Vol 9 Chapter 130 (2/2)

“Yuan Zhi… Why so suddenly… What’s going on…” I asked as I patted her shoulders which seemed to be trembling harder than before. When I looked around, I saw that the surrounding pa.s.sers-by were all looking over with suspicion. They are probably wondering what this weirdo wearing a strange hat is doing to a girl at a stall to make her cry.

“I can’t, I really can’t do anything. I shouldn’t have done anything.” Yuan Zhi continued in a tearful voice. In an instant, I realised that Yuan Zhi was only human even if she was a martial hero. Despite her cold and dazed countenance, it does not mean that she does not have any worries or that she does not feel fear.

“Yuan Zhi, it’s fine, it’s fine…” I consoled her with as kind a voice as I could muster and ignored the surrounding pa.s.sers-by as I patted her back with 1 hand and brought the bowl of sugar water to her with another, “It’s fine, it’s fine, here, have something to drink.”

“… Un un.” Yuan Zhi continued to sniffle but she nodded and looked up as she took the bowl and took a small sip.

I did not dare to interrupt her and merely sat there wordlessly as I watched iver her. Because she was crying, her cheeks were red and so were her eyes. There were also tear streaks down her cheeks and she was still sniffling now and then. I felt my sleeve pocket and thanked Gong You and the rest for drilling into me the habit of bringing along a handkerchief when I found my white handkerchief which I hurriedly pulled out and pa.s.sed to Yuan Zhi.

“… Thanks…” Yuan Zhi managed to thank me somehow and took my handkerchief with 1 hand while holding her red bandana with the other as she wiped her face, taking in deep breaths to calm herself down as she did so.

After that, I continued to remain silent. After about 2-3 minutes, Yuan Zhi’s breathing returned to normal and she seemed like she had calmed down.

“Are you feeling any better…”

Yuan Zhi nodded, “I’m sorry for acting up like that.” She said as she wiped her eyes with my handkerchief, “But the pressure on me in this period has been too much. I was just an ordinary villager living in the mountains before this and have never led troops nor have I been an official.”

She said all of this very calmly and smoothly without stammering, which meant that this was true. At the same time, I could feel like she was smiling bitterly inside as she said so.

“No… Everyone is the same, including me.”

I do not know if this is consolation enough but this is how I truly felt. And that is the truth, in fact, my circ.u.mstances were even worse than Yuan Zhi as I came from the future with insufficient knowledge of the past and I did not have anything useful with me either. I cannot quite say if I have adapted well enough but at least I am hanging on.

But after I finished, Yuan Zhi still did not react and continued to stare at the red bandana in her hands with her head lowered. After a few moments, she shook her head so lightly I almost did not notice it.

“No, not at all.” She said in a tone that made me realise that she was a lot more downcast than I imagined.

How could it be different? Or so I wanted to ask but felt that it would be inappropriate and decided to wait silently for her to continue.

After a few moments, Yuan Zhi continued to stare at the red bandana as she spoke up softly with a slightly nasal voice, “Xuan De, since you helped me to keep my bandana, you should have noticed something about it right?”

“Ah…” I did not expect that she would start to talk about this. I would not have noticed anything untoward about the bandana if I had not come out to look for Yuan Zhi. But since she found out, there is no need to hide it, “Un. The bandana is red because of… Blood right?”

“Yes.” Yuan Zhi answered softly, “This bandana is made from a torn piece of cloth from a thug I killed about 1-2 years back.”

When she finished, Yuan Hi took out a small knife and cut the st.i.tchings, letting the bandana completely unravel. A bloodstained cloth appeared before me as it did so and I saw that it had been soaked with much blood which was not cleaned and some parts had become a pinkish red.

“Yuan Zhi has killed before?”

“Yes, I have.” Yuan Zhi said as she placed the cloth on the table and folded it until it returned to the form it was before and made to put it on but then put it back down on the table after a moment’s pause.

<script>