Bai Qinchen Seized His Opening / Zhu Zhuqing's Fluttering Heart

"Am I beyond saving, or are you just too noble?" Dai Mubai retorted with a sneer.

"Heh!" Zhu Zhuqing sneered, saying coldly, "You're utterly disgusting!"

Dai Mubai froze for a moment at her words, but still did not stop.

"From this day forward, all ties between us are severed. I, Zhu Zhuqing, will never have anything to do with you, Dai Mubai, again!" Zhu Zhuqing gave Dai Mubai a cold look, then turned to Ning Rongrong. "Rongrong, let's go. Don't look anymore. I'm afraid we'll get styes."

Ning Rongrong nodded and turned with Zhu Zhuqing to leave.

"Rongrong!" Oscar shouted after Ning Rongrong as she turned away, hoping to make her stay.

"Don't call me that so affectionately. We're not close," Ning Rongrong said without looking back. "Just like Zhu Zhuqing said, you're disgusting!"

"Oscar, ignore them. Let's keep going!" As Dai Mubai watched Zhu Zhuqing walk away without the slightest hesitation, he felt a dull ache in his heart.

At that moment, he turned his grief and anger into strength, venting and attacking.

Oscar hesitated. He still loved Ning Rongrong; he simply could not control his actions right now.

"Oscar, what are you still hesitating for? She's just Ning Rongrong. Don't hang yourself from a single tree. There are so many grasslands waiting for us to gallop across. Why care about one crooked tree?" As Ma Hongjun spoke, he picked up a woman and began ravaging her wildly.

Chapter 12: Bai Qinchen Seized His Opening

"Zhu Zhuqing, you..." Xiao Wu watched Zhu Zhuqing's retreating figure with concern. Had this gotten out of hand? She was a little afraid.

Should she not have told Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong the news? Otherwise, things would not have ended up like this, and Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, as well as Oscar and Ning Rongrong, would not have fallen out.

She felt that the once-united Shrek Seven Devils were now gradually beginning to fall apart.

Brother, what should I do? If you were here, what would you do?

Xiao Wu thought of Tang San, her feelings growing even more complicated.

"Thank you, Xiao Wu." Zhu Zhuqing stopped and gave Xiao Wu a grateful smile. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known Dai Mubai was such a disgusting person. Thank you for letting me see him clearly."

Although Zhu Zhuqing wore a grateful smile, Xiao Wu saw profound disappointment on her face.

There was a faint sadness and hurt in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. Even the corners of her eyes seemed slightly red, glistening with tears.

"Zhu, Zhu Zhuqing..." Xiao Wu could not help trembling slightly.

She felt as though she really had done something wrong. This had not only caused Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing to break completely, but had also torn the Shrek Seven Devils apart, and even made the strong Zhu Zhuqing cry...

"I'm fine. I'm just upset, as anyone would be. I thought he'd changed, but he's still the same as ever." Zhu Zhuqing wiped away the tears spilling from the corners of her eyes and spoke calmly.

"All right, you two go back first. I want some time alone." Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Let us stay with you," Xiao Wu said, looking at Zhu Zhuqing worriedly.

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head. "No need. I just need some time alone. Go back first."

"All right." Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong exchanged a glance, each seeing the helplessness and worry in the other's eyes. Then they sighed together, turned, and left.

Only after watching them leave did Zhu Zhuqing slowly close her eyes. Leaning against a tree, she slowly slid down to sit huddled on the ground, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.

Ever since Zhu Zhuqing and the other two girls had left campus, Bai Qinchen had been following them, secretly watching everything unfold.

The scene before him was exactly the result he wanted. Zhu Zhuqing had broken with Dai Mubai completely, and her heart had shattered completely at that moment as well.

He could take this opportunity to enter her heart, replace Dai Mubai, and help soothe her wounded heart.

As he thought about it, Bai Qinchen could not help curling the corners of his lips.

"Zhu Zhuqing, what are you doing here?" Pretending to have run into her by chance, Bai Qinchen looked at her in puzzlement.

Hearing his voice, Zhu Zhuqing opened her tearful eyes and looked up at Bai Qinchen. Then she wiped away the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes and said indifferently, "Oh, it's you."

"What's wrong? Are you crying?" Bai Qinchen deliberately moved closer to Zhu Zhuqing, asking in a concerned tone.

