Xie Chi’s eyes moistened, feeling a sense of unexpected salvation from despair. “You came.”

Seeing He Feng jump into the fire, He Zhanghui shot up from his seat, even dropping his cigarette. “Quick, put out the fire! What are you standing there for? Put out the fire!”

Xie Chi’s hands and feet were bound to the wooden stake. He Feng used his knife to cut the ropes one by one. As soon as her left hand was freed, she collapsed directly into his arms.

For the first time, she found the thick smell of coal so pleasant.

The brothers from Yun Village brought water, pouring bucket after bucket onto the fire.

Song Qingtao panicked, limping down with her injured leg. “Don’t put it out! Who told you to put it out! Stop!”

As she spoke, she drew her gun and fired wildly at Xie Chi.

Xie Chi’s feet were still bound, and He Feng was crouched on the ground. Hearing gunshots behind him, bullets whizzed past his side.

Song Qingtao’s first shot missed. She drew her gun again, steadied her hand to aim at Xie Chi, but unexpectedly He Feng suddenly stood up, taking the bullet meant for her.

The bullet hit He Feng’s right abdomen.

Qing Yangzi pressed Song Qingtao to the ground. She no longer cared about the pain in her body and struggled desperately. “Let me go, let go! I’ll kill her!”

He Feng’s pants had caught fire, but fortunately water was poured quickly, so the burns weren’t severe.

Even the people from Qing Village were stunned, never expecting the young master would actually jump into the fire to save that woman. Seeing his fierce demeanor, no one dared make a sound for a moment.

After He Feng carried Xie Chi down, someone who didn’t value his life shouted, “You can’t let her go!”

Then others in the crowd joined in:

“She killed our chief.”

“Right! A life for a life!”

He Zhanghui stood at the main hall entrance and called to him, “He Feng! You little bastard, get over here!”

He Feng acted as if he didn’t hear, carrying Xie Chi straight to his own courtyard.

Song Qingtao was still being held down by Qing Yangzi, shouting at He Feng, “Third Brother!”

He Feng suddenly stopped, turned to look at Song Qingtao.

“Qing Yangzi, let her go.”

Only then did Qing Yangzi release his grip.

Song Qingtao stood up and walked shakily toward He Feng, saying to him with a trembling voice, “Third Brother, my father is dead.”

“I know.”

“And you’re still protecting her?” Song Qingtao wiped away her tears and continued asking, “We’ve known each other for over ten years—doesn’t that outweigh these few days with her? You know how much I like you. She killed my father! He was my father!”

He Feng’s abdominal bullet wound was bleeding steadily, yet he stood upright holding the weak Xie Chi, as if nothing was wrong.

“She’s not what she appears to be. She’s been pretending to be weak and pitiful in front of you, gaining sympathy, using you, all to get revenge on me! Actually, her heart is blacker than anyone’s! Her legs have been fine for a long time—she’s been deceiving you!” Song Qingtao raised her hand to show He Feng her injuries. Her wrists were torn bloody by thorns, her sleeves soaked with blood. “She tortured me, stuck needles into my fingers. My hands and feet are covered with wounds like this. She tied me up in the forest to wait for death. Luckily I have a strong constitution and was found by the brothers.”

He Feng said nothing.

Song Qingtao looked at him grievously. “Third Brother?”

“I’m sorry.” Half of He Feng’s body was numb with pain, yet he didn’t show the slightest weakness. “You were at fault first. It was wrong of her to kill, but this time I took a bullet for her. If you don’t think it’s enough, I’ll take another shot for her.”

“You’re protecting her like this? With your life? Why?” Song Qingtao’s eyes reddened. “I nearly died too. If she had killed me today, would you have sought justice for me?”

He Feng fell silent.

Song Qingtao stared at him. His eyes were full of coldness, even colder than before. “What’s so good about her? What do you like about her? Because she’s beautiful?” Song Qingtao stepped forward. “There are so many beautiful people. It’s not like you haven’t seen them. Why are you so good to her specifically?” She pressed the gun barrel against He Feng’s head, tears streaming down. “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare kill you?”

Seeing this, Qing Yangzi raised his gun at Song Qingtao.

He Feng signaled with his eyes for him to lower it.

Xie Chi closed her eyes, leaning weakly against He Feng’s chest, lightly grasping his clothes.

He Feng looked down and held the person in his arms even tighter.

