Obscuris Labyrinth

When Zhao Yuxuan finished his meal, Lin Yaxuan put on a straight face. Her originally soft features were now like covered with a layer of frost. She said crossly, "Zhao the bad guy, you yourself said that if you eat and live in my house, you have to work. Now that the meal is over, isn't it time to do something?"

Zhao Yuxuan had already made up his mind. He had resolutely sworn that no matter how much pain he had to endure, he would stay here. The hazy yet heavy shadow of his parents' murder case constantly emerged in his mind. He knew that only here was it possible to find some clues related to the case. Thinking of this, he casually wiped his mouth and replied firmly, "Okay. What do you want me to do?"

Lin Yaxuan snorted softly and said, "Follow me." As soon as she finished speaking, she turned around and walked towards a nearby room.

Zhao Yuxuan followed silently. Entering the room, he carefully examined the small wooden house. There was a faint smell of wood in the room. In the corner, there was a pile of withered grass, randomly piled up, and some tree stumps were scattered beside it. Those tree stumps looked quite old. The bark on the surface had peeled off a little, revealing the somewhat weather - beaten wood texture inside.

Lin Yaxuan stretched out her slender finger and pointed at the more than ten tree stumps, saying, "Zhao Yuxuan, today you will split these tree stumps into this shape." Then she pointed to the side, where there was a pile of firewood. Each piece was of just the right length and split extremely finely, as if carefully carved. Such firewood was very easy to burn.

Zhao Yuxuan looked at it and nodded without hesitation, saying, "Okay, I'll split them."

Then Lin Yaxuan took Zhao Yuxuan out again and came to another room. The layout of the room was very simple but spotlessly clean. In the middle of the room was a large bed. The bedding on the bed was neatly folded. The whole room gave a simple and comfortable feeling. It seemed to be a guest room.

Lin Yaxuan frowned and said with a bit of disgust, "Zhao the bad guy, you can stay in this room for the time being. Humph, if it weren't for grandpa's kindness, a bad guy like you would only deserve to sleep in the wooden house. This room should have been reserved for sincere guests."

Zhao Yuxuan knew that in this girl's heart, his image had become extremely bad as she kept calling him "Zhao the bad guy", like a deeply - rooted thorn that was hard to remove. He didn't say anything but silently walked into the room, picked up a quilt and walked out.

Seeing this, Lin Yaxuan felt a bit strange in her heart and couldn't help asking, "Hey, what do you want to do?"

Zhao Yuxuan replied coldly, "Since a bad guy like me only deserves to sleep in the wooden house, then I'll go there to sleep. So as not to take up your family's place." As he said this, he walked towards the wooden house without looking back.

Lin Yaxuan looked at his back, and a trace of reluctance inadvertently showed in her eyes. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. Grandpa has said to let you stay. Just do more work to make up for it."

However, Zhao Yuxuan didn't stop. His voice came from the front, "Then I'm even less likely to stay here. The work for sleeping in the wooden house is surely easier than that for sleeping in the guest room."

Seeing that she had already relented but the other party didn't appreciate it at all, Lin Yaxuan became angry again. She raised her voice and said, "Fine. A lazy and deceitful guy like you is best to go and sleep in the wooden house. Let me tell you, you can only stay for one night at most."

Zhao Yuxuan came to the wooden house and first lay on the pile of withered grass for a while. He felt the softness of the withered grass and thought to himself that this was much better than the place where he slept in the subway underpass. He couldn't help feeling a bit self - deprecating. Lin Yaxuan actually said that he could only stay for one night. She really underestimated him.

After lying for just a while, Zhao Yuxuan got up and began to look for things. Soon, he found an axe. Then he picked up the tree stumps that Lin Yaxuan had pointed to just now, walked outside the yard and began to split firewood. He had never done such work before and was very clumsy. As time passed bit by bit, he had only split a very small pile. At this time, his arms were already sore and numb. The soreness felt like countless little bugs crawling around in his arms. The part of his hand where he held the axe, his tiger's mouth, was rubbed so painfully that it felt like being burned by fire, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted. In his heart, at this moment, not only was his parents' hatred supporting him, but also Lin Yaxuan's contemptuous look. He secretly swore in his heart that he must let her know that "Zhao the bad guy" was by no means a good - for - nothing coward.

After a while, Lin Yaxuan walked out of the house. She had changed into a white shirt. The fabric of the shirt looked extremely soft and emitted a faint luster under the moonlight. It was hard to tell whether it was a Dong ethnic costume or a Hanfu. All that could be felt was that the clothes on her made her look even more beautiful. The moonlight shone on her. Her curved eyebrows were like dark - colored mountains lying across her eyes. Her star - like eyes sparkled with clear light, like the stars reflected in a calm lake. Her face was as beautiful as a flower, and her skin was as smooth and delicate as jade. Lin Yaxuan was tall. She walked slowly with light steps. Her graceful figure was like the gentle breeze blowing on the light ridge, soft and dynamic, and also like the tender willow swaying with the wind by the pond, graceful and charming, really like a fairy descending to the earth.

