Chapter 68: Ye Mo's Return
“Ye Mo, you’re back?” a voice interrupted Ye Mo’s concentration. Stunned, he stared at a bloodstain, oblivious to Xu Wei’s entrance.
“Xu Wei, aren’t you working today?” Ye Mo asked, looking at her strangely. She appeared tired, shaking her head. “Qingxue was injured yesterday afternoon and sent to the hospital. She’s still critical. I just visited her. Why weren’t you there?”
Ye Mo was astonished. Ning Qingxue had been attacked? And how did Xu Wei know? “How do you know Ning Qingxue was attacked?” he asked.
“You don’t know?” Xu Wei asked intriguingly, assuming his return was related to Ning Qingxue’s injury. She was surprised he knew nothing.
“If she was hurt, how would I know?” Ye Mo replied, his voice strained. “How serious are her injuries?”
Although he didn’t particularly like Ning Qingxue, her melancholic expression resembled his master, Luo Yin, prompting some concern. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have granted her previous request.
“Qingxue’s been living here,” Xu Wei stated, certain of his ignorance. Ye Mo frowned. Ning Qingxue living here? He’d left; the arrangement was over. Why would she still be here? Given her family’s circumstances, shouldn’t she have another place to live?
Seeing Ye Mo lost in thought, Xu Wei continued, “After arriving, she stayed in your room, rarely venturing out. She tended the flowers daily, sometimes gazing at them for hours.”
Ning Qingxue liked flowers? Ye Mo looked at the flower pots in bewilderment. He’d grown Silver Heart Grass there. Why would she grow flowers? And why hadn’t he seen her near them during their twenty-day cohabitation?
Then, a bloodstained sprout on one pot caught his eye. Although newly germinated, he recognized it instantly: Silver Heart Grass. Excitement surged. The soil here could not only grow it but also help it germinate!
He pondered Ning Qingxue’s involvement. Was she a cultivator? But then he remembered dropping a seed before collecting them. He hadn’t expected it to germinate.
How did Ning Qingxue know it was Silver Heart Grass and care so much?
Xu Wei explained, “She seemed to cherish that sprout, even covering it. She tended it daily, sometimes staring for hours. Yesterday, while she was looking at it, two ferocious men burst in. One claimed Qingxue stole his money and was hiding here, growing flowers.” She paused. “He raised a wooden stick to smash the pot. I don’t know what she was thinking, but she used her body to shield the plant. The stick hit her back; she vomited blood and fainted.”
Ye Mo’s face turned purple. He was furious, though bewildered by Ning Qingxue’s devotion to the Silver Heart Grass.
“Did you identify the men?” he asked, regaining his composure. Xu Wei shook her head. “No, but be careful. After you left, many people inquired about you, even taking the surveillance computer. They seemed suspicious.”
Xu Wei’s account clarified things. The men who attacked Qingxue were likely sent by the Song Family to monitor him. Expecting him to meet Qingxue, they attacked when he didn’t appear. Ning Qingxue's injury was a result of protecting the plant.
Ye Mo was certain the Song Family was responsible. The only mystery was why she risked her life for the Silver Heart Grass.
Perhaps she knew he needed it, and would protect it at all costs. But this seemed illogical; she'd never been kind to him.
He thought, “Song Family, if you want a fight, bring it on! If I, Ye Mo, fear you, I’ll commit suicide and enter Samsara!”[1] Regardless of her motive, she’d saved the Silver Heart Grass, and he would avenge her.
“Xu Wei, I’ll visit Qingxue, but don't tell her I was here.” He left for the hospital.
Xu Wei, knowing Qingxue's time was limited, agreed. At the hospital, he saw doctors moving Ning Qingxue to a car. He wondered if she was transferring hospitals. His spirit sense revealed far more serious injuries than he’d imagined. A surge of killing intent filled him.
Ning Qingxue carried a medical case—the one he'd wanted. His spirit sense detected three beads from the bracelet he'd made for Su Jingwen. Why were they with her? And only three?
He sighed. Had those beads been on her wrist, the disaster might have been avoided. As he followed the ambulance, he overheard nurses discussing her case:
“She’s from a wealthy family. Even the director’s involved.”
“Yeah, she has a month to live. She refuses treatment, wants to go home. A month in bed, immobile—what difference does it make?”
[1] Samsara is a Sanskrit word meaning "wandering" or "world," connoting cyclic change and rebirth. It refers to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth in Hindu and Buddhist belief systems.