Potentially controversial chapter? Are you questioning his actions?

Yes, it was true. Absolutely no light could be seen.

……<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

Cheng Muyun unexpectedly released his grip, and Wen Han, as if her entire body had been smashed to pieces, sank into an utter blackness. Meng Liangchuan, who was standing in the shadows, clearly saw how he did it. Unconsciously, he rubbed the back of his own neck.

Ouch. He sure was ruthless enough.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

When Cheng Muyun left, Zhou Ke stood with his arms crossed and blocked the doorway of that utility room, obstructing Meng Liangchuan's way. "I quite look down on you."

Grinning, Meng Liangchuan responded, "Aw, don't be like that, kid. I put in a lot of work to find you guys."

"And especially your petty bit of cleverness that you're so smug about."

Meng Liangchuan nearly broke with that statement. Sure enough, the people who hung out around that man were not easy pickings either.

"That night in the jungle, I saved you, did you know that?"

Meng Liangchuan paused in surprise. He did not feel that his life had ever been in peril.

Zhou Ke was rather amused by the abundance of expressions that came onto this short man's face and for once actually had the patience to continue telling him, "Of course, I don't need you to thank me for saving your life. For the fact that your neck was not snapped in two by a Tibetan mastiff’s jaws that night, you should be bathing and changing into clean clothing to sincerely go to the temple and recite scriptures for half a month, not creating little hindrances and obstacles to interfere with us."

Upon saying this, even Zhou Ke felt irritable.

One of that bespectacled man's favourite sayings all of a sudden came into Zhou Ke's mind: "Rhythm. When you do things, it's got to have rhythm." A light suddenly glinted in his eye. Taking advantage of this moment when Meng Liangchuan was still grinning merrily, he sent a foot out and kicked him back into the room.

Then, he slammed the door shut—and locked it.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Consciousness came back to her.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

There was the sound of hoofbeats by her ear, faint and regular.

Her abdomen felt as if a heavy hammer was over and over pounding her starving stomach as wave after wave of a sour, acidic feeling rose up from it. Her entire body was aching. She writhed about, trying to stretch her limbs, but to no avail.

Her eyelids felt heavy.<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

Still, she forced them open.<>Please support the original translation hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

When her vision transitioned from being blurry to clear, she at last somewhat dazedly realized that she had been tossed, like she was some sort of goods, onto the back of a horse, and she could not move at all. From her hands to her feet, she had been tied up.

Before her eyes was a familiar pair of black military boots walking beside the horse. She tried hard to lift her head.

Such a small action was already enough for Cheng Muyun, who was leading the horse and walking alone through the dense forest, to detect it. Turning his head, he cast a glance at her, his eyes entirely icy and black.

"What are you going to do? …" She opened her mouth and feebly asked this.

It seemed Cheng Muyun did not really want to talk to her. From somewhere in the distant night sky, a piercing howl resounded.

In that vast nighttime sky, the sound echoed and spread.

And so they continued in this way, walking ceaselessly. She knew not where they were, where they were going, or what time or day it was. He brought her from one darkness into another even deeper darkness. She felt her whole body getting colder and colder. Her teeth were chattering, and she was s.h.i.+vering incessantly, on the brink of breaking down.

"Where are you bringing me?"

"Liar. Murderer…"<>Please support the original translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

"Why did I even have to meet you? …"

From her initial questioning and demand for answers to, in the end, her murmured babbles, she used almost all the words and language she could possibly think of to vent her fear and feeling of helplessness. Eventually, her voice gradually grew fainter. In this mountainous area where there was snow, she was wearing only a thin coat. She had exhausted all her strength and body heat.

Where was this place?<>Please support the original translation hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Were they near the snow-capped mountains?

Why was it so cold?<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Her eyes were tightly shut, and she was in a daze. Gradually, her body no longer felt like it belonged to her. It felt as if she was standing on the snowy ground, staring at a fire in the distance. In her hallucination, she was continuously tripping and falling, trying with all her might to run forward…

The entire time, Cheng Muyun did not give her any response, and only when the sky was about to lighten did he pull her off the horse and throw her into a pile of gra.s.s that was as tall as a person. She had already lost consciousness from the cold.

Squatting down, he undid the ropes around her wrists and ankles and ma.s.saged away any soreness and numbness for her.

"Just like a little animal that was born and raised in the tropics." A chuckle rose from his throat. "You are that afraid of the cold?"

He could feel that she would freeze to death if her body temperature did not recover now.

Hence, he unfastened all of his own clothing, then also undid the zipper of her coat, the b.u.t.tons of her blouse inside, and the clasp of her bra, allowing her soft bosom, her entire upper body, and her most precious and vital heart area to press up directly against his skin.

Finally, with his own jacket, he wrapped her up like a little child and held her on his body.

"I have a younger brother[1] who is a hard drinker. He always carries a flask of Russia's strongest liquor on him. That would be very suitable for you right now." His voice light, he said to Wen Han, who was already in a stupor and had temporarily fallen into slumber, "Alas, I very much adhere to the precepts of abstinence[2], so I do not drink such things."

Wen Han sank entirely into unconsciousness.

