The Echo of the Moon (whispers in my ear)

Chapter Three

Didi - younger brother, literally or affectionately
Gege - older brother, literally or affectionately
Xiansheng - mister or sir
Xiaojie - miss
Meimei - little sister
Jiejie - big sister
'A-' - friendly address, used as a prefix
'-er' - friendly address for someone younger than you, used as a suffix

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Jianyu's eyes shot open, immediately wincing when the blood ran into one of them, blinking a few times and pushing himself up from the ground, blood staining his hands and clothes. His memory was fuzzy, his hand barley brushing over the wounds on his stomach- and they all came rushing back.

Immediately, he was thrown into a panic. Where was Liang? Where did they take him? Was he okay? Did his curse finally catch up to him? Oh dear gods, now Jianyu was on his feet, trying to run, but the pain that shot up his body made him shamble across the grass. He couldn't see through one of his eyes, and when he touched at the skin, it felt almost scarred- like the blood around it had dried and left it forced shut.

The blood that had once been pouring out of him had clotted over and sealed themselves, leaving himself clearly still injured, but at the very least- he could still keep his eye open and walk.

Where had they been headed? Wasn't there a village near here? He couldn't seem to remember, his brain feeling as if it buzzed in protest with every thought. He managed to limp to the edge of the clearing- surely there was another village nearby, they had ran quite a long ways to get to the clearing in the first place.

He placed his hand on the trunk of a tree, managing to stable his wobbling stature. He raised his head, and sure enough- at the bottom of the hill that sloped downward from the thick forest was a small village. It was daytime, so surely Liang and the Diren couldn't have gotten too far, right?

He stumbled down the side of the hill, the mountains seeming to get larger and larger with each step, the village getting closer and closer in sight. His disorientation wasn't helping with trying to blend in the small crowd.

He took two shambling steps forward onto the villages' road, and then bumped shoulders with someone, a few fruits scattering over the ground.

"Oh! My apologies- I should have looked where I was.."
The voice that sounded from the other person sounded feminine and light hearted, but it quickly trailed off.
"Are you okay?" She asked, gently placing a hand on his shoulder that he barely registered at all. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth- his strength would give out. When he didn't reply, she spoke again, quietly bending down and picking up the fruits, placing them back into her basket around her arm.

"You don't look so good. I know some first aid- come with me for a moment."

Jianyu didn't have the strength to decline.

-

Jianyu woke up in a bed.
Waking up in a bed meant two things- one, he didn't know where he was, and two, he had fallen asleep. Again.
He immediately tried to shoot up from his position, but the sheer agony that zipped through his nerves forced him into slowing down.

"Woah, woah, slow down- I just finished your stitches, try not to pop them."
The same girl from earlier was stood not too far from the bed, quietly wiping her hands off with a small towel.

He still couldn't see out of his eye.

"Where am I?" He asked, the first question that had popped into his head immediately sliding off his tongue.

"You're in my house, if that answers your question. You ran into me at the market, and passed out at the door." She shrugged. "Don't worry too much about it. Nearly scared my sisters half to death though." She giggled quietly, and Jianyu could only listen.