[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 82

“Feeling hurt?”

Li Xuanci drew out the end of his sentence, his voice dripping with unconcealed malice and pleasure. He had laid a trap full of thorns, waiting for the wounded deer to fall in unwittingly.

Shiliu didn’t answer. Instead, she rolled over, burying her face. After a long time, her muffled voice came through, “No.”

Li Xuanci glanced at her—a sorry sight, head buried in the sand like an ostrich, still putting on a brave front. The tip of his black boot gently nudged her small, round bottom, and he let out a derisive laugh. “How impressive.”

Shiliu bounced up like a spring, her head thumping against the carriage roof. She immediately grimaced, clutching her head, her eyes squeezed shut like little steamed buns, but she still managed to argue through gritted teeth.

“No, it’s not! It’s just not! I’m not hurt at all.”

A faint, thin smile touched Li Xuanci’s lips. He looked down at her, his eyes holding fragmented light, then lowered his lashes, concealing all emotion, leaving only impassivity.

Shiliu stole a few glances at him, but ultimately couldn’t resist asking, “How did you know?”

Li Xuanci lounged recklessly against the carriage wall, the picture of carefree ease, and mocked, “Your skill at pretending to sleep is so poor, who wouldn’t know?”

“You!” Shiliu was flustered and angry, knowing he was making fun of her again. She simply shut her mouth, turned her body to the side, and crossed her arms tightly, refusing to look at him anymore.

Looking at Shiliu, puffed up with anger like a little balloon, Li Xuanci inwardly clicked his tongue.

So troublesome. She was better when she’d lost her wits, sticking to me like sticky candy, never getting angry no matter how I handled her. And even if she did get angry, a packet of candy was enough to coax her back.

A trace of impatience surfaced in his eyes. According to his nature, his temper, he should grab this disobedient one and teach her a harsh lesson, so she wouldn’t dare throw tantrums like this again.

But the young prince’s sword remained sheathed.

“Your pigeon gave it away.”

His cool voice came through, making Shiliu, who had been determinedly showing him only her back, secretly prick up her ears.

But the man, having tossed out the bait, said no more. Shiliu held out for a little while longer, but finally couldn’t resist, honestly turning back, looking into his eyes, waiting for him to continue.

A barely perceptible smile flashed in Li Xuanci’s eyes. He continued, “Your pigeon started with messages every two days, then later every three days, then five days. One could roughly estimate they were getting farther and farther away.”

“You had just released the pigeon then; it would take at least five days for him to detect anything abnormal. But he showed up not long after. Even if he felt something was wrong after five days and rushed over immediately, factoring in the travel time, he absolutely wouldn’t have arrived so early.”

Shiliu was thoughtful, and she looked at him again, a trace of wariness in her eyes. This man is really, really difficult to deal with. Even something as small as a messenger pigeon could be seized upon by him to overturn the entire situation.

Li Xuanci caught that look perfectly. “Your senior brother deceived and tricked you, and you protect him relentlessly. I merely laid bare the truth, and you act like this.”

So ungrateful.

But Shiliu, from that mocking expression, suddenly grasped the words he hadn’t spoken aloud. She looked at him seriously.

“It’s different.” She shook her head.

Li Xuanci raised a brow, a hint of bloodthirsty malice surging in his eyes. “Oh? Is your ‘good senior brother’ so uniquely different from others?”

Shiliu was pricked by that gaze, but she still answered honestly. “All the happiness and joy I’ve had since I was little, I found within my sect. Of course I don’t want it to be harmed.”

“If I were in Senior Brother’s position, I would do the same. Just for the sake of being able to continue being that happy and carefree in the future, I would do it too.”

She spoke earnestly, without a trace of resentment or reluctance in her eyes.

“Then what were you upset about?” Li Xuanci jabbed again.

“I wasn’t upset.” Shiliu’s eyes blinked, then she lifted her head to look directly at him, her gaze frank and open.

“Senior Brother prioritizes the sect over me. And Senior Brother, in my heart, is the same.”

