The Gloomy Bottom Everyone Despised Has Been Reborn - Chapter 4

My father believed that we should not show any wealth on the road to the capital to avoid attracting bandits. Because of this, Lin Chongtan and I shared a single carriage.

Ever since I pushed him into the water three years ago, we were rarely alone together. I didn’t like talking to him, and he wasn’t the type to force a conversation where he wasn’t wanted. During those three years in the Lin household, he tried to reach out to me several times, but I never responded. Even when we crossed paths privately, I wouldn’t call him “Second Brother”; I simply acted as if he didn’t exist.

Over time, Lin Chongtan stopped trying to approach me.

Consequently, we sat in silence throughout the journey. I spent my time clutching my books and studying, while he lived a life of leisure—playing chess and tasting tea along the way, never picking up a book.

I noticed that every time we stopped to rest, Lin Chongtan would take a small notebook, get off the carriage, and walk far away, only returning after a while. Since he never opened that notebook inside the carriage, I had no idea what was in it.

However, I suspected it contained material for the Imperial Academy entrance exam. Although we were guaranteed entry, there would be a test during the first month. If I did poorly, I wouldn’t be kicked out, but my father would certainly see me as useless.

Lin Chongtan’s tutor was a former teacher from the Academy. It was possible he had leaked the questions to Lin Chongtan so that he could arrive like a “young phoenix” and impress everyone instantly.

But these thoughts were just my own guesses.

When we were only about fifty miles from the capital, I was studying as usual. The carriage was traveling on a main road when it suddenly lurched, making me look up.

The carriage came to a stop. Before I could ask why we were stopping, Lin Chongtan suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Run with me in a moment,” he said. His voice had finished changing; it now sounded as pleasant as ancient music.

I realized something was wrong and asked in a panic, “Are they bandits? We’re almost at the capital!”

Lin Chongtan looked toward the window and replied in a very low voice, “The capital recently appointed a new General of the Sixteen Guards. Usually, when a new official takes office, they need to show some achievements to their superiors. They often intentionally let bandits grow in power along the roads so they can wipe them out all at once later for more credit.”

“But… but the people killed by the bandits can’t…”

Lin Chongtan looked back at me. There wasn’t much emotion in his beautiful eyes. I understood his meaning from that look and stopped talking, focusing entirely on the sounds outside.

Sure enough, the sound of clashing swords and people screaming in pain broke out. Having never experienced anything like this, my palms began to sweat from fear.

Suddenly, the carriage was hit hard by something. The curtain was sliced in half, and a large, scarred man with a bare chest appeared before us holding a blade.

When the man saw us, a wicked grin spread across his fierce face. “Oho, look at these two tender young things hiding in here.”

Before I could even cry for help, Lin Chongtan threw something at the man. Gold powder used for calligraphy instantly blinded the man’s eyes. Lin Chongtan then kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him off the carriage, and quickly pulled me off the vehicle to run.

I had never run so fast in my life. I even lost one of my shoes. The bandits didn’t intend to let us go and even chased us on horseback. Lin Chongtan led me into a dense, difficult forest. My shoeless foot hurt terribly, but I didn’t dare make a sound, fearing he would abandon me.

The sounds of pursuit continued behind us, and my heart raced. When we reached a thick part of the woods, Lin Chongtan suddenly stopped. Knowing I was a burden, I didn’t dare speak until he stuffed me into a pit in the ground.

There were rocks in the pit, and I gasped as they hit my back. Before I could finish my breath, Lin Chongtan climbed in as well, covering us with grass and covering my mouth with his hand.

His hand was the one that had held the gold powder, and some residue remained on his palm. I accidentally tasted it and quickly clamped my mouth shut.

The pit was small, and it was very cramped for the two of us. I could feel Lin Chongtan’s breath on my cheek. I didn’t know what kind of scent he used, but even after such a messy escape, he still smelled good.

The voices of the bandits grew closer. Terrified, I closed my eyes. They might find us. Lin Chongtan and I were born on the same day—were we going to die on the same day too?

If the family found out we were dead, they would surely be heartbroken over Lin Chongtan.

In the midst of my wild thoughts, I felt the grass near my feet move, as if someone was swinging a blade through the brush. I froze in fear, opening my eyes only to meet Lin Chongtan’s gaze.

He didn’t seem afraid at all. His eyes under his long lashes were cold. Noticing I was looking at him, his gaze shifted to look back at me.

He really is quite good-looking, I thought jealously. His eyes are like gems.

