"Flower branch!!"
Tang Qi scread in despair, his voice heart-wrenching.
His hands trembled as he tried to touch her cheek, wanting to channel his spiritual power to stop it all.
But it didn't work.
The mont his spiritual power entered, it was completely devoured by that strange suction force.
"No...no...why?!"
"Why did this happen?!"
Tang Qi's eyes were bloodshot, and tears instantly blurred his vision.
They were about to escape!
We were only a few kiloters away from the finish line!
Why now?!
Maeda Hanae weakly raised her hand.
That hand had beco withered and thin, covered with age spots.
She tremblingly reached out towards Tang Qi's face, but stopped in mid-air, then changed direction and gently covered Tang Qi's eyes.
"Don't look..."
Her voice was hoarse and aged, like that of an eighty-year-old woman.
"Don't look at ..."
"I must look really ugly right now..."
Tang Qi's body trembled violently.
Hot tears stread down his cheeks, wetting his withered hand.
"Not ugly! Not ugly at all!"
"You are the most beautiful! You are the most beautiful woman in the whole world!"
Tang Qi choked up, grabbed her hand, and pressed it tightly against his face.
"I'll take you away right now!"
"Great Xia has the best healing system! The best priests! They will definitely heal you!"
"Let's go!"
With that, he carried Maeda Hanae on his back without hesitation.
Even though her body had beco light and airy, a weightless skeleton.
Tang Qi gritted his teeth, took another step, and fled back towards the west gate.
Every step was like walking on a knife's edge.
Every step I take is on my own heart.
"Hold on! Flower Branch! You must hold on!"
"We'll be there soon!"
On the back.
Maeda Hanae gently rested her head on Tang Qi's broad shoulder.
Although my body is very cold and in pain.
But this man's back was really warm.
Just like that cup of hot sake he handed at the izakaya that day.
"Tang Qijun..."
She spoke haltingly, her voice as soft as the wind.
"I might... not be able to accompany you back to Great Xia..."
"Shut up! Don't talk nonsense!"
Tang Qi roared loudly, his speed increasing rapidly, even burning his own source power to unleash his speed.
"You said you'd co back with !"
"You said you wanted to eat all the delicious food in Great Xia!"
You can't break your promise!
Maeda Hanae managed a weak, gentle smile.
At this mont, she looked like a sixty-year-old grandmother, with her skin sagging loosely.
"yes......"
"What a pity..."
"I haven't been able to... go with you to eat... your favorite... plain noodles..."
"I haven't been able to... go see... that... beautiful West Lake you ntioned..."
"sorry......"
"What I promised you... I ultimately... failed to do..."
A single tear slid down her wrinkled eye and dripped onto Tang Qi's neck.
It was icy cold.
Tang Qi stumbled and almost fell.
But he quickly regained his balance and shook his head frantically.
"Don't say sorry! I'm the one who should be apologizing!"
"It's my fault for not protecting you! I'm so useless!"
"You'll be alright! I swear! You'll be alright!"
"We'll be out of the city soon! Look! The city gate is just ahead!"
Ahead, the outline of the ruins of the West Gate was already faintly visible.
Just hold on for one more minute!
Just one minute!
Maeda Hanae struggled to open her cloudy eyes and glanced in that direction.
That's great.
Is that... the direction of freedom?
Unfortunately, I won't be able to see it.
Its vitality has been completely exhausted.
The soul is slowly dissipating.
She could feel the call from Ise Grand Shrine growing stronger and stronger; it was an irresistible destiny.
"Tang Qijun..."
"Thank you......"
"You made realize... that... I can be loved too..."
"If there is a next life..."
"Rember... take to eat... plain noodles..."
Maeda Kazue smiled gently.
Although her face was ruined, at this mont, her smile was as pure as a cherry blossom blooming on the ruins.
No further words were said.
With her last bit of strength, she leaned close to Tang Qi's ear.
A gentle kiss on her face, which was covered in sweat and tears.
That was the lightest, and also the heaviest, kiss in her life.
Then.
The withered hands that had been wrapped around Tang Qi's neck silently slipped away.
Hanging limply at his sides, swaying weakly with the rhythm of Tang Qi's running.
The head that had been resting on his shoulder slumped down heavily.
The world fell silent at that mont.
Tang Qi's frantic running suddenly faltered.
The hollow feeling, as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out, made it almost impossible for him to breathe.
He seed to realize sothing.
With a blank expression, he gradually slowed his pace.
Finally, it stopped on a pile of rubble.
It is less than 500 ters from the West Gate.
"Flower branch?"
He called the other person's na softly, his voice careful, as if afraid of waking the sleeping person.
"Flower branch?"
"We've arrived."
"Wake up, look, this is the West Gate."
However.
The person on his back gave no further response.
Only that light weight, like a cold stone, pressed down on him, making ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) it impossible for him to straighten his back.
Tang Qi slowly squatted down.
They carefully lowered the person off their back.
By the faint light of a distant fire.
He saw her clearly now.
It was a withered, thin, and curled-up corpse.
It looks like a dead tree trunk.
Where is there even a trace of that gentle, smiling Japanese woman who would pour him drinks at the izakaya?
Only at the corner of her tightly closed eyes remained a trace of an undried tear.
Tang Qi's hands trembled as he gently stroked her wrinkled face.
One after another.
It was as if they wanted to smooth out those wrinkles, as if they wanted to turn back ti.
"ah......"
Tang Qi opened his mouth, as if to say sothing.
But he found that his throat was blocked by sothing, and he could only make broken, breathy sounds.
The next mont.
This man of iron, this tough guy who never flinched amidst gunfire.
Holding the woman's lifeless body, he knelt amidst the ruins filled with the dead.
Like a child who has lost the whole world.
She burst into tears.
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