Her scent.
Her warmth.
Thank heavens. It had all been a nightmare. Baozhu was still safe and sound beside him.
Wei Xun felt himself lying at ease among soft clouds. All his fear, anguish, and hatred had vanished without a trace. Yes, from now on, he would hold tight to his moon and never let her out of his sight again. He would hide her on a mountaintop or in a secluded valley where no one could find her... stop her from going to Youzhou...
And then?
Wei Xun's eyes snapped open.
He was in Baozhu's bedroom, but she herself was not there. He lay on her bed, beneath her quilt. That reassuring, familiar scent came only from the invisible traces she had left behind after disappearing. Reality remained mired in the nightmare's swamp.
Thirteenth Son sat on a stool. Seeing him wake, he called, "Senior Brother."
Wei Xun sat up and asked blankly, "What happened to me?"
"I heard a thud upstairs," Thirteenth Son replied. "When I came up, I found you unconscious on the floor. You've been running yourself ragged these past few days without sleep or rest. Your body must have reached its limit."
Wei Xun immediately stood and began patting and brushing off Baozhu's pillow and bedding. "I'm filthy. You shouldn't have put me on her bed," he complained. He recalled how the discovery of Baozhu's rouge mark had filled him with shock and joy. The sudden surge of emotion had overwhelmed him, and he had fainted.
"You threw out both our bedrolls," Thirteenth Son explained. "Besides, if you slept downstairs and Second Senior Brother or Third Senior Sister came back and found you unconscious, they might..."
Wei Xun steadied himself, knowing Thirteenth Son had thought it through. The others from the Setting Sun Courtyard were