Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Mu Jingzhe wanted to get down, but Shao Xi and Shao Dong quickly tried to stop her. Mu Jingzhe looked at them with determination. “Get out of the way. I want to see Ji Buwang.”

  Li Zhaodi’s body trembled. “Jingzhe, you…”

  “I want to see Ji Buwang. Dead or alive, I want to see him. Unless I see him, I won’t believe anything you guys say. It’s impossible for me to recuperate now.”

  She knew that something must have happened to Ji Buwang. Otherwise, as long as he was awake, even if he was really crippled, he would have tried his best to be by her side.

  Now that he wasn’t there, it could only mean that he couldn’t come. Since that was the case, she would go to him instead.

  Mu Jingzhe’s attitude was firm. As the five kids didn’t know what to do, they heard Shao Qihai’s voice. “I’ll take you to see him.”

  Shao Dong suddenly turned around and looked at Shao Qihai, his voice furious. “Daddy!”

  “Let her see him.”

  Shao Qihai spoke with difficulty. This was Ji Buwang’s request. He had wanted Mu Jingzhe to see him.

  Shao Dong was at a loss for words. Seeing that he had stopped talking, Shao Qihai looked at Mu Jingzhe. “I’ll take you there.”

  After Shao Qihai finished speaking, it was as if a pause button had been pressed in the ward. Even the air was silent for a moment. Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Qihai in a daze. Shao Qihai had clearly agreed, but she was afraid. Because of Shao Qihai’s expression and gaze, as well as everyone’s reaction, she was afraid.

  Shao Qihai stared at her, not giving her a chance to retreat. “I’ll take you there.”

  The five kids, as well as Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng, looked at Shao Qihai with despair all over their faces, but in the end, they didn’t object.

  Mu Jingzhe was placed in a wheelchair, and Shao Qihai pushed her out of the ward. Mu Jingzhe looked at the ward next door, but Shao Qihai didn’t stop at all.

  “Shao Dong said that he’s in the ward next door…” Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Qihai and stopped him.

  “It’s next door, but we still have to move a little.” Shao Qihai kept walking forward. Shao Dong and the rest followed him but didn’t retort.

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  Shao Qihai pushed Mu Jingzhe out of the hospital ward and kept walking without saying a word.

  Mu Jingzhe sensed that something was amiss. She turned around and looked at Shao Dong, hoping that he would say something, but he still didn’t.

  Shao Qihai didn’t care that Mu Jingzhe had turned her head. He continued walking until he reached the funeral parlor next door.

  No one usually paid attention to the place next to the county hospital, but it was actually a funeral home.

  When Mu Jingzhe saw the funeral home, she lost the ability to speak. Like a puppet, she was pushed in by Shao Qihai in a daze. She then watched Shao Qihai speak with someone before finally pushing her toward a room.

  In the room, Mu Jingzhe finally saw Ji Buwang.

  He was lying peacefully on a hard bed with no mattress. His body was covered by a white cloth, and the room looked very much like those places on television dramas where corpses were identified. The only difference was that Ji Buwang’s face was exposed and visible at first glance.

  Shao Qihai pushed Mu Jingzhe in front of Ji Buwang. Ji Buwang’s expression was calm. Other than his pale face, he seemed no different from before.

  However, it seemed like Ji Buwang no longer had a trace of life in him.

  Mu Jingzhe had not seen many dead people before, but when she saw Ji Buwang, she immediately knew that this wasn’t a living person.

  He was not warm, nor was he breathing.

  She didn’t even need to check if he was breathing. She knew without even touching him.

  She had said that she wanted to see Ji Buwang dead or alive, and now, as per her request, she got to see Ji Buwang’s corpse.

  So, the reason Ji Buwang hadn’t been by her side or come to see her was because he was dead. No wonder.

  Mu Jingzhe looked at Ji Buwang quietly. She didn’t speak or cry and she seemed as if she was in a trance. Li Zhaodi, who was outside the door, covered her lips tightly to prevent her cries from escaping.

  She grabbed Mu Teng, her eyes filled with helplessness. What should she do? What could she do to help Jingzhe and lessen her pain? Why was God so unfair to her?

  Shao Dong stood aside and stared at Mu Jingzhe, afraid that she would faint from crying.

  However, Mu Jingzhe didn’t cry. She quietly looked at Ji Buwang for a while and only leaned closer, pressing her forehead against his face. “It’s so cold.”

  Shao Qihai looked at Mu Jingzhe and wanted to say something, but he hesitated. Mu Jingzhe didn’t look at him and reached out with difficulty to hold Ji Buwang’s completely frozen hand.

  “It’s so cold. You must be freezing from the cold. You were afraid of the cold to begin with… yet they only covered you up with this thin sheet. They even let you sleep on such a hard surface. They must have frozen you up before. You must have been lonely, all frozen up and waiting for me to show up to no avail.

  “It’s okay. Now that I’m here, I’ll stay with you.”

  Mu Jingzhe looked at Ji Buwang as if he would wake up any second now, but that wouldn’t happen. He had lost his heartbeat and he was now dead.

  She had thought that she would be the one to die. In the end, when she had woken up again, she had still been alive, but there was now no Buwang in this world.

  Mu Jingzhe pressed her ear against Ji Buwang’s chest, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t hear his heartbeat. He would never hug her or speak again.

  At the thought of this, Mu Jingzhe turned to look at Shao Qihai. “Shao Qihai, you were the one who saved us. Did he say any last words? Or… was he already dead by then?”

  Shao Qihai choked. “Yes, so no.”

  “Not a word?” Mu Jingzhe asked.

  Shao Qihai confirmed it. “No.”

  “No?” Mu Jingzhe scoffed.

  The heavens really liked to joke. She had said so many last words, but in the end, the one who had died was Ji Buwang, who hadn’t left a single word behind.

  She should have died instead. She had said her last words, but in the end, it was Ji Buwang who had left.

  Mu Jingzhe couldn’t help but think of the fortune-teller Li Zhaodi had taken her to previously. The fortune-teller had said that she would experience three tribulations in her life and that there was one more that she hadn’t been through yet. That was right, she really had one more tribulation to go. Ji Buwang had said that he would be her protective charm and stay by her side to shield her. Then, he had really fulfilled his promise.

  The prediction had been quite accurate. But why hadn’t the fortune-teller foretold that Ji Buwang would die? Hadn’t she said that they were destined to be married for three lifetimes? Why didn’t it even happen in one lifetime?

  ‘Indeed, even fortune-tellers can’t be trusted,’ Mu Jingzhe thought subconsciously. She took a deep breath and asked calmly, “Why is he gone? Logically speaking, my condition was even worse. Why did he die when I’m still alive?”

  Mu Jingzhe pulled off the white cloth with difficulty and looked at Ji Buwang. “Is it because his legs were pinned down, or did he suffer some other injuries later?”

  Mu Jingzhe’s gaze landed on Ji Buwang’s hands. “Why are there so many wounds on his hands? Why is the wound on his wrist so serious?”

  “Maybe he was injured previously. Later on, something fell on him and his legs were also injured. He lost a lot of blood.” Shao Qihai saw her gaze and his entire body stiffened. He braced himself before he answered.

  Mu Jingzhe saw Ji Buwang’s feet. That weight had pinned down his joints, and at the moment, his feet looked a little deformed, as if they had been forcibly twisted into that shape.

  When Mu Jingzhe saw his feet, she seemed to see him disregard his injuries to reach those bricks.

  He must have been in a lot of pain…… Despite being in that kind of pain, he’d had to listen to her spout nonsense.