Chapter 34 He's her brother
As the figure at the cave entrance drew ever closer, Jin Suiqing's heart leaped into her throat.
She trembled uncontrollably, yet still forced herself to keep her eyes wide open to see. When she could finally make out that the figure was tall and strong, a man, Jin Suiqing closed her eyes in despair and yanked the rope off with all her might.
The bent branch straightened instantly, and the instantaneous thrust propelled the sharp wooden arrow to slice through the air, flying towards the man with a "whoosh" as it cut through the wind!
The man was shot and let out a muffled groan. This groan became Jin Suiqing's signal to run; she immediately jumped up and ran towards the cave exit!
Before she could even step out of the cave, the man's strong arms swept across her, leaving Jin Suiqing's feet dangling in the air. Terrified, she screamed and kicked wildly.
Jin Suiqing's desperate struggles were nothing more than a flea brushing against the man's hair. With a forceful twist, Jin Suiqing was thrust into his arms without any chance of escape.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Jin Suiqing cried out in terror, forced to cower in his arms. She instinctively pounded her fist on his chest, yelling, "Bastard! Let me go!"
He didn't let go of her; instead, he tightened his grip on her back, holding her tightly.
When Jin Suiqing had exhausted herself struggling and gradually calmed down, he raised his injured shoulder and supported Jin Suiqing: "It's me, it's your brother, don't be afraid."
Jin Suiqing stopped struggling.
Jin Shiyu felt her trembling and gently stroked the back of her neck with his thumb to comfort her: "I'm sorry I'm late."
Jin Suiqing nestled in Jin Shiyu's arms, tears streaming down her face, and whispered, "Brother?"
"Mmm." Kim Shi-ok rubbed his chin against the top of her head. "It's brother, brother's here."
In an instant, Jin Suiqing's mind went blank, with only tears streaming down her face. She was in Jin Shiyu's arms, unable to see his face, but she could smell many of his scents.
There was the familiar scent of frankincense, like that burning in a temple; there was the warm sweat rising from a man's body; there was the fresh fragrance of night dew clinging to weeds and falling on her clothes.
There was also a strong smell of blood.
In the stench of blood, Jin Suiqing's mind raced, a jumble of chaotic thoughts swirling within her. One moment she felt fear, the next a sense of injustice, then a churning stomach and aches all over her body…
Jin Suiqing nestled in Jin Shiyu's arms, as if she had returned to her childhood. She clung to him, wanting her brother to hold her, because Jin Shiyu's body temperature was slightly cool, and his arms were very comfortable, separating her from the four seasons, so she wouldn't feel cold in winter or hot in summer.
Jin Suiqing's sobs gradually subsided.
After all that commotion, she was exhausted and started to feel sleepy. Her head felt heavy, so she rested it on Kim Shi-ok's shoulder.
Jin Shiyu frowned, and Jin Suiqing pressed against his wound, causing him to cry out in pain, "Ugh..."
Instantly, Jin Suiqing awoke.
She suddenly realized that Kim Shi-ok was injured, wounded by the trap she had set.
She lifted her head from Jin Shiyu's embrace, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at his injured shoulder. The sharp wooden branch was deeply embedded, and blood was gushing out, staining half of his shoulder red.
Jin Suiqing opened his mouth, but could not utter a word.
Jin Shiyu looked down at her red and swollen eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing as if he knew what she wanted to say. His cheeks flushed slightly: "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
Nonsense, Jin Suiqing knows he's in a lot of pain.
Jin Suiqing sobbed even harder, and the tears she had just stopped began to flow again. She knew all too well that, in order to gain favor, she should immediately show concern, pretend to feel sorry for Jin Shiyu, and smile and thank her brother for coming to save her.
But Jin Suiqing couldn't laugh. She grabbed Jin Shiyu's sleeve and cried so hard that her mouth was wide open. Jin Suiqing completely turned into a child who hadn't grown up, covering her eyes and wailing.
In the end, they came to her to save her.
It turned out to be Kim Shi-ok, the one she had the least hope for.
Jin Suiqing stumbled back into Jin Shiyu's arms, hugging him and bursting into tears: "Brother, why did you only come now!"
Jin Suiqing burst into tears: "I'm so scared, I'm afraid I'll never see you again!"
*
Kim Si-ok dreamed of his younger sister.
