NASAY CH 71

Xue Jian’s body went limp as he collapsed back onto the ground, utterly drained. He could no longer muster even a single breath, as if he had lost all support. Lying there lifelessly, he suddenly burst into laughter—bitter, resentful, and bordering on madness.

Because he was Xue Jian.

“Hahahahaha… Because my name is Xue Jian, you won’t love me, not even a little. Huo Xingzhou, you’re truly ruthless.”

Huo Xingzhou seemed to think of something. Suddenly, he smiled, his expression gentle in the cold moonlight, as if cradling a soft spring breeze.

For a brief moment, Xue Jian was mesmerized.

But the moment Huo Xingzhou opened his mouth, his words sent Xue Jian plummeting into an icy abyss, so cold that even his nerves felt like they would shatter at the slightest movement.

Huo Xingzhou said:

“Luo Xing… he’s like a gift from the heavens to me. Whether it’s one year, ten years, or fifty years, I will love him until my last breath.”

“If he kisses me once, looks at me just once, I’d be willing to die.”

Xue Jian nearly lost his mind.

Hearing those words spoken so gently was like being slowly tortured to death. The pain was unbearable. He whimpered in agony, his voice breaking—”Shut up! Shut up!”

Huo Xingzhou had never been the type to show mercy. He watched Xue Jian’s suffering coldly and tormented him even further.

“Whenever he cries, I feel like I must have left some thorn in him, something that hurts him. I can’t stand it.”

Xue Jian’s head buzzed, his mind going blank. He let out an inhuman scream, clawing desperately at the dirt, like a caged beast on the brink of death. In a frenzy, he stuffed handfuls of mud into his ears.

Huo Xingzhou quietly watched his deranged state. He moved his lips slightly, his voice drifting far and clear in the night:

“Among students, the worst schemes usually involve cheating, instigating fights, or spreading rumors.”

“Xue Jian, why are you so vicious?”

Xue Jian could no longer bear to listen. He kept shoving mud into his ears, muttering to himself like a madman—”Stop talking… stop talking…”

Huo Xingzhou tilted his head up, gazing at the moon. The cool moonlight cast a pale glow over his face, adding a hint of cold detachment.

“I found the people who hurt Min Yao back then.”

“They admitted it was you who paid them. You ordered them to assault her.”

“She didn’t report it in time, so there was no evidence left. The bar was demolished years ago. But at the time… someone accidentally recorded it.”

Xue Jian’s fingers froze.

The moonlight illuminated his ghastly pale face. His bloodshot eyes looked terrifying as he lunged forward, gripping Huo Xingzhou’s ankle, his voice hoarse—”What did you just say?!”

“For the rest of your life, you can repent in prison.”

“No! You can’t do this to me! Huo Xingzhou… I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me! You’re framing me!”

Xue Jian’s furious screams echoed behind him, but Huo Xingzhou didn’t respond.

Like always, he refused to spare Xue Jian even a glance, leaving without hesitation.

Lu Qinghe cast a single cold look at Xue Jian before following suit.

Li Lefan had only met Huo Xingzhou in high school and wasn’t particularly close to Xue Jian. He had come simply to stop the fight.

But what he witnessed was not Huo Xingzhou physically beating Xue Jian to death—no, it was something far crueler.

Huo Xingzhou had shattered every last piece of hope Xue Jian had clung to, crushed every feeble expectation he held in his heart.

Compared to killing him, breaking his soul was far more agonizing.

Li Lefan didn’t think Huo Xingzhou was ruthless.

He just found it incredibly satisfying.

If he could see Xue Jian sentenced and locked away, that would be even better.

This whole thing was like a joke.

Xue Jian had believed he mattered to Huo Xingzhou, that his hatred meant there were still lingering emotions.

If he hated me, that must mean he has feelings for me… right?

So deep down, Xue Jian had still held onto hope.

But he was wrong.

The opposite of love wasn’t hate.

It was just pure, absolute hatred.

In Huo Xingzhou’s eyes, Xue Jian was nothing but a joke.

He treasured Luo Xing so carefully, but when it came to Xue Jian, he crushed every last glimmer of hope without hesitation.

Not even a shred left.

Xue Jian collapsed onto the ground, unable to hold back his sobs anymore.

His face was a mess of mud and tears, completely stripped of the proud, brilliant image of the school genius who had transferred in from City No. 1 High School.

Li Lefan withdrew his gaze, his chest still tight with unresolved anger.

Catching up to Huo Xingzhou, he muttered under his breath—”Damn… that was brilliant.”

“When did you find the evidence?” Lu Qinghe asked.

