Chapter 67 Gouging Out His Eyes: Chen Yun Has Gone Mad (End of Flashback)
Song Ying pushed open the courtyard gate, carrying food he had bought from the morning market. A smile appeared on his face, and his steps seemed much lighter.
"Shutang, come and try the wontons your senior brother specially bought for you this morning from West Street. They're still hot..." He looked up and saw Lin Shutang walking towards him in a hurry. He quickly stopped her, "It's still early. Let's eat first."
"Senior brother, I heard that the officials are searching for spies extensively. I'd like to go and see for myself. Could you provide any clues?"
Lin Shutang quickly explained, and then continued walking past him without stopping.
She had thought it over. Instead of waiting for news from Shen Yun, she decided to go to the yamen herself and see if she could find any clues that could help him.
Upon hearing this, Song Ying immediately understood her true intentions. The smile in his eyes vanished quickly, replaced by a hint of hostility. He gripped her wrist tightly and pulled her back without further ado.
"Shutang, he is very likely a traitor. If he stays, we will all be in big trouble!" Song Ying directly tore down the thin veil between the two and said frankly.
“Even if you don’t consider yourself, you should consider your master. The people of Xiyue are already trying to win him over. Aren’t you afraid that keeping this person, who is very likely a spy from Xiyue, will put your master in a difficult position?”
"But he's not like that! Senior brother, he's helped me a lot. Jingmutang is what it is today because of him. Right now, it's just that the officials are arresting people, and Shen Yun just happens to be absent. Are we going to throw all the blame on him?"
Lin Shutang's subconscious rebuttal made Song Ying's expression turn very ugly.
Realizing she might have overreacted, she quickly lowered her eyes. "Senior brother... I didn't mean that..."
“Junior sister, you weren’t like this before. You used to listen to your senior brother a lot.” Song Ying removed his hands from her shoulders, interrupting her directly, looking at her with some disappointment, as if he didn’t recognize the person in front of him.
"Senior brother, I..." Lin Shutang stepped forward, somewhat at a loss.
Song Ying seemed to have calmed down on his own. When he looked up again, all his emotions had disappeared, and he looked at her seriously. "Shu Tang, how about we make a bet?"
"I'll bet on whether he'll come back this time..."
...
Lin Shutang felt as if she had slept for a very long time, so long that those past events kept replaying in her mind.
She vaguely remembered that shortly after that, the garrison of Pingning City suddenly besieged Shuocheng. The forces of Xiyue were scattered in various places, and the young general in charge led his troops straight to the city. In a swift and decisive battle, Shuocheng was quickly recaptured.
The border town was filled with an exciting atmosphere. Her father had finished his business in Pingning and returned to the courtyard. She had been separated from her father and senior brother for several months and was finally reunited with them.
That person never reappeared.
later……
One evening, a group of uninvited guests arrived in the courtyard...
Lin Shutang suddenly had a headache. She frowned, as if trapped in a nightmare, and gripped the brocade quilt tightly.
It felt as if someone had gripped her hand tightly, and a fine, sharp pain rose on her skin, like being pricked by needles, before the pain in her temple subsided.
After a long, long time, she slowly opened her eyes. Before her eyes was the familiar floral pattern on the canopy, the petals of which were her favorite pink.
She turned her eyes again and immediately spotted the young man sitting by the bedside.
Compared to my memory, the contours of his eyebrows and eyes are a little deeper, the lines at the corners of his eyes are more defined, and his features are as distinct and strong as if outlined by an ink brush. The aloofness in his youthful appearance, like distant mountains covered in snow, has gradually faded, turning into the composure and cold sharpness of jade after being polished.
When she doesn't speak, her eyes, as still as a deep pool, can make anyone hold their breath and fall silent with just a glance.
Without a doubt, Lin Shutang was afraid of him. Shen Yun, who kept his sharp edge hidden, always had a calm and indifferent look in his eyes. Lin Shutang had nowhere to hide in front of him.
