Chapter 2




 

After spending an hour or so in the bath, Tang Shan carefully walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He was still having mixed feelings about the whole situation, and was thus extremely relieved that Li Yuanyu wasn"t waiting on the other side of the door.

He looked around carefully, making sure that Li Yuanyu really wasn"t around, and quickly put on the clothes left out for him. After he was dressed, he was suddenly struck with the awareness that he had no idea what he should do.

He stood where he was, unsure.

The sound of rain pelting against the windowpanes began to lower in intensity. Within the house, it was so silent that it was scary, the damp and dark hallway giving off an ominous aura.

The door to his room was half-open, the slightest hint of light peeking through.

He plucked up his courage and went forward to investigate, only to be met with the sight of Li Yuanyu flipping through the artistic romance novel on his table.

Come to think of it, Li Yuanyu was probably the owner of the book.

Tang Shan convinced himself of this fact and decided to leave the room. He didn"t feel like having anything to do with the man at the moment, but once he took a step backwards, he b.u.mped into the door behind him, resulting in a large creak.

"d.a.m.n it!" Tang Shan cursed silently.

"You"re done bathing." Li Yuanyu gave him a kind smile, saying nothing of his clumsiness.

That disarming smile rendered Tang Shan momentarily speechless. He"d never seen any man as beautiful and enchanting as Li Yuanyu was.

Tang Shan came back to himself, gasping at his outrageous thoughts. He turned away and ducked his head, unwilling to look at Li Yuanyu"s face.

Li Yuanyu gave an extremely defeated smile and proceeded to get up from his chair.

Tang Shan furrowed his eyebrows in nervousness, glaring at Li Yuanyu"s feet. He could see them gradually coming closer to him, and all he could do was retreat till he was out of the room, his back against the wall of the hallway.

"Am I Medusa?" Li Yuanyu teased him albeit unhappily, in response to his obvious desire to escape. Tang Shan stayed silent.

"Don"t be afraid, I just want to go to the bathroom. It"s my turn to shower." That said, Li Yuanyu walked off in the direction of the bathroom.

The moment he left, Tang Shan immediately heaved a sigh of relief, sliding onto the floor as he felt his strength leave him.

The rain finally stopped and the sound of rainfall no longer lingered. In exchange, he heard the sound of water trickling in the bathroom nearby. At the thought of Li Yuanyu naked in there, Tang Shan gulped, his heart rate increasing.

He couldn"t stay any longer; it was just too dangerous! He couldn"t control his own mind, and to even fantasize about Li Yuanyu in the nude...

He didn"t want to admit the existence of his desires for Li Yuanyu!

So he escaped.

In a small town where he had no sense of direction and everything was foreign to him, he ran alone, with no purpose and no idea where he could go. All he wanted to do was escape from Li Yuanyu.

He ran till he was tired and his stamina completely diminished, to the point that he could no longer move. Only then did he stop.

He realized that the scenery around him was completely different, which indicated he"d run outside of the places that Li Yuanyu had brought him to- He was now completely lost.

He surveyed the area carefully. At one end was a place that seemed like a plaza or square, while there was a stone staircase on the other end. He was at the bottom of the staircase, which made him curious about the scenery above.

Just as he was about to climb up, he was stopped.

"Mr Tang Shan! What a coincidence to meet you here!"

A lady wearing the uniform of a policewoman on patrol advanced towards him, adjusting her ill-fitted pants as she walked. Her smile was extremely bright, as if she was familiar with him.

"You know me?"

The policewoman, was stunned for a moment, and asked confusedly, "Of course I know you, is there anyone in this town who doesn"t? What"s wrong with you? Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Why is it natural for everyone in this town to know me?" Tang Shan retorted.

"You"re Mr Li"s partner, everyone obviously knows you. Ah... Oh no, don"t tell me you lost your memories again?" The policewoman began to answer, before she reacted. Her voice was incredibly piercing with her high energy and register.

Tang Shan could feel his ears throb in pain and raised his arm to cover one of them. He moved one step backwards, trying to put some distance between them.

"Why isn"t Mr Li with you?" The policewoman peered behind Tang Shan but saw no one there.

"When you say Mr Li, do you mean Li Yuanyu?"

"Of course, who else would it be? That"s strange, why would Mr Li let you go around alone? That doesn"t make sense." The policewoman found it strange.

Tang Shan didn"t want to explain further. He went on to ask, "Is Mr Li a very famous person?"

The policewoman began to laugh out loud, as if she"d heard something incredulous.

Tang Shan was unbelievably embarra.s.sed. Was this a very stupid question?

