Chapter 167: Applying Ointment

Yinling finally lowered her hand and looked at Xie Yingying and Bai Shengyun. Bai Shengyun's wounds were torn open, and Xie Yingying was most likely about to change his clothes. Realizing she had been somewhat intrusive, she felt a trace of awkwardness.

Xie Yingying looked at Yinling and forced a smile. It was a bit stiff, but nothing serious.

"Senior Sister, carry on. I won't disturb you."

With that, Yinling backed out of the room and closed the door.

Hearing this, Xie Yingying panicked. She quickly put Bai Shengyun down, intending to explain to Yinling, but before she could step outside, Yinling had already shut the door.

The awkward tension in the air finally dissipated, though it was now replaced by a misunderstanding. Xie Yingying lowered her head in thought, muttering to herself about who knows what.

"Why did Yinling have to barge in just now? I hadn't even..." Then, a second thought crossed her mind. Fortunately, it was only Yinling who saw, and Bai Shengyun hadn't been awake, otherwise that would have been truly mortifying. Pondering further, she realized Yinling must have caught a glimpse of Bai Shengyun's wounds, and by now she had probably guessed the truth of the matter. Xie Yingying let out a long breath, feeling instantly refreshed from head to toe.

Since Yinling was merely going to tease her and the person involved hadn't witnessed it, it was fine. Thinking this, Xie Yingying turned around—only to find Bai Shengyun watching her from not far away.

"Huh????" A single syllable slipped from Xie Yingying's throat before cutting off completely. She felt her entire body freeze solid.

At this moment, a faint smile played on Bai Shengyun's lips, carrying a playful teasing undertone that made him look breathtakingly handsome. Because Bai Shengyun rarely smiled, such an unusual expression was a true rarity. Seeing this, Xie Yingying experienced a sudden flurry of complex emotions in her heart.

To say his smile was handsome was by no means an exaggeration, but to say he was mocking her was even more accurate. Whichever way she looked at it, Xie Yingying felt on the verge of going mad.

"What are you thinking about?" Bai Shengyun spoke, his tone carrying an indescribable nuance.

Xie Yingying hastily turned around, thinking to herself, *Oh great, so he was just playing dead and pretending to sleep the whole time?!*

Outwardly maintaining her composure, she waved her hands frantically and smiled. "Nothing, nothing at all! I just zoned out for a second." Her smile carried a strong hint of sycophancy, because only she knew that earlier, while applying the medicine, she had taken advantage of the situation to steal a few casual touches.

Bai Shengyun withdrew his smile, realizing that he had kept it up for perhaps a bit too long and that it might seem rather odd. He coughed twice. "Since everything is fine, let's continue with the medicine."

At this point, Xie Yingying was entirely certain that Bai Shengyun was simply toying with her. She shoved the medicine bottle straight into his hands, closed her eyes, and declared:

"Since you're awake now, I won't bother you anymore. Apply it yourself."

Before Bai Shengyun could utter a word, Xie Yingying clapped her hand over his mouth, turned around, and bolted out the door.

The air outside was noticeably fresher, and it truly helped sweep away much of the stifled feeling in Xie Yingying's chest.

"Phew, thank goodness he didn't keep pressing the matter, or I would have died of embarrassment." Xie Yingying patted her chest and let out a long breath of turbid air. Just as she was recovering from that wave of awkwardness, she spotted Yinling standing nearby...

The two of them stared at each other with wide eyes, falling into a silent yet expressive standoff for a moment.

"Um... You didn't leave?"

"I... I wanted to wait for you to come out." Both of them felt rather speechless, but with no other choice, Xie Yingying could only force a smile.

"Come on, let's go out for a stroll and we'll come back later." Xie Yingying's thought process was simple: if they went out for a walk and returned later, Bai Shengyun would have finished applying his medicine by then, rendering all that awkwardness completely irrelevant.

Yinling nodded without a word. The awkwardness finally behind them, Xie Yingying grabbed Yinling's hand and headed out to the street.

The street was quite bustling, though it was unclear what everyone was up to. Fortunately, Yinling had already returned to her usual self.

