Xiao Yun looked down at her, remained silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
"Why put yourself through this?"
He helped Hu Liena off him and laid her flat on the bed, then pulled the slipped corner of the blanket back up over her.
Once he had finished, he rose, dressed, and pushed open the door to leave the room.
In the courtyard, Ling'er was crouching beneath the old tree, drawing something on the ground with a twig.
At the sound of the door opening, she looked up. Her gaze first fell on Xiao Yun's face, then darted to the closed bedroom door behind him, and her cheeks flushed faintly.
"Master..." Ling'er stood up, her voice as quiet as a mosquito's hum. "Um, breakfast..."
"Go ahead and make it." Xiao Yun sat down on the stone stool, his expression unchanged. "Make an extra serving."
Ling'er answered and slipped into the kitchen.
Before long, wisps of cooking smoke drifted from the kitchen chimney.
Ling'er was an excellent cook, and the ingredients were spirit beast meat and spirit vegetables she had brought back from the Bloodbrew Inn.
The meat was sliced thin, marinated in spirit wine, then pan-fried until its browned fragrance filled the air; the spirit vegetables were simply stir-fried with a little salt, yet were tender and refreshing. There was also a pot of spirit rice porridge, simmered until thick and soft, with a few bits of red spirit fruit sprinkled on top. The aroma drifted from the courtyard into the main room, then through the window cracks into the bedroom.
It was the aroma that coaxed Hu Liena awake.
She opened her eyes, startled at first, then remembered what had happened earlier.
Her expression shifted several times before she finally gritted her teeth and sat up, straightened her clothes,