Chapter 7: Touch

Chapter 7: The Touch

Leaving Yuxiu Pavilion, Qiao Wan’s heart still churned with anger and vexation. Yet, the memory of Mu Chi shielding her so fiercely in his arms brought a flutter of joyful panic. But then, seeing his pale face and hearing him claim, "It doesn't hurt," that feeling twisted into a surging, aching sorrow.

A maelstrom of emotions.

With no desire to linger, she simply ordered the coachman to return to the princess’s residence.

Qiao Wan had not brought Yicui with her today, instead sending her to the palace to fetch the best imperial physician.

Coincidentally, just as they reached the gates of the princess’s residence, they saw Yicui leading Physician Zhang, the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau, towards the mansion. Upon seeing Qiao Wan, Zhang immediately moved to kneel in deference.

Qiao Wan quickly waived the formality.

When her mother was alive during Qiao Wan’s childhood, Physician Zhang—then a medical official—was the only one who diligently treated her.

Now, Physician Zhang was nearing sixty, with a grizzled goatee and a slightly hunched back. He rarely made house calls, and it was likely only Yicui presenting Qiao Wan’s token that had prompted his visit.

Once inside the bedchamber, Qiao Wan dismissed everyone except Physician Zhang, herself, and Mu Chi.

Unversed in medicine, Qiao Wan sat to the side, observing Physician Zhang as he examined the whip wound on Mu Chi’s back.

The robe was torn, faintly revealing bloodstains beneath. After a moment, Physician Zhang said, "It’s merely a flesh wound. If this young gentleman would remove his garments, it would facilitate the application of medicine."

Mu Chi hesitated, lowering his gaze slightly. "This servant is of humble status. I dare not trouble you, sir."

Qiao Wan frowned.

She rarely paid attention to how others referred to themselves in her presence, yet for some reason, hearing Mu Chi call himself "this servant" grated on her ears.

Physician Zhang smiled. "Since you are Her Highness’s esteemed guest, young sir, there is no talk of lowliness."

Mu Chi’s long lashes dipped, and this time he said nothing more, slowly removing his outer robe and inner garments.

Even Physician Zhang, accustomed to wounds, couldn’t help but gasp. On that back, fair and smooth as fine jade, the whip injury was the least noticeable of the scars.

On his shoulder blades were two dark red marks, as if pierced by iron hooks. Crisscrossing scars from blades and swords marred his skin, as though he had been tortured to the brink of death.

Qiao Wan was equally stunned. She had known he bore many scars, but she had never imagined so many covered his back.

After a moment, she noticed something and inhaled deeply. "You didn’t use the white jade ointment I gave you?"

The white jade ointment had a distinct cool, refreshing scent and was highly effective for external wounds and scars.

Her body was frail; even minor injuries could easily lead to chills or fever, so Qiao Heng had given her a generous supply of the ointment.

Mu Chi’s lowered eyes flickered slightly, but his expression quickly returned to normal. "The princess took this servant to buy clothes today. I feared soiling such valuable garments."

"Soiling them is just a matter of a few pieces of clothing," Qiao Wan said, relieved that it was because of her.

She took out another bottle of white jade ointment and showed it to Physician Zhang. "Will this medicine suffice?"

"Certainly," Physician Zhang replied, recognizing the precious ointment known for rapidly regenerating flesh around wounds.

Reassured that the ointment would work, Qiao Wan remembered something else. "Physician Zhang, could you take his pulse? See if he…"

She had meant to say, "see why he doesn’t feel pain," but for some reason, she felt that Mu Chi might not want others to know about his physical peculiarities. She changed her words mid-sentence. "...see if there are any other ailments."

Mu Chi’s initially cold gaze stilled, and he looked up at her intently.

Physician Zhang agreed, placing his fingers on Mu Chi’s wrist. After a while, his expression turned strange.

"What is it?" Qiao Wan asked eagerly. If Physician Zhang could diagnose the issue, they could treat it accordingly, and Mu Chi would have to "adore her" as agreed.

Mu Chi’s fingertips twitched slightly as he watched Physician Zhang.

Physician Zhang slowly withdrew his hand. "This young gentleman’s pulse is erratic, likely due to a fever. And…" He glanced at Qiao Wan. "This fever must have been burning for over ten days. An ordinary person would have lost consciousness long ago…"

Qiao Wan was taken aback. She turned to Mu Chi and, without thinking, reached out to touch his forehead. "But his body is cold."

"It could be due to inherent coldness penetrating the bones, or… perhaps he was poisoned in the past," Physician Zhang ventured. "Yet this young gentleman shows no signs of abnormality…"

Qiao Wan’s heart sank. It seemed Physician Zhang hadn’t detected Mu Chi’s inability to feel pain.

But then she looked at Mu Chi’s calm expression, the gentle smile even gracing his lips, and her heart ached even more.

She had once thought that not feeling pain was not a bad thing. Only now did she realize it wasn’t a blessing but a punishment.

He didn’t even know when he was injured or ill. He couldn’t describe his symptoms or explain where it hurt. If one day he fell sick or was wounded unnoticed, with no one to care for him, he wouldn’t even be able to save himself. He could only feel his life fading away until death took him—without even knowing why he died.

