CH 41

This sort of deep anxiety and trembling fear had the power to make people empathize almost instantly. Xia Xingchi was suddenly wrapped up in this urgent emotion, and for some strange reason, he did not push Li Chengyuan away.

The kiss was wild and almost desperate, a venting of complex emotions that had been accumulating for many years.

It was Li Chengyuan, who had lost his mind and fallen into the chaos of madness, expressing his emotions and feeling this vibrant life brimming with vitality.

There were no beautiful, enchanting thoughts or distracting passion mixed in with it, only pure, warm emotional catharsis.

Xia Xingchi didn’t know how long it took, but he was kissed to the point that he was almost deprived of oxygen and his legs were limp before he was finally let go.

His frozen brain was dizzy and floating, and his whole body went limp and fell directly into Li Chengyuan’s arms. It took him a long time to realize what had happened.

It wasn’t until Li Chengyuan lowered his head and lightly licked the bleeding wound on his neck with the tip of his tongue that Xia Xingchi finally awoke in a burst of numbness and trembling, as if he had received an electric shock.

—  For god’s sake, what is Li Chengyuan doing?!

— What unbelievable horror movie scene did I just participate in?!

“Li Chengyuan! Let go, you……”

“Why didn’t you keep your word?” Li Chengyuan was unmoved, and even pressed Xia Xingchi firmly in his arms, gritting his teeth and saying, “You’re a liar.”

Xia Xingchi couldn’t escape. Leaning his face into Li Chengyuan’s arms, he was surrounded by the faint scent of his body. After booting up, his brain was filled with the sudden kiss just now, and his face instantly turned red and hot.

Not to mention that this was his first kiss, it could be said that this was a weird scene —

On a dark and windy night, kissing so fiercely and wildly in a cemetery?

Li Chengyuan was clearly not well. The big villain would certainly not do such outrageous things normally, but now there was no way to argue with the madman.

A person who could go crazy and nearly poison himself with antipyretics wouldn’t consider anything too outrageous.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and wanted to say something.

But the memories that were gradually returning became intertwined with some unbelievable facts, paralyzing him on the spot, and he didn’t know where to start with this mess.

Unexpectedly, the quiet atmosphere lasted less than a moment before Li Chengyuan suddenly lowered his head and made as if to bite Xia Xingchi’s neck fiercely!

Afraid of being bitten again, Xia Xingchi quickly began to struggle, and said: “It hurts! Li Chengyuan, sober up, let me go!”

He had originally joked that the big cat might bite his handler if he got annoyed, but who would have thought that he would actually bite after falling ill and going crazy?

Fortunately, as soon as Xia Xingchi struggled, the force that was about to chomp down on his neck suddenly loosened. Li Chengyuan’s low level of rationality made him reluctant to speak again.

Li Chengyuan didn’t say a word, just staring back at Xia Xingchi with a calm and terrifying expression while the other party eyed him warily.

After a long time, he spoke in a low voice with hints of paranoia and obsession: “Need to take you back and lock you in the house forever……make you pay for your lies.”

Coupled with his scary expression on this eerie occasion, it was quite the villainous act.

Xia Xingchi was alarmed. Fearing that he would actually be able to do such a crazy thing, he immediately stood up in fright with thorns all over his body.

Did this person always have so many dangerous thoughts in his mind?

But the biggest problem was, he was just a person sitting at home, whom the pot of blame had fallen on for no reason.

He obviously didn’t remember this behavior at all, so why did he become the “hateful White Moonlight who seeks wealth through murder” out of nowhere, and suddenly have to pay the price?

“No way! You can’t break the law — and I don’t even remember lying to you!”

Li Chengyuan wasn’t listening to his words. After a long silence, his expression suddenly went blank and he muttered to himself: 

“Don’t go……I have money for you now, why don’t you come back……”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback at the sight, and couldn’t help but paint a picture in his mind:

The little scumbag cheated the frail and sick little boy of all his money with sweet words, and when he saw that there was no profit to be made, he left the sick and dying person and walked away.

This mentally disturbed big kitty cat looked so pitiful that Xia Xingchi could practically see his invisible ears drooping due to grievances and sadness, and as a result, he immediately felt a bit of condemnation in his conscience.

Although he couldn’t figure out the situation and guessed that there had been some misunderstanding, Xia Xingchi still couldn’t help but hug Li Chengyuan and touch his head:

“Don’t be like this. I’m back, I’m not leaving. I promised to work for you for the rest of my life.” 

