So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 52

Sorry

The chaotic, long night seemed to have reached its end. In the distance, a golden line suddenly stretched across the horizon.

The surface of the sea, illuminated by the morning sun, undulated slowly, its shimmering waves dividing heaven and earth.

The towering cliff was bottomless. Soon, the sound of rustling branches echoed from below.

The wind swept the dark clouds from the sky, and the hazy morning light sprinkled onto the trees clinging to the cliffside, swallowing the falling figure within.

The fingers hanging from the cliff’s edge were still clenched tight, but they had been utterly defeated¹.

Shi Jinlan watched helplessly as Chi Qian’s hand slipped from her grasp. She desperately tried to chase, to grab hold, but all she caught was the cold wind.

Chi Qian had fallen.

She hadn’t been able to catch her.

It was as if ten thousand zither strings had been pulled taut along Shi Jinlan’s body. She stared, her eyes splitting with rage², a trace of bewilderment still lingering.

The abyss-like darkness devoured the world before her, and soon, she could see nothing at all.

But how could she be gone? Just a moment ago, I was still holding her hand. We were still fleeing together.

The wind blew mercilessly, trying to consume the last bit of warmth in Shi Jinlan’s palm.

Shi Jinlan felt a dull ache in her chest, as if something enormous was rapidly expanding inside, blocking her senses and her limbs, densely coiling around her eyes to form a web of crimson veins.

“You shouldn’t have come out. This way, she died for nothing.” The killer tore a piece of cloth and tied it tightly around his profusely bleeding wound, sneering at the woman sprawled on the cliff’s edge.

Hearing the killer’s words, Shi Jinlan’s fingers instantly tightened, and she shot a murderous glare behind her.

The warmth of Chi Qian’s hand still lingered in her palm. How dare he say she’s “dead.”

A fierce gust of wind swept over them, and the killer tightened his grip on his knife.

He knew perfectly well that the person before him was an unarmed³ cripple, but he was genuinely intimidated by that glare for a moment. Those scarlet pupils sent an inexplicable chill through his heart, as if he would truly be torn apart by the fury in her eyes.

“Shit.” The killer thought his reaction was ridiculous.

He fiddled with the knife in his hand and, with a light slash, cut the surrounding branches. “Miss Shi, there’s no seawater down there. It’ll be too painful if you jump. Why don’t you let me personally send you on your way?”

Because of Chi Qian’s misdirection, they had already wasted too much time.

It’s better to do this quickly; it’ll be even harder once the sun is up. Saying this, the killer strode toward Shi Jinlan.

“Ha.⁴“

Listening to the killer’s footsteps approaching from behind, Shi Jinlan let out a Chi⁵ of a laugh.

The Shi Jinlan of the past had never shown such an expression.

Even on that night when Shi Cheng had forced her to the edge of a cliff, her dark pupils had remained resolute.

But at this moment…

The wind at the cliff’s edge had never stopped, and her soft, long hair was a tangled mess.

Her long, thick eyelashes caught a few strands of hair, blocking the light from reaching the pupils behind them. Those sneering eyes were paved with a scarlet hue, as if they were about to drip blood; they were obscure, as if covered by a layer of hopeless dust, like a vibrant, burning heart that had been scorched dry.

But since when…

Since when had my heart become vibrant?

Shi Jinlan didn’t know either.

She only knew that even if she was certain to die at this moment, she had to avenge Chi Qian.

It was just a life for a life, that was all.

She didn’t believe this man’s luck could be better than Ah Qian’s.

In the world of the early morning, the moon and sun traveled together.

Light mixed with darkness, creating a gray haze.

No one noticed the red liquid spreading down her calf.

The deep brown, long-dried scab was once again washed wet by fresh blood, which mixed with the leaves of the bushes and the dust on the ground, burrowing into the wound with a filthy, hideous ferocity.

For Shi Jinlan to have chased Chi Qian all the way here was already her limit.

Yet she still forced herself, bracing against the leg that ached to the bone, to stand up from the ground.

