Song of the Bright Moon Chapter 14

Shen Yujiao had a very long dream.

In the dream, her soul seemed to drift unsteadily to the Bridge of Helplessness. Suddenly, the underworld was struck by a flood; the dark waters of the Nether River surged, waves towering high, violently sweeping her into their torrent.

She struggled in the water, choking on several mouthfuls. Strangely, the water was neither cold nor bitter; instead, it was warm, even faintly sweet. As it poured into her throat, her stomach warmed, and her drifting soul seemed to gain weight, sinking bit by bit until at last it fell back into her body.

Her soul and body were wrapped together in that inexplicable yet comforting current, and she sank into heavy sleep.

Truthfully, Shen Yujiao couldn’t even remember how long it had been since she’d had a good, peaceful night’s rest.

Ever since her misfortune in the forest, she had been wandering, displaced, nerves stretched taut at all times, never daring to relax even a little.

After all, she was only a weak woman with no strength to bind a chicken, carrying a fragile infant. To survive in such chaotic times, she had to be vigilant every waking moment.

But now, she was too tired.

Too tired to think further. She only wanted to sleep… even if she never woke again, even if she slept herself to death, that would be fine.

But she was still alive.

The exhaustion ebbed, her awareness slowly returned, until at last she was fully roused by a racket outside the window.

“Cluck cluck cluck, cluck cluck cluck, ”

“You d*mned thing, I don’t believe I can’t catch you today!”

“Cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck!”

“Fly, will you? I’ll strip every feather off you, see if you dare!”

The noisy clamor reached her ears through the wall. Shen Yujiao’s eyelids twitched, and then she slowly opened her eyes.

What met her eyes was a completely unfamiliar place: rafters thick with spiderwebs, mottled and dim earthen walls, a yellowed and cracked wooden window. In the small room sat a few simple pieces of furniture, a square table, a long bench, a wardrobe, and beneath her, a hard wooden bed. The bedding was at least tidy, but the green gauze bed-curtain was patched in several places, with old mosquito bloodstains scattered here and there.

The old wooden door was half shut. The only light came from the window by the bed, its hazy glow filtering through paper panes, falling upon Shen Yujiao’s eyelids.

Where was this? She frowned, and then memories of before she fainted surged back like a tide.

She had run into a gang of bandits at the earth temple. Their leader pressed her hard, even threatening to make her his wife.

After that, her vision had gone black, and she knew no more…

“Ha! Think you can fight with me? What, you planning to fly up to the heavens?”

Accompanied by the flutter of wings, that careless, lazy voice rang again from outside the window, tinged with smugness: “Still ended up in my hands, didn’t you?”

That voice—!

Shen Yujiao jolted upright on the bed. It was the bandit leader!

Her mind went blank for a moment. Then she hurriedly lifted the quilt to check herself. The filthy, foul-smelling robe she had been wearing was gone. Now she was dressed in freshly washed underclothes and trousers, still carrying the faint scent of bath beans. Opening her collar to look inside, even her small undergarment had been changed. No longer the lotus-pink one embroidered with orchids she once wore, but a bright red one embroidered with hibiscus blossoms, a color so vivid she hadn’t worn it since her wedding days with Pei Xia.

From inner to outer garments, everything had been replaced. Her body, too, had clearly been washed. Shen Yujiao’s heart grew heavier.

True, she didn’t feel as though her body had been violated. But… who had washed her and changed her clothes?

That bandit leader outside?

If so, having a strange man see and touch her entire body, what face could she still have left to live in this world?

Before she could sink into despair, a more pressing thought struck her like lightning, her child!

She had been brought back by the bandit leader, but where had Ping’an been taken? Those wicked bandits, would they have just abandoned him in the wilderness?

At the thought, Shen Yujiao forgot everything else, and in panic tried to get out of bed to ask.

Just as she was about to put on her shoes, she lowered her head, and froze.

On the shoe surface crouched a red-brown cockroach, thumb-long, glossy with oil, its long legs covered in fine hairs.

“Ah!” she cried out, jerking her toes back.

The cockroach, startled by the sound, did not flee. Instead, it arrogantly twitched its antennae, and slowly began to crawl into the shoe.

Just as Shen Yujiao’s scalp went numb, footsteps sounded outside. A moment later, the half-shut wooden door creaked open.

“What is it?”

A tall figure stood backlit in the doorway, his face obscured by the light. She saw only that he wore a slate-blue robe, half its hem tucked carelessly into a black belt. One hand held a half-plucked chicken, the other a cleaver, as he strode toward her. “Shouting in broad daylight, what for?”

Shen Yujiao forgot her disheveled state on the bed, pointing urgently at her shoe. “A cockroach! A huge cockroach!”

“Tch. I thought it was something serious.”

Xie Wuling tossed the cleaver onto the table with a “clack.” Still gripping the chicken’s neck, he stepped forward and kicked the shoe.

The red-brown cockroach scuttled out, and with a swift stomp, he crushed it flat, grinding his heel twice for good measure.

