Chapter 49: The Bird’s Nest Syndrome

“Tingzhou?” she called out tentatively.

No response.

“He Tingzhou?”

He must have fainted from the fever, unable to be woken up. Shuangxu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn’t push him away.

He Tingzhou was much taller than her, and this leaning position was quite uncomfortable for him.

Out of consideration for the bamboo leaf green snake, she carefully propped herself up, straightening her back so he could lean comfortably.

She didn’t know how long He Tingzhou had been in the rain, but his skin was alarmingly hot, and his breath was scalding.

His hot and heavy breath fell directly on her neck, quickly turning her porcelain-white skin red.

A subtle shiver spread from that spot, like vines crawling across her limbs. She no longer felt cold, she was about to combust.

Her body stiffened like a straight iron rod, her fingertips tightly gripping the fabric of her knees, and her toes curled into the ground.

He Tingzhou’s weight was simply too much for Shuangxu’s small frame. Her left shoulder ached terribly, and he slept soundly, oblivious.

In this desolate wilderness, with the torrential rain, there were neither doctors nor medicine. It was a real hassle. The rain didn’t know when it would stop, and letting him burn like this wasn’t a solution.

He was the only son of Commander He. What if his brain got burned?

It was already bad, with his over-the-top combat abilities. Add a touch of stupidity, and he’d be a real menace.

Shuangxu scanned her surroundings, her gaze falling on the stream.

After a moment, she cupped He Tingzhou’s head and chin with her palm, carefully lifting his heavy head.

The sharp lines of his bones pressed against her palm. Her fingers accidentally touched his burning lips, and she withdrew them with a jolt as if she had been electrocuted.

She placed He Tingzhou against the rock wall and carefully slipped out of his clothes. She unbuttoned her jacket and quietly removed the undershirt beneath it.

When she turned back after putting on her clothes, she realized that He Tingzhou had opened his eyes at some point.

He had one leg bent, his wrist resting on his knee, leaning back against the wall, his dark eyes silently fixed on her.

“When did you wake up?”

“When you took off the second layer.” He Tingzhou’s voice was lazy, probably due to the fever. The warm, slightly hoarse, gravelly sound scraped against Shuangxu’s ears, making her cheeks flush instantly.

She bit her lip.

This guy, he didn’t know anything about avoiding things, he just stared at her openly.

If he wasn’t a patient, she would have punched him.

Of course, she couldn’t beat him.

For a moment, she didn’t want to deal with him anymore. She glared at him angrily, sulking for a few seconds before turning to the water’s edge, wetting her undershirt and wringing it out.

She held her small face taut, her lips pursed, and returned to kneel beside He Tingzhou, pressing the damp fabric against his forehead to bring down the fever.

Thankfully, the cave was very dark, and the light of the flashlight was dim, allowing Shuangxu to maintain her composure and remain calm.

“You have a very high fever,” she explained. “I don’t know when the rain will stop, so we’ll have to make do for now.”

The cotton fabric, washed with the water from the mountain stream, carried a hint of her faint fragrance, a cool touch with a subtle thread of warmth.

It was hard to describe the scent accurately, like a gentle woodsy rose blend, with the lightness of white tea, somewhere between pure and warm, making one want to bury their face and inhale deeply.

He Tingzhou swallowed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes in the dim yellow light of the flashlight.

Since she couldn’t see his eyes, Shuangxu felt more at ease.

After a while, when the undershirt was warmed by his body temperature, she took it away and went to wash it again.

Even though it was summer, the mountain stream was still very cold, and her hands felt numb after being submerged for a while.

She repeated this process of washing and cooling him down several times, sitting beside him and watching over him. She was so sleepy that her head was drooping.

Suddenly, she sensed movement beside her. She looked over in a daze and saw that He Tingzhou’s face was exceptionally pale.

His forehead was covered in sweat, his brow furrowed into a knot, and he was making faint groans in his sleep. His entire body seemed to be in a state of high tension and unease in his sleep.

Like a trapped beast struggling, the man who was usually so domineering and arrogant now displayed a contradictory fragility.

Shuangxu immediately woke up. Initially, she thought it was the fever, and reached out to touch his forehead to check his temperature.

The moment her hand touched his skin, He Tingzhou reacted instinctively, suddenly raising his hand and grabbing her wrist.

Shuangxu’s wrist nearly snapped under his grip. She cried out in pain, and He Tingzhou opened his eyes.

Those black eyes were sharp as blades, deep and dark like ink that wouldn’t dissolve.

He was still panting slightly. When he saw that Shuangxu’s face had turned white with pain, he slowly relaxed his grip after a few seconds.

“Sorry,” his voice was hoarse and dry, and his fingertips rubbed her wrist comfortingly.

Shuangxu pulled her hand back. The initial shock and the tears that were about to well up from the pain were replaced by surprise when she heard those two words.

He Tingzhou actually apologized.

It was as rare as a dog suddenly meowing.

“You were having a nightmare,” He Tingzhou explained.

Shuangxu rubbed her wrist and said, “People like you can have nightmares?”

“I’m not a god, of course I can have nightmares.”

Shuangxu said, “You’re definitely not a god, you’re more like a demon.”

He Tingzhou glanced at her, his body now relaxed, his arm resting on his knee as he leaned back. “Am I that scary?”

“Don’t you know how bad your reputation is outside? They say you almost killed someone.”

Whether the rumors were true or not, no one really cared. Gossip mongers just liked to spread sensational stories.

Shuangxu paused and said, “In a way, we’re both in the same boat.”

Both had a bad reputation in the mouths of others.

He Tingzhou, however, lazily said, “My bad reputation is because they love–>>

“You’re guilty of meddling and stirring up trouble.”

Shuangxu: “…”

“What crime have I committed?” Shuangxu found herself surprisingly calm. She wasn’t angry at his words.

“My mom abandoned me, my dad didn’t want me either. Others treated me like trash and only my brother took me in and loved me like a treasure. Is it weird that I like him?”

“That’s not liking, it’s imprinting.” He looked at her with a condescending smile. “Little princess, you don’t even understand what love between a man and a woman is.”

Shuangxu felt a little unhappy, but she couldn’t say why. She just felt like he was denying her feelings for Shen Yu.

“You don’t understand.” She said, “You’re not a good man.”

He scoffed: “How am I not a good man? When you wanted to sleep with me, wasn’t I virtuous and refused to give in?”

“…”

Shuangxu didn’t want to talk to him anymore. She turned her face away and stopped speaking.

She kept thinking about the word “imprinting” in her head and fell asleep without realizing it.

She didn’t know how long she slept, but she vaguely heard a commotion and someone calling her name.

Yue Zi Feng ran towards the cave and looked inside, stunned.

The two who had been missing for a whole night were leaning against the wall, supporting each other. Shuangxu was resting her head on He Ting Zhou’s lap, and the prince, who never showed any tenderness, was patiently acting as a human cushion for her.

He Ting Zhou was awake and looked indifferent when he saw him. “You’re here.”

“My God, I finally found you.” Yue Zi Feng’s voice was hoarse. He stuck his head out of the cave and shouted to the outside: “They’re here! They’re here!”

Shuangxu was woken up and woke up with a sleepy look, realizing that the light in the cave was much brighter.

It was dawn, and the rain outside seemed to have stopped.

When she opened her eyes and saw He Ting Zhou’s face above her, she was stunned and didn’t react.

He Ting Zhou looked down at her: “Comfortable?”

She quickly sat up after realizing she was lying on his lap.

Strange, she was clearly sitting up when she fell asleep last night.

Footsteps approached the cave, and Shen Yu strode in. His tense and serious expression softened when he saw her.