L'hibiscus comme peinture - Chapitre 33
"Jun, I can hear you! It's so loud, it's deafening!" Jin Xuan, having regained his senses, picked at his ears and looked at Ao Jun with a serious, mournful expression. He was simply trying to control his desires and prevent himself from having wild thoughts.
Jin Xuan's playful expressions and actions made Ao Jun chuckle. His tense heart relaxed instantly, and he joked, "Anyway, Your Highness, your hearing has never been good, it's almost the same as being deaf, it can't get any worse."
"Oh, really? My ears, which are recognized throughout the world as the most sensitive, have become deaf to you?" Jin Xuan crossed his arms again, put on a wicked smile, and looked completely deflated.
"That's not entirely true..." Ao Jun crossed one arm over his chest and rubbed his chin with the other, looking the 'flat-chested' man up and down as if he were assessing goods.
"Hmm, you're smart to know what's good for you." Hearing Ao Jun's words, Jin Xuan nodded in satisfaction, as if he were forcing an underage girl.
"Your Highness, what's the rush! I haven't finished yet! With your ears that are worse than a deaf person's, you actually claim to have the most sensitive ears in the world? Don't make me laugh, haha..." Ao Jun added bluntly. She even gave a token laugh, as if to say, 'You narcissist, don't make me laugh.' To be honest, Ao Jun had always had a high talent for acting.
"How dare you speak to me like that!" Jin Xuan, who had been joking around, suddenly turned serious and said coldly.
"Why wouldn't I dare? What I said is the truth." Ao Jun immediately put away his smile and said coldly.
"Do you know that with just these words, I could kill you?" His deep eyes narrowed slightly, his sensual lips pressed tightly together, and his gaze shone with a sharp, unassailable light. Though his words were spoken softly, they deeply shook the other's heart, causing the other to be irresistibly startled.
But one person was an exception. Ao Jun completely ignored Jin Xuan's intimidating demeanor, instantly radiating an icy aura that kept everyone at arm's length. His words were even colder: "Does Your Highness think you can kill me in your current state?"
"Then do you want to give it a try?" Jinxuan asked coldly, his expression truly frightening.
“Then come on!” Ao Jun retorted fearlessly, glancing sideways at Jin Xuan with an air of ‘what can you do to me?’
"Fine, you said it yourself, don't blame me for being ruthless, prepare to die!" Jin Xuan shouted, attacking Ao Jun with lightning speed, showing no signs of being ill.
"Haha...ha...you, you cheated...ha...ha!" Ao Jun suddenly rolled on the bed, clutching her stomach, laughing intermittently. Ouyang Jinxuan was actually tickling her, and she was most afraid of being tickled.
Jinxuan's outstretched hand didn't strike Aojun's neck, but rather her stomach, tickling her relentlessly.
"Haha... Let's see if you still dare to be so arrogant and disrespectful to me." Seeing Ao Jun laughing so hard she fell over, Jin Xuan simply knelt down and almost pressed himself against her to tickle her. While tickling her, he looked down at Ao Jun, who was laughing so hard she was about to pass out, with the air of a victor.
"You...you...ha...you lied to me...ha, you...can move...haha...then...don't blame...blame me, haha..." Ao Jun said haltingly. Seeing Jin Xuan so energetic, not at all like someone who was weak from illness, could it be that he was just playing with her? Fine! Then she didn't need to worry about him anymore, take this!
Taking advantage of the opening, Ao Jun also reached out and attacked Jin Xuan. After all, he had just been sick and was still quite weak. With this scratch, Jin Xuan laughed and fell down.
"Haha...you...you treat patients like this...hahaha..." Jin Xuan's hearty laughter came out intermittently, it turned out that being ticklish was one of his weaknesses.
"It was...it was you who...ha...you started it...haha...I was just...ha...defending myself...hahaha..." She was almost out of breath.
"Hahaha..." He was almost out of breath too.
After joking around for a while, the two were finally exhausted and breathless. They collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily. They turned their heads at the same time, looked at each other, and then, in perfect unison, laughed while panting.
As he laughed, Jinxuan suddenly froze. The reason was simple: this playful interaction had made Aojun's already stunning beauty even more radiant, like a peach blossom, slightly flushed and glowing with captivating light—truly a beauty that eclipsed the very heavens and earth. And from the side, why did he feel she looked so much like Yuqing, even though they weren't related?
"It really looks like Yuqing..." Jinxuan murmured to himself, his voice so soft that he could barely hear it.
Ao Jun, with her exceptional hearing and profound inner strength, heard it clearly. Her heart skipped a beat, a bitter feeling slowly rising within her. The smile on her face quickly vanished, replaced by genuine coldness: he truly mistook her for Xue. That kiss just now, he actually wanted to kiss Xue, not her disguised as a man. She had always known that she resembled Xue somewhat, especially in profile, but she had never cared. But now she minded. Why, why make her a substitute for Xue? Did his heart truly belong only to Xue? Even if Xue ultimately chose not to choose him, could he not forget her? Could his heart no longer hold anyone else, no longer hold her?
