Chapter 218 Dongxue Village Part 20

The sun was already high when Sukh and Haneul began walking down the overgrown path, heading towards the farmland Sukh had seen earlier. It was already noon when Sukh and Haneul finished breakfast and prepared to go down the mountain. The heat in the south was a bit too much for these two northerners. Taking advantage of the shelter of the shadows of the trees, the two of them moved slowly along the trees.

"Do we really need to go down and look for that village?" Haneul asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"It's good to know where people are, just in case we need help," Sukh said. "Also, I think it's better to live close to people than to live alone in a cave." Haneul suddenly stopped walking which made Sukh turned around. "What's wrong?"

Haneul glared at Sukh with cold eyes. "Is being with me too much for you?" Haneul asked angrily.

Sukh sighed and said, "For once, can you think positively?" He walked back to Haneul. "I don't want to argue with you, so let's talk before we go down. Just now, I don't like your behavior."

Haneul sneered, "Alright, let's finish talking before going down the mountain." He took a deep breath.

Sukh asked, "How long will you be dissatisfied with me? It seems that everything I have done has made you unhappy."

Haneul sneered and said lightly, "Am I dissatisfied with you? Are you sure it's not you who is dissatisfied with me? We have known each other for more than twenty years. From the age of thirteen to nineteen, you have always been good towards me. You showed me love, even your eyes tell me you love me, but now..." He raised his voice. "When you talk to me, you don't even look at me, as if I'm invisible! You always find ways to leave the capital. Not only that, but you also keep avoiding me every time we meet!" He gasped and looked at Sukh angrily. "What's worse is that you actually dare to volunteer to be a low-level soldier patrolling the southern border, further away from me." He grabbed Sukh's collar. "What makes me even more angry is that you dare to side with those stupid minions and prevent me from letting you be my queen. You refuse to accept the imperial edict ordering you to return to the palace. You know that not returning to the palace will make me angrier, and you also know that even if you make me unhappy, I dare not punish you, so you continue to challenge my patience. So, tell me, who is dissatisfied with whom?" He let go of Sukh's collar and took two steps away from Sukh angrily. 

Listening to Haneul vented his anger, Sukh breathed out slowly, suppressing the feelings that were about to explode in his body. There were times when the secrets he kept were right there on the tip of his tongue. He sighed and said calmly, "We were still children at that time, and we cannot always be children. No matter what our childhood dreams were, no matter how high my status is in your heart, the fact is that you will always be the king, and I will always be a servant." He held back his tears and looked up at Haneul. "As a king, you don't care about other people's eyes, but I do. As a king, you will never hear other people's rumors, but I do. Therefore, my king, if you really love me..." This time Sukh could no longer suppress his tears, and tears flowed from his eyes. "Let me love you behind closed doors. Let me be your general and serve you, free from the gazes and gossips of others."

Sukh's tears have always been Haneul's weakness. No matter how angry Haneul is towards Sukh, as long as Sukh smiles or sheds tears at Haneul, Haneul's inner anger will naturally disappear.

Haneul pulled Sukh into his arms and hugged Sukh tightly. "Okay but promise me you won't be too cold to me when we're alone," Haneul said softly and kissed the side of Sukh's right temple. "I'm human and my feelings do hurt."

The last time Haneul really hugged Sukh was four years ago. His chest missed Sukh's presence so much, and now that he was able to hold Sukh in his arms again, Haneul wanted to hold Sukh for a little longer, but when he saw something staggering towards them, he had to pull himself away from Sukh.

"Something or someone is coming towards us," Haneul said.

Sukh was afraid that the assassins had caught up, so he quickly turned around and held the hilt of his sword. Sukh stared at the approaching figure for a moment and whispered, "Looks like a child." He looked at Haneul then back at the small figure. "It may not be an assassin sent by General Han."

"When I go back, the first person I want to kill is that bastard Han." Haneul gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Sukh and Haneul continued to look at the approaching figure, and when the figure was close enough, they realized that the figure walking towards them was not a human, but a monkey covered in blood.

