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

"Ah, a giant bird!" Little Shen Jie looked up and pointed above her.

Xiao Yao couldn't make out the color of the crow, and the light was too dim—in fact, he couldn't even see its shape. He just wondered to himself if it was Lord Nottington again.

Is the Earl of Nottingham friend or foe? Why is he helping me?

"Big brother, look!" Little Shen Jie suddenly stood on tiptoe, grabbed Xiao Yao's wrist with one hand, and pointed upstream with the other: "There, someone is floating down!"

Xiao Yao looked closely and sure enough, a humanoid creature was floating downstream from the upper reaches of the river.

This "humanoid creature" drifted slowly in the darkness, like a small boat.

Her long hair was disheveled, obscuring most of her face.

Only the faint moonlight shone through the gaps in his hair, illuminating a pale, bloodless face with indistinct features.

The woman's eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted, as if she were asleep.

Her body swayed gently with the flow of the river, her limbs lying limply outstretched, like a discarded doll.

What's most chilling, however, is that there's a huge wound on her neck, from which bright red blood is constantly gushing and mixing into the water.

"Oh my god, this...this isn't a living person, is it?" Xiao Shenjie took a step back in horror and hugged Xiao Yao's leg.

Xiao Yao was so shocked by the sight that he was speechless.

The female corpse drifted closer and closer, and it became clear that she was wearing a... a... an unidentifiable color knee-length skirt, the fabric soaked in blood and clinging tightly to her body. Her skin was deathly pale, with faint blue veins visible throughout her body. Her empty eye sockets seemed to be staring at Xiao Yao and Xiao Shenjie, or perhaps gazing into the distance, searching for an unknown target.

Xiao Yao turned his head and looked around, trying to find a long enough branch or stick to retrieve the female corpse.

But the surrounding area is bare, where can we find such a long stick in a short time?

Even if Xiao Yao could swim, let alone not know how, he wouldn't have the courage to go into the water to retrieve a body in this kind of "water quality".

"Big brother, are you going to pull her up?" Little Shen Jie saw through his intentions.

“Yes, but the surrounding area is all…” Xiao Yao said.

The blood river's flow wasn't particularly rapid, but it wasn't slow either; the female corpse was about to float away right under their noses.

"Big brother, can't you swim?" Little Shen Jie suddenly asked. "Then why don't I go and retrieve him?"

"What—" Xiao Yao said in surprise.

Before he could react, the little girl beside him had already plunged into the stinking river of blood with a graceful synchronized swimming dive.

“Hey! You!—” Xiao Yao shouted.

She deftly executed a perfect swimming entrance from the air, her hands pushing off the water's surface. Her long, slender legs, encased in pure white children's dance socks, traced a smooth arc behind her before she plunged into the Blood River with a standard entry into the water.

Xiao Shenjie's swimming style is very graceful, just like a nimble mermaid.

She parted the water and quickly swam to the female corpse.

For some reason, Xiao Yao remembered that when they were at the boat village, Shen Jie had boasted that she would "go down to the river and perform a synchronized swimming routine for you."

I never expected it to be "fulfilled" in this kind of place and in this kind of form.

The woman's hair floated in the water, and her body rose and fell with the current.

Xiao Shenjie reached out and grabbed the woman's arm, trying to pull her to the shore.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Wake up!" Xiao Shenjie patted the female corpse's face, but the female corpse did not react and remained in the original position. She had indeed lost her life.

Xiao Shenjie was getting anxious, so she decided to change her strategy.

She grabbed the woman's waist and tried to drag her to the shore using her back.

It's truly remarkable for a child to have such strength.

Blood mixed with filth kept slapping against Xiao Shenjie's face. She gritted her teeth and moved towards the shore little by little.

Xiao Yao lay on the shore, stretched out his hands, grabbed Xiao Shenjie's arm, and pulled her and the female corpse ashore together, finally doing his part.

Little Shen Jie stumbled ashore, her body covered in dark red blood. Her puffy skirt was soaked through with blood, becoming sticky and emitting a rusty smell. The floral pattern on the hem of the skirt was covered by filthy blood, its original color almost unrecognizable.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand, trying to remove the blood, but the blood only increased. Her once jet-black hair was now soaked in blood and stuck to her face, making her look extremely disheveled—in fact, both her beautiful, doll-like face and her overall appearance looked exactly like someone from a horror movie.

The image of a child further reinforced the stereotype of horror movies. Luckily, Xiao Yao knew what was going on, otherwise he would have been terrified.

Thick blood seeped into the thin white cotton fabric, forming large, mottled red stains on Xiao Shenjie's legs. Blood continued to seep out from her round-toed patent leather shoes (now little red shoes).

As mentioned before, she is very petite, shorter than most girls her age, and looks even more frail standing on the shore.

"It's so cold..." Xiao Shenjie hugged herself, who was already soaked, and shivered.

Xiao Yao didn't mind her at all—he beckoned to her, and she walked over, twisting her skirt. He then reached out and hugged the little girl tightly in his arms.

