After I Lost My Memory, I Was Coaxed into Marriage by a Yandere - Chapter 16

“You just said outside that you would not do anything to me!” Chi Wei crossed her arms over her chest, her pupils dilating suddenly.

“I am not doing anything to you; it is a matter of whether you want to do something to me.”

Regarding the heat cycle, Xiao Yanyi had always been resistant to her animalistic nature. Because the incident where she had left a water stain on Chi Wei’s abdomen while the other slept was so shameful, she had never dared to recall it.

Now, she had originally intended to use Chi Wei’s sympathy by feigning defeat and being poisoned by the Zhen bird. However, she had not expected the poison to exceed her estimates. Although not fatal, it consumed much of her magical power, making it difficult to suppress her lust.

Chi Wei fell silent.

Looking at Xiao Yanyi’s face, she truly could not find the words to refuse to help her relieve her desires. If such a thing happened to anyone else, they would feel as if a giant pie had fallen from the sky, hitting them so hard they would faint from happiness.

Chi Wei was no exception.

Xiao Yanyi was a serpent demon, and animals have times for heat and mating; they are not like humans who can feel desire at any time or place. Chi Wei understood this. From the bottom of her heart, she could not say no, yet she was being pulled by her sense of morality, unable to actually help Xiao Yanyi find relief.

She bit her lower lip and lay beneath her. Desire and reason were like two opposing forces, nearly tearing her into fragments. She even hoped she could simply faint so she would not have to face this torment.

Chi Wei’s voice trembled slightly. “If I do not help you, what will happen to you?” If the consequences were too severe, she perhaps might not be unable to compromise.

Xiao Yanyi’s unfocused gaze fixed. “It will be very painful.” She paused. Seeing that Chi Wei was still undecided, Xiao Yanyi grew resentful and added a harsh remark in annoyance, “If you are unwilling, I can go find someone else.”

Someone else? Was this the kind of thing just anyone could help with?

Chi Wei hesitated again.

She dithered for so long that Xiao Yanyi finally lost her patience. Even after being so proactive, Chi Wei remained unmoved. Xiao Yanyi stood up and left.

The lingering fragrance vanished. Chi Wei sat up in a daze, knowing the other no longer needed her. Inexplicably, a trace of chagrin crept into her heart, and as the scent grew fainter, that emotion spread further.

“Get out.”

Chi Wei stood up, but her feet did not move.

“What about you? Are you alright?”

“Get out!” To have exposed her own weakness and requested Chi Wei’s help was shameful enough; she did not want to hear Chi Wei’s pointless concern.

The guest had been dismissed, and Chi Wei had no further reason to stay.

She walked out of the room. When she finally closed the door, Xiao Yanyi was standing by the window with her back turned. The cold wind from outside poured in, making even Chi Wei feel a bit chilled.

Turning around, she slapped her own right cheek hard.

“Vile!”

After taking two steps, she slapped her left cheek in frustration.

“Shameless!”

She could not bear to think that she had almost taken advantage of someone in distress because of a momentary desire.

But as she took her third step, she recalled Xiao Yanyi’s words about finding someone else. Her footsteps paused, and then she quickly ran back to the door and knocked. “I will go get some well water and ice for you.”

“It is so late; it might be hard to find someone to help. You have to be picky about such things. Besides, I looked today, and everyone nearby is quite ugly.”

“Get out!” Xiao Yanyi’s angry voice came through the door. Chi Wei hurriedly shut her mouth and said no more, running downstairs with a series of thuds.

Before long, she called for people to carry well water and ice up to the room. Throughout the process, Xiao Yanyi never turned around.

She had not expected the usually good-tempered Xiao Yanyi to be so terrifying when angry. However, it was good enough that the person was still in the room. Not daring to say another word, she hurriedly set things down and urged the people carrying the ice to leave immediately.

Because of this, she had no place to stay for the night, and buying the ice had spent all of the four silver taels she had on her. She could have been sleeping on a comfortable bed with a beautiful woman, but now she could only make do for the night outside Xiao Yanyi’s room.

For no other reason than she had to protect Xiao Yanyi; this was a time when the other was extremely vulnerable, and she could not let anyone else take advantage of her.

