Chapter 1251 Hug
Therefore, fate can sometimes be so ironic and cruel.
In the past, he was the unattainable dream star in her youth, ultimately coldly ignored, as if he had never existed;
But she was merely option B on his emotional scales, easily replaced by newer, fleeting feelings, and readily set aside.
Gu Chengyuan never imagined that one day the two of them would meet again in this way.
The girl who used to be happy for half a day because of his single "hmm" and who would wait patiently in the cold wind has now torn open the door of a half-ton armored vehicle and come riding the wind.
At this moment, gazing upon that familiar yet strange, beautiful yet terrifying figure, Gu Chengyuan felt a surge of emotion not of fear, but of a guilt that had been long overdue, a mixture of realization, shock, and an overwhelming wave of remorse...
The guilt was so heavy that it instantly overwhelmed him, making him almost forget the tense guards around him and the vigilant Lu Chong beside him. He just stared blankly into those purple eyes.
On opposite banks of the river of time stand two completely different people.
One, who has already ascended to the pinnacle of power and holds the lives of hundreds of millions in his hands, is now struck by the past and his defenses are broken.
One, having fallen into an unknown abyss, transformed into a non-human being, carrying shattered obsessions and destructive power, once again entered his world.
The first glance at this reunion in the apocalypse had nothing to do with romance; all that remained was a cold, blood-stained wasteland and endless sighs.
"Put down your weapons!" Gu Chengyuan's slightly hoarse voice rang out in the square in front of the mechanism gate.
As soon as she finished speaking, despite the various worries and questions in the hearts of the guards present, the long guns and short guns that had been surrounding Xiong Yuting in the square stopped without any hesitation.
"Lu Chong, you explain yourself."
Before he arrived, Lu Chong was acting mysteriously, saying he had something important to report in person. At the time, Gu Chengyuan was wondering what it was.
At this moment, in this situation, how could Gu Chengyuan not understand what it all meant...?
What puzzles him most now is how Lu Chong knew this? Or rather, why was Xiong Yuting brought by Lu Chong?
Upon hearing the commander's question, Lu Chong instinctively trembled. This high-ranking general, known in Chongqing as an arrogant and military strongman, instantly turned deathly pale...
No matter how much he planned, he never expected that the strange girl who had been quiet all along would suddenly go berserk at this moment!
What was even more unexpected was that, not only did it go berserk, but its combat power was also so formidable that it kicked a half-ton bulletproof car door so hard it ripped apart... It was simply outrageous!
This isn't some kind of "extremely dangerous" assessment by Jia Daiquan; it's downright damn dangerous!
A humanoid beast, right? Even if it is a humanoid beast, it's impossible for it to unleash such enormous power based on its size, right?
Aside from being stunned by Xiong Yuting's strength, Lu Chong's biggest crisis at this moment was the people he had brought with him. At best, it was an act of disrespecting his superior; at worst, it was a blatant disregard for his safety...
Such a basic mistake... how could he have made it?! This made Lu Chong wonder if he had been too successful lately and become a little arrogant...
Thinking of this, Lu Chong, drenched in cold sweat, quickly organized his thoughts and began to report:
"Reporting to the leader, this woman was found at the seventh water collection point in the Beibei settlement yesterday at noon. Her behavior was abnormal, her appearance was... too conspicuous, and she showed... physical fitness and potential danger far beyond that of ordinary people. Director Jia Daiquan of our Ministry's Inspection Bureau was present at the time. After initial contact, it was found that she could not communicate normally, but seemed to retain some kind of... obsession."
At this point, Lu Chong carefully took out a black cell phone from his inner pocket, unlocked it, and presented it to Lu Chong with both hands, his voice unconsciously lowering slightly:
"The only identifiable 'possession' she had was this photo taken with her phone. When Jia Daiquan tried to communicate with her, she showed it to him, seemingly looking for the person in the photo..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Chengyuan's gaze quickly shifted to the photo taken with his phone.
Almost instantly, Gu Chengyuan recognized himself in the photo. He couldn't remember exactly when it was, but that didn't stop him from feeling a sudden pang of pain in his heart.
A sharp, belated sting, transcending space and time, pierced through all his reason and defenses...
'She's become like this...'
'He actually...he even carries his own photo with him?'
'She's looking for herself...on instinct?'
Thinking of all this, Gu Chengyuan subconsciously gripped his phone tightly, feeling as if something was blocking his throat, making it extremely difficult to breathe.
The guilt that had surged earlier was no longer a wave, but had turned into cold, heavy molten lead, filling his chest and sinking down heavily, almost dragging him into a suffocating abyss.
He had thought it was just an insignificant, even somewhat annoying, episode in his youth.
He originally thought that his cold treatment was just letting an unsuitable unrequited love cool down naturally, which would be good for both of them.
He originally thought that time would heal all wounds, and that the bright-eyed girl would, like all girls who have experienced heartbreak, be sad for a while, and then move on, meet someone more suitable, and have a brand new life.
At this moment, all the complex emotions finally condensed into three words: 'She hasn't forgotten.'
The stark contrast and belated realization were like the sharpest blade, repeatedly cutting into Gu Chengyuan's unguarded heart.
Looking into her still empty purple eyes that stared at him, the starlight and expectation that once filled them had long since vanished, leaving only a cold, lifeless silence and an unfathomable chaos deep within.
Yet the owner of those eyes, clutching the only keepsake connected to him, crossed mountains of corpses and seas of blood to stand before him.
"What exactly is she like to me...?"
Gu Chengyuan's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly. An indescribable sourness and stinging pain exploded from the deepest part of his heart and instantly spread to his limbs and bones.
"I'm so damn stupid!!!"
.....
At this moment, Xiong Yuting's gaze never left the tall figure on the steps.
All the noise, all the guardedness, all the complex human calculations and power struggles, were as blurry and insignificant as if viewed through a thick layer of frosted glass in her pure and chaotic consciousness at this moment.
She didn't understand the immense power represented by his crisp, dark green military uniform, nor the mixture of awe and tension on the faces of the soldiers around her. She couldn't even clearly understand why she had to cross mountains of corpses and seas of blood, relying on a fragmented instinct and a faded photograph to find this place.
All she knew was—
found it!
That anchor point that is the only clear, the only warm, and the only steadfast presence amidst countless chaotic, bloody, and cold dreams and realities.
Just as everyone, including Gu Chengyuan, was on guard against her, she slowly and somewhat clumsily opened her arms towards Gu Chengyuan.
With arms slightly outstretched forward, fingers unconsciously curled slightly, palms facing upward, as if waiting for something, or perhaps making a silent plea.
She raised her stunningly beautiful, otherworldly face, her lips moving slightly as she tried very hard to activate her long-unused vocal organs:
"……hug……"
The first word was muffled and hoarse, almost impossible to recognize.
She paused, a fleeting look of confusion crossing her purple eyes, as if she were a stranger to the voice she was making.
But she didn't give up. She tried even harder, focusing all her attention, and squeezed out that simple word that had been swirling in her chaotic consciousness for who knows how long:
"hug……"
"hug."
...
