White Robe

Chapter 46

I watched him tuck me in and out, practically wrapping me up like a dumpling, and I couldn't help but frown. "Are you taking me to learn martial arts, or to learn how to wrap dumplings?"

Shang Shaozhang laughed heartily. He hadn't laughed so freely and happily since we met Li Kuilei. He chuckled and pinched my nose, saying, "Once you get there, you'll think it would have been better to be a rice dumpling!"

After saying this, Young Master Shang slung our luggage and provisions over his shoulder, patted Big Black's head, and Big Black neighed a few times, rubbed against our hands, and then ran back the way we came, disappearing in no time. Throughout our journey, we'd endured wind and rain, sleeping in the open, and this black horse, with its exceptional intelligence, had been a great help. I asked curiously, "Hey, why didn't we let Big Black go to the places we were going?"

Shang Shaochang laughed and said, "Even if Dahei wanted to go, he couldn't."

I asked doubtfully, "Why?"

Shang Shaozhang didn't answer, but instead asked, "Are you brave?"

I replied, "It's alright—what's wrong?"

Shang Shao said slyly, "You'll see how bold you are in a moment."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly made a gesture that I would never have believed even if I did it a hundred times over—

Shang Shaozhang hugged my body, which was wrapped up tightly, and jumped off the cliff!

"This—this is—that—that—what the hell is the residence of the Three Wonders of Plum Valley?" I shouted through gritted teeth at the grinning young master Shang in front of me!

I was initially quite willing to kick him off the cliff. But as soon as I moved, I felt the icy wind carrying snowflakes like maggots clinging to my bones, assaulting my warm body beneath the fur coat. I immediately pulled my foot back.

And this damn cold wind made me swallow back all the thousands of curses I wanted to utter for the first time.

Beneath Shang Shaochang's feet were the howling mountain winds and the bottomless cliff. Amidst his laughter, he embraced my body, which was wrapped up tightly, and leaped towards the snow-covered mountain!

Wrapped in a fur coat, I was unable to move. My terrified scream choked me, choking me with the sharp, steel-like mountain wind! I felt Shang Shaochang's body plummeting like an arrow, the cliff seemingly bottomless, with no end in sight! —A thousand thoughts raced through my mind, but then Shang Shaochang's descent suddenly halted!

I forced my eyes open and looked down at Shang Shaochang's feet. He was standing on a protruding boulder covered in thick, solid ice. This ice was extremely slippery, but Shang Shaochang had leaped from a sheer cliff; the force of his fall must have been immense! If he had actually stepped on it, even if his leg bones were made of steel, they would have shattered! Shang Shaochang deftly tapped the boulder with his toes, and his body, along with mine, slid across the ice. This pause and slide dissipated the downward force, transforming it into a spinning force that flung us straight off the icy cliff!

Shang Shaochang, still in mid-air, took a deep breath of the cool air. The powerful spin from the impact had spun him around in the air, holding me, for more than a full circle—just one circle was enough for him to see our next foothold! However, that foothold was more than three zhang away, and he was still in the air! Unless we sprouted wings, we were currently at the point where our old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet arisen; if we lost our footing, we would both fall into the abyss—

With a flick of his wrist, a long silver chain suddenly flew out of his sleeve and headed towards another ice rock in front of him!

So, after bouncing around like a spring dozens of times, just as the sun was setting, Shang Shaozhang led me to "jump" into a small cave on the edge of the cliff. The cave was tiny, only big enough for two or three people to sit or lie down. However, since the surrounding area was covered in snow and the mountains were blocked off, this cave provided some shelter from the cold. But the mountain wind, carrying snowflakes, kept blowing in, and the howling wind filled our ears. If we weren't careful, we would fall and be smashed to pieces. In reality, the cave was practically nonexistent, just an extra place to stand.

This cliff-jumping process must have been 100% thrilling, but after he jumped once, I cursed that lecherous bastard a thousand times in my heart!

