Un cœur pur dans un pot de jade

Chapitre 37

How can we persuade the savages to go to Tokyo with them?

To be honest, Yan Chaohong doesn't trust the savage. He's gambling with his life. If he really releases me and the savage, and the savage gets back into the world and bites him, then it won't just be him who suffers, but the hundred or so brothers of Liangshan Village—he can't bear that crime.

Although I wanted to curse him for being petty and mean on the spot, and wondered how a wild man could be so bored as to turn around and bite him, if I calmed down and thought about it, Yan Chaohong did indeed take a huge risk to help me, and the implications were far-reaching. Even if I was biased towards the wild man, I couldn't completely ignore Yan Chaohong.

Therefore, you can't tell the wild man Yan Chaohong that you want to take the opportunity to save him, but saying "You go to Tokyo with them, I'll pack my bags and go with you" is also not an option.

Given the wild man's personality, he would rather die than let me get involved in the troubles of the martial world. I guess he will step forward and force his way into the Nangong Mansion before setting off, even if it means hurting himself.

And after all these things, I have come to understand that he is definitely not someone who will obey my every command. On the contrary, he is willful and disobedient to me. If I were to ask him to go to Tokyo with Yan Chaohong to demand an explanation, he would not accept it willingly.

So neither left nor right worked, and finally Yan Chaohong gave me a terrible idea: I shouldn't forgive the savage.

What a ridiculous idea! At first, I strongly opposed it, even though it would work. I would not forgive the savage and would break off all ties with him. In his despair, he would certainly not resist anymore and would not stay at the Nangong residence to wait for me. In fact, the savage had already agreed that he would go to Tokyo with them as long as they let me see him.

Of course, this is on the premise that neither of my first two assumptions will be adopted.

In other words, I have no other choice for the time being.

Maybe so, but I'm a blockhead and I just don't get it at crucial moments. Time is tight right now, and I don't have time to plan carefully. I haven't even figured out what to say to the savage before I'm led to the door of the savage's temporary dwelling.

The maid knocked on the door for me and then left.

I stood nervously in front of the door, waiting and waiting, but no one came to open it for me.

There were no lights on inside, and it looked deserted from the outside, or at least the people inside were asleep—but Song Guan had just told me that the savage hadn't slept for the past few days, and now that I've arrived, he's asleep?

I knocked on the door twice more, impatiently, and was about to kick it when I kicked it but missed. Not only did I miss, but I also stumbled and fell on top of someone, knocking that person down with me. We both fell to the ground.

Even with a human cushion, I still can't help but sigh. This fall must have broken all my old bones, leaving me unable to get up.

Besides, I was being held tightly, so it was difficult for me to even move, let alone crawl.

At this moment, the savage is like a superglue; once it sticks on, don't expect to peel it off, or it will peel off a layer of skin—not me.

"Let go first..."

He lay on his back, and I lay prone, the two of us lying motionless on the ground. Actually, I didn't dare to turn my head to look at his face. Just listening to his breathing, I could hear the sound of some kind of dying beast, the "woofing" sound coming from his chest.

"Are you alright, you savage?" I asked him. He paused for a moment, then let go of my hand.

I got up first, and then tried to pull him up. But when I reached out my hand, he sat up on his own first. The white moonlight from outside shone on his face, and I realized that he was staring at me intently, looking a little lost.

"It's not a dream!" I laughed and patted his face.

He paused for a moment, then reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Get up and light the lamp," I urged him, pulling my hand away. "I'll go close the door."

Once the door was closed, the room was completely dark. Turning back, the savage's shadowy figure was still sitting on the ground in a daze, seemingly without even changing its posture.

I was helpless. Now I couldn't even get him to do the smallest things. I sighed and could only go to the table to light the candles myself.

The flames ignited, flickered, and filled the room with light.

I wanted to turn around to see if that person was still sitting there on the ground, but when I turned around, I was suddenly embraced tightly.

"What are you doing..." I whined in a coquettish tone, pushing him away with a seductive gesture. Actually, I really wanted to cry. I hadn't seen him for three days, which is a very long time.

He pulled me to sit down on the edge of the bed, and like a blind person who needs to use his hands and feet, he reached out and touched my face.

“You’ve lost weight, you wild man…” I bit my lip. I was lying. In fact, he was already in a terrible state. His dark circles were sunken, his cheeks were droopy, and there was nothing about him that was pleasing to the eye. His beard had grown out, his whites of his eyes were bloodshot, his pupils were lifeless, and his eyes were dull. He looked like a wild man.

“You’re not eating or drinking,” I asked him in a dry voice, “so you’re not going to resist nonviolently?”

He smiled slightly, a smile that looked almost like a cry, and took my hand to write: You've lost weight too.

"Don't try to evoke my emotions..." I rubbed my eyes, afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up the act.

He pursed his lips, seemingly trying to chuckle, but he looked pitiful. No one had tied his hair up, and his clothes were wrinkled and hadn't been changed. "Now I finally know why you're called a savage," I said. "If you were left unattended, you probably wouldn't bathe for ten days or two weeks. Aren't you afraid of getting lice?"

He shook his head.

"I'm scared!"

He just grinned foolishly and wrote on my hand: You weren't afraid before.

"Before?" I asked warily.

The savage lowered his head, still holding my hand tightly. He finally stopped grinning foolishly, but his expression slowly darkened.

Then he looked up and said, “I’m sorry…” He tried his best to enunciate each word, grabbing my hand and trembling.

"Don't mention those unhappy things." I felt guilty and changed the subject, not knowing how to fully grasp Yan Chaohong's bad idea.

