But still, he gritted his teeth and struggled to crawl toward that future which might still hold some semblance of hope.
Childhood, innocence, laughter, carelessness… None of it had anything to do with He Yu.
He was only nineteen… No matter how impressive or capable, in the end, he was still a child.
At that moment, Xie Qingcheng finally woke from the muddled chaos that the desire to avenge his parents had plunged him into. He finally realized why he’d had the feeling before that something was inappropriate: he shouldn’t have dragged He Yu into this.
Why did he do such a thing?
Who was He Yu to him?
This boy had already worked hard enough. Xie Qingcheng had only given He Yu the most basic kind of concern as his personal physician. How was that enough for this boy to put his life on the line and jump with him into a living hell?
Xie Qingcheng’s hand, which was covering He Yu’s wound, trembled slightly.
He had never felt much sorrow for He Yu before—at most, he’d felt a sense of responsibility, care, and pity. But at that moment, the young man’s warm blood seemed to trickle along his skin, down his spine, to pierce his heart and stab deep into the marrow of his bones.
That was right… They were merely a doctor and a patient with a relationship of employment that couldn’t be any more clear-cut. For Xie Qingcheng, because of a personal debt and the unique characteristics of psychological Ebola, he was supposed to pay special attention to He Yu.
However, the same couldn’t be said for He Yu. He Yu didn’t owe him anything. When he looked at Xie Qingcheng, he shouldn’t have had any emotions apart from those accorded to a doctor.
Yet He Yu had still accompanied him to the library.
Just because Xie Qingcheng had said, I want to know the truth behind my parents’ deaths.
He desperately wanted to find the perpetrator. But that had nothing at all to do with He Yu…
As Xie Qingcheng ran outside with He Yu in tow, keeping firm pressure on He Yu’s injured shoulder, he said hoarsely, “I’ll bring you to the hospital right away. Don’t talk too much.”
He Yu was very quiet.
Then, after a long moment of silence, the young man let out a soft laugh. “I’m fine, really. However, I wanted to ask you something, Doctor Xie.” His breath puffed out right by Xie Qingcheng’s ear. It was scorching hot, yet it seemed to carry a slight chill. “I really want to know—back then, why did you suddenly stop being a doctor? Was it really as simple as your contract coming to an end?”
Xie Qingcheng was silent.
“Why was it that no matter how I tried to keep you, you still rejected me?”
Xie Qingcheng still didn’t answer.
“It’s been seven years, Xie Qingcheng. My dad told me that outside of employment, there’s goodwill between people. Today… Today, I really want to ask you.” He Yu was still bleeding, but he didn’t bother looking down. Instead, in the terrifyingly endless night, his black eyes only gazed unblinkingly at Xie Qingcheng.
The look in his eyes was the same as the one from all those years ago, when that boy suddenly became childish in his helplessness, so childish that he tried to use his allowance to convince Xie Qingcheng to stay. No matter how high that boy’s pain tolerance was or how numb his mind was, after suffering these two gunshot wounds, he would still be hurt.
He Yu’s voice was very soft. Perhaps it was because they had run too fast, but it even sounded a bit hoarse. “Xie Qingcheng… Back then, did you really not feel an ounce of extra compassion for me?”