The current situation forced the sick Su Kangxi to sit slumped on the horse. They led the horse, trekking through mountains and valleys.
The weather was pleasant today, with a warm mountain breeze on their faces. The scenery along the way was captivating. If they hadn't been fleeing for their lives, it would have felt like a leisurely outing.
From the foot of the mountain to its interior, it was eerily quiet. Qin Tianyi and Susu had not spoken. Suddenly, they heard the sound of scattered hoofbeats not far below.
Susu, sensing trouble, said, "Let's hurry. It must be Yang Sijie and his men chasing us."
Instead, Qin Tianyi stopped, turned, and looked down the mountain with a cold gaze, wanting to confront Yang Sijie.
"Tianyi, don't go fight him. It's not worth it," Susu advised. "Even if you're not afraid of him and can defeat him, what about Kangxi? He's so ill. If Yang Sijie captures him again, he'll surely die. Let's leave here first. The police won't let him get away with this."
Su Kangxi weakly said, "Sister Susu is right. Since you found me, the police, using tracking, will definitely find him and bring him to justice."
But Qin Tianyi remained still, his silence chilling.
Susu grabbed Qin Tianyi, pulling him forward. "Tianyi, this is not the time to fight. If anything happens to you, I won't live either."
Qin Tianyi looked at her with a complex expression, then finally walked ahead to lead the horse, trying to move into the thickets to let the trees conceal them.
However, their attempt to hide failed to evade Yang Sijie and Mark.
Yang Sijie accurately predicted their escape route and, with Mark, rode directly after them.
Susu and the others' climbing speed was far slower than Yang Sijie's. No matter how they tried to hide, Yang Sijie cornered them at the edge of a cliff on the mountaintop.
Susu, leading the horse, hid behind Qin Tianyi, signaling Su Kangxi to stay put on the horse.
Yang Sijie and Qin Tianyi faced each other, both armed. Susu tried to persuade Yang Sijie, "You shouldn't have chased us. Let us go. Don't be so stubborn..."
"Susu, come here. Come to me!" Yang Sijie commanded, as if Susu inherently belonged to him.
Qin Tianyi's anger flared, and he said with terrifying calmness, "You wanted criminal dare to speak to my wife like that? Believe it or not, I'll shoot you right now?"
"Qin Tianyi, you divorced long ago. Your wife, you're really joking," Yang Sijie sneered, subtly signaling Mark to cooperate with him when the opportunity arose to snatch Susu back and kill Qin Tianyi.
"Then you don't know, we've remarried. We got our marriage certificate in Dechuan."
"This isn't true, Susu. He's lying to me, isn't he?" Yang Sijie asked her directly.
Mark had already seized the opportunity to circle around, lunging at Qin Tianyi, knocking the weapon from his hand, and attempting to subdue him completely.
Yang Sijie, working in concert with Mark, grabbed Susu's arm and pulled her to his side. Pointing his weapon at Qin Tianyi, he said with intense hatred, "You shouldn't be alive. If it weren't for you, Susu wouldn't be like this to me, wouldn't have betrayed me! She was originally mine. What are you?"
Susu struggled desperately, trying to snatch the weapon from his hand. "I am a person, not your exclusive property! Feelings cannot be forced. If they exist, they exist; if they don't, they don't! Why must you be so stubborn?"
Yang Sijie suddenly pointed his weapon at Susu's head, his heart filled with pain and hatred. "I was willing to dig out my heart for you, I didn't care about anything for you! You know how much I love you, what you mean to me... But you, you ungrateful, treacherous woman!"
Mark, who was grappling with Qin Tianyi, saw Yang Sijie about to attack Gu Susu and hastily said, "Mr. Yang, calm down. Miss Gu is just a weak woman. Please don't hurt her."
Qin Tianyi immediately punched Mark, pushing him away, wanting to save Susu from Yang Sijie, but he dared not act rashly.
Yang Sijie sneered at Mark, "She's a weak woman? Wake up. She's used every scheme to exploit my weaknesses. Someone who would sacrifice herself to achieve her goals is more ruthless than anyone. We understood this long ago, yet I, I was still deceived by her."
"Mr. Yang, Miss Gu just doesn't want to stay with you. She doesn't hate you as much as you say, she doesn't love you..." Mark cautiously stated the obvious.
Yang Sijie leaned down and whispered into Susu's ear, his laughter like a devil's. "You, it doesn't matter if you don't love me, but you are mine in life and my ghost in death. We will die together."
Then he looked up at Qin Tianyi, smiling triumphantly like a victor. "Don't think you can take her away. You don't deserve to stand between us. You will never have her!"
"Yang Sijie, if you want to kill, come at me!" Qin Tianyi tried to provoke him, to make him point his weapon away from Susu. "Kill me, and no one will stand in your way!"
"You don't deserve to die with Susu." Yang Sijie ignored him and said to Susu with extreme tenderness, "You go first. I'll join you soon."
"Mr. Yang, no!" Mark grabbed his weapon, intending to stop Yang Sijie. Suddenly, a faint sound came from somewhere, and a bullet struck Mark between the eyebrows, like the sound of a fruit shattering.
Mark's eyes widened, and he fell heavily to the ground, his eyes open in death, unable to rest.
From the horse, Su Kangxi, realizing it was a police sniper, said weakly, "Yang Sijie, you are being targeted by a sniper. Lay down your weapon and release Sister Susu. That's your only way out."
Yang Sijie looked at Mark, who had vanished in an instant, and was stunned.
What was Mark trying to do by raising his weapon before he died? Was he aiming at him?
He hadn't expected Mark to betray him at the last moment. He was truly at his wits' end!
It was only then that he understood what true desperation meant. He said to Susu, as if driven mad, "We can die together. How wonderful... we may not be born in the same year, month, and day, but we wish to die in the same year, month, and day. Dying is better than living. If you die with me, you will have no more pain..."
Susu struggled and shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she looked at Qin Tianyi.
She was not afraid of death, but there were people she cherished in this world. Her lips parted slightly, and she said, "Tianyi, take good care of Little Star. Forget me. Don't always wear that sad, cold face. Be happy in your future life." With that, she closed her eyes, waiting for Yang Sijie's bullet to pierce her head.
"No, don't kill her, I beg you!" Qin Tianyi rushed to Yang Sijie and knelt before him.
Susu waited for a few seconds, wondering why Yang Sijie hadn't acted yet. She opened her eyes, saw Qin Tianyi kneeling on the ground, and immediately cried out, "Tianyi, get up. Don't kneel to him for me!"
Yang Sijie was surprised that Qin Tianyi would humble himself and kneel before him. He paused for a moment, his eyes turning red as he struck Qin Tianyi's head fiercely with his weapon. "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? Why did you have to fight me for Susu!"