The One Who Betrays Goes to Hell

"Xingyu, what are you looking at?"

Lin Piaopiao had seen Nan Xingyu on edge all morning, her eyes constantly sweeping their surroundings as though she were afraid a ghost might appear.

Nan Xingyu clung to her arm and, only after making sure Xi Jin wasn't there, relaxed enough to walk into the lecture hall.

She and Lin Piaopiao found seats in the front row and sat down.

Nan Xingyu opened her book, muttering, "Day after day, it's like I'm a thief sneaking around. When will it ever end?"

Lin Piaopiao was putting on lipstick. Hearing her speak, she leaned over and asked, "What did you say?"

"I said..."

Nan Xingyu turned to her, but the moment the words left her mouth, she caught sight of a figure in black in the back row.

It looked like the windbreaker Xi Jin often wore. Even the curve of the zipper, pulled down to his chest, was exactly as she remembered it.

Her breath caught for half a second.

She turned her head stiffly.

There was Xi Jin, who had appeared out of nowhere like a vengeful ghost.

He was leaning back in a seat in the rear row, his eyes lowered to his phone.

Sunlight streamed in through the window at an angle, dividing his face into light and shadow. His posture was relaxed, yet he radiated a suffocating pressure.

"..."

Help.

The expression on Nan Xingyu's face shattered.

As if sensing her gaze, Xi Jin lifted his eyes slightly.

His gaze was cold, devoid of warmth.

As it swept over her with apparent indifference, it carried an eerie hint of "don't think you can get rid of me."

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Nan Xingyu's back.

Seeing her hesitate to speak, Lin Piaopiao followed her gaze and looked back.

The next second, she nearly cried out, "Wow!"

Quite a few people around them had already begun whispering.

"Oh my god, it's Xi Jin."

"He hardly ever comes to school, and now he's actually here for our jurisprudence class."

"He's really a hundred times better-looking in person than on camera. Those broad shoulders, that jawline..."

"..."

When Xi Jin saw Lin Piaopiao looking at him, he greeted her. "Hello."

Lin Piaopiao picked her jaw up off the floor and switched gears in an instant. "Hi, hello, Great God Xi Jin! We met at Senior Jiang's dinner. Do you remember me?"

"I remember."

Xi Jin looked at her and said, "Lin Piaopiao."

His gaze fell on the other person, and a hint of suggestiveness entered his voice. "Nan Xingyu."

Lin Piaopiao was thrilled that Xi Jin still remembered her.

"Great God Xi Jin, they say important people are forgetful. I never thought you'd remember us! We're both good friends with Senior Brother Jiang, so we're friends now too. Let's hang out sometime."

"Sure."

Xi Jin looked perfectly agreeable.

Lin Piaopiao immediately pulled out her phone. "Let's add each other on WeChat first, so I can invite you when there's something going on."

At that, Xi Jin cast a seemingly casual glance at Nan Xingyu.

Nan Xingyu turned her face away.

He really is a lingering ghost, she thought.

Then she heard the person behind her say, "My girlfriend might get jealous."

"..."

Nan Xingyu pressed a hand to her forehead.

The person behind her added, "How about I call and ask her?"

"..."

Huh?

Nan Xingyu immediately pulled out her phone. Perhaps she was too nervous: it slipped from her hand and rolled down the steps.

The phone began to ring.

She hurried out of her seat to look for it in the front rows.

Xi Jin's gaze followed the person crouching under the desks in search of her phone, and the corners of his lips curved almost imperceptibly.

Nan Xingyu's fingers were just about to touch the phone when another student accidentally kicked it.

The phone slid farther down again.

She stood up in frustration, her gaze following it to the first row.

Then she slowly edged out from the middle seats.

By the time she got out and was about to pick up the phone from the floor, someone else had already beaten her to it.

The person held it out to her.

"Is this yours?"

"Thank you."

Nan Xingyu answered on instinct. When she looked up, she saw that the person who had picked up her phone was Jiang Yu.

An icy gaze pierced her from behind.

It felt as though it would bore a hole through her.

She gave Jiang Yu a stiff smile, grabbed her phone, and ran back to the rear row, returning to her seat.

