Man from the Wild South

Chapter 3

hapter 3 (Part 1)

Feng Jin tells Shang Guan Jing about his condition. “I will bleed, once a month without fail… since the day I was born. My clan elders said that this is a blood curse. There is an evil spirit who has followed me when I was born which gave me in my strange looks …. and this weird illness..” Although a bit breathless, he manages firmly. “Now please leave. Take it as if I’m begging you…. I will only bring you misfortune. Leave.”

He closes his eyes tiredly and to his shock, he hears footsteps leading to the door.

Did she just leave?

He has been quite sure that she is going to stick to his side like glue and his blood rushes up his head at the unexpected turn of events.

His head spinning at the same time he tries to think of a countermeasure. No, he cannot accept this turnout. He must do something.

Unfortunately, the bleeding has fried his brain and no solution comes forth. His mental exertion causes him to bleed more profusely and at one point, he thought that he might just drown in his own blood any minute.

Suddenly, he feels a cool cloth against his face and he relaxes a little as she wipes the blood away from his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. He opens his eyes to look at her and she must have seen the question in the depth of his eyes for she starts to explain. “I have searched the whole house but I cannot find any servants. I tried calling for them but there is no answer too. This is really strange; I have thought that someone would be around since all the lights are lit. But there is no one so we are on our own. I have prepared a wet towel to wipe your face. If I am too rough, Master Feng must pardon my poor nursing skills for I am not very experienced.”

If she can find a servant, it will be his turn to be shocked, but Feng Jin only says aloud: “I like the house to be quiet and my servants are aware of my preference. They will leave me alone at nightfall and you will not be able to find anyone.” Pause. “You really should leave. If you stay but ends up regretting your decision one day, don’t say that I have not tried to warn you….”

She covers his mouth with the wet towel and snuffs out whatever else he is going to say. She has thought that Feng Jin is a literal gentle man and this stubborn side of him is a surprise. Is he truly that independent or is he acting independent? But no matter which it is, her heroine instincts have been invoked and there is no way she is leaving him to fend for himself. Leave him alone? What a joke.

As she starts to wipe his other cheek, he gasps. “Why are you smiling?”

He tries to push away the annoying cloth from his face but she restrains his hand without much difficulty. His wrist may be bigger than hers, but with little flesh on them and in his feeble state, his protest is feeble at best – and makes him more vulnerable in her eyes. In her book, this man is thoroughly in need of tender loving care. “Nope, you are mistaken. I am not smiling.”

“You are. I saw it. Do not think that I cannot see clearly just because I have blood in my eyes.”

She nearly snorts. “You remind me of someone.”

He presses his lips together tightly and his expression turns ominous. “I reminded you of someone? Who? A man perhaps?”

“Rubbish!” she snorts.

“Who exactly did I remind you of?” He discovered some energy left in him afterall and struggles to sit up.

He is really acting strange tonight, Shang Guan Jing thinks. It has not crossed her mind that he can be this stubborn – obstinate even – but then again it has not crossed her mind either that someone could bleed through his eyes, mouth, nose and ears on every full moon. She can only say that his core could be quite different from his outward easy-going ways, and she quells the urge to press him down by the forehead. “You reminds me of my Xiao Shi Mei. Her name is Du Qing Qing.”