Chapter 2 – “I accept this deal”
Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)
Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)
֍֍֍
The child’s eyes were full of fear. He looked at Shan Ming in horror. It was like he had seen a ghost.
Shan Ming frowned and couldn’t help touching his own face. He remembered that he had just been hit on one side of the eyebrow by the butt of a gun two days ago and now half of his face was probably swollen. His whole body was covered in blood. Therefore, he probably looked scary.
Shan Ming carefully looked at the child’s face. The little boy looked very delicate and beautiful. He has big eyes which were watery at the moment. But his cheeks were sunken so he must have suffered a lot. Shan Ming had an intuition that the child would not be from around here. He didn’t have any Burmese features. His skin colour was fair and looked delicate. It seemed that he had been raised in a good environment before. He asked again, “Can you understand Chinese?”
Seeing that the child was still in a trance, he became a little impatient.
The child opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice, “Help… help… help me…” Then he suddenly held onto Shan Ming’s thigh and cried loudly, “Daddy—Mommy—I’m afraid—!!!”
Shan Ming only felt annoyed by the noise in his ears. It seemed that this child had been hungry for several days. But how could he still have the strength to cry so loudly? Shan Ming growled, “Shut up!”
It was the first time for the child to see another human being in so many days and he could not calm down at all. Even though Shan Ming told him to shut up twice, he only cried louder and louder. It was as if he was holding on to a life-saving straw.
Shan Ming worried that the sound of the child crying so loudly would attract some predators. So, he roughly grabbed the child’s hair and pushed the child’s head into the water.
The child drank a mouthful of water before Shan Ming lifted him up. Shan Ming looked at him fiercely, “Try crying again,” he warned.
The child was so frightened that he no longer dared to make a sound.
Shan Ming carried him ashore under his armpit. He then threw him on the dry grass and looked at the naked child who had been washed clean. He squatted down and studied him carefully.
The child only looked back at him in fear.
Shan Ming asked, “How old are you?”
The child said tremblingly, “Five… years old.”
“Why are you here?”
As soon as this question was asked, the child burst into tears, “The plane… the plane crashed.”
Oh? Plane crash? Shan Ming raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t decide whether the child was lucky or unlucky to have survived the plane crash alone in the virgin forest.
Shan Ming slumped on the ground with some exhaustion. He took a few breaths and suddenly remembered something. He asked: “How did those wolves-… What happened to them?”
When he mentioned the wolves, the child became even more frightened. He said tearfully, “They wanted to eat me.”
“No shit, you are a walking dessert. It’s weird if they don’t want to eat you. But why are those wolves dead?”
There was a trace of confusion in the child’s eyes. He thought for a long time but then, he shook his head, “I don’t know. I’m very scared. They wanted to eat me but I don’t remember anything.”
Shan Ming thought that he might find out what happened from the little boy but he didn’t expect it to be even more confusing after hearing what the boy said.
These wolves were going to attack the child. But instead of eating the child, they themselves were eaten by another beast instead? As a result, the child escaped from their mouths unscathed?
The more Shan Ming thought about it, the more confused he became. He thought that the only thing that would make sense was that the child killed the wolves. But this explanation was even more nonsensical.
He was too lazy to think about it anymore and his stomach was already churning from hunger. There’s nothing more important than having food to eat now.
He drew a dagger from the side of his boot and stood up.
The child shrank back in fear.
Shan Ming only ignored him and walked straight back to where the carscasses of the wolves were. He intended to cut some wolf meat.
Unexpectedly, the child who was afraid of him suddenly stood up and followed closely behind him.
Shan Ming glanced back at him.
The child whispered, “Don’t leave me.”
Shan Ming sneered, “I’m not obliged to take you with me. But if you can keep up, you can follow me.” After speaking, he walked into the bushes.
The child hesitated for a moment but still ran after him.
The gruesome sight of the three dead wolves made the child turn pale with fright. He unconsciously grabbed Shan Ming’s pants.
Shan Ming kicked him away, “Don’t get in the way.” After speaking, he squatted down and stabbed the wolf’s hip bone with his dagger. He poked at the joint between the flesh and bone so that he could cut the flesh off with the dagger.
The child screamed in fright and retreated several steps away.
Shan Ming grabbed the wolf’s leg, swung the dagger and cut it with a strong force. He finally cut some more of the wolf’s leg and threw it to the child’s feet, “Take it.”
The child screamed and nearly fell to the ground.
Shan Ming glanced at him, “Do you want to starve to death? Just take it if you want to live.” After speaking, he lowered his head and went to cut off the other legs.
He took off all four wolf legs and felt that these would be enough for him to eat for three to five days, so he stopped working.
He turned his head to find that the child was still standing there in a daze, not daring to move.
Shan Ming picked up the three wolf legs in his hand and walked up to him. He looked down at him condescendingly, “The wolf legs on the ground are your next meal. If you don’t take them, you will starve to death. I won’t give you my own food.”
The child raised his neck and looked at Shan Ming with difficulty. His eyes were full of pleading and uneasiness.
Shan Ming ignored him and walked towards a dry area with the wolf’s legs.
