He Yi had only just opened his eyes. He could see almost nothing in the dark, but it was unmistakable that someone had wrapped himself around half his body, arms and legs alike, and was giving off a strange, unceasing heat. Worst of all, something soft and springy was pressing against his trapped hand…
For a moment, he did not know whether to move or stay still. Instinctively, he tried to draw his hand out from under Xue Ci. But as his fingers curled without thinking, the pads brushed against his palm and encountered a little stickiness. He went rigid, his mind utterly blank.
“…” Unable to bear it, He Yi carefully worked his hand free, climbed down from the bed in the dark, and went outside to fetch water and wash it.
After washing up, he stood under the covered walkway to cool his head in the through-breeze. Then he wrung out a damp cloth and went back to wipe Xue Ci’s face and the places that had become sticky. The room was dark, and Xue Ci was still half-asleep. There was no reason to be embarrassed. And even if He Yi were embarrassed, nobody would know.
He Yi also felt Xue Ci’s forehead. It did not seem particularly hot, but cool air was moving through the room. Xue Ci’s body ought not to have been giving off this much heat.
Still worried, He Yi rinsed the cloth outside again and quickly wiped Xue Ci down to cool him. Only then did he climb back into the innermost part of the bed, as far away from Xue Ci as he could manage, and fall asleep again.
But the next morning, although He Yi was still lying on the inner side, Xue Ci had somehow moved right up against him. He had wrapped He Yi in such an enormous bear hug that his whole face was buried.
It took He Yi a considerable struggle to free his face from the clothes and draw a proper breath.
The movement woke Xue Ci. Opening his eyes, he saw He Yi lying with his head turned on the pillow, looking sideways at him from beneath half-lowered lids. The angle showed off He Yi’s sharp jawline and the trace of impatience in his gaze, making him seem rather colder and sterner than usual.
Xue Ci swallowed and shut his eyes again, hoping to pretend he had never woken up.
“…Xue Ci. Get up.” He Yi had been watching him all along and knew perfectly well that he was awake. Without mercy, he pushed away the arms and legs still wrapped around him and hauled Xue Ci out to the vegetable garden.
He Yi was unusually firm that day. He refused to drink any yao dew himself and insisted that Xue Ci have it all. Only after watching him finish every drop did his expression ease.
Sure enough, the yao dew restored much of Xue Ci’s energy. His body stopped radiating heat, his skin grew cool to the touch again, and he no longer seemed listless.
He Yi assumed the matter was settled. But that night the whole business repeated itself, with a marked tendency to become worse.
His hand might as well not have belonged to him. It lay perfectly still, yet somehow could not escape being turned into a pillow. If He Yi kept his eyes closed, he might almost believe that absurd dream from the night before was still going on.
With matters becoming increasingly ridiculous, He Yi was forced to use everything he knew. He caught the feverish, scarcely conscious Xue Ci in a series of grappling holds and pinned the limbs that would not behave.
The moonlight was brighter that night. He Yi could see Xue Ci’s face shining with sweat and the faintly dazed look in his eyes.
Attractive or not, He Yi was in no mood to appreciate it. He was trying to understand what had happened to Xue Ci. Perhaps yao dew was not a miraculous remedy that could cure every problem. Or perhaps Xue Ci had developed some ailment that could not be cured.
If he had to choose between those possibilities, He Yi certainly preferred the former.
Xue Ci was extraordinarily strong. Fortunately, he was so feverish and muddled that he seemed somewhat limp and weak. Even so, He Yi soon found himself unable to hold him down.
With a sudden whoosh and a flash of white light, Xue Ci became a snow leopard. His huge tail struck He Yi full in the face. Before He Yi could react, the beast had thrown himself into his arms and begun licking his face and the hollow of his neck.
Help… He Yi was about to lose his mind. This was worse than when Xue Ci was human. He had no such tastes, and the unmistakable pressure from the snow leopard’s private parts was more than he could bear.
“Wake up, Xue Ci! Change back, quickly!” He Yi seized the fur at the sides of the snow leopard’s cheeks and stretched out his arms to keep the animal away.
