Chapter 38: Forcing the Plot Back on Track Online β “Do you really not care?”
A hideous, terrifying scar stretched across the man’s face like a poisonous vine controlled by a ghost wanting to devour him.
He wore a thin layer of fabric that rustled in the wind.
“Hurry up! I don’t have that much patience.”
The man urged impatiently, the knife in his hand stopping in front of the taut rope above one of the people’s heads. “Or do you want both of them to die?”
Lu Xunye hid in the crowd and conversed with the system in his mind: γThey shouldn’t be able to fall, right? After all, there’s the protagonist halo. Didn’t you say the Protagonist Gong would realize his feelings for the Protagonist Shou after this node?γ
Answering him was a string of static noise.
Lu Xunye: “…” Dropping the ball at the critical moment. Typical of you.
Someone from the crowd leaned in and whispered in Si Jinyan’s ear, “President Si, the cabin is locked. We’ve sent people to find tools, but breaking it open will take time.”
Si Jinyan clenched his fists tight, staring fixedly at the situation opposite. Subconsciously, he glanced at Shen Yunqian, and their gazes met in mid-air.
It was an extremely indifferent look. Instantly, a nameless fire surged in Si Jinyan’s chest.
He didn’t understand why, even now, the other party could be so calm. Couldn’t he show weakness?
Or did he hate him that much? Preferring death over being involved with him?
Then he looked at Jian Luoqing, who had been recuperating in the hospital but was kidnapped and suspended in the air.
The youth was extremely tense, his face pale as paper. The discomfort of a heart attack made him want to gasp for air, but with his mouth taped shut, he could only frown in pain.
Si Jinyan’s heart skipped a beat, then beat rapidly as if trying to jump out of his chest.
Whether it was the wind, the waves, or the whispering behind him, everything sounded indistinct in his ears as if separated by a wall.
“Choose quickly!” The man ran out of patience. He exerted a little force, and the sharp knife cut the rope. Jian Luoqing plummeted.
“No!” Si Jinyan’s pupils dilated, breath stagnating. Then he saw the person stop falling, suspended again.
Only a very thin part of the rope tied above the youth’s head remained, barely supporting his weight, but his face was even paler.
Just as Si Jinyan breathed a sigh of relief, the man aimed the knife at the remaining finger-thick rope.
Instantly, his heart hung high again. His voice trembling, he had to take this ugly man whose face looked licked by tongues of fire seriously. “Don’t touch him! If you have business, come at me!”
He rushed forward but was firmly locked from behind by his assistant. “President Si, you can’t go over. He’s provoking you. Going over will only cost another life!”
“Everyone says you found a substitute for your White Moonlight.” The man leaned back, playing with the knife in his hand.
He said casually, “Everyone knows one is the benefactor who saved your life when you were in danger, and the other is the Shen family orphan who abandoned you to escape in danger and has a blood feud with you for killing his mother.”
“But what is the truth?” The man raised his hand and dropped the knife. Half of Shen Yunqian’s rope was cut.
The crowd screamed in horror.
The man’s sharp knife tip lifted Shen Yunqian’s chin. He turned to look at Si Jinyan. “Do you really not care?”
“If I remember correctly, you, the lofty President Si, were also a dog of the Shen family a few years ago. Only after returning from a kidnapping and falling into the sea did you transform and achieve what you have today.”
“I think the situation back then should have been like this too.”
While speaking, the knife in the man’s hand easily cut a slit in the youth’s tender skin.
Blood seeped from under the skin, forming a sharp contrast with the scabbing wound on his cheek.
“I recently discovered an interesting thing about that year.”
He enunciated word by word: “The Shen family young master and his nanny’s son were kidnapped and fell into the sea. After being rescued, he lost his memory.”
“Impossible!” Si Jinyan blurted out a rebuttal. “He clearly…”
“That’s because he hit a reef causing temporary amnesia. After regaining his memory, he didn’t remember you either. He only forgot you, hahahahahahaβ”
The man laughed until tears came out, looking at Shen Yunqian with pity, the cold flat of the blade patting his face humiliatingly.
“Seems he doesn’t know why he was rescued by someone else’s boat.”
