Chapter 60: Catching Butterflies
He carried the unconscious Feng Xuexiang to the bed and walked towards the similarly unconscious Jiang Mang.
She was covered in a layer of frost.
In the original world line, Jiang Mang had been pulled into the illusion of Feng Xuexiang, barely surviving, and at a critical moment, she had awakened the Xue family’s bloodline power, saving her life.
However, she had been injured and unconscious, and after being discovered by the Feng family, the frost power from the Xue family on her body had led Xue Ruoyao to recognize her as part of the Xue family.
In the storyline, Zhou Shi and Jiang Mang had been deceived into this place at night, one dead and one injured, and the male lead Feng Zaiyin had arrived to discover Jiang Mang’s condition.
But this time, it was during the day, during their normal working hours.
The situation in Feng Xuexiang’s residence was relatively stable, with no major disturbances, so no one had noticed the recent incident.
So, should he contact the Xue family directly for Jiang Mang now?
He helped Jiang Mang up, frowning slightly at the coldness of her body, but still carried her and was about to leave.
Before he could exit the door, Jiang Mang woke up, and the frost on her body gradually disappeared.
“Ah? Zhou Shi? I’m back!” Jiang Mang jumped down from his arms, nervously checking her hands and feet, and then touching her face and stomach, showing relief as if waking from a nightmare.
“So it was just a nightmare!”
“We must have been pulled into an illusion by Ninth Master Feng.”
Seeing that she was in good spirits and not in the injured state described in the original world line, he asked with concern, “Are you okay? Do you feel unwell? You were covered in frost just now. Did it affect you in any way?”
Jiang Mang also realized that she seemed to have returned to her childhood, to the orphanage where she had first stayed.
There had only been one director and one teacher there, taking care of dozens of children. They were beaten and scolded every day, and many children had died from starvation or illness.
At that time, Jiang Mang had fought with another child over food, and the teacher had locked them in a dilapidated small room.
The frail little boy had suddenly fallen ill and died. Jiang Mang had cried and shouted, but no one came to let her out.
It was a very hot summer. They were only remembered two days later, by which time the deceased little boy had already begun to emit a strong odor.
Jiang Mang had always remembered her small self curled up in a corner of the room, her stomach burning with hunger, watching insects crawl in through the cracks in the walls and cover the little boy’s body.
That was a nightmare she could not forget. Even after moving to a new orphanage where the director, teachers, and older children had cared for her, that nightmare still weighed heavily in her heart.
In the recent dream—no, the illusion—the little boy whose face she could no longer remember and who was covered in insects had sat up with lifeless eyes and grabbed her.
Then insects had started crawling all over her, and she began to smell awful.
In the depths of terror, she had felt something rise from within her body, freezing the stifling, foul-smelling room. The overwhelming frost had awakened her.
It was truly terrifying! Still shaken, Jiang Mang asked, “Zhou Shi, did you also see something frightening because of the illusion? How did you wake up?”
Yu Shi replied, “I don’t know how, but I just suddenly woke up.”
He had no memories of pain or fear and seemed to have entered Feng Xuexiang’s… spiritual world?
From Yu Shi’s understanding, he could only think of it that way.
“Zhou Shi, it seems like I’ve awakened the abilities of an exorcist,” Jiang Mang said mysteriously, extending her hands. After holding her breath for a moment, a small snowflake had formed in the palm of her hand.
“Look! I can create ice!”
Yu Shi reminded her, “The lady from the Xue family we saw last time had a similar ability. Is it possible that you have some connection with them?”
Jiang Mang’s excitement faltered: “…Could it be? The Xue family is such a large family. What connection could an orphan like me have with them?”
She wasn’t happy, her expression showing some reluctance.
Yu Shi understood and chose not to press the matter further. Instead, he asked, “Do you think we should inform the steward about what happened just now?”
Jiang Mang scratched her head. “Should we? Isn’t this a normal situation?”
Yu Shi asked, “Normal?”
