You're my wife, don't doubt it!

“It’s a pity I can only play as an archer in the game,” Xiao Yao loosened his left hand’s five fingers and turned to Shen Jie, saying, “You can ride a horse, that’s my favorite character.”

"Wow..." Shen Jie's eyes were fixed on the direction of the target.

"What?!" Xiao Yao followed Shen Jie's gaze to his target. "Huh...? Lucky you, huh?"

"Again, again." Shen Jie handed over another arrow.

Xiao Yao fired two more bullseyes in quick succession.

"Young man, are you still pretending it's your first time playing?" The shopkeeper chuckled as he handed over the prize.

“This is really the first time…” Xiao Yao scratched the back of his head.

"How did you do that?" Shen Jie asked, equally incredulous.

"I was really good at using a slingshot when I was a kid, maybe that's related?"

"I think you really have the potential to become a knight." Stepping out of the archery range, Shen Jie said with interest, "By the way, why do you like knights?"

"I can't quite explain it..." Xiao Yao scratched his head: "The glory of a fallen noble? The determination to protect loved ones? Humility, honor, sacrifice, courage, compassion, honesty... dedication and self-sacrifice to protect..."

Shen Jie smiled gently: "And then write a poem for your beloved princess? You must be a wandering poet, right?"

“Ah, they’re pretty much the same. In Bloodline II, the second job advancement for an Elf Knight is either a Templar Knight or a Swordsman Poet…” Xiao Yao explained, “Writing a sonnet for a loved one in the wilderness is also a common scene in knightly novels.”

"You boys," Shen Jie said, putting her hands behind her back, "do you all like playing games?"

"Not all of them," Xiao Yao thought for a moment, "the majority?"

"You keep mentioning Bloodline II, is it fun?" Shen Jie asked curiously.

"This sounds like so much fun!" Xiao Yao's eyes lit up. "In the ancient continent of Aden..."

Shen Jie listened to him with a smile for ten minutes: "It seems quite interesting. I'll download it when I get back."

“You’re coming to District 2, Silfat,” Xiao Yao said happily. “Remember, don’t choose the wrong one.”

“District 2, Silfat, I remember.” Shen Jie said.

“Oh, right,” Xiao Yao thought of something, “I’ve actually studied the sonnets you just mentioned. I’ll write one for you next time.”

Shen Jie shook her head: "You should write it for Yu Luying instead. She's your princess, isn't she?"

Xiao Yao felt annoyed, realizing he shouldn't have told Shen Jie so much about Yu Luying: "No, that's all in the past... I've already decided to give up on her."

Shen Jie raised her eyebrows: "The reason?"

Xiao Yao hesitated.

Could it be that, to tell the truth, after being rejected by her so many times, he has completely given up on her?

No, no, that would not only make me look like a loser, but Shen Jie would also think that I was being used as a backup option.

“Because… I met you.” Xiao Yao raised his face and squeezed out the sentence in as light a tone as possible.

"Aha... Ahahahaha..." Shen Jie was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. She covered her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other, bending over: "Yes... Hahahaha... I'm sorry, I didn't... Hahahaha... I didn't mean it... Hahahahaha..."

Did Shen Jie burst into laughter? Xiao Yao thought of Shen Jie's burst of laughter when they first met, and then he thought of Shen Tianyun's words, "It's starting again," when he was having dinner with his grandmother that day.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me," Shen Jie finally managed to control herself and bowed 90 degrees: "I really, really didn't mean it, I don't know what's wrong with my sense of humor."

"It's okay if you don't believe me..." Xiao Yao felt a little guilty.

“No, I do believe in your feelings,” Shen Jie insisted.

"Huh? Anyway," Xiao Yao looked up at the sky, "since I've already been clearly rejected, it's not the chivalrous thing to keep pestering me, is it?"

So I only persisted for a short time, um.

"That's true." Shen Jie nodded in agreement.

"The Paradise for the Brave, what's that?" Xiao Yao's attention was drawn to the signboard not far away.

"If you want to know, why don't you go in and take a look?" Shen Jie suggested.

Chapter 18 Accusation

Once inside, Xiao Yao realized that the so-called "Game for the Brave" was actually a large-scale outdoor obstacle course game, just like those obstacle course shows on TV.

This is absolutely fantastic!

Shen Jie glanced at Xiao Yao, who was eager to try, then looked at the not-so-clean water and hesitated. "Can you go play by yourself? I'll wait for you on the shore."

"Hey, what's the point of playing alone? Let's play together." Xiao Yao jumped up and down lightly.

"Why do you have to play this..." Shen Jie pouted, "Your clothes will get wet."

“I loved watching these kinds of shows when I was a kid,” Xiao Yao said excitedly. “Have you ever seen CCTV’s ‘Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate’?”

"without……"

"I've always loved watching obstacle course shows, I never thought they actually existed in real life."

"What do you mean by 'in reality'..." Shen Jie smiled at him, a hint of helplessness in her eyes.

