Dangerous Liaisons - Chapter 21

Chuyu turned her head, shocked, to look at Bayu. The latter carefully stowed away the cigarette he had been holding, placing it into a small metal case and tucking it into his pocket. He nodded at Chuyu, “We can go down now.”

Sophie’s target wasn’t her, but Lu Zimo? The thought sent a chill down Chuyu’s spine. Lu Zimo clearly knew this. So, this marriage was a gamble with his life—what was he trying to gain in return?

Bayu led Chuyu around the main gate of the mountain stronghold, entering through a side gate at the base of the mountain. The stronghold was eerily quiet. A row of houses along the river was barely visible in the darkness, with no electric lights, but she could faintly sense people inside. The stronghold was patrolled by men and wolfhounds. The beams of powerful flashlights occasionally cut through the night, and when the light hit the eyes of the wolfhounds, they glowed an eerie green.

“Don’t go near the houses by the river,” Bayu whispered as they walked. “The people living there are all gold miners. They’re more dangerous than wild wolves.”

Chuyu nodded. Their movement didn’t alert the patrolling men or their dogs. Bayu exchanged brief nods with the people they passed, leading Chuyu to the far end of the stronghold, where a row of two-story wooden houses followed the contour of the mountain. Bayu opened one of the doors and gestured for Chuyu to follow him inside.

The room was sparsely furnished—a table, four wooden stools, and a row of heavy wooden cabinets against the wall. Bayu pushed one of the cabinets aside, revealing a narrow entrance to a cave. He grabbed a miner’s lamp and entered first, with Chuyu following closely behind.

After walking about ten meters, the cave opened up into a larger space. Bayu looked around, lit a lamp on a stone table for light, and then turned off the miner’s lamp. “This cave existed long before the gold mining operation was built,” Bayu explained, setting down his large bag. “Lu Zimo kept it hidden when he built the mining site. This is where he lived when he was here.”

The cave’s furnishings—a bed, a table, and some platforms of varying heights—seemed to have been carved directly from the natural rock formations. Chuyu sat on a stone stool, feeling the coolness beneath her. Her restless heart finally began to calm a little. Bayu tidied up a bit and picked up a gun. “I’ll stay in the outer room. If nothing goes wrong, Lu Zimo will find a way to get you out of here in a few days. For now, you’ll have to stay here.”

Chuyu nodded, not in the mood to speak. Bayu thought for a moment, then pulled a handgun from his black bag and handed it to Chuyu. “This is a gold mining site. Keep this for self-defense. If something happens and neither Lu Zimo nor I can get to you in time,” Bayu smiled faintly, “at least you can die quickly.”

Was Bayu trying to scare her? Chuyu couldn’t tell if he had a sense of humor. She silently took the gun and placed it beside her. Bayu pointed to a radio on the bedside table. “There’s not much entertainment here, but you can at least listen to the radio.”

Bayu’s attitude toward her seemed much friendlier than it had been back in China. After Bayu disappeared down the passage, Chuyu stood up and began to explore the cave. The cave appeared to be naturally formed, with no signs of artificial carving on the walls.

On one side of the cave, a stone staircase led upward. Chuyu walked over and looked up. The stairs disappeared into the entrance of an upper-level cave. She grabbed the miner’s lamp Bayu had left on the table and climbed the stairs.

The upper cave was much smaller than the lower one. If the lower cave was like a dome, the upper one was more like a gallery encircling it. Through the various holes in the upper cave’s walls, she could clearly see the entire lower cave. The upper cave was furnished with wooden furniture—a heavy table, a bookshelf, and a reclining chair covered with a tiger skin. The table was cluttered with books in various languages.

This place bore the traces of Lu Zimo’s life. It was hard for her to imagine what kind of life he led when she wasn’t around. Did he live on the edge of a knife? Did he walk over the bones of others, or sleep on a bed made of death?

