A cloud of dust surrounded Tao Hua, puffing out and dissipating into the night air with a poof! A cough, a few spatters, and a whine, and Tao Hua had finally discarded whatever leftover residue remained in his mouth.
Maybe a few granular pieces of rock, too. Unpleasant.
"Some nerve you have there," said Shan Si. "You've got to be the most daring wimp I've ever met."
Not wrong.
Tao Hua laid his hands flat on the ground, the gauze brushing along each bump, pebble, and twig. However, that gauze still didn't budge, and somehow it was unaffected by how roughly Tao Hua squirmed.
The same couldn't be said for any other fabric that enveloped his body.
Sticking out his tongue and making a slurred "heugh" sound, he kept it there as both eyes differed in size. The outside world didn't taste as good as it smelled.
Reaching for his back and rubbing it, Tao Hua leaned his head forward and groaned. His position was terrible, as if trying to attempt a push-up and failing completely.
To make matters worse, his were practically scarred from how they scraped against the ground, saved only by the blue robe that covered them. However, that was now fraying, with each thread splintering the more Tao Hua shuffled.
In fact, the entire robe was in complete disarray.
It was blotched with blood, dirt, soot, and now tearing. One look at Tao Hua, and someone would have assumed he'd gotten into a fight. His lapels hung partially open, his sash loose, and hair affray.
But what else could he do? He didn't have any other option to switch into, and he had Shan Si to thank for that. Due to Shan Si shoving the books out of his hands back in the estate, he'd completely forgotten to gather his clothes.
Thus, he was shit out of luck.
This princess-made-jester was utterly miserable, and now he had an unrelenting pain in his lower back.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, staring at the blots of saliva on the ground. His eyes watered, but with another squeeze, his face tightened, and the urge stepped back. Thankfully.
So, he slowly opened them once more, and as his back ached, he thought, I miss my bed.
Letting out a sigh, Tao Hua begrudgingly heaved his body sideways, offering enough support to flip himself onto his back. The pain radiated along his spine, and did it ever hurt.
In fact, it hurt so badly, all Tao Hua could do was stare up at the night sky, emotionless.
Upon watching each star twinkle in an array of different colours, he thought, At least now I can see what he meant.
And to be fair? It was miraculous—as if the sky were a river, awaiting Tao Hua to wander it freely. Too bad he didn't have a boat, for if he did, he'd escape into the cosmos without a second thought.
But of course, that was simply fairytale thinking. With a blink, his eyes opened to his white boots. He looked past them, staring into the quiet abyss of nothing. Only trees, more trees, and a quiet that etched the horizon silent.
Siyue Town was no more.
Another inhale and a blink, and his head would turn just as his eyes opened on Shan Si. He had his hand lifted to his mouth, staring at a wound just under his pinky.
An imprint, really, shaped exactly like Tao Hua's teeth.
He had bitten him, to be exact, and that bite sank straight into Shan Si's flesh, bruising around each reddened splotch.
Tit for tat serves him right for being such a fucking asshole. And unfortunately—maybe—Tao Hua didn't have any extra gauze to share this time.
At the lift of his hand, Tao Hua rubbed along his chest before angrily tugging his lapels shut. His cheeks flushed a vibrant red, and to this, he shut his eyes and huffed the embarrassment away. It tingled with Shan Si's touch, remaining like a phantom.
"You know—anyone else and you'd be dead," he grumbled, flapping his hand. "Do you know how close your father was, Tao Hua?"
In all honestly, Tao Hua wasn't sure how much he cared. He was already used to his father—that was the knowledge he'd been referencing.
The known.
However, this was the unknown, and it was beginning to feel more and more like a problem. So, he slowly shut his eyes, wishing for nothing more than to fall asleep.
Shan Si pinched his thumb and index together, glaring at the imprint. He left only a sliver of space between the two tips. "This close—and you'd be locked in your estate for the rest of your life. What would you have done then? Hah—I doubt he's happy right now, and I can't blame him either...FUCK!"
