Real Man Chapter 11: Key

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

The rain had become lighter, but the drops were still cold and sticky on his face, making him feel very uncomfortable. Yu Chu saw Zhou Mu insist on looking at his feet, suddenly got annoyed, and raised the volume, “I said it’s fine! Told you to go to the boat and wait for me, but you have to ask—” 

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Zhou Mu hung the flashlight strap around his neck, reached out and grabbed his ankle, pulled it out, and then slightly rudely pushed his pant leg up and quickly peeled off his shoes and socks, exposing the ankle, which had begun to swell, to the light of the flashlight.

Yu Chu closed his mouth and watched as Zhou Mu pressed his ankle with his fingers, his face serious, his brow furrowed, his eyes scrutinizing the ankle like a surgeon examining a freshly taken X-ray.

After letting him squeeze for a while, Yu Chu finally couldn’t help but ask, “Is it a fracture? Or is it sprained?”

The attentive surgeon didn’t answer, but seemed to be wondering where to cut.

Yu Chu was suddenly jolted, feeling more pain in his ankle, and his body would tremble with even the slightest touch from Zhou Mu.

“Gently, can your hand be gentler? I already hurt the bone, don’t give me another broken bone to get displaced.” He began to nervously pluck Zhou Mu’s hand, “It hurts! The bone is fractured, don’t touch it.”

Zhou Mu slowly turned his head to look at him and said, “It’s just a sprain, the bone is fine. The swelling will heal after two days of rest.”

Yu Chu closed his mouth and said nothing more.

Zhou Mu put his foot down, turned his back to him and half crouched, although not explicitly, but Yu Chu understood the meaning of this action, so he nonchalantly lunged forward, landing heavily on his back. He was deliberately trying to stagger Zhou Mu forward, but the man was so stable his body didn’t even wobble when he lunged at him like this, and effortlessly stood up with his legs and knees bent.

Zhou Mu carried him towards the beach, with steady and fast steps. His body temperature was high, and the warmth was constantly coming from his broad, firm back, making the cold Yu Chu feel comfortable. He quietly lay on Zhou Mu’s shoulder, looking sideways into the darkness to his left, and said, without thinking, “Actually, I just blurted it out.”

“Hmm?” Zhou Mu obviously didn’t understand what he meant by this.

Yu Chu paused and said, “It’s nothing.”

Zhou Mu also didn’t ask questions, carrying the person in silence and continuing to walk forward.

Yu Chu was referring to the fact that when Zhou Mu asked him about his feet, he didn’t tell the truth and didn’t allow anyone to look at them, and he was angry at him.

He had known since he was a child that he couldn’t reveal his weakness in front of his companions. The orphans fled together to survive, and those who were physically weak would always disappear without realizing it. After the little girl who loved to smile at him disappeared, he understood the truth that no matter how much he was wounded, he had to endure, hide that wound well and not drag others behind to not be abandoned.

So, it was just a reflex for him to hide his injuries, but he wouldn’t tell Zhou Mu about this.

After untying the rope of the speedboat hidden behind the boulder, Zhou Mu started the speedboat and sailed in the direction of Xing Yuan Island. The wind and waves on the sea were still very strong, but it was much better than at the beginning, and it only took about ten minutes to see the outline of Xing Yuan Island.

It was now four o’clock in the middle of the night, four hours after Yu Chu had secretly left the island. There was no one on the pier, only a few lights hanging in front of the guardhouse, proving that his departure hadn’t been noticed.

Zhou Mu turned off the engine when he was approaching Xing Yuan Island, took out two wooden paddles from the side of the boat, and threw one to Yu Chu. The two sat side by side, paddling in silent agreement.

After pulling up to shore, Zhou Mu docked the boat back to its position, then carried Yu Chu on his back and headed towards the Yu Family mansion. When the familiar mansion came back into view, Yu Chu asked ruefully, “Zhou Mu, can I really only stay on this island for the rest of my life?”

Zhou Mu said, “You just need to take care of the key, and don’t worry about anything else.”

“The key? What key?” Yu Chu suddenly perked up his ears, his tone took on a tinge of sharpness, his face of worry and pity swept away. Ever since he transmigrated, he’d rummage around in his idle time, but he didn’t remember seeing any key. “Tell me, what key?”

When Zhou Mu didn’t answer, he straightened up and shook his shoulder hard. Zhou Mu was shaken so badly that he stopped and said, “Stop moving around or get off and walk by yourself.”

Yu Chu stretched out his two hands to choke him and threatened fiercely, “Tell me about the key, or I’ll kill you here.”

Zhou Mu ignored him, just propped him up and continued to walk forward.

“How can I be so miserable? My brother wants to hurt me, my father doesn’t care about me, and I have to die if I want to leave this place. Only the bodyguard doesn’t want me to die, but won’t tell me why… I guess one day I will die without even knowing the reason… When the time comes, can you put a bouquet of flowers on my grave? Not those long thorny ones downstairs, find me some without thorns, and not the red ones… Forget it, I’ll most likely be a rootless soul after I die. I don’t know where I’ll float to, so no need to offer flowers…”

Yu Chu began to act all dramatic, but later on, he really put his heart into it and his tone took on a bit of genuine sadness. He was lying on Zhou Mu’s shoulder, the strength in his body dimming out, turning into deadweight like a sack of flour.

“That key can keep you safe, provided that you keep it, and not give it to anyone else.” The silent Zhou Mu suddenly opened his mouth.

Yu Chu’s heart jumped, but knew not to show his emotions, or this person would absolutely ignore him again.

“But where’s the key? I didn’t discover any key on me,” he huffed pitifully, his words sounding nasal.

“The key is in your own custody, and only you know where it is.”

“But I’m a transmigrator, I’m not Yu Chu.”

Zhou Mu stopped in his tracks and his tone took on a vague anger, “Transmigrated, transmigrator, transmigration, can you stop pretending to be crazy and sell yourself silly? You have nothing to do, but I don’t have so much time and energy. Spending every day with a second young master like you is driving me crazy. You don’t take your life seriously, but I still want to live a few more years.”

Zhou Mu threw him off of his back, looked straight ahead and walked away.

Yu Chu fell to the ground, then stumbled two steps before standing firm, looking at Zhou Mu’s back who walked on without looking back. Yu Chu had to drag his sprained right leg, limping behind. But the sprained foot was getting more and more painful, and he couldn’t put any weight on it, so he had to move to the side and try to break a branch or something to use as a crutch.

But the roadside was full of tall palm trees with smooth trunks and no extra branches, so he searched the ground again to find a broken branch or something, but found nothing. Yu Chu also didn’t bother to walk, leaning against a palm tree to sit down. His buttocks had only begun to slide down when the back of his collar was picked up, and he was lifted into a semi-crouching position hanging in the air.

He quickly turned his head, and sure enough, Zhou Mu had returned and was standing by the tree behind him.

“What are you doing back here?” Yu Chu asked.

Zhou Mu said stiffly, “I came back to see you crawling back with a limp.”

Yu Chu turned his upper body and punched the man behind him in his waist, but Zhou Mu only carried the man forward a little distance, and his punch missed.

Yu Chu used one leg to stand up straight and pounded Zhou Mu with both hands in turn, not fighting back but using the other hand to block, saying impatiently, “Okay, okay, that’s enough, I said that’s enough.”

Yu Chu was about to continue when he saw Zhou Mu suddenly look to his right, with a wary look on his face. Sensing that something was wrong, he stopped immediately and asked in a lowered voice, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s someone over there.” Zhou Mu said he picked him up and retreated into the woods, hiding behind a large, thick tree.