I looked up in the direction of the hand, was startled, and sat up.
“Tunshe Nalin, what are you doing?” I wanted to grab his hand to check the wound on his wrist, but he had already taken his hand back and rolled down his sleeves.
“This is, the healing method of our tribe.” He said.
“What kind of folk remedy requires human blood to detoxify? Don’t believe in such nonsense, you should trust modern medicine.” I frowned but couldn’t help swallowing the saliva mixed with blood.
“Nonsense?” He nodded, raising an eyebrow. “Then, are you feeling any better?”
I was stunned for a moment and had to admit that the burning sensation in my body was indeed gone. I was draped in Tunshe Nalin’s robe, pulling it aside a little. I looked at my right shoulder and could clearly see that the arrow wound was covered with a layer of blood-red paste, emitting a sweet and pungent smell.
“You applied the ointment for me…” A complex and ambiguous emotion rose in my heart as I glanced at him. “Tunshe Nalin, it can’t be that this ointment… also has your blood in it, right?”
“You risked your life for me, so I must, give my blood to save you.” Tunshe Nalin extended his hand and tossed a dry twig into the campfire in front of the rock where we were sitting.
…Give blood? What kind of wording is that? I couldn’t help but chuckle, my gaze lingering on his profile.
The blazing firelight tinted his pale skin, yet the warmth seemed unable to penetrate it even a little bit, as if separated by a hundred-foot-thick layer of ice. A surge of impulse rose within me—I wanted to be the brave one holding the flames, peering into the mysterious soul sealed beneath this icy layer, and teaching him to burn and melt for me.
Only then would he truly become my muse.
Can I conquer him?
This person seems hard to approach, but for a man he just met, he’s touching my face and giving blood to heal my wound. I really don’t believe that he’s straight.
Could it be that the person he’s searching for is also a man? Recalling how he touched my cheek and his comment about my face, my heart skipped a beat—could it be that I happen to resemble his beloved to some extent?
If that’s the case, and he can’t find his beloved now, wouldn’t I have a chance?
Thinking of the anklets he gave me, my heart skipped a beat. I lifted my pant leg slightly, revealing the pair of anklets, and stretched my foot forward. Fixing my gaze on him, I smiled. “By the way… Tunshe Nalin, you gave me these, didn’t you? Why… did you give them to me?”
Tunshe Nalin tilted his face slightly. Even though his eyes were covered with a blindfold, I could almost feel his gaze falling on my ankles.
Ming Luo had always praised my feet, saying they were especially attractive—particularly the curve of my ankles, which he found more delicate and alluring than a woman’s. He loved stringing prayer beads by hand to make anklets for me. But I had always felt that anklets carried a meaning of restraint, something I deeply disliked. That’s why I never wore any of the ones he gave me—not even once. But Tunshe Nalin… since I had decided to pursue him, wearing these for now wouldn’t hurt.
Besides, we had just met, and after he angrily pushed me away so far, there was no way he intended this as a symbol of restraint. Once I win his heart, I can take it off later.
“These are, my tribe’s talismans.” He replied after a long pause.
“I see, thank you.” My heart warmed, and I smiled at him. “You’re really a good person.”
He didn’t respond, but his face slightly turned away, and his gaze seemed to linger on my foot.
I knew this might just be my one-sided imagination. Using allure to manipulate others is a lowly act. But right now, I was determined to try playing the role of the serpent, luring him out of the Garden of Eden.
Would Tunshe Nalin think my ankles are beautiful?
A person as cold and distant as he is… would he even feel desire for anyone?
With that thought in mind, I mustered up the courage and grabbed his wrist. “Let me see your injury.”
Tunshe Nalin seemed caught off guard, his body stiffening slightly as I turned his wrist over.
I was taken aback when I saw it. There was a deep gash on his wrist, no longer bleeding, but the wound remained open. The edges were dark, and the inside had a deep purplish-black hue, as if he had been poisoned.
“Did you get infected by the poison from the arrow too?” I became anxious, hurriedly standing up from the rock and kneeling down. I scooped water from the stream with my hands to clean his wound. Remembering his actions before I fainted, I then leaned close to the wound and sucked hard, trying to draw out the poisoned blood.
But even after sucking for a while, nothing came out, as if the blood he had made me drink earlier was the last drop remaining in his cold body.
But of course, that was impossible.
