Chapter 919: Chapter 41 Awkward Moments_3
"Ah! I, I saw nothing," Ah Dai explained clumsily. The icy spring water did nothing to cool the heat in his chest, and he still couldn’t calm down.
Yan Shi smiled and said, "Ah Li, stop teasing Ah Dai. Ah Dai, it really doesn’t matter, considering how close you and Yue Yue are, you’ll get to see it legitimately sooner or later. Eh, why is your face red, are you feeling unwell? Whisper to us, was the scene just now very moving?"
Ah Dai wished there was a crack in the ground he could crawl into. He hadn’t expected Yan Shi to tease him too and stammered, "I, I really didn’t see anything. Don’t talk nonsense, Yue Yue and I have nothing going on." But deep inside, Xuan Yue’s image was indelibly etched in Ah Dai’s heart. Xuan Yue’s beauty, vivacity, and kindness had long since moved him. He had never revealed his feelings, partly due to his own reticence, but more importantly, because her status was so far above his own—the daughter of the Red Bishop and a thief like him could never be a match. Moreover, there was a girl who was supposed to be his fiancée since childhood, lodged in his heart, causing Ah Dai to never dare to show his feelings. He kept telling himself, "You can only be matched with a girl of your own standing, not with Yue Yue."
Yan Li laughed, "Nothing going on? Yue Yue clings to you every day, even a fool can see what’s between you two."
Ah Dai shuddered, shook his head vigorously, throwing away the thought of Xuan Yue liking him and murmured, "Both of you, please stop teasing me. I want to rest for a while." After speaking, he lay down on the grass, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.
Seeing Ah Dai’s downcast mood, the Yan brothers exchanged looks, not understanding why he was acting this way and stopped teasing him.
Not long after, there was an exclamation from the pond above. Ah Dai, who had been lying down, immediately sprang up and rushed towards the pond with an anxious expression.
Yan Li just wanted to follow and see what had happened, but Yan Shi stopped him, "Do you want a bloody nose? Nothing major will happen here, let Ah Dai handle it. You better not see what you’re not supposed to see!"
Yan Li laughed heartily, "Big brother, you always think things through."
By this time, Ah Dai had already leaped toward the pond. He jumped high over the pond, but as he caught sight of the "beautiful scene" before him, he lost control of his body and splashed into the water. Bright red blood streamed from his nose, tinting the waters of the pond with shades of red.
As it turned out, when Ah Dai arrived at the pond, what he saw was Xuan Yue, completely bare, exuding allure. Having not bathed for several days, she was eager to rid herself of the grime. She trusted that Ah Dai and the others would never peep, so she boldly stripped off her garments to bathe. Her exclamation was due to a white fish that unexpectedly bumped her, but she hadn’t expected her cry to draw Ah Dai. Instantly embarrassed by being seen in her entirety, she crouched down in the pool, covering her "vitals."
Climbing out of the water, Ah Dai, eyes closed, said, "Yue Yue, Yue Yue, are you alright?"
With her head lowered and trembling, Xuan Yue responded, "You, you go away, I’m fine. You..."
Upon hearing that Xuan Yue was alright, Ah Dai turned and ran like he was escaping for his life. But he had forgotten that his direction had already changed when he fell into the pond, and with his eyes still closed, he turned and ran straight towards Xuan Yue.
Amidst Xuan Yue’s cry of alarm, Ah Dai collided with her body, and the two of them tumbled into the pond together. In his panic, Ah Dai felt his hands grasp something soft, and in his shock, he tried to call out but instead swallowed a mouthful of cold spring water, choking and coughing incessantly.
Xuan Yue was mortified; what Ah Dai had grabbed was her... She pushed him aside forcefully and shouted angrily, "You, what are you doing?"
Ah Dai opened his eyes, struggling to climb out of the pond, and caught sight of Xuan Yue just a short distance away. He screamed and turned to run. Fully panicked, he tripped over a stone by the pond and fell into a thorny bush, slicing his body with a dozen cuts. But he couldn’t worry about the pain; he scrambled back to Yan Shi and Yan Li, looking pathetic and alarming them.
"Brother, what happened to you? How did you end up like this? What happened?" Yan Li asked with concern.
Ah Dai was gasping for breath, the sound of his own heartbeat loud and clear, his body trembling slightly, and the soft touch in his hands continued to shake his soul. Never had anything made him so unsettled.
Yan Shi gave Yan Li a look, signaling him to drop the subject. He pointed to Ah Dai’s bleeding nose and smiled subtly.
Having fled, Xuan Yue lay paralyzed, unable to move, and it took her a long while to recover. The heat from Ah Dai’s hands when he grabbed her... had made her whole body weak. She managed to climb back to the shore, with no desire to continue bathing. She summoned a clean set of clothes from Phoenix’s Blood and hastily dressed.
