No Longer Escaping (ABO) - Chapter 6
Almost a week had passed since Yang Lulong arrived here. She seemed to be gradually getting used to this life without electricity and any modern conveniences. She slept when the sun set and woke up when it rose. No need to worry about performance targets, no need to fret about buying a house, no need to cultivate effective interpersonal relationships.
Although she wasn’t very familiar with the people in the village, everyone was very warm and friendly towards her. Even Zhang Long, who had been full of hostility towards her at the beginning, would now take the initiative to greet her. It seemed that Zhang Long’s attitude towards her had changed after she went to help with the construction.
Yang Lulong took a small stool and sat in the courtyard. The chicks always liked to gather around her, after all, they knew that whenever she came over, she would feed them. A week had passed, and the chicks had grown a lot bigger than when they first arrived. Soon there would be chicken to eat. Thinking about it, she hadn’t eaten meat for so many days.
Wan Niang woke up earlier than Yang Lulong. She had more things to take care of. Just sorting out the medicinal herbs took up her entire morning.
At this time, she had set up a small table in the courtyard with paper, brush, and inkstone, noting down the medicinal materials she needed to buy in town. As she wrote, she would occasionally look up at Yang Lulong playing with the chicks.
So many days had passed, but the number of words they had exchanged could be counted on her fingers. Wan Niang wasn’t the overly enthusiastic type. Apart from daily necessities, she rarely took the initiative to talk to Yang Lulong.
“Yang Lulong…” Unlike others who called Yang Lulong ‘Xiao Yang,’ Wan Niang directly called her full name. Calling her ‘Xiao Yang’ just felt awkward, as if it might be too intimate, so she stuck to her full name.
“Take this to Xiao Wen. She’s probably at Sister Fang’s house now. It’s the second house on the east side of the village entrance.” She called Yang Lulong over and handed her the newly written list.
“Okay.” Yang Lulong took the list and glanced at it. It seemed to be all medicinal materials. Although she didn’t quite understand what they were, she could read the words.
Wan Niang saw her looking intently at the list. “You can read?”
“I can understand them.”
This couldn’t help but make Wan Niang have more conjectures about Yang Lulong’s identity.
Her own father had been a pharmacist in the capital. Because of a wrong prescription, a high official’s child was left with a chronic illness. Her father went to prison and died in jail not long after. Her mother then brought her to the countryside when she had just turned twelve. Influenced by her father, she also knew quite a bit about pharmacy. In the village, only she and Xiao Wen were literate, and even Xiao Wen had been taught by her. And Yang Lulong could also read. Recalling the clothes she wore when they first met, she must also be someone from a high-ranking official’s family.
Thinking of this, a feeling of loss welled up in Wan Niang’s heart. If one day she remembered everything, she would leave, wouldn’t she…?
“Is there anything else?” Yang Lulong asked, seeing Wan Niang frowning as if she had something on her mind.
Wan Niang then came back to her senses, forcing a smile. “Nothing. Hurry up and go, if you miss her, you won’t know where to find her.”
“Okay.”
Following Wan Niang’s directions, Yang Lulong found Sister Fang’s house.
Just as she reached the entrance, before even entering, she smelled a strong scent of sandalwood. Yang Lulong frowned. The smell was so strong it was almost pungent. She didn’t think about Qianyuan or Kunze, or rather, she hadn’t reacted yet, thinking that the family had burned too much sandalwood incense.
Entering the house, Yang Lulong froze. A woman, as thin as a rake, lay on the bed.
Only then did Yang Lulong realize it was a Kunze’s rutting period. She was so frightened that she turned to leave.
“Please… help me…” Sister Fang said in a hoarse, pitiful voice.
Yang Lulong hesitated. The person looked very uncomfortable. It wasn’t that she was attracted by the Kunze’s scent; this scent didn’t seem to have much appeal to her, it was just sandalwood.
Sister Fang’s clearly pale face and the flush from the rutting period looked very mismatched, appearing quite sickly. Yang Lulong looked at her like this, sweat beads falling one by one on her pale, flushed face, making Yang Lulong feel very uneasy. Was this the Kunze’s rutting period?
Out of pity, Yang Lulong went to her bedside and found a chair to sit down.
Sister Fang during her rutting period seemed to find the faint tea fragrance calming, the feverish feeling subsiding somewhat, and the discomfort easing. A Qianyuan’s scent had a very good calming effect on a Kunze during their rutting period, and usually, the higher the level of the Qianyuan, the greater the calming effect.
Just being close to her, her own feverishness receded by a large margin. This Qianyuan’s level must not be low.
“I feel much better… thank you…” Sister Fang, gradually calming down, expressed her gratitude.
“Where’s Xiao Wen?” Yang Lulong hadn’t forgotten what she came for.
