TBWE Chapter 21

Engagement

Chu Li gradually regained consciousness from the darkness.

She seemed to have turned into a clay sculpture, unable to open her eyes or move.

The woman was making a phone call nearby, her voice reaching her ears as if through a layer of water film, indistinct.

“…the person has been retrieved. His avatar lost half its power, several puppets have already restrained Him, I’m on my way back.”

The person on the other end of the phone said something unknown, and the woman’s cold and stern tone softened slightly.

“Yes. The ritual is approaching. If all goes well, we can all escape our fate afterward.”

The conversation ended quickly, leaving only the sound of the air conditioning system running in the car.

As time passed, Chu Li gradually became aware of her body’s existence.

She closed her eyes and tried to move her fingers. Her body was very weak; engaging in combat with the woman would be impossible.

She could only conserve her strength for the most appropriate moment.

Through her eyelids, she sensed a light source overhead, bright and gentle—probably car lights. It was still nighttime outside, indicating that less than twelve hours had passed since the woman took her away.

Was He still alive?

This question suddenly jumped into her mind.

Before losing her memory, the last scene she saw was clearly etched in her memory. Whenever she recalled it, the thick, overwhelming scent of blood would assault her face.

Frenzied tentacles, blood and flesh everywhere, faces that had lost their human features…

He had been stabbed many times before, and the Chu family couldn’t handle him. But this time, he was obviously much weaker.

Chu Li still remembered what the woman said before taking her away.

That day when Xi Chu found her at the Chu family villa, his face showed weariness—was it because he paid a price to help her?

A very complex emotion surged in Chu Li’s heart.

But when she thought of the person who was slapped into bloody pulp by the tentacles, this emotion was suppressed.

This was the consequence of angering the monster.

The hand that had gently caressed her face could crush her head at any time.

Don’t generate unnecessary emotions.

Chu Li secretly warned herself, while feeling that the weakness in her body had mostly disappeared and her physical condition had basically recovered.

Her tightly closed eyes opened without warning.

Outside the car window, the sky had turned completely dark, with a crescent moon hanging high. The low-profile sedan was driving on a narrow national highway.

One side was mountains, the other side was guardrails. Below the railings, several meters down, was an undeveloped forest, lush and green.

The woman driving was indeed Chu Song’s companion, who had narrowly escaped from Xi Chu last time.

She keenly sensed the movement, turned to look, her gaze surprised. “You actually woke up—”

Her words were interrupted by Chu Li pouncing on her.

Another pair of hands appeared on the steering wheel. Chu Li’s expression was calm, but her eyes carried a desperate fierceness as she violently turned the wheel to the opposite side!

“You don’t want to live!” The woman reacted extremely quickly, forcefully turning in the opposite direction.

The tires kept turning, creating white smoke on the road.

In the chaos, the car completely lost direction. The woman released the gas pedal in time, but due to inertia, it still crashed through the guardrail and rushed straight toward the forest below the slope.

The car body rolled and spun. The moment it violently crashed into a thick tree, Chu Li’s left wrist suddenly became hot.

The red rope and copper coin shed their disguise, transforming into a thin black tentacle.

It instantly became enormous, completely enveloping Chu Li.

The cool, slippery sensation wrapped around every inch of her body as she felt a tremendous impact force.

Bang—!

After being dizzy for several minutes, Chu Li regained consciousness. Her back was numb and cold, and fear surged in her heart.

She had just walked a trip in front of the King of Hell.

The black tentacle that had wrapped around her gradually softened, pressing on her body as if it had lost its vitality.

Chu Li struggled to unbuckle her seatbelt, using her hands and feet to push away the cold, soft object. The jammed car door wouldn’t open, so she crawled out through the shattered car window.

Her calf was cut by glass, blood just beginning to flow when the wound started itching slightly.

She hurriedly pulled up her long pants and saw the flesh at the narrow wound wriggling slowly, healing itself.

Her head felt as if it had been struck hard, making her dizzy. Chu Li touched it in confusion, only feeling a shallow scar that soon disappeared as well.

