Chapter 237: Shengsheng, Tell Me, Will You Accept My Pursuit
Chapter 237: Chapter 237: Shengsheng, Tell Me, Will You Accept My Pursuit
Yun Sheng felt the gentle pressure on the back of her hand. She looked up into Si Jin’s overly tender gaze, and the stiffness in her spine eased slightly.
"I... I just don’t know how to face him."
Si Jin didn’t press for more. He just listened quietly, his fingers gently squeezing her fingertips now and then, as if offering silent support.
"When he left before, I rejected him. I told him I wouldn’t get entangled with someone who has a fiancée. He... Lin Yueyao said he went to break off the engagement as soon as he returned to the Capital Star. It seems like he’s serious, but..."
Yun Sheng’s expression was conflicted. Her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she still hadn’t sorted out her own feelings.
But her very hesitation was proof that she was moved.
Si Jin continued to toy with her soft fingertips. His tone was light, tinged with a casual coolness.
"Then let Bai Ye worry about that himself. If he’s serious, then let’s see what he does next. Yun Sheng, all you need to do is decide whether to accept or refuse. Everything else... let him worry about it."
’He wasn’t kind enough to speak up for Bai Ye; it was already generous of him not to kick the man while he was down.’
Hearing this, something suddenly clicked for Yun Sheng.
’That’s right, what was there for her to be conflicted about?’
’Bai Ye is the one who should be worrying!’
She looked at Si Jin, the tangled mess in her heart feeling as if it had been gently smoothed out, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve up.
She stood on her tiptoes, reached out with her free hand, and gently placed it on Si Jin’s currently plain and unremarkable face.
The face beneath her palm felt a little unfamiliar, but the tenderness in his eyes was what she knew best.
"Why aren’t you jealous this time?" Yun Sheng’s voice held a teasing lilt. "A certain someone... was very jealous before."
A flicker of emotion crossed Si Jin’s eyes. He reached up, took the hand she had placed on his face, and lowered his head to press an incredibly light kiss into her palm.
His lips were warm against her skin, making it tickle. Yun Sheng’s fingers curled slightly.
"I am," he said, his voice low but filled with a righteous confidence. "But being jealous is one thing; I can’t exactly lock you up. Besides, I’m the one who’s officially with you now. If anyone should be jealous, it’s them!"
Hearing this, Yun Sheng felt both touched and amused.
She stood on her tiptoes, tilted her head up, and gave the corner of Si Jin’s lips a quick peck, pulling away instantly.
"Childish," she murmured, her voice soft and laced with amusement, but her eyes shimmered with a gentle, unconcealable light.
Si Jin’s gaze darkened. His hand cupped Yun Sheng’s waist, pulling her closer into his embrace. Just as he was about to lower his head for a kiss—
"Ahem."
A cough, neither loud nor soft, came from behind them, laced with deliberate and sour undertones.
Xing Che had caught up at some point. He stood a short distance behind them, hands in his pockets, eyeing them with half-lidded eyes. His amber-gold irises were filled with unconcealable jealousy.
"Did you two forget I was still here?"
Startled by Xing Che’s voice, Yun Sheng’s body stiffened slightly, and she instinctively tried to pull away from Si Jin’s embrace.
Si Jin’s arm, however, didn’t loosen. He merely eased the pressure slightly, his arm still steady around her waist, while his other hand remained tightly intertwined with hers.
The two of them stood pressed close together, their posture intimate yet natural. To Xing Che’s eyes, the sight was particularly glaring.
To make matters worse, Si Jin then said in a mild tone, "Oh, I thought you hadn’t followed us. After all, most people try not to be a third wheel."
The corner of Xing Che’s mouth twitched, and the jealousy in his eyes nearly overflowed.
"Third wheel? That’s not what you said when you needed me to protect Shengsheng. Si Jin, are you trying to burn the bridge after crossing it?"
Si Jin snorted, his voice cold. "Burn the bridge? I gave you time and an opportunity. If you failed to win her over, isn’t that just you being useless?"
’He’d only let Xing Che protect Yun Sheng back then because he had no other choice. That gave Xing Che an opportunity. Now... how could he possibly give him another one!’
Xing Che gritted his teeth, took a step forward, and stood on Yun Sheng’s other side, shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
"Shengsheng, tell me, will you accept my pursuit or not? Do you really not like me even a little bit?"
Caught between the two men, with Si Jin on her left and Xing Che on her right, how could Yun Sheng dare to answer that question?
She decided not to look at either of them, instead staring down at the tips of her toes in silence.
"Shengsheng, why aren’t you saying anything?" Xing Che turned his head to look at Yun Sheng, his voice tinged with grievance.
Si Jin shot him a sideways glance and said coldly, "Stop playing the victim!"
"Shengsheng..." Xing Che reached for Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng, at a loss, pursed her lips. Just as she was wondering how to handle the situation, a low roar from a pollutant echoed from the distance.
The sound wasn’t like the frenzied, violent roars of the pollutants they’d heard before; instead, it carried an indescribable strangeness.
It was like a struggle, yet also like a plea for help, mixed with a sharp, scalp-numbing fluctuation of spiritual power.
Immediately after, all sorts of chaotic spiritual power fluctuations emanated from that direction—some were rampant, others faint, as if many people were fighting at once.
Si Jin’s gaze sharpened, and his hand holding Yun Sheng’s tightened abruptly. "I think that’s Cheng Nian and the others..."
Yun Sheng’s expression changed, and her voice grew tense. "Then let’s hurry over and see!"
Seeing the situation, Xing Che had no choice but to let go.
Before he could say anything, Si Jin had already wrapped an arm around Yun Sheng’s waist. In a flash, he was speeding with her toward the source of the sound.
The aggrieved look on his face vanished instantly, and he gave chase at top speed.
The three figures sped through the dense forest. The farther they went, the thicker the smell of blood in the air became. The roars of pollutants and the battle cries of humans intertwined, the cacophony so loud it made one’s eardrums ache.
Passing through a thicket of dense bushes, the scene before them made Yun Sheng’s heart sink.
It was a semi-collapsed clearing, filled with cracks and upturned earth.
Dozens of pollutants had a group of students completely surrounded. Among them were even B-level and A-level pollutants. Their eyes were crimson, their bodies radiated a violent aura, and they were charging madly at the group.
The students stood back-to-back in a defensive formation, flashes of blades and spiritual power interweaving. But there were too many pollutants, and they were clearly overwhelmed. Several of them were already wounded.
"Li Wen! Cheng Nian!" Yun Sheng spotted them at a glance.
Li Wen had a deep gash on her left arm. Blood flowed down, staining half her sleeve red, but she still gritted her teeth and swung her blade, shielding Cheng Nian behind her.
Cheng Nian was covered in filth, her hair disheveled. Her face was a mess of black blood and dirt, and she was surrounded by several pollutants.
And not far behind them, Zhou Ying and He Yi were backed against a broken tree, their situation even worse.
Zhou Ying’s combat suit had been torn open, revealing a long, bloody wound underneath. Blood streamed down her side, soaking half of her pant leg.
He Yi was half-kneeling on the ground. His left leg seemed to be injured, making him too unsteady to stand. He could only prop himself up with his blade, barely maintaining his balance.
He was covered in blood from head to toe—it was impossible to tell if it was his own or the pollutants’—but his gaze remained fixed on the creatures swarming toward them, ready to fight to the death at any moment.
Panicked, Yun Sheng started to rush forward, but Si Jin grabbed her.
He looked at Xing Che and was just about to speak when Xing Che beat him to it, his voice urgent and quick.
"You protect Shengsheng! I’ll go save them!"