The door suddenly swung open, and what rushed out were two large slimes.
Su Yun didn’t dodge, letting herself be completely engulfed in a hug.
“Wo… Sister Xue, it’s okay now…”
Before she could explain anything, she was already buried in the embrace, unable to speak.
What she felt against her face… was warm and damp.
Tears.
Qin Xue’s clothes were soaked with tears.
The moment Su Yun realized that, she felt a sharp pain in her heart.
She knew—it must have been terrifying for Qin Xue.
Those few minutes must have felt like forever. Her heart must’ve been shattered by fear.
It was all her fault—for bringing Qin Xue to such an unstable place. She was a proper young lady who could have lived in peace and comfort in her villa, but now had to live here, anxious and scared every day because of her.
Even though the person from earlier had just been a mentally unstable old man...
“Sister Xiaoyun… don’t leave me again… wuwu…”
“Okay, okay… I won’t leave…”
Hearing her cry so miserably, Su Yun tightened her arms around Qin Xue’s waist.
“I’m sorry, Sister Xue.”
They stood there in the doorway, holding each other tightly. Su Yun rested her head against her chest and gently comforted her as the sobs continued.
Only after a long while did the crying stop, and the two slowly pulled apart.
“You said you’d be back earlier, Sister Xiaoyun…”
Qin Xue lifted her head and wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.
Her reddened eyes made Su Yun fall silent, not sure what to say.
“I had some things to handle. It wasn’t that quick. The adults kept talking and… I’m sorry.” Su Yun lowered her head as she spoke.
Qin Xue didn’t even ask what had happened earlier. It seemed like all that mattered to her… was that Sister Xiaoyun had come back.
Still, what had just happened was strange, and Su Yun told her what she’d found out about the man.
“Oh… so it wasn’t something like that after all… Then… the way I acted… Sister Xiaoyun, do you think I’m useless? Or a coward?”
Back inside the room, Qin Xue sat on the bed. Now that she’d calmed down, she didn’t dare meet Su Yun’s gaze.
It was her first time crying so helplessly in front of Su Yun.
“No, no way. How could Sister Xue be useless?” Su Yun quickly shook her head.
If it weren’t for her, back when Su Yun was still clueless about everything at school, she might’ve already been in real trouble. She wouldn’t have even made it until her parents arrived.
“I’m not really that strong. I might not even compare to Yuanyuan… Sister Xiaoyun, I…”
“It’s okay. You’re kind and gentle. I really like that about you.”
Seeing Qin Xue looking so down, Su Yun pulled out some tissues and gently wiped her tears.
“Like?”
That one word made Qin Xue suddenly lift her head, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared at Su Yun.
“Sister Xiaoyun… did you just say you like me?”
“Ah?” Su Yun clearly hadn’t realized what she said. She stared blankly at the excited Qin Xue, the tissue slipping from her hand to the floor.
“…It’s nothing,” Qin Xue said quickly, lowering her head, realizing she’d misunderstood.
“There’ve been reports of people knocking on doors and doing things around here. I only just found out about it… If that guy had really been dangerous, and we were just a bit less lucky, then maybe something would’ve already—anyway, I’m not going to leave you alone at home again!”
Su Yun spoke quickly, full of guilt and frustration.
This place was such a mess. How could bad people just get away like that?
If it stayed like this, wouldn’t more unhappy people start copying them?
Doing bad things… hurting people who still had hope for the future…
“Sister Xiaoyun’s not leaving anymore?”
“Mhm.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
The moment Su Yun nodded, Qin Xue threw herself into her arms again.
In just this short while, Su Yun had lost count of how many times she’d been smothered. If she were an ordinary person, she might’ve suffocated by now (just kidding).
After that, Su Yun didn’t bring it up again—she didn’t want Qin Xue to be scared.
And Qin Xue didn’t go into too much detail either.
In truth, the old man had only gone up to the second floor of the building. When he saw someone, he simply left.
Su Yun figured he was just mentally unwell.
But from now on, she would stay by Qin Xue’s side every day while they were here.
Ding…
Just as they were holding each other close, Su Yun’s phone rang.
“Hmm? Sister Xiaoyun, your phone.”
Qin Xue’s voice was much calmer now. She slowly let go of Su Yun.
“Oh.” Su Yun picked up her phone and saw the name: Mom.
She answered.
“Baby girl, where did you go? Weren’t you right outside the station? This place is so remote—what are you doing?!”
A flustered female voice came through the receiver.
She sounded worried Su Yun might’ve been kidnapped, but clearly, that fear was unnecessary.
“I’m home now, Mom. Something happened here earlier.”
“What happened? Your dad just went with the chief to respond to a call.”
Su Yun could hear noise and movement in the background—it sounded like things were hectic.
“An emergency call?”
“Huh?” Su Yun frowned as she listened.
“Halfway through our conversation, something happened. Ugh, this place is really not safe. You should just head back soon.” Wang Haiyan was clearly frustrated, complaining as she spoke.
Because of how fast her mom talked, it took Su Yun a while to piece things together.
Apparently, in the twenty minutes since she left the station, someone had reported an incident.
A woman had been attacked in her home, and they were on their way to the scene.
Her mom was heading home in a small car, but the men—including Su Yun’s father—had gone with the chief to check it out and see if they could help.
Police numbers here were clearly low. Otherwise, the chief wouldn’t have had to go personally.
An attack…
After hanging up, Su Yun sat on the edge of the bed, her expression uneasy.
Why did it feel like what happened at her house… was strangely similar?
Same timing.
Still, Su Yun didn’t dwell on it too long. That old man really didn’t seem dangerous. Even someone like Qin Xue could probably take him down.
Her mother was on her way home now, but her father would likely be back later.
With nothing else to do, Su Yun turned her gaze toward Qin Xue.
At some point during the call, Qin Xue had leaned her head against Su Yun’s shoulder, and now her eyes were closed, as if she had already fallen asleep.
She must have been emotionally drained.
Su Yun watched her, heart aching.
Then, she reached out and gently wrapped her arms around Qin Xue’s slender waist.
But it wasn’t easy to fully wrap her arms around her. A certain… obstacle in the front was in the way, and Su Yun’s arms weren’t quite long enough.
Still, she had the strength. Carefully, she lifted the girl—who was a size larger than her—and carried her to the center of the bed.
Looking at the fragile girl with her reddened eyes, Su Yun didn’t think too much.
She took off her white dress and climbed into bed as well.
The dress had been worn outside for two days—it was probably a little dirty.
Now seemed like the perfect time to rest a bit. Su Yun was tired too.
When they woke up, she’d take Qin Xue out to find some bread.
She’d seen a couple bakeries while running back earlier.
With that in mind, Su Yun gently curled her arm around Qin Xue’s soft belly, snuggling into the warmth—
And slowly drifted off to sleep.
(End of Chapter)