Jiang Yukuo also hugged his mother. The blood on her back dripped onto his hands, each drop so scorching hot it made his heart ache.
Jiang Yukuo’s heart trembled fiercely. He held his mother tightly, "Mom, promise me, don't leave us, okay?"
He tilted his head up, his clear eyes full of pleading.
A tear trickled down Jiang Nuan's cheek. She knew she would likely break her promise this time.
If the shot to her back hadn't been off target.
The bullet would have struck her heart.
Unless her heart was located an inch away from its normal position.
Otherwise, it would be certain death.
Jiang Nuan gently caressed her son’s handsome face with her bloody hand. "Kuo Bao, this time, Mommy can’t promise you.
Take good care of your younger siblings, listen to your father, but Mom promises you, if I can survive, I will never leave you."
Jiang Yukuo’s eyes widened, watching his mother’s eyes gradually fill with bloodshot veins.
A hot tear landed on his small face. Jiang Yukuo’s pupils suddenly widened as he watched his mother’s frail body sitting on the ground, her arms holding him gradually loosening.
"No, no, Mommy, please, please, don't... Wuwuwu..." Jiang Yukuo cried his heart out, his eyes fixed on his mother's weak smile.
Jiang Nuan felt herself gradually losing strength.
She slowly let go of her son, with so much reluctance and so much pain. The person who shot her was her husband.
That man would hurt a hundred times, a thousand times more than she did.
She never imagined that the leader of the Shadow Hall was Mu Jiuchen.
Just as she was about to collapse, she fell into a warm embrace.
She struggled to open her eyes, meeting those deep, bloodshot eyes. He was anxious, scared, and his aloof nobility was still so evident.
Jiang Nuan looked at him deeply, her bloodshot beautiful eyes filled with tears, yet still as brilliant as pearls.
"Husband, don't be sad. No one is to blame. You didn't know it was me, and I didn't know it was you."
"Mu Jiuchen, I rarely say this to you, but I actually love you very, very much. I don't know the extent of my love, but every time I see you, I am very happy."
Jiang Nuan said with tears, a slight upward curve on her lips, a smile as brilliant as fireworks.
Her voice was soft and happy.
Mu Jiuchen held her tightly, letting her hand rest on his waist. He wanted to feel her warmth, as if only by doing this could he prevent losing her.
But each time, Jiang Nuan's hand would fall limply.
He stared at her anxiously, unable to utter a word, shaking his head at her, begging her not to leave.
The moment he saw her appear, he had already pulled the trigger, the bullet had flown out. That feeling of despair and terror enveloped him, like a thunderbolt from the blue.
He had killed his wife with his own hands.
Jiang Nuan looked at his restrained, enduring pain. In the end, she couldn't bear to leave this man to live alone in this world.
"Nuan Nuan, don't..." He managed to utter two words, his lips trembling uncontrollably from the intense pain and fear.
Jiang Nuan's lips strained upwards, a gentle smile blooming, a layer of bitterness unfolding in her heart.
But she could already feel the presence of death. The smell of blood in the air was too strong.
Yet, she was unwilling to die like this.
He hadn't yet dressed her in a beautiful wedding gown. They hadn't taken their wedding photos together.
They hadn't exchanged rings, hadn't sworn their vows, hadn't grown old together.
She hadn't spent enough time with him; he always complained she had no time for him.
And she always thought there would be plenty of time, that they had a lot of time to spend together.
Turns out, no one can predict whether an accident or tomorrow will come first.
"Husband, I don't want to die. In your bracelet, there is a very precious life-saving medicine. Give it to me... and then send me to Song Baoli. He will help me live..."
"If... if he can't, send me to Hai Jiao with Han Yixuan. I will fight to live and return to you all. My soul, where will it drift..."
Jiang Nuan couldn't finish her sentence and collapsed into a deep darkness.
Mu Jiuchen quickly unclasped his bracelet, took out the medicine, and fed it to Jiang Nuan.
"Damn it, that's the last Jidan! Mu Jiuchen, you're giving it to your wife, what about me?"
A man in a tactical jacket stood not far away, roaring at Mu Jiuchen in anguish.
Mu Jiuchen didn't even hear what he was saying. He looked at his son, "Kuo Bao, can you walk?"
Jiang Yukuo quickly wiped away his tears. "Dad, I can."
Jiang Yukuo stood up, looking at his father's tall back. He knew his father had fired the shot, but he couldn't utter a word of blame because he knew his father was hurting even more.
Jiang Yukuo limped behind him.
The man standing not far away had intense anger in his eyes. His hope was shattered.
"Sir."
Xiao Fan, Qin Shulang, and a group of bodyguards entered.
Mu Jiuchen looked blankly at Qin Shulang and said, "Arrest everyone here. I will interrogate them myself."
Qin Shulang looked at his wife in his arms with concern. Snowflakes of blood lay on the ground. He wondered if his lady had passed away.
"Understood, Sir. Rest assured, I will handle it." Qin Shulang led his men to leave.
Jiang Yukuo said, "Wait."
Qin Shulang looked at Jiang Yukuo. "Young Master, do you have any further instructions?"
Jiang Yukuo pointed his icy gaze at the surveillance room behind them and said, "There is a woman in that surveillance room. She calculated all of this, forcing the people opposite to kill my mother with their own hands. She has been waiting for this day for a long time. I want you to cripple her in the most brutal way."
Qin Shulang looked at the young master before him, who was as ruthless as his father, with pounding heart and nodded in admiration. "Young Master, rest assured, I will satisfy you."
Jiang Yukuo nodded blankly. He hated the ruthlessness of these heartless people, hated their greed.
He hated himself even more for being too weak, too powerless, only able to watch his mother suffer before his eyes, unable to do anything.
This feeling, this despair, he would never let himself experience it again.
...
At the hospital, in the operating room, Song Baoli was performing surgery on Jiang Nuan with his medical team.
Mu Jiuchen sent the experts he had trained into the operating room.
Then father and son waited outside.
The doctor briefly bandaged Jiang Yukuo's leg. He sat beside his father, leaning his head on his arm, quietly waiting for his mother with his father.
"Ding dong..."
Jiang Yukuo looked at his phone screen light up.
It was a message from his younger brother.
[Brother, Mom's life star is glowing.]
Jiang Yukuo sat up abruptly and sent a message to his brother.
[Shaoqing, what do you mean by that? Explain clearly.]
After sending the message, Jiang Yukuo saw the man in the black tactical jacket from the warehouse emerging from the elevator with four bodyguards.