Chapter 21: What’s it to me?

On the swaying carriage, Qian Junyou deliberately sat diagonally opposite Bai Shuxi.

Arms crossed, one leg propped over the other, body curled up, leaning against the window like the silly son of a landlord.

Bai Shuxi sat properly on the side, like a little kitten clinging to the bars of its cage, lowering her head and secretly glancing at Qian Junyou.

“Cough… Has Young Master ever heard of the story of the…”

“No.”

Before she could finish, she was interrupted.
For the first time since she was born, someone had treated her this way.

Bai Shuxi stood there awkwardly with her mouth still open, staring with wide eyes in disbelief.

It was true that she owed him, but had he really lost all interest in her?!
Three days ago he hadn’t been like this. This man… changed just like that?

He must still be angry… which was only natural. After all, she had gone too far before…

After a moment of silence, she spoke again:

“The story of the Linglong Pagoda is quite romantic! How about Shuxi tells you…”

“None of my damn business.”

Qian Junyou, expressionless, glanced sideways out the window and refused listlessly.

‘He’s… going too far, isn’t he?’

Bai Shuxi looked somewhat aggrieved. She lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers. Another stretch of silence.

“Young Master… are you still angry with me?”

“None of your damn business.”

“…”

After another silence:

“By the way, there will be fireworks tonight~”

“None of my damn business.”

“You… how can you be like this?”

“None of your damn business.”

“I… I’m going to get angry…”

Bai Shuxi said tentatively, her voice growing smaller and smaller. The reply was still the same, though it finally gained some variation.

“None of my damn business… You can fart twice to vent. I don’t mind.”

“I…”

Having hit a wall, Bai Shuxi still refused to give up on finding a topic. She furrowed her brows, craned her neck, and asked cautiously:

“Then… does Young Master’s leg still hurt?”

“None of your damn business.”

“…How about Shuxi helps you rub it!”

“None of my… No need.”

Qian Junyou’s thoughts were forcibly dragged back by Bai Shuxi. Fireworks… Why hadn’t the Second Prince come looking for him to go to the Teaching Department today? Had yesterday morning’s court session changed the world line?

The person in front of him was, after all, a female lead… He still had a blood feud with the protagonist over the extermination of his family. He couldn’t let their relationship become too bad…

“Miss Bai, if one day someone wants to kill me, would you speak up for me?”

Bai Shuxi, who had been hesitating, suddenly heard Qian Junyou take the initiative to speak. She felt both excited and mostly nervous.

Her mind began racing to think of the best way to answer.

Should she be humorous? Would that seem frivolous? What sentence structure would be more interesting?

Should she appear gentle, or show her wisdom…

As the so-called number one talented lady of the capital, maybe quote two lines of poetry? But where was there a poem like that!

No! She still had to clearly express her attitude…

Bai Shuxi thought hard, so anxious that her palms began to sweat. Her toes kept curling inside her shoes, and her face turned red…

Qian Junyou, who had not received any reply for a long time, turned his head in confusion and met Bai Shuxi’s gaze as she secretly peeked at him with her head lowered.

Her face flushed red like a startled little white mouse. She sucked in a cold breath, hurriedly averted her eyes, and bit her lip.

‘Seriously? She can’t even say a word for me? Too much!’ Qian Junyou felt a chill in his heart.

“As long as Young Master does not mind, Shuxi will definitely protect you with her lips and teeth!”

Bai Shuxi took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and raised her head to say these confusing words. Seeing the astonishment on Qian Junyou’s face, she felt so embarrassed she wanted to jump out of the carriage…

What… what kind of bizarre metaphor was this? Was literary expression in this world so free and unrestrained?

“Never mind. Let’s talk about that story you mentioned earlier. Isn’t the Linglong Pagoda the treasure of Heavenly King Li who holds the pagoda?”

“Mm! Yes! The Seven Treasures Linglong Pagoda! It is a demon-suppressing pagoda left behind by a god thirty thousand years ago!”

“Good, and then?”

“This is a story that happened when I was three years old! It is said that the Linglong Pagoda was completely empty inside, with only a black tombstone at the top. The entire pagoda was heavily guarded by elite soldiers and protected by countless immortals!

But later, a little girl sneaked in. She accidentally knocked over the huge black tombstone, and the demon wedge that sealed the demons flew into her body!

To prevent the demons from causing chaos and harming the human world, they locked the little girl inside the pagoda. The immortals said she would never be able to leave in this lifetime!

Later, a little boy learned about this. He felt great sympathy for the girl, so he ran into the pagoda and took the demon wedge in her place, allowing the girl to regain her freedom!”

Bai Shuxi finished in one breath, then looked at Qian Junyou with full expectation.

“Mm, what happened after?”

“Ah? That’s it…”

“???”

That’s it for redefining romance? It happened when she was three years old? Aren’t stories supposed to be made up?

Heavily guarded? Protected by countless immortals? Yet two children could go in and out freely? What kind of security system from the Land of Light was this?