Chuyu sat down on the reclining chair. The tiger skin felt cool under her hand. She sighed and lay back, closing her eyes. The tiger skin seemed to still carry Lu Zimo’s scent, faintly surrounding her. Her heart gradually calmed, and sleepiness washed over her like an endless wave. Chuyu vaguely felt that perhaps she would never be able to escape the influence Lu Zimo had on her life…

Chuyu slept deeply. In her drowsiness, she sensed light filling the cave. She lazily turned over, her muscles aching in various places, and couldn’t help but let out a soft groan.

It was morning. The cave wasn’t completely cut off from the outside world. The high dome had many small holes, and beams of sunlight streamed through them. Chuyu squinted, admiring the natural beauty, when her peripheral vision caught a man sitting at the desk. Almost instinctively, she sat up and pointed the gun at him.

Lu Zimo leaned casually against the desk, a faint smile on his face as he looked at her. He showed no surprise or concern at the gun pointed at him. “I should have taken the gun away last night.”

Chuyu hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. She slowly lowered the gun. It wasn’t so much that she intended to use it for self-defense, but rather that it gave her a sense of security. Lu Zimo stood up. His tall frame created a unique sense of pressure in the cave, as if his mere presence made it hard for her to breathe.

Chuyu turned her head, avoiding Lu Zimo’s gaze. “Can we go now?”

“Are you in such a hurry to leave me?”

Lu Zimo walked to a crate by the wall, rummaging through it until he pulled out a bottle of liquor. He held it up to the light, then sat down at the desk, yanking out the cork and taking a long swig. “You’ll be disappointed. For now, not only can you not leave, but I’m also stuck here for a while.”

Chuyu looked up at Lu Zimo, confused. Only then did she notice that his shirt was open, revealing a thick bandage wrapped around his chest. Lu Zimo followed her gaze and glanced down at himself, giving a faint smile before taking another drink.

Chuyu got up and walked barefoot toward Lu Zimo. Her pale feet contrasted sharply with the dark gray floor, stirring something in him. Lu Zimo turned his head slightly, feeling Chuyu approach. She frowned lightly. “What happened?”

“What else could it be?” Lu Zimo shifted, wincing as the movement tugged at his wound. “Killing, or being killed.”

Chuyu bent down in front of Lu Zimo. “Let me see.”

He didn’t refuse, handing her a sharp letter opener from the desk. Chuyu took it, the blade glinting coldly. She glanced at him, but he simply watched her calmly, without any hesitation or doubt.

Chuyu lowered her eyes and carefully cut through the bandage. A foot-long wound was revealed, starting at his left shoulder and slanting diagonally across his chest, disappearing into his jeans near his right hip.

“The wound’s been disinfected. Bayu may be rough, but he’s skilled,” Lu Zimo said softly, his eyes on her hair. They spoke as if nothing had happened, as if they were just having a casual conversation. She was so close that he could almost see the fine, almost transparent down on her face. Chuyu removed the bandage completely. “Why didn’t you wake me? A wound like this needs stitches. It won’t heal properly otherwise.”

Chuyu stood up, and the warmth of her presence suddenly vanished. Lu Zimo felt a momentary pang of loss. Chuyu looked at him. “Where’s the first aid kit?”

Lu Zimo gestured to the crate where he’d found the liquor. Chuyu walked over. It was no surprise that someone who lived on the edge would have such well-equipped medical supplies. She carried the kit back to Lu Zimo and motioned for him to lie back on the chair so she could tend to his wound. Lu Zimo complied, his dark eyes never leaving her. His gaze made her hands tremble. She tried to steady herself. What was wrong with her? Why did his look affect her so much?

“Tell me. What happened after I left?” Chuyu asked calmly, starting to clean the wound with alcohol. The sharp pain made Lu Zimo tense, his hands gripping the arms of the chair. He let out a bitter laugh. “…Are you doing this on purpose to get back at me?”

“I have a broad mind. Haven’t you heard that doctors have the heart of parents? Right now, I’m treating you with that parental heart. You should be grateful.”

Her nerves were on edge, seeing his body with such a gruesome wound under her hands. The more tense she felt, the more she tried to appear relaxed. It was a habit she’d developed during her time in the operating room. She couldn’t let the families of her patients see her nervousness, so she’d learned to mask it with a calm demeanor.

