Just then, a loud shout came from the direction of the pharmacy. Everyone was startled and wondered what had happened in the pharmacy when they saw Hua Wuduo running over, covering his face. He rushed into a room like a madman, and then the door was tightly closed. Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, and then Gongzi Zheng and Gongzi Kuang, looking pale, said at the same time, "That's my room."
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly abandoned the two and rushed back into their rooms, locking their doors tightly. This left Prince Zheng and Prince Kuang outside, bewildered and at a loss.
From then on, at night, the Nanshu Academy, which had always left its doors unlocked, began to close all the doors tightly when it was time to go to bed.
×××××××××××××××××××××
That night, before dawn, Hua Wuduo finally calmed down and returned to normal. Only then did she realize that she had entered the wrong room in her panic. Seeing that it was about to dawn, she had to go back to her room to put on her mask, so she opened the door, intending to go back to her room to put on the mask while it was still dark.
The night before dawn is the darkest, but fortunately, Hua Wuduo possesses martial arts skills that allow him to see more clearly than ordinary people.
The door had already been smashed and was lying on the ground. She carefully stepped over it and returned to the room smoothly. However, she immediately found that there were people sleeping on her bed and on Gongzi Yi's bed. She went over to take a look and saw that Gongzi Zheng was sleeping on her bed. Gongzi Zheng was, after all, a man, and it made her feel a little embarrassed that he was sleeping on her bed. In addition, she suddenly thought of Gongzi Xiu's male body, and her heart couldn't help but race. She didn't even notice that Gongzi Zheng's breathing was not stable at the moment.
Hua Wuduo thought to herself that since she had mistakenly entered Gongzi Zheng's room first, he must have come to her room to rest because he had nowhere else to sleep. She then decided to quietly take the mask and leave. Since the mask was under the pillow, she tiptoed closer to Gongzi Zheng and subconsciously held her breath, reaching past him to grope under the pillow.
That night, because the door couldn't be closed, both Gongzi Zheng and Gongzi Kuang were preoccupied and couldn't sleep. They intended to lie there until dawn, but unexpectedly, in the darkness before sunrise, when all was quiet, they suddenly felt someone enter the room. The two dared not move, squinting at the person who entered. From the person's posture and figure, they recognized him immediately as Hua Wuduo. They broke out in a cold sweat, but dared not make a sound, for fear of waking the sleepwalking Hua Wuduo and suffering the same fate as Gongzi Yi. They closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep, but their breathing was already unsteady. At this moment, they saw Hua Wuduo approach Gongzi Zheng and reach out his hands towards Gongzi Zheng's neck. Gongzi Zheng immediately felt a chill on his neck, but dared not move, and could only wait and see.
Hua Wuduo finally found the mask and held it in his hand.
Gongzi Zheng only felt Hua Wuduo take something from under his pillow, something soft like a piece of cloth. He was too nervous to see clearly. Then he saw Hua Wuduo stand up and seem to walk towards Gongzi Kuang's bedside again.
Actually, Hua Wuduo was just curious and wanted to see if the person sleeping on Gongzi Yi's bed was the one who had already woken up.
Hua Wuduo quietly walked towards Gongzi Kuang. When they were still some distance apart, Gongzi Kuang sat up from the bed with extremely slow movements. Hua Wuduo was startled and was about to speak when he noticed that Gongzi Zheng behind him also slowly sat up from the bed. Then, because it was too dark to see clearly, the two of them stretched out their arms and groped forward, moving slowly and crouching low, walking very lightly towards the door.
Hua Wuduo was puzzled. What were these two doing? Why were they walking so strangely? Hua Wuduo watched them slowly move towards the door like zombies. Just as he was about to ask, "What are you doing?", he heard someone shout, "Run!"
This startled Hua Wuduo, who swallowed back the words that were already on the tip of his tongue. At that moment, he saw Gongzi Zheng and Gongzi Kuang rushing out of the door. There were two gusts of wind, followed by the heavy sound of the door closing, and then silence.
