Chapter 414 (1/2)

Chapter 414: Under the Banyan, Beside the Pond

In a little village on the edge of the Great River Kingdom, a middle-aged man sat with a fis.h.i.+ng rod under a banyan tree beside a little pond .

His injured eyes were tightly bandaged up, preventing him from seeing the bubbles that indicated the locations of the fish or any movement on his line . An ordinary man would have become restless and depressed in such a situation, but he looked calm and peaceful as he held the fis.h.i.+ng rod in a firm grip .

The thin bamboo pole slightly drooped and bent into a curve . The fis.h.i.+ng line went taut, and the sudden movement startled a nearby lizard . The sound of a tail swis.h.i.+ng across the lake mud could be heard as it scurried away .

The middle-aged man tightened his right hand as he reeled in his catch . A slender fish was lifted out of the water, desperately struggling to escape back into the safety of the depths . He withdrew the rod and reached out his hand to take the fish off the hook, then threw the fish into the basket beside him . From his agile moves, one could tell this was a regular action for him .

A woman wearing plain clothes walked over to his back and happily praised him when she saw the day's catch in the basket . The woman looked ordinary, just a bit delicate . Her clothes were simple and plain, yet clean . From only her appearance, she seemed just over 20, but the occasional weary and numb look that appeared in her bright eyes added more than ten years to her age .

The woman talked to him for a moment, then supported him as they walked to the back of the big tree .

Behind the banyan tree was a small courtyard, with a tilted fence and a withered thatch roof . It looked like it had seen better years . Yet, the yard and the house looked tidy, exuding the same feeling that the woman gave to others .

”It seems you've really taken a liking to fish . If there's any of today's catch left, I can trade it for some of the distiller's yeast in town . I've heard that it's a good lure for fish . ”

The woman began talking as they reached the house .

The man answered, ”Actually, I'm not really that interested in fis.h.i.+ng . I just use it to calm down when I feel troubled . It's been quite a while since I could last see anything, so I tend to get anxious . ”

”Doctor Song had mentioned that your eyes will have recovered by today if there has been no problem with the treatment . ”

The woman helped him to sit down on a chair and nervously looked at him . She wanted to untie the bandage but refrained from doing so, her fear of the result holding her back .

Though the middle-aged man could not see anything, he seemed to have perceived her anxiety . He smiled and comforted her, ”If my eyes don't heal, I will accept it as my fate . So go ahead!”

The woman's fingers nervously twisted as she scolded him, ”Stop saying such ominous words! You will be all right, your eyes will see the world once again . ”

With her trembling fingers, she began to untie the bandage, starting from the back of his head and carefully pa.s.sing it by his ears . One layer after another, the bandage was slowly unwound .

The sun cast its light into the small yard from above the banyan, lighting up Chao Xiaoshu's face . The part covered by the bandage looked a bit pale, for it had been hidden from the sunlight for a long time .

His eyebrows were tightly knotted, eyes closed . Although he could comfort the woman by saying that it would be his fate, despite his easy-going nature, he still couldn't get rid of his own nervousness .

The woman nervously scanned over his eyes with her head lowered . She cheered him up with her gentle voice, ”It's ok . Open your eyes . Maybe you can see . ”

With a flutter of his eyelashes, the middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes for the first time a long while . In his deep eye sockets, one could see a pair of listless eyes .

The woman was disappointed, her clothes visibly damp from the sweat caused by her great nervousness . She subconsciously loosened her collar as she asked with a bit of expectation, ”Can you see now?”

At that moment, a slight breeze pa.s.sed through the branches of the banyan tree, causing a flutter of glimmering sunlight .

A beam of light rested on his dim eyes, refusing to leave the contours of his iris, and thus his eyes became brighter and brighter . Just like the quivering of the fis.h.i.+ng rod that caused ripples on the water, it all indicated a resurgent life .

The things before his eyes became clearer and clearer .

He saw a delicate-looking woman and her plain clothes in the style of Great River Kingdom . He saw her nervousness and anxiety, as well as the crystal drop of sweat that slid down along her neck to between her plump b.r.e.a.s.t.s .

He peacefully looked at her, saying, ”I can see . ”

The woman was excited . Suddenly she noticed his eyes resting upon her breast, so she turned aside shyly and hurried to tidy her clothes, trying to escape his gaze .

He looked at her with a smile, his eyes filled with grat.i.tude .

If not for her careful treatment, her searching for medicine and doctors, and her endurance under the strange eyes of those villagers, his eyes could never have recovered this quickly .

But he still didn't know who this woman was . This was the first time he actually saw her . From their previous conversations, he only knew she was a widow .

”Thank you for taking care of me . ”

He sincerely said .

The woman tidied her clothes and slowly turned back, softly saying, ”I still don't know your name . ”

He answered, ”I'm Chao Xiaoshu . Chao with the character for dynasty, and Xiaoshu with the characters for small tree . ”

His handsome and mature face left her both flurried and disappointed . She felt that he must be a man with quite a background behind him, and so would probably leave as soon as his eyes had healed .

”This is all the money that's left . ”

She thought of something and quickly fetched out a handful of taels of silver, handing them to over to Chao Xiaoshu .

Thinking it over, Chao Xiaoshu accepted the taels of silver, saying nothing .

The woman felt somewhat happy, seeing that he didn't try to give her the taels of silver as a way to show his grat.i.tude . She asked him to take a good rest, then went to boil water to make their evening meal .

After supper, Chao Xiaoshu carefully took a bath, the first time he took one ever since his eyes were injured . He felt quite refreshed . He then put on the ordinary clothes of a farmer, which had been handed to him by the woman, who seemed very shy at the time .

Walking out into the yard, he observed the flowing clouds in the dark sky, as well as the apparent halo around them . He knew it would take time for his eyes to completely recover, though he could see things fairly clearly now .

Chao Xiaoshu narrowed his eyes at the thought of that sudden sword attack from the sky . Then he shook his head with a smile, lamenting that Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword, was indeed peerless .