TSMITB Chapter53

“Shut up! It’s all your own fault! You’re the one who had to like me, you know what kind of person I am, and you know that I’m using you, yet you still behave like a degenerate, and you still like me.”

Shen Que attributed the dull ache in his chest to excessive rage.

He hated Sheng Qixiao’s expression; clearly he had the upper hand, yet he acted as if he were the one being wronged.

“Aren’t you supposed to be so great? Then do you know that someone who bothers me relentlessly like you only makes me more disgusted? Things that are too easy to get are too C-H-E-A-P! I don’t care for them.” Shen Que emphasized, articulating each word.

“……” Sheng Qixiao’s hand trembled unconsciously as he gritted his teeth and stared at the provocative expression on Shen Que’s face.

“What’s with that look? What’s wrong? Are you angry again?” Shen Que met Sheng Qixiao’s stormy gaze, deliberately tipped his head back to fully expose his pale, slender neck before him. He forcefully pried away the hand gripping his jaw, abruptly dragged it downward, clasped it around his own neck, and asked with feigned curiosity, “Do you want to strangle me again? I’ll help you. It would be better if you strangled me, it would be the perfect way to put an end to everything.”

Sheng Qixiao violently threw his hand away and abruptly rose to his feet, his chest heaving heavily.

He knew Shen Que was deliberately provoking him, but everything Shen Que said was the truth.

He had seen one beautiful boy after another, each with their own distinct characteristics, running heedlessly to Shen Que’s side, and no matter the process, the final result was always being mercilessly discarded by Shen Que.

“Shen Que, you’d better clearly understand your own situation, stop trying to challenge my bottom line.”

“I understand perfectly well,” Shen Que raised an eyebrow, deliberately poking his sore spot, “Or are you trying to make me realize that I am now just a tool for you to vent your rape fantasies?”

“Shen Que!” Sheng Qixiao interrupted Shen Que sharply.

For a moment, he truly wanted to completely crush Shen Que and reshape him into something without any sharp edges; perhaps only then would he truly behave and not painstakingly try to stab a knife into his heart the moment he opened his eyes.

But he couldn’t.

Sheng Qixiao closed his eyes, fiercely suppressing the surging emotions by telling himself to calm down, and not to engage in confrontation anymore.

Having spoken impulsively, Shen Que also felt a bit of regret, like a cat that had puffed up its fur and then shrunk into a ball, pulling the quilt over himself and wrapping up, not speaking anymore.

He didn’t know how much time passed.

The heavy breathing of the other party in the room gradually disappeared.

The room door was closed, followed by the “click” of the lock engaging.

It was a redundant act.

Shen Que scoffed.

The sun didn’t seem to have really risen; the sky outside the window had darkened again.

Following that day’s verbal explosion, Shen Que didn’t say another word for the next few days.

No matter what Sheng Qixiao said or did, he responded with silence, completely turning himself into a silent statue.

The door was only locked on the first day; for the subsequent days, it was wide open, but Shen Que didn’t even seem to have any interest in even glancing outside.

Of course, Sheng Qixiao wouldn’t mistake this for Shen Que genuinely becoming obedient; Shen Que had merely changed to a different way of resisting him.

On the surface, it appeared to be a dormant volcano, but beneath that stillness, molten magma churned violently within, capable of scorching him if he let his guard down.

Sheng Qixiao lifted Shen Que onto a wheelchair and pushed him outside to sunbathe. Shen Que showed no reaction, silently gazing at the tree shadows in the distance, his icy demeanor showing no sign of thawing beneath the warm sunlight.

During this time, Ke Di came by once, attempting to strike up a conversation with Shen Que, but was scared off by a single look from him.

“Did you really go a bit too far this time?” Ke Di huddled close to Sheng Qixiao while whispering.

Sheng Qixiao sighed, then calmly and frankly told Ke Di the truth, “I just wanted to scare him.”

“You nearly scared him to death!” Ke Di couldn’t control his voice, which suddenly rose, “Look, now what to do? He won’t even talk to you; at least he’d curse at you a couple of times before.”

“Can you two f*cking get farther away? Do you really have to gossip about me so blatantly behind my back, loud enough for me to hear?!”

A pillow suddenly came flying out of the room, landing with a soft “thud” on the floor in front of the dining table before sliding a long distance across the floor and finally coming to a stop.

Ke Di exaggeratedly shrugged his neck and immediately replied, “Hey! You spoke! I even thought you’d gone mute.”

However, there was no more sound from the room, and Ke Di did not get any further response either.

In the evening, Sheng Qixiao finally exhausted his last bit of patience.

If Shen Que continued to make trouble, he would have some coping methods, but he absolutely could not stand this icy, silent treatment.

