Chapter 98 Does it hurt? Does it feel good? You can use me as much as you want, drive me...
The next morning, Luo Wan met Jiang Cichen again.
It seemed as if everything that happened last night was just a dream.
Breakfast had been placed on the round table. He sat leisurely on the round stool, tapping the table lightly with his fingertips, his eyes fixed on the figure in front of the dressing table, never moving away.
Luo Wan saw herself in the mirror, and there were still traces of him left last night on her neck and collarbone.
The mirror surface was like water, and the person not far away happened to look up, and their eyes met hers.
She closed her eyes, heard footsteps approaching, and a shadow gently enveloped her.
When she opened her eyes again, Jiang Cichen was standing behind her.
He slowly leaned over, picked up the black ink on the dressing table, gently supported her chin with his fingertips, and began to draw her eyebrows.
The tip of the pen lightly brushed across the end of the eyebrow, and a tingling sensation like a subtle electric current spread from the end of the eyebrow, spread through the limbs and bones, and finally wrapped around the heart, trembling gently.
Luo Wan turned her head away and raised her hand to push his wrist away: "I don't want to draw anymore."
Jiang Cichen put down his eyebrow pencil and took her hand: "Then let's eat."
He slid his fingers expertly between hers and intertwined theirs.
Luo Wan looked out the window: "When do you plan to evacuate these people?"
"Anytime," he whispered, "as long as you promise not to leave."
Luo Wan said expressionlessly, "You promised me to leave."
When attacking Lin'an, she told Jiang Cichen that she would be away for a while, and Jiang Cichen agreed.
"You promised me you would be back in half a month," Jiang Cichen leaned against the table, looking down at her, "Can you do it?"
Luo Wan was silent.
She can't do it.
Jiang Cichen took her to the round table. Facing the table full of exquisite breakfast, Luo Wan didn't even move her chopsticks.
The young man tilted his head, revealing a few light scratches on the side of his neck. They looked like they were made by a kitten's claws. They were not deep, but they were particularly eye-catching on his cold, white and angular neck.
Did she scratch someone last night?
Luo Wan couldn't remember it clearly.
"Bring him up here."
Just as Luo Wan was wondering who the "he" he was talking about was, Qi San had been dragged to the door by two guards.
The man covered in blood only paused at the threshold for a moment before being roughly carried away.
Luo Wan's heart beat faster, Jiang Cichen knew everything.
Otherwise, he would not have tortured Qi San to this extent, and he would not have deliberately asked someone to show up when she refused to eat.
"Can we eat now?" Jiang Cichen asked.
Luo Wan stared at the few bright red spots winding across the bluestone ground and said coldly, "Are you threatening me?"
"Don't try to escape, don't try to challenge my bottom line." Jiang Cichen said, "I'm sparing his life because of your kindness. If you don't care, he can die at any time."
Luo Wan really wanted to have a big quarrel with him and then part ways, but that was simply impossible.
After a while, she picked up the bowl, picked up the spoon, and mechanically fed the porridge into her mouth.
Every spoonful was filled with indescribable nausea, and Luo Wan wanted to vomit.
After suppressing her discomfort and finishing her meal, she gently turned the bowl and showed it to Jiang Cichen, saying calmly, "Don't hit him anymore. Let him go. Don't involve others in our affairs."
Jiang Cichen slowly raised his eyelids, his brows sharp and cold: "Okay."
After getting the answer, Luo Wan stood up and left, returning to the bed tiredly. Her stomach suddenly churned, and she quickly pulled out the spittoon from under the bed and vomited out all the porridge that had just entered her stomach.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Cichen hurried over. He didn't understand why she was vomiting, so he reached out to feel her pulse.
Luo Wan glanced at him indifferently and pushed him away forcefully: "Jiang Cichen, is this interesting?"
After suppressing her emotions for so long, Luo Wan finally broke down. Her voice trembled, "Why do you have to be like this? Why can't we just part ways amicably?!"
He grabbed her wrist with his backhand, tightening his grip. "What about you? Why do you have to leave? If you want to save Shen Zhiyan, I'll do it for you. If you want to kill someone, I'll kill them for you. Why can't you just stay by my side?"
Jiang Cichen stared at her with a calm expression and a clear voice: "You said we should part ways amicably because you never loved me from the beginning to the end."
"All you see is trade-offs and exploitation. That's fine, I accept it all. You can use me as much as you want, drive me, and let me accomplish whatever you want."
The wind blew outside the window, and the leaves rustled. They were like two lunatics facing each other calmly.
