Chapter 54 That Scar

After Song Jiao finished helping her change clothes, she opened the door and said, "Brother, I'm ready."

Ling Yuan swiftly pulled her away and moved to the bedside, completely unaware that Song Jiao’s eyes were already red and glistening with tears, her nostrils flaring as if struggling to hold back the flood within.

Ling Yuan took the dagger sheath Song Jiao had placed on the dresser and carefully slid the dagger back inside. Gently, he rolled up the sleeve on her left arm, revealing a scar over three inches long.

This was the mark left on a six-year-old girl who had risked everything to save a boy who bore no relation to her, jumping into the Ganlu Well without hesitation.

Scenes from the distant past surged vividly from the depths of his heart.

Ten years ago.

In a small village near Zejiang County’s city, there lived a boy.

This boy had no father; he was raised solely by his mother. From birth, he was different from others, viewed as an outcast, a bad omen. Both mother and son endured relentless torment.

His mother’s beauty attracted the unwanted attentions of a certain man who repeatedly came to persuade her to return with him, promising solemnly to marry her. She refused.

Only when the man swore a vile oath that he would treat her despised child as his own and protect him from harm did she relent. She followed him home.

It was then she discovered that this man already had numerous wives but no children. She hoped he would keep his promise and protect her son.

To her dismay, after the novelty of her presence wore off, the man turned a blind eye to the jealous torment inflicted by the other wives. He loathed the boy, frequently beating him, resenting how the boy clung like a shadow to his mother, disrupting his own enjoyment.

One day, the man brought home a young, alluring woman, making life even harder for mother and son.

He scorned the mother, calling her prudish and unfitting, mocking her for having borne a bastard while pretending to be chaste.

One night, drunk, the man barged in and mercilessly beat the boy nearly to death, then cruelly humiliated the mother in front of him. Broken and battered, the mother chose to hang herself.

The man and his wives drove the boy out. His mother’s death plunged him into utter despair.

With no protector, no home, relentlessly pursued and rejected, he saw no escape but to leap into the well.

The world was cruel; the weak had no defense. He chose to join his mother in death.

The water of Ganlu Well was prized by the people of Zejiang City. He intended to die there and contaminate the well with his body.

This was the only feeble act of defiance and revenge this small boy could offer the world.

All who witnessed stood coldly by, no one reaching out to save him. Some even applauded.

“This child is a bad omen. If he lives, he will bring disaster upon us all.”

“Indeed, who knows what monster cursed that woman to give birth to such a child.”

“Wait until he dies, then drag him out and toss him in the common grave!”

...

At the bottom of the well, struggling in pain and fear, he heard these cruel words echoing from above. He was certain this day would be his last.

But he did not die. Instead, a little girl carrying two buckets of water arrived.

“Miss San, maybe don’t fetch water today; someone fell in.”

The girl’s wide eyes questioned, “If someone fell in, why not save them?”

“They can’t be saved. They’ll bring disaster if they live.”

Confused, the girl said, “If everyone turns their back and lets someone die, isn’t that the real disaster?”

With that, she grabbed the rope and leapt down into the well.

“Hey, Miss San...”

“Oh, this child is so reckless!”

“Quick, pull her up! She’s the granddaughter of Minister Su!”

The boy felt a rope loop around his waist, tied securely by small hands. Then a soft, sweet voice said, “Pull me up quickly.”

Hearing the voice, those above scrambled to turn the pulley, lifting both children out.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the long, deep wound on the girl’s arm. As they tore cloth to bind it, they cursed him.

“All this because she tried to save a little beast like you, Miss San got hurt badly.”

“Yeah, go far away and die, don’t drag others down.”

Despite the pain and bleeding, the girl turned to comfort him: “Don’t listen to what they say. Cover your ears.”

Strangely, he obeyed.

After escorting the girl home, he quietly followed her to the residence of a high-ranking official, realizing she was from a wealthy family.

Perhaps sensing his presence, after everyone left, the girl came out from inside and found him behind a large stone lion.

“What’s your name?”

“I... they call me beast, demon, monster...”

The girl covered her mouth and chuckled. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“They all call me that...”

Only his mother called him ‘Little Treasure’—which was like having no name.

“Do you think you are those things?” The girl’s bell-like eyes fixed on him.

He shook his head.

“Then if you know you’re not, why listen to others? Are all their words true?”

He widened his eyes, meeting the gaze of this girl. Since he could remember, apart from his mother, this was the first time he truly looked someone in the eye.

She said, “Your eyes are beautiful, like the vast ocean, like the sky above the clouds.”

It was the first time anyone described those blue eyes that had brought him endless suffering in such a way.

Looking at him, she added, “If you don’t have a name, you can use mine. I’m Su Yunqing. You can be ‘Clear Sky’.”

Then she took something from her pocket and handed it to him: “Here, this is a gem the Emperor gave my grandfather. See? Isn’t it as beautiful as your eyes?”

He opened his palm to find a crystal-clear sapphire glowing faintly.

He reached to return it, but she said, “It’s a gift for you.”

“I don’t want it,” he replied firmly and stiffly.

“Why not?” she asked. “Do you think it’s too precious? Let me tell you, the most precious thing in this world is life. Compared to your life, this means nothing.”

He was about to give it back again when a gentle female voice called from inside the courtyard.

“Qing’er, where have you gone? Go apologize to your father.”

The girl said hurriedly, “That’s my mother. I should go back. Goodbye,” and ran off, leaving him standing there holding the valuable sapphire.

“Silly girl, if you don’t study well, your father will complain to my grandfather next time we go to the capital!”

“I know, Mother...”

He remembered every word she said and felt she was the only good person in the world. He came many times afterward, hiding by the stone lions at the gate, never daring to speak.

Until one day, he decided to leave, believing there must be places where people weren’t like those in Zejiang City who treated him as a monster.

Waiting behind the stone lion as she came out, he slipped the only keepsake his mother had left him—a dagger—into her hands.

He didn’t know if giving a dagger to a little girl was appropriate; he only knew it was the only valuable thing he had.

The man who had deceitfully taken his mother home, only to abuse her until her death, was Wu Renpin. The alluring woman who incited others to torment his mother was Gou Shi.

And Miss Su San—she was still alive. She had not died.

...

“Brother Ling, how did I end up here? Is Uncle Kun alright?”

Su Yunqing felt warmth returning to her body. Slowly opening her eyes, the first face she saw was Ling Yuan’s.