Zhao Yuxuan accidentally took a look. Just this one look made his heart suddenly feel as if it was tightly grasped by an invisible big hand, and it began to beat wildly. He quickly and flusteredly withdrew his gaze and didn't dare to look again. In his opinion, such a fairy - like girl, compared with himself, a person burdened with so many secrets and hardships, he seemed so humble. He couldn't help feeling a sense of self - abasement in his heart.

At this time, Lin Yaxuan had walked to Zhao Yuxuan's side. She looked down at the split firewood on the ground and snorted softly through her nose, saying with a bit of disdain, "I knew that a bad guy like you couldn't do the work. Look at how thick and long you've split these pieces of firewood. It's so troublesome to burn such firewood."

Zhao Yuxuan also knew in his heart that he hadn't split well. He gritted his teeth tightly and didn't say a word. He didn't want to give Lin Yaxuan any chance to ridicule him. He didn't want to show the slightest weakness in front of this girl.

Just then, Lin Yaxuan stretched out her arm. In her snow - white and delicate palm lay a small yellow porcelain bottle quietly. She said, "Take it."

Zhao Yuxuan put down the axe and reached out to take it, asking, "What is this?"

Lin Yaxuan replied, "This is my grandma's 'Zhihu San' (a powder for dissipating blood stasis and reducing swelling). Rub it on the wound and it will recover soon."

Zhao Yuxuan was about to say thank you when he heard Lin Yaxuan say first, "Zhao the bad guy, you don't need to thank me. After your wound is healed, leave here immediately. So that I don't have to be disgusted at the sight of you."

When she said this, her eyes turned slightly, and she bit her cherry - like lips a little, and then said, "Zhao the bad guy, I ask you, did I sing well or not? If you lie to me again, there's something that will scare you out of your wits and I won't tell you."

Zhao Yuxuan was threatened by her again. He was both angry and helpless in his heart. He immediately laughed and said, "Since you know I'm a bad guy and what I say is all lies, why do you still come to ask me? Let me tell you, you sing really well, extremely well. Everyone who hears it will be charmed. There is a poem, 'Such music should only be in heaven, and how often can we hear it in the mortal world?' It's about a voice like yours. Silly girl, you must have self - confidence. Don't believe my initial lying words. What I'm saying now is true. I can swear. You can completely go to that eighteen - village song - singing competition. You will surely come back with a title like 'queen of songs' and make your grandpa happy. Hey, silly girl, what is it that will scare me out of my wits? Tell me."

Lin Yaxuan grew up in a Dong ethnic village with simple folk customs, where people were very sincere. She had hardly ever heard any lying words. But since she met Zhao Yuxuan, her life was like a calm lake into which a stone had been thrown, causing ripples. First, her singing was belittled by him as worthless, which made her deeply doubt her singing ability. Then she heard him talk nonsense, saying that in order to fulfill his promise to grandpa, he had endured "tortures like the tiger bench, pepper water, and bamboo - stick piercing" but still remained faithful and unyielding. She was very much in admiration of him at that time and said a lot of praising words. What made her most angry was that he actually let her support him while walking, and on the stones in the stream, he deliberately swayed left and right, forcing her to get closer to him. In her opinion, he was an extremely hateful bad guy. In addition, he had almost hurt grandpa before, which made her dislike and secretly hate him even more in her heart. So she changed her always gentle and kind personality and became so unkind to Zhao Yuxuan.

The tri - annual eighteen - village antiphonal - singing competition in the Dong ethnic village was getting closer and closer. This antiphonal - singing competition was a very important event in the Dong ethnic village. However, there was a rule in the competition that girls under the age of sixteen were not allowed to participate. Lin Yaxuan had just turned eighteen. Three years ago, she couldn't participate because she was not old enough. She had always been full of longing for this antiphonal - singing competition, so she practiced singing by the stream every day. Just now, after what Zhao Yuxuan said, she felt as if her heart had fallen into an ice cellar, extremely disappointed. Although she knew in her heart that Zhao Yuxuan was very likely lying, she still couldn't help but want to ask. But who knew that after his swearing and a flurry of praise, she couldn't help thinking that this person must be dissatisfied with her in his heart. He praised her so highly, perhaps he wanted her to make a fool of herself at the antiphonal - singing competition, so that he could laugh at her. Thinking of this, the self - confidence she had just regained immediately disappeared again. She was both anxious and angry in her heart. Suddenly, she stretched out her foot and stomped hard on Zhao Yuxuan's instep, saying, "You bad guy, I will never be fooled by you. I... I will go and ask grandpa and grandma again. I will tell them that I want to participate in the antiphonal - singing competition. They will surely tell the truth."

After saying that, she ran away like a frightened deer. However, after all these things, her impression of Zhao Yuxuan was getting worse and worse.