Chapter 10 Part2 (1/2)
Here is it, the last chapter on ”The Man from Wild South”! It is a very long half-chapter and I have edited away many details so that it is less draggy. Compared to other stories especially super-sweet ones like ”Rice Pot”, this is really an average story so I am glad you have stuck it through to the end. Without further ado, here it goes…
Chapter 10 (Part 2)
A few days later, Shang Guan Jing walks down a familiar path leading to a bamboo gate. As she pa.s.ses the gate and crosses the herb and vegetable garden, Yan Ying appears behind her. ”Young Mistress, you are finally back.”
He is as monotonous and expressionless as ever, but somehow, Shang Guan Jin senses that he is smiling and happy to see her. ”Yan Ying, are you smiling?”
He replied in an equally flat-tone. ”Yes, I am.”
”Um, that's good to know.”
”Good is the right word, Young Mistress. If you continue to stay away, there will come the day when Young Master finally sorted out his thoughts. And when that happens, he will use whatever…. methods to get you back, even if he has to drag, drug, and kidnap you home.”
Shang Guan Jing is very sure that there is an ”underhand” somewhere in his sentence and takes a deep breath. ”How is he?”
”He is not well. Young Mistress will need to be careful when dealing with him.”
He disappears into the shadows before she can ask more, just as Zhu Yu appears from around a corner. ”Young Mistress, is that you?”
Seeing that it is indeed Shang Guan Jing, the maid runs up to her and jogs her arm excitedly. ””Young Mistress, oh Young Mistress! Why did you leave us for so long?” She starts sobbing. ”Young Master has been in a foul mood for ages and he is so scary! He seldom talks and keeps making thunder roll all the time! Young Mistress, can you please stop ignoring him? If you do, we will all suffer.”
As she sobs in earnest, Young Mistress hugs her small frame and pats her back. ”Zhu You, I have travelled a long way and am dusty and dirty. Can you prepare a bath for me?”
In a flash, Zhu Yu's lights up, all tears gone. ”Leave it to me!”
******
While she is bathing, Zhu Yu chatters none stop. She tells Shang Guan that all servants in the house are conjured from paper but only Niu Da and herself resembles real people because Feng Jin has dripped 3 drops of his blood on their paper when he was conjuring them. As she helps Shang Guan Jing puts on a fresh set of clothing, Zhu Yu hems and haws until she gathers sufficient courage. ”Young Mistress, I think Young Master is serious about you. Although he can be an a.s.shole, i think he likes you a lot. Can you find it in your heart to forgive him?”
The expletive is nearly inaudible but Zhu Yu looks around furtively nonetheless, least she is overheard. Shang Guan Jing has her doubts but she says nothing as she fastens her robes and walks soundlessly towards the bedroom. There used to be a beautiful curtain of wooden beads hanging over the door but she remembered the day it was destroyed. Although the curtain is gone, Shang Guan Jing can almost hear the soothing sound of beads rising and falling as she walks pa.s.s the door. As she steps into the room, a hoa.r.s.e voice calls out from behind the bed curtains. ”Who is it?”
Feng Jin has never been this sick his whole life. Not only is his body in constant pain, he has been plagued by loneliness which is new to him. Though he has been living in isolation for a long time, he has never really felt lonely till now. And when he does manage to sleep, there is little respite to be found in the darkness as he often dreams of a woman who is forever just beyond his touch, no matter how hard he runs after her.
He may not have blacked out since the day at Yu Ling peak but his physical condition has not improved much. At this rate, even he has to question if he will recover. And now, he has to deal with whoever-is-the-person who has managed to sneak past Yan Ying and get into his room. ”Who is it?!”
His eyes are cold with warning but when the bed curtains parted, he is unprepared to see a beautiful woman illuminated by the moonlight. She is wearing a loose robe for sleeping and she looks fresh from bath, with her hair slightly damp at the tendrils. ”You…you…you…”
”I am back.” she says simply and sits down beside him.
