Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 72

"Don't do that again."

Dugu Xihui stiffly turned her face, gave a cold snort, and the frost in her eyes slowly melted away, gradually obscuring her amber eyes with a misty haze.

Zi Jin looked up at Dugu Xi Huiyin's face, which was already flushed from just a little alcohol, and felt a slight pain in her heart. It was a strange and inexplicable feeling. She couldn't help but blurt out the words of reproach: "Don't be so willful in the future."

Dugu Xihui stared blankly as Zi Jin cleaned his wounds, the mist in his eyes deepening, his innocent, fox-like eyes revealing a faint confusion, rippling with tears.

After cleaning herself up, Zi Jin lowered her head and tore off a piece of her own clothing to carefully bandage the wound. Once everything was done, the two remained silent. The air was thick with the stench of blood and a faint smell of alcohol.

Zi Jin got up, intending to leave the bed, but Dugu Xihui grabbed her wrist: "Don't go... don't go with that person."

The bleeding, which had just stopped, soaked through the blue hem of her dress. Zi Jin slowly sat up, but Dugu Xihui's hand gripped her wrist tightly, his watery eyes overflowing with the grievance of being abandoned.

Zi Jin gave a bitter smile and shook her head. What kind of magic did Dugu Xihui possess that made her repeatedly cross the line and feel unable to bear it and pity him?

Have you thought it through...? Which is more important, me or the person you want to replace?

Dugu Xihui shuddered violently, the tears in his eyes vanishing completely. He slowly released his grip, closed his eyes, and leaned weakly against the couch.

A pang of sorrow gripped Zi Jin's heart. She forced a smile and said, "Seeing you looking so heartbroken, I'll come back to see you when I have time." After saying this, Zi Jin looked at Dugu Xi Hui's flushed face, and her audacity grew. She pinched Dugu Xi Hui's cheek hard and tugged at it forcefully.

Dugu Xihui stared wide-eyed in astonishment. Perhaps due to the intense pain, his fox-like eyes were filled with innocence and shimmered with tears.

A cough broke the awkward silence. Lou Shuo stood awkwardly outside the door, unsure whether to go in or back out.

As if struck by lightning, Zi Jin quickly withdrew her ruthless hand that had destroyed the flower, and glanced uneasily at Dugu Xihui, who had regained his senses.

Dugu Xihui's originally flushed cheeks were now completely red. His eyes held panic, unease, and a hint of disappointment, which finally morphed into anger. He glared at Lou Shuo and hissed, "What is it!"

“Um…they’ve arrived…waiting in the main hall. Master, is it…uh…” Lou Shuo secretly glanced up and noticed that Dugu Xihui’s face was getting darker and darker, so he didn’t dare to continue.

"You go first, I'll come down soon."

Lou Shuo breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left the room; his figure looked exactly like he was running away.

"Hahaha...hahaha..." Zi Jin burst into laughter without any regard for her image.

Dugu Xihui glared at Zi Jin resentfully, but her gaze looked more like that of a lover blaming each other.

"Hahaha... She's so embarrassed and angry... That expression is so cute... so cute..." Ignoring Dugu Xihui's angry glare, Zi Jin simply hugged her stomach and started rolling around.

Dugu Xihui was both ashamed and angry, and for a moment she did not know what to do. She suddenly got up, pulled Zi Jin who was laughing and lying to the side, and walked towards the door.

Zi Jin was held by Dugu Xihui's injured hand, so she dared not struggle and obediently followed behind Dugu Xihui.

The two walked downstairs slowly, one after the other, each lost in their own thoughts.

west Le, dressed in a sky-blue silk men's suit, leisurely fiddled with a large folding fan in her hand, reclining in a chair. Beside her sat a woman in a black gauze dress, her face veiled, only her pair of phoenix eyes, as black as midnight, were visible. Jin Yu stood behind the two with his head bowed.

The woman scrutinized Dugu Xihui slowly, and Zi Jin clearly felt that Dugu Xihui's whole body was stiff and his hands were trembling slightly. When the woman looked at Dugu Xihui's and Zi Jin's clasped hands, Dugu Xihui almost instantly released Zi Jin's hand.

Dugu Xihui stared blankly at the woman, standing stunned at the corner of the stairs, not daring to take another step forward, his whole body trembling violently, his lips moving slightly.

"Little mute, come here." west Le turned her face, her smile captivating.

Zi Jin took two steps timidly, but Lou Shuo's arm blocked her way.

"Dugu Xihui! What do you mean by this?" west Le said angrily.

"How would my master know whether that person is real or fake?" Lou Shuo replied before Dugu Xihui could recover from his daze.

Xi Le swiftly opened the enormous folding fan, obscuring half her face as she smiled slightly: "Na Minglou, who encompasses heaven and earth, sun and moon, and all human affairs, how could he not know whether she is true or false? Could it be... that you intend to go back on your word?!" west Le abruptly closed the fan, narrowing her eyes and speaking fiercely.

Zi Jin stared blankly at the woman: it wasn't Yu Luo. From her figure and attire to her exposed eyes, the woman bore no resemblance to Yu Luo whatsoever.

"Whether it's true or not, my master will have to see for himself," Lou Shuo replied coldly.

Dugu Xihui walked forward absentmindedly, but Zi Jin grabbed her arm. Dugu Xihui frowned, turned to look at Zi Jin, and a hint of impatience flashed in her eyes.

Zi Jin looked at Dugu Xi Hui and mouthed: Don't go.

Dugu Xihui frowned again, his handsome brows furrowing in frustration as he shook off Zi Jin's tightly held hand.

From a distance, west Le saw Zi Jin grab Dugu Xi Hui, and her peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly into slits. When she saw Dugu Xi Hui shake her off, a pleased smile appeared on her lips.

Dugu Xihui, as if in a daze, walked step by step toward the woman. His amber eyes, like a pool of clear water, rippled with layers of light, and ripples of joy gently swayed. A dazed smile appeared on his lips, and his dimples carried endless sweetness.

Zi Jin seemed frozen in place by such joy, an uncontrollable bitterness welling up in her heart.

When Dugu Xihui was only three steps away from the woman, west Le suddenly attacked from behind. She raised her hand and struck the woman's back, but the woman was completely unaware.

In an instant, Dugu Xihui's expression changed drastically. Without thinking, he reached out and pulled the woman into his arms, blocking Xi Le's palm strike with all its power. Even though Dugu Xihui acted so quickly, the woman was still struck by the force of west Le's palm and instantly fainted.

With a single palm strike, an unusual fragrance of peach blossoms filled the hall, and peach blossom powder flew everywhere.

With a flick of his folding fan, west Le drew most of the pollen away from the woman and Dugu Xi Hui.

Lou Shuo grabbed Zi Jin's shoulder hard, and Zi Jin screamed in pain.

west Le immediately withdrew all his moves, took a few steps back, gently fanned himself with his folding fan, and laughed, "It was just a game, why get angry?"

"I knew you would use poison, but unfortunately, my Naminglou has plenty of poison-avoiding beads." Dugu Xihui shielded the unconscious woman beneath him and smiled slightly.

"Hehe, poison... without the little mute, what am I supposed to use to poison her? You're overthinking it, OP." west Le gracefully sat down in the chair next to him and said leisurely.

"Now that both of them are in my hands, can you still be so fearless?" Dugu Xihui gently patted the pollen off the woman's hair in his arms, his pupils contracting in waves.

"What good are they in your hands? Without my special antidote, she still won't survive."