Zhu Zhuqing frowned and moved a few steps aside, keeping her distance from Bai Qinchen. "Nothing. You saw wrong," she said flatly.

Although her relationship with Dai Mubai had shattered completely, that did not mean she would open her heart to other men.

Bai Qinchen did not mind. He took a tissue from his pocket and offered it to Zhu Zhuqing. "Maybe I saw wrong. You must have gotten something in your eyes. Wipe them."

"No need." Zhu Zhuqing did not reach for Bai Qinchen's tissue, but said coldly, "Thank you. I brought my own handkerchief."

As she spoke, she took a handkerchief from inside her clothes and wiped her cheeks.

"Oh, in that case, I won't insist." Bai Qinchen shrugged and said nothing more.

The two sat there quietly, neither taking the initiative to speak.

After a long while, Zhu Zhuqing broke the silence first.

"What are you doing here?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, glancing at him.

"I saw you were alone, so I'm keeping you company!" Bai Qinchen smiled gently.

"Who asked for your company?" Zhu Zhuqing glared at Bai Qinchen, stood up, and walked ahead.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?"

"None of your business."

Bai Qinchen said nothing and continued following Zhu Zhuqing.

"Why are you following me?" Zhu Zhuqing stopped, turned, and glared at him.

"Nothing. I just saw you were in a bad mood and was afraid you might do something foolish, so I'm following you," Bai Qinchen said with a smile.

"I'm going back to the academy."

"Oh, then we're going the same way. I'm heading back to school too," Bai Qinchen said with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing promptly turned and headed in another direction.

Seeing this, Bai Qinchen continued following her.

"Didn't you say you were going back to school too?" Zhu Zhuqing asked coldly, knitting her delicate brows.

"Before I said that, I said I was following you because I was afraid you'd do something foolish." Bai Qinchen still smiled gently.

"I don't need you following me," Zhu Zhuqing refused indifferently, quickening her steps as though trying to shake him off.

Yet Bai Qinchen stubbornly kept up.

"Will you stop being so annoying?" Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stopped and whipped her head around, staring coldly at Bai Qinchen. "I'm warning you, stop following me, or don't blame me for being rough."

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze was icy and sharp, as though it would pierce Bai Qinchen's chest.

But Bai Qinchen showed no fear, still looking at her with a smile.

"Hmph!" Zhu Zhuqing snorted coldly. Her gaze sharpened, and a powerful killing aura instantly burst forth. She became a gust of wind, darting toward Bai Qinchen and swinging her right fist viciously into his abdomen.

"Urgh..." Struck in the stomach, Bai Qinchen grunted, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.

He clutched his stomach, sucking in a breath of pain.

"You... why didn't you dodge?" Seeing that Bai Qinchen had not moved a single step to dodge and had taken her heavy punch head-on, Zhu Zhuqing froze.

Bai Qinchen smiled, stretched out his arms, and wrapped them around Zhu Zhuqing's slender waist, drawing her into his embrace.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Zhu Zhuqing struggled, trying to push Bai Qinchen away, but a single sentence from him left her completely frozen.

"Does this make you feel less angry?" Bai Qinchen's gentle words sounded beside her ear, leaving Zhu Zhuqing dazed.

She was dazed because that punch really had dispelled much of the anger in her heart. Yet she did not understand why Bai Qinchen would do this.

There was another reason: as Bai Qinchen held her in his arms, the Soul-Seizing Hand had also taken effect.

Bai Qinchen could have forcibly embraced Zhu Zhuqing and used the Soul-Seizing Hand earlier, but doing so might have caused an enraged Zhu Zhuqing to launch a frenzied assault on him.

That was why Bai Qinchen had chosen to take the punch head-on to dispel the anger in Zhu Zhuqing's heart. Combined with the Soul-Seizing Hand, this would lower her mental defenses to their weakest.

Chapter 13: Zhu Zhuqing's Fluttering Heart

"You... why are you doing this?" Zhu Zhuqing lay quietly in Bai Qinchen's embrace, only speaking after a long while.

"I can feel how upset you are," Bai Qinchen said softly, holding Zhu Zhuqing tightly around the waist.

"What does that have to do with you..."

"If you want to cry, cry. You'll feel much better once you let it out." Zhu Zhuqing was about to argue further, but Bai Qinchen interrupted her.