“What exactly do you mean!” Si Jinyan had no impression of what the other was talking about.
Clearly, the Shen couple had killed his mother and suffered from guilty consciences and sleepless nights.
To cover up the crime, they used the excuse of taking him, a junior, to network with other families, only to push him into the sea to silence him, while gaining a good reputation.
The man looked as if he had heard a massive joke. His interested gaze landed on Si Jinyan’s impotent rage, finally feeling a trace of satisfaction.
“With such good information resources of the Si family in hand, you didn’t investigate at all?”
Fragmented images flashed before Si Jinyan’s eyes, too fast for him to grasp.
…
Ding.
γThis “Cruise Ship Danger” is an important node. It ends with the Protagonist Shou falling into the sea and the criminal being caught. The Protagonist Gong thoroughly investigates the past, leading to exposing and bringing down the mastermind.γ
γAfterward, the misunderstanding between the Protagonist Gong and Shou is resolved. The Protagonist Gong realizes his feelings. Three months later, the Protagonist Shou returns, and their feelings heat up.γ
Lu Xunye: γReally falling into the sea?!γ
This won’t do!
He quietly withdrew from the crowd, looking around for something. Suddenly, his gaze landed on the swimming pool in the center of the deck.
Floating on it was an inflatable boat that could seat three or four people at most.
…
Here
The atmosphere was still frozen.
“Haven’t chosen yet?” The man looked like he was happy to help. “Don’t blame me for not giving you a chance. Since you won’t choose, then both die together!”
As the blade was centimeters from the rope above Shen Yunqian’s head, Jian Luoqing beside him stared wide-eyed in shock, throat making whimpering sounds.
The man stopped his movement, looked at Si Jinyan, then withdrew the knife and ripped the tape off Jian Luoqing’s mouth. His tone wasn’t surprised at all: “Want Si Jinyan to choose you?”
Jian Luoqing gasped for breath, shouting to Si Jinyan with all his strength: “Si Jinyan, remember what I told you. Don’t let yourself regret it. I wouldn’t live long anyway.”
“Dying early or late is the same to me. Being able to do a good deed before dying…”
He choked with pain, smiled bitterly, and said, “Seeing I did a good deed, God should give me… a healthy body in the next life.”
His voice when he spoke again was noticeably weaker than the first shout.
Si Jinyan’s eyes were red. “Don’t even think about it. I won’t let you die. I can find a heart transplant donor very soon. You will get better soon.”
Seeing the assistant couldn’t hold Si Jinyan back, those who intended to cooperate with the Si family also helped pull him back, persuading him that they were just two little lovers, not worth the risk.
“Choose or not!” The man urged again.
Si Jinyan forced himself to calm down. “I choose, I choose… Jian Luoqing.”
Bangβ
The upper balcony was breached. Several people rushed onto the balcony and shouted down: “Don’t panic, we’re pulling you up now.”
Saying this, they divided the work, pulling the ropes on the railing upwards.
Hearing the commotion above, the assistant finally breathed a sigh of relief, loosening his grip on Si Jinyan’s arms.
“Did I allow it?” The man didn’t wait for them to pull, cutting two ropes first.
“Si Jinyan, what right do you have to have two people treat you sincerely! While my wife could only be buried in the sea of fire. What right!”
The ropes were completely cut. The people suspended in mid-air fell straight down.
The crowd exclaimed. The huge commotion attracted more people.
Elder Wen was supported by his granddaughter and Lu Yan on either side. What they saw was Si Jinyan collapsing and crying without any image, limp on the ground.
The man on the platform laughed wildly covering his face, turning sideways to reveal two ropes tied to the railing by his handβthe ones tied to Shen Yunqian and the other’s feet just now. At the same time, a pistol behind him was exposed.
The man’s action of drawing the gun instantly sent the crowd into a frenzy, panic on everyone’s faces.
The old man turned his head and instructed his granddaughter, “Have people clear the area. Ask the guests who saw this to return to their cabins to rest. Today’s matter cannot spread.”
After she left, he said to Lu Yan, “Call all the bodyguards up. Find his accomplices.”
