The Witch Nichang- Chapter 90 Feelings

The Witch Nichang– Chapter 90

Feelings

I went out like a light when I lost consciousness. But coming back to consciousness was slow and torturing.

Feeling the sensations from the outside world, my five senses were coming back to me bit by bit, the soft fabric against my skin, the blurry shades of light, and the silence around me. The familiar sound of wind in the desert land was gone. The support below that carried me didn’t sway. The air I breathed still smelled of sun, dry and hot, with an extra hint of hemp, and another elusive scent. 

My throat felt swollen and sore but not as bad as the dizziness. Despite the intense dizziness, there was another sensation overshadowing it. 

There was warmth on my lips, touching lightly and then moving away, over and over again, like a fish pecking. This sensation took over all discomfort, becoming the most vivid feeling. 

As the warmth drew away once again, I smiled and opened my dry eyes. Light flooded in, the figure before my eyes turning from blur to clarity. Looking at her, I murmured, “Didn’t we agree not to do this… are…are you still thinking about that competition?”

She didn’t look surprised at all. She simply stood up and answered me earnestly, “I don’t have to listen to everything you say. Of course, I won’t take advantage of you while you’re out either.”

My head was still spinning, so I didn’t try to get up. I closed my eyes and opened them again, then my memory began to clear. 

“It seems like I fell…” I chuckled wryly, mixed with apology and guilt. 

“You fell and hit your head,” she affirmed with a nod, still looking at me with a straight face. 

I reached up to touch my forehead, and as expected, a bandage tightly wrapped around my head. A throbbing pain pulsed near my right temple. The moment of weightlessness that night seemed to linger in my body, as if it had happened just a second ago. But as I moved my dry eyes to look around, the interior that I saw deepened my wry smile, “It seems like… I’ve been out for a long time. Did I miss a lot?”

“You’ve been unconscious for more than two days. We’ve reached our destination and are now staying at an inn. The doctor had just left when you woke up.” Lian’er recounted calmly as she stood up and went to fetch a bowl of water at the table. “Have some tea. The doctor said you need to get plenty of rest and drink herbal tea. It’ll help with the nosebleeds.”

Looking at the person by the table, I got a feeling… that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The way she spoke and acted seemed a little different from what I remembered, but I couldn’t tell what exactly was different. I blinked and gave up thinking about it because of the headache. 

When she approached with the bowl, I tried to sit up and take it from her, but before I could do that, I heard a loud knocking, like someone banging on the door. When I listened again, it was indeed what I had heard. Someone was banging on the door and shouting, “Jadey, I’m back! How’s Zhu’er? At least open the door and let me have a look!”

Lian’er and I frowned at the same time. I didn’t know why she did that, but for me, loud noises were a torture at the moment. My head felt like it was going to explode. I had to give up trying to get up and close my eyes. 

There was a little clack of something being set down, followed by the noise of the door unlocking and creaking open. Someone was speaking loudly as they strode over. I sensed a different warmth and presence nearing me, which made me turn my head and open my eyes amidst the headache, looking warily at the frisky man beside me. 

When he saw the alert in my eyes, his hand that was reaching for my forehead stopped. “Zhu’er, you’re awake? Uh, what’s going on? Why are you glaring at me like I’m a bad guy…” He awkwardly retracted his hand and turned to shout at Lian’er, “Hey, Jadey, what did the doctor say? Why does she seem a bit off? Can we trust the local doctor?”

“Who told you to make so much noise? The doctor said she needs to rest quietly. Quiet, do you not understand that? You deserve that glare.” Lian’er came to us slowly, answering nonchalantly, however, there was a hint of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at us, as if she was observing and thinking.

Surrounded by the stare of them both, I chucked awkwardly and greeted, “Old Tie… I just woke up, so I’m a bit confused. Please don’t mind…”

That seemed to relax the old man. He laughed, stroking his beard, and said, “No worries, as long as you’re awake. You’re good in every other way, but why does trouble always find you? That night, seeing you covered in blood and lying there had us scared to death. Oh, by the way…” He seemed to recall something and strode to the door, shouting out the door, “Hey, are you coming in? She’s awake now, you can come and see her.”

I didn’t know who he’s talking to, so I turned to Lian’er in confusion, only to see her expression darken, as if she wasn’t happy with what he did, but she didn’t say anything and didn’t stop him either, which made me even confused. 

