Twenty-Five

Li Yuxi had barely slept. She would sleep and wake up, tossing and turning on the bed while glancing in Zhao Ling's direction. The ghost had barely even moved. He had been sitting in the corner ever since they returned and she had been tempted to go up to him and ask why he suddenly had a change of mood but she feared he would hurt her, so she stayed on her own, nursing the hurt from his utterance hours ago.

Something at the back of her mind told her that his reason for changing was because of how he had failed and how he was tied to her because he was supposed to be back to where he came from. It made guilt fill her conscience. She hated when she was responsible for things that affected others. She wished she had the power to make things easy for Zhao Ling so she could move on with her life.

At the sound of her phone ringing on the bedside table, Li Yuxi winced and looked in Zhao Ling's direction, hoping he would not snap at her. She quickly grabbed the phone and silenced it before checking who was calling. It was Wang Lifen and she knew she was calling because of the trip. She accepted the call and put the phone against her ear.

"Good morning, Wang Lifen," she said.

"Ah. Good morning to you too, Li Yuxi." Her voice was light and cheery compared to the stoic person she knew. "Are you getting ready to leave? The bus arrives at seven and leaves at eight-thirty. You should be at the office by now."

Li Yuxi tossed the blanket off her body and slipped her feet into her flip-flops.

"Yes, I am getting ready. I'll be there in thirty minutes. Thank you for calling," Li Yuxi said and ended the call.

After she dropped her phone, she eyed the rope holding them together and flickered her gaze to the bathroom door. She wanted to let him know that she wanted to take a quick shower but from his order last night, she forced herself to walk straight to the door while keeping an eye on the length of the rope. She opened the door and rushed into the bathroom, then shut it. She hurriedly took off her clothes.

She was glad that she could finally take her bath as she had not been able to since the bondage on them. She rushed into the shower cubicle and turned on the hot water.

Li Yuxi spent ten minutes in the shower and came out wearing a bathrobe. She tiptoed toward the wardrobe where Zhao Ling was sitting close. She eyed the back of his head before opening the doors of the wardrobe. She fished out short jeans and a shirt, with her undies. After that, she started running back, only to slip over her wet flip-flops and the floor, landing on her side. She groaned in pain from the scraping of her arm on the floor.

Li Yuxi sat up and peeped at her arm, there was a small bruise and when she realized that Zhao Ling had not said anything or even moved, she glared at him. It hurt that he completely shut her out. She had expected that he at least made a sound that showed that he cared, yet he didn't.

With a heavy heart, she sat up and made her way to the bathroom. Once the door was shut, she leaned against the door, trying to make her heart stop feeling bad and sad.

‡‡‡

Zhao Ling was one step away from obliterating the noisy mortal. Her emotions were noisy, her sleeping was noisy, her walks and everything she did in the room were noisy and he hated it. He wanted to run, to hide away from the burden he was suddenly feeling because of the woman. All his efforts to find his brother's descendants were looking fruitless as he gets to spend a few mortal years tied to the woman. It infuriated him which led him to shut her out. He had no business with her anymore except for being her guard and that was it.

The woman had caused more than enough trouble and he concluded that he avoided her, even though their forced proximity countered his decision. Even when he sensed her fall, he did not care to check up on her. She would be fine without his aide.

When he sensed that she was done, he rose to his feet to avoid hearing her speak to him. He turned around and looked at her. Her attire made him blink as this was the first time he was seeing her dressed the way she was. Without stopping himself, he stared at her long, creamy legs and glided his eyes upward. The shirt she was wearing hugged her skin. When he realized what he was doing, he cursed in his head at how foolish he was acting.

It confused him how he was acting because of the woman. He gritted his teeth and looked away while reminding himself how she put him in this position.

"I'm sorry for speaking but… We need to leave. I'll drive." That was all she said before walking to the door.

Zhao Ling stayed put for a few seconds, wishing he could stay back while she went on her adventure. He was too exhausted spiritually to be tied to every destination she had. With a huff, he followed her out of the room, keeping a gap between them.

When he saw her stop, he furrowed his eyebrows before seeing Lee Qiang at the end of the hallway. He rolled his eyes at the man before staring at Li Yuxi's head.

"Keep moving. I do not have the strength to help you defeat your weak husband today."

He meant what he said. It was shocking how much of a weak person she was toward her husband who only preyed on her, emotionally. She had the mindset to set things straight and not grovel at his feet when he threatened her. At the back of his mind, he made sure to let her know that she had to fight for herself and all he would be doing was protecting her.

Li Yuxi started to walk and he followed suit. When they got to where Lee Qiang was, the man blocked her path, with a face full of anger.

"What did you tell Wang Lifen?" He asked.

"What do you want this morning?" She shot back.

"Wang Lifen broke up with me yesterday. Did you two say anything? I am very suspicious of you. I know you are capable of doing something like that because you are jealous and can't make me love you." He got in her face.

Zhao Ling kept his eyes directly on his hands, waiting for when he would strike.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Lee Qiang. Your girlfriend and I never had any type of conversation. She slapped me, remember? Maybe the reason she broke up with you was that she did not believe your filthy lie. Get out of the way, I have work."

"In that outfit?" Lee Qiang laughed. "Don't think I don't know you're having an affair with someone. What woman goes to work dressed like a whore?"

Zhao Ling clenched his jaw. He wasn't supposed to feel anger for the woman anymore. He had spent all night closing that window yet he could feel a crack in that window.

"Lee Qiang, please. Do not ruin my mood. I have to go."

Li Yuxi stepped sideways and walked past him. Zhao Ling slowly walked past Lee Qiang while side-eyeing the man who was glaring ahead. He eyed his side profile before walking away.

A few minutes later, they were in her carriage, which Zhao Ling learned was called a car; a modern-day carriage different from what he was used to in his past. He loved how fast and protected it was, compared to the wooden carriage he rode that was drawn by horses.

When Zhao Ling noticed that the car was not moving, he turned his head a little to look at the woman. She was sitting in silence with her hands cradled on her lap. She had her head bowed while facing away from him. He could feel the sadness in her body and he quickly shut it out. He scoffed and looked out the window.

"Sorry," she whispered and sniffed.

Zhao Ling gritted his teeth when he felt an unknown feeling as small as a grain of sand, at the tone of her voice. He hated this. He hated that he could still feel something all because of the woman. He wanted to completely shut her out of his system but it was hard.

Zhao Ling had tried, but it was almost as if there was a force that dissipated the lock he put. All he had was only a momentarily blockage and after that, he would be able to feel her emotions.

There was only one thing he wanted to do— kill her.