The child stood there, looking at the bloody wolf leg at his feet. He felt disgusted in his heart. He clenched and loosened his thin fists. He then squatted down and touched them lightly with his hands.
The rough hair and sticky plasma were like burning coals, scalding his hands. The child retracted his hands in horror, trembling all over.
He couldn’t help but look back, hoping that Shan Ming would have some conscience and come to help him. But when he saw Shan Ming walking forward without even looking back, he realised that the other guy had no intention of helping him at all.
The child turned his head away desperately. His eyes were full of tears. He gritted his teeth, picked up the bloody wolf leg hastily and ran towards Shan Ming while crying.
He knew that no matter how fierce and terrifying that person was, he was the only one of his own kind here so he instinctively wanted to follow him closely.
Shan Ming was so hungry that his eyes turned blue. He really wanted to just stuff the wolf’s leg in his mouth and chew on it. But he still has a sliver of reason. When he cut the wolf’s leg just now, he saw that the wolf’s wound had gathered a lot of worms and it had begun to rot. Not only that it’s hard to swallow raw meat but he could be dead if he eats rotten meat.
He put the few precious matches together with the matchbox under the sun to let it dry.
The child was sitting not far from him, hugging his knees. He curled up into a ball, looking at him with bright black eyes without blinking.
Shan Ming was annoyed by him so he glanced at him coldly.
The child shivered and looked away immediately.
While preparing to roast the wolf legs, Shan Ming asked, “What’s your name?”
The child hesitated but still answered him, “Shen Changze.”
“Where are you from?”
“Beijing.”
“Are your parents dead?”
Shen Changze suddenly became angry. He clenched his small fists and shouted angrily, “No. It’s your parents who are dead!”
Shan Ming glanced at him sternly, which made the child tremble with fright.
“My parents are indeed dead.” Shan Ming tore off the wolf fur. He brushed off the hair from his own forehead with bloody hands, “I asked if your parents were on the plane.”
The child shook his head, “Only me and the men who flew the plane were on it.”
Shan Ming raised his eyebrows. It seems that this is a young master from a rich family who owns a private jet. No wonder he looks so delicate.
After he skinned the three wolf legs, he cut the meat into thin slices so that they could be roasted easily. He then threw the dagger to the little boy.
The child looked at the bloody knife and dared not touch it at all.
He has no one to talk to in this place, so Shan Ming is not stingy with his own words even though it is rare for him to teach others kindly: “Peel off the wolf skin. Then, cut the wolf meat into slices and wrap them in leaves and keep it. Otherwise, you will no longer be able to eat it. We have to figure out what to do to get our next meal.”
Shen Changze cried and shook his head, “I’m afraid to do it.”
Shan Ming snorted, “Then you will be hungry.” For a mercenary like him who kills without blinking an eye, there is no concept of morality at all. In his opinion, asking a five-year-old child to kill a wolf would not make sense, but asking him to just cut off a wolf’s leg to cook made sense. He has no reason to rely on others and Shan Ming has no reason to let him rely on himself.
Shen Changze hugged his knees and cried softly, feeling very helpless.
Shan Ming got up and picked up some flammable leaves nearby. He surrounded them with stones. He touched the match with his hand and it was almost dry. So he lit a fire in the small stone ditch.
After the fire was lit, Shan Ming skewered the meat slices with twigs and roasted them above the fire.
Because the branches would catch fire quickly, Shan Ming can only hold it higher than the flames. Now, he has one arm injured and the other arm is almost exhausted from hunger. After a while, he gets tired of holding on to this pose.
He glanced at the child who was still crying with his head in his hands. He thought about his height and it would be convenient for him to roast the meat while standing up. He called out to him; “Kid.”
Shen Changze raised his small face and looked at him with red and swollen eyes.
Shan Ming ordered: “Come here.”
Shen Changze looked at him warily, without moving.
Shan Ming said again, “Come here.”
The child was still afraid of him so he stood up and walked over.
Shan Ming handed him the branch in his hand, “Hold this. Don’t let the flame touch it.”
The child froze for a moment before reacting. Instead of reaching for it, he said, “I’ll roast it for you. But you’ll help me prepare that wolf leg.”
Shan Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at him. This little bastard actually made an exchange with him.
Shen Changze met his eyes and took a step back in fear. He pursed his lips and looked at Shan Ming carefully.
Shan Ming laughed loudly, “Okay, I accept this deal.”
He got up and picked up the dagger and the wolf leg. He said while preparing it, “Be patient and roast them well. You are not allowed to eat until I am full.”
֍֍֍
*Author’s Note: Although I think it may not be necessary, I still want to remind you that when the word Shan [单] in Shan Ming’s surname is read as “shàn” (good / 善).
By the way, Shan Ming is 18 years old this year. The difference between the two is 13 years. -SCQ
֍֍֍
*Translator’s Note: Okay. Let me explain. The part where SCZ cursed SM parents as dead when SM asked if he’s parents are dead might confuse some people. For Chinese, they curse using the name of ancestors and such and turn words back at you if you said something to them. For example if I say “are you stupid?” to them, they probably say something like “your mother is stupid!” back at me. Something like that. Hope you get it. -K
Next update: 2023.05.01
֍֍֍
