Mynovel Chapter 400 - 272: Amnesia, Bewilderment, and a Relationship of Interests
Chapter 400 - 272: Amnesia, Bewilderment, and a Relationship of Interests
The man paid her no mind. The eyes staring at her gradually dimmed, his hands clenched into tight fists, his face etched with suppressed grief.
’No... it’s not her.’
’How could Jin’er not recognize him?!’
’But this familiar scent, it’s so clearly—’
’Or maybe... have I changed too much over the past ten years? Does she not know me anymore? Jin’er said she hated cruel and cold-blooded Wandering Beasts...’
A great sense of panic and helplessness suddenly surged through the heart of the man who had always been so decisive and ruthless.
Mi Yin’s body went stiff as a board. An icy tide rushed into his heart, making his throat tighten in an instant. He lowered his head, nervously gazing at the round, purple eyes before him, desperate to find a familiar spark in the reflection they held.
Finally, he closed his eyes, then opened them again, looking down at his own hands.
It was unclear what he was thinking.
But his sharp, domineering aura visibly weakened.
"Don’t even think about Ze Sheng finding you." After a moment, Mi Yin’s gaze returned to her. His cold voice was laced with contempt. "He can’t even protect himself right now, let alone worry about you."
Wamiya’s head shot up, and she almost cried out. ’Ze Sheng?!’
Seeing her panicked reaction, the man thought of something and gave a cold smile. "What? You want to go back to him? That’s never happening until you tell me who you really are."
His aura began to turn violent and uncontrollable.
He was a born Wandering Beast, an exceptionally cold-blooded Snake Beast, with a powerful bestial nature and a thirst for destruction flowing through his veins.
Ten years ago, after she left, he had completely lost the only shackles that could restrain his beastly nature. After all this time, he had once again become a wild snake that no one would watch over, a creature letting hatred grow wild and reckless.
Outside the cave, the downpour began again, and a clap of thunder seemed to shatter the cavern.
The man’s tall figure forced her into a corner. His sinister expression was half-buried in darkness, obscure and unsettling, radiating an intense sense of pressure and danger.
Wamiya was terrified by his appearance.
Her chubby little waist tensed, and she could barely breathe. As her little pink paw pads touched down, she instantly felt the slow, cold friction of smooth scales sliding against her claws.
’...’ ’Calm down, calm down, just breathe.’
"I really can’t answer you, because... I don’t remember anything from before." She took a deep breath, trying to calm her wildly beating heart.
Lifting her head to meet the man’s suddenly changed gaze, her previously sincere tone turned hesitant and shaky. "Uh, y-you have to give me some time to think, right? I can’t just lie to you, can I?"
"...Don’t remember?" Mi Yin’s voice faltered. His eyes were locked on her, not missing a single expression. A certain fervor returned to his ashen gaze. "You’re saying... you have amnesia?"
"Mhm!" ’That’s one way to put it. After all, I really have no impression of what happened before.’
’But I know I must have experienced *something*. Could this giant snake be someone I used to know?’
Driven by curiosity, Wamiya had asked Ze Sheng about her past before, but he would just smile gently and effortlessly redirect her questions whenever she got close to a key point.
Over time, she eventually stopped asking. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.
But right now, with her life on the line, she could only try to soothe the violent, beast-like man with scarlet eyes before her.
「A short while later.」
Mi Yin composed himself, turned, and disappeared from Wamiya’s sight.
Outside the cave, a torrential rain was falling. He tilted his head back, letting the cold raindrops drench him completely.
The expression on his face was unnaturally calm, but the hands at his sides were clenched so tightly that blood was faintly visible.
’If it’s amnesia, then no wonder. It must be that bastard Ze Sheng’s doing!’
...
The ceaseless rain hammered down on Mi Yin.
Rainwater trickled down his thick, smooth, waist-length black hair, over his handsome, bewitching eyes and sharp jawline... It continued down the man’s well-defined, firm muscles before finally disappearing beneath the scales of his long, powerful snake tail and seeping into the ground.
Yet, the drenching of cold rain only made his once-frozen heart burn hotter.
Everything that had just happened felt so unreal.
’Thankfully, this isn’t a dream. It’s real.’
Left alone in the cave, the little fox quietly tidied the pile of grass beneath her. Recalling all the unfortunate events of the day, her eyes couldn’t help but well up with mist, which she quickly wiped away with a paw.
When Mi Yin returned, he was carrying a pile of wet firewood in his arms, and his snake tail was loosely coiled around a very dead wild sheep.
The pile of soaked firewood was tossed onto the ground.
A flicker of flame rose from his fingertip and landed on the wet wood, instantly illuminating the entire cave and rapidly drying the firewood.
The warm, orange glow of the bonfire filled the previously dark and damp cave with a cozy warmth.
More rainwater seeped in from the cave entrance, soaking the ground and threatening to spread toward the fire and the pile of grass under the little white fox.
Mi Yin glanced at her, then swept his snake tail over a nearby pile of earth, effortlessly blocking half of the cave entrance.
With the cold wind and rain from outside blocked, the temperature inside the cave gradually rose as the bonfire burned.
