Chapter 114: You Are Mine Alone Now

After the battle was over.

Song Jiaru lay sideways, one hand propping up her cheek where the flush hadn't faded, her watery gaze staring fixedly at the slightly tired-looking Xu Yunzhou beside her.

Her face carried an ignorant yet satisfied trance-like expression, murmuring softly as if talking to herself:

"So... this is what it feels like..."

She paused, a thin layer of water light welling up in the depths of her eyes:

"I waited... for thirteen years..."

From eighteen until now, a full thirteen years of waiting and expectation finally had its wish fulfilled at this moment.

Xu Yunzhou's heart softened. Just as he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms to be tender and comfort her, he saw Song Jiaru suddenly extend her other hand.

Her fingertips, fast and light, flicked that "model worker" who had just bowed down and exhausted his energy.

The movement was natural and smooth, her face full of childish curiosity.

Xu Yunzhou:

"............"

The blue veins at the corner of his forehead twitched slightly, a forehead full of black lines.

No...

Comrade Song Jiaru, what exactly is this peculiar hobby of yours?

Flicking it once in the car just now, and now... doing it again after the deed is done?

What do you treat it as?

A stress relief toy?

Or are you acting like curious baby observing a new continent?

Seeing this speechless, choking-with-tears, complex expression of his, Song Jiaru laughed out loud with a "pfft":

"Big Brother, it's so cute..."

She blinked and added:

"As cute as you."

Xu Yunzhou:

"..."

Forget it.

The girl I influenced and instilled values into myself, whatever temper and habits she has, I have to endure them.

He sighed resignedly, reached out, and scooped Song Jiaru, who was smiling like a cat that stole fish, into his arms, wrapping the quilt tightly around her.

"Sleep, you need to have good spirits tomorrow."

Song Jiaru shrank obediently into his arms, rubbed against his warm chest, found the most comfortable posture, and closed her eyes in satisfaction.

The corners of her mouth still raised high, muttering to herself:

"Big Brother, does this count as an old cow eating tender grass?"

(TL: "Old cow eating tender grass" is an idiom for an older woman dating someone much younger.)

Uh... this child... her age is actually older than mine now?

Xu Yunzhou suddenly remembered a math problem he did as a child—Older brother is five years older than me this year, please calculate in how many years I will be older than brother...

Why am I letting my imagination run wild about these things!

He lowered his head, speaking softly in her ear, his tone carrying a smile and indulgence:

"Sleep quickly, you're not an old cow..."

He paused and added:

"You are a dairy cow."

"...???"

Big Brother is Big Brother, even able to drive a car(dirty jokes) like this...

Song Jiaru subconsciously puffed out her chest:

"It was nurtured... by persisting in drinking papaya milk and seriously doing body-shaping training... according to your instructions."

...

4:00 AM.

All sounds were silent, the night color at its deepest.

Xu Yunzhou jolted awake from a nightmare.

Not waking up slowly, but abruptly opening his eyes. His pupils contracted sharply in the darkness, a layer of cold sweat instantly breaking out on his back.

The scene in the dream was terrifyingly clear:

On a radiant stage, Song Jiaru wore a specially made diamond-studded wedding dress, standing amidst the cheers of thirty thousand spectators, her singing ethereal, her smile dazzling.

Suddenly, from the shadows at the edge of the stage, a group of men in black rushed in like phantoms, shooting anyone they saw.

Muzzles spat tongues of fire, the audience screamed in terror and fled in all directions, the stadium instantly turning into a bloody purgatory.

The leading person was exactly Xu Nuo.

She wore that black Chinese-style stand-up collar kung fu shirt from the photo, her long hair tied into a neat ponytail.

There was no expression on her face, only a pair of eyes as cold as an abyss, without ripples.

What she held in her hand was exactly that Walther P99 that once killed Kobayashi Ba.

The muzzle aimed at Song Jiaru in the center of the stage.

No hesitation, no dialogue.

Pulled the trigger.

"Bang—!"

The gunshot tore through the music, blood blooming a glaring red under the spotlight.

Song Jiaru fell in a pool of blood, the wedding dress dyed red.

Xu Yunzhou rushed onto the stage, hugging her rapidly cooling body, his hands covered in sticky blood.

He looked up, staring fixedly at Xu Nuo at the edge of the stage, his voice hoarse:

"Why did you do this?"

Xu Nuo slowly stepped forward, squatted down, extended the tip of her tongue, and licked off a drop of blood that splashed onto her cheek.

The movement was unhurried, carrying a sickly elegance.

Then, she looked at Xu Yunzhou, the corners of her mouth hooking into a cold and paranoid smile:

"Teacher..."

Her voice was very light, yet as clear as a knife, carved into his eardrums:

"From now on, you are mine alone."

Xu Yunzhou jolted awake abruptly.

His heart beat crazily in his chest like a drum, his breathing rapid, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He turned his head, looking beside him—

Song Jiaru was sleeping soundly, her cheeks rosy like peach blossoms, her breathing even and long, a trace of a sweet smile still at the corners of her mouth. One hand was still unconsciously resting on his waist, warm and real.

Safe and sound.

Fortunately, it was just a dream.

Xu Yunzhou let out a long, deep breath. His tense nerves slowly relaxed, but the layer of chill at the bottom of his heart lingered for a long time.

Motherfucker.

This dream was too tragic.

Bloody, cruel, paranoid... yandere?

He raised his hand and rubbed his throbbing temples.

Having this kind of dream for no reason... couldn't be some kind of omen, right?

What one thinks about during the day, one dreams about at night? Or... some kind of cross-dimensional warning?

This girl Xu Nuo... experienced the ruin and perishing of her family, leaving her hometown, falling into darkness, her hands stained with blood, wandering between the yakuza and slaughter...

Has her psychological state already... become twisted?

Paranoid, highly possessive, emotional cognition disorder, even possibly... carrying tendencies of self-destruction and destroying others?

Typical yandere potential!

The more Xu Yunzhou thought about it, the more alarmed he became, another layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back.

It seems that next time I enter her instance, besides teaching her skills and guiding her growth... I have to give her more moral ideology lessons, mental health counseling, and emotion management training!

Otherwise, if I really nurture a yandere blackened assassin, what if one day she knifes all my other "nurturing targets"?

A fire breaking out in the backyard, slaughtering each other, that would be a huge joke!

(TL: "Fire breaking out in the backyard" means internal conflict or trouble at home.)

Thinking this, he lowered his head and kissed the forehead of the still-soundly-sleeping Song Jiaru.

The movement was gentle, carrying undispersed lingering fear.

Fortunately you are fine.

Fortunately... it was just a dream.

Then, he gently moved her hand resting on him, and silently got up and out of bed.

From the messy clothes, he found that crucially important laptop.

Carrying the computer, he walked barefoot to the living room.

Thinking for a moment, he moved a solid wood chair and gently propped it against the bedroom door.

Double insurance.

Physical isolation.

Saves himself from getting too engrossed later and not noticing Song Jiaru waking up, walking out sleepily, and bumping into him "playing a game."

That would be troublesome.

"Big Brother, what game are you playing at 4:00 AM instead of sleeping?"

"Oh, a game called 'Goddess Nurturing', currently teaching a Nihon girl how to kill people."

...Could this conversation still continue?

After doing all this, he finally felt truly at ease, and sat down on the living room sofa.

Opening the computer, he took a deep breath, moved the mouse, and clicked open that file whose icon was a golden crown.