Shi Jinlan stood trembling at the cliff’s edge, waiting only for the man to come closer so she could drag him down and perish together⁶—

“Danglang.⁷“

The wind howled past, but Shi Jinlan did not see the man walk over as she had wished.

Instead, she heard the sound of a sharp weapon hitting the ground.

She stared straight at the man in her line of sight. His magnified face was unshaven and slovenly, truly like a fisherman from the islands.

Except fishermen from the islands didn’t suddenly spit up blood.

“…Shit.”

The man cursed under his breath and, right before Shi Jinlan’s eyes, spat out a large mouthful of blood.

Shi Jinlan watched, expressionless, as the man collapsed to his knees as if his bones had been removed.

Her gaze shifted downward, and she saw a crossbow bolt had pierced his chest, its sharp, barbed arrowhead even pulling out some human tissue.

It was gory and disgusting.

But Shi Jinlan stared at it for a very long time.

The world, at that moment, was put on fast-forward.

The sun rose from one end of the sea, and the sky that had been dim just moments ago was now covered in a fresh layer of light.

Shi Jinlan ignored the man’s fallen body, walking around him to look behind. She saw figures rustling in the bushes as a group of people ran over from not far away.

Ah Ning ran over with her people.

She efficiently signaled for the people behind her to deal with the killer, then hurried to Shi Jinlan’s side. “Miss, how are you? Are you injured?”

What kind of feeling should a normal person have upon being rescued?

Shi Jinlan didn’t know, nor was she interested in knowing. She just looked at Ah Ning, who was so worried about her condition, without a trace of joy for being saved in her eyes.

So close.

I was so close to being able to die.

For once, I wanted to be a coward.

Her pride-filled bones had been shattered, the fragments embedding themselves in her flesh—impossible to pull out, impossible to endure.

Revenge, the Shi Clan—she wasn’t interested in any of it.

The person she was most interested in had pried her hand open and fallen from a cliff. The thing she had just become interested in, there was no one left to do it with her.

Why did they come? Why at this time? Why couldn’t they have been a little earlier?

Shi Jinlan stared at Ah Ning without a word, making her so uneasy that she grew too nervous to know what to do.

“Miss…”

“Pa!⁸“

A loud, piercing sound echoed in the silence.

Everyone dealing with the scene froze. A cold wind swept up from the cliff, and the surroundings became silent as a winter cicada⁹.

Shi Jinlan had slapped Ah Ning in front of everyone.

Everyone was trembling with fear, their gazes centered on Ah Ning, who had just been slapped by Shi Jinlan.

But only Ah Ning could see that behind the scarlet, bloodshot violence and fury in Shi Jinlan’s eyes, there was a layer of glistening tears that she couldn’t hold back no matter how she tried.

She had never seen Shi Jinlan with such an expression.

This was even more shocking to her than the slap itself.

What on earth just happened here?

Could it be that Miss Chi…

Ah Ning didn’t dare to think too deeply. She immediately bowed her head to Shi Jinlan. “I’m sorry, Miss. I was late.”

“I don’t want to hear ‘sorry’,” Shi Jinlan said through gritted teeth, maintaining her strained composure. “Stop worrying about this man. All of you, get down to the bottom of the cliff.”

Hearing this, Ah Ning’s eyes filled with astonishment.

She had been with Shi Jinlan since she was a child and knew how strict Old Master Shi was with her, so she had never seen her care about anyone.

But of all people, it was Chi Qian.

And of all places, it was a cliff.

How could this be…

Our Miss had finally…

As an outsider, Ah Ning knew with cold logic that the probability of surviving a fall from such a height was almost zero.

But she didn’t know how to tell Shi Jinlan. A truth that even she understood, Shi Jinlan surely knew as well; she just didn’t want to admit it.

The Miss who had never believed in luck was now refusing to face reality.

And it was this sliver of luck that was holding her up, keeping her from collapsing completely.

Ah Ning felt an unprecedented¹⁰ ache in her heart. She declared, “I’ll send people to search right away! We will definitely find Miss Chi.”

