Part 6
At this point, Lu Xunye panted for breath.
Shen Yunqian keenly felt the person leaning against him putting more weight on his body, guessing the other couldn’t hold on much longer. “Stop talking. Iāll take you to stop the bleeding first.”
Lu Xunye shook his head to show he was fine. He asked, “Si Jinyan, you can feel it most deeply. Do you really not understand his feelings right now?”
The echoing, leading question left Si Jinyan stunned. He turned around in disbelief. “You joined forces with Shen Qizhao… to deal with the Shen family?”
“Do you have some hidden reason?”
Fu Lan: “…”
“Answer me! Tell them you didn’t! That none of it was your doing! Tell them, alright?”
“If it truly was you, why would you admit to it?”
He gripped Fu Lanās sleeve almost humbly, calling her by the name he hadn’t used in a long time. “…Mom, I beg of you.”
Fu Lan coldly threw off his hand, giving him a finishing blow. “Yes. It was all my doing.”
Watching Si Jinyan and his mother bicker, Lu Xunye was truly exhausted. The monk may run, but the temple remains. He didn’t want Shen Yunqian to make a decision he would regret. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t know how many bullets were left in the magazine, and the situation downstairs was unclear. Shen Yunqian couldn’t bet on whether the next shot would fire. The best solution was to leave quietly.
Furthermore, Shen Yunqian had no desire to waste more time with them. Lu Xunyeās wound also needed to be treated as soon as possible. He closed his eyes briefly in irritation.
“Alright.”
Lu Xunye allowed himself to be supported by the waist and pulled along by the arm, walking with one heavy step and one light one. In truth, the bleeding had mostly stopped; he probably hadn’t hit anything vital.
Suddenly, a loud noise rang out from behind. The screeching sound of air hit their eardrums, followed by the muffled thud of a heavy object hitting the ground.
When they looked forward, a bullet was embedded in the wooden board leaning against the wall, with a few wisps of smoke trailing from it.
Instinctively, Lu Xunye turned back to look.
By the edge of the floor, the first bodyguard was holding a handgun with both hands. His feet were covered in blood. His vicious expression was slowly replaced by the shock of having survived.
Lu Xunyeās gaze shifted down to a spot not far behind them. Si Jinyan was sprawled on the ground behind them, covered in dustānot that his clothes were clean to begin with.
Lu Xunye glanced toward Fu Lan. He saw her raise her hand then pull it back, looking toward Si Jinyan with a flash of unbearable pain in her eyes.
She was the biological mother after all; there was still some affection left.
Connecting the bullet in the board, Lu Xunye understood quickly. He was confusedāhad Si Jinyan intended to take a bullet for them?!
Although he hadn’t succeeded, it was truly a mysterious turn of events.
He knew, of course, that it wasn’t for him. So it must have been…
“Thereās no need for these actions. Thereās even less need for guilt.” Shen Yunqian only gave him a glance before retracting his gaze, his heart unmoved. “I have never hated you.”
Si Jinyan stood up awkwardly. “I just wanted to say… Iām sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive my mother, but can you please let her go?”
He was met with silence. Si Jinyan understood.
Lu Xunye whispered sourly, “Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, and your childhood friend risked his life for you, aren’t you moved?”
Shen Yunqian snapped back, “I see you aren’t in pain anymore.”
Lu Xunye was in a good mood and immediately played the victim.
He took a sharp breath, furrowed his brow, and acted as though he were in distress, his hand around Shen Yunqianās shoulder tightening. “It hurts so much.”
Shen Yunqian noticed his small movement but didn’t stop him, giving him a perfunctory pat on the back as a sign of comfort.
Seeing he had missed, the bodyguard adjusted his emotions and tried to kill Shen Yunqian again.
However, before he could fire, his wrist was shot through, and the gun fell to the floor.
Lu Xunye was confused. “Did you fire?”
Shen Yunqian gripped the cold gun, only remembering to answer after a long while. “It wasn’t me.”
The gunshot faded into the empty room. Suddenly, the space became crowded as several “bandits” burst in. The leader of the group raised a hand. “Take them down.”