He had dreamed countless times of slaying Jin Suiqing with his own hands.
At first, when he dreamt that his hands were stained with his sister's blood, Kim Shi-ok would wake up suddenly with a half-smile, his body drenched in cold sweat, his eyes wide open, unable to fall back asleep.
Later, Kim Si-ok gradually got used to those dreams. In his dreams, he would find a warm place, hold his sister's cold body, and slowly wait for the dream to end.
When he wakes up, Kim Shi-ok will go to see his sister.
Unlike when they were children, there was no barrier between them. Now that his younger sister had grown up, she locked the door and wouldn't let him in freely. Kim Shi-ok pressed his face against the window, carefully listening for his sister's breathing and babbling.
After Jin Suiqing fell off the cliff, Jin Shiyu ignored everyone's attempts to stop him and tumbled down the mountain, rushing into the dense forest like a headless fly. He hated being called a dog, but at this moment he wished he could actually be a dog, sniffing out Jin Suiqing's trail.
He knew that his brother, Jin Shiyu, had developed hysteria and split in two; one half of him hated his sister, and the other half cared about her.
When he discovered the bloodstains, Kim Shi-ok was possessed by the half of his soul that cared about Kim Sui-ching. It was at this moment that Kim Shi-ok finally understood the sentence that had been lingering in his mind for so long.
The brother died for his sister.
Half of his soul compels him to find his sister. As if in the dead of night, he presses his face against the window of Jin Suiqing to eavesdrop. If he can't hear her breathing, he will instantly fall into an ice cave, his whole body will be cold and he will be in a panic. He will guard the door of Jin Suiqing's room until the daylight breaks.
At this moment, Jin Shiyu's shoulder was clearly bleeding, but he felt his body warming up. Jin Shiyu gently comforted Jin Suiqing, "I'm fine."
Jin Suiqing calmed down a bit: "I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you as my brother...Is your shoulder really...is it alright?"
Jin Shiyu shook his head. He was really fine; his body was warm and his pulse was beating.
Because he found Jin Suiqing, he would stick to his sister's window every night and only leave when he could hear her breathing.
If he couldn't hear it, he would wait until dawn when his sister woke up and let out the most sweet and gentle moans from under the covers.
Of course, Jin Shiyu wouldn't say that he was a complete madman and a pervert. He suppressed his surging lust under tenderness and gently rubbed the bloodstains at the corner of Jin Suiqing's eye with his thumb: "Are you injured?"
Jin Suiqing wanted to shake her head, but remembering the nameless woman's instructions not to reveal the true owner of the bloodstains, she nodded and pointed to her right ankle: "I was cut when I fell off the cliff, and my right ankle is dislocated."
Jin Shiyu choked for a moment, then asked anxiously, "Does it hurt? Can you still walk?"
"I've reconnected it," Jin Suiqing said proudly, puffing out her chest. "My ankle doesn't hurt at all now."
After Jin Suiqing finished speaking, she saw Jin Shiyu pause for a moment and wondered what was wrong. Just as she was about to ask, she saw Jin Shiyu raise her hand with lightning speed and forcefully pull the branch off her shoulder, and warm blood splattered on her lips.
Jin Suiqing called out briefly. Jin Shiyu glanced at her, wiped the blood from her lips with his index finger, and squatted down with his back to her: "Come on up."
Jin Suiqing didn't move. She stared at the blood-stained twig on the ground, swallowed hard, and timidly asked, "Brother... Brother, doesn't it hurt?"
When she was cutting that branch, she deliberately cut a few barbs, imitating the shape of a feathered arrow. Pulling it out rashly would only enlarge the wound and aggravate the pain.
Now, those barbs not only have blood on them, but also seem to have some strands of skin and flesh.
“It doesn’t hurt,” Jin Shiyu said. “Get on, I’ll carry you home, that way it’ll be faster.”
Jin Suiqing pursed her lips. Jin Shiyu was right; now was not the time for her to be pretentious.
If Kim Shi-ok says it's okay, then it's okay, he also needs to see a doctor.
Jin Suiqing carefully avoided Jin Shiyu's wound and climbed onto his back. Unexpectedly, Jin Shiyu lifted Jin Suiqing by the thighs, straightening the crooked Jin Suiqing.
Jin Suiqing quickly removed her hand that had accidentally been resting on Jin Shiyu's shoulder: "Brother!"
