Chapter 26: Stirring Thoughts Part 1

As an ordinary person, Su Mingyao could only stare at his phone, racking his brains for a tactful way to remind Su Shang that he still hadn’t released Shen Changqing from the solidification—without giving away the fact that he knew about Su Shang’s supernatural abilities.

He deleted and rewrote, piecing together his words with endless frustration. It was far more agonizing than signing a multimillion-dollar business contract in his previous life.

Meanwhile, Shen Changqing desperately wanted to blink.

He really, really wanted to blink.

But he couldn’t. He could only breathe; no matter how hard he tried, his eyelids refused to come down.

The solidification Luo Shang had used on him wasn’t the same as the one he’d applied to the wheelchair—that was a technique for inanimate objects. If used on a living creature, it would halt all molecular activity inside the body: oxygen oxidation, mitochondrial energy production, brain electrical signals, and so on. The instant it was released, the creature would die.

Pausing all life functions for even a moment was fatal for any living being. It was one of Luo Shang’s go-to methods for killing enemies, not for restraining them.

Before Sophia’s Necromancy Spell Scroll arrived, Luo Shang had no intention of killing Shen Changqing just yet.

Killing off a key character would stall the plot, forcing him to restart the world. Murder might feel good in the moment, but cleaning up the mess afterward was a hassle, and he was too lazy for that.

So Luo Shang had used a different method on Shen Changqing: he’d solidified the air molecules clinging to his body, leaving only the area around his nose free for breathing. It was like encasing him in a transparent shell, rendering him utterly immobile.

Shen Changqing felt like a bug trapped in amber—a perfectly apt comparison. He truly was sealed inside a form-fitting bubble of air by Luo Shang.

When Su Mingyao had tried to kick him, his foot had only struck the solidified gas. He hadn’t actually touched Shen Changqing at all.

Luo Shang knew this method had one drawback: the victim couldn’t blink, which might lead to dry eye syndrome later on. But that was about it. He’d never given much thought to the psychological toll it might take on others.

It was Shen Changqing, after all. If it broke him mentally, so what? It wasn’t a big deal. Even if he discovered Luo Shang’s supernatural abilities, Luo Shang could just kill him and swap in a new body.

Shen Changqing had no idea about any of this inner monologue.

He watched as Su Mingyao walked toward him, declaring his intent to help. In that moment, a halo of holy light seemed to shimmer around Su Mingyao in his eyes.

What a good man! No—a saint!

By now, Shen Changqing had cast aside all the dignity and pride of a promising young business elite.

What good were those? Could they fill his stomach? A Tyrant CEO was nothing in the face of a monster. He was just an utterly ordinary man!

Then Su Mingyao subjected him to a series of bizarre actions: touching him, shoving him, even kicking him.

Shen Changqing felt none of it—not even the kick registered.

He could tell Su Mingyao was trying to move him, but nothing worked. He still couldn’t budge.

Su Shang’s brother isn’t a monster… That’s good, Shen Changqing thought to himself. One monster was enough; he couldn’t handle more.

But it wasn’t entirely good news: Su Mingyao wasn’t a monster, so how could he undo this state?

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the ground suddenly vanished beneath him. The immobilizing force lifted, and Shen Changqing’s muscles went slack. His eyelids finally drooped, and he began to topple over.

Su Mingyao, standing right there, caught his former husband from his last life in time, preventing him from tumbling to the floor and losing what little dignity he had left.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Shen Changqing said.

His eyes were still closed, tears seeping from the slits of his eyelids. He’d been staring without blinking for so long that his eyes felt like they were about to go blind from dryness.

He’d really been saved. The solidification was gone, and he could blink freely again!

Right here, right now, Su Mingyao was his lifesaver, his lifeline—the one thing he needed to cling to for dear life in this world.

And he had to be his marriage partner!

Shen Changqing would sooner leap from the building than marry Su Shang now.

His feelings toward Su Shang had shifted from disgust to outright fear.

Su Mingyao, still fiddling with his phone and agonizing over his wording: Huh?

He hadn’t even sent the message to Su Shang yet. How had it suddenly been released?

It must have been Su Shang remembering on his own, or maybe the System had prompted him.

The System was great like that—it could talk sense into Su Shang and remind him to handle things promptly, Su Mingyao mused silently.

Just as Shen Changqing gazed at Su Mingyao with that saintly glow and the first sparks of affection ignited in his heart, Luo Shang received a notification over there too.

“Ding-dong,” the System announced in a tone like an alarm clock.

“What’s with this crappy sound effect? Change it for me,” Luo Shang grumbled as he tapped open the page to check the progress.

“Understood, Master. Switched now—it’s Ke Yanjin’s sound effect. You should like it, since the notification tone on his end is your voice,” the system replied.

The data in their squad’s auxiliary system was shared among them, with the system serving as the major domo for all internal affairs.

“No need for that,” Luo Shang said. He didn’t have that kind of fetish.

When he opened the progress bar, Luo Shang saw it had climbed to 15%—deeper than he’d anticipated.

