Despairing Zhu Zhuqing Before the Rose Hotel

Soto City was livelier than Lin Chen had imagined.

After more than two days on the road, the three of them finally arrived at this city in the southeastern part of the Heaven Dou Empire by the evening of the third day.

Soto City was not large, but it was prosperous. Shops lined both sides of the streets, pedestrians flowed endlessly by, and the cries of vendors and haggling rose and fell, filling the place with the bustle of everyday life.

Zhu Zhuqing had barely spoken along the way.

She walked quietly beside Lin Chen, but her gaze had been searching all around for something. Lin Chen knew what she was looking for.

She was looking for traces of Dai Mubai. Though she had not said it aloud, the anticipation and unease hidden in those catlike eyes could not escape his notice.

Lin Chen saw it all, and it left a bitter taste in his heart.

He wanted to tell her the truth now, so she would not suffer an even greater blow later.

But on second thought, it was better for her to see this sort of thing with her own eyes. Only by seeing it herself could she give up completely. Only after giving up could she truly let go.

"Let's find somewhere to stay first," Lin Chen suggested. "It's getting late. Tomorrow, we can ask around Shrek Academy about Dai Mubai."

Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The three of them continued down the main street, looking for suitable lodging.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, they came upon a rather grandly decorated hotel. It was a three-story building, with a gilded plaque hanging over its entrance bearing four large words: Rose Hotel.

"This place looks decent," Lin Chen said.

Just as the three were about to head over, the hotel's doors suddenly swung open from within.

A figure staggered out.

He was a boy who looked thirteen or fourteen, tall and powerfully built, a full head taller than boys his age.

He wore an ornate white brocade robe, its collar open to reveal his solid chest. Long golden hair fell over his shoulders, framing a handsome, sharply defined face.

A young, beautiful girl was tucked beneath each of his arms.

The two girls looked fifteen or sixteen and were identical in appearance. They were clearly twins.

They nestled against him from either side. One fed him grapes, while the other wiped wine stains from the corner of his mouth, attending to him with utmost care.

The boy had clearly drunk quite a bit. His steps were unsteady, and a drunken smile hung on his face. He lowered his head and kissed each girl on the cheek before laughing loudly. "Tonight, we drink until we drop! This young master is in a good mood!"

The girls giggled at his words and pressed themselves even closer to him.

Outside the Rose Hotel, passersby glanced over one after another. Some shook their heads, some looked envious, and some whispered among themselves.

"Isn't that the third young master of House Dai? Out here indulging in wine and women again."

"Of course. He comes every few days, and every time he brings those twin sisters."

"A rich young master, what else would you expect? Perfectly normal."

Zhu Zhuqing stood across the street, utterly motionless, as if she had been struck by a binding spell.

Her gaze was fixed on that golden-haired boy.

Dai Mubai.

Even though she had never met him, even though they had not seen each other for years, she recognized him at a glance.

Those strange, evil eyes, that dazzling golden hair, that face overlapping with the portrait in her memories—it was him.

Her fiancé.

The person she had fled the Star Luo Empire to find, risking her life over countless miles.

And now, he had an arm around each girl, his drunken eyes unfocused, laughing like a debauched playboy while surrounded by two unfamiliar women.

Zhu Zhuqing's body trembled faintly.

Her fingers clenched the hem of her clothes, her knuckles turning white from the force.

Her lips pressed into a straight line. The light in her catlike eyes gradually dimmed, like a candle snuffed out by the wind.

Lin Chen stood beside her without speaking.

He knew that nothing he said now would help. Some pain had to be endured alone. Some dreams had to be awakened from alone.

With the two girls in his arms, Dai Mubai staggered toward the other end of the street. He never noticed the three people standing across from him. His laughter gradually faded into the distance, disappearing into the streets at dusk.

Zhu Zhuqing remained where she was, without moving.

A long, long time passed.

So long that the pedestrians on the street had changed several times, so long that the streetlights came on one after another. Only then did she finally move.

She turned around and looked at Lin Chen.

There were no tears on her face, no anger, no intense expression of any kind. There was only bone-deep exhaustion and emptiness, as though a lamp had gone out, leaving nothing but ashes.

"Let's go," she said, her voice hoarse but calm. "We're not staying here."

With that, she lowered her head and walked back the way they had come.

Her steps were slow, each one seeming as though she were treading on knife points.

Lin Chen followed behind her. Watching her small, slender figure cast a long shadow beneath the streetlights, a powerful wave of pity suddenly rose in his heart.

This girl had fled all the way from the Star Luo Empire. She carried wounds, pursuers trailed behind her, and she had survived only after narrowly escaping death time and again.

The only belief that had kept her going was this: Find Dai Mubai, join forces with him, and fight our way back.

But now, that belief had shattered.

She had only just realized that the person she had given everything for was not worth giving anything to at all.

Xiao Wu walked beside Lin Chen, looking at Zhu Zhuqing's back as she softly sighed. "She's so pitiful."

"Mm."

"You knew Dai Mubai was that kind of person all along, didn't you?"

"Mm."

"Then why didn't you tell her sooner?"

"What would telling her have changed?" Lin Chen said. "Some things are more effective when seen with your own eyes than when heard a thousand times. Only by seeing it herself can she truly let go."

Xiao Wu fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "You're right."

After the three had walked some distance, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stopped.

She did not turn around. With her back to Lin Chen, she merely said in an incredibly soft voice, "Am I stupid?"

Lin Chen walked to her side and looked at her lowered profile. "You're not stupid. You just trusted the wrong person."

"I risked my life to escape from the Star Luo Empire. I was hunted the whole way and nearly died out there."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice trembled slightly. "I thought he would wait for me. I thought he would help me. I thought... at the very least, he was still my fiancé."

She raised a hand and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of it.

Lin Chen saw her shoulders trembling faintly.

"Zhuqing," he called her name.

Zhu Zhuqing did not respond.

Lin Chen reached out, placed a hand on her shoulder, and gently turned her to face him.

She lifted her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed, tears welling within them, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"You still have me." Lin Chen looked into her eyes and spoke each word with deliberate clarity. "I can help you."

Zhu Zhuqing froze.

She looked at the boy before her, at his earnest eyes, and listened to his resolute tone. Somewhere in her heart, something suddenly loosened.

"Why... why would you help me?" Her voice was slightly hoarse.

"Because you need help," Lin Chen said. "And because I think you deserve better."

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes reddened further.

She bit her lip, desperately holding back her tears. But after enduring for a long time, she could not hold them back any longer.

Tears slid down her cheeks, drop after drop, splashing onto the bluestone road.

She did not burst into loud sobs. She simply cried silently, her shoulders twitching as though she were an injured little beast hiding in a corner and licking its wounds.

Lin Chen did not urge her on or say anything unnecessary. He simply stood quietly beside her and let her cry to her heart's content.

Xiao Wu also walked over and stood on Zhu Zhuqing's other side, gently taking her hand.

Zhu Zhuqing froze for a moment. She lowered her head to look at Xiao Wu's hand holding hers, then looked up at Lin Chen. Her tears flowed even more fiercely.

But the icy despair in her heart seemed to have been warmed, if only a little, by something.