Chapter 140: If You Die, I Will Not Live On Alone
Chapter 140: Chapter 140: If You Die, I Will Not Live On Alone
’What if he assumed that no matter what he did, a married woman like her would just suffer in silence to protect her reputation, not daring to tell her own husband, while he tried every means possible to humiliate her?’
’Even if she didn’t die,’
’for Li Lu, taking her out to avenge Li Wanrong would have been a trivial matter.’
’In such a dire situation, even Shen Tingyu had realized that if she fell into Li Lu’s hands, she would suffer his humiliation.’
’How could Cui Lingyao dare to stay?’
’She would rather believe she wouldn’t be so unlucky as to be swallowed by the flood.’
’If Shen Tingyu could jump, so could she.’
As it turned out, she really wasn’t that unlucky.
She and Shen Tingyu had both survived.
So Cui Lingyao thought, but the next moment, a sharp, twisting pain shot through her abdomen.
It was far more ferocious than before, so painful that her vision went black, and she suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.
Warm droplets of blood splattered onto Xie Jinbai’s face. His simmering anger instantly vanished, and he blinked stiffly.
"Yaoyao?"
The woman in his arms did not respond.
Cui Lingyao was in too much pain to speak.
At her wrist, Shen Tingyu’s knuckles trembled as he took her pulse. "She..."
"What’s wrong with her?"
Xie Jinbai whipped his head around and demanded, his wide palm pressed against Cui Lingyao’s back, continuously pouring his Inner Strength into her body.
"Stop!"
Shen Tingyu finally reacted, yanking his hand away. "She was already weakened and still suffering the lingering effects of the seductive powder. Now there’s another poison in her system damaging her organs. Your Inner Strength is too potent and aggressive! It will do nothing but accelerate the poisons inside her."
’The Empress probably didn’t actually intend to kill her with the poison.’
’But she didn’t know that Cui Lingyao had recently been subjected to the seductive powder.’
’That potent aphrodisiac not only led to Pei Shuyao’s death, but it also left this body with numerous hidden injuries.’
’Then came the fall into the river...’
’The raging current squeezed her organs, and she swallowed mouthful after mouthful of filthy water that choked its way into her stomach, her lungs...’
’How could her body possibly withstand such a series of shocks?’
’And on top of it all, this brute poured so much Inner Strength into her!’
Shen Tingyu lost all composure and grabbed Xie Jinbai’s arm. "Did you catch Li Lu? He’s the Empress’s man, he must have the antidote!"
’If the Empress wants to control someone, the antidote she provides wouldn’t be a one-time cure.’
’But even a temporary antidote could suppress the poison’s spread.’
’If he can suppress just one of the poisons, her condition will stabilize.’
"Where is he? Where are your men? When will they get here?"
’I have to get Li Lu and bring him back immediately!’
Xie Jinbai snapped out of his daze as if waking from a dream. Cradling the woman in his arms, he immediately tried to find a way to leave.
But they had been washed ashore in an unknown location. There were no villages or boats nearby.
Given Cui Lingyao’s condition, it was absolutely impossible for her to wade through the river and swim back.
Just then, a clap of thunder echoed across the dark sky.
At the same time, a small boat appeared on the river not far away.
The Yulin Guards didn’t employ incompetents; the search and rescue team had arrived quickly.
Shen Tingyu stumbled to his feet and picked up Cui Lingyao’s outer robe from the ground. "Quick, carry her aboard."
Without waiting for him to urge further, Xie Jinbai quickly carried her onto the boat.
The rain began to fall again,
pattering against the boat’s canopy.
Cui Lingyao’s limbs were limp. Curled up in Xie Jinbai’s arms, she felt her strength drain away in an instant. Only the pain in her abdomen remained, causing waves of blackness to cloud her vision.
She tilted her head back with effort. "Am I going to die?"
As she spoke, dark blood trickled from her lips, more than Xie Jinbai could wipe away.
His body trembled, his face ashen. Like a child who had done wrong, he held her frantically. "You’ll be fine. We’re going back right now. I have Li Lu, he has the antidote. Yaoyao, just hold on."
’He had messed up again, messed up so badly.’
’Three years ago, he had already caused her death once.’
’This time, he had dragged her into a power struggle,’
’poisoning her and forcing her to jump into a river.’
’And... he had stupidly poured his Inner Strength into her, making her condition even worse.’
A tremor escaped Xie Jinbai’s throat, but he was in too much pain to make a sound...
His eyes were bloodshot, filled with despair.
Tears slid from his eyes, falling one by one onto Cui Lingyao’s face.
’Is the roof leaking?’
’Or...’
Cui Lingyao blinked, trying hard to see the man before her. "Are you crying?"
She remembered asking him before if he had wept bitterly, if he had been heartbroken, when she died three years ago.
He had said no.
But now, he was actually crying.
Cui Lingyao felt a twinge of regret. Perhaps the poison was spreading too quickly and affecting her vision, preventing her from clearly seeing what he looked like when he cried.
’She really, really wanted to see him...’
"Yaoyao, you have to live. Don’t leave me,"
Xie Jinbai held her tighter, his voice rushed and choked with sobs. "As long as you don’t leave me, I’ll cry for you every day. I’ll agree to anything you want. I won’t be jealous and make things difficult for you anymore. Just don’t leave me..."
She had once held it against him, believing his every action was calculated. Even his attempts to win her back were all just tactics, with little genuine feeling.
Everything was under his control.
But now, his eyes were red as he spoke incoherently, completely enveloped by a boundless terror, on the verge of collapse.
Gone was his usual strategic planning and effortless confidence.
’What a heart-stirring temptation.’
Cui Lingyao wanted to nod in agreement, but her internal organs felt as if they were completely rotting. Another mouthful of blood surged up her throat.
This time, it wasn’t just blood. It was mixed with several dark, blackish fragments of her internal organs.
Xie Jinbai froze.
He had reaped countless lives.
He had personally dealt with innumerable depraved and corrupt officials.
He had seen countless times what they looked like when they were brutally tortured, their organs mangled by instruments as they spat out the remains.
But he never imagined that one day, such a scene would play out with the woman he loved.
It was like a nightmare.
A nightmare of crimson and blood.
A soul-shattering one.
"Yaoyao..."
He lifted her chin and lowered his head to kiss her forehead, coaxing her with a trembling voice, "Yaoyao, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid... We’ll be home soon. I won’t let anything happen to you."
Even though his own teeth were chattering with fear, he was still telling her not to be afraid.
His terrified voice reached her ears, stirring a delayed panic within Cui Lingyao.
This was the second time she had felt death approaching so tangibly. The first was when she had ALS, lying in bed as the doctors delivered her death sentence.
The appearance of the System had given her a chance at life.
And now, she was frantically screaming for the System in her mind.
’The mission isn’t complete. In a treacherous ancient world like this, getting involved with Xie Jinbai... the System must have considered the possibility of her having an accident.’
’How could it not have left her a backup plan?’
’But now, she, the host, was about to die, and the System still showed no signs of waking up.’
’Is it really going to let her die in Great Yue?’
The panic on the face of the woman in his arms was too obvious, and Xie Jinbai’s heart twisted in agony.
"I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. This time, I’ll stay with you. No matter what, I’ll stay with you. If you die, I swear I won’t live on without you."
’Swear he won’t live on without you...’
Cui Lingyao was startled. Forgetting about the System, she grabbed his sleeve. "You can’t die!"
’He absolutely cannot die!’