Chapter 117

Chapter 117

After forensic analysis by the police, the remains were confirmed to be the long-missing youngest son of the Mo family.

DNA comparison between Mo Huaidou and the Mo family's youngest grandson confirmed that Mo Huaidou was actually the long-deceased Mo Sangyuan.

Mo Sangyuan was arrested. Online, gossipy posts about the Top Star Gate and the list of wealthy families who bought the serum years ago were everywhere.

Some posts vaguely mentioned the Other Shore Divine Sect, but people felt this mysterious organization was too distant from their lives, more like a fictional entity used for scare tactics, so it didn't attract much attention.

After the police issued an announcement confirming Mo Sangyuan's crimes, Black Impermanence's trending posts once again dominated the charts.

"Black Impermanence's account follower count"

"Black Impermanence's true identity"

"Black Impermanence's livestream replay"

"Link to buy Black Impermanence-themed talisman pendants"

Wait, what was that last one?

Xie Yunshen scrolled through his phone while holding Yuvius and seemed to have glimpsed something strange.

"Mr. Yan, you're back." Uncle Zhao's voice sounded at the entrance to the hall.

Xie Yunshen immediately put down his phone and, still holding Yuvius, hid behind the viewing corridor.

Wait, he forgot his phone.

From his hiding spot, he saw Mr. Yan and Yi Wuyi walking in through the main living room door.

Yuvius tried to call out, but Xie Yunshen forcefully covered his mouth.

Mr. Yan's gaze swept across the hall but didn't see Xie Yunshen.

"Where's A Shen?"

Uncle Zhao said, puzzled, "He was just here. Maybe he brought the little one to the back garden."

On such a cold day, who would take a child to the back garden?

Yan Shiqi knew he was avoiding him. He rubbed his temples and saw Xie Yunshen's phone on the sofa.

Yi Wuyi spotted Xie Yunshen hiding in the corridor. Xie Yunshen blinked at him, signaling him not to speak.

Yi Wuyi understood and smiled as he watched Mr. Yan pick up the phone.

No need to guess; someone like Xie Yunshen would have a password like six zeros or six eights.

Sure enough, Mr. Yan unlocked it after two tries.

Yan Shiqi said to Yi Wuyi, "If you see him, tell him to come find me for his phone."

Yi Wuyi nodded.

After Mr. Yan went upstairs, he looked at Xie Yunshen. "Not going to get your phone from Mr. Yan?"

Xie Yunshen said, "Forget it. There's nothing on the phone anyway." Except for an account with billions of followers.

"I mean, you haven't seen Mr. Yan in days, right?"

"I'm still mad right now." Xie Yunshen tilted his head back, hands braced on the back of the sofa, brows furrowed. "Am I being petty?"

"No." Yi Wuyi patted his shoulder and sat down beside him, making the toy car's lights flash for Yuvius.

"That's it?" Xie Yunshen turned to look at Old Five. That's all? No attempt to persuade him? He thought he'd say something about communicating better with Mr. Yan.

"Otherwise? You asked, I answered." Old Five looked puzzled.jpg.

Xie Yunshen looked bored and started gossiping again. "In the three years I was gone, how did things go between you and the Third Young Master?"

When he returned after these years, he noticed that Yan Shizhou and Yi Wuyi interacted very naturally now.

Completely different from the painful awkwardness of before.

Yi Wuyi paused. "The first year, I was very depressed. He stayed with me, just like when we were kids."

"Don't mind me being nosy... do you guys, you know, regularly...?" Xie Yunshen slung an arm over his shoulder.

"No." Yi Wuyi answered frankly.

Xie Yunshen looked incredulous. "How does Third Brother hold back?"

The Third Young Master wasn't the celibate type. Faced with a tempting delicacy like Old Five, he could actually remain unmoved?

Yuvius opened his clear eyes wide. "What are Deep Daddy and Uncle Five talking about?"

"Little rascal, go play with your toy train." Xie Yunshen pinched his cheek. "So full of collagen, so tender indeed."

Yi Wuyi's ears twitched. "Mr. Yan is coming downstairs."

Xie Yunshen darted away, instantly hiding behind the antique display cabinet.

