Chapter 07

Ruan Nian’s heart sank, her hands uncontrollably trembling. Her voice was fragmented and hoarse, “Li Teng?”

“Don’t talk.”

In the darkness, she heard a low, hoarse voice from above her head, “Ruan Nianchu, help me inside.”

Ruan Nianchu pursed her lips, gritted her teeth, and with all her strength, she lifted his arm. Li Teng was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a solid and muscular body. She, on the other hand, was delicate with slender arms and legs, requiring her full strength to barely support him.

From the doorway to the bed, just a few steps away, Ruan Nianchu struggled to support Li Teng for nearly two minutes.

As soon as they touched the edge of the bed, he instantly collapsed heavily. His heavy body thudded onto the wooden bed, making a muffled sound. Ruan Nianchu was hooked by the arm on her shoulder and let out a low exclamation, falling alongside him.

The scorching breath brushed over her forehead, a strong masculine scent mixed with the smell of blood hit her face. Startled, she hesitated, hastily and clumsily got up.

“Close the door,” Li Teng commanded with closed eyes, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Swyd Lkydnbw vssj y ellr calyvb, dseele, yde vwadle vs nzspl vbl essa. Eyzjkdt cynj vs vbl vyczl, pbl zkv vbl jlaspldl zyxr. Ju vbl ekx zktbv, pbl pyo vbl xyd sd vbl cle okvb qwaasole casop, y ryzl qynl, psyjle kd polyv, yde y czynj M-pbkav nzkdtkdt vs bkx zkjl kv nswze oakdt swv oyvla. Mblal oyp y zsdt pzkv kd vbl qycakn yaswde bkp ycesxld, pvykdle ellr casod okvb czsse.

Mbl oswde oyp tawlpsxl yde vlaakqukdt.

Tla qkdtlap valxczle yp pbl vssj y ellr calyvb yde lmbyzle, vaukdt vs nyzx blaplzq. “Zsw’al kdfwale,” pbl pyke, vbld, yp kq pweeldzu altykdkdt bla pldplp, pbl okrle bla qynl, vwadle, yde oyzjle vsoyaep vbl essa. “R’zz ts qkde psxlsdl vs blzr.”

“Fvsr,” Nk Mldt aszzle bkp vbasyv, bkp qynl pvlad, ldewakdt kdvldpl rykd. “Psd’v ts yduoblal.”

Gv bkp osaep, Swyd Lkydnbw qasgl kd rzynl, vwadle yaswde, qasodle pzktbvzu, yde pyke, “Zsw’al plakswpzu kdfwale. El nyd’v ts vs vbl bsprkvyz, cwv yv zlypv ol pbswze qkde y esnvsa.”

“Rp vblal ydusdl blal obs kp zkjl y esnvsa?”

“…”

“Usxl cynj.” Nk Mldt’p hsknl alxykdle pvlyeu, cwv bkp calyvb oyp nzlyazu kd ekpsaela. Tl takvvle bkp vllvb yde pyke, “Mblal yal xleknkdl yde cydeytlp kd vbl nyckdlv. Qlv vblx qsa xl.”

This room was simple, and at a glance, there was only one cabinet against the wall, standing out conspicuously. Ruan Nianchu glanced at him, walked over, and opened the cabinet. It was empty, except for two dark brown glass medicine bottles, gauze, scissors, pliers, a knife, and an alcohol lamp with a covered cap.

Ruan Nianchu took out gauze, scissors, and medicine. “Do you need anything else?”

Her back was cold, “Those are for digging bullets. Not needed.”

Her eyes flickered, remembering the various scars on his body. She silently brought the items to the bedside. Li Teng took a deep breath, opened his eyes, sat up with one hand supporting the bed board, veins popping on his forehead, muscles tense, and his jawline tightened.

The wound on his abdomen, where the blood had just congealed, began to ooze again.

The blood-red color was glaring. Ruan Nianchu pursed her lips, trying to ask, “…Do you want me to help?”

