She couldn't stand it.
It feels like there's something stuck in my chest, ready to explode at any moment.
Huo Shenyan held her in his arms and said softly, "If you feel better if you cry, then cry loudly. Jingxi, don't blame yourself. There are some things we can't change."
Ni Jingxi's tears were already welling up in her eyes, but at the very last second...
She shook her head again.
She looked up at the man in front of her and said in a voice that seemed to have driven her to the brink of despair, "I won't cry, I don't want to cry."
Ni Jingxi has always been strong. She has never cried in the past year. Even when she saw a corpse for the first time and saw someone die in front of her, she suppressed the urge to vomit and insisted on finishing the report.
But today, despite such immense grief, she still tried her best to hold back.
It's not because she lacks compassion, nor because she doesn't feel sorry for these people.
It was because she didn't want those terrorists to succeed; they just wanted to incite fear, sadness, and grief in everyone.
So she wouldn't be defeated. She grieved for those who had died, her heart already overflowing with tears. But what she wanted even more was to tell the whole world the truth.
At this moment, the wails from inside the hospital seemed to travel through the lobby and out the door; not only she but also Huo Shenyan could hear them clearly.
He came to Lebanon without telling anyone. Even after knowing she wasn't in Israel, Huo Shenyan still wanted to come. However, the situation in Lebanon was even more tense than in Israel.
After all, Israel is a military power that can effectively control crises within its borders and keep conflicts contained in its surrounding areas.
But shortly after he entered Lebanon, his bodyguards told him that a massive explosion had occurred in a Lebanese market, causing heavy casualties.
Huo Shenyan knew that the bodyguard wouldn't say these things without a reason.
Sure enough, the bodyguard said the next second, "Miss Ni was just in the market."
Huo Shenyan remained silent for several seconds before calmly saying, "Go there immediately."
But at that moment, veins bulged on his palms, and although his face showed extreme restraint and forbearance, his heart was already in turmoil.
The Middle East has long been plagued by war, and terrorists are becoming increasingly rampant.
What if something happens to her...
Huo Shenyan took a deep breath. Fortunately, when the car was halfway there, he received another call from ahead reporting that Ni Jingxi had gone to the hospital.
Although the bodyguard assured him that Ni Jingxi was not injured.
But he still felt no relief whatsoever until he saw her sitting on the hospital steps, which were covered in blood and dirt, looking particularly gruesome.
She huddled in a corner of the steps, and no one paid her any attention or asked her anything.
Suddenly, Huo Shenyan's eyes reddened.
It really hurts, damn it.
When Ni Jingxi lifted her head from his embrace, Huo Shenyan lowered his eyes and was about to speak, but when he caught sight of the bloodstains on his shirt, his heart tightened and he grabbed her wrist.
When Ni Jingxi's palm was opened, even she was stunned.
His palms were covered in cuts and scrapes, with blood and mud mixed together, and sand embedded in his flesh.
It looks particularly terrifying.
"Don't you feel any pain?" Huo Shenyan's voice rose involuntarily. He was genuinely heartbroken to be so angry. The hospital was right next door, yet she didn't even call for help.
Ni Jingxi blinked; she really hadn't felt anything.
At the explosion site just now, it was no exaggeration to say that blood and flesh were flying everywhere. The father who died embracing the terrorist will probably be so badly mutilated that it's unlikely even a single intact limb could be found.
And among those injured in the explosion, she witnessed firsthand a person's arm being severed from their body.
That's terrible.
So she couldn't feel her pain. It was just a scraped palm, nothing to her. She didn't even think it was a wound.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Huo Shenyan said in a low voice, "Treat the wound first, otherwise it will get infected."
Ni Jingxi nodded, and then she took his arm and whispered, "Let's not cause any trouble for the hospital."
Hospitals are currently facing a severe shortage of staff. So many people have died and many others have been seriously injured, including some children. So many people are waiting for doctors to treat them.
Hearing her say that she wouldn't cause any trouble, Huo Shenyan felt incredibly uncomfortable.
But he understood what Ni Jingxi meant, so he reached out and gently ruffled the top of her hair, and said softly, "Okay, I'll take care of it for you when we get back."
Ni Jingxi smiled.
It wasn't until she got into the car that she realized the three black cars parked at the entrance were actually his convoy. Huo Shenyan and Ni Jingxi were in the middle car, while the cars in front and behind were all covered in black tint.
But Ni Jingxi felt that the room was full of people.
Having just experienced such turmoil, Ni Jingxi was already somewhat unsettled, and now seeing such a grand occasion made her even more uneasy.
Moreover, she wasn't completely oblivious; the car in the middle, which Huo Shenyan was riding in, appeared to be an armored vehicle.
After getting into the car, Ni Jingxi finally couldn't help but lower her voice and ask, "What happened?"
She felt that this level of security was something she had never seen before with Huo Shenyan.