Huo Xingzhou replied,
“A few days ago. After you told me he liked me, I felt something was off, so I asked Uncle Shang to investigate. He took me to follow up on a lead today, and we happened to stumble upon it.”

Lu Qinghe still didn’t quite understand.

Huo Xingzhou explained,
“That area was chaotic back then. People would often mess around in the alley behind the bar. A voyeur happened to record that moment. He was recently arrested for illegal content, and when they searched his home, they found the tape.”

The net of justice may be vast, but it never lets anyone escape.

Lu Qinghe fell silent.

Back then, no one had expected this.

They had thought Xue Jian was just playing a cruel joke on Min Yao.

Even Min Yao herself hadn’t known the truth.

And yet, five years later—it had all come to light.

---

Huo Xingzhou lay lifeless in a pool of blood.

The overwhelming stench of iron filled the air, suffocating, nauseating.

Luo Xing couldn’t see anything.

The extreme silence in his ears made his heart race in panic.

“Huo Xing…”

He stepped forward and gently touched the person lying on the ground with his fingers. The moment his fingertips made contact, it was as if he was instantly pulled into an icy abyss.

That scene froze every inch of his skin and nerves. Helpless, he crouched down, the surrounding darkness nearly swallowing him whole. He broke into a desperate, wailing cry, like the mournful lament of a wounded beast.

“No… don’t!”

Luo Xing suddenly jolted awake, sitting up in bed, drenched in cold sweat, panting heavily. The room was pitch black, and in that instant, panic set in.

He threw off the covers, intending to get out of bed, but nearly fell from the top bunk. A hand grabbed him just in time and pulled him back.

“Had a nightmare?”

Huo Xingzhou touched his face, feeling the damp sweat on his palm, startled. He hurriedly turned on his phone’s flashlight.

Luo Xing’s face was deathly pale, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead and nose. His lips trembled uncontrollably.

“Don’t be scared, I’m here.”

Huo Xingzhou lifted his hand to wipe away Luo Xing’s cold sweat, his voice low and soothing.
“It’s okay. Tell me what you dreamed about.”

Luo Xing hadn’t fully recovered, his chest heaving violently. In his panic, he threw himself into Huo Xingzhou’s arms, his voice barely above a whisper, trembling like a plea,
“I dreamed… I dreamed of you…”

Huo Xingzhou patted his back, pulling him into an embrace. “It’s fine. It was just a dream. See? I’m right here. Don’t scare yourself.”

Surrounded by Huo Xingzhou’s familiar scent and warmth, Luo Xing slowly calmed down, giving a small nod.

“Dawn is almost here. Sleep a little more. I’ll wake you up for class in the morning.”

Huo Xingzhou held him close. The top bunk was small, making it difficult for two people to sleep together. But after returning last night and hearing from Feng Jia that Luo Xing had been having nightmares, he had climbed up to sleep beside him, just in case.

He let out a breath of relief. Good thing he had come up—otherwise, Luo Xing would have fallen just now.

Huo Xingzhou had been scared out of his wits by Luo Xing’s reaction. He cursed himself silently a million times—he should’ve never left his side.

Feng Jia wasn’t heartless. When Huo Xingzhou returned, he hadn’t dared to close his eyes. He had been forcing himself to stay awake, biting his tongue to stay alert, watching over Luo Xing in case anything happened.

Now that the initial drowsiness had passed, he found himself unable to sleep at all. He heard Huo Xingzhou sigh and, after struggling with his words for a while, finally asked,
“Zhou-ge, is the matter with Xue Jian settled?”

“Yeah.”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t realize that Luo Xing had already fallen asleep. He kept his voice as low as possible.
“The video evidence is confirmed. If nothing unexpected happens, someone from the authorities will be at the school in a few hours.”

Feng Jia lay in bed, staring at the faint moonlight streaming through the window. He spoke in a daze,
“Xue Jian… What was he thinking?”

What was he thinking?

Huo Xingzhou let out a quiet breath.
“If you could understand what he was thinking, you’d probably be locked up too. If you really want to know, I’d suggest asking Ye Qiaoqiao’s dad.”

The mention of Ye Ren made Feng Jia shudder.
“No, no way. The way he looks at me makes me feel like I’m being stripped bare. I’d rather not know.”

Huo Xingzhou hummed in response and said nothing more.

Feng Jia couldn’t sleep. His mind was a mess, burning with frustration, making him restless. He wanted to talk to someone.

“Zhou-ge, are you really planning to go to university? Will we not see each other after that?”

