Xiyu realised her emotions were taking over her and remembered to keep up her pretence of the icy-cold witch.
“You… healed me,” she repeated coldly. “How did you do it, Young Master Zhan?”
She did not mention the ancient magic or how bad she felt for him. She didn’t want him to know how weak and emotional she could be. This was something she had learned well, to hide her emotions. She couldn’t risk another Hanshan entering and leaving her life.
But… what was that feeling in her heart now?
She had lost a substantial amount of blood, but she had felt wonderful. All of a sudden, she felt a particular affinity with him that she had not seemed existent before. Albeit her attraction to him, she had always ensured to put some distance between them. Before today, she would never allow him to have her heart. But now, why was she feeling that they were close?
Dongyue looked in Xiyu’s direction calmly, providing her with his explanation. “I don’t know how to explain this, but yes, I healed you. So did I heal the little pigeon when I was a child. But by doing this, I frightened my mother. It affected my relationship with them. And I also healed Xu Hanshan’s wife. I can’t explain it, but I can bless and heal people. I have to hide my abilities so that people don’t perceive me as weird and demonic.”
It was true. His mother had not been happy about his abilities and had Xiyu not been a witch in nature; probably she would have feared him herself. Maybe their meeting in Muxue was meant to be, he thought. At first sight, he was infatuated. The longer he stayed with her, the more he felt closer to her. And now, after the soul-bonding, they would be one.
A cursed man with a cursed woman. They were perfect for each other, he thought hopelessly. When he had picked up the scroll, her blood was still seeping from her wound. He had panicked about not being able to halt the bleeding despite all the survival techniques he had learned, which included bandaging her hand, sucking on the wound, pressing on it and even his healing spells did not work because her injuries were inflicted on her by a magical weapon. Also, her face had turned horrendously pale. She had lost too much blood.
At that juncture, he knew he had to do something, and recalling her bundle contained magical items. He prayed hard that there was something that could restore her vitality and return her to her previous condition. That was when he chanced upon the ancient-magic scroll.
The ancient texts had been inscribed with a strange font, that normal humans possibly could not read. However, when he picked up the scroll, he realised every word in the scroll was very readable to him. He hadn’t considered the consequences and risks for a non-magic user to touch the scroll. The only thought residing in his mind was how he should help Xiyu. With his photographic memory, he memorised the incantation mentioned on the scroll easily.
He closed his eyes as he did when he blessed his companions and touched her skin gently. She sensed a small tingling sensation in her skin, but following that, she realised that Dongyue had boosted her vitality. She was stronger than before, even though it was temporary. Such effects lasted for twenty to thirty minutes with Dongyue’s current ability and were undoubtedly suited for use during an impending battle.
“Young Master Zhan,” she gasped, “You and I barely know each other, but you helped me. What do you want in return? I will help you as much as I can.”
He sat down next to her, and smiling deviously, tilted her head back, so their eyes were just inches away from each other.
“Miss Muxue, you’re severely injured. It would help if you rested so that you can recover quickly. As for the repayment, you do know what I want. But we can talk about that later when you’re better.”
Her eyes widened in shock, recalling what he had said to her. He had wanted to marry her, but how well did he know her? Was he capable enough to keep her satisfied for the remnants of her life?
She could sense his uncertainty. He sure was emotional. But she couldn’t let herself be affected by him. She reminded herself. In time, he would leave her. He wasn’t even from this land.
Wait… if she could feel his emotions, that meant he could also feel her emotions?
In her heart, she was also displeased by the fact that he had, while she was at her weakest and most vulnerable state, initiated the soul-bonding. Her soul must have connected with his while she was unconscious. Her vulnerability must have made it easier to reach her soul! But on the other hand, for him to have risked everything to ensure her safety was admirable. So, she had no reason to be angry with him for long.
Earlier, she had considered getting her lackeys at the Crimson Fairy to find her a potential mate for her to perform the ritual bonding with. Unlike the soul-bonding, the ritual bonding required a willing party of the opposite sex that was willing to perform ‘coupling’ with her, while at the same time having a special relationship with her to strengthen their bond.
If done right, her powers would increase tremendously. This would enable her to advance her cultivation to a higher level, and enable her to be a better protector to the island without having to implicate anyone to guard the island soon. She had thought that she could compensate the ‘mate’ with a life of luxury and offer him her companionship in return for this favour, and they could call it even. No man would say no to the temptation of women or riches.
She stood up abruptly and walked to a corner to contemplate her thoughts. As she leaned against the wall, she happened to catch sight of a loose sheet of parchment paper that appeared to have come off from the scroll earlier and picked it up, reading the words written on it with a calligraphy-like style. Before Dongyue saw anything, she stuffed the paper into her sleeve.
“I am tired, Young Master Zhan,” she quickly said in her usual cold tone. “I’ll go to take a rest now.”
“Miss Muxue, let me take care of you,” he said suddenly. “With my command, the men have gone to look for something for us to eat. It’s only us here now in the temple.”
She feigned a yawn. “Young Master Zhan, it’s a bit warm in here. Are you sure that you want to sit around while I sleep?”
He lifted her from behind, causing her to shriek in surprise. “No, we’ll sleep together.” He lay her down on a pile of garments on the floor. She gasped as his eyes glinted with mischief, but she was too weak after the bonding to call on her offensive spells, which would probably be useless against him anyway.
“Young Master Zhan, you better not try anything funny.”
His hands grasped her tightly, holding her against him as he blew out the flame on the torch.