Shan Si blew on the wound a few times, just as Tao Hua breathed in more of that fresh air. He tried to consider Shan Si's words; however, the more he ran his hand along his chest, the harder it was to think rationally.
In fact, where he should be focusing on anything else, his mind simply wandered to when he last slept and the dream. His breathing became more sporadic, and out of an act of unthinking, he slapped both hands onto the ground.
He was so done!
Mid-blow, Shan Si just stared down at Tao Hua's temper tantrum with utter disbelief. "What's wrong with you?"
But Tao Hua just brought an arm up to his eyes and covered them. It trembled the more his face flushed, and his jaw remained unstable. To remedy this, he ventured down the path of self-deprecation, exploring every vile thing Shan Si threw at him.
It worked.
Why couldn't this man just be a normal kidnapper and sell him off, or just kill him? That would solve every issue Tao Hua was facing; new and old.
The longer Tao Hua thought about everything, the more his eyes stung. So, he abandoned it and chose to grasp onto what little agency he had left. This was done in the art of not speaking to assholes.
Instead, he lifted his arm a bit to glimpse at this very asshole, but Shan Si wasn't looking at him, nor was he focused on the wound. In fact, he seemed entirely over it.
He just simply looked at the path ahead, shrouding the two in the peaceful sounds of the forest. Though he tried to feign indifference, it was clear Shan Si was bothered, and it was as if he was contemplating something.
But after a moment of that tranquil silence, he turned and bent toward Tao Hua, nearly causing Tao Hua's chest to seize. He gripped his robe, holding it shut. To his surprise, however, Shan Si just grabbed his arm, and tightly so.
Despite looking annoyed, and even more so at Tao Hua's reaction, he lifted Tao Hua to his feet. Holding up his arm, Shan Si stabilized the wobbly mess of a man with complete ease.
"Quit moping; we need to get going. That fire won't last long," he said.
Steadying his eyesight, Tao Hua shook his head and found that Shan Si was no longer in front of him, nor did he have his arm anymore.
But it wasn't relief just yet. Tao Hua jolted, running stiff the moment he felt a light pat against his side. Then another. A third, fourth—too many! And they all only made his situation worse.
From the way Shan Si circled him, he was patting down Tao Hua's disgusting robe.
The moment he opened his mouth, he froze. Reaching his hand up and placing it against his throat, with one eye closed, he coughed a few times. It made standing all the more troublesome, and the pain in his throat difficult to ignore. The more he inhaled, to more it felt his throat was constricting.
That smoke was truly unpleasant. He wondered if it would have been worse had it not been for the fabric—the fabric he now had no idea where it sat.
Then, his brows pinched, just as he watched Shan Si pat along his arm. He watched as his loose sleeve dangled, swaying along each pat. It was somewhat soaked still.
He wasn't sure what to think, or how to think. Yes, he was still mad, but there was softness to his eyes as he watched Shan Si put a great amount of effort into cleaning off that grime from Tao Hua's robe.
I don't understand him.
But of course he didn't! This was a mad he'd just met, and fabricated into a fairytale only for that fairytale to shatter in the worst way possible. And yet, with every terrible comment, there were three kind actions.
It's not fair. Tao Hua pouted a bit, following Shan Si's hand. He held up his hand, contemplating utilizing this man's arm as support through his coughing. But as it hovered, it would falter, and finally his fingers would slowly curl into his palm.
Toward his mouth, he brought it, covering his mouth with his sleeve as he pretended to cough a bit more.
It really wasn't fair at all.
So, in his disorientation, he stubbornly refused to use Shan Si, and instead hobbled a bit, his body being supported from one leg to the other. As soon as Shan Si reached certain parts untold, Tao Hua immediately reached both hands down and gripped them, his face stricken.
Shan Si just furrowed his brows, looking straight at Tao Hua as Tao Hua tried to firmly keep Shan Si's hands away from him.
As he studied Tao Hua, who refused to look him in the eyes, his eyebrows slowly lifted, as if to say "Aaah."
Chapter end.