The inside of the cave was still relatively dry, so Qi Yan inserted the branch used as a torch between the cracks in the rock on the wall.
He found a high place in the cave, took off his outer robe and spread it on it, and said to Xia Xun:
"Come here and rest for a while. I'll watch by the side. If Qi Hui brings someone nearby, I can find out right away."
Xia Xun couldn't pass:
"You don't have to be like this, Mr. Zhongshu. I'm a prisoner who has been sentenced to exile. I'm used to living in a hut with earthen steps. I'm afraid you're not used to it."
Qi Yan didn't speak, but just looked at him quietly, with imperceptible distress in his eyes.
Xia Xun sat down at a distance from him, and lay down on the ground with her clothes closed.
He turned around, turned his back to Qi Yan, and could still feel his gaze attached to his back.
Xia Xun was very tired.
He folded his arms as a pillow, and soon began to feel drowsy, his eyelids gradually became heavy, and his consciousness slowly withdrew.
After a while, he heard footsteps behind him.
— It's Qi Yan.
He picked up his coat and wanted to cover Xia Xun's body, but he was afraid of waking him up, so he hesitated while holding up the coat, and finally withdrew his hand without putting down the coat.
Hearing his footsteps fading away, Xia Xun couldn't bear it anymore and fell into a deep sleep.
He had that dream again, a nightmare he hadn't had for a long time.
He dreamed that he was sitting on the prison car going to Lingnan.
On the way to Douzhou, he started to get sick, and when he arrived in Lingnan, he couldn't afford to get sick at all.
This gave his elder brother ample opportunity to let Xia Xun escape smoothly by taking advantage of sickness and suspended animation.
But Xia Xun was so sick at that time that she was in a coma all day long.
Xia Wen is still guilty of a crime, and has to do hard labor every day.
He hid Xia Xun in a ruined temple, and every day he would sneak out to feed him a few sips of water only after the hard labor was done.
In this way, there is still a big risk to be taken.
Once the guards found out that he had sneaked out, he would inevitably be whipped several times.
Xia Xun's condition is getting worse and worse, and it seems that the fake death is about to become a real death.
At the critical moment, it was He Cong who came.
When he heard the news of Xia Xun's death in the capital, he ran here desperately to collect his body, and only then did he discover the truth.
He spent all his money, bought a hut, hid Xia Xun, hired a doctor for him, and took medicine for him.
Thanks to He Cong's rescue, Xia Xun survived with difficulty.
After recovering from his illness, he was so weak that he couldn't even sit up. He lay on the bed for half a month before he was able to move around.
He Cong stayed by his side from the beginning to the end, and he didn't leave until Xia Wen also found a chance to escape.
Before leaving, he told Xia Xun that he would come back to find him after the limelight passed.
"When the time comes, I'll take you away! The ends of the earth, we can go anywhere!"
Xia Xun closed her eyes and did not answer.
He Cong's sincerity gradually cooled down, and the light in his eyes dimmed instantly.
"I knew it… "
He is very unwilling.
"I knew you would never forget him! During the few days when you were most ill, I was by your side to take care of you. You had a high fever and kept raving. Do you still remember what you said in a coma?"
Xia Xun shook her head, begging him to stop talking.
He is relentless:
"You keep calling Qi Yan's name! It's him who made you like this, but you still want him to save you!"
Later, Xia Xun often had similar nightmares.
He dreamed that he was in uninterrupted pain, that physical pain was endless and restless, and he repeated:
"Qi Yan, I'm in so much pain, why don't you come and save me?"
Sometimes, he would even call Qi Yan's name to wake himself up from his dream.
He didn't want to sleep near Qi Yan, he was afraid that he would call him in his dream again.
Qi Yan had already abandoned him, and he left him without looking back.
Xia Xun would never let herself show such a vulnerable side in front of him.
He wants Qi Yan to understand that even without him, he can live well.
Qi Yan leaned against the rock wall and sat behind Xia Xun, her eyes fixed on him.
The wooden stick was burned by the fire, and it cracked from time to time.