He heard Mr. Yan's footsteps pass along the second-floor corridor, then descend the curved staircase and walk out the main door.

Seeing he was going out, Yi Wuyi followed closely.

"I'll go alone," Mr. Yan said.

Yi Wuyi said, "Mr. Yan, if you go out alone..."

Yan Shiqi turned to look at him, a warning glint in his eyes. "What?"

Yi Wuyi had to stop. See, when Xie Yunshen ignores Mr. Yan, others suffer.

Just then, someone patted his shoulder. Xie Yunshen shot past him like a gust of wind.

"I'll go check."

It was already 10 PM, snowing, and Mr. Yan was going out?

And without taking Old Five! Was he crazy?

Xie Yunshen rounded the base of the tall statue in front of the door and turned the corner, bumping into a familiar figure.

"Mr... Mr. Yan."

Mr. Yan sneered coldly. "You still dare to deliberately avoid me?"

Xie Yunshen felt a chill run down his spine—Mr. Yan at this moment was pretty intimidating.

Before he could even get a word out, Mr. Yan grabbed his wrist: "Come with me upstairs."

Yi Wuyi saw Xie Yunshen—who had just stepped out—being dragged by the wrist up to the second floor by Mr. Yan.

Though Xie Yunshen tried to dig in his heels just before the stairs, a single authoritative glare from Mr. Yan froze him in place, leaving him no room to argue.

"Old Five, Yuvius, can one of you... save me?"

"Are you crazy?" Yi Wuyi didn’t even look up, busy building with blocks alongside Yuvius.

Yuvius: "I'm just two! Ask a grown-up for help!"

"..."

In the doorway of the study, Xie Yunshen clung to the doorframe, imitating Yuvius: "Mr. Yan, I’m only thirty-five. You can’t get mad at a child."

"I’m sorry."

?

Xie Yunshen froze for a second: "What?"

Who drags someone upstairs with the oppressive force of a typhoon, only to say "I’m sorry"?

"I’m sorry." Mr. Yan’s dark eyes held his calmly. "I was so desperate to make them pay, to make them disappear from this world, so I risked my own life and took advantage of your worry and pain. I only knew you would protect me, that I could make it up to you, and that we’d make up eventually. But, I..."

Mr. Yan’s usually steady and powerful voice faltered slightly. His breath hitched as if the air were being pulled from his lungs, making his Adam’s apple bob and his eyes redden slightly.

"But... you can’t stop loving me, can you?"

Xie Yunshen heard his voice tremble, and his own heart clenched in response: "Mr. Yan, I’m not angry anymore."

He saw a single tear trail down calmly from Mr. Yan’s reddened eyes. Those who had never seen Mr. Yan cry had no idea what this meant.

It was like a sword piercing straight through your soul.

Xie Yunshen gathered him into his arms, all flustered. "No, I should say—I do love you. I love you so much right now."

"And in the future?"

"The future? I’ll probably love you then too."

Who could know what the future held?

Promises like "I’ll love you forever" sounded like the words of an irresponsible liar.

But in this life, aside from Mr. Yan, he knew he could never love anyone else.

Xie Yunshen cupped his face, wanting to check if he was still crying.

The corners of Mr. Yan’s eyes were red. Aside from the tear track left by that single drop, his eyes were dry, like smooth obsidian exposed in a dried-up riverbed, without blinking once.

Xie Yunshen said seriously, "Mr. Yan, maybe you should find some time to get your eyes checked. You might really have dry eye syndrome."

All that drama for just one tear?

Last time, he had cried so much he soaked Mr. Yan’s clothes.

Mr. Yan shot him a glare, a hint of amused exasperation in his eyes.

Both authoritative and adorable.

Xie Yunshen laughed and couldn’t help but kiss him.

In the snow-blanketed Yan family estate, a gap in the study window offered a glimpse of the lovers kissing behind the curtains.

On the desk, a pair of rings lay quietly in the center of a gift box.

One month later, on a famous tourist island in Country J.

A group of visitors gathered at the ferry dock on the opposite shore, letting out disappointed sighs.

A notice was posted on the ferry:

"xx Island has been privately purchased. From December 29th to January 5th, it will be closed to non-residents. Access resumes on the 6th."

