"Do you think whatever crime I committed really was so awful?" Meng Yuan asked rhetorically of his traveling companion once they were back on the road. "I mean, they seemed determined to find me, chasing me all over the city. And it's just that, I don't feel as if I'm some terrible person. I can't see myself committing some atrocious crime, can you?"
Yes.
This time he actually looked to Wan Xue for an answer, but considering he had pretended to not know Meng Yuan, Wan Xue just stared back at him without answering.
"Do you think I'm a bad person?" he pressed.
Wan Xue shrugged and looked forward again.
Meng Yuan placed a hand on his chest. "How hurtful. I just told you earlier that I think you're very nice, but you won't even deny me being a bad person?" He tsked. "Maybe I'll have to take that back."
Then take it back, what do I care? I haven't been nice to you at all.
"It's just...if I really was a criminal, wouldn't I have been in the prison or something?" Meng Yuan asked, and it was the first time he'd come up with a reasonable excuse as for why he possibly wasn't wanted for a heinous crime. Wan Xue watched him warily from the corner of his eye. "Wait. What if it's not that I'm a criminal? What if the imperial family hired me for something because I'm a specialist in some field they have need of?"
His mention of the imperial family felt ironic to Wan Xue, but it at least reassured him that the man was not about to have an epiphany about his identity.
"They sent for me, offering me a huge sum of money, so I traveled a great distance to meet with them. But when I arrived, I ran into an old enemy of mine, and what was meant to be a grand feast erupted into a brawl instead. In the midst of the fight – which, of course, I would have won – I took a blow to the head and was knocked unconscious. When I came to, I had no memory. But they still need me for whatever task they hired me for, and so they chased after me when I ran."
Wan Xue let out a sigh. The road they were on had wended its way into a forest, the single tree they ate beneath earlier overshadowed by the many surrounding them now.
"Am I boring you?" Meng Yuan asked.
If only. You haven't stopped talking long enough for me to become bored.
"I can try to think of more interesting reasons for my memory loss if you want, but I don't know how credible they'll be."
Wan Xue wasn't sure it was possible for him to come up with anything less credible than the things he already had.
"Oh, I know!" he suddenly exclaimed loudly, and Wan Xue couldn't take it anymore. "What if –" Meng Yuan left off what he was saying abruptly because Wan Xue had moved to stand in front of him, reaching up and covering his mouth with one hand.
Laughing, Meng Yuan pulled the hand away from his mouth. "What are you do–?"
He was interrupted once more, this time with Wan Xue's other hand covering his mouth. Wan Xue looked beyond exasperated, and Meng Yuan reached up and pulled that hand away too. His eyes suddenly lit up mischievously, his mouth still quirked up in a smile.
"Am I talking too loudly?" he asked. "I can talk more quietly, like this. I wouldn't want to give you a headache." In saying so, he let go of one of Wan Xue's captured hands and rubbed his head instead, ruffling his hair.
Wan Xue smacked his hand away, pulling the other from his grasp and glaring at him from a step or two away. Despite knowing Wan Xue's intention was to make him shut up entirely, Meng Yuan continued on as if he didn't understand.
"See, I can talk quietly too," he said, beginning to walk again. "Now, where was I? Right. So if I –"
However, he never made it farther than that, because as they continued walking, a sudden sound caught his attention from behind, and he turned to face it, only to be met with a group of men coming out of the trees from multiple directions.
Wan Xue's eyes were wide as he watched the men advance. Five...six...seven, he counted, his heart speeding up. He licked his dry lips, taking a step back, only to run into Meng Yuan. The latter put a hand on his shoulder, and though Wan Xue didn't want it there, it wasn't his biggest concern at the moment so he let it go.
"Is there something we can help you fine gentlemen with?" Meng Yuan asked, surprisingly calm.
"Come now," one man said, "don't play stupid with us. We know your little friend there has a good chunk of money in his pockets. No need for one person to have all that. Why not just hand it over, and then you can be on your way."
Little friend, again? I'm not anyone's little friend.
Meng Yuan glanced at Wan Xue, but he didn't return the look, not even noticing Meng Yuan's eyes on him. His face was grim, his chest heaving a bit too heavily, but other than that, Wan Xue didn't look as if he were facing off against several large men who wanted to take his money.
"Even if what you said were true," Meng Yuan responded, "I don't see how you have any right to take it. If he's the one who has it, then it's his. So maybe we'll just be on our way anyway."
The men weren't well armed, but the fact that they were armed at all put Meng Yuan and Wan Xue at a disadvantage, considering neither of them had any weapons. A few of the men exchanged glances, and a couple even sniggered under their breath.
"We'd rather not have to hurt you two," the same man said, looking as if he didn't mean it at all, as if he were, instead, hoping for a fight. "There are seven of us and two of you. I think the outcome is obvious. So why not skip that part and just hand over the money? We're not completely heartless. We'll let you keep a few coins."
Wan Xue's heart sank, his shoulders dipping low in resignation. There was no way he was leaving here with the money. But as his hand reached toward his pocket, Meng Yuan caught it by the wrist, surprising him. Eyes wide, Wan Xue looked up at the other man, but Meng Yuan wasn't looking at him.
"A few coins?" Meng Yuan echoed, anger lacing his words. "How dare you try to take his property from him? How about we give you a few coins instead and call it even? Or better yet, how about we give you nothing and you leave before I kill you all?"
There was silence a moment, with Wan Xue holding his breath after such a bold statement, and then all of the men really did laugh.
"You talk big, kid," the man said, still laughing. "Your friend seems to have better sense. Why not let him turn the money over to us like he was going to? If not, you'll be responsible for whatever harm comes to him, not us."
"Just you try and hurt him," Meng Yuan spat out.
We're going to die, Wan Xue thought. We're definitely about to die.
ESTÁ A LER
Beiji
Romance"In a life filled with unvoiced and therefore unanswered questions, if there was one thing with which Wan Xue was familiar, it was confusion." Wan Xue has never spoken, so far as he can remember. While his muteness innately comes with its share of d...
