Chapter 16: Gu Yusheng
Translator: Flying Lines
Edited by Lord Immortal

Xie Mengxuan exhaled heavily while looking at that tiny object. Suddenly, she clenched her teeth and endured the pain from her leg to move towards it. Incredible though it seemed, she had a bright look.

This… this was her little dragonfly made by herself from bamboo splints during her childhood. As she was poor in handcrafting, she had given it to that man who kept it in good condition at all times. Why was it here?

Was he that man? However, it was said that he was already dead at that time.

With her lips trembling, Xie Mengxuan swallowed. She bent to pick it up to have a detailed look. This easy task took her such a long time. Her trembling fingers showed the tension she failed to notice.

The instant her hand was close to the dragonfly, the man who should have gone away came back to pick it up quickly.

Xie Mengxuan stood up and watched him blowing the dust gently as if he was holding a priceless treasure.

Xie Mengxuan checked him carefully to find that not only his eyes but also his faint smile looked familiar the man she was familiar with.

With extreme care, the man put away the dragonfly into his pouch and was about to leave. Having returned to her thoughts, Xie Mengxuan was a little anxious and said loudly, “Please hang on, my benefactor.”

At the cave’s entrance, the man stopped and said after taking a deep breath. “What’s wrong, young lady? It’s not early since I’m going to find that man for you.”

Xie Mengxuan looked at him with her eyes opened wide. After closing her eyes for a second, she said aloud, “Gentleman, you’re dressed in an embroidered coat with a jade belt. Your complexion is clear as milk. It can be inferred that you’re from a noble family. Why do you put such an ugly object instead of money into your pouch?”

The man turned back with a weird look. He slowly asked, “Ugly?”

Xie Mengxuan curled her lips, and her hands stopped shaking. “No one except me can give this remark.”

The man pursed his lips in silence.

Xie Mengxuan failed to calm herself down and asked in a loud voice, “Who are you? Why do you have this object?”

The man was staring at her with sorrow and sadness in his eyes.

Xie Mengxuan was in a sour mood. “Tell me!”

“Who are you?”

Her voice turned sharp and squeaky, not as pleasing to ears as usual. She choked while sobbing. She tried to walk but forgot about her injured leg, only to fall onto the ground.

With an anxious look, the man gave up his disguise and immediately went forward to help her stand up. “Sister Xuan, how are you? Are you hurt? Why are you still so careless?”

“Sister Xuan, this dragonfly is ugly, but I’ll keep it in good condition as it’s the first present from you.”

“Sister Xuan, I’ve prepared for you the food you love. Help yourself.”

“Sister Xuan, good medicine is bitter. Please drink it. I’ve prepared sweetmeats for you.”

“Sister Xuan…”

The voice she had been trying to forget over these years echoed in her ears. No one except him would call her Sister Xuan. Was he that man?

Filled with tears in her eyes, Xie Mengxuan choked with sobs. “Brother Sheng, it’s you? Are you still alive?”

His body turned stiff. Giving out a sigh, he denied, “I’m not. Sister Xuan, get up.”

The man exerted some force to help Xie Mengxuan up.

Instead of cooperating, she pushed the man onto the ground and searched him against the propriety. Soon, she took his pouch that hung on his waist. With trembling hands, she opened the pouch and found two things: one was the dragonfly, and the other was a jade pendant as large as a kid’s palm.

Upon seeing these two objects, Xie Mengxuan cried out. “No! The dragonfly is the evidence. Besides, in the Gu family, the jade pendant only belongs to Gu’s eldest son. It’s what Aunt Gu prepared for Brother Sheng. Together other things, it will be given to his wife if he gets married.”

Holding the jade pendant, she shed bitter tears and clung to it more tightly.

Squatting in front of her, the man could do nothing but wipe her tears with his sleeve, rather than giving her a detailed explanation.

“Why not meet me over the past years?”

“Why not tell me you’re alive? Why?”

“Do you know how sad I was during these years?”

Xie Mengxuan hit the man every time she finished a sentence. Instead of getting angry, he only gave out a sigh and waited patiently until she fully vented her feelings. “Does your hand hurt?” he asked.

Seeing him treating her as if they were still in their childhood, the anger of Xie Mengxuan subsided. After a while, she stopped crying, rubbed her cheeks, and said in a gentle voice. “Are you still insisting that you are not Gu Mochen?”

The man still persisted, “Sister Xuan, Gu Mochen is already dead because he could not live on.”

Xie Mengxuan was aware that this man was indeed Gu Mochen, but at the same time, he could not be.

Having taken a deep breath, Xie Mengxuan said in a low voice, “Now that you are not Gu Mochen, who are you? Tell me! Hurry up!”

Again, she lost her somber mood as she could be as capricious as a real young lady in front of Brother Sheng.

“My present name is Gu Yusheng.” He explained carefully and wiped her tears with a serious look.

Xie Mengxuan could not help lowering the corner of her lips. Yusheng was his pet name given by his grandfather, unknown to others. Unfortunately, before he turned twenty, there happened an accident.

Suddenly, Xie Mengxuan’s lips curved into a smile, so did Gu Yusheng’s. He touched her nose and said in a gentle voice. “Now you are the young lady from the Xie family who can solve problems on your own. Why are you still behaving like a child?”

“It’s not good to be a young lady who must solve problems alone.” Xie Mengxuan muttered, “Brother Sheng, how did you survive? Why not come back? Whose corpse was that?”

“Later, I’ll explain it to you in detail. Do you intend to tell me about your engagement? ” Gu Yusheng pretended to look serious.

Xie Mengxuan stuck out her tongue and said with a smile. “After you have answered my questions, I’ll elaborate it to you.”

Although Xie Mengxuan wore an innocent smile, Gu Yusheng was aware that although she showed her trust, she still waited to make further confirmation. It was necessary to be on the alert considering their identities.

“I’ll take you to the river to clean yourself. Afterward, I’m going to tell it to you on the journey.” Gu Yusheng hugged Xie Mengxuan in his arms. When they were about to leave, a tiger’s roar came from outside. Their faces paled with panic at once.

Was it a tiger?!