Chapter Sixty-Five: Escorting Home

Last night, the way things unfolded was somewhat unexpected.

Gu Zhiheng hadn’t thought it would end so simply. He’d assumed Ye Qingyun would resist, or at least try to use Ye Wenjing’s soul to prolong his own life.

But he hadn’t. He admitted to every crime, confessed all his faults, recounted everything that had happened, and in the end, took his own life with his own hands.

“Wenjing, where exactly is your house? Why aren’t we there yet?” Jun Luan wiped his brow, glancing at Ye Wenjing.

“Just over this mountain, really! It’s just this one last peak,” the girl replied, her voice still carrying the sweet lilt of childhood, sounding oddly pleasant. Her cheeks were slightly round with baby fat—she truly was an adorably cute little sister.

“I told you we should drive, but you insisted on being tough. Now you have the nerve to complain about being tired?” With a swing of his leg, Gu Zhiheng gave Jun Luan a swift kick, clearly irritated with him now.

“Brother, can you stop being angry at me? I didn’t do it on purpose. Could you at least not hit me in front of little Wenjing?” Jun Luan dusted the footprint from his waist and looked at Gu Zhiheng with a wounded expression.

As for why they were with Ye Wenjing—well, it was all because of what happened last night. By some accident, fire broke out again on the 22nd floor. Ye Wenjing thought they had saved her life and insisted on thanking them.

But the idea of escorting Ye Wenjing home was entirely Jun Luan’s. Gu Zhiheng hadn’t wanted to come, but Jun Luan said he was afraid they’d run into Liu Yuer on the way, and worried she might try something against Ye Wenjing.

After all, with Ye Qingyun dead, Liu Yuer would surely go mad with revenge against everyone.

“Brother Gu, why don’t we rest a bit? You don’t look so well,” Ye Wenjing suggested, her tone utterly double-standard.

When Jun Luan complained about being tired, she urged him to keep going, saying they were almost there. But Gu Zhiheng only looked a little pale, and she wanted to stop and rest for him? Such obvious favoritism!

“Alright, little one, am I that ugly or something? Why are you so nice to him and not to me?” Jun Luan pouted, thoroughly jealous.

Why was Wenjing so kind to Gu Zhiheng, who always wore an icy expression, yet so indifferent to him? Was he really that unimpressive?

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you see Brother Gu’s hand is hurt?” Ye Wenjing shot Jun Luan a look of disdain, then handed a bottle of water to Gu Zhiheng.

If Wenjing hadn’t mentioned it, Jun Luan wouldn’t have noticed Gu Zhiheng’s injured hand. He remembered there hadn’t been a fight last night—how had he gotten hurt? Maybe he’d been wounded saving Ye Wenjing during the fire.

“I’m fine. Let’s just have a drink and get moving. The later it gets, the hotter it’ll be, and we won’t be able to walk,” Gu Zhiheng said after a few sips, standing up and hauling Ye Wenjing’s suitcase onward.

The injury on his hand had happened last night, banged against a table by accident. The fire had been fierce, and he’d had to rescue both Ye Wenjing and Jun Luan, with no time to worry about his own well-being.

“Just ten more minutes, and it’s all downhill from there. It’ll be much faster—hang in there!” Gu Zhiheng called out calmly, lest Jun Luan tried to slack off.

If Jun Luan dared to whine, he’d really be in for it today. Out here in the wilderness, it was much easier to deal with things—Gu Zhiheng wouldn’t mind sending Jun Luan to join his good friend, Ye Qingyun. Let them both turn to ashes, meet again on the wind, and be brothers once more.

“I get it! I’ll walk faster, just stop glaring at me,” Jun Luan complained, feeling put upon. His brother didn’t care for him at all.

Gu Zhiheng’s heart was made of stone. He was polite and friendly to Wenjing, whom he’d only just met, but ruthless toward Jun Luan, as if he couldn’t wait to eat him alive.

If he’d known Gu Zhiheng would grow up to be so unlovable, he never would’ve played with him as a child—he’d have left him alone in the ancestral hall, day after day.

“Look, over there, my house is the third from the right. Down the hill and we’re home,” Ye Wenjing said, suddenly chatty after being so quiet at first.

“Wenjing, Jun Luan and I won’t walk you all the way to your door. Better not give people something to gossip about,” Gu Zhiheng explained. He knew the women at the village entrance were notorious for their gossiping, and escorting a girl of fifteen or sixteen right to her door would only start rumors. He’d rather stop here.

“I understand, brother. Thank you both for saving me, and for bringing me home,” Ye Wenjing said, grateful for Gu Zhiheng’s thoughtfulness—after all, the village women really were like that.

“Wear this bracelet at all times, never take it off. It will protect you, do you understand?” Gu Zhiheng was worried Liu Yuer might come after Ye Wenjing once they were gone. An ordinary girl wouldn’t stand a chance against her.

“This has my contact information. If anything strange happens, let me know. And take these talismans back for your family—keep them close,” he instructed, handing over a few protective charms, wishing for peace and safety for her and her loved ones.

After watching Ye Wenjing safely descend the hill and reach her home, Gu Zhiheng and Jun Luan finally turned to leave.

“Brother, please—don’t hit me!” Jun Luan yelped as Gu Zhiheng tossed a talisman at him, suddenly finding himself full of energy. He dashed down the path they’d come, terrified that, if he didn’t run fast enough, the talisman would land right on him.

He’d nearly been sent to the afterlife by a few talismans last night—if it happened again, he really would end up joining that wretch, Ye Qingyun.

“Are you out of your mind? Are you seriously planning to walk all the way back?” Gu Zhiheng scolded. All he’d wanted was to stick a speed charm on him—this heat was unbearable. Walking all the way back, they’d both end up with heatstroke.

Jun Luan had seemed clever as a child—how had he grown so dense, as if he’d left his brains behind?

“Next time you want to play the hero, do it yourself. Don’t drag me along—I hate the sun!” He’d nearly been melted in this thirty-something degree heat.

Ye Wenjing had it tough, too—three hours by car, then two hours hiking mountain roads. It was truly not easy.

He hoped her family would use the tens of thousands Liu Yuer gave them to treat her well. And hoped, too, that Liu Yuer would spare Wenjing. She was a pitiful child, undeserving of further harm.

“Brother, when you go back, can I come with you?” Jun Luan asked quietly, feeling a stab of loneliness. He really had no family left.

The only one he’d had was Ye Qingyun, the man who killed his parents—but now Ye Qingyun was gone, and he was all alone again.

“Go on, find my father, and tell him I sent you,” Gu Zhiheng replied. Taking him in was impossible—he was just a little weakling.