In a place no one paid attention to, Lu Xunye seized the opportunity, stepped onto the high platform, and kicked the gun out of the man’s hand.
The man realized his intent and raised the knife at him. Lu Xunye raised both hands, smiling ingratiatingly. “Big brother, let’s talk this over.”
“You carry human lives on your back, and you can’t live either. Do you think your relatives in the netherworld hope for you to do this?”
This sentence seemed to poke his heart. He loosened slightly. Just as Lu Xunye prepared to snatch the knife, the man suddenly exploded and cut the rope on the railing.
The cruise ship had been sailing the whole time. If they really fell, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Lu Xunye acted first, kicking him, twisting his hand back, and snatching the knife.
The man was taken down by the bodyguards pouring in.
At the same time, Si Jinyan also rushed up to pull Jian Luoqing.
Lu Xunye’s heart beat wildly with delay, legs a bit weak. He looked down at the bottomless deep sea and the upside-down Shen Yunqian, pulling the rope with lingering fear.
Snapβ
The rope tied to Shen Yunqian’s feet broke in the middle.
Only the faint sound of splashing waves was heard. Holding the light broken rope in his palm, Lu Xunye felt the air seemed to stagnate.
The moment Jian Luoqing was rescued, Lu Xunye stepped on the railing and jumped down without thinking.
Splashββββ
The seawater was bone-chillingly cold, instantly wrapping around Lu Xunye.
The resistance of the waves felt like a thousand-pound iron block hanging on his body. Especially since it was too cold; so cold his limbs wouldn’t obey.
Time had never passed so slowly. When he finally found Shen Yunqian, Lu Xunye almost wept with joy, swimming towards him with all his might.
Shen Yunqian closed his eyes, letting himself float in the sea. He didn’t open his eyes until he was embraced.
Opening eyes underwater wasn’t pleasant. He focused for a while before seeing clearly who was in front of him.
Lu Xunye used the snatched knife to cut the rope tied to his body and tore off the black tape on his mouth.
Without even time for eye contact, Lu Xunye pulled his wrist and swam upwards. Carrying the weight of another person greatly restricted his movements.
Perhaps his swimming skills weren’t good to begin with.
Seawater poured into his ears, buzzing loudly. Lu Xunye’s consciousness began to blur. A string of bubbles escaped his mouth and nose; boundless suffocation threatened to swallow him.
In the end, it was Shen Yunqian who clasped his hand back and brought him to the surface.
The two climbed onto the inflatable boat Lu Xunye had lowered beforehand.
Lu Xunye choked out a mouthful of water wretchedly.
Shen Yunqian knelt beside him, patting his back, expression unreadable. “Why did you jump?”
Aren’t you afraid of heights… Why still jump?
The stabbing pain in the back of Lu Xunye’s neck was severe. He gasped for air constantly, too late to say much.
He grabbed the rope tied to the inflatable boat. “Get up first then talk.”
Shen Yunqian looked over. The end of this rope was tied to the railing of the cruise ship deck.
Because of this, the inflatable boat could follow behind the cruise ship, preventing them from becoming drifters on the sea.
As long as someone found them and provided rescue, everything would be settled.
Soon, the two noticed the rope moved. Thinking it was rescue, they looked up at the cruise ship together.
And the person on the cruise ship was… Lu Yan!
Lu Xunye immediately had a bad premonition.
Sure enough, Lu Yan untied the rope Lu Xunye had tied to the railing. He didn’t pull hard, didn’t call for help, but simply let go.
The rope fell onto the sea surface, slowly sinking to the bottom.
Lu Yan leaned lazily against the railing, waved at them, and mouthed silently: Safe travels.
He had already dismissed everyone. It was impossible for anyone to discover Lu Xunye and the other.
Only death awaited them.
The cruise ship sailed past their eyes. The inflatable boat was quickly lost on the sea surface.
Lu Xunye covered the back of his neck, a groan escaping from between his clenched teeth.
He could no longer bear it, collapsing weakly onto Shen Yunqian’s shoulder.
“Lu Xunye!”
Author’s Note: Little Lu, don’t be so calm. If nothing unexpected happens, you are about to have an accident [Dog head].
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