Just as the sky showed the pale white of a fish's belly, the gentle spring breeze of early spring swept through, penetrating the small, broken window.
Ling Long blinked her delicate and beautiful black eyebrows.
She had been wandering for a very, very long time in a space of complete darkness, where she could not see her hand even if she reached it out.
It wasn't until just now, when a flood of memories, like a surging tide of light, rushed in, that she found a way out of this dark space.
The entrance was like a heavy stone slab, and outside the stone were the chirping sounds of birds.
It was so heavy...
"But I have to get out."
In her self-awareness, Ling Long gradually awoke, gradually gaining strength.
Ling Long opened her eyes with difficulty.
Surrounding her were unfamiliar adobe walls.
In her sight was a set of old wooden furniture, very worn, but the tabletop was wiped spotlessly clean. On the table sat an old oil lamp with its brass missing.
On the high stool beside it lay a slightly chipped long wooden box, seemingly made of fir.
After looking around the room, Ling Long noticed that at the bedside lay a young man who was quite handsome. Next to the young man was a yellowed sheepskin book. It seemed he had fallen asleep reading beside her, and then someone had covered him with a coat.
Ling Long exerted some effort and sat up straight. She found that the rough leaf garment she had made with her own hands was gone, replaced by a linen shift.
...
Ling Long's face flushed with embarrassment, and she froze for a moment.
After looking at the young man a few more times, she thought to herself that this young man was quite presentable and should not have done anything unspeakable to her while she was unconscious.
Ling Long lazily lifted her eyelids slightly and said to herself, "I must believe in his character."
"There must be a basic level of trust between people."
As she spoke, she had already lifted the warm quilt covering her and carefully turned her body towards the corner of the room.
Then, with an uneasy heart, she took a deep breath and slowly reached her fingers under the vacuum.
She kept her eyes tightly shut the entire time, not daring to peek.
"Phew." When Ling Long successfully and lightly touched that thin, sensitive "part of her body," she breathed a sigh of relief filled with joy.
"It seems I haven't been..."
She turned around, gently got off the bed, and carefully repositioned the coat that had slipped off A Luo's shoulders.
Ling Long blinked her long eyelashes and gazed at the sleeping young man for a while, her eyes very soft.
"When you wake up, I must thank you sincerely."
The young man moved his mouth, which was drooling, and as if answering the girl's words, or perhaps talking to himself, he said, "Black-haired girl, lift your leg a bit higher, I can't suck it..."
???
What?
What can't he suck?
Ling Long's previously pure black pupils instantly lost their luster.
Ling Long's soft gaze turned into one of looking at trash.
She lifted her injured leg with some effort, and then with a sudden kick, she aimed it at A Luo.
Ling Long reflexively stumbled back two steps from the recoil, falling onto the somewhat cold ground. A Luo let out a yelp, and chair and all, he tumbled over.
Ling Long, somewhat abashedly, clutched her backside. The ground was too hard, hurting her bony, fleshless backside...
"Enemy attack?" A Luo's eyes snapped open, and he frantically grabbed his chair to get up. He scratched his head, vaguely remembering that he was supposed to be sucking poison from the black-haired girl's leg when his shoulder suddenly began to hurt, and then he inexplicably fell to the ground.
But after getting up, there was no one else in the room except for a girl holding her backside, with a displeased expression on her face.
"Do I have somnambulism?" A Luo muttered dejectedly, then remembered the important matter.
Wasn't the pitiable girl sitting on the ground before him the one he had longed for to wake up?
A Luo flashed a brilliant smile and extended his hand gently, saying, "Miss, you're awake. Let me help you up."
Hmph, looking at the young man's brilliant smile, Ling Long immediately frowned, her eyes filled with disgust and resistance.
She couldn't accept such enthusiasm from a man right now.
Seeing the girl's pouting, hostile demeanor, A Luo, puzzled, squatted down and said gently and considerately, "Miss, the ground is too cold, it's not good for your health. Do you need me to help you up?"
Ling Long knew this man had saved her, but she felt resistant and stepped back when he tried to approach her naturally.
Seeing the girl's reaction, A Luo was stunned. According to the script, shouldn't the girl politely thank him after waking up, and then this, and then that, and finally...
Had he done something wrong?
A Luo felt a hint of disappointment... and began to doubt if he really had a chance to win this girl's heart.
Seeing a flicker of disappointment in A Luo's eyes, Ling Long, having achieved her desired effect, smiled faintly and said calmly, "No need, I can get up myself."