Li Teng refused, “No need.” After saying that, he tilted his head back, the back of his head against the wall, one leg casually bent, and he threw his black T-shirt on the ground.

Ruan Nianchu’s gaze shifted slightly. She saw the wound starting from the narrow left waist, extending up a distance. A gray dragon coiled around his shoulder and chest, with a fierce appearance. Beneath the dragon’s claw was the bloody knife wound, as if emerging from a blood-soaked valley, horrifying to the extreme.

She was somewhat scared, glanced a few times, then couldn’t help but look away.

Li Teng unscrewed the medicine bottle, and the scent of alcohol filled the room. He poured the alcohol directly onto the wound for disinfection, gritted his teeth, and sprinkled white powder. Due to the pain, the nearby muscles slightly twitched, but he didn’t even blink. The white powder quickly turned crimson upon contact with blood, but thankfully, the bleeding stopped soon.

Finally, he took the gauze, covered the wound, wrapped it around from the lower back, made a few turns, and finally snapped it off with a crisp sound, tying a knot. The movements were swift and skilled.

Only then did Ruan Nianchu breathe a sigh of relief.

After briefly handling the wound, Li Teng closed his eyes, relaxed, and then prepared to get out of bed.

She realized something and blurted out, “Since you’re injured, don’t go out to sleep.”

Li Teng didn’t even look at her, sneered weakly, his tone carrying a hint of mockery and playfulness, “I sleep here, you want to sleep with me?”

Ruan Nianchu choked for a moment, paused, and then said, “This was originally your bed; you sleep here. Don’t worry about me.”

Li Teng remained silent. However, as soon as he stood up, his vision blurred, and he almost stumbled. Ruan Nianchu who was a few steps away, hurriedly approached to support him. Then, with determination, she bit her lip and pushed his shoulder, mustering the courage to say, “Lie down quickly. With such a serious injury, what are you trying to prove…”

Before she could finish her sentence, a strong grip seized her wrist.

Startled, Ruan Nianchu reflexively looked up, finding his face inches away from hers, less than five centimeters apart. Then, he turned away.

Setting aside other factors, Ruan Nianchu always felt that there was hardly any flaw in Li Teng’s face. His temperament was too unique, both rebellious and upright. Even in a crowd of thugs, it was difficult to truly feel disgust towards him. At this moment, he stared at her, the usual frostiness in his black eyes softened, resembling the deep sea.

The proximity made her feel a bit awkward, so she took a step back, blushing on her cheeks. “…Let go of me.”

“…,” Li Teng didn’t release his grip, closed his eyes, furrowed his brows, his face showing unbearable fatigue. “Ruan…”

“What?”

“Ruan Nianchu.” His voice was terrifyingly low and hoarse. Lips parted, the breath he exhaled brushed against her earlobe, a faint scent of tobacco mixed in the cool air. “Be good.”

His fingers were long and rough, their warmth scorching, burning the skin on her wrist. Ruan Nianchu’s face turned crimson, she lowered her gaze, her throat feeling a bit dry. “You’re tired; rest quickly.”

Only then did Li Teng close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep.

He was asleep, but the five fingers that had grabbed her wrist still held tightly. Ruan Nianchu pulled her hand away, but his grip was too strong. After freeing herself, she glanced at her own fair and tender skin, now marked with a faint red circle.

Ruan Nianchu was speechless. Subconsciously, she rubbed her wrist, feeling a slight ache, lingering warmth from his fingers, and something seemed to be burning…

Burning? She hesitated, her eyes flickering, thinking of something. She leaned down, reaching out to touch Li Teng’s forehead. Similarly, the temperature was alarmingly high. It seemed he had a fever.

A sinking feeling in her heart, Ruan Nianchu furrowed her brows, pondered for a moment, then got up, opened the door, and went out.

~

In the camp, besides Li Teng, Ruan Nianchu only knew Little Tori and Aunt Xin. Apart from them, she didn’t trust anyone else.

