Chapter 33: If I Go Bald, Will You Still Love Me? (33)

It took Wei Suo a long time to truly comprehend just how astonishingly unconventional Bai Yao’s worldview was. His head spun, but one thing became clear: Bai Yao was a madwoman, and he did not want to die here.

Wei Suo hoped he could crawl out unnoticed. He inched carefully toward the door, hope of escape flickering before his eyes. But just as he was about to reach it, two ghastly white hands suddenly shot out from either side of the doorway.

Before Wei Suo could even register the pain, his body was ripped in two, blood and flesh splattering across the floor. A few drops of blood landed in the art room. In a panic, a pair of ghostly hands hurried to wipe away the traces of blood, while another pair seized the unconscious Lu Zhizhi and dragged her out.

The door to the art room closed. Only a boy and a girl remained inside.

Shen Ji could sense the girl's presence right in front of him. With his head buried against his knees, he quietly lifted his face. Through his blurred vision, the first thing he saw was that dry, ashen heart.

The girl cradled it gently and carefully in her palms. Her hands were so fair and smooth that the ugliness of the heart was thrown into stark relief.

Bai Yao squatted down before him, blending her shadow with his in the dim corner. She spoke softly, “Don’t cry anymore. Look, I’ve brought your heart back to you.”

Shen Ji suddenly felt deeply embarrassed. He blinked his tearful eyes and reached out, intending to take the heart from her and toss it away.

Bai Yao quickly shielded it in her arms. “What are you doing? Be careful! Don’t damage it!”

Shen Ji pressed his lips together and said in a low voice, “Yao Yao, it’ll dirty your hands.”

Bai Yao’s face was stern. “When you ate my heart, did you think it was dirty?”

Shen Ji shook his head at once and clutched his chest. “Yao Yao’s heart is beautiful. Of all the hearts I’ve seen, yours is the most beautiful.”

Bai Yao was instantly furious. “So besides eating my heart, you’ve eaten other people’s hearts too?!”

It sounded almost as if he’d cheated on her.

Shen Ji realized his mistake. Clutching her sleeve, he tried to make amends. “No, their hearts were ugly. I always threw them away after just one look. Ever since you told me not to eat random things, I haven’t eaten anyone else’s.”

Bai Yao was still sulking. “So if someone had a heart prettier than mine, would you eat it?”

Shen Ji shook his head frantically. “No, Yao Yao, you’re the most beautiful in the world. I only like you, only want to eat you, never anyone else.”

Bai Yao suddenly realized how strange her own thought process was. She took a moment to collect herself. Seeing his wide, dark eyes fixed on her in helpless anticipation, her anger inexplicably melted away.

Clutching his chest, Shen Ji’s dark eyes sparkled. “Yao Yao, my heart suddenly feels soft.”

“That’s my heart!” Bai Yao snapped back. She brought the heart she held before him. “This is important. You have to hide it well. Don’t let anyone ever use it to threaten you again—take it carefully, don’t damage it!”

She cared more for his heart than he did.

Shen Ji felt the urge to cry again, but remembered he was a man and must be strong. Swallowing his emotions, he took the heart he’d once despised from her hands.

The dry heart still held her warmth. He couldn’t help but smile softly, lips curling, eyes crinkling.

Bai Yao poked his face with a finger. “Even something this important can be used to threaten you. What if I hadn’t shown up today? Shen Ji, how can you be so foolish?”

Sometimes, even the trinkets she gave him brought him to tears. On the day of their first real encounter, Bai Yao hadn’t cried even when she was hurt, but he had burst into tears at the pain on her face. When she comforted him, it only made his emotions more intense.

Bai Yao had long noticed: whenever she showed him even a little affection, it brought him overwhelming joy. The reason was simple.

Before meeting her, he had never known any love.

Shen Ji nuzzled Bai Yao’s hand in protest and muttered, “I’m not foolish. Back then, they cut open my body and took my heart away. I only helped them grant wishes because I knew that one day, someone would bring it back. As long as they harbored greed, someone would return with my heart in hand.”

Otherwise, he’d never have bothered granting anyone’s wishes.

At the mention of “cut open my body,” Bai Yao’s expression faltered.

Shen Ji’s smug look vanished instantly. He stared at her anxiously. “Yao Yao, my heart hurts.”

Bai Yao corrected him again. “That’s my heart.”

Shen Ji looked pained. He shuffled forward, leaning into her, burying his head in the crook of her neck like a young beast seeking shelter. In a soft voice he said, “I’m sorry, Yao Yao, I made your heart ache.”

Bai Yao took a deep breath, roused herself, and ruffled his hair without much care. “Don’t keep apologizing for such little things. You haven’t done anything wrong!”

It is because he cared that he was so cautious. Carried to the extreme, such care turns into unconscious humility.

Shen Ji never understood why Bai Yao treated him so well. He understood nothing, was a poor student, never tried to please anyone, and everything he knew of ordinary human life, she had taught him. She often scolded him, but she was also the one who cherished him.

His face was cupped in her warm hands, her beautiful face now so close to his.

Bai Yao leaned forward and kissed the corner of his lips. As he responded, deepening the kiss, she parted her lips in invitation, letting him claim her as he pleased.

In this dim art room, the walls painted with vibrant sunsets, with his bones hidden in the cabinet, no matter how the glorious colors tried to cover it all, they couldn’t erase the blood that had once drenched this room, nor the lingering scent of burnt flesh.

Yet she was kissing him.

She, who so loved cleanliness that she made him wash his clothes again if they were even slightly dirty, was here, in this filthy space, kissing him with tender affection.

Thump—

Dust fell from the dry heart, and it gave a little leap in the boy’s palm.

His hands trembled as he held the heart.

Bai Yao noticed the change. She immediately pushed his face aside and looked down at the heart in his hand, her voice bursting with delight, “It moved! Shen Ji, it moved!”

Shen Ji lowered his eyes, bewildered.

The withered heart, as if suddenly nourished by rain, slowly regained its color—a miracle.

Bai Yao looked up at him. “It’s turning red!”

But unlike Bai Yao, Shen Ji had eyes only for her.

The heart in his hand thumped rapidly, now the same color as the one in his chest. The more violently it beat, the louder the sound echoed in his ears.

—Love her.

—You must love her.

—Go and love her.

Shen Ji trembled all over. Unable to restrain himself, he suddenly bowed his head and pressed his lips to hers, pinning her in this narrow, inescapable corner, his burning hands sliding beneath her skirt.

Bai Yao made a token protest, then simply let him have his way.