60 A sweet date (1/2)

They dressed Qun Tao up in fresh garments, replacing her old tattered robes. Liu Suye found her a headscarf and veil to cover her mutilated visage and neck. Like this, she was like any other woman who sat daintily in front of Xu Hexian at the tea house.

That was. Aside from her giant tits. That Xu Hexian was trying really, really hard not to stare at.

…

And there was also the fact she had the strength to snap his spine in half!

And the fact that she was dead…!

Nervous sweat was beading at his brow as he poured two cups of tea. The sound that came out of his lips didn't really sound like laughter. Xu Hexian was trying really hard to buy time to come up with a topic to talk about… But how could he talk about with a ghost that couldn't even speak!? ”The weather…isn't bad today!”

Actually it was cloudy outside. Even though Qun Tao said no words to say, her shoulders sagged with a sighing sound of disapproval. Could Xu Hexian just toss his pride out the window? This was too much.

Of course with the veil over her head, she couldn't drink the tea. Though, she was dead in the first place so what was even the point of this whole charade? Xu Hexian found his eyes veering around. From the crowd of patrons that shuffled about the teahouse, he spotted two familiar white-robed young masters. Even though their expressions were different, Xu Hexian could easily recognize disappointment and disapproval clearly painted on their faces.

He sighed with a heavy groan. Just how was he supposed to survive the day? A small fluff shuffled about under his garments and tumbled out of his sleeve.

Huo Tang pointed a stubby wing at him accusingly, ”I heard from everyone that you were sweet with words. What happened to this rumored skill!? Why are you being so odd and awkward? Do you not know how to talk to women!?”

He wanted to cry. This was just bullying! ”O-of course not! Do you think me some sort playboy…? I'll have you know I'm actually a very innocent person!”

Xu Hexian wanted to stab himself after those words left his mouth. Didn't he just inadvertently admit to his inexperience?

There was a soft chuckling sound coming from the woman sitting in front of him. A small hand was held to her mouth in a show of modesty. With gestures as such, she seemed rather cute and for a moment, Xu Hexian almost forgot she was a ghost.

His shoulders sagged, ”Do you think this is funny too? Ah well, I hope I can at least be entertaining to you then…”

Qun Tao shook her head. Xu Hexian raised a questioning brow, but she had no words to say to him. Instead, she shyly held out her hand.

”What…?” He asked, a little baffled. Cautiously, he reached for her cold fingers. They were stiff and extremely cold to the touch. But in his mind, an image flashed. It was too quick for him to catch the details but he was sure that he saw smiling lips basking in the glow of an afternoon sun.

”Oh.” He said dumbly, a soft heat warmed his cheeks. ”I see.” This time, when he looked upon her he didn't see a ghost but instead a sweet maiden. He tried a smile and stood from his seat. ”Okay, since you can't really drink or eat anything, why don't we go out for a walk?”

Qun Tao gave him a nod and stood up as well. Her movements were a little clumsy but it only added to her charm.

Xu Hexian hadn't accompanied the Liu brothers on their investigation, thus in comparison to them, his knowledge of Qun Tao's background was extremely limited. Sure there was that one old woman who spat curses about her, but Xu Hexian had simply attributed the woman's rudeness to her distress from having her son attacked.

The sky, though dense with clouds was still rather bright. Light reflected upon the shining snow around them. Fat flakes slowly began to descend and Xu Hexian decided to buy an umbrella to shield them from the snow.

Qun Tao had her head tilted in question. She came from a very poor background and couldn't understand why he was spending his coins for something as useless for the occasion.

”Huh?” Xu Hexia furrowed his brows, ”Well, even if it's snow, once it melts it'll become water and make your clothes and hair all wet, right?”

Hm, but snow was easy to just brush off.

Xu Hexian could feel the apprehension radiating off of her. So he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, ”Well… I just thought…you know, it might be nice to walk under an umbrella with a girl once, right?”

Xu Hexian wasn't tall and didn't look as strong nor as handsome as the Liu brothers. Instead, he looked more delicate and his face was one that often smiled and appeared cheery. It would be more accurate to call him pretty and approachable. Xu Hexian was by no means an unattractive person.

Qun Tao lowered her head a little and walked closer to him to stay under the umbrella and shielded them from the lazy tumbling snow. They strolled the streets leisurely and headed towards the canal for a more scenic path.

The snow sprinkled down slowly like dandelion seeds, fat and full enough to see their intricate flakes. It was quiet between them but some of the tension had thawed. ”Aren't you going to say something?” Huo Tang hissed at him from his shoulder.

Xu Hexian only found himself sighing and then looked around, ”Were you born in this village?” He asked the girl at his side.

She nodded her head.