Chapter 38: The Beast’s Den

Where was I being fierce?

Outside the house, a fierce wind swept heavy snow, quickly blanketing the ground and roof in white. The night sky was bright and clamorous, making the atmosphere inside the wooden cabin feel even more tranquil and serene.

“Where was I being fierce?” A hint of amusement flickered in his eyes as he grasped her arm and gently pulled her away. Noticing her earlobes had turned bright red, he leaned down and kissed them several times.

The kiss lingered for a long while until he finally stopped, breathing heavily. He picked up a teacup and fed her some water, murmuring softly, “Go to sleep.”

Li Youqing felt his body was as hot as a furnace. After being held by him for a while, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her skin. She couldn’t help complaining again, “But I really want to take a bath.”

“Endure it for one more day. We’ll let the physician examine you tomorrow before deciding.” Xuan Rui had no choice but to put on a stern face, indicating this matter was non-negotiable.

“See? You still claim you’re not being fierce.” Li Youqing kicked him hard with her foot, still unsatisfied, then went to pinch his cheeks forcefully. “Your stern face alone could scare a child to tears.”

Xuan Rui found himself torn between laughter and tears, thinking to himself that the one before him was indeed acting like a child.

He decisively carried her back to bed and went out to fetch a basin of hot water.

Taking clean clothes from the closet and placing them on the bed, he affectionately touched her forehead and said quietly, “Clean yourself up first. I’ll come back in later.”

The night was deep, and his voice carried a slight hoarseness, finally sounding somewhat weary.

Seeing her staring at the water basin without speaking, Xuan Rui assumed she understood and turned to leave first.

As soldiers, they were accustomed to going ten days to half a month without bathing despite sweating.

Clothes would dry only to get wet again, with never much fuss about such matters.

Yet the moment she mentioned discomfort, he felt as if that discomfort had transferred to himself, wishing he could share her feelings completely.

Xuan Rui had taken off the dark blue plain-lined jacket he wore during the day inside the room. Now wearing only a thin black inner garment, he stood under the eaves watching the snowstorm, yet still felt unbearably hot and restless.

Estimating that enough time had passed, he pushed the door open and looked inside, immediately furrowing his brows.

Not only was the floor covered with water, but the clothes she had changed out of were all tossed wetly on the ground—one piece here, another there.

Looking toward the bed, he saw a slight bulge under the blankets, vaguely revealing the outline of a slender figure.

A long-sleeved shirt remained by the bedside, indicating she wore only a thin undershirt beneath.

Xuan Rui pressed his throbbing temples and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling the quilt aside slightly.

Thick, lush hair covered a petite, sharply defined face. Her skin was whiter than mountain snow, with a delicate, upturned nose and slightly parted cherry-red lips.

Just when he thought she had fallen asleep, her long eyelashes fluttered, and she looked at him with dazed eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing her like this, Xuan Rui didn’t dare speak harshly. He gently stroked her cheek and asked, “Are you tired from earlier?”

Li Youqing shook her head, extended a pale, delicate arm to pull the long-sleeved shirt under the covers, and rustled around putting it on before lifting her face to tell him, “I couldn’t get clean. I want to bathe.”

Having never gone this long without bathing, she felt greasy all over.

Xuan Rui tucked the quilt securely around her and said in a coaxing tone, “You just worked up a sweat. Bathing now could easily make you catch cold. Bear with it for tonight—you can bathe tomorrow when the sun comes out.”

“It’s snowing so heavily outside, how could there possibly be sun tomorrow?” Li Youqing muttered discontentedly, clutching his sleeve and unconsciously picking at the golden embroidery on it.

Xuan Rui smiled: “Who says so? Tomorrow will definitely be a sunny day.”

Li Youqing gave a soft yawn, feeling how cool and smooth his wide sleeve was, and couldn’t resist pressing one side of her face against it.

It carried the scent of ice and snow, yet didn’t feel cold. Li Youqing murmured a few more words before her breathing gradually became steady and even.

Xuan Rui gently withdrew his hand, finally managing to catch a brief rest before dawn.

Over the years, he almost never dreamed, but this time he suddenly dreamed of events from the past.

When he woke, he was filled with intense ferocity.

It seemed as if his heart was full of grief and indignation with nowhere to vent, leaving only the shadow of hatred in his heart. !

He stood up silently and suddenly caught sight of the small figure on the bed.

The childlike sleeping face was utterly innocent and adorable, with two rosy spots on the cheeks that appeared full of vitality.

It seemed she had finally recovered almost completely.

Suppressing the violent emotions in his chest, he picked up his clothes and turned to leave.

As his hand rested on the door handle, memories came flooding back in an instant.

That winter fifteen years ago, he and fifteen other children from the same village were taken to the Border Defense Army camp.

Strangely, they weren’t assigned to do odd jobs, but were brought to the beast quarters to care for the wild wolves captured from the mountains.

These beasts were difficult to tame, and everyone in the beast quarters wanted to stay away from them.

But someone had to care for them and serve as test subjects to verify whether these wolves had been tamed enough not to attack people randomly.

Finally, the Border Defense Army commander declared that if these wild wolves wouldn’t even attack defenseless children, it would prove they had been tamed and could follow the army into battle.

When Xuan Rui was brought into the dark room, there were still some small bones left in the wolf den that hadn’t been cleared away yet, and the evasive looks from those around confirmed his suspicions.

