The courtyard was much larger than Lin Xihe had imagined. Xu Jiu treated her with utmost respect the whole way. The two walked for quite a while before stopping in front of a gate surrounded by numerous guards.
"Girl, this is the place."
Xu Jiu stretched out his hand and pointed to the seemingly ordinary room in front of him.
Lin Xihe nodded slightly, but her heart was pounding like a deer.
Seeing this, Xu Jiu gave the guard at the gate a look, and the guard understood and quickly opened the gate.
Before stepping across the threshold, Lin Xihe tried her best to maintain her composure, but as soon as she entered the room, all her pretense crumbled instantly, and she staggered toward the figure tightly bound by ropes under the window.
The room was dimly lit, as if shrouded in a thick veil. The bound person was wearing a brand-new white garment, which Mu Ruoyan had specially ordered her men to change into, for fear that the bloody scene would frighten Lin Xihe.
However, even after changing into new clothes, the mottled bloodstains still bloomed like hideous flowers on the white fabric, impossible to conceal.
Lin Xihe approached step by step, and the moment she saw Gu Qinghuai's face clearly, her heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, shattering into pieces instantly.
Gu Qinghuai was emaciated, with prominent cheekbones and sunken cheeks; his former handsome appearance had vanished completely.
His eyes were tightly closed, his bloodless lips were slightly cracked, the cuts resembling a dried-up riverbed. His breath was weak, as if he might vanish from this world at any moment.
Lin Xihe's tears welled up uncontrollably and flowed down like a flood.
With trembling hands, she slowly stroked Gu Qinghuai's face, her hands as light as if afraid of disturbing a fragile dream: "Qinghuai..." Her voice was filled with endless sorrow and pity, the last syllable trembling slightly.
"Qinghuai..."
She called out softly again, as if trying to awaken Gu Qinghuai from the endless darkness with each call.
She gently tucked Gu Qinghuai's disheveled hair behind her ear, tears blurring her vision, making everything before her eyes indistinct.
Perhaps it was the warmth of Lin Xihe's palm, or perhaps it was the familiar call, that made Gu Qinghuai move with difficulty in his unconscious state and slowly open his eyes.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his gaze revealed extreme weakness and exhaustion.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Gu Qinghuai mustered all his strength and managed a weak smile. The smile was filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and the joy of seeing Lin Xihe, but it also seemed particularly forced because he was too weak.
“Xi…” He tried to call out Lin Xihe’s name, but his voice was hoarse, as if it had been repeatedly polished by sand, broken and dry.
“Xihe...I...dreamed about...you again….”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xihe's tears fell even more fiercely, like beads from a broken string.
She stood on tiptoe, cupping Gu Qinghuai's face tightly in her hands, as if trying to imprint the person before her deeply into her heart: "It's not a dream, Qinghuai, I'm here."
A hint of confusion flashed in Gu Qinghuai's eyes, then, as if he had suddenly woken up from a terrible dream, his eyes widened in disbelief: "Not a dream?"
"No, Qinghuai, I'm really here," Lin Xihe said again with certainty, her voice trembling with tears, yet incredibly firm.
Gu Qinghuai's eyes instantly filled with panic and fear. His gaze lingered on Lin Xihe's face, as if trying to confirm whether what he was seeing was real. His lips trembled slightly as he asked, "Why...?"
Lin Xihe hurriedly raised her hand and wiped away the tears on her face with her sleeve, her voice filled with unwavering determination: "I've come to save you, Qinghuai. This is not a dream, I'm really here."
"Don't save me, you... go away."
Gu Qinghuai had no time to think about the thousands of words he would say after their reunion; all he could think about was getting the person he had been longing for day and night away from this dangerous place.
His eyes were filled with anxiety, as if if he lingered for even a second longer, Lin Xihe would be doomed.
"I won't leave, and I can't leave anyway."
Lin Xihe shook her head helplessly, a hint of determination in her eyes.
"Xihe, it's dangerous here, you can't stay here."
Gu Qinghuai's face was filled with panic, a panic that surpassed even any moment he had experienced during the months of being ambushed and brutally tortured by the enemy.
During those dark and hopeless days, no matter what torment he suffered, he had never been so panicked.
But today, the moment he saw Lin Xihe, he felt dizzy and his whole world collapsed.
"Let's not talk about that."
Lin Xihe glanced warily at the guards outside the door, then tiptoed closer to Gu Qinghuai, lowered her voice, and whispered in his ear, "I've entrusted our daughter to A-Zhuo's care. I know you're under a spell, but I have a way to remove it. Don't make me leave. If you can't get out of here, how can I get out by myself?"
Gu Qinghuai gazed at the person before him, whom he cherished like a precious treasure, someone who had traveled thousands of miles and overcome countless hardships to come here.
From her resolute gaze, Gu Qinghuai understood that she had made a do-or-die decision.
The thought that Mu Ruoyan's men were still surrounding him made his heart feel like it was being crushed by a huge stone, so heavy that he could hardly breathe.
He didn't know how much hardship Lin Xihe had endured on her journey, or what methods she had used to get here. But the woman before him was thin and haggard, her former rosy complexion gone, appearing so frail and helpless.
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