Ghost Town 5

"Zhengnan!" Ling Xiaochen cried out as she tried to follow his swift footsteps.

After being separated, there wasn't any attack like before anymore. The town was so tranquil and quiet that it was really befitting of its name. But they didn't let their guard down even a little bit, especially when Ouyang Xueqing was missing right now.

The past two days had been the most tiring days in her entire life. An Zhengnan was getting more and more impatient, while Ling Xiaochen kept on calming him down and followed behind his footsteps. They hadn't got any rest for two days, and the anxiety and worry had been eating them up bit by bit.

It could be said that An Zhengnan was ready to explode even with a single touch.

He was agitated, angry, anxious, scared, and worried.

He couldn't even maintain his human form. His ears pointed out and fangs sharp as he growled. "I smell her!" They had been going on circles. It was weird especially when they followed one straight road, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find Ouyang Xueqing anywhere.

It was as if she vanished into thin air.

The news got her eyes brightened up. Her weary face finally had a faint smile. It wasn't only An Zhengnan that was kept being pushed on edge. It was because she was the daughter of underground black market's boss that she could still maintain a clear mind.

Of course she learned it all from Ling Wenfu. In the place where strength mattered the most and loyalty and sentiments didn't exist, they had to mask their feelings or else enemies would end them in a blink of an eye.

She went after his steps fervently but confused when she caught up to his frozen figure. "What's wrong?" She followed his line of sight and gasped when she found a pool of blood.

A lot of blood, mixed with some black unknown substance. Even by the smell alone, she could guess what it was. Her heart sank to abyss as she blanked out for a minute.

"This is her blood," An Zhengnan muttered incoherently as he crouched down with arms stretched out. But before he could touch the pool of blood on the ground, she yanked his arm back.

"Don't touch it!" Her heart drummed in anxiety.

"No, it's impossible…" An Zhengnan seemed to have lost his mind as his eyes glazed and Ling Xiaochen felt the arm she hold trembled. They didn't need the third person to guess what had happened here. Ouyang Xueqing was ambushed and injured, and the worst case was, she was poisoned by the ghost qi.

She gulped and shoved the worst case scenario away from her mind, or else she felt that she too would go insane. "Get yourself together, we have to find her as soon as possible!"

An Zhengnan didn't take his eyes off from the blood even for a second. For ten years that he had been guarding her, he didn't let any harm came to her, moreover such a serious injury, except the accident where she was attacked by the deranged beast because he had been away for a mission.

Since then, he had refused to leave her side. He vowed to keep her safe.

But now, he had let her be taken away right in front of his eyes, and he was helpless against it. She was suffering such an injury that she spilled so much blood. Even her whereabouts and condition are unknown.

Despite that, he hadn't found her yet.

How scared she must be? How much pain she felt? She must be calling him when she was attacked, but he didn't appear on the time when she needed him the most.

An Zhengnan felt his heart crumbled until he couldn't breathe.

He clutched his chest as an animalistic growl escaped his throat. The pain suffocated him so much that he couldn't hold himself back and punched the ground, creating a crack around his fists and a trail of blood that followed behind.

"Damn it! Damn it!" He cursed desperately. "I should have kept her safe! I shouldn't have let her come here, I should have knocked her out the moment she wanted to come!"

Ling Xiaochen's eyes welled up in tears at his self-blame. It wasn't entirely his fault. She was the one that stole the talismans from her old man, she was the one that encouraged her to go find Mo Yujian in human mainland. She was partially to blame.

Her fists clenched so tight that she could feel her nails pierced her palm. "Stop it."

An Zhengnan didn't hear any words she said as he kept on punching the ground to vent his frustration over the past few days.

"I said, stop it."

He didn't stop even when his knuckles cracked and his hands all bloodied.

Ling Xiaochen snapped at that moment.

She grabbed his shoulder tightly to make him face her and slapped him hard on his cheeks. "Stop, damn it!" She screamed whilst tears streaming down her face. "Get yourself together, bastard! This is not the time to drown in your pathetic self-blame when we haven't even find her yet! Xueqing needs us now and the more time you waste here, the longer we will find her!"

An Zhengnan was obviously stunned at the girl's burst of emotion and the burning pain on his cheek. For a moment, all he could do was stare dumbly at the flushed face and glistening almond eyes filled with tears.

There were sadness, worry, anxiety, and pain in them.

Slowly, he came back to his senses. His chest heaving as he took a deep breath to ease the knot in his chest. "You're right," he muttered. "I am sorry."

She folded her chest and turned her head away. This was probably the first time she had shown her real side to him. All this time, she had pretended to be the demure and elegant girl that she wasn't. She had had enough.

Fuck them all! She didn't care anymore what image he had of her. "And I will not apologize for what I've just done." She huffed in anger.

When she didn't get any answer, she started to worry. At last, she decided to glance at him from the corner of her eyes and stunned when she found the ghost of smile on his face. That was the realest smile he had ever shown her. "That's okay. I don't expect you to, Ling Xiaochen."

Damn it, he finally said her name!

After all these years of calling her 'Miss Ling'. This was so unfair!

The short banter made them felt closer and eased their tense shoulder. Ling Xiaochen let out a big sigh as she found her spirit once again. She offered her hand. "Come on, she is waiting for us."

He accepted it readily.

The touch lasted for a mere second, but Ling Xiaochen felt like all her sensory veins moved toward her palm and the only warmth she could feel was there. She coughed to hide her embarrassment. "Where should we go?"

An Zhengnan's usual self slowly returned. As he had been absorbed in his own emotion, he had failed to notice the trail of almost dried up blood on the ground. He pointed at the direction of the blood.

"We will follow this."