Chapter 218

Chapter 218. So He Could Be Afraid Too

Moreover, Chu Feng’s face carried an expression Cailin had never seen before. His brows were tightly knit, his lips pressed into a hard line...

And in his eyes was a flustered urgency Cailin had never seen before, along with a trace of anger that was difficult to detect.

Chu Feng was walking very fast, so fast that he was nearly running. Truly, it was rare to see Chu Feng in such an anxious state.

At least, Cailin had never seen him like this before.

In front of her, Chu Feng had always been calm and unhurried, lazy and easygoing, as though even if the heavens collapsed, his expression would not change in the slightest, as though everything were always under his control.

But at this moment, Chu Feng’s steps were hurried, his breathing unsteady, and even his hair was in complete disarray...

He looked exactly like someone who had leapt straight out of bed and rushed out without even stopping to compose himself.

Cailin stared at him blankly, and an indescribable emotion surged up in her heart.

Did Chu Feng really care about her that much?

But she was clearly an aberration of the Ancient Royal Clan. With so many Imperial Consorts in Chu Feng’s Inner Palace, was it really possible for him to care so much about her?

And why had Chu Feng appeared at this exact critical moment? Could it be that he had been watching her the whole time?

But if he had been watching her, then for what reason?

Did he truly hate to let her leave this place?

All sorts of tangled emotions and chaotic thoughts kept surfacing in Cailin’s mind.

She had no time at all to find an answer within that turmoil. She only felt a force suddenly suppress her hard.

A pair of hands slammed down onto her shoulders, gripping so hard that it hurt.

“Speak! Where are you going? I already did everything I could to shield you from so many hardships, so tell me, where exactly are you trying to go?”

In the darkness, Chu Feng’s ink-black eyes stared fixedly at Cailin. His voice was low and hoarse, and beneath the anger was a faint tremor that was hard to notice.

Cailin parted her lips, but no sound came out. She had never seen Chu Feng like this before!

Within those Chaos Dual Pupils, there was none of his usual composure, none of his usual laziness, none of his usual cynical irreverence.

What was there instead was something Cailin had never seen before: anger, urgency, resentment, sharpness, and all kinds of emotions mixed together.

There was even...

fear.

This man who had remained unmoved even when The Eight Clans Join Forces pressed down upon him, this man who had overawed all the officials in court, this man who feared neither heaven nor earth, actually felt afraid when facing Cailin.

What exactly was this man afraid of?

Was he afraid that she would leave?

That realization was like a bolt of thunder striking straight into Cailin’s heart, instantly tearing it to pieces.

“Speak!” Chu Feng’s voice suddenly rose, echoing through the silent passage. “Where are you going?!”

It was the first time he had ever shouted at her.

Mainly because Chu Feng saw the absentminded look on Cailin’s face. Even when facing him, she still seemed to have the leisure to think about other things, and that made his anger flare even more.

Chu Feng even began to wonder whether Cailin was thinking about how to escape him right now.

Had Cailin truly become so desperate to escape from his grasp?

Could it be that he was really that unbearable to her?

There was anger in that voice, and urgency, and fear, and something else that could neither be clearly spoken nor clearly understood.

Cailin stared blankly at Chu Feng, at the faint redness in his eyes caused by his panic, at his disheveled hair from rushing here, at the hand pressed tightly against her shoulder so hard that the knuckles had gone white.

Suddenly, tears spilled from her eyes.

It was not sorrow, nor grievance, but an emotion that words simply could not express.

The moment he saw Cailin crying, Chu Feng misunderstood yet again.

All at once, Chu Feng let out a self-mocking laugh. “Ha... ha... ha... In the entire Great Chu Dynasty, what is there that I do not have? And yet I have spent more on you than on anyone else, but you are still so utterly ungrateful. I truly do not understand. What is it about that Ancient Royal Clan that makes you so attached to it?

Do you know that the entire Ancient Royal Clan already sees you as a traitor? Do you know how they speak about you behind your back? Even that childhood sweetheart of yours, whom you think is so good to you, is now in league with those people, thinking about how to deal with you.

And yet even so, you still cannot stay by my side in peace. You simply ignore everything I have done for you and all the care I have given you these past days. So I want to ask you this: what exactly is your heart made of?”

Chu Feng was truly so furious that he had become muddle-headed. He shouted out every thought in his heart in one breath.

Because this was the first time Chu Feng had ever treated a woman with such care and such caution.

It was also his way of making up for the harm he had done to Cailin in the beginning.

But Cailin not only failed to appreciate it, she had kept wanting to escape his grasp, and that instantly made Chu Feng feel as though he were a complete joke.

And then, seeing Chu Feng like this, Cailin cried and cried, and suddenly began to laugh.

So...

So Chu Feng, who feared neither heaven nor earth, was actually afraid that she would leave?

Ha... ha... ha... Chu Feng could panic too, could become anxious too, could… could also be afraid of losing her...

That realization was like a beam of light suddenly shining into the dark corner of Cailin’s heart.

That corner hid all of Cailin’s secrets, all of her unease, all of her fears, and all of her many insecurities.

Cailin had always thought that, to Chu Feng, she was only a passing fancy, only a moment of novelty, only the thrill he felt from capturing a demoness of the Ancient Royal Clan.

Only... only an otherworldly woman, someone through whom he could taste the feeling of conquering another race.

But now, looking at how sincere and genuine Chu Feng appeared, Cailin suddenly realized that she had been wrong, and terribly wrong.

“I...”

Cailin secretly glanced at Chu Feng, and finally spoke, her voice so choked with tears that it was nearly unrecognizable. “I... I do not know... I do not know anything.”

“You do not know?” Chu Feng frowned, his brows twisting into a tight knot, and his voice rose again. “You do not know where you are going? If you do not know where you are going, then why are you running? Tell me, why are you running? Is it so bad here? Have I treated you badly? How have I treated you these past days? Have you truly not seen any of it at all? Do you realize how far too much this is?”

“No...”

Cailin shook her head, seeming as though Chu Feng had truly frightened her. Tears streamed down like pearls from a broken string, endlessly falling. “I do not know... I truly do not know where I should go. I did not lie to you either.”

Chu Feng froze, and the hand pressing against her shoulder loosened slightly. In that moment, he seemed to see Cailin’s helplessness and confusion.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cailin forcefully shook free of Chu Feng’s restraining hand and stepped back, leaning against the palace gate.

The cold gate pressed against her back, the chill seeping into her bones, yet she seemed not to feel it at all. She wrapped her arms around herself, like a wounded little beast curled up in a corner.