Chapter 98 So, you’re trying to draw a line between us?

Jiang Chengyan was a man of keen sensitivity. In ordinary times, when Bai Yan spoke to him, she was usually like a spoiled little thing, always clinging to him and sweetly coaxing him. But just now, when she had spoken, the clear light in her eyes had been utterly vacant, and even the tone of her voice no longer carried its usual intimacy. It was almost as though she were speaking to a stranger.

What was even more baffling was that she had been trembling far more violently than she had in the brothel.

“I’m sleepy. I want to rest for a while,” Bai Yan murmured, then tugged the blanket over herself and curled up into a tight little ball beneath it.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Chengyan gave a quiet reply and went to the kitchen to simmer soup, no longer remaining in the room to watch over her.

Yet the moment he stepped out of the door, he heard the little girl softly utter two words: “Liar.”

Liar? Was she saying that he was a liar?

...

After returning from the county town, Bai Yan seemed to have been badly frightened and had remained listless ever since. Jiang Chengyan fed her some soup, and she drifted off to sleep again, but unlike before, even in slumber she did not rest peacefully. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, and she still looked as though she had been startled.

The turning point came early the next morning, before dawn had even broken outside. Jiang Chengyan suddenly felt movement within the blanket he was holding. He did not open his eyes, but continued pretending to sleep as though nothing were amiss.

Beside him, Bai Yan nimbly wriggled out from under the covers. She climbed down from the heated platform as quietly as a cat, then stepped off it without even putting on her shoes, and silently made her way outside.

At first, Jiang Chengyan thought the little girl had only gone to handle some private matter. But to his surprise, the next thing he heard was the soft sound of the courtyard gate being opened.

...

The sky was still dim and pale, and the narrow path was deserted. Bai Yan walked up the mountain as if she knew the way by heart. She seemed not the least bit afraid, simply moving quietly toward her destination.

A fox may have three burrows; the saying was not made for nothing. Even if she could no longer turn back into a rabbit, and the rabbit den could no longer accommodate her, she still knew of several hidden caves.

She headed straight for one of them with clear purpose. As dawn approached, there was still plenty of wild movement in the woods, but the little girl seemed unafraid of any of it. She walked so quietly that even her footsteps made hardly any sound.

When the first ray of morning light finally fell into the forest, a cool, calm voice suddenly sounded behind Bai Yan.

“Little one, where do you think you’re going?”

Ever since Bai Yan had left home, he had followed silently behind her. Watching her go farther and farther away, Jiang Chengyan could at last be certain of the suspicion in his heart.

She wanted to leave. She wanted to leave him.

Bai Yan’s reaction seemed a beat slow. She turned around and looked at Jiang Chengyan in confusion.

His brow furrowed. Just as he was about to speak, his attention fell to her feet.

She had not even put on shoes.

“Do you not care about those feet of yours anymore?” Jiang Chengyan strode toward Bai Yan, anger rolling off him in waves.

“I was like this when I became human,” Bai Yan said, looking at him with complete calm.

The day she first transformed into a human, she had looked exactly the same: no shoes, only a plain white set of clothes. Just as now.

“So,” he said at last, “you’re planning to draw a line between us?”