Chapter 23 - 2#

Wang Zheng.

Wang Zheng…

“Wang Zheng…”

“You… don’t cry…”

“Don’t… don’t cry… don’t be afraid… be good… be good… Zhengzheng, don’t… don’t be afraid…”

His hands tightened, his whole body trembling.

“Zhengzheng, don’t be afraid… Bro is here… right here…”

“Bro is here…”

‘If you need them to do anything, I’m enough.’

‘You’re such an idiot. There’s no one dumber than you in this world.’

‘Qi Ri, who’s that? A junior? Don’t hang around with just anyone.’

‘Ren Qi Ri, you’re the one who can’t get it up with women—don’t lump me in with you!’

‘You’re the one who did this to me!’

‘These… aren’t for you. Give them to me, yeah?’

‘Bro, I have candy here.’

That beautiful child smiled gently at me.

‘I’ll share with you.’

Wang Zheng.

I thought…

In this life, we could both be fine.

—————————

Wang Zheng sobbed quietly. I let out a soft sigh, lowering my voice near his ear: “Be good, Zhengzheng…” I moved my elbow slightly. “Untie this.”

Wang Zheng lifted his head from my chest, staring at me blankly, eyes red.

I raised the corner of my mouth. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t run. Be good…”

Wang Zheng hesitated for a long moment, then finally reached a trembling hand into his pocket and pulled out a key. As it came out, a small bottle with a label rolled out too. Wang Zheng sniffled, picked up the bottle, opened it, poured two pills into his palm, and swallowed them whole.

“What’s that?” I asked him nervously.

“Nothing…” Wang Zheng replied softly. “Just ordinary calming pills.”

He walked over and bent down. I tilted my head and asked him, “Why did you—”

Wang Zheng bit his lip. As the chains came undone, he looked at me and said slowly, “Every night I have these… really strange dreams.”

“I…” He hesitated, then took my newly freed hand and murmured, “I dreamed… that you died… died… you died…”

“…I don’t want… I don’t want you to leave me. My dad keeps… keeps pushing me to go abroad… I know… you definitely… definitely won’t come with me…”

“I… I really, really want to be good to you, but—” He stroked my bleeding palm and my red, slightly swollen wrist, opened his mouth, and said hoarsely—

“Qi Ri… I’m sorry, really…”

I sighed softly. “It’s okay.” I helped him stand up with me. My feet wobbled a bit, but I steadied myself. I guided him to sit on the cabin bed. Just as I was about to step outside, Wang Zheng suddenly grabbed my hand.

I turned back and gave him a reassuring smile, patting his hand. “Don’t be afraid. I’m just going out to check… how that person is. Don’t worry, really. I won’t leave.” Besides, I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

Wang Zheng looked at me with a mix of doubt and trust, but finally nodded. He said, “I’ll go with you…”

When I opened the cabin door, blinding sunlight hit me. I shook my head, and sure enough, there was a person lying on the deck by the side of the boat. I hurried over. Seeing the pool of blood, I couldn’t help but feel a jolt of fear. Wang Zheng stood behind me, trembling slightly again. I patted his shoulder soothingly and said, “I’ll go check.”

Wang Zheng’s face was as pale as paper, and he nodded uneasily.

I took a deep breath, knelt down on one knee, and pressed my fingers to the person’s neck—

Still… still okay.

I quickly turned back to Wang Zheng and said, “He still has a pulse! Is there a first-aid kit? We need to stop the bleeding first!” Wang Zheng’s shot had hit his shoulder, and blood was flowing. In this emergency, I had no idea how to handle it properly.

Before long, Wang Zheng found the first-aid kit, along with clean cloth and a water bottle. I didn’t dare move the injured person carelessly. Wang Zheng clearly had rarely seen such a scene; he was swaying a bit. When I turned and saw he looked about to collapse, I said, “Wang Zheng, you… why don’t you go lie down inside? I’ll handle this here.”

Wang Zheng gritted his teeth and shook his head stubbornly.

“Then…” I looked around. All I could see was an endless ocean, so I said, “Can you see if you can contact anyone quickly? Yes—call an ambulance!”

“The communicator and engine are both broken. Also, we’ve been discovered…” Wang Zheng lowered his gaze, seeming a little despondent. “Soon… someone will come after us.”

I nodded, turned back, and began cleaning the wound. But I had very little experience with gunshot wounds. I could only rely on my shallow knowledge—disinfect with alcohol, treat and bandage simply. After working for a while under the scorching sun, I was drenched in sweat.

I thought for a moment and said, “Let’s carry him inside first. Leaving him out here in the sun isn’t going to work.”

Wang Zheng reached out to help, but I noticed his hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t put any strength into them.

“Wang Zheng… you go sit down too. I’ll handle this.” I added, “Don’t worry. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. I won’t let you face it alone.”

Wang Zheng nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly in a way that made my heart ache.

After we carried the person inside, I was covered in blood myself. Wang Zheng sat to the side, looking utterly exhausted, his face drained of color.

He opened his eyes, and when he saw me looking at him, he reached out, grabbed my wrist, and pulled it close to his cheek, murmuring faintly, “You’re still here… you didn’t leave… you didn’t leave…”

Suddenly, my nose stung. I wanted to ruffle his hair, but my hands were stained with blood, so I just said, “Mm.”

Vaguely, I thought I heard a sound approaching from afar.

I said to Wang Zheng, “I’m going outside to check.”

Stepping out of the cabin, I stood at the stern and looked. I could faintly make out another yacht.

My heart lifted. I watched the yacht draw closer until it came to a stop nearby.

Uncle Jing stood at the bow. There weren’t many people with him. When he saw me, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief and called, “Young Master—”

His voice wasn’t as cold and hard as before; there was even a hint of emotion, which caught me off guard.

