Faint starlight gently touched Li Zijun’s face. Strands of her hair, wet from the water, clung to her forehead, droplets trickling down to her collarbone. The wet fabric clung to her body, making her exquisite, well-proportioned form seem almost nude. Her jade-like arms were gently curved, her every movent one of subli grace.
Her fair hand lightly gathered her soaked hair behind her head. The water, soaking her robes, outlined her perfect figure as she glanced at Ji Nanjue with a touch of embarrassnt. The garnts, not yet fully removed, clung tightly to her exquisite form, becoming sowhat translucent and revealing the color of her skin beneath. Normally, her loose-fitting robes concealed her figure, but now, its true splendor was unveiled, like the fad true face of Mount Lu.
Ji Nanjue looked at her with obvious surprise, then a playful smile touched the corners of her lips. "Like master, like disciple," she teased, "even your lies are cast from the sa mold..."
"Forget it. Call ’Sister’ if you like. ’Master’s wife’ sounds so old-fashioned anyway."
"..." Li Zijun remained silent.
Beneath the water, her jade-like legs gently stirred the surface, sending ripples dancing across it. Then, with a gentle push of her jade-like arms, she rose to her feet, completely bare. The water reached only to the tops of her thighs, revealing the upper half of her slender, flat waist, without a hint of excess flesh.
"Take off your clothes," Ji Nanjue said. "You can’t bathe with them on, can you?"
This robe had accompanied Li Zijun for an unknown length of ti on their journey, yet it remained unstained. Feeling sowhat shy, Li Zijun removed her robe, placed it on the bank, and then quickly subrged herself in the pool, hiding herself thoroughly. Ji Nanjue didn’t laugh, rely sitting down beside her.
The air was sowhat oppressive; the monts before rain always felt exceptionally restless.
Ji Nanjue’s small hands gently splashed the water, letting it cascade down as she suddenly asked, "You’ve only t him a few tis. How can you be so certain of your feelings?"
"It’s normal for soone your age to admire soone, but your words and actions don’t suggest you’re an impulsive person."
"I’m very curious. Can you share what’s on your mind?"
Pausing, as if realizing her question was a bit pointed, Ji Nanjue added with a smile, "Of course, it’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it..." As she spoke, her gaze remained on Li Zijun.
"My thoughts, huh?" Li Zijun lightly pressed her thin lips, not looking at Ji Nanjue, and murmured softly. Staring at the sowhat gloomy water of the pool, she contemplated for a mont and then said in a low voice, "Does liking soone always require a reason?"
"Isn’t it that at a certain mont, because of sothing that deeply touches the heart’s core, soone unknowingly finds a place within it?"
"Perhaps it’s just a glance, just a single gesture."
Ji Nanjue paused. There was a hint of lancholy in Li Zijun’s voice; though gentle, it seed to betray a deep unease. Then, Ji Nanjue wrapped her arms tightly around Li Zijun, pressing her cheek against hers. "Love at first sight?"
Perhaps previously, Ji Nanjue would have scoffed at the phrase, dismissing it as nonsensical. For two people to be certain of their feelings with just one look could only an they were coveting each other’s beauty. But now, her heart was gradually coming to accept the idea. Her own life had sohow always been inadvertently entwined with Su Bei’s. After they had survived that brush with death together, the bond forged through shared adversity was naturally profound. Maybe even before that night, his image had already been imprinted on her heart; it was only that her long-sealed heart had never acknowledged it.
"That makes sense," Li Zijun said with a wry smile, realizing Ji Nanjue had misunderstood.
Her feelings for Su Bei... how could they be as simple as she had just described? It had taken nearly a century of shared experiences and understanding for her to finally affirm her own heart.
"Sister Nan Ji, Zi Jun is feeling a bit cold..." Li Zijun hugged her arms and blinked at Ji Nanjue.
"Go on back then," Ji Nanjue said gently. "I... Sister will stay here alone for a little while."
Ji Nanjue offered her a gentle smile, but her own heart felt complex.
Ultimately, she was a woman. Even knowing that she and Su Bei could never have a publicly acknowledged relationship, she still felt a natural aversion to any woman who might draw away even a fraction of his tenderness. What’s more, this woman was his disciple... Such a situation was, by any asure of emotion or reason, a profound transgression.
A peculiar thought surfaced in Ji Nanjue’s mind. There was his disciple, and then there was herself, who by association was now in a position of seniority like a ’master’s partner’... with herself caught in the middle? What a tangled web... Three generations under one roof, indeed.
It’s all Su Dudu’s fault! There’s no right or wrong in matters of the heart. But if bla must be assigned, the root cause was that philanderer, Su Bei. If he hadn’t sown his affections everywhere, how could so many emotional debts have arisen out of nowhere? He, on the other hand, was certainly enjoying himself...
Li Zijun waved her hand in front of Ji Nanjue’s face a few tis. Startled back to her senses, Ji Nanjue playfully tapped Li Zijun’s delicate nose and said with a smile, "You’ve worn that robe for far too long. If you don’t mind, wear mine for now."
"..."
She pointed towards the white gauze dress on the bank.
Li Zijun blinked and then flashed Ji Nanjue a sweet smile.
With a soft rustle of fabric, she put on the dress and then headed towards the Daoist Temple.
As Ji Nanjue watched Li Zijun’s retreating figure, she sighed softly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)