“I wouldn’t blame someone for something I would do myself. Besides, this isn’t really bullying. If your own junior sister is right here, why not make use of the convenience?”

As she spoke, the conflict in her eyes completely vanished. Her dark, glazed eyes even held a bit of a smile; she truly didn’t mind.

“You’re quite philosophical,” Li Xuanci’s voice was cool. “Others don’t hold you in their hearts, so you don’t hold them in yours either.” His gaze was deep, like mist dispersing in a forest.

“It’s not that I don’t care,” she explained, “but why must we fight over who ranks higher in whose heart? A person’s heart isn’t a steelyard weight; how can you measure every milligram of importance so clearly and distinctly? Why force it?”

Shiliu wasn’t good at grand principles; she could only lay bare the honest thoughts from her belly.

But Li Xuanci was different.

“I insist on forcing it.” The sharpness in his eyes intensified. Those who displeased him, he would remove. Those who dared betray him were simply seeking death.

Love and hate were always clear-cut for him. He wouldn’t allow others to dither and decide by fractions.

“In your heart, you yourself are the most important. That’s clear and simple, so of course you never need to force or hesitate.” Shiliu saw right through him.

Her bluntness, however, brought a slight smile to Li Xuanci’s lips. He stretched his body, relaxing against the soft cushions.

“You’re not wrong,” he replied lazily.

In his heart, he was the most important.

Therefore, what he wanted, no one could stop. He was determined to have it.

The carriage moved smoothly along the official road. They had set off extremely early, yet it still took them the entire day, only managing to enter the city just as darkness began to fall.

Shiliu’s bottom was sore from sitting. So, as soon as they entered the city, she excitedly lifted the carriage window curtain, peeking through the gap at the street scenes passing by.

The streets were lined with rows of wooden houses, built quite exquisitely, and they were adorned with colorful decorations on the porches and window frames, looking pretty and vibrant. Her eyes widened, and she looked around with curiosity.

This town was relatively prosperous. Although the sky was already tinged with dusk, there were still quite a few people coming and going on the streets.

A peddler carrying a shoulder pole sold hairpins and flowers, hawking his wares, trying to sell off his remaining vegetable ends and melon rinds cheaply. A woman who had finished cooking threw her used water with a splash into a secluded spot.

The lively atmosphere of the marketplace was noisy and bustling.

They finally reached the inn. Just as Shiliu was about to get off the carriage, a child in red clothes dashed past in front of her, giggling, his voice innocent and clear. As he ran, he took small red balls from a bag.

There were a great number of red balls. He juggled them skillfully, tossing them into the air one after another. Dozens of little red balls flew about constantly, yet he was quite dexterous; not a single one fell.

Shiliu watched, somewhat mesmerized. Seeing her look over, the child in red grinned at her, but lost his accuracy. The red balls clattered to the ground, bouncing rapidly and scattering everywhere, some rolling quite far away.

This mishap made Shiliu a bit embarrassed, but the child didn’t seem to mind at all. He didn’t even bother picking them up. Instead, he simply ran forward while continuing to toss the red balls, soon running off.

Shiliu was still standing there dazed when Li Xuanci got out of the carriage and headed straight into the inn. Jin Zhan and He Chong followed. Shiliu quickly snapped out of it and went in with them.

Carelessly, she ended up last. In the distance, she saw a child in white clothes chasing after them, breathlessly picking up the scattered red balls.

Unfortunately, there were too many balls thrown, and they were too scattered; some were really hard to find. Having been inadvertently involved and feeling somewhat responsible, Shiliu looked carefully around her, spotted a little red ball near a flowerpot in front of the inn, picked it up, and waited for the child in white to get closer before specifically handing it to him.

The child in white was panting heavily. Seeing Shiliu hand him the red ball, he paused for a moment, then took it, giving Shiliu a small smile. Without saying a word, he continued running off.

Shiliu watched the figures of the two children, scratched her head, and turned to enter the inn.