My Little Pink Crocodile - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Did You Ask If I Agreed?

Jiang Yao had just dismissed her assistant and picked up her coffee when the phone beside her rang.

“President Jiang, a Miss Grace says she needs to see you.”

A flicker of doubt crossed Jiang Yao’s eyes. She took a slow sip of her coffee and said, “Let her up.”

“She’s already up.”

Before the receptionist’s voice even faded, a woman looking quite disheveled burst through the door. Her expression was frantic, and her makeup was smudged from crying. Upon seeing Jiang Yao, she rushed straight for her, throwing her arms around her and sobbing.

Jiang Yao frowned, studying her for a long time before recognizing that this was the usually meticulously groomed Grace. Just as she was about to ask what happened, Grace spoke up anxiously.

“Jiang Yao, they might be dead.”

“They?” Jiang Yao asked.

“Qi Yan and Jiang Yu.” Having said it, Grace immediately began to spiral into self-blame. “It’s all my fault, I should have stopped them…”

At this, Jiang Yao’s expression darkened. She immediately summoned her assistant. Seeing Grace’s state, she felt a pang of pity and gently patted her back to comfort her. “We don’t know the situation yet. No matter what, we have to find them first. Tell me what happened.”

Grace steadied her emotions slightly. With Qi Yan and Jiang Yu’s lives hanging in the balance, she forced herself to remain calm and recalled the details. “There was an accident when they opened the parachute. I could only watch as they fell into an undeveloped wild forest. The helicopter couldn’t get in. After landing, I found people to go in, but because it’s unmapped, the locals only dared to search the perimeter. They said the interior is full of wild beasts.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yao pondered for a moment. “I’ll send people to search immediately. Rest easy for now. Think positive—they won’t come to harm.”

Grace felt much more at ease hearing those words, but her heart was still heavy with guilt. “I’ve already informed Qi Yan’s brother and reported it to the police… Why did an accident have to happen this time?”

Jiang Yao seemed to remember something and asked Grace, “Did Qi Yan take something off?”

Grace didn’t understand why she was asking, but answered truthfully. “Whenever she does these things, she takes off her necklace and lets me hold it.” As she spoke, she pulled out the necklace Qi Yan had removed to show her.

Jiang Yao examined it closely for a moment, her brows knitting deeper. She seemed to mutter to herself in thought. “No wonder then. Though Jiang Yu is a lucky star rarely seen in a century, she left the clan without permission. The Mountain God is enraged, and her fortune has weakened. Qi Yan’s fate was already ill-omened; the person who gave her this had enough spiritual power to suppress it for years, but with it removed, all bets are off…”

Grace was utterly confused, not understanding why Jiang Yao would believe in such feudal superstitions, and spoke up urgently. “Can we still find them?” She and Qi Yan had known each other for years; if she died suddenly, Grace would truly regret it for the rest of her life.

Jiang Yao didn’t answer. Her eyes were deep and dark, lost in thought.

Just then, the assistant entered. Seeing Grace being held by Jiang Yao, the assistant froze momentarily but quickly regained composure. “Miss, you summoned me?”

Jiang Yao looked up with a stern gaze. “Notify the clan. Tell them we have news regarding the Young Clan Leader.”

The assistant had been plagued by the clan’s constant inquiries about this matter and became overjoyed at Jiang Yao’s words. “Where is she now?”

Jiang Yao’s expression was cold, her voice leaving no room for question. “She fell into some mountain range. Tell them all to go find her.”

The assistant was startled by her intensity and nodded instinctively. “Right, right. We’ll go search. We’ll go right now.”

Grace, still immersed in the shock of the disappearance, didn’t notice anything strange in Jiang Yao’s phrasing. Jiang Yao softened her tone toward Grace. “Miss Grace, you should go home for now. I will notify you the moment there is news.”

As dusk approached, the blood-red afterglow of the sunset spilled through the gaps in the leaves, scattering fragmented light across the ground to dance with the swaying shadows of the trees.

The air was thick with the faint scent of blood. Droplets fell onto withered leaves, staining a large patch of earth. The hidden chirping of cicadas eventually roused the unconscious woman.

A wave of intense pain surged through her entire body, making her face—already pale from blood loss—look hauntingly white. Her brows knit together as she tried to ignore the agony. Coming to her senses, Qi Yan murmured “Jiang Yu,” but received no response.

Fully awake now, she frantically searched for Jiang Yu’s silhouette. Only when she saw the messy pink hair in front of her did she realize Jiang Yu was still strapped to her.

“Jiang Yu.” She frowned, her head throbbing painfully, but her priority was waking the girl. However, after calling several times without success, she had to give up for the moment. Rubbing her aching head, she observed their surroundings.

The light was fading, but the dim glow was enough to show her their predicament, causing her frown to deepen. The parachute had caught on a thick branch; they were currently dangling several meters above the ground. As for the woods, this was likely the unmapped wilderness adjacent to the original landing zone—a place where no one knew how many wild beasts roamed.

Qi Yan couldn’t tell if they were on the outskirts or deep within the most dangerous part. Blood was still seeping from the wound on her leg, and the steady loss was making her feel cold. In an unknown place like this, the loss of body temperature and blood was lethal—it might even attract predators.

“Jiang Yu, wake up.” Qi Yan tried again, her voice raspy from a dry, painful throat. She couldn’t tell if Jiang Yu was injured, but if she was in this much pain, Jiang Yu certainly wasn’t doing well; she might even be in a deep coma from serious injury.

