Chapter 223: Don't Look Back

When returning from the amusement park, Ling Wu received a call from the high-end couture shop, saying there was a last-minute issue with the gemstones inlaid on the wedding attire and asking Ling Wu to come by to pick out a replacement.

The design sketches for the attire had been chosen by him and Yu Shixue together; that high-end couture shop had an excellent reputation, with exquisite tailoring techniques and unique insights into fashion, and was only open to nobles—how could such a blunder occur at the last minute?

Ling Wu: "I'll be there right away."

The Jin Family's car stopped in front of the couture shop; as soon as he stepped out, the staff who had been waiting at the entrance greeted him with smiles, bowing and apologizing incessantly.

Ling Wu said nothing and followed them into the Rest Room.

The designer asked an assistant to bring the attire over and said, "Please wait a moment."

Ling Wu nodded: "Okay."

Whether it was the final tailoring effect or what gemstones were used for that attire, he felt it didn't matter; as long as it was wearable, that was fine.

The air conditioning in the room was at a very comfortable temperature, and the staff brought Ling Wu a blanket; after he drank two sips of hot tea, he felt very relaxed and comfortable, and for the first time in ages, a bit of sleepiness crept in. Just as his eyelids grew heavier, a pair of spotless leather shoes appeared on the floor in front of him.

Then he looked up and met those eyes of Jing Du.

Jing Du called his name: "Ling Wu."

The sleepiness vanished instantly, and Ling Wu was puzzled: "Why are you here?"

Seeing his wariness, Jing Du sat down on the opposite sofa and gestured casually: "The founder of this high-end couture shop is my grandmother; it has been open in Beidu City for many years, it's just that very few people in the circle know about it."

"I am also quite surprised that you would choose this shop."

Ling Wu tugged at the blanket on his body and said: "Oh."

"What a coincidence."

Jing Du was wearing a dark charcoal-grey handmade custom suit that blended well with the bleakness of winter in Beidu City, his whole body exuding a coldness that kept strangers at a distance. He wore a pristine white shirt underneath, paired with a tie in the same color family; the diamond on the tie clip refracted brilliant light under the lamps, and a sense of simple luxury rushed toward him.

It was as formal as if he were attending a gala.

Jing Du asked pointedly: "Where is Shixue? Why isn't he accompanying you?"

"You're getting married soon; he shouldn't still be acting as willfully as he did before."

Ling Wu heard a bad omen in his words; if it weren't for the fact that Jing Du was usually dull and arrogant, it would really give people the illusion that he was maliciously snitching.

"What are you trying to say?"

Jing Du skillfully shifted the topic, looking at the cup of tea on the table: "This year's new tea has a sweet aftertaste and is worth savoring; if you like it, I can have someone send a few boxes of tea leaves to the Jin Family."

"Oh, almost forgot, you might be living in the Yu Family with Shixue in the future..."

Since things had reached this point, Ling Wu would be a fool not to understand; he had no time to waste here with Jing Du: "I don't understand tea, so such a good thing would be a waste on me; Young Master Jing had better keep it for yourself."

"What about my attire? That assistant has been gone for a long time."

"Oh." Jing Du's voice was languid, as if he had just remembered: "Forgot to tell you, there is no problem with your attire; it was an excuse I had them make to trick you into coming over."

He said it with such self-righteousness.

To be able to say "trick" without any sense of guilt.

【So it was you causing trouble behind the scenes!】

【Jing Du, you are so calculating.】

【You really went to great lengths just to see the second male lead.】

【If you knew it would come to this, why act that way in the beginning?】

【Letting you put on airs—in the end, you lost face and lost your wife, playing a good hand into a complete mess. If you hadn't mocked and belittled that love letter back then, wouldn't there have been fewer problems?】

【Honestly, I still quite ship Jing Du and Ling Wu...】

【Bro, you have no chance; tomorrow our Ling Wu and Yu Shixue are getting married. Although I don't think much of them either, the boat has sailed and it's irreversible.】

Ling Wu was completely speechless; he didn't want to engage with this person, so he threw off the blanket and prepared to leave.

"It's really difficult to create an opportunity to be alone with you," Jing Du said with regret: "If I had told you from the start that I was tricking you, you probably wouldn't even have been willing to spare me the time to sit here and drink a cup of tea."

Spare?

What a humble choice of words.

Ling Wu would never think that Jing Du had such deep feelings for him.

He pulled on the door and found it locked from the outside, so he looked at Jing Du, who was sitting motionless on the sofa: "Open the door for me."

Jing Du patted the spot beside him: "Ling Wu, let's have a good talk; I won't do anything to you."

"What do you want to talk about?"

Jing Du got straight to the point: "Why choose Yu Shixue?"

"What did he promise you?"

Ling Wu: "Why is it what he promised me, rather than me being willing?"

"Willing?" Jing Du curled his lips mockingly: "Ling Wu, this Rest Room has surveillance; from the moment you entered, you haven't cared about the situation with that attire, and your whole demeanor is written with an attitude of 'whatever' and 'it doesn't matter.' Do you look like someone who is willing?"

"It's exactly the same as the impatient look I had when I was a child and had to complete a task even though I didn't want to."