The bandits didn’t seem to find the pit, and their voices gradually faded. I slowly let out a breath. Lin Chongtan pushed the grass aside and sat up to scan the surroundings. “They will chase for a bit, and when they don’t find us, they’ll definitely turn back to search. There’s a military camp thirty miles away. If we find it, we’ll be saved.”

I tried to sit up with him, but he suddenly pushed me back down. My head hit a rock hard, bringing tears to my eyes. I wanted to ask what he was doing, but then I saw two puncture marks on the back of the hand he had just pulled back.

A snake!

I turned to look and saw a snake slithering away. Since I only saw its tail, I didn’t know if it was poisonous.

I used to live in the countryside with my foster mother and had encountered snakes before, so I knew a little about what to do. I quickly sat up, took off my hair ribbon, and tied it around Lin Chongtan’s wrist. I then tried to squeeze the blood out of his wound.

But Lin Chongtan pulled his hand back. “There’s no time. Let’s go!”

He grabbed me and ran toward the northwest. My foot hurt so much that I eventually pulled my hand away and crouched down. “I can’t go any further. You go on by yourself.”

Lin Chongtan looked at me for a few moments, then suddenly loosened the hair ribbon on his wrist and crouched down in front of me. “Get on.”

Even an ant wants to live, and I certainly didn’t want to die. After staring at his back for a moment, I climbed on.

Carrying someone while running is completely different from running alone. Lin Chongtan’s breathing grew heavier and heavier. When he could barely go on, he asked me to take a pill out of the pouch at his waist.

I took the pill out. Seeing that he wasn’t going to stop to rest, I had to feed it to him. He swallowed it almost desperately, biting my finger in the process.

“Ow!” I pulled my hand back. There was a teeth mark on my finger. I sucked on it in pain, but then I realized my finger had just been in his mouth. I quickly lowered my hand.

Luckily, Lin Chongtan didn’t notice my silly behavior. I secretly wiped the saliva from my finger onto his clothes.

It had been near dusk earlier, and now it was completely dark. The night path was difficult to walk. When we saw a City God Temple, Lin Chongtan stopped.

The temple was abandoned, with thick cobwebs on the plaque at the entrance. Lin Chongtan set me down and took another pill himself before entering. A moment later, he came out. “There’s no one inside. We’ll rest here tonight.”

I naturally agreed.

Inside the temple, I found a relatively clean spot to sit and took off my sock.

My foot was indeed injured, with several bleeding cuts. I wiped them with my handkerchief. Lin Chongtan, who had just stepped out, returned carrying a bucket of water.

It turned out someone used to live behind the temple; there was a well and a discarded bucket. Lin Chongtan set the bucket in front of me, gesturing for me to clean myself. He then went to tidy up the area to find a place for us to sleep.

Having been cared for by him all this way, I had to temporarily set aside my dislike. “The wound on the back of your hand…”

“It’s fine. The snake wasn’t poisonous,” Lin Chongtan said calmly.

I murmured an “oh,” not knowing what else to say, and lowered my head to tend to my foot. A moment later, it began to pour rain. While I was worrying about the cold, Lin Chongtan actually smiled slightly.

How can he still laugh?

We had just been attacked by bandits, and I didn’t even know if the others were still alive. Although Liangji talked too much and often annoyed me, I didn’t want anything to happen to him.

The rain poured down and the air grew colder. My extra layer of clothing was still on the carriage, so I could only sit there hugging my legs. Lin Chongtan suddenly looked over. After staring at me for a few moments, he walked over.

When he suddenly approached me, I felt a bit uneasy. I looked up at him. “Second Brother, you… you can’t leave me behind. Father will blame you if he finds out!”

Lin Chongtan’s face was much paler than before, likely from carrying me. He crouched down, a helpless smile appearing on his beautiful face. “Why didn’t you wipe the gold powder off your face? You look like a…”

He paused. “A little calico cat.”

His calling me a cat immediately reminded me of when his friends used to call me a “black raccoon dog.” I gritted my teeth, thinking indignantly that I had become much fairer over the past three years and was no longer a “black raccoon dog.”

A calico cat…

Not even a calico cat. I am not a cat!

The water in the bucket had been used for my feet and couldn’t be used again, and the storm made it impossible to go get more. Lin Chongtan dampened his own handkerchief with rainwater and handed it to me.

Since there was no mirror, I wiped for a long time without success. Lin Chongtan frowned, took the handkerchief, and helped me wipe it himself.

Because of this, the scent from his sleeves drifted into my nose. I noticed that even though he was a refugee like me, he still looked elegant and composed. Unlike me, with my hair a mess and a missing shoe.

A sense of inferiority washed over me again. So, when he suggested we sleep together before bed to keep each other warm, I flatly refused.