Chapter 337

The autumn wind drifted through the open window, stirring a faint creak.

A fallen leaf, like a tiny boat adrift, spun into the room, gliding toward the tip of a young man’s nose.

Before it landed, a slender hand gently caught it.

The room was quiet and serene.

After countless vague dreams, Pei Ji awoke, stirred by pain.

His back still throbbed from the streaks left by heavenly thunder. Both his awareness and spiritual consciousness were feeble; he tried to move but found himself utterly powerless.

It felt as if a cloth covered his eyes—he couldn’t open them or use his spiritual consciousness to perceive his surroundings.

All was dark, accompanied by waves of tearing pain.

The strangest part was that the voice that had been in his mind since he was young… was now silent.

Cheng Ying had vanished.

He almost thought he was still dreaming.

Suddenly, something soft poked his cheek.

Pei Ji recognized it as someone’s fingertip.

With his sight gone, his other senses were heightened.

The fingertip felt cool, like spring water, moving upward from his cheek to the tear mole at the corner of his eye, poking it again.

Someone leaned close, resting their head on the bedside.

The mattress sank slightly, and he caught the familiar scent of gardenias.

“Pei Ji, Elder Wen has already woken up. Why haven’t you opened your eyes yet?”

Ning Ning’s voice was soft: “Even if you do open them, I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

Only then did Pei Ji realize that his eyes were covered with cloth.

Even if he regained consciousness now, he wouldn’t be discovered right away.

Ning Ning propped her left hand under her cheek, covering his face slowly with her right hand.

She didn’t dare press too hard.

Pei Ji’s face was so pale it seemed he’d shatter if she applied even a bit of force.

The thought made Ning Ning’s nose twinge.

When the death calamity struck, Pei Ji had fed her a sedative, covering her eyes.

Though she couldn’t see, she could clearly sense the spreading scent of blood and the violent tremors of his body.

He hadn’t said a word back then, yet he had planned everything, intending to sacrifice himself for her sake.

…What a single-minded idiot.

Yet there was no one in this world who treated her better than Pei Ji.

Their journey across the desert had come at a great cost.

They had set out unscathed, only to return with everyone either gravely injured or spiritual energy completely drained.

Thankfully, some desert bandits had helped them, and after many twists and turns, they had finally been brought back to Pingchuan Town to recuperate.

Now, seven days and nights had passed since that day.

They had returned to the Xuanxu Sword Sect.

Aside from Pei Ji, who was the most seriously injured, everyone else had regained consciousness.

“If you don’t open your eyes soon,” Ning Ning whispered while watching his profile, her fingertip brushing over the deep-red tear mole at the corner of his eye, “you’ll be the last one.”

On that day, the lightning had been so intense that even a brief glance was blinding.

Pei Ji had endured it head-on, so it was natural that his eyes had suffered severe damage.

In order to prevent him from being stimulated by the strong light after waking up, the elder who was healing him deliberately covered his eyes with a layer of white cloth.

With that cloth, the dark hostility between his brows had lessened. Ning Ning couldn’t see his eyes, only his high nose bridge and his habitually pressed, thin lips.

His lips were overly pale, slightly downturned, and cracked from the dryness of long illness, forming faint white lines.

She suddenly wanted to hold him and ask if he was in pain.

Whatever his answer, she would tell him that she was there with him.

She wanted this more than ever; he had been alone for far too long.

“Last night, I dreamed… I dreamed of you.”

Since he was asleep and unaware, Ning Ning let herself speak freely, pouring out everything in her heart.

“Remember how you once mentioned rabbits and ducks? I dreamed that, long into the future, we lived in a yard full of flowers—just the two of us, our own home.”

She felt her ears redden as she spoke, embarrassed by her own words.

She gave his cheek a light pinch as she continued: “We had so many pets that one day when I came home, I found the rabbits and ducks gathered in waves, sweeping you along like a little white ball.”

There was no response.

“Hey.”

Ning Ning lowered her head even further, her voice near his ear: “Do you think that dream could come true? Our home—”

Her words caught in her throat, left unspoken.

—Just then, Pei Ji, who had been lying still, suddenly turned his head, his face like white jade, aligning perfectly with her nose.

If not for that cloth, she would have met his dark gaze.

Pei Ji’s lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Ning Ning’s heart thumped fiercely, beating like a drum.

When had he woken up?

He must have heard everything she’d said.

Her hand was still resting on Pei Ji’s face, unmoved.

Saying “I want a home with you”… was undeniably bolder than “I like you,” almost the most straightforward confession.

And she’d somehow blurted it out so openly.

Her entire body grew hot, and all she wanted was to smash her head against a wall.

“What happens next?”