Besides that first voice, the one that rang out afterward was unmistakably Shen Ju‘s voice.
Yet Shen Ju stood right in front of him, never once opening his mouth.
He even stood frozen in place like a small animal that had done something wrong, his face plainly showing unease and caution. His shoulders hunched, shrinking into a tiny ball, looking utterly pitiful.
Just moments ago, he’d been furiously cursing people out, but now all his fire had fizzled out.
Pei Yan remained motionless for a moment.
He continued staring at Shen Ju without a hint of expression.
Sure enough, after Shen Ju’s words fell, that previous voice rang out again…
【I have something to handle!】
After confirming Shen Ju was truly fine, 996 quickly reviewed the recent event logs. It nearly fainted, unable to stop itself from nagging endlessly: 【Host, I just looked away for one second, and you rushed up to speak up for Guan Mulin? You’re the vicious true young master—you have to remember your role! In that situation, even if you didn’t kick him when he was down, you could’ve just stood by idly!】
In the past, Shen Ju always responded however the System prompted.
But at this moment, Shen Ju said with particular seriousness: 【But that guy just now said Guan Mulin has no dad or mom. That’s not right.】
996 fell silent for a beat, but still spoke up: 【But don’t forget your mission. You’re supposed to be Guan Mulin’s foil. You need to play the stupid, despicable, vain young master that everyone dislikes or even loathes—that’s how your task progress goes up. You have to oppose Guan Mulin, make the Guan Family abandon you. Only then can your role-playing task succeed.】
【Host, you can’t act on impulse, you know?】
【Otherwise… you might get punished!】 996 hesitated, then steeled itself and said it.
Little did it know, these words didn’t just reach Shen Ju’s ears—they reached the ears of six other people as well.
“Mulin! You okay?”
Pei Haochuan reached out and pulled, steadying Guan Mulin.
Ever since Shen Ju and Pei Yan had fallen into the pond together, the group brawling on the walkway had exploded—especially Pei Haochuan, who was scared half to death… At the banquet, he’d run into Pei Yan and greeted him politely. Then he hadn’t spotted Guan Mulin, only seeing Shen Ju by Qin Soxi’s side, which left him fuming. He felt like Mulin was being treated differently—why else would he just vanish like that?!
Then he saw Shen Ju stand and leave Qin Soxi’s side.
“He’s definitely going to cause trouble for Mulin!”
Pei Yan held his wine glass, watching Shen Ju’s retreating back, and said noncommittally, “Jumping to conclusions like that—you seem to have a real grudge against this young master of the Guan Family?”
Pei Haochuan had originally planned to follow Shen Ju, but he paused at those words: “What do you mean jumping to conclusions? It’s not like I’m targeting him on purpose—it’s just that you don’t know, Little Uncle. This Shen Ju’s always giving Mulin attitude at school, nose upturned, eyes rolling. He just plain doesn’t like Mulin, always picking on him, acting like Mulin owes him something…”
“Isn’t that the case?”
Pei Yan asked indifferently in return: “Compared to the family that mistakenly raised Shen Ju, hasn’t Guan Mulin enjoyed far better treatment in the Guan Family from childhood?”
Pei Haochuan choked a bit, then shot back angrily: “But he can’t treat Mulin like that! Besides, the whole baby swap between the two families isn’t Mulin’s fault at all. Strictly speaking, he’s a victim too. You can’t blame everything on him just because he’s had better conditions growing up! That’s not fair!”
Pei Yan said nothing. In fact, watching Pei Haochuan all fired up, treating this like the end of the world and way too hot-blooded, he found the whole thing rather boring.
But Pei Haochuan seemed determined to convince him, to make him see for himself, so he “invited” Pei Yan to follow Shen Ju, swearing up and down that Shen Ju was definitely off to find Guan Mulin.
…
And indeed, that was the case.
It was just that the one who started troubling Guan Mulin first wasn’t Shen Ju—it was someone else.
Someone Pei Haochuan apparently knew, with a grudge built up over time.
So Pei Haochuan hadn’t held back for long before charging in.
Originally, all this had nothing to do with Pei Yan.
He’d only tagged along out of sheer boredom.
Who could’ve guessed that while the brawlers came out unscathed, Pei Yan ended up looking like a drowned rat.
When Pei Haochuan realized the one who’d fallen into the pond with Shen Ju was Pei Yan, he let out a shriek, dropped the fight immediately, and raced around the walkway to the water’s edge. He vowed to fish his little uncle out before Pei Yan could stand on his own! Otherwise, even if he didn’t die, he’d be skinned alive! Help…
But just as he reached the pond’s edge, Guan Mulin—who’d come along with him—slipped on the wet ground and nearly face-planted right into the water!
“What are you daydreaming about? Watch your step!”
