Chapter 47: A Spring Dawn

“Wouldn’t it be better if you all… died?”

…

Through the window, the wind gradually turned bitter cold.

Wang Yun’s face was ghastly pale and twisted.

That smile—so strange, so sick.

Blood slowly dripped from the rose’s thorns, and with it, a faint trace of something else leaked out.

—Wang Yun’s pheromones. Something was wrong.

Wang Yun seemed to have lost her sanity. The butter knife glided lazily in her hand, spinning and twirling in intricate patterns. She looked at Guan Qing and smiled.

Her gaze was anything but clear. It held a chilling, manic edge.

“You should have died long ago. You’ve lived far too many years.”

“What gives you the right… what right…”

She lowered her head, her hair covering her face, but at the corner of her lips, a faint, mocking smile could be seen.

The servants held Guan Qing firmly in the chair, while Wang Yun picked up the butter knife, stood, and walked toward him.

Her high heels clicked dully against the wooden floor.

Ye Anxian’s expression shifted.

“Stop—!”

The entire scene was bizarre and absurd. What appeared to be an elegant lunch had descended into savagery and violence. The two ‘guests’ at the table seemed more like ‘food’ than visitors.

Wang Yun looked down at Guan Qing and smiled slowly.

“Chris, look at you now…”

She raised the knife, the sharpest point aimed directly at Guan Qing’s throat.

Guan Qing met her eyes.

In that fleeting second, Wang Yun’s pupils dilated, her eyes bloodshot. Countless crazed emotions brewed within, waiting to erupt.

She gripped the knife with both hands, aimed at Guan Qing’s throat, and without hesitation—

The knife accelerated. One strike, and it would pierce straight through Guan Qing’s throat.

Guan Qing closed his eyes and said calmly,

“You’ve already lost.”

Wang Yun’s knife stopped just two centimeters from Guan Qing’s throat.

Her eyes wide with disbelief, she strained to push the blade another inch, but it was as if an invisible barrier blocked her, preventing even a single centimeter of progress.

“Impossible, impossible, impossible…”

She gritted her teeth, almost maddened, slashing wildly with both hands, yet not a single strike landed on Guan Qing.

She looked into Guan Qing’s eyes. Amidst her madness, a trace of fragility, disbelief, and fear leaked out.

“Does this scene feel familiar?”

Guan Qing stared back at her, unafraid.

“Because that’s exactly how you kidnapped Chris back then…”

“If I remember correctly.”

“You lost long ago. From a very distant past.”

Guan Qing had read the reports. Wang Yun’s strange behavior, the roses, and… Evolution.

Chris had been kidnapped, in a snowy foreign land, for three whole days.

The kidnapper was highly skilled. At the time, Xie Qing had nearly gone mad, using every resource at his disposal, but found nothing. The kidnapper didn’t want money, and after the abduction, there was no contact with Chris’s family at all.

‘Prepare yourself for the worst.’ —That was what the police said.

The worst fear in a kidnapping was vengeance. Because the kidnappers had no scruples, no demands… Their only goal was to take the victim’s life.

Yet three days later, Chris was found completely unscathed.

At most, he had fainted from hunger after not eating for so long, but there were no visible wounds.

“You can’t hurt him, can you? Just like you can’t hurt me.”

“You’ve already lost.”

—“I haven’t!”

Wang Yun’s voice was hoarse as she cut him off. She swept the tableware off the table with a violent motion, breathing heavily. Just as Guan Qing thought she would completely lose her mind, she braced herself against the table and momentarily regained her composure.

A winter rain began to fall without warning.

The sound of rain against the window grew louder, distorting Wang Yun’s voice into something strange and unreal.

She said to the servants, “You two, come here. I don’t care what methods you use. Within one hour, I don’t want to see these two alive.”

After all, what Wang Yun intended to do was hardly honorable. She had kept only four servants indoors.

The two servants exchanged glances, hesitated, then one let go.

They picked up ropes and approached Guan Qing and Ye Anxian.

