My heart ached.
My little uncle said casually, “This is nothing, you should have seen what I did to that brat, Shi Feng!”
I was speechless.
Then the sound of hurried footsteps came behind me. I turned around and saw Jing Tian. He looked exhausted, he must have just returned from a long trip. “What happened?”
My little uncle hissed with pain as the nurse disinfected his wounds. Then he looked at Jing Tian. “Shi Feng brought Jing Ni to the hotel after he drugged her.”
Jing Tian’s face dropped. “What? How dares he?”
The worry shed off my shoulders with Jing Tian and my little uncle beside me. I told them what happened with a trembling voice. “I went to the Jing Family and had to injure Lee Yang to make them tell me the truth. I rushed all the way to find Jing Ni but I was still too late. Little uncle, that bastard… did he… did he…” My knees gave out beneath me.
Jing Tian caught me and held me in his arms. He patted my back to comfort me.
My little uncle shook his bandaged hands. “No, the bastard hasn’t succeeded. But you should have seen his place, it was like a sex dungeon. Jing Ni has suffered some external injuries but I worry more about her mental state.”
I felt slightly better. At least Jing Ni hadn’t been sexually assaulted.
My little uncle looked at Jing Tian. “I gave Shi Feng quite a beating. I reckon he would be bedridden for at least 3 months. I’m afraid Shi Li will come avenge him.”
Jing Tian sneered. “Let him come then.”
My little uncle studied Jing Tian. “Actually, where have you been?” I had been thinking the same question. I pushed Jing Tian back and looked at him. “Where have you been?” It was because Jing Tian wasn’t home that Jing Ning and Jing Yan dared to do something like this.
Jing Tian’s expression darkened further. “I went to Beijing because the Jing Family had some problems there. Jing Ning couldn’t handle it so my father asked me to handle it for him.”
My little uncle and I stared at him. They had purposely diverted Jing Tian away! They did all that to entrap Jing Ni?
I looked at them in shocked. “The Jing Family has gone through so much to present Jing Ni to Shi Feng? Is the Shi Family that important to the Jing Family?”
Jing Tian’s expression was grave.
He glanced at the emergency room door and didn’t say anything.
When Jing Ni woke up, it was already the night of the next day. However, she was still heavily traumatized. She refused to let anyone get close to her, not even the doctors and nurses. Whenever someone did, she would curl up into a ball and shriek like a banshee.
I tried to talk to her. “Ni Ni, I’m Nanxing! Look at me, I’m Nanxing!”
Her screams didn’t stop. We ran out of ideas. A few larger nurses held her down and injected her with sedatives. Jing Ni dozed off. The doctor inspected her wounds and they had all opened up.
Jing Ni had lost her mind.
We had no idea what she had experienced. What that animal Shi Feng had done to her that she was so traumatized. The physical report showed that Jing Ni was not sexually assaulted but it looked like she didn’t fare much better either.
I had no idea what to do. I didn’t dare to tell Auntie Bai Rui because once she knew, she would collapse.
The doctors suggested that we sent Jing Ni to a mental asylum for treatment. However, I refused. Jing Ni was totally fine, why should she be admitted into a mental hospital? She was just overly scared. However, who could lead her out from this endless torment of fear? She was stuck in that world of perils and horrors.
The drugged Jing Ni slept peacefully. Her face was as pale as glass. Even in her sleep, her face was carved in fear. I couldn’t wait to chop Shi Feng into pieces.
What had Jing Ni done that she deserved such a fate? Why did she have to suffer so much misfortune?
I guarded beside Jing Ni’s side consistently. However, the moment she woke up, the first thing she did was not to open her eyes but to scream.
I grabbed her cold hands and shouted back at her. “Ni Ni, it’s me Nanxing!”
She didn’t open her eyes or look at me. She only screamed. My heart bled from pain.
Jing Ni suddenly opened her mouth to bite my arm. It was incredibly painful but I didn’t push her away. If she could get better this way, I would let her bite off a piece of my flesh.
The smell of blood triggered her. She became more terrified and shoved me away.
My lower back hit the table and I hissed from pain. A large hand held me firmly. It was my little uncle.
Then without saying anything, he removed his suit jacket and draped it over Jing Ni who had curled into a ball. “Jing Ni, don’t be scared, we’re going home now!”
Jing Ni stopped screaming. Even Jing Tian who had just arrived was shocked. The medical staff sighed in relief. This was the first time Jing Ni had stopped screaming since she woke up.
Then it hit me. This should be the sentence that my little uncle said when he went to save Jing Ni.
In Jing Ni’s memory, this promise cut through all the pain. She could only remember this jacket and this man’s presence.
My little uncle picked up Jing Ni and told us. “Let’s bring her home.”
