chapter 6

He was still alive? Si Ling let out a self mocking smile.

Looking around, he realised he was in a wolf’s den. Not far from him, two wolf cubs are sleeping soundly. Was his savior a wolf?

He raised his brows in surprise, but soon he overthrew his previous speculation. Looking at his wounded waist and abdomen, he noted that it had been cleaned and bandaged with white cotton fabric. In addition, he was clean of blood stains. It was as if that night had never happened, Su Ling accurately guessed that the one that had saved him was a human and not a wolf.

However, who could this person be to have such medical experience to save him, a person who was on the brink of death?

Not only did this person get rid of both toxins in his body, but the wounds on his body were also recovering at an unnatural pace.

Just as he was wondering, Si Ling heard footsteps nearing the entrance of the cave. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

The person who had entered the cave was indeed Su Shuilian who had finished washing her face at the creek. She had also collected some edible plants near the stream. Putting the plants in a basket, Su Shuilian crouched down near the man. Seeing that he was still not awake, Shuilian no longer bothered with him and went to wake up the two small wolf cubs. “Xiao Chún, Xiao Xue get up. We have a lot of chores to complete ah. If you don’t help out, then no meals for you.”

Just as she expected, as long as they heard the word ‘meal,’ the two puppies would jump right up, as if they were feigning sleep.

“Haha, while I prepare the food, you two should go to the creek and wash your front paws. Don’t run too far ok?” Su Shuilian shook her head as she smiled at the wolf pups who were waging their tails as they quickly ran out to the stream.

Since when did she start speaking to the wolves like this? But they could understand her… Staying in the forest for so long, she was afraid that she would lose her human communication skills, so she could only talk to the wolf pups…

Shaking her head, Su Shuilian decided not to think too much about it. Humming a small tune, Su Shuilian continued to make her wild vegetable and meat soup.

Maybe after breakfast, she can get the two puppies to help her catch some of the fish in the stream. When she was at the creek, she saw many decent sized fish. There were even thumb size prawns that occasionally surfaced. She hoped these wolf cubs were just as agile in the water as they were on land.

Thinking of the possibilities, Su Shuilian gulped. Since she had been stuck in the forest, all she has had to eat were some vegetables and animal meat. If they could add fish and shrimp to their meals, that would be wonderful ah.

Si Ling looked at the Su Shuilian’s back as she was facing the other way. Si Ling was stunned. So the person who’d saved him seemed to be a girl who was unaware of worldly affairs. He then thought that maybe it was exactly because she was unaware that she dared to save him. Thinking of his infamy, not many were unaware of his name. He was one of the top three assassins within the whole country, the most wanted man in Feng Yao Court, Si Ling.

Then, a sudden thought came to mind, causing Si Ling’s cold eyes flashed with anger. Feng Qingya! I, Si Ling had always executed the all the tasks without fail and never had other thoughts, but after the previous head died, due to distrust, not only did you poison me with two different toxins, you even had Si Tuo and his group come and personally kill me. With such lowly means, how long can Feng Yao Court last under your control? Only because the past head had owed a great debt to you, will I spare you this time, but there will be no more ‘next time,’ Feng Qingya….

Su Shuilian heard a ‘humph’ sound, and looked back in puzzlement. She tilted her head in thought before going to Si Ling’s side. She stared at his face for a moment, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Sticking out her finger, Shuilian was about to check for his breath, when suddenly a hand grasped tightly onto her wrist.

“Wah!” Shocked and scared, Su Shuilian fell to the ground. She looked at the man in front of her who had been unconscious for 5 days and nights. When she looked into his dark eyes that was devoid of warmth, she fearfully looked away, avoiding his gaze. Su Shuilian wanted to stand up, but noticed that her wrist was still tightly gripped, the pain so immence that she wanted to cry out.

Holding back the tears in her eyes, Su Shuilian glared at him and said, “Let me go, you barbarian!”

How ungrateful ah! The usually tempered and gentle Su Shuilian could not help but blurt out in anger.

Immediately, she became annoyed at herself for learning how to cuss at others. Her cheeks turned slightly red. However, her actions did not stop as she continued to struggle to get out of his tight restraint.

Unknownst to even himself, Si Ling’s eyes flashed with an ambiguous light. When he released his hand, Su Shuilian quickly took back her hands while taking a few steps back.

“Since you are up, then make yourself at home!” Su Shuilian’s said in a calm voice, but it was not that difficult to detect the anger from her tone of voice. With those words, she quickly turned around to continue brewing her soup as she no longer wanted to talk to this mannerless man.

