FMT 14

Chapter 14 Care

In the early morning, sparrows outside the window chirped noisily, making it hard to sleep in peace.

Liandan rubbed his cheek against the coarse sheet, let out a long even breath, and slowly opened his eyes.

He stared blankly at the bed canopy, still in the aftertaste of sleep.

Only after a short while did his eyeballs tremble a few times, and he gradually became clear-headed.

Then Liandan suddenly sat up, looking down at himself by instinct.

His clothes and trousers were neatly on, and the black memorial tablet was still held in his arms.

He turned to his side. Chubby Xiaodan lay sprawled in all directions, his face rosy, sound asleep.

Liandan sat dazed for a moment. He kept feeling as though he had dreamed something, or that there was something else, but he could not recall it no matter how hard he tried.

He raised his hand to scratch his head, thought for a while, and when nothing came, he stopped thinking about it.

When he got off the bed, shuffling in his shoes, Liandan suddenly felt his waist aching. His whole body felt off in a way he could not name. But once he pulled the shoe heels on and walked back and forth to test, that feeling vanished, and everything was normal again.

On the bed, the chubby baby started turning over. He was about to wake. Liandan dared not delay, and hurried out to milk the goat.

When he had milked and steamed it in the pot, Liandan returned to see Xiaodan still asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did he notice that, inside and outside the house, Chen Shuangning was nowhere to be seen.

….

On the mountain path leading to Lingyun Temple, a young man in a green-plum robe was walking slowly.

Though the road was rugged and uneven, his steps were not fast, yet his posture was at ease, as if he was walking on level ground.

Morning dew still glittered on the grass. Birds flew past among the treetops.

The man stopped, lifted his head to glance at the sun. As he lowered it, his toes lightly touched down, and after a few agile leaps, his figure disappeared at the end of the path.

….

In a meditation room in the rear courtyard of Lingyun Temple, a man of about twenty in a black robe stood respectfully with fists joined, bowing deeply. “This subordinate failed in my duty. I beg Sect Leader to punish me.”

The corner of a green-plum robe swayed slightly. Its wearer sat down on the upper seat’s backed chair. His hoarse, strange voice was low and heavy, pronouncing each word as he called the other’s name. “Liu Shuqi.”

Liu Shuqi’s shoulders shook. His waist bent even lower.

“You are too arrogant. Sooner or later, it will cost you your life,” the seated man said slowly.

Liu Shuqi quickly raised his head for a glance, then bowed deeply again. “Sect Leader’s teaching is right.”

“Which direction did he go?” After a pause, the hoarse voice spoke again.

Hearing this, Liu Shuqi secretly breathed in relief, knowing the Sect Leader had no plan to punish him. He dared straighten his body, showing a refined and handsome face. “I tracked him west. He was highly alert. I did not dare follow too closely, and lost him several times.”

“Before I received your order, I had lost him again. But I guessed he was heading to seek refuge with the Yin family in the northwest. He had ties with them, and perhaps they would shelter him.”

“So I hurried ahead to wait near the Yin family. I waited three full days, but he never came. Later, after receiving your command, I rushed back.”

The hoarse voice said slowly, “He knew you would wait at the Yin family. Midway he changed course and joined Yuanjing.”

Liu Shuqi’s face showed shock. “Monk Yuanjing? Wasn’t he already killed by you?”

The man in the green-plum robe rose from his chair. On his expressionless face, his eyes were cold and black to a terrifying degree. If Liandan were present, he would have recognized him as Chen Shuangning.

Chen Shuangning slowly opened his mouth. “He did not die. That day I killed only his substitute.”

“He knew I was coming. Two days earlier he had already fled from Lingyun Temple.”

At these words, Liu Shuqi’s eyes widened.

“Has He Yi been brought back?”

Liu Shuqi pulled back his thoughts, his face filling with hatred. He gritted his teeth. “That traitor secretly sent warnings. After the plan was exposed, he tried several times to run. I saw through them each time. I have already brought him back.”

Chen Shuangning did not reply. He only gave him a look. Liu Shuqi understood and lifted his hand toward the doorway.

In an instant, the door swung open. A man of about thirty, bound tightly and gagged with a rag, was dragged in by two bald-headed men and thrown kneeling to the floor.

These two escorts were, Monk Yuanjing and one of his little monks. But their expressions and bearing were different from before. Their eyes were full of respect, not daring to disobey.

He Yi raised his head, muffled pleas coming out, tears streaming from his eyes.

Chen Shuangning walked up to him, lowered his eyelids, and watched for a while.

Without warning, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the top of He Yi’s head. Sickening, muffled cracks of bones breaking sounded, making one’s teeth ache.

He Yi’s bound body thrashed violently. His screams were trapped in his throat. Sticky blood streamed down his face. In a moment, his body slumped to the side, collapsing lifeless to the ground.

In the room, Yuanjing and the little monk showed terror. Even Liu Shuqi could not help but furrow his brows.

Chen Shuangning withdrew his hand. Liu Shuqi hurried to take out a handkerchief and offered it with both hands.

As Chen Shuangning slowly wiped his fingers, he spoke in an even voice. “Go, all of you.”

The door opened. The corpse was dragged away. Soon, someone came running to clean up the blood on the floor.

Chen Shuangning walked out slowly into the courtyard and stood beneath the towering ancient pine.

