The Killer Shall Have No Heart Chapter 5

Connor walked very fast and arrived at the door in no time. Aunt Liu was standing at the door holding a lantern with a dim candlelight. She smiled as soon as she saw the visitor.

"I'm back, what about the child?"

Connor didn't look back, but called out "mother" to himself, then walked to the well in the yard, threw a black heavy object on the ground with a "bang", and then reached out to draw water from the well to wash his hands in the moonlight.

Sam came late and glanced at Aunt Liu. Aunt Liu smiled and said, "It seems that we have gained a lot today. It's getting late. Let's eat first and then clean up."
 
Aunt Liu turned around and went back to the kitchen. Sam wanted to follow her in, but suddenly heard Connor ask:

"You stay."

Sam's steps froze, and his whole body tensed up instantly, standing straight on the ground like a piece of wood.

"Did anyone come to your house during the day?"

Connor spoke lightly, but to Sam it sounded like a divine parable, forcing him to concentrate fully to respond.

"No......"

The moonlight outlined Connor's tall figure. At this moment, he was sitting with his legs apart by the well. He bent down and scooped well water from the wooden bucket that had just been filled with water to wash his arms and neck.

Connor did not answer. He stood up, picked up the black shadows on the ground and threw them to the door of the woodshed. With the faint candlelight, Sam was able to see clearly that they were some wild rabbits and foxes that had died long ago.

There was an arrow stuck in the fox's eye, and it seemed to have been killed by one blow. There was not much blood on its body. Sam knew that fox fur could be sold at a high price. In the past, the favored c0ncubines in his family would dress up gorgeously in winter, with all kinds of fox furs and rabbit fur scarves. The most expensive one was the white fox fur of the eldest lady, and there was not a trace of other colors on her body.

In order to sell fox fur for money, many hunters would deliberately shoot the fox with arrows to prevent the fox from being injured and its fur from being torn, which would result in it falling into inferior quality.

However, the fox that Connor killed did not have pure fur. It looked black and was also a bit thin. I'm afraid it wouldn't be worth the money.

"You've been staring at me for so long, will you peel me?"

Sam was distracted when a familiar and cold voice suddenly rang out beside him. His hair stood on end like a frightened cat. He cried out in surprise and stammered, "No... No, I'll go to the kitchen to check."

After saying that, Sam didn't dare to turn around and look at Connor. He ran to the kitchen as fast as if there was some ferocious beast behind him. As soon as he opened the door, he met Aunt Liu calling him.

"What are you all doing standing outside? Come in and have your meal."

Sam felt as if he had been pardoned. He quickly ran into the house, found a corner of the table to stand on as if he was being punished, and curled up without moving.

Aunt Liu came into the room, followed by Connor with a calm look on his face.

"You really should try today's porridge." Aunt Liu smiled from ear to ear and praised: "Xiao Li is a very hardworking child. He made this dinner. I just had some and it tasted really good. You've been busy all day, come and have a bowl of hot porridge to warm yourself up... Hey, what are you doing standing there, kid? Come and get a bowl of porridge."

Sam glanced at Connor secretly, and unexpectedly their eyes met.

"Really?" Connor responded perfunctorily, as if he didn't care who cooked the porridge. After hearing what his mother said, he just glanced at Sam and then looked away.

The three of them served themselves porridge and took their seats.

Sam held the bowl in one hand and the chopsticks in the other, and drank his porridge with his head down. Connor was not talkative either. Throughout the dinner, only Aunt Liu occasionally said a few words.

Sam was so nervous that he didn't have much of an appetite, so he felt full after eating only half of the meal. When he was about to put down his chopsticks, he saw Connor, who was sitting opposite him, stand up, fill another bowl of salty porridge, and sit back down.

Sam felt relieved and couldn't help feeling a little lucky. Connor served a second bowl. Did this mean that what he cooked was to his taste?

As long as Connor doesn't drive him away, Sam can stay here temporarily. Thinking of this, Sam couldn't help but secretly make up his mind to try his best to live in peace with Connor during the period before Grant returns.

Cooking is the first step!

Sam couldn't help but think of the words his mother often said.

"To win a man's heart, you have to win his stomach."

Sam bit his chopsticks and thought that although it was strange to put the words here, the meaning was the same!

"I'll go to the market tomorrow to see if I can sell the fox." After eating, Connor put the bowl on the stove, turned around and said to Aunt Liu: "Leave the rabbit at home and eat it yourself. There has been no movement in the mountains these days. I'll go to the market tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to see if there is any work to do. I'll go to the mountains when the weather is better."

Aunt Liu nodded, her expression somewhat gloomy, and Sam seemed to be able to sense the sense of guilt emanating from her.

Connor did not give her the chance to blame herself. After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves and went out.

Sam glanced at Aunt Liu and said tactfully, "Let me wash the dishes."

"No, I can do this little job. If you want to help, go outside and help Cong'er." Aunt Liu said.

Sam opened his mouth several times to speak, but swallowed it back silently. At least so far, Connor had not shown much hostility towards him, and it was not a good idea for him to keep avoiding him. It was still unknown when Grant would be back, so he could not make things too awkward with Connor.