"Ah, it starts today. We missed it..."

"Yeah, I drove all the way here!"

"Which rich heir bought an island this time?"

"I heard it’s the chairman of Yan's Group from Country A, holding his wedding here. But the island’s residents can stay."

"Well, now I'm really bummed out."

"I heard it’s a same-sex couple! They chose this place because same-sex marriage is legal in Country J!"

"Ahhh, so it’s true love!"

"Is that a private plane flying overhead?"

"Ugh, the wedding feast must be amazing! I really want to try it!"

On the island.

Unlike the icy, snowy landscape of Country A, here it was warm and blooming, like eternal spring.

Xie Yunshen was hit with a wave of nostalgia: "Mr. Yan, why did you choose this place?"

Yan Shiqi said, "I thought you would like it here."

Xie Yunshen was taken aback—he had never mentioned this island to anyone.

Once, after being injured on a mission, he had recuperated on this island for a while. He'd really loved it here and had planned to retire here someday. In the three years after returning from the transmigration world, he had actually been hiding on this very island.

He was grateful the world fusion hadn’t swallowed this island up.

"Mr. Yan, after you retire, let’s grow old together on this island." Xie Yunshen lowered his head, resting his forehead against Mr. Yan’s.

Sunlight streamed through the space between their faces.

"Mm."

"Mr. Yan... how are you so good to me?!" Xie Yunshen’s eyes went all watery as he hugged him tightly.

The wedding wasn't a huge spectacle—the ceremony was simply held in a church on the island.

The only ones invited were the Yan family themselves, a few of Xie Yunshen's colleagues, and Lin Jin and his wife.

Yuvius and Yan Shixin, because they were young, served as flower children dressed in white attire.

"Mr. Yan, thank you." Xie Yunshen placed the wedding ring on his finger.

Now, there were two rings on Mr. Yan's ring finger.

Amidst the peaceful atmosphere, only two colleagues looked on in horrified speechlessness: "He never said the person he was marrying was actually Yan Shiqi."

"No idea. I always thought it was like the previous missions—just media hype about his relationship with his employer..."

"Tsk, that Xie Yunshen, wherever he goes, some big shot is always there to let him live the easy life."

Two months later, Mo Sangyuan was put to death.

That weekend evening, Xie Yunshen was lying in bed holding Yan Shiqi as they slept.

The ringing of the phone on the table interrupted their sweet dream. Xie Yunshen frowned, released the person in his arms, and pressed the answer button. "Hello..."

"Happy wedding, Lord Black Impermanence."

A creepy voice that gave him goosebumps came through the line with a faint crackle.

"Bai Le Bai!" Xie Yunshen bolted upright. Bai Le Bai's twisted face appeared on the phone screen.

He would never forget this face, even in death.

Why wasn't this guy dead yet?

The other party let out a light chuckle, as if to say "you got it."

"Glad you passed the first level. Are you ready for the second?"

Bai Le Bai removed his glove, revealing a pale hand with a missing little finger.

The Other Shore Divine Sect...

"You lunatic! Wait, I'm calling White Impermanence over." Xie Yunshen scoffed.

Normally, when encountering a top-tier pervert like Bai Le Bai, he should have Mr. Yan come out to ward off evil.

But Mr. Yan was now his wife.

So, he had no choice but to call Old Five.

The motto was: good brothers share the fortune and the misfortune alike.

Xie Yunshen left the room and shouted, "Old Five! Old Five!"

"Alright then, see you in Country E." Bai Le Bai smiled and hung up the video call.

Actually, Old Five wasn't there at all; he and Mr. Yan were away on vacation.

See you in Country E?

Xie Yunshen didn't understand the meaning of those words.

However, the next few years passed uneventfully. Xie Yunshen and Yan Shiqi lived a carefree life at the Yan family estate.

Until one day.

Xie Yunshen received a call from Diado, the royal butler of Country E.

He was requested to bring Yuvius to Country E.

"Prince Yuvius is to become the Crown Prince. However, His Majesty the King has been mentally unstable lately, seemingly threatened by a mysterious force."

Xie Yunshen finally understood the meaning of Bai Le Bai's words.

End of Main Story.