Under the shaking of the firelight, he watched Xia Xun lost in thought.
Not long after, Xia Xun seemed to feel cold, with her arms wrapped around her chest, and her whole body was tightly curled up into a small ball.
He got up immediately, wanting to put his coat on him.
Even before his clothes touched Xia Xun's back, the incense from the clothes began to radiate.
Xia Xun frowned tightly when she smelled the scent, and buried her face on the ground to avoid the smell of Qi Yan.
Qi Yan's outer robe was made of cloud brocade woven from silk, and faintly visible dark patterns were embroidered on the bright moonlight cloth.
The servant girl in the mansion lavenders his clothes with Baidulu every day. This kind of spice comes from the distant Chenla Kingdom. It will not melt in summer, and the fragrance is long and clear.
But Xia Xun seemed disgusted and curled up even tighter.
Qi Yan slowly put the clothes back.
He stood up, took down the torch, glanced at Xia Xun, and walked out of the cave gently.
He wanted to find some dry branches and light a fire in the cave so that Xia Xun could keep warm.
He had never lit a fire, and before today, he had never even noticed that there were dry branches and wet branches.
He bent down and picked up a few wooden branches that didn't look too damp.
Just as he was grabbing the branch, he suddenly thought of something, suddenly stopped all movements, maintained a half-kneeling posture, and froze on the spot.
He knew that life in exile was difficult, and the place where prisoners were sent out would not be a gentle place anyway.
After meeting Xia Xun again, he deliberately avoided this question. He didn't allow himself to think about what kind of life Xia Xun had lived in the past few years.
He told himself that the past cannot be pursued.
Originally, he was the one who was sorry for Xia Xun. In the past, he thought he had no chance, and every time he thought about it, his heart ached.
Now that Xia Xun is back, he will do everything to make up for it, and he will definitely let the two of them return to their original appearance.
He thought so.
But he is not as strong as he thought.
Just now, he only heard a little bit about the past seven years from Xia Xun, and his heart ached beyond measure.
He propped himself up on the ground with one hand, while the other tightly clutched the clothes on his chest.
His heart was as tight as a stone, tightly sealed in his chest, no matter how hard he breathed, he couldn't resist the pain that filled his chest.
His hand on the ground was sunk in the soil, and his fingers were punctured with fine wounds by the sharp gravel in the soil.
He closed his eyes, swallowed dryly a few times, and forced himself to withdraw from the overwhelming heartache.
Xia Xun was still in the cave, waiting for him to go back and light a fire to keep him warm.
The sudden sound of footsteps next to his ear suddenly called his attention.
Qi Yan managed to calm down and asked sharply:
"Who?!"
Qi Hui came out from the bushes:
"My lord, it's me! I see that you are unwell, do you need to—"
Qi Yan breathed a sigh of relief: "It's you..."
Qi Hui came over quickly and helped him up.
Qi Yan closed her eyes and asked:
"... how? Our stalker has been found?"
Qi Yan didn't want to take Xia Xun out of the car out of the blue, nor did she suddenly have a whim and lead Xia Xun to walk to enjoy the flowers.
At that time, when the carriage reached the mountains and forests, Qi Yan suddenly noticed that someone was following them.
His itinerary is confidential, except for a few people in the car, no one knows.
The people following them were far away, and Qi Yan guessed that they might have recognized his carriage before they followed him.
He had an excuse to get out of the car and walk, and took Xia Xun to another mountain path to leave. In fact, he wanted Qi Hui to sit in the carriage and continue on his way, so as to distract the group of people so as to find out their identity and purpose.
Qi replied:
"As soon as the carriage arrived at Wuyuan, those people quickly surrounded them, I let Zhigui and the groom stay in the carriage, and I hid in the depths of the dense forest to observe their movements secretly.
"Today is a holiday. Many people in the garden came to play. Maybe it was because there were too many idlers waiting. The group of people didn't act excessively, and they didn't even get too close to the carriage, but they stayed nearby. Waiting for an opportunity."
Qi Yan continued to ask:
"Have you found out their identities? But they were sent by County Lord Chen?"
