Chapter 165 - The Significance of Safeguard

165 – The Significance of Safeguard

“– bear with it.”

“Hmm?”

Before Xue Qilin could figure out what’s going on, a burst of pain shot into her head and the sound of a joint resetting sounded.

“Ah — owww…! It hurts!”

Seeing Xue Qilin clasp the position of the joint and tears emerge from her eyes, Xihe was stunned.

“Are, are you exaggerating?”

“Huh, does it look like I am not?”

Xue Qilin touched her nape, and Xihe, who doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, asked, “Why did you have such a big reaction?”

“It was subconscious. Ha-ha, it was a subconscious reaction.”

Xihe rolled her eyes at Xue Qilin.

Then, under Xue Qilin’s surprised gaze, she fished out a folded white cloth strip from her sleeve. That should be used for bandaging.

As expected, Xihe ripped the white cloth strip to a suitable length and wrapped it around Xue Qilin’s elbow.

“It’s fixed for now. As for the wounds on your arm… you can heal them yourself, right?”

“Mhm, no problem! Don’t forget who I am!”

Xue Qilin wrinkled her nose.

Then, the wounds on her right arm glowed with green light. Under the warmth released by wood spiritual qi, the inflammation and bruises gradually disappeared.

“Anyhow, why do you have that cloth?”

“I like to be prepared.”

She’s carrying it with her? The unexpected answer made Xue Qilin’s expression suddenly turn strange.

“You always carry it in your sleeve?”

“Hmm, what about it?”

Xue Qilin crossed her arms and asked in vexation, “Really, do you all like to cram stuff in your sleeves?”

“It’s only some necessities.”

Feeling like she heard almost the exact same answer from someone else, Xue Qilin’s expression became even stranger.

“What’s up with your expression? Is there something odd? — take off your clothes.”

“There’s nothing odd. I just fee — wait, what did you say at the end?”

Xue Qilin’s eyes widened. She watching Xihe get up and circle to her back.

“I’ll bandage the wounds on your back.”

“Uh, there, there’s no need to do this.”

Looking like she’s at a loss of what to do, Xue Qilin waved her hands. Seeing her like this, a mixture of reproach and pity streaked across Xihe eyes. She apparently feels that Xue Qilin doesn’t treasure herself.

“It’s no trouble. What’s more, it’s better than leaving it alone, right? It’s better to restore your state as much as possible. ”

“That’s true…”

Since the injuries on her back aren’t serious and don’t affect her mobility, Xue Qilin didn’t plan to treat them.

Wood spiritual qi can accelerate the metabolism and has a superior therapeutic effect. However, this treatment method not only consumes true qi, but also puts a certain burden on the body. If injuries aren’t serious enough to warrant an immediate treated, Xue Qilin, in general, won’t employ this method to treat them.

In this case, it may be a good choice to use conventional treatment.

Only, when undressing in front of others, Xue Qilin feels bashful and finds it hard to accept.

However —

“– I actually don’t like the smell of blood.”

Xue Qilin stiffened. What sort of expression is covering the beautiful face reflected in her eyes?

Is it reminiscence, or is it hatred?

No, it’s neither.

It is sorrow, which has been suppressed, and the pain that comes with it.

Reflected in Xue Qilin’s eyes, Xihe gazing at her has a hard to put into words look. Xue Qilin can’t read it. Only… she seems to see a picture in those amethyst-like eyes.

A light yellow picture.

However, in a blink of an eye, the picture disappeared.

Was it a misconception? Xue Qilin was stunned.

“Let me bandage you, okay?”

Xihe’s voice sounded again, rapidly pulling the lass out of her absent-minded state.

After so much was said, can I still refuse? Xue Qilin sighed, feeling like she has become a villain that is bullying Xihe.

“Fine, I’ll listen to you…”

Xue Qilin untied the band around her waist.

Rustling sounds rang as she took off her tattered outer garment. The undergarment’s band on her back is severed. Without the lass needing to do anything, the straps slipped off her shoulders.

Remaining half naked, Xue Qilin pulled both ends of the clothing she just took off and sighed.

A large hole was ripped open on the back of the outer garment. The clothes are damaged in many places and stained with blood. Even if she wanted to mend them, where do you start.

“I’m afraid I can’t wear these clothes anymore…”

Xue Qilin folded her clothes lovingly and set them aside.

These clothes were sent by Luo Qing. She cherishes them very much. Although there are numerous traces of the clothes being mended. But Xue Qilin was still unwilling to store them away, and instead treated them as her usual wear.

However, nothing is truly eternal, all things come to an end — Xue Qilin’s clothes seem to have come to an end today.

After taking off the undergarment and putting it on top of the folded clothes, Xue Qilin looked at Xihe again.

“Okay, let’s –”

Somehow, Xihe seems surprised.

“Why are you staring at me with wide open eyes?”

