4. Poisonous Flower.

I looked around as I saw all the men starting to jump on their horses and get ready to go. I did as Yixing asked me and slowly walked to his tent.I gathered together my few remaining belongings which took me barely even a few minutes. I grabbed my cellphone, even if it was useless in my condition. I knew I would need it if however I succeed to go back where I belong. I was specially freezing with this cold weather so I decided to take the handmade cover that was on the hay bed. I put it around my shaking shoulder. “ Why so cold? “ I said to myself.

I heard some noise and told myself someone must have entered the tent also. I guessed right as I saw Yixing coming inside the tent the very right moment I turned around.. “ Are you ready? We will have to go soon. The enemy is coming faster than we thought. “ He told me as I looked at him. He looked really stressed. I guess being a General must be really stressful indeed. His traits , previously so handsome and tender were now stretched and his amazingly good looking lips were forming a thin line.

He smiled briefly when he saw the blanket on my shoulder. “ I saw you kind of like my blanket. “ As he told me those words , I saw a small smile , this time a lot more sincere, making it’s way to his face. I blushed violently when I realized it was his personal one.

 I thought it was a simple cover, not his. “ Yours? “ I asked surprised.

He walked closer. “ Yes. My mother sews it for me a long time ago. “ He said giggling lightly. He looked at me. I slowly took it out and gave it back to him. I had no right to take something that wasn’t mine.

 “ Sorry … I didn’t know it was yours. “ I said looking at the ground ashamed. Wasn’t it enough that he rescued me from possible dangers, I had to steal his stuff?

He took it and put it back on my shoulders. A tender act acting in contrast to the still tense expression on his face “ Take it. You will need it. “ He said sweetly. I looked at him confused. I noticed how sweet he was still towards me no matter what.

“ I will? “ I asked and he walked outside the tent. I could only follow him along the same way. He laughed lightly at the sight of me on his traces. I looked back to see two men putting the tent down. When I dared back at Yixing I was surprised to see  him completely stopped in front of a horse. The same horse I tried to steal earlier.

 “ This is Shadow. The fastest horse of all China. “ He said caressing the horse. I could see some affection from the man towards his animal, which I found extremely cute. The next second , he climbed over it in one swift movement. A little bit more and I could have thought he did this all his life. Matter fact , he probably did.

 He offered me his hand. “ Come on. “ He smiled still a bit coldly and bit his lower lip.

I couldn’t hide my surprised expression.  “ With you? “I asked frozen. What this man expected?

 “ Yes, with me. “ He simply confirmed. He must have been kidding, right?

 “ Euhm… don’t you … other horse? “ I tried to say embarrassed. I kept the cover close to me. Might as well be my only source of warmth and comfort.

“ I don’t even have enough horses for all my men. Only the General and the best warriors have one. “ He said still offering his hand. I looked at him and froze in his gaze. He slowly his lips and smiled. I was lost and dumbfounded with his expression. Even though he seemed though and cold hearted at first , he seemed to also be really caring. I stared at his inviting eyes a little bit longer than I should have , with my mouth ajar.

 “ Unless she wants to come with me? “ A man said from behind me. I turned and saw the man who tried to use me earlier… Xiumin I presume?

Without a second thought ,I immediately looked back at Yixing and took his hand. His hand was big and manly but still incredibly soft and embracing. He helped me to climb on the horse which would have probably taken me a few more hours to do if I would have dare to do it by myself. He made me climb in front of him which offered me a high vision of the landscape. I , at first,  had some hard time to stay in this position since I almost never ride a horse but I found two strong arms surrounding me to grab the command of the horse. I froze as I felt his body right behind me. He was in a big armor but just his presence was enough to make my temperature rise up. Soon enough the blanket won’t be really usefull.

He started the walk by ordaining to his horse to move forward and all his men followed him behind. I grabbed a hold of the horse , not to fall and looked forward. The landscape was quite incredible. “ Where are we going? “ I asked. I felt his hot breath near my neck and blushed.

“ We must reach the North river before the sun comes down again. “ He said in my ear from behind. I shivered. Was he really forced to be this close?

“ We will have to travel all day ? “ I asked. I looked over my shoulder to see his face. He was really close and wasn’t looking at the view in front of him but directly at me. Was it just me or someone should direct that horse? I don’t plan to take a sweet horse ride across the nearby river.

“ As long as it will be possible. “ He simply answered me.  I frowned. “ Xiumin thinks that a rainstorm is coming. I must admit that, even if I don’t particularly appreciate him, he is rarely wrong about his guesses. “ He clarified himself and I nodded slowly as my gaze lingered back to the front of the road.

 “ So you think there will be a rainstorm?” I asked him. The sun was starting to rise and the sky was clear as water.

“ I guess. “ He said accelerating the walk. I found myself giggling against my own will.

 “ I don’t think so… Look at the sky. “ I said pointing to the sky totally blue now. He laughed when I said that.

 “ Don’t only judge with the sky. You might be surprised. “ He said into my ear. This time, he did it on purpose. I know it. I felt him bending forward to speak closer.

8 hours went by without me noticing. The landscape was so wonderful and the air so pure. There was no pollution or nothing bad… just fresh air. The past as it’s charms. The silence wasn’t that bad. Having little birds singing in our ears all day was pleasant and I become accustomed to the handsome man pulling me behind a little from time to time. I could get used to live in such era , I guess. However , the little bird soon disappeared around the end of the day. As the sunset was starting to happen, the nature seemed even more quiet than ever.

We started to see the base of the river when I felt something falling on my face. I raised my gaze to the sky when I felt something else falling on my nose. It was raining. The sky that was so clear hours ago was now dark grey and rain drops were starting to fell heavily. I put the blanket over my head and I felt Yixing accelerating the walk and heading somewhere. “ Over there ! The old General’s House. “ Yixing shouted to his men. I closed my eyes and opened it when I felt the horse stop. I looked around and the rain was now so heavy that I couldn’t even see ten feet in front of me. That would be the type of weather to create a lot of accident in 2015.

I felt Yixing coming off the horse and I looked at him wondering where he was going. I followed him with my gaze and I finally noticed an old house near the small river. It was big and really old fashioned. The wait seemed endless but , around 5 minutes after he entered he came out running. Xiumin walked toward him and asked him something I didn’t understand because the rain was too loud. Thank god I was barely even hable to hear my own thoughts. Yixing nodded to him and walked back toward me. “ Come down. “ He said.

He grabbed my arm and, without even forcing, he dragged me down in his arms and put me down. “ What are we going to do? “ I asked him. I was almost screaming because of the rain. He made sure the blanket was over my head and that I was as dry as possible in this inundation.

“ Follow Jaewoo and Xiumin inside the house. I am coming soon. “ He shouted too. It wasn’t because he was angry but rather because he didn’t had the choice.I saw him leaving my sides and walking towards the rest of his men. I stayed there , not knowing what to do. I watched him run away in the rain. His hair were all wet and so was his armor. Still he was running to see how his men were doing. What did he say already? Who was I supposed to follow? To where?