Chapter 452 Cui Xiao, look carefully...

She tried desperately to take back the dagger, but Zhou Mubin's strength was astonishing, and he held on tightly.

Before she could come up with any other solution, Zhou Mubin had already roughly ripped off the velvet cover, revealing a gleaming dagger in his palm.

He gripped the dagger's handle, his knuckles turning white from the force, his eyes churning with madness and despair, like a trapped beast on the verge of death, staring intently into Cui Xiao's eyes, his gaze so intense it almost burned.

"Cui Xiao, look carefully..."

He spoke hoarsely, and before he finished speaking, with a desperate and ruthless determination, he plunged the dagger into his own chest!

"don't want……"

Cui Xiao screamed shrilly, her voice sharp and piercing with fear.

In that instant, her mind went blank, as if struck by a heavy hammer. All her coldness, resolve, and impatience vanished in the face of extreme fear.

She watched helplessly as the blade of the dagger pierced Zhou Mubin's chest, leaving only the black hilt exposed. Blood gushed from the wound at an alarming rate, quickly soaking through his white shirt and spreading a glaring red across his chest like a bewitching and eerie flower.

The red color stung her eyes, and her hands and feet instantly turned ice-cold as if she had fallen into an ice cellar; even her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

She practically scrambled over, her trembling hand hovering above the wound, wanting to touch it but afraid to, lest it cause even more serious damage.

Cui Xiao's tears flowed uncontrollably like beads from a broken string, splashing onto Zhou Mubin's shirt and spreading a small water stain. She choked out, "Zhou Mubin, are you crazy? What are you doing?"

She frantically reached for the driver's side door handle, her fingers trembling so much that she missed it several times. "Hang in there, I'll take you to the hospital right now."

But at that moment, Zhou Mubin suddenly used all his strength to grab her wrist, with such force that it seemed he was going to crush her bones.

His face was as pale as paper, his lips were bloodless, and fine beads of cold sweat trickled down his temples, yet his face bore a sickly, satisfied smile.

His breathing became rapid and shallow, he gasped for breath after each word, yet he still gripped her hand tightly, refusing to let go, his eyes fixed on her face, as if trying to remember this moment forever. "...Cui Xiao, look at me...look, like this...aren't you finally willing to look at me properly now..."

His body swayed slightly from blood loss, and his voice grew softer and softer, yet he stubbornly stared at her, refusing to look away.

Cui Xiao's heart clenched at his obsessive and insane words, and her tears flowed even more fiercely, the hot tears falling onto the backs of their clasped hands, causing a slight tremor.

"You're crazy, Zhou Mubin, you're a complete madman." She choked back tears, her voice filled with a broken sob. "Who asked you to prove it this way? I'm taking you to the hospital right now, you have to go."

She tried desperately to shake off Zhou Mubin's hand, but he gripped it too tightly, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the force, as if he wanted to etch this final connection into their very bones.

Zhou Mubin's eyes began to glaze over, "Cui Xiao..."

The once burning gaze gradually lost focus, and his lips moved as if he wanted to say something more, but the words turned into a faint whisper as soon as they reached his throat.

The sickly smile on his face hadn't faded when his body suddenly went limp and he swayed toward the steering wheel. The grip on Cui Xiao's wrist vanished instantly, and he completely lost consciousness.

Cui Xiao panicked and cried out, "Zhou Mubin! Zhou Mubin!"

She quickly reached out to support his swaying body, and the moment her palm touched his back, she felt a cold, sticky sensation.

It's blood that's seeping out.

Her mind was buzzing, but in the midst of this extreme panic, she forced herself to calm down, trembling as she checked his breath. Only after feeling a faint breath did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Without thinking twice, she pushed Zhou Mubin's heavy body aside, moved him to the passenger seat, and then quickly went around to the driver's seat.

Her fingers were so nervous that she pressed the wrong start button several times. After finally getting the car started, she didn't even bother to fasten her seatbelt and rushed to the nearest hospital.

The scenery outside the car window rushed past, and the piercing sound of horns exploded in her ears, but she couldn't care less about anything else. All she could see was Zhou Mubin, who was pale-faced in the passenger seat, and the ever-expanding crimson.

"Zhou Mubin, hang in there, we'll be at the hospital soon."

She stared intently at the road ahead as she spoke to him, her voice choked with sobs, as if trying to encourage herself or to rouse him: "I'm telling you, if anything happens to you, I will never forgive you for the rest of my life, do you hear me?"

The journey, which should have taken twenty minutes, was completed in just ten minutes by Cui Xiao, who rushed to the hospital's emergency building.

She slammed on the brakes, flung open the car door, and rushed into the emergency room, calling out hoarsely, "Doctor, doctor..."

Soon, medical staff rushed out with a stretcher. The moment they lifted Zhou Mubin onto the stretcher, Cui Xiao saw that the dagger was still stuck in his chest, and the blood stained the white sheets of the stretcher, stinging her eyes.

She stumbled along behind the stretcher, watching Zhou Mubin being wheeled into the emergency room. The heavy door slammed shut, shutting her out.

Cui Xiao leaned weakly against the cold wall, her legs buckling and she almost fell. Her hands were still trembling uncontrollably, and the lingering smell of blood filled her nostrils.

She slowly squatted down, hugged her knees, and tears welled up again. This time, they were not from anger and resistance, but mixed with fear and panic that she could not even describe.

What if Zhou Mubin is really dead?

No, it won't happen.

He couldn't have just died like that.

Cui Xiao raised her hand to wipe away her tears, trying her best to remain calm.

After a while, Cui Xiao took out her phone and dialed a number.

Twenty minutes later, Xie Nanzhi and Xi Bei arrived at the hospital almost one after the other. Xie Nanzhi quickly ran over and pulled Cui Xiao aside to ask, "Where is Lao Zhou?"

Cui Xiao's face was pale. She looked up at the red light and said, "They're still inside being treated."

Xie Nanzhi, panting, stared at the red "Operating" sign for a long while. "How could this happen? How could Lao Zhou get injured out of nowhere?"

Xibei was also curious, so she walked over to Cui Xiao and asked, "Cui Xiao, what exactly happened?"

Cui Xiao wasn't one to mince words. She recounted the whole story, head bowed, "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, Zhou Mubin wouldn't be like this. It's all because of me."