Wang Yun frowned and signaled the servants to gag them.

“Excuse me…”

The voice was polite, deep and rich, with a natural hint of laughter.

Wang Yun’s expression shifted.

Within her madness, there was a trace of hatred and resentment. She opened her mouth—

Guan Qing burst into action.

He broke free from the servant’s grip and escaped the chair.

Wang Yun snapped back, sneering, “How naive.”

She raised her hand, but—

The rose’s thorns pierced Guan Qing’s hand, and his eyes, as he murmured something softly.

Wang Yun’s eyes suddenly lost their luster.

Guan Qing’s face turned pale. He frowned deeply, as if enduring immense pain.

Wang Yun whispered, “No…”

At the same moment, the door burst open.

Guan Qing’s vision blurred.

His mind was a whirlwind, filled with countless emotions—hatred, madness—assaulting his brain.

He couldn’t hold on any longer.

This thing, which existed only in theory, he had never practiced, but…

“There’s no other way.”

He closed his eyes and managed a weak smile.

He felt as if he had fallen into a warm embrace. Someone held him gently, kissed the top of his head, sobbed softly, and whispered,

“It’s over. Everything is over.”

“You did well.”

“I… I’m proud of you.”

.

When Guan Qing was discharged from the hospital, Prague was blessed with clear skies.

Two nights earlier, a heavy snow had fallen, blanketing the world in pure white. The low houses, their eaves covered in snow, looked like a peaceful town from a fairy tale, isolated from the world.

But that morning, without warning, the weather turned fair.

The snow that had lingered for so long began to melt, turning into droplets that meandered down the windows, blurring the boundary between inside and outside.

“Qingqing, have some porridge. Your Uncle Chris made it.”

Xie Qing sat by Guan Qing’s bed, legs crossed in a casual pose.

Nearby, Chris was discussing some aftercare instructions with a nurse, while Ye Anxian handled the discharge procedures outside.

Xie Xu had rushed off yesterday afternoon due to some film matters, leaving Xie Qing to take care of him. After sending him off that day, Xie Qing hadn’t returned to the US. Instead, he and Chris had come here for a vacation—at least on the surface.

In reality, how long Xie Xu and Xie Qing had been planning for this, Guan Qing had no idea.

Now, Wang Yun was mired in multiple scandals—use of banned substances, accounting fraud, and more. She herself was still lying in the hospital, and the stock price of the Xie Corporation, which she controlled, had plummeted to rock bottom.

And the main evidence of her drug use… came from Guan Qing’s acquisition of Wang Yun’s blood sample.

At the time, Guan Qing had only speculated. Wang Yun’s behavior closely resembled certain cases he had come across while researching. An abnormal aversion to certain things, mental instability, dilated pupils…

These were the results of using drugs to forcibly promote ‘Evolution.’

And people who entered Wang Yun’s state were highly susceptible to psychological suggestion. But Guan Qing was, after all, a beta. Using his own mind to forcibly control Wang Yun’s had taken a severe toll on him as well.

That was why he had fainted and been hospitalized until now.

In truth, Wang Yun had suffered from psychological issues since childhood, problems that had never been resolved and only worsened over time. After falling for Xie Qing, she did many incomprehensible things, and her mental state deteriorated further. For years, she had relied on drugs to maintain her sanity.

For example, her ‘invitation’ to Ye Anxian to her estate was really just an excuse to find someone to torment, even torture and kill. In that situation, Ye Anxian had no way to refuse.

Under those circumstances, Ye Anxian was constantly under surveillance. Pretending not to know Guan Qing was the best solution she could think of.

As for the accounting fraud and other issues, Xie Qing and Xie Xu had been orchestrating them for a long time. After all, Xie Corporation was a towering tree; uprooting it was no easy feat. During this, Xie Qing’s company had been threatened, even facing bankruptcy… But now, with Wang Yun struggling to save herself, the pressure Xie Qing faced in his career should ease.

Everything was over.

