DA chapter 78

Lin Jia did not immediately walk out of the alley. Instead, he stood at the sunlit exit and raised his head.

He hadn’t mistaken the voice—it was Yan Xu.

On that day, when Lin Jia had temporarily taken the blame for Yan Xu, he hadn’t immediately entered the Fish Belly.

He couldn’t enter just any Descending Cloud casually. If the cloud’s star level was too low, it wouldn’t pose a threat to the pursuing hounds. They would follow Lin Jia into a low-star cloud layer and use their numbers to gain the upper hand. Since it was the Fish Belly, getting rid of someone would be easy.

So Lin Jia had to choose a high-star cloud layer. That way, the hounds would have to weigh their chances first. Forget about taking Lin Jia out of the Fish Belly—whether they could even walk out of a high-star cloud layer alive was questionable. Even if some hounds followed him in, there wouldn’t be many of them.

Lin Jia circled with these hounds for days. After obtaining information about the descent of a high-star cloud layer, he entered it under their watch.

A few days was enough time for Yan Xu to wake up. He knew that, given Yan Xu’s personality, he would definitely come looking for him. Since there was no contact between them, Yan Xu wouldn’t be able to find him and would eventually give up, leaving him no choice but to wait in the apartment for Lin Jia to appear on his own.

Lin Jia wasn’t surprised that Yan Xu came looking for him, just slightly surprised that Yan Xu found him in the vast Underwater World among so many descending clouds.

However, Yan Xu didn’t know that Lin Jia had already found him. Under Lin Jia’s gaze, Yan Xu took out his phone and brought up the photo of “Lin Jia angry” taken last time in the Fish Belly.

“Have you seen this person?”

The siblings shook their heads. The anxiety in Yan Xu’s heart became harder to suppress; deep hostility showed at the corners of his brows.

He had entered this four-star cloud layer. If Lin Jia hadn’t been there, he would have trapped himself, wasting time searching for Lin Jia.

Even he couldn’t guarantee quickly passing through a four-star cloud layer. What if Lin Jia encountered danger during the time he wasted? What if Lin Jia returned to the apartment at this time? What would Lin Jia think if he found Yan Xu absent? Would he think Yan Xu had broken his promise?

Yan Xu’s thoughts were in chaos; his mind was a mess. Even the wound on his right shoulder began to ache faintly.

In fact, ever since he had regained consciousness, his mind hadn’t been clear. From the cat’s hesitant explanation, he learned that Lin Jia might be in danger, and he couldn’t calm down. He needed Lin Jia in front of him to feel at ease. But he should have actually waited at home for Lin Jia to return.

…There was no tacit understanding between them. Searching aimlessly would only cause them to miss each other.

He should have stayed home, waiting…

What should he do now?

Yan Xu raised his head blankly. The overlapping eaves stretched before him, and the bluestone road beneath his feet seemed to extend to the horizon.

For a moment, he didn’t know where he was, who he was, or what he should do next.

It was just like many years ago when he suddenly heard that Broken Cloud had disbanded. His brothers, who once stood beside him, either left or died. He stood helplessly at a crossroads. The world was vast, yet he was as insignificant as dust.

Suddenly, his shoulder sank. The cat that Lin Jia had identified as his “though” jumped onto his injured right shoulder. The pain pulled Yan Xu out of his daze.

The cat leaned close to his ear. Without caring about the two outsiders present, it lowered its voice and said softly, “Lin Jia.”

As soon as it spoke, Yan Xu saw a tall figure in the corridor.

He clearly felt his heart pounding against his chest, beating so hard that his chest buzzed.

After three days apart, Lin Jia was still wearing the trench coat from that night at the apartment; the hem was stained with mud. Yet, he maintained an elegant posture—the black umbrella in his hand resembling a scepter, as if he were a noble passing through the human world.

Yan Xu stepped forward. The surrounding scenery blurred, leaving only Lin Jia’s figure clear in his vision.

By the time he realized it, he was already standing face to face with Lin Jia. Though he had countless words to say, not a single one could come out. He could only anxiously scan Lin Jia from head to toe, confirming whether he was injured and wondering how he had been these past few days.

But Lin Jia said, “You shouldn’t have come.”

Lin Jia truly believed that Yan Xu shouldn’t have come. He took the blame for Yan Xu to temporarily divert the attention of those behind the scenes and buy time for Yan Xu to recover from his injuries.

However, Yan Xu had come with his injuries. This would inevitably draw the attention of those behind the scenes and make it difficult for Lin Jia to achieve his final goal.

Yan Xu took a deep breath and forced out a question from the turmoil in his chest: “Are you okay?”

Lin Jia looked at Yan Xu, then at the cat on his shoulder.

Forget it. It wasn’t the first time he’d known that Yan Xu didn’t listen. If Yan Xu did nothing, then he wouldn’t be Yan Xu.

Lin Jia reached out, grabbed the cat by the back of its neck, and lifted it off Yan Xu’s injured right shoulder. “I’m fine.”

After tossing the cat to the ground between them, Lin Jia’s gaze brushed past Yan Xu and landed on the siblings.

The siblings had seen Lin Jia’s photo on Yan Xu’s phone and knew that he had found the person he was looking for. They tactfully stayed at a distance and didn’t disturb them.

“People from the Management Office might come after us,” Lin Jia finally said, briefly explaining their situation to Yan Xu.

