Chapter 29: The Nun’s Wild Joy

“Oh dear, my little puppy, are you still unwilling to trust the Ling people after all this time?”

On the night of April 1st, when Yang Hao and Sister Teresa found a suitable spot for a temporary rest, the Ling tribe also stopped there to set up their camp.

Dr. Joseph and his wife and daughter were helping to care for the wounded Ling, having learned some basic demon language. However, to avoid communication errors, Teresa kept up her Linguistic spell to provide a space for normal conversation.

The Ling chieftain Narujia came to ask Yang Hao what they should do next. It was then that Teresa noticed Yang Hao’s distrust and resistance.

Although he held back his emotions, allowing the Ling people to rest and prepare food, his evident distrust towards everyone worried Teresa.

For this reason, Teresa specifically chose a place where they wouldn’t be disturbed, intending to have a clear conversation with Yang Hao about this matter.

She hadn’t noticed it before, but now when trying to do so, the nun felt the pressure emanating from Yang Hao.

The man seemed sulky and shifted his position slightly. He didn’t want to talk, but Teresa needed him to. 

How could they proceed with their conversation if he stayed silent?

“And besides, even if we set aside the Ling people, Joseph is the chief doctor of the Red Cross you established, isn’t he? Isn’t it strange not to trust even Joseph?”

Teresa and Yang Hao were sitting together on the same large rock. Upon hearing the name Joseph, Yang Hao just turned his body away again. 

Teresa could only give a helpless, bitter smile. 

It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand his feelings, but with the Ling people and the doctor following them, not making a clear stance now would only lead to complications later when heading to the Elven Kingdom. 

Imagine arriving at the Elven Kingdom and being asked about these people. If the Ling people claimed they were his followers, Dr. Joseph said he was his subordinate, and then Yang Hao turned around and flatly stated, “I don’t know them,” that would be a real problem.

Teresa needed to avoid such troublesome scenarios. After all, settling down took time, and she certainly didn’t want to spend an entire year dealing with these aftermath issues upon reaching the Elven Kingdom.

Furthermore, to prevent Yang Hao from being bullied in the Elven Kingdom due to their weak position, she personally thought, it would be good to take in the Ling people and Dr. Joseph.

After all, the Golems were truly valuable, and the Ling people were willing to trust him. Not to mention Dr. Joseph, as the chief doctor, had great medical skills. However, the crux of the problem was Yang Hao’s lack of trust in others.

“Anyway, the Ling people decided to follow us only after hearing that the Elven Kingdom has magic that can regenerate limbs. You don’t need to worry about them having any ulterior motives towards you.”

“Uh…”

“And Dr. Joseph is incredibly loyal. He never once betrayed his oath until the end. Besides, now that his entire family is with us, even for his own sake, it’s unlikely he harbors any ill intentions toward you.”

“Uh…”

“Aiyo… You sullen, naughty puppy, what do I have to say to get you to relax?”

Teresa, somewhat annoyed, flopped onto Yang Hao’s back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Nalujia, watching from a distance, thought that if she dared to do the same, she’d probably be met with violent backlash from that man, wouldn’t she?

Envious of Teresa’s privileges, the Ling tribe’s chieftain could only shake her head and order her people through her antlers to quickly start a fire and prepare food for the upcoming journey.

Even though Teresa was playfully sprawled on Yang Hao’s back, the man remained stubbornly silent.

He just bowed his head and rubbed his chin against Teresa’s arm, silently conveying his foul mood. His untrimmed, rough stubble tickled Teresa’s skin. She wondered if it weren’t for the sleeves of her nun’s habit, her skin might have been poked full of holes by his bristly beard.

But, setting aside this intimate moment, Teresa hadn’t forgotten her goal for the evening.

Annoyed, she couldn’t resist biting Yang Hao’s ear before whispering in his ear in a muffled voice,

“Aiyo! My little puppy, I’m begging you, think about it. If we don’t establish a trust relationship with the Ling people and Dr. Joseph’s family, we might face difficulties entering the Elven Kingdom. After all, the elves surely wouldn’t welcome a disorganized group with everyone having their own agenda and inconsistent testimonies, right?”

“But I don’t want to trust them.”

“You’re finally speaking.”

A wave of relief washed over the young nun. Before she could respond, Yang Hao broke free from her embrace and turned around to look at her somewhat grimly.

He wiped the wetness from the corner of her mouth and then glanced at the Ling people controlling the Golems to build the camp and Dr. Joseph’s family carefully tending to the hornless ones. He sighed deeply and lowered his head in frustration. 

“I don’t want to trust them, Teresa.”

“But you need to trust them.”

“I won’t trust them.”

“Aiyo… Considering our journey to the Elven Kingdom—”

“I said I won’t trust them, Teresa. I won’t trust them, no matter what they’ve done before.”

Yang Hao’s stubbornness made Teresa feel at a loss. She swallowed the words she had almost blurted out, and after a moment of thought, she reached out and gently touched the hair of the man who seemed to be suppressing his emotions. With earnestness and patience, she explained, 

“But you see, my little puppy, you have to face this reality. After all, this isn’t a difficulty we can avoid just by saying we don’t trust them.”

