Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Beyond the initial sound, the subsequent voice was unmistakably Shen Ju's.

Yet, Shen Ju stood right before him, utterly silent.

He remained frozen, like a small, guilty animal, his face etched with palpable anxiety and wariness, shoulders hunched, appearing small and utterly pitiful.

Just moments ago, he had been raging, but now all his fiery anger had completely extinguished.

Pei Yan remained motionless for a moment.

He continued to observe Shen Ju, his expression unreadable.

Sure enough, as soon as Shen Ju's words faded, the earlier voice resonated once more—

"I need to do something!"

After confirming Shen Ju was indeed unharmed, 996 quickly reviewed the previous event logs, its digital eyes practically rolling back in horror. It couldn't help but ramble, "Host, I only looked away for a second, and you rushed to defend Guan Mulin? You're the malicious true heir; you must always remember your character traits. In a situation like that, even if you didn't add insult to injury, you should have at least stayed out of it!"

In the past, Shen Ju would simply agree to whatever the system said.

But at this moment, Shen Ju responded with unexpected earnestness, "But that person just now said Guan Mulin is parentless, and that's wrong."

996 paused briefly before speaking again, "But don't forget your mission. You are meant to be Guan Mulin's foil—you need to portray a stupid, vile, vain, and unlikable, even disgusting, malicious true heir. Only then can you advance your mission progress. You are supposed to oppose Guan Mulin and make the Guan family despise you so that your role-playing mission can succeed."

"Host, you cannot act on impulse, do you understand?"

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Little did they know that these words were heard not only by Shen Ju but also by six other people.

"Mu Lin! Are you alright?"

Pei Haochuan reached out, steadying Guan Mulin.

From the moment Shen Ju and Pei Yan both tumbled into the pond, the group fighting on the corridor erupted into chaos, especially Pei Haochuan, who was utterly terrified—he had encountered Pei Yan at the banquet and greeted him, but then couldn't find Guan Mulin, only seeing Shen Ju beside Qin Suxi. He felt a surge of indignation, believing Mu Lin was being unfairly treated; otherwise, why would he just disappear like that?

Then he saw Shen Ju stand up and leave Qin Suxi's side.

"He must be going to cause trouble for Mu Lin!"

Pei Yan held his wine glass, watching Shen Ju's retreating figure, and remarked noncommittally, "That's quite a leap. You seem to have strong opinions about this young master of the Guan family?"

Pei Haochuan, who had initially intended to follow Shen Ju, paused upon hearing this. "What leap? It's not that I deliberately have a problem with him, but Uncle, you simply don't know—this Shen Ju at school always treats Mu Lin with disdain, nitpicking everything he does. He simply doesn't like Mu Lin and constantly targets him, acting as if Mu Lin owes him something—"

"Isn't that true?"

Pei Yan retorted indifferently, "Compared to the family that mistakenly raised Shen Ju, everything Guan Mulin has enjoyed growing up in the Guan family is indeed better than what Shen Ju had, isn't it?"

Pei Haochuan choked for a moment, angrily refuting, "But that doesn't give him the right to treat Mu Lin like this! Besides, the mix-up between the two families' children can't be blamed on Mu Lin. Strictly speaking, he's a victim too! Just because he had better conditions growing up doesn't mean all the fault should be pinned on him! That's simply unfair!"

Pei Yan remained silent. In fact, looking at the indignant Pei Haochuan, who was treating this as if it were a monumental crisis and was overly passionate, he felt a profound sense of ennui.

But Pei Haochuan seemed desperate to convince him, wanting him to witness it firsthand, so he "invited" him to follow Shen Ju, swearing that Shen Ju was definitely going to find Guan Mulin.

—And indeed, that was the case.

However, the one who first caused trouble for Guan Mulin wasn't Shen Ju but someone else.

It appeared to be someone Pei Haochuan knew, likely with long-standing grievances.

So Pei Haochuan didn't hesitate for long and rushed forward directly.

Originally, none of this concerned Pei Yan.

He was simply too bored.

But unexpectedly, while the group fight didn't amount to much, Pei Yan ended up experiencing what it was like to be a "drowned rat."

When Pei Haochuan realized that the person who fell into the pond with Shen Ju was Pei Yan, he nearly screamed in terror. He immediately stopped fighting and ran along the corridor down to the pond, determined to rescue his uncle before Pei Yan could stand up! Otherwise, even if he didn't die, he'd be skinned alive! Help—

But just as he reached the edge of the pond, Guan Mulin, who had followed him, slipped and almost plunged headfirst into the water!

"What are you thinking? Be careful!"

Guan Mulin didn't quite catch what Pei Haochuan was saying. Instead, he looked toward Shen Ju with a shocked expression—

What had he heard?!

What was that?!

