Chapter 53 Don't Go Back "Young Master Bai, I'm married?!"...
The scene before him was so glaring that he drew his sword and slashed at the sleeve. Gu Xi was so frightened that she quickly let go of his hand.
She looked at the man in front of her with a mixture of surprise and fear, then turned to ask worriedly, "Young Master Bai, how are you? Are you injured?"
Bai Xingzhi glanced down at her and said indifferently, "It's nothing."
Xiao Heng stared at them with bloodshot eyes, his voice seemingly rising from hell: "Bai Xingzhi, you'd better give me an explanation!"
Gu Xi was startled by his voice. She looked at the fierce-looking man in front of her and was terrified. The faces of the people following behind him were just as cold as his.
She hid behind Bai Xingzhi again, only showing her head, and asked, "Young Master Bai, do you know them?"
Bai Xingzhi did not answer her, but said calmly to Xiao Heng, "She has amnesia."
Xiao Heng was already stunned when he heard her question, and when he heard Bai Xingzhi's answer, he was so shocked that he froze on the spot.
"What did you say?" Xiao Heng asked again in disbelief, as if the voice didn't belong to him.
Amnesia?
Only then did he realize the way she was looking at him; it was as if she were looking at a stranger.
And her face...
She doesn't recognize him?
"Gu Xi..." Xiao Heng couldn't help but call out softly.
Gu Xi suddenly heard him call her name. She looked up at him and saw him staring at her with a look of shock and pain. That feeling of panic and pounding in her heart returned, and she subconsciously avoided his gaze.
Does this man recognize me?
Looking at her puzzled expression, Xiao Heng asked in a hoarse voice, "What exactly happened?"
Bai Xingzhi glanced down at her and said, "I'll explain it to you in detail when we get back."
Gu Xi, who was still confused, suddenly trembled when she heard the word "go back," and then a look of horror appeared on her face. She gripped Bai Xingzhi's clothes tightly and looked up at him in a panic, saying, "Young Master Bai, I don't want to go back..."
Bai Xingzhi received her pleading look, suppressed his reluctance, and said to her, "Don't worry, they won't hurt you." As he spoke, he glanced at the guards behind Xiao Heng as if by chance.
Upon hearing Bai Xingzhi's answer, Gu Xi suddenly loosened her grip on his clothes. Ignoring the stares of the crowd, she took a step back, her voice trembling as she said, "I don't want to go back..."
Seeing her like this, Xiao Heng subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to pull her back.
She took another step back abruptly, and inadvertently saw Lu Yong behind Xiao Heng when she looked up. Her heart clenched involuntarily, and the fear intensified as the words "You can't go back, you'll ruin them" echoed in her ears.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and she kept backing away, nearly knocking over pedestrians without a care. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she still unconsciously murmured, "I don't want to go back... I can't go back..." As she spoke, she lifted her skirt and turned to run away alone.
Xiao Heng finally couldn't take it anymore. He was afraid that the person in front of him would disappear again. He didn't care whether she recognized him or not. Before she turned around, he rushed forward and hugged her tightly in his arms. The force was so great that it seemed like he wanted to crush her.
He called out in a hoarse voice, "Gu Xi..." His voice was filled with longing and heartache.
Caught off guard by the sudden embrace, Gu Xi froze, tears streaming down her face. Her heart ached, and she felt like she couldn't breathe.
The pain and unbearable pain hidden in her memory seemed to tear her apart. Her body convulsed uncontrollably, and then everything went dark, plunging her into complete darkness.
"Gu Xi! Gu Xi!"
Xiao Heng looked at Gu Xi, who had fainted in his arms, and hurriedly picked her up and strode towards the inn.
A barely perceptible hint of panic flashed in Bai Xingzhi's eyes. His fingertips unconsciously curled slightly before quickly relaxing, and he followed in Bai Xingzhi's footsteps.
*
Inside the inn.
Xiao Heng looked at Gu Xi, who was lying unconscious on the bed, and his eyes were filled with tenderness.
His fingertips hovered above the light-colored scars on her cheeks, but he dared not touch them.
The doctor said she fainted due to excessive fright and emotional distress. An hour later, she still had a furrowed brow and was covered in cold sweat.
Why was she so afraid? What had she gone through?
"It's me." Bai Xingzhi knocked on the door.
Xiao Heng's eyes instantly turned cold. He lowered the curtain and said, "Come in."
Bai Xingzhi pushed open the door and entered, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the figure behind the curtain, but he quickly looked away.
From the moment he entered the room, Xiao Heng's gaze was fixed on him, and he tried his best to suppress the urge to kill him before he understood what was going on.
Bai Xingzhi pretended not to see it, found a comfortable spot to sit down, and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Speak, what exactly happened?" Xiao Heng said coldly.
Bai Xingzhi slowly took a sip of tea and said, "That day, I had just returned to the villa when a local villager suddenly stopped me, saying that he had witnessed what happened that day."
"I wanted to tell you after I found out, but you happened to be away. I only saw Wei Lin and your other guards."
"Then why didn't you tell Wei Lin?" Xiao Heng asked in a deep voice.