The medicine…

It was those medicines Xi Chu had given her before—the monster’s blood and flesh had caused unknown changes in her body.

Indescribable panic enveloped her heart.

Was she still human?

Behind her, the car lay overturned on the ground, its front completely caved in, even the airbags were broken.

She swallowed and forced herself not to think about it first, moving with trembling limbs to the other side of the car.

The woman was strapped in the driver’s seat by her seatbelt, eyes tightly closed, her hair soaked with blood that trickled down her forehead onto her face. Her chest rose and fell slightly.

“Thank goodness…” Chu Li panted heavily, her voice murmuring.

She just wanted to escape from the Chu family, but didn’t really want to kill anyone.

Chu Li leaned halfway into the driver’s side window, struggling to reach the woman’s phone, preparing to call the police.

The phone’s screen was as shattered as the car window glass, and no matter how she pressed the power button, there was no response.

“…”

When would this streak of bad luck end?

She numbly threw away the phone and stumbled around looking for a way out.

The trees formed a canopy overhead, blocking the moonlight. The forest was almost pitch black. Chu Li struggled to identify the tracks left by the car’s path on the ground, stumbling along them.

Exhaustion combined with hunger made her dizzy every few steps.

“Huff… huff…” Chu Li leaned against a large tree, gasping for breath.

Subtle sounds of dried branches and fallen leaves being crushed came from not far behind her.

Chu Li turned around suspiciously, and a ball of fire was reflected in her eyes.

The woman held a burning flame in her palm, illuminating her pale face and winding bloodstains, like a female ghost crawling out from the underworld. Her other hand gripped a bronze bell, the corners of her lips forming a cold smile. “I underestimated you. I didn’t expect you to have some ruthlessness in you.”

“The Chu family kindly sent people to rescue you multiple times. You ungrateful white-eyed wolf, you’re just like your mother!”

The faint bell sound echoed through the forest.

Sharp, severe pain exploded in her head. The bell sound was like a blade, stirring chaotically in her brain. Chu Li was instantly drained of strength, sliding down the tree trunk to the ground.

She breathed rapidly, physiological tears blurring her vision as she forced herself to keep her eyes open, watching the woman approach step by step.

“Save me… you obviously have other purposes… don’t make it sound so nice…”

The woman grabbed Chu Li’s face, her gaze filled with disgust. “So what? You should be grateful that you’re still useful, otherwise I would kill you right now!”

The bell sound stopped, and Chu Li was soaked in cold sweat, her long hair messily sticking to her face.

She closed her eyes, then suddenly opened her mouth to bite the woman’s tiger’s mouth.

This bite was very forceful, drawing blood almost immediately. The woman instinctively released her grip, then was pushed with all of Chu Li’s strength. Chu Li seized the bronze bell and struck the woman’s head with it before stumbling forward.

“Thud“—a muffled sound as the strike made the woman’s vision go black. “Damn it!”

Chu Li gripped the bronze bell and ran forward with all her might on weak legs, her throat feeling like she’d swallowed a handful of glass shards, burning painfully with each breath.

After several encounters with the Chu family, she already knew deeply that they were not good people.

This mysterious family had a temperament very similar to Xi Chu’s.

They had a cold attitude toward life, completely ignoring law and morality, not at all like people from modern society.

Whatever their purpose, if she fell into their hands, she would definitely not have a good end.

Chu Li didn’t want to be a fish on a chopping board. She stumbled forward a few more steps, and the pale moonlight illuminated the path ahead.

Ahead was where the car had rolled down.

The short slope was about five or six meters high, not very steep, but for Chu Li in her current state, it was harder than climbing to heaven.

She gritted her teeth, grabbing onto exposed rocks on the slope for leverage, desperately climbing upward.

There might be cars passing on the national highway. If she could climb up, there would be hope for rescue.

Faster, a little faster…

Her heart beat heavily and rapidly. Her fingers grasped new rocks, her nails turning white, her arms losing strength and trembling uncontrollably.

Suddenly, her scalp was in severe pain.

