Xin Mei reached out to gently grasp his sleeve, thought for a moment, then continued: “I saw you at your lowest point, so when you’re at your most glorious later, you have to let me see that too. That would be fair, don’t you think?”
Still no reaction.
“People should still live optimistically. If you keep thinking you’re going to die, you really might not make it through. Look at me—I never think about my husband-cursing fate. I believe I absolutely don’t curse husbands, so you absolutely won’t die. You should learn more from me in this regard… Hey, if you keep ignoring me, I’m going to start overthinking! Give me some face here! Tell me it’s not my husband-cursing fate that’s making you so unlucky!”
Lu Qianqiao finally turned over helplessly, his unfocused red eyes meeting hers: “You talk a lot.”
“People say married couples should complement each other. You refuse to speak no matter what, so I have to do all the talking. Oh right!” Xin Mei suddenly clapped her hands. “We’re not really husband and wife yet—we haven’t had our wedding night. You just nibbled on me twice, then bled from seven orifices and passed out.”
Nibbled…
A long-absent blush finally appeared on his pale face. He suddenly pulled the blanket over his head: “…I’m hungry.”
She immediately stood up: “What would you like to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
After waiting a long time, his voice came muffled from under the blanket: “Tofu General.”
She burst into laughter.
The result was dinner consisting of two tofu figurines—one Tofu General and one Tofu Xin Mei, one steamed clear and one with sauce.
Xin Mei ruthlessly chopsticked off her own head and brought it to Lu Qianqiao’s mouth: “Here, eat my head.”
…Why did he find it so hard to swallow?
Then she continued ruthlessly chopsticking off the General’s head, saying: “I’ll eat your head.”
Haha, it felt like drinking from the wedding cup! Xin Mei beamed with joy, feeling this tofu dish was truly the most successful culinary creation of her life, incomparably delicious.
Lu Qianqiao still couldn’t get used to losing his sight. He ate extremely slowly, and got two grains of white rice stuck to the corner of his lips. She leaned over and gently brushed them off with her finger, when suddenly he lightly grasped her wrist.
“Xin Mei, come sit closer.”
She obediently sat beside him. The next moment, his warm, slightly rough hand gently caressed her cheek, his thumb following the line of her eyebrows, slowly and tenderly stroking downward inch by inch, finally stopping at her soft, full lips. The thumb’s movement became even slower, and every fine line of her lips seemed to feel the heat of his skin. That strange, unfamiliar sensation seemed to return again.
Xin Mei’s heart began racing wildly, though she didn’t know why.
His eyelashes were lowered, his face so close that their fragrant breaths mingled together… Was he going to kiss her? Was he?
That thumb stroked for a long time, then finally brushed off a grain of rice just like before. Lu Qianqiao smiled mischievously: “…You had rice on your mouth too.”
“…” Could she beat him up?
“Xin Mei, right now I can’t give you anything.” His voice suddenly dropped low. “But your being here is already…”
Her being here, her not leaving—that was already her greatest gift to him.
She nodded: “Mm, I’m staying with you. Don’t worry.”
His fingers suddenly tightened, then loosened again. He opened his arms and hugged her tightly.
It seemed like a drop of scalding tear fell on her neck, though it might have just been an illusion.
Xin Mei patted his back: “Lu Qianqiao, you will definitely survive.”
The fifteenth day of the seventh month—Ghost Gate opens.
While the vengeful spirits in the burial pit were celebrating wildly in their madness, people sent by the War Ghost clan quietly infiltrated the underground palace.
Of course, Xin Mei knew none of this. She was hidden in the most secret, hardest-to-discover room, eating sweet melon while asking Si Lan: “Why are you hiding me away? Are you afraid I’ll ambush Lu Qianqiao?”
Could it be because she had tried to drink from the wedding cup with Lu Qianqiao several times? That… wasn’t that normal? The two of them were already married but hadn’t drunk from the wedding cup or had their wedding night. According to her father’s reasoning, this marriage was extremely unstable!
Si Lan looked somewhat nervous, as if wary of something: “In any case, it’s for your own good… Besides, the General has lost all five senses and is no different from a living corpse—what would be the point of ambushing him?!”
“Then can I go see him tonight?”
Only after midnight each day would Si Lan relax his expression and take her to Lu Qianqiao’s room to let her see him. Lu Qianqiao had lost all five senses due to his transformation ordeal five days ago—he couldn’t hear, couldn’t see, had no sense of touch, and couldn’t speak. He truly was no different from a living corpse.
However, it was said that over eighty percent of both pure-blood and mixed-blood War Ghosts had to experience these changes, so everyone was quite calm about it. Therefore, she was calm too.
Si Lan hadn’t had time to respond when suddenly a string of dark copper bells on the door began ringing urgently. His expression changed drastically and he immediately stood up.
“Stay here! I’m begging you with the General’s life at stake—absolutely do not leave this room!”
With that, he ran off at full speed.
Note: The five senses actually refer to: touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight.
Lu’s current condition is that he has no conscious activity at all. Apart from his heartbeat and breathing, he’s essentially dead—commonly known as: a vegetative state.
Using “five senses” is a general description of his condition, not a precise designation.