She ceased her exaggerated laughter before answering, "Mr Li is the manager of this place. He"s something like the mayor here."

"He"s something like the mayor here? So he"s not really the mayor?"

"He can"t really be considered the mayor, since we don"t belong to the government. To be strict about this, Mr Li would be something like the king here. Your partner is an extremely outstanding individual." The policewoman shook her head as she sighed, "If I were ten years younger, I"d definitely use all available methods to try and climb into Mr Li"s bed."

"Go on and climb, I definitely won"t mind or even stop you," Tang Shan thought inwardly. However, he had no guts to actually say such disrespectful words out loud.

"Are you free now? I wanted to look around, so do you think you could accompany me?" Tang Shan suggested.

"I can"t do that, I have to continue patrolling later. I can find someone in this town who"s incredibly free to accompany you, though." The policewoman immediately spoke into her walkie-talkie, "Anyone in Area 510, please tell Jake to come to 603, Mr Tang Shan is here."

Moments later, Jake appeared looking annoyed, complaining at the policewoman as soon as he arrived.

"What do you want me for? I want to sleep," he grumbled, before glaring at Tang Shan.

The policewoman knocked his head good-naturedly. "You! Be more courteous with Mr Tang Shan!"

"What are you doing, it hurts!" Jake cradled his head as he shouted, quickly hiding behind Tang Shan"s back and using him as a shield.

"Don"t think I can"t do anything if you hide behind Mr Tang Shan!"

"What do you want, you monster!"

"You!" The policewoman held up her baton as she advanced towards Tang Shan, aiming for Jake.

The innocent Tang Shan was stuck in between these two, even getting his clothes tugged around by Jake.

Once the policewoman was done venting her anger, she patted Tang Shan on the back, "I"m sorry you had to see such a scene. Jake"s extremely familiar with everything in this town, so ask him anything you want to know. I need to go back and patrol now."

Jake only released Tang Shan after he made sure she was gone. He found that a little section of Tang Shan"s shirt had gone wrinkly from his tight grip previously, and no matter what he did, the shirt would not return to its previous state. He cursed, trying his best to smooth out the shirt that was now crumpled.

"s.h.i.t, I"m finished. Li Yuanyu"s going to kill me."

Tang Shan turned around. From his angle, all he could see was half of Jake"s head.

"Why didn"t you just stay at home like a good boy? You even came outside! Does Li Yuanyu know you came out here?" Jake eventually gave up and got angry, uncaring about the state of the shirt.

Tang Shan grew silent.

Upon noticing the mood wasn"t quite right, Jake guessed, "You didn"t tell him, did you?"

Tang Shan turned, seemingly having difficulty expressing his thoughts.

"Ugh, you"re so troublesome!" Jake rolled his eyes and took his phone out, immediately dialing.

Tang Shan immediately gripped his arm and s.n.a.t.c.hed his phone away, his movements quick and smooth as he disconnected the call.

"What are you doing?"

"Please don"t contact him."

"What?! Do you want to get me killed?" Jake made a weird noise, trying to get his phone back. Tang Shan just raised his arm higher, and due to the height difference, Jake couldn"t reach even if he stretched for it.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, to think you could be so despicable!" Jake yelled as he jumped, though he still couldn"t even touch his phone.

At this moment, the phone began to ring. Tang Shan took a look at it- It was Li Yuanyu calling back. He turned around and quickly removed the battery from the phone.

"Here"s your phone. As for the battery... I"ll keep it for now." He returned the phone to Jake and placed the battery in his pocket.  While he did feel a little sorry for Jake, he tried to look as nonchalant as possible.

"You actually used my phone and hung up on Li Yuanyu"s calls?! I"m dead, I"m really dead this time!" Jake was on the verge of tears as he s.n.a.t.c.hed his phone back. The screen was obviously black as the battery was gone, and he immediately began to shout in exasperation.

"Bring me around then, where does this road go to?" Tang Shan coerced him to leave, and then turned back to watch Jake after walking a distance.

Jake was still on the same spot, glaring at him angrily. He didn"t seem to have any plans of moving.

"Don"t think everything will go your way." Jake spat out resentfully.

"I lost my memories, do you think anything"s going my way?" Tang Shan retorted.

Jake was speechless, but his expression was still terrible.

"Or you can just let me wander around alone, and when I completely lose my way, things will get even worse for you." Tang Shan stalked off after speaking, hoping Jake would follow.

