Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Late at night, when all was still, a man and a woman sat by the bed, their eyes locked-yet there wasn’t the slightest hint of ambiguity in the air.

Xie Qiyan let out a long, slow breath. With one arm braced against his raised knee, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Xia Wanzhi, you really are my little ancestor.”

She had scared him so badly he’d nearly gone to meet his great-grandfather.

Xia Wanzhi wore an utterly innocent expression as she stared straight into his eyes. “Xie Qiyan, you look really good without glasses.”

Xie Qiyan’s breath caught.

“Your eyes are really beautiful.” For once, Xia Wanzhi had a conscience and wasn’t stingy with her praise.

In all his twenty-six years, this was the first time Xie Qiyan’s ears had warmed because someone complimented him.

Taking a deep breath, Xie Qiyan reached out and covered her eyes, blocking that unreserved stare of hers. “Xia Wanzhi, you really did give me one hell of a surprise.”

Sneaking into his room in the middle of the night to compliment his eyes.

That wasn’t praise.

That was harassment.

Xia Wanzhi’s lashes trembled, fluttering against his palm. The ticklish sensation spread upward, turning into an invisible hook that made his breathing tighten.

“You don’t seem to like this surprise very much.” Xia Wanzhi swatted his hand away, her eyes seeing the light again as she revealed a guilty expression. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Xie Qiyan threw back the covers and, while he was at it, picked Changsheng up from his pillow and tossed him down. “Can’t sleep?”

He had just woken up, so his voice was slightly hoarse, and the sleepiness in his eyes had yet to fade. It made him seem completely different from his usual self.

Xia Wanzhi blinked and reined in her involuntary gaze. “Mm. Every time I close my eyes, my head is full of horror movies.”

A Dream Painter’s imagination was no small thing. She hadn’t merely been frightened by that doll; she’d managed to conjure up an entire large-scale doll horror movie in her own mind.

Xia Wanzhi sighed, thinking she could become a screenwriter at this rate.

“What are you doing?” Seeing Xie Qiyan bundle up the quilt, open the bedroom door, and walk out, Xia Wanzhi immediately stood and hurried after him. After a few steps, she realized Changsheng hadn’t followed, so she quickly turned back, scooped him up, and trailed behind Xie Qiyan with him in her arms.

Xie Qiyan went to the guest bedroom and placed the quilt on Xia Wanzhi’s bed. Then he went back, took another quilt from the walk-in closet, and spread it out on the floor.

Wherever he took a step, Xia Wanzhi followed.

Xie Qiyan looked at the woman and cat who had nearly crashed into him and let out an exasperated laugh. “I’m right here. No ghosts would dare come looking for you.”

Xia Wanzhi pressed her lips together slightly.

True.

All ghosts were under the King of Hell’s jurisdiction.

Xie Qiyan was the reincarnation of the King of Hell. He could intimidate ghosts.

But she was still scared.

Xia Wanzhi shivered uselessly and still stuck close to Xie Qiyan.

“It’s almost two. Toss Changsheng back in there and get into bed.” Xie Qiyan took Changsheng from her arms and threw him back into the cat room.

Xia Wanzhi tugged at his arm. “Are you sleeping with me?”

Xie Qiyan was almost led astray by the ambiguity in that sentence. “…”

But since he’d already made up the floor bed and they were in the same room, it did count as sleeping with her.

Xia Wanzhi, who was afraid of ghosts, was particularly hopeless. Xie Qiyan felt a little helpless, yet for some reason, his heart also felt itchy. Some strange, unknown emotion invaded his mind, and he actually found himself willing to go along with it.

“Mm. Sleep easy.” Xie Qiyan said it without so much as a blush or a racing heartbeat.

Xia Wanzhi, very hopelessly, swallowed. It felt as if her heart had skipped a beat.

Late at night. A lone man and woman. Sharing a room.

And it was with Xie Qiyan, no less.

She felt no rejection and no reluctance whatsoever. Aside from being a little nervous, Xia Wanzhi inexplicably felt a little excited.

Thrilling.

