QT: Against My Will-Chapter 640 - 13.05 - I Already Have a Mate - Pawprints of Passion
Three days later...
Tyrion laboriously trailed behind Azura. His injured body left a trail of blood, becoming an easy target for nearby creatures. His eyes finally healed from the infection, but his sense of smell was still numb.
"Why are you following me?" Bing Shi asked, using her wooden staff to shove away the hungry rats from climbing up his body.
Tyrion continued to stand tall and proud, "My mate," he managed to grunt through his exhausted panting, "You...mine..."
"I told you I already have a mate," Bing Shi’s eyes lingered on his wound. Even after more than a week of constant traveling, his body stamina didn’t falter. Not even after she lured him into a den of wolves and lions with her clumsiness. Though she really needed to weaken this stubborn bull, she couldn’t let him die from a wound infection, could she?
Tyrion shook his head, "Me too!" he shouted. It was normal for a female to have many mates, and he could only hope that this one would accept his proposal, "Me, strong!"
"I don’t need more than one mate," Bing Shi answered, knowing it would be like talking to a brick wall. She promised Alain that she would gather some plants for him, but she didn’t even know where to start, and had been picking up everything that crossed her path, "Are you familiar with any herbs that could help treat your injuries?"
Tyrion’s eyes adjusted, seeking out the familiar shapes of medicinal plants among the underbrush. Spotting a cluster of leaves known for their healing properties, he pointed them out to Azura, "Over there. Those leaves... crush them and apply the paste... to the wound."
Bing Shi walked over to the bush, plucked the leaves, and brought them over. She placed the leaves on a flat stone and used another smaller stone to crush them. "You know the remedy and yet you let yourself bleed like this this whole time? I would’ve thought a big, tough guy like you know how to take care of himself."
"..." Tyrion couldn’t take his eyes off her, not even for a moment, or she’d vanish once more! She had been jumping from one spot to another, disappearing in the tall grass and bushes! He was too weak and tired to do something about it and only sent her an angry stare. Many females mistreated their males in this region, and he couldn’t believe his mate would be among that bunch!
She transferred the green paste onto larger leaves, creating a makeshift plaster. Then, she pressed these leaves against Tyrion’s wound, making him groan in pain with her not so gentle treatment, "Who taught you medicine?"
"Self-taught, trials and errors," Tyrion pointed to a plant nearby. "That root is good for swelling," he said simply, his words straightforward. "And berries there, they cool fever."
Bing Shi paid close attention, collecting the specified roots and berries. Under Tyrion’s basic instructions, she mixed various ingredients with a bit of water to create a drinkable potion.
While Tyrion drank the bitter concoctions like an experimental bunny, Bing Shi recorded her findings for Alain.
It would have been much easier if she knew what happened in Tyrion’s past lives, perhaps she could have understood the root of his troubles. Everyone believed that it was because his soulmate broke her bond with Tyrion. But was it really?
Whenever Tyrion’s life flashed before his eyes right before his death, the dominating images were of a faceless woman. His soul broke possibly because of this repeating occurrence.
Even here, he would turn into a crazed man and destroy everything in his vicinity whenever his mood got the better hold of him.
Bing Shi wondered if her ex-soulmate had also struggled like this when she broke her bond with them.
"Mate," Tyrion grunted when she got too far away from him.
"You don’t even know me," Bing Shi reminded him.
"Don’t care. Mate."
"I’m just going to find you more and more annoying if you keep this up." And she did. She lost count on how many times Tyrion tried to be all invasive and touchy.
Tyrion shook his head, "Not important. Mate," he repeated, "No need to like me, only stay near me. Safe. I protect."
"My mate won’t share me with you. No, he will kill you if he finds out that you’ve been forcing yourself on me," Bing Shi shamelessly threw the blame onto hubby, "And I won’t care enough to stop him. I’ll cheer him on even!"
"..." Tyrion’s lips turned downward into a pout, his voice cracking slightly, "Mean..."
Bing Shi’s lips twitched, her expression turning into a grimace, "Yeah, and you still don’t care, do you?"
"In bad mood?" Tyrion asked, concerned, "Food?"
"Not hungry," Bing Shi’s eyes scanned his body. Males’ strength in this world was based on the number of marks they had on their bodies. The stronger a male, the more symbols would appear on their skin. Kurus from earlier had four stripes on his neck, making him one of the strongest individuals in this continent.
Tyrion was wearing a simple loincloth; there were no traces of markings on his upper body, only a few scars.
"If you are as strong as you say, where are your stripes?" Bing Shi asked. If he was this strong with zero marks, what monster was Kurus then?
"Gone," Tyrion grunted. "Four marks, now zero."
So above four was zero, Bing Shi nodded her head. Now it made more sense. She stopped asking questions and prepared a campfire. The bugs were getting more active and were beginning to swarm around her, buzzing annoyingly in her ears and trying to take a bite out of her.
Tyrion sat quietly, watching her every move, studying her like an attentive student. No matter how she treated him, no matter how cruel and harsh her words were, his eyes remained gentle and affectionate.
How was Bing Shi supposed to act in a situation like this? Betrayal? Lies? Deception? Break him more than he already was when her mission was to put him back together? Why didn’t the HQ send over a host who could reciprocate his feelings instead? Heal his soul and help him return back to normal with the power of love and trust?!
’I don’t think I’m qualified for this job, but here I am,’ Bing Shi thought, ’Let’s bring him into our lab and dissect him, Dai An.’
’~No, we should try other methods first.’
’Like hypnosis?’
’~I was thinking about the good old shock therapy.’
’Ah, I don’t want to think about it anymore. Let’s just call it a day.’
The night fell and Tyrion continued to watch over her like a silent sentinel. "Mate, sleep," he whispered softly, seeing that Bing Shi was drawing circles in the sand, without any intention of falling asleep, "Me protect. Sleep."
"I won’t sleep in the presence of a stranger, especially one who wants to eat me," Bing Shi retorted.
"Me no eat mate. Never," Tyrion stated, "I eat plants, not meat. Meat bad, not good for health. Make belly hurt."
"..." Bing Shi stared at the man, "You sleep first."
"Not until you sleep. You no rest for too long m Me strong, big, and powerful. Protect you. Sleep," Tyrion urged her again.
Bing Shi cracked her fingers, and then she stood up, "Fine, let’s do it the hard way, shall we?" She approached Tyrion and knocked him out with one blow of her fist, "When I say I won’t sleep, I won’t."
Tyrion’s eyes rolled back, and his body fell forward.
Bing Shi caught his body with her leg and and laid him on the ground, "Crazy bull, tsk," she cursed, swatting away the flies that were buzzing around his wound, ’Do I want him to recover and become even more troublesome? Or amputeate him, so he’ll be weaker and easier to handle?’
She grabbed his spear and pointed it at his leg, ’What should I do, huh? Decisions, decisions. Oh, why are the easy choices so difficult to make?’
’Just do it. We can make our healer patch him up later and cover it up as a miracle. Who knows, it might just be the push his soul needs to get him back on his feet!’
Bing Shi laughed, ’You are so funny, Dai An. Let’s do it!’
