He looked down for a long time, then cupped that white thing in his large hand.
It was cold and soft, so much so that he couldn't bear to let go once he held it. He couldn't help but tighten his grip.
Shen Yue blinked in confusion at his suddenly overly intimate action.
The man's worried voice reached her ears, "Why are your hands so cold?"
It was clear his attention wasn't focused on where it should have been.
Shen Yue tugged again at the front of his clothes, pointing with her finger to the corner of his robe that the child was clutching.
Chang Sheng seemed to finally snap back to reality. As if afraid of waking the child on the bed, he leaned in close, his thin lips brushing against her earlobe as he spoke.
"Just take off your outer robe."
Shen Yue immediately thought this was a good solution and complied.
After taking off her outer robe, Shen Yue's frame appeared even more slender. Her waist, cinched by the sash, was exceptionally delicate, as if it could snap with the slightest pressure.
Chang Sheng took off his own outer robe and draped it over her. A portion of it trailed onto the ground, as their height difference was quite significant.
Chang Sheng took her hand and led her out. As they descended the steps, he would gently whisper a reminder in her ear.
The path was very flat. This was the first time someone had held her hand while walking. Although Shen Yue was blind, thanks to Pang Bo's spiritual power and his extremely high cultivation, she could sense any living or inanimate object nearby. Apart from not being able to see, she was no different from a normal person.
However, Feng Yan Valley had suppressed her cultivation, rendering her no different from an ordinary blind person.
Shen Yue had always stayed in the wooden cabin and rarely went out. Even when she did, it was only nearby, with Yao Er holding her hand, so it wasn't too difficult.
Their palms met, and the temperature was a stark contrast of ice and fire.
Chang Sheng's hands were large and burning hot, enveloping her cold hand in his palm. Uncharacteristically, she felt a hint of warmth.
The person whose hand he held was very well-behaved, quietly allowing him to lead her. Chang Sheng's expression softened slightly.
They arrived under a peach tree and sat down on the ground.
This wine was the Wuliangye that Chang Sheng had personally brewed.
Three thousand years in the world, and five grains become jade liquid.
It gathered the spiritual energy of heaven, earth, and man, meticulously crafted from five premium grains: sorghum, glutinous rice, rice, wheat, and corn.
Its fragrance was long-lasting, its taste mellow, its entry sweet, and its exit clean and refreshing.
It was truly an outstanding masterpiece.
The aroma was indeed intoxicating, and Shen Yue couldn't resist. She indulged in two more cups, unaware of the potent after-effects of the wine.
Closing her eyes, she appeared to be dozing off, overcome by the alcohol.
Chang Sheng watched the person sitting on the ground. Perhaps truly a little tipsy, her normally straight, bamboo-like back had slightly curved, adding a touch of languor.
Chang Sheng gazed at her, a faint smile appearing on his face, his eyes gentle and affectionate.
"Yueyue..."
He softly called out the name he had always wanted to say but dared not.
Shen Yue seemed to hear her name, her long lashes fluttering slightly, revealing her hazy, pale red eyes.
Pink petals fell on her shoulders and hair. Chang Sheng gently brushed them off, holding them in his palm, reluctant to let them go.
Shen Yue gazed at him with half-closed eyes, like a jade figurine. Her skin, white to the point of being sickly, seemed almost transparent under the faint afterglow of the dawn, as if it might vanish at any moment.
Chang Sheng's heart suddenly ached, the pain spreading through his limbs and bones, an ache that was both dense and sharp.
He stroked Shen Yue's hair and sighed, "Who do you want to save with the resurrection medicine?"
Shen Yue blinked slowly, her eyes serene and cool. She looked at Chang Sheng in silence, as if she weren't drunk at all.
She looked up at him, her gaze fixed, only the tips of her ears a faint blush.
Chang Sheng's entire body felt heated under her gaze. Even though he knew she couldn't see, his heart couldn't help but pound wildly. The next moment, he heard her say,
"To save someone who has already died."
Chang Sheng's hand, which was stroking Shen Yue's hair, slid down slightly. His fingertips gently and tenderly caressed her face.
His voice grew deeper, "Is that person... important?"
The drunken Shen Yue's thoughts were exceptionally slow, always a beat behind, and she was also honest. "Very important."
Because she's the female lead, she's very important.
If the female lead died, she would have to restart the game. Over and over again, her mission would never be completed, and she would never be able to return to her real home.
In that sense, of course, she was very important.
"More important than life?" Chang Sheng's hand movements became increasingly gentle. His hand was very hot, causing Shen Yue, who feared the cold, to instinctively lean closer.
She even rubbed against him twice like a kitten.
Chang Sheng drew closer, pressing his forehead against hers, his possessive, dark eyes stubbornly fixed on her unfocused eyes.
"Yueyue, answer me."
Shen Yue's mind was hazy and muddled. She vaguely nodded.
The expression on Chang Sheng's face vanished, replaced by a surge of anger.
He knew it. He knew it all along.
From the moment Shen Yue arrived, she had stated her purpose without any pretense. The reason she stayed here was for the medicine. The reason she saved him back then was also for the medicine.
Later, when she waited for him to return home like a virtuous wife in the small wooden cabin, it was also for the medicine.
Or, to put it another way, everything was for someone else.
Someone who was very important to her, more important than life itself.
Chang Sheng did not know that the subtle, stinging emotions that almost consumed him were called jealousy—ugly, unwilling, cold yet burning jealousy, like a demon crawled from the eighteenth level of hell, injecting all that extreme emotion into his body.
His breathing became much heavier. His usually gentle brow was etched with loneliness. "What if there is no such thing as resurrection medicine in this world?"
"There is, there definitely is." Shen Yue retorted instinctively. In the original plot, there was indeed medicine.
Chang Sheng gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. He moved his throat, "Then, if I die after giving you the medicine, would you still want it?"
Although Shen Yue was floating, the word "death" from Chang Sheng's mouth caused her to instinctively grab his robe.
The corners of her eyes were red, her full lips were also red, and her beautiful eyes couldn't focus on his face, appearing slightly helpless.
"Don't... don't die."
She couldn't see and could only struggle to hold onto the man's robe.
Chang Sheng's eyes welled up, something surged within him. He squeezed his eyes shut fiercely, suppressing it with great effort, his breathing heavy. "But don't you have another very important person waiting for you to save?"
Shen Yue didn't know if she understood. She simply clung to his robe, murmuring to herself, always repeating those three words.
"Don't die... don't die..."