The savage sensed something was wrong as soon as he heard what I said. Sometimes he's more sensitive than a woman, but I'm always more sensitive than him. Knowing he didn't want to expose me, he started staring at me blankly and smiling leisurely.

I really didn't want to ruin this moment of intimacy between us, so I snuggled into his arms and asked, "Let me ask you something," I said, placing his hands on his waist to hold him still, "Do you have a 'rectification' person under your command?"

The savage knew I was talking nonsense, so he just lowered his head and leaned it against my head.

"Was there no correction?" I asked myself, then answered, "Wouldn't Song Guan be too lonely...?"

"Hahaha..." Cold sweat.

That night, my heartfelt feelings

It was a clean and refreshing summer night, filled with the sounds of cicadas, frogs, and crickets.

The wild man hugged me. I used to think that couples who hugged and cuddled in the middle of summer were boring. They were really so obsessed with each other. Didn't they feel hot?

But this time, they have the nerve to criticize others, but not to look at themselves.

The savage held me tightly and swore he would never do anything behind my back again.

I remember him joking and writing: "I thought you would never want me again..." Then, when he laughed, his eyes were as red as a rabbit's, with moist, glistening spots shimmering in his eye sockets.

“Silly savage…” I took his hand.

I also thought you were lying to me about everything. It turns out you had so many secrets that I didn't even know where to begin asking you.

Therefore, the first thing I asked him was his name.

"Shao Yanhe? Shao as in Shao? Yanhe as in Yanhe?"

The savage thought for a moment, then reached out and wrote: Yes.

"Shares a name with a celebrity?"

He wrote: Yes.

"Would it kill you to write a few more words?!"

Or write: Yes...

"You stupid savage!" I said, not getting angry. "From now on, when I curse you by your full name, I'll call you Shao the Savage!"

He wrote: Okay.

"Savage..."

He lowered his head and pressed his face against mine. His skin felt cool, my heart was racing, and I wasn't breathing easily.

"Lord Lu sent someone to invite Yan He, but Yan He knew he shouldn't have paid him any attention. Shao Yeren, don't be so foolish in the future. It's not worth it for a knife..."

The savage ignored me, nuzzling my face intermittently, treating me like his pet.

"Did you hear me?!" I yelled, turning to glare at him.

He paused, his eyelids lowered, his eye sockets deep-set, with bluish-purple dark circles under his eyes, making him look especially sorrowful, especially in the dim lighting.

The savage remained motionless for a long time. Even though I was very close to him, I could only see that the corners of his slightly upturned lips were somewhat stiff, and I couldn't figure out what his expression was.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Finally, he came to his senses and honestly wrote on my hand: "That knife is evidence."

"Really evidence?!" I exclaimed in shock. "Could what they're saying be true?!"

The savage gave a bitter smile, a smile that made me feel uneasy. I reached out to touch his chin, but his newly sprouted stubble pricked my hand.

The savage pulled my hand down, but still smiled at me without any sign of pain, clearly trying to keep me from worrying and putting on a brave face on his own.

Fortunately, this time he didn't hide anything and wrote directly: "Either I die, or that knife disappears, otherwise this whole thing won't be over... I just don't want to teach you to hide with me..."

“It’s because of me again…” I felt terrible. “If I had known, I should have urged you to leave sooner in the first place.”

He shook his head, reached out and stroked my hair, comforting and coaxing me, and finally told me that this had nothing to do with me. He himself didn't know things would turn out this way at first. If he could remember even a little bit of his former self, he wouldn't have brought me to Chengdu, a place where trouble is so easy to cause.

It's true that I don't remember many things. Suddenly, the wild man started repeating them to me over and over again. He never intended to lie to me. His memories came back little by little, but they came back too late. By the time he had a little clue, someone had already recognized him.

"What about Shi Shenghuan?" I asked. "Did you really kill his whole family?"

The savage's expression turned cold almost instantly, and he actually replied: They deserve to die.

However... he doesn't hide anything from me now, not even negative emotions like resentment and hatred. He's afraid I'll blame him for lying to me, so if I ask, he won't refuse to answer.

But he has too many things on his mind: his identity, his past... all of them have hidden secrets, and some are even unpleasant. He himself doesn't want to think about them anymore, so it's actually quite cruel to make him tell me in person, to confess everything, good and bad.

However, there's one thing I've always wanted to ask: "Shi Shenghuan!" It seems I'm still bothered by this name. "Don't you really like Shenghuan? Don't you like her?"

The savage's answer left me speechless. He actually retorted: "Who said I like her? Don't overthink it."

I said helplessly, "Having liked someone is still liking them, don't deny it so quickly..."

"Would liking her lead to her death?" the savage unexpectedly retorted.

I was stunned.

“But Wild Man,” I stopped arguing and said, “I don’t understand the ways of the martial world, and it’s hard to say what’s right and wrong, good and evil, but I believe in you. I know you’re not the kind of person Yan Zhaohong described—so as long as you promise me that you won’t do anything against your conscience or treat human life like dirt, I will support you, not just in spirit, but with all my heart!”

The savage laughed and hugged me tightly.

But the next moment he drifted off, his eyes staring straight ahead without any fixed focus, and he swayed from side to side unconsciously, like a cradle having a seizure.

"Savage!" I yelled, trying to scare him.

He froze, turned to look at me, and wasn't frightened at all.

"It's not fun..."

The savage laughed again and pinched my cheek, but without any force, not even a little bit. His hand slipped off as he pinched.

“I believe you,” I said, “so don’t be upset anymore, or I’m going to ask you the important questions!”

He wrote: You ask.

"Fine, who's afraid of who—tell me, why did you give me Xu Yi's medicine? Do you want me to forget you?"