An infinite journey starting from paradise

"Huh? I don't think I've ever thought about this question."

Dongzi showed an expression of being caught off guard, then put his hand on his chin and fell into deep thought.

Her mind recalled her childhood memories. That day she had been drawing all day. Because there was no white paper, she had to spread out old newspapers, ignore the words printed on them, and start drawing with a small piece of pencil.

Dongzi has long forgotten what she painted back then, and even if she were asked, she probably wouldn't be able to answer. It was just that painting itself made her happy, that's all.

Dongzi's body sank into the setting sun of the evening. Recalling the vague memories in his mind, he didn't know whether to feel nostalgia or sadness.

After a long silence, she said, "Yeah... If I had to say it, it would be freedom."

Dongzi smiled shyly and whispered, "Besides, I can concentrate on painting, so I like it. I don't have to think about anything, just paint."

"Focus on it and don't think about other things. This way you can ignore those things that make you feel uncomfortable and annoying, right?" Lin Shangren asked.

"This……"

Dongzi was stunned for a moment. She whispered, "According to what the teacher said, painting seems... very suitable for escaping reality."

"Then Dongzi, what are you running away from again?" Lin Shangren continued to ask.

“It’s more about searching than escaping.”

"Finding your 'true self'?" Lin Shangren asked. "Dongzi, are you confused? Why? Family? Studies? Confused about the future?"

"Huh...Teacher, you're just like a nagging old father."

"Old father...? Do they look alike?"

Lin Shangren asked doubtfully. Since Lin Shangren had never seen his parents, Dongzi's words touched upon his blind spots.

"Probably very similar."

"perhaps?"

"Because I don't know anything about my father." Dongzi whispered, "I have always lived with my mother and uncle, and I don't remember anything about my father."

Dongzi's profile looks a little lonely.

"Ah...right. It's not just about my father. I can't remember anything about my childhood. I only have a few vague memories."

Dongzi seemed to come back to his senses and stared at Lin Shangren intently.

"Is this the 'real you' you want me to help you find? The memories of your childhood?"

"No..." Dongzi tilted her head and answered vaguely, "How should I put it... well... it should be more... well, I can't find the right adjective."

"Is that so?"

Lin Shangren stared at Dongzi's slightly strong and narrow eyes, which revealed uneasiness.

"Want to find a 'complete self'?" Lin Shangren asked tentatively.

"whole?"

"It's a combination of your past, your current state, your self-perception, and your expectations for the future," Lin Shangren explained. "For example, ask yourself, 'Who am I? What do I have? What do I want?' And so on."

"Well……"

Dongzi lowered his head and began to sketch the turtle in the sketchbook again.

"Hasn't Dongzi thought about these issues before?" Lin Shangren asked.

“I haven’t come up with an answer…”

Lin Shangren asked again: "Speaking of which, if you want to recall your childhood and your father, why don't you ask your family?"

Dongzi's expression suddenly darkened. Lin Shangren, noticing this, realized he had spoken out of turn. It seemed that there might be something wrong with Kuchiki Dongzi's family.

"Should I do a home visit?" Lin Shangren pondered. "Wait, how come I'm actually playing the teacher's role?!"

Lin Shangren looked at Dongzi who was thinking with her head down. The setting sun cast a layer of glow on her black straight hair, and her overly fair skin also shone with a hazy halo.

"I still don't understand."

Dongzi shook his head and started sketching again.

"In that case, let's not disturb her."

Lin Shangren thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll leave first. I still have some things to take care of."

"Is the teacher leaving?"

Lin Shangren smiled and said, "After all, I have a lot of part-time jobs."

"Oh? Teacher, are you going to celebrate Mass as a priest, or investigate something as a detective?"

"Detective work to do, and other things."

"The teacher is really busy."

"Okay."

"See you next time at school. Teacher, please work hard." Dongzi also smiled.

"See you."

Lin Shangren had barely taken a few steps when he heard a splash behind him. He quickly turned around and found Dongzi had inexplicably fallen into the lake. She looked pale and frail, barely able to struggle.

"What's going on? Damn, I forgot to turn off [Lucky Pervert]!"

Lin Shangren quickly took two steps into the water, hugged the drowning Dongzi and teleported back to the shore.

"teacher…"

Dongzi's face was unusually pale.

Lin Shangren opened the Eye of Innocence and determined that Dongzi's condition was [severe anemia], [malnutrition] and even [early stage organ failure].

"It was fine just now, how could this happen?"

Seeing this, Hayashi Shangren planned to take a tube of his own blood from the shadow to treat Fuyuko. At this time, he realized that the last tube of blood he had prepared had been used on Tsukishima Orihime.

"so be it."

Lin Shangren bit his tongue in a fit of rage and then kissed Dongzi's pale lips. As he drank Lin Shangren's blood, Dongzi's face finally turned rosy.

This scene was also seen by Toru Mizuhara who was hiding in the distance.

Chapter 95: One Key Left

"It's not enough to show your panties, is it time to get wet this time?"

Looking at the status bar that read "Lucky Pervert is Off," Lin Shangren was speechless. He half-knelt beside Dongzi and began to check on her.

"What's going on with you?"

"I want to ask the teacher."

Dongzi sat up. Although her whole body was soaked in the cold lake water, she felt very warm. An inexplicable warmth flowed through her limbs, making her feel a warmth she had never experienced before.

"I'm not unconscious, why would you give me artificial respiration right away? H."

Dongzi wiped the corner of his mouth, and the back of his hand, which was still pale, was stained with Lin Shangren's blood.

"I'm bleeding? No...it's your blood, Teacher? What's wrong with you?! I drank your blood... Ugh..."