Huo Xingzhou paused, then chuckled.
“With how convenient travel is nowadays, why wouldn’t we see each other? Or do you think we’ll stop being friends after graduation?”

“That’s not it.”

Feng Jia felt frustrated, like something was stuck in his chest. He had so many things to say but didn’t know how to put them into words. It was suffocating.

“Then… will you and Luo Xing always be together?”

“We will.”

Feng Jia responded with a soft “Oh” before adding,
“Oh, right. I heard my mom say yesterday that my grandmother attended… Luo Xing’s grandmother’s funeral during winter break. You probably didn’t know. And apparently, his grandfather—”

Huo Xingzhou glanced at the peacefully sleeping Luo Xing in his arms and lowered his voice. “I know. The day winter break started, you ran into Zhao Jiulan. She was probably looking for Luo Xing to talk about this, but in the end, she didn’t mention it. My guess is she didn’t have the face to bring it up.”

“Huh?”

Feng Jia didn’t know the full story and was instantly confused.

Huo Xingzhou continued,
“I ran into Luo Xing’s grandfather at the school gate today. He wanted to see him—just a glance from afar. But actually, I could tell—what he really wanted was to hear Luo Xing call him ‘Grandpa’ at least once.”

“Did you agree?” Feng Jia asked.

“I didn’t. I can’t make any decisions for him. I was planning to ask him when I got back, but with everything that happened, it was put on hold. Maybe in a few days.”
Huo Xingzhou lifted his eyes to the sky, where the first light of dawn had begun to emerge—soft hues of pale white and gentle orange.

The light was tender, like a carefully painted oil painting, yet also like a flame tearing through the darkness, burning with infinite hope and brilliance.

Ultimately, no matter how you looked at it, that old man was both a stranger and a relative to Luo Xing. What Zhao Jiulan had done, at its core, had nothing to do with him.

The world was filled with tangled and unresolved matters, and who could truly distinguish right from wrong? If there were a way to neatly divide all things into black and white, everything would be much simpler.

“Sigh.”
Feng Jia let out a sigh of uncertain meaning. He didn’t even know why he sighed, so he sighed again.

“I read a phrase in a book once: ‘When a person dies, their light goes out, and all is erased.’ But if someone has done evil, how can it just be erased? Their light may be out, but the lights of others are still burning. The pain continues. How does that make sense?”

Huo Xingzhou wasn’t interested in discussing such deep topics—it felt pointless. He chuckled and changed the subject.
“Oh? You actually read books? I’m impressed, truly.”

“Why can’t I read books? Stop underestimating me! I went through senior year too, okay? Even my uncle never finished high school!”
Feng Jia protested.

Huo Xingzhou was stunned by this self-inflicted damage. “You’re throwing your own uncle under the bus? Does he know?”

Feng Jia shrugged.
“Of course he does. It’s not a secret. He dropped out at fifteen to play video games. He was the youngest champion in PUBG history. If you bring it up, he’ll brag for three days straight.”

Huo Xingzhou: …

After a long silence, Huo Xingzhou asked,
“What time is it?”

Feng Jia checked. “Six o’clock.”

Huo Xingzhou tried to move his arm but immediately sucked in a sharp breath. Feng Jia asked what was wrong, and he furrowed his brows slightly before replying,
“My arm’s numb from being pressed down.”

Feng Jia: Damn this couple and their public displays of affection.

“Luo Xing, wake up.”
Huo Xingzhou reached out and patted Luo Xing’s shoulder, slowly shaking out his numb arm.

Luo Xing frowned slightly and woke up. Before opening his eyes, he yawned. Huo Xingzhou couldn’t hold back his laughter and pinched the tip of his nose, making him wake up instantly.

“Morning.”
Luo Xing was only dazed for a second before snapping awake. He instinctively moved back but was pulled back by Huo Xingzhou.
“Be careful, or you’ll fall and hit your head.”

Luo Xing finally remembered they were in the top bunk and gulped nervously. Then he realized they were in the dorm.

Which meant—Feng Jia!

He turned his head and found Feng Jia already up. Their eyes met, and an awkward tension instantly filled the air.

“…” Luo Xing turned back around, looking like he wanted to die.
“Why are you in my bed?”

Huo Xingzhou raised an eyebrow but didn’t mention that he had stayed because he was worried. Seeing that Luo Xing seemed to have forgotten his nightmare, he coughed and mouthed the words:
“Last night, I wanted to leave, but you held onto my hand, called me ‘husband’ and wouldn’t let me go…”

Luo Xing froze in horror. “N-no way, I—”

“You did,” Huo Xingzhou insisted, smirking.
“You said it so sweetly too. I just didn’t hear enough. Say it again—call me ‘husband.'”

