Un cœur pur dans un pot de jade

Chapitre 39

It was I who rendered him powerless.

The last time I lay on top of him, he looked straight at me and even wrote in my palm: "Where do you get the interest at a time like this?"

I laughed, "Making the best of a bad situation..." Then I lowered my head and bit his shoulder, saying in a deep voice, "Concentrate, don't let your mind wander!"

He nodded with a smile.

I understand that at this time, with both of us trapped and barely able to take care of ourselves, he was probably thinking about how to protect me from the situation. Yet I was in the mood to ask to do this with him. Perhaps the savage would think I was strange, but he would never think I was being unreasonable.

Actually, I'm also very scared. Even three days without seeing each other feels like three years.

Adding to that Yan Chaohong's terrible idea, I wanted the savage to stay with me as a savage, to make sure he wouldn't turn into Shao Yanhe and suddenly abandon me one day.

When I pressed down on him, it wasn't like when a savage pressed down on me. Back then, he had to use his strength to support himself so as not to crush me to death. But when I pressed down on him, I gave him my entire body weight, pressing down on him however I wanted.

He didn't react for a while. I felt my legs were curled up like a toad's as I leaned forward and whispered in the savage's ear, "Relax, I'll take care of it..."

He stared at the top of his head, and it took him a long time to finally turn his eyes to the side, looking dazed.

"What's wrong?" A bad feeling crept into my heart, so I stopped and patted his face.

It was fine if I didn't take pictures, but the more I took pictures, the more I felt that this person's eyes were fixed, as if he suddenly remembered something and his eyes were confused by those non-existent illusions. The savage's whole body was trembling slightly. I called him, and he looked at me blankly—"Savage!" I stepped off him and hurriedly grabbed his hand. As expected, it was like being pulled out of ice water, his fingers were stiff and cold.

"Savage! Savage!" I shook him hard, and he shivered and came to his senses.

Focus your gaze and see me clearly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

The savage let out a silent breath, shook his head, and loosened his grip.

"Is this posture incorrect?"

He shook his head again.

It seems I really used the wrong method...

I rested my chin on his chest and whispered, "I'm sorry..." "I promised I wouldn't force you to eat meat..."

The savage shook his head for the third time, grabbed my hand again, and wrote on it: Sun Qingshan...

"What's wrong?"

He wrote again: Am I being too selfish?

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

He closed his eyes and ignored my desperate attempts to comfort him.

Did he remember something again? I feel very frustrated. I'm sure the position is wrong. Did someone ride on him before? Can't he be pinned down? Is there really some unbearable past that made him feel resistant?

Looking at the mess of sheets under me, and the wrapping paper and condom on the floor, I felt helpless. Was he just too insecure, or was I overthinking things? It's such a simple thing as two people being together, so why is it getting more and more complicated? Why is it still so complicated even though I've tried so hard?

"Savage, get up!" I pulled him up.

He opened his eyes, and I bluntly asked him, "Do you know how tired I am?"

He slowly propped himself up on the bed, sat up straight, and looked at me expressionlessly.

“I’m tired,” I repeated. “If you feel tired too, it means there’s a problem in our relationship.”

Contrary to my expectations, this time he showed no panic or shock. He listened as if it were nothing important, his expression remaining unchanged throughout. He slowly lowered his eyes, watching only my fingers as they continued to ravage the sheets.

"How about..." I couldn't say it, but the savage suddenly approached. He reached out and brushed the hair from my face, then used the back of his hand to wipe my sweat. I was dumbfounded and let him touch me all over.

Finally, the savage took my clothes and helped me dress properly before putting on trousers himself. He went to the table, his hair all over his body, and took out paper and pen to start writing.

I walked over, and he pushed the paper in front of me. It clearly said one sentence: Don't trust anyone.

I glared at him.

He suddenly laughed.

It turns out he had guessed it all along. I spent ages gathering my emotions from the beginning, saying strange things like "I'm so tired," as if it were a farewell ceremony. I wanted to make it clear in one sentence, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It turns out that the Wild Man really knows me. I can't hide anything from him. Before Yan Chaohong's bad idea could even be implemented, the Wild Man already knew that I had ulterior motives.

