Chapter 33
Darkness, a sticky smell of decay, and... excruciating pain coming from all over the body, as if being repeatedly pierced by countless red-hot steel needles.
Lu Cheng's consciousness struggled to emerge from the deep quagmire of coma, and every nerve ending was screaming.
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the familiar, suffocating corridor ceiling. The slippery phosphorescent moss emitted a faint ominous light.
What happened? His last memory was being struck by several terrifying energy attacks, desperately escaping into this crack, and then... nothing happened.
He thought he was dead.
His body instinctively tensed up as he tried to maintain a defensive posture, but the severe pain made him groan and his movements froze instantly.
At this moment, he felt something strange... his right hand was tightly grasping something.
The cold touch, the soft skin, and... the clear bony outlines of the knuckles.
It's a person! Someone?!
The belated alertness was like a cold shower, instantly dispelling the drowsiness. Lu Cheng turned his head abruptly, his sharp eyes darting to his side.
The next second, he felt as if he was hit hard by an invisible hammer. He froze in place, his pupils suddenly shrinking to the extreme.
Silver hair shone coldly in the dim phosphorescent light, the delicate profile of her face resembled the most perfect sculpture, and her drooping eyelashes cast a thick shadow on her pale cheeks... That face had appeared countless times in his desperate dreams, but upon waking, only a cold and empty face remained...
Lin Yao!
His Yaoyao!
So close! Less than half a meter! He could even feel the cool warmth coming from the other person.
A vast, unreal ecstasy washed over him like a tsunami, instantly shattering all vigilance and pain. Was this a dream? Was it his soul, on the brink of death, finally freeing itself from this filthy body and reaching the other shore where he could see Yaoyao again? Or was it... a vision of hell?
Who cares what it is!
Lu Cheng's breathing suddenly became heavy, and a terrifying light burst out of his eyes. It was a mixture of ecstasy of regaining what he had lost, longing deep into his bones, and desperate possessiveness.
He almost used up all the remaining strength in his body, stretched out his arms suddenly, and with the severe pain of the torn wound, he desperately wanted to embrace the figure he had been thinking about day and night into his arms.
"Yao——"
The expected touch of a soft body in his arms did not come. Instead, he was greeted by a cold, clear rejection.
The moment his arm was about to touch his body, Lin Yao took a step back like a startled butterfly, his movement so fast that only a silver afterimage was left.
Those blue eyes that were always as clear as a lake or filled with dependence raised up and looked at Lu Cheng.
Lu Cheng's heart sank.
There is no joy of reunion, no warmth of dependence, only a cold, broken heart filled with great sadness and... tears of grievance.
Big tears, like pearls with broken strings, rolled down those beautiful blue eyes without warning, slid down her pale cheeks, and fell on the cold ground.
Silent crying is more heartbreaking than any wailing.
Lu Cheng's outstretched arm froze in mid-air, the ecstasy on his face solidified, turning into a blank blank and... a panic that penetrated deep into his bones.
"Yaoyao?" His voice was hoarse like sandpaper, trembling with disbelief. "What... happened to you? Why...?"
If this was a dream, why did his Yaoyao resist him? Why did he cry? If this was a vision of hell, why did these tears feel so hot and real? Why did the touch of this hand he held so tightly feel so clear?
Lin Yao did not answer, but just looked at him with those blue eyes filled with tears, as if they carried all the grievances in the world. His shoulders trembled slightly, and his silent crying revealed a suffocating sorrow.
That look was like a blunt knife dipped in poison, repeatedly cutting Lu Cheng's heart.
"Why are you pushing me away?" Lu Cheng's voice was hoarse with despair. Regardless of the excruciating pain of his wound, he struggled to get closer again. "Yaoyao, it's me. I finally...finally see you again. No matter if this is a dream or hell, I'm willing to endure anything as long as I can see you again. Don't push me away, Yaoyao!"
He spoke incoherently, his eyes filled with almost crazy obsession and pleading.
"But..." Lin Yao finally spoke, his voice thick with tears and broken, "Didn't you give up on me? In exchange for those resources... you traded me... traded me to Qin Mu..."
Like a bolt from the blue.
"Give up?! Deal?!" Lu Cheng seemed to be pierced through the heart by these two words. He suddenly raised his voice and coughed violently because of excitement. Dark red blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, but he ignored it. There was only extreme shock and anger in his eyes.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Yaoyao, nothing in this world can compare to you. You are everything to me, how could I possibly give you up?! And there's no way I'd trade you to that bastard Qin Mu. Who? Who told you that?!"
He roared, each word filled with bloody pain and unquestionable determination.
Lin Yao seemed frightened by his intense reaction. She shrank back, tears streaming down her face. However, her voice was filled with the stubbornness of a betrayed person: "I... I saw the video... You promised it yourself... It was at the City Lord's Mansion... Your father was there... You and Qin Mu..."
Video? City Lord's Mansion? Father? Qin Mu?