Watching their small gestures, Song Qingtao gave a bitter smile and glared at He Feng with hatred. “He Feng, I hate you.”

She was in tears, smiling as she backed away, but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger. “Since you treasure her life so much, I wish her a terrible death, and that like your mother, she’ll abandon you someday!”

…

Song Mang’s corpse was taken away by Qing Village. Large bloodstains still remained on Xie Chi’s bed. He Feng carried her back to his own room. As soon as he put her on the bed, Qing Yangzi had already brought the doctor.

After a general examination, the doctor sighed with relief. “Fortunately, it’s not serious—all external injuries. Let me treat your bullet wound first.”

“No need.” He Feng’s expression was serious as he sat heavily on a stool. “Treat her first.”

The doctor was helpless. “Press on your wound and don’t lose too much blood.”

“Mm.”

Only after the doctor had sewn up Xie Chi’s wounds, applied medicine, and wrapped them in gauze did He Feng agree to treat himself.

Her injuries indeed weren’t serious. Apart from a knife wound on her back shoulder and three whip marks, most were bruises from impacts that hadn’t injured bones or internal organs. He Feng, on the other hand, had not only the bullet wound but also a burn on his calf.

Aunt Wang was applying medicine to Xie Chi while He Feng took the doctor to another room.

The doctor removed the bullet from him while Chen Zheng detailed the events of the past two days. His face was black and blue from being beaten by people from Qing Village.

After bandaging the bullet wound, the doctor treated his burns. “Luckily the burn isn’t severe, but it’ll probably leave a scar.”

“What’s a man afraid of scars for?” He Feng glanced at his leg dismissively. “Are you done?”

“Done. Remember to apply the medicine.”

“Mm.” He Feng was in a bad mood and stood up before the doctor had finished bandaging completely. “Give the medicine to Chen Zheng, and some to Qing Yangzi later.”

Chen Zheng nodded.

“Wait.” The doctor crouched on the ground, not letting He Feng leave. “There, finished. Don’t make any big movements recently and rest well.”

“Mm.”

…

Aunt Wang had just finished applying medicine to Xie Chi and was helping her dress when He Feng entered. His face looked terrible and frightening. Aunt Wang kept her head down the entire time, not daring to make a sound.

“Get out.”

“Yes.”

He Feng sat by the table, staring at her.

Xie Chi was lying on the bed, gnawing on a steamed bun. “What did the doctor say?”

“I was only gone for a moment and you couldn’t restrain yourself?”

Xie Chi was silent for a moment before saying, “Thank you for coming back to save me.”

“Your legs can walk now?”

“Mm.”

“When did you regain the ability to walk?”

“The night we hunted the black bear, I could already stand up.”

“Five days ago.” He Feng slammed his fist on the table, making the teacups rattle violently. “Just how much more are you hiding from me!”

Xie Chi was caught off guard by his outburst, and the steamed bun in her hand fell onto the bed. Seeing He Feng’s furious expression, she felt somewhat guilty.

“Speak.”

“There’s nothing to say.” She quietly picked up the steamed bun again, gripping it tightly.

“Then I’ll only ask you one thing: all this time, were you really just using me?” He paused. “Not even a little bit of other feelings?”

“I want to go down the mountain.” Xie Chi lowered her eyes. “Can you let me leave?”

He Feng suddenly stood up, grabbed the cup from the table and smashed it against the wall. “You’ll never leave. Stay here until you die.”

Xie Chi remained silent.

He Feng clenched his fists, his face full of violence, as if he might smash her to pieces the next second. Due to the violent movement, his abdomen started bleeding again, staining an even larger area. He controlled his emotions and turned to leave.

“I like you.”

He stopped in his tracks.

“I like you.”

He Feng strode back, grabbing her by the throat. “Still lying to me? Do you really take me for a fool? Or do you think my love for you has indulged you to this extent? Lying, killing, using me—what else do you want to do? Burn down the mountain? Or kill me too?”

Xie Chi grasped his hand, tears falling. “It’s not like that.”

Seeing her cry made He Feng even angrier. “What a pity you didn’t become an opera singer. Cry, cry harder. Let me see how many tears you can squeeze out.”

Veins bulged on his hand, yet he couldn’t bring himself to truly strangle her. Xie Chi’s tears slid onto his hand. “This is the truth.”

He Feng felt a throbbing pain in his forehead. This woman was going to be the death of him.

He felt a bit tired and didn’t want to hear any more of her lies. He let go and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Xie Chi hugged his waist.