With a wry smile, I reached up and touched my face, asking, "Why am I such a terrible actor?"

The savage nodded.

I got angry. "So does that mean I shouldn't trust anyone, not even you?"

He then lowered his head and wrote again: Except for me.

"Go to hell." I pushed him. "You've made me agonize over this for so long, you're incredibly calm!"

The savage grabbed my hand: "Then what do you want me to do?"

I turned around and sat on his lap. Knowing there were spies around the room, I wrote in my hand: Go with them to Bianjing, don't stay here.

The savage looked up at me and said, "Just go when I tell you to!" I pushed him away.

He smiled, patted my head again, and didn't reply.

It's like they're saying: things aren't that simple.

"What should we do, you savage?" I grabbed his hand, my heart pounding in unison. "What if something really happens to you? What should I do? I'm so nervous. Touch my chest, I feel like my heart is going to jump out of my chest."

The savage had no choice but to hold me tighter and finally agreed: I will go to Bianjing with them.

They didn't even ask me why.

...

Even so, something still went wrong.

The next day, the Nangong residence caught fire. The moon was bright and the sky was clear. Who knows how it started? But when I arrived, the raging flames had already turned half the sky red, and thick smoke billowed out. I witnessed what a spectacular and awe-inspiring special effects look like. The thick smoke gathered into clouds, starting from a fine tuft, then rose into the air, clustered together and scattered, a breathtaking sight...

I rushed in without a second thought, but someone could pull me back effortlessly.

Seeing Mingming and Yan Chaohong's faces, I felt a chill run through my body. Even though the fire was so close and everything was burning, I still felt cold.

"Where are the savages?!" I kept asking.

Yan Chaohong told me to calm down. The fire was aimed at the savages. They were the sworn enemies of Liangfeng Manor, who had infiltrated the Nangong family with the intention of killing the savages.

"What do we do?! Everyone's here, what do we do?!" I changed my words, wanting to go and put out the fire, but everyone blocked my way, and I couldn't get close at all.

Once the fire was extinguished, the Nangong Mansion after the disaster resembled a flooded area more than scorched earth.

Yan Chaohong directed two servants to carry a charred corpse in front of me, and said to me, "Get ready."

"What else is there to prepare?!" I shoved him away. "They've already brought him right in front of me, what else do I need to prepare—who is this person? This guy is all dark and inconspicuous, who is he?!"

Two servants, one of whom was younger and shorter, was holding the black corpse by the legs. He told me enthusiastically, "It was that mute man who lived in the side courtyard. The fire started there. He couldn't escape and was burned like this."

"You're kidding me!" My legs went weak, and I reached out to grab something, but it was Yan Chaohong's hand.

"It might really be..." Before he could finish speaking, I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

But it wasn't from anger or heartbreak that caused me to vomit blood like others. This was bruising from the slap Yan Chaohong gave me. Xu Yi used acupuncture on me and said that the blockage would be cleared in less than ten days, and once the bruising was expelled, I would be fine.

But is everything really alright? — I grabbed Yan Chaohong's hand tightly, making him wince — Wild man, don't scare me! I'm only now beginning to hope that there really is a Jesus or some other god in this world. Let me pray this once — this person, definitely, definitely, isn't a wild man!!

Mountain Horror

I sat on the bed eating chocolate, milk candy, fruit candy, soft candy, hard candy, marshmallows... the last bit of sweets left. No one would scold me for soiling the sheets. Xu Jinwan got married. She didn't even give me a chance to calm down. I was determined to go and prepare her room, to make her look good as a member of the bride's family.

An idea popped into my head, and I jumped out of bed. The light wasn't on. It was the middle of the night, and I stumbled and staggered my way out of the house.

I grabbed Xu Yi by the bedside, scooped him up without letting him put on any clothes, and pulled him away because it was hot.