“Oh, not bad. This effect is pretty solid,” Luo Shang remarked.

He’d figured it would top out at 10% at most.

Fixing Shen Changqing in place had been a bold experiment on his part. Luo Shang wanted to test whether repeating that earlier action, now with superhuman powers in play, could actually advance the progress bar. If it didn’t work, he’d just trigger a world reset and start over. But if it did, then he could get creative with other tricks.

The results exceeded his expectations.

That meant more room for error if anything went wrong at the Recognition Banquet later. Luo Shang lowered his gaze.

~~~

Su Mingyao supported the utterly relaxed Shen Changqing as they made their way to the pavilion in the Su Family’s back garden, helping him settle into a seat.

“Thank you.” Even after sitting down, Shen Changqing was reluctant to release Su Mingyao’s hand. To him, Su Mingyao was a beacon of salvation and security.

They weren’t close yet, though, so he had no choice but to let Su Mingyao gently but firmly extract his hand.

“No need to stand on ceremony, Cha… Mr. Shen.”

They shouldn’t know each other yet, so Su Mingyao caught himself halfway through the nickname.

“So, you know now, don’t you?” Su Mingyao turned to face him, his jet-black eyes fixing on Shen Changqing. Those eyes—once praised by Shen Changqing in his previous life as full of lively spirit—now filled the current Shen Changqing with profound wariness. It even dimmed his favorable impression of Su Mingyao.

I know… know what?

The words carried an unmistakable tone of interrogation, like a villain cornering someone who’d uncovered their secret. Doubt stirred in Shen Changqing’s mind. Were they working together?

Working together… Save me. Had Su Mingyao really come to rescue him? They’d never even met before, and Su Mingyao was clearly much closer to Su Shang.

Maybe Su Mingyao hadn’t come to save him out of true goodwill. Maybe he’d discovered Shen Changqing eavesdropping, learned that Su Shang was a demon, and now wanted to silence him!

Shen Changqing’s thoughts twisted toward this grim conclusion. The secret he needed to protect now wasn’t some question of blood ties—it was that Su Shang was a demon.

The fact that Su Shang was a demon with special abilities was obviously far more critical than parentage!

That truth could never be exposed, and yet Su Shang had let him overhear it.

If Su Mingyao had come to “clean things up” for the Su family’s reputation, it would make perfect sense.

As this realization hit, the halo of sanctity around Su Mingyao in Shen Changqing’s eyes shattered in an instant. Goosebumps prickled across his skin, and cold sweat trickled down his back.

The inexplicable fondness evaporated.

He shifted back unobtrusively, putting some distance between them.

“I don’t know anything. I didn’t hear a thing,” Shen Changqing said.

“I was just passing by and twisted my ankle. I had to keep up that act on purpose. Thank you for helping me over here.”

Still playing dumb? Su Mingyao nearly rolled his eyes.

If you’d maintained that state deliberately, you could apply for a Guinness World Record.

Shen Changqing might not recognize him now, but Su Mingyao was no longer the green kid who’d first arrived at the Su family. He carried over a decade of memories, years spent in close quarters with a much older Shen Changqing. He knew every detail: the man’s size, his stamina, even his favorite kinks.

This younger version hadn’t changed at his core. One little move, and Su Mingyao knew exactly what he was scheming.

Pretending ignorance? On your guard against me? If I’d really wanted to watch you suffer, why would I have bothered coming to you? Use your head!

Stung by the misunderstanding despite his good intentions, Su Mingyao’s temper flared. He cut straight to it: “Save the excuses. I know you heard everything.”

Su Shang had deliberately fixed him in place to eavesdrop—in the previous life, Shen Changqing had insisted on spying of his own accord, which had led to this very outcome. Now, even if he hadn’t wanted to listen, he’d been forced to.

“I really don’t know,” Shen Changqing said gravely.

“Even if I did hear something, I wouldn’t breathe a word of it. Even if you doubt my integrity, think about our families’ ties. The Shen and Su families have been close for years. I haven’t even paid my respects to Uncle Su and Aunt Li yet—I’ll head there shortly.”

He wanted to leave right now, but his legs were still too weak to move. He needed a moment to recover. Without Su Mingyao’s support, Shen Changqing really would have collapsed right there on the spot.

The words he had just spoken were actually a lie. In truth, he had already paid a visit to the Su Family couple when he first arrived at the Su Family Manor.

By claiming now that he hadn’t visited them, Shen Changqing was hinting to Su Mingyao that he couldn’t silence him here. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to the Su Family couple later.

If you silence me here, the Shen Family will come looking. I vanished inside your Su Family Manor—what kind of fallout do you think that will cause? Think it through!

Su Mingyao laughed upon hearing this.

“You’re lying. You’ve already visited my parents.”

Su Mingyao knew this from his experience in his previous life. Every time Shen Changqing visited the Su Family, he always paid his respects to the Su Family parents first, conducting himself with gentle courtesy and impeccable manners. No one could find fault with him. Things were surely no different this time.