Peach-Orange! – Chapter 507 – The Sickness is Named Love (4000-word Chapter)

Parting in life and death is one of the most unforgettable things in the world.

As the common saying goes, you only realize what you have when you lose it.

Su Tao was now feeling exactly that.

All the past entanglements, internal struggles, worries, pains, doubts, self-denial, and all other negative emotions, along with the various influences of the world’s will, dissipated in this instant.

It wasn’t that her thoughts were suddenly crystal clear.

Rather, her eyes were now solely fixed on the girl who had fallen into her arms, who had once again taken a bullet for her and was bleeding profusely.

Gunshots continued relentlessly around them, but they no longer had anything to do with her.

Her hands trembled as she held the girl. Su Tao pulled Chi Xiaocheng as close as possible into her embrace, trying to shield her from any stray bullets in the current “battlefield,” yet she dared not hold too tightly, afraid of causing further harm to the already injured Chi Xiaocheng.

Su Tao didn’t even know where the bullet had hit Chi Xiaocheng.

She only felt the blood seeping through their clothes onto her own chest.

Xiaocheng had almost completely shielded her.

Where could the shot have landed?

Her heart?

‘If Xiaocheng really leaves, what should I do?’

‘What am I supposed to do?’

‘If this world leaves me all alone, what would life be like in the future?’

Day after day of studying, living numbly and in solitude, returning to Xiaocheng’s hometown after finishing school to take care of her uncle and aunt… but what about after they too pass away?

Su Tao couldn’t think of anything to look forward to in the future. From the time she gradually became sensible, every day, every moment of her life, since childhood, had involved the girl in her arms.

‘Whether it was real liking or fake, even if Xiaocheng was deceiving me or acting, it wouldn’t matter, right? If she really dies, then there will be nothing left!’

Su Tao wanted to perform some first aid, but she had never learned how.

A very faint voice reached her ears, “Su Tao, stop spacing out. No matter what, carry Xiaocheng to Chi Song’s car first.”

Seeing that Su Tao wasn’t responding, Xiao Hei, with a grim expression, forcefully patted her shoulder, “Stop spacing out! Carry Xiaocheng to the car first, then take her to the hospital!”

The words “hospital,” coupled with Xiao Hei’s raised voice, finally jolted Su Tao back to awareness.

“Right, take Xiaocheng to the hospital first. Go to Great Sun Hospital. Professor Su will definitely be able to save Xiaocheng!”

Su Tao lifted her head and stood up, still holding Chi Xiaocheng.

Only then did she realize the battlefield was in complete disarray.

The group Chi Song had brought had already eliminated more than half of the numerous armed bodyguards. The helicopter, which had been noisily hovering overhead, was also gradually leaving.

In the distance, Ye Er could still be seen hanging from it.

A modified off-road vehicle was speeding toward them.

When Su Tao turned her head, Xiao Hei was already gone.

The off-road vehicle stopped beside Su Tao. A bald man with a face full of scars, tattoos covering his arms and neck, jumped out, carrying a gun.

Just as he was about to speak, he noticed a fallen bodyguard who was still struggling to raise his gun and aim at them.

The man raised his gun and fired. With a “bang,” the bodyguard, who hadn’t been finished off and was attempting a sneak attack, fell silent forever.

Rеаԁ οո КαtReαⅾiոɡCаfе

The bald man reached out to Su Tao, “You’re Xiao Tao, right? My surname is Long, you can call me Brother Long. Knowing you might run into trouble this time, I specially brought doctors. There are temporary emergency facilities in the car. Carry your little sister inside first.”

Su Tao nodded gratefully and quickly got into the car. Seeing two doctors and a nurse waiting inside, she let out a long sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Doctor Sister.”

She handed Chi Xiaocheng over to the doctors, then suddenly looked at Chi Xiaocheng’s chest.

A large patch of blood stained her clothes, and the folds obscured the wound, making it impossible to see exactly where the bullet had hit.

Su Tao wanted to ask, but seeing Doctor Sister quickly carry Chi Xiaocheng behind the temporarily prepared operating table and then promptly draw the partition curtain, she forced herself to suppress her anxiety.

Noticing the driver in the front seat start the vehicle, she quickly looked toward the window, “Aren’t we waiting for that bald big brother?”

Without turning around, the driver smiled slightly, “We should go ahead. Brother Long got out with his gun. He probably won’t want to leave until the matter is settled.”

The vehicle began to move, and the driver did his best to keep it steady. “Doctors, if you need to stop, just let me know.”

“Okay.”

The doctor performing the emergency procedure responded. Soon, the group slowly distanced themselves from the battlefield created by Ye Er.

Su Tao sat on a long bench, bent over, and slowly held her head in her hands.

Endless regret washed over her again. Now, she felt every passing second was unbearably agonizing.