"It is a wounded monkey," Haneul said, turning to look at Sukh.

As soon as the monkey saw Sukh and Haneul, it staggered to a tree and tried desperately to climb the tree, but the monkey could not climb the tree.

"It's afraid of us," Haneul said, approaching the monkey. "Why?"

Sukh looked at the frightened monkey and said, "It must have been at the hands of humans, so it is afraid of us. Look at the blood on her body."

The frightened monkey, unable to climb the tree, hid behind the tree and cried for help.

Haneul remembers that last night Sukh went out to look for food and came back with some bananas. Instead of eating the two bananas, he secretly hid the bananas in his robe for Sukh. So, he took the banana out of his robe and walked to the other side of the tree where the monkey was hiding. Haneul reached out and handed the banana to the monkey. Haneul was startled when he saw the monkey extending his hands towards the banana.

"What is this..." Haneul landed on his butt and quickly scooched backward towards Sukh.

"What's wrong?" Sukh asked and he hurried to Haneul.

"That monkey...that monkey has no fingers," Haneul said frighteningly because he had never seen anything lit this before. 

Sukh walked up to the monkey and saw the fingerless monkey trying to peel the banana given by Haneul, but every time he tried, the banana fell from the fingerless monkey's hand. Sukh picked up the banana, peeled it, and then stretched his hand holding the peeled banana towards the monkey's face. The monkey ate the banana quickly.

"She must be very hungry to eat this quickly," Sukh said.

"Since he is hungry, I have another banana," Haneul said, taking out another banana, peeled it, and started feeding the monkey.

Sukh looked at Haneul and said, "This monkey is a female monkey."

"Huh?" Haneul looked at Sukh. "How do you know?"

Sukh sighed and said, "Breasts."

"Well, I don't like things with breast," Haneul joked. ""That's why I couldn't tell whether the monkey was male or female."

Sukh sighed and said, "Look at her fingers and toes, they seem to have been cut recently, and the wounds have become infected."

"Meaning?" Haneul asked.

"This means that if treatment is prolonged, she may not recover and die," Sukh said.

Haneul sighed, "Well, there's nothing we can do. We don't know how to treat infected wounds." 

Sukh said, "Let's go back." He quickly stood up and pulled Haneul up.

"Why?" Haneul asked. "We are not going to the village anymore. Maybe the villagers can save the monkey."

Sukh said, "The monkey was walking in the direction of the village. It made me wonder if the harm done to the monkey was caused by the villagers. If so, imagine what they would do to us if they were this cruel to animals." 

Haneul turned and looked at the injured monkey. "Are we just going to leave her like this?" Haneul asked. "If we leave her, she will die.

Sukh said, "She's going to die no matter what."

Haneul said sadly, "It's terrible to die alone. Even if she's going to die, there should be someone by her side." He turned and looked at the dying monkey. "You don't know these feelings because you've never been left alone with death chasing after you."

Sukh asked, "Then what are you planning to do to her?" 

Haneul said, "Let's take her back to the cave. If she dies, let's bury her. She is already so pitiful."

Haneul reached out to pick up the monkey, but the monkey quickly moved away and started running up the hill.

"Hey!" Haneul yelled, chasing after the monkey.

"Don't rush to chase after her yet!" Sukh shouted, chasing after Haneul. "Haneul!"

Haneul continued to chase the monkey and found that after the monkey ate two bananas, the monkey seemed to have more energy, making it difficult for Haneul to catch up with the injured monkey. Haneul watched as the monkey quickly jumped over three small boulders. Haneul then quickly jumped to chase the monkey, only to find himself jumping into a sinkhole.

"Don't follow!" Haneul shouted.

Sukh suddenly stopped and stood in front of three boulders, finding himself staring into a dark, bottomless pit. "Haneul!" Sukh screamed. "Haneul!" He heard only the echo of his own voice bouncing off the sinkhole. Sukh pushed himself to the top of the boulders. "Haneul...! He jumped into the sinkhole.