"But..." Zhang Ying was interrupted by Li Yi before she could finish speaking.

"Xiao Zhang, promise me you'll live well!" Li Yi's eyes revealed a mix of determination and reluctance as he tightly gripped Zhang Ying's hand. "I actually... I actually love you too!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ying felt a sudden "boom" in her mind, as if the whole world had frozen in that instant.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Li Yi in disbelief, her heart pounding in her chest as if it were about to burst free.

She never imagined that at this critical juncture of life and death, she would hear such a confession from Li Yi, a confession she never dared to even dream of.

When she told Li Yi "I love you" before, she never thought she would get a response.

After all, as Li Yi's trusted secretary, she was arguably the person in the world who understood him best, second only to Li Yi himself; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she knew him inside and out.

She knew that Li Yi had always looked down on her, because she was too old and because she was plain-looking.

The reason he valued her so highly was simply because he saw her abilities.

She never expected that Li Yi would say to her, "I actually love you too."

Zhang Ying's eyes quickly reddened, and tears welled up in them.

Then, she took a deep breath, gently stroked Li Yi's face, and said tenderly, "Li Lang, you should go now. I hope that in the next life, I can still serve by your side!"

As Zhang Ying spoke, ignoring Li Yi's reaction, she gripped her submachine gun tightly with both hands and strode resolutely toward the direction from which Chen Yu and the others were chasing after her.

Upon seeing this, Li Yi stopped panting and his chest pain subsided, and he took off running.

“‘Li Lang’? What a damn bad luck!” Li Yi cursed inwardly as he ran, while vigorously wiping his cheek, which Zhang Ying had touched, with his sleeve.

At this moment, Zhang Ying, with her back to Li Yi, had a resolute expression, exuding a heroic spirit of "one man can hold off ten thousand".

As a shrewd woman, the woman who knew Li Yi better than anyone else in the world, she knew very well that Li Yi had just used her feelings as a cover for his escape.

But she didn't care, or rather, at this moment, she was willing to believe in Li Yi's sincerity, even if the price of this lie was her life!