He carefully crossed over. Though he was older, he was still agile. Uncle Jing looked at the pool of blood on the deck, furrowed his brow, and asked, “Young Master, what happened here?” Then he quickly turned to examine me.

I gave him a smile. “I’m fine, Uncle Jing. Call for help. Someone’s injured! Inside the cabin. Wang Zheng isn’t doing well either.”

“Medical personnel are on their way. Don’t worry, Young Master.”

Uncle Jing patted my shoulder, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly in what seemed like relief.

He followed me into the cabin. I walked over to Wang Zheng and called softly, “Wang Zheng, Wang Zheng… someone’s here…” At least nothing too serious would happen now.

Wang Zheng looked a bit dazed. He shook his head and slowly opened his eyes.

“Wang Zheng, wake up…”

I gently shook him. Wang Zheng tilted his head back, his eyes gradually widening. Then, as if he’d seen something horrifying, he grabbed me so hard it hurt. I thought he’d had another nightmare and was about to soothe him when—

“Watch out—!!!”

Wang Zheng’s sharp cry rang in my ears, followed instantly by a piercing gunshot. I felt a whirl of dizziness, then a heavy ringing in my ears.

How could there be…

I lifted my eyes from Wang Zheng’s chest and stared blankly ahead.

The gun muzzle was still faintly smoking.

Uncle Jing let out a soft sigh, adjusting his glasses on his nose with one hand, and said with some annoyance, “Cousin, if you can’t move well, don’t force yourself. See… now I have to revise the script again.”

A bloody smell hit my nose, thicker than before.

“All that effort I put into increasing the dosage in the medicine, and your willpower is quite commendable, Cousin. But you’re still not ruthless enough… leaving loose ends, hesitating. In the end, I had to do it myself…”

I gasped for air, as if deprived of oxygen. Wang Zheng slowly slumped to the side.

Blood gushed like a spring.

Wang Zheng, Wang Zheng, Wang Zheng…

His eyes were wide open, his lips moving.

The sound of a gun being cocked rang out again. Uncle Jing exhaled and said, “Good… let’s settle it this way. Young Master Wang, young and impulsive, was incited by outsiders to kidnap Young Master Ren. When things fell apart, he tried to flee by boat, but there was an internal conflict. Young Master Wang was hit and gravely wounded. The murderer was also badly hurt. As for…”

As Uncle Jing fired, I protected my head and rolled to the side. I slammed into the wall, feeling a searing pain in my arm as if it had been pierced to the bone.

“Tch… missed again.”

Footsteps drew closer.

I looked up in terror, seeing the gun muzzle slowly align with my forehead.

“Young Master, Uncle Jing has watched you grow up. This now… it’s out of necessity. If it weren’t for Third Master’s situation with you… sigh.”

Uncle Jing sighed again. “Young Master, Wen Jing wishes you a peaceful rest underground, dying with your eyes closed.”

Wen Jing?

‘Cousin, you don’t look well. You should still carry these calming pills with you. Just now on the way here, I saw something… if any evidence were left behind, it would be a big problem.’

‘Wen Jing! You… why are you helping me?’

‘It’s all for Third Master’s good.’

For Third Master.

“I… I remember.”

I looked straight at Uncle Jing, stunned. “It was you…!”

“It was you! You instigated Wang Zheng. The mastermind behind this plan wasn’t Wang Zheng! It was you… You… why…?”

Uncle Jing narrowed his eyes, nodded, and said, “Young Master is very clever. Good, so you die knowing the truth. Don’t say Wen Jing was too harsh… Ah!!”

Uncle Jing suddenly cried out in alarm. Wang Zhen, somehow, had jumped up, both arms trembling as he wrapped them around Uncle Jing’s waist, and roared at me: “Run! Run—!!”

I—

I clenched my teeth, saw my chance, and rushed frantically outside without looking back.

“You—damn it!”

Curses came from behind.

Uncle Jing had tampered with Wang Zheng’s medicine, and Wang Zheng was wounded besides. He was quickly subdued and pinned to the ground.

Uncle Jing chased after me from behind, firing several shots in my direction. Maybe it was survival instinct—I managed to dodge them all, running all the way to the stern.

Uncle Jing followed me to the stern, panting heavily, his face full of hatred as he stared at me.

“Hmph… really getting old. If I were ten years younger—no, five—you wouldn’t have made it this far!”

I looked at him in fear and hoarsely called out, “Uncle Jing.”

“Why do you want to kill me?”

Uncle Jing let out a cold laugh, lowered his head to reload his gun with practiced speed, and said, “Young Master, this… you can blame your crazy mother and Ren Xiaoyang. Young Master, you shouldn’t have exploited Third Master’s guilt to bring him to this state.”

“The old madam was right about one thing—if she’d known so much trouble would come, she should have killed you first…”

“What did my mom and dad do…! And Third Uncle, what is he guilty about! Explain clearly!”

What was he talking about…?

“Young Master, these matters—you can go down to the underworld and ask Ren Xiaoyang what he did. Blame him for doing such a thing back then, and then letting you bewitch Third Master…”

‘I should have let Riwa know long ago, see if he still acknowledges you as his father! What, Xiaoyang, when it comes down to it, you’re still afraid of that shameful matter?’

See if he still acknowledges you as his father!

What did my dad actually do?

“Uncle Jing…”

“Alright, Young Master. If you’re not stalling for time, I’ll send you off clearly now—”

As the gunshot rang out, I leaped backward.

Splashes of water.

Floating, I seemed to hear shouting from above, but my body felt like it weighed a ton. I drifted for a moment, then slowly gave up struggling…