Waterbound Love - Chapter 47
Dragging an unconscious person is not an easy task, and it greatly slowed Ji Feiling’s pace. Just as Shen Yan rushed out, she saw Ji Feiling driving away with Du Bai in a cloud of dust.
Shen Yan hurriedly got into her car to follow. While keeping an eye on Ji Feiling’s car, she sent Ji Feiling’s license plate number to Chief An and asked him to instruct his subordinates to help block Ji Feiling’s path.
Ji Feiling seemed to realize that Shen Yan was following him and began to take detours, heading towards less populated areas.
Shen Yan was alert; he seemed to be aiming for the highway. If he reached the highway, the situation could become uncontrollable.
“Hello, Chief An, please try to block the highway exits.”
After hanging up the phone, she sped up and rammed into Ji Feiling’s car. The impact slightly repelled her car due to the safety features of the Phaeton, sparing Shen Yan from severe impact. Du Bai, however, wasn’t so lucky, painfully squeezed against the driver’s seat and slowly regaining consciousness. She saw Ji Feiling in the front seat, who hadn’t moved. Ji Feiling was fully focused on driving and didn’t notice Du Bai. Du Bai looked around the car and noticed the logo on the steering wheel; where did he get a Phaeton from? It must be a B70. She knew that the doors automatically locked at 20 mph. Even by the feel of it, the car was clearly speeding over 120 mph.
Du Bai’s knowledge of the car wasn’t out of any particular fondness; it was just something she discussed with Wei Qingqian when they were together, aiming for a Jetta as a future goal, citing its cost-effectiveness and low maintenance. She joked that it was akin to a cousin to Shen Yan’s Phaeton, not losing face either. At that time, Wei Qingqian disdainfully pointed at a parked Phaeton B70 and said it was even worse than buying that, with its sufficiently stealthy looks and being a relative of Mercedes, enough to dazzle anyone. His words, glowing with enthusiasm, had led Du Bai around a Phaeton dealership. They listened to the salesperson’s non-stop narrative about Phaeton’s rise to prominence until Wei Qingqian concluded with a sharp “Which company are you guys exactly cloning? Can you just admit it?” leaving under the glaring eyes of all the staff.
Du Bai was thinking quietly about a strategy. Opening the door was akin to covering one’s ears while stealing a bell, but given the current situation, she estimated that it was only a matter of time before she would be killed. While she was pondering, another wave of impact came and threw the unprepared Du Bai to the ground. The situation was so sudden that Du Bai gasped for air, which startled Ji Feiling. Ji Feiling glared at her fiercely, “To die with you, I would not lose out.” With that, he shifted gears and drove towards a nearby building. Just as they were about to crash, another impact from the front knocked them off their course, causing them to spin twice by the roadside. Du Bai held her head, enduring the multiple impacts. When everything quieted down, she saw Ji Feiling slumped in the seat, his forehead bleeding. Du Bai moved her body, feeling a faint pain. Driven by a feeling, she looked outside, and at that moment, all sense of relief vanished. She unlocked and opened the car door, stumbling out.
It seemed that Shen Yan had realized Ji Feiling’s intent to die together and had sped up to their front, shifted into reverse, and crashed into their car’s front, which pushed her own car into a wall. No matter how safe the car was, it couldn’t withstand such a reckless crash.
Du Bai finally crawled to the front of Shen Yan’s car. The windshield was almost embedded into the wall, and Shen Yan was unconscious, with liquid dripping from her forehead, the color strikingly vivid.
After a strong impact, the Phaeton’s car would automatically deploy airbags and lock the doors. Du Bai desperately pulled at the car door, but it wouldn’t budge. She picked up a stone from nearby and smashed it against the car lock and window.
“Shen Yan, wake up, please wake up.”
“I beg you, wake up. I won’t use you anymore, I won’t make you sad.” Something warm seemed to be flowing on her face, itchy and soft, yet also so painful. Her hands were bloody, covered in both deep and shallow wounds. Du Bai ignored this, focusing solely on Shen Yan.
Her vision was blurring, and for the first time, Du Bai began to hate the car accident, hate her useless eyes, hate how her existence brought so much pain to those around her. Perhaps Wei Jia was right, her existence was indeed superfluous.
Du Bai continued to cry out and plead, her voice hoarse. She didn’t know when she had dropped the stone, her hands continuing to pat weakly yet persistently.
The rain was falling fiercely, washing away the dust in the air, silencing Du Bai’s cries but not thinning the dense sorrow.
The rain in autumn came abruptly and left just as quickly.
With a crisp “plop,” a sound gave Du Bai a glimmer of hope in her deep despair. It might have been a miracle arriving so suddenly that Du Bai froze.
“Hey, I know I’m handsome, but you don’t have to be so mesmerized by me. Hurry and help me, it hurts.” Though his voice was weak, Du Bai heard him clearly and quickly pulled Shen Yan out, careful not to hurt her.
After finally getting Shen Yan out, Du Bai regained her composure and looked around. How to describe it? Sparse population? In the middle of nowhere? It was unclear how such a building, now completely unrecognizable and ruined, was ready for Ji Feiling’s intended mutual destruction.
Du Bai glanced at Shen Yan, who was clearly forcing herself to stay awake. Without hesitation, she supported Shen Yan and slowly walked back.
Leaning on Du Bai’s shoulder, Shen Yan faintly smelled a familiar scent and smiled gently, a look of contentment on her face.
“Du Bai, do you know why I don’t call you Du Ruo?” Shen Yan murmured as if she didn’t expect an answer from Du Bai. “The real me is known only to Du Bai. You know everything about me. Even if I can’t hold on to you, I can watch you live your true life.”
“Du Ruo does not live for herself; her life is burdened by the expectations of a family. We are not free living like this.”
“Du Bai, do you know? Despite your hardships and pains, your life is something I deeply envy.”
“I’ve forgotten how long I’ve loved you. You are Du Bai, and I silently protect you. You are Du Ruo, and I become Shen Yan who can openly adore you. This openness makes me feel that living for others isn’t as hard as it seems.”
“My biggest regret should be the times I’ve hurt you, but I truly don’t regret it. Even though I pushed you to this point myself, I can’t bear to see you happy with someone else. They say true love is wanting to see the other person happy, but I can’t do it. It’s not that my love isn’t deep enough; it’s that my love for you is so deep, I don’t know how to go on without you. Even if you use me, just being by your side is enough to thrill me.”
“That day in the parking lot, I saw you long before, so I let Qin Qin kiss me. I hoped more for you to come up and slap me, or to secretly run away. That would have made me happy, at least showing me you cared. But you walked up to me nonchalantly, shattering my self-deceptive lies. I was nothing in your eyes, truly nothing.”
Du Bai listened quietly, overwhelmed by the emotional storm, unable to find words to express her feelings. As Shen Yan whispered, tears streamed down Du Bai’s cheeks. In the sunlight, it was unclear whether they were blood or tears, so glaring yet so brilliant.
Du Bai mechanically dragged Shen Yan forward, desperately telling herself not to fall, even as darkness filled her vision and the sounds around became eerily ethereal. She must not fall before her.
Her body was at its limit, struggling to breathe. Behind them, the rain-washed ground bore their deep and shallow footprints and drops of fresh blood, creating a hauntingly beautiful scene.
A distant, singular ringtone floated to Du Bai’s ears like a divine melody. She smiled slightly and collapsed to the ground, stirring up a muddy splash. The post-rain sunlight was exceptionally fresh, casting a rainbow glow on her body, a scene so vibrant, as if heralding the arrival of a new beginning.
Occasional birds flew overhead, taking away the doubts. Could there really be a new beginning?
