Free Web NovelChapter 1061: Chapter 38: Why Did You Turn Off Your Phone, You Damn Woman
Nie Xiaoxing sucked in a sharp breath before she could stop herself, her eyes widening.
Nie Xiaoxing’s reaction now was within Lu Zhiquan’s expectations.
His thick brows knit slightly. "I’m sorry I kept this from you for so long."
Nie Xiaoxing raised a hand to touch her own forehead, then put it down, and suddenly stood up from the stool. "I just remembered I have something to do. The late-night snack, you eat it yourself."
"Xiaoxing!"
Before Nie Xiaoxing could turn and walk away, Lu Zhiquan grabbed her wrist in time, his dark eyes looking at her pleadingly. "Don’t be like this, Xiaoxing. Hear me out, okay?"
"There’s nothing to say." Nie Xiaoxing lowered her head to look at Lu Zhiquan, her eyes cold as midnight stars.
Lu Zhiquan closed his eyes, his fingers tightening even more. "Xiaoxing, if only for the sake of the fact that we went through the same hell in the past, sit down and let me finish, will you?"
"Lu Zhiquan, you still think we went through the same thing?" Nie Xiaoxing looked at Lu Zhiquan without any expression.
Lu Zhiquan opened his eyes and stared fixedly at Nie Xiaoxing. "You think we’re different? I can still remember the pain I went through to kick that damn addiction! And in that hellhole, how I had to watch, eyes wide open every day, those innocent people being forced to test drugs! Do you know how I felt when I saw you losing control in withdrawal, tormented like that? I wanted to tear those bastards into pieces!"
"It was then that I swore I would bring Yan Shu to justice, make him pay, and get justice for all those innocent people whose families were destroyed by drugs!"
Back then, as an undercover cop lurking among the drug test subjects, Lu Zhiquan endured far more agony than Nie Xiaoxing and Qi Yun.
The corners of Nie Xiaoxing’s eyes burned hot. Her slightly moist gaze flicked toward the darkness, and in the end she still held herself back and sat down again.
Seeing her like this, Lu Zhiquan exhaled through parted lips, his eyes reddening as he looked at her. "Thank you."
Nie Xiaoxing lowered her head and yanked her hand out of his grip. "If you’ve got something to say, say it quickly. I’m leaving when you’re done."
Lu Zhiquan frowned slightly, fell silent for a moment, then said hoarsely, "Xiaoxing, do you know how many police officers we’ve lost so far in the effort to catch Yan Shu?"
Nie Xiaoxing’s lashes drooped. She didn’t make a sound.
"Dozens."
As soon as Lu Zhiquan said this, his throat felt blocked. "These were all officers who got intel on Yan Shu’s whereabouts and went after him. Some of them spent years on end in narcotics, never giving up, doing everything they could, refusing to let go of any lead related to Yan Shu."
"Because of their persistence, Yan Shu felt threatened, so he pulled out all the stops to eliminate them. Among them are people whose entire families were brutally slaughtered by Yan Shu’s men."
Lu Zhiquan raised a hand and wiped his face. "I went back to K City for over a month this time just to attend my superior’s funeral. My superior and his family of three—no, four—were all slaughtered in one night! His wife was eight months pregnant, about to give birth. Their first child is only four years old now."
While Lu Zhiquan spoke of these things—
Nie Xiaoxing seemed to have no reaction. At the very least, she didn’t let anyone see any fluctuation in her emotions.
Lu Zhiquan’s eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Nie Xiaoxing. "After I attended my superior’s funeral, I swore that in this lifetime I would personally capture Yan Shu and see with my own eyes that he pays for the crimes he’s committed!"
Nie Xiaoxing lifted her head and stared at Lu Zhaonian, her gaze indifferent, even a little numb.
Lu Zhiquan suddenly reached out and gripped Nie Xiaoxing’s hand tight. "Xiaoxing, help me."
"I can’t help you," Nie Xiaoxing said.
"You can."
Lu Zhiquan squeezed Nie Xiaoxing’s hand even tighter, his voice even more hoarse from urgency. "Xiaoxing, you can! All these years, you’re the only one who’s seen Yan Shu in person and is still alive!"
"I’ve never seen him," Nie Xiaoxing said.
"You have! If you hadn’t seen Yan Shu himself, he wouldn’t have spent all these years going to such lengths to track you down and never let you go."
"You and I both know Yan Shu is suspicious by nature. The longer he’s in this business, the more cautious he is. He would never allow even the slightest handle on him to fall into someone else’s hands."
"So, Xiaoxing, you must have seen Yan Shu." Lu Zhiquan said with absolute certainty.
"I haven’t."
Nie Xiaoxing’s tone was calm. Looking at Lu Zhiquan’s anxious face, her eyes were as still as water.
Lu Zhiquan drew in a sharp breath, the red in his eyes deepening. A few seconds later, he said, "Xiaoxing, I promise you, even if it costs me my life, I’ll keep you safe. You just have to..."