Thinking of this, Sam was not so resistant to being alone with Connor. He nodded and got up to go out.

At this moment, the moonlight was just right, the evening breeze was blowing gently, the mountain waves were roaring, and the barking of dogs could be heard faintly from the village not far away. The scene was peaceful and quiet.

Sam stood at the door and took a few deep breaths. He just happened to see Connor sitting by the well with a small candlestick beside him. The corpses of wild rabbits and wild foxes were placed aside. He was washing something with his back to him.

Sam hesitated for a moment and then stepped forward, "Um...is there anything I can help you with?"

Connor stopped cleaning, swung his hands outward, and threw a black thing back without looking back, hitting Sam!

Sam shrank subconsciously, and the thing hit Sam lightly and fell into his arms. Sam took a look in the candlelight and found that the black thing was actually a fruit.

Sam quickly wiped the water off the fruit, stuffed it into his arms, and walked forward with more courage, saying, "Um...thank you, is there anything I can help you with?"

Connor washed the wild fruits and placed them in a bamboo basket beside him. Then he reached out to grab the wild rabbit, took out a small knife from somewhere, and cut the rabbit's throat by slicing along its neck.
 
Connor held the rabbit upside down with both hands, drained the blood, and asked casually: "Can you bleed and skin it?"

"Uh... no." Sam said weakly.

"Then there's nothing you can do to help." Connor said mercilessly.

Sam: "......"

"Um..." Sam hesitated for a while, but finally mustered up the courage to ask: "When will Grant...come back?"

"I don't know." Connor casually slashed a few times with the knife in his hand. A cold light flashed in the moonlight. Then he pulled hard and a piece of leather was peeled off.

Sam shrank his neck and couldn't help but think that Connor and Grant were both killers. When they kill people... will they do this too?

The more Sam thought about it, the more scared he became. He was afraid that if he angered Connor one day, he would kill him in the middle of the night while he was sleeping.

However, he was very scared and didn't dare to leave. Sam could only stand there, trying to divert his attention from the bloody rabbit to Connor's broad shoulders.

"Cong'er, I have something to tell you."

The kitchen door was gently closed, and Aunt Liu's voice came from the darkness.

"Let Xiaoli sleep in your room tonight. The woodshed is drafty on all sides, so it's unsuitable for living."

After these words were spoken, not only did Sam stiffen all over, but even Connor, who was cleaning the rabbit meat, was stunned for a moment. He turned around and looked at Sam deeply without commenting.

Sam shuddered, as if being stared at by a poisonous snake, and said hurriedly: "No! No need! It's fine for me to sleep in the woodshed, it's not cold there, and it's still cool to get some fresh air at night."

"Hey, Xiaoli, don't be polite with us. You've been busy all day, and I can't even give you a bed to sleep on, right? So, as your mother, I'll make the decision. You can squeeze in with Cong'er tonight. Tomorrow, I'll ask Cong'er to go to the market to pick out a better and sturdier board and build a new bed for you. During this period of time, you'll have to stay in Cong'er's room temporarily."

Aunt Liu didn't care whether her son agreed or not, and made the decision on her own. She repeatedly reminded Connor to make sure the person was settled, and then went back to her room, leaving Sam standing in the yard in fear.

If he had originally been somewhat disgusted with the shabby woodshed, the fear of living in the same room with Connor now far outweighed the shabbyness of the place.

The yard was silent.

After a long while, Connor slowly said, "If you want to live..."

"No, no!" Sam didn't dare to listen any further and interrupted, "It's fine for me to live in the woodshed. I love living in the woodshed. Let's do this first... Then you are busy, I won't disturb you. I will get up early tomorrow to make breakfast for you, and... go to bed early."

Sam's heart was about to jump out of his throat. He didn't know what he was saying. He responded casually and ran to the woodroom. In the dark, he tripped over the threshold. He stood up with the help of the wooden door in an embarrassed manner. He didn't even bother to shake off the grass debris on his body. He fell on the hay as soon as he entered the house and huddled in the corner like a quail.

There was a sound of dripping water outside the house. Even though Sam had not seen it with his own eyes, he could still imagine Connor cleaning the rabbit meat. The repeated changing of water, the rustling sound of the wooden barrel falling into the well and rubbing against the wall of the well made him sleepy for no reason.

Sam closed his eyes, listened to the sound of water, and the scene of his mother washing and selecting vegetables in the yard, preparing to cook for him emerged in his mind.

At that time, little Sam had no idea what kind of hardships he would face in the future. Although he felt bored sometimes, he was very satisfied staying with his mother. After waking up, he would rub his eyes and look for his mother. After finding her, he would hug her softly from behind, waiting to be held in his mother's arms with a piece of sweet, freshly-baked cake stuffed in his mouth.

And the sound of water seemed to have traveled through two different time and space and overlapped again.

Sam just lay on the hay as a pillow, closed his eyes and listened to the gurgling water. His consciousness gradually became confused, and his heart, which had been hanging in the air, unconsciously fell down, like a light feather landing on the water, creating ripples before returning to tranquility.

After Sam's breathing became steady, the window frame of the woodshed was gently pushed open a crack, and a slender hand holding a few wild fruits was quietly placed on the window frame. The hand then closed the window and left.