Chapter 51: Lost

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

Ke Ruan was not blaming him, but Si Yuhan was now pretty restless, thinking it was more of an interrogation.

He looked down and said,”I…I’m afraid.”

Ke Ruan chuckled. Although Si Yuhan was the male lead, he was after all a child, “It’s getting late. It could be dangerous. Come on down. We need to go back.”

Si Yuhan looked under the tree. “I…”

“You dare not to jump? Are you scared?” Ke Ruan’s voice was full of happiness, eyes filled with undisguised tease.

Si Yuhan snorted. Scared? How was that possible? If it were not for setting Ke Ruan up, he would rather die than play this sort of boring game with him.

“Alright. Jump. I’ll catch you.”

Si Yuhan frowned. Catch him? He really doubted it.

“Han, hurry up. My foot is injured. I can’t climb up. So you need to jump down. Don’t worry. I’m here. I won’t let you get hurt.” Ke Ruan encouraged.

Si Yuhan didn’t move.

“Han, come on!”

Si Yuhan still didn’t move.

Ke Ruan took a deep breath and said, “I know! It must be that you’re too scared to jump. Are you afraid of heights? Come on. Why did you climb up so high if you’re afraid of heights? Next time, find a place and hide until I come to find you, okay? ”

He was trying to dare him to do it.

Si Yuhan clenched his teeth and said, “I’m not afraid of height.”

“Then why don’t you jump? What is it that you are afraid of? ”

Si Yuhan pressed his lips into a line. He didn’t believe him.

“Alright, since it’s not about height, then jump. Trust me. I will catch you for sure. Come on! Conquer your fear and jump.”

Si Yuhan seemed to have recalled something. His face went dark. What he was doing exactly? Why was he wasting his breath talking to him like that? It was boring and meaningless. How could he deal with him up there? He needed to go down.

“Okay then. I’ll jump.” Immediately, Ke Ruan saw a shadow coming down from the tree, he hurriedly reached out for him.

It was not really that high where Si Yuhan stood on the tree. It was not low either. The eight-year-old boy suddenly just jumped off, while a fifteen-year-old teen trying to catch him. The gravity made Ke Ruan want to let go of him subconciously, but he didn’t do that under strong will power. Si Yuhan fell heavily onto him.

“Ah…” Ke Ruan felt that his organs were bleeding.

Si Yuhan felt pretty alright though, with Ke Ruan acted as his physical cushion. He used some extra inner power to make sure that Ke Ruan suffer the great impact. So It must be pretty painful for Ke Ruan now.

It never occurred to him, however, that Ke Ruan would use himself as the cushion. He thought Ke Ruan would just draw back his hands or throw him away. But he didn’t. He chose the hardest way. Why? Even if he wasn’t reborn, it was impossible for him to act like a different person in such a short time.

“Han, you’re heavy. You really need to lose some weight.” Ke Ruan joked, ” Get up. We need to go back now.”

Si Yuhan quickly got up from him and muttered to himself. Ke Ruan covered his mouth with his hands and got up, thinking that the male lead was feeling guilty, so he rubbed against his hair and said,”It’s okay. Let’s go back.”

Si Yuhan followed by his side, feeling a little lost. For the first time, he didn’t know what to do anymore. What should he do with Ke Ruan?

Ke Ruan limped forward and held Si Yuhan in one hand. However, he gradually realized something — they got lost.

They had been to this place three times. Maybe it was just an illusion for the first time. For the second time, he made him self keep the shape of that tree in mind, with an obvious big hole on the branch. So for the third time they passed by, he had to admit that they were really really lost.

Chapter 52: Follow His Heart

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

As it was getting darker and darker, people could barely see clearly the surroundings in the mountain.

Since they couldn’t get out of the mountain tonight, so they had to find a place to hide themselves. God knew whether there were any beasts in the mountain appearing at night.

“Han, we can’t get out tonight. Let’s climb up to the tree to have a rest.”

Si Yuhan nodded and said, “Okay!”

Ke Ruan raised his head. His gaze fell on a big tree with strong branches. Ke Ruan thought it should be safe to sleep on it. Then he walked towards the tree with Si Yuhan.

As he drew near to the tree, he suddenly found something strange.