She is unprepared to see how haggard and sick he looks. The fiery patches on his face stand in stark contrast against his pale skin and his eyes are sunken. His breathing came in short, shallow spurts as if the simple act of breathing is an arduous task, she reaches out to take his pulse. True enough, his qi is in a mess and there seems to be several ailments with his body. When he has gotten over his shock, he pulls out his hand out from under hers.
”I remember someone saying that Nan Man is far, far away and that she is not coming back. Since that is the case, why have you returned?”
”I have no choice actually.”
Her bland tone and distance manner triggers his alarm bells. He fears the reason she has appeared and bites out forcefully. ”If you are hoping for me to give you a divorce letter, I have 2 words for you. No. Way!”
”Why not?” She takes off her shoes calmly and places them neatly on the floor. She swings her legs onto the bed and lowers the bed curtains.
”What do…do you mean…mean… by ‘why not?'” Feng Jin stares at her fair toes peeking out from the blanket and glowers at them.
”I am so mad at you, do you know that?”
Tonight may not have a full moon but Feng Jin can feel the blood pooling at the base of his throat and a familiar pressure building up behind his eyes, ears and nose. He knows he is not far from bleeding again turns his face away to hide his condition. However, he has barely moved a muscle when a shadow falls over his face and he is pinned to the bed. Her face looms up in close when he breathes in the same air that she exhales, he lost whatever is remaining of his strength. What is she doing?!
”I hate you. Hate you. Really, really hate you.”
Feng Jin can feel the blood roaring behind his ears but he stares transfixed at her bright eyes, just a hand's distance away. He feels a drop of fluid on his face, followed by another drop, then another and realizes belatedly that she is crying.
”Jing….” He wants to say something to comfort her but she shuts him up by kissing him. It is a forceful kiss with no room for negotiations and he has no clue what her action means. But no matter what, her much-awaited scent calls to him like a siren that it wasn't long before he is kissing her back in earnest.
Unfortunately, if he thinks he can have any form of control tonight, he is in for disappointment. He is physically weak to begin with and she has too much pent-up frustrations. Shang Guan Jing has no intention of making things easy for him and runs her hands over him unceremoniously. When he tries to move, she would quickly suppress him and when it happens a few times, he slowly realize what she wants and stills.
”You are definitely the person I hated most in my life.” She is still crying but it does not stop her from grinding her lips against his in a bruising manner. Thinking of the lies that has spring from these lips, she bites at them. Hard. Her nose trails down his neck and when she reaches its base, she buries her head in the nock and bites on his shoulder too for good measure.
His lips singe, his shoulder stings and pretty soon, he is tingling all over as an angry woman nips at whichever part of his antimony she fancies. He did not move a muscle as he is stripped bare and unleashes her anger on him. Does he hurt? Yes. Is he protesting? h.e.l.l no. He is only relieved that she has finally found an outlet for her anger and even if she wants his life at this instant, he would not have hesitated giving it to her. His only insistence is that she does not leave him but beyond that, she can do anything she wants.
After a long time, Shang Guan Jing looks at the slightly bloodied body beneath hers and feels a fresh wave of anger. This man is poison and unfortunately for her, she has drunk this poison before knowing that there is no cure. She is still angry and wonders if she crying harder will make her feel better, but she doubts it. Staring at him, she try for some answers. ”When you married me, do you truly mean for me to be your wife?”
”What about you? Who do you truly care for in your heart? Your teacher? s.h.i.+ Jie, s.h.i.+ Mei, or your dratted Er s.h.i.+ Ge?”
His petulant tone makes her smile a little. ”Feng Jin, I like you and married you in good faith. But I really, really feel like throttling you right now. No one else has made me care so much for him until I cannot leave his side. When I was with Er s.h.i.+ Ge, life was sweet and safe. When he broke off with me, I was in agony because I do not like him just as a man; he was also my brother and family. But when he betrayed our sect and Teacher, he has crossed the line and I can never, ever forgive him for what he did. I promised myself that I will never care for him again and I have fulfilled that promise to myself.”
