After Wan Mie protested, pretending to be an old man with back pains and whining, he was tossed back onto his feet, only a few inches away from Shan Si.
"Ten."
Wan Mie had no other choice but to speak.
"Oh!" He hobbled, slowly balancing himself. Taking a step back, his eyes shifted between Shan Si's piercing glare, Tao Hua's impatience to speak mixed with fear, and Wu Mi's look of indifference. "Good to see you too, Little Sisi. Wu Mi. It appears you've both been busy."
"Nine."
Wan Mie coughed. "It's rare that either of you ever leave your natural habitats—"
"Eight."
"Having a meeting in the temple and not inviting your old man? Pray to the gods, I knew there was a reason to drop by today—"
"Seven!"
At this point, Tao Hua was certain Shan Si wouldn't make it until one before losing it. Bringing his hand up to his chest, he glanced down at his finger for a moment, realizing that for once he didn't feel guilt.
Relief, rather, mixed with a bubbling-up anxiety.
Hand placed on Tao Hua's shoulder, Wu Mi moved herself behind Tao Hua and inexpressively asked, "I thought we weren't supposed to touch the boy without explicit permission from His Highness?"
Exactly what she asked Fang Jian that day.
"Apparently it's a thing now to go against my orders—five!"
"Augh! The slowest countdown ever! Since when did five seconds become twenty?!" Wan Mie moaned, rolling his eyes and holding up his hands. "If you must know, I took it upon myself to check out the rabbit myself. What's the crime in wishing good health on another? Go on and ask him yourself."
"And Fang Jin?" Wu Mi asked, removing her hand from Tao Hua's, and crossing her arms. She gave little to no acknowledgment of Wan Mie's antics, and Tao Hua was shocked at just how impenetrable this woman was.
"What about her?" Wan Mie blinked.
"Why put Fang Jian under house arrest, but not Tao Hua?" asked Shan Si, still glaring daggers at Wan Mie.
Wu Mi interjected. "It wasn't just Fang Jin that decided to go to the Ancestral Hall that day. Qian Jue swears Tao Gu was gone the entire day Fang Jin was placed on her first day of house arrest. Are you insinuating she's a liar, Wan Mie?"
Blankly, Wan Mie said, "Not in the slightest."
Head jumping from each person, Tao Hua found himself more and more confused, subconsciously rubbing his arm as it burnt amid the banter.
If I remember things correctly, we did run into Wu Mi that day…so did that mean she told Wan Mie what they were up to?
"Then what is it?" Shan Si demanded. "Stop messing around!"
"Oh, now the two of you get along? Enough to drink tea and gossip? Conspire?" Wan Mie scoffed. "Why can't Rabbit's Foot face punishment the same way Suo Zong does? Do you think I'd do the same to a woman? Gentleman. The dreams have nothing to do with me, but if they did...I'd be quite the strong opponent for you."
He laughed aloud, being the only one amused by the situation among the three.
Tao Hua just glanced back down at his arm, disgruntled slightly. Why was it that he couldn't trust Wan Mie's account on that matter? Was it all really just mere coincidence?
But there really wasn't much he could say on something he had little to no understanding of. It wasn't as if he had all the details anyway, nor was he versed in alchemy.
This very well could have been a fluke, and one that could so easily be solved if his fear of abandonment wasn't so prevalent.
When he glanced back up at Wan Mie, watching him playfully explain things as if that version back in his study hadn't existed, Tao Hua's stomach twisted.
In this light, he looked like his father, mannerisms and all.
This was becoming too much of a big deal; Tao Hua couldn't handle it anymore, and with the pain, his head was starting to flare with awful thoughts, making the world around him spin.
I'm causing…too many problems.
"What did you do to him?" Shan Si glanced from Wan Mie, then to Tao Hua. "Explain!—"
Too many.
"I-I'm fine!" Tao Hua blurted. "Uncle Mie was just t-trying to help me with the sleeping issue. I think the sleeping problems are, uh…my past…and stuff. Please stop."
