Chapter 24: Presenting You with a Fur Coat

After getting slapped, Qi Si'an realized that he had just loosened his underpants. When he lowered his head, he indeed saw that he was standing naked in front of Pan Yueqing. He quickly bent over and pulled up his underpants again. Although Pan Yueqing's face was flushed, she still maintained the posture of crossing her arms in front of her chest. Qi Si'an raised his eyes and met Pan Yueqing's intense gaze. Suddenly, he reacted, pointed at Pan Yueqing, and after a while, managed to blurt out, "You actually didn't look away! You... are simply a female hooligan!"

"You're right. I was so focused on slapping you that I forgot to look away," Pan Yueqing belatedly and quite cooperatively turned her back. "There are wolves outside. What are you going to do?" She was extremely afraid of wolves. In her previous life, when she escaped from Pinglong Nunnery and wandered in the desolate mountains, she was chased by a lone wolf. The wolf's claws were poisonous and had severely damaged her back, leaving her with ugly scars for life and making her instinctively fearful of wolves.

"Obviously, there's not much I can do," Qi Si'an said irritably as he grabbed the collar of Pan Yueqing's outer garment, pulled it down, and put it on himself. He pretended to sneeze and then said matter-of-factly to Pan Yueqing, "I'm cold." He slightly dodged Pan Yueqing's hand that was reaching out to take back the outer garment and put a finger in front of Pan Yueqing. "If I freeze to death, you'll just have to wait for those wolves to come in and eat you."

Qi Si'an sat back in his original position, slightly raised his chin and sniffed the roasted rabbit meat. He picked up the sword and cut off a rabbit leg. After praising it as a delicious delicacy, he raised his eyes and met Pan Yueqing's fierce gaze. He said indifferently, "You're really afraid of those beasts outside, aren't you? Otherwise, why are your shoulders still trembling slightly?"

Pan Yueqing turned to look outside the cave. Indeed, deterred by the firelight, the pack of wolves was prowling but dared not enter. She thought that if they were going to die, they would die together. She gave Qi Si'an a "kind" smile, and her eyes seemed to sparkle. "You have quite an observation ability. So, how did you manage to make so many people want to hunt you down?"

"Shall I tell you a story?" Qi Si'an's eyes slightly narrowed. There was still some oil from the rabbit leg on the corner of his mouth. He took a bite of the rabbit meat. Pan Yueqing pulled off a rabbit hind leg and held it in front of her mouth, about to take a bite. When she raised her eyes and heard the familiar opening, she stopped.

Qi Sicheng had also started with a story like "The little sprout in the field is yellow, neither father nor mother loves it," which had won all her tears and sympathy when she was inexperienced in the world. Pan Yueqing looked at Qi Si'an, who was still building up the mood, and pretended to cooperate with his act.

"There was once a young master who was born into a very wealthy family..." Qi Si'an began slowly. His eyes seemed to glisten with water in the flickering firelight, full of boundless sorrow. "Although his family was wealthy, it was not happy. The young master's mother came from a noble family. His father was afraid that one day his wife's family would obtain all of his family's property because of the young master's existence. So, on the surface, the father doted on the young master, but in fact, he didn't want the young master to succeed." "The father's younger brother wholeheartedly wanted to amass wealth and replace the father. But the father thought that his younger brother was still his own brother, so he was always reluctant to take action against him. The father never believed the young master when he said that his uncle was no good."

"The young master's elder brothers also didn't like him. On the surface, they were nice to the young master, but secretly they had tried to harm him more than once..."

Pan Yueqing nodded in agreement. That's right, in Qi Sicheng's story, he was also that pitiful.

Equally pitiful in different ways.

Before Pan Yueqing could react, Qi Si'an snatched the rabbit leg from her hand and stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he said to Pan Yueqing with great enthusiasm, "You girls are really interesting. You can be so engrossed just by listening to some random nonsense." He wagged a finger. "You're just like the girls I met in Linxian Pavilion before. Stupid."

"Let me ask you a question," Pan Yueqing looked at Qi Si'an with a smile. "I actually asked you this not long ago. The Heartbreak Grass tastes slightly sweet on the tongue and bitter when it goes down the throat. Is it bitter now?"

"Pan Yueqing!" Qi Si'an stopped chewing and spat out the rabbit meat in his mouth. Pan Yueqing held her chin with both hands and smiled innocently. "There's half poison in your saliva. It's no use spitting it out now."

"You don't dare to kill me!" Qi Si'an grabbed the long sword with his backhand and was about to point the sword at Pan Yueqing's face. But then he felt a numbness in his arm, a slight bitterness on his tongue, and a dry throat. He slightly loosened his grip on the sword hilt and pointed at Pan Yueqing while covering his throat.

Pan Yueqing put away her smile. "I'm not going to kill you, but you shouldn't have told that story to deceive me." The last person who deceived her like this made her lose her whole life. She reached out and tapped Qi Si'an's chest. "I read in a book that Jack-in-the-Pulpit can cause numbness. Just a small amount. It should wear off in about two hours."

Pan Yueqing smiled. "Falling for the same trick twice. Stupid."

Qi Si'an let out a cold snort and closed his eyes, not wanting to pay attention to her anymore. Pan Yueqing couldn't help but say to Qi Si'an, "I have to admit, you did a good job with your posture before telling the story. With tears in your eyes, you really looked quite convincing." He was much better than Qi Sicheng in this regard.

Perhaps she was really exhausted. After making sure that Qi Si'an wouldn't move around, Pan Yueqing slept soundly against the stone wall and beside the fire, even more soundly than when she slept on the Suzhou embroidery bed in the Pan Mansion. After a night passed, just as Pan Yueqing slowly opened her eyes, she saw a wolf sticking its head out from behind the stone.

It bared its teeth and its eyes were fierce. Pan Yueqing felt her heart racing. A scream got stuck in her throat, but she didn't dare to let it out.

"Hahaha," Qi Si'an's voice came from behind the stone. His face still wasn't in a very good state, but there seemed to be a hint of color returning to his lips. His eyes were as bright as stars, showing a smile of triumph for his successful prank. He grabbed the wolf's head and threw it towards Pan Yueqing. "You're afraid of a live one. What? Are you also afraid of a dead one?"

Pan Yueqing rubbed her sleepy eyes and took a closer look. It was indeed a skinned wolf. She reached out and tapped the wolf's head. Qi Si'an picked it up and showed the whole wolf's fur. The fur on the back still had a sheen. Looking at his proud smile like he was showing off a treasure, Pan Yueqing was a bit suspicious. "Venomous Snake Shen, what are you up to?"

"I'm giving you a fur coat. I borrowed your outer garment," Qi Si'an pointed at the torn crane-patterned outer garment that was left at the door. He smiled sincerely. "Borrow and repay, that's fair."

Qi Si'an suddenly became extremely enthusiastic and wanted to help Pan Yueqing put on the wolf fur. Before Pan Yueqing could react, she felt a real prickling sensation as soon as the wolf fur was draped over her. Mixed with the smell of dried blood, Pan Yueqing grabbed the collar but got a handful of "beggar lice" instead. The octagonal thorns all around pricked her palm until it bled. "Venomous Snake Shen!"

"Where am I as venomous as you? This is beggar lice. It's a good medicinal herb. Unlike you, you always use poisonous herbs to harm me," Qi Si'an put away his sincere smile and held the long sword with a smile, placing it on Pan Yueqing's neck. But the next moment, his expression changed and he looked completely cold. "If I'm a venomous snake, you're a venomous scorpion. The most venomous is a woman's heart!"