mtlumby2d Chapter 443 Misunderstanding
Chapter 443 Misunderstanding
Chapter 443
"It's okay. He must have been too tired and too hungry, so he fainted." Luo Shuiyao subconsciously concealed the abnormality she had just discovered.
Chun Xing naturally had no suspicions. Instead, she squatted down and leaned forward to observe the man carefully, but she couldn't see anything. She looked back and saw her mistress's expression was strange. She thought she was worried about what to do with this man, so she carefully suggested, "Miss, why don't we wake him up first and leave him some dry food and water. I think if he wakes up, he will find his way back on his own, right?"
But the tone of the latter sentence was obviously uncertain. It wasn't that she was heartless, but it was really a bit strange.
After all, the carriage had been out of Baihua County for quite some time. A normal person would have taken quite some time to make the journey on foot. The man looked pale, clearly in poor health. Even if he woke up, it was unclear how long it would take him to reach safety. This area was overgrown with weeds, and there were no houses to be seen along the way. His presence was incredibly suspicious.
Luo Shuiyao was silent for a long time and did not respond. She only whispered, "Carry him onto the carriage, find a place to stay in front, and make some hot soup for him."
Seeing Chun Xing and the guards' hesitation and disapproval, she added, "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. When we meet someone on the way, we can just take him there."
Seeing that her young lady had made up her mind, Chun Xing pursed her lips and said no more, only obeying the order. After the carriage set off, Luo Shuiyao helped Chun Xing out and sat alone beside the man, her eyes fixed on his face, staring at him thoughtfully for a long time.
The next moment, she reached out and touched the man's jaw, but found nothing unusual. Suspicion welled up in her, and she leaned closer. After a long, careful examination, she finally noticed that the skin on his jawline was different from the skin on his neck. While the two skin tones were nearly identical, easily enough to pass for real, everyone's skin texture varies, and the skin on the man's face was noticeably rougher.
Chun Xing sat on the outside of the carriage, staring blankly at the carriage. From what she knew of her young lady, Luo Shuiyao was by no means a tactless, blindly charitable person. So why was she so preoccupied with this strange-looking man? Moreover, she had just offered to look after him, but the young lady had not only refused but also dismissed her. What had gone wrong? The more Chun Xing pondered, the more confused she became, her mind filled with questions that she couldn't unravel.
Chun Xing stared at the closed carriage, feeling increasingly uneasy. She approached the guard driving the car and whispered, "Do you think that person just now was particularly suspicious?"
The guard was usually taciturn. After hearing this, he nodded first, then shook his head.
Chun Xing became anxious when she saw this: "What do you mean by nodding and shaking your head?"
The guard said succinctly, "I find it suspicious, too, but since you've already saved that man, don't dwell on it."
"What do you mean I won't think too much? What if this person has bad intentions and hurts the young lady?"
The guard on horseback nearby listened, glanced at the carriage, and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, Miss Chun Xing. Perhaps she thought it would be too dangerous to leave him alone in this desolate wilderness, so she acted this way. Besides, the carriage is small, and if you all stayed inside, it would indeed be crowded."
Seeing Chun Xing still looking unhappy, the guard added silently, "That man's face is so pale. Even if he has bad intentions, he's powerless now. Besides, we're all here. What kind of trouble can he cause?"
Chun Xing thought this made sense, but she also felt that something was amiss with her young lady's behavior. She had a vague feeling that things were more complicated than that, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
.........
Inside the carriage, the sunlight from the window cast Luo Shuiyao's shadow on the wall, which swayed gently with the bumpy axle. Her fingertips repeatedly stroked the subtle joint at the edge of the man's jaw, her eyes filled with curiosity.
The subtle color difference between the covering and the skin, as well as the unnatural texture, all confirmed her bold guess: Could this... be the legendary human skin mask?
At this thought, her breath hitched, a chill rising in her throat. In the strange stories she'd read in her previous life, most human skin masks were made from the skin of living people. The mere thought of it sent a chill creeping up her spine and onto the back of her neck.
But when her gaze shifted downward, landing on the other person's long eyelashes, she subconsciously shook her head. Knowing Ye Yunzhou well, she knew he would never use such a sinister and terrifying thing. With this thought, she quietly suppressed the chill that surged in her heart, only to be filled with another emotion.
What kind of material could be made so realistically, indistinguishable from skin? This question grew like a vine in her mind, making her more and more curious.
With that in mind, the carriage was empty except for her and the unconscious Ye Yunzhou, making it a perfect time to investigate. When she had checked earlier, Ye Yunzhou was sprawled across the narrow carriage, his massive frame filling almost the entire space. She sat sideways, the awkward position causing unbearable pain in her waist. Now that no one was around, even if she did something out of the ordinary, the sleeping Ye Yunzhou wouldn't notice.
Luo Shuiyao no longer hesitated, and bravely half-lay on top of Ye Yunzhou. She slowly leaned over, almost close to his face, staring at the suspicious covering. At the same time, she reached out and gently stroked the strange texture with her fingertips, trying to find clues from the touch.
Outside the carriage, Chun Xing was talking quietly with the mounted guard. The guard driving the carriage, though a man of few words, could not hide his curiosity, listening intently to the two's conversation as he drove.
Unexpectedly, distracted, he failed to notice the shallow pit ahead. The carriage's wheels clanged and became stuck in the pit, causing the carriage to lurch violently. The driver, frantically whipping his whip, startled the horses and lunged forward, freeing the carriage from the pit.
The huge inertia made Chun Xing tremble all over. She staggered and almost fell off the edge of the car.
Fortunately, the guard beside her was quick-witted and caught her, preventing her from falling.
Chun Xing had just steadied herself when a sudden cry of surprise rang out from inside the carriage. Her heart tightened, and she recalled her earlier concerns, fearing that the suspicious man might harm the young lady. She shook off the guard's hand and scrambled to open the carriage door.
The next second, she knelt at the door of the carriage, her eyes wide open, looking at the scene in front of her in disbelief.
Chun Xing flung open the curtains, and the sight inside the carriage made her pupils shrink. She saw her young lady kneeling across the man's waist, her slender body almost completely covering him, her head buried in his neck, a sight that truly stirred her imagination.
Hearing the noise, Luo Shuiyao felt as if struck by lightning and suddenly sat up straight.
When she met Chun Xing's shocked, puzzled, and somewhat incredulous gaze, she felt her blood freeze. She turned her head stiffly and looked at Ye Yunzhou, who was frowning slightly and trembling his eyelashes as if he was about to wake up. Her heart almost jumped out of her throat.
For a moment, the explanations she was trying to come up with were stuck in her throat. She clearly had no intention of overstepping the bounds, but the scene at hand would have led anyone to misunderstand her. Luo Shuiyao's face flushed crimson, her mind blank, and in her panic, she forgot to stand up.
Chun Xing squeezed her eyes shut, a mixture of emotions welling up inside her. She slowly loosened her grip, and the curtain dropped, obscuring the embarrassing scene inside. She turned, her eyes meeting the guard's unsheathed sword. Her lips trembled as she tried to speak, but she didn't know how to explain.