Li Chengyuan remained unmoved and reached out to grab his wrist with a cold expression, not letting go. He still looked quite aggrieved.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi could only slowly repeat the fact that he would not leave or lie to others, so as to appease this big crazy cat who had no sense of security.

After an unknown amount of time, the anxiety and fear in Li Chengyuan’s heart seemed to finally be completely appeased.

Or perhaps it was because his mind was finally clearing up a little that he at last slowly loosened his grip on Xia Xingchi.

Xia Xingchi was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the other party suddenly coughed. He had caught a cold after all.

Li Chengyuan coughed until he was out of breath. Xia Xingchi quickly patted him on the back and asked him softly as if coaxing a child: “It’s too cold at night, shall we go home first?”

After a long while, Li Chengyuan finally stopped coughing and sat there silently.

Then Xia Xingchi hugged him to keep warm like he did when he was a child, hoping he would feel better.

He heard him call him in a low voice: “Xia Xingchi.”

After Xia Xingchi heard this, he carefully discerned the difference and breathed out heavily —

His tone was almost the same as usual, and no more strange things came out of his mouth. Clearly, his sanity had recovered a lot.

But the atmosphere was quiet for half a second before Xia Xingchi promptly blushed with an unprecedented feeling of embarrassment.

When facing a Li Chengyuan who was like a confused child, of course he could hug and comfort him, and gently touch his head……he could even indulge his unhinged kisses.

But at this moment, facing someone who seemed to be a little sober, everything became rather ambiguous and strange.

Xia Xingchi quickly let go of him and jumped up, moving away.

Fortunately, under the cover of night, his thoroughly red face could not be seen.

“Then…..let’s go home, ba?” Xia Xingchi cleared his throat and made a show of indifference.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips, then nodded slightly. It seemed that he was able to communicate.

He had been sitting there for a whole day, and Xia Xingchi feared that his blood sugar would cause him to be dizzy if he stood up too quickly.

Thus, he took out a piece of candy from his pocket and stuffed it into the other’s mouth, waiting for a while before letting him get up slowly.

It stood to reason that this person had already come to his senses, but he hadn’t fully returned to normal, and still held Xia Xingchi’s wrist without letting go.

Li Chengyuan never spoke, nor did he ask any questions about the memory fragments.

Due to being under suspicion for being a scumbag, Xia Xingchi could only let him hold onto him.

Not rushing to leave immediately, Xia Xingchi turned around and earnestly bowed to the photo on the tombstone. Yin Huairou was smiling gently and softly.

He said silently: Your son will be taken care of by me in the future. Don’t worry about him.

If it was true that she could see them from the afterlife, he believed that Yin Huairou might feel guilty and regretful.

She used to love her child so deeply, and never disliked his frail, sick body at all. Instead, there was only worry and distress.

If she hadn’t had a nervous breakdown in the darkness of life, unable to control her twisted madness, maybe she wouldn’t have done such a terrible thing or treated her beloved child so cruelly.

That was why, as an innocent victim, Li Chengyuan had very complicated feelings toward her. Wanting to hate, but unable to do so entirely, and wanting to love but unable to move past a wound that would not heal.

After bowing, Xia Xingchi took the initiative to grab the cold paw of an insecure big cat.

As they walked out of the cemetery, he turned his head slightly to ask: “Boss, did you not eat anything today?”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly, staring straight at the warm hand holding his own, and only after a long moment did he come back to his senses and say, “En.”

“Then I have good news for you!” Xia Xingchi’s tone seemed very light-hearted, obviously hoping to make Li Chengyuan happy:

“I made a lot of money shooting an advertisement today, so I’ve decided to invite you out to dinner!”

As a little money grubber – not only did he cling to money, but he also clung to other people’s money. It was quite rare for Xia Xingchi to take the initiative to treat a guest.

Li Chenyguan then smiled very lightly, knowing that Xia Xingchi was trying to make him happy and let him escape his suffocating depression.

He was silent for a moment before finally speaking: “Xia Xingchi, you just said a lifetime…..can I trust you again?”

As long as this little liar said yes, even if he was deceived several times, he would still be willing to believe it again.

Xia Xingchi froze for a moment, and after thinking of something, his face turned red again.

After a long time, he pretended not to care and whispered: “W-well, that depends on what kind of relationship a lifetime entails. I’ll consider it.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere turned ambiguous, and Xia Xingchi regretted talking about it.

