The two remaining men immediately went on high alert and charged at Ma Chenxi together, their faces twisted with rage. Bai Yuqi stumbled backward, pressing herself against a tree as she watched the fight. Her eyes were wide with amazement. These men who had been terrorizing her, who had seemed so dangerous and unstoppable, were being handled like they were nothing more than annoying children.
Her eyes darted around, they landed on the woman sitting calmly by the river. From where Bai Yuqi stood, all she could see was her pale, slender hand gently stroking the black cat curled in her lap.
Something pulled at Bai Yuqi's chest. Despite everything happening, despite the terror and pain, she felt an odd sensation deep inside her. Her heart thudded faster, but it wasn't just from fear anymore. It was something else, something she didn't understand.
Almost without thinking, she started limping toward the woman until she could see the woman's profile. And that's when she froze.
The side profile was familiar. Too familiar.
The woman turned her head slightly, just enough to look at Bai Yuqi directly. Bai Yuqi let out a small, broken gasp, her eyes wide with disbelief.
The girl's face was breathtakingly beautiful with high cheekbones, a perfect nose, and full lips. A single lock had escaped, dancing across her cheek with each breath of wind. Her bewitching fox-like eyes were tilted upward at the corners.
But this face was familiar, so familiar that she had seen it whenever she looked in the mirror. This girl looked just like her, except her eyes were a pale grey color, like winter ice. And they were completely empty. Looking into them was like staring into a void, cold and lifeless and utterly without feeling.
Bai Yuqi felt the world spinning around her. Black spots started appearing at the edges of her vision, and she couldn't tell if it was from the blood loss and exhaustion finally catching up with her, or from the shock of what she was seeing.
Bai Yuqi was not the only one who had noticed the similarities. Under that dirt and scratches, Qin Xue Ran also realized this girl looked the same as her. But she did not have a shocked expression like the girl. In fact, she had no expression on her face at all. Even though she was looking at a face that looked just like hers, she seemed not to care. She did not even move when the girl's eyes rolled backward and she fell down unconscious. She blinked once, slowly, and turned her gaze back to the river as if nothing had happened.
About thirty seconds later, Ma Chenxi jogged back over, brushing dirt off his hands. The three men were scattered around the clearing, all unconscious and definitely not getting up anytime soon.
He looked down at the girl lying motionless on the ground. "You could've at least caught her."
"Oh," Qin Xue Ran replied, her voice completely flat and uninterested.
Ma Chenxi stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. He kneeled down next to the unconscious girl. He checked her pulse first, then her breathing. When he was sure she was still alive, he stared at her face. He couldn't help but glance back and forth between her and Qin Xue Ran.
"Is it just me, or does she look exactly like you?"
Qin Que Ran did not respond. Instead, she reeled in a wriggling fish, dropping it into the metal basket. Then she stood up and started packing her fishing gear. Once she was done, she started to walk away.
"Bring the girl,"
.
.
Ten minutes later, the two arrived at what looked like an old cottage in the middle of nowhere. There were strange plants around the cottage. The two walked on the narrow stone path between those plants that led to the cottage. Ma Chenxi was holding the girl on his back. He was no longer wearing his shirt, having ripped it into strips to tie around the worst of her bleeding wounds. All he had left was his black inner vest, which was now stained with dirt and blood from carrying her.
Before they even reached the door, it swung open on its own. An old man stepped out with long white hair and a short beard. His eyes landed on the unconscious girl slumped over Ma Chenxi's back, and he clicked his tongue.
"I was wondering why I could smell so much blood," Qin Long said. "Bring her inside, quickly."
Ma Chenxi followed him into the cottage. Qin Xue Ran stayed outside, putting away her fishing gear neatly by the side of the house. When she finished, she walked over to a large maple tree in the yard. Under the tree was an old rattan chair next to a small wooden table. On the table was a tea set and an open book placed upside down.
Qin Xue Ran sat on the chair and began preparing tea. When the tea was ready, she poured herself a cup and picked up the book.
About an hour later, Ma Chenxi finally stepped out of the cottage, wearing a fresh set of clothes. His damp hair stuck to his forehead, and he ran a hand through it as he looked around. When he spotted Qin Xue Ran, he grabbed a wooden chair and dragged it across before settling on the soft ground next to her.
Ma Chenxi plopped down in the chair.
"The old man says she'll be fine. Lost a lot of blood, but nothing that won't heal." He said as he poured himself a cup of tea and drank it.
Qin Xue Ran made a small humming sound to show she'd heard him, but she didn't look up from her book. Ma Chenxi studied her profile, trying to read any emotion in her face. Like always, there was nothing there.
"What is it?"
Ma Chenxi leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "You really don't care about that girl at all, do you?"
Qin Xue Ran considered this question for a moment, like she was trying to understand why he would ask such a thing. "Should I?"
Ma Chenxi stared at her in disbelief. "You do realize there's a very high possibility that she's your sister, right?"
"Hmm,"
Ma Chenxi waited for her to say more, but she just went back to reading her book.
"And still, you don't care?"
"That's it?" he asked, his voice rising slightly. "That's your reaction? 'Hm?'"
For the first time, Qin Xue Ran lifted her gaze from her book and looked at him. Her face was blank as always, but he could see confusion in her grey eyes.
"Didn't I tell you to bring her here?" she said, tilting her head slightly. "What else am I supposed to do?"
The question was asked so simply, so genuinely, that Ma Chenxi felt his frustration deflate a little. She really didn't understand what he was getting at.
Ma Chenxi shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Why do I even bother?"
Sometimes he forgot just how different Qin Xue Ran was from everyone else. She operated on a completely different emotional frequency, and expecting her to react like a normal person was like expecting a fish to climb a tree. He wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to live in her head. To go through life feeling so little, caring so little about the people and events around you. Was it peaceful? Or was it lonely in a way that she didn't even recognize?
Qin Xue Ran watched him for a moment, her head still tilted, clearly still confused about what he wanted from her. She could see that he was frustrated, but she couldn't understand why. She had helped the girl, hadn't she? What more was there to do?
After a few seconds of trying to figure it out and failing, she gave up and returned her attention to her book.