vncnus Chapter 60 Jiang Yiyou
Chapter 60 Jiang Yiyou
When Su Nian woke up, the first thing she saw was the ceiling.
She was lying on a bed.
The bed wasn't big, just enough for one person to sleep in, and the bedding was made of coarse cloth and was very clean.
However, several patches were sewn with fine and neat stitches, showing that they were made with great care.
Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell on the foot of the bed.
Su Nian did not move immediately.
She first checked her own body.
Right leg.
There's a tight feeling at the wound site.
She glanced down.
The pant legs of the work pants were cut open, from the knee up to the hip, the fabric was neatly cut in half, exposing the entire right leg.
The wound was wrapped in bandages.
The bandages she had wrapped herself had been removed and replaced with new bandages, wrapped very carefully.
Wrap the garment from the mid-thigh up to above the knee, with a moderate tightness—neither too tight to affect blood circulation nor too loose to provide adequate pressure and stop bleeding.
The edges of the bandage were neatly folded in, and a small knot was tied at the end.
Su Nian reached out and touched the surface of the bandage.
Dry.
The bleeding has stopped.
Su Nian's brows twitched slightly.
She lost a lot of blood last night; the entire leg of her work pants was soaked with blood, and her boots were also filled with blood.
Under normal circumstances, even if the bleeding stops, there should still be a large area of bruising and swelling around the wound.
But the skin she touched was at a normal temperature, with no obvious swelling, and no excruciating pain when touched.
She gently pressed the skin around the wound.
It hurt a little, but much less than she expected.
This isn't right.
Su Nian shifted her gaze from her legs and began to survey her surroundings.
This is a room.
It's not big, about twenty square meters. The ground is rammed earth, very compacted, flat but not smooth.
There weren't many things in the room.
A bed, the one she's lying on.
A wooden table, placed against the wall, has four legs of different heights, one of which is supported by a tile.
A chair was placed next to the table, with a dark gray coat draped over its back.
A cabinet, against another wall, with its door closed, obscuring what was inside.
There was a stove in the corner, made of sheet metal, with a chimney extending from above it, passing through the ceiling and leading outside.
A string of wind chimes hangs beside the window, making a soft, pleasant rustling sound when the wind blows.
Su Nian shifted her gaze from the wind chimes to a person.
A person is sitting on a chair by the bed.
It was placed on the right side of the bed, very close to her.
She can see it as soon as she turns her head.
A young man.
He sat in a chair, leaning slightly forward, with his elbows resting on his knees, holding a book in his hand and reading.
Su Nian's first reaction was that this person was very good-looking.
But she quickly corrected herself in her mind.
It's not "good-looking," not the kind of good-looking that catches your eye.
It is "beautiful".
A kind of beauty that is less aggressive, gentle, and makes people feel comfortable.
温文尔雅。
The word popped into Su Nian's mind.
Then she uttered another word.
Not right.
She lay on an unfamiliar bed, her legs wrapped in unfamiliar bandages, with a handsome unfamiliar man sitting beside her.
Something's not right about this from beginning to end.
Su Nian shifted her body, trying to sit up.
The bed frame made a soft creak.
The man raised his head.
He saw that Su Nian had woken up, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a very faint smile.
"woke up?"
The voice was very pleasant, neither too high nor too low, neither too fast nor too slow.
Su Nian did not answer.
She propped herself up on her arms, leaned against the headboard, and quickly scanned the room, her gaze shifting from the man's face.
Which direction is the door facing? Which direction is the window facing? Are there any other exits? Is there anything that can be used as a weapon?
It was her instinct.
When you arrive in an unfamiliar environment, first figure out how to get out and how to protect yourself.
"Does your leg still hurt?"
The man closed the book, placed it on the armrest of the chair, stood up, and walked to the table.
On the table was a ceramic jar, its mouth covered with a piece of gauze and tied with hemp rope.
The man removed the gauze and poured a bowl of dark brown liquid from the jar.
Steam rose from the bowl, carrying a faint aroma of Chinese medicine.
The man returned with the bowl, sat down again on the chair by the bed, and handed the bowl to Su Nian.
"Drink this."
Su Nian did not answer.
She looked at the bowl of medicine, then at the man.
Every detail is just right.
It was so perfect that it felt unreal.
"Who are you?" Su Nian asked.
The man smiled, placed the bowl on the small table by the bedside, and sat down again.
