Chapter 63
Lin Huaixi was one step too late.
He pushed his way through the vast forest, weaving among the trees. All around him was darkness. The bright moonlight filtered through the dense, towering canopy above, cut into fragments by the leaves, only vaguely illuminating outlines. Visibility was poor.
It was clearly only early autumn, yet even the insects seemed to have vanished. Everything was deathly still. Lin Huaixi could hear only his own heartbeat, speeding up again and again from anxiety.
He looked around in every direction, but he could not find any sign of Zong Nanze, much less Youyou.
Instinctively, he wanted to call out, but then that terrifying thought flashed through his mind again.
If it really was Zong Nanze who had pushed Youyou down the mountain, then shouting rashly might provoke him and make the tragedy happen even faster.
Lin Huaixi pressed his lips together and lightened his steps, moving forward slowly. Even so, the dry branches beneath his feet still crackled noisily.
He walked farther and farther until he finally pushed through the thick underbrush and came to a more open area.
His field of vision gradually cleared. Stepping onto soft grass like a carpet, Lin Huaixi cautiously took a step forward and looked around.
Children liked bright colors, and Youyou’s light pink outfit stood out in the darkness. Lin Huaixi spotted her at once. The wind also carried the broken sound of a child crying.
Youyou was standing far away from him, her back to him. He could not see her expression, only the way she lifted a hand dismissively and wiped at her tears.
Seeing that the tragedy had not yet happened, Lin Huaixi let out a breath of relief and hurried toward her on instinct—but someone was faster than he was.
Zong Nanze, dressed in a black outdoor jacket, almost blended into the night itself. Lin Huaixi had been so preoccupied with Youyou that he had overlooked his presence entirely.
When he saw Zong Nanze lunging toward Youyou with one hand outstretched, Lin Huaixi’s pupils shrank in terror. His lips parted, but no sound came out.
…The thing he feared most had still come to pass!
No matter what he did now, it would be too late. All he could do was watch helplessly as the distance between Zong Nanze and Youyou grew smaller and smaller, as the hand he had reached out came closer and closer to catching hold of the back of her clothes.
And then, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.
Youyou dropped first, vanishing from view, while Zong Nanze threw himself forward at the last second and crashed to the ground.
All the scattered clues linked together at once, plucking at the taut string in Lin Huaixi’s mind.
He had misunderstood Zong Nanze.
Zong Nanze had not been trying to push Youyou just now. He had been closer to her, had seen her standing near the edge, and had rushed over because he was afraid she might fall, trying to grab her in time.
But he had still been one step too late.
Lin Huaixi watched the tragedy unfold right before his eyes. He had failed to save Youyou, and he had even wrongly suspected Zong Nanze. Guilt and panic crashed over him like a tidal wave, drowning him until he could barely breathe. His brain sank into the dull heaviness of oxygen deprivation, and his ears rang.
His body moved on its own. Stumbling forward, he ran toward them. As the distance closed, he saw Zong Nanze lying facedown on the ground, slowly inching backward, his arm stretched out taut and straight as if he were gripping something.
A thought flashed through Lin Huaixi’s mind. The sounds and colors that had receded from him began to return. It was as if he had come back to life, and he hurried forward.
When he was only one step away, Zong Nanze finally managed, by the strength of his own body, to haul Youyou back up.
Youyou had been frightened silly by what had just happened. Her expression was completely blank, tears still hanging on her face. She sat there motionless, like a doll without feelings, unable even to cry.
Lin Huaixi immediately crouched down and pulled her into his arms, patting her on the back soothingly. “It’s okay now. You’re safe. Brother is here, and we’ll protect you.”
Zong Nanze was still sprawled on the ground. He rolled over and glanced at Lin Huaixi’s expression, surprise flickering across his face. “Why are you here?”
Lin Huaixi looked at him, his expression complicated, his eyes full of guilt.
“You…”
He had barely gotten out a single word when Youyou, who was tucked in his arms, finally felt the warmth around her and came back to herself. Tears slowly welled up in her pretty eyes. She was too young, and her fragile little heart could not bear the terror of what had just happened. She burst into loud sobs.
Lin Huaixi’s train of thought was interrupted. He could only take care of the smaller one first. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he held Youyou in his arms, opened his coat, and wrapped her up completely inside it.
He knew Youyou was crying only to release her emotions, so he did not try to stop her. He simply stroked her hair gently.
From Lin Huaixi, Youyou felt a sense of safety. She wrinkled her nose greedily and breathed in deeply, taking in Lin Huaixi’s warm scent, as if he had been dried in the sun. Only then did she gradually regain control of herself, her crying subsiding into quiet little sobs.
