Absolute Choice
chapter-473

After Liu Yu left, the dark penthouse fell into silence once again.

Mu Lengxi and Mu Yuesheng had thought of a lot of things over the past three days. Actually, even if Liu Yu did not say a word, they would definitely not view Shi Xiaobai as the murderer. That was because 'Shi Xiaobai' in his silver-haired state was no different from a 'devil'. It was void of humanity from the way it ruthlessly ripped the Level Lords into pieces. Furthermore, it had nearly ripped off Sunless's arms. How could such a 'devil' be Shi Xiaobai?

Therefore, all of this was just an accident, a natural disaster.

That was what they thought, as well as what they believed...

"Drip..."

Suddenly, the sound of water dripping to the ground echoed clearly in the gloomy penthouse. It was especially clear in such a silent atmosphere.

Mu Yuesheng looked over with a turn of her head. Her eyes constricted slightly.

Under the dim candlelight, tears were constantly rolling down the silver-haired girl's pallid face. She was struggling to wipe them away but it was in vain.

Logically speaking, such crying had happened countless times over the past three days. It could not be considered odd, but Mu Yuesheng knew that it was different this time.

"You...are forcing yourself to give up...right?"

Mu Yuesheng let out a soft sigh. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly stretched her hand out to touch the girl's silver hair.

Mu Lengxi slowly looked up and met the slightly puffy brown eyes. She could see a sense of gentleness in them, but the grief in her heart become more unbearable. Tears burst out incessantly.

"You are forcing yourself to give up your liking for Shi Xiaobai...right?"

Mu Yuesheng said gently, "All of us do not think Shi Xiaobai is the murderer, but...it is a fact that Brother Speechless died under Shi Xiaobai's hands. We are unable to deny it, nor can we escape from that fact. As long as you see Shi Xiaobai, you will recall that painful matter. You can no longer like him without care or concern like before. You are unable to convince yourself that none of this had happened. Therefore, you are trying to force yourself to give up on the liking you have. However, giving up isn't that simple. Giving up is more painful than you imagined, so you can't stop your tears. Is that right?"

The words precisely described the feelings in the girl's heart. It made Mu Lengxi gradually widen her eyes.

Be it the fact of lying to Shi Xiaobai or concealing the truth to the world, she could do all of that easily. It was because she felt that it was the right thing to do. By doing so, she could put an end to the tragedy.

But the only person she could not hide from or deceive was herself.

The murderer that killed Speechless was indeed not Shi Xiaobai, but it was an irrefutable fact that Speechless had died under the hands of Shi Xiaobai.

She had no idea what sort of feelings or expression she should have when facing a clueless Shi Xiaobai.

The moment she saw him, how could she not be reminded of her elder brother's state of eternal slumber?

How could she make herself forget a tragedy that she could not forget for the rest of her life?

She could no longer be like her past self to carefreely and naively like that boy.

No, she didn't even have the right to like him anymore.

That was because with Shi Xiaobai's intelligence, there was no way for her to keep a perfect facade in front of him. She lacked the confidence when it came to keeping the secret under Shi Xiaobai's interrogation.

Therefore, to her, the deceit of Shi Xiaobai that Liu Yu had mentioned was equivalent to...avoiding Shi Xiaobai.

She had to give up her liking of Shi Xiaobai, be it to safeguard the secret or to prevent herself from being reminded of this painful memory.

However, giving up was not an easy matter. It was not something she could accomplish by steeling her heart.

It was because she was not as firm and resolute.

Mu Yuesheng had seen through it all and she had said it out, straight to her face.

Why?

Mu Lengxi questioned in her grief.

"Hey, Lengxi, I like Speechless. The like between man and woman," said Mu Yuesheng suddenly.

Mu Lengxi widened her eyes before reaching out her hands to cover her mouth.

"I've liked him from a very young age because he was always able to do things I couldn't. He would always bravely accomplish dreams that I did not even dare attempt. In my heart, he was a true hero."

Mu Yuesheng said softly, "Back then, when he stood in front of me, sounding his objection angrily at those adults and scathingly denouncing the unreasonable rules of the Mu family, my face was drenched in tears, but my heart was laughing in joy. That was because he had done something that I have backed out of despite having desperately endured and had a crazy wish to do so. So, from that moment onwards, I made up my mind that I would never back off against any matter... That is like how an ordinary girl likes him ordinarily."

Her liking was so genuine that it prevented anyone from raising doubts against it.

Mu Lengxi's gaze gradually turned soft. Although she was astonished, it was not something she found it hard to accept.

"But..."

Clearly, what Mu Yuesheng wanted to say wasn't that. She sighed lightly before saying, "But we are cousins. We are related by blood! So...I know my liking will not have any outcome. It's impossible for there to be an outcome! This is a liking that I had to give up sooner or later. In the end, all that will be left is grief, regret, and remorse..."

The words that took a sudden turn made Mu Lengxi furrow her brows tightly. She clenched her fists quietly and was about to open her mouth to say something. But upon recalling that she could not speak, her expression turned flustered.

That's not true.

It shouldn't be like that.

She shouted in her heart.

"But I still chose to like him."

Suddenly, Mu Yuesheng gently smiled. She stretched out her hand to hold Mu Lengxi's tightly clenched fist. She whispered, "Even if there's no outcome, and even if you will never be together, so what if you have to lie to him forever, preventing from ever knowing? Can all of this be more painful that forcing yourself to give up on that liking of yours? True regret is not that you cannot be together with him when you like him. It is when you like him so much but have to resolutely choose to give him up when the time comes."

After having heard what Mu Yuesheng wanted to convey, Mu Lengxi's tightly clenched right fist gradually loosened.

"So, avoiding Shi Xiaobai does not mean giving up on your liking of him. That's because liking a person...doesn't necessarily mean you must be together."

So, she had said so much just to tell her that.

She was truly a fool.

Mu Lengxi nodded her head vigorously!

Even if they were destined to never be together, there was no need to give up on her liking.

Yes, that's it!

The tears finally came to a stop.

Mu Yuesheng gave a gentle smile as she raised her hand to caress Mu Lengxi's head.

Since Speechless isn't around anymore, let me take care of his younger sister.

Come to think of it, I'm her elder cousin.

At that moment, Mu Lengxi suddenly turned around to pick up a writing board beside her. She picked up a pen and quickly scribbled on it.

Moments later, Mu Lengxi turned the writing board over.

Mu Yuesheng's expression changed drastically when she caught a glance of it.

The writing board read, "That's not the case. Even if you are cousins, you can still be together. Brother doesn't care about things like blood-relations!" IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.