Her hand landed right on his wound. He Feng frowned and pulled her hand away, striding off.

There was a thud behind him.

He turned back to see Xie Chi had fallen to the floor. Unconsciously, he immediately went to pick her up. “If you want to sleep on the floor, never get on the bed again. I—”

Xie Chi suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the corner of his mouth.

He Feng froze.

His mind went completely blank, forgetting even the threatening words he was about to say.

Xie Chi let go of him, tears in her eyes. “I like you, truly. I think if you weren’t a bandit, I would definitely want to marry you.”

His gaze immediately softened, looking at her with deep emotion. Suddenly he carried her to the bed, leaning down to press against her. “Whether you’re telling the truth or lying, I’ve wanted to sleep with you for a long time.”

Xie Chi didn’t resist, spreading her arms. “Then sleep with me.”

He Feng gave a soft laugh, looking at her as if she were facing death heroically. He kissed from her forehead to her lips, then to her neck. He had come urgently from the mine and hadn’t even washed his hands—wherever his palms passed, they left dark gray marks.

His kisses were very inexperienced. Xie Chi guessed that He Feng had probably never kissed other girls, otherwise he wouldn’t bite her so painfully. She stiffly cooperated with him, feeling his hand fall on her collar, unbuttoning her clothes with one hand.

Hot breath spread across her neck. Xie Chi frowned and gripped the bed sheets tightly.

He Feng looked up at her. “Does your body hurt badly?”

Xie Chi bit her teeth and shook her head.

Looking at her injuries, He Feng felt some compassion and didn’t want to torment her further. He kissed her ear gently and stopped his movements. “We’ll sleep together when your body feels better.”

Xie Chi felt her face was about to burn up. She avoided his gaze and nodded.

He Feng lay down beside her. Xie Chi shyly turned away, and he embraced her from behind, kissing her shoulder.

Xie Chi felt that all the pain in her body was soothed by his warm embrace. She covered his fingers with her hand, caressing his rough palm.

“How will they deal with me?”

“That’s my business. You don’t need to worry.”

“They’ll make things difficult for you, won’t they?”

“You feel sorry for me?” He Feng laughed.

“Mm.” Xie Chi suddenly remembered her steamed bun. She propped herself up with her hands and sat up, looking everywhere.

“What are you looking for?”

“Steamed bun.”

Found it!

She pushed He Feng away and picked up the flattened steamed bun, taking a big bite.

He Feng tried to snatch it away. “Why eat that?”

Xie Chi dodged backward, pulling at her wound and frowning, but still didn’t forget to eat. She tore off a large piece of steamed bun and stuffed it in her mouth. “Haven’t eaten all day.”

“I’ll have the kitchen make something good later.”

“This is very good.”

He Feng watched her eat, feeling both amused and heartbroken.

After finishing the steamed bun, Xie Chi saw him lying flat looking at her. Her gaze moved to the bloodstains on his shirt. She reached over and slowly lifted his clothes, looking at the red gauze on his abdomen. “It must hurt a lot.”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

He Feng stared into her eyes and suddenly got up from the bed.

Xie Chi asked hurriedly, “Where are you going?”

“To another room.”

“What’s wrong?”

“If I stay here, I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself and might break all your bones.”

Xie Chi bit her lip and smiled.

Seeing this expression, He Feng couldn’t bear it even more. He turned and left, even locking the door.

Xie Chi lay back on her side, pulling at her wound and breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain.

She didn’t dare move carelessly anymore, lying quietly on his bed, surrounded by his familiar scent.

Just now they had almost…

She licked her lips, as if his taste still lingered there.

Suddenly Song Mang’s death mask flashed through her mind. She opened her eyes abruptly, her breathing becoming heavy.

She pulled the blanket over her head. She told herself he deserved it.

He deserved to die.

…

Several circles of people from Qing Village surrounded He Feng’s courtyard. They wore mourning clothes and had even carried Song Mang’s corpse to the courtyard gate, all clamoring to kill Xie Chi to avenge Song Mang.

They kept shouting:

“Young Master, if you can protect her like this, what rules are there left? Who will respect you in the future?”

“You’re not even married to her—she doesn’t count as one of us at all. Making the brothers feel disappointed for such an outsider, how can you face the brothers? How can you face the stronghold?”

“She’s just a woman—it’s not worth making enemies with everyone!”

“Chief Song treated you well!”