"My name is Jiang Yiyou," he said, "Old Hong's nephew."
Su Nian looked at him.
"Old Red?"
"Yes, that's the red-haired old man in the town's tavern."
Su Nian frowned slightly.
Old Red.
The old man who came out of her predicament.
She remembered it.
But she didn't remember Lao Hong mentioning that he had a nephew.
"I know you don't believe me," Jiang Yiyou said. "Wait a minute."
He stood up, walked to the cabinet, opened the door, and took something out.
a photo.
He walked back and handed the photo to Su Nian.
Su Nian took it and glanced at it.
The photo is quite old; the edges are yellowed and there are a few creases on the surface, but the image is still relatively clear.
There are two people in the photo.
One is Lao Hong.
He was younger than he is now.
A boy was standing next to Lao Hong.
She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a school uniform and carrying a schoolbag.
The boy's features bore a striking resemblance to the man in front of him.
Especially those eyes.
Su Nian turned the photo over.
There was a line of text written on the back, in neat pen.
"Yiyou, it's your sixteenth birthday."
Su Nian looked at the photo, then at the man in front of her.
She thought about it and returned the photo.
Why did you save me?
Jiang Yiyou put the photo back in the cabinet, closed the cabinet door, walked back and sat down again.
"My uncle called me from the bar and said you were injured, and told me to go to the north highway to find you."
"I found you, so I brought you back."
"You lost a lot of blood. I stopped the bleeding first, and then I boiled some medicine for you."
He glanced at the bowl of medicine soup on the small table by the bed.
"It's perfect to drink now; it'll taste bitter when it gets cold."
Su Nian remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she picked up the bowl and brought it to her lips.
The temperature of the medicinal soup was just right, neither too hot nor too cold.
She took a small sip.
It's bitter.
It was so bitter that she frowned.
But she didn't stop. She tilted her head back and drank the whole bowl of medicine soup, sip by sip.
There were some small, dark brown medicinal dregs at the bottom of the bowl, which were sunk to the bottom and it was impossible to tell what they were.
Su Nian put the bowl back on the small table.
The medicine slid down my throat and into my stomach, giving me a strange feeling.
It's not that I feel unwell.
It's a feeling I can't quite describe.
It disappeared very quickly, in less than two seconds.
Su Nian subconsciously checked her dantian.
Yuan Qi.
The vital energy that was almost completely depleted last night has now recovered somewhat.
Not many, about 20%.
But it happened much faster than she had expected.
She glanced at the dregs of medicine left at the bottom of the bowl, then looked at Jiang Yiyou.
"You know medicine?"
"I know a little," Jiang Yiyou said modestly. "It's a family recipe passed down through generations. It stops bleeding, promotes tissue regeneration, and replenishes qi and blood."
Su Nian did not ask any further questions.
She pulled back the blanket, gathered up the cut-off pant leg to barely cover her thigh, and then stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the bed.
As soon as my right leg touched the ground, a sharp pain shot through the wound.
Su Nian gritted her teeth and steadied herself.
Jiang Yiyou sat in the chair, neither helping her nor stopping her.
He simply watched quietly, a hint of worry in his eyes, but said nothing more.
Su Nian straightened up and looked in the direction of the door.
The door was made of wood and was closed; the latch wasn't engaged, and it could be opened with a push.
She turned her head and looked at Jiang Yiyou.
"Thanks."
Jiang Yiyou smiled.
"You're welcome."
"You were badly injured last night. It would be best to rest for a couple more days and wait until your wounds have healed a bit before you leave."
Su Nian did not answer.
She glanced down at the floor beside the bed.
Her backpack.
It was placed on the floor at the foot of the bed, next to the bed leg, with the zipper zipped up properly.
Su Nian bent down, picked up the backpack, and slung it over her shoulder.
The backpack weighed about the same as she remembered, and the contents inside should not have been disturbed.
She turned around and took two steps toward the door.
Then stop.
He turned around.
Chaojiang also bowed deeply.
Then he straightened up, said nothing more, turned around, pushed open the door, and walked out.
The door closed behind her.
Jiang Yiyou sat in the chair, looking at the closed door, her smile slowly fading.
Outside the window, Su Nian was walking away with a limp.
The outside world was not quite what Su Nian had imagined.
She thought the outside world would be a desert, or a wasteland, or at least some kind of terrain that she could recognize as belonging to the Southern Wilderness.
