Chapter 684: Chapter 280: Live One Minute Longer (Finale)
Su Ziceng was still disappointed. She had no chance to see Pello, as with the break of dawn, those people split into two groups. One group went to make the exchange with Pello, while the other took her out alone.
This time, no one blindfolded her. Those who harbored hatred towards her and Pello simply tied her hands and took her to a depression in the valley.
Before her was a sand pit two meters deep. Su Ziceng was pushed to the edge of the pit and looking down from the edge, she understood what had made Su Qingzhang give up on rescuing Ye Taina. Due to drought, the walls of the sand pit were smooth, causing anyone who fell in to keep sinking into the sand. At the edge of the pit, she could still see some white arm bones.
The living people buried alive in the sandy pits of the valley had been lying here alone for so many years.
"Madam," Bacha approached Su Ziceng, tied ropes around her legs, then covered her face with a sack.
"Thank you, Bacha, you are a good person," Su Ziceng said one last time, her eyes devoid of any hatred. Bacha trembled, his broad shoulders, like mountains, seemed to slump, and he said to the men behind him, "Let me take her in."
Su Ziceng was forced to squat down, bending her knees. Bacha pushed on her tied hands from behind, and she tumbled into the sand pit.
As the fabric bag came into contact with the sand, Su Ziceng closed her eyes and felt her body continuously falling downwards.
The men shouted in strange native languages, ceaselessly dumping sand into the pit, while Bacha stood on the side, silent.
After a full ten minutes or more, just as the kidnappers were about to leave, gunshots echoed in the distance, and an uncountable number of military pickups sped towards them. The kidnappers scattered in all directions. Bacha glanced back at the sand pit, remembered Su Ziceng’s friendly smile, squatted down, took something from her body, placed it where Su Ziceng had been buried, then fled with the others.
Pello jumped down from the truck, his eyes red, holding the six "Mussen’s Blessing". He didn’t see Ziceng, the place was all chaos and sand.
He walked forward, stumbled, and fell to the ground. What had those beasts done to his Ziceng? How could they bury her... Pello, who had learned everything from the ringleader of the kidnappers, was like a madman in his search, but still, it was too late.
"Ziceng," Pello yelled, as dozens of soldiers started searching the spot, but how could they find a person buried under the sand in such an endless expanse of valley.
"Oh God," Pello held his head, kneeling on the ground. Why did all the mistakes of the past have to befall her?
Sunshine shone on his face of despair, a glint of light stung Pello’s eyes. He scrambled around, clutching tightly to the small raw diamond.
"Over here!" he shouted, directing everyone to dig around the area.
As dirt was piled up and shovels kept digging deeper, Pello pushed everyone aside. If they continued like this, it would be too late.
The shovel touched something. Pello stopped, and everyone noticed a hint of purple showing up in the sand pit.
A purple circular bracelet, a diamond bracelet, was fitted onto a piece of arm bone.
"Purple Love," Pello whispered as he hurriedly picked up the bracelet, the first time he had ever seen Purple Love, the bracelet worn by Tina.
"Mom," Pello clutched the bracelet tight, looking at the more than a meter thick sand and soil, "If you can hear me, please bless Ziceng. To keep her alive, I’d rather have nothing at all."
The "Mussen’s Blessing," coveted by all and tainted with countless people’s blood and desire, was casually tossed onto the ground.
The group of soldiers stood by, watching Pello murmur: "For her, I’m willing to disregard everything, just for one more chance."
The red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet jewelry pieces were once again put together. The dazzling Diamond light almost illuminated the entire valley.
Years later, when Pello returned to this valley, the once barren land now buzzed with life. The original mining site had been transformed into a temporary shelter for local orphans and pregnant women.
After that incident, Mussen Jewelry withdrew from the diamond mining industry, fully dedicating their efforts to researching artificial diamonds as a substitute for natural diamond mines. "Mussen’s Blessing" was also donated to the Louvre Museum as part of its collection.
Underneath the sunset, Pello’s silhouette cast an abrupt shadow as he gazed into the distance. Behind him, a pair of hands appeared, and a woman’s soft voice arose: "Pello, are you planning to build a new shelter here?"
He turned with a smile, allowing Su Ziceng to only see the right half of his face. Su Ziceng pursed her lips; she had said before that she didn’t mind seeing his other half face, yet Pello still cared.
"Do you really plan to stay here with me?" Su Ziceng tiptoed to embrace Pello, kissing him on the left cheek.
"It’s my honor to spend the rest of my life with you," Pello captured her playful lips in his own. Her life was one he had fought for, and also the greatest gift given to them by the two remarkable women, Tina and Qiao Chu.
The evening breeze, in concert with Pello’s hands, rustled Su Ziceng’s white dress, eliciting the laughter of several African children playing behind. Her cheeks reddened, and she swatted away Pello’s hand, "It’s time to go back."
Pello frowned. Today was the first of the month. Every first of the month, Su Ziceng would receive several calls like hosting guests, from the northern hemisphere, from Mo City. One of them was that damned man who dared to point a gun at his head.
"Don’t be so petty," Su Ziceng smoothed Pello’s frown, knowing Hang Yishao was her ex-husband.
"Hurry up, just talk less," Pello muttered, wondering how a man had so much to say. Su Qingzhang, Sister Mu, and all their calls together didn’t take up as much time as Hang Yishao alone.
"Understood, sir." Su Ziceng brought her feet together, mockingly saluted in a military fashion, and ran off towards the direction of the shelter.
Watching her graceful departure, Pello couldn’t help but smile. Even now, he thought this was all a dream. The happiness regained made him resolve that if this really was a dream, he would prefer to never wake up.
"Ziceng, I’ve kept another thing from you. There’s another promise between my mom and me," Pello muttered to himself, "I am a selfish man. In this life, my only wish is to live a minute longer than you, so I can hold your hand and be with you every day of my life." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
