The final battle (5)
“Lin Yan,” Song Yuhang was still worried, grabbing her hand with an anxious expression, murmuring softly.
“I’ll stay here, you go first.”
Lin Yan shook her head, “You go first, go after the Supreme Lord, I’ll be fine here.”
The intimate conversation and actions between the two of them did not escape his notice, as Lin Ge sneered.
“Thinking of leaving? Not that easy, since you’re here, you might as well leave your life behind!”
He raised the sniper rifle and aimed it at Song Yuhang, but Lin Yan swiftly pushed her aside and stood in front of the barrel herself.
“Lin Yan!” Song Yuhang tried to throw herself at her, but she stood firm, grasping the gun barrel and pressing it against her own chest.
“Lin Ge, if you kill Song Yuhang today, I will not live alone. Perhaps I don’t have the ability to kill you, but if I take my own life, no one present can stop me.”
“Either you let us both go, or—” she lifted her chin slightly, gazing at him with dark and determined eyes.
“Kill me first before killing her.”
Lin Ge’s hand on the trigger began to tremble, gritting his teeth.
“Don’t force me.”
Lin Yan stood her ground, with eyes firm and fearless, as if saying, “If you’re capable, then go ahead and shoot.”
Her demeanor made Lin Ge start to panic.
“Yanyan, listen to me, I don’t want to kill you. As long as you come with me, we can still be like before…”
The conversation was abruptly interrupted by Lin Yan’s icy tone.
“No one can live in the past forever, Lin Ge. It’s no longer possible to go back.”
“No… no…” Lin Ge shook his head, with a hint of madness in his expression. “I did so much for you…”
Lin Yan gripped the gun tightly, advancing step by step.
“For me? What have you done for me?” Lin Yan sneered, a fleeting look of pain crossing her eyes.
The questions that she never dared to ponder deeply were now revealed at this moment.
Perhaps she appeared strong and composed in front of others, but standing behind her, Song Yuhang saw her other hand hanging by her side trembling slightly.
She was afraid and sad.
Song Yuhang felt heartbroken, following her every step.
“When I went to the provincial capital, was it you who leaked the information to the Vulture’s people?”
“Yes.” Meeting her gaze, Lin Ge nodded slowly and then explained urgently after a pause.
“But I didn’t expect him to target you, I just had him follow you.”
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Lin Yan slightly narrowed her eyes, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Sure enough, Jiangcheng City was so small, and there were few people she was close to and on good terms with. Only Lin Ge would occasionally show concern, asking what she was busy with.
“Kidnapping the members of the Song family and using torture on a child.” Lin Yan suddenly emphasized her words, “Was that also your doing?”
She spoke as she walked, the courtyard not being big, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the warehouse door. Lin Ge’s back pushed open the warehouse door.
Song Yuhang followed them in and heard him confess truthfully.
“Yes, that’s right. I even interacted with them for a while. She was indeed a very lovely little girl. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have kidnapped her.”
Not only did he show no remorse, but he was also glib with words.
A surge of anger rushed through Song Yuhang, and she raised her fist to attack. However, upon seeing the gun pointed at Lin Yan’s chest, she suppressed her hatred and withdrew with red eyes.
“Well done, at least you are honest.”
“At this point, there’s nothing more I can hide from you,” Lin Ge nonchalantly tugged at the corner of his lips.
Lin Yan tightened her grip on the gun and coldly asked, “You’re the one who tampered with my car?”
“It was me,” he admitted openly, but with a hint of resentment. “But I never expected you would jump into the sea to save her! Why?! How dare you risk your life to save her?!”
“Because I love her!!” Lin Yan became slightly agitated, breathing heavily, leaning forward, pressing the gun tightly against her chest.
Lin Ge instantly released his finger from the trigger, staggering back a step, knocking over the bottles and jars on the shelves.
His eyes were filled with anger and disbelief.
“You love her?” his voice suddenly sharpened.
“And what about me?!”
“You? You don’t have that chance anymore!”
Lin Yan’s first confession came at this critical moment, leaving Song Yuhang feeling a mix of sweetness and amusement, but it didn’t delay the matter at hand.
At the moment the words fell, she took action. Seizing the opportunity when Lin Yan had all his attention, and with no one else in the warehouse, she stood behind Lin Yan. Suddenly, she launched an attack, her left elbow striking his wrist while her right hand, like a hawk’s claw, aimed straight for his throat.
Every move aimed for vital points, showing no mercy.
