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

I was thinking I could finish writing this chapter today... but I still can't finish it... I should finish it tomorrow... I crawl away in the shadows.

Chapter 393 Reunion with Shen Jie herself

2023-11-28

“This plot isn’t particularly surprising to me,” Xiao Yao commented. “Continue.”

"Wait, Father Yu?" Xiao Shenjie suddenly clutched her forehead, pondering painfully, "Is his name... Yu... Bo... Brother Bo?"

"Yes," Xiao Yao asked in surprise, "You even know this?"

"Little Shen Jie, you remembered?" Zhang Zhengkai asked.

"Is she Shen Jie herself?" Xiao Yao was even more surprised.

"Yes and no," Zhang Zhengkai said. "She is Shen Jie, but Shen Jie is not her."

"Believe it or not, I'll make sure you go back to where you were pulled out of the water?" Xiao Yao threatened.

Xiao Yao had actually guessed that the girl in the blue dress, Shen Jie, whom he had met at the entrance of the No. 7 Girls' High School, was very likely Shen Jie herself.

It was with this thought in mind that he persevered and never gave up on her, searching for her all the way until he found her here.

He never imagined that the Liu Xiao Ling Tong in front of him would be Shen Jie herself—in his mind, she was at most a fragment or projection of some kind of Shen Jie's consciousness, or even something that had nothing to do with the real Shen Jie, but was just a projection of someone's perception of her.

“She is half of Shen Jie, half of Shen Jie, or perhaps more or less,” Zhang Zhengkai hurriedly added, “My shadow side tore her apart.”

"What?" Xiao Yao was taken aback. "Can it be pieced back together?"

"We can look forward to the outcome of this matter with optimism," Zhang Zhengkai said.

The two boys helped each other up and finally managed to stand up.

Covered in blood, Xiao Shenjie ended her painful thoughts and struggles and lowered her hand from her forehead.

The little girl tilted her head back and looked at the two "big brothers" again. Although she was still a six-year-old child, the childishness on her face had been swept away, replaced by the liveliness and mischief unique to teenage girls in her dark, bright eyes.

Xiao Yao even felt that there was a tiny bit of that kind of mature woman's expression... how to put it?

Cosette, a name popped up.

Of course, Xiao Yao did not think that Shen Jie in front of him was as intelligent and innocent, brave and obedient as the girl in Hugo's novel.

However, there seemed to be a certain innocent yet world-weary quality in her eyes, like that of a lark that could not sing.

The little girl walked up to Zhang Zhengkai, raised her right foot, and kicked Zhang Zhengkai hard in the knee with her blood-stained, wet little leather shoe.

Once, twice, three times.

"Ouch (｀Д)!!" Zhang Zhengkai, who had finally managed to stand up, fell back to the ground with a thud.

"What did you just say about me?" Xiao Shenjie's voice was still that of a child, but her tone had become very familiar: "A femme fatale?"

"Wife?" Xiao Yao exclaimed with delight, "Is it really you? You're back? You remembered?"

"I went through all the trouble of pulling you out of the water, and you call me a jinx?" Xiao Shenjie ignored Xiao Yao and continued to stomp on Zhang Zhengkai's knee.

"Wife, forget it, forget it." Xiao Yao grabbed Xiao Shenjie's elbow and pulled her back two steps.

"What's it to you?" Xiao Shenjie said fiercely, kicking her legs, clad in blood-stained, wet pantyhose, a couple of times in the air. "You've had your fun, but I haven't! And what right do you have to beat our dog like this?"

"Dog?" Zhang Zhengkai said.

"Your own obsession has caused me and us so much trouble," Shen Jie continued, "and now you're the one who's brought this trouble upon me?"

"Shen Jie!"

……

After a chaotic series of arguments and playful fights, the three reached a new consensus: now was not the time to stand still and chat idly, so they continued their journey upstream along the Blood River.

“Go on, Brother Bo kidnapped you, and then what?” Shen Jie sat on Xiao Yao’s arm and turned to ask Zhang Zhengkai.

Xiao Shenjie sat in Xiao Yao's arms, her small body pressed against his chest, feeling his warm body temperature.

Xiao Yao held her firmly in his arms and walked carefully alongside Zhang Zhengkai.

Overjoyed at their long-awaited reunion, she clung tightly to Xiao Yao's neck, a sense of security filling her heart.

Xiao Shenjie's soft body pressed against Xiao Yao's firm chest, his arms gently encircling her waist, supporting her tenderly.

His steps were light and steady, and Xiao Yao's cooperation made Xiao Shenjie feel safe and comfortable.

Xiao Shenjie's hair was already a bit tangled, and it brushed heavily against Xiao Yao's cheek, bringing a trace of heavy, bloody smell.

"Wife," Xiao Yao called to her softly.

"Arrest?" Xiao Shenjie said.

"Do you want to get off and walk around first?" Xiao Yao whispered in her ear, "My hands are really too weak. I might have to fight Zhang Zhengkai's shadow later."

"No," Xiao Shenjie refused immediately, wrapping her arms even tighter around Xiao Yao's neck. "I'm finding it really comfortable to sit on you like this."

"You're comfortable, but I'm not?" Xiao Yao thought with a wry smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Zhang Zhengkai also had a wry smile on his face.

Suddenly, caught off guard, Xiao Shenjie launched a surprise attack on Xiao Yao, leaning in to peck him on the lips.

Xiao Yao: "!"

Zhang Zhengkai turned his head away, but Xiao Yao felt his arms suddenly regain their strength.

