บท 61: The Beast IV

Xiong Zhi continued to wash her hands. Her eyes were afar, her lips were tightly sealed, sweats were covering her forehead, her face was pale, and if one look closely she was shivering.

Shivering with disgust, with madness, with rage inside of her! How dare him.....how dare him to put his disgusting beast ugly lips on her hand! She wanted to erase it all. All the trace, the virus, the memories.....she wanted them to be gone.

Without realizing it, she continued to wash her hands with soap and water repeatedly until her skin become red and blood comes out.

Outside, Linfeng was still waiting for Xiong Zhi.

Two minutes passed.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

No shadow of her.

Linfeng was initially worried when Xiong Zhi entered the comfort room alone since he saw how her complexion paled and how she was acting strangely.

But now, he was ultimately worried. It's been a long time already. Was his young miss okay? Did she collapse in one of the cubicles?

Finally, when fifteen minutes passed, he couldn't contain his worry and entered the female CR. After turning he saw Xiong Zhi washing her hands.

He let out a sigh of relief.

' I worried for nothing. '

Then thinking that he went inside of the female CR made him blush a little. He hurriedly went out. But his steps faltered and glanced back at Xiong Zhi.

He was still worried. His mind and heart could not calm down. He had a feeling inside of him that Xiong Zhi was a little bit different today. Although she looked cold and expressionless, he who had been with her for months and after that joyful day in amusement park, he nevertheless knew how to read her aura. When she was happy or irritated.

He studied her for a minute. Her pale face and quivering lips no doubt tell him she was not okay. She was enduring it. Alone. This made his heart hurt a little. And when his gaze traveled down to her hands, he was shocked. He immediately runs to Xiong Zhi.

"Young miss! Your hands are bleeding!"

But Xiong Zhi looked like she never heard him nor notice his presence. She continued to wash her hands. Calmly like a tranquil water unlike the boiling rage in her heart.

This made Linfeng panicked. What happened to his young miss?

"Young miss.." he turned off the tap.

But Xiong Zhi like a mindless idiot continued to scrubbed her bleeding hand.

Her hand was still dirty...

Not clean enough...

The beast....the beast trace was still here....his disgusting smell was still in her hands...

"Not enough....not clean enough..." Xiong Zhi mumbled.

Her brows were furrowed.

If she could...she wants her hand to be cut off.

Like her bitter memories, she wanted it to be cut off. To be gone.

So she hardly scrubbed with all her strength the spot Gao Huan kissed. It made her wound got bigger, and more blood continued to flow out.

Linfeng could not watch anymore. His hand stopped both Xiong Zhi's hand and he called her in a very soft and gentle tone.

"Zhi'er."

The dull world, the disgusting memory stopped. With one call, Xiong Zhi dazedly looked up to Linfeng.

That tone....the tone that he used to call her in the past lifetime.

The soft, sweet and gentle 'Zhi'er' of Linfeng.

Linfeng lightly smiled. His eyes were warm. Before his mind processed what he was doing, he gently lifted the left hand of Xiong Zhi and kissed the wounded part. His eyes were full of warmth and something else that never leave her's.

It was only a fleeting second yet it was so powerful that it brought back Xiong Zhi to the present. Her heart that was in turmoil because of madness suddenly squeezed. A comforting yet painful squeezed. Like her heart was grieving, relieved, and at the same time yearning....yearning for comfort...

Linfeng looked at the wounded hand of Xiong Zhi and asked in a gentle manner.

"Do you still feel your hand is still dirty---?" But he paused when he saw some tiny warm droplets in his hands and Xiong Zhi's. Like raindrops, it continued to pour.

Shocked, he looked at Xiong Zhi. What he saw made his heartbroken and his mind began to panic.

Xiong Zhi's eyes were looking at him while her tears endlessly flowed out. Her lips quivering, her figure visibly shaking, her right hand was trying to reach him. She looked like she was grieving like she felt wronged, she was seeking comfort. She wanted to touch him. Feel his warmth.

Without hesitation, Linfeng step froward and Xiong Zhi immediately leaned on him.

All this time, since her rebirth, she did not waste any time to grow stronger and to be with Linfeng. Her mind subconsciously does it so that she could not think of those bitter memories. She did not waste time to grieve for them, nor cry for them. However, with Linfeng by her side. With the way he used to call her. The gentle words, warm hands and comforting smile made her broke all her wavering wall. She, who endure it since she woke up from the past, gave out her vulnerable state in front of Linfeng.

She was clutching hard at his robes.

She silently cried. All those painful memories that she kept buried, she grieved on them. She cried so much, that her silent tears turned into sobs. Sorrowful sobs.

Linfeng, who heard her painful cries felt his heart shattered. He could not help but hug the shivering figure on his chest. Tightly, his arms secured her and gently pats her back a few times. He did not know what to do. The only thing he wanted to do right now was to hug her and comfort her. Tell her that he was here. Together with her.

"I'm here. I'll never let him touch you again."

' "I'm here. I never let him touch you ever again...."'

Same voice. Same words.

Her past life and her present. Linfeng said the same words which made her cry harder.

After he said those words in the past....he died.

She cried harder. She clutched his robes tighter.

' I want to feel him....

' To make sure it is not a dream.

' To know he is alive .. '

Xiong Zhi looked at Linfeng. She raised her hand and trace his brow, his eyes, her hands traveled to the bridge of his nose, to his jaw, to his lips, every corner, she stared at it with deep worry, nervousness, desperation and emotions that Linfeng could not decipher as they flashed incredibly fast and been replaced by relief.

Xiong Zhi uttered words with deep meaning while looking intensely at Linfeng.

"Yes. You are still here..."

Xiong Zhi then hugged him tighter. She closed her eyes as she listened to his fast heartbeat.

"--you are still alive." Xiong Zhi said in a whisper where only she could hear.

Then she opened her eyes again.

Determination flashed in them.

' And I will not let you die again. '