148 The Best Solace

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She was a figure steeped in darkness.

And yet it was as though she had stained the night itself, standing amid the twisted, sprawled bodies. She swayed faintly, but an icy, forbidding aura radiated from her all the same.

Her eyes were bright, wrapped in a layer of unyielding light.

One hand was clenched tightly around a dagger, while the other gripped the collar of a man dressed in black.

The instant she saw the man appear, both hands released their hold...

Clang—

Thud—

The dagger and the man alike fell at her feet as lightly as scraps of paper, making no further sound.

At that moment, Si Qingchen’s brows drew tightly together. Before he could make a move, a voice that seemed to drift in from another lifetime floated toward him, word by word:

“You came... Hah...”

Mu Qingcheng could not help but exhale.

Yet in the next second, her entire body went limp and she began to fall backward.

Si Qingchen crossed the distance in two strides and swept her up into his arms.

When he saw the corners of the girl’s lips, pale and cracked, the corners of his own eyes instantly flooded with tears.

“Qingcheng, I’m late.”

With that, he lowered his head and instinctively kissed her lips.

Mu Qingcheng did not resist.

Although her white hospital gown was stained with blood, her entire body softened at once.

As docile as a cat, she leaned against Si Qingchen’s chest. Having exhausted the last of her strength, she laboriously raised her hand before closing her eyes...

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She hooked it around the man’s neck as he tried to pull away.

“Don’t go.”

It was the first time she had ever kissed him of her own accord. Though she had merely pressed her lips weakly against his, it was already the finest comfort Si Qingchen had ever received.

Still stunned, Si Qingchen heard Mu Qingcheng, maintaining that same posture, instruct him wearily:

“I... recognized them. These people... they belong to the Heavenly Law. You... must be extremely careful.”

...

The moment the words left her lips, she fainted completely.

Afterward,

when Si Qingchen carried Mu Qingcheng out of the building, Si Nan, who had been waiting below to receive them, stepped forward and said in a low voice,

“Boss, we just saw Miss Mu’s subordinate outside. He seems to have noticed us and turned around immediately. Should we pursue him?”

“No. Let him go. If he wants to investigate anything, let him pass.”

“Yes, understood.”

Now that they knew one another’s identities, Si Qingchen naturally had no intention of interfering with No Trace’s actions.

So long as Qingcheng needed something, he could even cooperate with them directly. It would be no trouble at all.

For the moment, Si Qingchen decided to take Qingcheng back to the Si residence and care for her there.

The Shadow headquarters would ordinarily have been the best choice, but when it came to the Mu family, he still had to give them an explanation.

A moment later, Si Qingchen carried Mu Qingcheng aboard the nanny van.

Only then did he finally remember that Third Master Mu was still waiting for him to deal with him.

“Call Second Master and take him there.”

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Thinking of Mu Qing’s otherworldly, transcendent face—one that seemed almost immortal, yet was in truth more clear-sighted and open-minded than anyone else’s—Si Qingchen knew that sending Mu Jingchi, that walking powder keg, to him was the best choice.

In the end, the group split into three.

One party, led by Si Bei, stayed behind to handle the scene.

Another took Mu Jingchi to Mu Qing’s villa in the suburbs.

As for Si Qingchen, he personally held his little one in his arms as they raced all the way back to the Si residence.

However...

Just as the nanny van drove onto the elevated bridge they had passed on their way there, they saw, far in the distance, towering flames rising at the end of the road.

At that same moment, Si Nan’s phone suddenly rang.

After a brief conversation, Si Nan turned back with his brows deeply furrowed.

“Boss, an SUV loaded with gasoline has crashed into the detention center in the southern part of the city.”

Si Qingchen: “...”

****

Elsewhere, at Mu Qing’s villa.

The man had only gone out to handle the discharge procedures. He had never imagined that he would return with a poor little thing in tow...

At that moment, Mu Qing stared helplessly at Xia Wan’s small face. It still showed no expression at all, yet tears continued to fall.

Before long, just as Mu Qing was about to try communicating with her again, he suddenly heard the sound of a car horn coming from outside...

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