"Ack!" Zhao Youlin was caught off guard and stumbled. Her head crashed into Mu Tingfeng's chest again, and her nose suffered yet another heavy blow. It hurt so much that Zhao Youlin nearly cried.

"Are you okay?" When Mu Tingfeng heard Zhao Youlin's surprised shout, he was also shocked. He hurriedly looked down to check on Zhao Youlin.

​​

Zhao Youlin covered her nose and said glumly, "I'm… fine. Why is this elevator suddenly swaying so badly? Why aren't the technicians here yet?"

Mu Tingfeng said nothing. Zhao Youlin's hand paused for a moment in rubbing her nose, and she finally sensed that something was wrong.

"The elevator is swaying badly, and it's definitely not a problem with the power outage. Mu Tingfeng, are you hiding something from me? This elevator…"

Mu Tingfeng still kept quiet. He just instinctively tightened his arms around Zhao Youlin.

Zhao Youlin's face turned a little pale. Even though she only got to know Mu Tingfeng for a short time, she had still figured out some of his habits.

When it came to him, when he did not admit to certain things, it meant that he was admitting to them. Mu Tingfeng's long period of silence meant that he was admitting that there was something wrong.

"What's going on? If I die, at least let me die knowing how I died."

Zhao Youlin's words stung so much that Mu Tingfeng's expression sank, and with anger in his voice, he said, "You won't."

"What?"

"I won't let you die. We won't die." His calm voice carried an indescribably persuasive air, and Zhao Youlin could not retort.

She found herself speechless, and she raised her head in the dark to see the faint outline of Mu Tingfeng's face.

Even if they were in complete darkness, Zhao Youlin could still see Mu Tingfeng's profound gaze. In it was a touching determination and something she could not decipher.

Her heart skipped a beat against her will. Zhao Youlin practically looked away in panic and no longer dared to look into Mu Tingfeng's eyes.

There were too many things that Zhao Youlin found too heavy for her in those eyes. Her senses toward danger told her that if she looked a little longer into them, the feelings in them would tie her down, and she would… never be able to go back to before.

Mu Tingfeng used the bit of light that was projected from the door to see all of Zhao Youlin's actions. A strange light shone in his eyes.

Silence stretched between them. One of them decided to delude herself by denying the other, and the other patiently waited for his prey to slowly walk into his trap.

They did not say anything else until the elevator swayed for the third time.

This time, the elevator swayed much more intensely than the previous two times, and it lasted for a while before it became steady again.

Mu Tingfeng had long since enveloped Zhao Youlin when the elevator started swaying and protected her from these tremors and oscillations.

Zhao Youlin leaned against Mu Tingfeng's body and gritted her teeth to withstand these nauseating tremors. Then, she slowly opened her eyes to see Mu Tingfeng protecting her. Some complicated emotions shone in her eyes.

For the first time in her life, Zhao Youlin found that she could not read a person.

Not too long ago, this person had been unpleasant to her, and when they met the first time, he had been determined to divorce her. Later on, he started to appear in front of her occasionally, and they started competing against each other because they found each other eyesores.

But now, during such a critical moment, he protected her as a guardian.

This was the first time Zhao Youlin had been protected so attentively by someone. In the past, when she led charges, she was always the one who was the first in the charge, and she was the one who protected others. She had never been protected like this, and the one who protected her… was this guy.

Zhao Youlin did not say anything for some time. Then, as if she was mumbling to herself, she asked tentatively, "Mu Tingfeng, if… I'm saying, if I die here today, will you be happy or sad?"

'Or will you… not care?'

It was quite ironic now that she thought about it. It had just been a few months since she was shot, and she was once again risking death. This time, the one who was also facing death with her was not a comrade who risked his life with her, not a family member who shared her blood, but her ex-husband who had always found her an eyesore! Perhaps this was fate, Zhao Youlin thought in a self-deprecating manner.

Zhao Youlin did not fear death. After all, she had already died once, and by pure chance, she stole someone's time and lived a few extra months.

She had lived once more. Even though she felt dissatisfied by the fact that she had not found her killer, the one true thing she could not leave behind was actually Joy.

If the boy learned that he could no longer see his beloved mother, he would cry, right? But luckily, Joy was no longer alone. Duan Yarong and the others protected him, so Zhao Youlin could be a little at ease.

Unfortunately, she could not personally watch the boy grow up. After all, this child could be considered to be her one and only child in both of her lives.

When Mu Tingfeng heard Zhao Youlin's words, he frowned, and when he spoke, he sounded angry, "I told you, I won't let you die."

Zhao Youlin snickered. "President Mu, where did you gain the confidence to say those things? You're in trouble now too, and if this matter isn't dealt with properly, we might end up dying here today."

Before Zhao Youlin's voice faded away, Mu Tingfeng had already swiftly interrupted her. "Okay."

"Okay? Okay what?" Zhao Youlin was stunned. She did not register what he said for a period of time.

"If anything happens, I'll just accompany you."

'Accompany me? Accompany what? Does he want to die together? Excuse me?' Zhao Youlin was absolutely flabbergasted because of Mu Tingfeng's words, and when she looked up, wanting to find traces of Mu Tingfeng joking, she ended up disappointed this time.

Mu Tingfeng's eyes were extraordinarily bright in the darkness. He stared at Zhao Youlin, as if he wanted to carve her face and her entire being into his eyes so that he was the only one who could admire her.

After a long time, Mu Tingfeng looked like he was bewitched. He slowly leaned down and looked down to search for Zhao Youlin's lips. Then, he slowly but firmly covered her lips with his own.

"Mmf…" Zhao Youlin was caught off guard and kissed. Her pupils shrank, and she instinctively tightened her grip over Mu Tingfeng's hand.

Since she was already in Mu Tingfeng's arms, at this moment, when she was kissed, her mind went blank, and she forgot to fight back. When she finally realized what was going on and realized that she should be resisting, it was already too late.

Mu Tingfeng's kiss was just as domineering and cold as his presence, as if he wanted to devour Zhao Youlin and not let anyone have a chance to taste her. But aside from the domineering and cold attitude, Mu Tingfeng's kiss also gave off a sense of tentativeness, as if he was just tasting her, but the feeling was addictive. It made her feel like she was being treated like treasure, and she was slowly sinking into that feeling. She could not run from it.