Chapter 4 The tears on his cheeks were gradually lowered by him...
The young man's black eyes were slightly startled when he heard this. He lowered his head to glance at the bright pink peach blossoms fallen on the ground, his eyes showing an unclear emotion.
Seeing the suspicion and vigilance in Xiao Xun's eyes, the little girl blushed and said, "I'm alone...you're alone too, why don't we play together?"
Ten-year-old Yan Shu didn't understand the twists and turns of human relationships. She only knew that she liked the handsome proton in front of her. It just so happened that he was always alone, just like herself, so she thought it would be perfect for the two of them to be together.
But what Xiao Yanshu didn't know was that her shy invitation actually caused a slight ripple in the fourteen-year-old boy's heart, which had been damp for many years.
Yan Shu has always been like this. Since Xiao Xun didn't refuse at that time, she automatically treated him as her playmate from that day on.
So from then on, Yan Shu often went to the lake to chat with Xiao Xun. Although Xiao Xun still looked cold, he never explicitly rejected her harassment.
Sometimes when Yan Shu couldn't pick the flowers from the branches, Xiao Xun would silently raise his hand and pick them for her.
Even at a palace banquet, Yan Shu was bullied and harassed by Yan Ruxue. After returning home, she cried quietly in her bedroom and did not leave the room for several days. Xiao Xun, who realized something was wrong, caught a bag of glowing fireflies at night and hung them on her window.
The ten-year-old girl was innocent and naive. She looked pitiful and tearful, but when she saw the green twinkling fireflies, she was immediately attracted and all the sadness in her heart disappeared.
From then on, Yan Shu liked this little brother who cared about her and coaxed her more.
Later, Yan Shu and Xiao Yu's contacts became more and more frequent. When Hui Ji found out, her mother, who had always been gentle and kind, was shocked and pulled Yan Shu to her side and told her seriously not to contact Xiao Xun anymore.
Yan Shu certainly didn't understand why her mother was so afraid of Xiao Xun. She asked again and again, but her mother only told her not to meet Xiao Xun again without explaining any reason.
It was not until later that Yan Shu learned about a strange thing about Xiao Xun from some gossipy palace servants.
It is said that a palace servant once saw Xiao Xun strangle a pigeon to death with his own eyes. There was blood on his mouth and face. He looked extremely terrifying.
Moreover, every month, the broken limbs of snakes, rats, birds and animals would appear in his residence, and the reason was unknown.
Furthermore, Xiao Xun has a gloomy and withdrawn personality and is usually taciturn. If it weren't for his handsome appearance, his gloomy temperament would definitely scare away many people.
So as time went by, rumors spread in the palace that this hostage from the Xiao Kingdom was cruel by nature and was simply a monster who ate raw meat and drank blood.
When Yan Shu first heard these things, she didn't quite believe that Xiao Xun would be the kind of person the rumors said. After all, after spending some time with Xiao Xun, she felt that Xiao Xun was obviously a very good person.
But it was not until that time, when the rabbit that Yan Shu had raised for a year fell seriously ill and even the doctors in Yan Palace were helpless, that she secretly cried to Xiao Xun without telling her mother, feeling extremely aggrieved.
At that time, Xiao Xun saw her tears and told her that he had a way to make her rabbit stay with her forever.
Seeing Xiao Xun's confident expression, Xiao Yanshu thought that he really had a way to cure the rabbit, so she immediately handed the rabbit to him. Before leaving, she specifically told him to treat it well.
Three days later, Xiao Xun did return Yan Shu's rabbit intact, but it was placed in a wooden box.
The moment the wooden box was opened, the ten-year-old Yan Shu fell to the ground in fright.
Her rabbit was still as adorable as it was when it was alive, but it had lost all life.
Drained of blood and gutted, it was rendered lifeless. Though still vivid in appearance, her rabbit was no different from any of those stuffed dolls.
And this is what Xiao Xun meant by "staying with her forever".
He actually killed her rabbit.
Little Yan Shu immediately cried and drove the man away, but Xiao Xun frowned in confusion, his expression was as indifferent as ever. He obviously didn't understand why Yan Shu treated him like this even though he had helped her.
Seeing his expression, Yan Shu realized with some horror that Xiao Xun seemed to be really different from ordinary people.
She buried the rabbit that had been made into a doll in the back garden crying, and secretly built a small grave, vowing never to talk to Xiao Xun again.
So later, because of the rabbit incident, Yan Shu didn't go to see Xiao Xun for a whole month.
But young people always seem to forget things quickly. After Xiao Xun made a bunch of bamboo rabbits out of bamboo leaves for her to show his weakness and apologize, the little girl finally decided to forgive him hesitantly.
That day, Yan Shu took her kite and took the initiative to find Xiao Xun to play by the lake, but she saw a terrible scene in Xiao Xun's backyard that she still can't forget.
Xiao Xun is drinking blood.
There were snake corpses of all sizes lying on the bluestone slabs in the backyard, and there was actually a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.
His face was pale, his lips were bright red, but there was a terrifying and satisfied smile in his eyes. He looked exactly like the man-eating evil ghosts described in the storybooks.
Yan Shu's little face suddenly lost all color with fright.
The terrible rumors told by the palace servants instantly flashed through her mind one by one, and Yan Shu really thought that Xiao Xun was a monster.
