Zhong Chen

When Bai Shuixian opened her eyes, she saw the pack of animals surrounding her as though about to eat her. This was also exactly her thoughts. In her mind, she cursed, 'Fuck. They're going to eat me.'

Bai Shuixian thought, 'I can't believe this is the way I'm going to die.'

She wanted to laugh at her own predicament. Bai Shuixian knew that for some reason the choices she made was not hers, so it was not her fault. However, she still felt guilt for herself for an unknown reason.

As she watched one of them come closer to her, she instinctively wanted to close her eyes. She did not want to see the scene of her being eaten savagely by the animals. Bai Shuixian wanted her final moments to be peaceful.

However, as she waited, she felt no pain. Instead, Bai Shuixian felt her clothes being removed by the animals. Feeling the sensation of her clothes removed, she opened her eyes with confusion clouding them.

'What in the world?' she thought. 'Why are they undressing?'

For some reason, she almost gave them the nickname "perverts". Out of all the things she expected, this was not one of them. Truthfully, who would think that an animal would undress them?

Perhaps there was no one in the world. Anyhow, since the animal finished undressing her, she became naked in front of them. Even though it was animals only, she still felt humiliated and embarrassed.

Even if she was only a young girl, she still knew about such things as chastity. Not only that, even a boy would feel ashamed in such a situation. She wondered if these animals had dealt with humans before for they seemed experienced in undressing her.

After undressing her though, another animal growled at the one who undressed her. That one immediately stopped making movements and headed back to its original position. Another one then came up to her with eyes boring into her body, especially the parts of her that had more fats.

This time, she knew that she was done for. She could not return now. Whether she wanted to go to Su Guang or to the capital, she could not anymore.

Closing her eyes in resignation, she breathed out, 'It was good while it lasted. I got to see the beauty of nature, the peace of nature, and see the fall of the people that brought pain to me.'

However, another unexpected thing occurred. In the midst of this unknown place where she saw no other humans than herself, a stranger appeared. She was unable to notice this person until their voice rang out in the cave.

"Get away from her," the person calmly said quietly.

Her closed eyes opened up and she looked around for where the voice came from. When she found the source, she saw a man wearing a mask.

She then thought, 'Why is Magistrate Chen here?'

It was not her fault that she was confused. This man that had spoken out for her was wearing a mask just like Chen Shi. Only, since the man was hidden in the darkness, she was unable to see anything other than his mask.

Though she felt glad that there was another human willing to help her, she was worried for him also. These animals seemed to behave like a group of organized barbarians, so she held no hope that they would get away from her. Instead, she was scared that they might attack him for trying to help her.

However, although the animals took a little long to react, they moved away from her. This surprised her. His words actually worked?

As though able to sense her shock and surprise, he said, "These animals are able to recognize me because I help them."

Nodding on the inside to demonstrate her understanding, she responded within herself, 'I see. So that's why they moved away.'

"Are you okay?" he asked in the same calm way that he did previously.

Bai Shuixian wanted to respond, but despite opening her mouth, nothing came out. Seeing her attempt at speaking, he did not ask her any more questions. Instead, he started to introduce himself.

"My name is Zhong Chen," he started. "I know you have a lot of questions, but those can be answered later. I will help you with your wounds first."

After he said those words to her, he turned to the pack of animals.

With an angry tone, he scolded, "Do you guys not remember what I told you? You are forbidden from trying to eat humans. It is fine to attack them, but leave their body where it is and do not touch it."

All of the animals instantly whine sadly at his scolding. Many of them put on a pity face as though Zhong Chen would stop berating them. When he saw their sad form, he stopped reprimanding them.

Sighing, he said, "Do not repeat this. I will throw you guys out if you continue this."

After dealing with the animals, Zhong Chen turned back to Bai Shuixian and carried her extremely carefully. Only when she was in his arms did he notice the length of her wounds. Though he knew that most of them were not made by the animals, he was still a bit mad.

Honestly, could they not drag her and instead carry her? However, when he saw the bag made from the same fabric as her clothes and the stench of boar meat, he knew that they found the already prepared meat more important than her. This was also why he did not chew them out more than they were already being reprimanded for.

At the same time, he felt her light weight and became worried. Though he knew that she was still young and being small was normal, he disliked her being in such a lightweight. He wanted her to fatten up more and become the strong person that he liked.

While carrying her out of the cave, he used his own clothes to cover up her naked self. He knew that she would feel ashamed of herself if he saw her naked, so he had taken off his outer robe to cover her. Though, he would not complain even if he was forced to give her his clothes for this also satisfied his personal wishes.

Of course, she did not know about these things that were in his head at all. The most eye catching thing to her was his white hair and silver eyes. She had confused him with Chen Shi earlier because of his mask, but when she saw him walk out from the darkness, she was a bit embarrassed.

To actually mistake her savior for someone else. Only she would make such an error in an isolated place. Honestly, she felt very stupid for her actions from the past few days.

In the end though, she was caught up by appearance and when they reached the outside of the cave, the sunlight that shone on him almost made her gasp in awe. He was handsome without showing his entire face, but just from the jawline alone, she knew he was a godly figure. Even if she had no experiences with the standards of appearances, she was still able to define him as good-looking.

When he noticed her constant stare, he wanted to chuckle, but he stopped himself. Right now, it was not the same situation as a long time ago. He could not express his emotions so openly to her when they were nothing but mere strangers.

Even though he was not able to show his emotions, he still asked her monotonously, "Am I handsome?"

She was a bit embarrassed to admit that, but she still gave a small nod. When he saw her like that, he almost thought he would die from her cuteness. He wished that time would go by slower and he could remain carrying her in his arms.

However, as though against his wishes, at that very moment, they had reached the summit of the mountain. With lots of snowfall at the summit, it was hard to tell if there was anything there or if there were any pathways, but Zhong Chen was able to walk smoothly with no problems. This intrigued Bai Shuixian but since her throat was in pain, she could not ask her question.

At the same time, Zhong Chen did not want to explain to her, so he was kind of glad that she could not talk right now. It was only for this one question though. Otherwise, he would have loved to hear her voice calling his name and asking him a million questions to fulfill her curiosity.

Amongst the snowfall, a building appeared looking out of place. There was too much nature on it, that it could only be there if someone had purposely put it there. However, as Zhong Chen got closer to the building and Bai Shuixian managed to examine the plants more, she was able to see that their roots were strongly binded to the ground.

When Zhong Chen saw her persistent stare at the plants, he told her, "I planted these a long time ago. The ones on the front door with the pink flowers are climbing roses. The ones next to the windows sweet peas. Those growing with the sweet peas are star jasmines. As for the vines that surround the entire building, they are Mandeville."

Hearing those flower names, Bai Shuixian stared at him as though to ask for why they were able to grow in the heavy snow.

"I used my own fertilizer and made my own soil for these plants to grow here," Zhong Chen continued when he saw her constantly looking at his face.

As he said that, he opened the door to the building and once they were protected from all elements, he announced, "Welcome to my house."