Chapter 6: Rainstorm in the Cave
Separated from her beloved husband by death, the memories, still vivid after the passage of two lifetimes, were like a bursting dam, sweeping her into a web of grief from which she could not escape.
His sudden interruption brought some clarity to Feng Yuzhen’s grief-addled mind. She remembered her brother-in-law was still in the room, and she had just made a fool of herself in front of him.
Her thoughts returned, and she managed to rein in her emotions. She took the handkerchief with a sob, wiped her face haphazardly, and unceremoniously smeared all her tears onto it.
Only after wiping did she belatedly realize that the blue handkerchief in her hand was probably her brother-in-law’s personal item. She awkwardly lowered the hand that was about to return it, deciding to wash it for him when they got back.
Although her mood slowly stabilized, she had, after all, had a long cry, and her chest felt hollowed out. Her legs were numb from squatting, and she had to lean heavily on the table leg to stand up.
Just as she was about to close the jewelry box and take it with her, her hand paused. Feng Yuzhen stared for two seconds, then searched through the box and scanned the table, but still couldn’t find it.
The most special hairpin was missing.
The reason she hadn’t thought of it at first was that Feng Yuzhen had deliberately forgotten the hairpin’s origin.
That day, Cui Ze had taken a marten he had shot to town to sell the pelt. When he got home, Feng Yuzhen happened to be visiting her second sister. He was a restless person and had gone into the forest to gather firewood, which was how he had met with disaster.
He had stumbled back and run right into Feng Yuzhen. A joyful smile had barely managed to appear on his already purplish face. He clutched the two bloody holes in his neck, unable to speak a single word.
With a trembling, blood-stained hand, he had pulled a white jade hairpin from his robes. This was the last hairpin Cui Ze would ever give her. In the blink of an eye, her husband had collapsed stiffly to the ground, and Feng Yuzhen had been too panicked to do anything but scream for help.
Now that he was gone, everything related to him had become exceptionally precious, but she didn’t know where she had carelessly tossed it in her panic.
While she was searching, Cui Jingkong, who had been ignored all this time, spoke up. “Is Sister-in-law looking for this?”
The young man’s gaze was steady. Lying in his hand was the very same jade hairpin.
Feng Yuzhen felt inexplicably embarrassed, her hands and feet fidgeting.
Even though Cui Jingkong hadn’t said a word, it felt as if his dark, cold eyes had witnessed, from beginning to end, the intimacy that belonged only to her and Cui Ze.
“Where did you find it?”
“Under the table.”
She nodded, pretending nothing was wrong, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear to hide her embarrassment, her earlobe burning.
The cured meat under the eaves was gone, probably carried off by a hawk or a fox. Due to limited space, they could only pack the things they urgently needed.
As Feng Yuzhen bolted the door, she hesitated. No matter how she looked at it, the house in the mountains seemed much better than the dilapidated brick house in the west of the village. But on second thought, there were also significant hidden dangers.
For example, when Cui Ze was alive, he would light a fire in front of the house every night. Every four or five days, he would pour realgar wine and burn mugwort around the base of the walls to repel insects and beasts. The slightest rustle of grass in the wind at night would wake him, and he would get up to check.
But now, Feng Yuzhen was alone. She had neither the survival skills to live off the land nor the courage to live by herself.
A widow’s doorway is a place of much gossip. For now, her only possible path to survival was to cling tightly to her brother-in-law.
Each carrying a bundle, they hurried down the mountain while it was still early. But the scorching midday sun gradually lost its power, and when they looked up, they saw a thick, dark cloud drifting over.
The air grew heavy with moisture, and Feng Yuzhen’s lame leg began to ache. But neither she nor Cui Jingkong had any intention of stopping.
They were only halfway down, with no village in sight, truly caught in a dilemma.
The sky darkened, and the branches of the trees in the forest swayed. The withered yellow leaves of winter rustled down, landing on their hair and faces.
The wind had picked up, and it was strong. This was going to be a fierce storm.
A sharp pain shot through Feng Yuzhen’s chest. Cui Jingkong, who had been walking beside her, saw her struggling and moved to the front to lead the way.
The early spring wind wasn’t cold enough to feel like a knife cutting flesh, but a blast of cold air shot straight into her mouth and down into her lungs, scraping past her organs. She couldn’t catch her breath and was forced to stop.
Cui Jingkong looked up. The dark clouds were pressing down like an army in black armor. The lowest point of the clouds seemed about to crush the distant mountain peaks. Lightning flashed, and a dull rumble echoed, as if the Thunder God were beating his drums behind the clouds.
He made a decisive conclusion. “We can’t go on. We need to find shelter.”
Cui Jingkong looked at Feng Yuzhen, who was clutching her chest. “Can you still walk?”
Feng Yuzhen nodded, her face pale. Cui Jingkong changed direction, and they quickened their pace towards the west. The sky grew more oppressive, and their speed increased.
But her lame leg couldn’t withstand such a brisk pace. Stepping on the soft soil, she lost her footing. Her body lost its balance and fell straight to the side. Her left ankle twisted sharply, and a crisp crack of dislocation sounded. She couldn’t get back up.
At that exact moment, under the darkening sky, the long-brewing storm finally broke. Rain poured down in a dense curtain, and soybean-sized raindrops bounced off the leaves.
