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墨書 Inktalez
She remembered that incident very clearly, after all, it was the first time she had sustained such a serious injury in her life.
She didn't know the cause of the incident, only that it was related to Qin Yaojie.
Calculating the time carefully, it had happened six months before she broke up with Qin Yaojie, and it was also before he underwent his transformation.
After finishing work one day, she returned home and suddenly noticed a group of people dressed in an unconventional style on her usual route back to her residence. They were holding sticks and had tattoos on their arms and shoulders.
At that moment, Xu Nuan guessed they were street thugs, possibly involved in a conflict with other gangs nearby and planning to fight in the area.
Xu Nuan didn’t think much of it; she casually sent a text to Qin Yaojie saying she was on her way home and intended to bypass the group of thugs.
Little did she know, she had become their target.
How could a woman escape the clutches of those thugs? Her phone was snatched away, her cries for help were met with violence, and she was left with injuries. However, she noticed that the thugs seemed particularly focused on injuring her hands; they only hit other parts of her body lightly before letting her go.
Qin Yaojie's arrival saved her, but it couldn't heal her wounds. The injuries on her body healed quickly, but the damage to her hands became permanent; she could no longer play the drumsticks or exert strength. The psychological shadow remained unhealed.
She had originally thought that Qin Yaojie would be there for her during those dark days, waiting for her to recover. But Qin Yaojie changed. As she became more anxious and sensitive, he started coming home late or not at all, his temper flared, and he ignored her.
When she finally managed to suppress the trauma deep within herself and endure the loneliness, the original Qin Yaojie still hadn’t returned. Instead, she found herself facing a breakup.
What reason could possibly turn a lifelong relationship sour?
Indeed, they had started as neighbors—an older brother and younger sister—then grew into close friends, childhood sweethearts, and eventually into a natural romantic relationship. Everything had gone so smoothly, yet that person left so many footprints and influences in her life.
She turned to leave, abandoning her alone in her stubborn quest to reclaim the past.
She knew that the past could never be revisited.
So, she wanted to bury it with the future.
Her heart was dead.
"Could it be related to Qin Yaojie again?"
Gu Ze's voice was rough and hoarse.
Men sometimes possess a strong intuition, and the only one who could transform that bright and innocent girl into what she had become was Qin Yaojie!
"It doesn't matter whether it is related or not; it's all in the past now."
Xu Nuan calmly stated this, then felt Gu Ze's hand grip her chin, forcing her to lift her head and meet his gaze. In his eyes, she saw her own expression.
Yes, very calm.
Calmly shedding tears.
"Do you really still care about Qin Yaojie?"
Gu Ze asked a question that he himself felt was quite foolish.
However, Xu Nuan seemed to be provoked by his words, suddenly raising her voice and sounding a bit frantic.
"How could I possibly not care about Qin Yaojie! I quit my job, left my parents, said goodbye to my friends, and signed a Life-and-Death Contract just to meet him in the game and ask him one question."
Xu Nuan broke down in tears, her body going limp as she slid down. Gu Ze knelt beside her and held her in his arms.
"I just wanted to see him once, I just wanted to ask him one more thing. Why has this become so difficult? I might die, he might die. How did we end up like this? What did I do wrong? What did he do wrong?"
Xu Nuan's face was already drenched in tears, and through her blurred vision, she couldn't make out Gu Ze's expression.
"I'm really foolish for asking such a serious question."
He was indeed foolish; Xu Nuan's behavior had been quite obvious all along, hadn't it?
She was clearly intelligent, fully aware that the clues pointed to Qin Yaojie, yet she would deliberately ignore them. She had sworn allegiance to him but still chose to overlook certain clues leading to Qin Yaojie. Just moments ago, Rao Tingxue had revealed that Qin Yaojie was involved in designing the game, and she pretended not to hear it, maintaining a calm facade while deliberately letting her go.
Smart women become fools when it comes to love.
And men become infatuated when faced with love.
He had known it all along; he knew how much he loved her and how much she loved him.
He attempted to push this version of himself away.
“Xu Nuan,” Gu Ze changed his address, desperately holding onto Xu Nuan, who was too weak from crying so hard. “Can you give me a chance? I want to protect you; I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
As Xu Nuan gasped for breath through her tears, she heard those words filled with so much emotion and froze, looking directly into Gu Ze's eyes with her misty gaze.
“Xu Nuan, I love you.”
She heard it—the words she feared the most.
“No,” Xu Nuan shook her head, the tears pooling at her chin fell away.
“You can’t love me.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘can’t,’” Gu Ze released his hold on Xu Nuan and instead placed his hands on her shoulders, looking straight at her.
“It’s my right, and I hope you can accept it.”
Even though his heart raced like a drum, there was still hope in his eyes.
Xu Nuan didn’t miss that glimmer of hope, which made her tears fall uncontrollably, like the unceasing rain from yesterday. It felt as if she had stolen water from a lake and turned it into her own tears.
She thought of the countless times Gu Ze had saved her, protecting her. She remembered that sorrowful kiss by the lakeside, and how the corners of the man’s eyes had been moist at that moment.