When a certain state of hypothermia is reached, a person will feel as if her entire body is ablaze, like she is walking in a sea of flames.

Wen Han did not know where she had read this, but in her dream, she time and again was unable to walk out of this inferno. Parched, she wanted to drink water. She was at a point where she did not even feel hot or cold and, rather, felt that she had already stepped into a paradise where it was spring all year round.

……<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

She woke again to the dazzling glare of the sun.

A pair of rough, warm palms could be felt on her waist, continuously stroking and caressing her body, wandering again and again over her skin. After a stunned moment, she suddenly started to awareness. It was him.

Her muscles tightened immediately, and she wanted to shove him away.

"Do you regret not listening to me?"<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

She narrowed her eyes, wanting to speak, but was so weak she could not produce any sound. After this one day and night of emotional and physical stress and trauma, this body of hers that had been raised in an ordinary society was already on the verge of collapse… She heard him carry on to say, "The henna tattoo on your body has already begun to fade. I will bring you to get a complete design tattooed on."

Her brows drew together. "No…"<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

He chuckled, plunging hard into her deepest reaches.

She could not hold back a moan of "mm," the feeble, nasal tone it carried actually inciting such exhilaration that it could set a person's blood afire.

In the end, when he could feel she was nearly about to pa.s.s out from exhaustion, he finally pushed her over into a climax, then swiftly pulled out from her.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

The man, who was now standing, looked down at that slender, frail frame that lay curled up in the gra.s.s. As he gazed at her black tresses that were entwined around her arm, dampened possibly by sweat or perhaps by dew, he had to actually restrain his desire to release himself inside her.

Sweat beaded on her bosom and glistened slightly in the daylight.

Grabbing down the travel bag that was on the horse's back, Cheng Muyun pulled out some clean clothing and put it on before also dressing her in a pair of workout pants and a top. He was very patient when he dressed her, setting her on his lap and pulling the garments on for her a little at a time. After she was completely garbed, he laid her down on the gra.s.s.

Finally, from his bag, he pulled out a sealed gla.s.s vial and syringe. Swiftly changing the needle, he stuck it into her arm.

Wen Han tried hard to struggle against him. Through her hazy vision, she peered at him. "What… what did you inject me with? …"

With a light laugh, he answered in Chinese, "[Illegal] Drugs. Or maybe a nutrient solution. Which do you prefer?"

This man's words were always outside of what one would expect.

She had no strength left to speculate which of his words were true and which were not.

Then one day, he left her there in the dense forest, where the surroundings were completely empty of anything, and went away alone.

When he returned again, it was already midday of the following day. Except for feeling hungry, she did not feel unwell in the slightest, and only then did she vaguely deduce that the solution he injected her with every few days was a nutrient one.

This journey had begun so suddenly and bafflingly, but it grinded away at her will. That day when she was unconscious, Cheng Muyun had used an intense, sating act of s.e.xual intercourse to drive away the chill of her body and then, after she had recovered a little bit of her strength, taken her along and set out on this journey. In the beginning, she had still tried to resist, but later, she gradually grew numb.

It was to the point that, when they encountered a water source and he stripped her bare to wash her body, she would not even know to struggle.

"Do not even think about trying to escape." He had told her this on the third night. "Nepal is the number one country for missing persons. This is a mountain region, where villagers are frequently killed by attacks from wild animals."

At the time, she had been holding his dagger and pointing it at his heart, hoping to threaten him into letting her go.

He, though, had not even shown any of the anger he had had in Kathmandu and, in fact, appeared rather indifferent. "You do not know how to speak the language here and do not have any capacity to protect yourself. You cannot even differentiate between north, south, east, and west. It would seem that killing me… has no advantage whatsoever."

As she gripped that dagger with both her hands, Wen Han's heart had hammered away, and her face had flushed deep red from humiliation.

Cheng Muyun had leaned against a tree trunk and lifted his eyes to admire her chest, which was heaving with fury.

"What is it you want to do?" Wen Han slowly brought down the dagger, unable to suppress her heavy breathing, for she had no choice but to submit to the reality of his words. "Why did you bring me here?" The despair she felt from longing to escape but being unable to, and wanting to threaten him but not able to even accomplish that, caused her heart to clench and ache unbearably.

But all these questions did not bring about even a single answer from him.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

[1] "Brother" in the sense that they cousin-brothers. Their fathers are brothers. In Chinese culture, cousins who share the same surname (i.e. their fathers are brothers) are closer in blood than others. These types of cousins in Chinese culture are actually considered a type of sibling and are called 堂 "tang" siblings. They address each other not as "cousin" but as brother or sister.

[2] Cheng Muyun is referring to the precept in Buddhism to abstain from strong drink.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

If it’s not clear, the “moment” was because Cheng Muyun was trying to prevent Wen Han from dying of hypothermia, not because of any sudden desire.

Fast fact: The brother that Cheng Muyun mentions is the male lead in Mo Bao Fei Bao’s book, One Life, One Incarnation, and also the first book of the series of the same name. Black and White Film belongs to that series, as does One Life, One Incarnation: Beautiful Bones.

Completed:

1 of 1 Prologue

17 of 50 Chapter segments

0 of 1 Epilogue