Chapter 127: Come Here for a Hug

Bo Yu tumbled from his wheelchair once again.

The chair pinned him down, trapping him in that same posture of utter humiliation.

"Little turtle."

Somewhere, a voice called to him with a hint of a smile. But that person had been left behind in the villa where they once lived, never to meet him again.

Bo Yu chuckled. Then, the "turtle shell" was torn away, and Zhou Yili stared down at him, his eyes bloodshot.

"An-swer. Me."

Zhou Yili was on the verge of madness from searching. He could see the guilt and panic in the depths of Bo Yu’s eyes—how could a wet-behind-the-ears brat like himself have caught Shen Jixing’s eye, and why had it led to such a bitter rift between them?

What if he simply vanished?

Bo Yu’s amber eyes curved into a smile. "He’s tired. He’s sleeping."

His tone was refined and elegant, deliberately laced with ambiguity.

Zhou Yili’s expression stiffened. "What did you say?"

In an instant, he recalled the apology Mu Si had given him when he left the villa. The young man, usually so dashing, looked indescribably haggard.

"I’m sorry. I failed to protect the young master."

Zhou Yili had replied, "I will find him."

Watching the bodyguard, Fu Chen knew that things had not gone well for him either.

"It’s alright. I know you did your best."

Mu Si’s face had gone deathly pale, and he only shook his head. "It’s not alright. If I hadn't been tricked, the young master wouldn't have been... by him..."

Fu Chen’s heart sank. He looked instinctively at Zhou Yili, who paused for a heartbeat, his entire body tightening with terrifying tension, before he continued to stride forward with his long legs.

"Find him," he rasped.

It was the first time Fu Chen had seen such intense malice radiating from him. He could only manage to say, "Don't do anything stupid."

Whether Zhou Yili heard him or not, he did not know. Now, facing Bo Yu’s near-paranoid smile, the blood in his brain began to boil and roar.

"Say that again."

Bo Yu gazed at him, undaunted. "You didn't see what he looked like just now. Innocent, fragile, beautiful, covered in what I left on him... like the most perfect work of art."

A floating redness swirled in the depths of Bo Yu’s eyes—the silent, creeping onset of his sickness. But Zhou Yili did not know this.

"Angry, aren't you?" He heard Bo Yu whisper. "If you have the guts, kill me. Go on, kill me."

His life had reached its end; his faith and hope had crumbled together. Bo Yu looked at this naturally dazzling person. And what about him?

Zhou Yili clenched his fists and brought one down hard across Bo Yu’s face. The shattered glass on the floor left them both bleeding profusely. "You fucking animal!"

Bo Yu seemed not to feel the curse, merely curling his lips in a hoarse laugh.

"An animal? How laughable. He was raised by me; whatever I do to him is only—"

"..."

A fist, driven by a gale of fury, slammed into his jaw.

Bo Yu couldn't finish his sentence. He spat out a broken tooth mixed with blood, but he still smiled. "What does your anger matter? You are just a coward who arrived a step too late, forced to face the fact that he belongs to me..."

Zhou Yili’s eyes were bloodshot as he gripped Bo Yu’s throat. "Do you believe I won't kill you?"

The shocking blood spread, making it impossible to tell whose was whose. Bo Yu was an extreme madman; in his final moments of collapse, he was desperate to turn Zhou Yili into a madman as well.

"Do you dare?"

Zhou Yili’s hand fell upon a sharp shard of glass. "Watch and see if your father dares."

He grabbed the blood-slicked shard, intent on driving it straight into Bo Yu’s neck—

Bo Yu slowly curled his lips and closed his eyes.

"Hum..."

There was a faint tremor in the air.

Zhou Yili, his face splattered with drops of blood, his red-rimmed eyes suddenly clearing for a moment, looked at the silver sensor on his wrist.

Connection successful.

...

"Zhou Yili!"

Fu Chen looked at him through a hole in the first floor. "Calm down—keep him alive!"

Zhou Yili seemed to hear nothing. He stared at the silver sensor, hearing his own voice from before, relaxed and lazy: "As long as you are near me, I can feel your presence."

Bo Yu didn't know what he was thinking, nor why he had suddenly stopped.

"Why don't you..."

Zhou Yili released him. Bo Yu thought this dim-witted upstart was truly insane, continuing to provoke his nerves with words. "If you don't kill me, can you still accept him?"

Zhou Yili looked down at him from above.

Fu Chen knew he couldn't withstand any more provocation. In his desperation, he jumped down from the first floor just as Zhou Yili had, landing heavily and wincing with a slight frown.

Zhou Yili didn't even glance at his uncle. He only said three words:

"I love him."

"You probably don't know what that means."

Zhou Yili let himself keep clutching the shard, careful not to let it prick Bo Yu, even as his own palm bled. His eyes were red with what might have been blood or tears, and he spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Whether it is his wounded body or his broken soul, I love them both."

The next moment, the basement door was pushed open.

Shen Jixing swept his gaze over the shard in his hand, pausing briefly before his eyes met Zhou Yili’s bloodshot stare.

Like a small, wronged beast, he didn't even dare to step forward to embrace him.

"Throw that thing away."

Shen Jixing said to him, "Come here and let me hold you."

After fourteen long hours, the battered little lion lunged into his arms.

...

"I'm sorry."

Zhou Yili held him while trembling all over. Hot, self-reproachful tears soaked into his collar, scorching the skin of Shen Jixing’s collarbone.

He kept apologizing over and over. "I shouldn't have been busy with my own affairs. I should have gone with you. I'm sorry..."

What was he to do?

It was all his fault that Shen Jixing had been hurt.

Zhou Yili feared he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life. That proud and unrestrained young master buried his head in the crook of his neck, near-sobbing, "I won't forgive myself..."

Shen Jixing’s hand rested lightly on the back of his neck, pausing for a fleeting moment.

He looked at Bo Yu, who was soaked in blood on the floor, and asked coldly, "What did you say to him?"

Bo Yu met his gaze, then looked away, silent. "..."

Shen Jixing seemed to have already guessed. Feeling the little lion’s helplessness, self-blame, and tears, his heart felt achingly soft.

He then slowly lifted his hand and kissed Zhou Yili’s wet eyes.

"I'm fine. I just had a nap."

Zhou Yili still didn't look up, his arrogant, disdainful face completely soaked, even the tip of his nose red.

He said, "I know."

"..."

Shen Jixing was silent for a long moment. "You don't."

His calm, pleasant voice was like a breeze, scattering Bo Yu’s remaining self-esteem to the winds.

"What I mean is, he doesn't have the ability."

Zhou Yili suddenly looked up. "?"

"What do you mean?"

Fu Chen also staggered to his feet and looked at Bo Yu. "?"

Bo Yu’s cold amber eyes fixed on Shen Jixing, trying to stop him from saying anything more.

Until Shen Jixing added, with a tone of detached subtlety:

"He is impotent."

The entire scene fell silent.

Only Bo Yu lay on the ground, his heart turned to ash. "..."