Ah! What is she thinking?! Does he only have room for Xue and no room for anyone else in his heart? What does it matter to her? And whether he has feelings for her or not, so what? Anyway, she only sees him as a friend, and there's no way they could take things any further (right? I'm doubting it...). Why think about these things? But she still couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness and a little pain, a heartache.
"Jun, Jun..." Jin Xuan called out several times before pulling the other person back from his thoughts.
"What's wrong?" A calm, unwavering voice slowly emerged. By this time, Ao Jun had adjusted her mood and returned to her wise and aloof image as the 'Number One Strategist in the World'.
"It's nothing. I just called you because you didn't react to what I said earlier," Jin Xuan said in a calm voice. Their tone was as if they were discussing matters with the strategist, as if the earlier banter had never happened. And they were merely a prince and his strategist, at most acquaintances with a tacit understanding.
"What did you say?" Ao Jun asked calmly as he sat up, straightening his slightly disheveled clothes.
"During the two days I was unconscious, in the army..." Jinxuan slowly sat up and asked.
"Don't worry! Everything is fine in the army. With Ziqi and General Zhao here, you don't need to worry." Seeing that Jinxuan was about to speak, as if knowing what he was going to say, Aojun continued, "As for the Blood Soul Heavenly Stem Eight Trigrams Formation, we still have no clue about it for the time being. But don't worry, I will go to Tianri Slope tomorrow to take a look. No matter what, we will not let Shengchi succeed."
Although she had been staying in Jinxuan's tent for the past two days, she had also carried the "Wind and Flame Travelogue" and the "Heavenly Kun Secret Manual" with her, hoping to find a way to break the curse. However, after studying them for a long time, she still came up with nothing. It seemed that she still needed to conduct an on-site investigation to "know herself and know her enemy." However, she had not gone because she was worried about Jinxuan, who was in a coma. Now that he had woken up, she should go do what she needed to do.
Upon hearing Ao Jun's words, Jin Xuan opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he only managed to say, "Be careful."
She nodded and that was the end of it.
The two fell into a long silence before Ao Jun finally spoke, "Since you're alright now, I'll head back first."
Seeing Jinxuan nod, Aojun stood up and walked out of the tent without looking back.
As the white figure completely disappeared into the darkness, Jin Xuan's deep, calm eyes were immediately filled with deep affection, struggle, and confusion… Had he truly fallen in love with this man, or was it because she bore the shadow of the woman he deeply loved, causing him to be momentarily confused, while he still truly loved Yu Qing as a woman? Whether he truly loved the man as a person, or treated her as a shadow, it was painful for both of them, and he didn't want her to suffer. All he could do was… try to avoid being alone with her, hoping that this might suppress his feelings. But could he really do that?
The Strategist Princess, Chapter Thirty-Five: Rescuing the Beauty
Several days later, that proud and aloof figure reappeared on Tianri Slope, but her expression was completely different. Her beautiful face was tense and serious, her brows furrowed like mountains, and her magnetic black eyes stared unblinkingly at the eerie and evil aura surrounding the battlefield below, where the two sides had fought fiercely a few days ago, and where the Blood Soul Heavenly Stem Eight Trigrams Formation had been activated.
But the terrifying aura within that formation was hundreds of times stronger than before. The boundless expanse was devoid of human presence—no, perhaps it should be said that there was absolutely no living thing. Anything with life, even as small as an ant, could not escape its fate. It was even more terrifying than the eighteen levels of hell. Compared to this, the Heavenly Gate Formation seen on television was nothing but a drop in the ocean.
In just a few days, its power had increased so much. If it weren't for the Earthly Branches Formation temporarily holding it off, Long Xuan's 100,000-strong army would probably be reduced to ashes by now, without even needing to wait for the Night of the Underworld. It seems that the Blood Soul Heavenly Stems Eight Trigrams Formation is even more terrifying and powerful than she imagined. If it were truly combined into one, it would probably be even more terrifying than she had previously described.
But she really had no other choice now. Was she really just going to watch helplessly as the Dragon Dynasty was destroyed by this terrifying formation, watch helplessly as everyone died in this formation, including Xue and Jinxuan, and watch helplessly as Sheng Chi destroyed the entire continent?
No, she wouldn't let that happen. Although she didn't consider herself a savior, she couldn't bear to watch it all unfold. If necessary, even if it meant mutual destruction, she wouldn't let the formation truly take shape, and she wouldn't allow Sheng Chi to harm Xue or Jin Xuan in the slightest. Ao Jun coldly observed the formation before her and silently made her decision.
Saint Chi, Saint Chi, you really are a devil, no, more terrifying than a devil. Compared to him, Ao Jun always felt that Yelü Ying, who always had an evil look on his face, was simply an angel. She didn't understand why this thought suddenly popped into her head, but she did think it was true.
Ao Jun took one last look at Qianlipo, which could no longer be called a place in the human world, and resolutely turned away, heading in a different direction from Longxuan's military camp.
She didn't want to go back to the military camp right now. She wanted to wander around. She was afraid, afraid of seeing Jinxuan, afraid of facing Jinxuan, afraid of the two of them being speechless... In short, just thinking about Jinxuan made her head turn to mush. She wanted to calm down first and see Jinxuan after she sorted out these unfamiliar emotions.
"Help me~!......" Suddenly, a fragile and charming cry for help came from over the loudspeaker.