Guanshan Muyu

chapter 11

In the middle of the night, Xia Xun woke up.

He opened his eyes and was stunned for a long time before he remembered where he was.

The fire had already been extinguished and the cave was pitch black.

He calmed down. His sleep was not restful, but he didn’t actually feel cold.

Then the moonlight filtered through the clouds, shining into the cave.

In the faint light, he saw Qi Yan’s face only a few inches away from him.

He was so shocked that he immediately sat up. It turned out that he had been lying on Qi Yan’s arm just now.

It was because of his body heat that Xia Xun didn’t feel cold.

Qi Yan seemed to be disturbed. Although he didn’t wake up, he stretched out his arm instinctively and hugged Xia Xun’s waist firmly.

“Xia Xun, don’t go…”

Xia Xun stiffened and let him hold him until he fell asleep again and the arm around his waist gradually loosened.

He moved Qi Yan’s arm away and put it aside, looking at his face involuntarily.

Qi Yan was very thin, much thinner than when Xia Xun first met him.

Even when he was asleep, there was a heavy layer of depression floating between his eyebrows, as if he was unable to sleep peacefully.

There was a deep furrow between his brows, visible even when he didn’t frown.

Xia Xun didn’t understand.

He had avenged his great hatred and was promoted to an official and given a title. He should have been proud of his success and radiant with delight.

Why was he so sad?

He Cong already had two children and even his eldest brother was married, but Qi Yan was still a bachelor.

He moved, as if to reach and hug Xia Xun again.

Xia Xun got up and lay down farther away from him.

He turned his back to Qi Yan, shook his head and stopped thinking about him.

Using his own arm as a pillow, Xia Xun drifted off to sleep again.

It was the sound of birds that woke him up.

There was a bird with a strange voice in the nearby forest and it began to chirp before dawn.

There were many of them, their chirping coming from all directions.

Xia Xun sat up, blinked, and his mind gradually became clear.

He was alone in the cave and could hear faint voices outside. He pushed away the robe Qi Yan had covered him with, got up and walked out.

The carriage of Qi Mansion already stopped outside the cave and Qi Hui was talking to Qi Yan about something.

His demeanor was very solemn, and Qi Yan also listened seriously.

Xia Xun took a step in their direction and accidentally stepped on something that hurt his foot.

He picked it up and saw that it was tassels from a jade pendant on a red string.

The string was bright and eye-catching, not faded at all. It could not have fallen here a long time ago.

Qi Yan would not use a string of this color, so it could not be his.

It meant that, apart from the two of them, there were others who had passed by here last night.

Xia Xun felt strange, but when he raised his eyes, he suddenly saw a jade pendant on Qi Hui’s waist.