"Lu Zhiquan!"
Nie Xiaoxing pulled her hand back, the corner of her mouth finally curving into a cold smile. "Don’t even mention that I really haven’t seen Yan Shu. Even if I had, I still wouldn’t agree to anything you’re asking!"
"Xiao..."
"I think you’ve finished saying everything you wanted to say. Then I’ll be leaving."
Nie Xiaoxing stood up, yanked the coat off her shoulders and tossed it onto Lu Zhiquan’s lap, her eyes calmly fixed on him. "Also, I hope this is the last time we ever see each other."
With that said.
Nie Xiaoxing pulled her chair back, turned around, and walked straight ahead without looking back.
Something seemed to block Lu Zhiquan’s throat completely, and he couldn’t get another word out.
He just sat there in a daze on the stool, twisting around to stare at Nie Xiaoxing’s thin back. As she walked farther and farther away, eventually shrinking into a black dot and vanishing into the night, a bead of red slowly welled up in his eyes.
...
When Gu Yan found Nie Xiaoxing, she was sitting on the steps by the swimming pool at the bottom of her apartment building.
Gu Yan’s temper just shot up in flames. He strode over in a few long steps, grabbed Nie Xiaoxing’s arm and yanked her up hard, not caring at all if he was hurting her.
All he knew was that she was driving him insane right now, driving him mad with rage!
"Ah..."
Nie Xiaoxing was caught off guard. Gu Yan rudely dragged her up the steps and threw her to the ground. Half her body scraped against the edge of the step, burning with pain.
But Gu Yan still felt it wasn’t enough. He bent down, grabbed her collar in one hand, and the fire blazing in his star-like eyes was about to burn Nie Xiaoxing’s face to ashes. "Nie Xiaoxing, tell me, do you have a death wish? Answer me!"
"Middle of the damn night, what the hell is wrong with you!" Nie Xiaoxing flared up too, lifting her leg to kick Gu Yan.
Gu Yan let out a cold laugh. Just as she lifted her leg, he raised his own, stomping directly down on her knee, pinning her leg back to the ground.
Nie Xiaoxing struggled. He simply straddled her, sitting across her body, seized her wrists in both hands and slammed them down on the ground beside her, roaring, "Nie Xiaoxing, are you fucking trying to ascend to heaven or what? Still giving me attitude, huh? Still acting tough!"
Gu Yan really couldn’t hold back the raging fire in his chest anymore. He suddenly bent down and bit down hard on Nie Xiaoxing’s lips, yanking up viciously.
"Mm..."
The pain was killing Nie Xiaoxing. The pain was one thing, but the most terrifying part was that she genuinely felt Gu Yan might bite her whole mouth clean off!
"Gu—mmph, Gu Yan..."
Because his teeth were clamped on her lips, Nie Xiaoxing couldn’t get a full sentence out, only a few muffled syllables.
Gu Yan still hadn’t vented any of his fury, but he loosened his bite on Nie Xiaoxing’s mouth for the moment, glaring at her viciously. "You fucking tell me clearly where the hell you disappeared to? Why was your phone off, you damn woman! Talk. Answer me!"
As Gu Yan shouted, he squeezed her wrists even harder, and even put his full weight down on Nie Xiaoxing’s stomach.
Nie Xiaoxing felt so awful she wanted to die. Her eyes were on the verge of tears as she gritted her teeth and gasped out with difficulty, "You—you’ve got me like this, how am I supposed to talk? Get off!"
"Don’t you bargain with me! If you still don’t talk, I’ll bite your mouth to pieces! Not like it’s any use having it anyway... Are you trying to fucking drive me to my grave! Do you have any idea how anxious I was, how..." Scared!
Scared she’d run into those people again like last time, scared she’d be in danger, scared that she... was already in danger...
In this short one or two hours, Gu Yan had felt like he was living in hell.
"You stupid woman!" Gu Yan roared again furiously, then bent down and once more "bit" onto Nie Xiaoxing’s lips.
Nie Xiaoxing’s shoulders flinched in fright, thinking he was going to maul her again like just now.
Her nerves stayed taut for three or four seconds. When Nie Xiaoxing realized that Gu Yan wasn’t "biting" but kissing her—
That taut string finally began to loosen slowly.
But as her nerves eased, her heartbeat only sped up faster and faster.
Nie Xiaoxing relaxed and lay on the ground. The chill of the concrete gradually faded beneath the steadily heating weight of the chest pressing down on her.
Or maybe it hadn’t faded at all—she was just choosing to ignore it.
She stared blankly at the tight, ashen, vicious face just inches from hers. Her throat was suddenly jammed full by a lump of emotion, and even her eyes were dragged along, stinging red.
"Are you... worried about me?"
Nie Xiaoxing murmured hoarsely against his burning lips.
And in response to that, what she got was his sudden, frenzied, devouring kiss.