For some reason, the thought of that scene made Qiao Wan incredibly sad.

Physician Zhang continued, "...Fortunately, this young gentleman is under heaven’s protection and is not in grave danger. I will prescribe a formula. Have it decocted and taken daily for ten days, and he will be well."

Qiao Wan nodded, sent someone to see Physician Zhang out, and handed the prescription to Yicui to prepare the medicine.

Once alone in the room with Mu Chi, Qiao Wan watched as he reached for his clothes to put them on, but she stopped him.

He glanced sideways at her.

Qiao Wan moved closer, her voice tinged with disappointment. "Physician Zhang is the most skilled doctor in the Imperial Medical Bureau."

If even he couldn’t diagnose Mu Chi’s condition, no one else could.

Mu Chi understood her implication and merely nodded with a faint smile. "It's fine."

Qiao Wan looked at his smile—like the last layer of thin snow atop a green lotus on a snowy mountain, fragile and breathtaking, trembling on the verge of shattering.

"Let me apply the medicine for you," Qiao Wan said suddenly.

Mu Chi’s expression shifted slightly as he looked at her.

But Qiao Wan had already picked up the white jade ointment. "Don’t worry about staining your clothes. We can always buy new ones," she said, blinking at him. "Unless you were lying to me?"

A flicker of coldness passed through Mu Chi’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as spring blossoms after frost. "The princess jokes. It’s just that your noble person…"

Qiao Wan waved her hand dismissively, then frowned before giggling. Seriously, she said, "I don’t know why, but I feel you wouldn’t want others to know about your body’s peculiarities. I’m the only one in the residence who knows, so it has to be me."

Her words gave Mu Chi pause. After a long moment, he offered no further resistance, turning around and slowly removing his inner garments. His expression, now facing away from her, turned icy cold.

Earlier, he had only undressed to his waist. Now, seeing his entire back, Qiao Wan’s breath caught, and the stifling heat in her chest churned uncontrollably.

Without those scars, his back would have been exquisitely beautiful—narrow waist, fine musculature, skin translucent as snow. Yet the dark red scars added a haunting, decadent allure.

Suppressing the heat rising to her cheeks, Qiao Wan dipped her fingers into the ointment and began applying it to Mu Chi’s back.

The moment her fingers touched his skin, a faint, cool sensation flowed from her fingertips into her body, dispelling some of the stifling heat and bringing an inexplicable comfort.

This sensation was instinctively compelling.

Mu Chi's body stiffened, as if a slender, weak flame was tracing along his back, bringing waves of warmth that slowly thawed his body, frozen for years, bit by bit.

But soon, as the fingers withdrew, the thawed body froze inch by inch again.

Mu Chi clenched his fists tightly. This unfamiliar feeling instinctively repulsed him, stirring a deep, murderous intent in his eyes, yet he had no choice but to restrain it.

Until that hand continued downward, like a peacock's tail feather gently brushing along his icy bones, bringing an overwhelming tickling sensation that settled at the small of his back.

A low groan escaped from deep within Mu Chi's throat, followed by a fine, dense pant.

The next moment, he felt a barely perceptible movement below his abdomen, a stuffy, swollen feeling that arose and vanished before he could grasp it.

"Princess, the clothing and jewelry from Yuxiu Pavilion have arrived," a maid's voice sounded from outside the bedchamber.

Mu Chi's eyes suddenly opened. After a dazed moment, only coldness and disgust remained in his gaze.

Qiao Wan lingered with a look at Mu Chi's back, then withdrew her hand. She waited until Mu Chi had fully dressed before instructing the maid to enter.

A dozen or so maids filed in, carrying luxurious garments. The one at the head said respectfully, "Princess, the manager of Yuxiu Pavilion mentioned that Mu Chi had not finalized any jewelry, so they sent over everything he had looked at."

Qiao Wan nodded indifferently, her cheeks still flushed with warmth. Her gaze then fell upon a ginger-yellow brocade fur coat nearby, and she picked it up delightedly, handing it to Mu Chi. "This is the one you left behind at Yuxiu Pavilion. The manager is quite sensible."

This brocade fur coat, in both style and color, was exceptionally well-matched with her favorite fox fur coat.

Mu Chi glanced at the brocade fur coat in his hand and lightly laughed. "Indeed."

Even intentionally left behind at Yuxiu Pavilion, it still found its way back.

Pleased, Qiao Wan rewarded the people from Yuxiu Pavilion generously and ordered the clothing and jewelry to be sent to Mu Chi's warm chamber.

Mu Chi was injured and needed proper rest, and Qiao Wan happened to feel somewhat tired as well. After a moment's thought, she looked at Mu Chi and said, "Don’t worry, I will still find the best folk doctors for you."

Mu Chi nodded calmly with a faint smile. "Thank you, Princess."

"Mmm," Qiao Wan yawned, watching Mu Chi’s departing figure before suddenly remembering something. "Mu Chi."

Mu Chi stood backlit at the doorway, his imposing presence carrying an indescribable, stunning aura.