However, Qian Junyou didn’t dwell on these details. He simply felt this headless, tailless story was too crude. Could it be some foreshadowing from a third-rate novel?

The journey from Prince Rui’s mansion to the Ministry of Justice took a full hour. Not because the road was long or the horse slow, but because the capital was simply too big. No matter where you went, it usually took two hours.

If they wanted to investigate the case, the case files were extremely important. They contained on-site investigation records, autopsy reports, time and details of the incident, etc… But would the Ministry of Justice just hand them over?

The afternoon sunlight was somewhat lazy. The carriage traveled along the bustling main street. The scenery outside the window looked the same, and the troubles of the mortal world came in all shapes and sizes.

“Young Master, do you like small animals? We have one at home… Mm? Young Master? Are you… asleep?”

Noticing that Qian Junyou had fallen asleep, Bai Shuxi felt a little disappointed, yet also somewhat relieved. She quietly moved over and sat beside him.

She carefully observed his side profile. His lazy appearance really did resemble the little white cat they kept at home.

To solve the case, make amends, and clear her father’s name, obtaining Qian Junyou’s help was essential. He had a very special identity that made things far more convenient than anyone else.

Carrying feelings of guilt and gratitude, Bai Shuxi began to feel curious about the noble young master before her.

With the carriage’s jolting, Qian Junyou’s head, leaning against the window, swayed and slowly tilted toward the other side.

What should she do? Dodge or not? Watching Qian Junyou’s body falling toward her, Bai Shuxi was torn. Her heartbeat quickened and she felt at a loss.

Dodge? She worried he would lose balance and wake up. Then not dodge?

Not dodge?

Not dodge?

If she didn’t dodge… what should she do? Before she could think through the consequences, his head slowly landed on her shoulder.

Her delicate body trembled again. This was bad! Before setting out, Qian Junyou had repeatedly emphasized that she was not allowed to get close to him!

What now? Push his head back? What if she woke him? Ignore it? But she had originally been sitting opposite him. Help! Who could come save her! She felt like she had been living in regret lately…

What was wrong with her? This blushing and racing heartbeat… it should be nervousness, right?

Yes, right?

…………

In his dream, Qian Junyou returned to university, standing by the sea and looking at the school’s white lighthouse—

This was the only school in the country with a lighthouse. Unfortunately, in his four years there, he hadn’t left behind any romance.

A faint, delicate fragrance filled his nose. This scent was too familiar—Bai Shuxi!

Qian Junyou pushed her away again and again, but it was all in vain because this was a dream, and his consciousness was hazy.

The entire world suddenly changed dramatically. A hundreds-of-meters-high tsunami stretched for thousands of miles, like a giant city wall, approaching at visible speed.

He heard the cries of infants all around. He saw the tsunami sweep across the land. The whole world turned upside down. Seawater flowed back, and the raging currents dragged him toward the depths of the ocean.

He saw the end of the world—a massive crack tens of thousands of kilometers long. Seawater on both sides poured into the bottomless abyss like waterfalls. Miserable wails kept calling to him. Countless demons and evil gods eagerly waited to devour his soul.

Swept by the seawater into the crack, the strong sensation of falling jolted him awake. He didn’t make any big movements, only trembled slightly, sucked in a cold breath, and slowly opened his eyes.

A pair of jade-like hands gently supported his forehead, as if afraid he would fall. His face rested on her shoulder, and below was tender white skin gently rippling with the carriage’s movement.

It wasn’t a lap pillow? Suddenly he felt this nightmare had been a loss, but he was surprised to find that from this angle he couldn’t even see her knees? Oh…

He propped himself up with his hands and sat straight. His head was still a little fuzzy.

“Young Master, you’re awake!”

Bai Shuxi smiled awkwardly and smoothly moved back to sit opposite him, only to be fiercely glared at by Qian Junyou.

“I’m sorry…”

After coming to this world, Qian Junyou had had this kind of nightmare many times, but they basically only occurred after coming into contact with Bai Shuxi.

The nightmares in his mind were fine—they ended once he woke up. But the nightmares of real life still had to be paid for after waking.

…………

When they arrived at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice and looked at the gray walls, Qian Junyou couldn’t help but shiver. He realized this place was completely different from the “Ministry of Justice” he usually saw in TV dramas.

It was essentially a fortress, or more accurately, a prison, complete with a moat. The carriage crossed the bridge and stopped at the gate.

Just standing outside, one could feel a killing aura permeating the area, making people shiver. The entire “prison” was gloomy and terrifying, devoid of any vitality.

“Without summons, entry is forbidden!”

Two heavily armored guards holding giant long-handled axes naturally blocked the two of them outside.

“Oh, what business do the two lords have?”

A blade-carrying guard in official attire came out from the side door. Seeing the four-clawed dragon pattern on Qian Junyou’s clothes, he hurriedly cupped his hands and saluted politely. Before Qian Junyou could speak, Bai Shuxi stepped forward on her own and said:

“Please go inside and report that Prince Rui’s heir wishes to intervene in the investigation of the disaster relief camp fire case!”