Still Secretly In Love With My Enemy Today - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: 

The external medicine left by Ye Jingwei smelled incredibly strange.

Xie Huaishuang had been holding a bunch of camellias dappled with dew, but upon catching the scent, he quietly pushed the flowers a little further away. Even I frowned at the odor; since his sense of smell was far more acute than an average person’s, I couldn’t imagine how it affected him.

“It’ll be fine after a few applications,” I wrote in his hand. “I asked—just a few times, okay?”

Xie Huaishuang didn’t speak. He pursed his lips, which I took as silent consent. I sat down across from him and lightly touched the area around his eyes.

“Close your eyes—don’t strain them.”

I applied the medicine as Ye Jingwei had instructed and slowly wrapped a layer of gauze around his head. Xie Huaishuang tilted his head down slightly as I tied it, then reached up to feel it himself. “What color is it?”

“Green. Just like your clothes. It looks good.”

He nodded at that and went back to greeting each of his potted flowers—a ritual he performed every single morning. At moments like this, I felt a twinge of jealousy. Why couldn’t I have been a flower?

I closed the lid of the medicine jar and stared at his back as he crouched in the courtyard. He looked quite handsome with his hair half-pinned; the silver hairpin was something I’d picked up on the way back from buying pastries yesterday. It was carved in the shape of a bamboo stalk, and the moment I saw it, I knew it would suit him perfectly.

“How many days until the Temple arrives?” Xie Huaishuang asked suddenly without turning around.

I did the math and walked over to write in his hand: “According to the intelligence, about five days.”

He thought for a moment after reading. “That’s an underestimate. It’ll likely be six days—I know how they move.” He paused. “Your plan to deal with the Temple… is there, um, anything I can hear about it now?”

He asked very cautiously, immediately adding, “If not, that’s…”

“You can hear everything.”

Xie Huaishuang stopped mid-sentence. He hesitated before speaking again. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll turn around and leak it to the Temple?”

I felt like I had asked him a similar question before.

“If you can trust me, why can’t I trust you?”

Objectively speaking, no one would put on such an elaborate act to this extent, especially not Xie Huaishuang. Subjectively, it was even simpler—I chose to believe him.

Xie Huaishuang didn’t say much, but I knew he still harbored a deep grudge against his past identity. Moreover, since no one but me knew about his escape, in the eyes of the public, the Temple’s High Priest was still sitting high upon his divine pedestal. He seemed perpetually uneasy about this.

But too many things were already weighing on his heart. If the frost is too heavy, even a sword will eventually snap.

Xie Huaishuang looked up, his lashes fluttering beneath the green silk. “But…”

“There are no ‘buts’.”

Even if there were risks, I was willing to take them, and I was capable of bearing them. The consequences would fall neither on him nor on anyone else.

I poked his palm and asked, “Shall I tell you now?”

Xie Huaishuang was silent, lost in thought again, before finally nodding.

The plan wasn’t overly complicated—it involved personnel deployment, mechanical traps, and route arrangements. I gave a brief overview, and Xie Huaishuang nodded along.

“I haven’t even finished,” I looked at him, “and you already know?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Xie Huaishuang gestured in the air. “There aren’t really any better routes than that.”

Fair enough. No wonder he had always seen through our intentions in the past.

“That’s the gist of it,” I asked. “Where do you see a problem?”

Xie Huaishuang withdrew his hand, tilted his head, and thought for a while before suddenly smiling. The moment I saw that smile, I knew someone was in for a bad time—specifically, the people from the Temple.

“These two spots,” he pulled my hand over and tapped a few times in my palm. “The personnel you mentioned for these two areas… adjust them like this. Those Temple priests are… well, not very bright. They will surely try to guard against you by copying the methods I used to use against you.”

Finally, someone who shared my opinion. I had always felt those “carefully selected” priests were actually quite foolish, but whenever I mentioned it to others, they wouldn’t believe me, lecturing me about not underestimating the enemy.

—But they really are just that stupid!

“If you switch it like this, they’ll definitely fall for it, and then…”

He pointed out several such flaws, speaking faster than usual as if he had been calculating this in his head for a long time. Perhaps Xie Huaishuang had been waiting for me to confirm that I truly, sincerely trusted him.

I noted down everything he said and asked, “Anything else?”

“That’s all.”

Xie Huaishuang pulled his hand back to his lap, a hint of anticipation in his expression—until the familiar smell of bitter medicine wafted over.

“Do I have to drink it again?”

The moment he smelled the medicine, his expression changed completely. He slumped down, looking like a wilting magnolia blossom with curled leaves. I vaguely remembered that Xie Huaishuang didn’t used to be like this. When I first found him, he was always cold and detached, never saying a word, as if he couldn’t feel pain or itching. Only when it was truly unbearable would a tiny crease occasionally appear between his brows.

…Was the medicine really that foul?

“Just a few more doses.” There was nothing I could do; I couldn’t drink it for him. “What do you want to eat? I’ll prepare whatever you like… I know the medicine makes you feel feverish and uncomfortable. Whatever you want to do, I’ll stay with you, okay?”

