He hadn't expected that beneath her clothes her body would be so covered in scars.
Jiang Cheng's face was full of heartache as he gently reached out and slowly traced the ugly scar directly over her heart.
When his fingertips touched the rough, uneven skin it felt as if he could sense the pain and torment she had once endured.
Then, in a soft voice, he asked, "This scar… what exactly happened?"
His light caress along the scar made Xiali's body tremble.
Xiali bit her lower lip and lowered her gaze to the raised, faintly red scar on her chest.
The moment her eyes met that ugly mark they froze, the brightness in them dying like a pool of stagnant water.
Her pupils shrank sharply, as though trying to bury the unbearable memory deep inside.
At the same time the color drained from her face, leaving it paper-white and pitiful.
Her tightly clenched hands began to shake uncontrollably.
The trembling didn't come from any outside stimulus.
It was as if an invisible cold rose from the depths of her heart and wrapped around her fingers.
The chill surged like a tide, rising violently from the bottom of her soul.
It raced through her blood to every corner of her body.
Wherever it passed it left only biting cold and deep fear.
It made every limb shudder.
Each raised scar seemed alive.
Silently, quietly, they reminded her of that nightmare chapter in Mexico.
Soon the memories flooded in like a tide.
Xiali's eyes grew hollow.
Her soul felt torn from her body.
It was as though she were once again in that distant, terrifying foreign land.
In her memory the dark, damp hut was swallowed by darkness.
The air reeked of suffocating rot that turned the stomach.
The stench came from the pile of corpses in the corner.
It hung over the room like a thick, gloomy haze.
In that horror Xiali was pinned to a large wooden table by several burly, vicious men.
They were like demons from hell, their fierce eyes gleaming with greed and cruelty.
Under the glaring lights the cold instruments glinted with chilling light.
The surgeon advanced step by step with a scalpel, mercilessly nearing her chest.
The hand holding the knife looked like a devil's claw from hell, radiating evil.
As the distance shrank the smell of death grew stronger.
Every nerve screamed in terror.
Her muscles tensed from the strain.
Veins bulged on her forehead as if about to burst.
Sweat poured from her pores, mixing with tears that streamed down her cheeks.
She thrashed and struggled with all her might but it was useless.
Her resistance was pitifully weak and ended with a heavy blow.
The blow blacked her vision and her sight blurred.
Her will to live began to fade.
Though the pain left her almost unresponsive,
her heart still filled with endless despair and deep unwillingness.
Her eyes, as though cursed,
were fixed on the blade racing toward her chest.
She watched the sharp knife glint with terrifying light as it mercilessly pierced her skin,
slowly cutting through her living flesh
straight to her beating heart.
Every detail was so clear she had nowhere to hide.
Now, though life seemed calm again, the memory could drown her in terror like a surging tide.
The stitched scars were carved not only across her skin but, cruelly, deep into her soul.
Every silent night they flickered like a demon lurking in the dark,
sometimes leaping out to rake her nerves with sharp claws.
Nightmares often jolted her awake; she would clutch her chest, gasping for breath,
soaked in cold sweat.
They gnawed at her mind without pause,
leaving her forever cautious in this ordinary world, like a bird startled by the twang of a bow.
Xiali looked at the solemn Jiang Cheng, hesitated, then finally asked, "Is it… terrifying?"
Her voice was as faint as a candle flame in the wind, ready to go out at any moment.
Jiang Cheng slowly lifted his head.
He gazed tenderly at her beautiful, haggard face, his eyes soft as water.
Then he leaned down gently
and pressed his warm lips to the edge of her scar,
so lightly it seemed any more pressure might hurt her again.
"Not terrifying," Jiang Cheng murmured, his voice full of tender pity.
"I just can't imagine how much pain you must have felt then…"
His words made her eyes widen slightly.
A crystal tear, like a broken string of pearls,
slid quickly from the corner of her limpid eyes.
Yet in the blink of an eye Xiali reined in every visible emotion.
She straightened up at once and turned away,
deftly pulling the clothes she had removed back down,
the whole motion fluid and without hesitation.
Seeing the pity in Jiang Cheng's eyes, she lowered her head.
To her, that compassion now felt like a sword stabbing straight into the most fragile corner of her heart.
The resurgence of painful memories had shattered the calm she thought she had regained.
Truthfully, Jiang Cheng's gentle caresses and firm hold just now had stirred no desire in her.
Instead, in that instant her mind had flashed back to herself naked and helpless on the cold operating table.
The helplessness and despair surged uncontrollably, sending a chill through her.
Jiang Cheng watched silently, countless thoughts churning inside, but he did nothing to stop her.
Though he knew Xiali had feelings for him, at this moment his heart was filled with the helplessness of defying the world.
To take her by force now would be unfair and irresponsible to her.
That was why he had said this was the first time he found the mind-reading skill such a kill-joy.
Still, if not for the system's control over loyalty,
given Xiali's rough and painful past,
one careless move moments ago might have left him with his neck snapped between her legs before he even realized it.
At the thought Jiang Cheng silently gave thanks in his heart:
Thank the system for not killing me.