He felt that there was something wrong with the ground under his feet. Before he could react, the ground suddenly caved in and the gravity made him drop down immediately. He reached out his arms to hold Si Yuhan and tried his best to slow down the speed of falling down. Finally, they landed on the ground. Ke Ruan felt that his leg had been crippled and he couldn’t use any words to describe his current feeling.

He released Si Yuhan before he fell down and blacked out.

Si Yuhan frowned. Under the moonlight, he could see Ke Ruan’s pale face. He squatted down and eyed him closely. He touched his face and said, “Ke Ruan, I thought I knew you very well. But now, why can’t I see through you? What are you thinking?”

He turned to look at his leg. It had earlier been hurt by the beast trap. When Ke Ruan just fell down, the leg first touched the ground, so the injury became severe. If he couldn’t be treated in time, his leg would forever be crippled.

Si Yuhan sat down on the ground. He leaned back on the wall and sneered while thinking, ‘One leg for a life. You’ve made a good bargain.’

After a long time, Ke Ruan woke up in pain. Since it was already pitch dark, he could only stretched out his hands to feel his surroundings. He called Si Yuhan, “Han, where are you?”

Si Yuhan opened his eyes and glanced at him. After a moment of silence, he extended his hand to him.

Ke Ruan held Si Yuhan’s hand and let out a sigh of relief, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s good.” After saying that, Ke Ruan released his hand and began to check his leg. He hoped that his leg didn’t fracture. Otherwise, in such a place, a fracture meant that he would be crippled.

After checking his legs carefully, he smiled out of relief. It wasn’t a big matter. There was only a dislocation of his ankle and his one knee hand been hurt. There was nothing serious about it. With his status, he could slowly recuperate after returning to the country.

Ke Ruan clenched his teeth and twisted his ankles. With a ‘swish’ sound, his face twisted in pain. The agony in his eyes was obvious. He was a doctor. He had seen all kinds of patients and given them all kinds of surgery, but the premise was that he used anesthetic before the surgery.

Ever since he had come to this world, he had been injured more than once. Every time he had to endure the pain. He thought he was about to explode.

“Han, come over here.”

Si Yuhan moved towards him, and Ke Ruan hugged him in his arms. Si Yuhan subconsciously wanted to struggle.

Ke Ruan said weakly, “Don’t move, good boy. I’m exhausted. It’s cold at night. Be good, we’ll find a way to get out tomorrow.”

Si Yuhan felt the heart between their chests beat violently. But he didn’t know whether it was his or Ke Ruan’s.

Ke Ruan protected Si Yuhan’s head and leaned back. He gently patted his back with one hand, patiently consoling him. Si Yuhan had only experienced this kind of treatment from that maid.

His eyes became moist. He closed his eyes and just wanted to follow his heart this time. He was too obsessed with the warmth.

As for Lin Qingye, he was tangled by that beard man. When he returned to the house, it had been two hours latter than usual. He found Ke Ruan and Si Yuhan weren’t at home.

Chapter 53: His Brother Qingye

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

He didn’t think that Ke Ruan just took Si Yuhan out for a stroll. He soon found out the problem and his subordinate returned to the house on time.

“Everyone, follow me.”

The soldiers didn’t dare to say anything. General Lin was currently on the edge of losing his temper, so they carefully followed behind him.

Seeing Qiaoshan Mountain was well-decorated and hearing the music, there was probably a bliss. Lin Qingye clenched his fist and strode towards the place.

From afar, he saw the head of the table sitting lazily, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and drinking it up.

Just as Lin Qingye and his men were going to rush in, the guards at the door grabbed their swords and stopped them.

“Get lost!” Lin Qingye clenched his fist with a murderous look in his eyes.

Naturally, the beard man saw through Lin Qingye’s intention of killing him. He waved his hand and said bitterly, “Let them in.”

“Yes!”

Lin Qingye violently kicked away the person beside him, walked in, and headed straight for the man on the main seat above all. He grabbed his collar and lifted him up, “Where is he?”

When the guards saw their boss being treated like this, they stood up with uncontrollable rage, pointing their swords toward Lin Qingye and his men, and shouted, “Damn it, let go of our boss!”

“General Lin, relax,” the beard man smiled and extended his right hand to Lin Qingye’s hand on his collar.