She spoke decisively and began directing the people around her to the bottom of the cliff.

But hearing Ah Ning’s form of address…

Shi Jinlan was suddenly dazed.

The hand she had just swung still stung, and a clear red mark was printed on Ah Ning’s face.

She suddenly felt an immense sadness, thinking that if Chi Qian knew what she had just done, she would be angry.

She respected everyone so much, treated everyone—every single life—as an equal.

A heavy footstep cut through the tense silence on the cliffside.

Shi Jinlan walked toward Ah Ning, who was deploying her people, and took the initiative to apologize. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you.”

As her words fell, the surroundings fell silent once more.

Ah Ning’s hand, which had been giving orders, froze completely, suspended in mid-air.

She felt as if she had been struck by something. Shocked and afraid, she couldn’t even form a complete sentence. “M-Miss. You… you…”

Shi Jinlan’s expression remained calm as she followed behind the descending team. “I’m going with you.”

Ah Ning quickly gathered her frightened wits and followed closely, supporting Shi Jinlan’s limping gait. “Miss, please be careful.”

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As the morning sun first appeared, the base of the normally silent cliff was now filled with figures.

Black-clad figures were densely scattered below. Viewed from the sun’s perspective, the cliff was sheer and the trees were dense, making even the burliest bodyguards seem exceptionally small.

Shi Jinlan was among them.

Blood continuously flowed from her still-gaping wound, dripping onto the rocks and branches along the path.

The pain felt as if it was clinging to her bones, but Shi Jinlan paid it no mind. She just followed the direction Chi Qian might have fallen, searching every possible place she could have landed.

I said it.

I was going to take her away.

I have to find her.

Otherwise, how can I take her away?

Shi Jinlan searched almost manically. Ah Ning watched from the side, her eyes fixed on the wound on Shi Jinlan’s leg. “Miss, do you want to rest for a bit? I can have the doctor come over and treat your wound.”

“No need.” Shi Jinlan shook off Ah Ning’s hand.

Ah Ning was frantic. “Miss, Miss Chi will definitely need major surgery after she’s found. What if you get an infection and fall ill because your wound isn’t treated in time? Do you want Miss Chi to have to visit you?”

That sentence seemed to work. Shi Jinlan abruptly stopped her search.

Her dark pupils turned to Ah Ning. Seeing Ah Ning nod at her, her lips moved.

She hadn’t had a drop of water all night and had just been through a desperate chase.

Shi Jinlan’s soft lips had become chapped. They fluttered twice, but she said nothing. She simply stopped and sat down on a rock.

Seeing this, Ah Ning immediately signaled for the doctor waiting nearby to come over.

Water gurgled, flowing down from the cliff base to form a small river.

The doctor treated Shi Jinlan’s wound. The hideous gash was mixed with small gravel, making it difficult to clean, but Shi Jinlan seemed to feel no pain. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, still searching for Chi Qian.

“Found her!”

Suddenly, a shout came from Shi Jinlan’s left. She immediately stood up.

The doctor was opening a bottle of alcohol when the patient’s sudden movement made her lose her grip, spilling most of the contents onto the wound.

The alcohol flooded the gash, cleansing it instantly. The blood that now flowed out was thinned and bright red.

Shi Jinlan’s brow furrowed sharply, but she didn’t pause for a second, immediately striding toward the source of the sound.

This path was filled with even more loose rocks, making it difficult to walk.

The search party heard the shout and all headed in that direction, but they also made way for Shi Jinlan.

This spot was one of the sources of the small river at the base of the cliff. A stream flowed down the rock wall from the mountain above.

All things were nourished by it. Even in this cliff-bottom area with little sunlight, the vegetation grew exceptionally lush and green.

And there, lying on a broken tree branch, was Chi Qian.

As Shi Jinlan approached from a distance, she saw her with her eyes closed, her expression peaceful, as if she were merely asleep.

If one ignored her twisted legs.

And the blood that pooled around her, flowing out unceasingly.

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