Ji Mian stared at Chu Shiye holding his hand, silent.
The Light Goddess Butterfly’s wings sprinkled starlight, fluttering to hover above Chu Shiye’s head. It jumped and stomped around on his head.
Chu Shiye tilted his head up.
Although the little butterfly had its own thoughts, right now… it was clearly influenced by Ji Mian’s emotions.
Chu Shiye turned his head.
Ji Mian stared straight ahead, expression completely calm, as if nothing had happened.
Chu Shiye’s gaze lingered on his face for a moment too long, and the Light Goddess Butterfly began flapping its wings against him.
Chu Shiye: “…”
He turned away, his shoulders shaking slightly in suppressed laughter.
Ji Mian: “?”
Why was he laughing?
This Alpha was no longer a proper Alpha!
Ji Mian, expressionless, attempted to pull his fingers out of Chu Shiye’s grasp.
Chu Shiye composed himself and walked forward with utmost seriousness.
But he still didn’t let go of Ji Mian’s hand.
It wasn’t until they returned home that Chu Shiye finally relaxed his grip and released Ji Mian’s hand.
Ji Mian immediately stepped away and sat on the bed.
Chu Shiye glanced at him and offered a completely unscientific explanation: “The outside is dangerous, so I couldn’t let go carelessly.”
Ji Mian: “Oh.”
He spoke as though Ji Mian would believe him.
Chu Shiye sat on a stool a step away from the bed and released his spiritual entity.
A small white snake slowly emerged, its tiny head peeking towards Ji Mian, attempting to crawl over.
Chu Shiye quickly and accurately pinned the little white snake down, sneaking a glance at Ji Mian.
Ji Mian was playing with his Light Goddess Butterfly and hadn’t even noticed him.
Chu Shiye sighed in relief and poked at his spiritual entity.
“I wonder what it will turn into in the future.”
Ji Mian replied lightly, “It definitely won’t be as pretty as my butterfly.”
Chu Shiye looked at the Light Goddess Butterfly fluttering about.
“Indeed.”
Ji Mian added, “It’ll definitely be ugly, like a lizard.”
Chu Shiye: “Indeed.”
Ji Mian smirked. “It’ll look like you.”
Chu Shiye: “Hmm.”
Whatever Ji Mian said was right.
Ji Mian’s lips curved slightly, his mood improving.
“Alright,” he said, “you’re actually quite good-looking.”
Chu Shiye’s eyes flickered subtly.
The Light Goddess Butterfly gracefully landed, pausing on Chu Shiye’s arm, and stared at the little white snake.
The little white snake started wriggling towards it.
But just as it was about to touch the beautiful butterfly, the butterfly flapped its wings and lazily flew away.
The little white snake drooped instantly, looking dejected.
Chu Shiye: “…”
Ji Mian raised his hand.
Chu Shiye immediately covered the little white snake.
Ji Mian: “I can’t even poke at it?”
Chu Shiye: “…No.”
He quickly stood up and walked to the other side of the room.
For the time being, he couldn’t let Ji Mian touch his spiritual entity. Otherwise, the hard-won change in atmosphere between them would revert to how it was before…
Chu Shiye stole a glance at Ji Mian.
Ji Mian was looking directly at him.
Chu Shiye: “!”
He quickly turned his head away.
Ji Mian raised an eyebrow slightly but didn’t say anything.
—
The next morning, just as dawn broke, there was a knock at the door.
Ji Mian was still asleep in bed. Chu Shiye got up swiftly, moving quickly and silently, and opened the door before the third knock sounded.
The visitor was Fu Zeren, who hadn’t been seen for days. Since their last meeting, he seemed much more reserved.
“Mr. Chu.”
Fu Zeren’s gaze briefly flicked inside the room, but Chu Shiye subtly blocked his line of sight, forcing him to refocus on him.
“I’ve come to apologize,” Fu Zeren said.
Chu Shiye remained silent, waiting for his next words.
“Yesterday, the captured Eren…” Fu Zeren paused. “There was an accident, and he has become a vegetable.”
Chu Shiye: “What?”
“It’s exactly as it sounds,” Fu Zeren said. “From now on, he’ll live out the rest of his life as a completely unconscious vegetable in prison.”
“When we handed him over to the guards, he was fine.”
A calm, clear voice interrupted—Ji Mian had walked out from behind Chu Shiye.
Fu Zeren, noticing the two of them in the same room, was surprised but unsurprised at the same time.
“Yes,” he replied. “He was indeed fine when he was with us. But later…”
Fu Zeren hesitated.
“The city lord sent people to interrogate him, and they took him away.”
“Maybe the city lord’s men were too heavy-handed, or maybe he was under too much psychological pressure… In any case, by the time he was returned to us, he had lost all awareness, his spiritual power completely destroyed, and he was a total vegetable.”
City Lord Tansen—someone Ji Mian and Chu Shiye had “visited” not too long ago.
Ji Mian said coolly, “So, did they manage to extract anything during their interrogation?”
Fu Zeren hesitated. “…No. I heard Eren kept his mouth shut, and they didn’t get anything out of him.”
Whether they didn’t extract anything or didn’t even try to interrogate him were two entirely different matters.
Ji Mian asked, “What about the Relief Society badge on Eren?”
Fu Zeren replied, “Someone from the Relief Society came to verify it. That badge was a fake—Eren wasn’t one of their members.”
When he mentioned the Relief Society, Fu Zeren couldn’t hide the despondency in his expression.