What's unfair is that she often couldn't figure him out.
Sensing the gaze, the young man slowly lifted his eyelids, revealing several obvious red blood vessels inside. His pale face was only marred by a bluish-green shadow under his eyes and clearly visible, floating dark purple veins.
Seeing that she was awake, he tilted his head slightly to look at her, a faint smile appearing on his dry lips. He called her name, his whole being exuding a dejected and sickly aura, but his eyes suddenly became dark and bright.
"He's awake." His voice was also very hoarse, as if he had been guarding here for a long time.
Lin Shutang was brought back to her senses by the shout. Several images flashed through her mind. Her eyes widened suddenly, and before Shen Jun's hand could reach out, she quickly got up, wrapped herself in the blanket, and shrank into a corner, looking at him with a terrified expression. "Where is Song, Song Ying?"
As her consciousness gradually returned, the events of that night on Xiwu Mountain flooded back like a flowing stream, with scene after scene flashing before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
She remembered Song Ying lying in a pool of blood, convulsing and trembling, and began to scream uncontrollably, "Where is my senior brother!"
"What did you do to him! What did you do to him!"
Lin Shutang stared intently at him. Her anxiety and worry for Song Ying seemed to have lessened her fear of Shen Yun as well. At first, she wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, but now she could even reach out with trembling hands to tug at his sleeve.
"My senior brother is still alive, isn't he?"
She tentatively approached, her voice gradually softening as she spoke softly, as if hoping that he would utter words of pity to reassure her.
Shen Yun's hand, which was reaching for her cheek, froze in mid-air because Lin Shutang dodged. His eyes darkened, and his gaze slowly moved from her anxious and frightened face to the hands that were gripping his sleeves so tightly that the fingertips were white. He suddenly laughed.
The voice was terrifyingly cold, but it stopped after just one sound.
Before Lin Shutang could even ponder his meaning, he grabbed the back of her head with his large hand and pulled her close, the two of them almost face to face in an instant.
She saw his dark eyes move slightly in front of her, as if he were pondering something.
"Song Ying?"
He opened his lips, making a very soft sound, and Lin Shutang instantly held her breath, staring intently at him, her teeth chattering unconsciously.
"He's not dead, he's still alive and well."
The unexpected answer left Lin Shutang momentarily stunned, followed by a wave of relief that gradually subsided the pent-up frustration in her chest.
As the person beneath his palm slowly relaxed their spine, Shen Yun's fingertips caressed the soft flesh of the back of her neck, his gaze remaining fixed on her face the entire time, tracing her eyelashes, the tip of her nose, and her lips inch by inch, not missing any of her changing expressions.
He saw her reveling in the relief of surviving this ordeal, saw her breath, which had been stagnant, exhale from her throat, and saw joy radiating from the corners of her eyes and brows, a blush of watery red.
A chilling coldness rose eerily from those seemingly inhuman, pitch-black eyes, slowly seeping in and freezing her beautiful face until it was almost distorted.
She could no longer feign even the slightest restraint and gentleness.
He applied force with his palm, forcing her to look up. Sure enough, the moment she saw his face, her eyes quickly filled with terror, as if he were some kind of monstrous beast.
He slowly approached her, speaking softly, his eyes fixed on her as if genuinely curious, "Does A-Tang care about him that much?"
Lin Shutang looked back at him in shock, understanding his unspoken meaning. Her lips moved unconsciously, "I... Shen Yun, please let him go."
Tears finally streamed down her face as she helplessly clutched his clothes, almost pleading.
"I will never run away again, please, let him go."
She cried uncontrollably, her face flushed, and her voice was hoarse from repeatedly making promises.
Shen Yun looked at her indifferently, his cool fingertips slowly caressing the soft flesh on the side of her neck. "What a coincidence, he said the same thing to me too."
