5 Confined

"Uncle, uncle, guess the hand!"

Inside a dilapidated wooden hut, an adorable little girl sitting on a tattered bed showed her dainty fists to a pale-faced smiling young man sitting on a small chair in front of her.

As soon as the girl was finished speaking, the young man's smile widened as he looked at the girl's left fist that clearly appeared to be bigger than her right fist, giving away the obvious answer. The smile on the young man's face, however, only lasted for a moment before his expression changed into one of deep pondering.

Raising his left hand to hold his chin, the young man's gaze moved from one fist to another and then back. After scrutinizing the little one's fists for a good 2-3 minutes, a wide smile appeared on the the young man's face and his gaze moved to the little girl's happily grinning face. Raising his right arm that was tightly wrapped with a thick cloth, he touched the little girl's right fist and spoke, "Right it is!"

Listening to the young man's answer, the little girl immediately burst out into happy giggles and opened her small fists, "Hehe… Wrong, wrong, it was in the left! Uncle, you lost again!"

The little girl's right hand contained nothing but air, while an exquisite, spherical purple gem rested on the palm of her left hand. Looking at the gem in her hand, the young man's expression turned to one of dejection. The young man shook his head and said to the girl with a sigh, "Little Ning'er, you have gotten even better at the guessing game. Uncle is no match for you."

The little girl again burst out into giggles as a proud and happy expression appeared on her face, and she spoke, "Hehe… Uncle, uncle, you must read the little-"

But before the little girl could finish her words, a rough yet childish voice interrupted her words, "Ning'er, how many times have I told you not to disturb elder brother Su Fang?"

Both the young man and the little girl turned towards the source of the voice, a severely malnourished, dark-skinned boy aged 12-13 years wearing rags, standing at the entrance of the wooden hut. The newcomer held a small wooden bowl in his right hand, and a wooden spatula and a thick black cloth in his left hand.

As soon as the little girl saw the young boy walking towards them, her enthusiastic and happy expression turned downcast as she puffed out her cheeks to show her displeasure, "Meanie!"

The young boy's left eye twitched as soon as the girl's faint word made its way into his ears, but he decided to ignore it. Without paying any more attention to the girl, the boy moved to the small table placed at the left side of the bed and placed the stuff in his hands on it.

At the same time as the boy was placing the stuff on the table, the young man also stood up from the chair while quietly speaking to the little girl, "Ning'er, come and sit on the chair. Once your big brother is done applying the medicine on my arm, I will tell you the story of the Magical Snow Swan!"

Listening to the young man's words, the little girl's face bloomed into an adorable happy smile. Without saying a word, she hopped down from the tattered bed and went to sit on the chair the young man was sitting a moment ago, while making faces towards the boy who had interrupted her previously.

The young man, on the other hand, went ahead to lie down on the bed with his tightly wrapped right arm held out towards the boy's side. Without wasting any more time, the boy started to unwrap the thick cloth wrapping the young man's right arm.

As the boy removed the cloth wrapped around the man's arm layer by layer, a thick smell of medicine started to spread out in the wooden hut.

"Eww…"

Smelling the thick medical scent that spread out in the wooden hut, the little girl couldn't help but make a disgusted face. The young man and the boy, on the other hand, only scrunched their noses for a moment before their expressions completely relaxed. Soon, the entire wooden hut was filled with the strange smell of medicine.

In less than a minute, the boy had fully removed the thick cloth from the young man's arm, revealing an arm covered in burns and blisters with a scary scar and injuries that deformed the right hand of the young man. Just looking at the burnt and mangled flesh on the young man's right hand made a chill run down the boy's back.

"Elder brother Su Fang, I will now apply the medicine."

Saying the words, the boy took the wooden bowl that contained a thick purple liquid-gel, and the small wooden spatula. Using the spatula to scoop out some of the gel, the boy brought it close to the young man's hand and started plastering it slowly and gently.

As soon as the gel touched the young man's arm, the boy saw his expression flinch. But in the very next moment, his expression returned to one of absolute calm and didn't change again throughout the entire process. For this reason, the boy truly admired the young man in his heart.

He remembered the first time he had removed the thick cloth and applied the medicine, the young man's entire body had tensed up and started shuddering, and his teeth and left fist were tightly clenched. But in just 4 days, he no longer reacted the same way, and the most that would happen would be a flinch in his expression.

…

"I will now take my leave, elder brother Su Fang. If you need anything, let Ning'er deliver the message to me or our mother."

In less than ten minutes, the boy had applied the gel all over the young man's right arm, and wrapped his arm with the thick black cloth he had brought over with him. Since his work was done, the boy turned around to pick up the dirty cloth that he had removed from the young man's arm, and announced his leave.

"Thanks for your hard work, little Kun. I really don't know how to thank you for saving my life."

The young man had already sat up on the bed and said to the boy. He was really thankful to the little boy and his family for rescuing him, but all he could do in return was say some words without having the ability to provide any real help. The boy, on the other hand, simply nodded and walked out the wooden hut.

As Su Fang recalled the hospitality showed to him by the boy and his family of five, he couldn't help but sigh. The entire family was genuinely kindhearted, and even though they didn't have much for their own survival, they provided him with three good meals a day, and applied medicine and changed the bandages on his arm twice a day.

