Chapter 68: You Have Deviated from the Course, Please Recalculate Your Route

Shen Jixing casually drew a card from the deck.

He had no particular thoughts about the truth or dare punishment; answering honestly was enough. He was adept at silence, but never at lying.

Of course, that was before he encountered this card.

[Is your first night still intact?]

Shen Jixing: “……………………”

The room erupted.

Sheng Que’s eyes widened. “Oh my god.”

Sikong Xiu stifled a laugh. “Children shouldn’t open their eyes so wide.”

Sheng Que protested, “Am I still a child?”

Under the strict control of his little uncle, Sheng Que had yet to taste forbidden fruit.

“To us, no. To your uncle, maybe,” Sikong Xiu said with a smile.

Sheng Que had been chafing under Fu Chen’s control for ages, but he was neither strong nor bold enough to resist. He snorted angrily, “Just wait. One day, I’ll be taller than him.”

Sikong Xiu: “?”

Shen Jixing slapped the card down on the table. His thick, raven lashes trembled, a flush rising to his ears. He forced himself to appear calm. “Heavy—”

The always accommodating director interjected, “No!”

Shen Jixing: “……”

He wasn’t sure how such a card had made it past the censors.

Zhou Yili was still lounging on the sofa, head propped up, lazily watching him. If he had a tail, it’d surely be wagging.

Shen Jixing crumpled the card in his hand, answering coolly, “No, it’s not.”

“Whoa!!”

“So, so—does that online rumor turn out to be true??”

“Not necessarily. That rumor just said Shen Jixing frequents a mysterious place, always filled with his young college-age male fans. No evidence it’s exactly—”

“He admitted it himself. How is it not certain?”

Next to draw a punishment was Cen Susu.

She thought truth was nothing good, so decisively chose dare.

Clearly, dare wasn’t any better.

[Choose a guest to recite “Goose” with deep emotion, then give them a kiss afterwards.]

Cen Susu shrieked, “I’m a girl idol!”

Then she turned to Shen Jixing. “Brother Shen, would you—”

“No,” Zhou Yili replied.

He answered so swiftly that everyone stared at him.

Zhou Yili spoke nonchalantly, “He has a touch aversion. First day you realized?”

Cen Susu naturally knew. But aside from her idol, she wouldn’t choose any other male guest. Her gaze shifted to Qi Yan.

“Sister Qi…”

Qi Yan countered, “You’re not trying to set me up?”

Cen Susu played with her seaweed-green pigtails as if nothing was wrong, inwardly cursing.

“Go ahead,” Qi Yan said calmly.

Cen Susu’s eyes sparkled. “You’re so nice!”

The little girl recited “Goose, Goose, Goose” with dramatic flair, then dashed over and planted a kiss on Qi Yan’s cheek.

“So, so, the lilies in my hometown are blooming?”

“What an adorable scene!”

The last was Sikong Xiu.

He was chosen by lot to play, blessed with a bit of innate luck. His truth was—

[The person to your left will designate a guest to answer the previous truth question.]

Sikong Xiu looked to his left at Shen Jixing.

He said slowly, “Oh, wow.”

Shen Jixing: “……”

His gaze inadvertently swept over Zhou Yili. Before he could ask, Zhou Yili replied, relaxed and casual.

“No, it’s not.”

The room buzzed again.

Zhou Yili sat calmly, fingers idly twirling an ornate crown.

He lazily lifted his eyes, meeting Shen Jixing’s cool gaze.

Shen Jixing said, “I wasn’t asking you.”

Zhou Yili gave a nonchalant hum, breaking the ice in Shen Jixing’s eyes.

“I wanted to answer.”

…

The second episode recording ended.

The cool moonlight cast silver radiance. Shen Jixing stood amidst the rose bushes, the sound of a wheelchair approaching from afar behind him.

“You were looking for me.”

A gentle, refined voice sounded; Bo Yu stopped behind him.

He knew Shen Jixing would seek him out.

Because the variety show had left him unsettled.

The icebreaking witch he’d imagined was a fantasy; Shen Jixing had done nothing for him, even brought up the thing he hated most face-to-face.

Yet Bo Yu was still tolerant toward him now. “Tonight’s truth wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you.”

They had grown too distant in recent years.

Bo Yu’s attitude toward him was no longer as hard and ruthless as before.

“You already paid the price for your impulsiveness back then.” Bo Yu leaned back in his wheelchair, amber eyes gentle as autumn leaves.

“Don’t worry, I won’t pursue your past mistakes any further.”

Shen Jixing stood quietly in the moonlight, gazing at the man’s refined, handsome face.

“Paid the price?” he seemed amused.

Shen Jixing had indeed paid a price.

He would forever fear the night and the suffocating tides, for he had nearly died in a dark, damp basement, a single second away from death.

His life had been frozen like a withered tree in winter.

For a long time, Shen Jixing didn’t know where the end of the night lay.

Bo Yu’s light words brushed past it.

“I forgive you, Jixing.”

Recently, Shen Jixing had lived too comfortably, soaking daily in the crisp, fruity scent of frosted pine, as if he’d forgotten how hopeless he once was.

The hand extended to him on Christmas night.

Had become a cage of chains, locking him in a narrow space.

Shen Jixing looked at him calmly, as he once respectfully addressed him, “Sir.”

The moonlight seemed steeped in white, snow falling over roses like the colors of Christmas night.

That delicate, noble young master sat in his wheelchair, amber eyes warm as winter sunlight.

“How wretched you are, child.”

“Will you come home with me?”

That pale, beautiful boy, carved of ice, once reached out trembling with hope, offering everything and his future to him.

At this moment, Bo Yu thought, he could let go of the past, help Shen Jixing heal all wounds, and return to the innocence of their first meeting.

All because of that gentle address: sir.

Never, since Shen Jixing grew up, had Bo Yu seen such a smile in his eyes.

He didn’t know when the little boy stopped liking to smile.

Bo Yu hummed softly, about to speak, when he heard Shen Jixing continue in a cool, gentle voice:

“The Qing Dynasty is long gone.”

Bo Yu’s expression changed suddenly.

He looked at Shen Jixing in disbelief, the moonlight outlining his tall, jade-like figure.

The boy he’d rescued on a snowy night—just as he imagined—had grown into a dazzling gem, untouched by dust.

He said, “No one needs your forgiveness.”

Shen Jixing’s gaze was always calm, but sharp as an invisible blade.

It sliced Bo Yu’s lingering hopes to pieces.

“Don’t you get it yet?”

That helpless little boy who’d once cried in the corner had grown up.

He could only save himself from disaster again and again.

On the day the withered tree bloomed, he looked to the flourishing branches, hearing clearly the thunder rolling across the sky—

“You’ve deviated from your course. Please recalculate your route.”

So, at that moment, he made an unbelievable decision.

Bo Yu’s smile vanished, his gaze cold and gloomy as he stared, listening to Shen Jixing’s lips curve as he spoke slowly:

“The only one who can unlock the chains is me.”