Chapter 527: Teaching with words and personal examples
Once she could breathe again, Han Yunxi felt much more comfortable. She quickly straightened up to suck in deep lungfuls of air. Long Feiye’s hand was left touching nothing, causing him to regain his sensations. He ignored the reactions in his lower body to ask with concern, “Did you cough it all out?”
Han Yunxi nodded as she adjusted her breathing, never realizing how the man had just eaten his fill of her tofu. To her, emergency rescue situations were all too common, much less one involving herself. Under those circumstances, who would care about so many details?
Once Long Feiye was certain that she was alright, he silently exhaled. His gaze couldn’t help but wander to Han Yunxi’s body. The memory of her unclothed form in the hot springs at Jiangnan’s Plum Blossom Sea rose unbidden to his mind, turning his breaths heavy. He always knew that this woman had an exquisite, delicately wrought form with all the bumps and curves despite her petite frame.
Han Yunxi was oblivious to his thoughts as she drank some water to clear her throat. Then she said seriously, “Long Feiye, let me teach you an emergency rescue technique.” She stood behind him to demonstrate, only to find that he was too tall for her to reach. Without no other choice, she changed her methods. After hugging Long Feiye’s abdomen from the back, she told him to bend forward. One of her hands formed into a fist against his stomach, above the belly button but below the sternum. The other wrapped around the fist and made quick pushing motions in and up.
“This is an emergency method for treating choking victims. Just then I taught you a different one, let me demonstrate.”
This could be called teaching with words and personal examples. Han Yunxi’s expression was focused as she took Long Feiye’s hand and rested it against her chest before leaning forward. “Form your other hand into a fist and place it between my shoulder blades.”
Long Feiye did as he was told, making Han Yunxi very satisfied. “Right, just like this. Now use force to beat my back! If that still doesn’t solve the problem after five to six hits, switch to the other method.”
She was about to straighten up when Long Feiye muttered, “So the method Zhao mama taught your lordship in the past was wrong?”
Han Yunxi finally recalled a memory of the past. When she choked on lotus seed soup, Zhao mama had taught Long Feiye how to straighten her out. She’d been taken advantage of, but hadn’t dared to speak out. Suddenly, Han Yunxi seemed to recall something else as her head looked down, but it was already too late. Long Feiye’s other hand wrapped around her from behind and lightly rested over her chest.
Last time with the soup, he had understood Zhao mama was trying to help him even amidst his panic. He never expected that this woman could teach him rescue methods as well.
“Han Yunxi, have you taught these methods to anyone else?” He lowered his head, his breaths hot and heavy as they brushed past her ear. Han Yunxi’s entire body grew stiff as she realized she’d woken a wolf. But she couldn’t disentangle herself from his restless hands as her body began to tremble.
“Have you?” Long Feiye was serious. He could be extremely petty when it came to certain subjects!
“N…none,” Han Yunxi replied truthfully. Long Feiye didn’t ask any more, but gently stroked her ear, his restless hands doting, teasing, and punishing her at the same time. Gradually, Han Yunxi turned numb as she lost sense of herself.
“Yunxi…” he murmured softly as he held her tight. The sound hypnotized her as she realized this was the first time he’d drawn so close. His hazy voice stimulated all of her senses as the last of her reason shattered. She allowed him to play with her ear as he wished.
Long Feiye, have we finished our journey of 100 steps?
Long Feiye didn’t know anything about those steps. Right now, both his heart and mind were flustered, his powerful self-control practically evaporating into the air. All doubts in his mind were thrown out of the window as he picked up Han Yunxi and strode towards the bed.
But!
Someone knocked on the door at that very moment, a forceful series of sounds that was obviously a secret signal. Neither Long Feiye nor Han Yunxi noticed, too preoccupied with each other, but the person outside the door was knocking with all his strength as if in a panic. Finally, the sound dragged Long Feiye’s reason back from the depths of his consciousness. He abruptly released Han Yunxi with a suddenness that jolted her back to her senses as well.
Bangbangbang!
The knocking didn’t stop as the two figures exchanged glances of surprise. He was surprised because he never expected to utterly lose all reason. He’d narrowly avoided ruining everything. She was surprised because she never expected his reaction, which gave her quite a fright. She wrapped the covers around herself and looked at him with furrowed brows, blushing even as she fumed and felt annoyed. A part of her was blaming him for everything as well, but in any case, her tiny face was now dusted with pink. Such a complicated expression immediately made Long Feiye relax in spite of his tension. He felt a rising urge to laugh in the face of his helplessness.
Drawing close, he whispered wickedly by her ear, “You don’t want to stop?”
Han Yunxi was so embarrassed that she punched him on the shoulder and pushed him away. Her grumpy voice took on a coquettish tone as she shot back, “Naughty!”
Long Feiye loved her vexed and embarrassed self, but in the end he still drew back to answer the door before it was pounded clear open. Seeing his form vanish behind the folding screen made Han Yunxi feel a little empty inside, but her thoughts quickly led her to giggle in secret. Whoever was knocking now had to be from the Wang Clan, or Gu Qi Sha himself, probably with business related to tomorrow’s Grand Medicine Testing Convention. The long-buried ploys they’d set in place would reach its climax tomorrow, but they were actually getting it on in Medicine City’s inn…
Who is the more wicked one, Long Feiye or me?