When Huo Shenyan was in China, he was always accompanied by bodyguards when attending public events.
Huo Shenyan turned to look at her, a casual smile playing on his lips: "Are you scared?"
If he's really being hunted down, then being with him could be troublesome.
Ni Jingxi blinked, looked at him with great seriousness, and said, "There doesn't seem to be anything in this world that Ni Jingxi is afraid of."
She spoke in a relaxed tone, but she couldn't help herself as soon as she finished speaking.
"Has something really happened?" Ni Jingxi asked him worriedly.
Huo Shenyan reached out and grasped her hand. Because her palm was bruised, he didn't dare to use force and just gently fiddled with her fingers: "It's okay, it's just for safety reasons."
Ni Jingxi still frowned.
Although Huo Shenyan wasn't a government official, he was the CEO of Hengya Group. Hengya was no ordinary company; their communication technology could sometimes be all-powerful. Besides, the Middle East was indeed somewhat chaotic, especially in countries with less-than-ideal security; caution was always wise.
She had been living peacefully in Lebanon for a month, and she even joked that Qiao Muheng was too cautious to send her over.
As it turned out, on her way out, she witnessed what a true hell on earth was like.
When Ni Jingxi got out of the car, she subconsciously closed her eyes.
Huo Shenyan, who was standing to the side, noticed that she paused for a moment. When he saw the expression on her face, he noticed that she frowned slightly, as if she had something on her mind.
It wasn't far from the market, but the place wasn't too affected by the chaos. In fact, when she entered the hotel, the receptionist greeted her with a smile and looked curiously at Huo Shenyan who followed her in.
When they got to the room, Ni Jingxi took out her first-aid kit. She had brought it with her, originally just for self-defense, and never expected it would actually come in handy.
She glanced down at her body; during the second explosion, she had fallen to the ground, and that's when her hand was injured.
Huo Shenyan glanced down at her body; her clothes were covered in dust and bloodstains, whether hers or someone else's, he couldn't tell.
"I'm going to take a shower," Ni Jingxi said softly.
Huo Shenyan frowned: "But you still have wounds on your palms."
Ni Jingxi looked down at her palm and saw that it was just a scraped skin: "It's okay, it's just a minor injury. I feel like I'm too dirty, I smell of blood."
Previously, she always smelled a bloody odor in her nose, which she thought came from the explosion site and the hospital, but now it seemed to be from her own body.
Ni Jingxi found it really hard to bear.
But Huo Shenyan grabbed her and pressed her down into a chair in the room, whispering, "Treate the wound first."
Ni Jingxi let him press her down to sit.
This medical kit was brought by Ni Jingxi; I didn't expect it to be so well-equipped. After Huo Shenyan took out the mercurochrome and cotton swabs, he asked, "Did you bring all of this?"
"Yes, just in case."
She looked down at him as he prepared to treat her wound, when Huo Shenyan suddenly whispered, "Xingxing, close your eyes."
Ni Jingxi was slightly taken aback.
The wound on her hand did look quite serious, but even so, it was just an external injury. She pursed her lips and shook her head: "I'm not afraid."
After going through so much, she tried to tell herself that she wasn't afraid.
She's really not afraid.
So many people lost their lives.
Huo Shenyan frowned slightly, then leaned closer to her, his lips landing on her eyelids. Ni Jingxi instinctively closed her eyes.
The kiss was so tender, as if he wanted to give all the tenderness in the world to her alone.
The moment she closed her eyes, tears streamed gently down her cheeks again.
The room was quiet; the immense tragedy unfolding in the city had not yet spread here. Yet, her heart felt heavy, as if it were filled with something, causing her not only discomfort but also an irresistible urge to cry.
Until she raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Suddenly, Huo Shenyan's lips moved slightly to the corner of her eye, until she felt a soft touch brush against the corner of her eye.
She trembled all over.
Huo Shenyan sighed softly and said in a low voice, "If you still want to cry, you can cry. Xingxing, you don't need to hold it in."
Crying is everyone's right, although Huo Shenyan has only cried a handful of times since he was a child.
But he didn't want Ni Jingxi to be bound by the idea that crying was weakness.
His voice was low and husky in her ear: "Star, you can cry without restraint, because I'm here."
Ni Jingxi looked up at him: "When I was in the market just now, when that bomb exploded in front of me, I only had one thought in my mind."
"Be careful what you say, I haven't seen you one last time."
If she were to be affected by the explosion today, Ni Jingxi's biggest regret would be that she hadn't yet met him.
"How could it be the last time we see each other?" Even though he knew she was just making a hypothetical statement, Huo Shenyan still couldn't bear it.
He wanted her to live easily, just like that, right before his eyes.
Ni Jingxi sniffed lightly, looked down at her palm, and murmured, "It still hurts."
Huo Shenyan lowered his head, his brows furrowing slightly.
After a long while, he seemed hesitant but still asked softly, "How about I smother you?"