In front of the savage's earthen grave, there was a blank stone tablet, without a single word carved on it. Nobody wanted to make a fuss, nobody wanted anyone to know that the martial arts alliance leader had died in their house, just like that, burned to death in a fire.

"You sit here and wait." I settled Xu Yi in, then grabbed an iron rake and went to dig up the grave.

Xu Yi sat quietly, without saying a word or asking me what was wrong with him.

More than ten days have passed since the fire. It was hot and humid in the summer, and the charred corpse should have rotted to the bone. Fortunately, only the skin and flesh were burned. I am sure I can find a way to prove that the person was not a savage.

Even if no one believes me, even if everyone tells me that Shao Yanhe is dead—if he weren't dead, why would he just leave me like this without a word? Yet even so, there are many miracles in this world, and I believe in miracles.

The rake was almost touching the coffin when I abandoned it and pounced on it, digging with my hands.

When the entire coffin lid was exposed, someone pressed down on my shoulder, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me up.

"The corpse poison will seep into your flesh and blood, and your hand will be ruined," Xu Yi reminded me casually. Then he let go of my hand, took out a small bottle from his waist, and dripped a few drops of pungent medicine from the bottle. The medicine touched the coffin board and instantly burned a large hole in the thick wooden board.

I jumped into the pit, and Xu Yi followed, but he had brittle bones and strained his back.

I put on rubber gloves and pulled the corpse out from the depths of the coffin. I felt like I had watched the horror movies all along for nothing. No matter how horrifying the mutilated body in my hands was, no matter if there was a maggot crawling in through the left eye and out through the right eye, or a bunch of small insects swarming on the chest, happily gnawing on the muscles and rotting flesh on the bones... As long as I thought that this person might not be a savage, and that kissing him could prove that he wasn't a savage, I took a deep breath and made sure that I would never hesitate to give him a kiss.

Thinking about it, I leaned closer, but Xu Yi blocked me. The doctor's face was in the shadows, and his eyes weren't very bright. I could tell from his voice that he was incredibly calm, without any emotional fluctuations or any feeling other than numbness.

"How can you prove that he is not Shao Yanhe?" Xu Yi asked me.

"Hands." I held the dead man's claws up to Xu Yi. "The savage had three fingers missing. You're a divine healer, you must be able to tell—look closely, are these people's fingers also missing?"

Xu Yi took it, and in less than a second, he replied, "No."

"What?!"

"This person's finger bones are well-jointed and have never been broken."

“It’s never broken… So, is it the other hand?” I tremblingly handed the other dead man’s claw to Xu Yi. It wasn’t that I couldn’t even remember the savage’s left and right hands, but that I was scared. I needed to figure everything out at once, without any doubts, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to accept it.

“This one is good too,” Xu Yi said, stroking it.

"Really...?" Tears streamed down my face. "Really, really?!"

Xu Yi, helpless, replied, "Really, really."

“It’s real…” I patted my chest with the dead man’s hand, then saw clearly, screamed “Ah!” and threw the body far away.

"Damn it!!" After having nightmares for half a month, and even with Yan Chaohong and Mi Dang having returned to the capital to report, I finally confirmed at this moment that the dead man wasn't a savage. What were those coroners even doing?! "You surnamed Shao!! Savage!! Shao Yanhe!! Shao savage—you big bastard!!" I yelled at the sky, "Where are you?! You've played me for enough—come out now!! Shao savage—savage—ah!!"

"Stop yelling," Xu Yi interrupted me.

"No!" I leaned against the man beside me, who was even more frail than a woman. "There's movement!"

What's that noise?

"Enough with the nonsense!!" I grabbed him. "Get out of here, quick! Don't stay in the graveyard!"

"Okay." The other person agreed readily, then turned around, only to turn back a moment later and ask me, "How do we climb?"

"You piece of trash!" I shoved him aside, then whirled around—"It moved! It moved!!" I slapped Xu Yi on the shoulder. "That corpse moved!"

"Are you seeing things?" Xu Yi comforted me, completely unmoved.