Chapter 4: If I sleep on the bed

By the fourth day Lin Tian could walk to the end of the village path and back without stopping to catch his breath .

His legs still felt a little hollow , like they would shake if he pushed them too far still it was different from before . The dual core was quiet most of the times , just faintly warm in his chest . Every time Su Qingxue stood close the two forces inside him turned a little faster drinking in the pure Yin that leaked from her without her noticing .

I’m recovering faster than I should have and that’s because ... Heh it seems like the cracked jar has starting to hold water..

Su Qingxue noticed too even if she did not understand the reason .

That afternoon they sat under the small tree behind the house , the shade was not much , but it was better than sitting inside the stuffy room all day .

A few ants crawled along the root near Lin Tian’s foot in a line . He watched them for a while without really thinking about it .

"You’re getting better too quickly ," She was fanning herself with a piece of folded paper not really doing much ,

"Yesterday you still needed to rest after walking to the gate, and today, you went all the way to the old well and didn’t even look tired , isn’t that a fast improvement ?"

"Sure I’m improving but, It’s because of the good medicine."

She gave him strange look , the same look she used when she thought he was being lazy,

"The medicine is the same bitter soup I’ve been making for weeks , you...don’t treat me like I’m stupid "

" I wouldn’t dare." shes cute .

"Of course , You would ! " "You’re hiding something don’t you? I can feel it every time I get close it’s like the air changes . "

"Sometimes I get warm for no reason , sometimes I can’t focus properly , It’s been happening since the night you woke up."

’Oh , The dual thread between us is still thin but maybe it’s no longer something only I could sense . Her body has starting to answer on its own , even if her mind hadn’t caught up yet .’ "Does it feel bad?"

"It doesn’t " She hesitated , "It doesn’t feel bad that’s what confuses me , It should feel strange or scary but instead it just feels comfortable . Like something that was missing finally showed up. I don’t know how to explain it better than that..."

She looked away after she said it , ears turning pink, as if she had spoken more than she planned to .

She pretended to be very interested in a spot on her sleeve !! Lin Tian watched the way the afternoon light touched the side of her face .

The soft line of her neck , the faint sheen of sweat there because of the heat . His cock twitched once under the thin trousers , and he shifted his sitting position before it could get worse . Now planting his feet differently .

"When the time is right I’ll explain you" He said with a calm voice . "You keep saying that " Su Qingxue let out a small breath ,

"You’re very good at saying things that sound like answers but aren’t . The old you ,you used to just grunt and change the subject .

Now you talk more but, I still don’t know what you’re actually thinking! It’s worse in a different way."

"Maybe I don’t know either that’s why....."

"That I don’t believe at all " She picked at a piece of dry grass between her fingers then tearing it into smaller bits ,

"You’ve been thinking about something the whole time . I can see it on your face when you think I’m not looking , you get that crease here."

She poked the air near his forehead and then pulled her hand back .Lin Tian did not deny it though, There were too many things sitting in his head at once.The dual core , the two months until the Azure Cloud Sect selection.The uncle who would come back sooner or later and ring trouble with him.The thin thread of Yin that kept leaking toward him whenever she sat this close whether he wanted it or not .

He pushed the thought away , this was not the time to drag all of that out .

"I was thinking about the sect selection , Two months is not long If we waste it sitting around, I think we will regret it."

"For you maybe. I still don’t know if I should even try . My talent is ordinary If I fail , the whole village will laugh, and your uncle will have one more thing to talk about . He already likes talking about us."

"Let him talk." He replied matching her eyes ,

"Easy for you to say because you’re a man ! ,When people talk about you they say you’re weak or useless . When they talk about me they say other things ." She then added like a whisper , "They already say other things..."

Lin Tian turned his head. "What kind of things?"

"That I stay here too much and that a proper girl wouldn’t sleep in a sick man’s house night after night..."

"Auntie Zhao asked me yesterday if I was planning to marry you or just ruin myself for free she said it like she was being kind like she was worried about me."She shrugged but the movement was not casual at all .

"What did you tell her?" Tian teased her , he didn’t show it in his face.

"I told her to mind her own rice pot ! "It didn’t help though . She’ll repeat it to the next five people she meets before the sun goes down . You know how she is." Her lips curled upwards for a bit .

