Chapter 5: 5 | Lost

It was early morning, when one of the servants barged into my room and pulled me out. Luckily, I was wearing my bandages. They tied a rope on my left hand and I could feel something pull me along. A carriage?

"Why does that retard have to come along again?" Meiyi complained.

"It was father's orders and no one is allowed in the main house till renovations are done. It'll just be a few months." NaiWei replied.

"So why can't we just lock him in a cage or have someone else look after him?!"

"Good question. I don't know what's going through father's head."

Apparently, I'm traveling with the Yun siblings to their family's villa while the main house undergoes construction. They brought along a few servants to take care of the cooking and chores. The way there was going to take 6 days by foot, but to hasten time I would occasionally get to sit on the edge of the carriage.

On the 4th day we were ambushed by a group of Yulin soldiers seeking revenge. Everyone scattered. The rope tied to my hand was cut and someone pulled me along. I could tell that the one pulling me was one of the Yun brothers because he clashed swords with the enemy. We didn't bring any guards because the Yun siblings were capable of protecting themselves and a few others, but the fight was never-ending.

I could hear the sound of water as me and one of the Yun brother was pushed towards an edge. Before I knew it we fell down and the current washed us away. I can't swim, but the Yun brother could. He pulled me up and swam to shore. I could hear his heavy breathing and warm liquid dripping from his body that slumped on top of me. Then he knocked out cold. I took off the bandages covering my eyes and looked down. It was a heavily injured RaiYa.

I carried him into a ditch to hide away from any surviving Yulin soldiers. Luckily the ditch had a small cave like opening with tree roots to cover us. I take off my neck bandages and start to tend to his wounds as best as I can, but it looked like a mess. He had a few cuts, but the major injuries were on his head and ankle. It must have happened when we fell off the cliff.

I thought that the Yun siblings were incredibly strong, but I guess the rumors weren't true.

I waited for RaiYa to regain consciousness till nightfall, but he didn't show any signs of waking up. I bandaged my eyes in case he woke up and sat outside of the ditch. If he or the other Yun siblings found out that I could see, they would probably gouge out my eyes. I crawled my way to a tree across the ditch and slept under it the entire night.

The next morning someone kicked my shoulder waking me up.

"Get up leech. We need to move." RaiYa said coldly.

He pulled the rope tied to my hand and I was yanked up only to fall on top of him. He could barely stand with his bad ankle yet he wanted to keep moving forward. I quickly got off him and said

"M-maybe we should rest for a bit longer until you heal."

"Is it me that needs time to heal or you? Your feet is covered with blisters and cuts."

"... Oh. I can't feel it, so I'm okay."

"..."

I had forgotten that I didn't have any shoes on when the servants rushed me out of bed. Luckily I was numb to the pain. I got up and we started walking along the river. I'm not sure as to where, but RaiYa pulled me along. He could easily just leave me here alone to die, but he didn't and it made me a little happy.

When nightfall came, RaiYa made a fire and cooked some fish he caught in the river. Then he handed me one.

"Is it okay for me to eat this?" I asked.

"If you fall behind I'm leaving you. I don't carry dead weight."

Although his reply was harsh, my mind was elsewhere. No one has given me fresh food before and no one has cooked for me as well except for the porridge I had when I was really young. It had been a really long time. I picked on the fish and slowly ate it as if it was too precious to eat. The fish was warm and crispy. I thought that what I ate back at the main house was normal, but it wasn't. I couldn't stop my tears from falling as I silently ate.

"Stop your disgraceful crying and eat. You're acting as if you've never eaten fresh food before. Despite being a leech, our family is not so petty or poor. You've been granted a grand room with fresh food every day." RaiYa said coldly.

"..."

A grand room and fresh food? I wiped away my tears. Does he not know? Well, it was Meiyi who ordered the servants to put me in a room far away from her and she always made sure I would suffer the most. If I tattled, then her bullying is sure to increase. It was probably best to keep quiet.