"Little Yin, Little Yin, I wasn't a bad person in your eyes after all... I really don't know whether to be happy or sad."
He paused, then said, "Now, bring out the woman from the carriage behind you. I'm here to take her life."
Yin Wuxiao trembled.
There was no movement inside the carriage.
For a fleeting moment, Yin Wuxiao hoped that Cui Shenghan had already quietly escaped and that the carriage was empty. But she knew in her heart that Cui Shenghan was inside the carriage, perhaps trembling with fear, perhaps praying to heaven.
She struggled to her feet and, with an air of arrogance, calmly met Yin Bitong's gaze.
"I won't let you kill her."
Yin Bitong chuckled: "What makes you think you are so special? You're just a pampered young lady who can't even kill a chicken."
Yin Wuxiao was speechless. She had no leverage to protect Cui Shenghan unless... unless Yin Bitong truly had feelings for her.
"Yin Bitong, do you like me?"
Her face was pale as she stared directly at Yin Bitong.
Even someone as composed as Yin Bitong was caught off guard by her blunt question. He thought for a moment with a serious expression, then gave a stiff smile: "What makes you think that way?"
"I guessed. Yin Bitong, am I right?" She smiled slightly at Yin Bitong, and for a moment, she looked like a proud empress.
Yin Bitong's expression gradually changed, and a cold aura gathered in his eyes, like a storm brewing.
He suddenly gave a chilling laugh, revealing his white teeth:
"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't? Yin Wuxiao, who do you think you are? A savior or some saint? If I say yes, are you planning to sacrifice yourself to save that woman? She stole your treasure to offer to her master so she could be with her man, do you know that? Ah, I almost forgot, didn't you do the same thing last time? For Baili Qingyi and Mu Wanfeng, you willingly married Qiao Fenglang, willingly sacrificing your lifelong happiness. Yin Wuxiao, you are truly great!"
Yin Bitong let out a strange, eerie laugh.
Yin Wuxiao flinched at his laughter.
She really is a pushover; she didn't even realize it herself.
But she couldn't bear to watch someone die in front of her.
"I will not sacrifice myself for anyone, and I will absolutely not allow anyone to kill in front of me. At least not while I am alive." Yin Wuxiao said, word by word. "Yin Bitong, you should know me. I have said it before, you can kill, but not in front of me."
Yin Bitong sneered: "If you really didn't care, why would you keep this woman by your side? I thought you would return to the capital with Qiao Fenglang, but I didn't expect you to abandon Qiao Fenglang just to protect her. Yin Wuxiao, are you an idiot?"
"I'm an idiot! I'd even save a ruthless killer like you, let alone a pregnant woman!" Yin Wuxiao pleaded, "Yin Bitong, I'm begging you, spare her this time, at least... at least let her give birth to the child, the child is innocent! Two lives lost, how can you bear it?"
Yin Bitong was stunned.
"You're begging me? Don't you never ask for favors?"
"Who can truly live without asking for favors?" Yin Wuxiao said with a wry smile.
"..."
Yin Bitong remained silent.
He slowly walked up to Yin Wuxiao, reached out and gently touched her eyebrows and eyes, completely ignoring the bloodstains on his fingertips that stained her face.
A desolate expression flashed across his face in an instant: "The Xiao Yin I know is free-spirited and indifferent, weak and easy to bully, yet she doesn't care about anything."
Yin Wuxiao pulled his hand down: "Yin Bitong, perhaps you never really saw who I was from the beginning."
Yin Bitong's face turned deathly pale instantly. He pressed his forehead against Yin Wuxiao's and growled, "No! It's you I love, it's you." His hands trembled as he cupped Yin Wuxiao's face and suddenly kissed her lips. His lips were icy cold, and Yin Wuxiao shivered.
Yin Bitong breathed heavily on her lips, his blood-stained hands caressing her face and gripping her neck. His kiss was ferocious and desperate, carrying the scent of death.
Amidst his panting breaths, Yin Wuxiao suddenly understood her own feelings for him.
It was a feeling of shared fate. She and he were both lonely kites, flying aimlessly in the sky, searching for what they perceived as freedom. But there was no one tugging at the other end of the kite string, so what was the point of that freedom?
Tears streamed slowly down her face as Yin Wuxiao whispered into Yin Bitong's passionate lips, "Yin Bitong, we are both pitiful people."
Yin Bitong's movements suddenly stopped.
A cold voice came from behind: "Don't bother asking him anymore, it's no use."
Cui Shenghan alighted from the carriage at some point and stood quietly by the carriage, like a withered lotus in the water.
“Yin Bitong, you’re nothing more than your master’s dog, no different from us,” Cui Shenghan said coldly, her right hand instinctively protecting her abdomen, her expression serene.
Yin Wuxiao felt Yin Bitong's body tense up and quickly grabbed him: "No, please don't kill anyone anymore, okay?"
Yin Bitong did not turn around.
"Yin Bitong!" Yin Wuxiao cried, "You once said that if I wanted you to retire from crime, I should just say so. Now I'm asking you, will you agree? Will you agree?"
Yin Bitong paused, turned to look at her, and saw her face covered in tears. His eyes narrowed, and then he turned his head away: "Too late."
With a gentle tug, he flung her away.
"How is it too late? How could it be too late? It's never too late if you're willing!" Yin Wuxiao kept chattering behind him. She no longer knew what she was saying. She only hoped that her words could slow down Yin Bitong's steps.
