Hidden Shadow – CH 105

Chapter One-Hundred-Five: Dare to Offer Yourself in Return?

An Jiu opened her eyes. The light was a bit blinding, so she closed them to adjust.

“Awake?” Chu Dingjiang was somewhat surprised.

An Jiu turned her stiff neck and saw a black-clad man in close-fitting clothes sitting opposite her with an imposing presence. His back was straight, and his form-fitting clothes outlined his figure, vaguely revealing muscles brimming with immense power, like a leopard poised to pounce.

“Chu Dingjiang?” An Jiu stared at the half-mask on his face.

“Not bad eyesight.” He stood up and reached out to take her pulse.

The warm fingers on An Jiu’s wrist felt like they were burning, and she involuntarily flinched, but Chu Dingjiang held her firmly.

The pulse was normal, but there was no change in her internal energy, so he was certain that the previous signs of a breakthrough were a breakthrough in mental power, something that could not be detected by pulse diagnosis.

“You were unconscious for half a month.” Chu Dingjiang released his grip. “You are finally better now.”

“Did you save me?” An Jiu asked. “Thank you.”

Chu Dingjiang said calmly, “I dare not take credit. It is all thanks to someone who treated your wounds beforehand and gave you the antidote; otherwise, even a celestial being could not have saved you.”

An Jiu’s memory of the incident was somewhat fragmented, but she remembered that only Mo Sigui was by her side. The only person who could do such a thing for her was him.

Thinking of this, An Jiu looked up at the man before her. “You saved me; how do you want me to repay you?”

A smile appeared in Chu Dingjiang’s eyes. “How about repaying me with your body?”

“I did not expect you to be so flirtatious beneath your seemingly serious exterior,” An Jiu said.

“I am not joking.” Chu Dingjiang’s gaze shifted to her chest. “When I retrieved the hidden weapon in you, I saw your body. From this day forward, you are my wife. As for the wedding, I am serving in the Konghe Army and cannot give you a grand dowry. Only a pair of red candles and a wedding quilt are offered; I apologize for the inconvenience.” As a member of the Konghe Army, taking a wife without permission was a great risk for Chu Dingjiang; this was the limit of what he could offer.

“Are you repaying a debt of gratitude?” An Jiu asked calmly.

Chu Dingjiang frowned. “What are you talking about? I am simply doing what a true man should do!”

“Then I will repay this debt in another way. You do not mind, do you?” An Jiu thought carefully and, considering her debt to Chu Dingjiang, added, “Although my views on sex are not very conservative, I am not inclined towards promiscuity, and you do not need to take responsibility for that.”

Chu Dingjiang froze, his face suddenly flushing red. He awkwardly coughed a few times and looked away to compose himself.

Having weathered countless storms and bloodshed, he was a man of experience and quickly regained his composure, calmly changing the subject. “There’s porridge. Want some?”

“Yes,” An Jiu answered succinctly.

Chu Dingjiang went out and soon returned with a bowl of plain porridge. He sat down by the bed and spooned the porridge to An Jiu’s lips.

His movements were clumsy. He did not even help An Jiu sit up; it was clear he had never cared for anyone before, and An Jiu simply ate it from the spoon.

For both of them, feeding and being fed were memories buried deep within their being. Although it seemed somewhat incongruous, a strange emotion flowed between them.

After An Jiu finished the bowl of porridge, Chu Dingjiang said, “Want to go outside and sit?”

An ordinary person would have found this strange—why go outside in the middle of the night when there was no sun? But strangely, An Jiu readily agreed to the suggestion.

After half a month, An Jiu’s external wounds had healed, and she could move around a little without difficulty.

An Jiu sat on the veranda, draped in a cloak, her hands gathered over her chest, squinting at the distant mountains in the night.

Chu Dingjiang leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the whorl of hair on An Jiu’s head.

He sat quietly until the moon set.

Chu Dingjiang said, “Let’s go back inside.”

An Jiu did not move. “If someone told you before they died to live well, would you choose to follow their dying wish or avenge them?”

Chu Dingjiang had not known An Jiu much, but he could see her coldness inside and out. He had not expected her to value someone so much.

An Jiu looked up into his dark eyes.

Chu Dingjiang paused for a moment, then said, “Life is full of meetings and partings, no longer than a hundred years and shorter than a moment. Just let things take their course.”

An Jiu nodded in agreement. “Is the Commander of the Konghe Army very free?”

Otherwise, why would Chu Dingjiang have been here taking care of her for half a month?

“Of course not.” Chu Dingjiang smiled. “But I was demoted a long time ago.”

An Jiu raised an eyebrow.

This was an inquiry.

It concerned the secrets of the Konghe Army, something Chu Dingjiang should not have told her, but he did not hide it. “So many people are trying to oust me. Recent events have caused heavy losses for the Konghe Army, giving them a convenient excuse.”

He did not try to seize power now to avoid an unfavorable opportunity.

“Was the Emperor the one who attacked the Lou and Mei families?” An Jiu did not know if she’d get an answer, but she asked anyway, curious about the ruthless mastermind behind it all.

“If the Emperor wanted to act, he would not choose such drastic methods. Although the current Emperor is quite calculating, he seeks immortality and would not act too cruelly,” Chu Dingjiang said. “Currently, all the clues point to Yelu Huangwu of Liao, and I believe it is undoubtedly her.”

An Jiu looked at him quietly. “What’s your mentality in telling me everything?”

If he considered her one of his own just because he saw her body, that was absurd! There might be many such people in this era, but An Jiu’s intuition told her Chu Dingjiang was not.

“It’s a long story.” Chu Dingjiang examined An Jiu and found her meridians completely destroyed. He initially thought it was because he had forcibly widened them, forcing her to use the Startling the String technique.

Of course, her physical condition also played a role. There were many other subtle reasons, such as An Jiu’s personality being a good listener for him. As a master of the Transcendent Realm, he rarely found someone with comparable mental strength, let alone someone like An Jiu who only possessed mental strength but no internal energy. He could easily silence her like crushing an ant.

An Jiu could not fathom his many complex thoughts. She judged that Chu Dingjiang meant no harm, so she did not press him further.

“One last question,” the question An Jiu most wanted to know, “why did you save me?”

A breeze stirred, the lamplight flickered, and light danced across their faces.

After a few moments of silence, Chu Dingjiang spoke, “I did not know your meridians were destroyed beforehand.”

“You should have thrown me into the pond and drowned me long ago.”

Chu Dingjiang laughed, “Holding grudges and forgetting kindness is not a good habit; you have to change it.”

…

The sun rose slowly, the ice and snow melted, and all things revived.

In a secluded tavern seventy miles outside Bianjing, a young man in a wide, earth-yellow robe sat by the window. On the table lay a silk handkerchief, upon which lay a butterfly with tattered wings.

The table was laden with food and wine, yet it remained untouched.

“Elder, my heart is tormented,” he murmured.

The butterfly died three days after emerging from the plum blossoms. Mo Sigui had searched the entire area within a seventy-mile radius, but found no trace of her.