Chapter 30: Small Porcelain Vial, Caressed at Night

Chapter 30: A Little Vial, Fingered in the Dark

Xie Jingxing's expression turned grave at that too. Although he had suspected it before, hearing it from Ning Xishi's own mouth still made his heart feel heavy.

You had to hand it to Ming Hanche—that old fox had real skill to have clawed his way to the top of the martial arts world.

Xie Jingxing suddenly raised his hand and placed it over Ning Xishi's hand resting on the table. He could feel the soft warmth in Ning Xishi's palm.

Ning Xishi heard Xie Jingxing say, "Don't worry. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Ning Xishi latched onto the key point from his words: "General, does this mean you're not going to kill me?"

Xie Jingxing went quiet. Hadn't he already made that obvious?

Ning Xishi was the type to press his advantage the second he saw an opening. He immediately dropped the meek act and grabbed Xie Jingxing's hand. He even felt Xie Jingxing's hand stiffen.

But he still didn't let go, flashing Xie Jingxing a grin that said he'd just dodged a bullet: "I always thought the General was planning to settle scores with me once you were done with Ming Hanche."

Xie Jingxing: "..."

As if to really drive the point home for Ning Xishi, he looked down at the young man's slender, sharply-jointed fingers. Something in his chest unexpectedly tugged at him, and he said, "As long as you can ensure that the members of the Beggar Gang and the Jule Gang don't gather to cause trouble or threaten the court and the state, I'm not bored enough to come after you for no reason."

Ning Xishi took both of Xie Jingxing's hands in his, his tone dead serious: "I swear I won't cause you any trouble, General."

·

After that, they talked over some business about picking the next Martial Arts Alliance Leader. With the night wearing on, Ning Xishi yawned and asked Xie Jingxing if he wanted to crash here with him.

They'd shared a room on the road before, so Ning Xishi had no problem with it.

As far as Xie Jingxing was concerned, he and Ning Xishi were married. Even though they hadn't actually performed the hair-binding ritual on their wedding night, they were already husbands in name, so of course he should share a bed with Ning Xishi.

So he nodded.

Ning Xishi then gave instructions to those outside: "No need to prepare another room. We're sharing a room."

He didn't bother worrying about what the people outside might think, and turned to Xie Jingxing, saying, "The Jule Gang doesn't know this area, and our place is small. Sharing a room saves space."

Xie Jingxing was fine with it: "Okay."

Ning Xishi was about to go get water to wash his feet. Xie Jingxing, who had sharp ears, caught the whispers outside.

"That one seems to be from the government. He knows our Chief's identity. Shouldn't we just kill him?"

"You idiot. If we kill an imperial envoy, the Dog Emperor will definitely send people to wipe us out. Do you want to die?"

"We could pin it on Ming Hanche!"

Xie Jingxing loathed these scheming thugs more than just about anything. If it weren't for Ning Xishi, he'd never have stooped to playing nice with a bunch of outlaws.

Ning Xishi came back with the water and could tell Xie Jingxing was in a bad mood. He asked, "Who upset the General?"

He glanced around, clearly aware of the gossip outside, but those were his own men, and he didn't want to make a scene.

So he set the bucket down, poured water into a basin for Xie Jingxing, and gave a deep, earnest bow, saying earnestly, "It's gotta be me who got you upset, General. I don't know what I did, but would this apology make you feel any better?"

Xie Jingxing knew Ning Xishi was playing dumb, and he also knew those followers meant a lot to his young husband.

But realizing he ranked below those men in Ning Xishi's eyes stung more than he'd admit.

Yet since Ning Xishi was trying so hard to apologize right now, Xie Jingxing didn't plan to make a bigger deal of it. He shot him a sidelong look. "Ning-gongzi, where'd you pick up such a slick mouth?"

"Do I even need to learn that?" Ning Xishi figured people were so uptight because they read too much. "Other people might actually have to work at it, but not me. I came out of the womb with this."

Xie Jingxing finally burst out laughing.

The mood in the room turned light and easy, all the heaviness gone. It was the most relaxed and fun they'd been with each other in over a month.

Something occurred to Xie Jingxing, and he glanced down at his legs. He tried putting some weight on them and found he could still stand, though his legs felt like lead.

After washing up, he shuffled over to the window. Ning Xishi finished washing up fast too, and before Xie Jingxing could get settled, he crawled over from the foot of the bed.

"After days of being on edge, I can finally get some sleep."

The two lay down side by side. Xie Jingxing could sense how at ease Ning Xishi was—like it didn't matter who was next to him, he could just chat and drift off. For him, it was purely sleep.

Only he was the one with dirty thoughts.

Back when Xie Jingxing was out on campaigns, he'd sleep flat on his back and pass out fast—he couldn't always count on a full night's rest. Most of the time, he'd only get a light doze in for a few minutes before he had to be alert again.

But this time, he didn't fall asleep quickly. Instead, he listened to Ning Xishi's breathing slowly even out.

Only then did he turn his head to look at the marks on Ning Xishi's neck.

Since Ning Xishi had taken off his disguise, the powder Tong Kehua had used to hide the scars on his neck had come off too, leaving the ugly finger marks exposed. If Xie Jingxing hadn't thrown that powder when he did, Ming Hanche might have really taken Ning Xishi out.

Right then, Xie Jingxing felt a wave of delayed dread wash over him.

