Chapter 114

Chapter 114

The door to the dark study was pushed open by a chilly, sinister gust. Yan Shiying entered, his gaze fixed on Yan Shiqi, who was seated behind the desk, and raised the gun in his hand.

"I've uncovered the full truth about my parents' deaths. That car accident was orchestrated by Top Star Gate. To be precise, it was your biological father who killed them."

Yan Shiqi remained silent, shadows falling beneath his eyelashes—a deep, silent abyss.

"The heir the Yan family painstakingly nurtured turned out to be a plant for Top Star Gate. Big Brother, it must have been exhausting for you to maintain that disguise." The look in Yan Shiying's eyes was no longer one of reverence, only icy pain and hatred forged in darkness.

Yan Shiqi closed his eyes.

Yan Shiying pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Blood splattered.

Xie Yunshen opened his eyes to see Yan Shiqi sleeping soundly beside him, his heart hammering violently.

This was the scene described in the book.

Perhaps it was also what was about to happen.

Xie Yunshen clutched him tightly, his heart still racing with fear.

Ever since returning from Lin Jin's wedding that day, Mr. Yan had regained his usual composure and tranquility. His eyes were as placid as ever, as if it were all behind him. Instead, it was Xie Yunshen who felt a belated sense of worry.

He had even started having such dreams.

He took Mr. Yan's hand, watching the ring on his finger emit a faint but steadfast glow in the darkness.

What could he do to help Mr. Yan? To ease his pain?

He sat up and found the backpack he'd used earlier. Back in the small building, he had taken out that novel.

After the worlds merged, Xie Yunshen had searched online and discovered that all traces of that novel had vanished from the internet.

Perhaps only this physical copy in his backpack could prove it had ever existed.

Xie Yunshen opened it to the last two chapters and found the printed text gradually fading. Some paragraphs were almost illegible.

It seemed that before long, this book would also turn into blank pages.

Breakfast.

Yan Shiying sat across from Xie Yunshen, raising his eyes, his well-defined brows tightly furrowed. "Sister-in-law, have I somehow offended you?"

Xie Yunshen withdrew his fixed gaze. "You offended me in my dream."

Yan Shiying: "..."

Yan Shiling snorted with laughter.

Yan Shizhou looked at Yan Shiying with gleeful malice. "Hmph, you brother-obsessed fanboy, I knew it..."

"You know what?" Yan Shiying eyed him warily, afraid of what he might say next.

"...You wouldn't be so creepy as to sleepwalk into Big Brother's room to watch him, would you?" Yan Shizhou mused.

"Tch." Yan Shiying snatched the vegetable and fruit pancake from Yuvius's hand and threw it, only for Yi Wuyi to catch it effortlessly.

Yan Shizhou's handsome face was spared. He looked up in surprise and hugged Yi Wuyi. "Oh my god, Fifth Brother..."

The vegetable and fruit pancakes were specially steamed by the nanny for Yuvius. Yan Shiling had eaten two, Yan Shizhou had eaten one, and now the last one had been thrown away by Yan Shiying.

Yuvius pouted, standing up from his chair. "No!"

Everyone watched with amusement as he went to complain to Yan Shiqi.

"Daddy!" Just as his sticky little hands were about to grab the expensive suit trousers, the butler promptly wiped his small hands and face clean with a wet wipe.

Yuvius waited quietly. Finally, with his little hands dried, he grabbed onto Yan Shiqi and buried his face in his leg.

Yan Shiqi looked down at him.

"Daddy!"

Yan Shiqi speared a piece of shrimp patty from his plate and gave it to him. "Call me Uncle. Don't forget, you have a father and mother."

"Unca." Yuvius didn't dare disobey him. Holding the patty, he obediently called him that.

Then he walked over to Xie Yunshen, looking at him with pitiful, aggrieved eyes.

Xie Yunshen picked him up. "So good." He turned to look at Yan Shiqi. "Mr. Yan, don't be so strict with children."

The younger brothers ate their breakfast quietly, not daring to speak.

Big Brother's cold expression was too intimidating.

Especially after returning from Lin Jin's wedding, it felt as if Big Brother's aura had undergone a transcendent leap and a profound self-examination. This aura had condensed from the outside in, becoming a kind of unassailable authority.

Only Xie Yunshen seemed unaffected by it.

Yan Shiqi said, "I'm stating facts. One should not easily forget their roots."

"Yuvius is very sensible. He's like this because he likes you, Mr. Yan," Xie Yunshen said with a smile.

Yan Shiqi fell silent.

Big Brother actually backed down?!

"..." The others immediately ate their breakfast in silence.

Xie Yunshen held Yuvius. "Yuvius, tell Uncle, who is your father?"

