[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 106

After being tormented for half the night, Shiliu’s bones held up fairly well. She didn’t fall ill again; instead, she sweated out all the impurities and finally recovered completely.

However, having expended all the energy she had stored from sleeping a full day and night, Shiliu was like a cat squinting in the bright daylight, unable to keep her eyes open. In the end, she fell into a deep sleep in Li Xuanci’s arms.

The mountains were cold and damp.

In the first light of dawn, the night mist condensed into thin dew on leaf tips, rock crevices, and roof tiles. The sky was still dark, the hour early. The deep villa was completely silent. The mountains were deep and sparsely populated; not even the sound of the watchman’s clappers could be heard.

Under the half-lit, half-dark corridor, the corner of a cloak trailed, swaying and lightly brushing the ground with each step. Embroidered patterns in the same colored thread were faintly visible, stirring ripples with its movement.

The young man held a young girl in his arms. His cascading black hair was tied high, and within the dark locks, a red string was particularly visible, seemingly still damp. The red was strikingly bright, set against the full head of blue-black hair, appearing as vivid as blood.

He carried Shiliu sideways. Her underrobe was completely soaked, stripped clean, then securely wrapped in Li Xuanci’s cloak and held close.

But her body, warmed and softened from the recent bath, was clean and pale like a shelled egg, smooth and tempting one to take it into their mouth and savor it thoroughly.

Her jade-white calves hung over the crook of his arm, her soft, plump thigh flesh pressed against his firm muscle. The half-hidden moonlight mixed with the yet-to-break daylight, gilding her skin with an extremely smooth and lustrous hue, like fine white porcelain with a dense glaze. Her small ankle bones and pink toes swung in the air, tracing ambiguous marks.

Li Xuanci did not take Shiliu back to her room but walked towards his own room at the end of the corridor.

Entering the room, he used the tip of his foot to lift the bed curtain. As the thin gauze fluttered into the air, he gently placed Shiliu on the bed.

When the curtain fell, Li Xuanci also climbed onto the bed, pulling the deeply sleeping Shiliu into his embrace.

His warm body temperature made Shiliu, who had been chilled by the cold night dew in the corridor, unconsciously burrow into his embrace like a piglet. Her loose, cascading hair also clung to his body.

Li Xuanci casually gathered the unruly strands together, twisting them in his palm, letting the cool, smooth black silk slip strand by strand through his hand. He played like this for a long time without growing bored.

But Shiliu, having her hair tugged for so long in her sleep, finally became somewhat aware. Unconsciously, she pursed her lips and mumbled as she turned over.

Although it was an unintentional action, it provoked this king of hell. He used a bit of strength in his hand, forcibly pulling Shiliu to roll back into his embrace.

Fortunately, Shiliu was utterly exhausted and still didn’t wake up, obediently continuing to sleep in his arms.

His slender fingers threaded through her cloud-like black hair. From his lips came a low whisper that no one heard.

“Try to escape, will you? So fussy.”

Then, the corners of his lips lifted as he pulled Shiliu, who had been sleeping alone in her own room since her return, into his embrace.

They slept together until late in the morning.

Once Shiliu had recovered, they prepared to continue towards the village.

Before leaving, Jin Zhan gave the old servant some more silver. He Chong didn’t see the exact amount, but judging by the old servant’s face, with wrinkles smoothing out like dried chrysanthemums blooming, and his previously bent waist straightening as if by a medical miracle, the weight of that silver must have been quite substantial.

Having received the money, and now seeing the “great Buddhas” off, the old servant became noticeably very attentive, enthusiastically telling them about the situation in the mountains.

Li Xuanci wore a cold expression and couldn’t be bothered to listen. Shiliu was still secretly letting out small yawns. Only Jin Zhan and He Chong, the two honest men, listened carefully.

“You can’t just wander around these mountains,” the old servant said cheerfully to Jin Zhan. “Those wild, unruly villagers aren’t much to look at. It’s best for you noble guests to go down the mountain early. If it’s convenient on your return, why not stop by here again to rest?”

Although his words were aimed at getting more money from them, He Chong still caught the unusual information and asked, “Old sir, what do you mean by ‘can’t just wander around’? We’re unfamiliar with the affairs in these mountains and would appreciate a few pointers.”

“You outsiders wouldn’t know. There’s a village in these mountains where something happened. A huge fire broke out, and then an illness spread. Many people were driven away.”

“That’s bad enough, pitiful, but there was nothing to be done. However, the strange thing is, out of all those people, not a single word was heard from them afterwards. If they all died out there, it shouldn’t be that not even their bodies were found.”

“There was a young man from that village who was concerned about someone. He secretly went to follow them, wanting to bring them back privately. In the end, not only did he not bring anyone back, but he himself became crazy. Creepy!”

Once the old servant started talking, he couldn’t stop, eagerly sharing the strange tales of the mountains with these rare visitors.

He Chong and Jin Zhan exchanged a glance, both sensing something peculiar. They hurriedly pressed for more details. Unfortunately, the old servant had only heard this from hunters who occasionally came to the area and didn’t know anything more.

Still, it was a lead. The group continued deeper into the mountains, planning to investigate that village thoroughly.