CHAPTER 4 - Fateful Encounter in the Forest
[PART 1]
After a long slumber, Shi Yan Si gradually regained consciousness and looked around. It seemed that he could hear the gentle sound of flowing water… Earlier, he had been too exhausted to notice, but now he realized that the cave had a waterfall cascading into a crystal-clear stream. He thought to himself that perhaps, for once, luck was on his side—finding such a convenient place to live meant he would never have to worry about drinking water again.
Day after day, he mostly slept, his life seemingly peaceful and carefree. Unlike when he was in the valley, Shi Yan Si no longer had to do anything, so he never paid much attention to eating. He would only get up when hunger became unbearable, dragging himself outside to gather food, mainly wild fruits that required no preparation.
The thought that he didn't need to struggle to survive made Shi Yan Si increasingly lethargic. He just wanted to bury himself in sleep, indifferent to whatever happened to his body. Hunger, cold, and hardship had clung to him since the moment he was born—he had long grown accustomed to them. Even lying exposed in the freezing wind, he could still sleep as usual, and if his body occasionally trembled from the chill, it hardly mattered…
The bleak days continued, one after another, until nearly two years had passed. Shi Yan Si now looked even more emaciated and pale than before, resembling nothing more than a walking corpse. His life had fallen into an endless cycle of waking, searching for food, then retreating into sleep—only to dream of doing the exact same thing.
The repetition between dreams and reality blurred his perception, making it difficult at times to tell whether he was truly alive. But did it even matter? Just existing was already a torment for him—whether he was awake or dreaming, hunger, cold, and exhaustion still clung to him even in his sleep.
One overcast day, as he trudged along searching for food, he suddenly tripped over something and fell hard to the ground…
The searing pain from the fall jolted Shi Yan Si back to reality. At first, he thought he had tripped over a fallen tree or some tangled vines, but something felt off—the thing he had stumbled upon was far too soft. When he turned to look, his breath hitched in shock.
"A person!?" Not just any thing, but a man gravely injured, with two arrows lodged in his thigh and his entire body soaked in blood.
Uncertain whether the man was still alive, Shi Yan Si hurriedly sat up and checked his breathing.
"Still breathing…" Though faint, the fact that he was still alive despite being drenched in blood was nothing short of a miracle.
For Shi Yan Si to come across someone in the depths of this forest, and at such a rare moment—it was an event beyond coincidence. Perhaps fate had yet to abandon this man.
He had no way of knowing whether the stranger was good or evil, and Shi Yan Si himself had always feared unfamiliar people, yet for some reason, an unshakable urge told him that he had to save this man.
With that thought, Shi Yan Si quickly stood up and tried to figure out a way to carry the man back to his cave. It was no easy feat—the stranger was tall, muscular, and unbearably heavy. The moment he managed to hoist him up, sweat immediately drenched his back.
He draped the man's arm over his own shoulders, painstakingly supporting his weight, moving step by step with utmost caution.
By the time they finally reached the cave, Shi Yan Si was on the verge of collapse. He laid the man down on his sleeping spot before crumpling onto the ground beside him, panting heavily.
"So heavy…" It was truly beyond his strength. He barely ate properly as it was—managing to drag this man all the way back here was nothing short of a miracle.
But there was no time for rest. The moment he regained some breath, Shi Yan Si forced himself to sit up and immediately began tending to the man's wounds.
The man was seriously wounded. Aside from several deep slashes on his chest and back, there was also a stab wound near his heart—fortunately, it wasn't fatal, but he had already lost a significant amount of blood.
Shi Yan Si sighed as he examined the injuries and shook his head. "I'll do what I can…"
Whether the man survived or not would depend on his own will to live.
While treating the wounds, Shi Yan Si accidentally discovered something that had fallen from the man's body. Curious, he picked it up and examined it.
It was a bloodstained jade pendant, clearly something the man had kept carefully, suggesting it was of great importance to him. Thinking this, Shi Yan Si washed it clean and placed it beside the man's head.
That day, the sky was overcast, as if foretelling the arrival of a great storm. Was this encounter a blessing or a curse?