Curled into a tiny sticky rice ball, Youyou kept hiccuping every now and then from having cried too hard. Lin Huaixi looked at her worriedly. Her little face was soaked with tears, flushed so red it almost looked like she had a fever.
“Don’t be afraid. Brother Nanze and I are both here. We’ll take you back to your brother right away.”
Youyou lifted her face from Lin Huaixi’s arms, biting her lip, her expression fearful and wronged. “Can we not tell my brother? I—I’m scared…”
Lin Huaixi knew she was afraid of being blamed. He pressed the back of his hand gently to her cheek. “It’s okay. Your brother loves you so much. He definitely won’t blame you.”
“But I ran off,” Youyou said, shrinking back into Lin Huaixi’s arms, lowering her head and fiddling with the zipper on his coat, too scared to say more.
Something stirred in Lin Huaixi’s heart, and he softly prompted her.
From Youyou’s halting explanation, Lin Huaixi pieced together the truth.
Youyou had seen a white butterfly. Playful and curious, she had secretly left the campsite to chase after it without telling anyone. By the time she came back to her senses, she had realized she was lost.
She had been terrified. Crying as she walked, she had gone forward mechanically. Her tears had blurred her vision, and her eyes were swollen from crying, so she had not noticed her surroundings and ended up right at the edge.
Zong Nanze had been the first to realize she was missing. He had come after her and, at the last possible moment, caught hold of Youyou just as her foot slipped and she was about to fall down the mountainside, preventing the tragedy from happening.
Lin Huaixi had calculated and prepared for everything, yet at the final moment he had let his guard down and made a fatal mistake. On top of that, he had even suspected Zong Nanze of being the culprit.
He had not helped at all. He had only held everyone back.
Lin Huaixi’s mood sank.
The Youyou in his arms noticed his change in mood at once.
Youyou had a heart like an angel’s. She lifted her two little hands and, with some effort, cupped Lin Huaixi’s face. Even though she herself was still frightened, she said firmly to comfort him, “Xixi, I’m okay. I’m brave too. I’ll go back and find my brother. I won’t run off again.”
Warmth flooded Lin Huaixi’s heart, leaving him unable to say anything. He only held Youyou a little tighter.
After the big one and the little one had both adjusted their emotions, Lin Huaixi cautiously set Youyou down on the ground. “Do you still have the strength, Youyou? Can you walk by yourself?”
“No problem.” With no lasting shadow left in her heart, Youyou smiled brightly again.
Only then did Lin Huaixi finally relax. After standing up, he walked over to Zong Nanze with a complicated expression.
He was both grateful and guilty, and his feelings toward Zong Nanze had become extremely complicated. Slowly, he crouched down in front of him and extended a hand. “Are you okay?”
It was the first time Lin Huaixi had spoken to him in such a gentle tone, no longer guarded against him. Zong Nanze paused, and the curve of his lips slowly deepened. “No. I’m exhausted.”
Like all the bones had melted out of him, he slowly lifted an arm. Lin Huaixi understood immediately. He grabbed his hand, leaned forward, and looped his other arm around Zong Nanze’s shoulder from behind. Using all the strength he had, he finally managed to help him to his feet.
Because of that posture, the distance between them kept shrinking. Zong Nanze, too, caught the warm scent coming off Lin Huaixi. His heart stirred. He lowered his gaze slightly and looked at Lin Huaixi’s eyelashes washed in moonlight, his small nose, and his lips, reddened from having been licked too many times.
Even after Zong Nanze stood up, Lin Huaixi still did not pull away. Caring for him like an attentive nurse, he asked, “Can you still walk? Do you want me to support you?”
Unexpectedly, Zong Nanze knew when to stop. “I’m fine. I can walk by myself. Go take care of Youyou.”
Lin Huaixi hesitated for a few seconds. Only after making sure he was not pretending to be strong did he slowly let go and walk toward Youyou.
The night wind was too cold. Lin Huaixi crouched down, wiped the tears from Youyou’s face, and pulled her jacket zipper all the way up.
With both hands in his pockets, Zong Nanze stood there casually, looking down at the figures of one big and one small.
He did not know exactly what had happened, but he could feel that Lin Huaixi’s attitude toward him had changed drastically.
But that was still far from enough.
He also wanted to know just how interesting Lin Huaixi really was, and just how far he would go for him.
Just as Lin Huaixi was about to take Youyou’s hand and move on, he suddenly heard the whooshing sound of something cutting through the air behind him.
He spun around at once and saw Zong Nanze, who had just claimed he was fine, suddenly miss his footing and fall backward.
Lin Huaixi’s reaction speed surpassed its limit. Instinctively, he reached out and caught Zong Nanze’s limp slipping hand just before he disappeared entirely from view.