“I understand.” Yan Xu’s tone was heavy. “Don’t worry. I won’t let them hurt you.”

Lin Jia avoided Yan Xu’s gaze and said lightly, “Let’s find the Fishman first.”

Seeing Lin Jia’s cold profile, Yan Xu’s racing heart instantly calmed down.

During the three days that Yan Xu had spent searching for Lin Jia, Lin Jia had retreated to the beginning of their relationship. Although Yan Xu’s promise came from a place of genuine intent and without ulterior motives, this kind of statement could cause misunderstandings and made Lin Jia uncomfortable.

Yan Xu laughed softly. This person was rational to the point of near coldness—so infuriating, yet there was nothing to be done.

What else could he do? He had known from the beginning that Lin Jia was an abyss. He had chosen to jump in himself. If he got hurt, he couldn’t blame Lin Jia.

“Alright.” In any case, Lin Jia had been found, and he was safe. Yan Xu replied with double meaning, “Whatever you say, I’ll do.”

Lin Jia didn’t like being around newcomers, but since Yan Xu and he were the first people the siblings had encountered, the siblings followed them cautiously.

However, Lin Jia did not drive them away.

The ancient town was too big. Lin Jia said, “Let’s split up and search.”

Since they weren’t sure if any hounds had followed them in, the four people and one cat split up to look for the Fishman, though they didn’t stray too far from each other.

At a fork in the road, Lin Jia and Yan Xu temporarily parted ways. The cat looked at Lin Jia’s back, then Yan Xu’s, and chose to follow Lin Jia.

Lin Jia slowed his pace, waiting for the cat to catch up.

“Stupid cat,” Lin Jia suddenly said.

The cat was scolded for no reason and felt aggrieved. “We haven’t seen each other for three days, and the first thing you do is scold me? I’ve been worried about you this whole time.”

Without explaining much to the cat, Lin Jia asked, “How is it?”

The cat used all four legs to keep up with Lin Jia. “How is what?”

After three days, the cat still didn’t impress Lin Jia—it was still the same stupid cat.

Lin Jia pressed his lips together. “The injury.”

“You mean Yan Xu’s injury?” the cat asked. “It should be fine.”

Lin Jia stopped and glanced at the cat.

“He said it’s fine, so it should be fine.” The cat broke into a sweat under Lin Jia’s gaze. “If you’re really worried about him, you can just ask him.”

“If his injury isn’t healed, do you think being in the Fish Belly is a good idea?” After all, the cat is also part of Yan Xu and will eventually merge with him. Lin Jia didn’t want the cat to misunderstand and think he was worried about Yan Xu.

“Oh… right, this is a four-star Fish Belly.” The cat asked, “Then what should we do?”

Seeing that the cat still treated Yan Xu as a separate individual, Lin Jia asked, “What’s going on with you two?”

The cat replied, “Didn’t you tell me on the phone not to merge with him for now?”

The cat still had a hard time accepting that Yan Xu was its true self. Although Lin Jia had given a reason for its dislike, the cat still resisted merging. Meanwhile, Yan Xu was busy looking for Lin Jia, so the matter of merging was delayed.

Lin Jia: “How did you find me?”

The cat had been following Yan Xu around for the past few days, searching for Lin Jia. It was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Unable to walk anymore, the cat jumped onto Lin Jia’s shoulder and recalled, “After I brought the medicine back, Yan Xu woke up not long after…”

During that phone call, Lin Jia didn’t tell the cat whether to hide the truth from Yan Xu. The cat didn’t know what to do. But the original self was far smarter than the cat. After waking up and seeing the cat hesitate and stammer, Yan Xu immediately realized that Lin Jia had taken the blame for him.

“He started looking for you as soon as he woke up,” the cat said. “The hotel, the Knife’s headquarters… He went to many places, but he couldn’t find you.”

“Then he sat at home and turned on the TV.”

There was information about cloud descents on TV. The cat continued, “Yan Xu guessed you would enter a high-star cloud, so he picked two. I don’t remember the numbers, but both were four-star clouds about to descend.”

“But the descent times of those two four-star clouds were close to each other, and their sizes were almost the same. Yan Xu didn’t know which one you would go to.”

“He took two pieces of paper and wrote the cloud numbers on them. He stared at them for a long time, then folded them.” The cat said proudly, “As soon as I saw that, I knew he was going to draw lots.”

Lin Jia couldn’t help but find it a bit funny. In some ways, Yan Xu and the cat were similar—neither of them was very reliable.

Lin Jia had wondered how Yan Xu had found him. He had imagined various possibilities but didn’t expect such a simple, unadorned method.

Lin Jia commented, “A blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.”¹The phrase “瞎猫碰上死耗子” literally means: “A blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.” It’s used to describe getting lucky by accident rather than through skill.

“Not really,” the cat replied, speaking honestly, though not defending Yan Xu. “He reached out to draw, but…”

But his arm stayed suspended in the air, not falling for a long time.

The cat urged him anxiously, but then saw Yan Xu close his eyes. At that moment, the cat suddenly felt a faint connection with Yan Xu. It seemed to hear his inner thoughts:

“Can luck favor me just once? Let me find him. I won’t do anything; I just want to make sure he’s safe.”

“I don’t think it was just luck,” the cat said. “He prayed.”

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  The phrase “瞎猫碰上死耗子” literally means: “A blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.” It’s used to describe getting lucky by accident rather than through skill.