ZHAO JUREN'S LAST LOVE
Chapter 24. The Diamond's Eye

Zhao Juren's heart was beating faster, he hoped that not much of it would happen because he knew very well, that his request might just be wind-like, not to be ignored by this mysterious Xue Xue.

"Why do you want to see my face? You don't trust me?" Asked Xue Xue slowly.

"I'm..." Zhao Juren was silent for a moment then stared fixedly at those unblinking eyes looking at him.

"I just want to see your face." Zhao Juren.

"Why?"

"Should there be a reason for someone who wants to know you well."

"We don't have to know each other, Mr. Zhao. Because one day it can make you hesitate to drop a hand for a decision if we're at a different pole."

"I never hesitate to drop my hand, if it's about principles and truth. But the look of the face can make us unravel foreign knots. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Zhao Juren approached a step, her breathing quietly sighing.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Xue Xue did not budge, her voice slightly trembling.

"But we'd better stay strangers." Xue Xue turned her face away, her sigh almost sounded behind her thick veil.

"I feel familiar to you, Miss Xue Lian. We may have met in another life, or in a different dimension of the universe. So let me see your face." Zhao Juren spoke in a flat tone.

He, had never been so insistent as to desire, but somehow Xue Xue Xue's sharp clear eyeball that shimmered between his veils was so stirring his soul.

"If I refuse?" Xue Xue took a step back, her knees became slightly trembling.

"I'm not forcing, but..." Zhao Juren straightened her body and grinned coldly.

"Don't blame me if I'm going to look for that twinkle of your eye until every niche in Nanxing town even looks for you under the throne of king Nan if need be." The sentence was said calmly but made Xue Xue forget to breathe for a moment.

"You're threatening me?" Xue Xue stared back with caution.

"Nobody dared to threaten general Qui." Zhao Juren chuckled.

"I know very well, you are behind the armour of that general Qui. Eyes like yours there's only one I've met in the world." Zhao Juren.

Xue Xue was fixated, she no longer spoke only her eyes were straight in direction challenging Zhao Juren's eyes. Round like the brightest gem.

"How do you know all that?" Xue Xue bit her paled lips in the dim light of that dawn.

"Miss Xue Xue, I am not a person who easily believes in something without proof. A convincing Jiu Fei story does not necessarily make me believe that everything you say is true. But, one thing I can assure you, my eyes are as beautiful as a hill hawk, if you just wipe me with a veil or a harness, I don't think Miss is too confident." Zhao Juren added half her steps, making their distance even closer.

And strangely, Xue Xue did not back down anymore, instead she let her head down.

"Miss Xue Xue knows who you really are but I believe you are Xue Lian whom Hongse adored naively so that you cannot dwell on anything you want. Feelings can sometimes fool a person's mind, so that he can defect to make someone safe in his tribe." A small laugh rang out from Zhao Juren's lips, sneering and as if mocking at himself.

"And hiding behind a big name of a ruthless general and an intimidating iron suit is enough of an excuse for me not to trust you completely." Zhao Juren's hand was raised slowly and as if hypnotized Xue Xue just kept silent.

"Give me one reason to trust you, Miss Xue Xue." Zhao Juren's voice sounded trembling.

Before he had a moment to speak again, Zhao Juren's fingers pulled the string behind Xue Xue's ears. Surprisingly, Xue Xue did not attempt to prevent or deny what Zhao Juren was doing.

And slowly the black veil that covered half of Xue Xue's face came loose.

A moment later, the two people looked at each other, in a distance that was no more than a few snores.

The rustling sound of maple leaves like the sound of the wind as if to whisper the morning will soon arrive, but the two pairs of eyes look unblinking to each other.

"Your eyes.that's beautiful..." Zhao Juren said hoarsely.

Only two people in this world had ever seen him have such a clear eyeball, the first being Xiao Yi, his eyes sparkling like a raunch, implying policy and kindness. But Xue Xue Xue's eyes were rounder and more glass-like, more plain and resembled a bluish-gray diamond gloss. There is a hardness of heart and youth as it is.

Xue Xue, had an adorable runny nose and small lips full of pink, like a pool of blood covered behind her lip petals.

And his face was so tiny, that anyone who saw him wanted to cupper his palms on his smooth cheeks, grab him close and kiss every inch of that natural beauty.

"Sir..."Xue Xue's lips opened slightly, her white teeth lined up neatly behind her peeking so seductively.

"Si...who...who are you Miss Xue Xue?" That question sounded like the desing daei of Zhao Juren's mouth that couldn't hide the stunned feeling. The sentence immediately alerted Xue Xue to immediately jump back and seal the black veil back. The pink tinge was palpable in the dim morning.

Zhao Juren clenched her hand trying to feel her heart, but there was no strange beating expected. He was fascinated without even having a chance to thump.

"What are you doing, Master Zhao! You're too presumptuous!" The loud noise coming out from Xue Xue lips was completely unconvincing, not sounding rude and even seemed nervous and trembling.

"Miss Xue Xue..."

"I won't forgive this easily. I promise you you will pay dearly. I'm..." Xue Xue was like choking with her own words.

"Do I have to apologize?" Zhao Juren was still like a dazed person, her hands still hanging in the air.

Xue Xue did not reply, but then she turned around in haste and then without saying goodbye or talking again the girl soon disappeared between the maple trees and Liu's trunk. The wind that sent him away left a distinctive peach scent.

"Miss Xue!" Zhao Juren simply shouted at the wind.

And now he remained, sitting dazed under a tree Liu from his branch with a green leaf.

The clear dirt dripping on his forehead did not care about him. Xue Xue Xue's eyes seemed to be flashing in her sight, still turning a blind eye without even glancing at her.

The boat across from the one that was hinted at to drive him across was still moored there, Zhao Juren just had to wait.

The light comes before sunrise, the transition from night to light. Zhao Juren recalled a letter given to her by the mysterious Xue Xue.

With Zhao Juren's trembling hands grabbing the paper from under his cloak, he would open the letter to ascertain what the truth was behind Xue Xue's absurd story.