You're my wife, don't doubt it!

As dusk settled, a worn-out black sedan was parked outside the shop. Xiao Yao knew without guessing whose car it was.

He opened the back door of the car with practiced ease, only to see Yu Luying standing there with her arms crossed, glaring at him with a displeased expression.

"Who told you to sit in the back? Get in the front." Yu Bo's voice drifted from the driver's seat, coming from the front to the back.

"Yes." Xiao Yao responded, glanced at Yu Luying again, closed the car door, opened the passenger door, and got in.

Before he could even fasten his seatbelt, he was hit head-on by a barrage of sharp, throbbing blows. Xiao Yao clutched his head in pain, shrinking back without resisting, until Yu Luying cried out from the back seat, "Uncle! That hurts!"

Yu Bo made the sign of the cross on his chest, recited a Bible verse, and started the car.

"How did you know I would come out of here?" Xiao Yao asked curiously.

"Stop talking nonsense," Yu Bo said lazily as he drove, "Tell me everything you've encountered."

When the car arrived at the church entrance, Xiao Yao hadn't finished speaking yet, and everyone chatted in the car for a while longer.

"That concludes the situation report. That's roughly it," Xiao Yao said.

Yu Bo turned around and exchanged a glance with Yu Luying, then said to Xiao Yao:

"Xiao Yao, call Liang Yanan and tell her you need her help."

Xiao Yao silently took out his phone.

"Hey, it's me."

"..."

"I see."

"..."

"Brother Bo, she wants to talk to you."

Yu Bo answered the phone with a helpless expression.

"..."

"I can lend you the person, but don't make a scene, officer."

——————————————————————————————————

Xiao Yao walked Yu Luying home, then went home himself, quickly washed up, and went into Tianyun's room.

At night, Shen Tianyun rested her head on Xiao Yao's shoulder blade, casually scrolling through her... that thing called a "smartphone".

"Chang Sheng, I suddenly thought of a good idea, we can give it a try," Xiao Yao suddenly said.

"What's a good idea?" Shen Tianyun tilted her head comfortably.

“Could you go back to the West Suburbs Garden, to the room your mother used to live in, and then go through the mirror? Maybe you can go back to your mother from 30 years ago,” Xiao Yao said.

"It sounds...okay," Shen Tianyun frowned and said, "but even if I go, I won't be able to get her out of the room, will I?"

“Yes,” Xiao Yao said.

“We can’t just let her hide in her room in the West Suburbs Garden in 2034 and never come out, can we?” Shen Tianyun said.

"No, the point is that you can relay messages between the two of us—that way Mom and Dad can keep in touch."

"So what if we made contact?" Shen Tianyun asked.

"This way we can devise some coordinated escape plans from both inside and outside," Xiao Yao said.

"We can give it a try," Shen Tianyun nodded. "But if it were really that simple, why didn't Mom crawl out by herself?"

“How do you know she didn’t?” Xiao Yao retorted, “Even if she crawled over, it wouldn’t make a difference. She can’t contact you, me, or anyone else.”

“That makes sense,” Shen Tianyun said.

"She is truly a good daughter to her father; she has even started to imitate his tone of voice."

"To die."

“…However,” Xiao Yao thought for a moment and said, “Actually, your mother really can’t get out.”

"What's going on?" Shen Tianyun asked.

"Guess what I did today?" Xiao Yao asked after a moment's hesitation.

“She went to find her mother—I was just about to ask you for the details,” Shen Tianyun said.

"There's a Tower of Babel hidden in the mirror in Mom's room," Xiao Yao recounted vividly.

“I’m not in the mood for bedtime fairy tales,” Shen Tianyun nudged him. “If you don’t have anything important to do, go back to your room and rest.”

"Hey! Who's in the mood to tell you fairy tales?!" Xiao Yao got impatient and straightened Shen Tianyun up, then gave her a general account of what he had seen that day.

Shen Tianyun was stunned. After confirming that Xiao Yao was not joking with her, she asked, "Is this the first time you've encountered something like this?"

“No,” Xiao Yao explained, briefly telling her about Teacher Yao’s temple, Teacher Song’s temple, and the mirror world where they often practiced leveling up under the bridge.

"Such a big thing," Shen Tianyun said, pinching her nose in confusion, "Why—why didn't any of you tell me?"

“Occam’s Razor,” Xiao Yao told Shen Tianyun, “telling you wouldn’t help you at all, and would only make you feel confused and annoyed. So neither Shen Jie nor I mentioned it to you. We didn’t discuss it with each other—because there’s really nothing to hide from you.”

"Hmph! I'm not happy! You're just treating me like a child." Shen Tianyun raised her eyebrows, indicating that she did not accept this explanation.