Once, he had been the city’s person in charge, a trusted second-in-command to the city lord. But ever since the Relief Society had appeared, his position had steadily declined, replaced by Joshua, the Society’s leader.
Recently, the city lord had been listening to Joshua’s every word, and Fu Zeren hadn’t been summoned for a long time.
Thinking of this, Fu Zeren added, “Don’t touch the Relief Society. They aren’t a local force on this planet, and their relationship with the city lord is anything but ordinary.”
Ji Mian asked, “Tansen protects them fiercely?”
Fu Zeren: “Yes, all of the Relief Society’s actions are permitted by the city lord. I think… the city lord might be trying to use Joshua as a bridge to connect with the Relief Society’s headquarters on another planet.”
It was said that the Relief Society was a massive commercial organization in the outer planets. After arriving here, they had acted extravagantly, distributing free resources to win the favor of the residents.
He believed that even though this mysterious Mr. Su might not fear the city lord, he would at least be somewhat wary of this alien force of unknown origins.
Ji Mian said calmly, “This is your issue; it has nothing to do with me.”
Fu Zeren let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
But Ji Mian continued, “However, there is one more thing.”
Fu Zeren’s expression tightened. “Please, go ahead.”
“When you left the city for the mines, there were frequent assaults and beast attacks in the city,” Ji Mian said. “Now that the assailant in the assault cases has been caught, what about the cause of the beast attacks on the city?”
“And, where did the beast in the mines come from?”
The beast in the mines was the very reason Fu Zeren had led a group of powerful ability users out of the city. During that time, the city’s defensive forces were weakened, and inexplicably, the city was repeatedly attacked. With morale shattered, the Relief Society had stepped forward to take center stage.
Fu Zeren’s face showed guilt. “At present… we haven’t found anything yet.”
Indeed, they hadn’t found anything.
After being stripped of his authority by Joshua, Fu Zeren had realized something was wrong and had been investigating the surrounding beasts. But even now, there was no progress.
Even the reason why the powerful beast had appeared in the mines remained a mystery to him. Thankfully, the city lord didn’t seem to care about this and hadn’t reprimanded him.
Ji Mian exchanged a glance with Chu Shiye. They knew Fu Zeren wasn’t lying and that they couldn’t extract any more useful information from him.
Ji Mian said, “I have nothing else to ask.”
Fu Zeren replied, “Understood. Then, I will take my leave.”
After the incidents involving the mines and the city lord, he no longer dared to show any disrespect toward the two men before him. After relaying the information, he prepared to leave.
Ji Mian seemed to recall something. “Wait a moment.”
Fu Zeren paused.
Ji Mian said, “Since Eren is now in prison, the guardianship of his child should be handed over to someone more suitable.”
Fu Zeren immediately understood. “Don’t worry, Mr. Su. I’ll take care of it.”
After the door closed, Chu Shiye sat beside Ji Mian, who said, “It seems this is the end of everything.”
The assault cases in the city were resolved, and the perpetrator had been caught. Although they didn’t know Eren’s ultimate goal or motive, there was no way to investigate further now.
But this was never Ji Mian’s concern in the first place. If Chu Shiye hadn’t been here, he wouldn’t have cared at all.
Ji Mian thought of this and patted Chu Shiye.
Chu Shiye obediently looked at him.
Ji Mian said, “Go to the school. Nato probably doesn’t know about this yet.”
Chu Shiye: “Alright.”
The news of the perpetrator’s capture spread overnight, but the guards didn’t disclose his identity. They only announced that the criminal had suffered a severe head injury during the arrest, losing consciousness and becoming a vegetative state.
In a quiet corner of the school, Ji Mian told Nato the hidden truth.
After hearing Ji Mian’s account, Nato didn’t look sad but instead asked, “Can I live with my aunt now?”
Ji Mian: “Yes.”
Nato looked relieved.
The long nightmare was finally over.
But… that nightmare still had a name: “Father.”
Nato remained silent. Ji Mian patted his head and said, “Everything will get better from now on.”
Nato nodded. “Okay.”
Ji Mian said, “Let’s go back.”
He led Nato toward the classroom, but suddenly, there was a commotion ahead in the corridor, accompanied by a sharp scream.
Ji Mian immediately had Nato hide behind him and went ahead to investigate—
A figure came rushing toward him.
—
After dropping Ji Mian off at school, Chu Shiye didn’t head back but turned onto another street.
He planned to buy some of the foods Su Lan liked.
Now that the assailant had been captured, the streets were lively again. An old man selling candy with a bamboo basket rested by the roadside. Chu Shiye passed by and bought a bag of candy.
The old man glanced at him. “Where’s your partner? Why isn’t he with you this time?”
Chu Shiye: “…”
The old man added, “Oh, you’re not married yet? Where’s your lover?”
Chu Shiye: “…”
The old man pressed on, “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me… you don’t even—”
Chu Shiye quickly said, “Keep the change.”
He left a stack of money and turned to leave in a hurry.
“Make way, make way!”
At the intersection, a guard with a communicator pushed through the crowd, brushing past Chu Shiye and running toward the school.
While running, he loudly communicated with his teammates through the device, “This is bad! Something’s happened at the Interstellar School—a criminal is holding a teacher hostage! Requesting backup!”
The Interstellar School—Su Lan’s school.
Chu Shiye’s expression darkened, and he immediately headed in that direction.
However, before the guard could run far, he suddenly stopped and said into the communicator, “Oh, the criminal was taken down on the spot by the hostage teacher. Everything’s fine now.”
After saying this, the guard turned around and walked back.
Chu Shiye: “…”
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