Si Ling raised his brow. Was she grimacing at herself? Gently, he pressed on the multiple wounds on his body, only to find no pain. Puzzled, Si Ling sat up only to find himself lying on a thick layer of leaves covered by a warm mat of tiger fur. He guessed it was the bed of the girl and the two wolf cubs. Their treatment of him was not bad ah.

Lightly, Si Ling tried to stand up with the support of the cave walls. His weak condition had confirmed that his injuries were as serious as he had thought. With a sudden wave of dizziness, Si Ling fell onto the cave wall, struggling not to fall.

When Su Shuilian heard sounds of movement, she could not help but look back. Looking at the man who was saved from the brink of death making such a reckless action, she quickly forgot her previous anger and she quickly took large strides forward. Helping him up, she muttered, “Do you want to die again? With such heavy wounds, you think just a few days of lying down can completely heal you?”

Only when she carefully helped him down did Su Shuilian go and check on his wounds that were covered by the cotton wrapping. Seeing no reopening of the wounds, Su Shuliang sighed in relief. Looking into his chilled eyes that revealed a trace of weakness, Su Shuilian gathered her courage and said, “I spent a lot of time and effort to save you, so don’t let me see you go down again.”

Si Ling did not voice a sound and only glaced at her for a moment. He then closed his eyes to rest.

“Eh, could he be mute?” Su Shuilian frowned in response. Right from waking up till now, this man did not say anything. Thinking back to when he was surrounded by the other men, she also did not hear him say anything…

Su Shuilian was discouraged by her conclusion of this man. She had finally managed to save this man… She had wanted to get information from him about this world to plan her future. This was just great. This man turned out to be a mute.

“Oh, what horrible luck ah.” Su Shuilian’s back leaned against the wall as she sat down with her knees in front of her. She placed her forehead on her knees, and thought: it seemed that she could no longer ask about anything ah… She had wanted to know the prices of the properties here. If she were to go out, Su Shuilian was not sure how long she could last with the amount of coins she had.

—–

When Si Ling woke up once again, he found himself alone in the wolf den.

Looking at the two cleanly licked bowls, while he was asleep, that girl and the two wolves must have finished their meals and went out. Struck with self loathing, he blamed his currently weak body. How else could he had slept so deeply in such an unfamiliar place? He did not even detect them leaving. If it were in the past, he would have died countless times.

Thinking back, right when he was about to sleep, he had heard her mumble something about being mute…was she talking about himself?… Because he did not talk, it had lead her to think that he was mute? Ok then, let’s pretend to be mute. Let’s see her reactions…

While in the midst of thought, Si Ling suddenly heard her voice. It seemed that she was talking to the wolf pups.

With her soft tone of voice, he had guessed this girl’s temper and personality was just as gentle. However, with a sudden flashback of her angry expression and her shouting “barbarian” when he had grabbed her wrist, refusing her hand to get any closer, Si Ling’s mood inexplicably got better.

“Shh, don’t be too loud. If he wakes up, we’re going to have to go out again.” Peeking into the cave, Su Shuilian saw that Si Ling’s eyes were still closed. Putting her index finger to her lips, she gestured at the wolves to not make a sound.

Hearing her words, Si Ling frowned. What ‘going out again’? Just because he will wake up would mean to drive them out of their own house?

Si Ling’s alwayed unfazed heart suddenly rippled in anger. No longer did he pretend to sleep as he opened his eyes and coldly stared at Su Suiliang.

Su Shuilian was quietly preparing lunch when, suddenly, she felt a chill on her back that caused her to shiver. However, she did not think too much about it. She picked up the just-cleaned rock pot and put four fish into it. The other six fish, she planned to take out to grill.

Those two little rascals were really powerful ah. They caught 20 fish with ease… Selecting the 10 biggest ones for today, Su Shuilian planned to dry the rest. On such hot days, the fish will quickly go bad. Using the saltly fruits and seasoned berries, she could make plentiful amounts of salted grilled fish.

Thinking, Su Shuilian let out a chuckle in content.

Seeing that she was able to chuckle by herself, Si Ling could not help but sound out a ‘humph.’ Very good, now her attention was on him.

“Eh, you’re up?” Su Shuilian looked back to see Si Ling staring back at her. Quickly, she stopped her previous actions and walked towards him and embarrassedly said, ” I… I was rude before, sorry…. That, uh do you feel better now? Xiao Chun and Xiao Xue caught a lot of fish today. Are you able to drink some warm soup? If you want some, you can nod…”

Su Shuilian anxiously said to the the man she had concluded to be mute as she let out a shy smile.

At her honest look and confession, Si Ling involuntarily nodded.

“Ok, just rest for a bit. I’ll go prepare the soup… It’ll be ready soon.” After getting an answer, Su Shuilian helped him pull the blanket up, and then retreated back to preparing the food.