"Ying?"
Qin Hanyue got out of bed and rushed out without even putting on his shoes, still in his pajamas and barefoot.
His mind was in turmoil. Just woken up from a nightmare, his limbs were very tired, and he stumbled as he walked.
Had Ye Sheng come tonight? Had the nightmare come true? Had Ye Sheng taken her away? The desperation and despair he felt in the dream when he lost her came to reality, almost killing Qin Hanyue.
His face pale, he recklessly went outside.
He found the talisman on the door frame had fallen to the ground. It wasn't blown off by the wind or fallen off on its own.
The talisman was crumpled, clearly torn off by someone.
Qin Hanyue, who was unable to think calmly at the moment, didn't have time to speculate. His mind was blank one moment and chaotic the next. He hurried out of the room and anxiously looked for people, looking for Qiao Ying, looking for the servants in the villa, asking if they had seen her.
Ying.
The villa was as deserted as always, with only the noise he made himself. Even his breathing sounded so noisy.
The talismans in the corridor had also been torn off and randomly thrown on the ground.
Was it her?
Had she woken up?
His footsteps grew faster and faster. Not finding anyone, Qin Hanyue even began to take his anger out on the villa, hating how big the house was built, taking so long just to go downstairs to find someone.
Just as Qin Hanyue was about to lose control, he saw a thin, weak figure leisurely walking up the stairs.
It was exactly who he was desperately looking for.
Seeing that figure, Qin Hanyue froze in place.
The two met in the corridor.
Qin Hanyue looked at her, so nervous he could barely breathe. His limbs stiffened and numbed. He wanted to go up to her but didn't quite dare to.
Was it still her?
He asked himself.
The distance was a bit far. She was looking at him, but Qin Hanyue couldn't quite see her expression. But he could truly feel that familiar aura. The nightmare had come at such an inopportune time that when he woke up and saw her, he didn't even have the courage to recognize her for a moment.
Her calmness and silence also made him uneasy.
His heart was racing, almost more than Qin Hanyue could bear.
Finally,
"Awake," Qiao Ying greeted him.
She had her hands in her pockets, her tone surprisingly casual, as if she had just gone to bed and slept last night and normally got up today.
The familiar tone made Qin Hanyue almost lose control of his tear ducts. The tension in his heart was released in an instant, and he finally dared to breathe.
It was her!
The nightmare hadn't come true. Her soul was still safely in this body. She was awake. She still existed properly.
Qin Hanyue's hesitant footsteps no longer had any obstacles at this moment. He took big steps forward and strode towards her.
She took two steps up to meet him.
Qin Hanyue rushed up to her and hugged her tightly, a sense of stability he had never felt before.
At this moment, there were no words. Qin Hanyue couldn't say anything either, he just kept hugging her tightly, feeling her existence.
"...You're finally awake," his voice trembled.
"Mm," she responded.
The moment he walked towards her, her hands also came out of her pockets. The moment she was hugged, she also hugged him back.
Hearing her voice again, all of Qin Hanyue's anxiety, panic, fear disappeared without a trace at this moment, leaving only the joy and excitement that threatened to overwhelm his mind.
Although he looked at her every day, one awake and one asleep, seeing each other again was no different from a reunion to Qin Hanyue.
His whole person was immersed in the joy of reunion.
He held her tighter and tighter, so hard it was as if he wanted to squeeze her into his own body. Because of their height difference, Qiao Ying's face was buried in his shoulder, almost unable to breathe, her bones about to break.
"You're hurting me," Qiao Ying had to say.
Her voice was muffled in his shoulder.
The overly excited Qin Hanyue reluctantly loosened his arms around her waist a little and let her go a bit.
The two just hugged like that in the corridor for a good half day. Unknowingly, his arms hugged her tight again, half his weight pressing down on her. Qiao Ying's waist collapsed, but she was too lazy to say anything to him.
He finally calmed down a little, but his heartbeat was still difficult to calm.
"...Where did you go?" He nuzzled the side of her head.
"Just walking around, lying too long, moving around a bit."
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Seeing you sleep so soundly, I didn't call you."
"You should have woken me up." He was very emotional.
He wanted to see her the moment she woke up. He was having nightmares, endless nightmares. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I thought you...you scared me." He was still frightened.
Unwilling to blame her, Qin Hanyue added, "It was because I was sleeping too deeply, I didn't even notice when you woke up."
Damn it, he shouldn't have slept.
Qiao Ying didn't respond to him. After a while, he heard her blurt out, "I just went outside, it's very cold outside."
Qin Hanyue: "You must be frozen."
He held her tighter compassionately, trying to transmit his body temperature to her.
But he heard her continue, "You're warm."
Qin Hanyue smiled and took it as sweet words.
He happily picked her up so she was as tall as him, then leaned in to kiss her.
Qiao Ying covered her mouth.
Her pretty eyebrows raised slightly. "Brush your teeth first?"
He wasn't even wearing shoes, let alone brushed his teeth.
Qin Hanyue tore her hand away and forcibly kissed her.
The months of helplessness, fear and dread all melted away in this kiss. There was no complaining, only his endless love for her.
Qiao Ying's hands, which had been gripping his shoulders, slowly hugged his neck as the kiss deepened. She had obviously missed him too, and felt sorry for him. Her way of expressing herself had always been straightforward, so she responded to him.
Her voice, her embrace, her response, any of those could soothe the wounds in Qin Hanyue's heart.
He hugged her waist with one arm, picked up her whole body, and covered the back of her head with one hand, constantly deepening the kiss.
After a long time, when they were both out of breath, they broke apart.
Qin Hanyue looked at her small face flushed with some color, and couldn't help but firmly kiss her lips again.
Qiao Ying was panting for breath. With one hand stroking his haggard, emaciated face, she annoyingly said, "You look a bit old."
Qin Hanyue: "Not old."
Qiao Ying hooked the corners of her mouth. "Really a little old."
Qin Hanyue stubbornly said, "Really not old."
Qiao Ying: "You said it yourself."
Qin Hanyue: "You heard everything?"
Qiao Ying: "I could hear everything all along."
When Qiao Ying had just walked up the stairs, her tone was relaxed as she casually greeted him, making Qin Hanyue think she was unconscious. He couldn't help feeling relieved, relieved that she didn't know anything and had just slept.
But unexpectedly, she had been conscious all along, had always been able to hear the sounds around her. Qin Hanyue felt infinitely more distressed.
Qiao Ying: "I always felt you talked a lot, but I didn't expect you could talk to this extent." She seemed a little disgusted.
"The rest was fine, just getting Taoist and Buddhist monks to summon souls...those talismans were really stupid," she ridiculed.
Her eyes were smiling, obviously not matching how she felt.
He had just blindly tortured himself for two months. Fortunately there was Cheng Jinyan, otherwise who knows what kind of witchcraft this fool would have desperately tried in his impatience, even sacrificing himself.
She had wanted to lighten the atmosphere.
But unexpectedly, Qin Hanyue didn't respond to her ridicule. Instead, he said to her, "It must have been hard on you."
Qiao Ying looked at the gratitude and distress for her in his eyes. Her hand stroking his face stopped, and her eyes also froze.
She gazed at him, the feeling of being moved clearer and stronger than ever.
- She should be the one to say that to him.