Lu Cheng's chaotic and painful mind seemed to be split apart by a bolt of lightning. All the fragments connected instantly: the accident in copy E-427, his father's unusual attitude at that time, Qin Mu's sickening, determined look, and... after Yao Yao disappeared, the huge and strange resource transaction between City D and City B...
A bone-chilling truth coiled around his heart like a poisonous snake.
"Illusion!"
Lu Cheng's eyes were bloodshot, and he almost squeezed out these two words from between his teeth, filled with overwhelming hatred.
"It's a psychic who's proficient in illusion! It's them! It's my father and Qin Mu... They're the ones who jointly set up this scam."
He suddenly grabbed Lin Yao's wrist with such force that it almost crushed his bones, his eyes burning with anger and deep pain that could burn everything.
"Yaoyao, look at me! Look at me! That's not true, I never promised it. I had no idea they would dare to use such dirty tricks. How could I possibly give up on you?! I would rather die a thousand times or ten thousand times than trade you for anything. Believe me! Yaoyao, believe me!"
He spoke very quickly, his voice was hoarse and broken, and every word sounded like he was shouting and confessing with all his strength.
He even struggled to raise his hand and swear, "I, Lu Cheng, swear to heaven, if I have even the slightest thought of giving up Yao Yao and trading him away, my soul will immediately scatter and I will never be able to reincarnate."
Lin Yao was in pain from his grip, and tears were still flowing, but deep in those tear-filled blue eyes, the cold core was running rapidly.
He looked at the anger, pain, grievance and...unreserved love that was about to burst out of Lu Cheng's eyes.
The emotion was so intense, so real, so... stupidly pure.
Very good, the emotion is right.
His face still maintained great sadness and fragility, and his tears were like the most precise weapons, silently accusing him.
He trembled slightly, his eyes filled with the lingering, inseparable love for the betrayer in front of him, as well as the great fear of being deceived again.
"Really? Really?" His voice was nasal and tearful, as fragile as the thin ice about to melt in early spring. "But... I saw it with my own eyes... They said you were after the resources of D City..."
"It's fake! It's all fake!" Lu Cheng interrupted him anxiously, wishing he could pull his heart out and show it to him. "Yaoyao, think about it, if I really agreed to the deal, how could I end up like this? How could I almost die here?!"
He pointed at the horrific wounds on his body, each one seeming to silently accuse the cruelty of the conspiracy.
Lin Yao's gaze fell on his hideous wound, and his eyes seemed to waver.
He bit his lower lip tightly, tears welling up in his eyes. The remaining love and desire for the truth seemed to be struggling with the pain and fear of being betrayed.
Time passed in oppressive silence and a strong smell of blood.
Lu Cheng stared at Lin Yao's face nervously, his heart almost stopping as if being gripped by an invisible hand. Every second of waiting felt like a century.
Finally, Lin Yao's tear-stained eyelashes trembled violently a few times. He nodded very slowly, with a hesitation that seemed to have exhausted all his courage.
The movement was so slight that it was almost imperceptible, but it was like an imperial decree of pardon, instantly breaking Lu Cheng's tense nerves.
"Yaoyao!"
The huge ecstasy and relief of regaining what he had lost washed over Lu Cheng like a torrent. He could no longer bear it and opened his arms again regardless of everything. This time, Lin Yao did not dodge.
The arms filled with the smell of blood suddenly clamped him tightly, with such great force that he was almost crushed into the other's bones and blood.
Lu Cheng's hot tears mixed with blood dripped onto Lin Yao's silver hair. He tightly held the treasure he had lost and found, his voice choked with sobs and broke, "I'm sorry, Yaoyao, I'm sorry. I'm useless. I didn't protect you well and made you suffer. I won't do that again, never again."
Lin Yao's cheek was forced to press against Lu Cheng's tattered combat uniform soaked in blood. The strong smell of blood mixed with the other's hot body temperature.
He lowered his eyes and let the other person hug him, his tears still sliding down silently, wetting the other person's chest.
Perfect.
The cold core of his heart gave his evaluation without any emotion.
The long period of disappearance has a perfect explanation: heartbroken, he accidentally met his ex-love who was dying. Driven by the remaining love, he rescued her and waited until she woke up, exposing the conspiracy and resolving the past grudges.
Reasonable and impeccable.
As for Qin Feng, the emotionally manipulated protector, and the City B exploration team that wanted to use his abilities to gain more resources, there was no need for them to return.
They are just another tool to be used, nothing more.
As for the materials to restore strength... the plan needs fine-tuning, but the goal remains the same.
Only this time, there's an old tool that's still somewhat useful, and an angry nemesis pointing to the heart of the conspiracy.
At an angle that Lu Cheng couldn't see, Lin Yao's tear-stained face curled up the corners of his lips extremely subtly and coldly, then disappeared in a flash.
He let Lu Cheng hold him tightly, feeling his ecstasy of surviving a disaster and the trembling of regaining what he had lost, as if he were appreciating a newly completed and excellent work of art.
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