Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 649 - 650 Good Intentions

Chapter 649: Chapter 650 Good Intentions

For two consecutive days, Song Xiaodong had barely spoken to Shui Qingyue. Every day, aside from scrounging up some food and sleeping, he spent all his time soaking in the hot springs.

These past two days, Shui Qingyue was constantly on edge, afraid that Song Xiaodong would assault her, but such an incident never occurred; he didn’t even approach her.

"Oh... I get it now, he must be seriously injured, so he doesn’t dare to touch me now. That would only worsen his injuries, which means I’m safe for now," she thought.

Having rationalized the situation, Shui Qingyue, though still worried, felt much more at ease knowing she was safe for the time being.

Shui Qingyue was twenty-two years old, having just graduated from college. She had come here on a hunting vacation with friends, thinking it would be fun, only for such an incident to happen.

But being an innocent girl, once she put her worries aside, she suddenly found amusing things to do here.

There were many wild rabbits and chickens around, completely unafraid of humans, even coming up to her out of curiosity.

And when she fed the rabbits and wild chickens the berries Song Xiaodong had given her, the little creatures actually gathered around her begging for food, eating straight from her hand.

This delighted Shui Qingyue to no end.

When Song Xiaodong came back from his morning bath, he saw this scene and just stood a few meters behind Shui Qingyue, careful not to disturb her.

After feeding the animals, Shui Qingyue clapped her hands and softly said, "No more, the next time that big bad guy gets me berries, I’ll save them for you to eat, okay?"

Having said that, she stood up and then saw Song Xiaodong standing not far behind her, his face wearing a smile.

Shui Qingyue jumped up in a panic, finding his smile truly frightening. Was it possible he was about to make his move?

Seeing the change in Shui Qingyue’s expression, Song Xiaodong knew what she was thinking. He sighed softly, shook his head, and turned to leave.

At noon, Song Xiaodong purposely picked more berries, then started grilling rabbit meat. After tearing off half, he walked away, leaving the rest for Shui Qingyue.

Shui Qingyue, now used to taking what was given and eating it, took a bite but then suddenly stopped, staring blankly at the meat in her hand as her face turned pale.

In the two days here, she had only seen rabbits and wild chickens. And the meat Song Xiaodong grilled clearly came from rabbits, those adorable little creatures he had cruelly killed for food; it was simply too ruthless.

The thought alone made it impossible for her to keep eating. She threw the rabbit meat aside and after a while, took a stick, dug a hole, and buried the rabbit meat.

Unbeknownst to Song Xiaodong, two days later he noticed Shui Qingyue’s body becoming increasingly weak. Puzzled, he initiated a conversation, asking, "Are you sick?"

"No." Shui Qingyue glared at him fiercely and walked away.

Song Xiaodong was perplexed. This time, he paid a bit more attention and then realized Shui Qingyue had been burying the rabbit meat in the ground, not eating it at all. No wonder she was getting weaker; she was clearly starving, clearly suffering from malnutrition.

Shui Qingyue was a very pretty girl, with a slightly pointed chin and a melon-seed face – the kind many girls went under the knife to achieve. She also had beautiful big eyes, a delicate nose, and skin so fine it seemed to break at the slightest touch, definitely comparable to Miao Xuanxuan and the others.

But now, she looked visibly haggard, eliciting a sense of pity in those who saw her.

In the evening, after grilling another rabbit, Song Xiaodong approached Shui Qingyue directly.

Shui Qingyue tried to run away, but Song Xiaodong caught her arm.

"What... what do you want? If you dare to touch me, I will fight you with all I’ve got," Shui Qingyue said while hitting Song Xiaodong with her small fists.

"Don’t worry, I won’t touch you. I just want to tell you, if you only eat berries, you’re going to starve to death."

Shui Qingyue fiercely replied, "Even if I starve, I won’t eat. The little rabbits are so cute, and you’re so cruel to kill and roast them to eat, you’re just completely bad."

Song Xiaodong explained, "Do you understand the law of nature? In this place, rabbits have no natural predators, and in such a large area, how much food is there for these rabbits to eat? Moreover, rabbits are incredibly good at reproducing, and in no time at all, many will die of hunger due to lack of food."

"I don’t believe it," Shui Qingyue turned away from Song Xiaodong.

"Even if you don’t believe, you must understand that starving like this, you’ll die sooner or later. Don’t you want to live and see your parents, your family, and the person you like again?"

"I..." Shui Qingyue’s complexion turned ugly.

"I know you’ve always thought of me as a lecher, worried I would assault you," he sighed, "... let me tell you a story."

As Song Xiaodong sat down, he tore off a piece of rabbit meat and took a couple of bites, then said, "I’ve been orphaned since childhood, with just my sister and me relying on each other. She was two years older than me, only seven years old while I was five. Both too young to understand much and with no one to care for us, surviving was incredibly tough. It was all because of my sister that we made it through those hardest times."

Shui Qingyue initially didn’t want to listen, but after walking away a couple of steps, she involuntarily stopped.

"I’ve always had immense respect for my sister. In my heart, she was a goddess. Later on, I joined the army, and a few months ago, I returned home. By then, I had gained abilities and earned a lot of money. I thought I would take good care of my sister, just like she had taken care of me."

Shui Qingyue snorted, "But you... you assaulted her!"

Song Xiaodong ignored her and continued, "I thought I’d live a happy little life back in the city after buying a big house, a nice car for my sister, and giving her everything other girls should have. I even found a girlfriend, and we all lived together, truly happy."

"However, due to an accident, I discovered that my sister and I were not blood-related; I had been adopted."

"Ah..." Shui Qingyue gasped softly.

"Even after learning we were not biologically related, I still regarded her as my real sister, and my respect for her didn’t change one bit."

By that point, Shui Qingyue had unwittingly sat down beside Song Xiaodong, and she asked quietly, "Then why did you... why did you assault her?"

Song Xiaodong looked at Shui Qingyue and handed her a piece of rabbit meat, which she subconsciously accepted, tearing off a piece and starting to eat.