Sweetie, sleep with me tonight.

He shouldn't have said anything, because once he did, Jiang Youxi couldn't control herself and cried even harder, tears streaming down her face, quickly soaking a large area of ​​the bedding.

He Zhuo was quite helpless. He got up, put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his arms. He nuzzled her cheek with the tip of his nose in a comforting way and chuckled helplessly, "I should have kept quiet."

She lowered her head and sobbed.

"Were you scared?"

"Mmm," Jiang Youxi replied listlessly, looking up at him. "He Zhuo, I feel so sorry for you."

He Zhuo paused slightly, then quietly gazed at her profile.

"Officer Lin Qi has already told me what happened back then," Jiang Youxi wiped away her tears, trying to control her emotions. "Were you in a lot of pain at the time?"

When he woke up and saw the familiar scene before him, he knew that he had returned to Officer Lin Qi's home.

That place where he once had a moment to catch his breath and relax.

Looking at the little girl crying uncontrollably by the bedside, He Zhuo vaguely guessed what was going on.

His sudden loss of consciousness must have frightened her.

Of course, what made her cry so hard wasn't just being frightened.

"That all happened ten years ago, and many memories are blurry."

Is it really blurry?

If his vision were blurred, he wouldn't still be having nightmares and not getting a good night's sleep.

He paused for a moment, looking at the heartache and concern in her eyes. The untouched corner of his heart was gradually conquered by her words of worry.

He held her hand and rubbed his face against her palm: "No, it's always been clear."

Jiang Youxi felt a lump in her throat and her eyes welled up with tears.

Thinking of the pain he had suffered from nightmares over the years, she could hardly control the dull ache in her heart.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her slender shoulder, and leaned on her affectionately: "When we woke up, Zhao Yuan and I tried to escape from that cellar, but we were discovered by those people before we could succeed."

"During that week, we were tortured by those people every day. They cut off our food and water, whipped us, injected us with drugs, and watched us struggle on the ground with amusement."

He spoke softly and slowly, recounting the events of that year in detail.

He Zhuo believed that as long as they gritted their teeth and persevered, they would eventually be rescued. But as the days passed, the sun set and rose again, and they, like that sun, were repeatedly tormented.

They went from being full of hope to becoming so weak from lack of water and food that they could no longer muster any strength and could only endure the excruciating pain of being whipped and having their skin torn open.

Their bare upper bodies were covered in blood, with clearly visible wounds stained with the murky, damp mud and sand on the ground. The wounds were infected and festering, and no treatment was being given to them.

"I thought their torture would stop soon. But I was wrong. They were inhumane and never treated us like human beings." His voice was heavy with pain, each word like a sharp knife sliding from his throat. "They knew Zhao Yuan was Zhao Hai's son. In order to intimidate Zhao Hai and punish him for calling the police, they chopped off Zhao Yuan's hands and feet right in front of me without any anesthesia."

Blood spurted out, staining his eyes red.

He Zhuo froze on the spot, momentarily forgetting the pain in his body.

He watched as blood gushed out like a fountain, quickly staining the filthy mud red and gradually seeping into the mud beneath him.

Blood was spilled all over the ground, its bright red color glaringly obvious.

Zhao Yuan screamed in agony, nearly fainting from the pain.

He Zhuo stared blankly at his companion lying in a pool of blood, frozen in place, terrified, like a puppet whose soul had been ripped out, his consciousness in disarray, his vision gradually losing focus.

Zhao Yuan finally fainted from the pain. Even though he stopped crying, bright red blood continued to gush from his body.

He Zhuo finally realized what was happening and rushed over, trying to cover his wound with his hand.

However, Zhao Yuan's hands and feet were chopped off at the same time, leaving him a bloody mess with bones clearly visible. He Zhuo couldn't cover the blood with his hands at all.

He broke down emotionally, kneeling on the ground, his body contorted in pain, like a helpless trapped beast, emitting painful and helpless cries.

