Fu Qiancheng clenched his fists slightly but remained silent.

After a long while, he finally parted his thin lips and said, “Yueyue, don’t be afraid! As long as Fu Qiancheng is here, no one can crush you!”

Ming Yue’s eyes blinked again.

Something she couldn’t quite put into words began to stir, threatening to burst forth at any moment.

She didn’t want anyone to see it—especially this man before her—so she mustered all her strength to push back those tears that hadn’t yet formed, followed by another cold, icy sneer.

“Fu Qiancheng, I advise you not to meddle. I, Ming Yue, am now a notorious disgrace; everyone who sees me wants to step on me twice. You, the lofty Da Shaoye, better not get yourself into trouble because of me.”

Though those unformed tears were terribly mischievous, always eager to spill out uncontrollably at some point, under the overwhelming pressure of the Great Demon Lord Ming, they obediently hid themselves and dared not show their heads again.

As soon as she finished speaking, Ming Yue let out another long sigh, once more brushing away the man’s hand and rising to leave.

But the man had already grabbed her wrist, whispering in her ear in the gravest tone, “Don’t belittle yourself! Don’t look down on yourself! And certainly don’t lose hope in life because of it!”

“Let go!”

“I’m not letting go!”

“Fu Qiancheng!”

“I’m here!” Fu Qiancheng stood up as well, his gentle hand resting on Ming Yue’s head, his face full of tender concern as he stroked her hair. “Yueyue, I’m here! I’ve always been right here, waiting for you to turn back! I won’t allow you to belittle yourself, nor will I let those filthy things hurt you again!”

That all-too-familiar call of “Yueyue” slipped out, and those affectionate, soulful eyes were right before her. Ming Yue admitted that, in that very instant, she was once again—damn it—completely dazed.

In a hazy, dreamlike state, it felt as if she’d returned to some time long ago.

At that moment, the man’s voice murmured softly in her ear again.

“The pictures of you being beaten… and that blog post—they were both posted by Ming Xia. That fool must have suffered a loss yesterday and taken a grudge against you, trying to ruin you this way. But rest assured, right under my nose, she won’t get away with it!”

Fu Qiancheng’s hand didn’t stop moving.

Yet he said no more.

Knowing full well the other person’s abilities and character, he knew that as long as Ming Yue didn’t want it, those few pictures and that Weibo post simply couldn’t be published. Or even if they were, they wouldn’t appear the way they do now.

So he understood perfectly well that there was only one possible explanation for the current situation: Ming Yue knew about it—and deliberately didn’t try to stop it.

Or perhaps… maybe this was exactly what she wanted!

He still wasn’t sure what Ming Yue’s real goal was.

But he could certainly make sure she didn’t drag him down.

That’s why, from last night until now, no matter how hard Ming Shuo and the Hui Qing Group tried, they couldn’t remove that increasingly fierce trending search term. Nor could they erase that blog post. On the contrary, the more they tried to take it down, the more popular it became.

Of course, besides him, there seemed to be several very mysterious forces pulling the strings behind the scenes. Two of them were certainly as powerful as he was, though he couldn’t yet confirm whether they were acting on Ming Yue’s orders.

Ming Yue had snapped out of her reverie and was no longer lost in the past.

After letting out a soft sigh, she said calmly, “You’re not young anymore—you shouldn’t waste your time on me any longer. Fu Qiancheng, let me remind you once again: stop coming to see me, and stop wasting your time here. I’m not going back. No matter how you treat me, no matter how you cling to me, I’m never going back.”

Ming Yue gently pushed his hand away, and that familiar aloofness and detachment flared up once more.

Fu Qiancheng’s hand tightened slightly, then quickly loosened, still gazing tenderly at the stubborn woman before him. “Then you should know just as well that once I’ve decided on someone or something, no one can change my mind.”

“Yueyue, it was my fault back then—I wronged you, I failed you, I let down your big brother. So I’ll do everything in my power to make it up to you. But you think you can shake me off? Impossible!”

“Even if I have other men, you don’t care?”

Ming Yue stared straight into the man’s eyes.

If Fu Qiancheng hadn’t mentioned “big brother,” she might not have blurted out those words so immediately.

But those two words—“big brother”—were like a thorn, deeply embedded in her heart, impossible to pull out. Every single breath she took brought excruciating pain.

Fu Qiancheng’s breath caught in his throat. “Bring him before me first, then we’ll talk!”

“Who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?” Ming Yue snorted coldly.

Suddenly, Fu Qiancheng leaned in close, his handsome yet brooding face almost touching Ming Yue’s small one. Their breaths mingled, his long arm wrapped around her slender waist, and his voice dropped low and hoarse, tinged with a hint of danger. “What do you think I am?”

End of Chapter 14: Heart-wrenching