Still Secretly In Love With My Enemy Today - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: 

 

Xiling was, after all, a land of rain. For the next several days, the spring rain lingered in a misty drizzle, pitter-pattering from dawn till dusk.

 

In the morning, Xie Huaishuang leaned against the window, letting the moisture-laden wind blow against him for fifteen minutes. As if afraid he wouldn’t get wet enough, he reached out his hand to catch the drops. From the side, I caught a glimpse of him but decided to leave him be. I watched as a heavy drop fell from the eaves into his palm, making him instinctively jerk his hand back.

 

Suit himself. It wasn’t my sleeves or my hands getting soaked.

 

Xie Huaishuang lowered his head for a moment, blinked, and then reached out again, pulled back, shook off the droplets, and—unbelievably—stuck his hand out once more. I grabbed him and pulled him back inside.

 

A patch of dark green had already bled into his cuff. It would be several more days before his new clothes were finished; if he got this set wet, he could go right back to wearing that gauze robe that was both hideous and prickled him uncomfortably everywhere.

 

I had frowned the moment I touched that fabric, yet he had worn it without showing the slightest sign of discomfort. I had always assumed he must have been pampered and lived a life of luxury in the Temple.

 

—Of course, what he wears has nothing to do with me. Absolutely nothing. It’s mostly that I want to be kind to my own eyes. This light green outfit suits my aesthetic better; that gauze robe was an eyesore.

 

Xie Huaishuang shifted his gaze toward me, looking confused. I warned him: “You only have this one decent set of clothes.”

 

He tilted his head, said nothing, and his hair ribbon slid down his shoulder. He finally behaved, pulling over a stool to sit properly by the window. I stuffed a handkerchief into his hand and added: “When the sun comes out, the new ones should be ready.”

 

Xie Huaishuang turned his eyes toward me. “What? What is ready?”

 

What else could it be?

 

“Clothes.”

 

Xie Huaishuang looked even more perplexed. “Since when…”

 

It was normal that he didn’t know. After all, he couldn’t see or hear, and I hadn’t even taken his measurements—there was no need. Let alone him being right in front of me; even with my eyes closed, I could recite his stature, shoulder width, and waistline from memory.

 

“When the sun comes out, they’ll be ready. I’ll take you to get them.”

 

Xie Huaishuang was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: “Is this also… to win against me?”

 

I was actually stumped for a second, but only for a second, as I immediately understood my own reasoning at the time.

 

“Yes,” I wrote in his hand. “An ugly outfit would distract me. I can only win if my opponent is pleasant to look at.”

 

He couldn’t out-argue me.

 

Xie Huaishuang’s eyelashes lifted and then fell, covering the deep green pools of his eyes. He gave a soft “Mm.”

 

“You’ve seen too few people before,” I thought for a moment and continued to tell him. “So it’s normal that there are things you don’t know or understand. But it doesn’t matter; I can tell you.”

 

For instance, how all things operate, how steam-powered machinery is built, or the logical necessity of making him clothes so I can win a fair fight.

 

Yes, I thought about it over and over. Even though we were no longer on opposite sides—which only meant I could be closer to him and speak more—it didn’t change the fact that I still wanted to beat him.

 

Xie Huaishuang said nothing, just stared at me again with a blank expression.

 

Quite haunting, actually.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Do you have many… people you want to win against?”

 

I immediately drew an “X” in his hand. Someone so capable that they kept me at a stalemate for ten years—someone I’d still curse in my dreams—there truly was only him.

 

Xie Huaishuang’s brow twitched, and that inexplicable chill dissipated just as mysteriously. He turned back toward the window, his right hand becoming restlessly active again, creeping along the wooden lattice to the windowsill.

 

I could see it clearly now—if I stayed with this loathsome man, I could forget about revising my blueprints in peace this morning.

 

…

 

For two or three days, neither of us went out. We just continued scouting the layout of the Linlang Pavilion, letting him get familiar with my sword, and using my less-than-expert skills to help unblock his meridians for fifteen minutes a day. The rest of the time, we tended to our own business.

 

While scouting, if we encountered anyone behaving like scum, I’d give them a quiet but heavy beating.

 

—I realized that when Xie Huaishuang put on a cold face, he was actually quite intimidating.

 

When he sheathed his sword, held it behind his back, and leaned forward, his shadow would be stretched thin and long by the pale blue glow of the copper lamps. If I said something, it sounded like normal human speech, but when he spoke, every word seemed quenched in ice and dipped in blood, making one’s skin crawl.