Not long after, Jake really went after him, mumbling under his breath, "d.a.m.n it, you"re obviously taking advantage of me. You"re the same before and after you lose your memories, you selfish monster!"

Tang Shan ignored his comments and continued climbing to the top of the staircase. At such a high position, he could see a completely different scenery. The town was situated in a basin, which was surrounded by mountains. He wasn"t in the middle of the town, but at one of the corners. The styles of the architecture in the center were incredibly bizarre. They were arranged in a way so strange that it seemed to create a maze.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew and a thick layer of fog covered the scenery. The town under the fog was gloomy, and if one were to enter recklessly, one would definitely get lost.

"This fog really has good timing. I can"t see anything anymore, so can we go back now?" Jake exclaimed, taking advantage of this misfortune to force him to return.

"At least I got to see the outside." Tang Shan was unwilling to give up here, but he voluntarily walked down the stairs.

Jake cursed at him behind his back, but still followed.

As he crossed the road, Tang Shan turned back and told Jake, "Careful of the carriages. "

"I don"t need your concern, I can take care of myself." Jake rolled his eyes in answer, "No matter what, I"m still better than someone who loses his memories so frequently."

"I guess so, I was almost run over by a carriage just now." Tang Shan crossed the road safely and waited for Jake to follow, and then continued to move forward. On the way, he asked Jake questions about the city, such as why the architectural styles were so strange and lacked thought. He also asked about the strange appearances of horse carriages.

Jake could only stutter out his replies, unable to give a definite answer.

"It"s always been like this ever since I came here. It"s better to ask Li Yuanyu these things." In the end, he pushed all the questions to Li Yuanyu.

Tang Shan wasn"t able to get any of the answers he wanted, and could only admire the surrounding scenery earnestly.

Once they pa.s.sed by a tunnel, he halted his footsteps. The tunnel was so dark that he couldn"t see its end, as if it wanted to suck someone into its depths.

"Let"s go! Don"t stand in the middle, do you want to die from getting run over?" Jake ha.s.sled, pulling aside Tang Shan, who was unwilling to leave.

However, Tang Shan was unable to divert his gaze and stared into the darkness of the tunnel. He suddenly had a strange feeling- No vehicles would enter this tunnel, and he definitely had to enter it.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Jake saw through his thoughts and quickly grabbed ahold of him, stopping him from stepping foot into the tunnel.

"I need to go to the other end," Tang Shan made his stand firm.

"Are you crazy? Are you trying to commit suicide or what?"

"It"ll be fine, I know there aren"t any vehicles that will pa.s.s through here. I have a feeling about this." After saying his piece, Tang Shan felt his argument was much too weak. Things like "feelings" couldn"t really be relied on...

But he believed in himself!

"Stop joking, if I really let you go in and anything happens to you, what am I going to tell Li Yuanyu?"

"Just believe in me, Jake! I"m telling the truth!"

"Dude, stop messing around!" Jake still didn"t believe him and kept pulling him, but was immediately startled by his next actions. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Tang Shan dove his hand into the pocket of Jake"s pants, took out his phone and inserted the battery.

"I"m sorry, lend this to me for a while. I need the light from your phone." He walked into the tunnel after speaking.

"Hey! Are you really going in? Hey! Heyyy!" Jake couldn"t stop him and watched as Tang Shan went straight for the tunnel. Even while knowing this was a bad idea, he followed and recklessly pounced on Tang Shan.

Tang Shan fell, and the phone in his hand fell out of his grasp.

"Jake, what are you doing?!"

"I"m stopping you!"  Jake stated matter-of-factly as he started searching for his fallen phone.

Tang Shan figured out Jake"s intentions and quickly moved towards the location of the phone. It was right in front of them and the light gradually became weaker, till the tunnel was engulfed in darkness again.

At this moment, Tang Shan found that there seemed to be an object near the phone. It was emitting a feeble gold colour, illuminated by the faint light emanating from the phone. He immediately sat up and pushed Jake away.

"Whoa! What are you doing!" Jake exclaimed in shock, thinking Tang Shan was aiming to retrieve the phone. He was surprised to see Tang Shan heading in another direction and wondered, "What are you doing?"

"There"s something here." Tang Shan fumbled through the darkness and picked it up, finding that it was a chain upon which hung something he couldn"t see.
 

Jake immediately climbed up and grabbed his arm, forcing him to walk towards the exit of the tunnel. "Don"t pick up anything that isn"t yours!"

Tang Shan was pushed out of the tunnel and could only decipher what was in his hands once he had light. He saw that it was a golden locket- the sort where people could put photographs in it, though it was now bent and twisted out of shape.

