414 Losing Is Dying
Hu Futuan was stunned. He said in an embarrassed tone, “Does Miss Liu know that my wife is dead?”
“I know,” Liu Sanniang answered without looking at Hu Futan.
Hearing Liu Sanniang answer him so readily and calmly, Hu Futan was furious. “Miss Liu, are you not going to explain yourself?”
Liu Sanniang looked at Hu Futan. “Master Hu, how do you want me to explain this? Master Hu, are you really muddle-headed or are you pretending to be so? Don’t you know that you are supposed to be dead? Every day you live, you take away your wife’s lifespan. Don’t you know that she gave her life to you?”
Hu Futan looked at Liu Sanniang and could not utter another word. Under her cold gaze, he wanted to escape.
After a while, Hu Futan said with difficulty, “That… that’s not true.”
Everything he sensed was fake. If it was real, Jiang Xiaoyan wouldn’t be dead.
Didn’t they share the same lifespan? If she died, he would die too.
“My wife and I share the same lifespan. If she dies, I’ll die too, but I’m still alive.”
Hu Futan’s mind was in a mess. He wanted to escape. He could not accept Jiang Xiaoyan’s death. This made him feel unbearably guilty. If she was alive, he might not feel this way, but she was dead.
Guilt overwhelmed him. If Jiang Xiaoyan was still alive, he could still make it up to her. But now that she was dead, how could he make it up to her?
Liu Sanniang looked at Hu Futan expressionlessly. “Master Hu, you should go back and make arrangements for your wife’s funeral.”
Hu Futan stared at her. “Is what I sensed yesterday all true? Where is that monk?”
He wanted to ask the monk about it.
“He’s already dead.”
Hu Futan was at a loss. “If he’s dead, who should I ask?”
Liu Sanniang said, “You don’t have to ask anyone. You have all the answers to your questions.”
Hu Futan was stunned. Did he have all the answers?
When Hu Futan returned home, all the servants had changed into mourning clothes and started arranging for the funeral.
The people from the Jiang family came. They were Jiang Xiaoyan’s parents and elder brother. They didn’t treat Hu Futan well.
Hu Futan did not say anything. He changed his clothes according to the rules and did as he was told.
Outside the mourning hall, he knelt in front of the coffin and kept thinking about the memories that belonged to Jiang Xiaoyan.
He felt terrible. He did not understand why Jiang Xiaoyan had to die. She and Wang Ru could both live. Why must one of them die?
He held the paper numbly and burned it bit by bit.
When he opened the coffin, she was still so calm and peaceful, as if to her, death was where she belonged. She no longer resented him nor was she jealous. She left after doing what she could.
Hu Futan’s hands were almost trembling as he gently pulled open Jiang Xiaoyan’s clothes. He saw the complicated patterns on her chest. Was this an array formation?
When Jiang Xiaoyan’s elder brother saw this scene, he felt a rush of blood to his head. He walked up and grabbed Hu Futan before giving him a punch. “You animal, what are you doing? She has already gone, and you’re still disrespecting her. What’s wrong with you?”
Hu Futan was punched, and blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth. Jiang Xiaoyan’s elder brother was furious. Hu Futan wanted to explain, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.
Jiang Xiaoyan’s elder brother tidied up Jiang Xiaoyan’s clothes and closed the coffin. He looked at Hu Futan fiercely. “Once my sister is gone, your good days will come to an end. My family has never liked you. Damn it. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s not suitable now, I would have beaten you to death.”
Hu Futan lowered his head and didn’t say anything. He was kicked out of the mourning hall.
Wang Ru came in from outside and held him by the arm. “Master, are you alright?”
Hu Futan waved his hand. He didn’t know what he was thinking. He thought that he had never liked Jiang Xiaoyan, but now that she was gone, she started to occupy his mind more and more. He remembered her appearance more and more vividly.
He smiled self-deprecatingly. “Beast… I’m a beast.”
Jiang Xiaoyan’s elder brother was right. He was an animal.
He had been ignoring the fact that she was the one who supported the family all these years. She was his wife, but he had never even drawn a portrait for her. He didn’t even notice when she lost tons of weight.
Memories flashed through his mind one after another. Hu Futan felt extremely uncomfortable.
He held his head.
Wang Ru felt that something was wrong with Hu Futan. She grabbed his hand and comforted him. “Master, don’t be sad. You still have me.”
Hu Futan’s mind was empty.
Since that moment, the Jiang family did not allow Hu Futan to participate in Jiang Xiaoyan’s funeral.
Only then did Hu Futan realize how powerless he was.
He did not know what he was doing. His mind was in a mess, and he indulged himself in messing around with Wang Ru. He felt that he was really an animal.
However, gradually, he felt that something was wrong. He was in a daze all day long. While he was awake, he spent all his time doing that with Wang Ru, but he did not want to do it.
He felt that Wang Ru was preparing something. He was not sure what she was preparing but he felt weak all over his body. He did not even know what day it was today, and he couldn’t even recognize the servants around him.
Hu Futan was dizzy and sleepy. He didn’t know how Jiang Xiaoyan’s funeral went. No one came to inform him. He couldn’t even walk properly by himself. Hu Futan felt humiliated and in pain.
No matter how angry he was, the servants did not talk to him. They just silently brought the food over and placed it beside him before leaving.
Hu Futuan had never been so sad. It seemed that Wang Ru had not come for a long time.
He felt that this was his retribution. He had let Jiang Xiaoyan down. This was God’s punishment for him. He recalled the memories he had sensed. Wang Ru sacrificed her son to set up the array formation.
Once the array formation was completed, the Hu family collapsed.
Hu Futan was filled with regret. Why did he still believe in Wang Ru? What was wrong with him?!
With a creak, the door was pushed open and footsteps could be heard.
Hu Futuan felt that someone had opened his mouth and fed him something. He gradually regained his strength. He woke up from the chaos and opened his eyes. He looked at Wang Ru and the man in front of him. Hu Futuan pointed at Wang Ru angrily, his fingers trembling. “You, you…”
He did not expect Wang Ru to be in such a hurry to lay bare her ambition.
Wang Ru leaned against the man. “Let me introduce you. This is my husband, Yan Zhen.”
Hu Futan was furious at first. Then, he laughed at himself. Why should he be angry? This was his retribution. He looked at Wang Ru and asked. “Why?”
While she was with Yan Zhen, she still did that with him. He couldn’t understand the reason. Wang Ru didn’t seem to have any feelings for him.