Hua Wuduo was completely stunned from beginning to end, utterly bewildered. Seeing a bright line appear on the horizon, realizing dawn was approaching, he knew he needed to put on his mask quickly, or his identity would be exposed. Without further thought, he immediately climbed into bed, drew the curtains, removed the medicinal mud from his face, and put on the mask.
Hua Wuduo arrived at the pharmacy early in the morning. Gongzi Yi had already woken up, and his originally pale complexion had recovered considerably. However, upon seeing her, he turned around and left without saying a word.
Hua Wuduo wanted to chase after him, but Gongzi Qi stopped her and asked, "What exactly happened last night?"
Hua Wuduo, feeling embarrassed, told Gongzi Qi what had happened the night before. Upon hearing this, Gongzi Qi laughed and said, "So that's how it is."
Hua Wuduo was puzzled by what he heard. Gongzi Qi said, "Yesterday you mistakenly gave Yi too much internal energy, which caused his blood and qi to be out of balance and his face to turn blue. It was not a big problem, but he just needed to be treated for a longer time than others. However, coincidentally, Yi's acupoints were hit by your hard kick last night, which made his originally blocked true qi flow smoothly. So now, Yi is probably recovering even faster than Xiu."
Hua Wuduo was delighted upon hearing this and said, "So, Yi has actually turned misfortune into blessing."
Gongzi Qi nodded and said, "Yes, but don't be too happy yet."
"What's wrong? Are there any aftereffects?" Hua Wuduo asked worriedly.
Gongzi Qi smiled and said, "Yizeng woke up for a while last night. Do you know what he said?"
"What?" Hua Wuduo asked.
Gongzi Qi said, "Yi suddenly woke up last night, seemingly not fully conscious. When I went to check on him, he suddenly grabbed my collar and said to me through gritted teeth..."
"What did you say?" Hua Wuduo asked urgently.
Gongzi Qi's gaze shifted, and he said, "He said, 'Hua Wuduo, I will never forgive you.'"
Hua Wuduo's mood sank immediately. Thinking of how Gongzi Yi had left without even glancing at her, she couldn't help but mutter to herself sadly, "I really hurt him badly."
Gongzi Qi chuckled softly, then suddenly said, "Wudu, your two-month agreement with Yi is almost up. Are you really planning to leave Yi?"
Hua Wuduo nodded sadly, still harboring resentment over Gongzi Yi's words, "I will never forgive you." But then she heard Gongzi Qi say, "Why not consider staying?"
Hua Wuduo shook his head.
"Can you tell me why?" Gongzi Qi asked.
Hua Wuduo shook his head again and sighed, "I'm afraid even if I wanted to stay, Yi wouldn't care."
Gongzi Qi smiled softly, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "Wuduo, who exactly are you?"
Hua Wuduo was taken aback. Gongzi Yi had asked her the same question before, but she couldn't answer it, nor could she. Now that Gongzi Qi had asked her again, although she didn't want to deceive him, she had her own unavoidable difficulties. So she could only smile bitterly and say, "I am who I am, who else could I be?"
Gongzi Qi said, "If you don't want to say, I won't ask any more questions. But friends should treat each other with honesty."
Hua Wuduo was taken aback. She knew that Gongzi Qi was just trying to provoke her, but because she was feeling irritable at the moment, she was still a little bothered by Gongzi Qi's words. So she replied seriously, "Friends should respect and trust each other, not doubt and test each other. If a friend has an unavoidable hardship, as a friend, you should understand and be tolerant."
Gongzi Qi was taken aback upon hearing this, only to see that Hua Wuduo had already gotten up and left.
Birds perched on the eaves in the early morning, singing joyfully in the warm morning sunlight. Beautiful pale gold light spilled into the courtyard. He stood inside the house, looking through the open door at her departing figure. A sly glint flashed in his eyes as he suddenly raised his voice and asked, "Is wearing a mask also a sign of trust in your friends?"