“Awoo! Awoo!” The snow leopard was displeased. He took his great tail between his teeth and kept pushing his head against He Yi. He Yi abruptly lost his grip on the fur and was forced into a corner of the bed, the canopy-bed railing behind him and the enormous beast in front. The bed creaked.
If He Yi had to help the snow leopard relieve himself, it would be better to deal with Xue Ci in human form. He bitterly regretted his choices, unaware that this was precisely how one’s boundaries could slip, little by little.
“Wake up. If you don’t change back, I’ll be angry,” He Yi threatened weakly.
To his surprise, the snow leopard obediently became human again. The clothes remained where they had fallen, however, and Xue Ci’s eyes were damp as he let out an occasional helpless murmur.
He Yi found himself staring in a daze. It was as though the heat had suddenly transferred to his own body, leaving him restless.
He moved toward the outside edge of the bed and buried his face in his hands, thoroughly dismayed and silently scolding himself. Only after his own body’s response subsided did he dare turn to look at Xue Ci again. Behind him, someone had apparently worked something out for himself, producing a series of soft, rustling sounds.
“…” He Yi, who had only just finished wrestling with his conscience, felt reason gradually being devoured at the sight. Xue Ci’s movements were so unpracticed that at last He Yi could not bear to watch. He went over and provided some hands-on, one-to-one instruction.
Reason? Who needed reason? Fine, so his judgment had taken a sudden plunge!
The eastern sky slowly brightened, and the world came to life with the hum of cicadas. Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the houses. Women tended their stoves, farmers went to their fields, and a few villagers walked the dirt paths through the morning dew.
Dark shadows lay faintly beneath He Yi’s eyes. He had been waiting by the yao herb for some time, ready to collect the clear, precious dew that had gathered on its leaves and pour it into a bamboo tube.
A short while later.
“Drink it.” He Yi returned to the bedroom and handed the tube to Xue Ci, who was slowly waking. At the same time, he turned a little to the side and stole a glance at him.
Xue Ci’s clothes were in complete disarray, and he made no effort to straighten them. He Yi looked away. Once Xue Ci finished drinking, He Yi found that the conversation he had carefully prepared would not come out of his mouth.
Better to finish work in the fields and have breakfast first, he thought. All he said was, “I’m going to the fields. Sleep a little longer if you like. When you wake up, help me cook some congee.”
Then he took the bamboo tube from Xue Ci, swept out of the room, and left.
Xue Ci stretched. The yao dew had left him clearheaded and not at all sleepy, so he decided to wash up. But when he lowered his eyes, he discovered that the pale skin of his chest and belly, visible beneath his open collar, was covered in reddish marks, some round and some flattened. They looked decidedly strange.
Xue Ci paused and unconsciously reached up to touch them. Only then did fragments of the night before begin to return. He had had no memory of what had happened in the dark, but now the clouds slowly parted and he understood where the marks had come from.
His cheeks reddened. A moment later, he simply flung himself facedown onto the thin quilt, buried his face in it, and stopped moving.
*
He Yongxing and Zeng Qianqian had spent two days rushing about. They had initially decided that chasing He Yi to Chongzi Village would take too much time and effort, but their efforts with Chang He proved an even greater waste. Chang He was cunning. They tried to intercept him outside the Chang residence, making a commotion with gongs and drums, yet could not manage to see him.
Only later did they learn that Chang He had moved his entire household to a country villa simply to avoid the two of them. Chang He could afford to wait them out. He Jie could not afford to wait.
His case still had to go through the county authorities. It would probably take about ten days for the sentence to become final. Once that happened, there really would be no way to save him.
After squandering two precious days, He Yongxing decided that he had to visit Chongzi Village and speak to He Yi.
Thus He Yi had barely sat down and eaten two mouthfuls of the egg-drop congee Xue Ci had made when unexpected visitors arrived at his door.
Seeing that the arrivals were the couple, He Yi’s gaze instantly turned icy. He slowly rose and walked toward them.