CH 40

The crookback man said faintly with his hands behind his back. The mask covered his entire face, only revealing a pair of sinister eyes. It was as if he knew that everything was under his control.

At this moment, the tied-up Duan An Ran slowly came to. The first one she saw when her eyes opened was Ji Nan Feng. 

“Save me! Nan Feng, save me! They strapped a bomb to me,” Duan An Ran cried heartbreakingly, her voice was hoarse and she looked very fearful.

Ji Nan Feng frowned. He did not care whether this woman lived or died, but he faintly felt that something was not right.

“Second Young Master Ji, do you plan to save this person? I may have forgotten to tell you that the bomb fastened to your old lover is also simultaneously connected to another strapped to another person. You’ll only have twenty minutes. When the time runs out and she’s still tied up here, it’s safe to assume that she’ll die. And of course, the other one wouldn’t be able to escape from it either,” the man continued mysteriously. Completely eerie, and although each word was spoken in a calm tone, one could sense his bloodthirsty intentions. 

Ji Nan Feng clenched his fists, “how do I know that you’re telling the truth?” 

“You can choose not to believe me. Maybe… you think you can afford to take this gamble, then you might as well give it a try.” The man felt that everything was within his grasp. Indeed, there was no such thing, he was merely bluffing as time was tight and there was not enough time to prepare that elaborately. 

However, Ji Nan Feng dare not take this gamble either. People say when attacking a snake, strike it seven inches on its vertebra1 and Mo Li Xin was his seventh inch. He could not afford to take this risk. Besides, in the mess of footprints back inside the tunnel, he was sure that one pair belonged to her. 

Gv vbl pyxl vkxl, kdpkel y prllekdt nya, Ys Nk Dkd obs oyp wdnsdpnkswp kd vbl cynjplyv bye bla blye cwxrkdt yaswde obkzl pbl oyp vkle wr.

“Eyjl bla wr,” vbl xyd eakhkdt kdpvawnvle yp bl zssjle vbaswtb vbl alyahklo xkaasa.

“Jasvbla Dw, vbkp osxyd kp alyzzu pvwddkdt! Ebu esd’v ol wpl bla qsa swa ldfsuxldv qkapv?” G rskdvle-xswvble xsdjlu nblljle xyd olyakdt y xypj zllale yv Ys Nk Dkd yp bkp byde kdnble nzspla vs vbl rzynl bl nshlvle. Tkp xypj nswze dsv nsdnlyz bkp wtzkdlpp.

“Fvsr. Jspp yzalyeu kdpvawnvle vbyv ol xwpv byde bla shla okvbswv vswnbkdt y pkdtzl pvayde sq bla byka.” Mbl xyd eakhkdt pvyvle pszlxdzu.

Gde pwal ldswtb, yqvla bl blyae kv, vbl xsdjlu nblljle xyd bypvkzu okvbealo bkp byde. Tl saktkdyzzu oydvle vs tkhl bla y pzyr vs oyjl bla wr, obs jdlo vbyv pbl oswze pvyav oyjkdt wr clqsal bl aykple bkp byde.

“Eblal yx R? Ebs yal usw twup? Ebyv yal usw tskdt vs es?” Ys Nk Dkd ldewale vbl vbascckdt kd bla blye yp pbl vakle vs yeyrv vs vbl pweeld caktbvdlpp. Fbl kxxlekyvlzu oldv sd twyae obld pbl alyzkple vbyv pbl oyp kd y xshkdt nya. Eyp pbl dsv fwpv yvvldekdt vbl lhldkdt cydiwlv? Xb aktbv… vbl okdl vyczl nszzyrple, vbl okdl vsola nyxl naypbkdt esod. Gqvlaoyaep, pbl alxlxclale tlvvkdt jdsnjle swv yde vbyv xwpv cl bso pbl nyxl vs cl kd vbkp nwaaldv raleknyxldv.

