178: Chapter 178 Young Master, could you please help Han Su... rub her back?

They all lay on this blood-stained ground, limbs twisted, expressions ferocious, like a group of crushed ants.

Cuier slowly raised her head, looking at the grey back walking in front.

Ye Yun did not walk fast, his back held straight.

His grey robe was stained with large patches of blood, already dried and turned to a dark brown.

The sunlight slanted in from the west, stretching his shadow long, covering the dark red bloodstains beneath her feet.

Cuier's heart was beating fast.

It was not fear.

It was a feeling she could not quite describe.

Like a small boat drifting in a storm for three days and three nights, suddenly reaching the shore.

She took a deep breath, loosened her fingers clutching her collar, and started jogging to catch up.

Limping, yet following closely.

...

After Ye Yun settled Cuier into the guest room at the end of the corridor, he turned and walked back.

Cuier stood at the doorway, clutching the collar of that grey robe, watching Ye Yun's back disappear around the corner of the corridor.

Her eyes reddened again for a moment, but she did not follow.

Young Master had already given her enough.

The rest was for her to process on her own.

Ye Yun walked to the door of his room and pushed it open.

The door was unlocked.

He hadn't locked it when he left; perhaps he had forgotten, or perhaps he deemed it unnecessary.

The moment the door opened, a wave of warm steam rushed towards him, mixed with the faint scent of soap and the unique, subtle fragrance of a woman.

Ye Yun's footsteps faltered.

Inside the room, the screen had been moved to the window.

In its place was a large wooden tub, half a person high, placed in the center of the room.

The tub was filled with hot water, and a layer of fine flower petals floated on the surface, though it was unclear where the innkeeper had procured them.

They emitted a faint fragrance as the steam rose.

Fang Hansu sat in the wooden tub, her back to the door.

The hot water reached her shoulder blades, revealing a stretch of snow-white back.

In the swirling steam, that stretch of back was so white it was almost transparent.

It was not the sickly kind of paleness, but an innate, lustrous white that seemed to seep from her very bones.

Like fine mutton-fat jade, warm and delicate, glowing with a faint pearlescent sheen under the reflection of the water and candlelight.

Her shoulder blades protruded slightly due to the movement of her arms, forming two graceful arcs like the folded wings of a butterfly.

Further down, her spine formed a shallow groove.

It extended all the way from between her two shoulder blades, disappearing beneath the water's surface, hidden under the layer of petals and hot water.

Though no longer visible, it made one unable to help but wonder where that line extended.

Fang Hansu's long hair was pinned up, casually secured with a chopstick found who knows where.

A few loose strands fell down, clinging to her slender neck, dampened by the steam and sticking to her skin.

Curved and winding, like ink-black silk threads resting on white porcelain.

At this moment, Fang Hansu was bowing her head, cupping a handful of water to pour over her shoulders.

Water droplets rolled down her smooth skin, one by one.

Sliding along the curve of her shoulder blades, down to the water's surface, pausing for a moment.

Then sinking into the water, creating a small ripple.

Steam billowed, filling the room with a hazy mist.

Ye Yun stood at the doorway, his hand still resting on the doorknob, having forgotten to lower it.

His gaze fell upon that stretch of snow-white back, upon those shoulder blades like butterfly wings.

It fell upon that shallow spinal groove disappearing beneath the water, as if he were nailed to the spot by something.

For a moment, his mind went blank.

Just then, Fang Hansu heard the sound of the door opening.

Thinking it was the innkeeper sending someone with more hot water, she turned her head instinctively.

Then she met Ye Yun's gaze.

Their eyes met.

The air froze for about the duration of a breath.

Fang Hansu's cheeks burned with a color visible to the naked eye, spreading from her cheeks to her earlobes, and from her earlobes to her neck.

Even that stretch of snow-white back was tinged with a very faint pink.

She instinctively sank her entire body beneath the water.

Water splashed up, wetting the floor at the edge of the wooden tub.

Her chin submerged, her lips submerged, revealing only her eyes and half of her nose tip.

Like a startled otter, hiding beneath the petals and hot water, with only the top of her head visible.

Those eyes were wet and glistening, whether from the steam or something else, looking at Ye Yun, filled with shyness and panic.

Ye Yun finally snapped out of it.

He averted his gaze, took his hand off the doorknob, and a rare, unnatural awkwardness appeared on his face.

"Ahem."

He coughed lightly and let his gaze drift towards the window, though it was closed and he couldn't see anything.

"I've brought Cuier back. She's in the room at the end of the corridor. She suffered some superficial wounds and has taken a Medicinal Pill; she'll be fine after resting for a few days."

Fang Hansu blinked beneath the water.

Cuier was back.

Her eyes reddened instantly, and she suddenly bobbed up a bit from the water.

"Really? Cuier, she—"

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly realized how much she had submerged earlier, and in her excitement.

She had risen up, and the water level had dropped from her chin directly to her chest.

Although there were still petals blocking the view, those petals had been soaking in the hot water for so long that they had long since scattered and couldn't hide much.

A stretch of snow-white shoulder emerged from the water.

Then her collarbone.

Then below her collarbone, that patch of skin turned slightly pink from the hot water, along with that faint, tantalizing curve.

Fang Hansu let out an "Ah" and suddenly shrank back into the water, splashing even more than before.

Her face was so red it was almost dripping blood, her hands tightly clutching her chest, curling into a ball.

Only her head was visible, even the tips of her ears were red.

The moment she emerged from the water, Ye Yun's gaze inevitably swept over that snow-white expanse.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

Then he quickly averted his gaze.

"Cuier is fine. You don't need to worry."

His voice was a few degrees lower than before, carrying a faint, barely noticeable huskiness.

Fang Hansu buried her face in the water, revealing only her eyes, her voice muffled as it came from beneath the surface.

"Thank you, Young Master... Thank you, Young Master."

She said it twice, her voice soft and nasally.

Ye Yun nodded and turned around.

"You wash first, I'll go out—"

"Young Master."

Fang Hansu's voice came from behind him.

Very soft, so soft it was almost drowned out by the sound of the water.

Ye Yun's footsteps halted.

He did not turn back, waiting for her to speak.

There was silence for several moments behind him, only the sound of water gently lapping.

Then, Fang Hansu's voice rang out again, softer than before, with a trembling that suggested she was casting all caution to the wind.

"Young Master... could you... could you help Hansu scrub her back?"

Ye Yun's body stiffened slightly.

"Hansu... cannot reach behind. It has been a long time since I have had a proper wash."

Fang Hansu's voice grew smaller and smaller, and by the last few words, it was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"I beg you, Young Master."