From the moment he returned, Mi Yin hadn’t said a single word.
Under Wamiya’s amazed gaze, he silently butchered the prey. His long fingers, accustomed to years of killing, handled the task with practiced ease.
He skewered the prepared chunks of meat on branches and began roasting them over the bonfire.
He had been living a savage life of raw flesh and blood for many years, but now that he was returning to his old ways, his technique showed little rust.
"You must be hungry. We can’t leave tonight, so eat something to fill your stomach for now. I’ll take you somewhere else tomorrow morning."
He handed her a piece of roasted meat wrapped in a leaf.
"..." Wamiya looked at the man’s expression. For some reason, it was much softer than before.
The viciousness that had been hidden in his scarlet snake eyes was replaced by a gentle warmth.
Her heart stirred, and as if guided by some unseen force, she accepted the rather unappetizing-looking piece of roasted meat. She lowered her head and sniffed the scent of meat cooked without any seasoning or sauce. ’It seems... it might not be so hard to swallow after all?’
Having been hungry for a whole day—perhaps she really had been starving—she, who had been perfectly cared for since waking up, actually finished the entire piece of roasted meat.
"*Hic~*"
’I’m so full.’
She rubbed her round little belly and licked her lips, savoring the taste.
’This Snake Beast’s roasting skills have really won me over.’
Mi Yin watched her from the side. After she finished eating, he cleaned up all the food scraps on the ground and tossed them out of the cave.
Full and satisfied, Wamiya gave a comfortable stretch. She sprawled out on the fluffed-up pile of hay and wagged her fluffy tail. "I’m sleepy."
"Mm."
His voice was much softer as he replied with a quiet breath, his thoughts unreadable.
She turned her head to look at him curiously, sizing him up and down again. ’Is this really the same ferocious and dangerous Snake Beast I met just three hours ago?’
Realizing he probably wouldn’t hurt her anymore...
...she grew bolder. She offered him a patch of the soft hay, speaking in a docile and friendly tone, "You need to rest too. There’s nowhere else to lie down in the cave. D-do you want to join me?"
"I’m not tired." He stared intently at her.
Wamiya was speechless. ’I’m afraid he’s *not* tired. What if he gets hungry in the middle of the night and suddenly gets a craving for a piece of fox meat?’
「A short while later.」
"W-well, I’m going to sleep then?" She really couldn’t stay awake any longer; the drowsiness was overwhelming her again.
"Mm."
He piled all the clothes he had taken from her earlier on top of her.
It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of her soft, even breathing.
With a Wandering Snake Beast beside her, she slept soundly. Throughout this whole ordeal, she had rarely shown any fear, completely unlike other females who feared and loathed Snake Beasts.
’Perhaps that was also one of the reasons I chose to stay by her side so devotedly all those years ago.’
Mi Yin couldn’t help but let the corners of his lips curl into a small smile. As he recalled the past, his throat went dry again, and the warmth in his eyes was tinged with complexity.
To be honest, he didn’t know how to handle this situation.
He was used to loving her, and he was used to killing. But he had no experience with this, fumbling and unsure of how to process the feeling of having found her again only to have lost her memory.
His thoughts were a complicated, chaotic mess.
He was afraid this would all turn out to be a fleeting joy.
It seemed only by following her with his gaze, locking her figure firmly within his sight, could he feel that long-lost sense of peace.
In the middle of the night, the roar of the rain was incessant. A clap of thunder exploded outside the cave. Mi Yin glanced to the side, his vision catching the reflection of a tall, slender figure.
The air quickly filled with a thick scent of dampness and blood.
He instinctively reached out, grabbed the two pieces of clothing, and covered the little fox securely from head to paw, shielding her from the encroaching chill.
"Cough— You certainly have a lot of free time. Staying in a cave on a rainy night... trying to relive your old life as a wild snake?"
The newcomer squinted at him, making no effort to hide the sarcasm in his words. His voice was somewhat weak.
He stepped into the cave, bringing the stench of rain and blood with him.
The young man looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, as if he had only recently come of age. He had a slender but elegant build.
Beneath his messy, short black hair was a nonchalant, detached expression. He had handsome features, thin crimson lips, and a beauty mark at the corner of his eye that made him look coolly alluring and bewitching.
The fresh wounds on his body added a certain broken beauty to him.
"What’s this..." As he walked deeper into the cave, he got closer and caught another scent besides their own.
This scent...
It was a little familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
"What are you hiding?" Qi Yuan was never one for guessing games. He looked at Mi Yin, the end of his eyebrow twitching slightly.
"Something of mine. It has nothing to do with you, does it?" he replied coldly. "I hate nosy people."
"...Whatever." Qi Yuan didn’t seem to care much. The two of them were only partners in interest, so it was best not to get involved in matters that didn’t concern him.
He picked a corner, squatted down against the wall, and prepared to regulate his breathing to heal his wounds.
A dense black energy swirled deep within his wounds, knitting them closed.
"Judging by your condition, it seems the plan didn’t go smoothly. Is Ze Sheng still alive?"