“…”
Baili Weisheng’s voice was extremely faint, but Meng Duo’er still caught it, and all her movements came to an abrupt stop, her heart seeming to skip a beat entirely.
Supporting him, she didn’t dare move carelessly, didn’t dare make a sound, listening intently to what he was saying.
But no matter how long she listened, she couldn’t make out what exactly Baili Weisheng was trying to say.
Once Meng Duo’er was certain he’d stopped speaking, she quickly helped him sit up, leaning him against the wall.
“Scholar…”
She spoke carefully, gently, as if afraid that speaking too loudly might disturb him.
Baili Weisheng wasn’t so much weak as he was dizzy, his head aching, his consciousness still not fully clear.
“Scholar… are you awake? Scholar, wake up.”
Meng Duo’er called out carefully, her small hand gently brushing over his chest, forcing herself to be patient despite her burning anxiety.
“Mm…”
At last, Baili Weisheng let out a soft response, slowly opening his eyes, his gaze lowered, looking utterly exhausted.
Meng Duo’er was overjoyed. “Scholar, you’re finally awake!”
Baili Weisheng finally lifted his eyes to look at her—but the moment he did, something went terribly wrong!
A flash of fear suddenly crossed his originally drowsy eyes. Meng Duo’er froze slightly—what was going on?
Before she could even process it, Baili Weisheng shoved her away. “Miss, propriety demands distance between men and women—please, no impropriety!”
Er…
Meng Duo’er fell backward, utterly stunned, taking a long moment to recover.
This… what was going on?!
Still shaken, Baili Weisheng glanced at Meng Duo’er, his gaze slowly moving downward, and upon seeing her covered in blood, he froze, then looked down at himself—not merely bloodstained, but drenched in blood-soaked robes—and let out a terrified scream. “Ahh…!”
“Ahh…!”
Before his scream even faded, Meng Duo’er’s face darkened, and she screamed right back, “Ahh…!”—a sound that easily overpowered his.
Baili Weisheng stopped, but Meng Duo’er’s cry continued, sounding more and more like sobbing the longer it went on. Baili Weisheng grew anxious, his handsome brows knitting tight. “Miss… Miss… Miss…”
Unable to get her to stop, he finally barked sharply, “Stop!”
Only then did Meng Duo’er fall silent—but the moment she looked at Baili Weisheng, the tears began to fall.
Baili Weisheng was about to speak when Meng Duo’er, fiercer than him, shouted back first, “You bastard, is now really the time for jokes? Are you messing with me again? Is this funny to you? Is this hilarious?”
As she spoke, the tears kept falling, plip-plop, plip-plop, looking utterly wronged and pitiful.
But Baili Weisheng was completely baffled, staring at Meng Duo’er with a look of total confusion, unable to recall who on earth this girl even was.
Meng Duo’er felt tremendously wronged. At sixteen or seventeen years old, aside from the occasional bullying she’d faced within the great clan household growing up, she’d never encountered anything like this in her whole life.
Everything from the day before had felt like a nightmare to her, and the entire night that followed had felt like witnessing the end of the world.
She herself didn’t even know how she’d managed to survive until dawn.
And now that Baili Weisheng had woken up, he was actually toying with her—how could she not be hurt by that? All the fear she’d been suppressing through the whole night burst out at once, and once she started crying, she couldn’t stop.
Baili Weisheng pressed his lips together, thoroughly bewildered, an irritation slowly rising within him—who on earth was this girl, and why did she cry so much?
He waited patiently for a good while, but finally, unable to wait any longer, was about to ask something, when suddenly, in the midst of her crying, Meng Duo’er lunged straight into his arms!
“Hey!”
This startled Baili Weisheng so badly his face went pale. He quickly dodged aside, causing Meng Duo’er to lunge right past him and grasp nothing at all!
“Miss! Please show some self-respect!” Baili Weisheng said very sternly, his handsome, pale face paired with that rigidly proper expression making him look every bit the pedantic, upright scholar.
Meng Duo’er, mid-lean, froze in place, both embarrassed and shocked, only now beginning to sense that something was truly wrong.
“Miss, the ancients said one must first respect oneself before others will respect them. If you continue like this, don’t blame me for being rude,” Baili Weisheng said solemnly, utterly serious.
As Meng Duo’er watched him, her expression grew stranger and stranger, her brow furrowing, her lips pressed together, her features nearly twisting together entirely.
What on earth was wrong with this stinking scholar?!
Could someone please tell her what had happened?
Seeing that Meng Duo’er wasn’t drawing closer anymore, Baili Weisheng let out a breath of relief, glanced at the bloodstains covering the ground, and asked with suspicion, “Miss, could you… could you tell me where this place is? And you… and this bloodstained state we’re both in—what exactly happened?”
For a long moment, Meng Duo’er didn’t answer.
“Miss…” Baili Weisheng tentatively asked again.
“Then can you first tell me… what my name is?” Meng Duo’er asked, word by word.
“You? Miss, I don’t believe I know you,” Baili Weisheng answered.
At this, Meng Duo’er felt as though a large part of her world had collapsed.
“Then you… you should at least know who you are yourself!” Meng Duo’er asked again.
This question stumped Baili Weisheng completely.
That’s right!
Who was he?
How had he not even thought of that?
Baili Weisheng lowered his head, examining his own clothing, his own hands, looking left and right, only to realize—he didn’t know who he was either!
Seeing his reaction, the other half of Meng Duo’er’s world collapsed as well. It was over, completely over!
This fellow had lost his memory!
He’d even forgotten himself entirely—what else could he possibly remember, who else could he possibly recognize?
Meng Duo’er felt dazed, thinking this moment felt even more hopeless than the previous night.
What should she do?!
Compared to Meng Duo’er’s reaction, Baili Weisheng seemed considerably calmer. Perhaps, even having lost his memory, a great deal still remained intact within him.
He truly was calm. “Miss, do you know me?”
Meng Duo’er didn’t answer, suddenly overcome by a feeling of powerlessness, so utterly powerless that she wished she could just collapse right there in the cave and never move again.
But Baili Weisheng was different. “Miss, please tell me exactly what’s going on. Who am I? Why are we here? All this blood… what happened here? Is this place safe?”
A string of questions fired off at once left Meng Duo’er feeling both strange and familiar all at once.
The strangeness was that Baili Weisheng had never before consulted her so much, asked so many questions.
The familiarity was in his calm composure, his steadiness in the face of danger.
Even having lost his memory, this man still managed to give off a sense of security.
Looking into Baili Weisheng’s earnest, clear eyes, Meng Duo’er suddenly felt a surge of strength. No matter what, him being awake was still better than not!
“You’re Baili Weisheng, I’m Meng Duo’er. This is Yuqiong Mountain in Nanzhao. We…”
Meng Duo’er gave a concise account, roughly explaining the whole situation to Baili Weisheng.
Baili Weisheng listened attentively the whole time, without interrupting once.
“That’s roughly it. We need to leave right away, or once the smell of blood spreads, we’re finished,” Meng Duo’er said urgently.
Yet Baili Weisheng still didn’t react. He gave Meng Duo’er a meaningful look, then slowly turned his gaze away, landing on that pile of clothing not far off. After a long moment, he murmured, “His name was Xuanyuan Lige?”