He glanced at her, his casual tone carrying a chilling undercurrent that seeped into her very bones. In her stunned gaze, he spoke each word with a hint of gritted teeth and hatred, "Beg me to let you go."
Lin Shutang stood there stunned, staring at the person in front of him in horror, unable to react at all.
She had never seen Shen Yun like this before. Even in the past, no matter how angry he was, he would never have looked so gloomy and menacing, as if a storm was brewing.
He was clearly smiling, but she felt a chill run through her body.
She heard him murmur in an almost incomprehensible, resentful, and venomous voice, "You two really are equally worried about each other, aren't you?"
He lowered his eyes, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. His gaze suddenly drifted to the headboard. Lin Shutang seemed to sense his gaze and stiffly turned her head. In her line of sight, on the small table by the bed, lay a pair of bloody eyeballs!
The large, perfectly round sphere, stiffly retaining its terrified expression, stared directly into Lin Shutang's eyes. Wet blood covered the whites of her eyes, as if the scene of her being gouged out was vividly recreated before her eyes, a silent cry seeking her protection.
Lin Shutang screamed uncontrollably, trembling as she tried to hide further into the bed, but Shen Yun held her firmly. Blood vessels welled up from the corners of his eyes, like a spider web entwining his dark, trembling pupils.
“He wanted to see you, and you wanted to see him, so I brought his eyes with me. Is A-Tang happy?” He bent down and approached, reaching out to pull Lin Shu-Tang’s ankle.
It was as if he had received a gift and wanted to present it, excitedly craving Lin Shutang's approval and praise.
“I misjudged him with that sword strike back then; it only ruined his voice. This time, to ensure that everything goes perfectly, I gouged out his entire eyeball. He will never be able to regain his sight.”
As if he had solved a particularly thorny issue, his usually cold and composed expression finally showed unusual emotional fluctuations, like the undulating mountains.
With his back to the doors and windows, the shadows enveloped him, and Lin Shutang could only see his face, which was shrouded in darkness, as if a piece of his cheek had been eaten away, and his eyes were as if ink was about to flow out.
He leaned closer to her and breathed softly, "Next time, I'll peel his face off. Isn't he the best at making woodwork? I'll have him make a puppet the same size as him, and then I'll put his skin on you, so you can see him day and night. A-Tang will like that, won't she?"
He said, looking at Lin Shutang with hopeful eyes, as if he were discussing something with her.
Lin Shutang remained silent for a long time, only covering her mouth and looking at him with a pair of terrified eyes, tears welling up in her eyes, as if she didn't recognize him at all.
She looked so pitiful that he had no choice but to soften his tone and coax her. He gently touched the back of her hand with his palm and pulled it down, asking, "A-Tang, do you still want to see him?"
He seemed very generous, as if he was willing to give her another chance.
Lin Shutang's tears flowed like pearls from a broken string, and a wave of nausea rose in her stomach. She pushed him away abruptly and, holding onto the edge of the bed, kept dry heaving.
They've gone mad.
This is insane!
Shen Yun has gone mad!
With only this one thought in her mind, she suddenly felt a surge of strength from nowhere, and she jumped out of bed at lightning speed, running barefoot outside.
She tried to push open the door, but it was locked from the outside. She tried to open the window, but it wouldn't budge.
The footsteps behind her were steady, each step feeling like it was pressing down on her heart. Lin Shutang felt her scalp tingle and almost wanted to scream, but suddenly all her strength gave way and she slid down the wall.
He bent down, picked her up, and gently placed her on the bed.
“Ah Tang is always disobedient, she should be locked up.” He said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, gently covering her with the blanket and brushing the stray hairs from her face.
Lin Shutang turned her head away, her eyes unfocused as she stared into the void. "You will be punished."
His expression paled for a moment, but his hand still gently brushed away the stray strands of hair from her cheek, and he said softly, "Do you think I care?"
Lin Shutang closed her eyes, and the room fell into an eerie silence once again.
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