Upon hearing this, Hua Wuduo stumbled, frozen in the courtyard, and quickly disappeared around the corner. Before she had gone far, she vaguely heard Gongzi Qi sigh, "I knew I was right."
Hua Wuduo immediately realized she had been tricked. Gongzi Qi had only suspected she was wearing a mask and had merely been testing her, but she had revealed her fear. Gongzi Qi was now convinced she was wearing a mask. What should she do?
Hua Wuduo's true face
Hua Wu pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned and went back to her room.
After everyone had breakfast, since Gongzi Qi's method of detoxification had been successful, from today onwards, everyone else also began to line up again for detoxification.
Because there were too many people, Hua Wuduo consumed too much internal energy, so he could only cure the poison of four people in one day. Gongzi Qi suggested that he cure the poison first, and that he could help Hua Wuduo after he recovered. Therefore, Gongzi Qi made an exception and cured the poison first.
When Gongzi Xiu found out, he offered to help Hua Wuduo detoxify everyone after his internal energy was fully restored. However, Gongzi Yi and Xiao Xi were nowhere to be seen all day, and no one knew where they had gone.
As the sun set, Hua Wuduo searched everywhere for Gongzi Yi. Although his martial arts had recovered somewhat and he had Xiao Xi by his side, she was, after all, his personal bodyguard. Moreover, she still felt somewhat guilty towards Gongzi Yi.
Hua Wuduo searched almost the entire Qifeng Mountain before finally finding Gongzi Yi in a valley.
The valley was covered with green grass and wildflowers. He was lying on the grass, legs crossed, a wildflower stem in his mouth, watching the sun, which was about to set, big and cute like a pumpkin pancake, lost in thought. Du Xiaoxi, who should have been with him, was nowhere to be found.
Hua Wuduo pushed off with her feet and landed in the valley. She walked up to Gongzi Yi, looked down at him, and he opened his eyes, glanced at her, and then closed them again.
Hua Wuduo squatted down and said, "Yi, I'm sorry about last night, I misunderstood you..."
Gongzi Yi suddenly opened his eyes and stared at her. The two words she was about to say, "It's a ghost," were swallowed back under his gaze.
Hua Wuduo cleared his throat and said ingratiatingly, "Tell me, what will it take for you to forgive me?"
Gongzi Yi snorted upon hearing this, and without putting on airs, said, "When you signed the life-and-death contract, the first clause was: within two months, if I live, you live; if I die, you die." Hua Wuduo nodded upon hearing this, and then heard Gongzi Yi say, "The second clause is: within two months, if you beat me, your entire monthly salary will be deducted, and you will be required to serve as a bodyguard for an additional two months."
Upon hearing this, Hua Wuduo quickly shook his head and said, "At that time, there was no second clause in the life-and-death contract, only..."
Before Hua Wuduo could finish speaking, Gongzi Yi interrupted him: "I sent Du Xiaoxi back to the manor today to add this clause to the life-and-death contract! Don't forget, you put your fingerprint on the life-and-death contract!?" Gongzi Yi's smile was incredibly sinister at this moment.
Hua Wuduo was startled upon hearing this, and suddenly remembered something. When she signed the life-and-death contract, she always felt that something was wrong. Now she realized that it was because the contract was too big, had too many blank spaces, and both copies were in his hands. Good heavens...
"You're breaking your promise! There's no such clause on the contract I signed with my fingerprint!" Hua Wuduo jumped up and shouted.
Gongzi Yi snorted, "I don't know who channeled their inner energy to circulate it twice, I don't know who kicked me out of my room in the middle of the night, and I don't know who just came to me asking me to forgive them! Saying I'm untrustworthy? It's all in black and white, someone even put their fingerprint on it!"
Hua Wuduo was completely speechless. Nothing else was wrong, except…
Hua Wuduo quietly squatted down again and said ingratiatingly, "Yi, let's make a deal, let's continue to pay the monthly allowance as usual."
"snort."
"half?"
"snort."
"How about I do better in the next two months, and you give me the money back then, okay?"