Shan Si's face fell, sympathy and sorrow mixing just as he stared powerlessly at Tao Hua's shaking, fumbling with his fingers and all. Knowing there wasn't any more he could do, his own incompetence wracked his brain, unable to accept the circumstance.
"But it's not—"
"I maybe, kind of…struggled during the week and kept overthinking." Tao Hua awkwardly smiled, and for some reason it was as if that smile could have broken Shan Si, enough for Wu Mi to notice it herself. "I know I'm bad for that; I'm sorry for worrying you so much."
She merely squinted at Shan SI, then at Wan Mie, without saying a single word. Even her breath was dead silent, and it was better to assume this woman was more dead rather than alive.
To put it simply, it was hard to tell if she just didn't care, or if something about the situation pissed her off.
"Interesting, interesting. I owe you one, Rabbit's Foot," Wan Mie beamed, directing Shan Si's attention toward him, every bit of him lost. "This man can be quite scary! Whew, but you now understand that, don't you?"
Meanwhile, Wu Mi's stare deepened on him, her lip twitching, just as Shan Si's eyes narrowed, and Tao Hua's head darted toward him.
"Ah, come on, lighten up! Wasn't it you who mentioned Rabbit's Foot's sleeping problems, anyway?" Wan Mie asked Shan Si. "Since I was already on my way to face betrayal, I figured 'Why not kill two birds with one stone.' Solve a problem so Our Lord can feel bad for leaving his dear old uncle behind."
With one final look at Tao Hua, Wu Mi's eyes fell on his arm before she immediately turned away. Toward the moondoor of the temple grounds, she made her exit, without a word.
Wan Mie and Tao Hua watched as she left without even a goodbye, swiftly, and it was clear she wasn't happy with how hard she made her turn out.
All that remained was the ghost of her fluttering black robe.
Opposite, however, Shan Si couldn't seem to comprehend the situation, remaining stuck on Wan Mie. Tao Hua wasn't sure what to make of his expression, but it was stuck between disbelief, pain, and confusion.
"Wow. She can be a handful," Wan Mie sighed. Clapping his hands together, he held them behind his back and turned toward Shan Si and Tao Hua. "You have this old man's word, no more punishments in Wan Mie's humble abode. Only house arrest. I was in the wrong. See? This is how apologizing works, Little Sisi."
Eventually, Shan Si gritted his teeth, holding back the urge to lose it on Wan Mie. Toward Tao Hua, he placed a hand on his back and then shot a glare at Wan Mie.
"You keep forgetting who's actually in charge here. Keep your hands off him," he spat, before directing Tao Hua toward the exit.
One blow against his side bang, and all they could hear from Wan Mie before leaving was: "Ah, such youthful eagerness to protect. It warms this old man's heart. Who knew? Guess it's time I change my punishments."
There was not a trace of regret in his voice whatsoever.
But as Shan Si merely directed Tao Hua out of that space and away from him, his brows pinched together, and thoughts clearly clouded.
"He's an idiot; don't take that old man seriously," Shan Si said. "He's a self-righteous person and can't see past his own methods. They don't always work, even if he's adamant they do."
But Tao Hua still felt uneasy about him. Why did he still feel something was amiss about him, especially with all his heaven-related commentary?
The thought scrambled his brain into a frenzy, to the point his throat began to tingle uncomfortably with a feeling as if dinner was ready to bubble up and expel.
And his arm? The pain was almost unbearable.
In his head, he switched between suspicions about Wan Mie, and then the idea that all of this was his fault, his doing, and that's why Shan Si looked as angry as he did now.
Thus, Tao Hua stopped, almost causing Shan Si to push him toward the ground had it not been for his quick wits and fast reflexes. Staring down at Tao Hua, his eyes narrowed the moment Tao Hua clutched onto his sleeve.
Every word spoken was inaudible, and when not, it ranged between apologies and ownership of the issues that played out. But despite Shan SI's efforts to calm him down, Tao Hua really couldn't hear much except for ringing.
The sleepless nights, stress, and anxiety were all finally getting to him, and with that, the world faded to black.
His last thought was simple and honest. He wondered, How does Shan Si handle all of this?
Chapter end.