Chapter 3 – Burning to Death Together
Burning to Death Together
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brows and sniffed a couple times. The smell of blood filled the air. Realizing something was wrong, she looked down and saw that the young man was sitting on a straw mat with both legs straightened in front of him. His knees were starting to bleed profusely.
“Who are you?” She cautiously probed. Based on the current situation, this man was not a danger to her. As a doctor, she could tell that those legs had suffered major injuries, there was no need for closer inspection. At present, standing up was absolutely an impossibility.
Hearing the question, the young man coldly hmphed and did not respond. But with that cold hmph, his lips formed a slight smile that charmed her for a few moments.
Feng Yu Heng suddenly shivered, his noble air and bewitching demeanor were both natural. In spite of his face being a pale white, his face drenched with sweat, his legs currently being in a dire situation, his aura of nobility was not affected in the slightest. He appeared capable of wreaking havoc.
“If you’ve seen enough, then go away.” The man, leaning on a mountain cliff, coldly responds. He had not forgotten how love struck this country girl appeared earlier.
Feng Yu Heng was utterly irritated by people that spoke this way. For what reason should leave when told to leave?
Might as well take a few steps forward. Finding a few tufts of grass, she sat down. “Is this mountain your family’s? Did they dig the roads? I refuse to leave, what can you do about it?”
After speaking, she thought of something. She turned her head and looked to the side, then let out a laugh. “Huh, currently, the one that needs to leave is not just me. You need to leave as well!” She pointed towards the massive fire raging in the mass grave. “Based on how it’s currently burning, this place will soon be entirely burned.”
The man turned his head. The moment he saw the blaze, his face became even whiter, his brows furrowed, and that purple lotus was quickly scrunched tight. His mind was flustered.
“Forget it.” Feng Yu Heng had absolutely no resistance towards men who grew to be like this. Before heading off, she walked over to the young man. “I’ll give you a hand. Can you handle walking a little?”
The man looked and inspected her carefully. The girl was at most in her early teens. Her body looked so thin and weak that she’d break with the slightest touch. Indeed, her earlier performance with throwing pebbles was amazing, but that relied on tricky techniques. Really relying on her to support his weight would be difficult.
“Well, say something!” Feng Yu Heng used her hand to waft the air to his nose. “The fire might not be big, but don’t you feel that the smell is getting stronger? The crevices in the mountain guide the wind. The smell we’re currently smelling is burnt corpse. Burnt human flesh… Burnt…”
“That’s enough.” He couldn’t bear hearing any more. The more he heard, the more nauseous he became. “Try pulling on the straw mat. Let’s see if you can pull me out.”
“Is it that bad?” Feng Yu Heng stared blankly. He wanted her, a small girl, to pull a straw mat with a grown man sitting on it. What sort of bad joke is that. “Let’s see.” She moves forward to poke at his legs.
“Stop!” The man proclaimed with anger, as he struck out violently. With that, she was easily knocked to the ground.
Feng Yu Heng’s fall was excruciatingly painful. She glared at him, “Are you ill!?”1
“If I weren’t ill, would I be sitting here?” The man responded in a matter of fact attitude. “I did not mean to push you so hard. I just used more power than intended.”
“My good will was mistaken for ill intentions.” Feng Yu Heng decided to leave him be. “If you don’t want to walk, then just keep sitting here enjoying the aroma of burnt flesh. This girl will not accompany you.”
She turned, about to depart. From behind, a defeated shout sounded, then called out, “Wait, hold on.”
With a great deal of effort, she was finally able to get him out of the mountain crevice. Feng Yu Heng felt dead tired. She did not think the injuries to the man’s legs were so severe, as he was not able to put any weight on them. While half carrying, half dragging him along, his leg hit a rock. The man let out a muffled groan but did not scream out in pain.
Gradually, the anger in her heart started to lessen. She was reminded of a similarly iron-willed comrade from her former life. Even though half his leg had been blown off, he did not let out a peep.
“Go that way.” The man pointed. “Not far from here is a brook. The wind blows north along it, so the fire won’t reach.”
“Ok.” Feng Yu Heng clenched her teeth and dug deep. “The straw mat is already completely worn, bear with it a little longer.”
“No problem.” He responded calmly as though it weren’t his problem.
Feng Yu Heng felt a little irked and responded a little rashly. “I want to thrash you more, so you won’t say no problem.”
“So young yet so vicious.” He turned his head and looked back at the fiery pit. “Earlier, if you had more stones in your hand, then would those two have burned to death?”
“Thunk!” She let go and dropped the man to the ground.
1: She’s implying he’s mentally ill, while he’s simply saying there’s something wrong with his body. They do, however, use the same phrasing.