The posture was ambiguous, the voice soft, and the words vicious…
He Zhuoming walked back and forth until she found a corpse that didn’t look too tall, wanting to lift it up—but when it came time to act, she circled around the corpse and felt quite troubled.
If she held the corpse by the armpits, its severed neck would press against her chest… No, no! Even though the corpse hadn’t rotted, a severed neck was way too terrifying; she would be scared to death!
However, if she dragged it by the feet, because the ground was uneven and there were too many obstacles, the corpse wouldn’t make it out.
She felt caught in a dilemma. Hesitating for a moment and wanting some reference, she turned her head to look at Lin Qingyun: only to see Lin Qingyun squatting on the ground, piecing a corpse’s head back on.
After finishing the one in his hands, Lin Qingyun picked up the corpse as easily as if it were a piece of paper and tossed it into the open space outside the dilapidated temple. When throwing the corpse, he stood right where he was without moving his feet at all, yet the tossed corpse landed completely intact, with the reattached head securely resting on its neck.
He Zhuoming feigned tugging at the corpse’s ankle to show she was working, while her mind wandered: *I wonder how he managed to put that severed head back on… To think he could cut off so many people’s heads in one breath…*
She hadn’t seen with her own eyes how Lin Qingyun had chopped off the heads—when the groom went on a killing spree, the bride had been busy crawling around the ground trying to escape; where would she have found the time to look up?
Suddenly, Lin Qingyun called out to her: “Xiao He, pick up the head on your left and bring it to me.”
He Zhuoming gave an acknowledgment, held her breath, and picked up the head he had named for him.
Lin Qingyun took the head and decisively attached it to the headless corpse in front of him.
He Zhuoming was deeply suspicious: “Is this his head?”
Lin Qingyun snapped his fingers in front of the corpse’s unclosed eyes: “Hello, is this your head?”
Naturally, the corpse did not speak.
Lin Qingyun raised his face and smiled sweetly at He Zhuoming, saying, “He didn’t say it isn’t, so it is.”
He Zhuoming: “…”
She suspected Lin Qingyun was randomly mixing and matching heads for the corpses, but she had no evidence because none of the parties involved raised any objections.
The transport work, which had originally seemed completely clueless, suddenly seemed to have a division of labor—Lin Qingyun began constantly directing He Zhuoming to help him pick up the scattered heads while he took care of hauling all the corpses outside.
At first, He Zhuoming found it disgusting and would only touch those heads by wrapping her sleeves around her hands. Later, after picking up so many, she developed a sense of numbness toward all kinds of human heads and was no longer as scared as she had been at the beginning.
When all the corpses in the dilapidated temple had been moved, He Zhuoming lowered her head and wiped her hands on the hem of her clothes—having touched too many heads just moments ago, her hands were covered in bloodstains.
Seeing this, Lin Qingyun also walked over, pulled a section of her clothing hem, and used it to wipe his own hands.
The advantage of wearing red clothes truly manifested at this moment; using them to wipe away bloodstains didn’t make them look dirty.
He Zhuoming looked at the hem of her clothes tightly gripped by Lin Qingyun for wiping, pondered for a moment, let go of her own garment, pulled a corner of his robe instead, and wrapped it around her fingers to wipe them carefully.
The colors and styles of their garments were identical, so Lin Qingyun’s clothes naturally didn’t show dirt after wiping away bloodstains either.
This was the first time Lin Qingyun had ever had someone pull his robe hem to wipe their hands, and it felt rather novel. As she wiped her hands, he stared unblinkingly at her face—Xiao He clearly hadn’t done any heavy work and had merely picked up a few heads, yet her forehead and neck were already covered in beads of sweat, and her heartbeat had become so fast and urgent that it felt almost like she was about to drop dead.
How weak.
If she were left to wander outside alone, she would die very soon. If not eaten by monsters, she would definitely be ‘eaten’ by people.
Lin Qingyun expressed sincere emotion: “Xiao He, how did you grow up to be this big?”
He Zhuoming was completely baffled by the question, but she still obediently answered: “My mom and dad raised me.”
Lin Qingyun froze, and then a sense of incredulity washed over him—Xiao He was both weak and prone to crying, and apart from looking somewhat cute, she could practically be described as entirely useless. Why would any parents be willing to raise a useless burden?
Lin Qingyun couldn’t help asking: “Who are Xiao He’s mom and dad?”
He Zhuoming: “Mom and dad are just mom and dad…”
Lin Qingyun: “Then how did mom and dad raise Xiao He?”
He Zhuoming: “Mom and dad worked hard to earn money and raised me—thanks for the clothes, oh!”
Seeing that all ten of her fingers were now squeaky clean, He Zhuoming let go of Lin Qingyun’s robe hem and casually yanked her own garment hem back from his palm.
Since she wasn’t using Lin Qingyun’s clothes to wipe her hands anymore, Lin Qingyun naturally couldn’t continue using her clothes to wipe his either.
