He shot several glances at Huo Wujiu, and after several times, Huo Wujiu caught him in the act.
Jiang Suizhou was sick and confused. When he locked into those bottomless black eyes without warning, he was startled.
Huo Wujiu regarded him quietly and asked after a while, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Suizhou swallowed his saliva and whispered, “… Don’t be angry.”
Huo Wujiu’s figure stilled for a split second.
Then, he stood up from his wheelchair and marched over to Jiang Suizhou’s side and sat down.
“I’m not angry,” he denied.
“Then you…”
“But next time, when making a decision like this, shouldn’t you discuss it with me first?” Huo Wujiu asked.
Jiang Suizhou choked and lost his tongue for a moment.
After a while, he murmured inaudibly, “And you say you’re not angry…”
Huo Wujiu had a keen sense of sight and hearing, so he heard it loud and clear.
He sighed somewhat helplessly, reached out to check Jiang Suizhou’s forehead and said, “There are plenty of means. There’s no need for you to harm your body.”
Jiang Suizhou stubbornly argued, “I’m used to being sick…”
It was the truth. When he came to this dynasty, his life could not be guaranteed. How could he care about whether he was sick or not? On the contrary, his weak physique could sometimes be used as a cover and sometimes as a weapon. He had no psychological and moral burden to use himself. When the situation called for it, he was naturally fearless.
However, Huo Wujiu interrupted him.
“It’s nice to be sick, isn’t it?” he asked.
Jiang Suizhou snapped his mouth shut and refused to say a word.
Huo Wujiu continued, “If you’re unwell, why are you doing this? Just tell me straight, and there’ll always be another way.”
Jiang Suizhou was at a disadvantage. He knew that he was lacking in consideration, and he was also used to making his own decisions, so he never thought of discussing with Huo Wujiu.
He bowed his head and uttered a muffled hum sullenly.
He naturally didn’t know how aggravated he appeared in admitting his mistake, but in Huo Wujiu’s eyes, he looked a bit annoyed. Jiang Suizhou embodied a little pet that did something wrong. Huo Wujiu had just admonished him with a couple of sentences, and he pretended to be pitiful and wronged, like he was being bullied.
Huo Wujiu couldn’t withstand this appearance.
When he spoke again, he tried his best to soften his voice. Because Huo Wujiu never spoke softly to anybody, this soft voice rang quite awkwardly and clumsily.
“Even if I don’t take care of this injury, it’s not a problem. The wound isn’t deep, and there is no poison on the blade, nor any vital damage. Even without treating it, it would heal.”
Jiang Suizhou smiled and was about to speak, when Huo Wujiu beat him to it again.
“Don’t talk back.” Huo Wujiu spoke unforgivingly, “I know this much better than you.”
That was true.
Although Huo Wujiu was still young, he had grown up on the battlefield. As a modern man, Jiang Suizhou had never seen any bloody battles at all. For a while, he felt like a disappointment. Throwing his concern into the mix led to chaos. It was nothing more than making a big fuss over a minor matter.
He zipped his lips shut.
Huo Wujiu paused for a couple of seconds, as if he was organizing his words, and then he spoke again.
“You felt bad when I got hurt yesterday, didn’t you?” he stated.
Jiang Suizhou nodded his head.
Huo Wujiu carried on.
“I can feel you feeling bad for me. When you laid in the cold and drove yourself sick for my minor injury, how did you know I won’t be uncomfortable?”
Although his tone sounded awkward, his words caught Jiang Suizhou off guard.
He stiffened and looked up at Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu just sat there with his eyes cast down, looking cold and calm, and didn’t look at him.
Jiang Suizhou was ill and all he could make out was a vague shadow of the man. Coupled with the rocky carriage, the image before his eyes was even less clear. Hence, he didn’t see how stiff Huo Wujiu’s body was. Huo Wujiu’s cold gaze that was fixed at the corner of the carriage was motionless and brimming with tension.
This appearance was obviously a squirm to hide something.
After a while, he looked at Jiang Suizhou.
“Just take care of yourself,” he said, “There’s no need to harm yourself for me.”
Jiang Suizhou opened his mouth and was about to speak.
But at this time, the carriage finally descended the mountain. This section of the road had not been repaired, and it had rained some days before, so the ground was rugged, especially after the grand ceremonial guard of the Hou Zhu rolled over them.
The carriage abruptly lurched. Jiang Suizhou knocked heavily on the carriage, slid to the side following the inertia, and then fell straight to the other side.
Jiang Suizhou felt as if his tender head had been mashed into dough.
But just in time, he plunged headfirst into a familiar embrace.
Warm, hard, with the unique steeliness of the muscles; there was also that heartbeat that was as steady as if all the sounds in the world disappeared, leaving behind only this beat.
Jiang Suizhou felt his heartbeat stop for a second.
He froze, only to feel the fever he felt last night come rushing back. It took him a while to recover, and he promptly supported himself to straighten up.
But an arm lifted up at that same moment, pressed on his shoulder and swept him backwards, keeping him in place.
The carriage was still bumpy, but the warm embrace and the hard carriage were entirely different.
Jiang Suizhou lost his voice in his throat.
Then with the vibration of the chest behind him, he heard Huo Wujiu’s voice.
“All right, close your eyes. Sleep and we’ll be there soon,” he said.
Jiang Suizhou wasn’t too sick to move, yet he didn’t struggle anymore.
He was stunned for a moment, but somehow he obediently complied with his command and closed his eyes.
For a while, darkness fell before his eyes, and in the swaying carriage, the man surrounded him in a solid warmth.
He felt like a bird returning to his nest.
Jiang Suizhou might be afflicted with dizziness, but there was a moment of clarity in his divine consciousness, which made him suddenly want to understand something.
He seemed…to have fallen.
It seemed like… the matter about Jingwang’s cut sleeve developed from fake to truth.
