The bright moonlight revealed how Bai Yu’s face turned from ruddy to pale. The mouth that was talkative unlike a lady was now pressed tightly. Though the injured man was amused by her change from being a lioness to a kitten, he did not laugh out loud and made her insecure. He lightly squeezed Bai Yu’s hand while talking in a mild voice, not the aggressive tone from his habit.
“Send your magic to my hand. My wound needs to be healed as soon as possible.” He tightened his hand.
“I—I don’t know how to use healing magic.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
Bai Yu pressed her lips even tighter. She closed her eyes to concentrate. The image and the smell of blood were so very close to her.
“Show me that you’re not a foolish woman.”
Eyelids with thick eyelashes slowly opened. Dark eyes met the silver ones.
“I’m not foolish…” Pink lips murmured in displease as she focused her thought on sending the flow of magic to the hand that was touching the strong chest and held by a large hand.
The red light of magic emitted from her small hand. Soon after, a faint, almost invisible, silver light poured out from his large hand. Bai Yu had never heard of a method of using magic like this before, but she still tried to repeat what she had done to create her red butterfly from before. The two colors of magic entwined and expanded to envelop both of them together. Bai Yu sensed the same warmth that she felt when she received treatment from Ouyang Wenrou.
This was similar to the magic of regeneration. The man in front of her could utilize it, but the power was too weak so he had to rely on her magic as support. However, since his magic was two levels higher than her, his injuries could not be completely healed. Still, it was enough to stop the bleeding and close the wound.
The beauty’s face was covered in sweat, her whole body shook as she pushed herself to send her magic to him. The masked man held her close to his own body, doing his utmost to prop both of them up and keep the healing process going smoothly even with depleted strength.
Thud! Bai Yu collapsed the moment that everything was over, not even caring about how her hand was still held within his. The magic aura of both colors slowly dissipated.
“Well done” His hand smoothed her hair that had been disheveled since they met. He crouched down while squeezing her hand as a message ‘that’s enough’. Bai Yu was panting so heavily that she did not pay attention to the praise from the man who had been rude.
“I…huff…I saved your life.” She said through her gasps. Fierceness returned to her gaze as she looked at him again. This time, the masked man chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“You look hideous.” His fingers stroked her cheek. Bai Yu immediately realized that he had used his bloodied hand to cover her mouth, so her face right now must have been smeared with blood all over. She hurriedly brushed his hand away.
“I saved your life. Please give me due respect!”
“Heh. Sure.”
She glared at him again. Why did he enjoy angering her so much?
“I’ll take you to the temple.”
“That’s what you should’ve done.”
“I’ll wait until you can walk.”
“I’m exhausted because I used up all my magic to help you. You have to carry me there.”
“Men and women should not be so intimate.”
“You just thought of that now?!”
“You’re such a shameless woman.”
“And you’re an ill-mannered man.”
“You’re insulting me again.”
“You’ve also insulted me as an unmarried woman many times.”
“Stubborn woman.”
“Megalomaniac.”
“If you have enough strength to bicker then you can walk back by yourself.”
“You take me there!”
“Who’s the megalomaniac here?”
“I saved your life!”
The man sighed.
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Nothing was out of the ordinary when they arrived at the temple. Bai Yu saw glimpses of Qin Wang’s men patrolling around the area. It seemed that the appearance of those men had forced them to appear as well.
Though Ouyang Mingxian himself had already left, he still left his people around to protect the beauty. As expected of someone who knew to value jades and cherish flowers*, unlike this man in front of her.
When he carried her to the temple’s front gate, she was suddenly put down. At least he did not throw her away like a sack.
“Qin Wang’s men were inside. You’ll be safe there. I can only see you off here.”
“Thank you so very much to you, sir!”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“Of course, sir!”
No matter how much she wanted to chop him up into a thousand pieces, he was at the very least a silver magic user. Even though she could not remember who he was or what role he played in the series, his magic was enough to make her cautious of her actions toward him. She did not want to have bad blood with a powerful person.
But when she tried to treat him with respect, he provoked her. How could anyone control themselves?
A cool jade touched her stained cheek. Bai Yu lifted her face up, intending to look at the man who left her on the ground and was met with a jade tassel. It was made with black jade that was exquisitely carved into a delicate pattern.
“This is my identification jade. If you need help with anything, bring this to general Yue’s mansion.”
Because of his ongoing mission, he could not personally repay his life debt. Instead, he had to leave his important belonging to her so that someday when she needed urgent help, the Yue family could come to her aid. If he told her to bring the jade to the border, water from afar could not put out a nearby fire* and by then it would have been too late to repay any debt to her.
Bai Yu still stared at the jade in his hand.
“Take it, you fool. I have to go now.”
The priceless black jade was haphazardly thrown onto her lap. Suddenly, the tall figure used a martial technique and disappeared from her sight.
He knew martial arts! This man was adept in martial arts and had silver magic!
Bai Yu forcefully pinched herself. Who did you insult, Bai Yu?! She briefly internally scolded herself before heaving a big sigh and pushing herself up. One hand tightly clenched the black jade tassel. Bai Yu slowly and silently drag her worn-out body back to her room.
Though her fear for the owner of the black jade had started to set in, she still could not help herself but cursed him in her head…If you are going to drop me off then why don’t you commit to it until the destination? It was because she helped him that she had to be in this state!
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“Miss! Miss, where have you been? I—Aaaah! Umph! Mmmm!”
Bai Yu used her last reserve of strength to dart at Xiao Xi and cover her mouth. The maid had been walking in circles in her room. She must have come in to check on Bai Yu and became distressed when she did not see her in bed. Now that she saw her miss in a state like this, she was possibly shocked.
And if it was her, she would feel the same. A bloodied white dress, disheveled hair, dirty face, and lips stained with blood. If this happened in her past life, people would no doubt thought she was a ghoul. It’s over. Her image as the number one beauty was now in shambles.
“Be quiet, now. And go fetch me some water to bathe.”
“Mi…miss, what did you do?”
“I heard strange noises so I went outside and rescued a wounded rabbit. I used up a lot of magic and now I want to rest. Hurry up, go get me water.” Bai Yu lied to her maid in order to avoid answering further questions. She really was exhausted.
Shortly, Xiao Xi brought warm water for her to clean herself and change into a new set of clothes. Bai Yu let the maid manage everything since she had no strength left to move. Internally, she was dejected. She was hideous as that man had said. She, the number one beauty of the capital, was in such a state in front of a man. Even though they did not know each other, it was still too unimpressive.
“Miss, this jade…”
“Oh.”
After finishing her bath, Xiao Xi brought the black jade to her with a puzzled face. Bai Yu immediately took the beautiful jade away from her maid’s eyes and dismissed the curious puppy, sending her out of the room with a wave.
As soon as Xiao Xi left, she turned back to examine the jade tassel. The black jade was carved into a dragon encircling the character ‘Rui’. Bai Yu remembered that the identification jade tassel of every male royalty in Da Yang was carved into a dragon and a character that show the name of their rank.
The character on this tassel was ‘Rui’, a one-syllable name, which meant the owner had the position of the first prince of the dynasty who was only second to Emperor and Taizi.
This was the identification jade of ‘Rui Qin Wang’ or ‘Rui Wang’.
Bai Yu dug around in both her memory and the body’s, trying to find anything about Rui Wang.
Rui Wang…
Rui Wang…
Rui Wang…
Who the heck…?
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*Value jades and cherish flowers: Being gentle to women
*Water from afar could not put out a nearby fire: A help from far away cannot solve the immediate problem