“It hurts…” Kong Yan felt a sharp pain in her back, and she couldn't help but furrow her brows, letting out a low cry of pain.
Then, she, who had kept her eyes tightly shut, slowly opened them, looking up at everything around her. When she realized she was still nestled in Lu An's arms like a small bird, she shrieked and quickly jumped up.
This jump was ill-advised, pushing Lu An even harder against the stone beneath his back, making the wound on his back ache even more, causing him to involuntarily gasp.
“Hiss… cough, cough, cough…” Lu An couldn’t help but cough a few times before laboriously sitting up from the stone. The burning pain in his back made him afraid to even touch it.
Although Kong Yan was a little shy about having been hiding in Lu An’s arms just now, she was not a delicate woman after all. Seeing a large pool of blood on the stone, her brows furrowed, and she quickly went behind Lu An.
“Let me see,” Kong Yan said. When she saw Lu An’s back, she couldn’t help but gasp!
Is this… still a back?
The clothes on his back were completely torn, exposing his entire back. His back was a bloody mess, with hardly a single good spot. Moreover, many areas were burned and even charred. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was caused by Wang Zhenggang’s fireball just now. And she, being pressed beneath him, wasn't affected at all.
Burns alone wouldn’t be this bad, but the already burned skin, after rolling along the ground, was covered in countless bits of soil, gravel, and even wood splinters, all mixed with blood and flesh, making it a nauseating sight.
Kong Yan stared blankly at the bloody back, then looked at Lu An, who was frowning slightly. She couldn't imagine how this young man could endure such intense pain without uttering a sound.
“How are you?” Kong Yan quickly came in front of Lu An and asked anxiously.
“I’m fine,” Lu An forced a strained smile. He felt a bit dizzy, likely from blood loss. He said, “It’s nothing, I’ve had a strong recovery ability since I was young, so don’t worry.”
With that, Lu An raised his head and looked around. This was a cave, and the entrance was about a zhang high from the ground. It was empty all around, and the space was quite large. But in the cave, there was only this one large stone directly facing the entrance.
What pleased Lu An was that, for some reason, even though the two of them had fallen down, the top was still covered by many branches and weeds, with only a little light shining through the gaps. Although the entire cave was dim, it would at least prevent Wang Zhenggang and the others from finding them for a while.
Just as Lu An was deep in thought, a sound suddenly came from not far outside the cave entrance!
“Where are they?” Wang Zhenggang’s voice suddenly came, clearly near the cave entrance, making both Lu An and Kong Yan tense up.
If they were discovered, then in this cave, they would truly become a turtle in a jar.
“That’s right, they rolled down in this direction just now, why are they suddenly gone?” another person asked strangely.
“Stop talking nonsense! Quickly split up and search!” Wang Zhenggang’s tone was clearly unfriendly, and then the few of them dispersed, and the sounds from above ceased.
The two in the cave finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’re temporarily safe,” Lu An said softly, his brows furrowed. “But we can’t go out yet; they’re still searching. If we want to go out, we’ll have to wait until your strength recovers, at least.”
Kong Yan nodded upon hearing this, but her brows were tightly furrowed as she looked at Lu An and said, “But your back…”
“It’s nothing,” Lu An gave a weak smile, waving his hand. “We can finally stop; let’s rest here for a while.”
With that, Lu An laboriously walked to the side of the earthen wall and sat down. Kong Yan looked at this boy, who was seven years younger than herself. For some reason, she truly couldn’t understand him.
Was this person unyielding? No, he even let a Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard cub go. But was he weak? No, he dared to confront Wang Zhenggang head-on, dared to face six opponents much stronger than him, plus a Heavenly Spirit Flame Leopard, and charge out. This was nothing like what a newcomer could do.
Adding to that his decisive actions and powerful pain tolerance, she couldn't even fathom how a mere twelve-year-old boy could possess such a temperament.
Lu An, who was diligently bandaging his wounds, noticed Kong Yan staring at him. He couldn’t help but look up at her, giving a faint smile, and said, “You should sit down too.”
Kong Yan paused, her brows slightly furrowed. After a moment’s thought, she leaned against the large stone in the center and sat down.