His eyes brightened – darn it, it was as smooth as he imagined.

Lin Qingye didn’t notice his abnormality. He just stretched out his other hand and gave him a slap, “Tell me, where is he?”

“Boss!”

The fire in everyone’s eyes was burning.

The beard man’s lips bled. His brother, Qingye, finally showed his mood towards him, great!

“Tell me!”

“General Lin, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lin Qingye smirked, “Do you think I am an idiot? I am not getting my position because of my strength. You do look down on me.”

The beard man screamed in his heart: I didn’t! Brother Qingye in my heart was an intelligent and courageous hero.

“Are you telling me or not?”

He punched him agian.

The beard man felt a little dizzy. Brother Qingye was so powerful.

“Boss. Damn it! Charge! How dare you hit our Boss?”

The crowd was ready to have a big fight.

The place was haunted by an outbreak of war.

“Retreat,” the beard man said with fury. They were unqualified to step in the matter between him and Brother Qingye.

“Boss.”

“Now!”

Lin Qingye pushed him away. The beard seemed depressed- he finally could be so intimated with Brother Qingye, but it only lasted a short time.

He sighed.

“General Lin, you should not oblige them.”

“Cut the crap.” Lin Qingye held a sword at his throat and said, “Tell me, where is the young master? If you don’t say it now, I will make you say it. Give you one more chance, tell me!”

The beard man smiled with tears, “Brother Qingye, have you forgotten about me? You forgot about me. How come you forget about me? You can’t, you can’t…”

Lin Qingye frowned, “Say it.”

The name seemed very familiar.

“I’m Qi Cheng.”

Lin Qingye was stunned. The sword in his hand fell to the ground, and the men behind him were stunned too. Qi Cheng, the Qi family.

Qi Cheng stood up. He was half a year younger than Lin Qingye, but he was almost as tall as Lin Qingye. He looked him in the eyes and clearly saw the shock and joy inside.

Chapter 54: Ke Ruan Must Die

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

Qi Cheng bit his lips – Qingye looked happy to see him alive.

“Brother Qingye, do you still remember me?”

Lin Qingye was speechless and took a few steps back, “Let’s talk about that later. Where is Young Master?”

Qi Cheng stared at him for a long time and answered, “Brother Qingye, are you really going to put Ke Ruan in the first palce and talk about my matter later?”

The hands hidden behind his back were trembling slightly.

Lin Qingye, “Yes!”

Qi Cheng’s mouth tilted upwards slightly at the corners with ruthlesness and stubbornness flitting across his face, “But Brother Qingye, matters that concerns about me should be the most important to you. Moreover, Ke Ruan must die.”

He sat on the chair again, with one foot casually resting on it, “Guards, take them down and lock them up.”

A man behind Lin Qingye said, “General, we need to fight our way out to find Young Master.”

Previously, they did hate Ke Ruan and thought that he was not capable to be the Crown Prince. However, after getting along with him these days, they found that Ke Ruan had not only changed his bad temper, but also showed respect to every of them. The most impressive thing was that they felt being treated as his equal. Right. Talking to Ke Ruan gave them the feeling of talking to a person of the same status.

Qi Cheng sneered and said, “Brother Qingye, I have so many men here. No matter how powerful you are, you won’t get any advantage in hand-to-hand combat. Are you going to sacrifise your soldiers for nothing?”

“General, we are not afraid of death. We must save Young Master.”

“Yes, we do not fear to die.”

“Death is nothing!”

Qi Cheng clenched the arms of his chair, veins popping out on his hands. Why? Why were they all willing to sacrifice their lives for Ke Ruan, a loser? Even Brother Qingye was willing to do so. The royals deserved to die! They took away his family. Now the only royal descendant even wanted to take away Brother Qingye. Damn it!

Lin Qingye waved his hand. Although saving Young Master was important, he couldn’t watch his men die here. It seemed that Young Master was still alive, so the plan of rescuing him could be given a further thought.

Qi Cheng gave a slight smile, “Bring them down.”

Lin Qingye hunkered on the ground, frowning and thinking.

“General, is this Qi Cheng…” the speaker dared not continue, as that was something that no one dared to mention in Red Flame Kingdom.