The once-arrogant insect was now a thin, lifeless smear.

Shen Yujiao let out a long breath of relief. Looking up again, she found the tall man standing not far from her bed, those long peach-blossom eyes fixed on her, his face still wearing that lazy, amused smile. “Just one cockroach, and you’re this scared? How’ve you managed to survive this far?”

Shen Yujiao froze, trying to explain: “It’s my first time seeing one so big, and it wasn’t afraid of people at all.”

The cockroaches she’d seen in Chang’an always ran off at the first sound or a stomp of the foot. She had never encountered one brazen enough to crawl straight into a shoe.

Xie Wuling looked at her. “Seems Jinling’s cockroaches are just as domineering, specially fond of bullying outsiders.”

Shen Yujiao was choked silent. She didn’t reply, but thought inwardly, wasn’t impossible.

“But you’ve slept long enough. How do you feel now? Still dizzy?”

At his question, Shen Yujiao gathered her wits and slowly raised her gaze.

Last night, in her panic, she hadn’t dared look closely at this bandit leader. But in broad daylight now, she realized he was actually very handsome.

Tall and straight, long-limbed, the half-worn robe stretched across a broad chest that hinted at firm muscles beneath. Midday light filtered through the papered window, softening the sharp lines of his striking features, lessening their fierceness and lending a touch of warmth.

If not for the stray chicken feather caught in his tied-up hair, and the bald chicken dangling from his hand, then with that half-smile, easy and languid, he could almost have been mistaken for a dashing hero of the jianghu, free-spirited and unrestrained.

As she mused, she thought, with such a face, why be a bandit, knife-edge blood and killing? Even going as a live-in son-in-law to some landlord’s household would be better than this.

The man suddenly leaned closer, black eyes fixed on hers, his lazy smile deepening. “What, just realized how handsome I am? Got yourself bewitched?”

Shen Yujiao instinctively leaned back, putting distance between them, her cheeks burning. “No…”

Seeing her flustered retreat, Xie Wuling only raised a brow, unbothered. Straightening slowly, he drawled, “Then why were you staring at me like that?”

“I…”

Shen Yujiao had never met such a shameless and self-assured man. She didn’t know how to respond. Pressing her lips together, she steadied her tone and asked seriously: “Big Master, may I ask, where is this place? And my child?”

Hearing her call him “big master” again, the curve at Xie Wuling’s lips flattened slightly. He said coolly, “This is my home. As for your child…”

He paused, casting a meaningful glance at her freshly washed, delicate face. “I had my brother take him back. His wife just gave birth not long ago, I told her to nurse him for you.”

Shen Yujiao was startled. “Truly?”

“Why the h*ll would Laozi lie to you?”

As he spoke, Xie Wuling’s gaze swept across her chest, and he let out a snort. “Or could you feed him yourself?”

Shen Yujiao clearly felt that glance land on her body. Hearing his mocking, yin-yang question, she assumed he was sneering at her thin frame, saying she had no milk. Her cheeks burned hot.

Her slender fingers clenched the quilt’s edge. She reminded herself in silence: this man was nothing but a ruffian and scoundrel. Why bother to take his words to heart? Wasn’t that only seeking her own misery?

Yes, endure it. For now, survival and escape were the most important.

Thinking this, Shen Yujiao forced a smile, lifted her face, and said, “Big master, don’t misunderstand. I only didn’t expect you to be so broad-minded and benevolent, not only sparing me clean clothes, but even taking pains to find someone to care for my child. Such great kindness and virtue, even if I were to bind grass in repayment, or serve as ox and horse, I could never repay…”

“Enough.”

Xie Wuling raised a big hand, cutting off her words. “Don’t stick me with lofty titles, and don’t give me empty flattery. I’m no fool with too much money playing the great benefactor.”

Shen Yujiao’s smile stiffened. Then she heard him say, “Since I’ve carried you back here, you’ve eaten my cakes, drunk my medicine, and slept in my bed. If you don’t become my wife, how does that make sense?”

This time Shen Yujiao’s smile could no longer hold. Her willow brows knitted together, her gaze sorrowful as she looked at him. “Big master, I am already a married woman, with a child. You are young and strong, dignified and handsome, surely plenty of fresh, pretty maidens would be willing to marry you. Why lower yourself to take me, a withered flower?”

“Young and strong, dignified and handsome.”

Xie Wuling’s mouth curved upward. Even his peach-blossom eyes glimmered with bright amusement as he looked straight at her. “And you said just now you weren’t staring at me? Seems you were observing me quite closely.”

Shen Yujiao: “…”

“Enough. Laozi knows you’ve been married, Laozi knows you have a child. Laozi doesn’t mind. So what are you minding for?”

He slanted her a look, then said carelessly, “There are still two flatbreads on the stove. If you’re hungry, eat a bit first. But don’t fill up, save room for chicken soup.”

Saying this, he grabbed the chicken in one hand and the knife in the other, swaggering off.

Shen Yujiao sat alone on the dim wooden bed, dazed, her face full of confusion. What sort of man had she ended up encountering?

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