Becoming the Caged Canary of a Forced Love - Chapter 41

They spent another two days wandering around Country F. Gu Nian was intimately familiar with this place, yet he had to pretend he had never visited before, which was utterly exhausting.

“Are you cold?” Pei Jichuan asked, adjusting Gu Nian’s clothes. Gu Nian shook his head.

They were strolling along the streets of the suburbs near a park with excellent scenery. Gu Nian’s gaze swept over the area; the last time he had been here was when Gu Congnan sold him to the boss of the Red Ghost Triad. In retaliation, he had severed the boss’s head and hung his body here as a provocation. No one can force me to do what I don’t want to do.

As evening approached, the sunset emitted its final, lingering glow. They prepared to head back; it was already past dinner time. Country F was indeed a culinary wasteland; after trying several times, they had stopped being persistent about local dining. Gu Nian used to eat food prepared by world-class chefs hired at great expense; he hadn’t expected “fine dining” in Country F to be this unpalatable. He even felt that his own salt-averse chef back home wasn’t so unforgivable after all.

The bodyguards followed at a short distance. Perhaps because Country F hadn’t been as chaotic as imagined lately, everyone had let their guard down slightly. This was largely due to Gu Nian’s own actions after taking power, as he had restricted the behavior of Black Crow members—though this had also made him many enemies.

They walked hand-in-hand along the park path, Gu Nian staying close to the other man. The golden light of the horizon seemed to gild Pei Jichuan, making his handsome features look almost surreal. Gu Nian stopped in his tracks, feeling a sudden sense of trance. A vague feeling of unease rose within him.

Pei Jichuan also stopped and looked at Gu Nian with some confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Gu Nian didn’t know how to describe the feeling, so he simply shook his head and asked, “When are we going back to Country Z?”

Pei Jichuan gave a light chuckle. “What? Are you homesick?”

Home? Gu Nian’s eyelashes fluttered, startled by the word. He opened his mouth but said nothing, simply nodding. A faint breeze blew, gently lifting the stray hairs on Gu Nian’s forehead. Pei Jichuan’s heart softened, and he pulled the other man into his arms.

“Then we’ll go back tomorrow, alright?”

They held each other in silence. After a long moment, Gu Nian gave a soft reply. “Alright.”

For a fleeting second, Gu Nian felt as though his entire past was a hallucination, completely disconnected from his current world. The contrast between bloodshed and violence versus this peace and tranquility left him feeling dazed. He only wanted to grip this serenity tightly. If anyone dared to destroy it, he would never let them go.

Pei Jichuan vaguely sensed something unusual. The surroundings were too quiet. Dinner time had passed, and there were few people in the massive park; the silence of their current location was eerie. He intended to call the bodyguards over, but in that moment, a flicker of reflected light caught his eye—a cold, mechanical glint.

He only had time to yank Gu Nian behind him before he was frozen in place.

BANG—

Accompanied by a deafening gunshot, Gu Nian felt Pei Jichuan pull him violently backward. Then, the man’s grip on his arm loosened, and he collapsed powerlessly to the ground.

The world began to spin as a piercing ringing sound filled Gu Nian’s ears. He looked down blankly at his hands; his palms were covered in Pei Jichuan’s blood. The bodyguards rushed over instantly, drawing their pistols and forming a defensive perimeter. The sniper could no longer take another shot.

The assistant ran forward in a panic, his trembling hand reaching for Pei Jichuan’s pulse. Gu Nian stood there in a stupor, droplets of blood having splashed onto his face. He stared dazed as the pool of blood beneath Pei Jichuan grew larger; his vision seemed to hold nothing but a sea of crimson.

He snapped back to reality abruptly, forcefully swatting away the assistant’s hand. He pressed his ear to the man’s chest, trembling. Upon hearing a heartbeat, he slapped the panicked assistant to wake him up.

“Go get the car!” he roared, nearly screaming. “To the hospital, right now!”

He pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it against the wound in Pei Jichuan’s chest, but the blood continued to well up uncontrollably. Gu Nian gritted his teeth and ripped open Pei Jichuan’s shirt buttons. In the center of his chest, blood was gurgling out of a bullet hole. If he didn’t act, Pei Jichuan would die of blood loss before they even reached the hospital.

He hesitated for only a second before stuffing the handkerchief directly into the bullet hole and pressing down with all his might. Infection is a worry for the living.

The assistant and several bodyguards ran to fetch the car. Gu Nian divided his attention to scan the surroundings warily. The sniper was experienced one shot, then an immediate relocation. The highly-trained bodyguards held their guns outward, ensuring their employer was firmly protected.

Gu Nian’s gaze suddenly locked on a spot. His vision was exceptional; across the trees and through a fence, he locked eyes with Zhou Yi.

Even without a mirror, Gu Nian knew his expression was hideous likely distorted and savage. He swept a look of pure fury over Zhou Yi before being ushered into the car by the assistant and bodyguards. He sat in the backseat cradling Pei Jichuan, his palm pressed firmly against the wound.

The bleeding had slowed slightly due to his intervention. Pei Jichuan was deathly pale, his brows furrowed in agony. Gu Nian lowered his head, calling his name incessantly. “Pei Jichuan, can you hear me? Don’t sleep… whatever you do, don’t sleep…”

This was the first time he had ever felt such sheer panic. In the moment the shot rang out, he understood: he, too, was afraid of losing someone.

Pei Jichuan was successfully rushed into the emergency room. Country F did not have strict gun laws, so the hospitals were quite experienced in treating gunshot wounds.

Gu Nian sat blankly on a bench outside the operating theater. His white formal shirt was completely soaked through with Pei Jichuan’s blood. He lifted his hands; his palms were stained a deep, solid red, emitting a nauseating metallic scent of rust.

Countless lives had been ended by his hands; countless times he had been stained with blood. But this time, he was a panicked mess, his lifelong composure completely shattered. He wanted nothing but a debt of blood to be paid in full. A towering murderous intent roamed his heart anyone who dared touch his person would pay the ultimate price.

The assistant paced anxiously at the door. Coming from a peaceful Country Z, the assistant had never seen such a scene and was terrified out of his wits. Fortunately, Gu Nian had snapped him out of it earlier.

“Stop pacing!” Gu Nian said coldly, his head throbbing as if it were splitting open.

The assistant froze and looked at Gu Nian. The younger man was covered in blood, and the coldness in his eyes made the assistant shudder. “Young… Young Master Lin, President Pei…”

“He’ll be fine,” Gu Nian muttered to himself. He looked down at his own state. “I’m going to clean up. Stay here and watch; call me immediately if there is any news.”

After the assistant nodded, Gu Nian stood up and walked away. There were spare clothes in the car, so he grabbed a set and headed to the restroom to deal with the blood. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it into the trash, then dampened a towel to wipe his torso.

A man wearing a baseball cap placed a “Cleaning in Progress” sign outside the door before closing it. Hearing the sound, Gu Nian didn’t look up, continuing to clean himself in silence.

The man stood behind Gu Nian without speaking. He removed his cap, allowing his golden hair to fall. Through the reflection in the mirror, Zhou Yi saw Gu Nian’s expressionless face and couldn’t help but swallow hard.