"My father is Blanken Herstolt, Prince of the Rhine in Country E. My mother is Princess Edith Remitio. I won't forget."

"Very good." Xie Yunshen smiled and whispered something in his ear.

Yuvius climbed down and stretched out his hands to Yan Shiqi, saying in imperfect A-country language, "Unca, hug me."

Yan Shiqi picked him up.

It seems Sister-in-law really has a way with him, everyone marveled.

"In a moment, all of you will come with me to the technology exhibition."

The younger brothers nodded in unison.

Although Yan Shiling was puzzled (was he supposed to go too?), he didn’t dare question his big brother’s words.

After the meal, when they were in the car, Xie Yunshen drew him into his arms.

Even though Mr. Yan appeared to have calmed down on the surface, Xie Yunshen could sense he was still stuck in that conversation—alert and cold.

“Mr. Yan, if you’re hurting anywhere, just tell me.”

“Don’t worry, as long as you’re here, I won’t bottle myself up,” Yan Shiqi smiled. “I suspect Gao Langdong or Mo Huaidou won’t be able to sit still much longer.”

Xie Yunshen looked at him in surprise. “What are you going to do?”

Yan Shiqi gazed at him mysteriously. “For the next few days, I need you to protect me.”

“You don’t even have to ask, I was going to…”

Yan Shiqi pressed his hand against the back of Xie Yunshen’s neck, whispering as if to entice him. “Once this is over, let’s go to Country J and get married.”

“Oh…” Xie Yunshen sat there in a daze, his mind going blank except for the words “get married.”

Yan Shiqi chuckled, raising his hand to gently pat Xie Yunshen’s stunned face. It was less of a pat and more of an intimate press with his fingertips.

Xie Yunshen touched his own flushed cheek. Damn it, how could he throw someone off balance like that?

“…Wait, what ‘matter’ are you talking about?” He suddenly became wary again.

Yan Shiqi said, “I think Gao Langdong is about to make his move.”

Xie Yunshen’s heart sank.

At the technology exhibition.

Yan Shiqi attended on behalf of Cloud Banner Group, while Yan Shiying attended as the general manager of Yan Holdings.

At the venue, Xie Yunshen stuck close to Yan Shiqi.

Some reporters lingered in front of Cloud Banner’s booth. No matter where he went, Yan Shiqi was the center of attention.

“Mr. Yan, Cloud Banner was independently founded by you. Could you share the meaning behind the name?”

“Word is that Dr. Gao’s nanomedical technology is about to launch. Will it impact Cloud Banner’s market?”

No matter how many times he was asked, Yan Shiqi unfailingly gave brief answers.

“Mr. Yan, it’s a pleasure to meet you here.” Gao Langdong was dressed in a white suit.

Since their last meeting, the skin on his face appeared even drier, like an uprooted old tree, his limbs hanging emptily behind his clothes.

Yet his dark, deep eyes still resembled a bottomless abyss. He gazed at Yan Shiqi with that inscrutable look.

If Xie Yunshen didn’t know the truth, this gaze would have seemed perfectly innocuous.

But Xie Yunshen knew all too well what this terrifying man was thinking.

He suspected that Gao Langdong already knew about Mr. Yan’s true origins.

That was why he couldn’t bear to see such a gaze fall upon Mr. Yan.

Earlier, Yan Shiqi had reminded him not to let anything show or act out of the ordinary.

Xie Yunshen forced himself to suppress his surging emotions.

“Dr. Gao, I heard your technology has been progressing well lately and that you’ve secured a substantial investment from the Huang family.” Yan Shiqi shook hands.

“Thanks to Mr. Yan’s support back then, I’ve achieved what I have today.” Gao Langdong extended his withered hand for the handshake.

At that moment, a stir went through the crowd.

It was Mo Huaidou, the Northern Region Governor, who would announce the opening alongside senior leaders from the southern province.

Mo Huaidou spotted Yan Shiqi from afar, his gaze resting on him with depth and warmth, but he completely overlooked Gao Langdong. Clearly, he didn't know this man was the leader of Top Star Gate.

While no one was paying attention, Xie Yunshen took out a wet wipe and helped Yan Shiqi clean his hand, even wiping the ring along with it.

Yan Shiqi secretly squeezed the base of his palm.

The entire exhibition proceeded smoothly, lasting until the evening.

Throughout this time, Mr. Yan’s figure, under the gaze of two pairs of eyes, felt like a living, moving blood bank.

This thought sent a chill down Xie Yunshen’s spine.

As the exhibition was ending, a child’s ice cream bumped into Yan Shiqi.

The child’s parents apologized profusely.

Yan Shiqi’s assistant brought a suit. “Mr. Yan, please go to the restroom upstairs to change.”