"Anything?" Luo Wan said calmly, "Let me go."
Jiang Cichen stared at her for a while without saying anything. During the few seconds they looked at each other, the hostility between his brows could no longer be suppressed, making him look cold and impatient.
His gaze moved from her slightly furrowed brows, the corners of her eyes that were red from vomiting, to her plump lips.
He leaned over and kissed her lips gently, then smiled and pulled away, saying gently, "Don't even think about it."
Luo Wan's wrist was gripped so tightly that it hurt, and her bones made a slight crackling sound. Although the two men seemed to be motionless, they were actually competing with each other.
In silence, Luo Wan raised his other hand and slapped it hard!
“Snap—”
The crisp sound of slaps echoed throughout the bedroom and could even be heard outside the house.
Jiang Ci Chen was slapped unexpectedly and his head tilted slightly, with his hair hanging on the bridge of his nose. He only saw Luo Wan's hand falling back out of the corner of his eye.
When the guards in the courtyard heard the noise, they were all shocked.
He used his internal force in this slap, and a faint smell of blood filled his mouth, and the fragrance still lingered at the tip of his nose. He lightly touched his cheek with the tip of his tongue, and his left cheek felt a burning pain.
"Very good." Jiang Cichen spat out a mouthful of blood foam, "When you meet someone like me, you really shouldn't show mercy."
Luo Wan looked at him indifferently as he checked his numb left hand.
Jiang Cichen asked the housekeeper to bring some ice, knelt on one knee beside the bed, wrapped the ice in a towel, and gently reduced the swelling of her numb and swollen palms.
"Does it hurt?" He looked up at her.
Luo Wan stared at the distinct finger marks on his face and smiled slightly: "It hurts, why doesn't it hurt?"
"Is it fun?" he asked again.
Luo Wan raised an eyebrow and said, "I really want to do it again."
Jiang Cichen took off the short blade from his waist, unsheathed it, and placed it in her palm: "Use this, it won't hurt your hand."
Luo Wan looked at him in surprise for a moment, unable to read the emotion in his eyes.
She raised the short blade, tilted her head to look at it for a moment, and suddenly raised her hand and threw it. The short blade accurately nailed into the pillar of the house, and the blade trembled slightly.
"You're a lunatic," she said. "I don't want to see you again."
*
Jiang Cichen went to the prison, where the air was filled with a mixture of blood and dampness.
The boy was chained to a cross with his head lowered.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Qi San slowly raised his head. What caught his eye was a pair of bony hands, carelessly massaging the back of his neck. As the person tilted his head, a few light red scratches appeared faintly on his cold white skin. Qi San's eyes dimmed.
The young man walked forward, lowered his eyes to glance at the person on the shelf, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Do you like her?"
It was a question, but because of his quiet and indifferent tone it sounded like a statement.
Qi San paused for a second, just a second, and then he said, "I like it."
A very light sneer was heard in the silent cell.
After Jiang Cichen left, someone immediately came forward to uncuff Qi San, and the doctor waiting nearby walked over quickly with a medicine box.
*
From that day until Jiang Cichen set out again, only two days passed.
In the past two days, Luo Wan really hadn't seen him again.
It was not until she heard the thundering sound of horse hooves outside the mansion gate that she realized he had left again.
Since the fall of Lin'an and Jingzhou, the Northern Kingdom has been at the end of its strength.
After the capture of Lin'an and Jingzhou, the Northern Kingdom was already at the end of its strength. The alliance between Xiliang and the Northern Kingdom is now just an empty shell. No one can help each other, and no one trusts each other anymore.
In fact, ever since the capture of Lin'an, the Yun Kingdom army stationed on the Xiliang border had begun to stir. Xie Yan and Chen Nanyuan had a good relationship with the commander of the Yulin Army, and the commander was willing to listen to their advice.
When the Northern Kingdom and the Yun Kingdom were fighting fiercely, Xiliang failed to play any restraining role, which led to several advisers sent by the Northern Kingdom being very dissatisfied with Xiliang.
The people of Xiliang put the blame on these counselors, blaming them for their incompetence.
The two sides disliked each other, and the alliance was in name only. Xiliang no longer adopted the strategies of the Northern Kingdom's advisers, and the Northern Kingdom's advisers were unwilling to curry favor with them.
Therefore, when the Yun army launched another attack on Xiliang, it was unstoppable.