In the time it took Cui Jingkong to turn his head, he saw his widowed sister-in-law half-fallen on the ground, her bangs damp, her left leg limp in a wretched state.
At this critical moment, like a lithe leopard, he turned back, squatted down, and swept his arms under her waist and the crook of her knees.
Ignoring her instinctive cry of alarm and resistance, he easily lifted her into his arms. The movement was as smooth as flowing water. Holding her, he immediately broke into a run.
Feng Yuzhen was nestled in the young man’s arms, looking very small. Her hands were pressed against his chest, trying hard to create some distance—because he was too hot.
Whether it was the breath that fanned across her ear or the hands that held her waist and legs firmly, even through the thick layers of clothing, she felt he was excessively hot.
Unfortunately, all her efforts were in vain. The pain in her left ankle was unbearable, like a small knife twisting in the cracks of her bones.
The pain left her with no extra strength, and she could only lean against him limply. Her ear was pressed against his chest, and the sound of his rapidly beating heart from the run entered her eardrums, each beat louder than the last.
Cui Jingkong’s speed had clearly increased. After running a few steps in the rain, a cave came into view. Once they were safely inside, he set her down and only then added, “My apologies for the offense.”
What’s the use of apologizing now? You’ve already held me…
Besides, his intention was to help her. It wouldn’t have been out of character for him to leave her outside. If he had, her currently dry self would have become a drenched stray, and she would have no reason to be ungrateful and complain.
In reality, she no longer had the energy to deal with it.
Feng Yuzhen leaned against the uneven rock wall, hugging her injured leg. A cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her lips were frighteningly pale.
Seeing her extreme discomfort, Cui Jingkong glanced down. The woman’s lower leg was bent at a strange angle. She must have sprained it when she fell.
He moved closer and lowered his head. “Let me see.”
“No…”
A sudden tremor went through her heart. Feng Yuzhen squeezed out a single word from between her teeth. How could a woman’s foot be shown to just anyone? He wasn’t a doctor who knew how to set bones.
“I am going to set the bone for Sister-in-law. I have no other intentions.”
Boom—
Feng Yuzhen’s eyes widened, a hint of shame and anger rising in them.
When… when had she ever suspected Cui Jingkong of having such improper thoughts!
From a moral standpoint, she was his elder sister-in-law. There was an old folk saying that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother.
Even though she was only two years older than him, she was still his elder without a doubt. How had things suddenly taken this turn?
But his aura was stern, his gaze composed, and his serious expression was quite convincing, as if he didn’t have a single improper thought in his mind.
She glanced at his handsome, dripping face with a complicated expression. Feng Yuzhen was at a loss for words, and fearing he might say something even more shocking, she felt the pain in her forehead and ankle merge into one.
She turned her head away, not looking at him. Out of sight, out of mind. She simply closed her eyes.
The young man untied the woman’s trouser leg and half-removed her embroidered shoe. The bulky winter clothing was all pushed up to the crook of her knee. A slender, white calf, along with half a golden lotus, was exposed to the damp, cold air, almost glowing in the cave.
Further down, the originally straight shape of her ankle was distorted, as if by an external force. A bone protruded at an unnatural angle against the skin, looking as if it might break through.
A large, reddish swelling had already formed at her ankle, an unsightly sight.
But Cui Jingkong only stared at it expressionlessly for a moment before reaching out and grasping the fair calf before him.
The silence was agonizing. His palm, damp with either sweat or rain, was warm. The moment his large hand touched her, Feng Yuzhen felt the hairs on her skin stand on end, goosebumps rising all over.
Her leg instinctively lifted, trying to escape his grasp, but it was held firmly in his palm.
Cui Jingkong lifted his eyes from her calf. His dark pupils were deep and serene, and she could almost see her own slightly fearful expression reflected in them.
He deftly clamped the woman’s left foot between his knees. His slender body bent over, almost covering the frail widowed sister-in-law. A well-defined hand was offered to her pale lips.
“If it hurts, bite me.”
Before Feng Yuzhen could react, Cui Jingkong’s right hand was on her swollen ankle. He pushed it forcefully in the opposite direction. A sudden, violent pain shot through her. Her vision went black. She cried out in pain and bit down on the hand by her mouth, sinking her teeth into the fleshy part between the thumb and index finger.
When he released the pressure, her head lolled to the side, resting on her bundle, her chest rising and falling erratically.
She had left a deep set of teeth marks on the back of his hand, drawing a few trickles of blood, but Cui Jingkong didn’t seem to mind.
He lowered his head, his gaze wandering. He let her delicate foot rest on his thigh, and his fingers slowly and deliberately traced the exposed heel, then pulled up the half-removed silk stocking.
The woman’s calf was still trembling slightly from the lingering pain. Beneath the thin layer of skin, he could almost feel the warm blood flowing quietly.
His palm lingered for a moment, pressed against the smooth inner side of her calf, then moved up. His fingertips reached into the trouser leg, hooked it, and pulled the bunched-up fabric down along her knee, tying the leg cuff.
The woman was now covered in sweat. She lay on her side, her hair damp and stuck to her pale neck. Her eyes were unfocused, clearly not yet recovered from the pain.
So, she had no choice but to be served by her considerate brother-in-law, to let him lift her leg as he pleased, to let him meticulously put on her silk stocking and embroidered shoe, to dress her in everything he had just personally removed for her.