Su Fang really didn't know how he was going to repay them back. And every time he looked at the severely malnourished bodies of his saviors, his heart bled with sorrow…

As Su Fang was thinking about the situation of the family that saved him, he felt someone hold onto his left arm. As he turned to his left, he saw the adorable little girl sitting next to him, looking at him with shiny eyes and a happy smile.

"Uncle, uncle, tell me the story of the Magic Swan!" The little girl said.

Su Fang's expression turned gentle as he patted the little girl's head full of silky silver hair and started to tell the story, "A long time ago, there was a swan with snow white feathers living in the magical forest of Elves…"

...

"Little brother Su Fang, how goes your recovery?"

A dark-skinned, malnourished middle-aged man looked at Su Fang flexing his body and asked with a smile.

"I can move around freely now, and there's no need for any more medicine either, elder brother Meng."

Su Fang replied to the middle-aged man while opening and closing his cloth-covered right hand. After a month of recuperation, Su Fang's injuries had healed and he could move around freely like a normal person now. The only indication of his once injured and severely weak body was his pale expression, slightly thinner physique, and the right arm and hand wrapped with a clean white cloth.

If the cloth were to be removed from his arm, one would be able to see an ugly scar that extended from the tips of his finger to his elbow. It had only been due to the great insistence of elder sister Lian, the middle-aged man's wife, that he covered his arm. Otherwise, Su Fang truly thought that there was nothing to hide or be ashamed of.

"How will you find a wife if you roam around with a scary scar on your arm? Women might think you are some sort of brute or something, so you must cover it up!"

That was the reasoning behind elder sister Lian's suggestion. Elder sister had pestered him until he gave in, and then she personally wrapped a clean cloth around his arm in such a way that "it didn't affect his handsomeness." Apparently, elder sister Lian was more anxious to find him a wife then he himself was, and she would even secretly describe to him the beauty of various young women who lived in the village.

All Su Fang could do was lay there and listen to her with a faint smile while nodding every now and then at the advice she gave out. In just a month, Su Fang had become extremely familiar with the names, appearances, and preferences of more than ten young ladies he had never even seen before. Heck, he had not seen a single person beside this one family's members.

Su Fang had no doubt that if he utilized the information elder sister Lian provided, he would be able to woo one or two of the ladies. Elder sister Lian was a cheat, and he wondered if the other men living in the village found out, would they beat him up to vent?

Well, it wasn't like he was going to utilize that knowledge, so he should be safe. As for why elder sister Lian only talked about finding a wife for him all the time, well it was because he was already old enough to start a family of his own, no, he was already past the age of being able to start a family of his own so it was only natural. And secondly, because he treated them like his elders, it was their job to make sure he lead a happy life.

But Su Fang had a hunch that it wasn't the entire truth, and there was certainly some other reason as well. It was just that they didn't want to say it, and since they didn't want to say, he wasn't going to force them to answer. When they felt like telling him, they would. All he needed to keep in mind was that they had no harmful intentions towards him, and they had treated him like one would treat their family. He just needed to somehow repay their immense kindness.

"Elder brother Meng, can you bring me out to see the village today?"

Su Fang asked the middle-aged man while sitting back on the tattered bed behind him. He had already been in the village for a full month, and yet he had not once left his wooden hut. He had not even seen anyone from the village beside Song Meng's family, nor had he ever heard a sound coming from the outside.

The most he could see was the desolate, hard barren ground outside the wooden hut's door. It wasn't like he didn't want to leave the hut and look outside, but the issue was that he could not cross the door of the hut for some reason. There was this invisible force keeping him trapped inside. This force had given Su Fang immense anxiety in the beginning, but he had gotten used to it.

According to elder brother Meng and elder sister Lian, it wasn't that they didn't want to bring him outside, but that they were also powerless. It was a decision made by the village chief to not let him out, and according to the village chief, the decision was made to protect his life.

Su Fang couldn't comprehend how grounding him inside a wooden hut would be protecting him, but after he saw elder brother Meng and elder sister Lian continuously apologize to him, and assure him that the village chief was certainly not a bad person and must have a good reason, he gave up on wanting to leave. The good thing was that the village chief promised to let him leave after he was healed and well-rested.

Su Fang had decided to punch the village chief in the face when he was told of his restriction, but changed his mind after little Kun told him that the reason he got more food than others was because of the village chief asking everyone to contribute from their portions while the chief himself contributed the most. It seemed there really was some issue that prevented them from letting him come out.

"Little brother, I will talk to the village chief at the dinner gathering tonight. You don't have to worry, since you are now fully healed, the village chief will certainly keep his promise and allow you to leave the hut as you please."

The middle-aged man replied to Su Fang calmly. He was sure that the village chief would keep his promise and let Su Fang be free of all restrictions. Personally, Song Meng himself didn't understand why they needed to keep Su Fang locked up to somehow protect his life? What could even endanger his life in their humble village full of kind people?

Although Song Meng had those thoughts, he didn't question the village chief. In his heart, the village chief was a smart and educated senior who never did something without meaning, completely different from an illiterate man like him. Since the village chief said he was protecting Su Fang, then he must be saying the truth. There was no need to make up nonsense.

"Then I will wait for your good news, elder brother Meng."

Su Fang replied with a smile.

"Don't worry..."

Just when Song Meng opened his mouth to reassure Su Fang, an excited voice from the entrance of the hut interrupted him.

"Little brother, the village chief said you can leave the hut the day after tomorrow!"