Having moved so many heads, He Zhuoming was truly exhausted. She walked over to the shrine platform and sat down to rest—Lin Qingyun turned his head, his gaze following He Zhuoming’s movement. He seemed to have suddenly grown interested in He Zhuoming’s parents and pursued the question: “Why did Xiao He’s mom and dad want to raise Xiao He?”
He Zhuoming felt this question was extremely bizarre and said, “Because I am mom and dad’s child.”
Lin Qingyun: “Just like that?”
He Zhuoming nodded: “Just like that.”
Lin Qingyun tilted his head, the smile vanishing from his face, leaving behind only incomprehensible confusion, “I still don’t understand… why?”
He Zhuoming answered as a matter of course: “Because mom and dad love me very much, so they raised me.”
Lin Qingyun stared intently at He Zhuoming’s face, staring straight into He Zhuoming’s eyes—he pried into her emotions from the girl’s demeanor, wanting to see even a tiny shred of—
Self-deceiving numbness, indoctrinated fear, calculations mingling genuine and false feelings within an unequal status…
Anything at all, there ought to be at least something—aren’t the emotions between parents and children supposed to be just like these?
He even went so far as to eavesdrop on the young girl’s inner thoughts, considering whether he might have misjudged her and that she wasn’t as simple and naive as she appeared, but rather a master of pretense.
He was adept at seeing through others. Most of the time, to see through what someone was thinking, he didn’t even need to listen to their inner thoughts. Because everyone who came before him had requests of him, and desire was the hardest thing in the world to hide.
He had never failed in this regard.
Yet He Zhuoming was consistent both inside and out.
What she said was precisely the literal meaning, without any concealment, distortion, or self-deception.
…How could she be so candid?
Lin Qingyun gazed at her for a long while, while He Zhuoming remained entirely oblivious to his intense gaze, busy pounding her legs and massaging her sore shoulders and neck.
Lin Qingyun asked gloomily: “So a child who isn’t raised is a child unloved by their parents?”
He Zhuoming thought about it and said, “A child they are willing to raise isn’t necessarily a parent’s beloved child, but a child they are unwilling to raise is definitely unloved.”
Lin Qingyun abruptly took a few steps forward, crossed the mottled dark red floor tiles, and walked right up in front of He Zhuoming—the sunlight inside the dilapidated temple wasn’t strong to begin with, and as he stood still in front of He Zhuoming, he blocked all the sunlight that could reach her, his shadow enveloping her entirely.
He Zhuoming blankly raised her face to look at him, seeing him slightly bend over and prop one hand on the shrine platform where she sat.
The distance between them closed instantly, and He Zhuoming belatedly noticed with excessive dullness that Lin Qingyun’s expression was unlike usual—he wasn’t smiling, his beautifully curved lips hung straight down at the corners, the pearlescence of his long single earring swayed against his cheek, and those excessively long eyelashes made his eyes look somewhat…
Cold.
Before Lin Qingyun drew close, He Zhuoming had still felt the inside of the dilapidated temple was extremely muggy and reeked of a fishy, rotting blood odor.
Yet when the shadow cast by Lin Qingyun covered her, He Zhuoming unexpectedly felt a subtle chill, along with a fragrance of flowers.
They were already extremely close, close enough that He Zhuoming’s bent knees brushed against Lin Qingyun’s thighs, close enough that He Zhuoming could feel that cool, refreshing scent of begonia blossoms washing gently against her cheeks.
However, Lin Qingyun was still shortening that pitifully small distance—the arm he propped beside He Zhuoming slowly bent, and his face drew closer and closer to He Zhuoming’s.
He Zhuoming unconsciously leaned back a little distance, propping both of her arms on the shrine platform as well.
She didn’t understand why Lin Qingyun was leaning in so close, but she could feel her heart beating wildly—even much faster than when she had been working earlier—and He Zhuoming suspected whether Lin Qingyun wanted to kiss her.
However, the next second—Lin Qingyun turned his face away; he didn’t kiss her, but simply brought his lips close to He Zhuoming’s ear: “So now, Xiao He, who is all alone, is an unloved child with no mom and dad?”
Because they were extremely close, when Lin Qingyun spoke, his warm breath blew against He Zhuoming’s ear.
That long single earring of his happened to dangle and sway gently right between their close cheeks, kissing He Zhuoming’s cheek softly like a dragonfly skimming the water, stroke by stroke.
The posture was ambiguous, the voice soft, and the words vicious.
At times like this, Lin Qingyun smiled again, his dark pupils beneath dense eyelashes shifting slightly sideways, staring fixedly at He Zhuoming’s face—the smile was very sweet, but sharp malice lurked within his pupils.
Only then did He Zhuoming realize that Lin Qingyun wasn’t trying to kiss her.
He just wanted to talk to her, except that what he said sounded quite unpleasant. But upon careful recollection, the original novel’s male protagonist did indeed seem to possess the trait of speaking unpleasantly.
Yet the male protagonist simply had poor expression skills and actually harbor no malicious intentions.