"Senior Sister, I'll take you to get something good to eat!" Yinling smiled, and before Xie Yingying could reply, she pulled her along.

Yinling's hand was somewhat warm, while Xie Yingying's hands tended to be rather cold, somewhat similar to Bai Shengyun's. Looking at Yinling's retreating figure, Xie Yingying instantly thought of Bai Shengyun.

A sudden pang of sorrow hit her. *Will Bai Shengyun be unhappy applying the medicine all by himself?*

"Yinling, do you think leaving Bai Shengyun back there by himself will cause any problems?"

"Oh, nonsense, no. He's so strong, he can at least manage to apply his own medicine. Here, try this." Yinling thrust a piece of street food into Xie Yingying's hand—skewers she must have bought at some point.

Xie Yingying took an absent-minded bite, finding the food entirely tasteless. An image of Bai Shengyun suddenly flashed through her mind, and her inner anxiety grew stronger and stronger until she finally told Yinling she wanted to go home.

Xie Yingying gently tugged at Yinling's sleeve. "Yinling, let's go home..."

Yinling turned her head, her face full of bewilderment. "Huh? Why?" She took another bite of the rice cake in her mouth.

"I'm worried about Shengyun..."

"Ooh-la-la?"

"You're even calling him 'Shengyun' now? You two are progressing fast!" Yinling's voice rose excitedly.

Hearing this, Xie Yingying panicked and quickly clapped a hand over her mouth to explain, "No, it's just that I'm in a rush. Come on, let's hurry back."

Before Yinling could react further, Xie Yingying dragged her along as they hurried back.

Upon returning to Bai Shengyun's doorway, Xie Yingying steadied her mind and gestured for Yinling to step back.

Clearing her throat, Xie Yingying knocked on the door.

Bai Shengyun opened the door to greet her, and Xie Yingying slipped right past him before he could say a word.

Bai Shengyun didn't react much, but the moment Xie Yingying saw the medicine bottle left sitting by the table, she understood everything. This realization instantly filled her with a pang of guilt.

"Um..."

"Help me apply the medicine. Good thing you're back." Xie Yingying's words were cut short. She abruptly shot a glare at Bai Shengyun's expression. *Damn it all, the man had specifically been waiting for her to walk right into his trap.*

Utterly cornered, Xie Yingying watched as Bai Shengyun calmly seated himself on the bed. With no other option left to her, she had no choice but to apply the medicine.

Peeling back the gauze, she saw that the previous layer of ointment had already partially melted. Due to the summer heat, the wounds were festering rapidly; because the dressing hadn't been changed in time, Bai Shengyun's wounds were now red, swollen, and showing clear signs of inflammation.

The gauze was completely removed.

"Does it hurt?"

Bai Shengyun shook his head. Guessing that Bai Shengyun wouldn't admit to the pain even if it killed him, she gently blew a soft breath over the wound. That warm stream of air soothed the tingling agony deep inside Bai Shengyun's heart, making him feel instantly that the suffering was almost worth it.

Xie Yingying turned to spread the ointment onto a fresh piece of gauze, mixing it with some powdered wound-healing herbs. Since it was already concocted from traditional medicinal plants, adding another layer made the scent intensely bitter, causing Xie Yingying to frown deeply.

Unaware that Xie Yingying found the scent bitter—he himself felt nothing—Bai Shengyun's ear tips turned as red as dripping blood, whether from the summer heat or simply because the person applying the medicine was Xie Yingying.

As the cool ointment touched his skin, Xie Yingying herself began to feel flushed with heat. When the time came to wind the gauze tightly around his torso, the sight of Bai Shengyun's bare upper body finally made her face burn fiercely.

By the time the medicine was fully applied, both of their ears were glowing red. Desperate to escape, Xie Yingying hurriedly made up an excuse about having matters to attend to and bolted out.

Stepping outside, she discovered to her utter dismay that Yinling was waiting right by the doorway once again.

At that moment, Xie Yingying was utterly speechless.

She truly had no idea why Yinling was so relentlessly fond of hanging out with her.