The frown on his face relaxed slightly. He thought it over and looked up. “Hawthorn candy—is there any hawthorn candy at home?”

“Yes.” I spotted the candy jars on the back cabinet. “Anything else?”

He went back into his “daze” of thinking.

“Nothing else—can it be like yesterday?” He gripped his sleeve. “You stay by my side and talk to me. Is that okay?”

Separated by the layer of green silk, I couldn’t see his eyes, yet my heart still felt like it was being flooded with ripples of spring water. My thoughts went blank for a second, and I habitually tapped twice in his palm.

Xie Huaishuang stopped wilting and became a happy magnolia tree again. He didn’t have any worries anymore, but now I did.

I still didn’t know the reason why Xie Huaishuang had become almost dependent on me. By letting him have his way like this, was I indulging him, or was I indulging myself? I didn’t know. I couldn’t think it through; I didn’t dare think it through.

“Is the medicine ready?” Xie Huaishuang leaned in closer. “Or…”

I pushed him back. His expression froze, a look of bewilderment flashing across his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Xie Huaishuang didn’t speak. He pulled his hand back and muttered something to himself. I suspected he was bad-mouthing me, but I had no proof.

…

The overt and covert divisions of Iron Cloud City were scattered everywhere, with personnel stationed in all directions. The leader of the overt division in Hengzhou was named Zhou Xun—someone I could mobilize. I had arranged to meet him that afternoon. To prevent Xie Huaishuang from attacking by mistake, I warned him in advance: “In a bit, someone might suddenly jump over the wall. Don’t worry about it.”

Xie Huaishuang was studying the silver darts in his hand, occasionally rubbing his eyes. He didn’t speak, just nodded.

“They might also crawl out of the well. Don’t worry about that either.”

His movements paused, and he knit his brows slightly.

“They might even pop out of the chimney…”

“Is your Iron Cloud City always like this?” Xie Huaishuang looked up with a look of utter bafflement.

“…Not necessarily. I never do that,” I explained immediately. “You’ve never seen me do that, right?”

I really didn’t want him imagining me popping out of a chimney covered in soot. I truly don’t do things like that!

“Is he here to discuss the ‘God-Pleasing Ceremony’ in a few days?” Xie Huaishuang changed the subject quickly. I tapped twice on his hand. “Can he recognize me?”

I thought about it. “Probably not.”

Tasks that involved direct contact with Xie Huaishuang were usually handled by me because others couldn’t manage them. Zhou Xun had been stationed in Hengzhou for a long time, and the Temple rarely visited; he had likely never even seen Xie Huaishuang more than a few times.

“Good.” Xie Huaishuang stopped rubbing his eyes and nodded. “Then let’s not tell him who I am for now? After all, the past… no one else knows.”

As I thought, he still cared about his identity. It was fine; we would take it slow. In time, he would realize that I trusted him, and Iron Cloud City could be trusted too.

“You don’t want to tell him yet?” He thought for a second and nodded. “Then we won’t tell him.”

Xie Huaishuang seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He gestured to me, “The things I told you—you can tell him, but don’t say I was the one who said them.”

“Then who should I say said them?” I asked. “Zhou Xun isn’t an idiot. He’ll definitely notice such precise details didn’t come from me.”

Xie Huaishuang opened his mouth, then closed it, lost in thought again.

“I’ll tell him,” I thought for a moment, “that a friend helped me. How’s that?”

When I wrote the word “friend,” Xie Huaishuang pursed his lips, hesitated, and then nodded. I tentatively added another line: “My best friend?”

If he was willing to be called my “best friend,” it would mean I was different from everyone else in his eyes.

“Best friend?” Xie Huaishuang repeated. He let out a soft laugh, his fingers curling slightly. “Fine… whatever.”

Why did he sound so reluctant? Was he unwilling to admit I was his best friend?

“Come closer,” he waved the silver darts in his hand. “This part could still be improved. Let me tell you…”

I moved my chair forward. Just as his finger pressed against the tail of the dart, he suddenly froze before speaking.

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t respond even when I wrote in his palm. He just slowly lifted his head, squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again, and then squinted slightly. I froze along with him—I was very familiar with that look. I instinctively waved my hand in front of his face.

The moment he accurately grabbed my hand, I nearly stopped breathing.

Xie Huaishuang was stunned too. He knit his brows in disbelief, his eyes widening and then narrowing again.

“Can you,” I wrote in his hand, my writing messy and stuttered, “can you see now?”

“Yes. It’s not very clear, but I can…”

Xie Huaishuang leaned forward, his eyes staring unblinkingly at me. He suddenly smiled. His trembling fingertips slowly touched my brow, the corners of my eyes, and the tip of my nose. His deep green eyes began to find their focus.

This was such a wonderful thing—I thought as I caught him when he lunged forward to hug my shoulders—just this once. I’ll let myself cross the line just this once.

“Then can you hea—”

Before I could finish, there was a sudden thud from the chimney. I turned my head just in time to see Zhou Xun standing frozen on the roof, his face a mask of utter shock.

“Should I have come?” he mouthed at me from a distance.