Chapter 29: Life And Death

“Are you okay?” Guan Xi tightly embraced Jiang Suizhou’s neck, her voice mixed with rain, with an obvious sob.

“Are you okay? … I’m fine.”

Ignoring the first half of his sentence, Guan Xi said, “You scared me. I thought you were going to die here.”

Jiang Suizhou’s breath was a bit erratic. “Why did you come down?”

Guan Xi replied, “I was scared staying alone up there, and I had to come down to see how you were.”

Jiang Suizhou furrowed his brows. “But staying here isn’t an option. Come, let’s go over there and take shelter from the rain.”

Guan Xi let go of him and followed his gaze. She then noticed a small recessed stone cave not far away. Nodding, she got up from the ground.

“Is he… dead?” Guan Xi asked.

Jiang Suizhou stood up, his expression momentarily showing pain.

“What’s wrong with you?” Guan Xi asked immediately.

“It’s nothing, let’s go.” Jiang Suizhou pulled her towards the stone cave. “He’s not dead.”

Guan Xi immediately became alert. “Then, let’s hurry. I’ll find a stone! Shall I beat him to death?”

Jiang Suizhou hesitated. “Taking a life may not be necessary. He’s severely injured now, not much of a threat.”

“Okay…”

Assisting each other, the two walked to the side of the small stone cave. It wasn’t large, but it could provide some shelter from the rain. Jiang Suizhou leaned against the stone wall, and Guan Xi sat beside him.

After the tension of the moment passed, the feeling of being overly stressed gave way to a sense of exhaustion. Clothes soaked, scratches from branches stinging, and a growing dizziness settled in Jiang Suizhou’s head.

“Jiang Suizhou, we won’t die here, right?”

“No, we won’t.”

Guan Xi wriggled her clothes, her voice weaker due to exhaustion. “Oh, by the way, weren’t your hands tied just now? How did you untie them so quickly? I was biting for so long.”

“Learned it.”

Guan Xi was puzzled. “You even learned this? What’s it for?”

Jiang Suizhou glanced at her. “Isn’t it just useful now?”

“…”

Guan Xi stared blankly for a few seconds, then belatedly realized that his “binding art” had indeed been used on her. “You—”

“Does it hurt?” Jiang Suizhou interrupted her, lifting her chin and examining the area where the knife had grazed.

Guan Xi gave him a side-eye. “Yes, it hurts, it hurts a lot.”

After thinking for a moment, she complained, “What’s your situation? Why are you alone? I thought the police had all arrived.”

Jiang Suizhou replied, “I happened to be driving on that road when you called. If it weren’t for this coincidence, I wouldn’t have made it here. As for them, they would definitely arrive more than an hour later.”

Guan Xi’s hands paused. “Then why did you come in alone?”

Jiang Suizhou looked at her. “Aren’t you scared alone?”

Guan Xi stared blankly. “Quite scared…”

“So, I came to find you.”

The sky had darkened a bit, and Guan Xi looked at Jiang Suizhou in the dim light, feeling a bit dazed.

As if a certain position in her heart had suddenly exploded, sparks flew, scalding her blood and numbing her limbs. She stayed still for a moment, lowered her head. Even though the situation was so miserable now, she couldn’t help but restrain a smile. “Oh…”

“Are you cold?” he asked.

Guan Xi nodded.

Jiang Suizhou pulled her into his arms. “We can’t make a fire now. Just endure a little longer.”

“Okay.” Guan Xi nestled in his chest, finding a comfortable position. “So, now we’re lost here. The rain is so heavy, and it’s getting dark. What if they can’t find us?”

“You don’t need to think so much. Just wait, everything will be fine,” Jiang Suizhou reassured.

“Okay…”

After sitting in the small stone cave for a while, Guan Xi heard a faint sound. She opened her eyes and saw the man in black crawling over. The head covering on his face seemed to have been torn off by Jiang Suizhou during the struggle. Although his face was now bruised and swollen, at least it was visible.

“He—”

Jiang Suizhou shielded her, staring at the man. Fang Zhihong, already half-beaten, was now also exhausted from the rain. He struggled to find shelter from the rain, having no strength left for anything else.

Guan Xi, nervous, observed for a while and realized, “Hey, you better not play any tricks now.”

The scene had changed, and the positions of the two had shifted. Not long ago, it was Fang Zhihong warning Guan Xi. Fang Zhihong glanced at her weakly, remaining silent.

“I know him,” Jiang Suizhou said.

Guan Xi was surprised. “Huh?”

“At the conference, when I told you I saw Guan Ying and a guy struggling, it was him,” Jiang Suizhou explained.

“So he does know Guan Ying…”

Guan Xi raised her head from Jiang Suizhou’s embrace and looked at Fang Zhihong. “Did Guan Ying instruct you?”

Fang Zhihong’s brows twitched when he heard this, and he said with an air of frustration, “You, don’t talk nonsense… This was my own idea, it has nothing to do with anyone else.”

Guan Xi sneered, “I thought so too. Such a dumb and unplanned act, only a blockhead like you could pull it off.”

“…”

“What’s your relationship with Guan Ying? Do you like her?” Guan Xi hit the mark with her guesses, and Fang Zhihong’s lips moved slightly, clearly admitting to being guessed right.

