Chapter 68: Seventh Brother
At 3 AM, Yu Shi was awakened by the movement on his hand.
The moment he opened his eyes, Feng Xuexiang’s face filled his vision. He exclaimed joyfully, “You’re finally awake!”
“You slept for so long; I was starting to get worried.”
Yu Shi checked the time, his voice still heavy with sleep. “I only slept for five hours; it’s not even morning yet.”
“Five hours… is that short?” Feng Xuexiang asked, lying on the edge of the bed, talking to him.
Perhaps due to being trapped in that place where time didn’t seem to pass, Feng Xuexiang’s sense of time was severely distorted, unable to grasp its length.
“During the day, watching you cook and eating with you, time seemed to fly by. But after it got dark, in that room next door, everything was so quiet. It felt like I was alone again, and time stretched on endlessly. I felt like I’d been waiting for ages.”
Yu Shi murmured softly, “This really isn’t part of my job description at this hour.”
Yet, with a sigh, he got up anyway.
“Last night, didn’t I tell you we’d see each other in the morning?” Yu Shi asked.
Feng Xuexiang’s confusion and bewilderment seemed genuine as he replied, “Did you say that? I don’t remember.”
“I just remember you telling me to finish the sweet soup,” Feng Xuexiang added.
Yu Shi sighed. “No, I said you didn’t have to force yourself to finish it if you couldn’t.”
Feng Xuexiang rested his cheek against the blanket on the edge of the bed and blinked.
“Never mind, get up.” Yu Shi realized there was no point in trying to go back to sleep.
After getting himself ready and making sure Feng Xuexiang was dressed and prepared, they headed out for a morning workout.
Influenced by his eldest brother, Yu Shi had a habit of morning exercises, though not as intense as his brother’s. His routine was just a simple morning workout.
Today, they had started so early that it was still dark outside, with only a faint hint of dawn on the horizon.
As soon as they opened the door, the fresh air rushed in, invigorating them.
Standing in an open area of the courtyard, Yu Shi invited Feng Xuexiang to join him in practicing the Baduanjin exercises. It was something he had learned from the elderly men in his neighborhood.
Even though Feng Xuexiang was a complete beginner and needed to be taught from scratch, it didn’t take long for them to finish one round, and the sky was still dark.
“The day is still early. I’m going to go for a run. Can you keep up? If not, you can rest here,” Yu Shi offered.
Naturally, Feng Xuexiang chose to follow him. Given his behavior of sneaking into Yu Shi’s room in the middle of the night, Yu Shi wasn’t surprised and simply reminded him, “Let me know if you get tired.”
“Okay!” Feng Xuexiang responded eagerly, sticking close to Yu Shi.
Yu Shi maintained a steady pace, but Feng Xuexiang’s speed varied—sometimes fast, sometimes slow—and he kept circling around Yu Shi.
One moment he was on Yu Shi’s left, then on his right, occasionally reaching out to brush Yu Shi’s hair or touch his arm.
Yu Shi: “……?” Are you really a butterfly, fluttering around me like this?
Feng Xuexiang remarked, “You’re sweating a lot.”
It was natural for someone to sweat after exercising, but Feng Xuexiang hadn’t broken a sweat. His face remained fresh and clean, with the only moisture on his hair coming from the morning dew.
Yu Shi had mentally prepared himself to possibly carry Feng Xuexiang back, but in the end, he realized he had misunderstood something.
In that muddy lake, he had gotten used to seeing Feng Xuexiang’s seemingly “fragile” state, where even a touch of mud would burn him. But thinking more carefully, the lake and the outside world were very different.
At least now, Yu Shi was breathing heavily while Feng Xuexiang cheerfully chatted away, his steps light and effortless.
“What do you want for breakfast?” Yu Shi asked.
“I’ll eat whatever you’re eating!” Feng Xuexiang quickly replied.
Yu Shi thought about the food stored in the fridge and suggested, “How about some tangyuan?”
“Sounds good!”
White tangyuan floated in the bowl, and after a moment of looking at them, Feng Xuexiang used his spoon to break one apart.
Yu Shi noticed his subtle expression and asked, “Don’t you like them?”
