DA chapter 88

“Why are they taking so long?”

The cat wandered over to the cave entrance again but still couldn’t see or hear anything inside.

Lin Jia heard the cat mutter, “Did something happen to Yan Xu and the others? How long have they been in there? It’s been two hours, right?”

The cat paced anxiously around the entrance. Lin Jia could clearly see the cat’s worry for Yan Xu and the Lian siblings on its face.

Since they needed to return to the ancient town before nightfall, Lin Jia had given them a two-hour time limit. Even if they found nothing, they had to turn back from the cave if it exceeded two hours.

Spending a second night in the Fish Belly out in the wild was not wise.

However, Yan Xu had already been inside for more than two hours. To be exact, two hours and eighteen minutes.

Even so, Lin Jia wasn’t anxious. Since the cat still existed, it meant Yan Xu was still alive.

Just as he thought this, the cat suddenly stumbled and fell into the cave.

Lin Jia froze for a moment, then quickly moved from where he stood to the cave entrance. He stepped through the soft mud, splashing it underfoot.

He looked inside the cave. He didn’t see the cat—only dizzying darkness.

He instinctively stepped back a few paces and stared at the entrance with a strange expression.

After a while, Lin Jia seemed to come to his senses. His face darkened as he stared at the cave.

Cats have excellent jumping ability. If it had fallen in by accident, it should have been able to climb back out easily.

If not, then something had most likely happened to Yan Xu, affecting the cat as well.

Lin Jia didn’t want anything to happen to Yan Xu. But if something really had happened…

Before he could finish that thought, before he could decide what he would do if Yan Xu was in trouble, rustling sounds came from inside the cave.

It sounded like climbing.

Sure enough, Lin Jia saw Yan Xu’s head pop out of the cave. Like an athletic college student, he easily braced his hands on the edge and jumped out without needing help from Lin Jia.

He glanced at Lin Jia, then bent down to take the cat being handed up from below.

The cat had jumped out, but it hit its head on something hard when it fell and was now dizzy.

Yan Xu and the cat had come out, but the siblings were still inside.

Yan Xu told Lin Jia, “Hold the cat.”

Lin Jia stepped forward and took the cat from him. Then, he saw Yan Xu extend his arm into the cave again. His hand hovered over the dark opening as someone below reached up for help.

With a slight pull, Yan Xu lifted Lian Xin out of the cave.

After bringing her up, he repeated the motion and pulled Lian Ye out as well.

Lin Jia said nothing.

Yan Xu had always been the type to help others.

Among the three who had entered the cave, Lin Jia noticed that only Yan Xu looked normal. Lian Ye and Lian Xin were pale and panicked.

It was obvious that something had happened below—this could be inferred from the fact that Yan Xu had stayed inside for over two hours.

Lin Jia quietly observed Yan Xu, just as Yan Xu had once observed him when they first entered the Yile Welfare Institute.

Lin Jia’s gaze swept from head to toe, checking for injuries.

He wasn’t.

After all three came out, Lin Jia didn’t ask what had happened. He knew Yan Xu would explain.

Like a prophet who knew things in advance, Yan Xu brushed the dirt off his hands after pulling the siblings out and reported to Lin Jia, “There are ghosts.”

Those simple words made the already pale siblings look even worse.

Lin Jia wasn’t surprised. He asked, “How did you get out?”

“The number is…” Yan Xu had been about to describe the ghosts but paused when he heard the question.

He was slightly surprised that Lin Jia cared about this.

In fact, Yan Xu hadn’t planned on explaining how they escaped. The key point was that they had already made it out.

During that brief pause, Lin Jia quickly realized his question was useless.

Recently, he had been acting strangely, his thoughts and actions drifting away from his usual nature.

What was wrong with him?

He was losing it.

Lin Jia suppressed the voice in his heart that wanted to give the correct answer. Because of that deliberate avoidance, his tone turned unusually cold. “Is the cat okay?”

The warmth that had just risen in Yan Xu’s chest instantly died.

Of course. Why would Lin Jia care about him? He was asking about the cat, using it as an excuse to judge whether it would be affected.

If something happened to the cat, the fusion would be postponed.

“The cat probably hit its head when it fell,” Yan Xu said, letting out a self-mocking chuckle.

This meant that the cat’s condition had nothing to do with the ghosts—they had escaped without affecting the cat that shared their existence.

They spoke in words layered with meanings only the two of them understood, but the siblings couldn’t make sense of it.

Lian Ye glanced at the cat, thinking that Lin Jia blamed them for its injury. He hurriedly explained, “Brother Jia, when we got to the cave, we saw the cat fall in. There’s a protruding rock right below the center of the entrance—the cat hit that.”

Lin Jia: “Mm, got it.”

“Brother Yan already checked. The cat should be fine,” Lian Ye added. “Normally, from that height, a cat wouldn’t hit anything. Maybe it’s too fat. You should feed it less. Being too fat isn’t good for a cat.”

Lin Jia looked up at him.

Lian Ye: “…”

After Lian Ye fell silent, Lin Jia turned back to Yan Xu and asked, “What’s inside?”

He didn’t ask about the escape anymore.

Yan Xu said, “There’s more than one of those things inside. One of them joined our group. It didn’t do anything; it just followed us.”

Lin Jia asked, “Did you see it clearly?”

Those things had prevented him from exploring the tomb more deeply. He wavered between going further and following Lin Jia’s instructions. In the end, he chose to follow Lin Jia’s instructions and came back.

But Lian Ye’s rapid-fire questions snapped him awake.

He valued his life because he needed it to help Lin Jia leave the Underwater World.