After much consideration, she ultimately decided to seek help from Aunt Xin.

Knock, knock, the sound of the door being knocked on shattered the silence. Ruan Nianchu anxiously stood outside, waiting.

Soon, slow footsteps echoed from inside the room, and then the door opened. Aunt Xin raised the lamp, and the face of the young girl came into view.

“…,” Aunt Xin looked at her somewhat bewildered.

Knowing that Aunt Xin couldn’t understand Chinese, Ruan Nianchu thought for a moment and said, “Do you know English?”

Aunt Xin smiled apologetically and replied in Khmer, “I’m sorry. Miss, I don’t know what you’re saying.”

Ruan Nianchu closed her eyes, pinched her brow, and after a moment, she grabbed Aunt Xin’s hand and walked straight out. Although Aunt Xin didn’t understand, she didn’t refuse and followed her into Li Teng’s bamboo house. When she looked at the bed, she instantly understood.

Ruan Nianchu cast a pleading look at her.

Aunt Xin remained silent for a moment, patted her hand as a gesture of comfort, then turned aside and pointed outside. Following Aunt Xin’s finger, Ruan Nianchu saw a large water tank. Aunt Xin gestured a few movements, indicating for her to bring water in to help Li Teng cool down his fever.

Ruan Nianchu nodded quickly, picked up a basin, and ran out in a hurry.

A few minutes later, when she returned to the room carrying the basin, Aunt Xin was nowhere to be seen. Without much thought, she put down the basin, soaked the towel, wrung it half-dry, and then, gritting her teeth, took a deep breath and reached out to wipe Li Teng’s forehead.

However, before the towel could touch the edge, Li Teng suddenly woke up.

Ruan Nianchu was caught off guard, her hand holding the towel suddenly hurt, and then she felt her body being forcefully pulled forward, rough and aggressive. In just a few seconds, she was abruptly pressed onto the bed, the cold blade against her jaw.

Li Teng’s eyes were bloodshot, staring at her with a gaze filled with madness and murderous intent.

He growled, “What the hell are you doing?”

“…,” she was anxious, difficultly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and said, “You have a fever, I’m using cold water to wipe you… physical cooling.”

Fever?

Li Teng frowned, closed his eyes, put away the knife, grabbed Ruan Nianchu’s wrist, tossed her aside, and then fell back onto the bed. Lying down, his breathing was heavy, and beneath the white gauze, a large area turned red.

Ruan Nianchu was speechless, her frustration bubbling up with no outlet. She could only roll her eyes and mutter under her breath, “The dog bites Lu Dongbin¹Chinese proverb: A person doesn’t know good intentions and repays with harm.”

The person on the bed sounded unfriendly, “Who are you cursing?”

She stayed silent for a few seconds, dryly coughed twice, “You misheard, I didn’t curse anyone.” After asserting herself, she focused again and used the semi-dry towel to wipe his forehead and face.

This time, Li Teng made no further movements.

Forehead, face, neck, broad shoulders, tight chest muscles, powerful waist and abdomen… Ruan Nianchu wiped meticulously, avoiding the wound around the injury with great care.

Despite admonishing herself several times before, as she started to work, the temperature on her face couldn’t be restrained from rising. Ruan Nianchu realized for the first time that even when a sexy man was half-dead from a serious injury, he could still be incredibly sexy.

Her mind was filled with wild and random thoughts.

Suddenly, “Ruan Nianchu.”

He still had his eyes closed, his voice deep and light, surprisingly carrying a rare touch of gentleness.

Ruan Nianchu paused in her movements. In her memory, he rarely called her by her name, and tonight, this was already the third time.

She softly responded with an acknowledgment.

“Has anyone ever told you,” at this distance, his breath seemed to linger in the air around her, “that the way you smile is very beautiful.”

Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5⭐ review. (人❛ᴗ❛)♪тнайк　чоц♪(❛ᴗ❛*人)

You can also check out my other translations Here