Could it be that his brain was starved for oxygen after being kissed, and he started talking nonsense?

Unexpectedly, his embarrassment and pounding heart only lasted for a moment. In addition to the sound of the night wind rustling the grass and trees, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.

— Wait, if Li Chengyuan had been in the west area of the cemetery, who was the person he saw back then?

Xia Xingchi immediately became vigilant. His mind had been full of worry and anxiety just now, and when he saw that figure, he thought he had recognized the wrong person.

But now, after some consideration, how could someone pay respects in the cemetery on such a dark night?

The moment this idea occurred to him, a sense of crisis spontaneously emerged. Xia Xingchi immediately turned his head and said: “Li Chengyuan, I just saw……”

Before he could finish speaking, there was the sound of footsteps rushing forward behind them!

Immediately afterward, the sound of something flying through the air sounded, and before he could react, there was a loud “bang!”

Xia Xingchi realized that the cold fingers he was holding had pulled away, and turned his head to look in horror.

However, it was Li Chengyuan who quickly and violently threw that person to the ground, and then decisively stepped on the opponent’s wrist to dislocate it!

The iron rod in the man’s hand rolled away, and in the silence, there was an alarming sound.

Xia Xingchi reacted extremely quickly, instantly understanding what was going on, and promptly bent down to pick up the iron rod.

As soon as he stood up straight, he heard a disordered rush of footsteps. Clearly, there was more than one person coming!

His heart beat wildly as Xia Xingchi quickly turned around to pull Li Chengyuan up and ran toward the exit of the cemetery.

The other party had obviously come prepared, so there must be enough that the two of them couldn’t handle them.

What’s more, even if he knew that the big villain Li Chengyuan was much stronger than he looked and was capable of fighting, Xia Xingchi didn’t want him to.

After all, even if Li Chengyuan was lightly tapped with a stick, Xia Xingchi’s heart would be terribly distressed. Under these circumstances, how could there be a way to get out of the fight?

Judging from the current situation, the person Xia Xingchi saw just now who looked exactly like Li Chengyuan was probably that wicked bastard Li Shengrui.

The previous poisoning had failed to take him down in one hit. Now he dared to attack again, obviously because he knew that Li Chengyuan would appear here on this special day.

Running down the winding stairs in the west area of the cemetery, they could drive away safely once they rushed out the gate and reached the parking lot outside.

And it wasn’t as easy to stumble on the wide avenue under the stairs, so the group of people chasing after them would naturally be unable to catch up.

Seeing that it was safe to cross this flat path, Li Chengyuan suddenly tugged at Xia Xingchi: “Wait.”

“What is it!”

The people chasing them were very close, and Xia Xingchi was anxious.

“Don’t go down that path, let’s go this way.” After saying this, Li Chengyuan wanted to go deeper into the cemetery.

“But —”

Xia Xingchi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to put his unconditional trust in Li Chengyuan. Although he was puzzled, he followed him and changed direction.

He was wondering why they didn’t go outside when there was an unexpected “boom!” and the sound of a car engine revving!

The harsh noise pierced through the dark, and Xia Xingchi froze at once.

It took a moment to realize that this was the sound of someone violently smashing a car into the gate and breaking it open!

Xia Xingchi’s heart shuddered. If they had just hurriedly left along the flat path, it was obviously not just the gate that would have been hit.

At this time, Li Shengrui, who was watching the scene in the dark from the other side, saw that the fatal blow had missed and immediately gritted his teeth in fury.

Li Chengyuan’s react speed and instincts were terrifyingly fast.

Just by seeing that the opponent was holding an iron rod instead of a deadly knife, he could already deduce Li Shengrui’s true plan — 

If he really dared to commit blatant murder, he would stab him to death in this barren, dilapidated cemetery.

But the ill-intentioned people had come in such numbers and didn’t dare to use knives, so obviously they couldn’t use this method to kill him.

Just like when faking a heart attack using poison, this time was also supposed to look like an accident.

And a car accident was the best option.

Afterwards, there could be countless excuses such as brake failure, sudden impairment of the driver, and so on, to easily evade criminal responsibility.

Li Shengrui became increasingly furious and crazed. This was obviously the last chance, as there would never come a day when the mentally disordered Li Chengyuan would relax his vigilance.

Thinking of his inferiority complex because of his status as an illegitimate child all these years, and watching the always-excellent Li Chengyuan, Li Shengrui had become more and more distorted and hateful.