Guan Mulin hadn’t even heard what Pei Haochuan said. His face was full of shock as he stared toward Shen Ju…
What had he just heard?!
What was that?!
Before he could process it, on the opposite side of the small pond, Qin Soxi, Guan Lifeng, Guan Muya, and Guan Jianshan appeared one after another, their expressions all strangely off.
Qin Soxi seemed about to rush forward, but Guan Lifeng pulled her back.
Even across the pond, with the courtyard lights not too dim, Guan Mulin could clearly see the horrified, bewildered look on Qin Soxi’s face.
…Could it be?!
At the same time, Pei Yan noticed the people appearing on both sides.
Especially those few with clearly unusual expressions…
Guan Mulin, Qin Soxi, Guan Muya, Guan Lifeng, Guan Jianshan.
All connected to Shen Ju somehow.
But Shen Ju’s face showed no such oddity.
He just kept his head slightly lowered, hands twisting nervously in front of him.
It seemed these people who’d suddenly heard the voice were “unexpected listeners.”
Pei Yan hadn’t anticipated that this young master of the Guan Family was hiding such a bizarre “secret.” Strange and peculiar.
He found it intriguing.
He wondered what the Guan Family would make of it.
“Baby…”
Qin Soxi stood at the pond’s edge, hand outstretched, her face anxious. If Guan Lifeng hadn’t pulled her back just now, she would’ve jumped right in.
“Come up first, quick!”
【Right, right—get out first, then we talk.】
996 snapped back to it: 【Aah, Host! You even dragged Pei Haochuan’s little uncle in with you! You’re in deep now! Think of something quick…】
Pei Yan’s heart stuttered.
Guan Mulin, Pei Haochuan.
So aside from Guan Mulin, this nephew of his mattered too.
Did the two have some connection?
And… how would Shen Ju handle him?
Pei Yan was surrounded by sycophants; he was used to it and felt nothing about it. So he had no expectations for whatever Shen Ju might do next—probably just…
As he thought that, Shen Ju moved, walking toward him.
Guan Mulin watched from one side of the pond.
Qin Soxi and the others watched from the other.
Under everyone’s gaze, Shen Ju approached Pei Yan with an apologetic look, as if eager to make amends somehow. He extended both hands.
There was a pop.
Like something being yanked free.
Amid the splashing water, everyone stared in stunned silence as Shen Ju… picked Pei Yan up… picked him up… lifted him bodily…
Shen Ju yanked Pei Yan out of the water like pulling green onions, then cradled him from the legs down and started wading toward shore.
He even turned sideways to walk, since he couldn’t see ahead.
And reassured Pei Yan all the while: “It’s fine, I’ll put you down real quick.”
Pei Yan: “……”
He’d been wrong.
He shouldn’t have had low expectations.
He should’ve stayed on high alert the moment he sensed something off about this kid!
What kind of normal person does this?!
Pei Yan’s vision went black—then blacker. He desperately wished he could just faint right then.
The biggest mistake of his life was showing up to this event tonight!
“Put. Me. Down.”
Once he regained his senses, Pei Yan gritted out each word.
What did this kid eat to grow up like this?
Such ridiculous strength?
Pei Yan couldn’t break free for the moment, and his vision blackened again.
“It’s okay.”
Shen Ju said softly: “Sorry for pulling you in.”
No, whether he’d pulled him in or not wasn’t the issue anymore.
Pei Yan’s face was taut; he couldn’t speak.
Shen Ju moved fast, and the pond wasn’t big. In seconds, they reached the shore.
With a lift and a drop—plop—he “planted” Pei Yan on dry land like another green onion.
Pei Yan stood there, but in truth, his soul had already left his body for a while.
Pei Haochuan nearby hesitated to speak, then wanted to speak but held back, wanted to hold back but wanted to speak—his whole mind in chaos.
After tonight, should he gouge out his own eyes?!
What had he just seen?!
God, was he going blind?!
In this moment, the way Pei Haochuan looked at Shen Ju carried three parts bewilderment, three parts admiration, three parts trepidation, and one part fear!
This kid was no ordinary human.
Only now did Shen Ju climb onto shore himself, belatedly sensing something was off.
What… was wrong…
Why wasn’t anyone talking?
Well, that was good—no more fighting.
Though the looks they were giving him were kinda weird.
Shen Ju scratched his chin and said in his mind to 996: 【Brother 996, I did pretty good, right? My reaction was quick this time, yeah?】
996: […]
It too hesitated to speak, then wanted to but held back—couldn’t squeeze out a single word.
Help!
Host! Didn’t you see that murderous glare across the way?!
Oh lord…
“Heh.”
At a time like this, Pei Yan actually laughed.
Slowly, he took a step closer to Shen Ju.
Then, looking at him, he said: “Not bad. I should properly thank you sometime.”
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