“She and Xiao Hua went out, they’ll be back in a little while.” Sister Fang didn’t expect that in just a short while, her feverishness would return.
“If you’re feeling better, please give this to Xiao Wen when she gets back.” Yang Lulong took out the list. She knew it wasn’t good for a Qianyuan and a Kunze in rutting period to be together, so it was best to leave quickly.
“Xiao Wen mentioned you to me. You’re staying at Wan Niang’s house now?” Sister Fang didn’t want her to leave so early. It was something ingrained in the Kunze’s nature; she craved this scent.
“Mmm.” Yang Lulong’s replies were always just one or two words.
“You are a good person, and so is Wan Niang.”
Yang Lulong, who had originally intended to leave, became interested after hearing Sister Fang mention Wan Niang. Her understanding of Wan Niang was almost nonexistent; she didn’t even know her age. She also wanted to learn more about Wan Niang but was too embarrassed to ask her directly.
“How did Wan Niang… come to this place?” She could tell that Wan Niang didn’t seem like someone who had grown up in this village.
“Many years ago, Wan Niang and her mother came here from the city. At that time, she was just a young girl who had newly differentiated into a Kunze. At first… everyone in the village was quite hostile towards her and her mother. In the entire village, only Xiao Wen was willing to play with Wan Niang and befriend her. Later, Zhang Long also joined them, just the three of them. It was also from that time that Xiao Wen started running errands for everyone. By helping everyone, she gradually changed people’s impression of Wan Niang’s family. Wan Niang’s family also started helping treat illnesses for everyone, relying on their knowledge of medicine. But… around the time Wan Niang came of age, her mother contracted tuberculosis and was bedridden all day. Wan Niang took care of her mother while studying medicine diligently, wanting to cure her. During that time, Wan Niang was even thinner than I am now; she became ill from exhaustion, but her mother’s illness couldn’t be cured. It dragged on for a year, and during the Spring Festival, her mother passed away… Wan Niang became all alone. Seeing how pitiful Wan Niang was, everyone rarely bothered her anymore, and they would always bring her some good things. Wan Niang continued to help everyone with their illnesses, and that’s how she has lived until now.”
Yang Lulong quietly listened to Sister Fang recounting Wan Niang’s past, her eyes becoming sorrowful. So that was Wan Niang’s background, yet she had kept all these things bottled up in her heart.
After hearing about Wan Niang’s past, Yang Lulong got up to say goodbye to Sister Fang, but Sister Fang grabbed her hand, wanting her to stay. Coincidentally, Xiao Wen returned at this moment. Seeing this scene, she didn’t even care that Xiao Hua was beside her. Anger surged in her heart, and her eyes instantly turned red. She rushed forward and grabbed Yang Lulong’s arm.
“Beast!” She punched Yang Lulong in the face, not giving her any chance to speak, and dragged her out.
Yang Lulong also didn’t react in time and was suddenly pulled out of the room by Xiao Wen.
Sister Fang called for her to stop, but Xiao Wen seemed not to hear at all, her angry fists flying towards Yang Lulong’s face.
Sister Fang was very worried and forcefully propped herself up. Her legs couldn’t move, and she suddenly lost her balance and fell off the bed. Xiao Hua, who didn’t know what was happening, suddenly burst into tears and went to her mother’s side, crying.
Yang Lulong didn’t know how to fight back, only using her hands to protect her head, unilaterally being beaten by Xiao Wen.
The two fought their way out of the house. Xiao Wen pinned Yang Lulong down, punching her arms that were protecting her head again and again.
As if venting, Xiao Wen became more and more agitated as she punched, even muttering incoherently.
“Why! Why!…” Why was Sister Fang a Kunze? Why did Sister Fang have to marry Wu Yu? Why did Wu Yu abandon Sister Fang?! Why did Sister Fang have to endure all this!! Why wasn’t she a Qianyuan!!!
As she punched, tears streamed down her face. In her eyes, Yang Lulong had become Wu Yu.
Zhang Long saw this scene and quickly rushed over, pulling Xiao Wen off Yang Lulong.
“What’s going on! Calm down!” He held Xiao Wen up completely. Xiao Wen’s fists didn’t stop, still wildly punching the air.
“Wu Yu, you dead scumbag!” Xiao Wen roared angrily.
“Xiao Wen, look clearly, this is Xiao Yang, not Wu Yu. What’s wrong?” Zhang Long was bewildered. He had come to deliver firewood to Sister Fang’s house and immediately saw Xiao Wen beating Yang Lulong.
“…” Xiao Wen seemed to have sobered up, but she knelt on the ground, sobbing.
Feeling safe, Yang Lulong lowered her protecting hands and saw Xiao Wen kneeling on the ground, sobbing sadly. Her right eye was swollen, and her vision was blurry. She met the gaze of Zhang Long, who was clueless about what had happened. How could this be…?