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墨書 Inktalez
The night wind blew in from all directions, tousling Chu Donglin's white hair.
He sat on the railing of the balcony, gazing silently at the Human Base under the night sky.
The girl, Shishi, lay soundly asleep in a nearby rocking chair, a warm blanket covering her and shielding her from the chilly breeze.
Even a lively girl like her, after a day of play, had succumbed to fatigue and was now deep in slumber. If one leaned in closer, they could even hear her soft, adorable snores.
Someone stepped out from behind him and approached Chu Donglin.
With her hands resting on the balcony railing, the girl stood at a comfortable distance—not too far, yet not too close.
Chu Donglin glanced back at her and smiled.
"Still awake? It's already three in the early morning."
Xue shook her head. "Senior, you’re not asleep either. What gives you the right to urge me to sleep?"
Chu Donglin shrugged. "I have things on my mind, so I can't sleep."
"I have things to think about too, and they're probably similar to what you're thinking."
Chu Donglin looked at her in surprise, amused. "Are you my intestinal worm? Do you know what I'm thinking?"
"Just a guess; after all, you are my senior."
Xue wrinkled her nose and said, "Though I wish I couldn't guess."
Chu Donglin smiled lightly, "So what are you and I thinking about right now?"
"The senior is thinking about leaving to do something very important and dangerous... right?"
Xue looked at Chu Donglin and said, "Your behavior these past two days is quite strange, almost as if you're making arrangements for your last wishes... Where are you going? Haven't all the Evil Gods been killed? Is there still one that got away?"
"Pretty much, there's just one last trouble left, and it's the biggest one."
Chu Donglin shrugged, not hiding anything.
Then he glanced at Xue, a complex smile on his face. "You really understand me; I thought I was hiding it quite cleverly."
The girl remained noncommittal. "I think everyone has noticed. After all, the senior has no defenses around those close to him; it's easy to see through... Who told you that you're so easy to understand?"
Chu Donglin was taken aback. "Really?"
The girl nodded.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the living room.
"Brother-in-law? Are you there? I can hear your voice."
Then came the sound of footsteps approaching.
Before Chu Donglin could react, Xue swiftly dashed to hide around the corner of the balcony.
There was a corner left by the architectural style that provided a perfect hiding spot, almost invisible unless one ventured behind the wall.
Chu Donglin was taken aback.
"Why are you running?" he asked. "What are you acting like a thief for?"
Xue shot him a glare and pointed to her thin nightgown. "It's late at night, and I'm dressed like this to find you. What do you think Xing'er would think if she saw me? Of course, I have to avoid being seen."
Chu Donglin was at a loss for words. "Don't be so guilty; we clearly haven't done anything..."
"Brother-in-law, who are you talking to?"
Xing'er's voice was gradually approaching, and Chu Donglin could even see her delicate feet.
He immediately coughed softly and quickly turned around, pretending to admire the night view.
"Talking? No, not at all. You must have misheard," he said when Xing'er got closer.
Xing'er didn't suspect anything from Chu Donglin; she simply nodded as if she understood, "Maybe it was just the wind."
Then she dropped the subject without further inquiry.
A strange silence descended upon the place.
Amidst the awkward silence, Chu Donglin turned his head to glance at the girl and broke the tranquility first. "Um... that... Xing'er, what brings you here so late?"
"Um... no, nothing," she instinctively denied. However, after hesitating for a few seconds, she mustered her courage and said, "Um... Brother-in-law, can I ask you a question?"
Chu Donglin smiled and reached out his hand to take hers. "What’s there to hesitate about? Just ask... um..."
His hand fell empty.
Just as he was about to grasp the girl's hand, Xing'er suddenly recoiled as if stung, pulling her hand back quickly.
She even took a couple of startled steps back. "B-Brother-in-law?!"
Her face was filled with a mix of confusion and fear, as if she were startled by Chu Donglin's action.
"You... you can't do that..."
The girl's strange behavior furrowed Chu Donglin's brow.
"Xing'er, what's wrong?"
Liu Xiner had also pulled her hands behind her back, watching him warily, as if he were a potential predator ready to pounce, adopting a stance that suggested she was prepared to turn and flee at any moment.
"Brother-in-law, please have some self-respect."