“We need to find Young Master. If Young Master is caught by Qi Cheng, I’m afraid things will get tricky.”

“Yes!”

But now that they were kept here, they couldn’t go out and didn’t know where to find Young Master.

When the first ray of sunlight shone in the morning, Si Yuhan opened his eyes at once, maintaining the same posture when he fell asleep last night. He moved and felt a sharp pain. Then, he pulled Ke Ruan’s hand away and streched.

After that, he looked at Ke Ruan, who still hadn’t woken up, and shocked – Ke Ruan’s face was pale and his lips had lost their color.

He stood, frozen in his stance. He didn’t know why he didn’t have the courage to touch him or check his breathing.

It wouldn’t happen. Ke Ruan was tough. How could he die here overnight? No way. That was impossible

Si Yuhan stretched out his hands, trambling, and despised himself: how could he be so useless? But if Ke Ruan was dead for real, that would be good. His purpose was to make him die anyway.

Chapter 55: Be Soft Subconsciously

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

A hot breath coming along his fingers made Si Yuhan’s tensed body relax in an instant. The pain was even worse than sleeping in the same position overnight.

“Wake up.” His voice was hoarse.

“Ke Ruan, wake up…” Si Yuhan took a few deep breaths and adjusted his breathing so as to not sound too hoarse.

He held his neck and picked him up crassly but gently, patting his face, “Wake up, wake up…”

Ke Ruan heard some noise, as if someone was cursing in his ears with fear and nervousness.

“If you don’t wake up now, I will chop you into pieces to feed dogs.”

“Do you hear me? Wake up. Or I will… I will kill your parents.”

“And send your sister to a brothel.”

……

Ke Ruan felt his eyelids were heavy, but smiled while hearing these words. If Si Yuhan was that cruel, then he’d better not wake up.

“Don’t you dare.” His tone suddenly became stern with a hint of joy.

Realizing that he had spoken his mind out subconsciously, Ke Ruan tried his best to open his eyes. A worried face with bright eyes loomed up before him. He smiled and said, “Little Han, you care so much about me.”

Si Yuhan let go of him. Stop the daydream.

“Ah!”

Before Ke Ruan could react, his head was heavily slammed into the cave where he was leaning. Fortunately, it was full of mud, so it didn’t hurt much.

Ke Ruan rubbed the back of his head and smiled, “You janus-faced little boy.”

Si Yuhan turned around and thought: what a raving guy.

Feeling his strength was gone, Ke Ruan checked the injury caused by the beasts-trap. Indeed, it was festering. If he couldn’t get treatment within three days, he would probably be crippled.

How unlucky he was!

He tried to figure out the deepth of the cave by looking up to the top and could only see the light outside in a daze. It was so deep.

“Little Han, do you think this hole is used to scheme against me?”

He just wanted to ridicule, but saw a flash of surprise across Si Yuhan’s eyes. This cave was indeed used to trap him. To be more precise, the traps in the hill were all set up to deal with him, which would make him die without being noticed by others.

Ke Ruan frowned, “I think it’s three metres deep. I’m injured now, so I definitely can’t go up. Little Han, do you know any flying skill?”

Si Yuhan paused and shook his head.

Ke Ruan scratched his head. Medical research showed that the limit of a human in a starving state could survive for seven days at most. If one didn’t drink water for three days or eat for seven days, he will be threatened by death.

Therefore, they only had two days to go out. If he died here, General Lin would fail his mission, and he would be dead too.

He looked around on the narrow ground. There was nothing, not even a stone. Damn it. It seemed that he needed to use his hand.

“Little Han, humans can only live for three days without eating or drinking. We are here since yesterday afternoon, so we can still hold on for two and a half days. We need to get out of here within limited time.” Ke Ruan cheered himself up. Then, he tore the hem of his robe into two pieces and wrapped his hands. They couldn’t pin all their hopes on General Lin.

“What are you going to do?”

After a moment of silence, Si Yuhan asked in a low voice.

Ke Ruan sat on the ground and started to bank the earth into a mound, “I’m trying to get out of here. I can make mud staircases, layer by layer. We will finally get out. I’m smart, right?”

Si Yuhan walked to his side in slience. Yes, he was very smart.