"No, I don't want to. Let go of me!" Shu Yao exerted all her strength to prevent her hand from touching that area. When neither of them was willing to compromise, a soft knock on the door rescued him from the predicament.
Li Nao looked up unhappily, angry that someone had spoiled his fun. He said harshly, "Who's knocking at this late hour?"
Outside the door, a timid voice of a disciple came, "Master, it's Li Hao. The junior brothers sent me to ask if we still have to attend the lecture tomorrow morning?"
"Of course. Everyone should arrive on time for the lecture."
"Yes, I'll go and inform the junior brothers right away. Sorry to bother you, master. You should rest early." Soon, as the sound of footsteps faded away and finally disappeared, Li Nao finally let out a sigh of relief.
Their movements also faltered at the moment when the outside became silent. Taking advantage of the loosening of the grip on her palm, Shu Yao broke free. Without looking back, she opened the door and left this den of wolves.
Li Nao didn't chase after her. He just squinted his eyes meaningfully, watching this flustered and graceful figure disappear into the hazy night.
Thinking about what he had forced Shu Yao to do just now, he still felt nostalgic when he recalled it. Unconsciously, a wicked smile spread across his lips again, gradually covering his cheeks. He grinned a few times.
Shu Yao, who had run out of Li Nao's room, trotted to her own wing room. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it, gasping for breath.
The sudden noise startled the Taoist priest who was taking a nap in the room. He rubbed his eyes and asked warily, "Who, who is it?"
"It's me, Brother Li." Shu Yao tried to catch her breath. Her voice was faint, but she was still in a state of shock.
Only then did Brother Li relax his vigilance. Looking at the flustered Shu Yao, he became suspicious and asked with concern, "Mr. Shu, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
"Nothing, I'm fine," Shu Yao forced a stiff smile and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, how's Shu Yue? Has he woken up?"
"He did wake up in the middle. He asked me where you were. I told him, as you said, that you had gone to get the medicine," Then, looking at Shu Yao's empty hands, he asked, "What's going on? It seems you still haven't got the medicine?"
Recalling the molestation she had suffered in the pharmacy, Shu Yao held back her grievance. Her voice was a bit choked as she nodded and said, "Yes, they told me it was Li Nao's idea to have the pharmacy withhold Shu Yue's medicine."
"What? How could the sect leader be like this? He doesn't even care about the injured disciples of his own sect." He obviously didn't know about the feud between Li Nao and Shu Yue. He just looked indignant and stood up for Shu Yue.
Shu Yao just pursed her lips faintly, helpless. "It's okay. I'll go and ask Li Nao about it."
Looking up again from the silence, she forced a smile and said, "Brother Li, thank you for your help today. You should go back and rest quickly. I'll take care of things here."
"You're welcome. Just let me know if you need anything. Then I'll go back first."
After seeing Brother Li off, Shu Yao locked the door, hiding the fragility and paleness deep in her heart. The tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally overflowed at this moment.
She covered her mouth to prevent the sobs from waking Shu Yue. She was not a person who easily showed her sadness, but at this moment, all the humiliation turned into tears that slid down her cheeks, passing by her fingertips. The cold touch chilled her heart.
"Dad, Daddy?" Suddenly, a call came. Shu Yao quickly wiped away her tears, blinked her eyes, and looked at the man on the bed with joy.
"Shu Yue, you're awake. How do you feel?" She looked at this face. Although his eyes were open, they were half-closed weakly. His face was pale, and he was listless. Even his voice was so weak.
"I'm fine. It just hurts a bit," Shu Yue's smile at the corner of his mouth was extremely bleak. He minimized the dull pain in his chest and tried not to show too much weakness in front of Shu Yao.
But at the moment when he smiled, his expression froze when he saw the remaining tear stains on Shu Yao's cheek. He reached out his hand, and his long fingers gently wiped away the tear stains. He frowned immediately, finding them an eyesore.
"Daddy, were you crying?"
Shu Yao quickly turned her face away, trying to cover it up. "No, I wasn't crying."
She thought she had hidden it well, but her imperfect performance was fully exposed in front of Shu Yue. Shu Yue could see at a glance that there were too many unspeakable worries hidden in her eyes.
"You can't deceive my eyes. Tell me, did someone bully you when you went to get the medicine?" As soon as he heard that Daddy had gone to get the medicine for him, he was worried that Shu Yao's weak character would be bullied by some boring people.
What worried him most was Daddy's extremely beautiful appearance. There were probably too many cases, so he was worried that Shu Yao would be taken advantage of by some restless bastards.
Shu Yao felt that she was transparent in front of him. Even if she tried her best to hide it, Shu Yue would always be able to see through her.
But at least, she would never easily show her aggrieved side in front of Shu Yue.
As usual, she put on a brave front and tried to dispel Shu Yue's doubts in the most natural way. "You're overthinking it. No one bullied me. I'm just a bit sad to see you injured."
This was indeed a reason, and she perfectly deceived Shu Yue with the pity in her eyes.
"Daddy, don't worry. Look, I'm still here talking to you properly. I... cough... cough..." While being brave, he coughed a few times inopportunely, instantly shattering his brave front.
"Look at you. If you can't do it, don't be brave. Just rest well. Some of the medicine in the pharmacy is out of stock today. I'll find the medicine tomorrow, and you'll get better."
"Then, thank you, Daddy," Then, pulling Shu Yao's hand, he swayed it back and forth like a child. "Daddy, would you sleep in my arms?"
Shu Yao couldn't help laughing and shook her head affectionately. "You're such an adult. Aren't you ashamed?"
"I want Daddy to sleep in my arms. There's nothing wrong with that. Daddy, please just agree to me."
Finally, unable to resist such a handsome man's coquetry, Shu Yao had no choice but to get on the couch. She put her arm around him and sighed. "Okay, now sleep peacefully."
"Daddy, don't be so far away. Come closer." Glancing at Shu Yao deliberately keeping a distance from him, Shu Yue didn't even feel that this was a hug. He frowned and pouted unhappily.
Since he was a patient, Shu Yao didn't resist and came a bit closer. But unexpectedly, she heard an unsatisfied voice again. "Come closer."
"You might as well just let me stick to you."
"That's exactly what I wanted from the beginning. Did Daddy misunderstand just now..." Looking at this serious face, Shu Yao really wanted to give him a "deadly punch" if she didn't think he was still injured.
For the time being, she might as well just follow his wishes. She suppressed her patience and got closer to him as Shu Yue wished. But the arm around him was not natural and kept wavering.
"You've done everything. Why are you still shy, Daddy?" Shu Yue directly and resolutely reached out his hand and firmly pressed Shu Yao's hand on his shoulder. His movements were swift and decisive, leaving no chance for Shu Yao to resist.