Qing Shan yanked at the hands holding her down. But to no avail, the sinister woman was still a lot stronger than her weakened body. Her jaw was forced open while she struggled desperately. Ming Hua poured the poison in her mouth then covered it, forcing Qing Shan to gulp down every single drop.
Qing Shan stared at her with fire in her eyes.
No! She couldn't die yet! She didn't want to die!
As the poison coursed through her body painfully, so were the bitter regrets that came bursting through, evident in the tears dripping from her eyes. But she sucked up the burning pain. Nothing could compare it to the fact that her own cowardice led her to her demise. And not just only hers.
She curled up in the bed in pain, hoping to be relieved even just a bit. But to no avail, the fire burned her internally not sparing a chance of reprieve.
She could hear Zhao Ming Hua laughing with delight at her misery. Qing Shan could care less. She was starting to lose her senses, her world slowly losing its light.
Helpless. She was helpless. Her resolve to fight and change everything came too late. Her muddled consciousness was wallowing in self-despair that had magnified her suffering.
"If time will turn back its hands, I will no longer just watch. I will return everything in its rightful place. I will control my own fate. I will not let my father be fooled by that witch. I will make sure my brother will be happy. I won't let those two get away with what they had done to us. I will return everything to them a thousandfold. They will regret crossing me, Yan Qing Shan." She thought gloomily as she sank further in the darkness until she was no more.
--
Qing Shan felt like she was floating. It was a pleasant feeling, free of any pain. Then she saw a glimmering light.
Pretty! It looked like starlight with brilliant colours incomparable to gemstones. She trudged through, pushing herself nearer to that light. She wanted to touch it. Reaching out her hands, the light grew bigger and bigger until it exploded. Forcing her to shut her eyes against the bright glare.
Painful. Qing Shan scrunched her brows at the ache she was feeling. Hadn't she died? Dead people were not supposed to feel pain right? Is she really so unfortunate that even in death she felt this hurt?
She tried opening her eyes slowly. There was still that light glaring at her like an irritating 500 megawatt lightbulb. Ugh! Qing Shan raised her arm to block it to help adjust her eyes.
The hell?!
Why does the place look so familiar? Is the afterlife making fun of her? Of all rooms that the purgatory could look like, it had to be the room she stayed at the Ying Yue Garden.
She looked around suspiciously at the immaculate cream-colored walls and the lapis lazuli patterns twinkling up in the ceiling.
Qing Shan then realized that she was lying in a canopy bed. The exact same as the one in that room. She sat herself up and gauged her body, it was aching terribly. There were bruises in her legs, arms, and wrists; looking like the ones she got when she attempted to flee from Zi Jue. She almost got away and reached her old house, but Zi Jue was still able to capture her. It was so close. Zi Jue dragged her back to Ying Yue Garden and punished her quite thoroughly until every piece of her was aching. Qing Shan realized that day, there was no escaping the smiling devil.
Wait a minute.
She pinched herself hard, relishing the sting she felt from it.
Could it be? Could it be that she isn't dead?
Qing Shan knew it was highly improbable. However, she remembered by heart Sherlock's words of wisdom. When all of the impossible are eliminated, what remains no matter how improbable must be the truth.
She really was alive.
The sound of the doorknob turning snapped her out of her reverie. She turned to the door while trying to hold onto her last sliver of calm. A maid holding a tray with a bowl of porridge and a glass of water went inside and exclaimed in surprise when she saw Qing Shan already sitting in the bed slightly looking lost.
"Miss Yan, you're awake."