One Life, One Incarnation, Beautiful Bones

39

Chapter 12.3 - To Have Ever Been Free From Worry? (3)

Inside were warm-colored wall lamps while outside were lanterns. She was seated near the window and had, at first, been able to see a string of lanterns that were level with her eyes, but now, the man before her obstructed that scene from her view.

One day prior to and through to one day after the Ghost Festival, the lights of the Zhou household were to remain on during the night.

Three consecutive nights of complete illumination through the entire night.

This sort of place seemed as if it could block out time.

One was unable to distinguish which dynasty, which era one was in. Uncertain what was one's surname and given name.

"I want to give you a gift. What would you like?" His voice was somewhat deeper.

It was the effect of the lighting, or perhaps the effect of this late hour, for much of his strong scholarly air was concealed. The majority of his face was framed against the glow of the light behind him, and it gave her such a feeling of familiarity. In actual fact, besides those clear eyes, there were no other similarities.

"Why do you suddenly want to give me a gift?"

"I'm not too sure," he smiled faintly.

"Not too sure?"

"What I mean is, I am not too sure the reason why."

Shi Yi could not help laughing at this. In her light, resonant voice, she teased him, "You want to give me something but you don't know the reason?"

"Perhaps it is because of instinct."

"Instinct?"

He seemed to be choosing his words, and after a brief pause, he carried on, "Towards the woman he likes, a man's... instinctive behavior."

Shi Yi shifted herself slightly and softly replied, "Just give whatever you want to give." Objects that had a physical existence were simply things of the world. They came not with you when you were born and they left not with you when you died. The importance to her was not what he would actually give her.

This one sentence he had spoken was already enough.

She was wearing a nightgown and the neckline was somewhat low so that even the slightest shift in her body would reveal a beautiful sight within. He was sitting on the edge of the seat, his body leaning inwards over that chaise lounge so that it was touching one side of her waist. In that brief moment of stillness, his eyes slid from her face to her bosom, then continued down until they reached the curve of her waist. Shi Yi felt lightheaded from his gaze, and amid that silence that made a person feel uptight and restless, she moved her fingers a tad. At first, she had only wanted to dispel that uncomfortable feeling of heat in her body, but in the end, like her hands were being guided by something else, she reached, instead, to stroke his face.

She did not know whether he wanted to do it or just wanted to look.

She could not tell what he was thinking.

"I'll give you jade as a gift. What are you used to wearing?" He finally raised his eyes to look at hers.

"Why jade?" But after thinking about it briefly, she understood. "That's true. Your family is rather traditional."

He gave a chuckle. His hand slipped into the neckline of her nightgown and slid down her back, his arm easing the gown down until more than half her body was uncovered. "Have you read Shuowen Jiezi ["Explaining Words and Analyzing Characters"][1] before?"