Chapter 131: Ch 131: He’s Not Going to Die

While PD Xu Cui had returned his attention to the children, the two alphas supporting Gu Chengze remained deep in the forest, walking without any clear direction.

They both knew they ought to get him proper help soon. After the words he had spoken, however, neither of them felt particularly motivated to hurry.

Qin Yuran glanced sideways at the man slumped between them. Gu Chengze had finally lost consciousness. Blood still trickled slowly from his nose and the corner of his mouth, staining the front of his once-immaculate clothes.

The usual cold arrogance and indifferent superiority were nowhere to be found; only a bruised, pathetic figure remained. His weight hung heavily between them, each step requiring a small, shared adjustment of grip.

She pressed her lips together and looked away, fighting the urge to laugh. Deserve, she thought with quiet satisfaction. The memory of Su Wanyan’s expression still sat vividly behind her eyes.

At the same time a small shiver of both fear and admiration ran through her. Su Wanyan had truly given him everything he had coming. Maybe I should ask her to be my fighting tutor, Qin Yuran decided, nodding slightly to herself. The thought was only half-joking.

Just then, a loud sigh came from her left.

"Why are we even helping him again?" Zhao Yichen muttered, adjusting his grip on Gu Chengze’s arm. The injured alpha groaned, the sound thick with pain. The soft forest floor gave slightly under their feet as they shifted the weight between them.

Zhao Yichen clicked his tongue and glanced at the man with open distaste before looking straight ahead once more. "I guess it doesn’t cost anything to be nice." The words carried no real conviction—more a reluctant concession to basic decency than any lingering goodwill.

Qin Yuran chuckled at the complaint. She deliberately "adjusted" her own hold, hauling Gu Chengze more securely—and less gently—onto her shoulder. Another pained groan escaped him, eyebrows knitting tightly even in unconsciousness. The soft fabric of his ruined clothes bunched under her hand.

"Oh, how I hope this man learns something from our kind selves," Qin Yuran said, layering extra flair and sass into the words. The forest air carried the dry humor without judgment.

Zhao Yichen suppressed a snort and shook his head at her purposeful roughness. The two of them continued walking at an unhurried pace through the peaceful forest, treating the severely injured man between them as little more than an inconvenient piece of luggage.

Sunlight continued to shift across the path in soft, scattered patterns. The quiet rustle of leaves overhead mixed with the occasional labored breath from the man they carried. Neither of them spoke for a while. The silence was comfortable, edged only with shared residual dislike.

After several more minutes of silent progress they both slowed, then stopped completely. The trees around them looked unfamiliar. The undergrowth had grown denser, the path they thought they had been following had long since disappeared, and the soft golden light filtering through the canopy no longer matched the direction they believed they were traveling.

An awkward silence stretched between them.

"We’re lost, aren’t we?" Zhao Yichen asked at last, a wry smile tugging at his mouth. The realization landed without panic—only mild resignation.

Qin Yuran let out a short snort of laughter. "Yeah. We’re lost."

They looked at each other, then shrugged almost in unison. The soft forest continued its quiet rhythm around them, completely unconcerned with their lack of direction.

"Eh. Let’s just keep moving forward," Qin Yuran said after a beat. The decision was casual, almost lazy.

Zhao Yichen nodded. "Sure. It’s not like he’s going to die."

With that casual agreement they resumed their aimless wandering, footsteps slow and unconcerned, the quiet forest stretching endlessly around them.

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On the omegas’ side, Song Meiyu, Lin Xuanyu, and the remaining staff had finally stepped out of the forest. The dense shade of the trees fell away behind them, replaced by open ground and the softer, wider light of late afternoon. The moment they reached open ground, Lin Xuanyu’s eyes began scanning the area, searching frantically for any sign of Gu Chengze.

A frown pulled at his features when he found nothing. "Where are they?" he wondered under his breath, gaze sweeping not only for the injured alpha but also for the two who had been supporting him. The open space offered no immediate answers—only the quiet stretch of path and the distant shapes of the village.

"Where are they?" The question came louder this time, edged with both worry and rising impatience. They left earlier than us. So where did they go? The absence sat sharp and unacceptable in his chest.

Song Meiyu glanced back and noticed him falling behind. She shook her head once and faced forward again. The soft afternoon light caught the calm line of her profile.

"He’s not going to die," she said, deliberately raising her voice so the words carried clearly to Lin Xuanyu. The statement was flat, practical, and completely free of the urgency he expected.