Jiang Mang replied, “Yes, during training, the steward said that if Ninth Master Feng’s appearance led to an accident and an illusion was cast, we would die. But since we’re still alive, it should be normal, right?”
If Yu Shi didn’t know the plot, he might have been almost persuaded by her.
Jiang Mang sheepishly admitted, “Alright, mainly because I really need this job. I’m afraid that if it was an accident and I get fired, what should I do? What do you think?”
Yu Shi said, “I think so too. Let’s wait and see.”
Yu Shi also didn’t want to be dismissed right away. He had an arrangement with the system to monitor Feng Xuexiang. If he were driven out of the Feng family, he might never see him again, and monitoring would be impossible.
The two reached a consensus and, with a mutual understanding, went about their work and left as usual.
After leaving the illusion, the traces of mud on their bodies had disappeared. However, Yu Shi, who always valued cleanliness, had carefully cleaned himself once they returned.
…
The next day, when they approached the lakeside residence, Jiang Mang slowed her steps. “Do you think we’ll have another accident like yesterday?”
Yu Shi replied, “It’s quite possible. Be prepared.”
Upon entering the house, Yu Shi saw that the stools and tables they had set up the previous day were overturned again, and the carpet was rolled up. Feng Xuexiang was sitting by the bed.
As they got closer, they heard him sobbing softly, his head bowed so his expression was unclear.
“Jiang Mang, you stay outside today. Don’t come near,” Yu Shi instructed.
He asked Jiang Mang to step back and observe from a distance while he approached the silently crying Feng Xuexiang. Yu Shi summoned the system to bring up the monitoring data.
The red text appeared above Feng Xuexiang’s head, even more distorted than the previous day.
“Feng Xuexiang.”
Upon calling out the name, Yu Shi instantly identified the target among those who were near and suddenly grabbed his arm. Feng Xuexiang slowly lifted his head.
Through the tangled, dark hair, a horrifying eye filled with bloodshot veins emerged.
Yu Shi was “caught” by that eye, and in an instant, the surroundings began to distort.
As with the previous day, Yu Shi saw the bronze mirror and the Feng Xuexiang in it.
Standing on the round platform, everything remained unchanged from when he had left yesterday; the sky was still gray and hazy.
Feng Xuexiang sat next to a pile of yesterday’s salvaged debris, his head bowed as he fiddled with a wind-up frog.
The wind-up frog had been squashed into a piece of scrap metal, with its small parts exploded and mashed together.
Yu Shi walked over and said, “It’s too broken to repair.”
Hearing his voice, Feng Xuexiang jolted, quickly looking up at him, his eyes shining with bright light.
“Yu Shi, you’re back! Why did you disappear? Didn’t you say you’d stay with me?”
Unlike the crying figure in the lake house, this Feng Xuexiang was smiling, a joyful smile.
Yu Shi was suddenly knocked down by a powerful force.
Although Yu Shi had come clean today, Feng Xuexiang, like the previous day, had mud on his shoes and pants. Being knocked over like this… he got dirty again.
Oh well, he was going to get dirty anyway.
“Let go of me. I’ll see if I can find a way to get you out of here.”
“Really? You’re not lying to me?” Feng Xuexiang clung to him.
Yu Shi said, “Staying trapped here isn’t a solution. Those butterflies will hurt you, right? I’ll catch them all first, then we’ll get out of this muddy lake.”
Feng Xuexiang looked dazed, as if he had never considered this approach before. “Butterflies… catch them? All of them?”
Yu Shi responded, “Yes, all of them. It might be a lot, but we can catch them eventually.”
He was as patient as ever.
Taking advantage of Feng Xuexiang’s shock and distraction, Yu Shi easily pushed him off and went to the pile of debris. He retrieved the net he had repaired the day before and picked up the butterfly net, preparing to start working.
“I’ll try catching a few,” he said.
“I… I’ll come with you,” Feng Xuexiang hurriedly followed, looking as anxious as a discarded child.
