Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 169 - 152: Rong Zhi’s Smile
Chapter 169 -152: Rong Zhi’s Smile
As Rong Zhi lay unconscious, Chu Yu took a moment to assess their surroundings.
Dusk still pressed down, the obstructing branches and vines making the small space they occupied even darker. She could barely make out anything within a foot’s range; beyond that, everything was indistinct.
Rong Zhi had spread some medicinal powder around earlier which could repel snakes and insects, so there was no need to worry about disturbances.
This place was an inward-caving section of the cliff with a relatively flat area below. One could sit on it securely without fearing a fall. Chu Yu reached upwards, her hand only extending halfway before it touched the uneven and cold rock. Exploring left and right, she would hit the rockface as soon as her arm straightened fully.
The cave was gloomy and cramped. Chu Yu cradled Rong Zhi with one arm, ensuring he wouldn’t fall, and sat quietly. There wasn’t much she could see in the darkness, but surprisingly, her heart remained calm and serene.
Rong Zhi’s upper body lay across her legs, his face turned upward. Looking down at him, Chu Yu could faintly discern his pale features through the darkness, as delicate as glass ready to shatter at a touch. His breaths were weak, barely there.
She gazed at him intently, not knowing how much time had passed. Eventually, Chu Yu looked up to find a sky full of brilliant stars, dazzling and beautiful. It was that very instant that she realized how tired and sore her eyes were. After some thought, Chu Yu curled her legs, secured Rong Zhi’s body, leaned forward slightly, and tied some of the outside vines into knots. She then settled into an uncomfortable position tightly next to Rong Zhi and fell asleep.
It was dark and quiet here, and no one would come to harm her. In the darkness, there was nothing she could do, so resting to regain her strength was the best choice.
The night was cold with a heavy dew. Chu Yu soon opened her eyes after closing them, bit her lip, and removed her coat to cover them both. Beneath the coat, she hugged Rong Zhi tightly, leaving virtually no space between them.
Chu Yu’s face felt warm. Apart from that time when she had woken up and had been unable to act on her own, she had never embraced a man in such an amorous way. It was like their bodies were joined together. However, Rong Zhi’s body temperature was very low, and if she didn’t hold him through the night, he might not make it until morning.
You’re holding a pumpkin. Chu Yu hypnotized herself with this thought. Yet, where in the world could one find such a fair and exquisite pumpkin? Fortunately, as sleepiness gradually overcame her, it eased the discomfort throughout her body.
In a state between sleeping and wakefulness, Chu Yu felt something soft melting over her heart, like warm spring water silently eroding the barriers surrounding her heart.
But the feeling was comforting, and to her surprise, she didn’t want to resist it. With a slight smile playing on her lips, Chu Yu drifted into dreamland.
There were no reclusive experts or martial arts manuals beneath the mountain cliffs, but there was a Rong Zhi.
When she woke up it was already morning, with the clear light of dawn filtering into the cavern, damp and chilly with dew. Chu Yu opened her eyes and felt incredibly uncomfortable all over. As she tried to move, pain shot through her body, prompting a cry, “It hurts so much!”
The space was too cramped for careless sleeping positions, forcing her into an awkward posture, with one hand tightly embracing Rong Zhi and the other trapped under his body for the entire night.
Consequences of an incorrect sleeping position were thus painfully evident. Chu Yu felt as though her whole body was plastered stiff, her bones as if deformed by the pressure, and every movement brought unbearable soreness, making her cry out in pain.
Despite the pain, Chu Yu knew she couldn’t stop and kept going, gritting her teeth. She had read about this condition in books in her previous life; it was caused by maintaining an oppressive and incorrect posture for too long, resulting in a slight misalignment of joints that could be remedied by stretching the body normally.
She slowly pulled her hand from under Rong Zhi, carefully stretched her arms, and began moving her spine. As her joints creaked, a series of cries escaped her lips, and finally, Chu Yu let out a long breath of relief: “That’s a bit better now.”
Suddenly she felt something wasn’t right. Looking toward her front, she saw a pair of smiling, sparkling eyes.
Rong Zhi was awake.
