***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Fors Wall for the donation! ^^
***
“I’m sorry, Brother Yu Qing, I’m sorry, I was just too scared.” Shen Baiyue crouched in front of Ruan Qing, crying miserably, tears uncontrollably streaming down her face.
She kept apologizing.
“I didn’t mean to leave you just now; I was just looking for a sword.”
“I didn’t intentionally deceive you, either.” Shen Baiyue lowered her head, nervously clutching her skirt, her voice full of choking, “I just wanted to survive...”
Shen Baiyue looked full of self-blame and guilt.
But in reality, apart from apologies, she didn’t provide any crucial information. Even the deception towards Ruan Qing was vague.
In this way, even if he discovered something later on, she could claim she thought he knew, and she had already apologized.
And he had forgiven her.
However, her apologies at this moment might make people think she only lied about her swordsmanship.
After all, who would blame her for deceiving about her sword skills when she just saved someone from the brink of death?
If not for her swordsmanship, he would have died.
Ruan Qing glanced at Shen Baiyue with slightly narrowed eyes, his voice hoarse and somewhat weak as he spoke, “I don’t... blame you; you’ve... tried hard...”
“And just now, you... saved me.”
Even though Ruan Qing said so, Shen Baiyue still felt immense self-blame, tightly gripping her skirt, tears continuously falling as she kept apologizing, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Although Ruan Qing hadn’t fully recovered his strength, his breathing had calmed down. He gently propped himself up, reaching out to gently rub Shen Baiyue’s head. “It’s okay, no need to apologize.”
“I’m already happy that you saved me.”
Feeling the touch on her head, Shen Baiyue paused, as if comforted, and stopped crying.
She wiped away her tears, sat down beside Ruan Qing, and nervously asked, “Brother Yu Qing, are you really not hurt?”
Shen Baiyue reached out as if wanting to check if Ruan Qing had any injuries.
“No injuries, I’m fine.” Ruan Qing weakly extended his hand, directly blocking Shen Baiyue’s attempt to check his body.
Shen Baiyue seemed skeptical, her tone filled with uncertainty. “But when I arrived, I saw that blood shadow already pounced on Brother Yu Qing. Are you really not hurt?”
Ruan Qing: “...No.”
Shen Baiyue seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I thought that blood shadow was harming Brother Yu Qing. Fortunately, it’s not.”
Ruan Qing didn’t directly respond to this, as if he hadn’t heard.
After all, no response seemed appropriate to such a statement.
Fortunately, Shen Baiyue didn’t continue to inquire further. She just held her sword and sat quietly beside Ruan Qing.
She appeared a bit scared, her body trembling, unconsciously getting closer to Ruan Qing.
Ruan Qing looked at Shen Baiyue leaning against him, and in the end, he didn’t push her away.
After all, despite Shen Baiyue’s strong constitution, she was still just a teenage girl.
However...
Even if she’s afraid, she shouldn’t get too close to him.
After observing Shen Baiyue gradually leaning against him, Ruan Qing, who had been silent for a moment, pushed her away.
Shen Baiyue seemed a bit guilty and embarrassed. After Ruan Qing pushed her, she sat up straight, with a slight blush on her face.
Seemingly shy.
Ruan Qing frowned slightly at the picturesque scene. Could she be developing that kind of feelings for him?
Going through hardships together could indeed make people bond easily, especially for a girl like Shen Baiyue, who was at the age to get easily infatuated. It’s normal for a few buds of affection to sprout.
However, he was not a suitable object of affection.
Just as Ruan Qing was thinking about how to delicately nip this budding emotion in the bud, a faint sound came from outside the door.
It sounded like something was approaching.
Shen Baiyue decisively picked up the sword beside her, raising her head to vigilantly look towards the door.
Ruan Qing couldn’t say anything more at this point. He pursed his lips, also nervously glancing towards the door.
“Bang, bang, bang!” Something outside the door was attempting to break in.
Without a doubt, it was one of those blood shadows.
Although the features of the blood shadow were blurry, and its eyes were hollow, it reacted to both light and sound, especially sound.
The blood shadow at the door would definitely attract other blood shadows.
Shen Baiyue was only human, even if she had the strength to oppose the blood shadows, her body and mind would still feel fatigue.
Those blood shadows, on the other hand, were tireless and could regenerate even if they were cut into pieces.
However, after regeneration, their strength would decrease slightly, and the process to recover would take some time.
Even so, they could still wear down Shen Baiyue.
Moreover, she was burdened with the additional weight of protecting someone, making her situation even more challenging.
The sound of smashing on the door continued, echoing loudly in the night.
Shen Baiyue was well aware that this could not go on.
She helped Ruan Qing up, hid him in a corner, then picked up her sword and walked to the door.
Slowly gripping the door handle, she opened it and hid behind the door.
At the moment Shen Baiyue opened the door, it was violently kicked open, as if the door couldn’t bear the force.
It’s impossible to tell that someone actually opened the door latch.
After the door was kicked open, a blood-red figure walked in directly.
The blood-red figure looked around the room, seemingly sensing something.
Ruan Qing, peeking through a crack, found it strange to see the blood-red figure standing at the door.
When he was talking to Shen Baiyue, their voices were deliberately low, not necessarily audible even for someone standing outside the door. Moreover, no blood shadows saw them entering the room.
How did this blood shadow determine their location?
It couldn’t be that no matter where they were, the blood shadows could sense them.
The blood shadow seemed to be sniffing something and eventually focused on the sofa.
It’s where Ruan Qing lay before, with quite a bit of blood still on it.
Ruan Qing’s heart sank at the sight.
Could the persistent blood shadow track him?
After opening the door, Shen Baiyue hid behind it and gently pushed it closed.
It was like a door slamming into the wall behind it, bouncing back and automatically shutting itself.
After that, she picked up the sword, intending to directly slash and shatter the blood shadow without it noticing her presence.
Just as she was about to make the strike, Shen Baiyue heard a faint sound.
Not far from the sofa.
Shen Baiyue was startled and immediately looked towards the ground.
It was a crumpled piece of paper.
Someone threw the paper ball.
The blood shadow had already been lured away.
Shen Baiyue looked at Ruan Qing in the corner. Ruan Qing, seeing that she finally looked over, immediately shook his head.
It seemed like he was signaling her not to take action.
Shen Baiyue hesitated for a moment. Although she wasn’t sure of Ruan Qing’s intention, she nodded silently.
The blood shadow, attracted by the paper ball, pounced toward it immediately.
However, after finding nothing nearby, it moved to the front of the sofa and diligently sniffed something.
After about fifteen seconds, the blood shadow noticed a corner of the room.
And that corner was exactly where Ruan Qing was hiding.
