Yu Xiang clutched her elder brother’s hand as Ku Hui began to count, and each number counted drawing with it a breath of cold air, making her tremble. Staring at his eyes and wrinkling her nose, her appearance was a hundred times more painful than the injured.
Not only did Yu Pin Yan find it amusing, but even Master Ku Hui could not restrain his smile and secretly said to himself that the feelings between these two were very sincere.
“Wait, stop counting.” This time it was Yu Pin Yan himself who called a halt. He pulled his trembling younger sister into his arms and hugged her tightly. Then, he covered her dazzling eyes and ordered in a deep voice, “Pull it out.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ku Hui pulled out the arrow at once then used a silver needle to stop the bleeding. There were signs of (skin) ulceration around the wound, and the dagger had to be burned red to scrape off the rotting flesh little by little. Yu Pin Yan didn’t even grunt, and even his muscles were completely relaxed. Holding the sweetheart that he was longing for days and nights in his arms, he did not feel anything other than sweetness and joy.
Yu Xiang pulled his palm away. She looked up to observe his expression, and met the deep and affectionate gaze of his downcast eyes, which made her momentarily stunned. They looked at each other for a long time, then naturally embraced each other tightly.
Ku Hui finished treating Yu Pin Yan’s wounds as quickly as possible. Then, he turned to the two lieutenants. Tao Hong and Liu Lu came over with two mantles full of hot water, intending to wipe the Marquis’ body.
“I’ll do it.” Yu Xiang grabbed the handkerchiefs.
“Young Miss, you should rest. You have to put the bone-healing ointment everyday, don’t forget it.” As she said that, Liu Lu put a long branch on the rock wall at both ends, then pulled open the wrapped package and took out some monk’s robe, hanging them on the branch as a curtain.
Only when she was sure that Ku Hui and the others were five meters aways, and could not see them did she knelt down and took off her master’s fabric shoes and rolled up the bottom of her trousers.
Because of the long journey, Yu Xiang’s knee bones hurt so badly that she would not have been able to make it to the Western Frontier without the daily application of the bone-healing ointment. In order not to burden her elder brother, she had to hand over the wet handkerchief to Tao Hong and ordered, “Be careful when wiping, don’t touch Elder Brother’s wounds.”
Yu Pin Yan inched over. His gaze sunk as he stared at the bottle of medicine in Liu Lu’s hands and asked, “What’s wrong with Xiang’er? Has her leg hurt again? Can she still walk?”
“Young Miss’ legs have only just gotten better before walking so much. It will inevitably be a burden on the newly healed bones. But Marquis, you can be rest assured. Master Ku Hui has said that as long as she applies the bone-healing ointment for half a shichen (one hour) every day, she will be fine.”
Only then did Yu Pin Yan feel rest assured, he took the bottle of medicine from her hand and carefully applied the black medicinal paste to his younger sister’s slightly red and swollen kneecap. His handsome face taut with the gripping pain in his heart. When he finished applying the ointment, he saw Liu Lu took a handkerchief and wiped his younger sister’s feet. Then, he dismissed her to the side and cupped his younger sister’s small, delicate jade-like feet to examine them. His face grew increasingly darker like water.
He remembered how smooth and soft his younger sister’s legs had been before he left for war, and how they were as delicate to touch as a newborn baby. Now, however, these feet had several blisters and the heels were even calloused from the long hours of walking and appeared very rough.
Yu Xiang, who was being stared at by his unflinching gaze for a long time, felt slightly uncomfortable and retracted her feet, asking softly, “Aren’t they ugly?”
“No, they are not ugly at all.” Yu Pin Yan lowered his head, kissed the back of her snow-white foot and said firmly, “In the future, Elder Brother will not let you suffer at all.”
“How is it suffering?” Yu Xiang felt ticklish from his stubble and giggled, “As long as I can find you, I am willing to climb mountains of swords and enter seas of flames.[1] You are alive, I am alive as well. We are safe and sound together. All the suffering isn’t bitter.” She moved closer and whispered in her elder brother’s ears, “It’s sweetness and happiness. Elder Brother, I miss you to death.”
She wrapped her arms around her elder brother’s neck and pressed her lips to his dry and chapped lips. Licking them inch by inch with the tip of her tongue, before letting out a contented sigh. Her eyes gradually brimmed red. Yu Pin Yan also reached out and slowly entangled with her tongue, the endlessly tender gesture also described the same deep and profound yearning.
Tao Hong and Liu Lu were used to it. One helped the Marquis wipe the blood on his back and the other helped the Young Miss to dry her feet.
Zhang Meng and the others could not see what was going on at the other end behind the monk’s robes. However, they only heard the whispering of their affection for one another and sighed in their hearts, If I were the Marquis and with such a loving and caring younger sister, I would probably be willing to pull out my heart and give it to her. No wonder the Marquis only loved the Third Young Miss alone even though he has a total of three younger sisters.
[1] 上刀山下火海(shàngdāoshān,xiàhuǒhǎi)- lit. to climb mountains of swords and enter seas of flame. Fig. To go through trials and tribulations (often for a noble cause)