“Vypp vbkp vs bla, zlv bla pll qsa blaplzq,” vbl xyd eakhkdt bydele y vyczlv cynjoyaep vs vbl xsdjlu nblljle xyd pkvvkdt clpkel Ys Nk Dkd yv vbl cynj sq vbl nya.

Tla bydep olal vkle clbkde bla cynj, ps vbl xyd bye vs bsze vbl vyczlv yde rzyu vbl hkels qsa bla vs pll.

The video was a little fuzzy but she could still make out what was going on. The scene looked chaotic and there were basically two groups of people; Ji Nan Feng’s and some men with masks. It did not take much to know that those masked men were in cahoots with these two inside the car with her. Additionally, tied to a cross on a raised platform was none other than Duan An Ran!

Mo Li Xin did not know why, but her heart suddenly sank.

The two opposing parties were equally matched, causing them to fall into a stalemate.

In the video, Ji Nan Feng was the first to speak, “what will it take for you to release her?” 

“Tsk tsk tsk, really a devoted man. Seems like she’s very important to you. Does it mean that I can set any condition? Then I shall be frank,” the crookback man stated.

Mo Li Xin did not know what was going on, so she thought that ‘she’ was referring to Duan An Ran. Her heart twisted in pain, but she wanted to believe that he had his reasons hence, she continued watching.

“Cut the crap, you designed such an elaborate strategy. Even if you didn’t anticipate us foiling your plans you still managed to create another trap in such a short period of time. Such a sophisticated plan indeed!” Ji Nan Feng stepped forward.

“No need to compliment me. You, youngsters, are terrifying too. Almost destroying most of my base despite your age. Nearly twenty years of my hard work nearly went down the drain,” the man rebuked. Somehow, Mo Li Xin found the man was somewhat familiar. 

“Alright, let’s not waste our breaths. Since she means so much to you, I sell you a personal favor. There’s not much that I want from you so I’ll make it easy. I want you to break one of your arms,” the man rested against the metal railing as if waiting to watch a good show.

“You must not! Be careful when trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice instead2. There’s no guarantee that they would release her after you break your arm.” One of the accompanying soldiers warned.

“She means the world to me. She is the most important person in my life. I love her. I love her more than I love myself. I cannot bear for her to suffer even the slightest bit. Previously I’ve brought only pain to her. This time around, I cannot afford to let her suffer again, how will I still fear if my body is torn or crushed into pieces?”

The man inside the screen said. As if he recalled something, he suddenly smiled before taking the gun from the soldier and aimed it at his shoulders. While Mo Li Xin was watching anxiously, the screen went black causing her mind to also blank. Everything happened too quickly today and she did not have time to adapt to what was going on. Yet, she was sure that the person in the video was Ji Nan Feng and the things said were also true. So it must be true… He was willing to sever his own arm for Duan An Ran… Mo Li Xin felt so suffocated that every breath she took felt difficult. 

“How pitiful, his wife goes missing but he still has time to care about some other woman. How enamored, but sadly… his love isn’t directed towards you. Did you see? At such a critical moment, who truly is the most important to your husband?” The person addressed as Brother Xu did not spare a thought as he continued to fuel the fire. On the surface, it seemed to be so and Mo Li Xin believed it, after all, she witnessed it with her own eyes and heard it with her own ears.

In front of Duan An Ran, he asserted that Duan An Ran was the love of his life, one that he loved more than his own life.

The man seated beside her sneered as he looked down on her. He spat distasteful words, dissing her affections and her current despair. But Mo Li Xin did not hear any of it. Her head was buzzing as she felt nauseous and dizzy.

In her current muddled state, she seemed to have finally understood everything.

How come Ji Nan Feng’s treatment towards her flipped one-eighty. Suddenly bringing her to meet his friends, introducing a job to her, accompanying her for shopping, even cooking meals for her. He even pushed Duan An Ran away when he clearly loved her so much, treating her like she was his enemy! And all these changes occurred overnight. Now thinking back, she must have been so drunk on his pampering that she willingly made excuses to justify his unreasonable actions. It turned out that deep down, she had never been at ease.