Strangely enough, he had the feeling that it belonged to him.

"This is mine," Tang Shan told Jake, and then tried to open the locket. He wanted to find out if there was any photograph inside, and if so, who it would be of.

The locket was so badly bent that no matter how much strength he exerted, the locket still stayed tightly closed like the mouth of a clam. No matter what he did, it wouldn"t open.

"Stop playing around. If you have the time to mess around with this thing, you should just go back."

"Stop bothering me, I almost got it open," Tang Shan waved his hands to drive Jake away.

"Oi! You think you can chase me away like a fly?" Jake called out a few times, but seeing how nothing would dissuade him, he eventually gave up.

Tang Shan managed to open a tiny slit and he could somehow see that there was a picture of a dark, long-haired person inside. He couldn"t tell who it was, but the black and long hair reminded him of a person.

"Found you."

That person"s voice suddenly sounded from behind him, scaring Tang Shan to the point that he almost lost hold of the locket.

A strong gust of wind blew, and that person"s hair began to fly, brushing past his neck, shoulders and face. He was standing so closely to Tang Shan to the point that he could hear the sound of his breaths clearly.

Li Yuanyu stood by Tang Shan"s side, seemingly seething with anger. He grabbed him by the arm, rendering Tang Shan unable to escape.

"Why did you leave the house without saying anything? Why did you run away while I was taking a bath?" Li Yuanyu asked forcefully.

Tang Shan was too afraid to answer.

Upon noticing the locket in his hands, Li Yuanyu reached out and grabbed it, appraising it for a while.

"Where did you find this?" Li Yuanyu"s voice got even deeper, a clear indication that he was on the verge of blowing up. His gaze dropped from the silent Tang Shan to Jake.

"He picked it up in the tunnel. It"s none of my business! I tried to stop him, but he was really stubborn about entering." Jake quickly separated himself from the equation, fearing he"d be torn apart by him so quickly that he wouldn"t even know what happened.

"This is mine." Tang Shan was extremely certain and pulled on the other end of the locket, not allowing Li Yuanyu to take it.

"I know it"s yours, I gave it to you." Li Yuanyu let go of the locket and snorted coldly. "You remember that this locket is yours, but forget that I had a part in it too."

It couldn"t be helped if he couldn"t remember, he was feeling quite panicked as well! Tang Shan glared at him and kept it in his pocket. He suddenly thought of the face in the photo and asked, "Have you seen the photograph inside before?"

"Of course, you put my photo in there." Li Yuanyu chased Jake away and linked arms with Tang Shan as they walked back home.

"Then why would I leave it in a tunnel?" Tang Shan pressed on.

"We had a fight one day. You left home and I never saw that locket again. I believe you threw it away then."

Tang Shan found it weird- Who would throw things away just because of a fight? He didn"t think he was so easily influenced by his emotions, so such an action seemed strange to him.

Tang Shan walked under the coercion of Li Yuanyu for a while when he suddenly stopped, unwilling to move forward. "Why did you lie to me?" he turned and questioned.

"I didn"t," Li Yuanyu denied.

"It"s not like me to throw someone"s gift away. At most, I"d keep it somewhere. I"m not the kind of person you made me out to be." Tang Shan"s gaze was strong, certain that Li Yuanyu was lying.

"You were probably drunk then."

He lied again! Tang Shan obviously didn"t drink!

Tang Shan could feel himself getting mad. Why lie to him, time and again?

"Is it so fun to lie to me?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Tang Shan was taken aback- He seemed to have said those words before?

He tried to think back. It seemed to have been in Li Yuanyu"s house, and Li Yuanyu had a worried and guilty expression while he looked at him... Just thinking back to that scene made him lose hold of his emotions.

Just what had happened?

"Why did we fight that day?" he asked.

"I forgot, it probably wasn"t anything important," Li Yuanyu answered.

If it wasn"t important, would he be so angry as to throw that locket in a tunnel? Tang Shan felt his heart sink at the knowledge that he couldn"t trust the man at all.

"Don"t just stand there, we should head back soon," Li Yuanyu rushed him, exerting force on the arm he was holding.

"I don"t want to go back with you." Tang Shan shrugged off his hands and retreated backwards, "I can"t stay with a person who keeps lying to me. I don"t trust you."

"If you don"t come back to my place, where else can you go?" Li Yuanyu questioned, sure he had nowhere else to go.

"I can go to the police station and get help from them."

"Don"t bother trying, the police would only send you back to my place. Everyone knows you"re mine. Who would dare to house you?"