Then, this “bandit leader” walked toward Lu Xunye with concern in his tone. “Are you alright? There was a traffic jam, and I had to deal with some bothersome rats. Iām a bit late.”
“Huh?” Lu Xunye studied the unfamiliar middle-aged man before him. He was completely lost and turned an interrogative gaze toward Shen Yunqian.
Shen Yunqian nodded. “Secretary Zhou.”
“Xiao Shen.” Secretary Zhou patted Shen Yunqianās arm, subtly slipping something into his coat pocket.
“Youāve worked hard. Your two subordinates outside have been taken care of. Our Master has some matters to resolve. The doctor is waiting by the elevator. Take the Young Master to have his bleeding stopped; weāll handle things here.”
Fu Lan had said she had controlled Shen Yunqianās peopleāso these were a different group?
Seeing their familiar manner, Lu Xunyeās heart jumped. This person knew someone would be injured ahead of time?
Why else bring a doctor? He couldn’t be sure they didn’t have some ulterior motive for helping them.
Shen Yunqian didn’t know Lu Xunyeās inner thoughts. He gripped the object in his pocket and nodded to Secretary Zhou. “I understand.”
Lu Xunyeās nerves were so taut that he didn’t even notice a slight sting on his arm.
With his arm around Shen Yunqianās neck, he brushed past a man at the door as they left.
By now, Lu Xunyeās mind was a bit hazy. He kept his head down and didn’t see the manās face clearly, but he had the strange feeling that the man was looking at him.
The last image in his vision was the empty stairwell, save for a patch of blood.
Several raspy female voices came vaguely from behind.
“You finally showed up after all. I knew only something related to that woman could force you out!”
“Si Zhengā“
Lu Xunye jolted awake. It felt as if he had been in a very, very long dream. During the dream, a continuous thumping noise had echoed in his ears, preventing him from resting.
He slowly opened his eyes. He was curled up in a corner of a small triangular area under the stairs. The door to the stairwell was wide open, and the off-white oil paint was scuffed.
His mind was a mess. He slowly raised his hand to touch the bitten area of his lip. A sharp pain surged from the pressure. Recalling what happened earlier, he realized it wasn’t a dream.
On the ground beside him were several cracked, heavy porcelain tiles and some wooden boards with rough edges stained with what looked like red paint.
His body felt heavy; even moving was a chore. The sound of unsteady breathing drifted over. Lu Xunye looked toward the source.
It was Shen Yunqian, using his teeth to pull one end of a cloth strip while pulling the other with his hand, bandaging his own palm.
Lu Xunye tilted his head against the wall and blinked a few times.
How did you do that?
He tried to speak, but no sound came out. His throat felt as if it were locked by a rusty iron shackle and repeatedly scalded with boiling water, leaving only a raw, burning pain.
He swallowed hard, closing his eyes to endure the sting. Suddenly, a cool liquid poured into his mouth, washing away the discomfort.
Lu Xunye opened his eyes in surprise. His “triple eyelids” appeared for a second before returning to double.
“Better?” Shen Yunqian withdrew his hand from the otherās chin and tightened the bottle cap. “You didn’t lose too much blood, but you still shouldn’t drink too much water.”
Lu Xunyeās gaze landed on his leg. His pant leg had been pulled up, and his calf was neatly wrapped in white gauze. A bright red patch was clearly visible.
Perhaps heād been given local anesthesia; there was only a slight, itchy pain in his leg, like ants biting, which wasn’t very strong.
Looking at the surroundings, which were different from before he fainted, his gaze returned to the gauze on Shen Yunqianās left palm, which had already begun to bleed through in just a few seconds.
Even though the decoration here looked much better than the previous model unitāit had windows, wall tiles, and floor tilesāLu Xunye was certain they were still in a stairwell in the same building.
“Itās just a graze. We’re on the fifth floor. An earthquake caused the elevator to malfunction and stop here while we were going down. You fainted because of the anesthesia. The bullet has been removed; it didn’t hit the bone. Youāll be fine once the wound heals.”
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