She didn't dare to stay any longer, so she could only hold back her tears and fled from Xiao Xun's yard in panic. She didn't even dare to look back to pick up the kite in her hand after she dropped it in a panic.
That night when she returned home, Yan Shu immediately had a nightmare. In the dream, she saw Xiao Xun as a monster that ate raw meat and drank blood. She was so scared that she screamed continuously. She had to have Hui Ji by her side before she could fall asleep peacefully.
From then on, little Yan Shu stayed in her own bedroom and never mentioned meeting Xiao Xun again.
But Xiao Xun, who had always been cold before, started to pester Yan Shu in various ways from the day she cut off contact.
Whenever Yan Shu saw the items Xiao Xun had sent over, she would always remember his smiling face with blood all over his mouth.
He was so scared that he screamed and asked the maid to throw away all the things he had given her.
During that period, Yan Shu tried her best to avoid Xiao Xun, but no matter how much she avoided him, there would always be times when she was careless.
One day when I went to the lake to appreciate the flowers, I ran into him head-on.
Yan Shu immediately turned around in fear and tried to escape, but Xiao Xun grabbed her arm tightly.
Yan Shu still remembered that Xiao Xun only said one sentence coldly at that time, but just that one sentence became a nightmare for her every night.
"Shushu, you were the one who provoked me, why do you say no and then refuse?"
A cold and gloomy tone sounded in her ears. Little Yan Shu didn't dare to say anything and could only shed tears.
But the tears like broken pearls did not make Xiao Xun feel any softness in his heart. He actually bent down and licked the tears on his cheeks bit by bit.
Thinking of how Xiao Xun had drunk snake blood before, Xiao Yanshu was really terrified, fearing that he would bite her cheek and suck her blood the next moment.
In the days that followed, Yan Shu was forced to continue being Xiao Xun's playmate. However, rather than being equal playmates, it would be more accurate to say that she had become Xiao Xun's property.
In the past, Yan Shu dared to pinch Xiao Xun's face and pull his sleeves and cry, but later, when she saw him, even her fingertips would tremble.
She no longer dared to regard Xiao Xun as a gentle and harmless boy as she did before.
The hands that had once caught fireflies for her were now stained with warm blood, and those dark eyes always seemed to be filled with a faint and compassionate light when looking at her.
At first, Yan Shu was always crying out of fear, until Xiao Xun would pinch her chin and lick away her tears bit by bit. Yan Shu no longer dared to cry in front of Xiao Xun, and even had to cover her mouth when she couldn't help sobbing, for fear that he would hear the slightest sob.
At that time, in Yan Shu's eyes, Xiao Xun had changed from a gentle and handsome boy who caught fireflies for her to a terrifying, cruel and bloodthirsty monster.
Although Yan Shu never smiled at Xiao Xun later, Xiao Xun didn't seem to mind and still pestered her every day, as if what happened before had never happened.
Every afternoon, he would still knock on her window with a dew-soaked branch, calling her "Shu Shu" in the same cheerful tone as before. Even if Yan Shu's face was filled with fear and disgust, Xiao Xun still stubbornly went to find her.
Under the peach tree in Cuihu Lake where they first met, he pinned the blossoms to Yan Shu's ears, just as Yan Shu had brought flowers for him. However, his cold fingertips gently pinched the back of her neck like a snake, and his tone was particularly infatuated.
"Shushu, please don't ever leave me, okay? I'm the one who treats you the best, right?"
Seeing the infatuation in Xiao Xun's eyes, Yan Shu's fear and panic really reached its peak at that moment.
Later, it was unknown how Yan Ruxue found out that she was familiar with Xiao Xun.
In fact, Yan Ruxue had already been furious after learning that Yan Shu was actually spending every day with that lowly hostage.
Thinking back, she had taken the initiative to show her affection to the hostage because she was attracted by his looks, but not only did he not appreciate it, he even treated her coldly.
Now, seeing that the hostage of the Xiao Kingdom was actually in love with Yan Shu, and considering that she had always disliked Yan Shu, new and old grudges were intertwined, and she was burning with jealousy and hatred.
So she deliberately conspired with a group of noble ladies who were attached to her to frame Yan Shu and spread rumors everywhere, saying that Yan Shu had close contacts with the hostage of the Xiao State, spent all day hanging out with her, behaved frivolously, and damaged the reputation of the Yan State.
Yan Shu was still young at the time, and how could she withstand such slander? Every time she heard those rumors, her eyes would turn red with grievance, but she could not speak to defend herself because of Xiao Xun's constant pestering.
However, Yan Ruxue became more and more arrogant, and would mock Yan Shu in a sarcastic tone whenever she saw her.
"At such a young age, you're already as charming and skillful as your mother. However, someone like you is only fit to seduce that lowly proton."
Yan Shu was so angry when she heard her flirting with people left and right and being so mean that she couldn't help but refute that she had nothing to do with Xiao Xun.
Seeing this, Yan Ruxue deliberately provoked her with words. She said that if Yan Shu did not want to be misunderstood, she had to prove that she had no connection with the Xiao Kingdom hostage. Otherwise, she would report to her father that Yan Shu had liaised with the hostage of the enemy country, and both Yan Shu and Hui Ji would be punished.
Mother is a pitiful person. How could Yan Shu feel at ease if she was punished by her father because of her own affairs?
So in order to protect her mother, and also because she wanted to completely break off Xiao Xun's entanglement with her, Yan Shu somehow believed what Yan Ruxue said.
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