章 19: Stone Pendant

"Qing Yue!"

"Sister Qing!"

"Yue'er!"

The shocked cries returned Long Tian to his senses. He rushed forth and arrived before the flaming hover to find the girl unconscious underneath.

"Hey, hey! Wake up! If you can hear my voice, open your eyes. Quickly call the emergency line!" Long Tian coldly screamed and waved at the dumbstruck people around him, before turning and taking off his suit coat.

He slammed at the flaming hover, extinguishing some of the bursting flames before dropping to the ground and wedging his way towards the motionless girl.

"Hey! Hey, little girl! Can you hear my voice?" He hoarsely yelled over the roaring flames.

Qing Yue's entire body ached as if every bone was crushed and every flesh skinned. Burnt skin and the metallic scent of blood filled her nostrils, returning her to the nightmares she so desperately wished to leave behind.

"Cough, Cough!"

Smoke entered her lungs and she tearfully coughed.

"Hey! Hey! Are you awake!" The shout came from her left, the urgency and insistency forcing her to turn her head. The black smoke and red-gold flames were too thick to make out the appearance of the person, but Qing Yue still made out the dark-blue orbs.

"You're awake! Good! Now keep your eyes open, okay? Cough, cough! Don't close your eyes. I'll be there to help you in a bit." Long Tian sighed in relief.

At least the girl was still alive. As long as she was alive, there was hope.

Long Tian pushed himself forward on all four, his shoes scraping against the cement floor, his hands scorching as he squeezed under the hover to reach the girl.

"I'm almost there! Don't close your eyes!"

Qing Yue's eyes felt heavy, but the comfortable voice and blue orbs forced her to keep them open. She could sense that the man meant to help her. If she closed her eyes and happened to fall asleep, even if he succeeded in withdrawing her from under the hover, he won't be able to save her life if she loses consciousness forever.

So, just for the sake of the stranger that risked his life to save her, she forced herself to remain awake.

Even when her head pounded and her heart was close to bursting, she forced herself to remain awake.

And even when her lower body turned numb and all feeling leaked away; when cold crept onto her skin and seeped into her flesh, blood, and bone, causing her to shudder to her core, she remained awake.

By the time the man reached her and grabbed her hand, she couldn't even feel her fingers. They felt so heavy, so numb, that the only feeling she perceived was bone-deep coldness.

"Good! Very good! You have done well!" Hearing the man's praise, her lips inadvertently curled upward. But whether she smiled at him or not, she didn't know.

Because in the next instant, darkness descended.

Long Tian pulled the girl towards him. It was only after he dragged half of her body from under the burning hover that he realized her legs were crushed under the hood of the car.

"Da**!" He didn't know what sort of pain she must've borne to remain conscious even when her legs were crushed and burnt until her burning flesh engulfed the air. But her tenacious will and bravery made his eyes tear.

Long Tian blinked rapidly and squeezed a little further in to lift the hood. It was a painful and agonizing process as the hood was scorching hot and heavy. Still, he gritted his teeth and kept on pushing, willing the da** metal to move because the girl that had endured immense pain laid there, waiting for his rescue.

"Move!" With a heavy grunt, he forced the hot metal to lift high enough to withdraw her legs. His eyes teared again when he saw the state they were in. Blood and clothe mingled with torn and burnt flesh to create a grotesque and horrid sight that made him want to puke.

With great difficulty, Long Tian moved his sight away and squeezed back to the girl's side. He grabbed her arms and pushed her forward, and crawled up after seeing her head safely leave the burning metal.

Then, Long Tian pulled the rest of her body out of the burning hover and collapsed beside her.

"Has First Medic arrived yet?" He hoarsely asked.

"We called but they haven't arrived yet. What do we do? What are we going to do with Qing Yue?" Madam Ji tearfully asked. The kids of the orphanage that were all close and attached to Qing Yue looked at her motionless, blood-soaked body with frightened eyes.

"Madam Ji, is Sister Qing going to die?" Little Ran asked soullessly.

The kid's eyes were dry and vacant, filled with only self-blame and despair.

"No. Your Sister Qing is such a good person. Nothing will happen to her." Madam Ji unconfidently consoled.

Long Tian looked at the bloodied figure of the girl. Her clothes were tattered and her hair molted with fresh blood that smeared her face and made it difficult to make out her appearance. The scene of her selflessly rushing towards the kid and pushing him out of the hover's way resurfaced in his mind.

He took a deep breath and gathered her in his arms. With unsteady and stumbling steps, he staggered to his feet.

"First Medic is taking too long. I'll take her to the hospital. I'll trouble you to inform her guardians about the situation and report to the First Century Hospital."

"Yes, yes. Thank you, young sire! Thank you...please save Qing Yue." Madam Ji pulled the stunned kids closer and respectfully bowed as she tearfully implored.

Long Tian nodded and turned. He pressed on his sleeve button and his black hover immediately appeared before him. Going to the back, he carefully deposited the girl in the back and got in the driver's seat.

"First Century Hospital, ASAP!" He rasped.

"First Century Hospital, right away!" The hover slid back into place and rose into the air, before zooming towards the Emergency Aid Center.