"Yin Bitong, didn't you say that no one is your master? Being a good person is tiring, but isn't being a bad person tiring too? What's wrong with you that you insist on obeying that person's orders? If you are really a bad person, why did you spare the Rong siblings for my sake? Why did you save me so many times? Why did you comfort me when I had nightmares? Why were you so good to me?"
"Yin Bitong, don't you want a peaceful life anymore? I hope you can live that kind of life!" She knelt down behind him.
At the same time, Yin Bitong's fingertip pierced Cui Shenghan's brow.
Blood flowed across Cui Shenghan's beautiful face, but her expression remained fixed on a calm face, never to change again.
Cui Shenghan's body slowly slid to the ground.
She died.
“I never said I wanted to live a peaceful life,” Yin Bitong said slowly.
Yin Wuxiao's tears slowly dried after hearing his words.
"You were the one who left me first, the one who betrayed me first. You were the one who forgot me first."
After saying this, Yin Bitong didn't even look at her, and walked away step by step. His green figure eventually disappeared at the end of the street.
Yin Wuxiao stared blankly at the corpses scattered all over the ground, only hearing the bamboo house still creaking and groaning oblivious to the impending chaos.
And that old, worn-out red lantern still sways in the wind.
After an unknown amount of time, a fast horse galloped across the horizon, its hooves pounding as if urging someone to their death.
Bai Can tumbled off his horse and galloped towards them.
Yin Wuxiao looked at his terrified and frantic appearance, gave a bleak smile, and slumped to the ground.
Before she fainted, she subconsciously crumpled the paper in her hand. It was given to her by Cui Shenghan before she got off the carriage.
Chapter Nineteen: The Brocade Zither's Startling Strings Shatter the Dream (Part One)
In the distance, there are mountains and white houses; nearby, there are rows of graves.
Autumn is approaching.
How much time can a mound of yellow earth bury, how many stories can it hide? When the person buries their loved one and sprinkles the last layer of soil, do they ever hope that the person they care about in the afterlife will one day be reincarnated and accompany them?
Let alone the impossibility, even if it were possible, who could recognize whom? When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; once gone, they never return.
Yin Wuxiao and Bai Can buried Cui Shenghan and the Qiao Gang members, standing silently before the tombstone. The brisk autumn wind pierced their brows, needing only a drizzle of autumn rain to thoroughly cleanse them.
Yin Wuxiao clutched the nearly crumpled paper in her hand, her mind blank. Then she saw the name on the tombstone of Deputy Branch Leader Zhao: Zhao Huaimin.
If it weren't for the fact that Deputy Branch Leader Zhao happened to mention it that day, she wouldn't even know his name. When she first heard the name, she even scoffed inwardly, but now, thinking back, she only felt a deep sense of sorrow.
She will pay more attention to health from now on. Yin Wuxiao thought silently.
She knew why Yin Bitong allowed Rong Jufeng to live, yet insisted on killing Cui Shenghan.
The reason is simple: Rong Jufeng can be killed or spared, which has no impact on "Wuhen," while Cui Shenghan must die.
At this moment, Bai Can gave her a dazed smile, which looked worse than crying.
"Little Wu'er, do you think Cuicui and the child might just be a dream? Or maybe they never existed at all?"
Yin Wuxiao felt a lump in his throat.
It might be better for Bai Can to deceive himself like this.
But she didn't know when Bai Can, so cheerful, would ever have that same smile on his face again.
Faced with such a life-or-death separation, Bai Can's small betrayal of her seemed utterly meaningless.
Whether it's resentment, hatred, love, or sorrow, nothing surpasses life and death.
Ten days later, Yin Wuxiao returned to the Yin family mansion in the capital, home he had been away from for more than three years.
Having already received the news, Qiao Fenglang finally felt relieved after seeing her safe and sound.
Yin Wuxiao's first words were: "I want to see Aunt Yun."
Three years had passed, and a faint sorrow lingered between Aunt Yun's brows.
However, her eyes were empty.
"Mother's mind is still a little unclear. Sometimes she speaks like a normal person, but other times she can't tell where she is or what time it is. You have to be careful when you talk to her," Qiao Fenglang instructed.
Yin Wuxiao nodded and dismissed all the maids who were taking care of Aunt Yun, leaving only himself and Aunt Yun in the room.
"Aunt Yun, how are you feeling?" She knelt beside Aunt Yun's chair.
Ruan Yun's bewildered gaze slowly settled on Yin Wuxiao's face. After a long while, she finally asked hesitantly, "Who... are you?"
Yin Wuxiao held back her tears: "Aunt Yun, I am Xiao'er. Look at my face, I am the most disobedient and ignorant Xiao'er."
Ruan Yun fell silent, shifting her gaze as if her thoughts had wandered to something else.
Yin Wuxiao lowered his head, gently took Ruan Yun's hand, pressed it against his face, and stroked it: "Aunt Yun, you are Xiao'er's only family. If even you don't remember Xiao'er, what will Xiao'er do?"
Ruan Yun's expression calmed down, and she seemed to be enjoying the loving caress in her hands.
Yin Wuxiao looked up and said, "Aunt Yun, in a few days, I will be getting married to Brother Fenglang."
Ruan Yun lowered her head, pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "You want to get married?"
Yin Wuxiao nodded in delight.
Ruan Yun held her hand and said softly, "The bride must hold an apple during the wedding, so that she can have a safe and happy reunion. I never won Bai Yue's heart back then because I didn't hold an apple."
Yin Wuxiao was taken aback.