But what she actually saw was a vast Gobi Desert.
There is very little vegetation; occasionally you can see a few clumps of camel thorn, lying low on the ground.
The distant horizon was flat, the horizon line like a straight line, cleanly and neatly cutting the blue sky and the gray-brown earth apart.
Su Nian looked back.
The house she came from stood alone on this Gobi Desert.
There was no yard, no fence, no enclosure of any kind.
There was nothing around the house.
There were no vegetable gardens, no crops, no cattle or sheep, and no trace of any animals.
There wasn't even a single tree.
There is only this one house within a radius of several miles.
Su Nian stood still, the wind blowing her hair and the hem of her clothes.
She looked away from the house and scanned the surrounding Gobi Desert.
There was nothing there.
Apart from stones, sand, and those short, droopy camel thorns.
There was nothing there.
Su Nian frowned slightly.
Not right.
A person living deep in the Gobi Desert, with no crops, no livestock, and not even a tree to provide shade.
How did he survive?
How do they make a living?
How do we drink water?
Su Nian looked down at the ground.
There is a clear ring of trampling marks around the foundation of the house, indicating that people frequently come and go here.
But apart from these trampling marks, she saw no tire tracks, no animal hoofprints, and not even a decent road.
It's as if this house fell from the sky, landing out of nowhere on this Gobi Desert, with no connection to anything around it.
Su Nian glanced back at the closed door.
Through the window, she could see Jiang Yiyou's shadow, still sitting in the chair, not moving.
She looked away and started walking forward.
She chose the direction based on her gut feeling.
The sun is in the east, and she is facing north. If she keeps walking north, she should be able to get back to that red dirt road.
My right leg hurts with every step, but I can bear it.
Su Nian walked slowly, but steadily.
Her right hand hung at her side, her index and middle fingers slightly joined together, ready to gather primordial energy at any moment.
The flame in his dantian was slowly recovering, although it was only about 20% full, but that should be enough to deal with ordinary threats.
After walking about two hundred meters, Su Nian stopped.
About fifty meters ahead, several shadows appeared.
They slowly stood up from behind the rubble on the ground, one, two, three, four.
dog.
No, it's not a dog.
It was bigger than a dog, bigger than a wolf, with a shoulder height that reached above Su Nian's knees and a body length of over one meter.
Their fur was grayish-brown, almost blending into the color of the Gobi Desert. If they hadn't stood up on their own, Su Nian wouldn't have noticed them at all.
Su Nian recognized this kind of thing.
Stray dogs.
But it's not a purebred Southern Wild Dog; it's a hybrid, larger, fiercer, and less afraid of people.
These wild dogs are common in the desert and Gobi regions of the Southern Wilderness, usually moving in packs and preying on small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
They may occasionally attack people.
Especially those who are alone.
Su Nian counted them.
Four.
No, five.
The sixth one emerged from behind a rock further away. It was a size larger than the others, with its shoulder height almost reaching Su Nian's knees. Its chest muscles bulged, and it took each step very steadily.
Leader.
Su Nian stood still, without moving.
Her hands hung at her sides, and primordial energy was already gathering at her fingertips.
Five stray dogs.
If her leg hadn't been injured, and if her vital energy had been full, those five stray dogs would have been nothing to her.
Fire departs, burning the wilderness; a single fire can clean it all.
But now.
Her right leg is not strong enough, so she can't use Moon Chase, which will greatly affect her dodging and positioning.
With only 20% of his primordial energy remaining, he can at most unleash the Burning Wilderness twice, or the Crimson Feather Flowing Light once.
Moreover, once it's released, the primordial energy will be depleted again.
Su Nian took a deep breath.
We can't fight it head-on.
If you can scare them away, do so; if you can avoid them, do so.
She slowly took a step back.
The five stray dogs did not move.
She took another step back.
The leader's ear twitched, its head lowered slightly, and the muscles in its muzzle tightened, revealing more teeth.
A low, sustained growl came from his throat.
This is not a warning.
It is an order.
The five stray dogs moved at the same time.
Su Nian did not back down.
She raised her hand from her side, palm facing outward, fingers spread.
A ball of red primordial energy condensed in his palm, the temperature rapidly rising, and the surrounding air began to distort.
Fire departs, the wilderness is burned.
She was about to make her move.
