Where Winter is Warm Where Summer is Cool

Xi Xichen stood up and then paused as if he felt dizzy. He reached out to the wall with his right hand to support himself and I watched a line of blood slide down the rugged lines of the stone wall.

“Can you get up?” He asked, lowering his head. He smiled gently and dropped his hand down slowly, inadvertently smearing the blood away.

“I saw it in front of you….when you slept.” His voice weakened with every word.  “About ten meters from here are some steps that go back up, but the switch to open the slabs of the ground is damaged.”

I stood up, listening quietly, my eyelids drooping to obscure all emotions.

“Unless…” He stopped talking.

I didn’t want to hear any more from him, I just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

I walked forward, Xi Xichen following behind me, his intermittent coughs ringing in my ears.

I smiled coldly. Why are you even doing this? I no longer want to deal with this because I finally understand the falsehood.

When I saw the natural light ahead, I ran forward, stopping directly under where light filtered through from above. The corridor’s path had also ended.

The walls in this area were relatively intact, with several crude notches carved into them. There was a dilapidated stone ladder in the corner.

As I was about to look for the “switch”, he suddenly took my hand. His face was unusually crimson as he leaned towards me, swaying as if he couldn’t stand firmly.

“Xi Xichen!”

I subconsciously gulped.

He stopped swaying and shook his head, as if trying to make himself stay awake. I looked at him in disdain. I knew he was just pretending!

The forbearance in my heart had reached its limit, and a vengeful idea popped into my mind.

“Xi Xichen, what do you like about me?” Instead of pushing him away, I got closer to him, and asked slowly, “My body or a ridiculous soul?”

Xi Xichen seemed to be in a daze and he let my hands climb up his body like vines.

I noticed that his white shirt was now soaked, and the red peony was stained with sweat.

“Should I be moved, Mr. Xi, that you worked so hard for me?”

I undid the neat row of buttons one by one, revealing his smooth chest, and then gently ran my fingers across the small wound before placing them on his undulating heart.

“You should have been pierced here,” I said. I felt his body visibly tighten under my hand, and the ups and downs of his breathing seemed to pause under my fingertips.

“Such a shallow injury, you should be honest. The blood on your clothes – when you stabbed yourself, you held my hand and then grabbed the blade forward, right? Your right hand was injured in the beginning. Was it to prepare for this ridiculous scene later? I don’t know. It seems to me that Mr. Xi is very dedicated to acting.”

No response.

His weight against my body gradually subsided, and his heavy breath blew in my ears. My heartbeat rose and I pushed him away forcefully.

Xi Xichen stumbled against the rock wall, his right hand slamming into its mottled side. He stayed silent, not making a sound.

As he leaned against the wall, his messy black hair drooping gloomily, and blood flowing from the gap between the clenched fingers of his right hand, he finally said, “Yes, bitter tricks, although old-fashioned, will work on you.” Xi Xichen  looked at me, then smiled. “Because while Jian Anjie may be cold, she is still soft-hearted enough.”

“…”

“You don’t want to die here with me, do you? So the knife didn’t sting, you should be thankful.”

What does he mean? Are you mocking my incompetence?

Xi Xichen slowly slid his body down until he reached the ground.

“The stairs are right here, go up.”

Suddenly a rumbling sound reverberated through the cavern and the slab on the top of the stone steps miraculously opened with his words. The light grew brighter and I raised my hand to block the dazzling white glare.

I looked at him. “You won’t go?” I asked, even though I didn’t want to talk to him at all at this moment.

He was still sitting, his back against the wall.

“The stone ladder has been in disrepair for a long time. Shouldn’t you go and try it first? And you have nothing to lose if I die, right?”

“It does not matter!” My answer was reflective, but the hesitation in my heart could not be ignored.

Seeing me motionless, he spat out shameless and hurtful words.

“Or are you feeling nostalgic? It’s definitely poetic to have the same hole in front of you when you’re being born or when you’re about to die.”

I tried my best to control my emotions, and no longer care about whether he would follow up or not. Of course he would climb up in the end!

Dragging my weak body I climbed the mottled stone steps. When I reached the last one, and the ground was finally under my feet, the feeling I had of rebirth after death made the situation surreal.

Although I really didn’t want to care, I couldn’t help but look down again.

He was looking up at me with a smile on the corner of his mouth, but his eyes seemed loose as if he was trying hard to focus.

“Anjie, if you don’t want to see me again, this is your best opportunity. All you need to do is go out and keep quiet about where I am. Trapped in here, I will most likely die in less than a day. From now on, you don’t have to worry that I will find you again…”

His body slowly slid to the side, then the sound of rattling machinery resounded again. I looked around puzzled, before I noticed that the slab of stone around my feet was closing, and I stepped back as it smashed back into place, raising up a cloud of smoke and dust. The ground had sealed back so perfectly, it was as if the hole had never existed.

“I’m dead and it has nothing to do with you.” Only these words were left echoing in my ears.

The scene was absurdly like a parting of life and death.