Chapter 358: I Miss You So Much
Jiang Qingli stared blankly at him.
Only then did she realize that at some point, she had been carried to the bed. She was now lying with Qin Muye on the spacious hospital bed, covered by a thin blanket.
The young man’s familiar warmth enveloped her, a long-missed comfort that stood in stark contrast to the near-death agony from moments before.
Jiang Qingli opened her mouth to say something, but her vision quickly blurred.
Qin Muye, who had just been trying to act cool, instantly panicked when he saw her tears welling up. He carefully wiped them away.
But when Jiang Qingli saw the various bandages and IV tubes wrapped around his arm, her eyes only grew redder.
Qin Muye could usually curse up a storm, but he was completely clueless when it came to comforting people. He stammered for a long time, only managing to repeat a few phrases like, "Don’t cry," "I was wrong," and "Honey."
Jiang Qingli wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest, pressing her ear to his heart to listen to its beat.
Through the skin that bore her mark, Jiang Qingli could clearly hear his strong, steady heartbeat.
This was the proof that Qin Muye was alive.
Jiang Qingli listened for a while, gradually calming down and stopping her tears.
She looked up and met Qin Muye’s gaze.
He couldn’t move easily at the moment and watched her nervously, his voice hoarse as he apologized, "I’m sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Jiang Qingli said.
Qin Muye shook his head.
In truth, Qin Muye didn’t know why he was apologizing either. But seeing her in his arms with red-rimmed eyes, worrying about him, made his heart ache as if someone had squeezed it tight.
She was beautiful even when she cried, but Qin Muye didn’t want to see her cry.
Especially not because of him.
The young man leaned over and kissed the corner of the girl’s eye.
"Salty," Qin Muye said, then licked it again.
"You’re acting like a puppy."
Jiang Qingli retorted, shrinking back from the ticklish sensation, but he alertly wrapped an arm around her lower back to hold her in place.
Afraid that struggling would pull at his injuries, Jiang Qingli simply reached out and tugged his ear. "Did I say you could have a taste? Stop it."
He was acting like this the moment they reunited, and she was starting to feel a little embarrassed.
Qin Muye grunted an "oh" and leaned in, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He took a deep breath of her scent, rubbing his cheek against her neck like a fluffy little animal.
Coming back to her senses, Jiang Qingli slowly asked, "By the way, do you know where Que Feiling is?"
"They didn’t find him?" Hearing this, Qin Muye’s brows furrowed. "He wasn’t next to me?"
"They only found you." Jiang Qingli fell silent for a few seconds before answering truthfully. "His status is unknown..."
As the words left her mouth, she suddenly thought of something, and her newly calmed heart jolted violently.
Before she was ejected from the Spiritual Domain, she must have been empathically linked with Qin Muye, which was why she had felt that bone-deep pain.
If Qin Muye, who had been shielded by wings, was in that much pain, she couldn’t imagine how much agony Que Feiling must have endured, having taken the brunt of the impact...
’Could he already be...’
At the thought of this possibility, Jiang Qingli’s hands and feet grew cold, and she subconsciously bit her lip.
A thumb gently rubbed her lower lip, and Jiang Qingli looked up.
"He’s probably not dead." Qin Muye guessed her worries and said seriously, "We all have chips in our wrists. They don’t do anything normally, but they transmit coordinates upon death. The military hasn’t received any signal. They only told you he’s missing, which means he’s probably still alive."
Jiang Qingli thought for a moment. "Before I came in to heal you, Marshal Sun asked me to see if I could find any clues in your memories."
"Did you find anything?" Qin Muye’s expression turned serious.
"No." Jiang Qingli sighed in frustration. "I have no idea where that forest is located."
"It’s okay." Qin Muye pinched her cheek. "I still remember some of it."
He sat up, dialed a number, and said a few words.
A short time later, Marshal Sun and Yuan Liang entered the hospital room.
