Si Jiangchen!
I finally learned the name of that asshole who liked to bite people.
When he grabbed me and brought me back to his mansion on horseback, that red - dressed woman ran out to greet him and called him that way.
"Why did you bring her back?"
The woman looked at me with a hopeless expression.
"Du Xinghe is my fiancée after the betrothal match. I'm responsible for her."
Si Jiangchen dismounted and casually pulled me down.
"Damn it! Who wants your responsibility? Let go of me!! Let go of me!"
I raised my fist and punched him again.
His chest was broad and hard. My fist hurt badly when it hit him. He only used one hand to hold my fist still. "Do you want me to bite you again?"
Just this one sentence made my tightly - clenched fist go limp.
Just now on the horse, I slapped him, and he bit my neck, almost making me faint.
"Ho..."
The effectiveness of his intimidation made him look even more arrogant.
He grabbed me and walked straight across the bluestone path in the mansion's yard and directly entered the two - story red - brick building.
The wooden stairs creaked under our combined weight. Si Jiangchen kicked open a door with dark - red carved patterns and threw me onto the walnut - wood floor.
"Ugh..."
I hit my elbow because of his rough action. Even through my clothes, I could feel the stinging pain from the skinned part.
Si Jiangchen didn't even look at me. He turned around and walked to the long table against the wall. There seemed to be the Four Treasures of the Study on it. He picked up a vermilion brush, dipped it in some red liquid, and then looked back at me.
"What... what are you going to do?!"
I got up from the floor and kept backing away, trying to find something to lean on.
Si Jiangchen reached out and grabbed my neck, and pointed the vermilion brush at my forehead.
"Hiss!"
A sound like a drop of water falling into boiling oil rang out. My forehead felt like it was branded by a hot iron, and I screamed in pain.
"Ah..."
That terrible pain was like a big hand squeezing my heart desperately. It hurt so much that I could hardly breathe.
Amid the burning pain, there seemed to be a bit of coolness that kept me from losing consciousness due to the pain. I only heard Si Jiangchen go "Huh", and then his thumb wiped my forehead.
"Humph, cheap tricks!"
He snorted coldly. His pair of pitch - black eyes looked down at me and said, "What benefits did you promise that old hedgehog? She was actually willing to use the magic she had practiced for so many years to break my cinnabar charm for you?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about! But you're not allowed to talk nonsense!"
I wouldn't allow him to speak ill of Granny Bai like this. That old woman only wanted to save people whole - heartedly. How could she be seeking any rewards from others?
"The cinnabar charm is a spiritual charm to seal demons like you."
Si Jiangchen curled his lips, showing a smile that chilled me to the bone. "Whether you really forgot or you're just acting pitiful, I'm going to tell you that you're a demon zombie!"
"Nonsense!! I'm not!"
I was shocked by his words. I even forgot to struggle and just stared at him with wide - open eyes.
"Your Du family has always been engaged in the business of raising and driving corpses and has amassed a fortune. Don't you know that?" There was mockery in his eyes.
How could I know about these things?
Our Du family had always been wealthy. As long as I wanted something, my father would always buy it for me...
So what if our family raised and drove corpses?
It was a profession that allowed the souls of those who died in a foreign land to return to their hometowns. It was a profession with great merits!!
Seeing me shaking my head continuously with a confused look, he snorted again. "Don't think that what you've done is doing good deeds! In order to protect the ill - gotten wealth you've obtained, your family has raised many zombies to guard the house."
... So what?
I once overheard my father complaining in front of my mother.
At that time, it seemed that one of our family's banks had been robbed by the displaced people. My father sighed and said something like "Living people have too many schemes. The dead are more loyal".
I originally thought that he was missing his deceased relatives and friends. Now that I think about it, did he have the idea of raising zombies?!!
"Du Xinghe, do you think those fresh corpses that don't decay after death come from?"
Si Jiangchen suddenly got closer to me. His straight nose almost touched mine.
"... I... How would I know?!"
Although I still resisted in words, my vision was dizzy. I didn't dare to think about it anymore. I couldn't think about it anymore...
I didn't believe that my gentle and elegant father would do such a thing!
"You don't know!"
Si Jiangchen narrowed his eyes. "Then let me tell you. All those displaced people who entered Duyang Town were taken in by your Du family. Your family provided cotton - padded clothes in winter and porridge in summer..."
"Stop talking. Stop talking! What you're saying is all lies. It's all a deception!"
I desperately covered my ears. "I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it!!"
Actually, I had already remembered some things... The beggar I met when I went out with A Wen to buy osmanthus cakes.
I saw him later when I was fleeing from famine!! He was thrown like a rotten rat into the ditch outside Duyang Town. The clothes he was wearing vaguely looked like those of our family's long - term laborers!
"Your Du family has a kind of medicine."
Si Jiangchen ignored my resistance and still said coldly, "As long as someone takes it, they will become living zombies without consciousness, without feeling pain, and only obeying the incantations of the Du family. Do you know how useful this thing is in a chaotic world? Which army wouldn't want such soldiers? Living dead who don't need military pay, don't feel pain, and only charge forward... The Du family is really a highly - sought - after family in the eyes of many warlords who are in control of their own regions!"
"That's right!! You're the same! Didn't you also marry into our family, wanting to take a share?"
Si Jiangchen had said so much. Weren't the things done by his Si family the same?!!
Otherwise, how could he marry a strange woman he had never met before?
"Me...?!"
After hearing my words, the cold smile on Si Jiangchen's face deepened. He simply pinched my chin and forced me to look up at him. "Du Xinghe, is your brain squeezed by the door?!! Our Si family has been practicing Taoism for generations. It was the head of your Du family who personally came to ask for this marriage. Du Xinghe, you've really forgotten all these things!"
"... Ah?!"
My mind was even more of a mess. What had I forgotten?!! Why was my mind full of fragments?!!
"A Wen. Where is A Wen?"
I desperately shook my head and screamed. I felt that my head was about to explode. I needed someone to tell me what I had forgotten!
A Wen had been with me since childhood. He must know all about my past!
"Do you mean that guy named Du Wenzhong?"
Si Jiangchen sneered and reached out to tear open the front of my jacket. In order to facilitate my flight from famine, I had already tightly wrapped my chest with a four - foot - long cotton cloth. I reached out to scratch his face again, but he held my two arms with one hand.
"That guy has been fed a bellyful of your Du family's secret medicine since childhood. He's the last meal reserved for you!"