Chapter 20 A Twist of Fate: Brother's Pretense, Sister's Hypocrisy
The night breeze stopped.
Immediately afterwards, Jin Suiqing's body sank down. She smelled the bitter, milky fragrance mixed with a hint of alcohol, and the scent grew stronger, enveloping her.
Jin Suiqing opened her eyes.
She was held in Kim Shi-ok's arms, and the two of them were suspended in the air.
Jin Suiqing looked up and saw Jin Shiyu's flying rope pierce the railing on the third floor before he leaped up and caught her with one hand.
Jin Suiqing: "Brother?"
Kim Shi-ok quickly pressed his forehead against hers: "Yeah, don't be afraid."
She suddenly felt an urge to cry, and soon, Jin Suiqing's eyes were filled with tears.
She didn't die.
Thank goodness you're not dead!
The exhaustion of surviving the ordeal quickly overwhelmed Jin Suiqing. She took a deep breath, her throat congested with phlegm, and she began to cough incessantly.
Jin Shiyu, holding Jin Suiqing, dared not move an inch.
After Jin Suiqing finished coughing, he said hoarsely, "Thank... thank you for saving me, brother. What are you doing here?"
Jin Shiyu's breathing became rapid: "I'll go to your room..."
ah.
Jin Suiqing's large eyes met Jin Shiyu's. He paused for a moment, then looked away and changed the subject: "You should talk less now."
"Oh." Jin Suiqingmu nodded, thinking to herself that there were advantages to night raids every day; she could find out in time if she was kidnapped.
Jin Suiqing paused for a moment, then immediately looked at Zhang Yuyi and Qin Xianglan, who were also hanging from the third floor, and stammered, "Brother, brother, Qin... Boss Qin, that young man saved me..."
Jin Shiyu frowned and twisted his wrist: "The zipline is stuck."
They were trapped.
Unable to move for the moment, Jin Suiqing could only anxiously watch Zhang Yuyi and Qin Xianglan entangled together.
Seeing that Jin Suiqing was still alive, Qin Xianglan clicked her tongue and kicked Zhang Yuyi in the waist. Qin Xianglan kicked several times, each kick landing heavily on Zhang Yuyi's chest.
Jin Suiqing saw a line of blood appear between Zhang Yu's lips.
"Don't call Zhang Yuyi's name," Jin Suiqing cried urgently. "Brother... Brother, save him, save him! I don't want him to die..."
She mustn't let Jin Shiyu know that she knows Zhang Yuyi.
Kim Shi-ok twisted his ankles, trying to activate the zipline, but to no avail. He had flown too fast earlier, and the internal parts seemed to be stuck.
Jin Shiyu cursed under his breath and hugged Jin Suiqing even tighter: "Don't look."
Jin Suiqing, however, could not look away.
Because Zhang Yu was smiling at her.
Zhang Yu's mouth was full of blood, staining his white teeth red, like a chicken with its neck tied and hanging from the eaves, swaying in mid-air.
He stared at Jin Suiqing, spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva, and, like a ghost crawling back from purgatory, Zhang Yu grinned and said, "Little Princess, your brother is willing to die for his sister."
Jin Suiqing suddenly opened her eyes wide.
She understood this seemingly random statement.
Zhang Yu didn't want to live anymore.
The conversation with Zhang Yuyi flooded Jin Suiqing's mind in an instant, including his extremely carefree attitude when he was tied up, and his short, epitaph-like narration.
From beginning to end, he never intended to live.
Zhang Yu was so smart that he understood why she couldn't call him by his name, and he also understood that if he and Qin Xianglan were to fall into the hands of the Empress alive, Qin Xianglan would definitely bite Jin Suiqing to death out of revenge.
With Jin Suiqing exposed, the Empress harbored murderous intent, and Huihong, as her personal maid, could not escape death either.
For Huihong to live, she must die.
Large tears welled up in Jin Suiqing's eyes: "Yu..."
Zhang Yu smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Shh."
He mustered his last bit of strength, climbed up by clinging to Qin Xianglan's waist, and clamped his legs tightly around hers.
Qin Xianglan realized something and ignored Zhang Yuyi on her back, struggling frantically to climb to the third-floor platform.
However, even the strongest arms could not support the weight of two people.
Unable to climb up, she finally cried out in terror, "Zhang Yuyi! I'll give you anything you want, don't be impulsive!"
"Money...status, people! Whatever you want, I'll give you!"
Zhang Yu remained silent, his arms locked around Qin Xianglan's shoulders, and just like before, as if by magic, a piece of gold with a sulfur base appeared from his fingertips.
