Chapter 74: If You Wish to Die, I Might As Well See You Off

Hua Qinci did not move, her brows knitted tightly together. Suddenly, she felt that Qin Youtian was hiding a secret—a secret he wished no one would ever discover.

Yet, her curiosity only grew stronger.

She could see right through his deliberate disguise, and she almost wanted to say aloud, “You’re quite the actor.”

It struck her then that they were alike in some ways; she too harbored a secret, one terrifying and forbidden to be spoken to anyone.

Looking at Qin Youtian now was like gazing into a mirror—it reminded her of herself. The fear that once gripped her loosened its hold, and instead, a smile touched her lips.

“All right!” she answered brightly.

In this moment, she found Qin Youtian to be quite endearing. As a physician, how could she not see whether he was truly ill?

Without thinking, she lifted her small hand, wanting to gently touch his face.

Qin Youtian seemed to glimpse the curiosity burning in her eyes and hurriedly evaded her. He rushed to the side, overcome by a violent coughing fit.

“Qin Youtian, are you all right?” Hua Qinci’s worry was plain to see.

“Leave me alone,” Qin Youtian said, and as Hua Qinci darted toward him, he turned and vanished into the rain. Yet his voice still echoed in her mind.

Her gaze inadvertently swept the ground, where she saw a strange pool of blood—dark purple in color.

“How peculiar! What kind of illness is this?” Hua Qinci chased after him in haste, the pelting rain soaking her through and chilling her to the bone.

“Qin Youtian? Qin Youtian, where are you?” she called, searching everywhere. The thick mountain forest was shrouded in heavy mist, so dense she could not even see her own hand before her face.

“What kind of accursed weather is this?” Hua Qinci trudged forward, step by uncertain step, the blinding fog robbing her of all sense of direction.

“Qin Youtian? Qin Youtian? Where are you?” she cried out again and again.

She lost track of time as the rain slowly ceased. The forest grew ever denser, and she soon realized she was lost. The last light that filtered through the leaves faded away, leaving her shivering from cold, yet she would not abandon her search for Qin Youtian. In these wild woods, with predators lurking, she could not give up on him—not when he was wounded and ill. If she did, he might truly die.

“Qin Youtian? Qin Youtian?” Her voice echoed endlessly through the deep woods.

The waning moon cast its pale glow, making the leaves glisten with a strange brilliance. A strong wind swept through, and countless trees waved their twisted branches like the claws of some infernal monsters—shadows straight out of the underworld.

Fear crept ever closer to Hua Qinci; she was starting to feel ill, her entire body growing colder. She sneezed again and again, yet the surroundings offered no clue as to which way she should go. If only she had not chased after that troublesome man.

She rubbed her arms, trying to warm herself as she pressed on, searching through the thickening forest, its silence only broken by the rustling of weeds. If her guess was right, she must have wandered into a place where few dared tread.

A chilling howl pierced the silence.

"Wolves?"

Hua Qinci heard the wolf howls, and fear seized her heart.

“Damn Qin Youtian, now I’m really going to be eaten by wild beasts,” she thought miserably, her gaze wary.

She remembered someone once compared her Jiang family to tigers and wolves; now she wondered how fearsome real wolves could be.

She recalled that wolves were said to live in packs, united and difficult to deal with.

Such were Hua Qinci’s thoughts as she pressed on.

All around, greenish lights began to appear, the air filled with eerie howls and ghostly cries. Some wolves, driven by hunger, had already come close—she could see their ravenous eyes gleaming in the dark.

Every one of them bared their fangs, poised to attack at any moment.

“Don’t come any closer! I warn you, if you want to die, I’ll gladly send you on your way—better for all of us!”