Chapter 33 Chapter 33 How could it be, how could it be him...?
Xie Linyuan was afraid he might hurt her.
He was afraid that his approach... would hurt her.
The spring breeze gently caressed the locust blossoms on his head, and when they landed on his hair, Xie Linyuan stood frozen in place for a long time, not daring to take a single step forward.
It was as if if he moved even half a step forward, the scene would shatter into pieces.
The woman who was smiling in the spring sunshine will turn into someone covered in blood.
Xie Linyuan stopped in his tracks and looked at her.
Watching her gather flower branches, watching her tend to the plants, watching her sit in the rocking chair outside the door reading a book, perhaps she got tired and sleepy, so she covered her face with the book and fell asleep.
Her hair, adorned with crimson silk, fell down, gently brushing against the fallen flowers on the ground.
It was a beautiful spring day, the sun was shining brightly and warmly, and the wind was gentle and soft. When it blew by, the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers. Petals were swirled up on the bluestone slabs and clung to the woman's dark hair.
The book covering her face was blown to the ground by the wind, its pages turning with a rustling sound. The flower branches above her head swayed, and the sunlight filtering through shone on her fair face.
Light and shadow played across her face as a few petals fell upon it. She seemed to furrow her brow slightly, but did not brush them away.
The wind grew stronger, howling through the mountains, and petals fell like snow. Xie Linyuan stared blankly at them, his peach blossom eyes smiling as they lifted, seemingly rippling with the gentle ripples of spring water, and also filled with a misty, mountain-like fog of tears.
She lived, truly lived, lived freely and joyfully.
This is the real her.
This fact filled him with ecstasy, but it also caused the wounds in his heart that had never healed to tear open and bleed again.
Xie Linyuan cried and laughed at the same time.
For her, the past is now like smoke.
But he was trapped inside.
He was trapped inside because of his sins, trapped in obsession and twisted desires, unable to find release.
Only then did he realize why things had turned out this way between him and her.
What did he do in the past?
What he originally wanted was not to pluck the flower and let it wither, but to let it bloom.
Just like that green-clad girl holding a flower branch that I saw before... I didn't want to destroy her.
At first, he just wanted to... get closer to her.
Get closer to her.
He wanted her to focus her attention on him.
I wanted her to see him too, instead of always looking at her brother...
He wanted her to... smile at him too.
But she would never do that.
She was afraid of him, terrified of him, and her eyes were always filled with resistance and panic when she looked at him. Her body trembled, and she couldn't hide her trembling.
Later, his brother died, and he was actually glad that his brother was dead.
Then, too many desires and unattainable obsessions intertwined and twisted together.
Resentment, jealousy, possession, control, destruction...
But in the end, it was too late to turn back.
When he carried her out of the house, his hands were covered in her blood.
It was all her blood.
She was so fragile, so fragile that... he could indeed tear her apart with ease.
He knew perfectly well that he did it anyway.
His love was nothing but pain to her, nothing but a sharp sword piercing her, nothing but a room that trapped her in darkness. That's why she said he could only be Xie Linyuan, right?
Is this all Xie Linyuan can do?
No……
For her, he could be someone else than Xie Linyuan.
At this moment, Xie Linyuan looked at Su Muying, wanting to get closer to her, but not daring to.
When he was with her, his usual arrogant attitude turned into caution and fear.
Therefore, he just watched and did nothing.
He simply stood under the tree, staring blankly, as if he were lost in a dream.
Immersed in a captivating dream.
The silence was suddenly broken by the voice of a child.
"Mother!!!"
"Mommy! I'm home!"
"Tao Tao and I picked a lot of locust flowers together!"
"Mommy, I'll go wash up. Mommy, can you make locust flower cakes? Mommy's are the best, I really want to eat them..."
"Tao Tao wants some too, I'll get it for her tomorrow..."
"Mother..."
Xie Linyuan's pupils suddenly dilated, and blood vessels spread across his eyes.
It's that child...
A child picking locust flowers under a locust tree.
It turned out to be her child.
It was also his child.
He and her child.
——
Su Muying has lived in this small village for almost four years.
She embroidered, taught, planted flowers and vegetables, raised children... These four years passed very slowly and comfortably.
She no longer had to live in fear, no longer had to stay in that dark room, no longer had to tremble as she looked at him, enduring his gaze that seemed to devour her inch by inch.
She is living a very comfortable life.
Her child is also very well-behaved and obedient, growing day by day like a sapling.
She can also visit her parents often, sweep their graves, and talk to them.
This is the life she wants to live.
In such a chaotic world.
She almost forgot that this was still a chaotic world.
Occasionally, she would hear about him from other people.
It doesn't seem like it's his business.
