78: Life hanging by a thread

Her breathing... was already faint and intermittent.

"Fuck!"

Lin Chao felt a chill surge from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

Saving her was the priority!

These four words rang in his mind like a frantic alarm bell.

He no longer cared about the differences between men and women, or any notions of propriety.

He stepped forward, bent down, and scooped Shen Zhixia up in his arms.

Where his hands touched her, it was a patch of icy, smooth skin.

Her body was as light as a feather.

Lin Chao's heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, aching so much he could barely breathe.

Carrying her, he strode out of the bathroom and carefully laid her on the large bed in the master bedroom.

Immediately after, he turned and quickly pulled out a row of silver needles from the acupuncture kit he had brought.

Without the slightest hesitation.

He picked up the longest silver needle, aimed it at a major acupoint on Shen Zhixia's chest, and pierced it in steadily, accurately, and decisively... Shen Zhixia felt as if she were about to die.

Her consciousness felt like it was sinking into a cold sea, her body falling further and further down.

She remembered returning home.

High heels, stockings, a tight professional suit... she had removed these things that had bound her all day, piece by piece.

Then, she removed her makeup and stepped into the bathroom.

Warm water poured down from above, washing away the day's exhaustion.

This was the most relaxing moment of her day.

But just as she turned off the faucet and prepared to reach for a towel.

Without any warning.

A sharp pain, like being gripped by iron claws, radiated from the area of her heart.

The pain came so swiftly, so overbearingly.

It drained all the strength from her body in an instant.

Her vision went black.

With a thud, she collapsed heavily onto the floor.

So cold.

Amidst the intense pain, her consciousness had a brief moment of clarity.

She wanted to call for help.

But she couldn't make a sound from her throat.

Her phone... her phone was sitting on the vanity nearby.

If only she could reach the phone, she could survive!

She struggled, reaching out and using all her strength to crawl in that direction.

One centimeter.

Another centimeter.

Her fingertips were so close to the edge of the phone, yet it felt so far away.

Her strength receded like the tide.

Despair completely submerged her.

No!

She couldn't just die like this!

In the final moment before her consciousness fully dissipated, she used her last breath to sweep everything off the shelf next to the vanity onto the floor.

"Clatter, crash..."

The sound of bottles and jars shattering was exceptionally clear in the silent night.

Would anyone hear it?

She thought of Lin Chao.

She thought of the young man's slightly awkward attempt to strike up a conversation in the elevator today.

Did he... did he live downstairs?

Was he home now?

Was he the only one living downstairs?

Countless questions swirled in her mind, but she couldn't find a single answer.

With one final, violent spasm of her heart, her world plunged into complete darkness.

She... was dying... Then, that needle pierced down.

It was as if a burning meteorite had been dropped into a dark, silent sea.

At first, it was just a tiny, insignificant spark.

Then, the spark set the prairie ablaze.

A scorching warm current, centered on her heart, surged overbearingly toward her limbs and bones.

Her cold, stiff body felt as if it were being injected with magma.

The frozen blood began to surge once more.

Shen Zhixia's chaotic consciousness was suddenly pulled back by this unexpected warmth.

Her senses were slowly returning.

She could feel the softness of the mattress beneath her.

She could feel the cool sensation of the air brushing against her skin.

Her eyelids... were so heavy.

As if weighted down by a thousand-pound boulder.

I... am still alive?

This thought, like the first sprout breaking through the soil of a wasteland, stubbornly emerged.

Just then.

"Drip."

A drop of warm liquid fell onto her collarbone.

Then, it slowly slid down along the contours of her skin.

What... is this?

Am I dead?

Is this the Water of the River of Forgetfulness in the Underworld?

Or... the tears of a loved one?

Dad? Mom?

Have you come to see me?

An inexplicable wave of sorrow surged in her heart, actually giving her a sliver of strength.

She used all her willpower to force open those heavy eyelids.

The scene before her was a blur at first.

Then, it gradually came into focus.

A man's face was mere inches away.

It was sharp-featured but pale, without a trace of color.

The stray hairs on his forehead were completely soaked with sweat, sticking to his broad forehead in clumps.

Beads of sweat were rolling down his tensed jawline, one after another.

"Drip."

Another drop fell onto her chest.

This face... so familiar.

Is it... Lin Chao?

As if to confirm her thought, upon seeing her open eyes, a surge of indescribable radiance instantly erupted in Lin Chao's extremely tense eyes.

The string that had been pulled tight finally snapped with a 'twang'.

He looked as if all his strength had been drained away; his tall frame swayed violently.

Then, he fell straight over to the side.

With a 'thud', he landed heavily on the mattress beside her.

The bed shook violently from the impact.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Lin Chao lay on his back, his chest heaving as he panted heavily, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Dammit.

Snatching someone from the hands of the King of Hell is really no easy task.

It's even more exhausting than doing three hundred push-ups in a row.

Shen Zhixia's brain was still in a state of shock.

She looked at the man lying beside her, then at the ceiling; the whole world felt surreal.

After a long time, she managed to squeeze a few raspy words from her dry throat.

"Was it you... who saved me?"

Her voice was as light as a feather.

Lin Chao was too exhausted to even move his eyelids; he only let out a barely audible "Mhm" from his throat.

Having received confirmation, Shen Zhixia's thoughts became even more chaotic.

She instinctively tried to sit up.

It was then that she finally sensed something was wrong.

Her body... felt chilly.

She slowly lowered her head.

In her line of sight was her own completely naked body.

From her chest to her lower abdomen, and then... everything was in plain view.

Boom!

Shen Zhixia's cheeks instantly burned hot.

In her twenty-eight years of life, she had never been so... exposed before a man.

But in the next second, an emotion stronger than shame took over: shock.

She saw it.

On her chest, breast, arms... they were densely packed with silver needles of various lengths.

The ends of the silver needles glinted with a cold, eerie light under the lamps.

They were still vibrating slightly with her faint breathing.

Shen Zhixia's pupils suddenly constricted to the size of pinheads.

What... what on earth is going on?!