Long after the two left, Tang Fang appeared from behind a building and looked in the distance the hover disappeared.

"Da** it!" The instant the hover dropped on Li Qing Yue, he gave an excuse of calling for medical aid and disappeared from the scene. The matter involved an accident. Once the authorities were informed and got involved, they would find the drug in Li Qing Yue's body.

To get to the bottom of the drug source, they would definitely question every suspect on the scene. At that time, he wouldn't be safe from the investigation. And as the person that was with Li Qing Yue before the accident, it wouldn't be long before they found evidence of his crime.

Once that happened, no one would be able to save him from getting convicted and sentenced to jail.

"Li Qing Yue, as much as I love you, I can't endanger my future when your own life and death is a question mark. It's not that I'm cruel. It's just that we never had any relationship to get involved with each other's affairs. If you die, then that can only be considered your fate." With a cold sneer, Tang Fang turned and vanished into the dark alley.

"Doctor! Where is the doctor!? There's an emergency case here! Quickly get the doctor!?" Long Tian hollered in the emergency admission hall of First Century Hospital. He could feel the life of the girl slowly ebbing away as she lost more blood.

This made him even more anxious. Dropping his usual cold aloofness, he screamed at the top of his lungs and gathered the attention of the entire medical staff.

Because he had an inkling. If she didn't receive medical treatment soon enough, then...

"Who is this lunatic? Why is he screaming in a hospital?" One of the nurses asked with obvious disgust.

"Have no idea. But it seems to be an emergency situation. Sadly, the doctor is with another patient at the moment."

"He'll have to wait until the doctor is done. After all, this is a hospital, not a hover-stop where he can holler and catch a hovership."

"Forget it. I can understand his frantic state of mind. If it was my loved one that was on the brink of death, I would've probably screamed the same."

The nurses and assistant physicians chatted among themselves, completely ignoring the still screaming Long Tian.

Long Tian's heart chilled as he looked at the medical staff that didn't even spare him a glance. This was a public emergency hospital. As a facility founded by the government, they were to focus on emergency treatment for the lower class of society.

But from the look of things, the medical team received their salary on time but weren't much inclined to provide adequate medical treatment.

"This is how public emergency hospitals act?" It was out of his expectation.

Long Tian gripped the girl tighter and turned. Giving the facility and the medical staff one last deep glance, he walked out of the First Century Hospital.

A while later.

In Long Capital City's most prestigious hospital, Long Tian tiredly sat outside the ICU, waiting for an update on the girl's condition. His hands, clothes, and face were covered with dried blood, but he had long gone past the point of caring.

His eyes remained glued to the ICU as he waited with a hanging heart.

Li Chen was in the midst of an important meeting. He had just concluded the last meeting for the day when he received a CellCom call from the City Orphanage.

His heart dropped. With trembling limbs and a chaotic mind, he pulled up the GPS tracker on his daughter and arrived at the Long Hospital.

When Long Tian saw Li Chen, he was shocked speechless.

"Uncle Li...what happened?" Confused at the man's presence, he shakily got to his feet.

"Little Tian, Little Tian, were you the one to get Yue'er here? Did you bring her?"

"Yue'er...?"He stared blankly.

"Qing Yue. Li Qing Yue, my daughter. I heard there was a hover crash at the City Orphanage. Did you bring her here? How is Yue'er? How is she?"

Ah...Qing Yue...Li Qing Yue.

That's why she looked familiar...

As if struck by a bolt of lightning, Long Tian staggered back and leaned against the wall. His head was spinning from the

"Little Tian, are you okay? Is Yue'er's condition that bad?" Panic tears filled the middle-aged man's eyes and within a matter of seconds, he seemed to age 10 more years. His entire presence fell as he fell to the ground in tears.

The New World Formation's greatest businessman collapsed on the hospital floor.

"My Yue'er, my baby girl."

Long Tian moved forward and grabbed the man's arms. He supported him to the hospital bench and knelt before his feet.

"Uncle Li, calm down. Qing Yue will be fine. The doctors are treating her right now. She will be fine."

Right at this moment, Great Commander Long appeared with a troop of guards and sprinted to the two men.

"Brother Li, are you okay? How is Qing Qing?"

"Brother Long, Yue'er...Yue'er...I have let her down. If anything happens to her, how will I face Su'er?"

"Don't worry, Brother Li. Nothing will happen to Qing Qing. I'm still waiting for her to become my daughter-in-law, so how can anything happen to her?"

Daughter-in-law...? It was her?

It was only now that it occurred to Long Tian that the friend whom his father spoke of was Li Chen.

Inside the ICU.

Qing Yue lay on the operating table, with mask and IV tubes sticking out her arms. Her face was unrecognizable, burnt beyond repair. As was more than half of her body.

The vital signs on the SmartCom beeped in sync with the rise and fall of her chest.

And on the center of her chest, was a grey stone pendant that glowed with a silvery radiance. The silver radiance shone from the center of the pendant and slowly spread to the rest of the stone until the entire grey stone became pure white.

Then visible to the naked eye, the white pendant slowly sunk into Qing Yue's body and disappeared.