Chapter 1398 - 1395: She Wants to Leave and Be Freed
Then with a twist, pain shot through her wrist and she loosened her grip. Qiao Muyun snatched that deadly knife from her and flung it hard, hand sweeping back, into the lake.
"Splash~" The calm surface of the lake rippled in widening circles.
Zi Ruoxi was shocked and furious. She was vexed, she was enraged—why, even when she wanted to leave and be freed, was it this hard—
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
She didn’t want to care about anyone or anything anymore. She no longer cared about any of it—those pointless matters of the world: who was in pain, who was sad, who laughed, who was happy... and so on and so on. Everything and everyone had nothing to do with her anymore. She only wanted, selfishly, to exile herself......
Not even such a wish is allowed?!
Suddenly.
The moment Qiao Muyun threw away her knife, she went completely crazy and, using every ounce of her strength, shoved him away. Like a shooting star chasing the moon, she bolted down toward the lake at lightning speed......
"Splash——" The water exploded upward, sending droplets flying everywhere.
Immediately after, there was another splash. Qiao Muyun didn’t even have time to think.
"Splash!" He jumped in after her. Water surged high into the air again.
Fortunately, the lake wasn’t very deep; but at four or five meters, it was more than enough to be fatal for someone who couldn’t swim. So for someone determined to die, it wasn’t hard to achieve.
Single-mindedly seeking death, she swallowed mouthful after mouthful of water, using it to numb her nerves. But Zi Ruoxi hadn’t even had time to thrash around twice at the bottom before a stronger arm wrapped around her waist. Her subconscious will to survive made her cling to his neck. On top of that, Zi Ruoxi had always been a decent swimmer, and with Qiao Muyun buoying her up, the two of them quickly began to rise.
The surface of the water roiled with violent bubbles, and the two of them broke through together.
In that moment, both of them were drenched from head to toe. Zi Ruoxi hacked and coughed in discomfort. The mask she’d been wearing had long been torn off at the bottom of the lake. Now, as he held her, he could see her face even more clearly......
"Don’t—" Zi Ruoxi suddenly snapped back to herself. The instant she realized what was happening, she whipped her face away. She looked terrible now, hideous... She was burning with mortification, self-abasement, humiliation, shame, panic, shock... all kinds of emotions surged up at once...
But whatever resistance she tried, whatever she struggled to do, it was already too late.
All at once, Qiao Muyun’s arm came around her head, his hand clamping the back of her skull, and he lunged in fiercely, capturing her lips and sealing them in a deep kiss, domineering and burning......
Uh...
Zi Ruoxi was actually stunned for a moment, unable to react. What was he doing...
And in that dazed instant, Qiao Muyun’s tongue had already easily pried open her pearly teeth, roaming through her mouth, lingering and tangled, stirring up a storm again and again.
Zi Ruoxi was kissed until her breathing turned ragged, and her body couldn’t help but go limp. Sensing her change, Qiao Muyun locked her tightly in his arms, letting her safely melt against him. But he still wasn’t willing to leave her lips; the kiss went on and on......
From this moment on, he swore he would give her enough, enough of a sense of safety!
......
And the person who’d been standing on the shore the whole time was utterly stupefied... frozen on the spot...
He had come out, he had come out long ago. From the moment she’d prepared to slit her wrists, he’d sprinted over. But he was still one step too late......
Just like that, unwilling, resentful, he watched her collapse into another man’s arms, watched them embrace and kiss in the lake. His heart was bleeding......
Bloodshot veins webbed across Qiao Junlie’s blue eyes. His handsome face twitched, his teeth chattered. His body turned to stone where he stood, unable to move, only his hands clenching, loosening, then clenching again.
The wind brushed past. In this season it should have felt especially refreshing, yet why did it feel so cold? His body could no longer get warm, and his heart was being savagely torn apart and trampled...
After a while, he quietly turned his head, then began to walk away step by step. But his steps felt so heavy, so heavy, as if each one was filled with lead, gradually pressing him smaller and smaller until he disappeared......
Unexpectedly, he left quite quietly. As if he had never been here at all.
Only after a long time did Qiao Muyun release Zi Ruoxi, drawing her tightly into his arms. Their breaths tangled together, joy and sorrow colliding in this instant.
Qiao Muyun was shaken that he’d finally managed to take this step. To be honest, he was terrified himself—he had actually done something he’d never even dared to imagine...
Zi Ruoxi was even more panic-stricken. She no longer knew what she was thinking, or what she could still think... She simply buried herself helplessly against him and broke down in sobs.
Qiao Muyun was very worried. A trace of anxiety flickered through his dark green eyes.
"I’m sorry, Zi Ruoxi..." Qiao Muyun supported her back with aching tenderness. Her tears tugged at his heart, each pull hurting more. No matter what, he didn’t want to force her. In sentiment or in reason, he shouldn’t have done this. At a time like this, he cherished her so much, as if she were as precious as his own eyes. Why did he have to... Oh. Qiao Muyun sighed softly in his heart and murmured, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to..."
He had barely said a few words when he realized how wrong they sounded. He was really at a loss at a time like this and hurriedly corrected himself. "No, that’s not what I mean. Zi Ruoxi, you know, whatever you think, I’ll respect it. But don’t do anything foolish, okay... Don’t do anything that will hurt me like this again..." He very cleverly skipped past the issue of feelings, focusing instead on dispelling her suicidal thoughts. That was the most important thing.
Zi Ruoxi didn’t answer. She was so moved that her tears poured down like rain, leaving her unable to speak.
Yet she heard very clearly the hoarse whispers, soaked in blood and tears, echoing over and over in her ears: "Take me away, take me away, take me away..."
Leaning into his arms, Zi Ruoxi’s mind slowly began to clear a little, but she still couldn’t stop choking with sobs. "Brother Qiao Muyun, take me away from here. I really, really can’t take it anymore... I’m afraid I’ll go crazy... Brother Qiao Muyun..."
That last "Brother Qiao Muyun" was said in a way that could wring tears from anyone. Qiao Muyun was moved by her words as well. But in the end, she still wanted to run away... run away from my brother?
Qiao Muyun’s heart was a tangled mess right now. On one hand, there was the matter of Zi Ruoxi and his older brother Qiao Junlie. The whole world saw them as a pair; if this accident hadn’t happened, he believed their feelings wouldn’t have changed. On the other hand, there was himself. Everyone has selfishness. If this incident gave him the chance to slip in while she was vulnerable, then...... should he be grateful, or should he be happy?!
But how could he do that? How could he, Qiao Muyun, do something so heartless and unbrotherly, taking advantage of his own brother’s plight? He wasn’t that despicable and shameless!
His dark green eyes deepened, and only after a long, quiet pause did they grow clear again. Snapping out of his daze, Qiao Muyun didn’t answer her immediately.