Thousands Of People Thought Of Him - Chapter 22
Cause and Effect
Until the people surrounding them surged forward and subdued the kidnappers, Qin Muci still stood there in a daze, even forgetting to immediately check on her daughter in her arms.
At this moment, her mind uncontrollably replayed the events that had just happened.
The words she said on the phone—Ying Fusang must have heard them clearly, right?
He knew of her selfishness, hypocrisy, and baseness; he knew it was this “mother” who used “love” to kidnap him and drag him into danger.
But even so, he chose to block that fatal strike for her daughter.
Others might not have seen it, but Qin Muci clearly saw him look at her with an extremely calm gaze when the kidnappers dragged him up—his expression as if he had accepted everything and was indifferent to all.
Just before plunging into the sea, Ying Fusang opened his mouth and silently said—
“Goodbye, Mom.”
He was actually saying goodbye to her.
But what had she said? What had she done?
In a brief moment, Qin Muci vaguely recalled the day Ying Fusang was born, February 10th, during a heavy snowfall. The baby neither cried nor fussed but smiled as soon as he saw her; she also recalled the day she left Ying Fusang at the orphanage’s door—the child still didn’t cry or fuss, just kept looking at her.
Hatred, disgust, fear— all negative emotions vanished in an instant, and Qin Muci suddenly became extremely clear-headed.
Did Ying Fusang do anything wrong?
Besides Qin Yiyao, he was clearly her child too.
Qin Muci’s eyes reddened, and suddenly she pushed away the people around her and dashed towards the rickety unstable deck, completely losing her usual calm and composure, shouting hoarsely, “Help, save my son—!!”
“Ms. Qin, please calm down!”
Unable to break free from the police’s restraint, she tried her best to look underwater, but the dark sea surface revealed nothing, as if swallowing everything.
…
Ying Fusang could feel himself sinking continuously; though he was getting farther from the sea surface, the glowing object seemed to be getting closer to him.
Besides the feeling of impending death, there seemed to be a knife hanging above his head, wanting to split his soul in two.
Unable to resist, the “blade” ruthlessly descended.
Pain—
So painful—
So painful…
The waterlogged wounds had lost sensation; this pain transcended physical pain, as if his soul was being torn and drawn out, completely overwhelming his mind.
At this moment, from somewhere, a sudden strength surged in Ying Fusang. He stretched out his hand and gripped the copper coin with all his might.
“Ding—”
A clear metallic sound rang in his consciousness.
Too exhausted to contemplate what “consciousness” meant, the copper coin suddenly melted into his palm and disappeared. Immediately, a faint heat arose on Ying Fusang’s left wrist.
A red string appeared out of thin air, wrapping around his wrist, then instantly transformed into a copper coin bracelet, with the glowing coin filling the missing link.
The light expanded continuously, soon enveloping Ying Fusang’s entire body!
At the same time, the half-soul pain retreated like a tide, replaced by a warm current flowing from his left hand throughout his body, blocking out the sea’s biting cold.
Sleepiness surged, consciousness dimmed, and he closed his eyes.
What Ying Fusang didn’t notice was that within this halo, his wounds were gradually healing. At the same time, his silver-white hair, like silk, reappeared, spreading out in the water, quietly drifting like seaweed.
The light kept flowing into his forehead, and the fish in the deep sea seemed to sense something, scattering away.
He sank all the way to the ocean floor, then suddenly opened his eyes.
The time span was vast; countless scattered memories from past and present mingled chaotically in his consciousness.
“Just a tribulation. A human’s short eighteen years can indeed be ‘exciting.’”
Ying Fusang stretched out his left hand, suddenly stabbed by something on his wrist. He forced himself to ignore it and focused.
The next second, the long-missed dark blue flames appeared in his palm, burning fiercely underwater, growing brighter and brighter.
The tribulation was not over, but he had prematurely regained his memories and divine power, which could only mean…
There were too many things to settle, too many accounts to settle. Thinking too much gave him a headache, and this was not a good place to linger.
He suspected that if he stayed in the sea any longer, his fragile body might be completely soaked and ruined.
He restored the changes in his appearance, healing the wounds, intending to leave and see a certain meddlesome god, or rather—his meddling ex-boyfriend—before being found by the rescuers on the shore.