The cougars obey the tiger because their lives are in the tiger's hands.
Zhang Yuyi is not a ghost; his life was never truly his own.
His life belongs to his sister.
An older brother should protect his younger sister.
It is only natural for a brother to die for his sister.
As easily as eating a peanut, Zhang Yu tossed the sulfur-based gold into his mouth and said cheerfully, as if chatting casually, "I want you dead, Boss Qin."
Having said that, he bit into the sulfur-based gold, swallowing it with blood mixed in.
In an instant, flames engulfed Zhang Yuyi from the inside out. He held Qin Xianglan tightly, and the two of them transformed into a dazzling, blazing ball of light.
The burning pain tormented Qin Xianglan, and she let out a sharp scream that echoed in the empty Zuixianlou.
Before the decadent empire she had built, Qin Xianglan released her grip in pain, her massive body crashing to the ground.
With a "snap".
Like a pile of rotten meat.
The scene was too horrific. Jin Shiyu frowned and said to Jin Suiqing, "Don't look, little sister, be good and don't look."
Don't watch people die; he knows it will be very painful.
Jin Shiyu wanted to cover Jin Suiqing's eyes, but he didn't have a free hand, so he held Jin Suiqing and tucked her head into the crook of his neck.
"It's alright, it's alright, little sister," he said in a trembling voice, pressing his hand against Jin Suiqing's sweat-dampened forehead. "It's all over, it's all over."
After a long while, a soft sob came from Jin Shiyu's neck.
Extremely repressed, like the whimpering of a kitten.
*
Kim Shi-ok pried at the mechanism with his fingertip for a while, and finally, the stuck zipline was able to move.
With Jin Suiqing landing gently, Jin Shiyu deftly removed the wrist guards, squatted down in front of her to untie her, and pointed to the alley, saying, "I'm going to Zuixianlou to find something. You go home along this alley, and hide immediately no matter who you meet."
“If you’re caught, repeat what I said verbatim.” Jin Shiyu looked down and saw that Jin Suiqing wasn’t wearing shoes. He took off his own, held Jin Suiqing’s feet, and put them on her. “Qin Xianglan is dead. What you want is in your brother’s hands. If anything happens to me, don’t even think about getting it.”
Jin Suiqing looked down at the shoes that were a size too big and sniffed softly.
She knew that some people wanted her dead.
Jin Suiqing angrily wiped away her tears and met Jin Shiyu's amber eyes.
There was no panic inside; it was as calm as a frozen lake.
It was obvious that Kim Si-ok also knew this, and he was even a participant in the plan.
For reasons unknown, Kim Si-ok chose to save her.
Now, Jin Shiyu has returned to Zuixianlou, presumably to find the evidence left by Qin Xianglan.
He didn't know that Zhang Yu had a backup, and he took the risk to retrieve it, perhaps because he had reached some agreement with the two Huangfus to exchange these things for something.
Suddenly, Jin Suiqing's heart was gripped tightly by a pair of invisible hands, causing a slight swelling and soreness.
She thought of Zhang Yu's last words before he died.
"A brother is meant to die for his sister."
Kim Si-ok does not.
Jin Suiqing couldn't ask for more, after all, he wasn't Zhang Yuyi, much less her biological brother.
The hatred of killing one's mother runs deep, a blood feud.
The "brother" was filled with hatred and full of scheming.
Her "sister" was also a pretense.
Jin Shiyu was hard to guess, so she simply didn't try. Jin Suiqing sobbed and asked with concern, "Will my brother be in danger?"
Jin Shiyu didn't answer. He stood up and patted her head: "Let's go."
After saying that, Jin Shiyu climbed over the wall barefoot and entered Zuixianlou.
Jin Suiqing wiped her face, and her fear and sorrow vanished instantly.
The acting is over, goodbye.
Slipping on her shoes, Jin Suiqing bypassed the alley Jin Shiyu pointed to and ran towards the Jin residence.
She ran carefully, close to the wall. Suddenly, she heard a cacophony of footsteps. Jin Suiqing quickly hid in a corner, grabbed a bamboo basket containing rotten vegetables, and put it over her head.
The group, numbering about fifty people, mostly with menacing expressions, left in a hurry without checking their surroundings.
Why are there so many people all of a sudden?
There is a curfew in the capital city in the latter half of the night, so even customers coming out of taverns should not be so crowded.
Jin Suiqing lifted the bamboo basket and looked in the direction those people had gone.
