Chapter 36
Chu Yunhan’s hands were shaking, his lips were trembling, and his mind was like a beach swept by huge waves, unable to form a single thought. He stared blankly at the scarred body, then stiffly raised his eyes to look at the face covered by an oxygen mask.
Their gazes met.
Chu Yichen closed his eyes tired.
“Why… did you tie him up?” He felt as if he was being squeezed by the throat, every single word was extremely difficult to utter.
Zhang Jun took a towel, wiped off the sweat oozing from Chu Yichen’s forehead, and calmly replied, “As you can see, I have sewed him inside and out. His body functions are good and he has recovered well. These injuries were not a big problem for him, but…” The doctor looked somewhat sad and said slowly, “They injected him with a central nervous system stimulant. The concentration was too high, so that he developed a certain degree of addiction. When the craving flares up, if he does not get the drug, his whole body will be in pain. As for the intensity of the pain…” He paused, looked at Chu Yunhan, and said, “I’ve checked the data, it says that the pain of withdrawal feels like tens of thousands of ants gnawing out of the body at the same time. When the first flare-up occured, he tore off the gauze on his wound together with straps of flesh and injured Du Chuan. In the end he shrank into a ball and begged me to shoot him.”
A layer of dampness blurred Chu Yunhan’s eyes, staring at the man lying before him.
This was a person who never bowed his head to others. This was a person used to forbearance. It was a man who had his teeth knocked out and swallowed down the blood.
How much pain did such a person have to be in to ask his doctor to end him?
“Originally, I planned to reduce the dose step by step to slightly decrease the degree of pain, but he does not want to take this kind of drug anymore, so at present he can only rely on his own willpower to endure it. All I can do is give him a small shot of tranquilizer and analgetics. But the analgetics have hardly any effect. He is afraid of hurting himself and doing something irrational because of the pain, so he asked us to tie him up when the attack occurs.” Zhang Jun sighed, “Although the frequency and severity of his seizures is decreasing, it will take time to get rid of it completely. Judging by the current situation, this seizure may be caused by overwork.”
The scars were undulating together with his chest. At the place his hand was touching, the trace of the bullet hole was clear and terrifying. The suspicion in his heart grew clearer and clearer and only lacked a final confirmation.
Hui Lang’s vicious eyes flashed in his mind.
“Everything will go according to your wish, Young Master.”
“When we catch him, Young Master Yun can rest assured that he won’t die so easily.”
“Just leave it to me, you don’t need to worry about it. Soon, you will be the Patriarch of the Chu family.”
“Who…” This one word seemed to have used up all of his energy, and he no longer had the courage to ask the rest of the question.
Zhang Jun was silent for a moment, before replying, “You already have an answer in your heart, don’t you? There are very few people in this world who can hurt him, deceive him, make him abandon his responsibility as a Patriarch, and give up his life, disregarding the overall situation. He forbade everyone to mention his injury in front of you. He did not want to make you feel guilty, but he has been feeling guilty all this time. Because that day, in order to save him, the Black Hawk Club lost thirty three people. Hui Lang’s men cut off their heads and hung them on the flagpoles in the junkyard.”
It turned out… it really was him.
He was the hungry ghost who pushed Chu Yichen into hell.
He was the culprit who disfigured his body into its current appearance.
It was him……
He had never thought about what happened during the three hours Chu Yichen spent in Hui Lang’s hands.
He had never thought about how Hui Lang would deal with Chu Yichen.
He had never thought about how Chu Yichen managed to escape.
He just coveted that position on a whim, and followed the enemy’s instigation to make a fake kidnapping call, deceiving his closest person into a trap of endless suffering.
“I will do as you require, provided you don’t hurt him.”
On the phone, Chu Yichen’s voice was firm and resolute. He came for him without hesitation, step by step walking into the trap he personally set up.
Caught between life and death, covered in cuts and bruises from head to toe, he was not allowed to live, yet could not die.
How much blood had that scarred body shed? How much abuse and humiliation had he suffered? How much pain had he endured?
He didn’t know.
He didn’t know anything.
He just called “Yichen” as if nothing happened, selfishly putting himself in the position of the victim, brazenly saying to that person, “Chu Yichen, we are brothers,” and asking imposingly, “I did lure you into a trap, but now you have everything you want, and I have nothing. I did not block your way, nor did I cause you any substantial harm. Why are you doing this to me?”
How could he, how dared he… say such a thing after torturing this man until his whole body was covered in cuts and bruises?