However, if something were to happen to Lin Jia, what meaning would his life have?

Before Lin Jia could analyze what was inside the cave, Yan Xu lifted his head and said, “You guys go back first.”

Lin Jia stopped thinking and frowned at Yan Xu.

Lian Ye asked, “Aren’t you coming back with us, Brother?”

Yan Xu took out a candle and replied casually. “I’ll go down again.”

The Lian siblings were stunned speechless. Earlier, they had gone into the tomb to search for clues. They knew it was dangerous, but before seeing it with their own eyes, the danger hadn’t felt real.

Now, knowing there were ghostly figures guarding the passageway between the cave and the tomb, Yan Xu still chose to go down again. This wasn’t searching for clues; it was seeking death.

“Don’t, brother,” Lian Ye quickly tried to stop him. “Forget about what’s down there. It’s almost dark. Even if you want to go, wait until daylight.”

“Almost dark.” Those words only made Yan Xu more determined. Last night, Lin Jia had been chosen and locked in the coffin, and he didn’t want that to happen again tonight.

The Four-Star Fish Belly would never let the same prey escape the same way twice so easily.

Even if Lin Jia were pulled into the coffin again, Yan Xu at least wanted to provide something to help him get out.

Before, when Yan Xu was stubborn, he wouldn’t listen to Lin Jia, let alone to strangers.

He lit the candle and, before jumping into the cave again, he glanced at Lin Jia.

He didn’t bother telling Lin Jia to go back first because he knew he would leave on his own.

Lin Jia didn’t tell him not to go because he knew he couldn’t stop Yan Xu.

They met each other’s eyes for a brief moment. Then, as Yan Xu jumped into the cave, that brief exchange ended.

The only thing Lin Jia could see was the corner of Yan Xu’s clothes quickly disappearing into the darkness.

“Brother Jia,” Lian Ye said hurriedly, “aren’t you going to stop him?”

Lin Jia asked, “He’s already gone. How am I supposed to stop him?”

He sounded completely indifferent.

“Aren’t you two friends?” Lian Ye couldn’t understand.

Friends with Yan Xu?

Not really.

It was just a relationship of mutual need. The cat needed him to find the original, and he needed the cat and Yan Xu to leave the Underwater World.

Of course, in that relationship of mutual need, there was also Lin Jia’s use of Yan Xu.

He had always wanted Yan Xu to be a blade that cleared the path for him alone—and now, the results were obvious.

He was good at getting others to risk their lives for him, but he never felt moved by it because it was all the result of his careful planning.

Lin Jia looked at the pitch-black cave entrance, then checked the time. Logically, he should leave now to return to the inn before nightfall.

The nights in the Fish Belly were dangerous. Only a fool would choose to stay outside after dark.

But his feet wouldn’t move.

His goal was to leave the Underwater World, and Yan Xu was a key part of that. So giving Yan Xu another two hours was reasonable.

Reasonable.

Lin Jia noted the time and checked his watch periodically to keep track.

Seeing that Lin Jia wasn’t leaving, the Lian siblings stayed too. Their concern for Yan Xu was genuine.

One and a half hours left.

One hour left.

During that time, the sky gradually darkened and the cat woke up from its fainting spell.

If Lin Jia hadn’t covered its mouth in time, the cat probably would have said something in front of the siblings.

Thirty minutes left.

Ten minutes left.

One minute.

Lin Jia straightened his sleeve and said, “Let’s go.”

The siblings froze. “But Brother Yan hasn’t come back yet.”

“Suit yourselves.” Lin Jia didn’t care about others’ lives. Holding the cat, he turned and left.

Lian Xin looked at his resolute back. “Huh? Is Brother Jia just leaving? He’s really not waiting for Brother Yan?”

Lian Ye also found it strange. Anyone could see that Lin Jia and Yan Xu knew each other.

At first, Lian Ye thought they were friends. However, from his observations, there was something unspoken between them.

He was certain that Yan Xu liked Lin Jia. Earlier, by the riverside, when he asked the Fishman, Lian Ye had also sensed that Lin Jia was possessive of Yan Xu.

Possessiveness meant that Lin Jia had feelings, too.

This should have been mutual.

But…

Lin Jia just left?

So fragile? So shallow?

Lian Ye felt indignant. As an outsider, he could see clearly that Yan Xu had gone back into the cave for Lin Jia. Even if Lin Jia didn’t follow Yan Xu, he should have waited for him.

From Yan Xu’s perspective, risking his life for someone only to come back and find that person gone must be awful.

“Are you really leaving?” Lian Ye shouted at Lin Jia’s back. “Don’t you like Brother Yan?”

Lian Xin froze.

The cat in Lin Jia’s arms also froze. Lin Jia stopped walking.

He stood there, a coldness surfacing on his face.

The answer he had deliberately avoided was brought to light by someone irrelevant.

“Don’t you like Yan Xu?”

The answer was yes.

He did like Yan Xu a little. That kind of liking—was love.

But Lin Jia understood himself too well. He was a refined egoist. Between benefit and emotion, he chose benefit. Between life and emotion, he chose life. Between himself and Yan Xu, he chose himself.

He was a heartless person. When faced with choices, he easily abandoned emotion. Just like now, he chose himself.

He had never been loved and didn’t know how to love others. His values had been set long ago; he could never love someone the way Yan Xu did.

His feelings were not something he could show, nor something he could say.

“I don’t,” Lin Jia heard his own voice.

His feelings didn’t need to be spoken.

He could just let them fade on their own. Someone like him was never meant to be devoted.

Consider it his way of sparing Yan Xu from future pain, as well as an explanation for their first, inexperienced kiss.

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