What decent person would willingly sleep with someone like this?

Xie Qiyan definitely had something on his mind.
Xie Qiyan, who had been suspected of harboring some little ulterior motive, was currently lying on the floor with a profound sense of helplessness.

How had things developed to the point where he was keeping her company while she slept?

Wasn’t this just torturing himself?

But whether he stayed with her or not, he was the one who would end up suffering.

If Xia Wanzhi couldn’t sleep, she was absolutely going to come torment him.

Since he was already here, he might as well make peace with it.

Xie Qiyan pillowed his head on his arm, sighed inwardly, and turned over.

A pair of bright, wide-awake eyes was staring straight at him.

Xie Qiyan: “…”

Xia Wanzhi stiffened. “…”

She’d been caught. So awkward.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Xie Qiyan tactfully suggested, “Should we turn off the light?”

Please turn it off.

If they didn’t, there was no way either of them was sleeping.

After Xia Wanzhi came back to herself, she nodded. She turned off the main light and left only a small warm night-light on.

The atmosphere settled into silence. Deep in the quiet of the night, it was so still they could clearly hear each other’s breathing.

Both of them were lost in their own thoughts-one full of energy, the other utterly sleepless.

The energetic Xia Wanzhi turned over, lay flat on her back, and stared blankly at the ceiling with her big eyes open, her gaze a little vacant.

She wanted to know what Xie Qiyan was thinking. She also wanted to know why, at this very moment, her heart wouldn’t stop pounding, why she felt so excited and restless.

There was an answer waiting for her to find it.

After letting her thoughts run wild for a dozen minutes or so, the more Xia Wanzhi thought, the more rapid her breathing became. The more she thought, the more awake she felt.

Irritated and unsettled, Xia Wanzhi turned over several times. Out of habit, she let one arm dangle over the edge of the bed. Xie Qiyan, lying on the floor, hadn’t closed his eyes either. Sensing her agitation, he subconsciously raised his hand and touched her palm.

Xia Wanzhi’s fingertips curled slightly, but she didn’t pull her hand back.

Their fingertips and palms touched, as if something were flowing endlessly between them.

The motionless contact lasted nearly a minute. Xia Wanzhi bit her lip lightly. In her mind, a black angel and a white angel were arguing nonstop-one urging her to seek the answer, the other telling her to think twice before acting.

Before she could make a choice, her body proved more honest than her brain and caught hold of Xie Qiyan’s fingers.

The warmth at his fingertips was almost scalding.

Xie Qiyan was slightly startled. Seeing that she was only holding his hand with no further move, a faint smile curved his lips. His voice was soft and lingering, carrying an unmistakable note of temptation. “What does Teacher Wanzi want to do?”

Time froze for ten seconds.

The next second, Xia Wanzhi rolled right off the bed and crashed onto Xie Qiyan. The hand gripping his fingertips shifted to clutch his lapel instead.

Her scorching breath spilled against the side of his neck. The two of them were so close they could hear a heartbeat.

Whose, neither of them knew.

Xie Qiyan’s entire body went rigid. In the dim light, his darkened eyes met Xia Wanzhi’s amber ones.

“I want to confirm something,” Xia Wanzhi said very softly, though inside, waves were surging.

If she wanted to confirm whether he liked her, it would actually be very simple.

She had a mouth. She could just ask.

But at this very moment, what she wanted to confirm most wasn’t that.

It was what she herself truly felt.

Xie Qiyan’s gaze was clear. Though he was pretending to be calm, the surprise from that instant had already faded.

The eyes were the windows to the soul.

Whatever a person was thinking, or wanted to do, their eyes would give the answer.

Looking into her eyes, Xie Qiyan knew what she wanted to confirm. Even so, he still asked, “What is it?”

Xia Wanzhi lowered her lashes, her gaze slowly drifting downward.

Then, under Xie Qiyan’s expectant gaze, she lowered her head. With barely a centimeter between them, she lifted her eyes again and crashed back into his pitch-black gaze.

Their eyes met, with nothing hidden.

One stared deeply. The other looked back just as deeply.