Qi Hui said no.
"They are all dressed up as ordinary people. They don't even cover their faces. They all look unfamiliar. I don't know if they are disguised."
Qi Yan was silent for a while, and then said: "How is it now?"
Qi Hui said that after dark, the group of people seemed to have dispersed on the spot.
But Qi Mansion's carriage had not yet returned to the city, Qi Hui was worried that they were still ambushing nearby.
"I have already sent a letter back to the mansion and called a few capable guards. If your lord is not in a hurry to return to the city, you should hide here for one night first. After I lead people to find out their details, it will not be too late to go back."
Qi Yan nodded: "Good job, you go."
Qi Hui took orders and refused to leave for a long time.
Qi Yan said: "Is there anything else?"
Qi Hui hesitated and said:
"I saw you and Mr. Xia hiding in a cave? You were looking for branches just now? How can you do such rough work yourself? Let me do it."
His hands and feet were nimble, and after a while, he picked up a large pile of branches.
Before leaving, he repeatedly said to Qi Yan:
"You have never lit a fire, so be careful when lighting a branch!"
Qi Yan hugged the branch and went back to the cave.
Xia Xun was still fast asleep.
He just lay on the ground like this, with no bed or cover, not even a pillow.
Qi Yan found a moderate distance and lit a fire with branches.
The flames rose, and the coolness in the cave was immediately dispelled.
It was obvious that it was no longer cold, but Xia Xun still hugged herself tightly.
He folded his legs up in front of his chest, wrapped his hands around his knees, and buried his face in them.
He sleeps like a child, but he still can't sleep peacefully in his dream.
His entire face was wrinkled together, his lips moved, and he muttered something in a low voice.
Qi Yan listened attentively.
Xia Xun's raving was vague at first, but then gradually became clear and audible.
When Qi Yan heard the content of the dream, he froze on the spot, almost out of breath.
His heart was pierced by a sharp knife, and the pain made his whole body numb.
What Xia Xun whispered endlessly in her dream was his name:
"Qi Yan... I'm so cold..."
He turned over and over, saying the same thing.
It's like he's in pain and only expects someone to save him.
Qi Yan was captured by the overwhelming guilt and heartache, unable to move, almost turned into a stone statue.
During the seven years, Xia Xun may have called his name countless times.
What was he doing at those times
He was far away in the capital, and he had never heard a single word.
Qi Yan felt cold all over, and the blood in his whole body was almost frozen.
His heart was tight, the pain made him unable to breathe.
Countless nights he spent in such sharp heartache.
Every time the doctor came to diagnose and treat his heart disease, he would say that he was too worried, and must have suffered from heartache several times to suffer from this disease.
Qi Yan didn't take the illness seriously, and even regarded it as a punishment for himself.
It seems that as long as his heart hurts enough, he can forget Xia Xun's death.
At this moment, in the cave, the pain made him feel like a sharp stab in his throat, and he couldn't help coughing several times in a muffled voice, but he couldn't cough up anything.
He clenched his fists hard and stood still for a long time before exhaling a breath of hot air trembling.
The originally blurred vision gradually became clear, and the strength of the limbs gradually recovered.
He took a few deep breaths, squatted down slowly, spread his coat on the ground, then lay down facing Xia Xun, and gently hugged the boy who was trapped by the nightmare into his arms.
juvenile.
Xia Xun is twenty-four years old this year, but in Qi Yan's mind, he is still the sixteen-year-old boy when he first met.
Qi Yan adjusted his posture so that Xia Xun lay on top of him, away from the cold soil.
Xia Xun frowned, still calling his name:
"...Qi Yan..."
Qi Yan embraced him, suppressing the soreness in his eyes, and gently stroked his back.
"I'm... I've been..."
His words choked up and he trembled when he spoke.
He pressed the back of Xia Xun's head and pressed his face to his heart.
Xia Xun's hands were still clenched into fists and shrunk in front of his chest. His expression was not so painful, but his brows were still tightly frowned.
However, he stopped raving.
At least, in Qi Yan's arms, he could sleep peacefully for a while.