Perhaps fearing that if they killed him, they would have no hostages and would be unable to fight back against the police, the drug lords finally remembered to bandage Zhao Yuan's wounds when he was about to bleed to death.

It's less of a bandage and more of a binding.

The wound was neither cleaned nor disinfected; it was simply roughly bandaged with dirty cloth to stop the bleeding.

Their injuries became severely infected because they weren't treated in time, and it took them more than a month to heal.

"Before I met you, whenever I closed my eyes, the things that happened in that damp and dark cellar would keep invading my dreams, torturing my body and mind again and again." Even though ten years have passed, the pain of that time is still vivid in my mind. "Whenever I close my eyes, I dream of that blood-red scene."

"I dreamt of Zhao Yuan's screams, his painful struggles, and the strips of cloth on his body that were already soaked in blood."

He held his head, his face contorted in pain: "That cellar was small and damp, pitch black at night, but the ground was covered in our blood, and every breath I took smelled of blood."

Jiang Youxi hugged him, choking back tears, "Don't say anymore... I know... I know..."

"Don't think about it anymore, it's all over, He Zhuo," she said, her voice trembling with tears. "Those drug lords have been brought to justice, and you and Zhao Yuan both pulled through and were rescued and survived."

The man buried his face in her neck, deeply inhaling her unique sweet peach scent, and his emotions gradually calmed down.

Officer Lin said that if He Zhuo is to be completely cured, he can only get over it himself and let go of the matter.

But judging from his current state, it's clear that he has never truly let go of the past.

He still felt guilty and remorseful.

His unresolved issue always revolved around Zhao Yuan.

He wanted Zhao Yuan's forgiveness.

But what about him?

How could he not be in pain at that time?

The pain he endured was not only physical, but also psychological.

"He Zhuo, have you... always felt guilty?"

The man paused, but did not speak.

Jiang Youxi continued, "You think that if you hadn't led Zhao Yuan down that alley, you wouldn't have been kidnapped, and Zhao Yuan wouldn't have had his hands and feet chopped off by the drug lords, right?"

He Zhuo remained silent for a long time before finally humming in agreement.

She was right.

His unresolved issue was indeed Zhao Yuan.

It was precisely because of her guilt towards Zhao Yuan that she allowed those vicious text messages to attack her relentlessly, trying to punish herself and alleviate her sins by deceiving herself with the idea that "this is his phone number and he sent it himself."

"If that's the case, then why are you ignoring him?" Recalling their encounter at the beach last night, she couldn't quite figure out He Zhuo's thoughts. "He Zhuo, what are your feelings towards Zhao Yuan right now?"

"I feel guilty, remorseful, and angry."

"angry?"

"Yes, because you saw those text messages."

Regardless of whether Zhao Yuan sent those text messages himself, the phone belongs to him, and he has the right to supervise it.

He didn't think anything of it at first, but things changed after Jiang Youxi saw the text message.

Such filthy and disgusting things should not have been seen by Xixi.

He is guilty, and Zhao Yuan is equally responsible.

Another point.

He hates being threatened.

"..."

Jiang Youxi didn't expect that this was what made him angry.

She smiled and tugged at his sleeve. "Okay, okay, I'm really fine. Don't be angry anymore, alright?"

He looked up and gazed at the little girl in front of him.

"XiXi".

"Um?"

Am I a sinner?

"No. You are not a sinner."

He Zhuo looked slightly taken aback.

Jiang Youxi cupped his face in her hands, her eyes resolute, and said, word by word, "He Zhuo, you did nothing wrong. The ones who are wrong are those heartless drug lords, not you."

"You were also implicated, so let's stop torturing and punishing ourselves in this way, no matter what, understand?"

He Zhuo gazed deeply into her eyes and brows, his fingertips rubbing her cheek, a warm feeling welling up in his heart.

He finally understood.

It turns out to be the sun.

It can also belong to him alone.