Life: A Black and White Film (一生一世，黑白影画)

Chapter 7.1 - A Dense, Impervious Light (1)

His shadow was stretched into a long, black outline as he passed amongst the trees. Encountering a gigantic tree root, he tightened his hold slightly on the woman in his arms, sprung up onto the root in only a few steps, and then once more melted into an even deeper blackness...

She awoke twice in the early morning hours. In his arms, she watched as he conversed with a local who was propelling a boat with a pole along the river's edge. She squirmed, trying to get down to walk herself. Cheng Muyun pointed at the corner of the boat for her to see—there lay a corpse covered with a white cloth.

"There are crocodiles in this river. That young person is a local. His body was just salvaged from the water." With a low voice, Cheng Muyun told her in Russian, the language only he and she could understand, "A few days ago, there were also some local people who went into the mountains to collect grass for hay and were attacked by a wild tiger. Two men and one woman died. For the mere fact that I carried you and walked out of that forest, you should be thanking Buddha for his blessing and protection and not... always trying to get away from me. At least, here in this place, only I will truly protect you."

Wen Han moved her lips, feeling somewhat thirsty.

He asked to borrow a canteen of water from the boatman. Without care for whether or not the canteen was so dirty people would not even want bring their lips to it, he stuffed it into her mouth and, after pouring a couple of mouthfuls down her throat, also took a couple of drinks from it himself.

In this early morning, ripples undulated across the water's surface. So placid and beautiful.

Wen Han lay in his arms. She could tell Cheng Muyun was in a very good mood right now.

After so many days of being with him and interacting with him, she even realized that, though she did not know about his background or past, she was already beginning to grasp his temperament. For example, when he was in a good mood, like now, he liked to squint his eyes slightly and let the focus of his gaze fall on something in the distance.

"Just where are you taking me?" Wen Han asked him.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

"India." Cheng Muyun told her in a neutral voice, "We were actually already close to Nepal's border, but because your wound needs anti-inflammatory drugs and a few days of rest to recover, we must find a place to stay for several days." This was the first time he told her his plans.

She had originally simply wanted to probe and ask a few questions while he was in a good mood. She had not expected he would be so open.

Hope came into her eyes. Maybe this man wanted only to punish her for disobeying him, and when he grew bored of it, he would let her go in India.

Cheng Muyun lowered his head to glance at her. "There is no way I will let you go. If you want to curse someone, curse the person who has been fanatically trying to woo you. He is the one who caused you to be caught up in this present situation and to have to live this type of lifestyle."

While he spoke, he fed her several sleeping pills. His hand even gently stroked her hair, so that on the outside, they appeared to be a loving, young married couple.

By noon, they finally entered a derelict place. Cheng Muyun knocked on the door of an ordinary dwelling that had a sign saying, "Lodging available." The middle-aged woman who opened the door was terribly shocked when she caught sight of the several scratches on his face, which had obviously been put there by sharp vegetation, and also his extremely dirty pants that were wholly saturated with mud.

When the woman saw the person, whose gender was no longer distinguishable, in his arms, she soon comprehended and welcomed the two in. Cheng Muyun very proficiently communicated with her in the local language, explaining that they were self-guided travellers and they had encountered ferocious animals in the nearby forest...