The boy held the wet, sticky little girl tightly in his arms, whispering words of comfort and encouragement while vigorously rubbing her sleeves with his large hands. His eyes were also busy, carefully examining the now-cold female corpse before him.

The woman's face had begun to decompose, making it difficult to discern her features. However, there was no point in trying to identify her; even a fool could tell that it was Shen Jie's face.

Confirming her identity mainly relies on her height, build, and figure.

Unfortunately, this body looks very... similar to Shen Jie herself.

The knitted sweater and skirt, whose colors he couldn't discern, were exactly the same as the Shen Jie he was looking for.

Xiao Yao's heart slowly grew cold and sank.

"Xiao Shen Jie, is that her?" Xiao Yao asked with some difficulty, "Is she the older sister we're looking for?"

“It seems…” Xiao Shenjie was still trembling, her teeth chattering: “I don’t know, I can’t be sure.”

Xiao Yao remembered clearly that Shen Jie was wearing white socks, but the female corpse in front of him seemed to be wearing black socks—but this could not be used as evidence, because he could not be sure whether it was white socks that had been stained by the river of blood.

Should I take it off and wash it clean for her? Xiao Yao shook his head, dismissing this unrealistic and absurd idea.

The shoes: one of the female corpse's feet was bare, while the other foot had a small leather shoe hanging on it.

Xiao Yao remembered that Shen Jie was wearing sneakers, but he couldn't be sure.

“The place where she was killed or her body was dumped should not be far from here,” Xiao Yao reasoned, stroking his chin. “Otherwise, both shoes would definitely have fallen off her feet. These kinds of shoes… wouldn’t stay on.”

"Big brother," Xiao Shenjie gradually stopped swaying, raised her head and said weakly, "Another body... another body floated down from over there."

“Never mind her,” Xiao Yao said immediately. “Let’s continue upstream and find the source of these bodies.”

“But, big brother…” Xiao Shenjie reminded him, “It looks like it’s a man inside.”

"A man?" Xiao Yao looked in the direction Xiao Shenjie was pointing.

……

"How can you tell if it's a man or a woman from this distance and in such darkness?" Xiao Yao asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I can smell it—should we scoop it up, big brother?" Little Shen Jie said excitedly.

"?" Xiao Yao said, "You're addicted, aren't you?"

Xiao Shenjie forcefully broke free from Xiao Yao's embrace and ran all the way before leaping back into the River of Blood.

Xiao Yao: "..."

Three minutes later.

"This young man seems to still be alive!" Shen Jie, a professional corpse retriever, exclaimed excitedly.

“I knew it was Zhang Zhengkai, that son of a bitch…” Xiao Yao muttered to himself, “In this world, all women are Shen Jie and all men are Zhang Zhengkai. I’ve gotten used to and accepted this setup.”

"It really looks like Brother Zhang Zhengkai! Oh, he's awake!" Xiao Shenjie exclaimed.

The "handsome" boy with Zhang Zhengkai's face struggled to open his eyes, which were covered in blood—his pretty face was also stained and messy with blood.

"Am I...am I dead?" Zhang Zhengkai asked, his expression somewhat dazed. "I'm still alive? Xiao Yao? Is that you?"

"Hello, it's me," Xiao Yao said coldly.

He clenched his right fist tightly and smashed it straight and vertically against his nose.

Xiao Yao felt he had never hit anyone so hard in his life—of course, not counting slashing someone with a sword.

The feeling of a bare fist hitting someone's face... is extraordinary.

It was an extraordinary experience.

He thought he heard the sound of bones breaking, though it could also be a hallucination.

"Are you crazy?!" Zhang Zhengkai yelled like a pig being slaughtered.

"Big brother, what are you doing?!"

"I've had enough of you! I've had enough of your endless harassment and pestering! I've had enough of you refusing to listen to reason and then choosing to suffer the consequences!" Xiao Yao roared even louder than him: "I don't care if you're Zhang Zhengkai or some puppet projection of his! Where is Shen Jie? Where is Yu Luying?! What exactly do you want? What have you done to them?! Where are they really?! How are we supposed to wake up from this nightmare? Tell me! Tell me!"

Xiao Yao gripped Zhang Zhengkai's collar tightly, shaking him back and forth, and then threw another punch.

"Ah!!!! I've had enough of you!!!" Zhang Zhengkai shouted.

Chapter 392 Isn't it all because of you?

2023-11-26

"I've had enough of you! I've had enough of your endless harassment and pestering! I've had enough of you refusing to listen to reason and then choosing to suffer the consequences!" Xiao Yao roared even louder than him: "I don't care if you're Zhang Zhengkai or some puppet projection of his! Where is Shen Jie? Where is Yu Luying?! What exactly do you want? What have you done to them?! Where are they really?! How are we supposed to wake up from this nightmare? Tell me! Tell me!"

Xiao Yao gripped Zhang Zhengkai's collar tightly, shaking him back and forth, and then threw another punch.

"Ah!!!! I've had enough of you!!!" Zhang Zhengkai shouted.