Chapter 32: Cherry Red and Lychee Fragrance (8)

If Li Ruoshui were given another chance, she absolutely would not have suggested going at noon.

North Mountain was located at the north of Cangzhou, outside the city. The mountain path was paved with stone slabs and wasn’t too difficult to walk, much like those in scenic areas.

But there was one downside: it was too far.

Li Ruoshui had drunk the medicine brewed from Fire Blaze Grass yesterday and had been woken up several times during the night by the heat. Now she had to endure the heat of the sun at noon while climbing the mountain.

There were many wild flowers along the stone path, but Li Ruoshui paid no mind to appreciate them.

She supported her waist, fanned herself with a cattail leaf fan, and—taking advantage of Lu Zhiyao’s blindness—tied her ruqun dress up above her knees, revealing her slender, fair calves. The weary expression on her face made her look like an old lady wanting to rest halfway up the mountain.

Li Ruoshui simply sat down on the steps, continuously fanning herself for a cool breeze.

In contrast, Lu Zhiyao, in his flowing white robes, carried a bamboo basket and strolled leisurely amidst the emerald green mountain forest. Occasionally, a few falling petals landed in his hair, becoming adornments.

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So Lu Zhiyao reluctantly gave up that option and chose to let her drink it slowly. However, her reactions to drinking it sip by sip didn’t disappoint him either.

It was still very amusing.

“Stand over here, and block the sun for me.”

Li Ruoshui tugged at the hem of his robe, moving his position to block the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.

The fan in her hand whooshed loudly, but the breeze it brought only cooled her skin; her internal temperature didn’t drop at all.

“It’s really so hot, and my legs feel weak too.”

Li Ruoshui had rolled her sleeves up to her upper arms and tied her hair into a ponytail, but it didn’t reduce the heat flushing her slightly reddened cheeks one bit.

Lu Zhiyao sighed, leaned down to “look” at her. His cascading black hair formed a small, private world, enveloping her within it.

“What do you want to do?”

Lu Zhiyao seemed to have a naturally low body temperature. Just being near him brought a hint of coolness.

Li Ruoshui suddenly turned the fan towards him, fanning him instead, and grinned. “How about you carry me on your back?”

A classic trope from romance novels. If she did not use it now, then when?

The previously calm corners of Lu Zhiyao’s mouth curved up, as if praising Li Ruoshui for her good idea.

He straightened up, and silver threads flew from his wrist, tightly binding Li Ruoshui’s hands and feet.

“I often used to carry my puppets up the mountain. Silly me, how could I have forgotten.”

“Wait, that’s not what I meant…!”

(⊙_⊙;)

She exclaimed in her mind: “Help! This is not romantic at all!”

Li Ruoshui was controlled to step onto one stone step after another, her walking posture extremely stiff, like a primitive human still trying to tame their legs.

Coupled with how she had tied her ruqun dress up to her knees, if any passersby saw, they would definitely be frightened by the scene.

Unable to bear it any longer, Li Ruoshui roared.

“How do I break out of this?!”

Once she becomes a martial arts master, she will absolutely grind him into the ground.

Hearing this, Lu Zhiyao looked delighted, immediately retracted the silver threads, and walked to her side.

“You want to learn?”

“I just want to know how to break it.”

“To break it, you must first learn. Wait a few days, I’ll give you something.”

Since the bindings were gone, why would she let him control her again?

Li Ruoshui pretended to bend over and rub her ankle, then stood up and shook her wrists, chattering something, and ambled around to his back.

Then, taking advantage of his inattention, she suddenly jumped onto his back, using a chokehold to wrap her arms around his neck, afraid he might throw her off.

“No need to learn. This breaks it.”

Even with her causing such a ruckus, Lu Zhiyao remained steady. Although she was choking his neck, he only tilted his head back slightly to avoid it and chuckled softly.

“You’re actually the first person to break out of it this way.”

He casually handed the bamboo basket to Li Ruoshui and prepared to hoist her up more securely, but paused when his hand touched her calf.

“A bet’s a bet. Hurry up, the sun’s shining on us again.”

Using a nonexistent bet as an excuse, Li Ruoshui patted his shoulder, urging him to hurry up the mountain.

The Fire Blaze Grass medicine was indeed potent and really could make one’s bones feel weak. Li Ruoshui wasn’t lying; she really couldn’t walk anymore.

Fortunately, she had made plans yesterday to come to the stream today, otherwise, in the Zheng residence, she probably would have been tempted to jump into the pond in the garden to cool off.

Lu Zhiyao’s body temperature wasn’t high; to her, it felt quite cool.

Li Ruoshui couldn’t help but press her arm against his neck and rub her face against his skin, drawing coolness from him.

“Is this the first time you’ve carried me on your back? Don’t worry, I’ll carry you too when I get the chance.”

Li Ruoshui, adhering to the principle of neither of them losing out, patted him. She moved her hand from the spot she had warmed up and pressed it against another cool area.

Lu Zhiyao curved the corners of his lips, smiling without a word, and took the next step up the stone staircase.

“This time, you carry me. When we get to the river, I’ll teach you how to swim.”

Li Ruoshui leaned on his shoulder, using her hand to block the sunlight from the side, then added these words.

Her tone was drawn out a bit, but it didn’t sound dismissive at all.

Lu Zhiyao couldn’t quite understand Li Ruoshui’s subtle, almost imperceptible partiality towards him. She seemed to care a lot about his opinions, his actions.

Even when he was choking her neck, what she instinctively mentioned were things about him.

What was the reason for this inexplicable concern?

“Another flower fell on your head.”