Xiao Yanyi never came over to lock the door. Chi Wei faced the room, leaning her back against the wooden railing of the second floor as she slowly sat down with her legs bent. Her gaze remained fixed on the door.

From time to time, she gave herself a heavy slap. At other times, her gaze would turn misty as she imagined another possibility, only to slap herself again.

It was not until the light in the room went out that Chi Wei relaxed and her head slumped as she fell asleep.

She was awakened by the landlady of the inn, a woman about twenty seven or twenty eight years old. Seeing Chi Wei sleeping in the hallway all night, the woman assumed she had been kicked out by her wife.

Sleeping like that was truly uncomfortable; she woke up with her entire body aching terribly.

Chi Wei rubbed her stiff neck and stood up, preparing to ask how Xiao Yanyi was, only to find the door wide open. When she went inside, the room was already empty.

She hurried to find the landlady to ask and learned that Xiao Yanyi had left with Xiao Tan early that morning.

Chi Wei stood before the counter, her eyes wide. “Left? In which direction?” Xiao Yanyi’s body had been weak and her skin flushed, yet the other had been fine all day yesterday; Chi Wei had already guessed that the poison would not be fatal and that she had overthought everything.

The landlady pointed toward the south and continued looking down at her abacus. “South, probably. She did not say specifically.”

While Chi Wei was in a daze, Xin Rong and her fellow sisters also came to bid her farewell.

“Miss Chi, let us meet again if fate permits. If you go to the Lingbao Temple in the south in the future, you can look for me there. I will treat you to a meal then.”

Chi Wei asked, “Lingbao Temple? Taoist Xin, are you not going to eliminate that serpent demon who killed the villagers?”

Xin Rong held her hand to her mouth and laughed softly. “To tell you the truth, my Master found out that the serpent demon will pass through Yanxia Pass tonight. We are heading there now to wait and catch the demon off guard.”

“Ah? So suddenly?”

Xin Rong patted Chi Wei’s shoulder and said solemnly, “That is right. Remember to stay put in the inn tonight and do not go running around. I expect there will be a fierce battle then.”

Chi Wei nodded slightly and watched Xin Rong and the other sisters leave. They all wore swords, and their morale was much higher than when they had come out of the mountains.

She did not know if Xiao Yanyi would run into them. According to Xin Rong, many sisters were already waiting at Yanxia Pass.

“Thump thump thump.”

The landlady tapped on the table. Chi Wei snapped out of it and looked at her in confusion. The landlady pulled a money bag from under the counter and tossed it onto the table, the copper coins clinking inside.

“I almost forgot. Your wife left a money bag for you. She said she would come back for you in a few days and hopes you will still be here waiting for her then.”

How could she forget that? If Xin Rong and the others had not come, perhaps the woman would not have given it to her at all?

Chi Wei took the money bag and walked away. Upon opening it, she found the silver she had given to Xiao Tan inside. She counted it; except for the money Xiao Tan used for her own room last night, every cent was there.

The money bag felt heavy in her palm, which made Chi Wei feel even stranger. If those two were leaving for a while, why did they leave no money for themselves? How would they eat on their journey, and where would they stay?

Putting the money bag away, she stepped outside the inn. Looking south, the sky was clear and boundless, with no clouds and a gentle breeze. It should have been a fine day to relax one’s mind. But it felt as if it were raining in her heart.

Xiao Yanyi had saved her in the ruined temple that day and had worked with the Taoists to kill many Zhen birds. Was she really the demon who had slaughtered a whole village?

If she was not, and she had also headed south today, what if she accidentally walked into the trap Taoist Xin and the others had set for that serpent demon at Yanxia Pass?

Chi Wei stood in a daze at the inn entrance for a long time. She had intended to find work in the city today to settle down temporarily while slowly figuring out how to regain her memory. But her mind was a mess, and she had no room to think about memories or settling down.

After the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, her gaze toward Yanxia Pass, twenty miles away, gradually grew firm. She quickened her pace into the shed, led out her donkey, mounted it, and headed toward Yanxia Pass.

No matter what, she did not want Xiao Yanyi to be caught like that. She had never asked if the other was the serpent demon who slaughtered the village, but she had naturally assumed the wicked demon was Xiao Yanyi.

More importantly, she still owed Xiao Yanyi an apology.