Could the poison have caused the muscle tissue to necrose? He would need to go to the hospital for that…
I lifted my head, about to say something, when my lips were suddenly touched by something.
I stood frozen, staring at the fingers hovering in front of my lips, my breath halting. My gaze slowly traveled up his hand, climbing over his wrist and arm until it reached his face.
Since his eyes were covered and his lips remained still, I couldn’t discern his emotions. My mind, however, was in turmoil—was this an accidental touch, or was he trying to tease me?
My heart raced like a rabbit, jumping to my throat. I swallowed, and with great effort, I clung to my sanity. “Tunshe Nalin, this poison is serious. We need to go to the hospital.”
“No need,” he retracted his fingers. “I have an unusual constitution; it’s not poisoning.”
“Really?” I felt incredulous, but then I remembered how his body temperature was extremely low, clearly different from a normal person. It made sense that he might have issues with blood clotting. A poisoned person wouldn’t remain so unaffected, with no abnormal reactions like he had.
But if it’s not poison…
Then why didn’t you say anything, just letting me frantically suck your blood for so long?
I raised an eyebrow, staring at him. “Was that intentional? Tunshe Nalin, are you playing with me?”
Tunshe Nalin sat upright on the rock, like a deity looking down upon a child misbehaving on an altar. His thin lips parted slightly. “You were too impulsive. I couldn’t stop you.”
Fine, it’s all my fault. I pressed my lips together, feeling flustered and at a loss for words. If he truly had no intention, that would be fine, but if he was intentionally teasing me, then he was a master of the game. If I tried to reel him in, I might end up caught in his trap, tangled up completely.
No… I must be overthinking it. Someone who grew up in the mountains wouldn’t understand these kinds of games.
“Shasha,” suddenly, there was the sound of grass being crushed underfoot. My heart tightened, and I quickly pulled Tunshe Nalin down from the rock, shielding him between the rock and my body. I had thought it was that “Brother Guman” returning, but when I looked up, my eyes widened in shock, and I sucked in a cold breath—a massive white wolf was rapidly approaching from the forest.
This was even more terrifying than the people who had appeared.
I was so frightened that my words became jumbled, and my mind went blank. “Tunshe Nalin, there’s, there’s a wolf. Quick, quickly climb the tree! You run first, I’ll try to distract it…”
“There’s no need to be afraid. It, won’t eat you.”
“Is it yours?” I was taken aback. Lowering my gaze, I suddenly realized just how close I was to Tunshe Nalin.
He was pressed against the rock, his legs apart, and I was kneeling between them. With just a slight lean forward… I could kiss him. My gaze fell on his lips again, but then I remembered that although his eyes were covered, he wasn’t blind. I suddenly became self-conscious.
“Sorry, I thought it was… bad people. I just… wanted to protect you.”
He was silent for a moment.
“Protect me? Aren’t you, afraid of me?”
I froze for a moment, then smiled. “Why would I be afraid of you? What is there to be afraid of?”
Tunshe Nalin, however, did not respond.
He’s so good-looking and kind-hearted, what would I be afraid of… could his words mean that he holds an unusual position in the Nashe tribe, and the people there fear him?
As I speculated, my curiosity about him grew stronger. Over the past few years, it seemed I had never felt such intense interest in anyone—not even in Ming Luo. It wasn’t just that he rekindled my desire to paint, but perhaps it was because so many people in the past had been mesmerized by my appearance and talents, and I had never encountered anyone like him… someone who made me feel so elusive and unpredictable, someone I couldn’t quite grasp or control.
He had completely stirred up my desire to conquer.
“Tunshe Nalin, you’re truly mysterious.” I stared at him. “Do I have the chance to learn your story, to paint you, to capture your thoughts and dreams?”
His brows furrowed slightly, and for a moment, it seemed like his eyes behind the black cloth were fixed on me. Then he spoke, “You don’t have, the qualification.”
I froze, as if a climber had missed a step while ascending a snow-covered mountain. A sense of loss and frustration I had never felt before swept over me—when had anyone ever treated me this way?
“Why? Is it because of my comment on that painting? Are you still angry with me? That painting was actually very well done, I just didn’t like it personally. You don’t need to take it to heart. Tension in the lines doesn’t necessarily mean a burdened heart; maybe it’s just because you attached too much importance to them.”
“Attach importance?” He seemed stunned for a moment and repeated in a low voice.
