XH 189

Xiao Hua pursed her lips in displeasure, unaware that her charming lips once again teased the beast inside a certain man.

"Zhu, let's go. That uneducated boy had ruined my mood to visit the streets," Xiao Hua complained to her guard, using it as a reason to escape quickly. She was very aware that once her body relaxed from the tension, she will get weak and forced to imitate a cub that just learned walking!

As for calling him 'Zhu' instead of 'Zhu Long', she feared the possibility of having someone around here with the hobby of switching a person's name backwards and combine the hints!

No one watching got the feeling that her complaint was unreasonable, because their mood was far from sunny as well thanks to the Gu Dan spy and that stupid boy that easily gotten hoodwinked by the enemy!

"This beautiful miss, how about a sugar painting to improve your mood?" A man suddenly approached them in a flattering manner. His body leaned a bit too close for comfort and Xiao Hua automatically took a step back closer to Long Zhu. 

Long Zhu was quick to block the man closer with his sword. It was when Long Zhu's thumb pushed up the hilt, exposing an inch of the sharp blade did the man quickly escaped. 

The heavy pressure coming from the bodyguard was enough to crush the man. Long Zhu was a man himself and knew what this dirty man was trying to do, especially when his beady eyes lingered at Xiao Hua's seductive lips!

Even a blind man can see Long Zhu in a bad mood. Xiao Hua pressed a palm on Long Zhu's arms with a commanding tone. "I want to eat sugar painting, Zhu."

The heavy pressure retracted. Long Zhu gave Xiao Hua a sweet smile and gently lead her away from the crowd. Willingly offering his arm as a crutch, he was like the perfect bodyguard in the young maiden's eyes. Long Zhu's sharp eyes had already caught her trembling legs and he was ready to catch her if she falls. 

Much to Xiao Hua's surprise, Long Zhu brought them to a stall selling sugar painting without asking for directions. The nice elderly man smiled at the young couple and asked what the lady wanted. 

"Dragon!" After boldly speaking her request, Xiao Hua hesitated. "Can you make it?" 

The elderly man laughed, a little touched at this young miss' concern. Not a single customer had ever showed concern from their demands, fully expecting him to fulfill them perfectly. Fortunately for his small life, he was a decent painter before embarking on sugar painting. 

"Of course! As a proud citizen of Guilin, how can I not know how to make a dragon?"

Xiao Hua grinned in relief and anticipation. "Then… can you draw a pearl at the dragon's mouth too?"

"Small matter! Small matter!"

Living to his words, his hands agilely and skillfully created a very detailed dragon with a pearl in its mouth.

Very happy with her purchase, her smile was especially wide. Her sparkling eyes were hidden from view, but Long Zhu could easily imagine it in his mind. 

Long Zhu declined to have a sugar painting for himself and they generously pay a large sum to the elderly man. Xiao Hua does not mind if she had paid an amount equal to a low ranking minister's monthly wages, because she wanted to help this kind and friendly elderly man. 

"Do you want a Tanghulu?" Long Zhu asked, his eyes practically glued to the small tongue actively licking the sugar painting of the dragon's head. She must have not satisfied with tasting the small amount of sweetness, so she stopped licking and suck instead. Her lips rubbing it slowly and intimately, making his throat dry. 

Xiao Hua quickly shook her head for fear that if she answered a step slower, Long Zhu would have already steered them towards the direction of the Tanghulu shop. She had gotten sick of eating Tanghulu thanks to the crazy Eighth Prince, who could not finish it and forced her to eat it. 

"No, thank you. Do you want it?"

"Let's go back." Long Zhu did not bother answering and quickly brought them to where the carriage was parked. He was practically carrying all her weight by the time they approached the carriage, much to her embarrassment. 

Xiao Hua was quite touched that he had picked her up in a princess carry into the carriage without trying to see if her trembling legs could climb up. 

Finally left alone in their own space without eyes on them, Xiao Hua grinned. "Thank you, Third Pri- uhm!"