Qin Muye opened a map and drew a route on it, circling a few spots. He explained, "These are the points where we were heavily attacked, and this is where I lost consciousness."
"That’s a bit off from where we found you." Marshal Sun frowned, tapping a spot slightly to the front and left of the point Qin Muye had marked. "We found you here."
Yuan Liang frowned. "Could there have been another faction present...?"
"No, I didn’t sense anyone else." Qin Muye’s mouth twitched. "It must have been that bastard—Que Feiling threw me out of the way during the fight."
That would explain why it felt like he’d been slammed onto the ground with enough force to be drawn and quartered.
Qin Muye went on to describe the Black-winged Birds’ abnormal behavior.
Marshal Sun looked troubled. "We did find a recorder, but it’s password-protected... Do either of you know the password?"
As he spoke, he took out the recorder.
Jiang Qingli shook her head.
’Que Feiling never mentioned it.’
Beside her, Qin Muye’s expression darkened. He took the recorder, turned his back, and entered a few numbers.
BEEP. The recorder unlocked.
Marshal Sun praised Qin Muye briefly and said with a smile, "Alright, I’ll take this to the researchers now. You’re both exhausted, so get some rest. Lunch will be sent over soon."
The door closed. Jiang Qingli snuggled back under the covers and into Qin Muye’s arms, finding his mood a little strange. "Why don’t you look very happy?"
He had just been praised by his superior, but Qin Muye’s expression was absolutely foul.
Qin Muye’s tone was stiff. "It’s nothing."
’That tone... it definitely means something.’
Jiang Qingli was curious. "What were the numbers? I want to know too. Will you tell me?"
"It was just a few numbers," Qin Muye said, stating the obvious.
Jiang Qingli realized that after spending some time out here, the guy had learned how to fob people off.
The more he refused to say, the more curious she became.
She leaned in and kissed the corner of his lips. "Come on, tell me. Qin Muye... Muye... puppy, hurry up... tell me..."
Her kisses made Qin Muye’s face and neck flush bright red.
Finally, as if he couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled Jiang Qingli into a tight hug, his voice muffled. "Stop talking about other males. Did you not miss me?"
"Oh, so you’ve learned to turn the tables on me, have you?" Jiang Qingli laughed and stroked his hair. "I was the one thinking you didn’t miss me. You barely ever contacted me."
Qin Muye held her, expertly pulling her into his embrace. He found a moment to reply, "Spreading rumors about me again."
’How could I not miss her?’
’When I wasn’t training or on a mission, every free second was spent thinking about her.’
’It was as if he’d been infected with some kind of virus. Her presence was pervasive. The more he missed her, the more excruciating it became. Only in the moment he saw her was the void filled by the tangible feeling of an embrace.’
’But then, the thought that they would have to part again would create an even greater emptiness. He wished he could fuse her into his very bones so they would become one person, never to be separated again.’
"I miss you," Qin Muye murmured with his eyes closed, repeating, "So much."
"I miss you too."
Jiang Qingli hugged him back, responding softly.
...
Outside the window, the weather in the Twelve Cities was exceptionally good for a change.
Sunlight streamed through the window, falling upon the embracing figures on the hospital bed and tracing their outlines with a warm, golden edge.
After they separated, Qin Muye asked about matters in the First District, and they chatted idly.
Jiang Qingli had expended too much energy. As they talked, her eyelids grew heavy, and she fell asleep after just a few moments.
Qin Muye propped himself up and gazed at the girl’s peaceful, sleeping face, letting out a silent sigh of relief in his heart.
’Good, she didn’t ask again.’
Then he inwardly ground his teeth.
’That scheming, rotten bird! He actually set the password to Jiang Qingli’s birthday!’
’The nerve of him!’
’Thankfully, he, the noble Prince, had stood by his principles and hadn’t revealed a single shred of information to Jiang Qingli!’
’From now on, he would have to be even more vigilant and give that homewrecker absolutely no chance to move in on his girl!’