Lin Piaopiao noticed. "Hey, why is your face so red?"

She noticed Jiang Yu looking their way. "Oh, could it be because you saw Senior Brother Jiang? I knew you were interested in him."

"Shut up."

Nan Xingyu felt as though a knife were already hanging over the back of her neck.

Apparently, Lin Piaopiao thought the blade wasn't sharp enough and had to give it a few more strokes on the whetstone.

"Don't be shy. If you like him, go after him! Senior Brother Jiang is such a good person. If you miss your chance, it'll be gone."

"..."

Could someone poison her voice away?

Jiang Yu walked up to the lectern, and the classroom fell quiet.

The air-conditioning in the back row seemed especially cold.

Nan Xingyu drew in her neck.

Xi Jin twirled a black fountain pen between his fingers. His gaze seemed to rest on Jiang Yu at the center of the lectern, but from the corner of his eye, it remained fixed on the figure in the front row, her head bowed over her notes.

The case Jiang Yu was analyzing involved a husband who, after discovering his wife's affair, had jumped to his death on the night of their wedding anniversary.

Was there a legal causal relationship between the wife's betrayal and the husband's suicide?

Xi Jin raised his hand to speak.

It seemed to be an analysis of the case, but every word danced on Nan Xingyu's nerves, carrying invisible shackles.

A veiled reference to her.

The one who betrays goes to hell.

"The law speaks of direct causation, but human nature speaks of knowingly doing wrong. The woman treated the other person's deep love as shackles and betrayal as liberation, yet she forgot that she was the one who had promised him she would never leave..."

Xi Jin's last words carried Nan Xingyu's thoughts back to the past.

That year, she was in her second year of high school.

Autumn had just begun in Jingzhou, and several bouts of rain had fallen in succession.

The damp scent of osmanthus drifted through the air.

Friday was the day Nan Xingyu returned to the manor.

By the time the last class of the afternoon ended, the rain outside the window had grown heavier.

She had forgotten her raincoat, so she stood at the entrance to the school building, planning to wait until the rain eased before leaving.

Her classmates left one after another under their umbrellas.

She was the only one left, quietly waiting for the rain to stop.

She looked up at the sky. Dark clouds hung low, and the rain showed no sign of stopping.

Just as she was about to give up waiting and make a dash for it,

a shadow suddenly fell over her head.

She lifted her gaze and saw a large black umbrella. Turning her head, she saw Xi Jin, who had appeared out of nowhere.

The last time he had appeared was at the sports meet.

She had fallen during the long jump, and he had helped her up in time.

She had pushed him away almost on reflex.

She had been terrified that others would find out they knew each other.

Because of that, Xi Jin had ignored her for more than half a month.

Even when he came home on weekends, he hadn't "captured" her and taken her back to his room to tell stories.

"I'll walk you back."

His voice came through the curtain of rain, light and even.

"..."

Afraid someone would see them, Nan Xingyu instinctively moved aside, stepping out from under the umbrella.

Her movement made Xi Jin's eyes darken.

He said nothing more and simply pressed the umbrella into her hands.

Before Nan Xingyu could react, the black umbrella was already in her grasp.

She looked up to see Xi Jin walking into the pouring rain without looking back.

Nan Xingyu watched his tall, slender figure and his blue-and-white school uniform, which was quickly soaked through.

She clearly wanted to call him back, but the relationship between them, which could not stand the light of day, held her back.

His figure finally vanished into the curtain of rain.

Nan Xingyu tightened her grip on the umbrella, thinking that he had a driver to take him places. Once he got into the car, the driver would give him a towel and turn on the heat.

He should be fine, right?

After comforting herself, she raised the umbrella and walked down the steps.

She couldn't manage to ride a bike while holding an umbrella, so she could only take the bus back.

Because of the rain, the bus was packed that day.

After she got off, the rain still hadn't stopped.

The bus stop was still half an hour away from the Xi Family Manor.

Holding her umbrella, Nan Xingyu walked straight along the road.

There were few pedestrians on the road, only the occasional passing car.

She was completely unaware that someone was following her.

That person was drenched in the autumn rain, soaked to the skin, his gaze fixed firmly on her retreating figure.