Chapter 72

The harsh, icy tones of the automated voice cut through the dismal, rainy night like an unsettling discord, completely tearing apart the silence of the dark room.

The blood in Yan He’s body froze solid in an instant. Her movements stiffened, and even her breath hitched at that faint, mechanical alert.

Outside the door, the double-beep sounded again, mingled with a woman’s soft, choked sobs drifting through the cold wind and rain. Seeping in through the cracks of the window like an endless ribbon of smoke, it spiraled straight into Yan He’s ears.

“A-He… A-He…”

Yan He’s head went completely blank, as if scorched by a sudden flame. Before she could even consciously process what was happening, her body’s instinctive urge to flee from Lu Youqing took over. She drew her legs up tightly against her chest, curling into a ball on the sofa and staring at the front door with wide, terror-stricken eyes.

The wind howled outside while rain pelted relentlessly against the building. Thunder cracked intermittently, illuminating the dark living room in brief, stark flashes. The destructive roar of the storm mercilessly battered Yan He’s precarious sanity, accompanied all the while by the woman’s desperate weeping outside.

It was Lu Youqing.

Yan He clutched the throw pillow tightly to her chest, biting down on her lip so hard she nearly drew blood just to hold back her own whimpers. Her face turned deadly pale.

It had been less than twelve hours—she hadn’t even been separated from Lu Youqing for a single day—yet she had been found so easily…

Her legs felt completely hollow, and all the strength in her body drained away like spilling water, leaving her collapsed on the sofa like a heap of mud. She could no longer distinguish the different sounds outside—Lu Youqing’s hoarse pleas for forgiveness, her desperate requests to open the door, the howling wind, and the relentless pounding of raindrops against the glass. It was all so agonizingly loud that her brain felt as if it were splitting open.

“Get away!” She squeezed the words out like a bird caught by the throat—a sharp, [bailiantales.com]desperate shriek released right before death.

The knocking outside paused for a second, only to become even more urgent in the next instant. The person outside seemed to realize that Yan He was awake inside; her weak voice suddenly gathered a thread of desperate energy, calling out to her through the storm with urgent hope, begging for her beloved Yan He to give her a response—even if it was just a single word.

“A-He, I was really wrong! Please open the door, I beg you… I know I was too paranoid before, I know I was terrible to you, but I really know I was wrong now! I was wrong, A-He! Please just open the door and let me see you, okay? Being without you for these few hours was so painful… A-He, please open the door and let me look at you!”

“I didn’t know I made you so scared… I didn’t want it to be like this! I just wanted us to be together properly. I know I was wrong, and I won’t ever make you sad again. Please give me another chance, please just let me look at you! I miss you so much… It’s so cold outside, and I’m scared. A-He, please open the door and let me see you…”

The woman didn’t know how long she had been standing in the freezing wind or how long she had been crying out. Her voice was already raspy, blending mournfully with the growing storm, sending a bone-chilling cold straight through Yan He’s soul.

Yan He had heard these exact words countless times before. She could close her eyes and recite Lu Youqing’s pleas word for word without even thinking. Every single phrase filled her with repulsion and helplessness. Lu Youqing had never understood what her “mistakes” actually were; she simply assumed that Yan He was angry with her, and because Yan He was angry, she needed to apologize and claim she was wrong. It was always that simple.

No matter how tenderly or pitifully the woman outside called her name, Yan He refused to open the door. She remained frozen on the sofa, staring intently at the door frame, her slender frame looking pathetically helpless in the vast, dark living room.

Clasping the soft throw pillow in her arms, Yan He poured all her remaining strength into holding onto it, treating that single soft cushion as her absolute last fortress and shield. But in the next second, her wrist pressed against a cool, smooth texture sandwiched between the pillow and her skin, the tactile contrast painfully sharp.

Yan He froze. Looking down, the translucent, cool jade beads wrapped around her wrist seemed to gleam with a soft, comforting luster in the dim room, silently soothing her fragile heart. Everything Lu Youqing had ever given her was of the highest quality—she had never neglected Yan He’s physical comforts, least of all this jade bracelet she had prayed so hard to obtain. Even in this pitch-black room, while Yan He trembled uncontrollably, the bracelet still encircled her gently, offering its quiet solace.

