Chapter 13: You Are Resisting Me With Your Whole Body

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Se met Lu Huaiyan’s gaze and stepped quickly down the wooden stairs beneath the corridor.

The man was still leisurely leaning against the window, the lenses of his glasses reflecting her face.

He wore only a black V-neck wool sweater on his upper body. The thin fabric clung to his body due to the wind, outlining the smooth lines of his abdominal muscles.

One could tell just by looking at him that he had come to Hanshan Temple for personal matters.

He was someone who didn’t believe in gods or spirits, and rarely visited places like Taoist temples or Buddhist monasteries.

The fact that he was here was probably because he had come with someone.

Jiang Se wasn’t curious about who he had come with, nor was she planning on engaging in pleasantries. She gave him a slight nod before heading towards the main hall behind him.

Just as she was about to pass him, he suddenly spoke, “Don’t want the video anymore?”

Jiang Se paused for a moment.

She had been busy with Jiang Tang’s matters the past few days and had completely forgotten about it, even neglecting to send him the email.

“I still want it.” She pulled out her phone, entered the email address into a message, and sent it with one click. “I’ve sent it to your email. Please take some time to send it to me. Thank you.”

His phone vibrated inside his coat.

Lu Huaiyan didn’t look at the phone and only gave a faint “hm” sound in response. “Came here to ask for a marriage fortune slip, or a safety pendant?”

Hanshan Temple was famous for its safety pendants, and the marriage fortune slips were also quite effective.

Jiang Se had heard Yu Shiying mention them.

She turned her head to look at him. “What about you, Mr. Lu? Marriage fortune slip, or safety pendant?”

Lu Huaiyan straightened up with a slight exertion and reached into the pocket of his coat at the same time.

Before Jiang Se could even see what he pulled out, a copper coin-sized object was tossed toward her.

His throw was precise, and she simply raised her hand to catch the cool jade pendant.

“This was personally blessed by the abbot here,” Lu Huaiyan tilted his chin slightly, nodding at the jade pendant in her hand. “You don’t need to waste time going to the front to ask for one.”

“…”

His attitude clearly showed that he didn’t take the safety pendant here seriously and had guessed that Jiang Se had come specifically for the item he didn’t care much about.

Jiang Se smiled softly.

“Mr. Lu might not know, but the safety pendant from Hanshan Temple only works if you personally ask for it.”

If it were any other way, Yu Shiying and Jiang Chuan would have already asked for a dozen and sent them back home for her.

People from Tongcheng seemed to believe strongly in the safety pendants here. Even Jiang Ye had been dragged by Jiang Chuan to come and pray for one.

The safety pendant could only be requested in person; those obtained by others wouldn’t work.

Lu Huaiyan indeed didn’t know this, as it was Han Yin who had shoved it into his hand.

Of course, even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you believe in it?”

Jiang Se didn’t answer him. Just as she was about to toss the safety pendant back to him, a voice called out.

“Ah Yan.”

Hearing that familiar voice, Jiang Se froze for a moment and instinctively looked at Lu Huaiyan.

He was staring at her, but his cool, thin lips slowly responded, “Mother, I’m here.”

Han Yin walked over in loose, simple robes, and as she passed by Lu Huaiyan, she caught sight of Jiang Se standing beside him. Her steps paused, and she raised her eyebrows slightly, hesitating before calling out, “Se Se?”

Jiang Se tightened her grip on the safety pendant in her hand, and the sharp edges she had shown toward Lu Huaiyan earlier softened in an instant.

She smiled politely, lifting the corners of her lips. “Aunt Han, it’s been a long time.”

Han Yin was Lu Huaiyan’s mother and one of Jiang Se’s favorite elders when she was young.

It had been years since Han Yin divorced Lu Jinzhong and moved to the mountains for some peace and quiet. Since then, they hadn’t met.

That year, Jiang Se was only ten years old.

To her surprise, after all these years, they were meeting again at Hanshan Temple.

The woman before her had no makeup, her graying hair loosely tied in a simple bun with a wooden hairpin. She looked entirely different from the elegant Madam Lu that Jiang Se remembered.

“I had heard you were in Tongcheng and had intended to have Ah Yan invite you to stay for a few days. I didn’t expect to run into you today,” Han Yin’s voice was as warm as it had been before. “Would you like to come to my place and sit for a while?”

As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Huaiyan, offering him a helpless smile. “Ah Yan, you’re here too. You don’t want to listen to the abbot, but surely you’ll listen to your mother for a couple of words?”

Lu Huaiyan gave a soft “hm” in response. “I’ll stay here on the mountain tonight with you.”

Jiang Se’s thoughts, which had been slightly disordered, gradually cleared up.

Han Yin was currently staying at Hanshan Temple for quiet meditation, and Lu Huaiyan had come to see her. He had probably come to the back hall to avoid listening to the abbot’s talk.

It was certainly a pleasant surprise to run into Han Yin, whom she hadn’t seen in so many years.

However, Jiang Se didn’t want to interrupt their mother-son reunion.

“Aunt Han, I still have things to do today, so I won’t keep you from your conversation,” Jiang Se smiled gently. “I’ll come to visit again in a couple of days if it’s convenient for you.”

Han Yin wasn’t one to press people, and after glancing at the darkening sky, she nodded with a smile. “That’s fine. It’s going to rain soon, so there’s no rush to catch up. Ah Yan, you can take Se Se down the mountain first.”

She directed the last sentence to Lu Huaiyan.

Jiang Se was about to say “no need,” but Lu Huaiyan had already answered for her.

“Understood. You head back first, and I’ll come find you soon.”

Han Yin wasn’t in good health, and after this short trip, she was beginning to feel tired. After exchanging phone numbers and WeChat, she slowly made her way back up the mountain.