He Zhuoming moved to the side a bit and tilted her upper body in the opposite direction to put some distance between her and Lin Qingyun’s closing face—her face was burning hot due to her elevated heart rate, but Lin Qingyun’s earring was very cold, and its touch made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He Zhuoming: “Of course not! Because I’m not all alone by my own choice; I was tricked into coming here… My parents must be searching everywhere for me right now, worried sick—and all of this is that scoundrel’s fault!”
Mentioning her parents made her frown and wrinkle her nose, while mentioning the ‘scoundrel’ made her grind her teeth, clench her fist, and smash it hatefully against the shrine platform, accidentally hitting the fingers Lin Qingyun had propped upon it.
Lin Qingyun looked at the back of his hand, which had been struck red, remained silent for a moment, withdrew his hand, and sat down right next to He Zhuoming on the shrine platform with a single turn.
Lin Qingyun: “Xiao… scoundrel?”
He Zhuoming said indignantly: “A rotten seed! A dead villain! It was he who tricked me into coming here as a bride! Oh, right, Qingyun, you’ll meet this person in the future too, so you must be careful of him—his name is Tang Shuyu, rotten to the core! A vicious, vulgar, tasteless, dead piece of trash! There isn’t a single word of truth in this man’s mouth. No matter what he tells you, don’t believe a word of it!”
Lin Qingyun raised an eyebrow: “Tang… Tang Shuyu?”
He Zhuoming nodded: “Yes! That’s the person!”
Lin Qingyun: “…He told you his name was Tang Shuyu?”
He Zhuoming: “Yeah, I even confirmed it several times… You don’t already know him and haven’t been tricked by him, have you?!”
He Zhuoming abruptly turned her head to stare at Lin Qingyun—Lin Qingyun curved his eyes into a smiling, amiable look: “Haha, don’t know him at all~ Just thought the name sounded quite nice; just hearing the name makes it feel like he doesn’t sound like a bad person.”
He Zhuoming jumped down from the shrine platform and said viciously: “I was just like you before, fooled by that name. A dead swindler! Not only are the things he says deceitful, even the name he uses to lie is deceitful!”
“When I get back home, I’ll become a staunch male protagonist faction member, clocking in every day to curse the dead villain and selling off all his merchandise for cheap—Hmph! The real person looks completely different from fan art! If it weren’t for the fan art…”
Mentioning fan art, He Zhuoming glanced back at Lin Qingyun.
Receiving her gaze, Lin Qingyun maintained his cheerful, harmless smiling face—though in truth, ever since He Zhuoming mentioned ‘going home,’ he hadn’t understood a single word of that long string of speech.
However, he did gather that He Zhuoming was cursing ‘Tang Shuyu.’
He Zhuoming walked over, patted Lin Qingyun’s shoulder, and said earnestly: “You look way better than the villain. After I go home, I’ll definitely use my financial power to find the best artist to commission fan art for you, guaranteed to restore your beauty!”
Lin Qingyun remained silent. Since he didn’t understand at all, he simply smiled.
He Zhuoming picked up the shovel, moved her arms about, and announced full of vigor: “I’ve finished resting! Let’s go dig a hole—oh, right, next time you talk, don’t lean in so close to me.”
As she uttered the last sentence, He Zhuoming couldn’t help touching her cheek, feeling as though the cold touch of the earring still lingered on that patch of skin.
Lin Qingyun lowered his eyes and retorted: “Why?”
He Zhuoming replied: “Because your earring is so icy, and touching my face feels very ambiguous and strange… Why do you only wear one earring anyway?”
Lin Qingyun smiled amiably: “Ah, this earring is actually a star, you see. I only wear one because I haven’t found its matching star yet.”
He Zhuoming: “…So fake.”
Lin Qingyun: “Hahahaha, really? I thought it would be very interesting~”
His tone resumed its lightness, his brows and eyes curved into smiles as he spoke, and sweet dimples floated on his cheeks, completely devoid of any oppressive or threatening aura, as if the malice revealed during the earlier topic about parents had never existed at all.
And He Zhuoming remained utterly incapable of reading the mood, failing completely to detect the malice.
The weather was scorching hot, and the cicadas chirped endlessly.
Lin Qingyun found a supreme geomantic spot, saying that burying the villagers here could bless them to be reborn into a good life in their next reincarnation—He Zhuoming couldn’t help lamenting inwardly: *As expected of an overflowingly benevolent male protagonist, even considering the afterlife for the dead.*
If you asked her, everyone in this village might as well just drop dead; the villain tricking her off to be sold was scum, and a village that bought brides wasn’t anything good either, never mind letting them become pigs or dogs in the next life!
If they were truly allowed to become pigs and dogs, it would be an insult to little pigs and little dogs.
While muttering curses and venting inwardly, He Zhuoming diligently and laboriously dug the earth with her shovel.
Beside her, Lin Qingyun dug the earth while listening to He Zhuoming curse Tang Shuyu and the villagers combined as being worse than pigs and dogs. Listening along, he couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
*Xiao He curses people so politely.*
Author’s Notes:
Xiao He: A child that even parents won’t raise is definitely unloved.
Xiao Tang: …
Xiao He: Why aren’t you laughing anymore?
Xiao Tang: Care to guess? ^-^