Qiao Wan composed herself. "From now on, you are not allowed to call yourself 'slave'." She coughed awkwardly twice and waved her hand. "Alright, go rest now."

Mu Chi stared at her but said nothing more this time, turning and walking away slowly.

Before he even reached his warm chamber, he heard the coming and going of people from the direction of the bedchamber—maids and servants hurriedly coming and going.

Mu Chi casually asked one of them and learned that Qiao Wan’s sachet she’d kept since childhood had gone missing, and she had ordered a search for it.

Mu Chi did not respond further. He turned and entered his warm chamber, and after a long while, let out a cold sneer.

Jing Lan had now obtained Qiao Wan’s personal sachet and was only waiting for Mu Chi to acquire the Snow Bodhi before exposing this matter.

But as he caught the faint scent of the white jade ointment on his body, Mu Chi couldn’t help but frown tightly. He turned and instructed someone outside to prepare hot water for a bath.

The servants were well aware of the princess’s regard for Mu Chi and did not dare neglect him. Within half an hour, everything was ready.

Disgusted by the smell on his body, Mu Chi did not emerge from the bathtub until the fragrance had completely faded. He stepped out, his hair still damp, and walked out of the inner room.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the ginger-red brocade fur coat carelessly tossed on a wooden chair. Without a second thought, he picked it up and threw it into a nearby fire basin.

The flames were pressed down by the coat. As Mu Chi watched a corner of the brocade fur coat catch fire, he recalled the fleeting bloating heat sensation he had felt below his abdomen when Qiao Wan applied the ointment earlier. For some inexplicable reason, he did not release his grip on the coat.

It was a completely unfamiliar sensation.

Like... the tremor he felt in his chest the first time he killed someone, yet different. That tremor had faded as he killed more and more people.

But that swelling warmth carried a hint of a sense of incompleteness.

When Si Li entered through the window, he saw Mu Chi holding the brocade fur coat over the flames, his long hair disheveled. In the flickering light of the fire, he appeared eerily spectral and demonic. His fingers were scorched several times by the flames, yet he seemed completely oblivious.

Startled, and mindful of Mu Chi’s aversion to being touched, Si Li quickly grabbed the coat along with Mu Chi’s hand and pulled them both away from the fire.

The brocade fur coat, now burnt on one corner, fell to the ground. Mu Chi glanced at it but neither picked it up nor stopped Si Li’s actions.

"Forgive me, Young Master," Si Li hurriedly bowed his head in apology.

Mu Chi’s expression remained indifferent. He looked down at his fingertips, where the burnt skin had shriveled and blood beads were seeping out, and asked calmly, "Among those who bid at Song Zhu Pavilion that day, was there one named Li Zhen?"

Si Li ran through the list he had investigated. "Yes, Young Master."

"Mmm," Mu Chi responded. "Spare his life."

Si Li was taken aback.

Mu Chi let out a low chuckle. "Just remove his manhood and cut off his tongue."

Si Li’s expression returned to normal.

Mu Chi sat quietly in the wooden chair, unconsciously tapping the tabletop as he recalled the scene of Qiao Wan forcing Li Zhen to apologize to her.

He had remained silent at the time, scorned to speak.

If he were to forgive him, then further tormenting him would appear petty.

"Young Master..." Si Li, seeing Mu Chi fall silent, was about to speak.

"Si Li, have you ever experienced matters between a man and a woman?" Mu Chi suddenly asked flatly.

Si Li’s eyes widened in surprise. Not only had Mu Chi never spoken of such matters, but he had never discussed any personal affairs. "What do you mean, Young Master?"

Mu Chi replied indifferently, "Just tell me everything you know."

After a moment’s silence, Si Li steeled himself and said, "I’ve only heard that relations between men and women are about intimacy and love. When a man is close to a woman he loves, he may feel a sense of pleasure."

Mu Chi pondered. Pleasure?

Earlier, he had felt nothing but revulsion at her closeness.

"What if there is no pleasure?" Mu Chi asked.

Si Li thought for a moment and added, "Men and women are different. Most ordinary men, even if they dislike it, will still feel desire when teased or stimulated."

So, this was the disgusting desire.

Mu Chi fell silent for a while.

So, today, it wasn’t necessarily Qiao Wan. Anyone else could have elicited the same reaction.

"Mmm," Mu Chi acknowledged. "What about the thing I asked you to find?"

"Found it." Si Li let out a sigh of relief and quickly placed the cobalt blue porcelain bottle on the table.

Mu Chi took the bottle and sniffed it, recognizing it as...

Five-Venom Poison, which could only be cured by Snow Bodhi.

He had originally intended to use it on Qiao Wan, but the thought of her flushed ears after applying the medicine today, he felt a sudden wave of disgust.

"Sir?" Si Li asked softly.

Mu Chi looked at him. "Not necessary."

Si Li was puzzled.

"It's unnecessary for now. If investigated, it might tip them off," Mu Chi clenched the bottle, thought of something, and let out a mocking laugh. "Get a doctor."

If she’s so eager to cure him, let her.

She’ll use the one thing he wants most to 'cure' him.