Xihe looked at Xue Qilin top to bottom. As if the other party’s gazes has materialized, Xue Qilin feels her skin tickle.

“Your figure is better than I imagined.”

“What?”

How did the topic jump here all of a sudden? Xue Qilin is dumbfounded.

In the reflection of Xihe’s eyes, the graceful figure of the half-naked Xue Qilin doesn’t resemble that of a lass who appears to be less than 14 years old.

The skin is fair, delicate, crystal clear; the waist is small; the buttocks are round. And the most striking are probably her legs — the lines are symmetrical and perfect, and the proportions are just right. Although the chest covered by her long hair is far from impressive, but it is inexplicably well-coordinated with the lass’s petite body.

With her ethereal breath, she seems like she’s an article of divine craftsmanship.

After her gaze made the third round trip on Xue Qilin’s body, Xihe finally looked away. Being stared up and down, Xue Qilin has long since blushed.

“You should take pride.”

Take pride in what? Xue Qilin wanted to ask this, but her intuition told her not to.

Suddenly, a cold tactile sensation came from her back, and Xue Qilin shrank her neck involuntarily.

“It’s cold! Why are your hands so cold?”

“It’s not that my hands are cold, but that your wounds are getting hot. I’ll apply some medicine.”

Xihe sprinkled a powder made of some unknown herbs onto Xue Qilin’s wounds.

“It seems to be quite effective…”

Xue Qilin felt a cool sensation on her back and the faint itchy feeling subside.

“This is a powder made from White Dragon Tongue flower, it has a good healing effect on external wounds.”

“Oh, I see…”

Xihe patted Xue Qilin’s shoulder gently.

“Lift your arms.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xue Qilin raised her arms and let Xihe fiddle around and wrap the white cloth strip around her.

Then, there was silence.

With the two at a loss for words, only the sound of friction of the fabric remained.

“Hey, why are you doing this?”

In the end, Xue Qilin, who could no longer hold back this question, was the one to break the silence.

Xihe didn’t answer. She just continued the bandaging work in silence.

Xue Qilin turned her head, but Xihe’s bangs are covering her face, making it impossible for her to see the other party’s expression.

“… what do you mean?”

After a moment of silences, Xihe asked back.

“You understood me well. I’m asking about the matter with Martial Demon Realm.”

“This question is a bit redundant, don’t you think?”

“We just don’t want to sit and wait for death. Or do you think that we should silently accept the bullying and humiliation?”

Xihe’s tone is slightly indignant, and the movements of her hands aggravated unconsciously. Xue Qilin didn’t notice that the fur on Xihe’s tails has creased.

“That’s not what I mean… But, is it worth it?”

Xue Qilin pressed Xihe’s slightly trembling hand and stopped her movements.

“Did you know? Although you guys have made so many sacrifices, the outcome may not be the one you desire… In the worst case, the situation may worsen, and the relationship between us and you will become even more strained.”

Xue Qilin emphasized.

“Or, do you not care about the fate of the martial demons?”

Xihe remained silent.

Her silence was longer than Xue Qilin imagined.

“– Xue Qilin, what is safeguarding what you love to you?”

Xihe finally spoke.

What came out of her mouth was a rhetoric question. She doesn’t seem to be looking for an answer.

What does it mean to safeguard what you love? Xue Qilin was stunned, and the chaotic thoughts that instantly sprang out in her mind made her unable to speak.

To protect them at all cost — this is Xue Qilin’s answer. But her intuition tells her that this is not the answer Xihe regards as correct.

“To be able to safeguard what you love must be a refreshing feeling… But, aren’t you mistaken about one point?” Xihe’s tone became distant, “To safeguard is not to protect, but to ‘fulfill’. To fulfill your loved ones’ thoughts, expectations, and desires — this is what to safeguard means.

Not letting your will guide you, but give your all to fulfill your loved ones’ thoughts and turn their wishes into your own — is this Xihe’s answer? Xue Qilin mused.

“I don’t want to see my comrades suffer anymore, and so do they… Do you understand? What we want fulfill — to safeguard — even at the risk of dying?”

Xue Qilin drooped her eyes, and a few strands of silver hair brushed in front of her eyes.

“What is it…?”

— it’s like there is some kind of brilliance.

Xihe extended her hand, as if to capture something. The hand that reflected in Xue Qilin’s eyes makes one feel that the thing it wants to capture is very far away, to the point that one practically cannot see it.

“– it’s security, homeland, future.”

Xihe’s words contain a flavor.

The flavor of yearning.

What she pursues — pursues at all cost — must be a beautiful vision.

Not to be discriminated against, bound, or hated; to be able to walk in the world with your head held high; to no longer fear death and malice strike at any time.

That’s all.

An extremely ordinary dream.

However, that must be the future that all martial demons dream of.

Um, that’s what Xue Qilin thinks.