Chapter 2413 — Xiaoshu's Confession

"Ah!" Xiaoshu seemed a little disheartened. Heaving a faint sigh, she set the knife down. Her large eyes, misted over with a watery film as she looked at Wei Zhao, were brimming with sorrow — the sorrow of one who had no choice, who could not help herself.

Wei Zhao did not move. He wanted to see what Xiaoshu actually meant to do. With his strength, he could easily dodge even after the blade fell. Besides, Wei Zhao had the healing power of the second level of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. Even if his heart were pierced, as long as he healed himself in time, there would not be any grave problem.

"Shield Bro... Xiaoshu still can't bring herself to do it..." Shen Yushu murmured, shaking her head. "Xiaoshu likes you, and Sister Yaoyao likes you too. If you die, Xiaoshu will be heartbroken, and Sister Yaoyao will be heartbroken... and Xiaoxiao and Sister Yunyun, they'll all be heartbroken... But Xiaoshu can't bear to make them all sad, and she wants even less to be heartbroken herself, so... it's better that Xiaoshu just dies instead... Only, Xiaoshu doesn't know whether she'll drag anyone down with her... ah!"

Wei Zhao was rather astonished. Shen Yushu had been muttering to herself for a while — how had it ended up with her dying instead? As for who this Sister Yunyun was, Wei Zhao had no inclination to dwell on it. Shen Yushu spoke too softly as well, so Wei Zhao supposed she must have meant Sister Yanyan — that is to say, Wang Xinyan.

"Shield Bro, Xiaoshu loves you!" Just as Wei Zhao was puzzling over it, Shen Yushu suddenly bent down and, light as a dragonfly skimming water, sealed his lips with her own, then quickly drew back — as though afraid of waking him.

Shen Yushu's sudden confession and bold move left Wei Zhao utterly dumbfounded! Though he had felt in his heart that Xiaoshu seemed to like him, she had never confessed so formally, much less used the word "love" in place of "like"!

"All right, then. Xiaoshu would have liked to spend her whole life peacefully as the little wife, but Xiaoshu doesn't have Xiaoxiao's good fortune. After Xiaoshu is gone, she'll send dreams to Shield Bro and be with him in his dreams — Xiaoshu will XO Shield Bro there!" Shen Yushu went on muttering to herself.

Hearing this, Wei Zhao nearly burst out laughing. This Xiaoshu — one moment utterly sorrowful, the next saying such absurd things. Wei Zhao was truly left speechless.

After she finished speaking, Shen Yushu stared blankly at Wei Zhao for a while longer. Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she whirled around and walked toward the door of Wei Zhao's room... There was a heaviness and a resolve in her steps, and the sight of that small, delicate figure was enough to make one's heart ache.

"Xiaoshu..." Wei Zhao could hold back no longer. He opened his eyes and called out to her...

"Ah!" Shen Yushu was startled. She had not expected Wei Zhao to wake at such a moment. Her slender body went stiff out of reflex, and the knife in her hand slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor with a crisp *pa*. In the quiet of the night it sounded especially shrill.

"Xiaoshu, what are you doing?" Wei Zhao tried to keep his voice calm, as though he had just woken up. "Not sleeping in the middle of the night — what are you doing in my room? What's that on the floor? A knife? Surely you're not going to kill me?"

Wei Zhao's tone was teasing, as though he were joking, but Shen Yushu's heart lurched as she heard it. "I... I... Yes, what am I doing? Oh... I know! Xiaoshu was sleepwalking... Just now, Xiaoshu was dreaming — she dreamed there was a little monster in Shield Bro's room, so Xiaoshu ran over to help Shield Bro fight the monster..."

"Sleepwalking? You have that problem too?" Hearing Shen Yushu's somewhat clumsy cover-up, Wei Zhao did not immediately call her out on it, but instead asked in a conversational way.

"Oh, yes, Xiaoshu seems to have a little problem — her body's had issues ever since she was small. Won't Shield Bro take another look for me? Aren't you a miracle doctor?" Shen Yushu turned and walked over, holding out her hand to Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao looked at her eyes, brimming with hope, and they did not seem feigned, so he was slightly taken aback! This was not the first time Xiaoshu had asked him to examine her — there had been several times before, and Wei Zhao had not taken them seriously. But Xiaoshu's inexplicable fever earlier had stirred his suspicions!

Though Xiaoshu had later taken some wonder drug and recovered, and said it was a childhood ailment, Wei Zhao was still very puzzled. He had never encountered such an ailment before!

"All right." This time Wei Zhao made no excuses. He took Shen Yushu's hand directly, pressed his fingers to her pulse, and examined her carefully.

Soon, however, Wei Zhao had his result. Shen Yushu's body was very healthy — there was nothing wrong with her at all. If one had to name a fault, one could only say she had an excess of internal fire, or rather an excess of vitality — which could hardly be called a fault at all...

"Xiaoshu, you're not ill," Wei Zhao said. "And your sleep should be very good. Theoretically, there's no way you would sleepwalk! Besides, there was a medicine called Restful Herb in the chicken-leg rice we ate tonight. That herb calms the spirit and quiets the mind — after taking it, sleepwalking would be out of the question. One might not even be able to get up to use the toilet, and wetting the bed isn't out of the question either!"

"Ah... what Restful Herb..." Shen Yushu was startled, and a flicker of panic crossed her eyes. She had not expected Wei Zhao to be able to taste the Restful Herb even in the chicken-leg rice!

"You didn't know?" Wei Zhao asked in return.

"I... Xiaoshu doesn't know anything..." Shen Yushu bit her lip and would not admit it.

"Xiaoshu, do you suspect you're ill?" Wei Zhao did not press the point, but asked instead.

"Maybe..." Shen Yushu shook her head. "Shield Bro, you just woke up? Did I wake you?"

"Mm..." Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, and again did not call her out on it. He only asked, "Xiaoshu, you seem to have something weighing on your mind. Have you run into some kind of trouble?"

"Ah... I... it's really nothing, Xiaoshu can handle it herself. It's just that Xiaoshu's been a little neurasthenic lately..." Shen Yushu said.

"All right..." It was plain that she was hiding something. She did not want to talk, and Wei Zhao did not want to force her. That was the kind of person Xiaoshu was: what she wanted to say, you did not need to ask — she would tell you; but what she did not want to say, no amount of questioning would do any good.

Besides, Wei Zhao had more or less figured it out. Perhaps Shen Yushu had some compelling reason she could not speak of, and she bore him no ill will! If she truly meant him harm, she would not have knocked over the teacup the first time they had tea, nor would she have failed to bring herself to strike in his bedroom the second time, refusing to stab him with the knife.

Perhaps she had been forced into it; perhaps she had been threatened. Wei Zhao could only guess...

The reason Wei Zhao did not press her was also that whatever trouble Shen Yushu had run into was surely no small matter! RQ

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