Xue Ci was still sitting there in a daze when He Yi realized that the support beneath his back and the cool, delicate fragrance coming from Xue Ci were far too real to be a dream. His awareness rapidly returned, and he woke fully.
“Xue Ci? Why are you here…? Wait, where am I?” Although the hand supporting his shoulders and back was steady, He Yi instinctively braced an arm beneath himself, wanting to sit up on his own. Only then did Xue Ci come back to his senses and help him slowly lean against the headboard.
Wu Yundi had no time to remain stunned. He hurried into the room to examine He Yi.
The deathly pallor had left He Yi’s face. Even against his dark, wheat-colored complexion, color was visible in his cheeks, and his eyes had regained their sharp, hawklike vitality. Nobody looking at him now would have imagined that only a few minutes earlier he had lain in a perilous coma.
“Brother Wu.” He Yi greeted him, then looked around and thought for a moment, arriving at a rough understanding of his circumstances.
Wu Yundi let out a heartfelt sigh of relief. “Whew… You’re awake at last. Good. Good.”
Xue Ci was no less relieved. Finally relaxing the tension in his body, he rolled his shoulders and neck and sank down onto the edge of the bed.
Seeing how exhausted he looked, He Yi naturally shifted inward. “Tired? Come and lie down for a while.”
Xue Ci was indeed worn out. He kicked off his shoes, curled up beside He Yi, and listened to the strong, steady beats of his heart.
Wu Yundi almost asked whether the two of them realized anyone else was present. In the end he could not quite bring himself to say it. He tried to ignore the intimate atmosphere of the pair sitting and lying so close together, but when he began to speak, something still felt wrong. Standing all the way over there by himself, he felt superfluous.
So Wu simply sat at the foot of the bed. Only then did he feel included. “This is my house. Yesterday, during the fourth night watch, you collapsed in the holding cell. I happened to go down on inspection, found you, and brought you back here.”
The bed was not large, and now there were three people crammed onto it. He Yi found the arrangement strange too, but Wu’s words quickly captured his attention.
Noticing that Wu had omitted his confrontation with the snow leopard, Xue Ci merely blinked and did not contradict him. A few strands of hair tickled his temple, so he rubbed them back with his cheek and tucked them behind his ear. Without noticing what he was doing, he edged closer to He Yi’s hand while keeping his sidelong gaze on Wu.
“A cell…? There’s a dungeon under the Patrol Inspector’s Office?” He Yi asked.
Wu explained that it was only a place for temporary detention. Anyone facing imprisonment or execution had to be transferred to the county authorities. It was not a proper jail.
He Yi understood and related what had happened as far as he knew. “He Jie wanted the money I was given when our household was divided, so he had someone impersonate you and come to my home to force me to hand it over. I refused, and we fought… Looking back, I really was reckless. I overestimated my fighting skills and gave He Jie an opening to hit me on the head. It must have been a long wooden bench. I hardly saw it before everything went black. The next thing I knew, I was waking up here.”
“Hmph. So He Jie really doesn’t take me seriously. I couldn’t get Ning Fuwen to confess to impersonating me, though that’s hardly surprising. That kind of crime could cost a man his head. Who would dare confess? They have the nerve to do it, but not to own up to it. These people…”
Only after asking for details did He Yi learn that Ning Fuwen had been one of the men who had come to make trouble with He Jie that day.
What surprised Wu Yundi was that He Yi identified three troublemakers in all: Ning Fuwen, He Jie, and one more man who had escaped the net.
“That last fellow must be the one who pretended to be me,” Wu reasoned.
“Probably. He didn’t actually look like you, though. Still, if I hadn’t met you before, Brother Wu, I might have been fooled along with everyone else.” He Yi gave a rueful smile.
The matter was so obvious that Wu found it almost laughable. Everything was clear now. He merely needed to question Ning Fuwen again, make him identify the third man, and arrest him and He Jie.
The only part he still could not explain was the appearance of the great beast. The iron cell’s lock had been forced apart, with deep claw marks gouged into it. Could an animal really break a lock so precisely to rescue someone? A trained beast, perhaps… There would be advantages to sending an animal to break someone out of jail when the human behind it could not risk appearing in person.
