Chapter 2

Chapter 2

One night, as usual, I went to my daughter’s grave to relieve the ache. I had just loosened my clothes when I suddenly caught the smell of blood.

I turned my head and saw a man lying on the slope, drenched in blood, a bloodied sword still clutched in his hand.

I was so frightened I nearly screamed.

“Ah-”

But a bloodstained hand clamped over my mouth.

The man’s voice, thick with the scent of blood, exploded beside my ear.

“Don’t scream!”

I blinked and nodded.

Then I pointed at him. “Your wounds…”

The man glanced down at his clothes, tossed aside the sword in his hand, and spoke with a trace of arrogance and disdain.

“Not mine…”

Then he collapsed flat on his back and covered his eyes with one hand.

“Thirsty… so thirsty…”

This was a field ridge, but it was the dry season now, and even the ditches had no water.

Seeing how badly he was suffering from thirst, and feeling the waves of pain in my chest, I looked around. There was no one nearby.

In the end, I couldn’t help it. I fed him a mouthful of milk.

I comforted myself by thinking I was saving a life.

Besides, my daughter couldn’t drink this milk anymore. It would only go to waste.

And… that damned brat really could drink!

He drained me dry.

After my daughter’s death, I had never felt this light before.

It didn’t hurt at all anymore.

But when I came back to my senses, I suddenly felt that this was terribly improper.

I was a woman with a husband. How could I nurse another man out here on a field ridge?

So I shoved him away.

“N-no… no more!”

The man clung on with his lips and teeth, refusing to let go.

I looked down at the five bright red fingerprints on my chest, grabbed a stone from beside me, and knocked him unconscious.

Holding my burning face, I stumbled away and ran.

On the way back, I ran into my husband coming out of Widow Wang’s house. My heart nearly stopped from fright.

When my husband saw me, he cursed in displeasure, “What? You won’t let me touch you, and now you won’t let me find someone else either?”

“Widow Wang said she’ll give me a big, fat son. I’d advise you not to be ungrateful!”

How would I dare say anything? I clutched my chest tightly.

“I wouldn’t dare… I wouldn’t dare…”

My husband snorted coldly and staggered home, too lazy to spare me another glance.

I let out a long breath. For some reason, the image of the man I had met on the field ridge flashed through my mind.

He was more handsome than my husband, his nose was straighter, his lips were softer, his body was taller and stronger, and even his fingers were cleaner and neater than my husband’s…

Thinking of the finger marks on my chest, I couldn’t help shivering.

“Stop thinking about it, Lianniang. Stop thinking about it…”