…
In the middle of the sea was a deserted island covered with vegetation. When Ying Fusang arrived, he accidentally disturbed a few sleeping seagulls. They flapped their wings and flew swiftly over the sea surface, leaving blurred black shadows in the dark night.
Ying Fusang withdrew his gaze and continued walking inward.
His night vision was poor, and this body was even worse. He originally planned to light his way with the dark flames, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, his consciousness automatically rejected it due to the human forest’s prohibition of open flames.
After two seconds of silence, Ying Fusang gave up the idea.
He kept pushing through the knee-high flowers and grass, and when his patience was nearly exhausted, a light appeared ahead.
A person dressed in red stood sideways to Ying Fusang, slightly bent. His left hand held a lantern, and his right hand was picking flowers, already holding a large bunch of blue-purple flowers in his arms. A breeze blew, making the clusters of forget-me-nots and the tassels on his earrings sway gently, like an oil painting.
“According to human moral standards, picking flowers at will is bad behavior.”
Ying Fusang stopped three meters away, coldly commenting.
Hearing his voice, Qi Xingwen did not immediately stand but continued carefully selecting flowers. “It’s fine, I’m not human,” he paused for two seconds and then deliberately added, “You’re right.”
Apparently satisfied with the last flower he picked, he finally stood up, holding the flowers facing Ying Fusang with a slight smile.
“Long time no see, Sang Sang.”
His voice abruptly stopped. Upon seeing the visitor, Qi Xingwen suddenly frowned and briskly walked three steps forward, then two, standing right in front of him.
“Are you injured?”
Ying Fusang was stunned and suddenly remembered he must look half-wet and half-dry. His shirt was soaked in bl00d, sea water mixed with bl00d dripping from the hem. His disheveled appearance formed a sharp contrast with Qi Xingwen.
“…”
Suddenly unhappy.
“Just an illusion, Qi Daxianshen wouldn’t really fail to notice, right?” Ying Fusang curled his lips and sneered.
Qi Xingwen could indeed tell, but as long as it was Ying Fusang, he never gambled, just like…
Ying Fusang was still slowly reckoning the debts involving the Ying family, but the memories related to Qi Xingwen had been fully processed at the first moment.
“Why do you always have to oppose me?” Meeting an ex felt like a duel with an enemy; Ying Fusang was not as calm as Qi Xingwen.
The night before the tribulation, hadn’t he said it was all nonsense?
Qi Xingwen knew what he was referring to but didn’t answer directly. Suddenly, he coughed weakly twice.
“Sorry, I’m having trouble standing; can you help me hold this bouquet?”
Just as Ying Fusang was about to draw his sword—?
“Playing the victim won’t work.”
He pressed his lips, unmoved.
“Maybe because I lost half my soul, I’m weak now,” Qi Xingwen said casually, his face pale.
Ying Fusang’s head suddenly cleared.
What did that mean?
Recalling the earlier strange details he deliberately ignored underwater, a nearly unbelievable truth began to assemble.
When Ying Fusang used time rewind on those two humans, he knew punishment was inevitable. But for him, compared to resigning, the attached consequences were nothing.
The night before the tribulation, Ying Fusang first met Si Ming Jiang Tan.
“According to calculations, your tribulation will undergo a great upheaval.”
They stood in the center of the main hall.
“Upheaval?”
Though unaware of what kind of tribulation he would face, generally after the necessary events, a human’s death marks the end.
“Yes, it’s aimed at you. The cause of this upheaval seems to be a certain person? No, not purely human.”
Though technology was advanced, Jiang Tan still preferred some archaic methods. She cast a divination for Ying Fusang with the Six Lines and frowned at the hexagram.
“Very ominous, Fu Fu.”
After hearing the analysis, Ying Fusang was silent for a few seconds, already having a plan.
He immediately cast a “Return and Restore” spell on himself, which would allow him to retrieve his memories and divine power from the “Rules” at the critical moment when the tribulation was about to fail.
“Return and Restore spell? I’ve never heard of it,” Jiang Tan was shocked and somewhat doubtful.
