Hidden Shadow – CH 198

Chapter One-Hundred-Ninety-Eight: Drink with Me

Just like back then, she witnessed her father forcing her mother to inject drugs, yet could only pretend not to know. Later, after her mother’s death, she faced the culprit daily, still having to call him “Father,” forcing a smile, secretly wishing he would pay a terrible price for her mother’s death, living in constant fear that she too would become his next test subject. That hatred, brewing for so long, transformed into a ferocious demon, and finally, one day, she could no longer endure it…

And the ferocity suppressed within Gu Jinghong was even more terrifying than hers had been back then.

Either erupt in silence or perish in silence—such an extreme; there was no other way.

This was one of the reasons she had always been unwilling to approach him.

Gu Jinghong noticed her, stopped what he was doing, looked down at her, and suddenly smiled at her, “I expected you would come sooner or later.”

His clear, gentle voice was not loud, yet it traveled lightly through the strong wind.

Gu Jinghong raised his hand, and a long rope swung out, pulling An Jiu onto the roof.

Standing on higher ground, the wind was even more biting; even with her face covered by a towel, An Jiu could feel the wind cutting like knives against her face.

“Want a drink?” Gu Jinghong handed her a jar.

An Jiu took it but did not drink. “I came here to ask about my mother. What will it take for you to tell me?”

Gu Jinghong took back the jar, tilted his head back, and took a sip. “Her Dragon Martial Guards is one of those secretly rebuilt units permitted by the Emperor; most people do not know about it. I was responsible for recruiting her; she passed the secret trials and is now nominally in the Divine Strategy Team.”

He lifted his mask, his eyes smiling. “If you have time, why not have a drink with me?”

The wind tousled his hair, plastering it to his face. An Jiu saw beneath the mask, there was no longer one! His skin, never exposed to sunlight, was as white as a night-blooming cereus, his facial features soft, with delicate eyebrows and phoenix eyes, exuding an indescribable majesty within his gentleness. This face… He was not as strikingly handsome as she’d imagined, but he was incredibly alluring, as if a single glance into those eyes, both clear and deep, would be enough to make one fall into a daze.

Gu Jinghong asked, “Want to try some?”

“No,” An Jiu said, staring intently at him. “Are you… going to kill someone important?”

Gu Jinghong paused, raising an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s a feeling,” An Jiu replied.

Someone as ruthless as Gu Jinghong should not experience emotional fluctuations, except perhaps because this target was someone he valued highly.

“Yes, to kill someone important.” Gu Jinghong slumped down.

They remained like that, one sitting, the other standing. Until night fell, Gu Jinghong said in a muffled voice, “You’ve got your answer; why not leave?”

“You took off your mask; were you trying to seduce me into drinking with you? If I leave, will you not feel devastated?” An Jiu asked seriously.

Gu Jinghong looked up at her, strands of his dark hair falling down his cheeks, his long, narrow eyes half-hidden, half-revealed. A smile gradually appeared on his lips. “You are quite interesting. But you’ve always been wary of me; why are you suddenly concerned about my feelings? Did I successfully seduce you?”

Gu Jinghong could read minds. But with An Jiu, he did not need mind-reading to see the truth in her words.

An Jiu paused, then said, “You still have not told me how to find my mother.”

“Why should I tell you?” Gu Jinghong said calmly.

“Fine, do not tell me then.” An Jiu turned and jumped off the roof.

As she landed, her waist suddenly tightened. An Jiu looked down and saw that Gu Jinghong’s rope had wrapped around her again. She drew her dagger and slashed fiercely.

The seemingly ordinary rope did not break. An Jiu rubbed it several times, finally seeing that it was half-broken.

Gu Jinghong approached the edge, holding a wine jar, looking down at her. “You’d better look down.”

An Jiu stopped, glancing down out of the corner of her eye. Cold sweat broke out on her back. Below, it had become a bottomless abyss! But in a flash, An Jiu saw through the illusion; the mirage gradually dissipated, revealing the thick snow beneath.

An Jiu swiftly cut the ropes completely, landing steadily on the snow-covered ground, and looked up at him.

In the swirling blizzard, Gu Jinghong laughed even more heartily, his tall figure standing like a sturdy pine in the storm, his handsome face bearing a smile tinged with melancholy, like a banished immortal or a demonic nightmare.

An Jiu wanted to leave, but her feet seemed rooted to the spot. If, when she was on the verge of collapse, someone had listened to her secrets, if someone had shown her the way, would she have avoided that path of no return?

“What happened to you?” she asked.

“Do not ask why, just have a drink with me, even if it’s…” Even in the next life, I, Gu Jinghong, would remember your kindness.

“Alright.” An Jiu held out her hand to him.

Gu Jinghong lowered the rope.

An Jiu grabbed it, using the momentum to leap onto the roof.

The two sat down, and Gu Jinghong picked up the cloak from the roof ridge and draped it over An Jiu’s head.

Her vision was obscured; she pulled it down slightly, revealing her face. Holding the wine jar, she hesitated for a moment, then only took a small sip.

Gu Jinghong took it and drank a large mouthful.

They drank silently, and soon the jar was empty.

A blush rose on Gu Jinghong’s fair cheeks, his eyes unfocused. An Jiu felt that when he looked at her with a smile, even the silent night was brightened.

“Gu Jinghong, you must come back alive,” An Jiu awkwardly comforted him. “Even if you feel despair now, as long as you are alive, one day you will realize that life is interesting.”

“I will not survive,” Gu Jinghong said with a bitter smile.

His lips, glistening with wine, were half-closed, his expression filled with confusion and repression. “I was born because someone needed me. I was born to fulfill someone’s needs. I was born a vessel.”

An Jiu’s eyes widened. “Even the Emperor…”

“Ha!” Gu Jinghong laughed. “If that were the case, do you think the current Emperor would still be alive today? My hands have never failed to take a life.”

If he spoke, she would listen, but she would not pry. An Jiu had her own principles on this; the more secrets someone else knew, the more dangerous it became.

“Not all vessels must be sacrificed that way.” Gu Jinghong finished the last drop of wine. “They want my life…”

An Jiu frowned. “Why did you not resist?”

“Of course, I resisted.” Gu Jinghong raised his hand, and the surrounding wind and snow seemed to freeze for a moment as he grasped at the air. “Those who want to take what’s mine will pay a price! They can take my life, but…”

Gu Jinghong sneered, “I will destroy what they value most.”

“You… have no other way?” An Jiu asked.

Gu Jinghong remained silent. He had been searching for other methods all these years, but they had all led to certain death. “I always thought that by becoming a useful person, I could survive. I’ve done countless missions for them over the years, but this is still the end.”