Guan Xi said, “Looks like you’re a hopeless romantic. You wanted to kill me for her, right?”

“I didn’t kill you…”

“But you brought me here to get rid of me. However, you’re hesitating because you’ve never killed anyone, isn’t that right?” Guan Xi teased.

Fang Zhihong let out a disdainful snort.

Guan Xi couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his awkward attempts, “You really didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

Fang Zhihong retorted, “Why not? Do you know how much pressure your existence brings to her? She has been strong-willed since childhood… She didn’t have a comfortable past, and now, after finally obtaining the family and life she desired, there’s still an adopted daughter competing with her… I don’t want her to be unhappy.”

Guan Xi hesitated, “Were her foster parents unkind to her before? 

Fang Zhihong was taken aback, “Uncle and Auntie were good people, of course, they treated her well. But… compared to the Guan family, the conditions weren’t as favorable. Guan Xi, you should have some self-awareness. Since she’s back, you should return everything to her. You don’t have the qualification to compete with her…”

Jiang Suizhou frowned, casually threw a stone accurately at Fang Zhihong’s face, “If you don’t want me to throw you out, shut up. Who do you think you are to say these things here?”

Fang Zhihong glared at Jiang Suizhou in frustration, unable to resist. Guan Xi’s lips turned pale. She remembered Wei Shaomin’s tone in the office that day. She had no position, no qualifications…

It was beyond her capability. She already knew, so she had to give up. This blockhead really knew how to pick the worst times to cause trouble.

**

Soon, the rain stopped, but by that time, it was already completely dark. In this situation, walking in the primitive forest would be even more dangerous, so they decided to wait until dawn. Guan Xi initially wanted to stay alert with open eyes, but after being soaked in the rain and feeling tired and cold, she drifted off to sleep in a daze.

When she woke up again, it was Jiang Suizhou calling her.

“Guan Xi, Guan Xi? Wake up, hold on a bit—”

His urgent voice echoed in her ears. Guan Xi thought, it’s rare for this blockhead to sound so concerned…

“The sky is already getting light, we can go out now, hear me?”

Guan Xi felt like her eyelids weighed several kilograms, and it took considerable effort to open them. “Has someone come to find us?”

Jiang Suizhou touched her forehead and cheeks, which were already burning hot. “It might be difficult for us to be found here. We should at least get out.”

“Mmm…”

Jiang Suizhou helped her up and carried her on his back.

Guan Xi lay softly on his shoulder, weakly saying, “Jiang Suizhou, I think I might have a fever.”

Carrying her towards the exit of the small stone cave, Jiang Suizhou replied, “We’ll be out soon.”

“So unlucky… not dead from a fall or bitten by a wild animal, but possibly dying from a fever.”

Jiang Suizhou glanced at her, “You won’t die, stop talking nonsense.”

Guan Xi made a sound of acknowledgment and hugged him tighter. After a heavy rain, everything was damp, and the path became even more difficult. Jiang Suizhou walked slowly, limping and struggling. Guan Xi felt like she was burning up, and the surroundings seemed to blur. Yet, she didn’t dare to sleep. It felt like if she slept, she would die right away. So she tightly pinched her own hand, using the pain to maintain some consciousness.

When Jiang Suizhou lowered his gaze, he noticed, “Guan Xi.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you very tired?” Her wrist was already marked with red indentations from her own grip, making Jiang Suizhou even more anxious.

Guan Xi responded in a muffled voice, “A little.”

Jiang Suizhou chuckled, “Then you can continue sleeping for a while.”

“No, no, no, I won’t sleep,” Guan Xi said. “It looks kind of creepy for you to walk alone. Let me talk to you.”

“It’s fine.”

“Let me talk… well, actually, I’m a bit scared.”

Jiang Suizhou sighed lightly and continued walking, “What do you want to say?”

Guan Xi put on a mournful face, “I want to say that I’m very hungry now, starving to death. I really want to eat something. Once we get out, I’ll definitely eat a whole goose…”

“Anything else?”

“I also want to have a full-body spa, do some skincare. My legs are all cut, and if I end up with scars, I’ll be furious. Plus, all that dirty water, my skin is almost wrinkled…”

“Hmm.”

“I also want to go shopping, buy clothes, buy shoes…”

“Okay, I’ll buy them for you.”

“And a watch? Ah… I saw a new watch the other day, so beautiful.”

“Got it.”

“That’s it?”

Jiang Suizhou said, “If you can hold on until they find us and we get out, I’ll foot the bill.”

“What if I can’t hold on…”

“Then you won’t get anything.”

Guan Xi perked up immediately, “Just kidding, I can hold on! I can!”

Jiang Suizhou hooked his lips and said, “Good, hold on.”

Guan Xi also didn’t know how long they had been walking. She only remembered talking a lot, only remembered holding him, and experiencing a taste of life and death together. In a daze, she wondered if she and Jiang Suizhou could be considered as having experienced life and death together. In romantic dramas, such plots usually end with a happy marriage…

But then she thought, what if she really lost everything in the future? What would she have left to marry Er Gou? By then, they probably wouldn’t be able to get married.

Thinking like this, she unexpectedly felt very sad…

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