"No, you shouldn't love me. It's unfair to you," Xu Nuan said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"It's unfair to me too."
"Feelings aren't about fairness." Gu Ze held Xu Nuan's shoulders, his expression sorrowful.
"Xu Nuan, is there really no place for me in your heart? Just a little bit, just a tiny bit."
Just a little would be enough. He could move forward, he could pursue her openly, and he could stand by her side to protect her. Moreover, he could help her heal from the wounds Qin Yaojie had inflicted and walk hand in hand towards happiness.
"There isn't," Xu Nuan replied quickly and resolutely, so resolutely that it felt insincere.
"I don't like you. You have no place in my heart."
Once, a great wound had been torn open in her heart because of Qin Yaojie. In the game, she had become cold and ruthless, causing that wound to grow larger until she no longer recognized herself.
She couldn't deny that after becoming companions with Gu Ze and forming an Alliance, that wound had begun to change—whether it was due to genuine emotion or if she was simply falling back into the comfort of someone else's care.
She had once been cared for too well, only to fall painfully at the end, the kind of pain that tormented her day and night.
"Is there really nothing?"
She saw the sadness on this man's face, but he should have been full of vigor.
"Don't do this."
"Then why did you save me? Why do you care about me?"
Gu Ze held onto the slightest possibility and continued to stare intently at Xu Nuan. "Is there not even a little bit of concern for me in all of this?"
"No," Xu Nuan heard her own cruel voice. "I don't care about you at all. You are my companion, my Alliance."
She had hurt this man; she had hurt herself.
I'm sorry.
"You care about him, does that mean you still love him?"
Even though his heart was already frozen to the core, Gu Ze refused to give up and pressed on. He was merely clarifying things; he knew that without clarity, it would be difficult to get an answer, wouldn't it?
Does caring equal love?
Xu Nuan didn't know.
"I hate him!"
Xu Nuan said with unwavering determination, her tears, which had finally stopped, began to fall again, showing no signs of stopping.
Because there was once great love, now there is equally great hatred.
She didn’t care whether she still loved Qin Yaojie; all that mattered was that she remembered she hated him.
“He is my only obsession in this game,” Xu Nuan said frankly. “If I can’t find him, I have no motivation to continue in this game. I won’t have the will to go on; I would just die.”
That hatred had become her driving force, the thing that supported her as she moved forward. Without Qin Yaojie, she would quickly perish.
She was a fragile woman without power.
She knew all too well her own abilities and limitations.
Gu Ze didn’t know what to do. He had done everything he could, yet he hadn’t accomplished anything he wanted. This ruthless woman was harsh on others, but even harsher on herself.
Obsession is something deeper than love.
Love is etched into the soul; obsession is carved into the flesh and blood, then manipulates the soul.
His enemy was not Qin Yaojie; it was Xu Nuan.
His enemy was Qin Yaojie, who controlled Xu Nuan.
Having missed the former Xu Nuan, he might also miss the future.
He was unwilling, he was unwilling.
Xu Nuan noticed that Gu Ze's expression began to calm down, and she also steadied her emotions, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. The bandage on her left hand, tightly wrapped, loosened slightly due to her rough movements.
She had made up her mind; no one could stop her.
She would definitely find the secret passage and ensure that Gu Ze, Xu Hang, and the others were sent out in advance.
This game would become a battlefield between her and Qin Yaojie, a battlefield against the Mastermind.
She was a fragile woman without power, but oh, when a woman becomes obsessed, things start to change. She had long gotten used to life without Qin Yaojie’s protection; she had grown accustomed to solitude.
She would embrace this loneliness and take those guys down with her!
Xu Nuan's eyes brightened a little, flames beginning to dance within them. Her strength had returned, and just as she was trying to stand up with great effort, Gu Ze pulled her back down, half-laying in his embrace.
"I've made it very clear," Xu Nuan forced herself to sound indifferent.
"Is this where our Alliance ends?"
There was no woman more venomous than her in the world. She rejected this man with the most cruel words; a proud man like him would likely see himself as a flood now.
He was the young master of the Gu Group, a campus idol from the Business School, a future golden bachelor who would have countless women falling at his feet. He was an excellent man with capabilities and qualifications to live an extraordinary life.
"I won't accept this."
Xu Nuan's thoughts were interrupted by Gu Ze's forceful voice.
"Hmm?"
Xu Nuan slightly raised her head, wanting to see Gu Ze's expression, but instead found herself staring at his enlarged face.
Compared to the last time, this kiss was domineering and predatory.
Xu Nuan struggled desperately, her legs clumsily attempting to kick at Gu Ze, but he easily pinned them down with one leg. She lifted her arms, trying to elbow him, but Gu Ze caught both of her hands effortlessly.
"Mmm."
Under Gu Ze's overwhelming advance, she found herself unable to resist him until she was laid back on the grass. The coldness of the ground made her frown, yet Gu Ze seemed oblivious, only deepening the kiss.
"I won't accept this."
After being deprived of oxygen, Xu Nuan heard those words again.
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