Once her figure had disappeared, Lu Huaiyan turned to Jiang Se. “Do you still want to go to the main hall to ask for a safety pendant?”

His words reminded Jiang Se that she was still holding onto his safety pendant.

“No, I know how to get down the mountain. You don’t need to see me off. Also,” Jiang Se handed the jade pendant back to him, “your thing.”

Her tone was no different from before.

But Lu Huaiyan could feel the sharpness hidden within her once again resurfacing.

This sharpness seemed to be aimed solely at him.

Seeing that he was slow to take back the safety pendant, Jiang Se was about to look up at him.

At that moment, Lu Huaiyan suddenly called her name, “Jiang Se.”

He lowered his gaze to meet hers. “You seem to be resisting me?”

The question was so abrupt, and it felt completely out of place.

This wasn’t something he would normally say.

Lu Huaiyan, the young CEO of the Lu Corporation, had never cared about how others viewed him.

There was a brief silence.

A rumble of thunder echoed, rolling through the clouds.

It was going to rain.

Jiang Se felt a surge of irritation rise within her.

“Really? Does it matter?”

She smiled in response, the smile on her lips familiar to Lu Huaiyan, as if it had been carefully measured.

Lu Huaiyan stared at her for a moment, then suddenly reached out, lightly gripping her wrist and pulling her closer into his personal space.

The distance between them closed rapidly.

The faint yet warm scent of sandalwood that she had once smelled in her dreams enveloped her, filling her breath.

Jiang Se froze, looking up at him, her smile fading from her lips. The frustration and surprise in her eyes were clear to see.

Lu Huaiyan looked deep into her eyes, and a soft laugh escaped his throat.

“Can you feel it? Your whole body is resisting me.”

A cool breeze brushed against Jiang Se’s neck, and the rain began to fall, hitting the ground with a sharp sound. Thunder rumbled.

It was raining.

And it was the kind of thunderstorm she had always hated.

Her lips slowly straightened.

All the negative emotions that had built up since the incident at the qipao shop swelled to their peak in that moment.

Jiang Se looked into Lu Huaiyan’s eyes behind the glasses, and in a flash of lightning, she yanked the glasses off his nose.

The metal arm of the glasses scraped across Lu Huaiyan’s right cheek, leaving a long, thin red mark.

Her almost violent motion didn’t cause any change in his expression; not even his eyelids fluttered.

Without the glasses to obstruct his gaze, his eyes seemed sharp like blades, full of aggression.

He had always been like this.

Beneath his noble and cold exterior was a thin layer of chilling aggression.

“Knowing that I’m resisting you, you still have to cross the line.” Jiang Se smiled again, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “When did you become so bored, Mr. Lu?”

That night at the bar, he had clearly found her extremely boring.

So what did this behavior mean now?

Was he playing with her like a cat with a mouse? Or perhaps, while finding her boring, did he also find her fake, and was now trying to strip away the mask from her face?

Jiang Se took a half step back.

Lu Huaiyan, sensing the movement, released her wrist. Although he let go, the way he looked at her remained cold and piercing.

Jiang Se was no stranger to this gaze.

It was the same feeling of being silently scrutinized.

Hunter and prey.

She hardened her expression and met his gaze, her voice steady but sharp. “Lu Huaiyan, what exactly are you inspecting?”

She found it far more natural to call him Lu Huaiyan than to address him as Mr. Lu.

Lu Huaiyan casually slid his hand into his coat pocket, ignoring the glasses that Jiang Se had knocked off his nose, or the coat he had dropped when he had grabbed her wrist.

“It’s not inspection. You could say—” He looked at Jiang Se, the corner of his lips curling just slightly. “Jiang Se, you could say, I’m getting to know you again.”

Getting to know you again.

That answer hadn’t been what Jiang Se expected.

For a moment, she was stunned. Then, slowly, she furrowed her brows, her eyes still locked on him.

Without his glasses, his sharp, cold features were clearer in the flickering light of the storm. The red mark on his cheek only highlighted his almost otherworldly coldness.

His gaze was unshielded, like a blade that brushed against her exposed skin, lingering in her dark eyes.

Jiang Se couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes right now.

The heavy, damp air carried with it a faint, familiar scent of sandalwood.

It was warm and rich, something he had always used since childhood. The scent contrasted sharply with his cold and distant aura, yet it somehow coexisted in an odd, contradictory way.

The rain poured down, enveloping the world. The narrow corridor was divided by the heavy downpour, forming a secluded space that felt isolated from the world.

Until a hurried pair of footsteps interrupted.

“Mr. Lu, Monk Han asked me to bring you an umbrella.” A young monk from the temple tilted his arm downward, shaking the water from the umbrella before handing it to Lu Huaiyan. “He said it’s raining heavily, and to make sure Miss Jiang doesn’t get wet.”

Lu Huaiyan took the umbrella with a thank you.

Even though a red mark was left on his cheek, his voice and demeanor remained impeccable.

The young monk glanced at him, then at Jiang Se, before making a single-handed bow. His youthful face seemed both innocent and worldly.

“I’ll go back to evening prayers now. Please, take care, both of you.”

After the monk left, Lu Huaiyan opened the large black umbrella in his hand, bending down to pick up his coat from the ground and the glasses that had been blown off the stairs by the wind.

The arm of the glasses was awkwardly bent outward, creating the impression of a tragic sacrifice.

Lu Huaiyan’s lips lifted slightly, and he tossed the glasses into a nearby trash bin. He then climbed the stairs and came to Jiang Se’s side.

The dark umbrella was held above both of their heads. He said, “I’ll escort you down the mountain.”

When Jiang Se glanced at him, he smirked and, with perfect gentlemanly composure, added, “Or do you want me to carry you down? After all, you’ve been carried by me before.”

“……”

Previous

Next