Outside, there was the hasty pattering of footsteps, growing louder as they approached. Then, a face with some mixed-blood features appeared at the door, the thick brows and big eyes brimming with concern and excitement. As soon as he noticed my stare, the concern and excitement on his face turned into shyness. The young man took a few steps closer and stopped. He stuttered, “Um, es—esteemed friend, miss, thank God, you—you finally woke up. Are you okay? That’s great!”

My throbbing brain was working stiffly, and I finally remembered this person. I wanted to greet him but couldn’t remember his name. It wasn’t because I hit my head. It was that I didn’t pay much attention to the names of the two guides before, so I just smiled and nodded, not quite understanding why Old Tie had called him over. 

Even though I was confused, with two men standing in the room, I couldn’t continue lying down without qualms. So I looked at Lian’er and asked sincerely, “Lian’er, I want to have some water. Can you please help me up?” 

I said that because I felt weak and wanted Lian’er to help me get up. She responded readily enough, picking up the tea bowl she had put down and bringing it over, but instead of helping me up, she raised it to her lips and took a sip as I looked at her, puzzled.

And the next moment, everything went dark before my eyes, her face enlarging and her body closing in. As the softness melded against my lips, a cool stream flowed into my mouth. Overwhelming surprise seized my breath, my throat tensed up; I almost forgot how to swallow. Then I felt a pressure in my mouth, followed by her fingers pressing lightly on my neck. I heard the gulping sound from my throat, and I realized I had swallowed it.

I froze up like a statue until she got up, wiped her lips as if nothing had happened, and asked, “Want some more?” My almost rusted still brain slowly creaked back to life. I looked incredulously at her. Lian’er who was seemingly upset just moments ago now had a touch of a smile on her lips. Without time to think about the reason, I glanced at the other two people in the room, panicking.

Even if I had somewhat used to the random moments of intimacy over the past few days, how could… how could she do it in front of…

Blushing, I looked over, but the reactions of those two were unexpected.

The young guide’s reaction seemed relatively usual. He was at least a little embarrassed. But Old Tie, like Lian’er, acted as if it was nothing. Perhaps noticing my uneasy expression, as if something dawned on him, he tried to reassure me instead, “Hey, why are you blushing, girl? Jianghu people don’t care about formality! You know, these past few days, you couldn’t keep water down. It’s all thanks to Jadey forcing it down with qi. Otherwise, you would have died of dehydration already. You should thank her properly. Mm, since you two are like sisters, I guess there’s no need for thanks… now it seems like I’m being too formal…”

The old man kept rambling on, and in the end, his lecturing turned into him talking to himself. I heard it loud and clear. My embarrassment faded, but the feeling of aggravation grew heavier. I looked at the person beside me and whispered a thank you, but then I saw the smiling face drop, and with a huff, she said, “For what? The one you should be thanking the most is not me.” With that, she turned away, looking displeased once again.

I was bewildered. What is this all about?

After that, I pushed myself to sit up, listening to everyone who gathered in the room talking. During that time, Lian’er didn’t say much, leaving most of the explanation to the two men. Gradually, I began to understand what Lian’er meant earlier.

From what they said, the person I should be thanking for that night was actually the young guide. That night, because of the sudden vestige, I fell from the camel and lost consciousness right away. It was hard to tell if I was still alive. The older guide felt that it was a bad omen and believed that the odds were against us, so he got scared and wanted to run away with the camels. It was the young guide who had some semblance of integrity. He managed to keep two camels and stayed back, even clumsily trying to stop the bleeding from my head injury. Then he took me with him to hide in the shadows and waited. 

“Good lad! If he hadn’t stayed behind and helped stop your bleeding, it might have been too late when we returned.” At that, Old Tie patted the young lad with a shy smile commendably on the shoulder, then his tone changed, and he said indignantly, “I can’t believe that I was only half-right about people this time. That bastard who ran away alone, he’d better hope he’s lucky enough and not let me see him again, or I’ll give him hell!” 

At this, Lian’er, who had been quiet, suddenly let out a cold laugh, a hint of ruthlessness flashed across her eyes. The air in the room suddenly plunged. The young guide shivered and scratched his head, confused. I smiled, not wanting to stay on this topic any longer, and asked them to continue.

What happened next was obvious. Old Tie and Lian’er easily defeated the bandits, and in the process, saved the merchant caravan. They even unexpectedly got some useful information. Who knew when they came back with light hearts, they found that the caravan was missing, only drops of blood on the ground. Fortunately, the young guide emerged from his hiding spot with me in time, sparing them a heart attack.