She heard someone say that General Xie, who was guarding Anzhou, seemed like a different person after he fell seriously ill.
He ceased his campaigns, built fortifications, and ordered his soldiers to cultivate the land. His army was extremely disciplined and never disturbed the people.
He also opened up trade routes between Anzhou and other surrounding towns, making trade much more frequent than before. Although the Great Liang was still divided into two, Anzhou became much more prosperous and stable after Xie Linyuan took up his post there.
This is an unprecedented sight; it can only be described as a scene of great prosperity.
Before that, Anzhou was ravaged by war and suffered a bloody massacre by rebels, burning, killing, and looting, making it no different from a living hell.
Therefore, praise for General Xie spread throughout the streets and alleys of Anzhou in no time, and the reputation of his brutality, cruelty, bloodthirstiness and warlike nature could no longer be heard.
In the word of mouth among the people of Anzhou, Xie Linyuan had almost become a living bodhisattva of great compassion.
Su Muying found it hard to believe every time she heard it.
Has he changed his nature, truly transformed by his serious illness and developed compassion, or is it because his evil and cruelty were only directed towards her?
Su Muying was unaware of this, and she didn't care whether she knew or not.
However, regardless of the circumstances, this is ultimately a good thing for Anju.
As long as Xie Linyuan remains stationed in Anzhou and garrisons troops there, the imperial army will be unable to breach the city's defenses.
Anju will not suffer another bloodbath and massacre.
The people living in Anju will live in peace and safety.
The tragedy that befell her parents... will never happen again.
This is a good thing.
Good thing.
Even though Su Muying still regarded Xie Linyuan as a demon, she would sometimes dream of that dark room at night, of Xie Linyuan, who was covered in ghostly energy, had a pale face, and was always standing in front of her bed staring at her.
Every time, she would be startled awake, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Even though she didn't think Xie Linyuan was the living bodhisattva that the people of Anzhou talked about, she was just happy as long as Xie Linyuan could protect Anzhou.
As long as he can defend Anzhou.
——
Although Su Muying had lived peacefully in this small village for nearly four years, as an orphan and widow, even without makeup and dressed in coarse linen clothes, her beauty was still undeniable.
The villagers were kind and honest, and Su Muying had received some help from them. However, not everyone was kind-hearted. There were always a couple of greedy and lustful people who would take advantage of her and her orphan mother and try to humiliate her. Fortunately, one time a villager saw the thugs preparing to climb over the wall and caught them.
Later, she went to the village chief. Because she was always kind to others, got along well with the villagers, and taught the children in the village to read, the village chief severely punished the thug who climbed over the wall.
But even so, it is impossible to completely sever ties.
Su Muying has recently felt that someone is lurking outside the wall. She can often hear noises, and the neighbor's dog often barks nearby.
Today, just after Su Muying finished tidying up and putting the child to sleep, she keenly sensed the furtive footsteps coming from the wall, as if someone was trying to climb over the wall.
The big yellow dog started barking again.
Su Muying woke up suddenly, feeling scared. As she was about to go to the kitchen to get a cleaver, she suddenly heard a short scream of pain.
It was almost instantaneous, and then it disappeared completely.
The brevity made her think it was just an illusion.
After that short, sharp cry of pain, the outside world fell into complete silence.
The footsteps from the other side of the wall could no longer be heard, but the big yellow dog's barking grew louder, as if it had seen something extremely terrifying. After a moment, it howled twice more and then fell silent completely.
Su Muying stood behind the door with a kitchen knife for a long time. Only when there was no sound coming from outside did she put down the knife and let out a long breath.
Anyway, she can finally get a good night's sleep.
After that, she never heard any strange sounds at night again, except for the occasional bark of the big yellow dog.
But the barking was much softer than before, and it was unclear whether the big yellow dog had spotted some wild beast even more ferocious than itself.
Everything seemed peaceful.
However, outside the courtyard wall, Su Muying found a few dried red marks that looked like blood but weren't quite blood.
Su Muying squatted down and looked at it for a long, long time, then she stood up and stopped looking.
Su Muying continued to live her life peacefully and steadily, just like before.
One day, while she was washing clothes by a river, the water flowing between her fingers suddenly turned blood red.
Su Muying was startled. Following the direction from which the blood was flowing, she discovered a person!
Judging from the shoulders and legs, it is the figure of a man.
The man appeared to be covered in wounds, with blood gushing out incessantly, threatening to stain the entire river crimson.
Is that person still alive...?
Thinking of saving lives, Su Muying put down the clothes she was holding and quickly walked up against the current.
When she reached the man, she knelt down and painstakingly turned his face, which was submerged in the river, to check if he was still breathing. But when she saw his face, Su Muying froze.
How could it be him...?
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