"I... why would I cry? I... I'm not..." Zhu Zhuqing lightly bit her red lips, stubbornly refusing to admit it, yet tears rolled down her face.

Before Bai Qinchen arrived, she had already been crying. His appearance had made her hold it back, but keeping it bottled up had been terribly painful.

Now, Bai Qinchen's gentle voice shattered the most tender defenses in her heart. She could no longer hold on, and her tears fell.

"Cry. Go ahead and cry. Let out all the sadness and hurt in your heart." Bai Qinchen kept patting Zhu Zhuqing's back, coaxing her softly.

"Waaah..."

At last, Zhu Zhuqing could not help bursting into loud sobs.

"Why? Why did he have to do that?" Zhu Zhuqing's delicate fists kept falling against Bai Qinchen, pounding him as she vented every emotion in her heart.

Bai Qinchen naturally knew why Zhu Zhuqing was so heartbroken. He let her hit and berate him without resisting in the slightest, letting her vent her sorrow and hurt to her heart's content.

An unknown amount of time passed before Zhu Zhuqing grew tired, had cried enough, and her emotions settled.

"Th-thank you..." Zhu Zhuqing wiped the remaining tear tracks from her face and spoke through her sobs.

"You feel much better now, don't you?" Bai Qinchen asked softly.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded.

"Was the person who hurt you Dai Mubai, Boss Dai?" Bai Qinchen suddenly asked.

Zhu Zhuqing froze briefly, but still nodded lightly.

"What did he do to make you so upset?" Bai Qinchen asked, though he already knew.

"He went to a brothel to find women. Even when I caught him, he refused to stop," Zhu Zhuqing said slowly, sniffling.

That bout of crying had made her open her heart completely to Bai Qinchen, willing to tell him her troubles.

"What?! He actually did something like that? I'll go find him!" Looking filled with righteous indignation, Bai Qinchen made to seek out Dai Mubai and get justice for Zhu Zhuqing.

"No, don't go!" Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly wrapped her arms around Bai Qinchen and shook her head.

Bai Qinchen looked at her in puzzlement.

"I have nothing to do with him anymore. If he likes fooling around, let him do whatever he wants." Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath and spoke flatly.

"But he made you so sad and hurt. I have to teach him a lesson," Bai Qinchen insisted.

Yet Zhu Zhuqing held tightly onto Bai Qinchen's body, refusing to let go no matter what.

"He's made you this sad and hurt, and you still want to defend him?" Bai Qinchen asked gently.

"I just don't think it's necessary." Zhu Zhuqing shook her head lightly.

"Why?"

"Then why do you want to stand up for me?" Zhu Zhuqing asked softly, her beautiful eyes fixed on Bai Qinchen as though trying to see right through him.

"Because..." Bai Qinchen pressed his lips together, hesitating.

"Because what?" Zhu Zhuqing pressed.

"Actually, I fell for you the moment I first saw you." Bai Qinchen was silent for a long while before finally fixing his gaze on Zhu Zhuqing's beautiful eyes and speaking slowly. His words left her utterly astonished.

"Is... is that true?" Zhu Zhuqing blinked, somewhat bewildered.

"Yes." Bai Qinchen gave a sound of assent and brought his head a little closer to Zhu Zhuqing, bringing their faces closer together.

"But I heard you and Dai Mubai were a couple, so I buried those feelings in my heart." As Bai Qinchen spoke, a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"If Dai Mubai loved and cherished you, I wouldn't say anything. I'd simply wish you both happiness from afar. But now that he's done something like this to you, how could I stand by and do nothing?" Bai Qinchen stared into Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, his gaze filled with tenderness and affection.

Zhu Zhuqing stared blankly at Bai Qinchen, her heart pounding wildly. Her pretty face grew burning hot, even the tips of her ears turning crimson, and her breathing quickened.

"Are you serious?" Zhu Zhuqing asked in a trembling voice.

"Of course." Bai Qinchen's gaze burned.

"..." Zhu Zhuqing's face grew even redder.

For some reason, Bai Qinchen's words stirred a feeling of sweetness within her.

It was not that Dai Mubai had never whispered sweet nothings to her. His had even been more cloying than Bai Qinchen's, yet she had never been moved as she was today, as though her heart would leap out of her chest.