Gongzi Yi seemed to ponder for a while before saying, "Fine, I'm not an unreasonable person. Let's do it this way. If you perform well in the next two months, I'll give you all the back pay."
"Mm." Hua Wuduo nodded repeatedly.
Gongzi Yi said, "Lie down and talk. It's uncomfortable for me to look down at you like that."
"Okay." Hua Wuduo followed suit, lying down beside him, arms behind his head, legs crossed, watching the setting sun. Little did he see the smug look on Gongzi Yi's face, a look of triumph at his successful scheme.
Gongzi Yi's lips curled slightly; he was in a good mood. Sometimes, people shouldn't be pushed too hard, otherwise it will backfire, especially with a petty and greedy woman like Hua Wuduo. You have to push her just right; that way, even if it's just for the money, she'll agree to stay. Although she's not particularly beautiful, how boring life would be without her...
Just as he was secretly feeling smug, he heard Hua Wuduo ask, "Yi, where did I kick you last night? Does it still hurt?"
Upon hearing this, Gongzi Yi looked pale and did not reply.
Hua Wuduo then asked, "Yi, what were you doing by my bedside last night?"
Gongzi Yi remained silent with his eyes closed.
Hua Wuduo then stopped asking questions.
After a long while, the sun had set, the sky had darkened, and the valley was gradually getting cooler. Hua Wuduo sat up and said, "Let's go back."
Gongzi Yi nodded, stood up, and picked up the brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and two paintings beside him.
Upon seeing this, Hua Wuduo said, "So you've been hiding here drawing. Can I see what you're drawing?"
Gongzi Yi glanced at her and laughed, "Alright, take it, it's all yours."
Hua Wuduo smiled and took it, unfolding it to read.
The first painting depicted this valley, with lush grass and wildflowers swaying in the breeze, peaceful and serene. Hua Wuduo thought Gongzi Yi had painted it quite well. She then unfolded the second painting, but upon seeing it, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the painting, there were two people; one was choking the other, whose face was pale, and whose hands were flailing wildly in the air, as if struggling in death… Without a doubt, the one choking was Gongzi Yi, and the one being choked was herself. Hua Wuduo sighed. It seemed that Yi truly resented her for that kick last night.
Upon seeing her appearance, Gongzi Yi suddenly burst into laughter, flicked his sleeve, and strode ahead.
Hua Wuduo was slightly taken aback when she heard his laughter, then laughed along. She suddenly understood that he didn't truly resent her. Immediately, she put both paintings into her bosom.
Hua Wuduo caught up with Gongzi Yi and saw his smiling face. Suddenly, she felt much better. Seeing that they still had to climb a mountain on the way back, she said generously, "Your injury is not fully healed yet, so you shouldn't overexert yourself. I'll carry you back."
Gongzi Yi raised an eyebrow, a warm smile flashing in his eyes, and replied, "Okay."
This was the first time that Hua Wuduo willingly carried Gongzi Yi on his back.
On the way back, Gongzi Yi rested his head on her shoulder, his breath brushing against her ear. Gongzi Yi suddenly said, "Wudu, you really are wearing a mask."
Hua Wuduo paused, stopped in his tracks, and nodded, saying, "Yes, alas, I had no choice."
Not long after, Gongzi Yi's disappointed and slightly disgusted voice rang out from the valley: "How can a woman like you look like this?"
Hua Wuduo said with great grievance, "I didn't want to either, but I'm afraid you have to blame my parents..."
With nothing to do that evening, everyone gathered in the courtyard. Suddenly, someone asked, "Wuduo, what was that stuck to your face last night?"
Hua Wuduo replied, "It's a medicinal mud for skin care."
Someone said, "What would a man like you do with a skin-care mud mask?"
Hua Wuduo said embarrassedly, "To tell you the truth, I... I usually wear a mask."
What? Everyone was astonished upon hearing this.
Apart from Gongzi Qi and Gongzi Yi, even Gongzi Xiu, who was wiping his sword, looked up upon hearing this.