Chapter 655 - 653: A Sudden Turn of Events

The burly man towered over Su Li, watching her with a cautious and nervous expression.

"Ma’am, please don’t worry. Be careful not to fall."

"I’m fine," Su Li replied mechanically, walking toward the car.

The large man opened the car door, carefully shielding her so she wouldn’t hit her head.

Su Li got into the car. The moment she sat down, the strength she had mustered completely vanished, and tears began to stream down her face without her realizing it.

The burly man was about to shut the door when he saw her tears. He hesitated, then pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and awkwardly offered it to her.

"Ma’am..."

Su Li glanced at the handkerchief held so close it nearly touched her face. She took it absently. "Thank you."

She dabbed at her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself.

’I can’t cry. I can’t just fall apart like this. I have to pull myself together and get to the hospital.’

The burly man got into the driver’s seat, and the car quickly pulled away.

Su Li wiped away the last of her tears and let out a slow breath. Watching the scenery recede outside the window, she swallowed hard and asked in a hoarse voice.

"How did Wu Sheng get hurt? Where is he injured?"

"Are you all right, Ma’am?" the large man asked, not answering her question but instead watching her in the rearview mirror.

Su Li looked down at the handkerchief in her hand and shook her head. "I’m fine. Thank you. You can tell me the truth. I can handle it."

Just as she finished speaking, a wave of dizziness washed over her. She shook her head sharply, trying to focus and wait for his answer.

But shaking her head only made it worse. Her vision began to pulse with blackness, the vertigo intensifying.

Su Li’s mind snapped into focus as she realized something was wrong. "What’s going on? You..."

A jolt of alarm shot through her. She stared at the man in the front seat. "You..."

She wanted to bite her tongue to stay awake, to open the car door, but it was too late for any of it.

The doors were locked; she couldn’t open them at all.

Along with the dizziness came a profound weakness. All the strength in her body seemed to be locked away. She felt like a boneless heap, utterly unable to move.

Even her jaw was useless.

She managed to bite down, but the lack of force only produced a brief, sharp pain that granted her a single second of clarity.

In that one second, Su Li just managed to meet the burly man’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

Gone was the earlier anxiety and concern. Now, his eyes held only cold indifference, anticipation, and a hint of nervousness.

Then, Su Li’s vision went black, and she plunged into darkness.

The burly man in the front seat glanced back at Su Li, who had collapsed onto the seat. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and finally let out a long, slow sigh of relief.

He exhaled a couple of times, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and started driving again.

The car quickly vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the residential complex, the old security guard had just returned from the restroom. He thanked his old friend for covering for him, exchanged a few words, and saw him off. Then he noticed Su Li’s car parked at the gate and began to speculate.

"Off to buy groceries again? She’s about to get married and she’s still working so hard."

"Ah, what a good girl. So capable and so diligent..." He sighed, a touch of sadness in his voice. "Once she gets married and moves away, I suppose she won’t be coming back here..."

The sun, a rare sight, slowly began to set in the west.

********

「Two hundred kilometers from the Imperial City, a skydiving training exercise was underway.」

Tang Yuanxiao was in the lead.

After numerous test jumps, everyone was utterly exhausted.

Only when Tang Yuanxiao called for a break did the squad finally breathe a sigh of relief. A few of them, whose stamina was already at its breaking point, collapsed directly onto the ground, not even caring about the mud beneath them.

Some collapsed in heaps by themselves, while others leaned against each other for support.

Gasping for breath, they exchanged a few weary comments before their gazes shifted to Tang Yuanxiao, who sat alone off to one side.

Everyone could tell that Tang Yuanxiao had been in a bad mood for the past few days.

He was quieter than usual and pushed himself harder, with a reckless abandon that was downright frightening.

In this world, there’s no such thing as a perfect secret.

The story of his divorce from Su Li, along with all the drama that followed, had been the talk of the town, spreading from the family residences all the way to the military base. Plenty of people had heard about it.

The fact that Su Li was now getting married was no secret either, and everyone could see how it was affecting him.

That was why for the past two days, everyone had been walking on eggshells around Tang Yuanxiao, choosing their words with extreme care.

They had a silent, mutual understanding to give him his space, not chatting with him as they usually would. They kept to themselves, muttering a few words here and there, their eyes occasionally drifting toward him.

Tang Yuanxiao could feel their furtive glances and probing looks. He could sense their caution.

He felt uneasy, but he didn’t say a word.

’They were just concerned for him. He knew that. He appreciated their good intentions.’

’He just couldn’t bring himself to feel any enthusiasm.’

He didn’t actually have to come on this training exercise, but he had chosen to.

’He just couldn’t stand by and quietly wait for Su Li to get married. He couldn’t bear to be in the same city as her and Wu Sheng. He was afraid he’d do something impulsive. The best solution was to get away.’

’But eventually, he’d have to go back.’

’Back there before Su Li’s wedding.’

’It was a cruel twist of fate. It was destiny.’

Just as Tang Yuanxiao was staring blankly at the sky, he heard a strange noise. He looked over and saw the transport vehicle that had come to pick them up careening wildly toward them.

"The brakes are out! Get out of the way!"

The driver was yelling for them to move as the vehicle hurtled straight down the slope.

The driver threw open his door and tried to jump out, but failed.

"Watch out!" Tang Yuanxiao glanced at the driver, then shouted, gritting his teeth as he leaped forward and yanked the man from the vehicle.

Caught off balance, he was dragged along, tumbling down the slope with the out-of-control truck.