The head of the beast quarters was Wu Lang, a shameless man without conscience whose usual behavior was worse than that of beasts, and who was of the same ilk as the commander.

The fifteen children were each assigned numbers and sent in pairs to tend to the five wild wolves in the beast quarters, with the remaining five kept as backups.

They lived in a shed next to the beast quarters, sleeping on the most basic common sleeping platform and eating nothing but leftovers and cold meals every day.

Though compared to their original situations at home, it wasn’t much worse, and some even lived better than they had at home.

At least they wouldn’t be severely beaten from time to time, and they had food every day.

At seven or eight years old, no matter how much hardship they had experienced, they still couldn’t shake off their innocence.

Among them was the oldest and strongest boy who devoted himself wholeheartedly to caring for his wolf.

He often vowed confidently that he would join the Border Defense Army when he grew up and fight alongside the wolf he was raising.

Xuan Rui remembered him because not long after saying this, while feeding the wild wolf, a small wound on his arm began bleeding, and the wolf bit his neck, killing him.

The boy paired with him was only six years old at the time. After witnessing such a terrifying scene, he scrambled away in panic and that very night became deranged, never regaining his senses.

The mad child, along with the remains of the corpse devoured by wild wolves, was carelessly wrapped in a burlap sack by the Beast House personnel and discarded on Windward Slope.

Xuan Rui and the other children witnessed this indifferently, and from then on, they became even more cautious, ensuring not a single minor wound appeared on their bodies.

These beasts had a keen sense of smell—even the slightest trace of blood could drive them into a frenzy.

Within just a month, due to heavy casualties, all five reserve boys were deployed, yet it still wasn’t enough.

Thus, the system shifted from pairing them in groups of two to assigning them individually.

Xuan Rui witnessed the deaths of many companions and gained a deeper understanding of the wild wolves’ temperament.

These beasts, much like humans, were creatures that bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Not only must one never show the slightest hint of fear in front of them, but they must also be made to understand who their master was.

The young Xuan Rui had no other weapons at his disposal, so he resorted to tampering with the daily meals he delivered to them.

He never fed the wolf the full portion prepared by the Beast House. Instead, depending on its reactions and behavior, he would either give it only a small amount or appropriately increase the ration.

The leftover food, he would secretly hide on his person and smuggle out unnoticed.

The next day, if the beast behaved more obediently than before, he would reward it with more of his privately stored food.

Moreover, every three days, he would let the wolf go hungry, making it understand that only he could provide it with food and water.

Over time, the wolf he was taming gradually became docile and obedient to his every command.

A year later, the Beast House personnel took that wolf away and assigned him a newly captured one.

This one was not only larger in size but also far more ferocious.

Xuan Rui intended to employ the same tactics, but before this wild wolf could be fully tamed, an accident occurred.

After several days of severe weather, the camp was filled with flying sand and stones. While carrying a bucket to scrub the stables, he was provoked by a minor overseer from the Horse Taming Division.

In the Border Defense Army camp, fights and brawls were commonplace, and the dynamics among the boys were even more ruthless.

The weak would gather around the strong for protection, forming various factions.

Xuan Rui, with his natural physical advantage, had never lost a fight. He was always followed by a group of younger boys, making him the unofficial leader among the children in the Border Defense Army.

This time, however, he was surrounded alone by five or six burly opponents.

Although he emerged victorious in the end, he was left with injuries.

When evening came and it was time to enter the dark chamber, he found himself in a dilemma.

No one understood the nature of these beasts better than he did—before they were fully tamed, even a hint of blood could trigger their savage instincts.

He tried to stall for time and find an excuse to avoid the task, but he was arbitrarily beaten by a minor overseer from the Beast House, adding more injuries to his body.

That night, the dark chamber was pitch black. Step by step, he moved forward, the hungry wolf’s low growls echoing clearly, as if right beside his ear.

Not far away, a pair of eerie green eyes stared provocatively at him.

Pushing open the door, daylight flooded in.

Xuan Rui squinted slightly, adjusting to the blinding light.

As he had expected, it was a sunny day.

Perhaps the sound of the door opening was too loud, as a girl’s displeased whine came from behind him: “What are you doing—”

Her tone was delicate and petulant, and just from her voice, one could picture her frowning, her face full of displeasure.

He had grown accustomed to taming hungry wolves since childhood—first smoothing their temper, then offering rewards to make them recognize him as their master.

But now, facing such a delicate creature, he often found his heart inexplicably tightening.

Xuan Rui turned his head and gazed at her quietly for a while.

Her skin seemed untouchable—reddening at the slightest contact, then brimming with tears.

Last night, when he had tucked her feet against his chest, they felt like two precious golden nuggets.

The memories of the foul-smelling dark room, the severed limbs and bones of companions, and the pair of terrified green eyes fixed on him as a starving wolf lay dying—all receded like an ebbing tide.

Leaning against the doorframe, he replied indifferently, “Sleep a while longer. I’ll take my leave first.”

Li Youqing had been awakened by the sound of the door opening. Ignoring his words completely, she turned over to face the wall.

Only when she heard the man’s footsteps gradually fading away did she lie on the bed, dazedly recalling that this seemed to be the first time since they had met that he had slept until this late hour.

Her mind remained a muddled haze, and unable to resist her drowsiness, she sank back into a deep sleep.