Feng Xuexiang smiled, scooping up a piece to eat. “No, I was just wondering why the inside is black.”
“It’s because it’s filled with sesame,” Yu Shi explained.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice interrupted their conversation. “He means he doesn’t like the tangyuan.”
Both Yu Shi and Feng Xuexiang looked over to see a man leaning against the doorframe. Once he had their attention, he knocked twice on the doorframe as a polite reminder.
“Who are you?” Yu Shi asked.
“I’m here to deliver food and supplies,” the man said, holding a bunch of items in his hands. His clothes were wrinkled and dusty, suggesting a long journey.
Yu Shi was accustomed to having staff deliver food and supplies daily, but he had never seen this man before.
He wasn’t wearing a uniform and didn’t look like a Feng family employee.
“Have you eaten? There’s still tangyuan in the pot. Would you like to join us for some?” Yu Shi invited.
“Sure, why not,” the man replied without hesitation. He placed his things by the door, walked over to the table, and pulled out a chair to sit down.
“Sigh, I’m exhausted. I got the message yesterday, and after being urged three times, I took a plane late at night from Yuncheng. It was a six-hour flight,” the man said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his stubbly chin.
“Before coming here, I was busy exorcising demons, didn’t have time to eat, didn’t wash my face or shave this morning, and I’m starving,” he grumbled wearily.
Seeing Yu Shi get up to serve him some tangyuan, he suddenly looked across the table at Feng Xuexiang, who was poking at his tangyuan with a spoon. With a pained expression, he lowered his voice and said, “Ninth Brother, for the sake of your Seventh Brother rushing back just for you, could you please tone down your powers? Let me eat in peace.”
“Besides, what’s the point? Our blood relation is too close; attacking me would be a waste of effort.”
At that moment, Yu Shi returned with a bowl of tangyuan, and the man grinned, showing his teeth in gratitude.
Feng Xuexiang released the spoon and asked curiously, “Why are you calling me Ninth Brother?”
The man paused for a moment before shrugging it off with a smile. “Because I’m your brother.”
He gulped down the tangyuan quickly and, noticing Yu Shi’s similar confusion, explained, “I really am his Seventh Brother, a half-brother from the same father. My name is Feng Kuo.”
“You must be wondering why, in the Feng family, our generation’s name should start with ‘De,’. Feng Xuexiang has a special name because he is a spirit demon, but why is my name different too?”
“That’s because I left the Feng family and gave up all my inheritance rights. Now, I’m just a wandering exorcist in Yuncheng.”
“You must be wondering why I left the Feng family. There was a big reason—I thought adding the character ‘德’ (De/Virtue) to my name sounded too awkward…”
He went on and on, speaking rapidly, and amazingly, it didn’t interrupt his eating.
Though he was not at all curious about his name, Yu Shi still nodded politely: “So that’s the reason.”
“But I don’t remember you. Are you trying to deceive me?” Feng Xuexiang looked at him suspiciously.
Feng Kuo said proudly, “The reason you don’t remember me is because we used to get along well, and you particularly liked me, your seventh brother.”
“By the way, friend, let me tell you, the Ninth doesn’t like eating tangyuan. Do you know why?” Feng Kuo turned to Yu Shi.
Yu Shi asked, “Why is that?”
Feng Kuo replied, “Because when he was little, he thought the white tangyuan looked like snow. He said, ‘Snow is so clean, how can the inside be black? I don’t like it,’ haha, isn’t that weird?”
Yu Shi pondered for a moment and said, “So he probably wouldn’t dislike tangyuan with red bean paste or peanut filling, right?”
Feng Kuo asked, “…Is your way of thinking a bit unusual?”
Feng Xuexiang was quite interested in this suddenly appearing seventh brother. While Yu Shi was cleaning the kitchen, he sat nearby, occasionally glancing towards Feng Kuo in the living room.
Yu Shi thought that he might indeed like this older brother a lot, so he encouraged him, “How about you go and chat with your seventh brother?”
Feng Xuexiang nodded, “Okay.”
Feng Kuo was lying on the sofa, dozing off, looking genuinely exhausted.