After laboriously getting up, Ling Long calmly spoke again, "You saved me, and I owe you a great debt. But I am penniless now and cannot repay you."
He hurriedly shook his head, "I don't need you to repay anything. I'll be happy as long as you recover soon."
Wow, this guy, seeing this kind of goody-two-shoes, Ling Long felt a bit annoyed.
Ling Long then strengthened her tone and said weakly, "This is not good, I am a big man, no, I am a woman... oh no... uh, I am a..."
"Forget it, can you give me the clothes I'm wearing now, and also some money and a horse?"
"Of course, I'm borrowing them from you, and I will definitely return them in the future."
Looking at the girl talking to herself, A Luo sighed, vexation and helplessness evident in his brow.
It seemed he couldn't keep the girl...
"Miss, give me half a month. Within half a month, I will get you a horse."
With that, A Luo left.
"I didn't expect it to get this awkward..." Ling Long's expression was blank, a self-mocking smile at the corner of her lips. Her clenched hand, due to the force, caused her slightly sharp fingernails to dig deep into her palm, bringing waves of piercing pain...
She just wanted to explain her situation, to avoid getting too close to the young man. She didn't want to owe his kindness any further.
But she didn't know how to explain her situation.
"Forget it, I should leave..."
"I'm sorry, I'm borrowing these clothes..."
"If my name, Ling Long, can become as renowned as Hán Xìn's, then I will definitely return a hundredfold."
Ling Long muttered to herself self-deprecatingly, then walked towards the door.
"Miss, what are you doing?" A Luo asked solicitously as he saw Ling Long emerge from the room.
"I'm sorry." Ling Long said with a complex, humble expression.
"What's wrong?" A Luo tilted his head and blocked Ling Long's path.
"I've thought about it. Although I feel sorry for your life-saving grace, I've decided to leave.
I'm borrowing these clothes, and if I become wealthy in the future, I will definitely return a thousandfold." Ling Long's footsteps didn't stop, forcing A Luo to constantly retreat.
A Luo froze. He didn't move aside, and after a long pause, he said, "Didn't we agree on half a month?"
"I truly don't need you to repay anything. I am a Knight. Knights help those in need unconditionally."
"After half a month, I will prepare the best horse for you, an Iliya horse, and whatever else you need."
"I truly don't expect anything from you. You and I met by fate, and we met under fate's guidance. I just don't want you to be an unknown passerby on my life's journey..."
The original text on the seventh page of that Knight book -
A Luo thought for a moment. He felt the other party was not weak, so he didn't say the rest of the passage.
Ling Long clutched her complex heart, trying hard to suppress her vulnerability. Just a little more, and the tears welling up in her eyes would have fallen, and her nose would have run.
How could she be moved by this?
How could her heart be so fragile?
Could this man be so charming?
No, no... it's not that I'm too weak, it must be the cold weather.
...
While her consciousness was still that of a man, and she still resisted men, she had to cut ties quickly before she fell in love with the man before her, and then it would truly be over.
Let alone half a month, looking at her current state, if this man just treated her a little better, she would completely surrender and fall.
...
The cold spring breeze flowed upwards through the not-so-spacious area under her shift, constantly stimulating her sensitive body. Her fair ankles stepped on the cold, iron-like black earth.
Ling Long's somewhat fragile heart, stimulated from within and without, beat ever more strongly. Her vision gradually blurred, and extreme fatigue washed over her.
"I've only walked less than twenty meters..."
Feeling her eyelids grow heavier, Ling Long stopped.
"I probably don't even have the strength to walk back now..."
Realizing her weakness, Ling Long bit her red lip with her teeth and reluctantly tugged A Luo's sleeve.
Her voice carried a hint of stubbornness as she said, "Can... can you carry me back? It's not that... I was persuaded by you, it's just... I... haven't recovered yet."
Looking at the girl before him, who had her arms tightly crossed, her legs clamped together in her shift, and a prominent blush on her pale, sickly face, A Luo understood. He nodded, knelt down, and extended an arm as if taking a knight's oath.
He said joyfully, "Of course, Your Highness the Princess."
Ling Long's body stiffened at A Luo's words. She hesitated for a moment, then offered her right hand.
Then...
A Luo passionately kissed the back of her hand.
After declaring the oath complete,
He picked up the girl, who hadn't reacted yet, trembling uncontrollably, her face hot and flushed.
A Luo, holding Ling Long, strode back towards his home...