As for the Northern Kingdom, the Yun Kingdom's army had already reached Yanmen, and beyond Yanmen lay the capital. With the Yun Emperor's approval, Xie Yan and Chen Nanyuan withdrew from the Western Liang front and joined Jiang Cichen.
The meeting point is Jinxi City.
Jiang Cichen did not enter the city, but waited for Xie Yan and Chen Nanyuan outside the city.
Xie Yan and Chen Nanyuan arrived half a day earlier than agreed, and only then did they discover that Jiang Cichen was already waiting there.
Xie Yan knew some stories about Jinxi City. After all, he was present when Jiang Cichen and Luo Wan first met and fought, and he even shot an arrow at Luo Wan.
Now revisiting his old place, Xie Yan jokingly said, "Why don't you go into the city and take a look? I heard that the dim sum at Jinxi Zhiweizhai is world-famous."
Jiang Cichen withdrew his gaze from the distant city, gently pulled the reins and turned the horse's head: "Hurry up."
Only a light cavalry returned to Beijing with Jiang Cichen, and the main force was still stationed at the Jingzhou border.
After marching for several miles, the troops stopped for a rest in a deserted village. The area was sparsely populated, with only a few families living in their ancestral homes.
There is a small temple at the west end of the village. The ancient well outside the temple is the only water source for the entire village. The elderly people who stay behind here draw water here with hunched backs and trembling hands.
When the soldiers were resting, they came to the well one after another to fill their water bags to store drinking water for the next journey.
Jiang Ci Chen leaned lazily under the old locust tree, a short blade between his fingers flashing with a cold light.
Chen Nanyuan stepped forward and said, "Sir, let me help you get some water."
He lowered his eyes and caught a glimpse of the cowhide kettle at his feet. He suddenly bent down, hooked the kettle with his middle finger, and picked it up in his hand: "I'll go by myself."
He doesn't like to be idle, as he tends to have a lot of thoughts.
Chen Nanyuan quickly picked up his water bottle and followed. Xie Yan raised his head to take a final sip of water, then tucked the empty bottle back into his waist and quickly followed.
The village was old and the houses were also dilapidated, but the temple beside the well was as clean as new, with green tiles and white walls spotless, as if someone had been cleaning and worshipping it all year round.
When the soldiers who were drawing water from the well saw Jiang Cichen coming, they all made way for him.
Jiang Cichen frowned slightly. He and Xie Yan had been in the military camp since they were young, and they didn't like this special treatment.
"Amitabha."
As the voices came from the temple, everyone looked up and saw an old monk in gray standing in front of the hall, his eyes fixed on Jiang Cichen.
"Since the donor is here, why don't you come in and offer a bright lamp?"
Xie Yan whispered, "This village is so shabby, and this place is so luxurious. This bald guy must be a liar."
Jiang Cichen said nothing, threw the kettle to Chen Nanyuan, and walked into the temple.
The old monk clasped his hands together, bowed and led him in.
The temple is not big, with a Buddha statue sitting in the center and dozens of eternal lamps burning in candlesticks on both sides.
Although it was midsummer, there was a cool breeze in the hall.
The old monk took out a butter lamp and handed it to him: "A butter lamp can burn for three days. If it does not go out during these three days, your wishes will come true."
Jiang Cichen looked around at the lights in the hall, his eyebrows raised slightly. There were at least dozens of butter lamps. If it was really as the monk in front of him said, there wouldn't be so much suffering in this world.
Jiang Cichen lit the butter lamp, and the flame trembled slightly.
When the old monk took the lamps and put them in place, a draft suddenly blew through the hall and blew out more than ten lamps in succession.
The old monk sighed as he placed the new lamps in place and took down the old, extinguished ones. Turning around, he saw Jiang Cichen about to leave and couldn't help but ask, "Donor, won't you make a wish?"
Jiang Cichen said calmly, "Let her choose for herself."
As soon as Jiang Cichen stepped out of the temple gate, Xie Yan pulled him into the shadow of the ancient locust tree.
The mottled shadows of the trees fell on the two of them, blocking the view of the soldiers in the distance.
Xie Yan asked, "Did the old monk cheat you out of money?"
Jiang Cichen leaned against the rough tree trunk, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the fallen leaves in his palm: "No."
"But there's something wrong with you." Xie Yan frowned, "You're really not right this time."
Jiang Cichen didn't say anything. The leaves between his fingers popped out like blades and nailed into the tree stump opposite.
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The author has something to say: Hmm...it's very confusing. The chapter was clearly published last night, but it was locked for me an hour later (I'll omit my 1,000-word essay cursing the reviewer here^_^
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