Though some matters remained unresolved, some things left unsaid, it was true… the dawn had broken.

This chaotic, painful, yet joyful year had quietly come to an end.

Like the clear skies over Prague, like the impossibly blue and pure sky in that clear weather. Everything was over, but so many more things were about to begin.

Guan Qing slept well on the plane.

When he woke, the helicopter door was open, but the cabin was empty. Guan Qing pushed off the blanket covering him, feeling quite confused.

He fumbled his way out of the helicopter and found himself in an open area. It was night, and he was wrapped in warm enough clothes that he didn’t feel cold, though movement was somewhat restricted.

A few steps ahead, a path stretched out, lined with small nightlights on both sides. Fluorescent arrow markers were affixed to the ground.

A small sign stood nearby. Leaning in, he saw it read ‘Follow this path.’

Along the way, such small signs appeared from time to time.

Some had simple drawings of a heart, or messages like ‘Do you like boys? Shall we adopt one?’ or ‘Want to go see the Northern Lights together?’

A few had photos attached.

Most of the photos were of Guan Qing, and even Guan Qing himself didn’t remember when he had been photographed like that. Sleeping, reading, cooking…

Just looking at these photos, he could feel the photographer’s overwhelming love. In that lens, Guan Qing was the world’s darling. All the light, all the colors existed for him; all gazes clustered around him; all love enveloped him.

Until the end of the path.

Guan Qing looked up and realized he had unknowingly walked into an amusement park. The night-time park was quiet and empty, except for the Ferris wheel spinning silently. Music drifted from somewhere, flowing softly.

“Until I looked at you in the crowd, I realized I had never truly… seen the sunlight.”

That was Xie Xu’s voice—a song he had once sung to Guan Qing.

In the gentle night, it tenderly wrapped around Guan Qing’s hearing. Even in a deserted amusement park, he didn’t feel lonely.

But still…

He missed Xie Xu. So much.

Guan Qing walked forward, then suddenly felt something under his foot. He paused, looked down, and found—

A ring box.

Guan Qing: “…”

He found it both funny and exasperating. He crouched down and opened the ring box, only to find a piece of candy inside.

The lights in the entire amusement park went out.

Guan Qing panicked for a moment. Before his vision could adjust, the world plunged into darkness. Then, a second later, two beams of light switched on. One shone on him, and the other…

A figure sat astride a carousel horse.

He was wearing a suit, incredibly handsome. Even on a carousel ride, he truly looked like a prince. He dismounted and walked toward Guan Qing.

His gaze was tender and solemn.

Guan Qing heard his own ears ringing faintly, his blood rushing faster. He had a very strong premonition—

Xie Xu stopped in front of him and took out a ring box.

Guan Qing noticed then that Xie Xu was terribly nervous. He was trembling all over. A man so eloquent, yet at this moment, he could only struggle to steady his breath. With trembling hands, he opened the ring box, closed his eyes, then opened them, looking at Guan Qing.

“I love you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. In the dim light, his eyes were actually red. He choked up and said,

“Guan Qing, will you… marry me?”

Above them, the winter sky was filled with countless stars. The coldest part of winter had passed, and the damp wind carried a hint of early spring warmth.

Everything was as beautiful as a dream.

“…Yes.”

Guan Qing heard his own voice, sounding a little unfamiliar. Perhaps his ears were ringing too much; nothing felt quite real.

But when Xie Xu kissed him, his heart, which had been floating in the air, slowly settled into place.

—This was Xie Xu.

The flustered, the not-quite-mature, the childish, the handsome… the one he loved.

The new year would soon arrive.

There might be more things to face, more troubles to handle—about life, about marriage, about love. But…

This was everything belonging to him and Xie Xu. Whether it was the mundane daily grind or romantic moonlit nights.

He was willing to hold Xie Xu’s hand, step by step, savoring each moment. He wasn’t afraid.

The first light of dawn broke through. The ice and snow melted bit by bit.

—Spring was coming.

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