“Do you intend to keep dragging this out with me like this?” Sheng Qixiao reached out, pinched Shen Que’s chin, and lifted his face.

Shen Que willingly went along with the force, tilting his head back as his eyelids lifted lazily. His indifferent gaze reflected Sheng Qixiao’s face, barely restraining his fury, while the corners of his lips curled into a provocative smile directed at him.

Sheng Qixiao released his hand as if admitting defeat, and then suddenly gave a very slight laugh, but there was no hint of pleasure in the laughter, only annoyance and helplessness masked by forced composure.

“Fine, you won’t talk to me.” He stepped back half a pace and nodded, looking down at Shen Que, “Then I guess you probably wouldn’t want to know whether the thing you desperately sent out managed to save your dying elder brother, would you?”

Shen Que’s body instantly tensed, the person who had been so nonchalant moments before immediately sat up straight. The indifference he had maintained for several days completely collapsed. His face filled with concern and anticipation that he desperately wanted to hide but utterly failed to conceal.

He tentatively spoke, “You have a way to find out about him?”

Now it was Sheng Qixiao’s turn to not speak.

The initiative instantly switched hands.

Sheng Qixiao no longer looked at him, slowly pacing to the opposite side of the dining table, gracefully sitting down, picking up a spoon, and idly stirring the porridge in the bowl. His attitude was completely relaxed without any of the agitation from before.

“What do you mean?”

Sheng Qixiao gave a cold snort and commanded, “I want to eat mushrooms, pick some for me.”

“……” Shen Que’s temple twitched; he knew Sheng Qixiao had once again chosen to be erratic between being crazy and being normal. Although he really didn’t want to deal with him, he couldn’t ignore news about Shen Yi, so he could only forcefully swallow his resentment, “Fine, close your eyes, and I’ll pick some for you.”

The last few words were said through gritted teeth.

Sheng Qixiao didn’t quite understand, but he still did as he was told anyway.

After at least half a minute, Shen Que placed a mushroom slice rolled into a small curl into Sheng Qixiao’s bowl.

“Eat it.”

Sheng Qixiao opened his eyes and glanced at Shen Que before turning his gaze to the mushroom curl. After a moment of thought, he ultimately picked it up, intending to put it into his mouth.

But halfway there, the mushroom curl suddenly loosened, and seven or eight round, plump, and whole Sichuan peppercorns fell out from inside.

“……”

“What are you looking at? You didn’t stir the food evenly when you were cooking.” Shen Que showed no trace of guilt. Even though he was clearly in the wrong, his attitude remained unyielding.

Sheng Qixiao did not retort, biting the mushroom slice little by little, chewing slowly and forcefully as if finely grinding down certain people or events.

The longer Sheng Qixiao deliberately dragged things out, the darker Shen Que’s expression became. Just one second before Shen Que was about to lose his temper, Sheng Qixiao finally set down his chopsticks, his attitude impeccable as he asked in a gentle tone, “Do you want to see it now?”

“Otherwise?”

“Alright.” Sheng Qixiao said nothing more. He raised his right hand with the palm facing upward, as a faint blue phosphorescent glow gradually appeared at his fingertips.

The light initially was only the size of a grain of rice, then slowly unfolded, gradually condensing into a translucent fluorescent butterfly made entirely of flowing light and shadows.

The butterfly fluttered its wings, gracefully flying twice around Sheng Qixiao’s fingertip, each beat scattering blue light points as fine as dust.

“Look.” Sheng Qixiao’s voice carried a hint of seductive lowness.

The fluorescent butterfly paused on his fingertip again, its wings continuing to flutter, and the next moment, the faint blue light suddenly magnified, spreading out a hazy light curtain in the air before them.

As light and shadow flowed, the scene gradually became clear.

In the minimalist-style bedroom, a warm yellow floor lamp cast a soft glow. A young man sat propped against the bed, his skin still somewhat unnaturally pale and his frame thin, yet he appeared to be in good spirits. At that moment, he was looking down, seemingly lost in thought.

That was Shen Que’s older brother, Shen Yi.

“You don’t have to feel guilty; that was his own choice.”—An aged voice sounded.

Shen Yi raised his head, his dark eyes looking somewhat hollow, his gaze drifting aimlessly without settling anywhere, before he shook his head, “I can never agree with your actions, I will definitely find a way to make him…”

Before the words were finished, the light curtain dissolved into scattered glow, disappearing without a trace with a single gust of wind.

Shen Que’s breathing was ragged, he gripped the edge of the table tightly, and his eyes involuntarily became moist.

Shen Yi really had recovered.

The utmost euphoria enveloped him, the unconcealed joyous smile making his whole person brighten up.