After a moment of stunned silence, Chu Yu realized that her cries had woken Rong Zhi. She felt a slight fever on her face and turned her head aside.
She had scrunched up her face in pain just now—could it have looked very unattractive?
Having waited a while without any sign of movement, Chu Yu turned her gaze back, and Rong Zhi’s face was still as pale as yesterday, but the warmth beneath his hands had risen slightly, no longer cold as a corpse.
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Realizing that one of her hands was still wrapped around Rong Zhi’s waist, Chu Yu quickly let go, pulling at the corner of her mouth as a makeshift smile, “You’re awake?”
Seeing the clothes on his body, Rong Zhi knew what had happened last night. He looked on for a while, said nothing, just smiled faintly, propped himself up with one hand to sit up, while also helping Chu Yu to sit upright.
Rong Zhi returned the clothes to Chu Yu and, just like what she had done earlier, moved his body within a limited range to stretch the muscles and bones compressed by his sleeping position. There were sounds of cracking joints from his body. Chu Yu had tried it before and knew just from the sound that it must be unbearable, yet Rong Zhi’s face always bore a smile, as if welcoming a spring breeze.
Adjusting his joints, Rong Zhi then lowered his head to tend to the injury on his ankle. After last night, the wound had closed but not healed, and through the pale mesh of flesh, one could vaguely see the stark white of bone. Chu Yu glanced at it only once before involuntarily averting her eyes, only to see Rong Zhi still wearing a spring-like face, as if the foot and the wound in her eyes did not belong to him.
Chu Yu rubbed her arms uncomfortably, where goosebumps had appeared, although she already knew that Rong Zhi had a habit of smiling in the face of pain, and wasn’t as horrified as the first time she saw it, but it still felt very bizarre. After enduring it for a while, she couldn’t help but say, “Can you not smile like that? There’s no one else here, in front of me, there’s no need to keep up such a pretense, is there?”
Rong Zhi smiled faintly, “Princess, you misunderstand.” He glanced at Chu Yu, she was very close to him, her eyes full of sincere concern. Her warm breath came in a gentle stream, just like when he had opened his eyes today— in fact, he had been awake before Chu Yu, but he just hadn’t moved.
After wrapping his wounds with torn clothes, he said softly, “These injuries don’t really hurt that much.”
Chu Yu bit her lip, not believing a word he said, “How could it not hurt?” Bones were nearly visible. Unless there were no sensory nerves, unless he was a robot, how could it possibly not hurt?
Rong Zhi smiled faintly, “It’s just a matter of getting used to it. Compared to the past, this is nothing.” Indeed, compared to past injuries, the current ones were so minor they almost made him laugh.
His tone was casual and subdued, but Chu Yu felt a pang in her heart upon hearing this. How could one get used to such a thing?
However, it seemed he truly had gotten used to it, treating his body like an object to be used. He was cold to others, and nearly cruel to himself.
Seeing Chu Yu staring at him, her gaze filled with compassion, Rong Zhi blinked, and in a teasing tone that was almost a laugh, said, “Did the Princess take it seriously? I was just talking nonsense. This smile of mine, naturally, is to deceive others.”
Chu Yu didn’t get angry. She stared at him unblinkingly, so much so that Rong Zhi also felt somewhat uncomfortable and looked away instinctively. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands encircle his shoulders, and then he was pulled into a warm, soft embrace, “It’s fake? You liar,” Chu Yu said, her chin resting on Rong Zhi’s hairline, whispering.
Buried in her neckline, Rong Zhi was a bit surprised, then he heard a low voice from above his head, “It hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”
Rong Zhi pursed his lips, regretting that he had let something slip by accident. He was about to brush it off with a smile, but the words got stuck in his throat, and, for once, the usually eloquent him couldn’t say anything.
Her body was not strong, even if she held onto him with all her might, he could easily break free, but a sudden, untimely laziness overcame him, making him not want to move at all.
Chu Yu said nothing more, and neither did Rong Zhi. He let her embrace him in silence, and after an unknown amount of time, he finally said slowly, “Princess, if you don’t let go of me now, we’ll have to spend the night here again.”
