CH 25

I walked about a meter behind him. There was a gash on his right hand that was bleeding freely, with no sign of stopping. I told myself not to be nosy, since he didn’t seem to care.

I remembered the phone I’d left in my bag near the castle.

“Did you bring your phone with you?” I asked.

“I didn’t bring it.”

A busy person like him goes out without a cell phone?

“I didn’t want to be disturbed by others today.”

I sneered and thought, Me too.

Then I heard him say, “If there is a fork in this tunnel, we will waste some time.” It was another explanation, which had a soothing effect.

“I am feeling thirsty, scared and exhausted by now.”

“Do not worry.”

“If it turns out that all exits are blocked in the end, there’s a possibility of some more bad luck.” After all, anything was on the table now that grounds randomly collapsed.

His slender figure stopped and turned back to look at me, the fire flickering in his eyes.

“I will find a way to let you out.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I’ll let you out,” he repeated, a little bit more gloomy in his tone.

I smiled and said, “I definitely have to get out. I think you should know why, Mr. Xi.”

I was not afraid of death, but now I didn’t want to die here with him.

Xi Xichen’s face turned a little ugly. “Let’s go.”

The fire swayed as he walked. After about ten meters the sound of water droplets began to get louder and the mosses increased significantly.

“The ground is slippery, be careful.”

We didn’t talk to each other because I could feel my strength start to weaken. I began  to walk with my side against the wall, hoping to save some energy. I did not want to fall in front of him before I found the exit.

“Are you okay?” The proximity of his voice made me look up in surprise, before I reflexively waved away the hand that wanted to support me.

“Don’t touch me, Xi Xichen!”

My emotions had reached their limit because of my current environment and company.

He became dead silent as he looked at me with a grim expression. Slowly, a glimmer of pain appeared in his eyes, and he suddenly pulled me into his arms with a kind of desperate indulgence.

I struggled weakly, in shock, but he only held on more tightly. I felt his scorching breath blowing into my ears, making it even more unbearable!

“Believe it or not, right now, here, no matter what I do to you, no one can do worse to me after I get out.”

“You lunatic, you let me go!” I had never seen Xi Xichen like this!

“Even if I’m a lunatic, I’m crazy for you, Jian Anjie. Anjie…,” His voice gradually softened, “What can I do so that you can forgive me? What can I do to stop you from hating and rejecting me?”

He released me, but his eyes stayed locked onto mine.

Standing in the dark and hearing such a humble tone along with such a candid look, a certain part of my heart twitched, and I felt it give a thump.

I suppressed the panic in my heart and looked at him directly, thinking that after all this time I was still aroused by him.

“Tell me, what on earth should I do?” He raised his hand to my face, pleading.

The cold touch on my face awakened me, and I pushed his hand.

“I said not to touch me!”

“Why would I allow myself to come to you? You have always killed me.” He looked at me with sadness in his eyes. “Anjie, you are unfair to me. You vetoed me completely from the beginning, and everything I do is like I’m doing useless work. But even knowing that I can’t get the slightest response, I still can’t let go. I’m like a fool.”

I held my breath, before saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“You know, how could you not know? You are so smart…” He smiled bitterly, “You know how to make me sore, how to push me into the abyss.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Such a retort felt weak even to myself.

“Even if it is a capital crime, there should be a time limit. So, can I choose to serve the sentence early?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I began to feel a little at a loss for this completely uncontrollable situation, and felt that something was going to happen.

“I’m not talking nonsense, I’m just…” The torch fell to the ground, and the light dimmed. Then I was pushed against the stone wall behind me. Because he put a hand behind my waist, my back didn’t feel the shock, but I couldn’t escape, and the outrageous disregard in his eyes startled my heart even more.

I remembered the strong kiss from that day, and thinking that he was going to repeat it, I yelled, “Xichen, don’t force me to hate you!”

“You already hate me, don’t you?” He was smiling, but with a tragic determination.

Suddenly I felt something made of cold steel jammed into my hand. As I realized what it was, he grabbed my hand and slammed it into his chest!