This body—she had saved it once before. That time, he had almost died. Chuyu finished disinfecting the wound and looked up at Lu Zimo. He was still watching her intently. Suddenly, a wave of intense hatred surged within her. This man—how dare he disrupt her life without any explanation, and now look at her with such eyes?!

Chuyu didn’t give Lu Zimo any anesthesia. She picked up the needle and began stitching directly. The sharp, cold needle pierced his skin, and fresh blood welled up, obscuring her path. Lu Zimo didn’t move or make a sound. Aside from the tension in his body, he showed no reaction.

Chuyu worked quickly, the stitches crawling across his chest like a twisted centipede. By the end, she was trembling so much she had to put down the needle and turn away to take a deep breath. When she turned back, Lu Zimo was still watching her calmly.

He knew she was doing this on purpose, didn’t he? Deliberately not giving him anesthesia, deliberately making him feel the pain. Yet he didn’t resist at all. Chuyu looked at Lu Zimo’s face, then coldly walked over and used the letter opener to cut open his jeans. “Don’t move. Just bear with it a little longer.”
If you looked closely, you could see that his face was almost devoid of color, whether from pain or blood loss. But throughout the entire process, he hadn’t made a sound.

“You’re lucky. The wound is large, but not deep,” Chuyu said finally, her hands shaking as she finished. She could barely stand and collapsed onto the floor, feeling as if her entire body was drenched in cold sweat. She didn’t have the energy to keep up the act in front of him anymore.

Lu Zimo seemed even more exhausted than she was. He reached for the bottle of liquor on the table and took another long drink. Chuyu caught her breath and struggled to her feet, snatching the bottle from Lu Zimo’s hand and taking a big gulp herself. The unexpected burn of the alcohol made her cough violently.

Lu Zimo watched her lazily. “Feel better now?”

Was he the crazy one, or was she?

Chuyu wiped the alcohol from her lips, staring at Lu Zimo in disbelief. She had deliberately tortured him, and he had let her. Chuyu turned her head. “What really happened?”

“I killed Sophie’s lover,” Lu Zimo said casually, as if discussing something entirely unrelated to himself. “Technically, she’s still my fiancée. I usually turn a blind eye to her affairs, but I suddenly decided I didn’t want to keep up the charade. The man was unlucky. He climbed into Sophie’s bedroom while I was there, and I killed him on the spot.”

Chuyu listened quietly. Lu Zimo shifted, wincing as the movement pulled at his wound. He looked down at his chest and raised an eyebrow at Chuyu. “Xiao Yu Di, your sewing skills are really not great. Look at these stitches—they’re a mess. I’m starting to regret letting you have your way.”

Chuyu didn’t respond. She couldn’t find the words. Lu Zimo paused. “Sophie turned on me, saying I shouldn’t have killed her man on her turf. ‘Even when you beat a dog, you have to consider its owner,'” Lu Zimo sneered. “I knew she wouldn’t let it go. I didn’t expect her to let me leave the stronghold only to ambush me outside. If she had killed me, she could have easily blamed it on the man I killed, right?”

“You knew Sophie wanted you dead, yet you still agreed to marry her. What could possibly be so important that you’d risk your life for it?!”

Chuyu finally looked up, her words hanging heavily in the air between them. Lu Zimo stared at her for a long time, his expression gradually cooling. “Xiao Yu Di, there are some things you’re better off not knowing. It’s safer that way.”

That was Lu Zimo’s attitude. He still drew a clear line between them. He had no intention of letting her into his life. He didn’t want her to know more about him. If that was the case, why had he dragged her into this? Why had he ruined her life? Why had he put her in danger time and time again?

“Lu Zimo, one day you’ll die without anyone knowing why.”

Chuyu stood up and walked downstairs. Even a moment away from this man would be a relief. Behind her, she thought she heard his voice, though she couldn’t be sure if it was real or her imagination. “…I’ve been dead for a long time…”