 

Just as my own skin was crawling, Xie Huaishuang suddenly turned his head. His expression changed instantly, looking at me with a very smug air.

 

“Is that scary enough?”

 

Scary enough. It even scared me; that chilling sentence made my blood run cold, and I still have goosebumps.

 

“Enough. Quite enough,” I said. “I didn’t realize you were such a good actor.”

 

Xie Huaishuang fell silent for a moment, turning his face away, hidden in the lamp shadows. His expression was hard to read.

 

“Wasn’t that… what I used to do?”

 

He lowered his head, slowly wiping the Cloud-Slaying Blade in his hand. As the blade turned, it reflected a cold sliver of light, making my heart skip a beat.

 

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean it like that.” Once he finished wiping, I wrote in his hand: “The past is over anyway. You know they lied to you now, so you won’t be fooled again.”

 

Xie Huaishuang raised his eyes, his movements stopping.

 

“But I still did it.”

 

“What’s the big deal about doing something stupid?” I poked his palm. “Anyone can be tricked. Besides, it wasn’t entirely your fault.”

 

He was just the person pushed onto the stage. Without him, there would have been someone else. The puppeteers were deep within the Temple.

 

My hating him was my business, but I couldn’t deny that during the years he served as the Temple’s sword, aside from being a beautiful puppet on a high altar, he had indeed settled many disturbances.

 

Though in the end, the faith went to the God of Xiling, the wealth went to the Temple, and he himself seemed to have gained nothing.

 

“Why let the past trap your present and your future?”

 

Xie Huaishuang said nothing, his fingers curling, his lips pursed. I retied his hair ribbon, which had come loose at some point, and saw him nod.

 

It shouldn’t be like this, but I realized I truly didn’t find Xie Huaishuang quite so annoying anymore.

 

During the day, we scouted the terrain. At night, we spent an hour researching the details of the plan.

 

According to Xie Huaishuang, with me to lead the way and without having to worry about being suddenly dragged off to see “clients,” his progress in scouting the Linlang Pavilion was much faster. Most of the layout was already in his mind. By the second night, as he turned a corner in the corridor, he told me that was the final corner of the building.

 

“You want to burn down the Linlang Pavilion?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Xie Huaishuang nodded, his fingertip tracing the table. “Opportunity only comes in chaos. Once the layout is clear, I can arrange the specific placements… The girls have already found a way to prepare the materials we need.”

 

“Those aren’t ordinary materials,” I said, surprised. “How…”

 

“Including the time since I arrived, they have been preparing for two and a half years.”

 

Xie Huaishuang paused for a moment before continuing. Pointing at several spots, he said: “I’m thinking of placing them here—it will create chaos quickly, but no one will be trapped.”

 

I looked at the spots he pointed to, thought about it, and pushed his fingertip up half an inch. “It’s better here. It’ll look more chaotic.”

 

Xie Huaishuang lowered his head in thought for a moment, hummed, and then suddenly looked up, as if remembering something. “You’re very experienced at this?”

 

…Speaking of which, I was indeed very experienced. It was just that my “methods” had previously been used entirely against his Temple.

 

Especially against Xie Huaishuang himself.

 

“Back to business,” I skipped over the topic. “Then what? You—or rather, you and I—will block the managers?”

 

He thought for a moment, nodded, and then asked me: “Is that okay?”

 

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

 

“I’ll settle my score with you later,” I poked his palm again—I’d taken a liking to doing that lately. “The Linlang Pavilion has harmed so many people; we deal with things as they come.”

 

“On the contrary,” I asked the question that had been on my mind for two days. “You trust me that much? What if I leak your plan?”

 

Xie Huaishuang’s fingers curled slightly, touching me.

 

“You won’t,” he said slowly. “Regardless of anything, I’ve… well, chased and fought you for ten years. I know you wouldn’t do something like that.”

 

At least he has some judgment.

 

By the evening of the third day, the rain finally stopped, and a hint of clear sky showed through the window paper. The room overlooked a long, deep alley. As I was punching staggered holes into a finger-wide piece of iron, I heard the faint song of a peddler accompanied by a hand drum. Opening the window, I saw the flower seller below carrying a shoulder pole, stepping through the puddles, pink blossoms swaying in the bamboo baskets.

 

Xie Huaishuang was meditating again, probably practicing something behind my back.

 

I felt like he really liked flowers—magnolias, peach blossoms, irises. When he studied them, his features would always relax into a landscape of clear green. I poked him, and when he opened his eyes, I wrote: “I’m going to buy something. Wait for me.”