”But you are different. You have deceived me, kept things from me and played me like a fool. How can you do this to me when I like you enough to have married you? Why did you toy with my feelings? If you are only pulling a prank, why did you not stop before we marry and bond us for life?”
Feng Jin listens intently as Shang Guan Jing continues. ”And do you know what? My intentions are still true. I can be your 'medicine' - that is one reason that you hit on me, right? To heal you? And looking at your current state, I think you are seriously in need of medicine.”
She did not wait for him to respond before she starts eating him although it is supposed to be the other way around. Feng Jin wants to tell her that he is alright but it is difficult to think, much less talk, when he is restrained and her sweet movement is stirring up an inferno in his blood.
So from feeble struggle, to pa.s.sive submission and total surrender, Feng Jin was force-fed his medicine as he is scratched, bruised and bitten all over. So long as she is with him; so long as she is no longer angry with him, he does not mind being her 'medicine' too
******
When Feng Jin wakes up, it is already evening time the next day.
For the first time in weeks, he can breathe normally, which means that yesterday is not a figment of his imagination. Shang Guan Jing has indeed returned and she is still his most-effective medicine.
But she is not in the room and the bedding besides him is neatly folded away, as if no one has slept on them. Has he only dream of her afterall? He checks his hands and when he sees that his skin is unmarked, he knows for sure that he has indeed taken his 'medicine' last night. But where is she? He dons on some cloths hastily and dashes out of the room.
None of his servants can tell him where she is, until he sees Zhu Yu, who tells him that Shang Guan Jing has left for the village since morning. She mentioned that she has been away for too long and needs to check the progress of her students.
Her answer does not make Feng Jin any less anxious and he has a bad feeling that his happiness is slipping away. He needs to holds on to her tightly and he was about to make his way to the village when Yan Ying appears and informs him that Shang Guan Jing has left the village and is now near the swamp in the forest. Feng Jin changes direction and is gone before Yan Ying can complete his sentence.
******
The moment he stops into the forest, he stretches out his hands and senses. All is tranquil and he can sense no disturbance. He hurries towards the direction of the swamp but when he finally sees Shang Guan Jing, his eyes turns cold. Shang Guan Jing is squatting on the ground and a muddy, dirty creature is clinging to her hand. At the sound of his footsteps, she looks up and he can see the tears in her eyes.
Feng Jin realizes that he is more than happy if she is crying over him, but if she is crying over someone else, his mood will sour very quickly. Like now. ”You. Come over.”
Shang Guan Jing ignores him and tries to dab away her tears. ”I came here to look at the place where the fight took place but I have not expected to find her. Feng Jin, my eyes are not playing tricks on me is it? I found my s.h.i.+ Jie, she is still alive.” She looks at the messy, dirty woman clinging on to her and tries to smile, although it does not make her look any happier. ”But Feng Jin, she seems to have lost her memory. She doesn't recognize me and when I took her pulse, I realize that she has lost her martial arts. The only saving grace is that she still remembers one person….”
Li Yun Yi looks up at her hopefully through her dirt-streak face. ”Have you seen Bo Lan Zhou? He said that he will marry me and make me his bride. Can you bring me to him?”
Feng Jin can feel his blood starting to boil and he has to step on it least his internal organs get fried. He marches up to his wife and grabs her hand. ”Get up!”
For a moment, Li Yun Yi thought that Bo Lan Zhou has appeared and jumps to her feet. But when she sees a stranger with thunderous expressions, she quivers. ”No, you are not Bo Lan Zhou. You are not the person I am looking for.” She grabs Shang Guan Jing's other hand tightly. ”Can you bring me to look for Bo Lan Zhou?”