His instincts told him that the creature, whether tiger or leopard, was somehow connected to Xue Ci.
Wu glanced at Xue Ci as casually as possible and concealed the suspicion in his eyes.
He Yi worked out that he had been unconscious for almost two days. Still uneasy about his condition, Wu said, “I’ll fetch the physician to examine you again. Don’t worry about anything else. Leave it to me.”
“Brother Wu, thank you for saving my life. Such a debt of kindness deserves to be repaid a thousandfold! I may have little ability, but from this day on, your concerns are mine. If there’s ever anything I can do, just say the word. I’ll do everything in my power to help you.” He Yi moved away from the headboard, knelt upright on the bed, and bowed deeply to Wu.
Beside him, Xue Ci silently sat up and gave He Yi a sidelong look, his expression complicated.
Wu did hope to draw He Yi closer to his own side, but exploiting a favor to demand repayment was not his way. He accepted the bow without committing himself one way or the other, then used the need to summon the physician as an excuse to leave.
As soon as Wu was gone, He Yi pretended to check Xue Ci’s temperature. He leaned in until their foreheads touched and asked softly, “Why aren’t you talking? Are you terribly tired?”
Xue Ci raised his eyes to He Yi, whose face was so close that its outline had blurred, and pressed his lips together. “Don’t want to.”
He Yi almost laughed. Even looking this aggrieved, Xue Ci kept those enormous, clear eyes fixed on him without glancing away.
“Talk to me, won’t you? I must have done something wrong to make you unwilling to speak to me. I’m sorry.”
Xue Ci only stared blankly and did not answer for a long while. He Yi began to worry that he would never manage to coax him out of his sulk. Then something cool fell onto the back of his hand. He drew away to look and discovered that Xue Ci’s face was wet.
“W-what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He Yi panicked in earnest, fumbling to wipe away the tears. But they poured down without stopping. At last, for reasons even he could not have explained, he cupped Xue Ci’s cheeks and rubbed away each fresh tear with his thumbs.
Soon the whole face was glistening.
Xue Ci himself did not know what had happened. He had not meant to cry, but the moment He Yi began comforting him, all the fear he had forcibly kept at bay for the last two days came flooding back.
Then he managed to cry so hard that his nose stopped up, and he began to sob and sniffle. He Yi’s heart ached at the sight. He pulled Xue Ci into his arms, stroked his back, and murmured the way one might comfort a child. “Don’t cry. I’m all right now. I’m here. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“Wu… hhh… He Yi… cough, cough!” He had even managed to choke on his own tears.
A little later, He Yi heard him blowing his nose. Looking down, he saw Xue Ci using the collar of He Yi’s clothes to wipe it.
“…” He Yi was momentarily speechless.
Once Xue Ci had calmed down, He Yi had him help him to the chamber pot, then sent him out to buy something to eat.
Not long afterward, Physician Ma arrived, almost on Xue Ci’s heels.
Following another examination by observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking, Physician Ma nearly bristled with astonishment. “This… this pulse…”
He Yi grew nervous. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s too… too normal!” Physician Ma exclaimed in a high voice.
“…” So nothing was wrong. He had nearly scared He Yi to death.
Clicking his tongue in wonder, Physician Ma repeated the entire examination, but still could not find anything amiss.
He could not understand it. Yesterday the pulse had been sunken, deficient, and floating, an exceedingly ominous combination. Yet in a single day it had returned to such a steady, vigorous rhythm.
He could hardly keep troubling someone who had only just recovered. Instead, he prescribed a few tonics and said his apprentice would bring them later. As for the fee, the Patrol Inspector’s Office had already settled it.
There was still plenty to do at the clinic, so Physician Ma took his leave. As soon as he had gone, Xue Ci climbed from the foot of the bed to its head and unwrapped the food he had bought entirely on his own.
Grease had soaked halfway through the paper parcel, revealing the outlines of several thick cakes. When he opened it, there were pan-fried radish cakes inside, their undersides gleaming with oil.
