Lin Yue remained silent, freeing up one hand to help pick wild fruits. The two of them, with three hands, picked the wild fruits clean, leaving only a few black, thorny branches swaying in the vast world.
Gu Jun lifted the hem of his clothes to gather up the wild fruits. Lin Yue glanced at him and also lifted the hem of his robe to do the same.
Gu Jun led him to his home, and along the way, they filled their stomachs with the wild fruits and used willow branches to rinse their mouths.
Gu Jun’s home was actually just a bridge hole not far from the county town (Zhuyang County Town), where the water under the bridge had dried up. The bridge surface was broken, and whenever it rained, muddy sewage would seep through the cracks into the bridge hole.
It had rained a few days ago, and for several consecutive days, the sky was overcast until today when the sun finally came out. With such a short sunny period, the bottom of the bridge hole naturally couldn’t dry out, remaining damp and exuding an indescribable chill and decay.
On one side of the bridge hole, there were piles of messy weeds, reed stalks, and stones, which had already developed faint mold spots. Upon closer inspection, one could see a dirt-covered, chipped porcelain bowl mixed in, its original color lost.
Lin Yue looked at Gu Jun.
Gu Jun said, “These are Old Huo’s things.”
Old Huo was a beggar, now thirty-two, but due to the ravages of time, he looked like a man in his fifties or sixties. His hair was gray, and his skin was extremely rough. He had a limp, making it difficult for him to walk, but he had a very kind heart.
When Gu Jun arrived in Zhuyang County, it was already late. After wandering around the streets, planning to sleep on the street, Old Huo saw him and brought him to his territory, which was this bridge hole, giving Gu Jun a temporary place to stay.
Gu Jun couldn’t find a job day after day and continued living there, and Old Huo never drove him away. Occasionally, when Old Huo got something from begging, he would share some with him.
Three days ago, the old man said he was going to join a brother and left, giving Gu Jun the right to live in the bridge hole before he left. In these turbulent times, there were many beggars, and places that provided shelter from the wind and rain couldn’t be lived in just because one wanted to; they had to be fought for, and only those who won could claim them as their own.
Old Huo seemed like someone who needed care, but in his youth, he was a thug for a wealthy family, and even now, he fought fiercely. It wasn’t that his skills or body were as strong as they were back then, but he fought recklessly, and no beggar in the county dared to mess with him.
He left without saying a word to anyone, otherwise, Gu Jun wouldn’t have been able to keep this home. Gu Jun calculated the time, and by the time the other beggars realized, he should be able to move out of there, avoiding a life-and-death struggle with them.
Gu Jun glanced at Lin Yue, placed the wild fruits on a slightly cleaner spot, and pointed to the place next to Old Huo’s things, which was the right side of the bridge hole, saying, “This is where I live. Wait here.”
He ran out, found the weeds and reed stalks he had taken out to dry in the morning. After a day of sun, the dampness was completely gone, and they were no longer limp and wet. Although they still had a faint moldy smell, it didn’t matter.
Gu Jun happily gathered them up and brought them back. Originally, he intended to leave these things for the next unfortunate person, but it turned out the next unfortunate person was still him.
The bottom of the bridge hole was too slippery, so Gu Jun laid them outside the bridge hole, neatly, just enough for one person to sleep on. By now, it was getting dark, so there was no need to worry about being seen by children and having stones thrown at him while sleeping outside the bridge hole.
Lin Yue, like a shadow, didn’t follow when he went to gather the “bedding,” standing quietly under the bridge hole, guarding the pile of wild fruits that almost no one wanted, and then continued to follow Gu Jun.
When Gu Jun was making the bed, Lin Yue stood by observing, and after a moment, squatted down to help tidy up. The task was completed.
Gu Jun clapped his hands and informed the other, “This is my bed.”
“What about you?” Lin Yue asked.
Gu Jun shook his head, saying, “I’m not sleepy tonight. Tomorrow night, I’ll use Old Huo’s things.” The stars were dense tonight, so tomorrow should be a sunny day too. He could take Old Huo’s things out to dry, and then he’d have a bed.
Lin Yue’s brow moved slightly, saying, “I’m not sleepy either.” He sat at one end of the grass mat. The contact surface was very rough and a bit prickly.
