Chapter 15: Escape
The strength in his grip on her wrist slowly weakened, as light as the wind. He was struggling to lead her, and she didn’t know where they were going. It was as if she could break free with a single struggle.
She followed behind him, numbly, and stared blankly at the boy’s thin and frail back. She quickened her pace to catch up, not wanting him to waste any more energy.
A hazy mist was between the sky and the sea. The clouds were like a sluice gate, blocking the slanting sunlight. The horizon in the distance was undulating on the other side. The rising tide was surging, and it was carrying away the endless yellow sand. It had hit the reefs, which were full of holes, and a sky full of foam had exploded, and the snow-white seabirds were startled and were flying high.
He had pulled her and had stopped by a few reefs. One more step forward was a dark sea. The layers of seawater were endlessly hitting the reefs. The air was filled with a damp and viscous water vapor, and the wound in her heart was suddenly not so painful.
Her still senses had fallen into a dizzy spell that had made her knees weak. Her face was gradually turning pale from the loss of blood. The gauze on her chest was a little clumsily wrapped around the wound. The white gauze was soaked with blood, and no more was seeping out.
Su Yu turned around and looked at her. His thin, red and chapped lips were pursed with a blood color. He smiled palely and raised his well-defined hand to touch her scattered hair. His fingers were in the deep part of her hair roots, and he was slowly combing her messy hair ends.
He was as if he were tired. His eyelids were heavy and were pressing on his reason. He had pulled her and had sat down by the reef. He was leaning against her, and their breaths were intertwined with the lingering warmth of their skin touching, and he was pitying her. His spirit was on the verge of collapse several times.
Xia Qiange still didn’t understand his meaning. For the first time, she was confused by him. It was as if she were separated by a thick fog on the sea, and she couldn’t see through him. She could only see his beautiful and handsome eyebrows and eyes, and a gentleness was dotted on the corners. That was the stunning beauty she wanted to hide in a glass bottle and bury deep in the soil.
She was a little dazed. Her palm was on his face, and her fingertips were tracing his handsome and high eyebrows. Her voice was trembling. The more silent he was, the more guilty she was. “Are you stupid? Aren’t you afraid of pain?”
“I’ve been in pain once before… I got used to it later. I won’t die. I was lucky this time.”
Su Yu smiled and shook his head. He looked at the white wave that was rising in the distance and was rushing towards him. His calm and indifferent attitude was like a saint who was pure of heart and had few desires. He waved his hand and forgave everything. But the easy forgiveness would make the suffering he had endured worthless, as if nothing had happened after the wound had healed.
He couldn’t get the best answer every time he dealt with it. In the end, he was covered in scars and found that everyone was just a loser who couldn’t get rid of fate.
He would often think about the physical pain these things had brought him, or the invisible reshaping of his outlook on life… the mental torment that wanted to control him. He had been so afraid of these things before, so he should have been resentful. He should have picked up a knife and words to take revenge on all the murderers who had dragged him into the abyss.
He should have done this. His weak fingertips trembled and clenched. He stared at her, but she lowered her head in self-blame.
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand a single word.”
“It’s almost dawn. Look over there.”
Su Yu didn’t answer. Instead, he pointed to the horizon. She followed his finger and looked over. She was stunned for a moment, and her eyes suddenly lost focus.
It was dawning.
The night sky was torn open by the sunlight, and a hint of white appeared in the sky. The wind was howling in the clouds, and the tide was rising and falling restlessly. Her legs were dangling in the air, and the seawater was over her ankles. The splashing white foam had wet her fair and delicate instep. The water and the sky were rippling, and it was so beautiful that it almost made one doubt that all of this was an illusion.
“The sun is about to come out. We’ll go back after we’ve seen it…”
With a click, Xia Qiange’s silent heart suddenly pounded. Blood gushed into her blood vessels, and her morbid thoughts were nourished by it, and they grew wildly like weeds.
Go back? She had no home anymore.
She was mesmerized by the brief and beautiful harmony, and she had forgotten the crime she had committed against him. Either she would be washed clean, or she would have to bear it. No matter which one, it would make her gradually move away from him and return to her initial fear.
She was in a daze and was in a state of a nervous breakdown.
Su Yu turned his head and opened his mouth. The words didn’t come out. But she stared at his lips in a daze. The lack of security was filled by a burgeoning and twisted possessiveness.
In an instant, Su Yu was captured by the softness on her lips. He kissed her in a flustered breath and looked at her beautiful and simple face, which was in a daze.
She held him and kissed him fiercely. Her flesh and blood began to burn. The cold sea breeze was lifting their thin clothes. They were holding each other, and they were lingering on the lingering warmth of the two of them.
Su Yu opened his eyes from his lust and saw that her eyes were stained with a fishy smell, and they were as cloudy as muddy water. It was as if she wanted to completely possess him, control him, and destroy him… it was as if she had instantly returned to the her of the beginning.
He slowly closed his eyes. He fell into an endless madness with her.
When their lips finally parted, he opened his eyes again and looked at her quietly. The haze of raw desire in his gaze had faded.
Xia Qiange avoided his eyes and lowered her head. She held his hand and slowly wrapped her palm around it. Her forehead was on his chest, and she was rubbing against it lightly. Her panicked and helpless tone was full of remorse.
“Ah Yu, I don’t want to leave you. I’m sick… it’s an incurable and chronic illness. It’s controlling me. But because of you… I don’t want to die. I can’t resist it. It’s talking in my ear. It’s so noisy. I really feel like I’m going crazy. Can you help me, please?”
Su Yu didn’t speak, but it was as if he had been pricked by a needle. He saw the girl’s eyes were crying, and the corners of her eyes were red. It was as if she were crying, and also as if she were not.
After the lies were broken, everything became unbelievable. Behind it was an unknowable darkness. He hesitated for a few seconds and chose to be direct. “You’re trying to make me feel sorry for you again.”
The tears suddenly dried up and slowly stopped at the corners of her eyes. Her body, which was in his arms, became stiff. She slowly let go of the action of teasing his soft heart and sniffed. Her voice was filled with a cry. “I’m sorry…”
“But I promise you… I’ll be with you until you get better.”
“I know.” Xia Qiange nodded obediently, her tone stiff. Her eyes were lowered and were uncertain, and a darkness was wandering in her dark eyes.
The gap in the night sky was getting bigger and bigger. The sunlight was leaking from the clouds, and an orange-yellow screen was slowly being propped up in the sky. The light of the rising sun was piercing through the gray clouds, and it was gradually spreading on the sparkling sea like a golden light.
He was really so tired. Even though his wound was faintly aching, the sleepiness was still in his brain nerves, and it was in a mess. He slowly tilted his body and fell on him. The sunlight was gradually disappearing from his eyes. They nestled together, their backs bathed in the warm glow of the rising sun, shadows stretching long and soft behind them…
There was a strange sound from behind. Xia Qiange slowly turned her head. She saw a tall and slender girl standing behind them in a daze. Her gaze was locked on the boy’s body and she was not willing to move away. Her whole person was numb and at a loss.
Her reason wanted to follow her instinctive cowardice. He Mu Qing almost subconsciously wanted to turn and leave. But she saw the blood that had seeped onto the reef, and she had to stop.
She suddenly… didn’t want to run away anymore.