The woman’s physical condition was beyond that of ordinary people; normal injuries didn’t affect her much. She panted angrily, grabbing Chu Li’s hair and throwing her to the ground, pressing one knee against her chest and abdomen, her fingers like iron clamps gripping her slender white neck.

Chu Li’s back was in severe pain, her neck nearly being strangled.

The woman’s tone was ice cold. “The Grand Nuo only said to bring you back alive. Missing hands and feet still counts as alive.”

Chu Li’s arm was in severe pain. She gradually couldn’t breathe, her pupils dilating from the pain.

Squelch—

Both her arm and throat were simultaneously freed from restraint.

“Cough, cough…!” Chu Li coughed until her eyes were red, tears wetting her lashes as she looked up through the blur at the woman’s eyes that had lost focus.

A tentacle as thick as a bowl protruded from her heart, and several drops of warm blood fell on Chu Li.

The woman was roughly dragged away by the tentacle, becoming a puddle of sticky blood and flesh.

The seemingly human but inhuman young man half-knelt before Chu Li, his dark suit soaked in blood, his pale face bearing several deep blue narrow cracks, like half-open eyes.

“Li Li…”

His slender hand slowly caressed her face, wiping away the tears on her lashes.

Chu Li noticed that his fingers were trembling.

As he wiped, more and more tears came. The monster’s heart seemed to be crushed by an invisible hand, the pain almost making him lose his reason.

Violent killing intent flowed through his blood vessels.

Xi Chu suppressed the enraged tentacles, not wanting to disturb the person before him again. He gently embraced Chu Li, maintaining a certain distance, lightly stroking her spine, his voice as gentle as possible. “Li Li, there won’t be a next time. I won’t let them appear before you again.”

The next moment, a warm, soft body threw itself into his arms, like a drowning person grasping driftwood.

After escaping from the edge of death, the temporarily forgotten fear surged back doubled.

Tears fell on Xi Chu’s neck, and he felt a burning pain.

“Go home…” Chu Li’s voice was very low, “Xi Chu, I want to go home.”

****

Master Mo was a night shift driver. After dropping off his passengers, on his way back he passed through a desolate section of national highway and saw someone flagging down his car.

A tall young man in a suit and tie, holding an unrecognizable woman in his arms.

At this time, appearing in such a desolate place, Master Mo thought of certain supernatural legends. He slowed down, planning to drive closer to see if they were human.

The taxi approached, and the two headlight beams shone on the young man, clearly illuminating his inhuman face.

“Ghost—!!” Master Mo slammed on the gas pedal, but the car suddenly stalled and stopped dead in place.

The tall figure was in front of him in an instant.

He got in the car holding Chu Li and gave an address in the Leyang District of Hai City.

Master Mo looked into those pitch-black pupils, his body moving automatically to restart the car and head toward the address.

Through the rearview mirror, he saw where the young man had sat, crimson color seeping out.

The car was playing energizing DJ music, all old love songs. He watched helplessly as a black tentacle silently reached over and precisely turned off the stereo.

Only Master Mo’s panicked breathing remained in the car.

The three-hour drive felt like it lasted a lifetime.

The taxi stopped in front of a duplex small building. Xi Chu got out carrying Chu Li, and the tentacles swept over the seat—the bloodstains disappeared as if they had never existed.

Master Mo sat rigid as a sculpture, watching the passengers enter the house, when the feeling of being controlled suddenly disappeared.

He tremblingly took out a cigarette, taking four or five tries to light it.

The back seat was clean as new, with only a stack of red banknotes left behind.

The taxi fled into the night like it was escaping for its life.

****

Xi Chu carried Chu Li upstairs. Looking down, he met those beautiful, numb eyes.

She had never slept and hadn’t spoken again, just staring blankly with her eyes open, her gaze not knowing where it fell.

“Li Li, let me help you bathe, okay?”

Still silence.

Xi Chu placed her on the bathroom counter. The mirror reflected his face, which had finally returned to normal, while tentacles skillfully filled the bathtub.

He changed into clean clothes and began helping her bathe.