Even so, according to the old man, they were quite startled. At that time, they found me with my eyes shut, my clothes stained with patches of red, and traces of blood on my mouth, nose, and forehead, looking like I was dying. After learning what had happened, he was worried sick, blaming himself for misjudging the old guide when hiring him. He was about to go after the runaway guide, but Lian’er and the young guide stopped him in time. They then took all that was left and joined the rescued merchant caravan. The caravan had just been robbed and was still in shock, so when their saviors came to them, they were more than happy to have us. Throughout the journey, they took good care of us and provided us with some basic medicines for injuries. Thanks to that, we could cross the Kuruk Tagh Mountains safely and reach our final destination—Turpan.

After listening to their story and looking around the room, I didn’t know what to say. The furnishings in the room were slightly different, but it didn’t feel like I was in a foreign land. I wanted to move towards the windows to take a look. I placed my hand on the edge of the bed, but my weak body refused to cooperate. I just slumped to the side a little, and Lian’er was immediately here to catch me.

“Zhu’er, take it easy. With your condition now, there’s nothing you can do except to rest.” It was Old Tie who spoke. Seeing my attempt to get up, he probably thought I was eager to get up, so he patted his chest and said, “Let Jadey stay with you and leave the rest to me! With that information, even if those guys are hiding underground, I can dig them out for sure!”

“Information?” I asked, perplexed. Then I remembered what they said earlier about the useful information they got when they defeated the bandits and saved the caravan that night. I glanced at the person beside me questioningly. Lian’er took the hint and explained in a serious tone, “It’s about Old Jin’s disciples. A couple of them got together and formed a bandit group, occupying a large area nearby. The other bandits couldn’t do anything about them, so they left to seek livelihood elsewhere, which led them right to us. Stepfather wants to take the opportunity to find out the gang’s hideout from them, and that’s how he found out Old Jin’s whereabouts.”

She explained that in a few sentences. I nodded to show that I understood. After pondering for a moment, I raised my head and said, “In that case, we should look at the bigger picture. Going alone might put you at a disadvantage. Lian’er, it’s better that you go with the old man. I’d be less worried when you guys are asking around.”

When I said that, before Lian’er could say anything, the old man at the table frowned and slammed the table, saying, “What nonsense! Are you looking down on me, girl? Even if Jin Duyi himself comes to me, let alone his disciples, I, Tie Feilong, will not be afraid at all!”

The slam was so loud that I felt a throb in my temple. I rubbed my eyes and said, smiling meekly, “Oh Sir, not at all, I’ve seen how good you are. How would I dare to look down on you? But as the saying goes, even a mighty dragon cannot crush a snake in its lair. This place is their territory. It’s hard to say that you won’t get ambushed when you’re asking around. I’m not afraid if they come directly at you. It’s the ambush that I’m afraid of. I just want to be safe to have Lian’er with you, so both of you can watch each other’s backs.”

Some things were best left unsaid. If Tie Feilong were to be ambushed, and given my current condition, Lian’er alone might not be able to hold out. That was the situation that I feared the most. 

However, even if I had thought of everything, there was no guarantee that he would understand or appreciate it. 

“Do you really want me to go with Stepfather?” The girl beside me arched her brows, her eyes wide and her face growing cold.

I knew it was bad when I saw that, but I couldn’t back down. I smiled and took her hand, speaking softly, “Lian’er, now that I’m awake, as you said, all I need is to rest. Old Tie needs you more than me. Otherwise, I’d be worried. Right now, we’re in the same boat. If one goes down, everyone goes down. We need to straighten our priorities, don’t you think?”

“But…” She hesitated for a moment, but still continued, annoyed, “You’re the one worries me most. Without anyone with you, what if something happens to you again!” She said that in all seriousness. The more serious she was, the more it gnawed at me and weighed on me. 

I clenched my teeth and forced a smile, saying, “You just go ahead. I’ll take care of myself. Besides… besides, I’m not alone here. The guide is still here, isn’t it? After what happened last time, we know that he’s reliable. Don’t worry.”

At that, the fourth person in the room chimed in. It seemed that the young man couldn’t catch up with us when we were talking fast. Now that he seemed to hear something he knew, he joined in enthusiastically, “Yes, I’ll take good care of her. The innkeeper is a good friend of mine, so you don’t have to worry!”

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