Yan Shiqi went up to the second floor alone. As soon as he closed the door, a force pushed him inside.

Xie Yunshen poked his head in, looking serious. “Starting today, I’m sticking to you like glue.”

Yan Shiqi smiled faintly.

The two of them squeezed into the restroom. Xie Yunshen, out of professional habit, checked the place out to ensure there were no cameras or hidden compartments.

Mr. Yan took off his shirt, revealing marks of varying depths—the deeper ones from last night, the lighter ones from the night before.

Xie Yunshen touched a faint bite mark on his chest, which stood out under the bright light. “Jeez, I really am a dog.”

He had bitten it last night.

Yan Shiqi put his shirt back on but hadn’t yet buttoned it. He pressed Xie Yunshen’s head against his chest. “Hurry up.”

Xie Yunshen wrapped his arms around his waist, lowering his head to lick it.

Yan Shiqi tightened his grip on Xie Yunshen’s head, tilting his own back. His waist was held tightly in the embrace, his body weight almost lifted, his toes barely touching the ground.

“So… this body of mine isn’t entirely useless after all,” Yan Shiqi suddenly remarked.

Xie Yunshen sucked hard, feeling Mr. Yan’s body tremble slightly.

“Mm, men grow nipples for sucking,” Xie Yunshen suddenly said seriously.

Yan Shiqi’s somber mood was instantly broken. He pinched the back of Xie Yunshen’s neck firmly.

If it weren’t for the inappropriate setting, the two of them would have taken things all the way there.

Xie Yunshen helped him button up his shirt and put on the cufflinks.

These cufflinks were small tracking devices.

The exhibition finally wrapped up around ten o'clock at night.

On the way back, just as Xie Yunshen was about to get into the car,

Yan Shiqi said, "A Shen, you ride with Shiying. I've already filled him in on the rest."

"Like hell I will. What are you planning?" Xie Yunshen blocked the car door.

"Gao Langdong is getting impatient. He urgently needs the Seed's blood and will soon show his true colors," Yan Shiqi turned to look at him.

"So what?" Xie Yunshen stood frozen, unmoving.

"Just behave. Once this is over, we'll get married," Yan Shiqi tried to persuade him with this again.

"Are you crazy? I don't even care about *that*," Xie Yunshen said angrily.

"Fine, if something happens to you too, who will protect me?" Yan Shiqi's voice was strained.

Xie Yunshen went numb, reluctantly letting go and watching the black sedan disappear from sight.

Mr. Yan's stubbornness turned Xie Yunshen's gaze ice-cold.

He opened the door to Yan Shiying's car, shoved the driver out, and took the driver's seat himself.

Yan Shiying, sitting in the back, opened his mouth to speak but then closed it.

Seeing the murderous intent in Xie Yunshen's eyes, he decided it was better to stay quiet.

Xie Yunshen drove closely behind Mr. Yan's car.

On the way from the exhibition to the Yan residence, they crossed a large bridge. Just ahead, a car accident had temporarily blocked the road.

Xie Yunshen didn't have to think twice to know this was Top Star Gate's usual tactic. Although Top Star Gate had been destroyed, the forces behind Gao Langdong remained.

The two cars had to take a detour onto a smaller road. The snow was coming down harder and harder, and the cars drove cautiously.

Xie Yunshen kept his eyes fixed on Mr. Yan's sedan ahead, not daring to relax for a moment.

Suddenly, a large truck swerved out from the side, cutting between them.

These tricks again!

Xie Yunshen wrenched the steering wheel, squeezing through a tricky angle to quickly pass by.

Anticipating the danger, he threw the car into an extreme drift to avoid the impact point, nearly flipping but managing to stabilize it at the last moment.

Yan Shiying in the back gripped the handrail tightly, feeling as though his name had just flashed on the ledger of life and death.

With this delay, by the time they turned around, Mr. Yan's car had already vanished from sight.

Xie Yunshen slammed on the accelerator, completely ignoring the frost-covered road. Even after driving several kilometers, he still couldn't see Mr. Yan's car.

Mr. Yan and his car were gone.

Xie Yunshen whipped the car around, gripping the steering wheel tightly, his gaze cold and stern.

Yan Shiying calmly said, "There's a tracker on big brother's cufflink!"

He pulled out his phone to connect to the tracker, and the car's display screen showed the location.

The tracking point was less than half a kilometer away from them.

Finally, they found the cufflink by the roadside.

There were skid marks in the snow, and the roadside guardrail was slightly buckled.

It seemed a tire had blown, causing the car to skid rapidly on the icy road and crash into the guardrail.

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Author's note: There are probably about two more chapters until the main story concludes, then I'll start writing the extras.