The man was strikingly handsome, the kind of person that, once seen, left an impression too deep to ignore.
Taking advantage of his unconscious state, Shi Yan Si secretly took a second glance at his face—then quickly turned away, no longer daring to look again. Perhaps it was the first time he had ever seen such an extraordinary man, sparking a faint curiosity within him.
By the time Shi Yan Si finished tending to the wounds, the sky had already begun to darken. His stock of medicinal herbs was nearly depleted, and seeing that there was nothing more he could do, he got up to find a place to rest.
In this cave, the only dry and decent spot to lie down was the large rock where the injured man now lay; everywhere else was damp and cold.
Shi Yan Si stood silently for a moment before making up his mind. He found the driest patch of ground near the cave entrance, gathered a large pile of firewood and leaves, shaped them into a makeshift nest, and curled up in it. Before long, he had drifted into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night, Shi Yan Si suddenly jolted awake, startled by the sound of a voice. At first, he thought someone was calling him, but that wasn't the case.
A deep, warm voice echoed from the injured man, repeatedly murmuring a name…
"A Yuan?"
Who was that person to him? Why did he keep calling the name over and over again? The constant repetition was beginning to irritate Shi Yan Si.
The man was burning with fever, lost in a delirium, mumbling incessantly, unintentionally keeping Shi Yan Si from sleeping. Sighing in frustration, he walked over and sat beside him, scolding, "Your A Yuan isn't here, so stop calling. Let me sleep. Tomorrow, I need to gather medicine for you."
With that, he turned back to his nest of leaves, curling up to resume his interrupted sleep. As if the man had heard him in his fevered haze, the cave finally fell silent.
On the brink of death, clinging to the name A Yuan, the man miraculously pulled through, whispering it over and over again—thousands of times in his delirium.
The next morning, as soon as Shi Yan Si woke up, he hurried to check on the stranger. Seeing that he had passed the critical stage, he felt reassured and ventured into the forest to gather food and herbs.
…
For three days, Shi Yan Si diligently cared for him, and the more he observed, the more convinced he became that this was no ordinary person.
"Could he be an immortal who fell into misfortune?"
A mere mortal could not possibly be this beautiful. Every feature of his face was sculpted to perfection. Looking at him made Shi Yan Si feel an inexplicable sense of shame when comparing himself.
As Shi Yan Si sat there, secretly marveling at the man's flawless features, the stranger suddenly shot up, fully awake. Upon catching sight of a ragged and ghastly-looking figure beside him, he instinctively reached out, seizing Shi Yan Si's throat in a death grip, his voice sharp and menacing: "Who are you?"
Even while gravely injured, his entire body wracked with pain, the strength of his grip was terrifying. With a single motion, he had completely overpowered Shi Yan Si.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Shi Yan Si had no chance to react. He could only shake his head desperately, his wide eyes pleading: *I'm not an enemy.*
"So terrifying… This man is truly terrifying…"
A deep regret began to rise in Shi Yan Si's heart. He shouldn't have gotten so close. He should have known better than to let himself be enchanted by that face, even for a fleeting moment.
His throat was being crushed. His vision blurred. Within seconds, his face turned deathly pale.
The man must have noticed that the person beneath his grip had made no attempt to resist. For reasons unknown, he hesitated, then slowly loosened his hold and finally released him. Exhausted, he slumped back, panting heavily.
Shi Yan Si immediately collapsed into a coughing fit, gasping for air, his head spinning, his surroundings tilting and swaying as though the cave itself were shifting.
All he had done was save this person, and in return, he got strangled half to death. No matter what he did, misfortune always seemed to follow. Frustrated, he quickly scrambled back, putting distance between them, stammering, "Y-You… you better not move…"
He might have looked weak and unsightly, but surely, the man wouldn't harm the one who had just saved him… right?
Trying to reassure himself, Shi Yan Si forced himself to calm down.
At that moment, the man's awareness seemed to return. His first instinct was to grab the jade pendant lying beside him, clutching it tightly. Only then did he finally turn his piercing gaze toward Shi Yan Si and, in an icy voice, ask, "Are you human… or a ghost?"