In addition, the most important thing was the huge inheritance of hundreds of billions —

With this money and assets, he would no longer watch everyone face Li Chengyuan with awe and respect but show indifference and disdain to this illegitimate child.

He gritted his teeth for a moment, and immediately made an even more insane decision.

Li Shengrui held down the button on the communicator and said eerily: “Kill him right here. The money will be increased by five times, and I will deal with the situation afterward.”

. . . . . . 

The terrain in the cemetery was rugged, and Xia Xingchi heard their pursuers’ footsteps getting closer and closer. He had a bad feeling, and then he heard the sound of something cutting through the air again!

Li Chengyuan yanked Xia Xingchi violently to make him dodge this ruthless killing move, and at the same time, his other hand moved like lightning to grip the iron rod. Then he simply raised his hand and hit the opponent hard on the head!

The whole bizarre movement was as fast as drifting clouds and flowing water. There was only a muffled sound of shock, and it was unknown whether the other person’s head was still intact or not.

“They plan to kill me,” Li Chengyuan said in a heavy voice. “Stay away and call the police. I’ll hold them back.”

Xia Xingchi frowned upon hearing this, but he didn’t act out the insipid plot of “I won’t leave, we’ll die together” at such a critical moment.

Although there were ten thousand disagreements in his heart, he turned around obediently and ran away —

This was the only solution to the crisis. He couldn’t foolishly call the police in front of them, otherwise he would become the target and he wouldn’t be able to dial successfully.

Their goal was to kill Li Chengyuan, so they didn’t pursue Xia Xingchi relentlessly.

Xia Xingchi was extremely nervous, and immediately took out his phone as soon as he ran to a temporary hiding spot. His fingers were shaking, and he quickly dialed the emergency number with the shortcut key.

Li Chengyuan swept his eyes across the seven or eight people in the other party.

If not for the fact that he hadn’t fully recovered after his poisoning, he would obviously have the strength to fight, but he knew at this moment that his body was reaching its limit.

Seeing him stop and turn around, everyone hesitated for a moment.

Ordinary people didn’t have such skills, and more importantly, they didn’t possess the ruthlessness to kill on the spot.

Even if it was in legitimate self-defense, killing would haunt a person for many years and be in conflict with their three views, so people would always be a little hesitant subconsciously.

But Li Chengyuan was simply a lunatic, and didn’t hesitate in the slightest when doing it.

The action was so fierce that one had to suspect that if the iron rod in his hand was a long, sharp knife, he would be able to bloodily behead someone on the spot without blinking an eye.

One of them was the first to bite the bullet and rush forward, smashing down viciously with the iron rod!

In the blink of an eye, Li Chengyuan dodged so strangely that the iron rod brushed past his shoulder but didn’t touch him at all.

He was already standing beside his opponent in an instant, and put them solidly on the ground with a skillful horizontal kick.

Then, when the other party roared angrily and tried to get up and pounce on him, an iron rod directly hit the man’s head!

It collided fiercely with his skull, and there was a chilling dull sound, like a skull breaking.

Everyone’s hearts trembled. They never imagined that there was such a person among the rich and extravagant people in their impressions, who should be inactive. What’s more, Li Chengyuan was notoriously in bad health.

After finally breaking out of their surprise, they were about to rush forward together to kill Li Chengyuan when they suddenly heard the voice of Xia Xingchi talking with the police.

The cemetery was silent. Although Xia Xingchi had hidden as far away as possible and lowered his voice, it still clearly echoed in everyone’s ears.

“Fuck! The one who ran away is calling the police?!” One person shouted immediately.

As he spoke, he immediately picked up his rod and followed the sound, leaving the rest of the people to deal with Li Chengyuan as he went to clean up Xia Xingchi.

Li Chengyuan immediately frowned and chased after the man without any reluctance to fight.

When it came to Xia Xingchi’s safety, it was obviously his greatest weakness. His sudden aura of hostility and murderous intent would make people think he was a gangster.

Xia Xingchi tried his best to make his call to the police as detailed as possible. He had just hung up the phone when he turned around to see a vicious man approaching.

Li Chengyuan watched as the man raised the iron bar and slammed it down viciously at Xia Xingchi, who was crouching down to call the police. But he was one step behind and couldn’t catch up, feeling as if his heartbeat was going to stop at once.

But with a “bang!”, the iron rod in the gangster’s hand fell to the ground, and the person staggered for several steps before finally sitting down on the ground —

Xia Xingchi had picked up a brick and thrown it at his face.