The slender white body sat in the bathtub hugging her legs, head buried in her knees, showing no reaction to Xi Chu’s actions.

The injuries she had suffered before had completely healed, with not a trace of wounds or bruises to be found.

The bathroom was filled with the sound of rushing water as warm water flowed through her long hair.

This time, Xi Chu washed silently and quickly.

Chu Li let him help dry the water droplets on her body, change her into soft pajamas, then carry her to bed.

Xi Chu embraced her from behind.

“Good night, Li Li.” A gentle kiss fell on her black hair. “The engagement date will be postponed. You rest well for a while.”

The bedroom lights went out. Weak daylight filtered through the curtain gaps, and the birds outside had already awakened, beginning to chirp.

The long night had finally passed.

Chu Li had also made her choice.

“Don’t postpone it. Hold it as scheduled.” She gripped Xi Chu’s hand that encircled her waist, her voice so light it was like sleep talk. “I’m sorry.”

“Li Li?”

Chu Li had no intention of explaining. This night had exhausted all her strength. She just shook her head, closed her eyes, and fell into deep sleep.

****

The engagement ceremony was held as scheduled.

The location was arranged at the Chu family villa, held on the lawn. The weather was uncooperative, with dark clouds piled up in the sky and somewhat dim lighting.

Not many people came to witness the ceremony. Apart from the planning team, there were only six people. Among them, Xin Tong served as photographer, and there were three local classmates from school who had good relationships with Chu Li.

The reception area was surrounded by clusters of flowers. The last to arrive was a thin woman, simply dressed, accompanied by a young girl with a delicate face.

The young girl looked around, captured Chu Li’s figure in the crowd, stared in amazement, then waved enthusiastically.

Chu Li wore a satin mermaid dress, white gloves on both hands, her long hair pinned up, and a snow-white veil covering her smooth back.

She stood arm-in-arm with Xi Chu to one side, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Seeing Ming Chun and Ming Pu’s figures, her eyes warmed slightly. She suppressed her emotions and responded with a curved-eyed smile.

Xi Chu’s gaze swept over the two. These were completely unfamiliar faces, and even in the memories read from Huo Xiu, there were no traces of these two people.

“Li Li, who are they?”

“My mother’s close friend Aunt Pu and her child. I lived at their house for quite a while before.”

The planning team’s host organized the guests to take their seats in an orderly fashion and announced that the ceremony was about to begin.

Romantic, flowing music began to play.

Xi Chu’s heart was completely filled with joy. He gazed at her beautiful, lovely profile, and his slight doubts were completely thrown to the back of his mind.

Guest seats were arranged on both sides, leaving a path covered in snow white in the middle.

The host, all smiles, invited the two to come forward.

Chu Li took Xi Chu’s arm and walked forward step by step. Today he wore a black dress suit, a watch adorning his wrist, and a ruby brooch on his chest. Standing together with her, they were particularly well-matched.

Flower petals scattered as they moved forward. Xin Tong stood to one side, continuously pressing the shutter.

The following proceedings went incredibly smoothly.

Every guest and staff member smiled and applauded continuously.

The final step was exchanging rings.

The romantic music reached its most soaring moment. Xi Chu lifted Chu Li’s hand and carefully placed the ring on her middle finger.

Chu Li took the other ring handed over by a staff member and gripped Xi Chu’s hand.

The two looked at each other silently, their gazes intertwining.

Xi Chu’s smile deepened, his eyebrows slightly raised, like a silent urging.

Squelch!

A drop of crimson splashed onto Chu Li’s earlobe, staining her pearl earring red.

A wooden sword carved with Taoist symbols easily pierced through Xi Chu’s heart from behind. Blood gushed out, dripping from the sword tip, soaking the pure white gloves.

The diamond ring was stained with blood, becoming even more dazzling.

Xi Chu’s face writhed as if some terrifying thing was about to tear through his skin. He maintained his gentle and refined expression, grabbed Chu Li’s hand, and forced her to slide that ring onto his middle finger.

His voice was slow, containing a hint of a smile. “Very good. The second betrayal.”