After a pause, she added, "I won't tell my sister about this."
Her demeanor was just like that of a sister-in-law warning her lecherous brother-in-law not to overstep his bounds.
Chu Donglin was instantly at a loss for words.
"What are you playing at now? Brat, can you stop messing around? Just say what you want, and I'll agree to it all."
The girl's eyes lit up. "Then hurry back and apologize to my sister, and confess your feelings. I want you two to get back together."
Chu Donglin was taken aback, almost thinking he had misheard her.
"What? Xing'er, are you feeling alright? Why are you talking nonsense?"
The girl frowned. "You promised me you'd agree to anything."
Chu Donglin was speechless. "Except for that."
He shook his head resolutely. "Absolutely not."
Then he shot her a glare. "So this is the game you're playing... Have you already colluded with Old Man Ban and the others to put on this act? Pretending nothing ever happened between us, making me think those memories were just my illusions, all to push me back together with your sister?"
Having her plan exposed in an instant, the girl deflated.
"Is this plan really that bad?"
"It’s terrible, only an idiot would fall for it."
Chu Donglin reached out and flicked the girl's forehead, saying, "And stop thinking about all this nonsense. Isn't it good to just be my wife? I've already told my parents, and after the New Year, we’ll prepare for our wedding."
The girl paused for a moment, feeling a mix of happiness and hesitation.
"But... what about my sister?"
She looked up at Chu Donglin, her face filled with confusion. "You don't want my sister anymore?"
Chu Donglin sighed helplessly. "We are ultimately not meant to be together. There's no point in forcing it. Let the past stay in the past; let's not bring it up again... okay?"
Xing'er looked like she was about to cry. "But if that's the case, my sister will be very sad... She cares so much about you, brother-in-law. She's been waiting for you to come back to her. How can you do this?"
Chu Donglin was at a loss for words. "I do have regrets about what happened back then. If we must blame someone, we can only blame our younger selves for not understanding the importance of compromise, which led us to this point."
Xing'er looked distressed. "Are you really not planning to go back and find my sister?"
As she spoke, she took Chu Donglin's hand in hers, her expression pleading. "I don’t mind... I really don’t mind. Brother-in-law, will you go back and find my sister? Let the three of us live together like before... please? I don’t want to see my sister sad for the rest of her life."
Chu Donglin sighed and gently embraced the girl in front of him, warming her trembling heart with his embrace. "It's really too late to go back, Xing'er. What is forced is not happiness; it’s only bitterness... You should give up on this idea. I can't do that; even if I did, it wouldn't be true happiness—just a false sense of joy."
"But brother-in-law..."
The girl was still about to argue when a cold voice suddenly interrupted the conversation in the living room.
"Is anyone there?"
Liu Xiner's body stiffened, and she abruptly pushed away Chu Donglin, looking at him in panic.
They both recognized that voice; it belonged to General Liu Mengying.
"Brother-in-law, what should we do..."
The girl's lips formed the question.
Chu Donglin looked puzzled. "What do you mean, what should we do? What are you afraid of? Your sister knows about us."
The girl wore a distressed expression and said, "But I clearly told her before that I would return you to her. I was so adamant back then, but now if she catches us here together at this hour... No, we absolutely cannot let her find out!"
With that, the girl frantically searched for a place to hide on the balcony.
Her gaze landed on a corner behind the wall, and her eyes lit up.
"Brother-in-law, don't let me hide there."
As soon as she finished speaking, she dashed over.
"Hey, there's..."
Before Chu Donglin could finish his words, the girl had already hurriedly disappeared from his sight.
Staring blankly at the corner where she had vanished, Chu Donglin felt a headache coming on.
"People..."
"People? What people?"
Liu Mengying's voice rang in Chu Donglin's ears.
He quickly turned around to see a confused woman looking at him curiously.
"Who are you talking to?"
Under her indifferent gaze, imagining the two girls hiding a few meters away, Chu Donglin inexplicably felt like he was caught cheating by his wife.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, he subtly turned his head away and gazed out at the starry sky.
"I was just thinking, how many people are left in this world? After experiencing such a disaster..."
His expression, filled with concern for the nation and its people, resembled that of a promising young man worried about significant matters. The tall figure pointing towards the horizon evoked an inexplicable sense of admiration.
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