After all, Xia Xingchi was quite experienced with hooligans from the bottom rungs of society. Since he was a child, he had also been beaten by people from all walks of life.

When he knelt down to hide and call the police, he didn’t forget to leave a brick at hand that had been used to press down paper money during a memorial service, and use it in self-defense.

Xia Xingchi picked up the brick from the ground, wanting to finish him off.

But even seeing the other party trying to get up to attack, and this was justifiable self-defense, it was really difficult for him to go against his morality and be ruthless.

As he hesitated for half a second over smashing the opponent to death with a brick, Li Chengyuan made the decision for him and swung down with his iron rod.

Those people were not stupid. Seeing that they were not Li Chengyuan’s opponents in a duel, they looked at each other and rushed forward together!

Li Chengyuan immediately kicked the person closest to him to the ground, then pivoted and swung the iron bar in his hand, just barely able to block the whistling attack from behind!

There were already dots of white mist in front of his eyes, and his heart began to throb. His physical strength was obviously exhausted, and he had reached the end of his battle.

As soon as he blocked the rod behind him, he saw another person rushing forward from the left.

At the critical moment when he was at his wit’s end, Xia Xingchi knocked the man down viciously from behind with a brick!

Although Xia Xingchi had hesitated subconsciously to attack ruthlessly, when he saw that the other party was about to hurt Li Chengyuan, he couldn’t care less about other things. He was itching to smash in the opponent’s dog head with this brick.

Li Chengyuan took a deep breath, his heart throbbing more and more.

At this time, he saw a gangster who had originally targeted him change his target to Xia Xingchi, wanting to kill the one sniping from the side first.

Xia Xingchi also felt that something was wrong. He was not made of the material to fight head-on, and the brick was even more of a disadvantage than the long rods.

He made a quick decision and swung his arm with all his strength. The brick flew from his hand, and the criminal closest to him was immediately knocked down!

But at the same time, he saw another black shadow approaching from the side, and the sound of the air splitting hit his ears!

Xia Xingchi suddenly felt a strong intuition and fear of death, but he couldn’t escape.

The moment he gritted his teeth with a numb scalp and was about to be beaten, he was suddenly protected by a familiar embrace!

“Bam!” There was a terrifying loud noise as Li Chengyuan grunted and abruptly caught the devastating blow with his back. There was an unprecedented sharp pain in his heart at this violent impact. His vision went dark, and he couldn’t even breathe for a few seconds.

“Li Chengyuan!” Xia Xingchi was so frightened that his voice almost broke.

He felt the arm that was holding him sink down, and it was obvious that Li Chengyuan had lost his balance and fell on him. After a moment, he managed to stand up on his own.

At the same time he cried out, the earth-shattering sound of sirens far and near pierced the night sky, echoing in this dead and silent cemetery. 

“Fuck!” A gangster promptly cursed, moving to kill them quickly and leave quickly.

The man kicked Xia Xingchi to the ground mercilessly, planning to deal with the easy one first.

Li Chengyuan gritted his teeth, forcing back the rusty taste of blood in his throat. The moment he witnessed this scene, he almost went insane, and with a final burst of strength, he knocked that person down with his iron rod!

Then, moments before another attack, he rushed directly to Xia Xingchi and firmly protected him under his body.

Xia Xingchi heard another dull sound as an iron rod hit Li Chengyuan squarely.

And then a second sound……

Li Chengyuan was in so much pain that he almost passed out, and immediately turned his head to vomit a mouthful of blood. At this time, Xia Xingchi was already bursting into tears.

Li Chengyuan whispered: “Don’t’ cry……it’s okay……”

At this critical moment, there was finally the sound of hurried running followed by a loud roar: 

“Police! Hands up! Don’t move!”

Although with the exorbitant remuneration, “with the promise of a reward, there will always be a brave man,” committing murder in front of the police was obviously courting death, and they might even be killed on the spot.

Several people had no choice but to throw down their weapons and raise their hands one after another.

Seeing this, Li Chengyuan’s tense mind and body finally relaxed.

The severe cramps in his heart almost made him unable to breathe at all.

He breathed hard, grabbed Xia Xingchi’s wrist with all his strength, and said: “Of course my loved one is……”

Xia Xingchi was crying uncontrollably, and was confused by his unfinished sentence.

Then he suddenly realized that Li Chengyuan was continuing the conversation between the two just now —

As lovers, they would be together for a lifetime.