He did not look at Qiguan Yuan as he spoke. His voice was quiet, but clear.
The woods fell silent for a moment. The wind stopped, and the birds stopped singing.
Qiguan Yuan closed the book, keeping a finger between its pages rather than putting it back in his sleeve.
He straightened away from the tree and walked toward Pei Yubai. His pace was unhurried, his footsteps barely audible on the fallen leaves.
He stopped in front of Pei Yubai.
They stood so close that Pei Yubai could make out the curve of his eyelashes. Qiguan Yuan raised a hand and caught Pei Yubai's scarlet earlobe between his fingers.
His fingers were cool. His fingertips rested against the earlobe, gently squeezing it once, then again.
His movements were slow and unhurried, as though he were feeling its texture.
Pei Yubai went utterly rigid.
He did not pull away. It was not that he did not want to; his body would not obey him.
Qiguan Yuan's fingers slid over his earlobe, his fingertips cool and their touch light, like a leaf settling on his skin.
Qiguan Yuan leaned forward slightly, drawing a little closer.
That cool fragrance enveloped Pei Yubai. It was not the faint scent tinged with sandalwood from the side hall of Yue Lao Temple yesterday.
It was a pure, cool fragrance without any sandalwood, emanating from Qiguan Yuan himself, drawn out by the warmth of his skin. Warm, yet cool-it was hard to describe.
"Then I shall take it that you like me, for now."
His voice was so low that it seemed meant for Pei Yubai alone. Every word came from so close, his breath tickling the side of Pei Yubai's face.
"In that case, please keep yourself chaste for me until I come to find you."
He narrowed his eyes and squeezed Pei Yubai's earlobe again. "Pei Yubai, can you do that?"
Pei Yubai's ears were so red they seemed about to burn. The redness spread from his earlobes to the rims of his ears, from there to his neck, and from his neck to behind his ears.
His breathing grew a little heavier, but he did not step back. He looked into Qiguan Yuan's eyes. Those pale eyes were so close that he could see his own reflection in them.
"Yes."
Qiguan Yuan looked at him for two seconds, then the corners of his mouth curved.
Then he released him and took a step back.
The distance between them widened. The cool fragrance faded a little, and the scent of the plants and trees in the woods surged back.
Qiguan Yuan tucked the book into his sleeve and turned around. "You should head back. I look forward to our next meeting, Pei Yubai."
He walked away.
His pace was unhurried, his dark red robes conspicuous amid the green woods. His silver hair hung down his back, swaying gently with his steps.
When he reached a large tree, he turned slightly, and its trunk concealed most of him.
Pei Yubai stood where he was, watching the half-visible figure behind that tree gradually disappear from view.
He stood there for a long time. Long enough for the wind to rise again and the birds in the trees to resume their calls.
His hand hanging at his side stirred, and he felt a faint tickle on its back.
He raised his hand.
There was a red thread around his wrist. It was very thin, wrapped twice around and tied in a tiny knot.
The knot was neatly tied, with two short ends hanging down, just long enough to touch the back of his hand.
The tips curled slightly, moving with his hand and brushing lightly over his skin with a tickling sensation.
He raised his wrist and looked at the red thread. It was a true red, like the red of Qiguan Yuan's clothes.
The thread was thin but strong, neither tight nor loose around his wrist, resting just against his skin.
He did not know when Qiguan Yuan had tied it on. Perhaps while he was squeezing his earlobe just now. He did not know.
He lowered his head, lifted one end of the red thread, and held the other between his teeth, slowly pulling it tight.
The knot was firm, and tightening it made it fit more closely. He released it from his mouth. The red thread lay against his skin, its color vivid against his white wrist.
He looked at it for a while, then lowered his hand, turned, and left.
After a few steps, he stopped and glanced back at that tree. There was nothing behind it, only trees.
He looked a little longer, then turned back and continued walking.
This time, he walked quickly. His strides were long and unhesitating, the fallen leaves rustling underfoot. He passed through the bushes, skirted a fallen dead tree, and followed the marks he had made on his way in.
The sunlight grew brighter and the woods thinner. The distant sky showed through gaps in the leaves, gray-blue with a few clouds.
When he emerged from the woods, he stood on the dirt road and looked back. The forest was quiet, its treetops joining into an unbroken expanse. As the wind blew through, green waves rolled from near to far, reaching beyond his sight.
He turned back and walked toward town.
His phone vibrated. He took it out and saw a message from Meng Xu: "We're at the village entrance. Where are you? We're about to leave."
After replying to Meng Xu that he would be there right away, Pei Yubai put his phone away and quickened his pace.
By the time he reached the village entrance, everyone else was already there.
Shen Yuzhou was crouching on the ground, teasing a brown tabby cat with a blade of grass.
Cheng Yanqiu stood beside him, holding a cup of water. Ji Shiyu leaned against the old locust tree, eyes lowered. Lin Yanru was looking at her phone.
Jiang Wantang sat on her suitcase, still holding that round fan. When she saw Pei Yubai, her gaze swept over to him, then moved away shortly afterward.
Meng Xu waved when he saw Pei Yubai. "Let's go."
Pei Yubai walked over and stood at the edge of the group.
Shen Yuzhou stood up and brushed the dust off his trousers, then suddenly noticed Pei Yubai's wrist.
"Brother Pei, what are you wearing on your wrist?"
Pei Yubai tugged his sleeve down.
"Nothing."
Shen Yuzhou wanted to ask more, but Cheng Yanqiu gave him a tug. He shut his mouth, though his eyes still kept darting toward Pei Yubai's wrist.
Pei Yubai did not explain. He turned toward the coach, boarded it, and sat by the window in the back row.
He took off his coat and draped it over the seat beside him, just as he had on the way there.
The coach started moving. Cloud-Hidden Town slowly receded outside the window: the old locust tree, the stone-paved road, the blue-gray houses, the distant mountains.
The mist had yet to clear. A white haze hung around the mountainsides, obscuring the peaks.
Pei Yubai leaned against the seat back, his head turned toward the window. The coach rounded a bend, and Cloud-Hidden Town disappeared behind the mountain.
He lowered his head and pulled his sleeve up a little. The red thread came into view, wrapped around his wrist, its two ends dangling over the back of his hand and swaying gently in the breeze. He lowered his sleeve to cover it.
Pei Yubai closed his eyes.
He seemed to smell that cool fragrance again. It was faint, barely there, mingling with the smell of the coach's air conditioning, as though it came from the red thread around his wrist. Without opening his eyes, he pressed his wrist to the tip of his nose and sniffed.
It was Qiguan Yuan's scent.
He leaned against the seat back and lowered his wrist to his knee. The coach jolted, and the red thread swayed with it.
He did not open his eyes again.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Qiguan Yuan held the book labeled Marriage Register, squinting at his own illegible scrawl inside. "How strange. It was definitely right here! Where's my home? Am I lost again?"