Chapter 36: The Surgery Was a Success

Chapter 36: The Surgery Was Successful

Ask yourself: If you have a good buddy, and you've spent five happy years together, and then one day you discover that your good buddy is a total lovesick fool, and the target of that lovesick fool is you...

What do you do?

Qin Shu said, "Nice confession, but now you're dumped. I'll give you a serious answer."

Li Wuya nuzzled his palm.

Bro, you're way too gay.

Qin Shu pulled his hand back awkwardly.

He thought for a moment. "I can't agree to it. I don't really know what 'like' is, but I'm certain I don't feel like dating you. That said, I don't find it disgusting or repulsive. You can keep liking me, it's fine."

"I'm also quite selfish. I don't want to distance myself from you just because of your feelings, and I don't want to be responsible for your emotions—"

"No." Li Wuya suddenly interrupted.

His voice dropped. "...A Shu, no, please never feel responsible for me. Making you feel guilty is the stupidest thing I've ever done. I've already caused you so much trouble—how could my feelings become your burden?"

Qin Shu stared at him for a long moment. "Go die right now."

Li Wuya focused his gaze, observing Qin Shu's expression.

"Give me about twenty minutes, okay? I need to arrange my will, A Shu."

"See? This is exactly it," Qin Shu pinched his cheek. "I've been thinking—if I just said, 'Stop liking me, let's stay friends, I don't want to see any boundary-crossing from you,' I think you'd agree. But that's not good."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Li Wuya said softly. "I need your command... your wish. I'll carry it out."

"I don't think that's good," Qin Shu said.

He jumped off the table and straightened his clothes. "Even though I don't want to date you, I care about you. So I really don't like the way you are right now."

"Li Wuya, you haven't done a single thing today that pleases me. Do you know that?"

Li Wuya licked his dry lips. "...Sorry. Is it because I'm not correcting myself well enough? Please wait a little longer, I'll—"

"Enough, enough," Qin Shu patted his head again. "Handle your own work. Remember to clear your schedule for me during the day."

A casual voice: "You still remember, right? I'm going to find you to break the deep link."

...

A brisk figure left the bedroom, leaving Li Wuya alone.

Terror reached its peak. Ice cold all over.

Hadn't he already gotten permission?

Why did it still have to be broken?

-

Qin Shu definitely didn't want to sleep at Li Wuya's place.

In his mind, they were still in an uneasy truce—last night was a special case, a temporary truce.

Waking up at noon, he opened his terminal. The news feed exploded, all about the Empress's transfer of power.

Public opinion was boiling over, conspiracy theories were flying everywhere—some said the officials and nobles had already pushed the Empress aside, others insisted she was merely a puppet, and still others swore it was all a plot by Li Wuya…

Someone commented below: "Alright, we get it, you hate Li Wuya, but do you have to bring him up for everything?"

Another comment: "Why do you hate a war hero? He's done a lot of good since he got into politics."

The original poster replied: "You guys don't know a thing! He's the mastermind behind everything!"

Most people thought this guy was nuts, but Qin Shu, watching from the screen, clicked a like with a grave look.

This netizen knew what was up!

He took time off work, quickly washed his face, stared at the mirror, and realized a moment later: with the Empress changing seats, Li Wuya must be busy—how would he have time to break the deep link with him?

Just as he was hesitating to call and ask, Li Wuya's call came through.

"A Shu, when are we breaking the deep link? I'm free all day today."

"In a bit. Where are you? I'll head over."

"Does breaking the deep link require any equipment? Want to go to the research institute I own?" His voice sounded completely normal.

"Probably don't need it. Fine, wait for me there."

He hung up with a flourish.

Qin Shu was pretty pleased with Li Wuya's no-nonsense attitude.

It should've been like this all along.

Qin Shu genuinely felt that the deep link had affected Li Wuya too much—not that it made him develop feelings like 'love' (the link itself wasn't wrong)—but just the fact that it existed had created this strange, one-sided dependency in Li Wuya.

Qin Shu couldn't quite put it into words, but it was clearly not normal.

Either way, better to break the deep link first. Qin Shu was confident it would go smoothly.

He called the doctor again to ask a few questions, grabbed his tactical suit, yanked it on, put on a trench coat, and hurried out.

-

This was Qin Shu's first actual visit to this new research institute.

Before, it had just been an excuse so Qin Shu wouldn't have to go to the White Tower publicly.

Li Wuya, dressed in full military uniform, was waiting for him at the entrance.

Qin Shu was a bit surprised.

Today's Li Wuya seemed back to his old self—Qin Shu meant, before the marriage.

No eerie confusion or fervor, no inexplicable gloom, just that familiar, super cocky normal vibe!

"A Shu, good afternoon," Li Wuya said softly.

Qin Shu looked him up and down.

"A Shu?"

"Did your normal personality log back in?"

"..." Li Wuya straightened Qin Shu's collar. "No, it's just that I was way too out of sorts yesterday."

