Chapter 3
The cramped air in the secret passage stagnated, and dust particles swirled in the faint red alarm light that leaked in from the crack in the door.
"Who...are you?"
Gu Jing's voice was suppressed in his throat, trembling even unconsciously. The cold hardness of the gun handle poked his palm, reminding him that this was not an absurd dream.
The chest pressed against his back rose and fell violently. Qin Yu did not answer immediately. The chaotic footsteps outside the door and the sharp sound of some metal instrument scraping against the door panel approached, but seemed to be directed elsewhere.
He suddenly pulled Gu Jing and lowered his voice: "Leave here first!"
This is not the time for conversation.
The secret passage extended downward, pitch black and bottomless. Qin Yu seemed to be very familiar with the place. Even in the almost complete darkness, he walked briskly, only occasionally pausing to listen and judge the movements from above.
Gu Jing followed him, all his senses heightened. There was the soft crunch of something underfoot; the faint groaning and the crash of something heavy in the distance; and the stagnant breathing of the man in front of him, the faint scent of cedar mingled with a hint of rust and blood—was he injured? When?
After walking in the darkness for an unknown amount of time, Qin Yu finally stopped. He groped for the wall and pressed a button. The stone wall on one side slid open silently, revealing an even narrower space behind it. It looked like an abandoned storage room, and the air was filled with the smell of stale food and motor oil.
He pushed Gu Jing in first, then slipped in himself and quickly closed the secret door. Absolute darkness descended, leaving only the two people's uncontrollable breathing.
"Cough..." Qin Yu suppressed a cough, and his breathing became heavier.
"Are you hurt?" Gu Jing asked subconsciously.
"Just a scratch." Qin Yu's voice sounded particularly hoarse in the darkness. "It's okay."
There was a brief silence. The sounds from outside seemed to be completely cut off.
"The Qin family," Qin Yu's voice rang out again, with a flat, exhausted tone, as if stating a fact detached from his own flesh and blood. "It's not as simple as it appears. They've been involved in both the black and white worlds for decades. Marriage, mergers, and asset laundering are their usual tactics."
Gu Jing leaned against the cold, damp wall, his heart sinking. He had guessed that the marriage was motivated by profit, but he hadn't expected it to be so... shady.
"What about me?" he asked, his voice dry. "What am I in this 'trick'? A stumbling block that must be removed?"
"No." Qin Yu immediately denied it, his tone firm. In the darkness, Gu Jing felt his gaze fixed on her.
"You were originally the 'fruit.' The Gu family was in crisis, so they formed a marriage to inject capital, then gradually chipped away at it, eventually swallowing it up completely. That was their plan." He paused, a complex, almost painful bitterness etched in his voice. "And I... I was their open pawn, responsible for executing this plan."
"Then why did you..." Gu Jing thought of the notebook, those photos spanning ten years, and the sentence "How to Pretend Not to Love You".
"Because I went off track from the very first step." Qin Yu's voice lowered, tinged with self-mockery. "For ten years... I watched you, and I didn't treat you as a mere prey as they said. They found out."
Therefore, the marriage alliance became a counter-strategy. Qin Yu's "deviation" became a mistake that needed to be corrected. And Gu Jing, the original "fruit", became an existence that needed to be erased along with the variables from the moment Qin Yu tried to protect him.
"Clear program..." Gu Jing murmured, a chill running up his spine.
"Yeah." Qin Yu responded, "My dad... Qin Zhengfeng's methods. No accidents are allowed."
Therefore, those well-trained attackers really came to kill.
The overwhelming amount of information was like a drenching cold shower, leaving Gu Jing speechless. The commercial competition instantly turned into a life-or-death game of survival.
"The instructions you just used... Group A, Group B..." He remembered Qin Yu's terrifyingly calm dispatch.
"My people." Qin Yu did not hide anything. "I started preparing a long time ago. Just in case."
But he didn't expect that this "what if" would come so quickly and so fiercely, directly tearing apart all disguises.
