Chapter 103: “We Should Achieve a Temporary Peace”
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
After hearing what Guan Shu had said, Shen Yao reached out and pinched Xu Yibai’s chin. He lowered his head, gaze scrutinizing, as he looked into Xu Yibai’s eyes.
Xu Yibai’s eye rims were red, yet his gaze wasn’t that of a madman lost in confusion. It was almost a paranoid obstinacy, especially when his focus settled on Shen Yao.
In that brief second of locked gazes, Shen Yao saw that Xu Yibai wasn’t the kind of ‘mad’ he had initially thought. Instead, he seemed shattered and fragmented in his memory, as if he had fallen into a labyrinth from which he couldn’t escape.
In the moment of his trance, Xu Yibai suddenly exerted a forceful pull on the arm that held Shen Yao, distancing him significantly from Guan Shu.
With Xu Yibai now standing behind Shen Yao, holding him close, he glared at Guan Shu with a wary and hostile expression.
“I know… You were young and naive back then. It was his shameless seduction that led you to have an affair after marriage. You don’t have any feelings for him; you were merely momentarily tempted and blinded, and ended up in bed with him.”
“Only I… Only I, who married you, am the one you genuinely like.”
In his delusion, his words were as if he was implying that everyone else was a hotel, and only he was home.
Guan Shu’s brow twitched upon hearing this, rolling up his sleeves and taking a step forward. He wasn’t one to restrain himself; he was used to both his hands and mouth acting simultaneously.
“Hold on a moment.”
His sudden movement caused Shen Yao to stumble backward, almost falling. Regaining his footing, he raised his hand to halt Guan Shu’s actions and called out, in an unfamiliar tone, “Xu Yibai.”
“Mmm…”
Xu Yibai had grown visibly thinner than before. His eyelashes trembled slightly as he lowered his head, moving closer to Shen Yao.
“We weren’t childhood sweethearts, and we only met once when we were young. That’s why I remembered you, and that was the reason I approached you the second time I saw you.”
“And our marriage wasn’t due to our deep affection.”
Shen Yao recounted the facts in the bluntest terms, forcibly pulling Xu Yibai out of his unrealistic fantasies. His words were like a series of heavy blows, and Xu Yibai’s lips parted slightly at first. But in the next second, his lips turned pale due to the sudden piercing pain in his temple, like a drill boring into his skull.
The unbearable pain made him instinctively want to raise his hand and clutch his temple, but he refused to let go of his hold on Shen Yao, enduring the sharp agony.
“You and Guan Shu are no different in my eyes.”
Blackness appeared before Xu Yibai’s eyes, as if countless lightning bolts were flashing, illuminating his field of vision.
First, he saw a desolate piece of land, scorched by intense flames. He could smell the scent of burnt grass and wood, blocking his airways with its stale, deathly odor.
“No…”
In the next second, it was as if he had possessed someone else’s body, using their vessel and eyes to return to the past, but everything felt so real.
Xu Yibai heard a chaotic rush of footsteps around him, and his vision was filled with the blinding light of fluorescent lamps in a hospital corridor, as a multitude of forces pressed down on him, propelling him towards the direction of an operating room.
The red warning light above was lit, like an alarm bell.
He expended all the strength in his body, yet it felt as if he were entangled by seaweed, drowning in the sea. Other people’s voices turned into mist, and all he could hear was his own hoarse shouting, but all the sounds sank beneath the sea—
“I don’t want to!! I don’t want to forget Shen Yao!”
“——Shen Yao.”
The sudden voice snapped Xu Yibai back to full consciousness. His body was covered in sweat, his hair sticking to his forehead, and his back soaked with perspiration, as if he had just been pulled out of the sea.
The pain in his temple subsided, but Xu Yibai’s mind fell into a blank void, like a sheet of white paper. He lifted his face, water droplets clinging to his eyelashes.
Across from him, beside Guan Shu, Yan Zhixing stood.
Yan Zhixing appeared to have rushed here, his golden hair usually neatly combed back now hung in front of his eyes. His meticulously tied tie had been neglected, and his azure eyes, fixated on Shen Yao, showed ripples of emotion, as if he had a lot to say.
His hands were in his pockets, and he appeared unchanged, seemingly calm.
Only he knew that his hand, hidden in his pocket, was tightly gripping the palm.
When the three of them locked eyes, an invisible field of tension began to form. In the narrow cave, even the air seemed to freeze.
“Ugh…”
Dong Dong, who had been lying on the ground all along, let out a painful groan. His moan pierced through the tense atmosphere, and his weakly dangling hand twitched a few times, a sign of impending awakening.
Struggling, he pulled himself up from the ground, his head heavy and his body swaying as he leaned against the cave wall. The blurred scenes gradually became clear as the dizziness receded, and Dong Dong finally saw the picture before him.
Dong Dong, ignoring the blood still oozing from his head wound, in the first second of recognizing Shen Yao, stumbled toward him, as if about to run over, shouting, “Brother Shen Min!”
However, Guan Shu extended a leg, coldly tilting his face to the side, blocking his path. “Get lost.”
“Shouldn’t it be you who gets lost? Outsider,” Dong Dong, devoid of any fear, met Guan Shu’s gaze and reached out to grab Shen Yao’s hand. “I’m taking Brother Shen Min away.”
Whatever had transpired between him and Shen Yao in the past two years was a mystery to everyone. This, coupled with Guan Shu’s already irritated state, intensified his agitation:
“Shen Yao is also an outsider. He can’t be your brother. If you love calling someone ‘brother’ so much, tell your mother to find a way to give you a real brother. Stop clinging to him.”
Having never experienced such a situation, Dong Dong’s throat constricted, and he began to speak:
“As long as he hasn’t said he wants to go with you, I won’t let you take him away.”
His presence made the three Alphas present realize something.
This world didn’t only have them coveting Shen Yao; when staring at him, they shouldn’t even blink their eyes. Two years after he disappeared, he reappeared, and another Alpha was captivated by him, orbiting around him.
Shen Yao’s constitution, which couldn’t be permanently marked, allowed him to come and go freely.
As long as he wished, he could manipulate any Alpha at will or discard them without hesitation when he wished to abandon them.
For Shen Yao, this was all too straightforward.
Suddenly, they reached an understanding and collectively shifted their gaze to Shen Yao.
Shen Yao also noticed it; his heightened animal-like vigilance kicked in. As he retreated, he bumped into Xu Yibai’s chest.
Instigating conflicts was something he was adept at. His agile mind began to turn.
Instinct told Yan Zhixing that he was the most likely to be abandoned.
Yan Zhixing’s expression paused for a moment, and he suddenly averted his gaze, looking at Guan Shu and Xu Yibai.
“Every time we fight, we’re creating an opportunity for Shen Yao to escape.”
“So, while bringing Shen Yao back, we should achieve a temporary peace.”
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
