Chapter 72: Don’t Leave

"Find him! I’ll deal with him myself!" Ye Xuan said viciously.

This time, he absolutely would not leave Yang Jie any way out.

"Cyan Dragon Chief! You can’t!"

Just as White Snake acknowledged the order and was about to leave, Yang Zhennan, who should have been resting in the hospital, suddenly appeared. He was trembling and unsteady on his feet, his posture noticeably hunched. Walking in such a hurry, he nearly tripped.

"Dad, slow down! Watch your step!" Yang Tao, who was supporting him, wore a worried expression. Behind them, Yang Kui’s face was livid, his eyes carrying a trace of resentment as he glared at Ye Xuan.

"Yang Zhennan, I’ve already let him off once. This time, Yang Jie must die!" Ye Xuan glanced at Yang Zhennan, speaking with absolute finality to cut off any chance of pleading.

"Cyan Dragon Chief, I, Yang Zhennan, am kowtowing to you right here. I beg you, please give Jie one more chance!" With that, Yang Zhennan dropped straight to his knees and knocked his head heavily against the floor several times.

"Dad! Get up!"

"Dad!"

Seeing him like this, Yang Kui and his brother turned pale and reached out to pull Yang Zhennan back to his feet.

Yang Zhennan refused to listen. He shoved their hands away and stubbornly craned his neck. "Don’t pull me! If the Cyan Dragon Chief doesn’t agree to my plea today, I won’t get up!"

Ye Xuan’s face darkened once more. Yang Zhennan was clearly trying to force his hand!

"Yang Zhennan, are you threatening me?" Ye Xuan bent down slightly, meeting the old man’s eyes as he asked in a cold voice.

"I wouldn’t dare! But for Jie’s sake, this is all I can do! Cyan Dragon Chief, if you insist on killing Jie, then you’ll have to kill me first!" Yang Zhennan avoided Ye Xuan’s gaze. Steeling his heart, he bowed deeply once more. He was truly throwing caution to the wind; no matter what it took, he had to save Yang Jie’s life.

"Then you can keep kneeling here!" Ye Xuan was infuriated by Yang Zhennan’s actions. He flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

"Cyan Dragon Chief, please, for Bingyu’s sake, give Jie one more chance! After all, Jie is Bingyu’s younger brother." Seeing that Ye Xuan was dead set on killing Yang Jie, Yang Zhennan had no other options left and brought up Yang Bingyu once again.

Ye Xuan stopped in his tracks at the mention of her name, his gaze growing sharper.

"He’s Bingyu’s younger brother? Has he ever treated Bingyu like his older sister?! Yang Zhennan, do not test my bottom line."

It was clear that Ye Xuan’s patience had reached its limit. His face was ashen, and his muscles were coiled tight with sheer anger.

"C-Cyan Dragon Chief, you should go see Bingyu. She hasn’t eaten anything for a whole day and night," Yang Tao, standing off to the side, said with a fearful look at Ye Xuan. "Moreover, she hasn’t said a single word. She won’t respond to anyone who talks to her."

If Ye Xuan refused to relent, their only option was to temporarily delay Yang Jie’s matter by diverting his attention.

"What happened?!"

As expected, Ye Xuan’s expression changed instantly upon hearing that Yang Bingyu was unwell. He hadn’t expected the revelation about her true parentage to hit her this hard. He had assumed that with her cheerful personality, she would only be sad for a little while before bouncing back. He never imagined the situation would be this severe.

"The doctor said Bingyu’s illness is rooted in her heart, and emotional trauma requires an emotional cure. Cyan Dragon Chief, please go see her," Yang Tao said truthfully.

"Yang Zhennan, I’ll let Yang Jie off the hook for now. Tell him to hide well, and he’d better pray I never find him!" Ye Xuan knew perfectly well that this was a stalling tactic on Yang Tao’s part, but the thought of Yang Bingyu’s condition forced him to put everything else on hold.

Shortly after, Ye Xuan and White Snake arrived at the hospital.

Standing outside Yang Bingyu’s ward, Ye Xuan hesitated. After everything that had happened, could he and Yang Bingyu really go back to the way things were?

"Dragon Chief, go in. I don’t think Bingyu will blame you," White Snake sighed softly, seeing him standing indecisively at the door. He reached out to pat Ye Xuan’s shoulder in comfort before pushing open the closed door of the ward.

The servant caring for Yang Bingyu inside tactfully slipped out the moment she saw Ye Xuan and White Snake enter.

Yang Bingyu remained exactly as they had described. She sat on the bed with a sluggish expression, her hollow, lifeless eyes staring blankly at the sky outside the window.

Seeing her like this made Ye Xuan’s heart ache terribly. He remembered how lively and vibrant she had been when they first met a few months ago. Yet now, she just sat there in a daze, like a lifeless ragdoll.

"Bingyu, it’s me, Ye Xuan. Can you talk to me?" Ye Xuan sat at the head of her bed and gently took her hand, speaking in a soft voice.

Hearing Ye Xuan’s voice, a flicker of light crossed Yang Bingyu’s eyes. She turned her head mechanically to look at his face.

"I’m sorry. It was my fault for not considering your feelings and letting you get hurt. If you’re upset, you can hit me or scold me." Thrilled to see that his words were getting through to her, Ye Xuan eagerly continued speaking.

To his disappointment, Yang Bingyu merely glanced at him before turning her head away again.

"Bingyu... you..."

Ye Xuan looked at Yang Bingyu, who was treating them as if they were invisible. He felt a deep sense of guilt and sorrow. How could he have the face to meet the late White Tiger in the afterlife?

"Bingyu, are you blaming me? If you don’t want to see me anymore, I’ll leave right now. I’ll never appear in front of you again."

In his entire life, Ye Xuan had never yielded to anyone, but now he was utterly defeated by Yang Bingyu and Lin Aoxue. He was truly helpless when it came to these two women. Moreover, after everything that had happened, Ye Xuan was reconsidering whether he should stay by Yang Bingyu’s side. If he remained, things would undoubtedly be incredibly awkward between them.

After much deliberation, he decided it would be best to retreat into the shadows and protect her silently.

"Don’t go..." Seeing Ye Xuan stand up, Yang Bingyu grabbed his arm and softly murmured those two words.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t hear Ye Xuan and the others; she simply hadn’t wanted to answer. The revelation that she wasn’t the true eldest daughter of the Yang Family had been a devastating blow. She couldn’t accept that the relatives she had lived with for over twenty years were suddenly completely unrelated to her overnight. She didn’t know how to face the Yang Family, nor did she know how to continue her relationship with Ye Xuan. Thus, she had chosen silence as a way to avoid reality.

"I won’t go. Bingyu, can you tell me what you’re thinking?" Ye Xuan had actually only stood up to close the window, afraid she might catch a cold from the draft. He hadn’t meant to leave at all.

Hearing his promise, Yang Bingyu furrowed her brows. Her lips parted slightly as if she were about to speak.

"Ye Xuan, I don’t know what to say. I feel like my past twenty years were lived in vain, like it was all just a dream.

"I don’t know if I should stay with the Yang Family anymore, and I don’t know how to face you in the future."