Lu Zhiyao carried her forward. This time was completely different from the last time he carried her.

This time she was awake, not as quiet as the last time since she was unconscious at that time. Instead, she refused to stop talking his ears off.

Li Ruoshui took the flower down and waved it in front of his nose. “Smell this. Doesn’t it smell good?”

Wild flowers rarely had fragrance, but this one smelled rather fresh. He was about to nod when she stopped him.

“Don’t move. There’s actually a dandelion puff stuck on your eyelash.”

Li Ruoshui pressed on his shoulder, leaned out, and reached out to pluck the dandelion puff from his fan-like lashes. Lu Zhiyao couldn’t help but tremble.

Then, he heard Li Ruoshui laughing incessantly by his ear.

“I thought you were someone even cats and dogs would avoid, but it turns out you’re quite popular with plants.”

Petal fragments were mixed in his hair, bamboo leaves clung to his robe’s hem, a dandelion puff rested on his lashes… Anyone who didn’t know better would think he had rolled around in the forest to pick up so many plants.

“Why hasn’t a single flower fallen on my head?”

Li Ruoshui looked up at the surrounding trees, also wanting to try this kind of protagonist-like treatment, but only received a bamboo leaf smacking her right in the face.

“……”

“Plants and flowers love people with good looks.” Lu Zhiyao added softly. “But you look very interesting.”

Without another word, Li Ruoshui immediately tightened her chokehold. “Who told you that?”

Lu Zhiyao didn’t answer that question, only repeated, “You look very interesting. Being interesting is much more important than being good-looking.”

Li Ruoshui: “…”

She felt like punching someone.

Zheng Yanqing truly lived up to being a man who had read so many travelogues. The stream he recommended was indeed excellent.

It was surrounded by green trees, the water was clear, and two large rocks stood in the middle of the stream, making a rustling sound as water rushed over them.

Li Ruoshui had intentionally worn a light, thin ruqun today. The sleeves were just a single layer of gauze, very light and airy.

As for Lu Zhiyao, he was dressed as he usually was: Wearing just a few thin layers but still covering up thoroughly.

He removed his sword, took off his outer robe, revealing an underrobe with strange dark patterns and the archer’s sleeves tied around his arms. Then he untied a ball of silver threads and the white jade prayer beads from his wrist.

Li Ruoshui fanned herself, her face full of astonishment. “You carried all this stuff up the mountain? That must have been tough.”

After he finished dealing with the things on his person, Li Ruoshui led him, step by step, into the clear stream.

“Don’t worry, I’m a good swimmer. I’m sure you’ll learn in one afternoon.”

The stream’s temperature was neither too high nor too low; it felt just right for Li Ruoshui. The moment she entered the water, she could feel the heat being drawn out.

Li Ruoshui waded out into the stream until she found a spot that was relatively deep, about chest-high.

She put her arms around Lu Zhiyao’s waist and gradually applied force, trying to lower him into the water. “I’ll support you. First, try to float slowly.”

An unbearable ticklish sensation came from his waist. Lu Zhiyao trembled, his right hand unconsciously encircling Li Ruoshui’s neck. His sliding hair covered most of her.

“Ticklish.”

Maintaining the smile on his lips, he softly uttered this word, putting a small portion of his weight on Li Ruoshui.

Just one word brought an ambiguous atmosphere to the moment.

But in Li Ruoshui’s plan, the purpose of this swimming lesson was to fulfill her promise and thereby gain his favor.

Therefore, teaching him to swim was the priority.

“Then I’ll support you here. You try to float first.”

Li Ruoshui was completely unaware of the atmosphere. Her hands moved up above his waist, focusing on holding him. She even slightly squatted in the water to stabilize herself.

Li Ruoshui was very patient when teaching others, especially a skill like swimming. She genuinely hoped Lu Zhiyao could learn.

“Don’t worry, you won’t choke.”

Once he could float, Li Ruoshui supported his shoulders, patiently teaching him how to kick his legs.

Lu Zhiyao had originally thought Li Ruoshui was just going through the motions, but he didn’t expect her to teach him so seriously.

This feeling was nice.

It seemed… being her puppet wouldn’t be so bad either.

“Don’t kick your legs randomly.”

Li Ruoshui’s hands were occupied, so she could only use her foot to help adjust his movements. But she lost her balance and fell into the water herself. Her grip loosened, and Lu Zhiyao also sank in.

With a splash, Li Ruoshui stood up from the water, shaking the water off her face. When she saw the scene before her, she couldn’t help but hold her breath.

Lu Zhiyao lay on his back in the water. His beautiful face shimmered with rippling light; the patterns on his white robes seemed to writhe. His long black hair behind him drifted slowly with the current, like a siren luring travelers.

Li Ruoshui admitted that for that split second, she was mesmerized.

But… no matter how good his lungs were, he couldn’t just float there forever.

She wasn’t the type of romance strategist who would be swayed by good looks… hopefully.

The stream wasn’t deep; he could definitely stand up. But Li Ruoshui still reached out her hand to help pull him up.

Her fingertips had just touched his wrist when she saw Lu Zhiyao slowly open his eyes. They were like inlaid black obsidian, yet also seemed veiled by mist, making one want to see clearly.

The hazy black obsidian reflected the shimmering light afternoon, dazzling and beautiful, making him even more like a siren enticing people into the water. She felt like she was being drawn in, against her will.

He grabbed Li Ruoshui’s wrist in return and pulled her into the water while she was still stunned.

He pulled her close and when she finally realized what had happened, Li Ruoshui could see her own reflection in his eyes.