Qin Shu suddenly touched Li Wuya's forehead, and Li Wuya tilted his head docilely.

After a quick check, it seemed he hadn't lost control... Had he really returned to normal?

Qin Shu was skeptical, but the urgent matter now was to resolve the deep link. He pulled Li Wuya along and walked inside.

Li Wuya lowered his eyes, following a step behind and to the right of Qin Shu, nonchalantly hiding his right hand that was spasming behind his back.

-

The vast training ground.

"...I'm not familiar with this method of severing the deep link."

At the center of the training ground, Li Wuya was bound to an iron chair scavenged from the lab, tightly strapped into a custom restraint suit. Qin Shu was holding a muzzle up to his face.

But wearing it would look too strange, so Qin Shu regretfully abandoned the idea.

"The doctor said it's to keep you from suddenly lashing out. People with PTSD are prone to that, you know."

Li Wuya lowered his gaze. "I hope I'm not a danger to A Shu."

"You're a danger to yourself."

"..."

He swallowed a few times before finally speaking: "A Shu, I don't want to sever the deep link."

"I do."

"Even if I become normal, I still won't be allowed to keep it?"

Qin Shu kept his eyes on the terminal. "From what you described yesterday, you've been not normal ever since the deep link started."

"I thought I started becoming abnormal after I came to the capital."

He couldn't clearly remember how he was three years ago. Li Wuya had never cared much about himself. Maybe it couldn't be perfectly recreated.

Qin Shu: "Do I need to set the standard for that too?"

"Sorry, A Shu. I always seem to misunderstand you, but if you tell me, I'll get it right."

Qin Shu tore his gaze away from the terminal. "I've noticed that rather than being a friend, you'd rather be my servant."

Li Wuya's nose brushed against Qin Shu's palm. "Friend, servant—I want to be both."

"Then listen to me."

Qin Shu casually stroked the bridge of Li Wuya's nose.

He had turned Li Wuya into this, so he had to take responsibility and fix him...

Li Wuya had even said he didn't want to become a burden. Judging by this, he probably wished he could just be Qin Shu's pet.

Forget it. It wasn't right to think of Li Wuya that way.

-

Two days ago, Qin Shu asked the doctor: "What preparations are needed to sever the deep link?"

The doctor said: "First, we must ensure the sentinel poses no threat—neither to himself nor to others."

Qin Shu wholeheartedly agreed.

"Secondly, it needs to be confirmed that there will be no intense resistance from the sentinel's mental domain. Colonel, you need to make sure your friend is doing this voluntarily."

Qin Shu took notes.

"Finally, severing the connection—this step is the most intricate. It requires... then... the mental domain remains largely unexplored by humanity..." The rest was omitted, spanning three thousand words.

Qin Shu gave an OK sign.

The doctor looked worried: "Do you really understand? Should I just come to the scene to assist? Which guide does General Li need to be unbound from? I can sign a confidentiality agreement."

Qin Shu said, "It's fine, Doctor. Don't worry."

Today, the training ground's lights were a ghastly white. Qin Shu had already taken off his jacket, ready for battle at any moment.

He asked Li Wuya, "Are you doing this of your own free will?"

Li Wuya said, "I support whatever decision A Shu makes."

The black-haired sentinel leaned in, his foreheads touching once more.

-

Li Wuya felt nothing much.

Every time he was on the brink of death, pulled back from the brink by Qin Shu, he never felt much of anything.

Because he never thought he would die—Qin Shu would always save him. Qin Shu had never failed, and this time would be no different—

Even if, perhaps, this time meant the death of his soul...

Consciousness reconnected.

The damned, glaring white light pierced his vision, forcing him to squint before he could make out Qin Shu's face.

Qin Shu was wearing a sleeveless tactical suit, looking as if nothing had happened.

No.

A bite mark—a bloody, deep bite mark on Qin Shu's right forearm!

Belatedly, he noticed the broken metal chair at the edge of his vision, the absence of the restraining suit's restraint. A burning sensation in his throat, the dampness on his forehead.

The metallic taste of blood in his mouth, and lying sprawled on the ground.

The smell of blood, the scent of mint, the cold, and a sparkling sensation like broken glass enveloping him.

A sharp, handsome face, his dark eyes held a faint smile—Qin Shu seemed unconcerned about the wound on his arm: "Li Wuya, the surgery was a success."

"How does it feel—do you still like me?"

Blood dripped down, wetting his cheek.

And then, he finally felt the emptiness in his mental domain.

Swallowing what was in his mouth, the first thing Li Wuya did was raise his left hand and press four bloody holes into the same spot on his right arm.

A dumbfounded Qin Shu stared at him, unable to stop it in time.

Li Wuya, with most of his mental domain temporarily shut down, somehow managed to stand up, walk a few steps on his own two legs, grab the first aid kit, and stagger over.

He collapsed to the ground, and then pulled out the alcohol: "Clean the wound."

Qin Shu: ?