Chapter 54: Tell Me, Who Can’t You Leave?
Liang Sheng asked with difficulty. He didn’t dare think—didn’t dare even consider—that this husband he had been married to for seven years would watch coldly while he suffered and was in his most desperate agony!
“Remained indifferent…”
Shen Xingyu murmured softly. It seemed this little idiot didn’t know he had a fever, nor that he was the one who fed him the medicine. He wanted to say he didn’t actually not care about him, but saying it would sound quite pretentious.
“Think whatever you want.”
Things had come to this, yet he was still so indifferent and heartless. Liang Sheng was completely disappointed in him. Since Shen Xingyu had been secretly monitoring him, the cat must have been taken away, too!
“What about Little Flower? Where did Little Flower go? What did you do to it?!”
He questioned while crying.
Although he couldn’t see where the man was and could only shout into the air, he knew in his heart that this man was too terrifying. Little Flower would definitely be hurt!
“Little Flower?”
Shen Xingyu raised an eyebrow, his hand following the cat’s soft fur. He asked knowingly, “Heh, what Little Flower?”
“S-stop pretending! Did you take Little Flower away? Give it back to me! It’s innocent!”
Liang Sheng shrieked urgently. Little Flower had been his only spiritual pillar during these days.
“Oh, do you mean this calico?”
Shen Xingyu gave a casual laugh, his finger gently teasing the cat’s ears.
“W-what did you do to it?”
“It’s fine, lying in my arms.”
Shen Xingyu spoke flatly, his tone incredibly calm. But the more it was like this, the more Liang Sheng worried.
“How… how is that possible? Why would Little Flower follow you?”
He didn’t believe it, thinking Shen Xingyu was deceiving him again.
“Did you really think a place like this would have a cat?”
Shen Xingyu shattered his final sliver of naivety. He had placed the cat by Liang Sheng’s side specifically to watch him regain hope and then fall into despair again. He wanted Liang Sheng to realize that everything would leave him; only he, Shen Xingyu, could accompany him forever.
Liang Sheng instantly understood his meaning. Yet he still didn’t want to believe that the cat who had accompanied him for so many days would be as indifferent as Shen Xingyu.
“Little Flower! Can you hear me? Please come over. Are you really going to abandon me, too?”
He was now so humble that he craved the love of an animal.
“Meow a couple of times. Let him know you’re here.”
Shen Xingyu gently patted the calico in his arms. He truly, sincerely liked cats.
Liang Sheng fell silent, his heart pounding.
“Meow meow~”
The familiar cat cry came, and the hope in his heart completely died. It was the cry he was used to hearing, but the lively and cute spark was gone; it now sounded cold and foreign.
“Little Flower…”
Liang Sheng shook his head with a sob. Although he was crying behind the blindfold, a smile curled on his lips:
“No… how could you possibly listen to Shen Xingyu…? Have you forgotten? We depended on each other these days. We picked wild fruit at sunrise and gathered crabs on the beach at sunset. You were so silly, always getting your paw pinched by crabs. We were so happy together these days. I already thought of you as my family. You wouldn’t abandon me…”
The cat in Shen Xingyu’s arms froze. It was unclear if it understood. It lowered its ears and silently turned around, burying itself in Shen Xingyu’s embrace.
Shen Xingyu frowned. Seeing that the other was more affectionate toward a cat than toward himself made him inexplicably jealous.
“What’s there to cry about? Some people and some things are destined to only accompany you for a portion of the journey. I am the only one who can be by your side forever.”
Shen Xingyu looked at the person who was sobbing uncontrollably not far away. With a strange obsession, he suddenly became gentle:
“Shengsheng, come back. I can love you well, just like you described our past.”
“No… you aren’t him anymore!”
Liang Sheng shook his head while wailing. He couldn’t accept Shen Xingyu’s mental cruelty. He stood up shakily and suddenly ran behind him like a madman.
Even if he couldn’t see, even if he slammed into a tree and died, he didn’t want to stay with this man anymore.
He wanted to get as far away from him as possible!
But it was so, so dark. He stumbled, unable to find his direction, and could only run forward based on his instincts.
His terror grew even more intense.
Seeing him run, Shen Xingyu didn’t chase. Instead, he unhurriedly put the cat down, crossed his arms, and leaned against a tree trunk. A red string was wrapped around his finger. Suddenly, he yanked it hard. The red string went taut, clearly reaching its limit.
The other end of the string was tied to Liang Sheng. He hadn’t run far before he was restricted by the string behind him. Because he couldn’t see, he didn’t know the man had tied him up. He slammed violently onto the ground!
He was like a kite hanging in mid-air—freedom was within sight yet unreachable, forever tethered by a line.
“Ugh…”
He fell until his head spun, and his bones felt like they were about to shatter. He couldn’t climb up for a long time. The darkness gripped his fragile nerves, leaving him in agony.
So dark… so much pain…
Why not just kill me…
Why torture me this way…
He thought Shen Xingyu dumping him on the island meant he didn’t want him anymore. He had finally accepted that cruel fact, thinking that seclusion from the world would be fine; at least he could live out his remaining days in peace. But Shen Xingyu never intended to let him go, monitoring him every moment, refusing to let him have it easy.