"Sit up straight. If you fall, I will not be responsible."
Jin Shiyu spoke in a hoarse voice, laughing and saying something slightly playful, which made Jin Suiqing blush and her eyes turn red.
She has no relatives, let alone a brother. Jin Suiqing doesn't know what it's like for siblings to get along. In the past, she couldn't define her relationship with Jin Shiyu. Her intuition told her that the relationship wasn't like that of siblings.
At this moment, Kim Si-ok, who was making witty remarks, seemed to have really become her brother.
Jin Suiqing, who had just stopped crying, felt like crying again. She obediently put her arms around Jin Shiyu's neck and buried her head in his neck: "Okay, brother."
Jin Shiyu carried Jin Suiqing out of the cave. His shoulder was bleeding, but Jin Shiyu couldn't muster any thought of stopping the bleeding.
Jin Shiyu hoped that once the blood of the Jin family was shed, he would carry Jin Suiqing on his back, find a warm and pleasant little courtyard full of flowers, and hold her in his arms to bask in the sun, just like when they were children.
Jin Shiyu knew that was impossible. He wasn't greedy; he was content with just a fleeting moment of fantasy.
Hearing Jin Shiyu's slightly rapid breathing, she felt safe and gradually became sleepy: "Brother, I'm so sleepy..."
Jin Shiyu turned his head and nuzzled her forehead: "Go to sleep if you're sleepy. We'll go home when you wake up."
"Home?" Jin Suiqing seemed to be half-awake.
Jin Suiqing would never say that she had no home and that she did not belong here. After thinking for a moment, Jin Suiqing hugged Jin Shiyu even tighter: "Home is where brother is."
Jin Shiyu did not answer, so Jin Suiqing assumed that she had never said it.
Whether this statement is true or false is impossible to verify.
*
When Jin Shiyu carried Jin Suiqing back to the foot of Shuangji Mountain, he was pale from blood loss and his legs gave way, almost causing him to fall to the ground with Jin Suiqing.
He braced himself and first placed Jin Suiqing on the tiger-drawn carriage that had been prepared. After making sure she was seated properly, he staggered into the carriage and fell onto the floor.
Jin Suiqing exclaimed, "Brother!"
Jin Shiyu said weakly, "Leave Shuangji Mountain and return to the Jin residence."
Ignoring the incessant alarms in her head, Jin Suiqing quickly scrambled to the ground and embraced the exhausted Jin Shiyu.
Jin Shiyu is right, they must leave Shuangji Mountain quickly now.
Huangfu Li is inherently suspicious and must have a backup plan, ready to silence her at any time. She must leave Shuangji Mountain quickly and spread the news that she and Yin Rushi fell off the cliff and miraculously survived, so that Huangfu Li will not have a chance to make a move.
But can Kim Si-ok wait until then?
Jin Suiqing used a dagger to cut off her inner garment to stop Jin Shiyu's bleeding. The magical tiger traveled almost in a straight line, three times the speed of the rhinoceros carriage, but the ride was extremely bumpy. Jin Suiqing hugged Jin Shiyu tightly, curled up in the corner of the carriage to act as a cushion, and kept whispering, "Brother, hang in there a little longer, we've entered the capital city, we'll be there soon."
Jin Shiyu was covered in cold sweat and was about to lose consciousness. He stretched out his index finger and gently hooked it with his sister's little finger: "Today... brother will repay you with your life."
"I don't want my brother's life!"
These weren't just Jin Suiqing's genuine feelings; the beeping thing in her head was actually warning her like this.
System: "The mission target's life threat level is rising... Mission failed, penalty countdown begins..."
Jin Suiqing grabbed his hand and used all the strength she had used to crush the system on Jin Shiyu, angrily saying, "If you dare to die, I'll be buried with you!"
A glint flashed in Jin Shiyu's eyes. He smiled and slowly closed his eyes.
Panicked, Jin Suiqing kicked the car door before the tiger-drawn carriage had come to a complete stop. Ignoring her dislocated and swollen ankle, she jumped off the carriage floor. Her ankle twisted, and Jin Suiqing rolled on the ground.
In her haste, she forgot to stand up and, on all fours, scrambled and crawled toward the gate of the Jin residence.
Author's Note: This week's 7,000-word chapter is finished. I'll be giving out little red envelopes in the comments section. See you next week, my darlings!
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