Lin Yue didn’t know what kind of life he had lived before, but he subconsciously felt that he hadn’t encountered such things before.
Lin Yue felt a bit irritable. The wild fruit in his mouth was sour and astringent.
“Comfortable, right?” Gu Jun leaned in to ask.
Lin Yue met a pair of extremely clear eyes, and he forcibly suppressed his displeasure, nodding lightly.
Gu Jun showed a bright smile.
Lin Yue said, “Let’s sit together. I have something to ask you.”
Gu Jun’s smile faded a bit. He roughly guessed what Lin Yue wanted to ask—nothing more than bringing up old matters.
Taking advantage of the moment he went to grab a clean wild fruit as a snack, he carefully reviewed the countless reasons he had come up with during his idle time, making sure they were flawless, and then he returned.
He sat cautiously on the grass mat, biting into the wild fruit, and said, “Ask away.” Since the other didn’t like eating wild fruits, he didn’t offer any.
Lin Yue suddenly asked, “Why do you speak so haltingly?”
After asking this, he didn’t say anything else, just stared straight at Gu Jun.
Most of the people in the Xuan Dynasty had brown irises, ranging from yellow-brown to dark brown, and without looking closely, everyone’s eyes appeared black, including Gu Jun, the outsider.
But Lin Yue’s irises were black, and whether viewed closely or from a distance, his pupils couldn’t be seen, making his eyes unlike anyone else’s—without a hint of luster, purely hollow.
Under the gray sky, staring straight at someone, it was particularly terrifying.
Gu Jun was thoroughly frightened, and this reminded him of Sadako. After calming down a bit, he pretended his mouth was busy, thinking about how to explain this matter.
Gu Jun had overlooked this issue.
He swallowed the wild fruit and said, “You forgot this too? I couldn’t speak before. You took me to see a witch doctor, and that’s how I learned to speak again. But as I got older, learning to speak wasn’t as fast as a child. Give me some more time, and I’ll definitely be fluent.”
Lin Yue scrutinized him up and down.
Gu Jun suddenly widened his eyes, “Are you looking down on me?”
Lin Yue stopped staring at him, his tone softening, “No.” Then he changed the subject, “Why did we elope?”
After circling around for a while, they returned to the beginning, confirming Gu Jun’s guess, bringing up old matters.
Gu Jun carefully chose words he could say, slowly answering, “Our families are old enemies. In the early years, our families often fought, secretly sabotaged each other, and spoke ill of each other. These were very common things.
“After we developed feelings for each other, the elders didn’t agree and arranged marriages for us. We had no choice but to elope.”
Even though Gu Jun was already choosing words he could say to explain the facts, some words were still not pronounced accurately, sounding odd. Coupled with his lack of fluency, it was difficult for people to understand.
Lin Yue listened intently, took a moment to process, and then pieced together the facts.
Lin Yue asked, “Why did our families become enemies?”
Gu Jun shook his head, saying, “I don’t know. The elders never mentioned it.”
Lin Yue: “When did we elope?”
“At the beginning of this year. When the elders discovered we had eloped, they sent people to catch us, and we got separated. I didn’t know where you would go, so I followed the official road to the city we agreed to live in.
“On the way, my valuables were stolen. I was afraid they would harm me, so I didn’t dare to fight back. I ran away while they were dividing the loot. Fortunately, you suggested I wear men’s clothing before we left, otherwise, escaping would have been a problem. If I were more unfortunate, perhaps…”
Gu Jun stopped the topic at the right moment and continued with his later experiences.
“After I escaped, I had no money, so I pawned my clothes, exchanged them for a set of poorer clothes, and got some dry food. When I got here, I had nothing left, but I didn’t want to give up. Since you didn’t abandon me, I certainly wouldn’t abandon you.
“I went out today, intending to see if I could catch some fish to fill my stomach. I saw someone floating on the river, and when I got closer, it turned out to be you!”
When Gu Jun said this, he tried hard to squeeze out two tears, but his tears had already dried up earlier, and he couldn’t squeeze any out. So he put on a sorrowful expression, like someone about to become a widow, and pretended to sob.
“Thank heavens you’re okay, otherwise I would have followed you!”