The string suddenly moved, and then Liang Sheng felt himself being slowly dragged back.
“No… no…”
He struggled desperately, twisting his body. He shouted until his voice was hoarse, yet it changed nothing.
While being dragged, his arm was cut by a sharp stone, leaving a deep wound. It bled profusely and was incredibly painful.
Why do this to me…
Liang Sheng thought in a breakdown.
He could no longer cry. The tears that flowed were mixed with a faint red tint of blood.
The next second, the string pulling him suddenly stopped.
The surroundings returned to a deathly silence.
Liang Sheng opened his mouth weakly. Since his eyes couldn’t see anything, he had no idea what was beside him. His entire body was stiff, and he grew even more tense.
“Sh-Shen Xingyu… where are you?”
He called out with a stutter, his body trembling violently.
He hadn’t expected that the only person he could rely on in the darkness was actually the person who brought him despair.
The man who had responded to him earlier was now silent again.
“C-come back!”
Liang Sheng turned his head in fear, trying to use his hearing to determine if the man was still nearby. Even if he resented the other, he only had Shen Xingyu now.
“Don’t leave me… I’m so afraid… take me away, I beg you… don’t cover my eyes. It’s so dark. I’m afraid of the dark… I’ll die… Shen Xingyu… save me…”
He was so afraid he couldn’t even finish his sentences, pleading for salvation over and over. His body had already begun to spasm.
Having achieved his desired result, Shen Xingyu curled his lips in satisfaction. However, he wasn’t in a hurry to go over and comfort his broken little wife. Instead, he asked:
“Shengsheng, tell me, who can’t you leave?”
The sound of the man’s voice ringing out again gave the nearly darkness-killed Liang Sheng hope.
He desperately grabbed onto this only life-saving straw, sobbing his answer: “I… I can’t leave you!”
Shen Xingyu smiled even more gently, like he was coaxing a child. He asked patiently: “Who do you love most?”
Liang Sheng choked. He didn’t want to say it. His lips were pressed tightly together. But if he didn’t say it, he would suffer in the shadows.
The word “love” was too heavy.
Saying it so casually would be unworthy of a sincere heart.
Shen Xingyu seemed to know his weakness and continued to coax him step by step: “Tell me, Shengsheng. If your answer makes me happy, I’ll let you leave this place immediately and come home with me.”
Finally, terror forced Liang Sheng to compromise. He spoke with difficulty: “I… I love you most!”
“Louder.”
Shen Xingyu curled his lips, a spark of excitement in his eyes. The sentence he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Liang Sheng gritted his teeth and shrieked with all his strength: “I love you most!” He cried as he spoke. “In this lifetime… I only love you… I beg you, take off the cloth over my eyes. It feels so awful…”
But Shen Xingyu was immersed in his sickly love, directly ignoring the person whose face was gradually turning ashen.
“Is it true that you can only rely on me?”
Another gentle press for an answer.
“Yes… I can only rely on you… I have nothing left… I can only rely on you…”
Liang Sheng repeated it twice with a weak voice. Now, as long as he could escape the darkness, he was willing to do anything and say anything. It didn’t matter even if it wasn’t sincere, or if he had to weave a lie.
Shen Xingyu walked toward him. His windbreaker rustled in the wind. His features were cold, yet he was like a demon, repeatedly testing Liang Sheng’s bottom line and love.
By any means necessary.
He walked to Liang Sheng’s side and squatted down. Only then did he clearly see that the other was covered in bloodstains.
Feeling that chill, Liang Sheng instinctively shivered. He knew Shen Xingyu had walked up to him.
Clearly, his eyes held worry and tension, yet Shen Xingyu insisted on acting like he didn’t care. He picked Liang Sheng up from the ground, held him in his arms, and then untied the wet cloth from his eyes.
The restriction around his forehead was gone. The weak light was actually a bit blinding; Liang Sheng closed his eyes in pain.
It took a good while before he dared to carefully open them.
Shen Xingyu waited patiently.
Waiting for him to see him.
To see only him.
The close-at-hand features went from blurry to clear. After so many days, Liang Sheng saw his husband’s face again.
He had loved this face for many years. He simply couldn’t understand why it had changed…
Changed to become so cruel and cold.
It was no longer the gentle and elegant appearance from before.
His eyes turned red instantly. His lips trembled, pressed tight, but he ultimately couldn’t stop himself from crying until he was breathless.
“Shengsheng, don’t blame me. I just didn’t want you to leave.”
Shen Xingyu leaned down to kiss away the hot tears at the corners of his eyes.
Liang Sheng decisively turned his head away, not wanting to look at him. Using such a vile method to force him to say “I love you” only made him even more disappointed in this man.
Shen Xingyu frowned, clearly dissatisfied with his performance. He had just said he couldn’t leave him; why had he turned cold again?
Liang Sheng always made him irritable and frantic.
He forcefully turned his little wife’s face around, wanting to continue his coercion. In the next second, Liang Sheng suddenly couldn’t bear it anymore and vomited blood—onto the man’s chest.
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