "When you get to Dong Lin, you'd know that Pingting doesn't dare hurt you and would never hurt the people around you. Beijie, go back to Dong Lin and see my real intention."

In the moonlight it was a beautiful scene, even the harsh forest wind, seemed to have softened too. The bitterly cold feeling had left, leaving an inviting warmth behind.

Nothing else to be said, nothing else to change.

Just like that, quiet in both mind and surroundings, hearts listened to hearts.

The two snuggled together, watching the moon fade as the sun rose in the east, listening to the cheerful chirping of birds.

Pingting seemed to wake up from an illusion that was beautiful beyond words as she lazily stretched.

"I wonder what's going on outside."

"The two armies have both lost their advisors. The Dong Lin army's thoughts will be a mess but as your Bei Mo army is waiting, they won't attack either." Chu Beijie calmly analysed, "Both sides are the same, one side doesn't know what's happening with the enemy, while the other is still at the foot of the mountain, searching for us."

They exchanged looks, thoughts back onto war.

Human voices were heard and Chu Beijie abruptly got up, backing away rapidly. He hid amongst a clump of trees, calling, "It's the Bei Mo army."

Pingting's expression changed. "If they find you, even I can't protect you." She put down the war bag and handed it back to Chu Beijie, urgently whispering, "I'm going to go out and they'll find me, so they won't have to do such a large-scale search party anymore. Stay hidden until you see the Dong Lin army's search party.

Chu Beijie grabbed her and kissed her fiercely. Lowering his voice, "When you get back, find a way to get rid of them. I'll wait for you in Dong Lin."

Pingting blushed, desperately studying him as she parted.

Bei Mo's search party were extremely delighted at the finding of their main advisor.

Pingting told them of her adventures since falling down and everyone said it was fate that she'd survived. No one cared about Chu Beijie, not to mention the Dong Lin army search party that would cause immediate bloodshed if the two were to meet.