Jing Du lowered his voice and said by his ear: "We are the ones who are on the same path."

"Regardless of whether we are on the same path or not," Ling Wu interrogated: "Do you think that the day before a wedding, kidnapping your own brother's fiancé and locking him up here to meet is something a well-bred noble would do?"

Jing Du pondered for a moment, his expression struggling and conflicted, then said: "Ling Wu, I don't have to be his brother."

Ling Wu: "........."

"I have deeply analyzed your behavior over the past few days and reached a conclusion." Jing Du pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his tone very puzzled: "Are you trying to take revenge on the nobles?"

"Why?"

Among those killed by Ling Wu, they were of different ages, different heights, and different experiences; the only thing they had in common was that they all came from prominent noble families.

Moreover, Ling Wu's departure from Beidu City back then was already suspicious; when Jing Du thought about it carefully, every event seemed to be connected by a hidden thread.

And that thread was the true reason for Ling Wu's killings.

Jing Du: "By the way, there is one more thing."

"On the day of Yin Cilan's car accident, you and Shixue were both at Zhuli Pavilion, but the corridor lost power, and the private room was lit with candles; this place really gathered the right time, the right place, and the right people."

"It wouldn't be difficult for the renowned Magician to use this point to commit murder, and Yu Shixue's heart and eyes are entirely filled with you, yet in the dark, he was used by you twice; he was present in both alibis."

Jing Du pondered for a moment: "It doesn't really count as twice, after all, the second time you used me, he was just the one who insisted on clinging on, the one who came as a bonus."

Ling Wu was very relaxed and did not feel nervous: "Are you acting out a suspense mystery with me?"

"It's clear that you, Jing Du, are very curious about me."

"I heard you tell me about your childhood before." Ling Wu leaned back, resting his head on the sofa, and tilted his head to look at him: "Although your tone was well-embellished, one can still hear some emotional things. Why, did you already treat me as an imaginary enemy back then, wanting to defeat me?"

"So that's why when you received the love letter later, you were so angry, so disgusted, and even desperate, right?"

"Because you felt that the person from your childhood was clearly very lousy and useless, yet how could they manage to crush you in every aspect? This strong sense of contrast lasted until the day the test results came out."

Ling Wu analyzed his emotions and thoughts: "When you saw my name appear in first place, your mood must have been very complicated."

"Invisibly, it gave your childhood self a bit of comfort—losing to such a person is nothing."

Jing Du agreed: "You are quite right."

"I do indeed have such thoughts."

Ling Wu smiled: "Then it seems that I really have left a very heavy and colorful mark on the trajectory of your life, causing you to still hold a grudge against me after so many years."

"It's no wonder you like me."

【Ding! Jing Du's current favorability is 96!】

Jing Du: "Can I interpret this as you taking revenge on me?"

"What?" Ling Wu said.

Jing Du made his point clear: "Because I analyzed your crime process earlier, you are now deliberately analyzing my psychological journey."

"But the topic has drifted."

Only the voices of the two people echoed inside the Rest Room.

Jing Du's voice sounded: "Ling Wu, what do you want to gain by making such an abnormal move this time? Or are you trying to use Yu Shixue to achieve some goal, deliberately choosing the important time point of the wedding to gather everyone together?"

"No matter what it is, I only have one purpose for tricking you here today: don't do that. The consequences are definitely something you cannot bear; you cannot hide it from everyone's eyes."

"Even if I help you then, you will still face the risk of being exposed at any time, and those things from the past will be dug up along with it."

Jing Du placed his hand on Ling Wu's shoulder, his eyes hidden beneath the cold lenses burning with unprecedented heat and sincerity: "Ling Wu, as you can see, I have fallen in love with you. Turn back, I will cover for you."

"Don't take risks anymore."

"........ If you get caught, you will die."

His heart felt as if it had been fiercely stirred up, never to find peace again; Jing Du was destined to sacrifice certain things for liking Ling Wu, and he was willing to do so.

Liking can be indifferent, but love requires paying a price.

He had done some scoundrel things, but Jing Du could not sit idly by and watch Ling Wu challenge the Empire's noble class alone and risk his own safety.

"Ling Wu, don't do risky things. Cancel the wedding with Yu Shixue. If you still want to kill someone, I can make it convenient for you, I can cover for you. I will block the mouths of the masses in Beidu City for you. It is still not too late to turn back now."

Jing Du had never felt so physically and mentally exhausted.

He understood the stubbornness of the person in front of him.

Ling Wu patted Jing Du's shoulder: "Jing Du, thank you for your good intentions."

Jing Du's fragile appearance, as he dug out his true heart and carefully held it in front of Ling Wu, was pitiful. He sighed; perhaps everyone in the world who cannot get the love they seek is the same, regardless of power or status.

"The arrow is on the bowstring; I have never thought of turning back."

Ling Wu's brows and eyes drooped, his appearance serene and pure. His thin body, like a vessel, contained endless power, and at this moment, he was determined to walk this path to the end: "I will not give up, I will not regret, I will not admit fault. I do not need understanding, and even less do I need anyone's sympathy."