Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 526: Don’t Shoot!
He Juan knew the right course of action he had to take. He needed to bring He Xie away from here as soon as possible, before the police could catch sight of him and mistake him as Luo Xuan. It was his main priority right now, and he had to – he must do that even if he had to knock He Xie unconscious.
And yet...
And yet He Juan found himself unable to move, for He Xie was looking at him as if he was a stranger, as if... as if He Juan were someone he’d never met before. And hell, that estranged look affected He Juan more than if He Xie were to resent him.
He needed to clarify, to assure He Xie that XIU was not as horrible as the media portrayed him to be, he had to explain that he walked this thorny path to avenge their parents’ death. He had to explain everything to He Xie, because he was certain that He Xie would understand where he was coming from. He ruthlessly stomped down that little doubt in his heart before it could sprout. He Xie would surely understand him, for they were blood brothers, after all.
But why... why couldn’t he speak? Why did his voice falter when he desperately needed it?
He knew the answer despite himself: it was because his worst fear was materializing right before his eyes.
The police were encroaching upon them, and it would not take long for them to arrive. He Juan had one minute at most. One minute. That reminder was enough to spur him to move.
"He Xie," he managed to force out through his badly constricted throat. His tone took a turn to a commanding one, laced with a hidden veil of anxiety. "He Xie, listen to me. We have to go now!"
He took another step forward, only to be met with He Xie’s furious rebuke.
"Don’t—!" He snarled, his entire body tensing defensively. "Don’t come any closer!"
Driven by a sudden impulse, he unsheathed the sword in his grip, tossed the scabbard aside and grabbed it with two trembling hands, as though it was his final shield, as though it was his defense mechanism against the impending destruction of everything he had ever known. Even though the tip of the blade was still a few meters away, He Juan felt as if the weapon had impaled his body, causing him to stagger backward. The wound across his chest began to throb again, as though recalling the agony it had once inflicted upon him.
Yet it was not his physical body that hurt the most; it was somewhere deep, deep inside him. And oh, how he wished everything was a nightmare. A cruel, gut-wrenching nightmare.
Alas, he should have known that God would never take mercy on a sinner like him.
He Xie’s laughter sliced through the air, a sharp, dissonant sound that felt like a serrated knife grinding away at He Juan’s heart. "You... You are not my Ge."
Those words knocked the air out of He Juan’s lungs, and his eyes started to sting with tears.
"My Ge is not someone like you," He Xie spat out each word as though they were venom, his disgust and anguish palpable. "He’s not a mafia, not a drug dealer, and definitely not a murderer. He’s not like you. He’s not—!" He repeated those words to himself over and over like a mantra, and He Juan could literally feel his heart dying bit by bit inside his chest. He wished he could cover his ears, shut his eyes, and curl himself up so that he did not have to go through this agony.
"To think that I’ve trusted you with all of my heart, to think that I’ve always treated you as my brother! But you..." he forced an ugly, heartbreaking smile that looked worse than crying. "Do you ever take me as your brother?"
"No... A–Xie, it’s not like that..." He Juan whispered. It was just a few words, but he felt like it had taken all of his energy to utter them.
"Until when are you going to lie to me, He Juan?" He Xie hissed, his expression contorted in anger, sorrow and hatred. "Until when are you going to play the good brother card in front of me when you are... you are..." Tears began to descend from his eyes anew. "How are you any different from Mom and Dad’s murderer! How could you—!"
Everything happened so fast.
The police surrounded them, their voices shouting, "Don’t move!"
Next, He Juan’s pupils dilated sharply when he spotted several ominous red dots on He Xie’s chest and stomach, courtesy of the snipers who were stationed somewhere around. There were some on his own body too, but he couldn’t afford to care about it right now. He never thought that he was capable of feeling such fear, such intense bone-chilling horror that seized him to his core.
"Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot him!" His desperate cries echoed throughout the space as he lunged toward He Xie, intending to protect the young man with his own body. But He Xie, too lost in his grief and resentment, reflexively swung the blade at him.
And that was all it took for the police to spring into action.
Everything happened so fast, within just a split-second. But in He Juan’s field of vision, it dragged on so agonizingly slow. His entire world eventually narrowed down on the crimson liquid that burst out of He Xie’s chest, and the violent jerk of his body as he collapsed right before He Juan’s eyes. Their eyes locked for a fleeting second in midair – He Xie’s pupils blown wide in confusion – before He Juan caught him squarely in his arms.
"No..." He Juan trembled, his silver eyes turning blank. His breath, his heartbeat, his thoughts, his blood, and his world— everything screeched to a halt at that very moment.
This must be a nightmare... Yes, this must be it!
Alas, as hard as he tried to convince himself, the torrent of scalding blood on his hands and the shudders wracking the body in his arms felt heartbreakingly real. He Xie gasped and coughed out more blood, his knees buckling as he struggled to cling onto He Juan, and He Juan, he... he could only stand frozen, still struggling to come to terms with the cruel reality before him.
