Chapter 407
“Oh, the female protagonist has woken up. Now this is going to be fun. Let’s play a game where only one survives. Since you’re awake, you should choose. You and that man, only one of you can live. Who do you want to survive? One survives, the other is doomed to die. Think carefully. I am going to start the countdown.” The old man behind Ariel spoke excitedly as he began his countdown.
“Ten, nine…”
“Pfft!” Ariel couldn’t help but burst into laughter, interrupting the old man’s countdown, which made him unhappy.
“You need to give me a reasonable explanation, otherwise, you can die now.” The old man’s voice was low, like someone scratching a chalkboard, particularly shrill and unpleasant.
“What kind of childish game is this? But I can’t blame you. After all, you’ve grown this old. I don’t need to look back to know your face must be as old as dried orange peel. It’s almost dead-looking.” Ariel’s fever hadn’t subsided, making her voice sound softer like a piece of candy, fragrant and sweet. But her sweetness couldn’t penetrate the old man’s heart. After all, he was old, long past romantic notions. How could Ariel enchant him? Besides, every word she said was meant to provoke him. It was remarkable he was only feeling heartache from her words.
The old man’s gaze turned vicious, even hinting at murderous intent. Xu Ke stood opposite the old man, watching his expression change clearly, and couldn’t help but sweat for Ariel.
“Ariel, stop talking. You’re still sick.” Xu Ke cast a warning glance at Ariel and said.
“I know I’m feeling awful from my illness. If I could, I would continue sleeping. But some people just have to come and make me miserable. What can I do? I’ve never been wronged like this. No one has ever held a knife to my throat, let alone cut it. I’m making him miserable because he made me unhappy first. Whoever makes me unhappy, I make them unhappy.”
Ariel’s voice, though not loud, was exceptionally firm and earnest.
“Your temper suits me, but unfortunately, we’re destined to be adversaries. Since that’s the case, I don’t think you need to choose. Dying at the hands of this old man should be your honor.” As the old man finished speaking, he moved his knife-wielding hand towards Ariel’s neck.
At this moment, Xu Ke was still some distance away and couldn’t save her in time. Just as tragedy was about to happen, Xu Ke, his eyes red from urgency, his murderous intent towards the old man at its peak, saw Ariel, who he believed had no combat power, grab the old man’s wrist and swiftly lift her leg, kicking the old man in the head and knocking him over.
These two actions happened simultaneously.
Ariel clasped the crucial point on the old man’s wrist, making him drop the military knife. She quickly caught the knife with her other hand, kick landing precisely on the old man’s forehead. She then stood up from the chair, twisted the old man’s wrist and pinned him to the ground with a grappling move.
“You think you can kill me? Maybe in your next life.” Ariel didn’t give the old man a chance to speak, stabbing the knife into the back of his neck. The blade pierced through his throat and embedded into the floor. The old man’s eyes were wide open in his final moments, seemingly confused about how things turned out this way.
“Remember, villains die from talking too much. Next time, if you want to kill someone, just do it and stop talking endlessly.” Ariel offered the old man this final piece of advice before standing up, only to collapse again due to her weakness, landing with a loud thud that made one’s teeth clench.
Ariel was exhausted.
“What are you still standing there for? I have no strength left. Help me up. Or do you want me to sit here on the floor the whole night?” Ariel, with a pitiful expression, nevertheless left an indelible image of her last moment of glory in their minds, making it hard to believe she could no longer take action, raising doubts whether she still had hidden intentions.
But Xu Ke, remembering how she risked dislocating her arm to help him and Lin Mengyao off the cliff, and decisively letting go of him to give them a chance when his rope broke, couldn’t harden his heart towards this person. In the end, he resigned himself to approaching her.
As Xu Ke approached, he considered that if Ariel were to act against him, he wouldn’t resist. Yet it would clear the slate between them, and from then on, they wouldn’t owe anything to each other.
But when Ariel fell into his arms, she didn’t make any move, and he could clearly feel her slight tremor.
“You really have no strength left.” Not until he placed Ariel back in the chair and the distance between them was reestablished did Xu Ke truly believe she was out of strength.
“Just fighting used up all my energy, otherwise why do you think I killed him outright? Sure, he was ugly and had a knife to me, but the crucial reason was I had no strength left. If that old man found out, I’d be in danger.” Ariel put all her weight against the back of the chair, looking at Xu Ke with surprisingly bright eyes.
“You know, I love to torture my prey. If it weren’t unavoidable, I wouldn’t have done such a thing.” Ariel regretfully remarked.
“You’re right, but when did you wake up?” Xu Ke briefly closed the matter. Even if Ariel hadn’t taken action, he would have; someone like that wouldn’t be left alive by him.
“I woke up when he pricked my neck. Don’t worry; I wasn’t pretending to be unconscious.” Ariel seemed to understand Xu Ke’s thoughts, showing no emotion on her face as she spoke.
“Alright, you rest first. I’ll look for a phone and call your family to come and get us.” Xu Ke glanced at Ariel, then turned to go upstairs.
Upstairs had the master bedroom and three guest rooms. Xu Ke pushed open the closest door to him. From the entrance, everything seemed normal, but the strong smell of blood was undeniable.
As Xu Ke ventured further inside, the full scene gradually came into view.