"You allowed him to contact his family? Are you crazy? He had a tiger on his armor, a tiger that was gold. And the armor itself was really expensive. He is a high-ranking general. He must be with the dirty pigs living in the Capital!" Xicheng shouted.
"Calm down. I saw what he wrote, and we're doing it the usual way. Mei Lin took it with all the other letters into town and had hired our usual guy to deliver it." Even if Jingting did this, Xicheng wasn't satisfied.
"He will lead them here, through secret words you won't recognize!" he shouted once more. Jingting had sighed and faced Xicheng by abandoning his usual work of grinding, sorting, and mixing medicinal herbs to make different mixtures. Some for pain, some for cold, diseases, and anti-inflammatories.
He looked him deep in his eyes and didn't break the contact, not even when talking to him.
"He was half dead when I brought him here. So, can you tell how he would know where he is? How would he know how to get here? How would he know how to avoid all the traps we have put around?" Every one of those questions struck Xicheng like an arrow. And he became visibly sad.
"I'm sorry, I just… I want to keep everyone safe." Jingting finally stopped eye contact and stood up. He patted Xicheng on his back and then hugged him.
"I know, but you also have to think about our freedom. We can't live in the past, bounded by it so much we can't live our present or think about our future." Xicheng grimaced, pissed, and turned around.
"Stop with this bullshit. You know why we are hiding. I'm amazed you aren't afraid he would pack you in a sack and set you to the Capital to heal 'the world'. What about your uncle? Did you see how afraid he is to even associate with you? He sent messages to Xuhua instead and only once a year." Jingting went back to his place and continued with his work.
"You know what, so what if he does? Would it be so wrong to help more people?" Xicheng's mouth fell open. He somehow became red and looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.
"Calm down and don't shout," Jingting said calmly when he saw Xicheng finally take a deep breath and open his mouth once again.
"Let's not talk about it anymore. I will take care of him until he is ready to go. After that, we will have nothing to do with each other anymore. Xicheng…" Jingting stopped himself and just stood up once more and went away without another word. Xicheng was looking at his back, worried, flustered, bewildered. Yet, he didn't know how to express his worry for Jingting. The tight feeling in his chest.
He passed the plum tree in the inner garden, its leaves had already fallen down, yet for Jingting, it was so beautiful. He went to the guest room in his quarters, surprised at his own choice of putting Baihua there instead of the normal patients' quarters. Yes, he was worried that all his work would be wasted.
The plum tree offered Jingting no relief. He paused, watching the bare branches sway, a mirror of the instability he felt inside. He had dismissed Xicheng's fears, but he hadn't dismissed his own. The sight of the General's gilded armor, even just the memory of it, was sickening.
Now, Jingting opened the door to his quest room and was surprised by a sight he never thought he would see. Baihua was sitting by his low working table, sorting the tools Jingting used to treat him with.
"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, sharper than he intended. Baihua jerked himself, the spoon he was holding fell down in his lap, and his mouth opened with a breath stuck inside his throat. Then he breathed out once he saw Jingting and calmly went back to putting it.
"Just cleaning. It was a mess." The simple answer made Jingting boil. He liked his mess. It was controlled chaos. He knew where everything was and why it was that way… Now it was wrong.
He thumped beside Baihua, and everything was meticulously placed by size, color, or alphabetically. And Jingting hated it. He squinted his eyes and moved the vials, bottles, boxes, and paper envelopes as he had it before.
"The herbs and products are organized by what symptoms they heal or poison. The tools are placed by the steps I use them or by which hand I used them. That's why some were on the right and some on the left," he said softly.
"I'm sorry." Sheng's voice was meek, as if he was afraid of being yelled at. Jingting just sighed and went back to placing them in order. He looked at the knife with a fingerprint on the blade and placed it to the side in a separate bowl, together with some other tools he noticed were dirtied by the wrong handling.
"Binbin!" he shouted, hoping Binbin was close by. He always was, or at least in the quarters. And he was right, a few moments later, Binbin appeared in the room.
"Brother Wen?" he asked. Jingting gave him the bowl of tools.
"Can you please boil them again? Clean them and bring them back, please." Binbin nodded and went quickly away. Baihua was still sitting on the side, looking quite defeated, his eyes watery. Somehow, he looked like a lost puppy, and Jingting felt a bit of sharp pain near his heart.
"Those tools are clean, so when I use them, the evil toxins won't enter your bloodstream, and you won't be sicker than you are now. Still, I'm surprised to see you walking around. Does it hurt?" Baihua shook his head so vehemently that he reeled a bit. Jingting stabilized his upper body so he wouldn't fall down.
"What about going to bed?" Jingting asked once more. Baihua's eyes met his, and his lips wavered.
"Will you join me?" The meek voice he was using made Jingting sharply inhale, and with huge eyes, he opened his mouth. Baihua was still looking straight at him, no shame or anything, yet his cheeks had turned slightly pink. It was a huge contrast to his ashen skin. When Jingting saw it, he placed his hand on Baihua's forehead.
"You are slightly hot. I will prepare new medicine for you once I have my tools." Baihua's shade of pink deepened once Jingting said it, and he moved slightly away from Jingting's hand.
"I'm okay," he said and tried to get up, but Jingting caught his hand, surprised by this move. Baihua had lost his balance and fallen down. Right into Jingting's lap.