Grace scrambled and stumbled, her movements frantic. The ground was too steep, and she dared not hold Xiao Jin.
After only a few steps, she placed the wolf in a safe spot. Grace fell several times before reaching the man.
When she saw his face clearly, when she saw his injuries.
Grace's entire world seemed to collapse.
It felt as if something had clutched her heart, causing intense pain.
"Qin..." she stammered, too terrified to speak.
Qin Yunxi lay on the ground, his face covered in blood, his hands stained with blood. Having fallen from such a height, his limbs must surely be broken, his ribs shattered.
Grace had experienced something similar once, falling off a cliff due to an accident.
She had been lucky then, saved by a tree.
The feeling of being close to death, the sensation of her body plummeting from a great height and striking the rocky cliff face, remained vivid in her memory even now.
It was as if one would be smashed into powder...
"Helicopter, quickly, rescue," Qin Yunxi was on the phone.
Holding the phone, he spoke weakly.
Grace scrambled forward, her steps hurried, and knelt before the man. Her voice trembled, her heartbeat seeming to have stopped. "Qin Yunxi..."
How are you?
Where are you injured?
Let me see...
With red-rimmed eyes and her whole body shaking, the woman reached out to touch him.
Qin Yunxi grasped Grace's hand. His blood-splattered face looked terrifying. "I was looking for you..." he whispered, his breath shallow, "I searched for four days and four nights..."
"Grace..."
"I was so afraid... I would never see you again."
How could you not see me?
Grace looked at the man's unshaven face, smeared with blood, and her heart ached terribly. "No, I'm here, I'm here."
She couldn't help but embrace him.
In that moment, Grace forgot how terrible this man had been, and she forgot that she shouldn't love him.
All she knew was that he was dying.
And she did not want him to die.
She wanted him to live, to live well. Even if he angered her, tricked her, or played with her, she still wished for him to live.
"Qin Yunxi..."
"The phone?"
As Grace spoke, tears spilled from her eyes and streamed down her face. Her entire body trembled as she reached for the phone. "Did you call, you—"
Qin Yunxi pulled her hand back again, interlocking his fingers with hers, holding on tightly. "I did, I've already arranged for a plane to fly over."
"Grace... are you injured?"
Grace shook her head. "No, no, I'm completely fine."
Qin Yunxi said weakly and painfully, "That's good."
Grace's tears flowed more fiercely, uncontrollable. —But you are not well.
"Don't cry..." Qin Yunxi raised his hand and gently wiped her tears. "I'm not worth your tears."
Grace kept shaking her head. —No, it's me who is not worthy of you, Qin Yunxi. It's me who is not good enough, not confident enough, it's me...
Qin Yunxi's face contorted in increasing pain, like a final surge of energy before death. "I'm a terrible man, hmm—"
His body stiffened, as if enduring the agony of a thousand cuts.
Grace held him tightly, terrified. "What's wrong?" Don't scare me!
Qin Yunxi: "I—"
His voice began to fade. "Will I not receive rescue?"
"Grace, will I die here?"
Grace roared like a madwoman, "No! I don't want you to die!"
Qin Yunxi, let me see how badly you're hurt? Let me help you stop the bleeding...
"Silly girl, everyone has to die eventually," Qin Yunxi's breath grew weaker. "It's just a regret... that I couldn't make you fall in love with me..."
"I... cough cough cough... I..."
"Will die with regrets..."