But just as she was about to push the primordial energy out, a voice came from behind her.
"Don't move."
Su Nian's body stiffened for a moment.
It's not because I'm afraid.
It was because she didn't sense anyone getting close.
Although her detection technique has a limited coverage area due to insufficient vital energy, she should be able to sense any living creature within a radius of fifty meters.
But she didn't sense this person.
Until he spoke.
Su Nian did not turn around.
Her gaze remained fixed on the five stray dogs ahead.
But her ears told her that the voice belonged to Jiang Yiyou.
A blue light shot out from behind Su Nian, flying past her shoulder at such a speed that her eyes could only catch a blurry afterimage.
The blue light struck the wild dog at the very front.
The moment the blue light touched the stray dog, it froze as if it had been immobilized by something. Its limbs stiffened, and its body remained motionless in the running posture.
Then it fell down.
There was no struggle, no sound.
The remaining four stray dogs stopped at the same time.
For the first time, fear appeared in their eyes as they looked at their fallen companions.
Then they turned and ran away.
The leader ran in the lead and disappeared into the depths of the Gobi Desert in the blink of an eye.
Su Nian stood there, staring at the dead stray dog.
From the moment the blue light struck to the moment he fell to the ground, the entire process took less than a second.
She didn't see how the blue light was released, its trajectory, or its shape.
too fast.
It was so fast that even the eyes of this Four Symbols Heroine couldn't keep up.
Su Nian turned around.
Jiang Yiyou stood less than ten meters behind her.
He was wearing a dark gray coat, the same one that had been draped over the back of the chair, with the zipper pulled up to his chest, revealing the collar of his white shirt underneath.
The wind tousled his hair, and stray hairs fluttered above his brow bone.
His right hand hung at his side, his fingers slightly clasped together, and a very faint blue light was fading from his fingertips.
His expression was calm.
Su Nian looked at him.
Her mind was racing.
Xia Lan.
This person must be a Xia Lan.
When she woke up, she had already used her detection spell to scan the house and the surrounding environment.
The result of the detection technique was that there were no abnormalities.
She sensed no fluctuations in primordial energy, no aura of the Xia Lan Seal, and not even any signs of life from any living creature.
Except for herself.
At the time, she thought it might be because her vital energy was insufficient and her detection technique was not accurate enough, so she didn't think much of it.
But now.
A person capable of such an attack cannot be completely invisible under detection spells.
Unless... his strength far surpasses hers.
The two polarities.
It might even be... Tai Chi.
Su Nian's gaze fell on Jiang Yiyou's right hand, which was hanging by his side.
His sleeves covered his wrists, so it was impossible to tell whether he had the Xia Lan Seal.
But Su Nian could sense the residual primordial energy in the air.
It's faint, but very clear.
Water attribute.
Water-attribute Xia Lan.
"You're injured," Jiang Yiyou said, walking towards her. "There are more than just this one pack of stray dogs outside; you can't get out alone."
Su Nian watched him approach without backing away.
"You saved me once," she said, "but that doesn't mean I have to put my life in your hands."
Jiang Yiyou stopped two steps in front of her.
He looked down at the blood-soaked bandage on her right leg and frowned slightly.
"The wound has reopened," he said. "You strained your muscles when you walked around just now."
Su Nian glanced down.
There was indeed a small patch of fresh red seeping through the outer layer of the bandage. It wasn't a large area, but it indicated that the wound was indeed bleeding again.
"Come back with me," Jiang Yiyou said, "to have your wound treated again, and we'll leave once it's healed."
Su Nian raised her head and looked into his eyes.
She couldn't see through those eyes.
I can't see what's hidden behind those eyes.
But she knew one thing.
Given the strength this person just displayed, if he wanted to harm me, he wouldn't need to go through so much trouble.
During the few hours she was unconscious, he had a hundred ways to kill her.
Or do something even worse.
But he didn't.
He bandaged her wounds, prepared medicine, and let her lie in bed while he sat in a chair and stayed by her side all night.
At least that's how it appears.
Su Nian remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she turned around and limped back to the lonely house.
Jiang Yiyou followed behind her, keeping a distance of two steps, neither too close nor too far.
Su Nian walked ahead without saying a word.
But she was making plans in her mind.
Wait until the wound heals a bit.
Once the vital energy has recovered to more than 70%.
We'll find out this person's true identity later.
She left.