Chapter 141: "Three Years, I Will Only Wait Three Years!
Chapter 141: Chapter 141: "Three Years, I Will Only Wait Three Years!
Her reaction was urgent, but it wasn’t the simple, worried panic of someone afraid he would follow her in death. It was...
In short, something was off.
Under normal circumstances, the two shrewd men before her might have noticed something was amiss.
But now, they were on the verge of collapse. How could they possibly possess such keen insight?
Xie Jinbai held the woman in his arms, his own arms trembling. He was panicked beyond measure.
He looked as if his world was ending.
Liu Rong was both horrified and unable to bear it. He turned and rushed out, urgently ordering them to go faster.
But it was as if the heavens themselves intended to make things difficult. A torrential downpour began to fall again, and the waves, which had only just subsided, returned with a vengeance.
No matter how furiously the Yulin Guards rowed, their paddles a blur, the small boat, already fighting its way upstream, could barely advance against the churning waves. Instead, it swayed and rocked, nearly capsizing several times.
If the ones at the helm weren’t elite Yulin Guards, each worth ten men, with their flawless coordination and impeccable balance, the boat likely would have already overturned.
But even this stability didn’t last long. Under the assault of another massive wave, the black-canopied boat was thrown back dozens of yards.
A huge torrent of water crashed over the bow, slowly pouring into the canopy.
Everyone was helpless.
This was the will of the heavens.
The will of the heavens!
Xie Jinbai’s eyes were bloodshot, filled with despair.
A sense of powerlessness unlike anything he had ever known swept over him.
He, who prided himself on being a master strategist, on holding the power of life and death, on being all-powerful, couldn’t even protect the woman he loved.
Twice. Twice!
She had been forced to suffer the agony of death twice.
And it was all because of him.
’Why was I always so anxious, so distrustful, so insecure?’
’Why could I never control my desire to be close to her?’
When she left the capital to bury her mother, he had to follow, and for that, he transferred Liu Yue to be his personal guard.
That gave the Empress the opportunity to learn of her existence, causing her to be implicated because of him once again.
Xie Jinbai was overcome with regret and anguish.
He couldn’t even transfer his Inner Strength to her. He could only watch as she endured a pain she should never have had to bear, vomiting mouthful after mouthful of blood.
Cui Lingyao could feel the life force within her slowly draining away.
Perhaps the searing pain in her abdomen had reached its limit, or perhaps her five senses were failing.
She found that it didn’t hurt as much anymore.
It was just...
Cui Lingyao reached out to touch the man before her, her voice tinged with a sense of grievance. "I can’t see you at all anymore."
Xie Jinbai was so heartbroken he couldn’t speak. He took her hand and placed it on his face.
Her hand met with dampness.
Cui Lingyao’s fingers paused for a moment before she began to gently caress his face.
She wanted to smile and comfort him, to tell him not to cry.
But when the words came out, her voice was nothing but a tremor. "Xie Jinbai, I’m a little scared..."
’She was afraid the system would truly abandon her, letting her die here, never to live again.’
’Unable to return to the modern world.’
’And... and she would never see him again.’
Outside, the boat had come to a complete standstill.
It was a clear sign that they would not be returning anytime soon.
Having reached this point, Xie Jinbai became surprisingly calm.
He grasped her wrist and lowered his head to kiss her forehead. "Don’t be afraid. I will always be with you."
’Don’t be afraid even if you can’t see.’
’Don’t be afraid even when facing death.’
’It’s all my fault.’
"If the heavens won’t let you live, it’s my life they want. I’ll give it to them. I don’t want anything anymore. I just want to be with you. Yaoyao, are you willing to wait for me?"
If she was willing to wait for him, he would avenge her and then die.
If she wasn’t, then he could...
"No, you can’t." Cui Lingyao quickly shook her head.
Her panic over death subsided, and a sliver of her reason returned. She still felt that the system wouldn’t just let her die.
The mission wasn’t complete; they were bound by a common interest.
She had realized this back when she was paralyzed in bed and the system had found her, demanding ’after-sales service.’
Once she died, where would the system find another host?
Even if it found a soul that wasn’t rejected by this world, it would still have to expend energy to bring that person here.
And that new host would need to win over Xie Jinbai and have him father a child.
Besides her, this problem had no solution.
As the mission’s target, Xie Jinbai’s obsession with her was Cui Lingyao’s greatest source of leverage against the system.
As long as Xie Jinbai was still alive, the mission had not been declared a complete failure.
The system wouldn’t just stand by and watch her truly die.
Realizing this, Cui Lingyao suddenly found a burst of strength. She clung to his neck and said, "Xie Jinbai, you absolutely cannot die!"
"...I can’t, Yaoyao,"
Xie Jinbai didn’t agree. Instead, he raised his sleeve to wipe the fresh blood from her lips, then lowered his head to kiss them. His voice was calm. "I have to be with you. Without you, I can’t go on living."
This was a fact he had proven to himself long ago.
This woman was more important to him than his own life.
To the highest heavens or the deepest underworld, he had to be with her.
’This fool.’
Cui Lingyao wanted to cry.
She sniffled, cupped his face, and said, "Have you forgotten? I’ve had a miraculous encounter before. The heavens have been very kind to me. Who’s to say I won’t have another miracle this time and come back to life again?"
These words made Shen Tingyu, who was beside them with his head bowed, heavily injured and semi-conscious, suddenly lift his eyes.
Xie Jinbai couldn’t spare him a single shred of attention.
After hearing her words, he fell silent for a moment. "Are you... sure?"
"No," Cui Lingyao said quickly. "I’m not completely sure, but since I’ve come back to life once, who’s to say it won’t happen a second time?"
Xie Jinbai’s body slowly tensed. He wanted to look into her eyes to read her true thoughts, just as he had done countless times before.
But she was blind.
Those spirited, sparkling almond eyes were now completely devoid of color.
A sharp pain twisted in Xie Jinbai’s heart, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope rise because of her words.
"Yaoyao..." His voice trembled. "What do I need to do? Will it help to search for capable men and strange people to summon your soul? Or should I accumulate good karma, build bridges and roads, erect temples? Or..."
"None of that," Cui Lingyao coughed weakly, swallowing the metallic sweetness rising in her throat. "Don’t use any of those methods that waste resources and burden the people. If I can be reborn, it will have nothing to do with any of that."
Both Xie Jinbai and Shen Tingyu keenly perceived that she seemed to know the reason why she was able to be reborn.
It was simply unbelievable.
But at this moment, neither of them had the mind to investigate the secrets she carried.
Cui Lingyao started vomiting blood again. "Promise me you’ll live a good life. Don’t you dare follow me in death. Otherwise, when I come back to life, I won’t be able to find you... I..."
Her face was deathly pale, her breath faint.
She already bore the visage of death.
Her face was twisted in pain, yet she was still stubbornly trying to think of a way to keep him from doing something foolish.
Xie Jinbai was overcome with a mixture of anguish and resentment, unable to stop the tears from falling.
She was so cruel. With just a few casual words, she had given him a faint glimmer of hope in his despair, and now he didn’t even dare to die.
His voice was hoarse. "If you are reborn, will you come find me?"
’Or... will you find another man to love?’
’And leave me to...’
"I will, I will. This time, I’ll come back to your side as fast as I can,"
Cui Lingyao buried her face in his chest, coaxing him with a voice as faint as a gossamer thread, "I like you a lot."
’I really, really like you.’
"I believe you! Don’t you lie to me. I’ll only believe you this one time!"
Xie Jinbai hugged the woman in his arms tightly and said through gritted teeth, "Three years. I’ll only wait three years!"