"I would rather sleep on the streets..." Tang Shan said spitefully, unwilling to admit defeat. He knew he could never win against Li Yuanyu, but he still didn"t want to give up so easily.

Li Yuanyu was aware that Tang Shan wasn"t the type to joke around. Tang Shan truly felt that sleeping in the streets was better than returning home, seeing how he"d lost all trust in him.

Li Yuanyu laughed, the sound low and light, as if it were a type of release.

Tang Shan trembled.

"If that"s the case, then I"m not going to try to be a gentleman anymore. Come with me, or I"ll force you to." Li Yuanyu"s expression suddenly changed, all pretense of kindness and friendliness gone. His gaze was sharp and fierce, as if he"d become a different person altogether.

Was this his true personality? Tang Shan was shocked at the change in Li Yuanyu. From all the movement just now, he"d already hit the wall behind him.

"You..." Tang Shan turned to the back to see if he had any room to further retreat, only to find there was none left. At the moment he wanted to look forward, he suddenly felt some pain in his neck.

His vision immediately went black, and he lost consciousness.

He awoke on a soft bed, met with the sight of the same white ceiling. He"d been awoken by the cuckoo clock, which had rung elven times. It was eleven o" clock. The windows were covered and no light could enter. He couldn"t see the sky, but he guessed that it was probably night.

At the next moment, he heard the sound of a book being closed.

He turned to the sight of Li Yuanyu sitting at his study table, reading that romance novel. Just as he thought, it wasn"t his but Li Yuanyu"s.

"Good evening. Do you want any dinner? I can prepare some for you." Li Yuanyu gave him a gentle smile. He looked normal, the conversation light and natural, which made this scene even more unusual.

Tang Shan thought for a moment and sat up to face Li Yuanyu. He observed him for quite a while.

"What"s wrong?" Li Yuanyu asked kindly as he smiled, meeting his appraising gaze in confusion.

Tang Shan didn"t speak, and then gradually ducked his head, unwilling to look at him. Not long after, he heard Li Yuanyu sigh.

"I"m going downstairs to prepare dinner. You- Just wash up."  Li Yuanyu stood up as he instructed, and then began to walk.

Tang Shan stared at the lines on the floor tiles, watching as Li Yuanyu"s feet approached and then stopped before him, unmoving for a long time.

What did he want? Tang Shan wondered worriedly.

He saw the weak shadow on the floor raise its arm, aiming at him. At that moment, his entire body stiffened, and Li Yuanyu"s arm stayed in mid-air. His shadow had already touched Tang Shan"s shadow-body, but in reality, there was no contact.

He tensed, unsure of whether Li Yuanyu would touch him- would he hit him or touch him? Tang Shan"s heart seemed to stop in uncertainty.

In the end, Li Yuanyu retracted his arm without a word nor a sigh. He took a step backwards and left the room, giving him s.p.a.ce.

Tang Shan gave a huge sigh of relief and the tension in his body dissipated. He supported his head as he reflected.

He hated himself. Why was he so weak? He should have gotten everything straight with Li Yuanyu and not chosen the path of escape.

But he"d still chosen escape because he couldn"t defy his instincts; because he was afraid.

 He hated this side of himself.

He sat there loathing himself for a long time, before leaving the bed and going to the bathroom to wash up. From the window in the bathroom, he could see that it was dark and gloomy outside, and he could occasionally hear the sound of wind blowing.

Tang Shan took a cold bath, forcing himself awake. It took less than five minutes. He gave a deep sigh in front of the mirror, unsure of what he was doing. The whole situation was a mess.

After all his trouble the entire day, the only thing he gained was that locket.

At the mention of the locket, he felt for it in his pocket, but it was missing!

His first reaction was to think that Li Yuanyu had taken it away! He opened the door in a panic, wanting to interrogate Li Yuanyu. He didn"t expect that the moment he opened the door, Li Yuanyu would be standing outside.

Tang Shan jumped in surprise and retreated, almost falling at the movement.

"Why are you standing outside?!" he questioned furiously, and for some reason, Tang Shan felt guilty.

"I was going to prepare food, but I got worried that you"d run away again. After further thought, I think it"s better if I watch you." Li Yuanyu"s smile receded, and all that was left was a gloomy expression.

"You want to take away my privacy on top of controlling my freedom?"

"There are no secrets between us."

Then why did you lie to me?

Tang Shan furrowed his eyebrows. Li Yuanyu"s words were just too absurd. However, Li Yuanyu was so confident of himself that it was difficult to find fault with him in spite of his illogical reasoning.