With both of them seated, the entire cave became quiet. Occasionally, the sound of the wind and rustling leaves could be heard from outside, but most of the time, the cave was so silent that one could hear a pin drop.
Time passed bit by bit. If it was for a short period, it would be fine, but over a long time, the entire cave felt dead and very oppressive.
Nearly half an hour later, Kong Yan slowly moved her body and looked up. Her strength had recovered by about 30%. She looked at Lu An in the distance and found that he was still slowly cleaning his wounds, but many of the wounds on his back were not something he could handle. After thinking for a moment, she walked over.
“I’ll help you,” Kong Yan said, coming in front of Lu An.
Lu An paused, looked up at Kong Yan, and smiled, saying, “Thank you.”
With that, Kong Yan sat down beside Lu An, and Lu An turned around, presenting his back to Kong Yan.
Looking at the back that was slowly drying up and rotting, and the dust and debris on it, Kong Yan’s heart tightened. She suppressed her discomfort and painstakingly removed the debris bit by bit with her hands.
Her hands inevitably touched flesh and blood, some of which was very deep, requiring her to dig into the flesh to pull it out. Kong Yan couldn't bear to watch, yet Lu An remained silent, except for an occasional tremor in his body.
After a while, once the noticeably larger pieces of debris were removed from his back, Kong Yan began to remove the smaller ones. To ease the oppressive atmosphere, she took a deep breath and said, “Say something.”
She found that her voice was even trembling.
“Okay,” Lu An said from the front, but his voice was very weak. He softly asked, “Say what?”
“Tell me about yourself,” Kong Yan took a deep breath and slowly said, “Where are you from, your parents, interesting things from your past.”
Kong Yan noticed Lu An’s body stiffen.
“What’s wrong?” Kong Yan was startled and asked in surprise.
“Nothing,” Lu An replied softly without turning his head. “My parents are both dead, and I don’t have any siblings. I wandered to Starfire City.”
Kong Yan paused upon hearing this, then said apologetically, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Lu An’s faint smile could be heard from the front. He said, “What about you? You must be the Young Miss of some wealthy Family in Starfire City, right?”
“Wealthy?” Kong Yan chuckled upon hearing this, though her smile held a lot of sarcasm. She said, “Yes, a wealthy Family, but one that still needs to curry favor with others.”
Lu An finally turned his head upon hearing this, looked at Kong Yan, and asked, “What do you mean?”
“My Family is in the seafood business. One-third of all seafood in Starfire City is supplied by my Family, which is a large portion, but definitely not a monopoly,” Kong Yan’s voice became very quiet as she said, “There are two other merchant associations that also do seafood, and the competition is fierce. However, Starfire City is not near the sea, so no matter which seafood business it is, they need to bring in goods through channels.”
At this point, Kong Yan paused, as if gritting her teeth, and slowly said, “And the official roads and escort agencies in all of Starfire City are almost entirely controlled by the Wang Family!”
Lu An paused, thinking of something, and tentatively asked, “Wang Zhenggang?”
“Exactly,” Kong Yan nodded forcefully and said, “His Family has a complete monopoly on the official roads and escort agencies in Starfire City. All imports and exports need to go through their Family’s channels. If his Family doesn’t agree, not only will there be no escort agency to transport your goods, but even if you ask merchant associations from other places to transport them, they simply cannot use the official roads!”
Lu An frowned slightly upon hearing this.
“Because of this, my Family naturally has to curry favor with the Wang Family. Five tenths of my Family’s income has to be given to the Wang Family. Not only that, but we must also present a certain amount of tribute every year, otherwise we will lose all channels!” At this point, Kong Yan was clenching her teeth, her face full of resentment!
Lu An fell silent upon hearing this. Taking 50% of someone else’s income for no reason was indeed outrageous, practically an exorbitant demand. He frowned and asked, “Shouldn’t the official roads be managed by the City Lord’s Mansion? As long as you pay taxes, you can use them. On what grounds does his Family have the final say?”
Kong Yan sneered upon hearing this, looking at Lu An and saying, “Do you think the City Lord’s Mansion is a good thing?”