The summer rain fell suddenly, thick and heavy, enveloping the air with a suffocating, stifling heat.
Drip.
Drip.
Raindrops fell continuously on the surface of a black umbrella, held by a tall, slender woman who hurried into the vast and opulent estate.
She kept running, rain soaking her shoulders, but she didn't care. She was headed toward the estate's ornamental lake.
The rain intensified, and her gaze was drawn to a girl in the distance.
Through the misty rain, there was a girl in a white dress by the lake. She sat in a wheelchair, without an umbrella, letting the rain drench her completely.
It was as if she didn't notice the wetness of the rain. She slowly moved the wheelchair toward the lake, struggling with each push. The ground around the lake was covered with pebbles, and the wheelchair caught on one, causing the girl to fall to the ground.
But the pain didn't stop her. She began to drag her body, inch by inch, toward the water.
As if the lake was her final destination.
Cen Lingqiu didn't have time to think and ran forward.
Yu Mingjiao felt pain.
Everywhere.
The burn on her palm had festered, and now the rainwater had made it worse, the blood pooling on the white pebbles, each touch sending a sharp pain through her.
Her eyes hurt too.
So cold.
So much pain.
When will this mess of pain end?
It really hurts.
Yu Mingjiao stared at the lake, her gaze numb and calm.
It was as if she were fulfilling a long-awaited wish, ignoring the pain in her body. With no feeling in her legs, she used her elbows to drag herself forward, moving closer to the water in a desperate crawl.
The rain showed no signs of stopping. Too much water had gotten into her eyes, turning her vision red. She felt terrible, instinctively wanting to rub her eyes with her bloodied hands.
Suddenly, a pair of cold hands grasped her wrist.
In that moment, the rain stopped falling on her.
"Don't rub your eyes with dirty hands."