Yet, a wave of overwhelming rage and despair crashed over Yan He. So… that’s how it was…

This bracelet—the one supposedly meant to pray for her safety—was actually meant to give Lu Youqing a sense of security all along. Without even realizing it, Yan He had slowly succumbed to believing so many of Lu Youqing’s carefully constructed lies.

A sound like the shattering of the earth echoed in her mind. Yan He ripped the bracelet bailiantales.com off her wrist at lightning speed, terrified of being ensnared by the beads any longer, and hurled it toward the broken window with all her strength. Along with the bracelet, a shrill, hysterical scream tore from her utterly shattered psyche.

“Get out! You lunatic, you’re a complete lunatic! Get away from me! Why are you still chasing me?! I left so many messages explaining everything to you—why won’t you listen, why won’t you look at them?! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! Please just let me go! Stop loving me! I can’t take your love anymore—don’t ever come near me again!”

Yan He was on the absolute brink of a mental breakdown. She didn’t even register the cruel, jagged words pouring out of her mouth into the endless dark. Extreme anger and despair filled her head with a single desire: to cast away every person and object binding her, to force them all away so she could retreat into her shell and wait for daylight. It was only after her outburst quieted down that she belatedly realized she had shattered the glass with her throw. Her body shuddered, and she instinctively looked up.

Outside, in the pouring rain, the trees in the courtyard bent precariously under the furious gales. A massive hole now gaped through the floor-to-ceiling glass window of the living room, allowing the howling wind and driving rain to sweep directly inside. Water vapor flooded her eyes, making her eyelashes quiver under the dampness, while her heart turned as icy as the storm outside.

Standing right in front of the broken window, out in the middle of the courtyard, was a woman. The fierce storm raged behind her, soaking her long gown completely and plastering it against her body. The hunting wind whipped her dress and loose hair wildly into the air. She stood there bolt upright in the freezing gale, shivering violently against the dim glow of the streetlights behind her.

A crack of thunder illuminated the room in stark white for a split second. In that instant, Yan He saw the deep red surrounding Lu Youqing’s eyes—and saw the pitch-black gaze locked intently onto her, as if suppressing a wellspring of heartbreaking anguish. Yan He could hear her trembling voice through her clenched teeth, soaked in tears and utter desperation.

“A-He… don’t run around. Come home with me.”

“Are you hurt? Please don’t hurt yourself like that… I beg you.”

It was far too cold outside. Lu Youqing’s voice couldn’t stop shaking. She had used every ounce of her stamina just to search for Yan He, and hearing the sound of glass shattering moments ago had sent her heart plummeting into a pit of ice. She had thought Yan He…

If something really happened to Yan He… Thank goodness. Thank goodness she was okay.

A lingering terror hid deep within Lu Youqing’s eyes, yet a sudden thread of warmth spread through her frozen body.

She felt satisfied; she was truly happy. Because she had seen [unauthorized copy]Yan He, because she had managed to find her A-He once again, and because nothing unthinkable had happened to her.

The surge of joy inside her ran deeper than the physical cold racking her frame. Lu Youqing tried to take a step forward, but in the next second, she caught sight of Yan He instinctively flinching backward in horror. Lu Youqing froze. Her body, completely stiffened by the freezing rain, failed to respond; combined with her sudden halt, she lost her balance and crumpled heavily onto the ground.

Yan He’s dazed consciousness snapped back to reality. Overriding the deep terror still quivering in her soul, her body acted faster than her mind, rushing forward instinctively to pull Lu Youqing up.

As their two freezing bodies pressed together, desperately absorbing whatever warmth remained, Yan He suddenly realized what she had done. Struck with panic, she tried to let go, but in the very next second, Lu Youqing locked her arms tightly around Yan He’s waist with a fierce, unrelenting grip.

“No…” The woman rasped in a trembling, almost soundless voice, her every word dripping with refusal as she buried her face tightly into Yan He’s chest.

She loved holding Yan He like this. It gave her the surreal comfort that even if the entire world exploded in the next second, as long as she and Yan He remained together, she could die happily.

The thrill of recovering what she had lost made her tremble with delight. Ever since learning that Yan He had vanished, she had been consumed by pure panic. Now that she was touching her lover again, Lu Youqing even thought that dying right now in this moment of bliss wouldn’t be a bad outcome at all.

“That loud noise just now… did you get hurt? Does it hurt? Please don’t hurt yourself like that, okay?” She sobbed, tightening her embrace around Yan He’s waist, terrified to let her slip away.

