Snake Bond - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I stared at the little curved dagger in my hand, the one Chu Ran had specially commissioned for me, its hilt encrusted with gemstones.

My heart ached and went numb all at once.

Because Chu Ran often went out to purchase silk, he worried it would be dangerous for me to go out alone, so he had this made for me to use in self-defense.

The hilt was covered in a kind of Western Region gemstone Chu Ran had searched everywhere to find for me. It was exceedingly rare.

Why…

Why hadn’t I brought it with me the night I went to the temple?

If I had, none of this would have happened.

It was already deep into the night. There wasn’t a single person on the road, and everything was pitch-black.

I didn’t feel afraid. Maybe because I knew what I was about to do, all I felt was a bone-deep chill.

Murder… That was murder…

Could I really do it?

Why did heaven have to treat me this way?

Tears filled my eyes. I gently stroked my lower belly and moved step by step toward the temple, whispering to the child in my womb, “I’m sorry, my child. I’m not a good mother.”

But when I reached the place where the madwoman had been wandering during the day, I couldn’t find her anywhere.

Where on earth had she gone?

Panic and urgency surged through me, and my hand trembled uncontrollably.

I lost my grip, and the dagger fell to the ground with a crisp clang.

Just as I bent down to pick it up, I smelled the stench of blood seeping through the crack in the temple doors.

Blood? Why would there be blood?

My feet moved forward against my will. I touched the door with one finger, and with the slightest push, it opened.

But the scene inside the temple made my blood run cold.

Two human heads hung high from the rafters.

One belonged to the madwoman. Her eyes had even been gouged out while she was alive.

The other belonged to the abbot.

Blood poured down from above like a waterfall.

I was so terrified I didn’t dare breathe. I had just taken a step back when I stepped on something soft.

“Wh-what is that?”

It turned out to be the madwoman’s severed foot…

The next instant, my vision went black, and I fainted.

When I woke again, I found myself in my bed at home.

Chu Ran was lying perfectly fine beside me.

Perhaps my movement as I sat up was too abrupt, because it woke him.

Chu Ran rubbed his sleepy eyes. The corners were still tinged red. He rested his head against my chest.

“Why is Zhao Zhao awake? Are the little ones bothering you?”

As he spoke, he tried to place his hand on my stomach, but I slapped it away hard on instinct.

For a moment, we both froze.

I avoided the shock in Chu Ran’s eyes and said softly, “No. They’re only a month along. They can’t even move yet. How could they bother me?”

Chu Ran didn’t answer. After a long while, he gently held me and coaxed me in a tender voice.

“I know. I know everything.”

“Zhao Zhao isn’t a little girl anymore. You’re about to become a mother, so you’re feeling lost and anxious, aren’t you?”

“Your husband will always stay with Zhao Zhao, all right?”

But the gentler Chu Ran was, the more sorrowful I felt.

I was afraid. There were so many things I didn’t dare tell him.

For example, the corpses I saw last night…

Right! The corpses!

I shoved Chu Ran away and stared into his eyes. “Husband, yesterday, yesterday I saw that madwoman dead… She was dead… I even stepped on her foot…”

Chu Ran looked at me quietly, then suddenly smiled.

“Is my wife joking? You were in bed the whole night yesterday.”

I looked at him in confusion. “No, but last night I really…”

“You didn’t. You were by my side the entire time.” Chu Ran cut me off swiftly and repeated it with certainty.

“Otherwise, how did you get back from the temple?”

Right.

How had I gotten back?

Could everything from yesterday have been a dream?

I had always believed Chu Ran’s words, so I slowly relaxed.

Seeing that I had come back to myself, he wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, stroked my back, and coaxed me softly. “Don’t be afraid, Zhao Zhao.”

“No matter what happens, your husband will settle it for you.”

“No matter what.”