Chapter 24 Comforting a Child

“You… cried?” Qiu Shuzhi blinked her eyes, which were hazy with drunkenness.

Yue Guanyi turned to the side, wiping away the tear stains on his face. A single casual remark from Qiu Shuzhi could make him cry uncontrollably. He inwardly spat at himself, cursing his own sentimentality.

He widened the distance between them, his thin, frail shoulders leaning against the carriage wall opposite her. His eyes, having shed tears, were as bright and clear as snowflakes. His handsome, frost-like features rippled in the gentle waves of his gaze.

Qiu Shuzhi moved a bit closer to him. She couldn’t understand why such a beautiful man would suddenly cry, and instinctively moved to comfort him.

Her long, delicate fingers caressed the tear-stained areas, her breath, tinged with alcohol, drawing ever closer to him. “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

The warm fingertips gently stroked his face. Despite his best efforts to control himself, he couldn’t help but let another tear slide down.

At this moment, he wanted to disregard all etiquette and conventions, kneel at her feet, bare his bleeding heart, and confess all his love and admiration.

This overwhelming, surging passion was like a toxic drug, constantly gnawing at his flesh, bones, and heart, tormenting him to the point where life seemed worse than death. Yet he was unwilling to let go. He was like a dog, desperately craving the occasional scraps of pity and love that Qiu Shuzhi might toss his way.

But his greedy heart was never satisfied. Getting an inch made him want a foot, always pushing for more, insatiable in his desires.

He wanted Qiu Shuzhi to come closer, even closer, until there wasn’t a hair’s breadth of distance between them, letting his heart beat against hers.

The evil thoughts in his heart surged like a tsunami. The gluttonous beast broke free from the shackles and fetters in his heart, devouring heaven and earth as it approached. In his dark eyes, partially hidden by his disheveled hair, there was a shocking madness and desire.

He lowered his head, sobbing, his slightly trembling shoulders making him appear even more weak and helpless.

At this moment, he was not the high and mighty prince who killed without batting an eye, but a delicate flower standing lost in the wind and rain, waiting for her to pluck.

Sure enough, when Qiu Shuzhi saw him cry again, she hurriedly wiped his tears with her sleeve. With little rationality left in her muddled mind, she awkwardly tried to comfort him: “Don’t cry, why are you crying again… Did I… did I do something wrong?”

Yue Guanyi was dazzled to the point of tears, with teardrops hanging on the tips of his long lashes, seemingly about to fall at any moment.

Qiu Shuzhi panicked. Among the men she had encountered in the female-dominated country, few had cried so weakly and pitifully. At a loss for what to do, she simply pulled him into her arms, gently patting his back, comforting him as one would a crying child.

Only upon embracing him did she realize how thin and light Yue Guanyi was, like holding a small bird in her palm. Through his burning body temperature, she could clearly feel the lines of his bones.

He was too thin; it felt like a little force could break his waist.

In her limited consciousness, Qiu Shuzhi thought this.

Yue Guanyi lay in her arms, his chin resting on her shoulder, his head buried deep in the crook of her neck. He was surrounded by her body fragrance. At this moment, he was like a bird fallen into the sea. The scent he had never dared to hope for now rushed towards him endlessly. He trembled with excitement, his eyes bloodshot, wishing he could die at this very moment.

Waves of guilt for desecrating a deity and satisfaction from his greedy indulgence washed over him one after another. His crumbling sanity cursed him among the myriad gods and buddhas for his shamelessness and insolence.

He shouldn’t defile his deity. He was just a filthy dog. He shouldn’t, he shouldn’t, he deserved to die!

Yet he still indulged the evil spirit in his heart, frantically taking more. Her soft long hair fell near his eyelashes. He boldly extended his tongue, wrapping a strand of her dark hair in his mouth.

The fragrance spread throughout his mouth. He sucked desperately. That snow-white slender neck was within reach, but he dared not offend her further.

He could only entrust his love and admiration, as lowly as dust, to this strand of hair.

Qiu Niang, my life has been too bitter. Let me taste just a little sweetness, just a little is enough.

Hair has no sensation. Qiu Shuzhi was completely unaware of what was happening at this moment. Her already dull senses were even more oblivious. She continued to gently stroke his painfully thin back while asking, “Are you feeling better? Are you still crying?”

The sobbing person in her arms paused, then hugged her tighter, whimpering like a little dog.

Once again, Qiu Shuzhi’s heart softened.

Who could resist a little dog yearning to be petted and loved?

She comforted him well, doting on him, and even began to hum an Irish lullaby from her vague memories of a previous life. It was as gentle as a summer night’s sea breeze. The night was quiet, the wind was still, and people were even more silent. The soft and melodious tune finally brought some clarity to Yue Guanyi’s shattered mind.

This little tune was more beautiful than any famous piece he had ever heard. Whatever high mountain flowing water or spring snow, any melody hummed from her throat was like the sound of nature itself.

He slowly released his hands and looked at her with wet eyes.

The soft humming stopped. The night and the wine blended in her gentle eyes, with a hint of a smile. The corners of her lips curved slightly upward as she asked him, as if comforting a child, “Are you still crying?”