The weapon hanging over Lin Yan’s heart was finally knocked to the ground. In a daze, Lin Ge hastily exchanged a few moves with Song Yuhang but gained no advantage and was quickly subdued on the ground.
Raising his eyes to look at Lin Yan, his eyes showed redness and bruising from the blows, making him appear as if he had been crying.
Hoarse, he asked, “And what about me, Lin Yan? What do you see me as?”
“What do I see you as…” Lin Yan repeated the words, looking at his face, feeling a moment of confusion.
The warm young boy from years ago gradually merged with the face before her.
In that instant, she seemed to see the past.
The day she was brought back to the Lin family.
The little boy holding a can of candy given by his mother, shyly approached her, and handed it to her.
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“Don’t cry. From now on, you’re my little sister, and I’ll protect you.”
A young Lin Yan looked at the fruit candy inside the transparent candy can and swallowed nervously. Her dirty face showed caution, and she did not reach out to take it.
“I don’t want it. I don’t like eating candy.”
The young Lin Ge looked back at his mother, received an encouraging look, then directly stuffed the candy can into her hand and ran off.
Although she claimed not to like candy, after returning from his hobby class, he found her alone under the backyard swing, licking the candy carefully in her hand. It wasn’t the type where she would unwrap and fill her mouth, but she held it and licked it gingerly, with candy wrappers scattered around her.
The young boy recalled his mother’s advice and hurriedly ran over with his school bag, “You can’t eat candy like that; if you eat too much at once, you’ll get cavities and stomachaches.”
Startled, Lin Yan pushed his hand away and ran off.
By evening, she indeed experienced vomiting and diarrhea.
As Lin Yan lay in bed, tossing and turning due to stomach pain, there were two light knocks on the bedroom door.
Like a young gentleman, Lin Ge first knocked on the door. After a while with no response, he gathered his courage and gently pushed it open.
“Mom asked me to bring you the medicine. Drink it quickly; you’ll feel better after.”
Lin Yan sat up from the bed, glaring at him. She always had this expression as if someone owed her a fortune, even though she was just a half-grown kid, not one for smiling, always looking mature beyond her years.
Lin Ge chuckled, surveyed the room, not even a servant in sight. There was a glass of cold water on the bedside table, almost empty.
Softening, he grabbed the glass and ran out, saying, “Wait for me.”
When he returned, he brought back a full glass of warm water and a handful of candies.
“Eat quickly. You can have candies after taking the medicine.”
Under his mother’s urging at the time, he had matured into a little adult, proper and gentlemanly. As he had never had age-appropriate children to play with, he was a bit curious about Lin Yan.
Lin Yan looked at the oral liquid in her hand, unsure of how to use the straw. He took it from him and handed it over, well-prepared for her.
“It’s not bitter; it’s sweet.”
Lin Yan hesitantly took a sip, and her tightly furrowed brow relaxed a bit. The cautious expression on her face gradually softened.
Lin Ge wanted to say more, but he checked the time and realized it was time for his calligraphy practice. Being late would result in his mother hitting the palm of his hands.
The young boy hurriedly placed the candies by her bedside.
“I’ll go back first. I’ll come see you another day.”
No one knew how long that “another day” would be. Lin Ge had to complete the curriculum at the elite school during the day, attend hobby classes in the evenings and weekends. He wasn’t the type to enjoy going out, and his mother didn’t allow him to go out and play recklessly. He would stay at home continuously doing homework if there was nothing else to do.
One day, he sat at his desk by the window, writing a test paper. The sunlight poured onto the table as the young boy nervously worked on his math problems.
A stone lightly hit the glass.
No response on the first hit.
Lin Yan picked up another stone and threw it.
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Still, no response.
He was too absorbed in what he was doing.
So the short-armed and short-legged child held a large stone in her hands, straining to tiptoe and with a big thud, she hit the window.
Lin Ge was startled, then looked up at the window, where a little head was swaying.
He stood up, opened the window, and the child tiptoed, trembling, placed a glass bottle on the windowsill.
It was the bottle left over from the candy he had given her that day, now filled not with candies but with colorful butterflies fluttering their wings.
The young boy was briefly amazed by the beauty of it. The child let go, took two steps back, and said, “For you, thank you.”
After saying that, she ran off in a flash.
Lin Ge examined the glass bottle for a while, only to belatedly come back to his senses, threw down his pen, and chased after her.
“Wait… wait for me! Where did you catch the butterflies?!”
The slightly chubby young Lin Ge, who had been wearing glasses since a young age, ran with a wheeze.