Up close, Yan He could finally see the ghost-white pallor of Lu Youqing’s face—devoid of a single trace of color—and the bone-chilling cold radiating from deep within her body, seeping directly into Yan He’s skin and blood.

She was still wearing the backless evening dress from the recording studio, leaving most of her smooth back completely exposed to the elements. Even a summer night would feel chilly in such attire, let alone a stormy night in December.

Just how long had she been standing outside? Was she truly willing to throw her life away for this?

Yan He didn’t know. Her consciousness was once again being drawn under Lu Youqing’s overwhelming influence. It felt as if the moment Lu Youqing appeared, whatever resolutions Yan He had formed would instantly dissolve into thin air.

She felt utterly useless—constantly retreating while Lu Youqing pressed forward step by step, dragging them both down into a pitch-black abyss where light would never reach them again.

The wind drove the rain onto both of them. Yan He trembled uncontrollably—partly from the freezing temperature, and partly from the way Lu Youqing was clinging to her, her fingers clutching Yan He’s clothes so tightly her knuckles turned white and contorted.

Lu Youqing looked up at her, her brows curved into a soft arc, her eyes gleaming with obvious joy.

See? She knew A-He couldn’t stop loving her. A-He was worrying about her so much—she definitely still loved her. Everything A-He said earlier was just spoken in anger. How could A-He possibly not love her?

“A-He… I missed you so much. Going just a few hours without news of you made me so miserable I couldn’t do anything… My head was completely filled with you. Don’t… please don’t push me away.”

She leaned obediently against Yan He’s chest, obsessively murmuring Yan He’s name, sinking entirely into a sweet dream she had woven for herself. She didn’t feel the biting cold at all, nor did she notice how abnormal Yan He’s reaction was.

“Don’t leave anymore, okay? Come home with me. Let’s go home… I was really wrong. I beg you, A-He.” Prolonged exposure to the freezing rain was rapidly inducing hypothermia, making Lu Youqing’s brain too sluggish to process anything complex. She could only repeatedly apologize, desperate to earn Yan He’s forgiveness, willing to do anything requested of her.

Looking down at her state, tears streamed silently down Yan He’s face. Her mind was on the verge of collapsing, yet she could still perceive the terrifying reality of what Lu Youqing was doing. Right at that moment, another crack of thunder split the sky, illuminating the scene behind Lu Youqing—a ground covered in sharp glass shards, dotted with tiny, crimson specks of blood.

Yan He’s breath hitched violently, her pupils trembling in shock. She whipped her head back, meeting Lu Youqing’s still-obsessive gaze.

Rain lashed against the grass outside, splattering water droplets hard against Yan He’s face. A voice seemed to whisper right beside her ear:

“It’s useless. Do you see now? Even in this state, she still holds onto you tightly and searches for you without hesitation. She can’t function Read on BaiLianTales without you at all. You can never leave. She will never let you go for the rest of your life.”

“No… no… no…” Yan He’s entire body shivered. That voice echoed like a demonic whisper from hell, tearing her heart open to reveal her most helpless, raw wound. She began to shrink back instinctively, desperate to escape this suffocating reality, and somehow managed to break free from Lu Youqing’s hold.

“A-He! A-He!” Lu Youqing panicked, reaching out frantically to grab her, but her hands caught only empty air. Yan He was as drenched as she was, her wet hair plastered against her face by the storm. She looked almost hysterical, waving her hands wildly into the air.

Lu Youqing grabbed her wrists firmly. Already weakened, forcing Yan He to stay took everything she had left, causing her vision to blur with double images.

“A-He, be good… be good, A-He. It’s okay, none of it is real.” She continued to soothe Yan He, pulling the struggling woman back into her arms even though her own arms were too exhausted to stay lifted.

“No! I won’t! That’s impossible! It’s not like that—nobody is unable to live without someone else! It won’t happen! It’s just a temporary separation, nothing will go wrong!”

Yan He covered her head tightly, blocking out all external sounds as she tried to retreat back into her protective shell. Yet her remaining sanity kept warning her that Lu Youqing was in immediate physical danger. Rationality and emotion warred within her; feeling returned to her hands held in Lu Youqing’s grip. She raised her trembling eyes, taking in Lu Youqing’s ghost-white face in the dim light.

Then, she stood up abruptly, scooping Lu Youqing up into her arms and rushing toward the bedroom.

“You’re injured.”