Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Zhu Wei
After waking up, Shen Yuan tried to sleep again, but it turned out to be a failure. Unable to rest like he wanted to, he stepped out of the house.
’Maybe a walk around the forest will make me sleepy again.’ Shen Yuan found a direction and made his way to the same area where he had chopped the wood the day before.
It was in the middle of the night when he walked out of his door. The servant district was quiet. Too quiet.
He did not see anyone walking around like he did in the morning; even the lights in the cottages were out.
’Are they all asleep?’ Shen Yuan himself did not think that true. How could anyone get good sleep after knowing they only had three months before their fates were to be decided?
Soon, he found himself in the familiar woods. On the way, he finally saw a few people who only glanced at him before acting like he did not even exist.
He also noticed that those people subconsciously or consciously put some distance between themselves and him when they saw him.
"What was that about? Do they think of me as a threat?" Shen Yuan wondered as his feet crushed the crisp grass under them, making raw noise.
While walking, he tried to actively make the noise less and less. There was not even a reason why he was doing it; he just felt like it.
Shen Yuan walked in a straight direction until he found himself in a familiar spot.
In the middle of the forest was a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a serene pond. It was surrounded by beautiful flowers and long weeds. The water was so still that the reflection of the two moon could seen in it.
Their lights merging on the calm surface to form a Yin Yang like image of red and blue. There was also a faint purple trace of mist above the water, but Shen Yuan did not pay attention to it.
He stripped down to the last outfit he wore, his birthday suit, before folding his clothes neatly and setting them aside. He slipped into the lake and closed his eyes.
The water was not deep enough, just three feet from the surface. This allowed him to easily lean into the ground and relax.
Then suddenly, something brushed against Shen Yuan’s feet. His eyes snapped open and he jumped out of the lake, instantly regretting his decision coming here.
What was I thinking? This is the demonic cult, a place where people are killed for no reason. I should be more careful with where I go and when I go.’
Shen Yuan did not even reach for his clothes and carefully looked for the thing that had touched him.
Under the light of the moon, he was able to see through the misty water. But what he saw made his breath stop.
There were strands of hair, not longer than his own. Following the hair, he saw the head they were attached to.
’Dead body.’ The thought popped in his head the moment he saw it. maybe it was because of his movements that the water in the lake shifted and the body resurfaced.
Seeing a dead body did not stun Shen Yuan more than the fact of who the dead boy was.
It was none other than the ten-year-old child he had seen in the market. The cheerful boy who had served him before was now lying dead in the waters with a knife stabbed in his throat and into the head.
The sight was sickening, and even though Shen Yuan was unable to feel emotions like remorse, he had his own values and principles.
"Who could do such a thing..." Shen Yuan sighed and dressed up hurriedly and walked out of the forest. ’Hope no one saw me entering, or they might think I did it."
After what he saw, he was no longer in the mood for a walk or a bath. He just wanted to go back home safely.
But things never went the way he wanted. On his way back, Shen Yuan saw someone and froze.
It was none other than the man who he had met in the morning.
Zhu Wei!
The short-haired man with piercings was walking a few meters ahead of him. Fortunately he had not seen Shen Yuan yet. Instead, he seemed to be on edge, looking around, acting suspicious.
’Should I just ignore him and take another route to go back home?’ Shen Yuan thought this, but then his eyes landed on the boy’s waist; here he saw a sheath, an empty one. It was not big enough to hold a sword nor too short like that for a hidden blade.
Seeing that empty piece of leather, a thought arose in his heat. A thought that made his feet move before he could even think about it.
His movements were different before; they were meticulously quiet. He was now moving like a trained stacker following his target.
Shen Yuan followed Zhu Wei to a cottage. At first he thought the boy lived there, but Zhu Wei did something unexpected and knocked on the door.
A second went by, then another before the door opened, only by an inch.
"It’s me." Peng up growled under his breath, and the owner of the house opened the door completely after a second of hesitation.
The person living there was a young woman. She looked about the same age as them, maybe younger.
She was one of the female servants Shen Yuan had seen around but did not know much about.
Zhu Wei pushed the woman aside and walked in like he owned the place.
Shen Yuan looked at the female servant and did not see any anger or signs of repulsion. He only saw resignation and a look that said that she had given up on resisting a long time ago and just wanted the night to be over soon.
The young lady closed the door and walked back in. Shen Yuan slipped closer to the house, and he started hearing muffled grunts and pained cries of the woman drowned between the strained moans.
"Oh, Shi Lui. I love that look on your face. Cry for me. Smack! I want to hear you scream my name."
And so she did, unwillingly.
Shen Yuan stayed near the house for a second before he turned around to leave. His eyes drifted to an object lying in the path, and his feet stopped once more.
His mind wandered to the night he had seen his ’best friend’ die right before his eyes, and then he thought of the man who was responsible for it.
Not the bodyguard, but the man who had hired them. The same man who had drugged an innocent woman and took him back to the apartment.
The same man whom Shen Yuan had followed back home that night...
