Chapter 80: Peach Blossoms Bloom on the Branch Outside the Window

Chapter 80: Peach Blossoms on the Branch Outside the Window

Over the next few days, Jiang Huanyun deliberately avoided Li Yu.

It wasn't like he was avoiding him outright. He simply got up a little later than usual, waiting until Li Yu had gone down for breakfast before slowly dragging himself out of bed.

When Li Yu came back upstairs, he'd make excuses to head downstairs to ask the innkeeper for hot water, or go out to the street to buy something.

They shared a room, but over a whole day, they barely crossed paths. They still talked normally, just a whole lot less.

Jiang Huanyun no longer babbled on asking Li Yu about this and that, and he didn't walk shoulder to shoulder with Li Yu anymore either.

He just walked behind Li Yu, keeping half a step back.

Li Yu noticed all of it but didn't call him out.

It wasn't until the fifth day, when Chi Jushui came into their room to talk about the route ahead, that he noticed something was off.

When he pushed the door open, Li Yu was sitting in a chair by the window, casually holding a cup of tea.

Jiang Huanyun was sitting on the bed, his back against the wall, clutching that fan to his chest, head down, staring at nothing in particular. The two of them sat far apart, a huge gap between them.

Chi Jushui sat down at the table, spread out the map and talked through the route.

When he finished, he waited. No one said a word. He looked up, glanced from Li Yu to Jiang Huanyun.

"Did you two get into a fight?" Chi Jushui asked.

"No," Li Yu said, a faint smile still playing at the corner of his mouth.

Jiang Huanyun heard that from the other side of the bed, looked up, and shot him a glare, then turned his face away in a huff, clutching his fan and staying quiet.

Chi Jushui furrowed his brow, feeling the vibe was off.

In the months he'd known Li Yu, he'd never seen him smile while discussing something serious.

Chi Jushui glanced at Jiang Huanyun again. Jiang Huanyun's cheeks were a little flushed—whether from anger or something else, he couldn't tell, but it wasn't like him.

"Then... I feel like Huanyun's acting a bit weird?" Chi Jushui said hesitantly.

"I'm not!" Jiang Huanyun looked up immediately, his voice a notch higher than usual. Realizing he'd overreacted, he quickly ducked his head and hid his face behind the fan.

"That's right, my Huanyun isn't acting weird at all," Li Yu said, his tone slow and lazy, the last word trailing off soft as if it had been steeped in tea.

Chi Jushui looked a little bewildered. He looked at Li Yu, then at Jiang Huanyun, his mind churning for a long while without landing on an answer.

"Huh? Then... why are you two acting so weird?"

"Hmm... well..." Li Yu held his teacup, his gaze drifting over the rim toward the window.

Outside the window happened to be a peach tree, its branches just starting to sprout a few buds—pinkish white, bathed in the afternoon sun, swaying gently in the breeze.

He watched for a moment, then said slowly, "Maybe it's because... the peach blossoms just happen to be blooming on the branch outside the window?"

Chi Jushui followed his gaze to the peach tree. A peach tree was a peach tree, and peach blossoms were peach blossoms.

But he felt like that comment had nothing to do with the route, and nothing to do with Jiang Huanyun acting weird either.

He opened his mouth to ask more, then decided he probably shouldn't.

"Then... let's go with what I just said about the route." Chi Jushui rolled up the map, stood, and headed for the door.

When he reached the door, he looked back.

Li Yu was still staring at the peach tree outside the window, and Jiang Huanyun was still on the far side of the bed clutching his fan. The two of them were still separated by half the room, that space between them seeming deliberately left empty.

Chi Jushui closed the door and left.

Walking down the hallway, he was still thinking about that peach tree. He thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what blooming peach blossoms had to do with the route.

When Chi Jushui got back to his room, Zhao Guanlan was sitting in the chair by the window, sipping tea at his leisure.

It was tea Chi Jushui had brewed that morning, still sitting unfinished on the table. Zhao Guanlan had just helped himself to a cup, drinking it with total entitlement, as if half the room was rightfully his.

"What are you doing in my room?" Chi Jushui stood at the door, his brow slightly furrowed.

"I came 'cause I felt like it." Zhao Guanlan toyed with a small knife, spinning the handle between his fingers, silver glinting on and off.

He tilted his head and smiled over at him. "What, Junior Brother, you gonna boss me around?"

"Senior Brother, suit yourself." Chi Jushui ignored him, walked in, grabbed an empty cup, and poured himself some tea.

His right hand reached for the cup, but another hand pressed down over the rim first.

Zhao Guanlan snatched the cup with a grin and took a sip himself. Then he smacked his lips, like he was deliberately trying to get under his skin.

Chi Jushui stared at him blankly for a few beats, then turned to leave.

He couldn't be bothered to argue with Zhao Guanlan. He'd known since they were kids that his senior brother had a smart mouth.

Zhao Guanlan spoke up slowly from behind: "Ah, Junior Brother, I had a little chat with Young Master Jiang a few days ago, and I suddenly realized something."

Chi Jushui's footsteps paused.

"What?"

"With your skill level, you shouldn't be able to beat Mingjingtai," Zhao Guanlan said, holding his teacup, slowly rising from the chair and walking step by step toward him.

His pace was unhurried, the soles of his shoes making soft sounds on the wooden floor. "So how'd you manage to capture him so easily? And you've been holding him for days—he clearly had chances to escape, so why would he still stick with you, eating and sleeping together? Tell me..."

He walked up behind Chi Jushui, leaned down, got close to his ear, and blew a soft breath.

"Tell me, could it be that he's fallen for you?"

Chi Jushui: "..."

He stared straight ahead, saying nothing.

"He wouldn't have gone and fallen in love with you, would he?" Zhao Guanlan's expression got even more exaggerated, eyebrows raised, the smirk at the corner of his mouth lifted high and insufferably smug. "So, Junior Brother, do you like him?"

Chi Jushui: "..."

"Junior Brother, do you love him?"

Chi Jushui said nothing, and Zhao Guanlan kept yapping beside him, sometimes leaning to his left, sometimes circling to his right, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Junior Brother, do you love him? Do you love him?"

Chi Jushui finally hit his limit. He shot out his right hand, grabbed Zhao Guanlan by the collar, yanked him sideways, then shoved him forward, slamming him against the wall.

His movements were clean and swift, with just one hand, yet the force behind them was undiminished.

Zhao Guanlan's back hit the wooden wall with a dull thud, the teacup in his hand wobbled, spilling half its contents onto his sleeve.

Chi Jushui leaned in close, his usually blank face suddenly inches from his.

His voice was soft: "Senior brother, you don't want me to cut your tongue out, do you?"

Zhao Guanlan stared at the face so close, at those cold, lifeless eyes, and his smile froze for a split second. Slowly, he raised both hands in surrender.

"I'll stop talking."

Chi Jushui released him, took a step back, and nonchalantly fixed his sleeve.

Zhao Guanlan leaned against the wall, glanced down at his tea-soaked sleeve, then looked up at Chi Jushui. A faint smile crossed his face, but he didn't say anything else.

He bent down to pick up the small knife that had fallen to the floor, sheathed it, and strolled casually toward the door.

At the doorway, he paused, turned back to glance at Chi Jushui.

"Junior brother, you're blushing."

Chi Jushui looked up at him blankly, his right hand quietly drawing his saber.

Zhao Guanlan quickly ducked, yanked the door open, and slipped out.