[Forgot to cue this for 1AM posting whoooooops
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Jinfeng is absolutely resistant to my decision. He stood beside the river, saying unhappily, “It’s better if you leave, I can’t count on you. I want to stay here and save my brother!”
Enraged, I say, “How will you staying behind save him? If he’s still in the river, there’s no way he’s alive. If he’s awake, he’ll think to come find us, and if he doesn’t find us then he’s sure to go to Lingyang to wait. How am I going to explain to him later if you wander off?”
Jinfeng gave a mocking laugh. “You’re someone without feelings or morals, so of course you’re not worried! I’m still going to find him!”
My expression sharpens. “No, you’re going to come with me!” I step forward to pull him by the wrist, but forgot that his martial arts are stronger than mine. A shake of his hand sends me to the ground, the stones pressing painfully into me. “Who’d want you to look after them?” He derides me indignantly. “Who are you to me? Me being saved by you was my bad luck! I won’t kill you this time, but next time I find the opportunity I won’t let you go!”
“Won’t kill me? You really think that you’ll kill me? I…” I’m sneering at him when my pain and extreme physical exhaustion and forceful mental repression seems to catch up all at once, as the tears that had temporarily stopped just a moment ago are now falling down in a quite strange way; clearly, I should look quite normal. Not wanting to lose face, I do all I can to hold back my sobs, having to stop abruptly.
Jinfeng was apparently distracted by my tears. The little boy wasn’t good at dealing with this and was a tad at a loss, not knowing what to do as he looked at me yet stubbornly standing ramrod straight. It makes me think of that arrogant kitten I had looked after when I was a child that had broken my gla.s.s; jumping on top of a cabinet and having a self-confident “I’m not in the wrong look”, yet secretly and guiltily observing my reaction.
[T/N: Jinfeng also confirmed for kitten]
I bow my head to regulate my emotions, serenely using the back of my hand to wipe off my tears, and got up. I silently throw the Yuan Qingyun-zongzi onto Hearth’s back, not looking at Jinfeng as I whisper, “I’m leaving.” I then take Hearth by the reins and move forward.
Though I’d hung Yuan Qingyun face-down on top of the horse and his field of view wasn’t very good, he still strove hard to have his meticulous gaze look at me thoughtfully. I don’t feel like flying into a rage out of shame, so I ignored him.
I restrain myself from turning around to look. A short period of travel later, I hear the light rhythm of footsteps behind me; Jinfeng is still coming along, making my mood a bit better.
We walk in total silence. There’s eventually someone’s home up ahead, seemingly belonging to a fishing household. There were a few s.p.a.ced-out, small and short buildings mainly made of gra.s.s and wood, but chimney smoke could be seen.
Us going all about for a night, we were now at our limit and in a state of being hungry and burn-out and sleepy and soaking wet, so we’d naturally want to find lodging and borrow clothes and such. Looking at Yuan Qingyun’s zongzi pose, I feel it improper, and difficult to explain to honest citizens. Could I tell tell them that we caught ourselves a rapist and are taking him to the authorities for a reward? And in order to catch him we all fell into the river?
Thinking it over, I s.n.a.t.c.h the zongzi and brought him down, setting about getting the ropes off. Yuan Qingyun watched me lazily and said nothing, allowing me to work quickly. Jinfeng stood behind me and looked on quietly.
“Come and hit a few of his acupoints again, and use a lot more force. Don’t forget the mute point.” I say without turning my head. Jinfeng still doesn’t speak, coming up silently to do as I say.
I feel around my chest and then take out the bottle of Nine-Turned Cinnabar, pop out one vermilion-colored pill, and feed it to Yuan Qingyun to swallow down. He seems to know this drug and can’t stop himself from displaying his surprise. I nod, saying, “That’s right, it’s Nine-Turned Cinnabar. Your internal injuries won’t be serious if you take it, but I added a little something to it. So long as you don’t play any tricks, it won’t be a problem.”
He’s still giving me that sort-of smiling look. Due to the fact that he can’t move, he can only blink to show that he understands. I sigh, saying, “I’m not thinking of hitting you, but your face is swollen now and your flirty looks don’t look good at all. Don’t try so hard.”
The smile in his eyes gets even more concentrated.
Who answered the door was a 30-something married couple, their faces wrinkled from hardships. Seeing us three- no, four drowned rat-lookalikes, they were very surprised.
I cup my hands in greeting towards them. “This eldest brother came with his younger brother and friend to go boating when we unexpectedly encountered a sea rover and our ship was overturned. My friend was horrifyingly injured by the rover; this brother is requesting permission to use a place to rest the night, and if you’ve tea and food, please bestow us with what you can offer.”
The fisherfolk stared blankly at me and only reacted after half a day with a nod and an “o-oh”, then stammered out that they only had one gra.s.s-thatched cottage. I smile humbly and say, “This is already greatly hospitable of you.”
I help the immobile Yuan Qingyun off of the horse’s back. The guy’s really heavy, and Jinfeng doesn’t know what helping is. Huffing and puffing while dragging him along, I almost don’t faceplant when we enter the room.
It is indeed a thatched cottage, with only a pile of hay inside and nothing else. The fisherman gave a guilty, nervous laugh as if he’d let us down in a way, but I repeatedly express my thanks.
Throwing Yuan Qingyun into a corner, I take out the wet outer layer of my clothing. Another of the benefits of being seen as a man is that I can go topless with no qualms, and it’s even better now that it’s summer. Looking up, I discovered Yuan Qingyun and Jinfeng staring at my smooth upper body, though their gazes are completely different.