After standing still with his back to the door, he lifted his head and looked at the thick crown of the tree for a while.

After that, he raised his long pale hand and touched his own face.

Feeling along his cheek a few times, he pulled a mask thin as a cicada’s wing off his face and tossed it to the ground.

“Ha…” Chen Shuangning leaned his head back and took a deep breath.

Behind him, Liu Shuqi stood not far away, staring fixedly at his back, at the hem of the green-plum robe stirred by the wind, at the strands of hair by his temples brushed by the breeze.

After a long time, his eyes showed a trace of sorrow, but it vanished in an instant.

He bent to salute, then left the courtyard without a sound.

A moment later, a beautiful girl came out from a doorway, stood behind him, and bowed.

She then held up a pill on a brocade handkerchief with both hands. “Sect Leader, this is a new medicine I have recently made.”

Chen Shuangning turned his head slightly. “What is it for?”

Xueming bit her lip. “To restrain.”

She did not need to explain further. The man with his back to her already understood.

Chen Shuangning laughed, it was a strange hoarse laugh. “To restrain my urge to kill and destroy?”

Xueming’s face turned pale. She dared not answer.

Chen Shuangning gave a cold snort. Xueming only felt a blur before her eyes, the pill gone from her palm, and the figure before her vanished.

….

For some reason, Liandan felt especially drowsy that day. Normally, after finishing the morning chores, he would play with Xiaodan for a while, then go cut grass, clean the yard, tidy the back garden, and pick vegetables for lunch.

But that day, while playing with the child on the bed, he unknowingly fell asleep without having done any work.

He did not know how long had passed when he suddenly blinked awake.

He looked instinctively to his side, and his heart skipped a beat. The place where Xiaodan had been lying, arms and legs flailing happily, was now empty.

Liandan was startled. He propped himself up, turned his head, and saw the young man by the bed holding Xiaodan. The chubby baby had already fallen asleep on the man’s shoulder.

Chen Shuangning glanced at Liandan, then gently put Xiaodan back beside him. Standing upright, he said faintly, “You are ill. Lie down and rest.”

Liandan raised his head in surprise, eyes wide. “I… I need to cook. It is already noon.”

Chen Shuangning was silent for a while. His thin lips moved. “I will cook.”

….

Lunch was something between noodle pieces and noodles, cooked until it was so mushy it clumped into a lump.

After one bite, Liandan paused in his movement.

Chen Shuangning had been watching him. “Is it not good?” he asked.

Liandan shook his head, smiled a little. “It is good.”

After that, he ate silently.

When he had finished a full bowl, and Chen Shuangning went out to clear the dishes, Liandan quickly poured himself a full bowl of water and gulped it down.

Even so, his mouth still felt salty and bitter. That taste lingered for a long time.

It really was not that it was not good. It was simply too hard to eat.

Perhaps because of that bowl of mushy noodles, the question Liandan had been turning over in his mind for a long time finally came out with some courage.

When Chen Shuangning had finished clearing the bowls and was seated by the window reading, Liandan bit his lip, set down the fan he had been using to fan the child, and slipped off the bed in his shoes.

The young man by the window heard the sound and lifted his head, looking this way.

Liandan stood in front of him. “Is it really fine for you not to eat?”

Chen Shuangning shook his head. “It is fine.”

Liandan asked again, “You also do not need to sleep?”

Chen Shuangning nodded.

Liandan’s thin hands clutched at his own clothes, worried. “I hear you cough often. Are you ill?”

Chen Shuangning shook his head. “No.”

Liandan let out an “Oh,” lowering his head uneasily. After a moment, he hesitated and asked softly, “Are you… really Chen Hanwen?”

Chen Shuangning fixed him with those cold black eyes and slowly said, “You do not believe me.”

“No…,” Liandan’s voice was weak, his expression awkward and uneasy. “That is not what I mean…”

Pale long fingers pulled aside his collar, revealing the skin beneath. Below Chen Shuangning’s collarbone was a scar from a bite.

Liandan stared at it for a while, then quickly looked away, lowering his head. Red spread quickly across his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

That was the night in the temple, when the pain was too much and he had bitten him with all his strength. He had not thought that even after so long, the scar would remain so deep.

Chen Shuangning pulled the collar back and looked at him. “Lie down again. I will cook dinner.”

….

Before bed that night, Chen Shuangning brought Liandan a bowl of medicine.

Liandan looked at him in confusion. The other said, “It nourishes the body. Drink it. It will help you.”

So Liandan obediently raised his head and drank it all.

That night he slept peacefully.

….

The next morning at Lingyun Temple, before Chen Shuangning left, Xueming hesitantly handed him a package wrapped in paper. “These are the ingredients for contraceptive medicine.”

Chen Shuangning turned his back, showing no sign of taking it, and stepped to leave.

Xueming called out urgently, “If he conceives again, he will not be able to endure it.”

The young man’s steps suddenly stopped.

As she watched the package taken from her hand, Xueming let out a breath of relief, though her face still showed hesitation.

Chen Shuangning’s expression did not change. “Is there something else?”

Xueming bit her teeth. “The ger’s body is unusual,” she muttered, “afterward, he must be carefully cared for…”

Chen Shuangning gave her a glance, neither agreeing nor denying. In the next instant, his figure vanished from the spot.