"Of course not. As for the Three Wonders of Plum Valley, we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find his Jade Dust Cave." Shang Shaozhang, still dressed in a light blue robe, replied with a grin.

I exclaimed, "Ah—tomorrow morning?! We have to spend the night in this horrible cave, and people—" I stopped mid-sentence, quickly shutting my mouth and pulling my tongue back in. The cave was so cold that if I spoke any more, my tongue would probably turn into an icicle!

Now I understand why Shang Shaozhang said, "Once you get there, you'll feel that it would be better to turn into a rice dumpling!"

At least a zongzi won't feel like a person has been doused with ice water from head to toe!

Shang Shaozhang, however, was not offended. He grinned and opened his arms, saying lecherously, "Come here, little Yiyi, it's very warm here..."

I gritted my teeth and stared at the lecherous man in front of me, but I didn't move.

The young master Shang in front of me seemed to have transformed into a wolf, and the kind that was drooling.

But—it's such a cold cave—I feel like my whole body is numb from the north wind—that damned Young Master Shang, isn't he cold at all?!

"You—you—you—you—you did this on purpose—you—!!" I hugged my trembling body tightly, shaking uncontrollably. I watched as Shang Shaochang sat leisurely on the ground, leaning against the icy snow wall, yet appearing as comfortable as if he were on the warmest, softest fur cushion. The cave was so cold that water would freeze instantly, and the mountain wind was biting, yet he seemed completely unfazed, his expression not even changing.

Shang Shaozhang opened his arms and said, "Come here, little Yiyi, come into my arms." He saw that I was gritting my teeth and enduring the cold, and my cheeks were becoming more and more like the color of the surrounding snow and ice. He chuckled and said, "Be good, this is not the time to be stubborn."

I watched as Shang Shaochang smiled happily, but in my heart I had already chopped him into eight hundred pieces.

I took one step forward, then another.

That bastard, Young Master Shang!

But... his arms must have been so warm, so incredibly warm!

It's so cold! ...It seems like this weather has frozen my brain...

I'm almost in front of him...

That annoying Young Master Shang! That bastard Young Master Shang! That despicable Young Master Shang… Young Master Shang suddenly reached out and pulled my almost frozen body into his arms.

"You—you—" The angry words I had prepared vanished miraculously the moment he embraced me. I only felt his embrace was warm and firm, as if I were bathing in the most comfortable hot water. "So warm...so warm...so warm..." I murmured unconsciously, my body involuntarily shrinking into his arms.

Shang Shaozhang hugged me tightly with both hands, his eyes so close to mine that they looked like two stars in the dark cave.

I let him look into my eyes, and the chill I felt earlier vanished instantly, replaced by a warm, burning sensation throughout my body. With great effort, I managed to stammer, "I...I'm not cold anymore...you...you let me go..."

I tried to push away Shang Shaochang's arms, but he didn't move. He stared at me for a moment, then his eyes suddenly flashed with a strange light—

He had never looked at me like that before, so intently and strangely. His bright eyes seemed to blaze with a fierce fire—under that intense gaze, I momentarily forgot to resist, and even forgot to speak.

Shang Shaochang's deep voice became somewhat hoarse as he whispered in my ear, "I want to hold you like this, for a lifetime!" Before I could react, he suddenly leaned down, his warm lips touching my cold ones.

"You... um --" Before my brain could process what was happening, my eyes had already closed instinctively.

His lips were warm... his breath... was warm too...

You bastard, Young Master Shang! Get away from me! You're filthy! I don't want you to touch me!

If Shang Shaozhang hadn't covered my lips with his, I would have said these things... If Shang Shaozhang's arms hadn't been tightly wrapped around my body, I could have pushed him away and ignored him.

But...but...my mind was foggy, and my hands were on his collarbone, instinctively wanting to push him away...but under Shang Shaochang's kisses, my hands slowly reached out and gently embraced him as well.

Despite the relentless pursuit and escape, he still carried a faint, pleasant scent of bamboo leaves...

Fine... fine... who told me to run into this freezing weather... and who told me to run into you...