The room was quiet for a while. Listening to the sounds, Li Ke judged that Chen Nanxing must have already left with his men.
Meng Yu's voice rang out: "I don't understand, why is this happening? This is not something you could do, Xia Qing. The Xia Qing I know would never do something so foolish."
Faced with Meng Yu's questioning, Xia Qing was unable to lift her head. She wanted to argue that she had not betrayed anyone, but she couldn't bring herself to say it because she knew that her actions were betrayal, and that anything she said would be just sophistry.
Meng Yu felt even more frustrated and confused. She angrily pressed on, "At this point, what can't you say? If you still consider me a sister, then let me die knowing the truth. I don't want to die in a daze."
Li Ke had the same question in her heart. She was also anxious to know the reason. She knew Xia Qing's character. Even when Chen Nanxing ambushed her in the black hole, Li Ke never suspected Xia Qing or anyone else.
This incident, and the reversal it brought, was truly beyond Li Ke's expectations.
Xia Qing finally responded, her voice hoarse and heavy, reflecting the weight and pain in her heart: "I didn't know it would be like this, I had no idea such a thing would happen. I feel like I deserve to die, but in fact, it's as if I've become a traitor, or as if I don't even... don't know what I've done at all!"
Xia Qing was clearly confused and bewildered. She held her head, trying to recall the whole incident.
She never knew who was lurking around her. It all started when she received a photo of Xiao Yi. In the photo, his prosthetic leg had been removed, he was being tortured, and his eyes were closed. He looked to be in a very bad situation.
The back of the photo read, "Do not report this content, or his situation will worsen." Xia Qing tried to find out who gave her the photo, but made no progress.
However, her selfishness led her to put the photos away without reporting them to her superiors.
Xia Qing knew that the people above did not actually value Xiao Yi much. Although Xiao Yi was capable, in their eyes, he was often unruly and autocratic. In addition, the old leader who had promoted Xiao Yi had retired from worldly affairs in recent years due to health reasons.
Xia Qing was very worried about how much effort these people would actually put into rescuing Xiao Yi.
During this period, everything she saw proved that everyone's focus was now on the solar energy mine, and Xiao Yi's matter seemed to have become insignificant, as if it were just a side issue.
Later, she received two more photos, each one showing Xiao Yi wearing torture devices. Each one drove Xia Qing to the brink of madness with heartache and resentment. Her captain should not be treated like this.
Apart from that, she received no other instructions or arrangements until news of the shipwreck came, at which point the person gave her a new message that read: Xiao Yi is waiting for you.
Xia Qing knew that this was a message deliberately sent to lure her in. How could Xiao Yi possibly wait for her? He had always only regarded her as his subordinate and teammate.
If there was truly one person he had been waiting for, it was only Li Ke; Xia Qing had always held this clear understanding in his heart.
She also knew that Xiao Yi was in his current predicament, and he would rather die than let any of his teammates risk their lives to save him.
Xia Qing knew everything, and she had always viewed everything calmly and rationally. She never harbored any resentment towards any of them because Xiao Yi liked Li Ke.
She loved Xiao Yi, but she also knew that Li Ke was a good girl. Neither of them was wrong; they just couldn't be together.
If nothing unexpected happens, she can continue to love him silently. But now that Xiao Yi is in a dangerous situation, Xia Qing cannot turn a blind eye. Moreover, she believes that the other party only sent out a few photos and did not set any traps or enticements.
Xia Qing thought that the other party hadn't taken any other action besides providing photos, so she decided to wait until the other party really showed their true colors before making a move.
"I only received another letter from her just before we went into the water. It said I would see her soon, and there was a hand gesture with two fingers raised next to it. I didn't know what she was up to, so I could only continue on my way. It wasn't until Chen Nanxing came to my side and showed me that hand gesture just before we were caught in the whirlpool that I realized she was that dark ghost. The protective device that I activated after I hugged you was the one she gave me back then, and it was only after I surfaced that I discovered her real target was Li Ke."
Xia Qing still feels wronged, but she can't defend herself. At most, she just kept that information from her and was a little too eager to save Xiao Yi, but she really didn't do anything unnecessary.
But now, Li Ke and the others have been arrested. Worst of all, their teammates who went into the water with them, and their teammates in the submarine, are probably in even worse condition than them.
If she had reported this information earlier, perhaps the superiors would have made different arrangements, and perhaps these teammates would not have been caught in the vortex, their fates unknown. Xia Qing also felt that she had an inescapable responsibility for what had already happened.
Her head was about to explode. She knew she had done something wrong, but she really didn't understand why Chen Nanxing wanted to drag her into this, since she hadn't asked him to do anything.
This woman must enjoy manipulating people's hearts. Xia Qing hated herself and also loathed Chen Nanxing.
After hearing Xia Qing's explanation, Meng Yu remained silent for a long while. She actually understood Xia Qing quite well. As Xia Qing's close friend, she had always known that Xia Qing deeply loved Xiao Yi, a love that required no return or response.
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