Peach-Orange! – Chapter 122 – Her Silence Was Deafening

The living room lights were dim, like the fading twilight.

Though the chairs were neatly arranged, items on the table near the sofa had been thrown everywhere. Objects from the counter and coffee table were scattered across the floor, and an overturned electric kettle had left a large wet patch.

The only intact item on the entire table was a single sheet of white paper placed facedown… and an empty fruit knife sheath.

A break-in?

No, absolutely not.

This looked more like the aftermath of an emotional breakdown, someone venting by smashing everything within reach.

Su Tao’s gaze grew vacant as she frantically searched around. Not just the living room, every light in the entire apartment was on!

“The bedroom… Xiaocheng must be in her room!

“She has King with her. With a cat to comfort her, she wouldn’t do anything reckless.”

Su Tao was terrified Chi Xiaocheng might repeat what happened on the rooftop. If so, another hospital stay would be inevitable.

Rushing to Chi Xiaocheng’s room, Su Tao heard frantic meowing from outside, each cry tugging at her heart and making it pound faster.

She grabbed the doorknob and flung the door open. “Xiaocheng!”

“Meow! Meow! Meow!”

King, seemingly startled, darted between Su Tao’s legs and bolted out.

Su Tao’s eyes swept the room.

In stark contrast to the living room, the bedroom was spotless. Even items Su Tao hadn’t had time to organize were neatly folded and carefully placed aside.

Ignoring these details, Su Tao’s mind buzzed with static.

Where was she?

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If not here, then where?!

The storage room, Chi Song’s old room, the smaller guest room, all empty.

“Right, the balcony!”

Su Tao ran back to the living room and hurried outside.

Nothing.

Still no one!

Her breathing grew ragged, an inexplicable sense of suffocation tightening around her.

Drip—drip—

The faint sound of dripping water gradually reached Su Tao’s ears.

Was it coming from the bathroom?

A horrifying thought took root in Su Tao’s mind. Her right hand trembled uncontrollably.

King emerged from the bathroom, meowing anxiously in the living room as if urging her to hurry.

Over the past two weeks, while Su Tao was away, King and Chi Xiaocheng had become each other’s sole companions.

Despite the cat’s usual aloofness, felines are perceptive creatures. Its distress signaled something was terribly wrong.

Su Tao’s lips felt parched, trembling slightly as she took slow, unsteady steps toward the bathroom.

“No, no, no no no…!

“Xiaocheng!”

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She shoved the half-open bathroom door wide.

Her eyes widened. Pupils contracted.

In the dim bathroom, the girl she’d been desperately searching for lay motionless in the bathtub, her body submerged in a deep red liquid.

Her disheveled hair floated on the water’s surface like spilled ink, framing her pale, delicate face.

One slender arm hung limply over the tub’s edge, fingertips tinged faintly blue. Drops of crimson orange juice dripped slowly from her fingers.

The floor was a mess: towels tossed aside, tiles stained with splashes that looked chillingly unfamiliar in the shadows. A small rubber duck, once a cheerful bath companion, now lay on the floor. Its body dyed entirely red except for the eerie, reflective gleam in its eyes.

That crimson duck stared straight at the door, its gaze shifting to Su Tao with accusation as she entered.

Su Tao’s mind went blank.

Her legs gave out, collapsing onto the floor.

In her mind, Chi Xiaocheng’s hopeful smile during their bridge confession fractured, shattering against the cold, lifeless face before her.

Just hours ago, she’d been smiling at Su Tao, holding white roses, eyes brimming with love.

So why… why had it come to this?

Lying still in the tub, eyes closed as if asleep.

The white roses Su Tao brought back from the bridge now felt like a cruel joke.

This scene seemed to scream at her:

Those roses should have been red.

The dyed water slowly seeped toward Su Tao’s palm where it pressed against the floor.

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Ice-cold!

The shock of that chill snapped Su Tao back to reality. Hair disheveled, she looked up at Chi Xiaocheng, lips trembling soundlessly.

“This… this has to be fake, right?

“Xiaocheng wouldn’t… wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.

“Hey, Xiaocheng… this is a joke, isn’t it? It’s your yandere side acting up, right? You’re just pretending to sleep here, waiting for me to come home… right?”

Staggering to her feet, Su Tao fell multiple times, her clothes staining orange from the spills.

The closer she got to Chi Xiaocheng, the more terror gripped her.

Those few steps felt like centuries.

Despite being physically unharmed, she couldn’t muster any strength.

The atmosphere was suffocating. Time itself seemed frozen.

The girl in the tub was submerged in endless darkness, all her past joys and sorrows drowned in that icy water.

The liquid carried her final emotions, seeping into Su Tao’s palm.

Gripping the tub’s edge, Su Tao made the water ripple. With a shaking hand, she reached for Chi Xiaocheng’s right wrist.

A deep, horrifying gash ran along the artery.

Her skin was cold enough to steal breath. She looked utterly lifeless.

Su Tao’s breathing grew erratic, dizziness creeping in.

Tears streamed down her face as she forced herself to hold up a finger beneath Chi Xiaocheng’s nose.

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“One second.…”

“Two seconds….”

A faint exhale brushed her fingertip.

Su Tao jolted, lurching forward in desperation, only to collapse again, legs failing.

Even when her forehead hit the tub’s edge, she ignored the pain, scrambling up to check Chi Xiaocheng’s breathing again.

“She’s still breathing! She’s still breathing!”

Sobbing with relief, Su Tao had no time for self-reproach. Her mind raced.

What now? What now? WHAT NOW?!

Anyone confronted with such a ghastly scene would struggle to think straight.

Let alone Su Tao, whose tangled feelings for Chi Xiaocheng ran impossibly deep. Panic consumed her, yet she feared touching Chi Xiaocheng further.

“A-Ambulance, I-I have to…!”

She kept repeating the emergency number, but couldn’t even steady her hands enough to hold her phone.

“GET A GRIP!”

Su Tao clenched her fist and punched herself hard in the face.

Blood trickled from her lip and nose.

But that pain was nothing compared to the agony in her heart.