Sheng Qixiao’s gaze remained fixed on Shen Que’s face, easily catching the pure happiness in his eyes without the slightest inquiry into Shen Yi’s unfinished sentence in the light curtain at all.

His worry seemed unnecessary; Sheng Qixiao breathed a sigh of relief.

“Can we eat properly now?”

Shen Que’s smile subsided somewhat, “When did I not eat properly?”

Sheng Qixiao didn’t argue with him, his lips also curving slightly as if infected by Shen Que’s mood.

He realized that Shen Que’s genuine smile was indeed the most movingly beautiful sight he had ever seen, easily filling the void in his heart.

“Shen Que, it’s been a long time since you talked, or even smiled at me.”

Shen Que was so happy that he forgot himself, completely casting aside the shadow Sheng Qixiao had left in his heart a few days ago, and rolled his eyes at him upon hearing the remark, “Anyway, you won’t believe what I say, so why waste my breath?”

“It was because you lied to me too many times.”

“Haven’t you lied to me?”

Sheng Qixiao wanted to say something else, but Shen Que raised his hand to interrupt, “That’s enough, stop talking.”

If they kept talking, it would turn into an endless argument and accusation, tearing apart the already fragile “harmony” between them once more.

The two quietly finished their meal and went to the corridor to look at the moon.

The night sky was deep, making the moon appear exceptionally bright and pure with dense stars surrounding it, like brilliant scattered diamonds sprinkled across the heavens.

Shen Que gazed at the bright moon and suddenly spoke, “Can you see anything you want?”

Sheng Qixiao thought for two seconds before realizing what he was asking, then shook his head, replying crisply, “No.”

“Then what can you see? Why can you see it?” Shen Que turned his head; the moonlight illuminated half his face, while the other half was submerged in the shadow cast by Sheng Qixiao.

“When Old Qiu and the others left, I put something on them.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Que’s eyebrows immediately furrowed.

Sheng Qixiao immediately explained, “It’s nothing harmful. It’s just a medium for me to understand the outside world. That thing spreads to the people they come into contact with, so the scope of what I can see becomes wider.”

“Doesn’t that mean you can see everyone around me?” Shen Que was a little agitated.

“More or less.”

Shen Que’s eyes widened, and the starlight from the whole sky fell into his eyes, “Can we watch anytime?”

Sheng Qixiao knew what he was thinking, and glanced at him, “It depends on your behavior.”

Shen Que gave a disdainful snort and turned his head back toward the distant night sky. After a brief pause, he spoke with a hint of suspicion, “This isn’t another illusion you created, is it? Are you deliberately trying to deceive me…?”

“I’m not as boring as you think.”

Shen Que didn’t speak, just sized him up and down, the meaning self-evident.

“If you don’t believe me, then forget it.” Sheng Qixiao’s tone was indifferent, and he made a move to turn and leave.

“Wait!” Shen Que blurted out, and then started to hate his own lack of resolve.

He knew this was nothing more than bait thrown out by Sheng Qixiao to reconcile with him, but he couldn’t let any opportunity to find out about his family slip through his fingers, so he had to fulfill Sheng Qixiao’s wish.

Sheng Qixiao stopped as expected, but didn’t turn around.

He was waiting for Shen Que to speak.

As long as Shen Que didn’t intentionally step on his bottom line, his patience for Shen Que would never run out.

Finally, after a long silence, Shen Que squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth with extreme difficulty, “I want to see it again.”

“Are you making a request of me?”

“So what if I am?”

“But, weren’t we fighting?” Sheng Qixiao turned to look at him. He had not expected Shen Que to plead with him at all; instead, he simply voiced his grievances. “You unilaterally gave me the silent treatment for days. Do you really expect me to forgive you that easily? Without even getting an apology?”

Shen Que opened his mouth in disbelief, almost provoked to laughter by Sheng Qixiao’s self-righteous posture.

He simply couldn’t imagine how Sheng Qixiao managed to say such shameless words with that innocent, beautiful face.

Didn’t Sheng Qixiao himself know why he didn’t want to talk!

Sheng Qixiao perhaps realized this point as well, gave a light cough, and asked again, “Are we still fighting then? Are you still ignoring me?”

Seeing his look of full anticipation masked by feigned indifference, the anger in Shen Que’s heart quietly dissipated.

Although there were still many points he wanted to argue, he decided to humor Sheng Qixiao this once, “No more fighting. Aren’t I talking to you now?”

“En.” Sheng Qixiao responded flatly.

Shen Que subconsciously looked behind Sheng Qixiao; he didn’t know why, but he felt that if Sheng Qixiao had a tail, it would probably be cocked triumphantly up to the sky by now.

He’s faking it again.

Shen Que sneered inwardly.