Luo Xing was mortified, his face burning. He tried to pull away, but Huo Xingzhou grabbed a shirt from the bed railing and helped him put it on.
“Hurry up and get dressed.”

Living together at Huo’s house was one thing, but sleeping in the same bed at school, right in front of Feng Jia—it was just… just…

Seeing Luo Xing’s face turn red with embarrassment, Huo Xingzhou felt even more like teasing him. He leaned in and whispered,
“If you can’t say it, I’ll say it for you. Then you just respond with ‘yes’—how about that?”

“What?”
Luo Xing blinked in confusion and looked at his lips, then read out the words.

“‘Husband, give me a good morning kiss, okay?'”

Luo Xing’s eyes widened in shock.

Huo Xingzhou gently scratched the palm of his hand, refusing to let him escape. Luo Xing anxiously glanced at the bathroom door, took a deep breath, then quickly leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“What kind of half-hearted morning kiss is that? Do it properly.”
Before Luo Xing could react, Huo Xingzhou pulled him down into a real kiss.

His tongue swept past Luo Xing’s lips before retreating, then returned to his lips.

Luo Xing panicked and struggled, worried that Feng Jia might come out of the bathroom at any second. His face was bright red, and he even forgot to breathe properly.

Huo Xingzhou blew a small breath into his mouth. Luo Xing tensed up so hard that he let out a tiny noise, like a little wolf pup. Both of them froze.

“Pfft—hahaha!”
Huo Xingzhou was the first to react, laughing until his shoulders shook. Luo Xing was stunned for a few seconds before pushing him into the corner of the bed, then quickly climbing down.

Just as he landed, Feng Jia walked out of the bathroom. He glanced at Luo Xing, who looked completely flustered, then at the still-smirking Huo Xingzhou on the bed. He gave an honest evaluation: “You’re shameless.”

Huo Xingzhou coughed and got out of bed, clearly in a good mood as he walked to the wardrobe to get dressed.

—

Huo Xingzhou’s guess was spot-on. After the second class of the day, the police arrived for Xue Jian.

The campus was abuzz with gossip. Many students stretched their necks out from the hallways, eager to watch the drama unfold. If they could, they’d probably grow giraffe-like necks just to get a better view.

Huo Xingzhou and his friends didn’t bother watching. They had expected this. However, a WeChat message from Lu Qinghe caught his attention.

Shang Qingming had personally led the arrest.

Even for a homicide case, unless it was a serial crime, it wouldn’t typically alarm the municipal bureau. So why had Shang Qingming shown up for an old sexual assault case? Did Xue Jian have more crimes hidden?

Business as usual, Shang Qingming walked past Class 9’s door without even glancing at his daughter.

Zhang Chenlan clutched her face and squealed quietly,
“Ahhh, Qiaoqiao, your dad is so handsome no matter how many times I see him!”

Ye Qiaoqiao smiled faintly. “He’s alright…”

Then, her gaze fell on Xue Jian, who was walking behind the officers. His wrists were bound together, covered with a coat to conceal the handcuffs—it wouldn’t be good to openly arrest someone in a school and cause a scene.

Even though Luo Xing couldn’t hear the murmurs, he could sense the sudden stir in the classroom. When he turned his head, his eyes met Xue Jian’s.

There was hatred and despair in Xue Jian’s eyes, as if a floodgate had burst open, surging violently.

Luo Xing tugged at Huo Xingzhou’s sleeve and softly asked,
“What happened to him?”

Huo Xingzhou mouthed,
“Min Yao’s case.”

Luo Xing was stunned.
“Min Yao’s case… You mean they found the evidence? But weren’t there no witnesses? How…?”

“Maybe justice finds its own way,”
Huo Xingzhou sighed. “Someone had a video of what happened. Xue Jian orchestrated everything—”
He couldn’t bring himself to say the words, his voice heavy with emotion. He sighed again and moved on.
“And the one who used my phone to lure you to the exhibition hall and attacked you—that was Xue Jian too.”

Luo Xing was speechless, trying to process the revelation. After a moment, he asked, “How…?”

“What?”

Luo Xing bit his lip.
“Remember when I told you… I told Xue Jian that you were mine?”

Huo Xingzhou raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Why?”

“That’s when he first tried to have me attacked. But back then, he didn’t really mean to hurt me—just scare me off. He hired someone named Zheng Ge.”

Zheng Ge.

Zhang Zheng?

Huo Xingzhou closed his eyes briefly. He never expected Zhang Zheng and Xue Jian to be connected.