As she had said before, if they couldn’t establish a trusting relationship within the team before approaching the Elven Kingdom’s borders, the elves would certainly not grant them passage.

And just as Teresa had previously mentioned, if Yang Hao were isolated and weak within the Elven Kingdom, he might become a target of bullying by the elves.

But more importantly, Teresa felt that accepting the Ling people and Dr. Joseph’s family was not a bad thing for them, but rather a good one.

The Golems of the Ling people ensured their potential for unintended harm, even without considering their antlers.

Dr. Joseph was a well-trained and experienced physician, having him around meant at least Yang Hao wouldn’t have to worry about minor injuries and illnesses.

But most importantly, this signified a new beginning.

Whether Yang Hao planned to seek revenge against the Roman Empire or was simply disillusioned and wanted to spend the rest of his life having children with her, rebuilding interpersonal relationships was a necessary prerequisite for starting a new life.

If he continued to distrust everyone, if he remained so isolated that he didn’t even have a single friend, even ordinary daily life would become difficult.

Teresa didn’t want this. So, she hoped Yang Hao would face this reality, consider their future, and hoped he would step out of the shadows of his past.

But for Yang Hao, this too was a path strewn with thorns.

He wasn’t unaware of the importance of interpersonal relationships.

But once bitten, twice shy. He had been betrayed too deeply. Now, just the thought of possibly befriending someone in the future brought flashbacks of former lovers, knights, and betrayers.

Nausea and anger were almost uncontrollable. If anyone other than Teresa had asked him this question, if it were some stranger, he might have already lashed out violently to express his resistance.

Thinking this, Yang Hao’s body began to tremble. His anger rose again due to the illusions, but the person in front of him was Teresa.

He didn’t want to show his ugly side in front of Teresa. He lowered his head to look at the soil on the ground, hoping to regain control of his emotions through the green grass.

But Teresa’s next words were like a spark igniting a fuse, blowing up the powder keg in his heart:

“So, my little puppy, can you trust others again? Please?”

Boom—

Perhaps Teresa meant no harm. But this indeed ignited the fury in Yang Hao’s heart.

He abruptly lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot in an instant, staring intensely at the nun who had supported him all this way. His mouth agape, a throaty mix of suppressed whimpers and deep roars emerged:

“I said it, Teresa! I don’t want to trust them! I can’t trust anyone besides you anymore.”

He reached out and gripped the nun’s shoulders forcefully, yet restrained his strength for fear of hurting her with such a rough gesture.

Yes, even his own emotions were beyond his control. The moment Teresa said “trust others again,” countless faces of betrayers flashed before his eyes.

Rage, grievance, pain, sorrow. All these emotions intermingled, eventually giving rise to a feeling called hatred.

In such a state, how could he forget the faces of the betrayers? How could he start trusting others again?

What exactly should he do? How exactly could he trust anyone other than Teresa?

Unconsciously, only when looking at Teresa could he find peace amidst his feelings of hatred.

He only wanted to trust Teresa.

Yang Hao, gripping the stunned woman’s shoulders, realized tears had begun to trickle down his cheeks. He believed his emotions had been conveyed to this sharp-tongued but genuinely soft-hearted nun.

She had always been so understanding. So surely this time, she must also—

“What—what? Can you say that again?”

“Huh?”

His emotional flow abruptly cut off, Yang Hao blinked in confusion, looking at Teresa, whose mood had suddenly become agitated. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say and could only utter a perplexed “huh.”

“I mean, what you just said. Can you repeat it?”

The little nun’s eyes sparkled with excitement and joy, and they were somewhat moist. But, what did she want him to repeat?

Yang Hao was puzzled for a while before deciding to repeat his last sentence: “Huh?”

“Not that! The sentence before.”

“What exactly should I do?”

“Go down a bit more!”

“I—”

“The sentence after that.”

Yang Hao paused again, perplexed.

He opened his mouth, the words that had slipped out in his emotional fervor now feeling incredibly embarrassing.

Yet, seeing Teresa’s expectant and joyful eyes, he muttered softly, “Trust others besides you…”

It was as if he had triggered an emotional switch in Teresa.

The nun cheered, suddenly hugging Yang Hao’s head tightly, her excitement palpable. In front of everyone’s distant gazes, she sprang up and exclaimed in a triumphant tone for all to hear:

“I’m going to shave off your beard right now. I’ve long found your beard irritating, don’t you dare run away. You have to take responsibility!”

Take responsibility for what?

Not only was the former Regent suffocating in the nun’s bosom and completely baffled.

Even the Ling tribe people and Doctor Joseph, who had just stepped out of a tent ready to change dressings for the wounded, were stunned.

But witnessing the sight of the overjoyed nun pulling out a shiny, gleaming razor from her backpack, they ultimately decided to remain silent: after all, this seemed to be a matter between the Regent and his spouse.

They dared not rashly approach and ask, for fear that Teresa might just use the razor on their necks in her current state of frenzied excitement.