"You're just a child!"

"Aren't you kids too?!" The girl tried to shoo Xiao Yao away again, but Xiao Yao lay paralyzed on the bed, not moving at all: "Bao'er, there's something I've always wanted to ask you, but I haven't had the chance to."

"Go ahead and ask." Shen Tianyun lifted one foot and gently tapped the bed with her heel.

“Last time you said that they didn’t want you anymore, that they didn’t want you anymore,” Xiao Yao asked Shen Tianyun, “Who exactly are they?”

"What?" Shen Tianyun subconsciously pretended to be confused and said, "What? They don't want me anymore? When did they say that?"

"The day it thundered..." Xiao Yao subtly hinted, "Right here..."

"I suddenly remembered something!" Shen Tianyun slapped her firm thigh: "Are you really cheating on me with that Yu Luying?"

“It wasn’t cheating,” Xiao Yao explained to Shen Tianyun. “It was your mother’s idea, and she discussed it with your Aunt Yu in private before they came to inform me—it was an announcement, not a discussion. I was forced to accept it.”

Shen Tianyun was clearly not convinced by Xiao Yao's explanation that absolved him of all responsibility: "Even if what you said is true, haven't you considered that my mother might be testing you? She might not say anything, but she's probably very unhappy inside."

“No, listen to me…” Xiao Yao began.

“Even if your stepmother is sincere, she is still a child, young and naive. Shouldn’t you set a good example?” Shen Tianyun said.

"I was young and naive too," Xiao Yao thought with a hint of irony.

"How can I take the lead? I'm just a mere son-in-law..."

And so, the two chatted and bickered, one after the other, and unknowingly drifted off to sleep, forgetting even to turn off the lights.

When Xiao Yao woke up, he found that it was already dawn. Shen Tianyun had not gone out or stayed in bed. Instead, she was humming a melody and vacuuming the carpet.

The boy got out of bed, took the vacuum cleaner from Shen Tianyun's hand, and the two of them did a thorough cleaning together. Then they also cleaned the room from 04.

At noon, Xiao Yao volunteered to cook lunch for Tian Yun.

The dishes weren't plentiful, and the taste wasn't great either; they were just passable, but not really passable.

"Stop complaining, eat," Xiao Yao said. "At least it won't kill you."

On such a bright afternoon, Xiao Yao suddenly had a strange sense of "peace and tranquility," as if as long as he lived a simple and peaceful life with Chang Sheng, relying on each other for survival, he would be quite content and have something to look forward to.

In the evening, at dusk, Xiao Yao met Liang Yanan at a community park, as instructed by her.

She is doing pull-ups by herself.

"It seems you don't intend to prove me wrong," Liang Yanan said to the air in front of her without even looking at Xiao Yao.

“Zhou Qi did conceal some information from the police,” Xiao Yao cautiously confirmed, “but he shouldn’t be held legally responsible, right?”

“Don’t misunderstand,” Liang Yanan said, “I asked you those questions not on behalf of law enforcement, but only on my own behalf.”

“That compound is indeed very secure; I have to admit I can’t get in.” Xiao Yao tried to do a pull-up, just like Liang Yanan, but failed immediately. “Are you sure she’s inside, and that you have a way to help me?”

Before acquiring the Spirit Fortress, Xiao Yao indeed lacked the strength to complete a pull-up, but after acquiring Don Quixote's Fortress, the situation underwent some subtle changes.

At this moment, I am so weak again. I guess the fighting last night has exhausted my stamina.

“I’m sure she’s inside, but I don’t have anything to prove it right now.” Liang Yanan told Xiao Yao, “I can take you in to see her, and then you can tell me what Zhou Qi has been hiding from the police. Is that alright?”

Xiao Yao frowned and asked, "Is there a way to get her out of there?"

Ask for a high price and pay it back on the spot.

"Bringing him out, you're making it sound so easy," Liang Yanan chuckled through her nose. "Kidnapping is a very serious crime."

“Alright,” Xiao Yao said, “You’re right, let’s do it your way.”

“Great, let’s get going now.” Liang Yanan jumped off the horizontal bar and glanced at her watch.

"Now?" Xiao Yao asked.

"It's past 5 o'clock, we need to hurry."

……

Liang Yanan made several phone calls on the spot, showing several different faces, and then told Xiao Yao to wait while he exercised, expressing regret about the boy's physical fitness and athletic ability.

About half an hour later, an old yellow van stopped in front of them. The van had four words written on its side: "Power Inspection".

The driver who got out of the car was none other than Xu Wuchen, the man with the "airplane head" hairstyle.