Yu Shi thought to himself that having such a large “child” helping out would surely affect efficiency.
“Just wait for me here. If you’re worried I might suddenly run away, you can do this—”
Yu Shi took the thin chain, tied one end to his hand, and gave the other end to Feng Xuexiang.
“As long as I move, the chain will move too, so you’ll know I’m still here. If you’re scared, you can also shake the chain, and I’ll know.”
This was a technique Yu Shi had used for taking care of children before, including when he had repaired the small wind-up frog toy yesterday.
Feng Xuexiang was reassured and obediently held onto one end of the chain, allowing Yu Shi to move away from the platform alone.
Yu Shi first tried to catch butterflies with the net, but the mesh holes were too large, and the butterflies flew out. He switched to the butterfly net, and this time he successfully captured several.
These beautiful butterflies had no natural predators here and had never been caught before. They showed little reaction to the net and were easily captured.
Yu Shi even managed to catch one by hand. While they could easily harm Feng Xuexiang, in his hands, they were like ordinary butterflies, harmless.
Seeing that the method was effective, Yu Shi covered the net and walked back.
Feng Xuexiang, sitting at the edge of the platform, watched Yu Shi approach without blinking, his expression a mix of excitement and fear. “Did you really catch them?”
“Yes, I caught them. Bring me that bag so I can put the butterflies in it.”
Among the debris, there were two bags: a large cloth bag and a small transparent bag.
Yu Shi placed the captured butterflies into the cloth bag and set it next to Feng Xuexiang.
Feng Xuexiang instinctively flinched, but then realized the butterflies couldn’t fly out and wouldn’t harm him, so he moved a little closer.
“Alright, you stay here and watch these butterflies.”
“Okay.”
Yu Shi took the butterfly net and the transparent small bag and set out again to catch more butterflies. Each time he filled a small bag, he would return to put it in the large cloth bag.
Feng Xuexiang held the bag for him and asked, “Once all the butterflies are caught, can I leave?”
Yu Shi replied, “At least you’ll be able to go to a place further away.”
Yu Shi’s gaze fell on Feng Xuexiang’s mud-covered shoes and pants. “Did you go into the lake too?”
“No, I’ve been waiting here for you,” Feng Xuexiang shook his head.
“Why is the mud on you still wet?” Yu Shi wondered. When he first arrived, it had been wet, and despite making several trips, it remained wet. It should have dried out if he had stayed on the shore for so long.
“They always stay like this,” Feng Xuexiang said, “They take a long time to slowly disappear from my body.”
Yu Shi didn’t rush to catch more butterflies and told Feng Xuexiang, “Take off your shoes; it must be uncomfortable to wear them.”
Feng Xuexiang complied. Except for occasional bursts of emotion, he mostly appeared quite “obedient.”
As Feng Xuexiang removed his shoes, Yu Shi saw that his skin was a patchy red, resembling burn wounds.
Yu Shi rolled up the cuffs of his pants and saw similar noticeable marks on his legs.
The areas contaminated with mud were all like this.
“Does the mud harm you?” Yu Shi asked.
Feng Xuexiang, still fascinated by the butterflies through the bag, smiled and replied, “Yes, it hurts when I step on it, so I don’t like to go down.”
It seemed to be more than just a bit of pain.
“Take off the clothes with mud on them and rinse them off. Avoid touching the mud again.”
“Okay, I’ll do what you say.”
Yu Shi thought for a moment and called out to the system:
[System, can you display Feng Xuexiang’s monitoring data now?]
The Feng Xuexiang here could communicate and appeared normal, so the monitoring data should display correctly.
The system’s voice was intermittent:
[Magnetic field… interference… system… static…]
Fuzzy red text appeared above Feng Xuexiang’s head, even more distorted than before. The red seemed to drip down like melted candle wax, creating a horror movie effect.
Yu Shi stopped washing and looked at Feng Xuexiang, who gazed up at him with a beautiful face, smiling at him. The smile looked exceptionally pure and harmless, evoking a sense of pity.
