The two of them sat on the ground.
Shen Yangge adjusted the black gauze hat on his head, hiding his face, and tucked his hands as far into his sleeves as he could.
His crimson eyes had returned to their original color, too.
Day had fully broken.
When Chu Xuanzhen said nothing, Shen Yangge stayed silent as well. They simply sat there quietly.
Suddenly, a weight settled on Shen Yangge's shoulder.
He turned to look.
Chu Xuanzhen, still wearing his bloodstained, wide-sleeved robe, had fallen asleep. His lashes were lowered, his breathing faint.
Asleep, he looked gentler than Shen Yangge had ever seen him.
Someone as fastidious and particular about cleanliness as Chu Xuanzhen had actually fallen asleep without even changing his clothes. Just how exhausted was he?
How had he made it through the past two days?
What had he encountered, and what desperate situations had he found himself in?
Shen Yangge did not know, but at that moment, as a shaft of sunlight pierced the leaves and fell across Chu Xuanzhen's handsome face, he wanted to find out.
He liked Chu Xuanzhen, perhaps more than just a little.
If someone asked him when those feelings had begun, he thought it might have been when Chu Xuanzhen had spared him, time and again.
Seeing Chu Xuanzhen's lashes tremble slightly in the sunlight, Shen Yangge could not help raising his other hand to block the light with his sleeve.
Let him sleep for a while.
Once he wakes up, I'll ask him what he went through these past two days.
Chu Xuanzhen slept until the afternoon. When he woke, he found himself lying in a bed, his clothes replaced with a fresh set.
"You're awake?"
Shen Yangge came in carrying a bowl of meat congee. He offered it to Chu