Chapter Thirty-Three: Gentle Memories

"What?" Nangong Yuchen was dumbfounded. Defiled? He couldn't quite process it.

At this moment, Nangong Kexin continued to sob, "Wuu... Yuchen, just kill me! I don't want to... be... wuu..." Her voice choked up and she could say no more.

She had never been here before and assumed that she and her brother had been locked in this unfamiliar room by Zhou Haoran. Her clothes had been removed, and while she was unconscious, she believed Zhou Haoran had violated her.

Hearing this, Nangong Yuchen was at a loss between tears and laughter. So his sister thought they were in Zhou Haoran's place!

"Kexin, this... this is the apartment I rented! We didn't fall into Zhou Haoran's hands!"

"Wuu... huh?" Nangong Kexin's sobs stopped abruptly at her brother's words. She froze in his arms for several seconds before speaking with a tearful voice, "Then why... why am I naked...?"

As she uttered those last words, the sobs in her voice were replaced by a faint chill.

She seemed to realize that it was Nangong Yuchen who had undressed her!

"Kexin, you were covered in blood last night, so when I was cleaning your wounds... I also... I washed you a bit..." Nangong Yuchen sensed his sister’s change in mood and began to stammer. In the chaos of last night, he hadn’t thought much at all...

When he finished speaking, a strange silence filled the room for two seconds before an angry roar exploded.

"Nangong Yuchen! Go to hell!" Nangong Kexin, tears in her beautiful eyes, shoved him away in shame and fury, covering her small chest with her hands, and tried to kick him.

But as soon as she raised her leg, a sharp pain shot through her, draining the color from her face. Only then did she remember that both her legs had bullet wounds.

"Kexin, are you alright?" Nangong Yuchen steadied himself and called out in concern.

Nangong Kexin didn't answer. She quickly retreated under the covers, reaching down to check herself. She was terrified that Yuchen had stripped her completely, and if that were true, she would die from shame.

Her hands found her smooth thigh first, then soft cotton fabric.

"Phew!" Realizing she was still wearing her underwear, Nangong Kexin heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness...

"Kexin, don't move around. Your legs are still bandaged!"

"Shut up! Who told you to take off my clothes?" Nangong Kexin, recalling the scene of Yuchen cleaning her body the previous night, was on the verge of tears from shame and anger.

"I... I didn’t mean to..." he stammered.

"Wuu... I'm your sister! How could you just take off my clothes like that!"

Seeing her about to burst into tears, Nangong Yuchen hurried forward to explain in a panic, "Kexin, I only used a towel to gently clean you, I didn’t..."

"Don’t say another word! Wuu wuu..." Nangong Kexin covered her face and began to cry. She wished she could slap her foolish brother to death, but even if she did, what good would it do? He had seen her body, and not just once—how could she ever face him again?

Nangong Yuchen didn’t think as far as she did. All he cared about was taking good care of Kexin. Last night, in order to clean her wounds, he hadn’t even had a chance to tend to the injuries on his own back. Now, as he bent over, a searing pain tore through his back, and the three wounds he had barely managed to close split open again, blood oozing out.

"Hiss!" He did his best to endure, but his pale face and the cold sweat beading on his forehead betrayed his effort to appear unaffected.

"Hmm?" Nangong Kexin heard his pained gasp and looked up, only to find his face as white as paper, his whole demeanor weak as if he might collapse at any moment.

"Yuchen?" She immediately remembered that he had also been seriously injured the previous night. In her anxiety and concern, she grabbed his arm and turned him around.

In the next second, Nangong Kexin was stunned. Before her eyes were three bloody wounds, his shirt soaked through and sticking to his back with half-congealed blood, the fresh red seeping out. She could clearly see how deep the injuries were.

Seeing this, a sharp pain twisted in her heart, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She never imagined Yuchen could be so foolish!

Even though he was so badly hurt, he had ignored his own wounds to help undress her, clean her leg wounds, and wipe her body.

Unable to hold back any longer, she choked out, "Why are you so... stupid!"

"Kexin, I’m fine!" Nangong Yuchen forced a smile and put on a brave face.

She didn’t respond, only gazed at him sadly. After several minutes, wiping away her tears, she finally said, "Go, bring me a basin of warm water."

Nangong Yuchen wanted to say something but held his tongue, moving stiffly to fetch a basin of clean water and placing it by the bed.

Nangong Kexin carefully helped him take off his shirt, then with her small hands gently washed the blood from his back.

After half an hour, when the bandages were finally wrapped, she wearily climbed back into bed. She felt a throbbing in her head, uncertain how to face Yuchen. His kindness filled her with guilt, but the scars he had brought to their family could never be erased.

And those three occasions of inappropriate behavior—the very thought made her head throb.

Neither spoke, and the atmosphere in the room grew stifling.

Seeing his sister lying exhausted on the bed, Nangong Yuchen didn't know what to say. After a long silence, he remembered the bullets still lodged in her legs and finally voiced his concern, "Kexin, let me take you to the hospital."

"Mmm." Nangong Kexin, eyes closed, nodded with an uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Oh!" Nangong Yuchen froze in surprise. It had been years since he’d heard that tone from her. Ever since the family was forced to leave Qinghu Town for Ruxia City because of the fire—his fault—Kexin had grown distant. She hadn’t been as she was now, but he could still sense that the gentle, loving sister of his memories lived only in the past.

Now, after so many years, to hear that voice again made his soul tremble. It was just like when he was six, newly arrived in this family—a shy, awkward boy, gradually cheered up by his adorable sister’s gentle guidance. It was a familiar warmth.

Back then, in Qinghu Town, they were surrounded by neighbors and friends, and it was his sister who, in just a few days, helped him blend in with everyone. The sound of laughter from those days was a color in his childhood he could never erase.

It was a memory he cherished as dearly as life itself—one he never dared to forget.

But the fire when he was twelve destroyed everything. He could still remember those young, familiar faces disappearing in the roaring flames because of him.

The family of four, driven by neighbors' anger and blame, fled to Ruxia City, and from then on, everything changed.

He had truly become the calamity the people of Qinghu Town cursed. At first, his parents struggled with work, his sister suffered misfortune... His father finally found a job after much hardship, only to be accused of being a traitor and thrown in prison because of him, shattering the family.

"Haah..." Nangong Yuchen exhaled heavily, pained by the sudden rush of bitter memories.

But as he looked at his sister lying on the bed, his gaze grew firm.

He was not a bringer of disaster!

Even if he was, he would one day shed that title and piece his broken family back together.

That day was not far off.