Now he realized why Chu Yichen didn’t undress in front of him even when having sex; why he had such a complicated expression when he looked at him; he figured out everything he couldn’t understand before. Not until seeing it with his own eyes and touching it with his own hands did he realize what a huge mistake he had made, and how much he had hurt that person.
Dampness blurred his eyes filled with bitterness, turning everything in front of him into a fuzzy mess. Many faces appeared in front of him, all of them Chu Yichen’s – his smiling face when they were young, his focused expression while playing, his face when playing chess with him, his lonely appearance while watching him leave, his cold and ruthless look when he pressed him on the bed.
He could still hear Chu Yichen’s deep voice echoing in his ears,
“I have been wondering, is it because of my tolerance for you that you feel that no matter what you do to me, you will be forgiven?”
He never realized how much pain and sorrow this questioning contained. This person who had been by his side since he was young, this person who was always patient with him, this person who had never complained about him. He had been hurt so much by his selfishness, envy and willfulness, but still couldn’t bear to kill him, still let him go, still kept everything from him.
“What if I am willing to be a stranger?” the figure in the room at East Coast asked softly.
“I will take care of him, please rest assured.” The man standing straight before Chu Qin’s tombstone lowered his eyes.
“Take him away and protect him, this is an order!” Those eyes that looked at him intently amid the bursts of gunshots.
In the end, that person chose to protect him.
His heart was in so much pain as if it was pierced by a sharp blade. He was drained of all his energy and felt breathless and suffocated. Chu Yunhan’s body trembled, tears welled up in his eyes, burning hot and dripping onto the man’s scarred body.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t know, I didn’t know anything…I’m sorry…” Chu Yunhan uttered, choking with emotions, his voice was trembling, just like the hand touching the other’s chest. He wanted to caress his body, but was afraid of offending the person on the bed, so he could only stand helplessly in place.
Chu Yichen’s brows were knitted deeply and his eyes remained closed from beginning to end.
Seeing the two of them like this, Zhang Jun said helplessly, “Young Master Yun, you should go back to your room first.”
Chu Yunhan vigorously shook his head, “I want to stay here.”
“He needs to rest undisturbed,” Doctor Zhang tried to persuade him again.
“I won’t speak, I’ll just stand here…I won’t make a sound…”
Zhang Jun sighed and hardened his heart, “Your presence here will affect his mood and the treatment. I am a doctor, you must listen to me.”
Chu Yunhan looked at Zhang Jun with reddened eyes, then at the person lying on the bed, and remained silent for a while, before saying softly, “Then I…will wait outside…” Then he hung his head and walked out.
After the door closed, the doctor sat down by the bed. His gaze fell on the bulging veins on Chu Yichen’s tightly tensed arms, and said helplessly, “I know you didn’t want him to see you like this, but if he doesn’t know about it, you two will always be in a stalemate. Now that he is gone, you don’t have to restrain yourself like this anymore, just shout out if it hurts.”
The man remained silent, his eyes closed tightly, motionless.
Chu Yunhan didn’t return to his room, but kept watch outside Chu Yichen’s door. No matter how Du Chuan persuaded him, he stubbornly refused to leave. The housekeeper had no choice but to move a single sofa over, so that he could have some rest.
He just sat on the sofa and waited. Sometimes he stared at the door in a daze, sometimes he lowered his head, his thoughts unknown. The rims of his eyes were constantly red, and from time to time he wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand. When the door opened a crack, he raised his head, looking nervously like a rabbit.
After more than two hours, Zhang Jun and his assistants walked out. Chu Yunhan immediately jumped up from the sofa and asked anxiously, “Is he feeling better?”
The doctor nodded and replied, “The pain has passed, but he is still weak. I reckon he will be the first to kill me as soon as he has recovered completely, so I will run away first.” After that, he smiled at him, “You two really…”
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Xiao came out grinning, “Doctor Zhang, Young Master ordered to get you and put you in confinement. I won’t hesitate to punch you if you try to escape.”
“This guy…” Zhang Jun cursed and, showing a clean pair of heels, disappeared downstairs like a wisp of smoke.
Chu Yunhan wanted to go in, but was stopped by Bai Xiao.
“Young Master wants you to go back and rest.”
“I’ll just have a look at him.”
“He… doesn’t want to see you now.”
Hearing this sentence, the rims of his eyes turned red again. He stood crestfallen for a while, and said, “I’ll be waiting. Whenever he wants to see me, I’ll be right there.”
Translator: Taalia