The dual core pulsed again tasting the mix of irritation and embarrassment in her Yin .

Lin Tian wanted to say something useful and could not find anything that did not sound empty . So he just sat there with her under the thin shade of three..

She talked about the market after that about how the price of rice had gone up a little and about a girl from the next village who had gotten engaged to a boy who could barely lift a hoe but had a nice face .

Ordinary things , small everyday complaints . Lin Tian listened and answered when he needed to but most of his attention stayed on the quiet pull between them .He could feel the faint , clean lotus like scent of her hair when the wind shifted .

At one point she asked if he was hungry . He said not yet . At another point she asked if his legs still hurt , he said they were fine which was mostly true .

The conversation kept wandering in that loose way when two people have already spent too many days in the same small house and have run out of important things to say .

When the sun dropped she stood up and brushed the dirt off her robe. Patting her backside twice..

"Okay, come inside , I’ll make dinner . If you sit out here any longer the mosquitoes will eat you alive ."

"They’re already trying eat me alive "

"Then stop giving them a chance , you always say that and then you scratch all night. The scraap sounds ! "

The outer room smelled of rice and the last of the dried meat . They ate together at the low table knees almost touching because the table was so small . Su Qingxue kept glancing at his bowl like she was measuring how much he finished , well trying not to be obvious about it . Lin Tian ate slowly and let her do it .

After a while she started talking again about how the well water had tasted a little strange that morning and how she might need to boil it longer and whether they had enough firewood left.

She watching me too much. Even now , The dual core ...no it’s not that, maybe she is trying to figure out her feelings.

"You don’t have to keep watching me eat,"

"I’m not watching you eat ; I’m making sure you don’t leave half of it again . I know you waste food when you think I’m not looking."

"I didn’t leave half of it yesterday."Tian denying her claim .

"You left a third. , That’s close enough "

He shook his head ’ Now I have to finished the rest just to stop her nagging .

She looked satisfied and took the bowls away to wash humming a little off-key tune under her breath . While she worked he sat by the window and felt the dual energy move through his still-weak meridians .

It was slow work but it was steady . The original owner of this body would have needed months to recover from that kind of collapse maybe half a year in bed .

The dual core was cutting that time down without asking permission , stitching the things back together .

She said once the bowls were put away cleanly "I’m going to sleep here again"

"The bed is bigger than it looks , you don’t have to take the chair every night it’ll hurt your neck "

"Huh...no no the chair is fine ! , I got used to it. " Su Qingxue’s hands stopped on the cloth she was folding ..

"And .. You know how that would be, People already talk." She did not look at him right away she folded the same corner twice

"People already talk," Lin repeated, "You said you could ignore them."

She was quiet for a long time the cloth hung from her fingers . Then slowly the soft voice come out, like a whisper.

"If I sleep on the bed... You stay on your side ."

"All right." Tian stopped a Knowing smile coming to his face.

"I mean it Tian-ge! , no turning over and pretending you didn’t notice . And no... You know , don’t try anything weird "

She still looked like she might change her mind . Her eyes went to the narrow bed then to the chair she had been using, then back to him . Her mouth pressed into a line In the end she blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the far edge turning her back to him , as stiff as a board at first .

The bed dipped a little under both of them . There was not much space left between them , He could feel the heat coming off her back even with the gap .

Lin Tian stayed on his side , eyes open in the dark listening to her breathing slowly even out .

After a while she wasn’t stiff anymore....the dual core did not sleep . In the quiet of the room her pure Yin energy filled the space between them , warm and constantly moving like warm water spilling over .The thread that connected them thickened without either of them touching .

oh..my Boy , growing heavy ? his cock again pressing against the fabric . A thin wetness spread where the head rubbed . He breathed carefully and forced the reaction down as much as he could , counting his breaths.

It did not help much though , The closer she was , the harder the dual core pulled It was like trying not to breathe .

He was almost asleep when she shifted.

She turned toward him in the dark still half asleep , murmuring something and her forehead came to rest lightly against his shoulder . Her breath touched his neck , it was warm . One of her hands settled near his chest, not quite holding him but not pulling away either and her fingers curled a little.

The dual core surged this time !