As her thoughts progressed, she realised that maybe she was just a scapegoat. One that was to replace Duan An Ran and suffer in her stead.

One could not blame her for thinking of such conspiracies. After all, she was conditioned to think in that direction due to all that happened before Ji Nan Feng was in a coma. There were too many discrepancies and he completely changed from the way he originally acted. His sudden change, if not fake, could not be explained with reason. Yet, even if it was so, she could not bring herself to hate him. He had already integrated so deeply in her soul and was impossible to remove like a cinnabar mole.

She laughed mockingly at how useless and pathetic she was. She laughed at herself, thinking that one day, he would explain everything to her on his own accord. She had held hope in her heart, despite their past, she did not want to believe that all his actions had been fake.

Unknowingly, tears started to slowly cascade down her face, her heart ached terribly. Just as she was about to pass out again, she felt the car crashing into something, followed by a few rounds of gunshots. Afterwards, her world went dark, oblivious to what occurred after.

~~~~

Two days later inside a large manor in Country B, an alluring lady was resting peacefully on the bed. Standing beside her bed were two people.

“How long will it take before she wakes up?” Gong Ze Yun’s flawless hand caressed the woman’s face.

A blonde-haired man standing next to him was checking a thermometer. After a while, he replied, “her fever has subsided, so she should be waking up any time soon. However, the fetus inside her stomach is a little unstable. It’s most likely due to the recent fright she suffered. But there’s no need to worry, I’ll prescribe a few medications to stabilize her pregnancy.”

Gong Ze Yun did not reply, he just nodded. Staring at Mo Li Xin, no one could tell what he was thinking about.

“Have you notified her husband?” the blonde-haired man continued to ask. This man was Allen. 

Gong Ze Yun was lost in his thoughts, seeming to have not heard Allen’s question.

“When you asked me to sign her on without telling me who she was, I just assumed that you were doing a favor for a friend. I didn’t expect you to feel so deeply towards her. But she’s already married. Sigh… listen to your good friend’s advice. Li Xin is great, but she’s not the only tree in the forest.” That day, when Allen saw Gong Ze Yun willing to risk everything to save Mo Li Xin, he was flabbergasted even though he admired his actions. 

He never knew that one could feel so deeply and would be willing to give up his life for someone who was not even related to them by blood. 

Fortunately, the heavens were merciful that day and nothing of irreversible consequence happened.

Despite saying so much, Gong Ze Yun still did not say a word. Hence, Allen could only choose to leave silently.

Currently, Gong Ze Yun’s mind was in complete chaos. Just as he crashed his car into the moving car that Mo Li Xin was in, it violently shook his skull causing him to gain knowledge of all the things that occurred after his death that he originally did not know of.

He passed away a year after Mo Li Xin’s death. And his death was sudden and unjustified; it was due to drunk driving.

After his rebirth, he initially thought that Ji Nan Feng did not love Mo Li Xin and he caused her death. But slowly, he started to realise that this life was heading in a completely different trajectory. It seemed like his third brother had changed so much that he could not fathom what he was thinking. Even the woman he loved seemed to be different, she knew how to stand up and protect herself. Additionally, under Ji Nan Feng’s pampering, she glowed in happiness with each passing day. This caused him to repeatedly hold himself back from placing himself between them. 

With this newly gained knowledge, he felt that his third brother was not in the wrong. In fact, he did not live well either. He mistakenly thought that his and Li Xin’s first child was a bastard all due to Duan An Ran’s manipulation. And even at the very end, when she donated her liver to him and subsequently passed away, he was not in the know. 

But to say that Ji Nan Feng was completely faultless was also impossible. He was blinded by hatred and trusted the wrong people, which indirectly led to the subsequent fated events.

This summarized my feelings for the first half of this chapter… 

(╯ರ ~ ರ）╯︵ ┻━┻

And this… this is for my beloved second male lead~