 

Xie Huaishuang nodded. He waited a moment, and when I said nothing else, he closed his eyes again and continued his unwavering meditation. Against the screen behind him, he looked like a figure in a painting.

 

—Meditate, meditate. Practicing in secret all day long, even staying up later and later at night. If I didn’t stop him, he’d probably stay up until the third watch. With such hard work, I knew he really wanted to beat me.

 

I’d noticed these past few days that his movements were indeed much smoother than the first time. Sometimes he managed to exert maybe twenty percent of his former strength.

 

I didn’t know what kind of technique he was practicing that was so effective—why didn’t he practice it before? But he can just wait. I’m not that easy to deal with.

 

It was the first time I’d ever bought something that seemed so useless. The peonies still had water droplets on them, fresh and tender. As I approached, I was hit by a wave of fresh, misty fragrance.

 

I picked a bunch from the two baskets of deep and light pinks and gathered them carefully.

 

—I really am too cunning, thinking of using peonies to distract him so he can’t focus on his practice, giving me the chance to quietly get ahead.

 

Brilliant.

 

That loathsome Xie Huaishuang has a very keen nose. For some reason, he is sharper than ordinary people from head to toe.

 

I imagined that the moment I walked in—perhaps even while I was still at the door—he would smell them. His eyelashes would fly up, revealing bright eyes.

 

He’d probably grope his way over—I thought as I hurried around the stairwell with the peonies—and then, with great novelty, touch the petals and the water droplets, his brows lifting.

 

I pushed the door open, and my chaotic thoughts instantly froze.

 

The room was empty.

 

I dropped the peonies on the table and frantically searched every corner of the room. I couldn’t find a trace of Xie Huaishuang, and my heart sank.

 

No Xie Huaishuang!

 

I was always afraid of seeing him look the way he did the first time—when I closed my eyes, I’d see him looking fragile, as if he were about to melt away. So, two or three times a day, I would nag him that if he was going anywhere, he must tell me. He must not leave without a word or let me lose him.

 

At the time, Xie Huaishuang had blinked, looking like he didn’t quite understand, but he had nodded in the end.

 

Aside from scouting the layout, he rarely went anywhere but his room. Even if he occasionally went to find Chunhua or someone else, he always told me beforehand or let me lead him.

 

The window was half-open, the room was empty. Xie Huaishuang had even taken the Cloud-Slaying Blade, but he hadn’t left me a single word.

 

My mind was a chaotic mess. Without time for another thought, I turned and rushed out the door.

 

He had promised me he wouldn’t wander off on his own. How could he leave without telling me? He even took his weapon—was he in trouble?

 

The images of those purple, blue, and brown bruises on his porcelain skin flashed before my eyes again, pressing down on me with a thousand-pound weight. My pace quickened, the lights I left behind blurring into a dizzying mess.

 

I ran through the entire third floor but still couldn’t find him.

 

In just fifteen minutes, where could he have gone?

 

I pushed through the crowd and ran down the stairs. Amid the fluttering sleeves and shadows of the second floor, I still couldn’t see him. I was in such a hurry at the corridor that I stumbled.

 

The window at the end of the corridor was suddenly blown open by the wind. The draft pierced through my chest, and in that hollow moment, I suddenly realized I was far more afraid than I had imagined—ten times, a hundred times more afraid.

 

—Afraid that Xie Huaishuang would leave me, whether by choice or by force.

 

Why was I so afraid?

 

The lights and shadows of the people became blurred and distorted, fluctuating within the moisture in my eyes. I didn’t know if it was the acrid smell of the low-quality black amber burning in the copper lamps.

 

But where on earth was Xie Huaishuang?

 

Proping myself up on the windowsill, I was about to head to the first floor when I turned and bumped into someone.

 

“Who doesn’t look where they’re going… Oh, it’s you!” The little thieving child was dressed cleaner than last time, but she still glared at me. “Why do I run into you two every single time?”

 

I stopped abruptly, turned back, and grabbed her shoulder. “What do you mean? You just saw him?”

 

She flinched violently, struggling to pull back. “What are you doing? Let go! I’m telling you, I’ll scream…”

 

I haphazardly pulled out some silver and stuffed it into her hand, staring intently at her. “Tell me—did you see him? Where did you see him?”

 

She stopped screaming immediately, tucked the silver into her waist, and pointed out the window. “Fifteen minutes ago, I saw him being taken into Silver Flower Alley by a few people. There, that way—what is a blind man doing clutching a sword anyway?”