At this thought, forgetting her own wounds, she reached out to check the girl’s breathing. Fortunately, it was steady. She was simply impossible to wake, which was dangerous in its own right.

Qi Yan began to feel a surge of regret. She shouldn’t have agreed to this so easily, let alone brought her skydiving. But regret was useless now. She could only try her best to wake her.

Before she could get a response from Jiang Yu, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a cluster of eerie green lights in the distance. She tensed, thinking it was a pack of beasts. As the things drew closer, she realized those weren’t animal eyes. They were clusters of ghostly, flickering green flames. In the darkness, shadowy figures with no visible faces seemed to stand behind the lights, making the forest feel even more macabre and surreal.

The appearance of these shadows reminded Qi Yan of the time before she had that necklace—when those exact things would stand in her yard, staring at her.

Suddenly, a rustling sound echoed through the woods. Something was approaching. Qi Yan realized they were surrounded by wild animals. Yet, whether it was the ghostly flames or the predators, they all maintained a certain distance. They looked at her as if she were a delicious meal, but they seemed to fear something immensely, keeping them at a watchful distance.

As time passed and they didn’t draw closer, Qi Yan became certain they were afraid of something. But she had nothing on her—not even the necklace. The only thing they could possibly be wary of was the unconscious Jiang Yu.

Before she could think further, the branch holding them finally gave way. With a loud “crack,” they plummeted. Qi Yan instinctively pulled Jiang Yu into her arms, acting as a human cushion the moment they hit the ground.

Agony instantly filled every part of her body, forcing a pained moan from her lips. Her face turned a ghastly white.

“Jiang… cough cough… Jiang Yu, are you okay…?”

As she spoke, she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her vision went dark, but she fought the pain, her hands trembling as she unbuckled the harness. She knelt weakly on the ground to check Jiang Yu for injuries. Her eyes were blurred with tears of pain, so she had to check by touch. Once she was certain the girl was uninjured, her heart finally settled.

“So heavy…”

Having been unconscious for a long time, Jiang Yu frowned uncomfortably and murmured a complaint. Hearing a familiar voice calling her name, she thought someone was forcing her to wake up and felt a flash of annoyance. But when she opened her eyes and saw the person in front of her under the cold moonlight, she cried out in joy.

“Qi Yan!” She reached out to hug her.

The things in the shadows seemed to vanish the moment Jiang Yu spoke. Seeing Jiang Yu awake, Qi Yan finally felt a sense of relief, but the pain and the bleeding from her leg were making her increasingly weak.

As Jiang Yu hugged her, Qi Yan finally lost her strength and collapsed against the girl. Smelling the blood in the air, Jiang Yu realized something was wrong. Seeing Qi Yan’s pale face, she panicked. “What’s wrong? You’re hurt!” She saw the bleeding leg and felt utterly helpless.

Qi Yan forced a smile to comfort her, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she coughed up more blood. Jiang Yu had never seen such a scene and spiraled into a panic. “What do I do?”

Qi Yan used the last of her strength to pat Jiang Yu’s back. “It’s… dangerous here. You… leave quickly…” Her words were fragmented. If she weren’t forcing herself, she would have blacked out long ago. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on, but she wanted Jiang Yu to get away.

Hearing this, Jiang Yu snapped out of it slightly. Seeing Qi Yan’s worsening state and fearing she would die here, she spoke with a sob in her voice. “Don’t die. I’m taking you out of here now.”

Jiang Yu helped her up, letting Qi Yan lean on her. Qi Yan wanted to say more but had no strength left. She leaned silently against Jiang Yu. Just as Jiang Yu was about to move, she realized the severity of the leg wound and had to set Qi Yan down again, propping her against a tree trunk.

“Your wound…” Jiang Yu hesitated, not knowing what to do.

Qi Yan shook her head weakly. “There’s nothing to bandage it with… no medicine…” she managed to say. She wanted to tell Jiang Yu she was going to die here and that the girl should save herself, but Jiang Yu interrupted her.

“Bandage… bandage… I have one.”

Jiang Yu seemed to remember something and frantically searched her pockets. Finally, she pulled out the hair ribbon Qi Yan had once used to bandage Jiang Yu back when she was just a small, injured crocodile. The ribbon was clean, as if it had been carefully washed.

Qi Yan lifted her heavy eyelids to look at it. She didn’t speak, but her heart was filled with an indescribable feeling. Jiang Yu’s bandaging skills weren’t great, especially in a panic, and it took her a long time to finish. The result was quite ugly.

Jiang Yu had heard that you shouldn’t let an injured person fall asleep. Seeing Qi Yan looking faint, she began to ramble incoherently. “You can’t die, you can’t die! If you do, I won’t like you anymore, I’ll go find someone else…”

“Go then,” Qi Yan said, closing her eyes. How could a human marriage certificate—especially a fake one—bind a crocodile of a different species?

Jiang Yu froze, staring blankly. “You don’t want me anymore?”

Qi Yan didn’t dare open her eyes, fearing she would regret it the moment she saw Jiang Yu’s face. “Mhm,” she replied, though her heart felt hollow.

The person in front of her seemed to stand up. Just as Qi Yan thought she was leaving, she felt herself being hoisted onto someone’s back. Then she heard Jiang Yu’s defiant, sulky voice.

“You say you don’t want me and that’s it? Did you ask if I agreed?”

Her voice still carried a sob, but her movements as she carried Qi Yan were incredibly careful and steady. Qi Yan couldn’t answer, but knowing the girl wouldn’t leave her brought a surge of undeniable happiness to her heart.