Bai Xingzhi glanced at him and asked in return, "Have you investigated any of your subordinates recently?"
"What do you mean?" Xiao Heng asked, frowning.
“After Black Wind Stronghold lost six thousand soldiers that day, I suspected that your men were not clean. The second leader told me that someone deliberately gave them information so that they could kidnap her. It is likely that only people close to you know about your relationship with her.”
In fact, these were all his speculations. The second-in-command had never mentioned it to him, and he didn't know if he had forgotten or if he was also in cahoots with that person. Or perhaps he had been hoping for such an opportunity to take his place, otherwise why would he have personally brought his head to surrender?
"Why didn't you say anything about this at the time?" Xiao Heng asked, frowning.
“Without any evidence, and that’s someone who’s been by your side for years, you might not believe me even if I told you,” Bai Xingzhi paused, then chuckled, “and you’d only be accused of sowing discord.”
Xiao Heng pursed his lips and remained silent.
He had suspected that her danger was related to the people around him, but he was so focused on finding her that he didn't have time to investigate further.
Moreover, as he said, these people were all trained by him personally and had followed him for many years, some even longer than Zhao Fuquan.
Although he knew that they each had their own reasons for depending on him, he did not doubt their loyalty.
Bai Xingzhi continued, "Their target this time is still her. Although I don't know their purpose, I know we can't let them succeed."
"But I don't trust your personal guard, so I have no choice but to go and find him myself."
Xiao Heng looked at him coldly and questioned, "Then why didn't you bring it back after you found it?"
“When I found her,” he paused, his fingertips gripping the teacup turning slightly white, and said with lowered eyes, “she was severely injured and barely clinging to life.”
“After waking up, she was both blind and had amnesia... And as you saw, she refused to come back, and there was nothing I could do about it,” Bai Xingzhi said with a helpless expression.
Xiao Heng didn't hear a word Bai Xingzhi said afterward.
"Seriously injured," "Only one breath left," "Blind and amnesiac"—these three sentences struck him like a heavy hammer, echoing repeatedly in his mind, making his ears ache, his throat tighten, and his eyes sting.
He abruptly turned to look at the unconscious woman inside the tent, his gaze falling on her pale, translucent face, and seeing the shocking scars, his throat felt as if it were being choked by a hot iron.
"I thought you would find us soon, but half a month has passed. It has really delayed things," Bai Xingzhi said, seemingly regretful.
He was telling the truth. He had long been prepared to be found. He had already made preparations when Old Man Shi first took them to town to find a doctor.
However, her facial injuries were too severe at the time, and she was blindfolded, so she was not recognized.
He just didn't expect to appear so late, giving him more time to spend with her.
"Is she... badly injured?" Xiao Heng asked in a hoarse voice.
When Bai Xingzhi heard him ask this, he knew that he believed him. Or perhaps he didn't believe him, but his mind was currently focused on her, and he had no time to investigate the truth of his words.
"Yes, if we delay even a moment longer, it will be too late to turn the tide," Bai Xingzhi said calmly, lowering his eyes.
Xiao Heng remained silent, lost in thought.
After a long silence, he said something cryptic: "So, you saved her again."
Bai Xingzhi took a sip of his tea and then chuckled softly, "It was just a coincidence."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the woman inside the curtain suddenly awoke.
Gu Xi had a long dream, in which everything was so clear as if it had actually happened, but she forgot it all as soon as she woke up.
She looked around and realized she was lying in an unfamiliar room. She quickly got up and drew back the curtains.
The first thing she saw was the man who had suddenly embraced her on the street earlier that day, and Bai Xingzhi sitting by the desk.
"You're awake?" Xiao Heng asked with concern, then gave Bai Xingzhi a look, signaling him to leave quickly.
Seeing Bai Xingzhi get up to leave, Gu Xi hurriedly said, "Young Master Bai, don't go..."
She didn't know this man and was afraid of being alone with him in a room. Moreover, the suffocating heartache she felt before she fainted was still faintly present. She had a gut feeling that this man was dangerous and wanted to get away from him.
She curled up in a corner, suppressing the panic in her heart, and looked at him warily, asking, "Young master, who are you? Do we know each other?"
Xiao Heng couldn't bear the wary and unfamiliar look in her eyes any longer, and he suppressed his anger, growling in a low voice, "Gu Xi! I am Xiao Heng, your husband!"
"Xiao Heng..." Gu Xi murmured the name, then suddenly clutched her chest, startled, and blurted out, "You're my husband?!"
She looked at Bai Xingzhi in shock and asked, "Young Master Bai, I'm married?!"
Xiao Heng turned his gaze to Bai Xingzhi, his eyes seemingly as cold as a deep pool: "Didn't you tell her?"
Bai Xingzhi seemed to suddenly realize something: "Yes, I did forget. She didn't seem to want to hear your name, so I didn't mention it again."
Xiao Heng had no time to discern the truth in his words, and turned to Gu Xi, saying, "Now you know!"
Gu Xi was completely stunned.
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Author's Note: This chapter was so difficult to write! [laughing and crying emoji] [laughing and crying emoji]
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