"You're turning evil into kindness too quickly, aren't you?"

Lin Shangren said helplessly,

"I just saved your life. Hypoglycemia plus anemia, plus a sudden fall into the water, you'd definitely drown even if you were a strong swimmer. Besides, you don't look like a swimmer, and you're so thin, you don't have the fat to help you float. If I hadn't been here, you would have sunk to the bottom long ago."

"Thank you so much, you brave perverted teacher."

Fuyuko wiped the hair that had clung to her forehead and eyes, then tugged at the water-soaked school uniform that clung to her body. The white shirt clung to her body, revealing the delicate figure beneath. But there wasn't much to see: Kuchiki Fuyuko was incredibly thin, with only a slight rise in her chest, like Little Red Riding Hood—whose grandmother had been eaten by the Big Bad Wolf.

Lin Shangren asked: "How do you feel now?"

"Feelings? Cold, my clothes are damp and uncomfortable, and... I'm not as dizzy as before, and my body doesn't seem as tired... Ugh, so cold."

A gust of wind blew by and Dongzi shivered.

"It's good that it's okay."

Lin Shangren looked away. The results of the Eye of Innocence showed that Dongzi's body had basically recovered.

He continued, "Let me take you home. By the way, I have some clean clothes in the car that you can change into first."

Dongzi supported Lin Shangren's shoulders and barely stood up, but suddenly squatted down again: "My ankle hurts a little, teacher, can you hold me?"

"This……"

The treatment at Little Bird Doctor was comprehensive, even curing Fuyuko's early-stage organ failure. Perhaps she's complaining about ankle pain simply because she doesn't want to walk in wet socks and shoes?

Lin Shangren didn't reveal the girl's thoughts. He picked up Dongzi and the two of them, still dripping with water, walked towards the other side of the park.

Not long after he started walking, Lin Shangren met an acquaintance.

"Ms. Cangmu?"

The silver-haired woman turned her head when her name was called.

"Doctor Lin? What's wrong with you?"

Aoki Fuyushi looked curiously at Kuchiki Fuyuko, who was in Hayashi Shangren's arms. Seeing how wet they were, she guessed what had happened: "Did you fall into the lake?"

Lin Shangren replied: "This girl is my student. She was sketching a turtle by the lake. She accidentally fell into the lake while trying to pose for the turtle. Luckily, I was nearby and I jumped in to pull her out."

"That you……"

"I have dry clothes in the car that I'm going to have her change into and then take her home."

"Well... well, Dr. Lin, why don't you go to my house first. My house is nearby. This girl looks similar to me and can wear my clothes. You can also take a hot bath at my place. It's easy to catch a cold and fever in this kind of weather." Aoki Fuyushi suggested.

"Isn't this not good?"

"It's okay. Besides, I have something I want to discuss with you, Dr. Lin. About...a case."

"case?"

Lin Shangren looked at Dongzi in his arms and asked, "Dongzi, is it okay? Let's go to reporter Cangmu's house and stay for a while?"

"Hmm... Yeah."

……

Ten minutes later, Hayashi Naoto followed Aoki Fuyushi into a four-story residential building near Inokashira Park. Climbing the stairs to the third floor, Aoki Fuyushi opened the door on the right. The door had three locks, indicating that Aoki Fuyushi took the security of his home very seriously.

"The bathroom is over there."

Aoki Fuyushi pointed to a small room on the west side.

"The tub might be a little small. Little girl, go take a bath first. I'll give you clean clothes later. As for Dr. Lin, there's a towel over there. Dry your hair first."

Aoki Fuyushi skillfully tossed the sword he carried on his back onto the knife rack in the living room, then took off his coat and threw it on the hanger. It was clear that having one arm hadn't affected her life much, or perhaps she had already gotten used to living with one hand.

Fuyuko followed Aoki Fuyushi's instructions and entered the bathroom. Hayashi Naoto activated his shadow touch and examined the house: it had four rooms: a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a combined toilet and bathroom. It was simple and bright, giving it a pleasant feel. No unnecessary decorations, no incongruous furniture; everything was simple and efficient, just like the feeling Aoki Fuyushi gave him.

There was only a sofa and a coffee table in the living room, as well as a radio and a weapon rack. On the rack were two katanas and a T-shaped baton, which seemed to be the weapons commonly used by Aoki Fuyushi.

Looking at those weapons, Lin Shangren sighed, "The job of a journalist is really dangerous."

"These were actually the weapons I used before I became a journalist."

Aoki Fuyushi came out of the bedroom, holding a black sweater and a pair of slim-fitting trousers in her arms. As she unbuttoned the tied left sleeve of her sweater, she said, "I used to be a gangster."

"Gangster?"

"It was called 'Death Arms'. They were originally active in Ueno, but they've disbanded."

Aoki Fuyushi unbuttoned the sleeves of his sweater and continued, "I don't have any men's clothes here, but there's a heater over there. Doctor Lin can warm them up there."

"No need, I have a dry shirt."

As he spoke, Lin Shangren took off his coat. His Prada leather jacket, the same style as Yan Shuangying's, was not soaked, only the shirt underneath was soaked.

Aoki Fuyushi asked, "Do you need me to step aside?"

"There's nothing much to see on a man's upper body."

As he said that, Lin Shangren took off his shirt and changed into dry clothes.

"Doctor Lin has a nice figure, no wonder he's so skilled," Aoki Fuyushi said. "That day you called out 'Flying Sword Style,' right? That's the name of the kendo style you learned?"

"Ah...right."

Recalling his overly immature performance that night, Lin Shangren didn't feel too embarrassed. He asked, "Miss Cangmu has also practiced kendo?"