The atmosphere was heavy, but Ying Fusang suddenly smiled lightly and half-joked, “Three hundred years locked in the underworld was boring, so I passed the time reading books, including forbidden ones.”
Jiang Tan keenly caught the unusual words, “Forbidden books? So this is a forbidden technique?”
If it’s called forbidden, it can’t be anything good!
Ying Fusang was expressionless, and his phrasing was strikingly similar to someone else.
“This spell is indeed dangerous. To fool the ‘Rules,’ I have to split half of my soul as ‘collateral’ at that time.”
Jiang Tan was shocked again, “Is that the only way? If collateral is needed, couldn’t someone else act as a guarantor?”
Like a substitute, to reduce risk?
Ying Fusang shook his head, “It is possible, but unnecessary to expand the risk. Besides, this is my own affair.”
So Ying Fusang’s backup was actually himself.
“But…” Jiang Tan wanted to persuade him further. Perhaps things wouldn’t develop to that extent? Even if so many forbidden techniques exist, maybe there’s a less risky one?
“The suppression lasted too long; I’ve long wanted to try these rebellious things,” Ying Fusang said calmly.
At last, he mentioned Qi Xingwen to Jiang Tan.
“What I’m telling you today, don’t let him know.”
Who this “he” referred to was obvious without thinking. Jiang Tan, who had invested so long in the pairing only to see it end in tragedy, felt sad. Moreover, if Ying Fusang got into trouble, Qi wouldn’t let her off easily…
A chill ran down her back.
“Why? Are you afraid he’ll worry and can’t help but interfere?”
A die-hard shipper will never admit defeat!
Ying Fusang was silent for a second, then sneered, “I’m afraid if he knows, he’ll become arrogant and stab me in the back at the critical moment.”
Jiang Tan sadly left.
After sending her away, Ying Fusang intended to quietly sit until dawn.
But what he didn’t expect was that the person he least wanted to see would take the initiative to come.
Was he here to watch a joke?
“Go away.”
Ying Fusang threw the red string bracelet at Qi Xingwen’s feet, expression unchanged, tone indifferent, but his fingers under the table clenched hard enough to bleed.
“That word again? It hurts the heart, you know.”
The man picked it up, looked at him with a still-smiling face that made his true thoughts unreadable.
Over these five hundred years, everything changed, but after saying “never see each other again,” both kept their word. The people and things that should have faded with time became clearer in the ebb and flow of love and hate.
Now thinking back, maybe it was because neither hated the other thoroughly enough.
So when they met again, the accumulated five hundred years of growing “hate” immediately surged, almost driving them mad.
“Are you going to undergo tribulation tomorrow?”
“What does it have to do with you?” Ying Fusang snapped.
Qi Xingwen’s smile faded, his eyes dark and unclear.
“Indeed irrelevant, but…”
A voice inside Ying Fusang’s heart shouted, telling him he didn’t want to hear what Qi Xingwen was about to say, so he coldly interrupted, “Qi Xingwen, no matter what happens, I hope you won’t interfere.”
Qi Xingwen stared into his eyes but said nothing.
“…”
Qi Xingwen lowered his gaze and suddenly laughed meaningfully.
“Don’t worry. According to the ‘Rules,’ I can’t intervene in your cause and effect freely, so why would I do anything harmful to myself?”
Ying Fusang was slightly stunned, fingers clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white, then relaxed.
“Good that you know,” he muttered.
…
The scenes from back then flashed rapidly in Ying Fusang’s mind; the scattered beads connected at this moment.
“Wait, you…?”
Before he could ask, Qi Xingwen suddenly collapsed onto him, limp.
Ying Fusang:?!
Caught off guard, he couldn’t dodge; Qi Xingwen fell onto him with the flowers, weightless like having no bones, as if giving up. The force was neither heavy nor light, just enough that he couldn’t push him away and had to let him hold on.
“According to the ‘Rules,’ I really can’t act freely or save you, thus interfering with your cause and effect. But now, I’m also part of your cause and effect.”
They were very close; when Qi Xingwen spoke, his lips brushed Ying Fusang’s neck lightly, feather-like, causing him to shiver slightly.
“Sang Sang, half of my soul is stored in you. Will you be responsible for me?”