My face slightly pinkens. Viciously giving a glare to Yuan Qingyun, I put the wet clothes back on.
The fisherman’s wife carried over three bowls of watery sorghum-millet congee with a few small fish surprisingly added to it. She has the look of a guileless rural woman, smiling in the same apologetic and sluggish manner.
I thanked her and received the meal, and she left.
The only thing on me is that huge amount of silver banknotes sewn into my underarmor, which I had thankfully wrapped in oiled paper prior. In all honesty, the circulation of banknotes in ancient times was extremely poor, with ordinary citizens probably having never seen them, and a completely separate concept from modern paper money as it can’t be used as everyday currency. Only major merchants like Lin Guiquan use it for big transactions, and the cost paid to the bank is very high. To make a comparison, it’s at most a bit like a bill of exchange.
I thereupon impolitely came up and searched Yuan Qingyun’s person. There was a satin bag tied to his waist, finely embroidered with a pair of mandarin ducks. Pouring it out, I see there’s a dozen or so sheets of gold leaf, some pieces of silver liang, and a few pearls. I pick out a few pieces of silver and put the rest back into the bag, which got put directly into my own lapels. Yuan Qingyun looked at me with a bitter smile. I ignored him.
I chased after the fisherman’s wife and called out to her, holding out the money to her and beaming. “Big sis, might I trouble you to give a bit of fodder for my horse and get three sets of dry clothes for us to wear?”
The woman had probably very rarely seen silver, as her eyes went very wide. “A-All of our clothes are made of rough cloth, there’s no need for silver…”
I stuff the money into her rough, suntanned hand. “Take it, okay? Buy yourself something good to eat.”
She nods, gulping.
The coa.r.s.e clothes were presented a while later, and to tell the truth, they really are very unsightly, and the coa.r.s.eness chafes the skin. So long as it’s dry, though, I’d even wear tree bark.
Shy, I hide in the corner and change my clothes with my back to them. Jinfeng also changed, the big sleeves dragging straight on the ground, the upper garment drooping down to midway down his calf. The brat seems younger and somehow a lot cuter.
I thought about going over to Yuan Qingyun and peeling off his wet clothes to swap them for dry ones, but the guy’s really a sc.u.mbag. I of course couldn’t know how his body’s reacted, but his eyes have been brazenly, fearlessly, and licentiously fixed on me this whole time. I finally get angry, throwing the clothing on top of him and saying coldly, “You’re staying in your wet clothes!”
I wolfed down my meal, as did Jinfeng, and I was annoyed at Yuan Qingyun’s impudence so I didn’t give him food, just walking over to the pile of hay and laying down to go to sleep. I didn’t tell Jinfeng anything, either.
Sometimes, when dealing with difficult children and certain animals, you can’t be too polite, as looking out for their well-being can conversely annoy them. Give them no attention and they won’t resist looking at you and observing you in an attempt to get it.
Jinfeng hesitated, then huddled close to the side wall, choosing the place as far away from me as possible to sleep at. Hmph, so on guard. Even if I was thirsty, would my hands wander like that?
Jinfeng is a kid, in the end, and fell asleep quite quickly. I might be too tired, as I contrarily toss and turn, unable to do the same.
I don’t know how long had pa.s.sed when I, still half-awake and sweating from the heat, vaguely heard Yuan Qingyun draw in a breath and sigh. I immediately watch him like a hawk; his mute point had been undone at some point. Fearing his paralyzation point and other such would also automatically be undone, I think to wake up Jinfeng again. Yuan Qingyun quietly and anxiously calls to me, “Don’t, my good Sir. Just let me be comfy for a bit, alright? My whole body’s numb.”
I smile bitterly. “Now you know it, too? Yet you were so very happy to load me into that cage!”
He exhaled. “From the bottom of my heart, I only wanted to scare you them. It was just a few whips, why do you have so much hate? How about I also let you lash me a few times?”
My smile grows more bitter. “Stop playing coy with me, what good will that do? I don’t feel like spelling that out for you! A warning? Hah, was that really a warning? There’s clearly a gang of you wanting to lure the tiger from the mountain, I’m not an idiot! Fess up on whoever that Lord is right now! Or do you want me to find a suitable spot to perform the same sort of tricks you did to me before?!”
Yuan Qingyun gazes at me with a droopy smile. “There really isn’t a gang, but I know some people. I heard they were wanting to come find you to do business, and I volunteered to lend a hand, is all, because I could also go visit my darling Qinglian.”
I humph. “You genuinely aren’t afraid of death.”
Yuan Qingyun didn’t look the slightest bit caring, only saying some obscenely sickening c.r.a.p like “precious darling, come change my clothes for me, I’m dying here!” A bit after that, he said he had to go to the bathroom.
I can’t stand this pest. Patting Jinfeng until he wakes, I tell him, “Hit his acupoints again, then changes his clothes and take him outside to go!”
Jinfeng roused from the noise and very unhappily glared at me. “Why do I have to?”
“Because I was barely able to prop myself up for the night watch while you slept, so now I’m going to sleep.” I gave a yawn, fell down on the haypile, shut my eyes, ignored those two bozos, and speedily sunk into dreamland.
When I next woke I had already slumbered a whole day, the sky dark again. Jinfeng is also dozing, but the distance is now extremely close, with the stupid kid’s leg pressed up against and hand stuck on me. Thinking it over, I decide to put up with him just this once.
Turning my head to catch sight of Yuan Qingyun’s black and somewhat elegant eyes, I recall waking up to see Jinzi’s own every day, and there’s a deep pain in my chest.