It is Zuixianlou.
Jin Suiqing suddenly realized that these fierce-looking men were probably the ghosts that Qin Xianglan had raised.
The accomplices were mostly wanted for murder and kept a close eye on the "tiger's" movements. With Qin Xianglan dead, the person who controlled them was gone, and the person who could cover up their crimes was also gone. So the accomplices swarmed in, took back their contracts, and divided up the remaining profits.
I wonder if Jin Shiyu has found what he's looking for. He's alone, and I doubt he can handle so many people.
So, what's the result?
Jin Suiqing lowered her head and pondered for a few seconds, then kicked the bamboo basket aside and continued running towards the Jin residence without hesitation.
Are you kidding me? If Kim Shi-ok can't handle her, how could she?
She couldn't even hit those thugs in the groin when she jumped.
Good luck, brother!
Suddenly, a crackling sound of electricity rang in Jin Suiqing's mind. She rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks.
Oh no, oh no, oh no, the dog system is online, it can't be anything good.
As she expected, the dog system said ruthlessly: "The threat level to Jin Shiyu's survival has been detected to be rising. Please ensure the mission target survives."
Jin Suiqing screamed in his head, "No! He asked for it himself! I didn't kill him or do anything to him! What does it have to do with me?!"
System: "Please ensure the mission target is alive."
"Don't save them, don't care!"
A sudden electrical hum was heard.
"Help! Help me! Don't shock me!" Jin Suiqing ran forward. "Can I go find some help?"
The electrical noise gradually increased.
Jin Suiqing glared: "No way, damn system, I can't even find help?!"
System: "Time is tight."
Jin Suiqing was furious and went berserk, shaking his head in anger.
Soon, having vented her anger, she tossed her hair, let out a long sigh, turned around with a tragic air, and returned along the road.
She was so focused on running that she didn't notice a figure about the same height flashing past at the intersection ahead.
By the time she saw it clearly, she couldn't stop in time. With a "bang," Jin Suiqing was hit hard, landing on her bottom, feeling dizzy and disoriented, and a flash of white light appeared before her eyes.
"Ouch! Ouch! Big dog, I've knocked someone down!"
The little boy scrambled to his feet and jumped over to Jin Suiqing in a few quick steps, muttering under his breath, "Are you alright? Are you alright? Are you alright?"
"Shut...shut up," Jin Suiqing said, lying on the ground. "If you keep talking, I'm really going to get into trouble."
The little boy stopped reading and exclaimed, "Are you Jin Suiqing?"
Jin Suiqing propped her neck up: "You know me?"
"Yes," the little boy nodded excitedly and shouted towards the distance, "Brother, she is the little princess!"
Before Jin Suiqing could respond, a pair of large hands grabbed her under the armpits and lifted her up.
Jin Suiqing looked directly at the man's wheat-colored face. After seeing what he looked like, she was shocked. Wasn't this the big male bodhisattva?
The male bodhisattva's expression was also somewhat strange.
He held Jin Suiqing in his arms, weighed her in his arms, and then suddenly looked down at her, glaring at her: "You're the little brat who impersonated my brother at Zuixianlou that day!"
"Huh?" Jin Suiqing was even more shocked. "You can't even tell the difference between a man and a woman?"
She felt a weight on her blue sleeves, turned her head, and saw that it was the boy pulling her.
“In response to your question, Princess, my brother is face-blind,” Gong Xiaoyang scratched her head and chuckled, “the kind who can’t tell the difference between men and women.”
A note from the author:
This week's 7,000-word broadcast has ended, and we are now sending out prayers for success.
Ten little red envelopes to give away!
Modern Small Theater:
At a certain theme park, my little girl pointed to the tallest ride: "The drop tower, I want to ride it!"
The brother recalled something, felt a wave of fear, and pressed his sister onto the carousel.
In the end, the younger sister dragged her brother to ride the drop tower.
The man sat on a public bench, his face ashen and expressionless, seemingly lost in thought.
Feeling guilty, Mei Bao tentatively asked, "Brother, are you afraid of heights?"
Seeing that the culprit, Mei Bao, was completely oblivious, the brother hugged her tightly, speechless: "Yeah, I'm afraid of heights."
"Brother, you should have said so earlier. I would have gone to play by myself."
My brother said sternly, "No, you can't play this game anymore."
Meibao: ?
Bro, aren't you being a bit too nosy?
P.S.: My words have no deterrent effect whatsoever.
P.S.: In the end, Meibao listed bungee jumping as an annual must-do activity.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