Yu Shi thought Feng Xuexiang might go over and wake up Feng Kuo to chat with him. However, after wiping the countertop, he looked over and saw Feng Xuexiang covering Feng Kuo’s face with damp paper towels, blocking his mouth and nose.
He was seriously stacking one wet tissue after another, almost as if he were trying to suffocate him.
Yu Shi: “………” Is this an unusual way of showing affection?
“Damn it!” Feng Kuo suddenly grabbed the things off his face and gasped, “Are you trying to kill me?”
Feng Xuexiang said, “I’m just playing with you. Isn’t it fun?”
Feng Kuo swore and said, “Forget it, forget it. Even if you’re a weirdo, I can’t blame you. Damn, actually, you were always like this when you were little.”
Yu Shi thought Feng Kuo was there to arrange things for Feng Xuexiang, but he stayed for breakfast, had lunch, and still hadn’t left by the afternoon. He didn’t say anything, just lounged on the sofa like a disheveled, unemployed middle-aged man, watching a replay of a soccer game on TV.
When it was time for dinner, he naturally sat down at the table again.
Feng Xuexiang asked him directly, “Why haven’t you left yet?”
Feng Kuo replied, “Are you kicking me out?”
Feng Xuexiang said, “Yeah, I don’t want you to stay here any longer. I think you’re a bit of a hindrance.”
Despite saying this, his expression was quite innocent.
“……” Feng Kuo turned to Yu Shi and asked, “Can’t you do something about him?”
Yu Shi was puzzled and replied, “You’re his older brother. Shouldn’t you be the one managing him?”
Feng Kuo said, “I would, but it’s not like I can control him even if I wanted to!”
That evening, after convincing Feng Xuexiang to take a shower, Yu Shi sat opposite Feng Kuo and asked, “It’s not good for Ninth Master to stay here all the time. Has the Feng family prepared a new place for Ninth Master?”
“Oh? I didn’t know. The Feng family is a mess right now, or they wouldn’t have brought me back to fill in.”
Feng Kuo spoke casually, “Besides, it’s actually quite good now. I see he’s quite obedient around you. He can stay here like this.”
Yu Shi said, “My work hours are too long.”
Feng Kuo looked at him in surprise, “Work? I thought you two were together, so clingy.”
Yu Shi was taken aback, “You misunderstood. I don’t get emotionally involved with my employers.”
Feng Kuo was silent for a while before suddenly saying, “That’s good, too.”
He pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, mumbling, “How much do you know about Ninth Brother?”
“Not much,” Yu Shi moved the lighter and ashtray closer to Feng Kuo. “I don’t need to know too much. I’m here as a caregiver, just need to take good care of my employer.”
On the other hand, according to the contract with the system, he also needed to ensure that the villain’s danger level was kept as low as possible.
He didn’t need to know much more than that.
Looking at Yu Shi, who appeared gentle and amiable, yet with such a hard heart, Feng Kuo thought to himself that it was good.
“Well, let me tell you something,” Feng Kuo said, biting the unlit cigarette, “The Feng family’s spirit demons can’t distinguish between reality and illusion. In the end, they’re all trapped in their own illusions, consumed by butterflies… consumed by themselves.”
“Butterflies like to consume beauty, so happy memories and beautiful emotions become the nourishment for the butterflies, sustaining them year after year.”
“In the end, happy memories and loved ones are almost forgotten, leaving only the painful memories and disliked people clearly remembered.”
“Once emptied by the butterflies, there’s no coming back.”
“So I’m curious how he woke up again. Seeing how he relies on you, it must be related to you, right?”
Feng Kuo’s lazy gaze scrutinized Yu Shi with a sharp edge of examination.
“I’ve only done what’s expected of me,” Yu Shi replied quietly, “It sounds like, as family, you should have been able to do better.”
Feng Kuo was taken aback.
Was it that they didn’t want to do it? It was that they couldn’t!
Hearing the water stop in the bathroom, Yu Shi stood up and said, “Mr. Feng, can you sleep with him tonight? I think he might need companionship.”
Feng Kuo replied, “I don’t dare. I’m afraid he might wake up in the middle of the night and kill me.”