“Exactly.” I nodded, trying to comfort him. “Because you attached too much importance to them. When I first painted the person I loved, I was the same way—I didn’t even know how to hold the brush, the painting ended up all messy.”
—This is a lie. I have never been so nervous when drawing anyone. I always do it smoothly and with ease. It’s just a matter of whether I want to draw or not.
He seemed a little dazed: “How do you know, that the person who painted that portrait, is my beloved?”
“If it wasn’t your beloved, who else could it have been…?” I pretended not to care, answering half-jokingly. I suppressed the rising sense of loss inside, but at the same time, a surge of conquest stirred within me, creeping up like a snake and tightening around my throat.
Don’t rush, please don’t rush, Qin Ran.
You’ve always been the flame, but you mustn’t lose your composure and become a moth drawn to it.
“Tunshe Nalin,” I said softly, “Since you value that painting so much, you wouldn’t want it to get worn and damaged, would you? I remember the paint was peeling and there were some spots. How about I restore it for you? I’ll make sure it looks just like it did before.”
After I finished speaking, I suddenly remembered that there were painters in his village, and they usually used mineral pigments, so they would surely be more skilled at restoring a painting made with mineral pigments. My excuse was really quite flimsy.
What surprised me, however, was that Tunshe Nalin didn’t refuse. His brows relaxed, and it seemed like he was studying me through the black cloth. He slowly asked, “Guarantee, exactly the same?”
“Leave it to me.” I replied without hesitation, though a sense of unease lingered within me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I didn’t restore it properly, there could be serious consequences.
But what could the consequences be? The worst, perhaps, would be him throwing me out again, never to see the muse that reignited the fire in my heart. That alone would be the greatest punishment.
“Shashasha…” While we were talking, the wolf had already reached the side of the rock, lowering its head to sniff around. It sniffed all the way to where Tunshe Nalin and I were.
The massive wolf’s head startled me, and it was only then that I realized I had still been in such an overly intimate position with him. I quickly backed away and saw him raise his hand, gently brushing it over the wolf’s head.
Its size was comparable to that of an adult horse, much like the one that had caused the accident earlier, but this one was clean, and its white fur gleamed, with no signs of the red fungus. Its back was normal, showing no signs of any impact, looking strong and healthy. It was definitely not the same wolf. I had only seen such large white wolves in documentaries about Arctic landscapes, and this was my first time coming into close contact with such a fierce creature. Seeing it tame in front of Tunshe Nalin, as docile as a Samoyed, I felt both fearful and curious. I wanted to touch it but didn’t dare: “This wolf and those vultures… are they all yours?”
“I saved, them.”
“You’re a doctor?” I thought of the ancient profession unique to Southern culture, “A witch physician?”
Tunshe Nalin didn’t deny it. He patted the wolf’s head, and the large white wolf, about the size of an adult horse, obediently knelt down. Only then did I notice a harness around its body and a felt pad on its back. Wait, could this wolf… be his… mount?
He stood up and said, “It’s almost dawn. Let’s go back.”
Us? I was startled and raised my eyebrows—is Tunshe Nalin planning to take me away?
Tunshe Nalin mounted on the wolf’s back, and the sound of the wings flapping came closer and closer. The vulture fell from the sky and landed on his shoulder. I don’t know if it was an illusion or something, but the moonlight became dim and slightly red at this moment. In the half-bright and half-dark shadows of the trees, he rode on the wolf and held the vulture, just like a god made up of all the spirits in the forest. His pale skin and red lips gave off a spooky aura, which was so beautiful that it was soul-stirring but also terrifying.
I kept my gaze on him for a long time, wishing I could use my eyes as a paintbrush to capture this scene in my mind, hoping to be able to describe it perfectly in the future.
Until Tunshe Nalin rode the wolf to my side and reached out his hand did I come back to my senses.
“Get on.”
I was stunned for a moment. Was he inviting me to ride the wolf with him?
But after all, a wolf isn’t a horse—would it be able to carry two grown men?
While I hesitated, he asked coldly, “Or do you want, to wade across? The middle of this stream, is very deep, and prone to gathering negative energy.”
“A giant baby[mfn]It’s gathering negative energy, it has the same pronunciation but different in meaning[/mfn]?” I didn’t understand the meaning of those three words, but I gladly accepted the invitation. I grabbed his wrist and was pondering how to climb onto the wolf’s back. However, he pulled me forward, and with a tight grip around my waist, he lifted me and laid me horizontally between the wolf’s neck and his own body.
