SC Chapter32

Blood overflowed from between his fingers, staining Xiao Ning’s fingers red in an instant.

Xiao Ning stared blankly at his hand. Under his palm was the wound Shen Yunjie had cut on his abdomen with the dagger. Due to excessive blood loss, Shen Yunjie could barely see Xiao Ning’s expression, but he clearly heard the heavy gasping of breath from his frantic journey.

“What are you doing?” Xiao Ning’s face was ashen, and he couldn’t stop trembling. If he had been a moment later… he dared not imagine what Shen Yunjie would have looked like when he found him.

Shen Yunjie painfully arched his waist, fumbling around on the ground. The messy pile of grass was stained with blood: “Give me the dagger…” Xiao Ning held him tightly in his arms. The ragged clothes on Shen Yunjie, the purplish bite marks on his neck and chest, the blood soaking his garment—one more glance made his heart ache to the point of madness.

Old Zhou reached out and seized Shen Yunjie’s wrist to feel his pulse, his expression growing more solemn. Xiao Ning lifted Shen Yunjie to leave, but Old Zhou reached out and held him back.

“It will take an hour to get back. He’s about to give birth and can’t withstand the journey back and forth.”

The corners of Xiao Ning’s eyes were red, looking as if he was about to weep. He took off his outer garment and spread it under Shen Yunjie, then carefully placed Shen Yunjie’s head on his own lap. Suppressing the bitterness in his throat, he said, “Don’t use the dagger, give birth naturally.”

Shen Yunjie clutched his wound, his vision a blur of red. Hearing Xiao Ning’s words, tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes like broken pearls. He truly had no strength left. The poison had entered his heart meridian, his body ached as if he were rolling on a mountain of knives, and the labor pains had not brought the child out all night. If it dragged on any longer, the child might not make it.

Xiao Ning gripped Shen Yunjie’s chin, forcing him to meet his gaze, and spoke slowly, word by word: “I don’t want you to have a C-section. I just want you to be safe.”

“Young Master…” Shen Yunjie’s breath was barely audible. He said intermittently, “I can’t take it anymore… the child is innocent…”

Xiao Ning suppressed the stinging pain in his eyes, tightly clenched Shen Yunjie’s hand, and sternly said, “You must keep going! How did you promise me in the first place! You said you would safely give birth to the child and watch them grow up. You said you would stay by my side for the rest of your life! Shen Yunjie, if you dare to lie to me…”

Tears splattered onto Shen Yunjie’s face drop by drop. Xiao Ning bent down and pressed his forehead against Shen Yunjie’s brow while choking out, “If you dare to lie to me, I will never forgive you again.”

Shen Yunjie reached up and gently wiped the tears from the corner of Xiao Ning’s eye. The blood on his fingertip smeared on the corner of his eye, blurring into a desolate brilliance.

Sure enough, he still couldn’t bear to see his Young Master grieve for him. Shen Yunjie sighed, using all his strength to prop himself up halfway. With a sudden tight cramp in his abdomen, he gritted his teeth and pressed down on his abdomen while pushing hard. Blood spurted from the wound on his upper abdomen. Old Zhou acted quickly, sealing several of Shen Yunjie’s pressure points to halt the bleeding. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the silver needles strapped to his arm.

“His water broke some time ago, and the child hasn’t come down yet. Do you still have the strength to stand up and walk around?” Old Zhou firmly pressed on Shen Yunjie’s belly, feeling around for a while, confirming the fetal position was fine, only taking this long because it was a premature birth.

Shen Yunjie shook his head as he glanced at his leg. Only then did Old Zhou realize something was wrong. He reached out and felt and pressed for a moment, frowning, “How is the bone broken?”

Xiao Ning looked up at Old Zhou.

Old Zhou was unnerved by his bloodshot eyes and quickly changed his tone: “It’s fine, it’s fine, it will heal with rest…” He placed a few needles to help Shen Yunjie regain some breath, and said, “Don’t lose heart, you need to push a little harder.”

Shen Yunjie closed his eyes, his brow tightly furrowed. He bit his teeth and suddenly arched his waist. His belly trembled with the movement. The little thing in his abdomen was no longer the docile and soft thing it used to be but like a hard, grating stone, inching its way down, grinding against the bone. After exhaling sharply, Shen Yunjie collapsed onto Xiao Ning’s lap, clutching his belly, twisting in agony, and letting out soft whimpers and groans.

“Very good, just like that.” Old Zhou’s palm was damp, and he quickly inserted a few more silver needles with his fingers. Shen Yunjie was drenched in sweat, the color was also drained from his face. His pale lips were slightly parted, breathing heavily while his gaze wandered aimlessly. After a long while, he gradually gathered his strength, arched his waist again, closed his eyes, and let out a long, muffled groan. When his strength was depleted and he collapsed back, his vision was white and blurry, and his ears were filled with a long ringing sound. Old Zhou changed the positions of the needles several times. Shen Yunjie writhed in agony, pushed to the brink of death. Only then did the child’s tiny, round head emerge, and the stretching pain surged to its peak.

Xiao Ning wiped the sweat from Shen Yunjie’s forehead with his sleeve over and over, watching him suffer all the agony, his breath gradually weakening. Xiao Ning was consumed by regret. If he had known Shen Yunjie would suffer this much today, no matter how much resentment he held then, he would never have made him endure the pain of childbirth.

“Ah Yun…” Xiao Ning pressed his face against Shen Yunjie’s forehead with tears dripping from his eyes: “We won’t mention the past again. I just want you to be well.”

Shen Yunjie’s eyes softened. The pain in his abdomen intensified suddenly. He subconsciously arched his neck, crying out in pain. He could feel the child gradually breaking free of the confines, about to enter the world. Suddenly, his breathing seemed to stop. A sudden, searing pain tore through his chest, and his mind went completely blank. Shen Yunjie spewed a mouthful of black blood. The hand clutching Xiao Ning’s collar slipped away abruptly, the slender wrist trembling, and then all fell silent.

Old Zhou was stunned. After a moment, he pounced forward, tearing open the remnants of Shen Yunjie’s upper garment, revealing the blackness around his heart.

“Ah Yun?” Xiao Ning was splattered with Shen Yunjie’s blood, for a moment looking blankly at Old Zhou.

Old Zhou frowned tightly. He turned and raised his hand to press down hard on Shen Yunjie’s abdomen. Xiao Ning grabbed his wrist, roaring, “What are you doing!”

Old Zhou shook off Xiao Ning’s hand and said coldly, “Listen to me. The poison has entered his heart meridian, he cannot be saved. Let’s save the child.”

Xiao Ning’s mind buzzed with a sweet, metallic taste in his throat. He didn’t understand what Old Zhou’s words meant. In an instant, Old Zhou pressed on Shen Yunjie’s abdomen, carefully guiding the child out. He cut the umbilical cord with the dagger, and in the dead silence, a faint cry of a newborn broke through.