Chapter 64
Chapter 64: Racy Words, the Buddhist Scion Short-Circuits
The room was so quiet it felt unreal.
Lin Qing Xuan lay on the bed. Xiao Man stood beside it. They stared at each other, neither moving, the air between them thick enough to choke on.
In the end, Xiao Man surrendered first.
She cleared her throat, pasted on a bright, professional smile, and broke the silence. “Um… Eldest Grandson Young Master, your wound needs to be treated.”
Doctor Wang had warned her before leaving: the dressing had to be changed every day, kept clean and dry.
Xiao Man knew exactly how terrible ancient medicine was. No antibiotics. No tetanus shots. Just a few stitches and a prayer.
Keeping her patron alive was her KPI.
Lin Qing Xuan struggled to sit up, voice hoarse. “No need to trouble you. I can do it myself—”
He didn’t get to finish.
Xiao Man strode in and pressed him back down with one hand. “Oh, cut it out.”
She stood over him with her hands on her hips, fierce and unyielding. “I’m the one who put that hole in your head. I’ll take responsibility. Besides, whether I should’ve seen it or not, I already saw it in that dream. And now you’re going to lecture me about ‘proper boundaries’?”
Boom.
Lin Qing Xuan’s mind went blank.
His pale face flushed red in a heartbeat, heat rising from cheekbones to the tips of his ears. All the vows he’d made—to restrain himself, to keep propriety—shattered under that one shameless line.
Xiao Man saw him turn red and her heart dropped.
Oh no. Infection? Fever?
She didn’t think twice. She reached out, pressed the cool back of her hand to his forehead, then slid down to his neck. “Are you burning up? Anywhere else hurting?”
His skin wasn’t hot.
But somehow his face got redder.
Red enough to look painful.
Lin Qing Xuan short-circuited completely. The coolness of her hand felt like a current, racing from skin to bone and leaving him trembling.
Before he could stop himself, he grabbed her hand and tugged it to his chest, pressing her palm against the frantic beat beneath.
His eyes were deep, voice low with a grievance he didn’t understand himself. “Here…”
“For some reason, it’s beating too fast.”
Xiao Man froze, then leaned down on instinct, ear pressed to his chest.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The heartbeat hammered through cloth into her ear, strong and urgent enough to make her scalp tingle.
She straightened, grave as a doctor. “Did I smash you into some kind of aftereffect? An irregular heartbeat?”
The ridiculous sincerity on her face washed all his heated thoughts away, replaced by something softer, sweeter, unbearably tender.
He wanted to pull her into his arms.
He didn’t.
He only held on a moment longer than he should have, fingers tight like he was afraid she’d vanish.
“Eldest Grandson Young Master,” Xiao Man said, exasperated, “if you keep holding me, I can’t change your bandage.”
His grip loosened slowly, reluctantly, as if he could keep her warmth in his palm by force of will.
Xiao Man worked carefully, unwrapping the bloodstained cloth and dabbing ointment onto the wound with a clean pad.
Lin Qing Xuan sucked in a breath—deliberately. He even added a small, pitiful sound for effect.
It worked immediately.
Xiao Man’s hands gentled even more. She leaned in and blew softly on the wound like she was soothing a child. “Hoo… hoo… there. Blow on it and it won’t hurt.”
Warm breath, faint fragrance—sweet enough to make his whole body shiver.
When she finished, rewrapped the bandage, and changed him into clean sleepwear, she finally exhaled. “All right. Lie down and rest. I’ll go brew your medicine.”
She turned to go.
Lin Qing Xuan stopped her. “Xiao Man. Bring me a scripture scroll.”
Xiao Man whipped around, instantly offended. “No! You’re injured. You’re resting.”
To her surprise, Lin Qing Xuan obeyed at once. He lay back down, pulled the blanket up, and stared at her with wide, obedient eyes.
“I’ll do whatever you say.”
Now it was Xiao Man’s turn to feel her ears warming. “What do you mean, ‘whatever I say’…”
She fled before her face could betray her, muttering under her breath that this Buddhist Scion had absolutely no Buddhist Scion dignity left.
In the small kitchen, Granny Chen had already prepared the medicine on a tray.
“Miss Xiao Man, take it to Eldest Grandson Young Master. Doctor Wang said it works best while it’s hot.”
Xiao Man grabbed a small dish of candied fruit as well and carried everything back.
Lin Qing Xuan was propped against the pillows, waiting quietly.
Xiao Man tested the bowl with her lips, blew once, and held it out. “Careful, it’s hot. It’s bitter too. Drink it, then have some candied fruit.”
Lin Qing Xuan took the bowl and finished it in one go. Then he frowned on purpose. “Bitter.”
“Quick, quick.” Xiao Man pinched up a piece of candied fruit and shoved it toward his mouth.
Her fingertips brushed his lips.
Lin Qing Xuan opened his mouth. His lips closed neatly over the candied fruit—and then his tongue swept, hot and deliberate, over the pad of her finger before he drew the sweet inside.
Xiao Man went rigid. Her mind emptied so thoroughly she forgot to pull away.
He swallowed, throat bobbing, the fruit gone in an instant.
Only then did Xiao Man jerk her hand back, horrified. “That has a pit! How did you swallow it whole?!”
Lin Qing Xuan only looked at her, eyes full of quiet triumph, and said nothing.
Xiao Man stared at her own finger like it had betrayed her.
The smile at Lin Qing Xuan’s mouth deepened. “Why don’t you go wash your hands?”
Then, like the final blow: “No need to hold it in.”
Xiao Man’s soul nearly left her body.
She had forgotten.
This man could read minds like a cheat.
Above them, Black Mist Tuan Tuan rolled along the beam, laughing so hard it nearly fell.
“Hahahaha! One blockhead, one closet flirt—perfect match!”