Under the assault of the hungry beast, she can only surrender and enjoy herself, even if the nibbling and sucking of her lips were pretty painful to endure. Her veil was ripped away unknowingly, revealing her beautifully painted face with misty eyes. Long Zhu continues to ravage the lips of the beauty before him without control. 

She finally had to smack his chest when he sucked too hard, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from her mouth. 

"Don't eat my lipstick! It could be poisonous!" Xiao Hua scolded and pushed Long Zhu away to regain her private space. During their makeout session, he had pushed her to the corner after trying to get as close to her as possible. It was fortunate that he did not use his Qi and accidentally topple the carriage over and embarrassed themselves. 

She touched her sore lips and winced from the sting. "That hurts."

His breath was ragged, with fierce eyes as he hoarsely said, "That's your punishment for not calling my name."

But the current Xiao Hua was no longer as gullible as before that would take his word as it was. "Liar. You just want to eat my tofu!"

Grinning like a rake with his wandering eyes and messed up clothes, he did not deny her accusation and generously praised her. "You lips looks very good with the red rogue. But it does not feel as good as without it."

Xiao Hua blushed and giggled when he licked his lips in dissatisfaction. She did not bother reminding him that her most of her lipstick was now on him.  

Long Zhu knocked on the carriage wall and it started to move to where they agreed to meet up with Doctor Bai. He placed Xiao Hua on his lap and cuddled her without speaking, treasuring the small intimacy before forced to live like a monk for two years.

The warm, intimate silent made one reluctant to break it, but Xiao Hua wanted to ask something. 

"Why does everyone seems to hate Gu Dan people? What have they done to Guilin?" The argument previously had told her something and she had also seen how everyone reacted upon hearing the green-eyed man's identity. 

"It's not hate but fear," Long Zhu corrected her, his warm breath caressed her neck, eliciting a small shiver and goosebumps broke out on her neck. He smiled at her response but did not do anything. 

"Gu Dan is a country located at the center of the Four Kingdoms. Two years ago, they declared their ambitions to rule the Four Kingdoms and released a deadly plague to the borders of each kingdom. Fortunately, Teacher managed to create a cure to eliminate the plague and each of the Four Kingdoms send a group of army to destroy Gu Dan country. But we are not able to crush the country completely because of the poisonous fog located at the center of the country. Those that had entered the fog did not return. Not even Teacher could create an antidote for that numerous poisons mixed in the fog."

The somber look on his face told Xiao Hua it must be a war where many had lost their lives. To crush Gu Dan country, they must have sacrificed a lot on their part. 

"How do they get their green eyes?" Xiao Hua asked. The green eyed man would have hundred percent asian look if not for his green eyes. 

Although she agreed with Liu Chu Chu's words that there were foreigners with green eyes in the west side of the world, but who have the capability of traveling to the other side of the world in their short life span? Cultivators might have a longer life, but who have the determination to travel all over the world? She doubted they could even travel the whole eastern countries in their whole life. Even if they were able to travel to the other side of the world, would they have the time or desire to return back to their homeland?

"We are unsure how their eyes would turn green, but it has something to do with their immunity to any type of poison. Their blood is also poisonous and that is why they are so dangerous. It is miraculous that they can survive with such a body."

The longer Xiao Hua stayed in this world, the more shocking things she learned in this world. 

It is a coincidence that the green-eyed man would visit the pawn shop? What information that guy has that the heroine wanted?

Actually, the thought of the heroine able to catch Gu Dan people's attention and trigger a fruitful event would not be surprising. One with the might of creating a long list of lethal poisons and the other with an all-purpose antidote. 

The soldier had mentioned about capturing a Gu Dan countryman with sensitive information must be the truth since it would be foolish to pin a crime at a person's head without solid proof. 

What is Liu Chu Chu planning? Or was it just a bunch of coincidence heaping on her suddenly out of luck self?