They looked delicious, but clearly much too greasy. He Yi had specifically told Xue Ci to bring something light.
He Yi shot Xue Ci a sideways glance. Xue Ci avoided his eyes, pouted, and said, “These taste good.”
A greedy little cat through and through.
He Yi had rinsed his hands. He picked up a piece of radish cake, discovered how heavy it was, and quickly held his other hand beneath it in case it fell. Then he fed Xue Ci a bite.
Xue Ci tipped back his head, chewed contentedly, and gave an approving thumbs-up.
After tasting it, he seemed to feel a little guilty. He had chosen something he liked instead of the plain food He Yi had asked for. After wrestling with himself for a while, he offered, “I’ll borrow a pot from Granny next door and make you some rice congee.”
“Don’t bother. If it’s oily, I’ll just eat a little less. You don’t look that well yourself. Get some sleep first and we’ll talk when you wake.” He Yi was hungry, but a single hefty piece of radish cake would be enough to take the edge off.
The pan-fried cake had crisp, fragrant edges and a soft, dense, pleasantly chewy interior. It looked oily without tasting greasy. The shredded white radish retained plenty of moisture, so every so often a bite released a fresh, faint sweetness. The texture was distinctive. Unfortunately, there were no little pieces of cured sausage inside. Perhaps the weather was still too hot for making cured meats. Without them, the cake had a little less bite and a less varied texture. But dried shrimp and diced shiitake mushrooms added savory depth, and the underlying seasoning of soy sauce made the whole thing deliciously salty and fragrant.
As he ate, He Yi began to wish for a bowl of congee to go with it. But he did not want to put Xue Ci to more trouble, so he let the thought go.
He ate one piece and gave the rest to Xue Ci. Seeing him devour them with such relish, and noticing how much better his color had become, He Yi relaxed.
After eating, they ought to rest. They lay together on the bed and chatted quietly before sleep.
“How did you get out of the military camp? Did you come back to see me?”
He Yi assumed Xue Ci had happened to obtain leave to visit him, then learned by chance that Wu Yundi had rescued him and come here to take care of him.
The truth was almost the exact opposite, but He Yi had no way of knowing that.
He watched as Xue Ci put on his shoes, walked out into the courtyard, and brought in the basin of yao herb. He froze.
“Was I able to wake because you brought the yao herb here?” Had he been given yao dew?
Xue Ci nodded. “Mm.”
Only then did He Yi truly grasp that he had come so close to death. It was not his first brush with it, but the realization still left him shocked and frightened.
Without Xue Ci, he might really have died, and then he would never have seen Xue Ci again…
He had taken the danger far too lightly. He Jie’s blow had truly been intended to kill. No wonder Xue Ci had cried so pitifully. He Yi had been in the wrong.
Unable to stop himself, He Yi stroked Xue Ci’s head. “You’ve saved my life again,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t think I could repay you even if I spent my whole life trying…”
Xue Ci was exhausted, his eyelids nearly closing, but he still managed to murmur, “I want roast chicken… Gold-Wrapped Silver… shrimp-and-crab congee… stir-fried gongcai… black honey…”
Someone had begun reciting a menu. He Yi, still caught up in emotion, did not know whether to laugh or cry. He pinched Xue Ci’s soft, milk-pudding cheeks. “All right. Whatever you want, I’ll make it when we get home. But you’re sleepy now, so sleep.”
At that, Xue Ci transformed into a snow leopard with a whoosh. His clothes fell in a heap. Using his big, furry tail, he hooked them up and draped them neatly over the foot of the bed. Only then did he sprawl across the mattress and settle his enormous, washbasin-sized face onto He Yi’s chest.
“Oof. You’re heavy.” The great cat’s chin fur was thick enough not to dig into him, but there was still an awful lot of weight on his chest. Even his pectoral muscles were no match for it.
The snow leopard simply burrowed his whole head into the space between He Yi’s hand and waist, rubbing and nestling close as though only that contact could make him feel safe.
He Yi chuckled. He rubbed the soft fur and occasionally patted him twice, soothing Xue Ci to sleep until he, too, drifted off.