Little Purple

Qing Guang walked ahead of Hu Ye, the black bow in her hand gleaming as the dim light passed by the forest's umbrella of leaves. From behind, Hu Ye admired her dark hair that slowly moved. Hu Ye always thought that Qing Guang had beautiful, enviable hair. Soft, silky, and cool to touch.

"Hmm…" Hu Ye kept looking at Qing Guang's back. Qing Guang was taller than him. He thought that her movements and her archery skill were as amazing as always, but something was a bit off and he could not figure out what it was.

"That's true, I rarely eat meat at home." Qing Guang suddenly started to talk.

"Huh? Oh yeah, the meat… Does the Qing manor not serve meat or something?"

"Nah… It is just me." Qing Guang slightly smiled but it was helpless and sad. "Brother eats meat often."

"..." Hu Ye thought that he might have asked a sensitive question.

"Ye, you are smart. I think you do understand just what kind of position I have inside the manor."

"..."

"I like meat. It is delicious, but my allowance is not enough to buy meat on my own." Qing Guang sighed. She looked up to the sky and raised her bow.

Hu Ye stepped in and grabbed onto her bow once again. "I understand but please don't try to kill Fei again." Hu Ye pleaded. "Don't kill the bird."

"I'm hungry."

"Sigh… If you stop trying to kill the bird, I… I promise I'll buy you a lot of meat later on."

"A lot?"

"Yeah, I always save my allowance in case there will be something in the future, so I think I have enough money to buy you all the meat you want."

Qing Guang's eyes shone. "Seriously?"

Hu Ye lightly chuckled when he saw Qing Guang's hopeful expression. "Of course."

-----

"Can you pass the salt over there?"

"Where?"

"It is next to your feet."

"Oh, here…"

Hu Cheng Se and Qing Bo were cooking near the camping ground. Once they cleaned the fish on the riverbed, Hu Cheng Se added some special spices that she brought with her from home. The spices made the fish smell good; the new taste also refreshed their mind and body.

Qing Bo made a fire in the middle of a grassless area. Qing Bo could not cook, so he kept himself away when Hu Cheng Se roasted the fish over the fire.

"The smell is nice to us but bugs don't like it so we will be free from mosquito bites for some time." Hu Cheng Se explained these things to Qing Bo, and strangely he listened attentively to her. Qing Bo was not sure why, but when he was near the fish stick, his guard lowered down a bit.

Hu Cheng Se calmly cooked the meal. The dim light shone on her face and revealed a soft but refreshing sight. Hu Cheng Se hummed a melodic tune while she cooked. The sound was small, barely audible, but Qing Bo could still hear from the distance.

"..." Qing Bo fixedly stared at the burning fire.

Not long after, Qing Guang and Hu Ye entered the ground with a sack full of dead snakes.

Hu Zi came back later on, with Shou carrying her on his back. Hu Zi's clothes were wet, and she had bruises all over her body. Winter and spring were the toughest seasons for her. The master and disciple sat at a quiet side so that they could recuperate in peace.

When the group finished eating and regaining their strength, Hu Cheng Se realized that the girls were covered in too much blood and sweat, smelling worse than the dead fish innards.

Lucky for them, there was a natural hot spring north of their camping ground. That hot spring was the reason why Shou had chosen this place to camp.

"That's wonderful!" Cheng Se felt content. She grabbed Qing Guang's hand. "Let's go there right away, and Xiao Zi can lead us!"

Qing Guang shook herself of Hu Cheng Se's grip and took a step back. "Uh... I need to clean up my equipment." She tried to somewhat politely decline.

"You can just leave it for later. I will help you clean up after the bath." Hu Cheng Se tried to pull on Qing Guang's arm again.

Qing Guang evaded. "No really, it's fine. I don't need a bath anyway."

Hu Cheng Se looked at her with a strange face. "Ah, I wouldn't be so sure about that." Though they were recently on better terms, they weren't close enough for Cheng Se to tell Guang directly that she smelled like fish and snake guts.

Qing Guang frowned at her. "What do you mean by that?"

She looked down to her clothes and sweaty body. When she saw Hu Cheng Se's difficult expression she bluntly asked. "Are you saying that I smell bad?"

Eyes wide, Hu Cheng Se tried to think of an excuse. "Ney, well… ermm…" Hu Cheng Se saw Qing Guang's cold and sharp eyes looking at her. Hu Cheng Se gulped. "A bath does not necessarily mean to clean only, you know. A bath can also relax your body and add to your health."

Qing Guang remained stubborn. "I'm not in the mood."

Off to the side, the boys listened to the conversation. Hu Ye looked at Qing Guang. He wondered if she was being hesitant because she hadn't warmed up to his sisters yet, and the thought strangely made him a little disappointed. "Qing Guang, you should go on. A bath would be good." He encouraged her.

Qing Guang frowned, bothered by this. She turned her narrow gaze to him. "You think I smell, too?"

"Well.. uh, that is… the smell of your hard work?" Hu Ye said quickly. It was true. They had both worked hard today and killed more than a dozen snakes. She deserved a good, long soak.

Qing Bo didn't know why his sister didn't want to go either. "Guang, go with them. It'll be fine."

Qing Guang fell silent, thinking about something. "Alright, but I think I should just take that bath later on. You two can go on ahead of me."

"What?" Hu Cheng Se thought that since both of them were in the same class, this camping trip was a good opportunity to finally make friends with the cold and unapproachable Qing Young Miss.

"Then I will go back to clean up my equipment." Qing Guang turned away from them, ready to go on her way.

"Hey, wait!" Hu Cheng Se hurriedly grabbed Qing Guang's hand. "Hold on a minute, don't you think having a bath together will be more fun?" Hu Cheng Se unconsciously gripped Qing Guang's hand too hard. Qing Guang flinched and attempted to wrest her arm free. In the process, her sleeve fluttered back and her wrist was exposed.

It was only a fleeting few seconds but it was enough for them to see the bright red slashes on her wrist.

"Eh?" All of a sudden, Qing Bo was gripping Hu Cheng Se's hand. Hu Cheng Se startled and let go of Qing Guang's hand.

Qing Bo gripped Hu Cheng Se's hand so tightly that she felt it was meant to break her bones. But he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were all for his sister, who's usual calm disposition held a trace of panic for the first time.

Qing Bo was furious. His expression was different from his usual look of disdain and contempt. His expression caused Hu Cheng Se to shudder. Rage filled Qing Bo when he saw the red marks on Qing Guang's wrist.

"When?"

"..." Qing Guang looked to the side. Although she was hurt, she did not want her brother to be worried or careless because of her.

"Tell me, when?!"