TPATTHU Chapter 22
by VolareXiao Zhinian followed the piercing scream to the house he had mistakenly approached earlier. He saw corn kernels scattered across the courtyard, soaked in a pool of blood.
Also soaked in the blood was an old man, unconscious and slumped over, a huge gash across his neck from which fresh blood gushed.
“Grandpa! Wake up! Help! Someone, help!!”
The young girl kneeling in the blood had disheveled hair and her heart-wrenching cries echoed through the sky. She desperately tried to cover the old man’s wound with her hands, but it was all in vain.
Fortunately, it wasn’t Shen Zhejiang.
Xiao Zhinian breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately checked the old man’s injury, tearing off a piece of cloth to bandage it temporarily.
His brows gradually furrowed with a heavy gloom. How dare thieves openly commit murder under his very nose? They were tired of living.
The girl, unaware that the person before her was the current Emperor, grabbed Xiao Zhinian’s sleeve as if grasping at a lifeline, her voice full of earnest pleading and grief: “Please! Save my grandpa! I’ll do anything! Please save him, I’ll kowtow to you!”
Xiao Zhinian was extremely uncomfortable being touched by strangers, especially strange women. He reflexively frowned, and without any regard for her feelings, shook the girl off and said to the darkness, “Huai Wu, fetch a doctor.”
“Yes.”
The girl fell to the ground, not having time to think so much, and immediately kowtowed heavily to Xiao Zhinian, repeatedly murmuring her gratitude, “Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord! I will repay your great kindness!”
Xiao Zhinian asked, “Did you see who killed him?”
The girl’s face was a mix of sorrow and hatred, her nails digging into her flesh, as she gritted her teeth and said, “A person wearing black clothes! Masked! He tried to rape me while I was asleep, but luckily my grandpa found him! But who knew he was carrying a knife, and he injured my grandpa! When I catch him, I’ll tear him to pieces!”
“Those who commit crimes will be punished by the law. If everyone took revenge for every wrong, it would be chaos.”
“The law?” The girl raised her head, her tearful eyes flashing with angry flames. “There is no law in Luo City! The officials are corrupt and oppress the people. Has anyone ever cared? Otherwise, how could thieves be so rampant in Luo City? It looks prosperous during the day, but at night every household keeps their doors tightly shut, afraid of being robbed! My experience today is not unique, and has happened to many other women. If it weren’t for my grandpa, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have escaped! Not just them, even the high officials sent by the court are the same, all scum! Abetting evil, all birds of a feather!”
Could such a thing be true?
Just as Xiao Zhinian was about to inquire further, he caught a glimpse of a suspicious black shadow on the roof, suspecting it was the murderer the girl had mentioned, and gave chase.
“Stop!”
The man in black was guilty of his crime, and startled by Xiao Zhinian’s shout, his foot slipped and he fell straight into the alley.
Xiao Zhinian: “…” This thief didn’t seem that difficult to deal with.
Immediately, he jumped down into the alley, picked up a small stone from the roadside, and threw it at the fleeing man in black.
It struck the man in black’s legs, hitting him accurately.
“Was it you who attacked the old man in that house just now?” Xiao Zhinian narrowed his eyes, approaching step by step.
The man in black retreated, moving backward in terror, feigning a threat, “D-don’t come any closer! I’m very familiar with Governor Yang, be careful or I’ll have him arrest you and throw you in jail!”
Xiao Zhinian retorted, “Oh? Tell me, who are you to him?”
The man in black trembled, then suddenly his ears twitched, and he hurriedly got up and ran backward.
“Still dare to run?”
“Don’t move! Y-you come any closer, and I’ll kill him!”
Xiao Zhinian sneered, “What? You think you can just grab someone off the street and use them as a hostage…”
Before he could say the word “zhen, I/me – imperial”, he saw two figures slowly appearing in the shadows at the entrance of the alley, one in front of the other. The man in black held a dagger to the neck of a youth in flowing white robes, reflected in Xiao Zhinian’s eyes.
Xiao Zhinian’s eyes met the youth’s in the desolate moonlight.
One stood on this side of the alley, the other on that side, gazing at each other, neither speaking for a moment.
The wind rustled, dust swirled, and their robes fluttered.
The night wind in Luo City was always strong. Perhaps some border guard was missing his family whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, as the mournful sound of a Qiang flute drifted intermittently, expressing endless longing and deep affection.
But who’s heart was being stirred?
“Hahaha! Scared now, aren’t you! Hurry up and get out of my way, you silly things! Get lost!”
This naive and ignorant man in black, unaware of the impending disaster, let out a string of strange and triumphant laughter. But as he laughed, his hand trembled, and he drew a shallow cut on Shen Zhejiang.
Xiao Zhinian’s eyes instantly turned sharp and cold, his lips pressed tightly, and a layer of frost seemed to condense around him.
“……”
The pain brought Shen Zhejiang back to his senses, and he realized that the person standing before him was not a hallucination, but actually Xiao Zhinian.
The man in black was still gloating, “Look at the two of you, you must know each other, right? Haha, I guess I stumbled upon a jackpot! Be smart, hand over all your valuables, and you, what are you wearing on your hand? Throw it over here, quick! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
He jabbed the knife at Shen Zhejiang.
Xiao Zhinian flicked his black sleeve, and before anyone could see what it was, they heard the man in black scream like a slaughtered pig. The dagger fell to the ground, and he clutched his bloody hand, wailing.
“Ahhh! My hand!”
It turned out that Xiao Zhinian had thrown a short blade with a silver, flowing light.
Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Zhinian rushed forward and pulled the recovered Shen Zhejiang tightly into his arms.
Suddenly, the wind stilled and there was silence, only the warmth in his embrace melting into Xiao Zhinian’s body, dissolving into his flesh and blood. The long-dead heart was finally able to recover, regaining its vitality.
“Shen Zhejiang, you’re finally back. I’ve waited so long for you.”
In the past three years, Xiao Zhinian had grown taller, now surpassing Shen Zhejiang. His shoulders were broad, his waist narrow, and his sturdy chest could completely envelop Shen Zhejiang.
And so he used his strong, iron-like arms to imprison Shen Zhejiang, his chest pressed tightly against his back, holding him tightly, afraid of hurting him, yet afraid of him running away.
He buried his head in Shen Zhejiang’s cool neck, his voice trembling, accusing Shen Zhejiang of his crimes, each word more sorrowful and resentful than the last.
“In the future, you’re not allowed to run away without a word, you’re not allowed to disappear suddenly again, otherwise…”
Otherwise what?
Xiao Zhinian didn’t actually know.
To tie Shen Zhejiang’s hands and feet with ropes, so that he couldn’t leave him, would hurt Shen Zhejiang, and he couldn’t do it.
He wanted to please Shen Zhejiang, but he also worried that Shen Zhejiang would still abandon him. He couldn’t think of a better way, so he could only tighten his arms around Shen Zhejiang, not allowing him to break free.
And Shen Zhejiang?
He stood there in a daze, holding a bag of medicine he’d gotten from the pharmacy, his ears filled with Xiao Zhinian’s choked voice. He didn’t struggle, didn’t speak, his mind in a whirl.
The bright, smiling youth in his memory seemed never to have left, and after several years, stumbled back to his side.
Shen Zhejiang pursed his lips, his eyes stinging, wanting to say a few words to Xiao Zhinian.
But as he turned his head, a cold, metallic glint reflected in his eyes.
“Be careful!”