A delicate beauty takes a place in a marriage, while a cold, rough man seduces her every night.

Qingyan ran wildly along the mountain path.

The road was overgrown with waist-high weeds and thorns, making it slippery, muddy, and difficult to traverse.

Mud splattered all over her trouser legs, and she stumbled as she ran, but she dared not stop for a moment.

Memories of her time with Xiao Jingye flooded her mind.

She asked for a marriage of convenience, and he readily agreed.

He bought her milk candy, clothes, and shoes; he wanted to give her all the good things in the world.

As long as he's home, he'll pick me up and drop me off at get off work almost without fail, rain or shine, and he's never complained about the hassle or lack of patience.

In winter, fearing she would be cold, he heated the kang (a traditional heated bed) for her every night and even built a stove for her office so that she would no longer have to suffer from the cold in winter.

She was being harassed by a drunk man on the street, and she rescued a student being abused by a domestic violence victim...

Xiao Jingye always manages to appear in time during every critical moment.

This man saved her, loved her, and cared for her, and by extension, he cared for those she cared about. This is what it means to love someone because you love them.

She was tutoring students and didn't go home on time, so he immediately went to the school, worried that she might encounter some danger while walking alone at night.

She went to the countryside for home visits and escorted students back home. He was worried and wanted to go over to check on her safety.

Qingyan had thought about why he was always able to appear in time whenever she needed him.

Looking back now, it wasn't a coincidence or luck, but because he liked her.

That's the kind of keen sensitivity you only have when you genuinely like and care about someone.

Qingyan ran frantically while tears streamed down her face, her heart pounding in her throat.

She didn't want Xiao Jingye to suffer the consequences of losing a leg or being permanently disabled!

A cold wind, carrying raindrops, rushed towards her. The higher she went up the mountain, the more rugged and difficult the path became, with thorny bushes almost engulfing her.

The drizzle was still falling, and her cloth shoes and trouser legs were soaked through. Her hair was disheveled and stuck to her face.

And those eyes, firm and unwavering, revealed a determination that she would brave any danger to save him.

She rushed to the mountain campsite in one breath, pushed open the wooden door with all her might, and found the room empty.

"Xiao Jingye! Xiao Jingye!"

Qingyan hurriedly turned around and called out. Her voice, mingled with the rustling of leaves in the wind and rain, dissipated into the dense forest.

Xiao Jingye had brought her to the mountain once before. She searched the locations where he usually set traps one by one, clearing away the disguised dead branches and leaves on each trap, kneeling in the mud and looking down, calling his name over and over again.

They searched the surrounding area but couldn't find a trace of anyone.

Qiao Qingyan could strongly sense that something had happened to him.

An ominous premonition gripped her heart, and fear, anxiety, and heartache surged up all at once.

She clutched her chest, tears streaming down her face, and choked back sobs as she looked up at the vast mountains and forests:

"Xiao Jingye, where are you?"

Chaiyuanling is a desolate and wild place, with vines and thorns covering the tree trunks and sharp barbs covering the branches.

The sharp spikes kept tearing Qingyan's clothes, leaving bloody marks on her arms and shoulders.

Fine beads of blood seeped out, but she felt no pain at all, and continued to grope her way through the rotten leaves and mud.

For most of the day, we searched around every possible trap, but found nothing, nothing, nothing at all.

"Xiao Jingye, please show yourself! Don't scare me... mmm..."

Tears flowed like a burst dam, and the cries of despair echoed through the valley, each syllable sounding as if all the strength had been exhausted.

At the same time, dark clouds rolled across the sky, and thunder roared deafeningly.

The oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe, and Qingyan's fear continued to fester, growing stronger and stronger.

She was afraid she wouldn't be able to find him, afraid he would fall into danger.

How could such a free-spirited and arrogant man withstand the blow of having his legs crippled?

In her panic, Qingyan stepped on a round stone covered with moss, slipped, and fell heavily to the ground.

My knee slammed against the hard stone, and a sharp pain shot through me.

She gasped, tears mingling with the rain as they streamed down her face. She was covered in dry grass and mud, looking utterly disheveled.

Dusk slowly swallowed the rolling mountains, and it was about to become completely dark.

She slumped to the wet ground, tears streaming down her face in despair.

Xiao Jingye, where are you?

Chaiyuanling is so big, where should I go to find you?

Qingyan sat helplessly on the ground and cried for a while, when suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her.

The words Xiao Jingye had once casually mentioned to her came to mind:

"The narrow ravine between the two mountains is a necessary passage for wild animals."

"On the hillside covered with jujube trees and brambles, wild rabbits and roe deer love to graze on the edges of the bushes..."

By the way, searching along these routes will definitely be more useful than blindly searching all over the mountains and fields.

Qingyan struggled to her feet, not bothering to brush off the mud or wipe the blood seeping from her arms, and hurriedly headed towards these places.

"Xiao Jingye, Xiao Jingye—"

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice was hoarse and cracked from shouting all the way.

After another half hour of travel, when they reached a hillside, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in their sight from the bushes.

"Xiao Jingye!"

Qingyan's eyes lit up instantly, and she rushed over without hesitation.

The man huddled in the grass with his eyes closed, soaked to the bone by the rain, pale and weak, his clothes torn and tattered by thorns, covered in mud and fallen leaves.

There was an abnormal bulge under the leg bone of the pants, as if the bone had been dislocated.

Qingyan suddenly knelt down, sobbing and repeatedly patting his cheeks: "Xiao Jingye, how are you?"

She quickly bent down and pressed her hand against his chest to check his heartbeat and then touched the side of his neck to take his pulse. The warmth of his skin eased her anxiety.

Thank goodness, thank goodness, he should just be unconscious.

Qingyan held him in her arms, calling his name over and over again: "Xiao Jingye, Xiao Jingye, can you hear me?"

Finally, the man's heavy eyelids lifted, and after seeing the woman's face clearly, he forced a dry smile, wanting to speak but having no strength at all.

Am I dead?

Is this...an illusion of heaven?

At noon, he came to this area to check the traps he had set earlier.

On the way back, it started raining halfway. When we got to the hillside, we suddenly saw a patch of white wild roses that were wet with rain.

For some reason, as Xiao Jingye looked at the flowers, he suddenly thought of Qiao Qingyan.

White, pure, beautiful roses swaying in the wind and rain.

Distracted by a momentary lapse in concentration, he slipped on the rain-soaked, decaying leaves and tumbled down the steep slope. After a wave of excruciating pain washed over him, he lost consciousness completely.

As darkness fell, a deep twilight enveloped the mountains and forests, and a continuous drizzle fell.

Qingyan forced herself to calm down; she had to find a way to get him back to the camp first.

There are many wild animals in the mountains, and the rain is still falling. Staying here is tantamount to waiting to die.