"Do you have the strength now?" Xiao Shenjie asked, whispering in Xiao Yao's ear.

“I have the strength now,” Xiao Yao replied.

“It’s called kidnapping, but it wasn’t that easy,” Zhang Zhengkai said, still looking at the surface of the Blood River with his head turned away. “The process was complicated, so I won’t go into details. In short, I ended up in the hands of the organization.”

"Shi Hui? So it really was that guy causing trouble?" Xiao Shenjie interjected, "Xiao Yao suspected him a long time ago, but Brother Bo just wouldn't believe it, just wouldn't believe it!"

"You know about the organization now?" Xiao Yao probed. "We will meet in a place where there is no darkness."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Zhengkai asked.

"It's nothing, it doesn't mean anything." Xiao Yao tried to wave his hand, but then remembered that he was holding Xiao Shenjie in both arms and couldn't move at all.

Zhang Zhengkai continued, "Later, it was only after the organization's explanation that I learned that the narcolepsy in your school might also be related to me in some way."

"It has a lot to do with you, right?" Xiao Yao and Shen Jie said in unison.

“I…I…” Zhang Zhengkai shook his head in confusion and said, “I only recently learned about the existence of your so-called Shadow World through your organization. I only realized that my own obsession could cause such great destruction…To be honest, you may think I’m shirking responsibility, but even now, even though I’m in this kind of place, the thought that such things still exist in this world feels unreal, like I’m dreaming.”

"An explanation is just a cover-up, and a cover-up means it actually happened. You're just shirking responsibility," Xiao Yao and Shen Jie said in unison again.

But when they thought of Teacher Yao's readily available example, they both knew in their hearts that what Zhang Zhengkai said was probably true.

“ε=(ο｀*))) Sigh, I never imagined that the two of you had reached such a level of tacit understanding.” Zhang Zhengkai exclaimed.

“Brother, put it down,” Xiao Yao wanted to pat Zhang Zhengkai’s arm, but he didn’t have a hand, so he simply bumped him with his upper arm: “I know this is difficult.”

“I also want to let go,” Zhang Zhengkai smiled, “but aren’t you the one holding her in your hands right now?”

Xiao Yao & Shen Jie: "?"

"Just kidding," Zhang Zhengkai shrugged, "Why do you think I came here? Isn't it to let go?"

"Oh?" Xiao Yao raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

“Later, during the interrogation of me by the organization, uh, they mentioned Shi Hui’s name,” Zhang Zhengkai continued to recall. “It seems, I mean, it seems, I’m not sure, but from their tone, they mentioned Shi Hui because you raised doubts and accusations in the first place.”

“It seems,” Xiao Yao pondered, “that although Brother Bo looked unconvinced, he actually listened to me after all.”

“At first, when they said Shi Hui, I didn’t realize who it was,” Zhang Zhengkai continued, “but then I remembered, it’s the old monk I met at the Xiahai Temple—”

"How come I didn't know you were a Buddhist?" Shen Jie interjected, teasingly.

"It's all because of you, you troublemaker, that I've been so confused and made a ruckus," Zhang Zhengkai rolled his eyes slightly. "I was just thinking of going to a temple to clear my head and find a master to give me some guidance."

"Give me some advice," Xiao Yao said, as he quickly took a large step to the right, just like a large crab.

Xiao Shenjie's fist missed its target, and she shouted loudly, "Xiao Yao, let me down, hurry up!"

Xiao Yao pushed Xiao Shenjie to the right a little further and changed the subject, saying, "And then, you made an evil deal with that old bald monk Shi Hui?"

“What kind of ‘private deal’ is this? Doesn’t that sound awful?” Zhang Zhengkai protested.

Xiao Yao stuck out his tongue, thinking to himself that his speaking habits were increasingly influenced by his daughter.

“I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. I don’t know anything at all. I have no idea what this old monk is up to behind the scenes,” Zhang Zhengkai denied in a series of three statements. “Anyway, when I realized that the Shi Hui they were talking about was the Shi Hui from the Xiahai Temple, I told Father Yu the truth that I had some contact with Shi Hui.”

"Oh dear, I'm getting so impatient listening to this," Shen Jie interjected, complaining, "When are you going to get rid of this habit of speaking so slowly and never getting to the point?"

"Don't be in such a hurry," Zhang Zhengkai said. "Besides, haven't you two been rambling on and on with me?"

Xiao Yao glanced at Xiao Shenjie, made a "zipper-sewing" motion on his own mouth, and then made another motion in front of Xiao Shenjie's mouth, which was ruthlessly slapped away by the latter.

“In short,” Zhang Zhengkai nodded and continued, “They must have had other evidence, and once they put it all together, they went to the Xiahai Temple to confront Shi Hui face to face. But the old monk was guilty and had heard the news beforehand, so he ran away—and found nothing.”

"It ran away?" Xiao Yao exclaimed in surprise, then remembered the zipper he had just sewed up, and hesitated to speak.

“The situation is very complicated, and I won’t go into details here, because I don’t know the details either,” Zhang Zhengkai explained. “They wouldn’t take me with them when they went to arrest people, right? Anyway, they didn’t catch them in the end.”

Xiao Yao lowered his head and fell into thought.

“Zhang Zhengkai,” Shen Jie finally spoke up, unable to contain herself any longer, “Get to the point—what exactly is your shadow trying to do? Why are you trapping the three of us here? Why are you trapping everyone who has designs on me in your dreams? If you want to eliminate all your competitors, why are you dragging me—and Sha Mei—into this too?”