She wanted water, but after reaching for a cup and filling it with warm water, she realized her hands were shaking badly.

The cup was only about two-thirds full, far from overflowing, yet water still splashed out due to the trembling of her arm.

Drop by drop, it landed on Su Tao’s fingers, attempting to wash away the half-dried blood stains.

The faint reflection in the cup made Su Tao momentarily dazed.

Slowly taking out her phone, the black, clean screen immediately reflected her lifeless and despairing face.

Her hair was messy and sticky, her complexion ashen. Traces of half-dried blood droplets stretched from her cheeks down to the corners of her mouth. Her slightly chapped lips had lost their once alluring cherry blossom color. Even her eyes were bloodshot due to the aftereffects of the War God bloodline.

Su Tao placed a hand on her cheek, looking at this deathly, somewhat unfamiliar version of herself.

‘Is this still me?’

She whispered silently in her heart.

And the voice that had been constantly clamoring within her now seemed to be gritting its teeth, weakly conversing with her.

—Of course this isn’t you. The real you is like a white moonlight. Confident, strong, and very obedient to me.

—Su Tao, you’ve been influenced by Chi Xiaocheng. The you now is nothing like that white moonlight!

—Leave Chi Xiaocheng, or you will become less and less like yourself.

The voice in her ear was weak, but Su Tao could still hear it very clearly.

Her murmured reply was so quiet only she could hear it, “But I was never any white moonlight. I’m just an ordinary person. That was just a title others imposed on me.

“Besides, you tell me to leave Xiaocheng, but how can I leave her? I need to protect her!”

—But she’s already dead. You failed to protect her!

—Since she’s already dead, why do you still care about her? Isn’t this perfect? While the body is still warm, quickly take her to be cremated and keep her ashes with you. This way, Chi Xiaocheng will always be with you.

—Isn’t this what you wanted? To be with her forever!

“Xiaocheng isn’t dead!”

Reαd οո KαtRеаԁіnɡCαfе

Su Tao suddenly shouted, causing everyone in the vehicle to fall silent.

The driver, sitting upfront, glanced in the rearview mirror. Since the back was a modified temporary emergency room and he was a man, considering privacy, he couldn’t see what was happening behind.

But he remembered something Master Si Chen had instructed before they came.

Su Tao has a mental illness. It’s normal for her to shout inexplicably. Unless she has a fit and starts attacking indiscriminately, there’s no need to pay her any mind.

Because of this prior warning, even when Su Tao shouted loudly, the doctors, nurse, and driver didn’t react much.

The vehicle continued on its way.

But the voice in Su Tao’s heart was growing increasingly impatient.

Even so, the World Will forcibly suppressed its displeasure and continued to persuade Su Tao in a gentle tone.

—What exactly are you avoiding? Chi Xiaocheng is already dead, isn’t she? Just moments ago, she took a bullet for you, damaging her heart. How could she possibly survive that!

—Or are you saying, after she dies, you’re willing to let Dongfang Yang and Si Chen bury her somewhere?

—These two might even want to have a posthumous marriage with Chi Xiaocheng’s body, don’t you understand!?

—Listen to me, okay? While the driver still listens to you, have him drive to the nearest crematorium and have Chi Xiaocheng cremated. Only then will she truly be by your side.

—Otherwise, even if Chi Xiaocheng is truly dead, she won’t belong to you alone!

The World Will’s patience was waning.

But it was still trying its best to lure Su Tao’s thoughts.

Su Tao still faced her phone screen, which reflected another Su Tao.

This other Su Tao bared her fangs, her eyes full of hatred, her long hair floating around her like disheveled seaweed.

She looked exactly like a female ghost.

This female ghost Su Tao’s mouth opened and closed, its bewitching words transmitted from the heart, drilling into her mind.

But this time, Su Tao wasn’t directly influenced.

She just firmly uttered the words she was thinking, “Xiaocheng isn’t dead!”

She didn’t die before.

She won’t die now either.

People often say that things should not be repeated more than three times.

Even facing death, this was only Xiaocheng’s third time.

Last time, Xiaocheng was shot in the heart by a sniper rifle, leaving a huge hole in her chest. She didn’t die then, so how could she leave so easily now?

‘She said because she likes me, loves me, even death wouldn’t make her willing to leave.’

“So, everything you say is false!

“You’ve been lying to me, all along!

“Xiaocheng likes me so much, how could she possibly be willing to leave me!”

—Fool!

The World Will could no longer restrain itself.

Reаԁ οո КαtRеαdіngСafе

It could feel itself being constantly repelled by Su Tao’s soul.

—Have you forgotten? Chi Xiaocheng has always been deceiving you!