“…”

It was too noisy for anyone in the courtyard to sleep.

He Feng fiddled with the gramophone for a long time, playing music for Xie Chi. “Much better now.”

“Thank you.”

He Feng sat on the bedside and touched her neck. “How will you thank me?”

“As long as I can do it, just ask.”

“I want to sleep with you.” His hand mischievously moved toward her chest.

Xie Chi pressed down on his hand and pulled it out. “It still hurts.”

He Feng leaned down, close to her face. “I want a hundred thousand yuan.”

“I… don’t have it.”

“Then I’ll pay a hundred thousand yuan to marry you. How about that?”

Xie Chi was silent.

“Are you worth it?”

“No.”

He Feng smiled and lifted her chin. “At least you have some self-awareness.”

“…”

Song Wan rushed in frantically. “Those people are so fierce—they’re almost breaking down the door.”

He Feng straightened up. “They only dare shout outside. They wouldn’t dare come in.”

Song Wan locked the windows. “They’ve all put on mourning clothes, and some are burning paper money, scattering it everywhere.”

He Feng ignored her and asked Xie Chi, “What do you want to eat tonight?”

“Anything is fine.”

“There’s no ‘anything is fine.’ Name two things.”

“Porridge.”

“Name a meat dish.”

“…” Xie Chi said casually, “Fish soup.”

He Feng said to Song Wan, “Have Qing Yangzi go find Aunt Wang.”

“Alright.”

Song Wan went out, considerately closing the door behind her.

Only the music remained in the room.

“What if they keep making trouble?”

“What? Afraid I’ll hand you over?”

“Yes, I’m afraid, but you won’t.”

“Why not?”

“You like me.”

He Feng smiled and went to pour himself some tea. “Just because I like you, I have to protect you and offend my brothers? You heard their shouting too—my authority is being damaged.”

“Your authority was already damaged when you beat Song Qingtao last time.” Xie Chi said seriously, “Song Mang tried to rape me. I killed him purely in self-defense. I’m your woman—you can make full use of this point to confront them.”

“Need you to teach me?” He Feng moved closer again, nuzzling her face with his nose. “You’re my woman—what kind of woman are you to me?”

“…”

“Want to marry me?”

“Who wants to marry you?”

“You said it yourself last night.”

“I said if you weren’t a bandit, I could consider it…”

“What’s wrong with being a bandit?”

Xie Chi looked at him. “I don’t like bandits.”

“Who was it that said they liked me last night, said it three times?”

“…” Xie Chi argued sophistically, mumbling randomly, “You heard wrong.”

He Feng pinched her nose. “Still being stubborn with me.”

Xie Chi smiled and pushed his hand away.

He Feng pulled her further into the bed and lay down beside her. “Be my wife. We’ll hold the ceremony in the next couple of days.”

Xie Chi wasn’t sure if he was joking or being serious. She had thought about this question.

Marry him and stay in this stronghold forever, becoming a bandit’s wife?

Though she hated this place, the people in Yun Village weren’t bad.

“If they really charge in to take you, I’m outnumbered and can’t protect you.” His voice was rarely gentle, with a hint of fatigue that sounded much more comfortable. “They say you’re not one of the stronghold’s people. If you marry me, enter the He family ancestral hall, and carry my child, no one would dare touch you.”

Xie Chi stared at his profile, lost in thought.

It didn’t sound like he was joking.

He Feng suddenly opened his eyes, and Xie Chi quickly looked away, her heart suddenly beating violently.

“What are you still shy about? We’ve kissed and almost slept together.”

“…”

Xie Chi pulled the blanket over her face. “Then I need to think about it.”

He Feng patted her bottom lightly through the blanket. “You think slowly. I’ll wait for you. Let’s see how long you can think about it.”

“It hurts.”

He patted once more. “Pretending.”

“…”

…

That evening, the people from Qing Village finally got so agitated they lost their heads. He Feng’s people blocked the door, not letting them in, but some tried to climb over the wall.

The commotion was huge. Song Qingtao’s cousin Song Ye led the charge against the human wall, scattering Chen Zheng and the others.

Song Ye was the first to rush in, then immediately raised both hands and slowly backed out.

He Feng pointed a gun at his head and followed him out.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Who gave you the courage to charge in here?”

Song Ye broke out in a cold sweat.

“Kneel down.” He Feng tilted his head slightly. “I’ll count to three.”

He released the safety. “Three.”

…