She didn’t know who had come, but Long Feiye stood at the doorway for a long time. As Han Yunxi waited, her fingers brushed against the cinnabar gecko mark on her arm. She was nervous at the sight, guessing that it’d disappear soon enough. Its appearance had shocked quite a few people on Fishery Island. She was afraid of being laughed at when she was very clear on the nature of the relationship between her and Long Feiye. She liked their relations now well enough. She didn’t have to be timid or careful in front of that man, but could do and act as she liked. Some things could only come by mutual consent, so she would neither pursue nor reject them. If he wanted to be bad…then he could be as bad as he liked!
Long Feiye, it’s my pride and joy to like you. I won’t hide or suppress my feelings so I won’t miss a thing.
Long Feiye took so long to talk that Han Yunxi had already straightened out her clothes by the time he came back. She had only caught snippets of his conversation, which seemed to involve Ouyang Ningnuo.
“Was it someone from the Wang Clan?” Han Yunxi asked.
“Mhm. Ouyang Ningnuo went to stay with the Council of Elders yesterday and talked all night with Head Elder Xie,” Long Feiye replied.
Han Yunxi gave a cold snort. “This guy’s much harder to deal with than Jun Yixie.”
Long Feiye’s laughter was even chillier than her disdain. “No matter how hard he is, debts will be cleared all the same!”
Long Feiye hadn’t cost Ouyang Ningnuo the black market without reason last time. The man was clearly the other owner of the place, but refused to tell them outright so he could use Long Feiye to deal with Zhangsun Zelin.
How could Long Feiye be so easily used?
This time, Ouyang Ningnuo looked like he wanted to cooperate with Pill Fiend Pharmacy, but was actually delivering his message so he could use them against the Mu and Xie Clans. After everything was over, he would reap all the benefits for himself. Because of that, Long Feiye was going to thoroughly counterattack. See if he dares to try this again next time!
“Rest early. I have to take a trip to the Wang Clan and I won’t be back ‘til late,” Long Feiye said.
Han Yunxi nodded obediently, her cheeks still pink. But she pretended that their lapse of reason hadn’t happened at all.
Is she really going to pretend that nothing happened just then? Long Feiye was a little surprised, but he decided to keep quiet and leave. Just as he turned, Han Yunxi suddenly grabbed him by his robes. “Long Feiye…”
Long Feiye’s lips drew up into a smile. He seemed very happy that she was trying to keep him back. But Han Yunxi only said, “You haven’t eaten dinner yet. Leave after you eat.”
Long Feiye gave a start before he gave into a chuckle. “Alright, I’ll eat with you before I leave.”
“What are you laughing about?” Han Yunxi asked.
“Nothing much, let’s eat,” Long Feiye replied lightly. Their conversation turned normal as both of them seemed to come to a tacit understanding to not bring up what had just happened. Since all the dishes had cooled down, Long Feiye had the waiter replace them with fresh, hot ones and poured Han Yunxi yet another bowl of soup.
“Drink it slowly…” Long Feiye trailed off, before adding, “Don’t choke again.”
Thankfully, Han Yunxi hadn’t started drinking her soup yet, or else she might have really choked one more time.
“Oh,” she replied, before silently eating her meal. Long Feiye liked to eat his meals quickly without speaking, so the two of them shared a quiet meal together. However, both of them chose to take their time, neither wanting to be the first to finish. In the end, they ended up polishing off all the dishes on the table.
“Be good and wait for me. Chu Xifeng and Tang Li are nearby, so you don’t have to worry,” Long Feiye murmured.
“Mm,” Han Yunxi was very cooperative. She long guessed that there were plenty of people watching her because Long Feiye had to visit the Wang Clan in secret after reaching Medicine City. Now her doubts were confirmed. In the end, it was the quick and decisive Long Feiye who paused to look back at the inn after leaving through its doors.
“Han Yunxi,” he muttered to himself, “After I seize Medicine City, I’ll bring you to Celestial Mountain.” He hadn’t planned to visit his sect so soon, but now he wished he could get there faster so he could clear out all his old scores.
Tang Li and Chu Xifeng only emerged from their hiding places once they were certain that Long Feiye had left.
“Your master’s dawdling more and more read these days,” Tang Li observed.
“He’d never drag his feet like this if esteemed wangfei wasn’t around,” Chu Xifeng observed in turn. The two of them simultaneously glanced towards the inn before Chu Xifeng laughed. “Young Sect Master Tang, you were right to escape your wedding. One can’t afford to provoke women.”
Tang Li chuckled. “That’s only if the woman is that female master of yours. The rest are fine.” Supposedly, his bride’s family had sent forces searching for him all over the world, but they’d yet to find him. That proved that their powers were only average at best.
Currently, Han Yunxi was staring at the messy covers of the bed with with silly grin on her face. Her thoughts were unreadable, but her smile was both sweet and foolish. It didn’t fit her style at all! After washing up, she lost herself on another spiritual tour of her detox system. The nights in Medicine City were very cold with the beginning of winter approaching. She made sure to lie on the very inside of the bed, leaving a space for Long Feiye.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, her eyes flew open as she remembered another problem. “Where’s that guy Gu Qishao?”
A few days ago, she’d received news from him that he had already used the roundworm poison and reached Mu Linger’s side. He would meet up with their side once they arrived at the city. It was now the middle of the night, but he still hadn’t shown up. What was going on?