If he hadn't thought that girl in the purple dress had a strangely familiar way of speaking, and if he hadn't heard Ming Hanche ask "her"—"Little Chief, Military Advisor Qiu is here. Will you tell him yourself, or shall I?"

That line had clinched it—this was someone they knew, so Xie Jingxing hadn't hesitated to use the powder he kept for emergencies to save Ning Xishi.

Men like him went into battle with their lives on the line every single time. So in the heat of a fight, what kept you alive wasn't some carefully planned move—it was pure instinct.

These sharp instincts had saved Xie Jingxing many times.

But this time, he felt nothing but relief.

He looked again at the marks on Ning Xishi's neck—the ones he'd put there himself. He thought about putting some medicine on it, but figured sneaking a touch at his neck while he was asleep would come off as way too forward.

In the end, he stopped himself.

General Xie came from a noble family, had earned real distinction young, and was well-read. A lifetime of pride made it impossible for him to do something so cheap.

That whole bit at the theater, him playing a male courtesan, felt like something out of a stage show now.

There wasn't a trace of that left in him now.

Except... earlier, when Xie Jingxing had been reaching for the medicine, his fingers had brushed another little porcelain bottle—the one he'd swiped from that courtesan's room, still sealed with wax.

The bottle gave off a faint jasmine scent, like it was meant for something specific.

Xie Jingxing still didn't know why he'd grabbed it. It seemed that when Ning Xishi had called out "General" in his arms, he had, almost without thinking, tucked it into his sleeve.

Like he'd actually been hoping something might happen.

But now, holding it, he just wanted to chuck it as far as he could.

To bury the feelings that had suddenly welled up inside him.

—If Ning Xishi had feelings for him, Xie Jingxing would naturally go along with it.

After all, they were already husbands.

But there was not a trace of affection or desire in Ning Xishi's eyes.

General Xie's pride prevented him from taking the initiative to ask for intimacy, let alone having prepared such things himself—it was the peak of embarrassment.

Xie Jingxing didn't even dare to imagine how awkward it would be if Ning Xishi discovered he had taken this item.

·

Xie Jingxing had originally thought the night would pass quickly, but he was a light sleeper, and any slight movement from Ning Xishi would wake him.

Moreover, Ning Xishi was a restless sleeper—it wasn't just slight movement; he first draped an arm across Xie Jingxing, then swung a leg over him.

Xie Jingxing, who already harbored feelings for him, couldn't bear to push him away. Just as he was about to drift back to sleep, he noticed Ning Xishi arching his back, pressing his whole body and head against Xie Jingxing's neck.

His breathing fell softly and lightly on Xie Jingxing's neck, bringing warm, damp breaths.

Xie Jingxing let out a long breath, subtly shifting his shoulder so the breath wouldn't tickle his neck like a feather, then closed his eyes again.

The next morning, Ning Xishi woke to find Xie Jingxing already gone, while he himself had sprawled across four-fifths of the bed, taking up space boldly.

Ning Xishi felt a bit embarrassed, thinking to himself, "I hope I didn't shove the general off the bed."

Usually, when he shared a bed with his senior martial brother, the latter would kick him back over. He slept so deeply that even a kick wouldn't wake him—he'd just roll over and continue sleeping in another direction.

"I forgot to warn General Xie about this before bed. I didn't keep him up by hogging the bed, did I?"

Thinking this, Ning Xishi went out. It was one of those rare beautiful days in Ningzhou, with the sun high overhead and the sky a clear blue.

"Um..." Ning Xishi called over an elder, meaning to ask about General Xie, but thought it was better not to say his name out loud, so he vaguely said, "Where's the guy who slept next to me last night?"

The elder, seeing the injury on his neck, said with concern, "Oh, him? He left early this morning, said he had things to do and would send someone to get in touch with you later. Boss, Miss Tong's awake now—go have her put more medicine on your neck. Hey, Miss Tong, come quick—the bruises on the boss's neck look worse."

Tong Kehua hated it when patients she was almost done healing went out and made things worse. She hurried over, took one look, and her tone turned cold: "Did someone choke you again? No, this looks like someone put you in a chokehold with their arm?"

Ning Xishi quickly laughed it off: "Senior Sister Tong, you've got sharp eyes—you can tell just by looking. How'd you learn that? Can you teach me? Hahaha..."

Tong Kehua suppressed the urge to beat Ning Xishi up again, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him off to her medicine room.

"Once Aunt Ye returns, I'll definitely tell her—your martial arts skills are way too weak. You've only been out a few times, and every injury you've gotten has been life-threatening. If you don't train properly next time, I'm not letting you out again."

"Times are different now. My martial arts might be so-so, but I've got a powerful ally," Ning Xishi said, still trying to argue his case.

"You mean that expert whose leg is nearly crippled is your ally?"

"Nearly crippled?!" Ning Xishi was startled, forgetting everything else.

He had wanted to ask Xie Jingxing about his leg injury yesterday, but got distracted and forgot.

"His leg looked like it was healing well—with a few months of care, he might stand again. But he probably used some strong medicine to get information, and it reacted badly with the herbs in the rouge, making his leg worse," Tong Kehua said. "This morning, he could barely walk. Someone else came to take him away."

Tong Kehua didn't care what kind of general Xie Jingxing was; she simply said, "Even in our Beggars' Gang, word gets around. That man has many tricks up his sleeve. Dealing with him is like sleeping with a tiger—you need to be extra careful."

==========Author's Note:==========

First update

Tomorrow, I'll definitely post two updates.