He stopped mid-step. Fury and annoyance flashed across his face as he stared at her back. This meddlesome bitch, he thought, teeth clenched and hands curling into fists. Despite every urge to ignore her and search on his own, he forced himself to quicken his pace and catch up with the group. The soft earth under his feet felt heavier with each reluctant step.

They continued walking without any particular destination. The staff simply followed the guests. Lin Xuanyu remained tense and restless, while Song Meiyu showed no sign of urgency at all. The quiet rhythm of their progress only deepened the contrast between her unconcern and his growing agitation.

A call from behind finally broke the quiet.

"Wait for us, guys!"

The group turned. Han Jiho was approaching with a soft smile and an easy wave. Behind him he dragged the pale, pain-stricken assistant director along the ground as though the man weighed nothing. The soft earth scuffed under the dragged body; the assistant director’s earlier authority had been reduced to a limp, gray-faced burden.

Song Meiyu took in the assistant director’s ashen complexion, then looked at Han Jiho. A proud smile curved her lips. She turned fully toward them and let out a bright laugh at the sight of the omega hauling the man like a sack of potatoes.

As the pair drew closer she forced the laughter down, unwilling to give the assistant director any future reason to target her. The soft breeze stirred the edge of her clothes as she composed her expression once more.

Han Jiho passed Lin Xuanyu and lightly bumped his shoulder—subtle enough that it could have been an accidental brush. Lin Xuanyu staggered slightly, eyes widening at the assistant director’s ruined appearance. He glared at the injured man, teeth grinding.

Useless, he thought angrily. Partnering with someone this incompetent had clearly been a mistake. The carefully laid plans that had relied on the assistant director’s cooperation now looked fragile and poorly chosen.

Unaware of—or simply uninterested in—Lin Xuanyu’s opinion, Han Jiho used both hands and a controlled burst of strength to toss the assistant director toward the waiting staff. They caught him awkwardly, hearts skipping at the careless treatment. The afternoon light did nothing to soften the man’s pained, furious expression.

Han Jiho looked down at the man with complete coldness. "Please help him. He accidentally fell and sprained his legs." The lie left his mouth without a single trace of guilt. The words were calm and completely false.

The assistant director’s face flushed with rage, but the lingering pain between his legs kept him silent. He had no desire to risk a repeat performance. The soft earth still clung to his clothes from the drag across the forest path.

The staff members exchanged uneasy glances. Noticing how the assistant director continued to clutch at his crotch, an involuntary shiver ran through several of them as they quietly guessed what had actually happened. The official explanation and the physical evidence refused to align.

Song Meiyu laughed again at Han Jiho’s shameless explanation and patted his shoulder. "Thank you so much for assisting the assistant director," she said, voice perfectly natural—so natural that anyone unfamiliar with the situation might have believed she knew nothing of the real events.

Han Jiho smiled softly. "I’m just doing what I could." His tone was innocent and entirely free of remorse. The familiar dry edge beneath the words remained carefully controlled.

Song Meiyu finally stopped laughing. She hooked her arm through his; he returned the gesture without hesitation. The easy physical closeness settled between them as if the earlier violence and the still-wailing man behind them belonged to someone else’s afternoon.

"Come on. Let’s go look for PD Xu Cui," she said, bright and completely unconcerned about the state of the man they were leaving behind.

"Let’s!" Han Jiho agreed. The familiar sarcastic edge returned to his expression as he glanced back once at the assistant director and the still-stunned Lin Xuanyu. A teasing smirk touched his mouth before he faced forward again. His steps and Song Meiyu’s remained unhurried and almost cheerful. The soft path stretched ahead of them toward the village.

The staff hurriedly lifted the assistant director onto their shoulders and followed after the two omegas. The man’s protests remained weak and incomplete, drowned by residual pain and the clear lack of support around him.

Left at the rear, Lin Xuanyu stood rigid, teeth gritted so hard his jaw ached. How dare they? The indifference burned. I’ll make sure you all pay for this someday.

Dark plans already began forming in his mind as he forced himself to trail after the group, every step heavy with the promise of future retribution against those who had wronged him and his beloved CEO Gu.

The soft afternoon light continued to shift across the open ground. The forest behind them remained quiet. And the path ahead carried the cheerful, unhurried pair of omegas, the reluctant staff, and one fuming main character already rewriting the afternoon’s humiliations into a list of debts that would eventually need to be paid.

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FAHHH ANOTHER EXAM DAY TOMORROW!