In the darkness, Gu Jing could feel the tenseness of Qin Yu's body, the subtle tremors he tried to suppress, brought on by pain or emotion. This man, whom he had loathed and been wary of for so long, this man who had secretly loved him for ten years and had dragged him into danger, was now using his not-so-broad back to block all the gunshots.
Trust is like a thin thread, suspending a heavy weight. Below is a bottomless abyss.
It seemed completely quiet outside, with only the distant, faint sirens still wailing in vain.
Qin Yu moved a little, as if listening carefully. After a long moment, he let out a very light breath.
"Safe for now," he said, his voice thick with fatigue. He groped the wall, as if looking for something.
"Your injury," Gu Jing said, breaking the silence, "needs to be treated."
Qin Yu paused.
Gu Jing reached out in the direction of the voice, following his feeling. His fingertips first touched the cold, damp wall, then slid down and touched a trace of warm, sticky liquid.
Qin Yu took an almost inaudible breath.
Gu Jing's fingers froze, then he followed the wetness more firmly. It was his arm, the fabric of his suit had been cut, the wound was not shallow, and it was still bleeding.
"It's okay." Qin Yu wanted to hide again.
"Don't move!" Gu Jing shouted, his tone surprisingly tough even to himself. He pulled off his already askew tie and fumbled around, trying to apply pressure to the wound.
In the darkness, his vision was deprived, but his sense of touch became incredibly clear. He could feel the tense muscles in Qin Yu's arm, the warmth of his skin, the sticky touch of warm blood, and the indescribably complex gaze Qin Yu cast upon his hand.
As expected, Qin Yu stopped moving and allowed him to press clumsily to stop the bleeding.
Silence spread in the small space, but it was no longer as cold and suspicious as before. Something indescribable was quietly growing in the bloody smell and darkness.
"Why..." Gu Jing's voice was so low that it was almost inaudible, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Tell him all the truth, tell him about those gazes, tell him that this marriage is a poison wrapped in honey, tell him... he loves him.
Qin Yu was silent for a long time, so long that Gu Jing thought he would not answer.
"Tell you what?" He finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "Tell you that I've been spying on you like a pervert for ten years? Tell you that your family's crisis was fueled by my father? Tell you that marrying me is like jumping into a fire pit?"
He gave a short laugh that was uglier than crying.
"Gu Jing, I'd rather you always think of me as a jerk who takes advantage of others' misfortunes, a disgusting marriage partner you can get rid of at any time."
"At least that way…you're safe."
The last three words were as light as a sigh, but they hit Gu Jing's heart hard.
The tie was quickly soaked with blood. Gu Jing's hand pressed on it, and he could clearly feel the uncontrollable slight tremors coming from the body under his hand.
This isn't to gain sympathy. This is because I'm truly in pain.
I'm also afraid.
Afraid that he would know, afraid that he would be disgusted, and even more afraid...that he would be hurt.
Gu Jing suddenly remembered the day the company's crisis was resolved, when Qin Yu handed over the divorce agreement, and her eyes were red. That wasn't relief, it was... the despair of having to let go when you thought everything was over.
This man, playing the role of a chess piece in the giant web woven by his father, clumsily and desperately tried to protect the person he wanted to love.
Even if the means are so extreme and so shady.
"Qin Yu..." Gu Jing's throat tightened, with thousands of emotions stuck in his heart, but he didn't know what to say.
Just then—
"Buzz..."
An extremely slight vibration sound came from Qin Yu's pocket.
Qin Yu's body tensed up again, like a cheetah sniffing danger. He quickly pulled out his phone with his uninjured hand. The light from the screen was blindingly bright in the absolute darkness, illuminating his pale face and furrowed brow.
It is an encrypted message.
Sender——[Old Man].
Qin Yu clicked it, took a quick look, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Gu Jing's heart also began to lift: "What's wrong?"
Qin Yu suddenly looked up and looked at Gu Jing. His eyes changed under the cold light of the phone, shock, anger, and finally settled into a deep, cold despair.
He opened his mouth, and his voice sounded like it had been sandpapered:
"He caught Uncle Lin."
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