She wanted to subtly remind Xiao Yao that she was on her period and that falling into the water would be troublesome, but seeing Xiao Yao's expectant eyes, she ended up saying nothing.

The setting sun cast its slanting rays on the lake. There weren't many tourists in this paradise for the brave. Occasionally, a white egret would call out, flap its wings, and fly away.

Her body was as swift as a flying duck, as elusive as a god, her steps light as water, her silk stockings stirring up dust...

Watching Shen Jie pass through smoothly, Xiao Yao felt a sense of empathy for the poet who returned to the Luo River two thousand years ago.

"I'm here, it's your turn!" It wasn't until Shen Jie stood at the finish line and waved to him that Xiao Yao snapped out of his reverie about the past. He waved back, took a deep breath, and started running towards Shen Jie.

As an amusement park attraction, the Adventurer's Paradise was not difficult to design overall. For a young boy like Xiao Yao who could jump and leap, even without experience, he still managed to pass through most of it without any major incidents.

However, just because it's not difficult overall doesn't mean it's not difficult at all. What lies before Xiao Yao is the final challenge of the entire course: three platforms that swing up and down like seesaws around a central axis. This is clearly on a completely different level of difficulty than the earlier, more manageable challenges. It's probably a deliberate design choice by the park to avoid the ride being deemed "too unchallenging." The evidence is a fork in the road that leads to the finish line without having to run or jump through a water gun trap, allowing even the most timid challengers to finish the game gracefully.

Xiao Yao ran towards the seesaw once, but stopped when he was about to jump. He could tell that this triple seesaw was not designed to require much jumping ability or balance from the challenger; the key was the timing of getting on the board.

"It's okay, you can come over that way," Shen Jie shouted, cupping her hands in front of her like a megaphone.

But what Xiao Yao heard was clearly not that meaning.

Before him lay the finish line and Shen Jie's expectations; behind him, another handsome young man, eager to try, stood.

Xiao Yao could no longer calmly observe the right opportunity.

UI.

He took another sprint, running with all his might, and then jumped high at the end of the road.

The first one went smoothly.

The second one is about the same.

The third piece...

When Xiao Yao jumped from the second board to the third board, he realized that because he had not chosen the right time, the third board was tilting towards him at that moment, and he would land on the near end of the reverse slope of the board, making it very easy for him to slide directly into the water.

Perhaps we should have lingered on the second board for two more seconds, but it's too late to say that now.

Xiao Yao had no choice but to adjust his posture in mid-air, abandoning the idea of ​​using his feet to touch the board. Instead, he spread his arms and used his hands and feet to hug the tilted platform, increasing the contact area and preventing himself from sliding down.

Immediately afterward, the board began to rise, and Xiao Yao struggled to get his feet back onto the platform. However, once the platform reached its highest point, it would sway downward again, forcing him to revert to his previous hand-and-foot posture to barely stay on the platform.

After two rounds, Xiao Yao was already showing signs of exhaustion.

As the platform began its third ascent, Xiao Yao realized he couldn't delay any longer. He had a bold plan: using the momentum of the platform's ascent, he would jump directly from the highest point to the final platform, skipping the entire third platform and reaching for the final platform with both hands. He was confident he could climb up as long as he could hold onto the edge of the platform.

Without much time to think, the platform quickly reached another peak.

Xiao Yao had already adjusted his posture and was pushing off with his feet.

At that crucial moment, he felt a sharp pain in the ankle of his jumping foot, as if he had been hit by something, and then he slid to the side.

However, with the arrow already on the bowstring, Xiao Yao had no choice but to leap up.

With the speed of his jump and his height, for a moment, Xiao Yao felt that the finish platform was within reach. So he stretched out his hand as far as he could, with every finger straight. But in the next instant, he saw the edge of the platform that he could reach sweep upwards in front of his fingertips, and all that was left in front of him was a wet, dark expanse.

Just when Xiao Yao was in despair, he felt a tightening on his wrist, and the process of falling was like bullet time in The Matrix, slow and agonizing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a man in white holding a slingshot, hurriedly putting it away on the side of the field.

However, when he turned his head, he saw nothing.

Time seemed to resume its flow. Xiao Yao suddenly looked up and saw his right wrist, which he had just extended, being tightly grasped by a pair of slender arms that emerged from the platform. Then, Shen Jie's face slowly emerged from the platform.

--split line--

"Mmm, mmm..." Mrs. Yu nodded vigorously as she answered the phone, "Thank you, Dr. Huang."

"..."

"God help me, God help me, well, that's all for now."

"How are you, Yingying?" Father Yu glanced at his watch and asked with concern.

"I feel that my feet and calves are... cold? wet?" Yu Luying closed her eyes and tried to describe her feelings.

"Hmm? How is it?" Father Yu noticed that Yu Luying's expression had changed again.

"Just now, I felt like my whole body was submerged in water," Yu Luying said.