Before he could process it or figure it out, he saw Qin Suxi, Guan Lifeng, Guan Muyao, and Guan Jianshan appear on the opposite side of the small pond, their expressions seeming somewhat unusual.

Qin Suxi seemed about to step forward but was pulled back by Guan Lifeng.

Across the pond, the courtyard lights weren't too dim, and Guan Mulin could clearly see the shocked and bewildered look on Qin Suxi's face.

...Could it be?!

At the same time, Pei Yan also noticed the people appearing on both sides.

Especially these few with visibly strange expressions—

Guan Mulin, Qin Suxi, Guan Muyao, Guan Lifeng, Guan Jianshan.

All of them were connected to Shen Ju.

But when he looked back at Shen Ju's face, there was no unusual expression.

He just lowered his head slightly, his hands clasped in front of him.

It seemed that those who suddenly heard the voice were an "accident."

However, Pei Yan hadn't expected that this young master of the Guan family would harbor such a "secret"—bizarre and peculiar.

He found it quite interesting.

He just wondered what the Guan family would think.

"Baby—"

Qin Suxi stood by the pond, reaching out with an anxious expression. If Guan Lifeng hadn't pulled her back earlier, she would have rushed down.

"Come up first, hurry up."

"Yes, yes, get up first, we'll talk after you're up."

996 also reacted, "Ahh, Host! You actually dragged Pei Haochuan's uncle down too! This is not going to end well! Quick, think of something—"

Pei Yan couldn't help but hesitate internally.

Guan Mulin, Pei Haochuan.

It seemed that besides Guan Mulin, his nephew mattered too.

Was there some connection between the two?

And...what would Shen Ju do with him?

Pei Yan was surrounded by too many people trying to curry favor with him; he had long grown accustomed to it and felt numb to it. Thus, he had no expectations for how Shen Ju would behave next—it was probably just going to be...

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Shen Ju move, walking toward him.

Guan Mulin watched from this side of the pond.

Qin Suxi and the others watched from the opposite side of the pond.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Shen Ju reached out with both hands toward Pei Yan with an apologetic expression, as if wanting to make amends or compensate in some way.

Then came a "plopping" sound.

As if something had been pulled out.

—Amid the splashing of water, everyone stared in stunned disbelief, watching as Pei Yan was lifted by Shen Ju...hoisted...carried...

Shen Ju yanked Pei Yan up like he was pulling a weed, then carried him by the legs and began walking toward the shore.

He even remembered to walk sideways since he couldn’t see where he was going.

At the same time, he comforted Pei Yan: "It’s okay, I’ll have you down in a sec."

Pei Yan: ..................................."

He was wrong.

He shouldn’t have had no expectations.

He should have remained highly vigilant the moment he sensed something was off about this kid!

What kind of normal person could this be?!

Pei Yan saw stars again and again, wishing he could pass out on the spot.

The biggest mistake of his life was coming to an event like tonight!

"Put. Me. Down."

After snapping out of it, Pei Yan spoke word by word.

What was this kid eating to get so strong?

How was he this strong?

Pei Yan tried to wrestle free but couldn’t, his vision darkening once more.

"It’s fine."

Shen Ju muttered, "Sorry for dragging you into the water."

No, at this point, whether he’d been dragged into the water or not was no longer the issue.

Pei Yan’s face was tight, speechless.

Shen Ju moved fast, and since the pond wasn’t that big, they reached the shore in just a few seconds.

With a lift and a drop of his arm, he "plopped" Pei Yan on the shore with a thud, much like planting a seedling.

Pei Yan stood where he was, though in truth, his soul had left his body a while ago.

Pei Haochuan stood nearby, tongue-tied, wanting to speak but holding back, then wanting to speak again—his whole self equally messed up.

After tonight, would he have to gouge his eyes out?!

What did he just see?!

God, was he going blind?!

At this moment, Pei Haochuan couldn’t help but look at Shen Ju with a mix of one-third astonishment, one-third admiration, one-third terror, and a dash of fear!

This person was truly something else.

Shen Ju also got to the shore by now, only finally noticing that something seemed off.

What...was going on??

Why wasn't anyone saying anything?

Well, which was good—at least nobody was throwing punches.

It was just that the way everyone was looking at him was pretty weird.

Shen Ju rubbed his chin and said to 996 in his mind, "Bro 996, did I do alright? Was I fast enough this time?"

Bro 996: ............"

It, too, was speechless, trying to speak but stopping himself, unable to get a single word out.

Help!

Host! Can’t you see the look that could kill on the face across from you?!

Holy crap—

"Hah."

At a time like this, Pei Yan actually let out a laugh.

Slowly, he stepped closer to Shen Ju.

Then, looking at Shen Ju, he said, "Nice work. I should really thank you properly."

Note from author:

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