—Dongfang Yang told you he likes Chi Xiaocheng, and Chi Xiaocheng likes him too; what you saw and heard at the cafe, Qian Qing’s confession at the banquet, have you forgotten all that too? And Luo Ying, she analyzed so much for you and proved that Chi Xiaocheng had long changed her heart. Are you going to deny all that too!

—Su Tao, you are deceiving yourself!

—Chi Xiaocheng never liked you. Her feelings for you were all an act, it was Intermediate Acting skill!

“Nonsense!” Su Tao stood up straight from the chair. Her gaze fell upon a mirror attached to the car window.

In the mirror, the Su Tao with hair spread out like a drowned ghost looked back at her outside the mirror with a stunned expression.

The girl’s eyes were, at some point, already filled with hot tears.

“If Xiaocheng really didn’t like me, then how could she have thrown herself in front of me to block that bullet again?

“That was her love, given at the cost of her life!

“If I’m unwilling to believe in such feelings, then how could I ever be worthy of her!

“I’m sorry, Xiaocheng…”

Tears slid down his cheeks and fell onto the floor.

I always doubted you before, questioned you… I’m so sorry.

I will never doubt you again.

I… I will always believe in you.

Like you.

Love you.

Love you, love you, love you, love you, love you, love you, love you, love you…

People only learn to cherish what they have after they’ve lost it.

Only at the moment of truly facing eternal farewell, when truly unwilling to let go, does one examine oneself and confront everything they once dared not face.

And now, Su Tao felt that she had finally understood everything.

For the first time, she had broken through the constraints of the world’s will.

And precisely because of this, the consciousness that had been constantly pushed out was infuriated.

—Su Tao, do you think this way you can be with Chi Xiaocheng forever? Let me tell you, impossible!

—You are merely a pawn, a puppet. Don’t think you can easily break free from my control!

—Chi Xiaocheng will definitely die, and you will return to your destined path!

—One day, you will understand that I was right all along!

“Even if dangers abound in the future, I will definitely protect Xiaocheng!”

Definitely!

The crimson in Su Tao’s eyes not only did not fade but grew even more intense.

—Su Tao, you…!

“Get out!”

Reaԁ οո КatRеaԁіոɡСаfе

No longer listening to the incessant voice in her heart, Su Tao struck her own chest heavily with a fist. Though it brought an unbearable pain, she could clearly feel:

The owner of this voice was no longer inside her body.

Even the Su Tao in the mirror, who resembled a drowned ghost or inner demon, showed a relieved smile.

Then, gradually melted away.

What reappeared in the mirror was a girl with disheveled hair, crimson eyes, and a clear gaze.

Yes, the crimson in her eyes had not faded; emotions like regret, anger, and obsession still remained.

But even so, her eyes revealed a clarity that contrasted with those emotions.

She had truly found herself again.

Just then, the curtain drawn for emergency treatment on Chi Xiaocheng was pulled aside.

Su Tao hurriedly approached, “Doctor, how is Xiaocheng… how is she? She must still be alive, right?”

The female doctor removed her mask and said with a smile, “She’s fine. The bullet hit her shoulder; the intense pain and excessive blood loss caused her to faint.

“Preliminary emergency measures have been completed, but the bullet is still lodged in her shoulder and couldn’t be removed. We’ll have to wait until we reach the hospital.

“She’s not in life-threatening danger. You can rest assured.”

The female doctor stepped aside, making way to reveal the girl lying quietly on the bed, her breathing gradually steadying.

The young girl covered her face with both hands, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.

In a corner of the vehicle, Xiao Hei stood with arms crossed, her previously tense expression now relaxing.

The system’s voice sounded in her mind.

[The plan succeeded. Su Tao’s character weight has fallen below 50%. Current character weight: 35%]

Xiao Hei looked at the girl weeping over Chi Xiaocheng, her gaze briefly flickering to Chi Xiaocheng’s injured shoulder.

[Why do you seem not very happy?]

Xiao Hei glanced at her own left shoulder wound, which had been hastily treated and bandaged, and couldn’t help but purse her lips. “Boring.”

However, the slight curl at the corner of her lips betrayed her true feelings, though Xiao Hei quickly suppressed it. “Rather than that, we should think about what to do next. Although Su Tao has found herself, she won’t be easy to handle now.”

[Why isn’t she easy to handle?]

“You know, the more extreme the situations a person faces, the more extreme their responses will become afterward.

“Especially when that person has experienced so much, yet finds that no matter what they do, they can’t avoid it.”

Xiao Hei’s gaze fixed on Su Tao’s tearful, crimson eyes.

She was all too familiar with these eyes; she had seen them too many times on Chi Xiaocheng.

“She’s sick.”

Xiao Hei looked at Su Tao and bluntly declared.

[If it’s a mental illness, after being tormented so many times, Su Tao probably has a bit of it by now, more or less.]

“No, it’s not a mental illness she has.”

But rather, a sickness called 【Love】.