I Eat My Own Jealousy Chapter 77

Chapter 77

“Wait,” Zong Ye suddenly spoke up. Simon stopped in his tracks, and the several guards around him stopped as well. Only the guard who had escorted the servant in reached into his chest pocket with his right hand, pulled out a dagger, and thrust it toward Simon.

It all happened in a flash of lightning. Aside from Zong Ye, no one else had time to react. Zong Ye swiftly stepped forward, grabbing the guard’s wrist to subdue him. However, taking advantage of Zong Ye’s proximity, the guard suddenly changed direction, slashing the dagger toward Zong Ye instead.

Zong Ye hadn’t expected the attack to be aimed at him. Although he dodged in time, the dagger still grazed his arm. Zong Ye snapped the man’s wrist and pinned him face-down against the floor. Only then did the captain of Simon’s guards snap back to reality, rushing forward with his men to take control of the person on the ground from Zong Ye.

Zong Ye glanced at the slash on his arm. It wasn’t serious—just a small cut that was bleeding slightly. Ignoring it, he pressed down on the man’s head and discovered a disguise membrane behind his ear. He reached out, peeled it off, and threw it on the ground. The man on the floor morphed into Horton.

Simon’s face drained of color. “Horton?!”

Horton ignored Simon. Enduring the agonizing pain in his wrist, he stared at Zong Ye with a sinister gaze. “How did you spot me?”

For over a decade, he had been faking illness and poor health, always presenting a weak image to the public by sitting in a wheelchair. Disguised as a guard this time, it should have been impossible for him to be recognized so easily.

Zong Ye was expressionless. “Your disguise was indeed very successful, practically flawless. It was your attitude. You’ve held a high position for too long; you didn’t show the proper subordinate attitude toward a mere guard captain.”

When they reached the door, the guard captain had made a hand signal to issue an order. The surrounding guards had all cupped their hands and voiced their acknowledgment. Only he had given a faint nod.

“Take him down and lock him in the maximum-security prison. Beef up the guards. I will interrogate him personally,” Simon ordered the guard captain, his face stormy.

After Horton was escorted away, Simon summoned a doctor to bandage Zong Ye’s slashed arm.

“What does Bixia plan to do with the Da Wangzi?” With Horton captured, the ordeal had finally come to an end, so Zong Ye asked.

“Confine him to his residence for now, until we investigate clearly whether he knew about Horton’s actions,” Simon rubbed his temples, fighting a headache, and instructed Zong Ye, “Conduct a thorough sweep of the outer perimeter of Dixing. If Horton could build one jump point, he might have a second one.”

“Understood, I’ll get to it immediately.” Zong Ye nodded. Seeing that his wound was bandaged, he bid farewell to Simon and left the royal palace.

With Horton captured, the alarms on Planet Laiyin were lifted. After verifying that the stationed commander of Planet Laiyin was unaware of Horton’s actions, Colin remained there to continue searching Horton’s estate and the underground headquarters. Zong Yue, meanwhile, brought Jian Ning and the others back to Dixing.

Guanjia Abel knew they were returning and waited at the door early on. The moment Jian Ning stepped off the aircraft holding Tuantuan, Guanjia Abel hurried over, pulling him and Tuantuan close to look them over. “As long as you aren’t hurt, hurry inside,” he said, his heart still palpitating with lingering fear.

Jian Ning felt incredibly guilty for sneaking out and causing Guanjia Abel to worry. Walking into the living room, he apologized, “Yeye, I made you worry.”

“Do you know you were wrong? You are not allowed to do this ever again. This old man has a weak heart; you made me so anxious I couldn’t sleep at all at night,” Guanjia Abel brought over some juice, putting on a stern face to criticize him.

Jian Ning nodded obediently. Tuantuan also knew he was in the wrong; he wagged his tail ingratiatingly at Guanjia Abel, burying his head into his palm and rubbing it to apologize.

Guanjia Abel picked Tuantuan up, rubbed him, and then set him on the ground to play. He turned to Jian Ning, “You have to go back to the academy tomorrow. Get some good rest, Jian Shaoye. I’ll have the kitchen prepare some food for you to take with you tomorrow.”

In the blink of an eye, the one-week holiday was over. Jian Ning packed his suitcase in his room and went downstairs to look for Tuantuan. He asked a servant, who said Tuantuan had chased a butterfly into the greenhouse. Jian Ning went inside and searched around, only to hear “Aowuu, aowuu” cries coming from above his head.

He stopped and looked up. Tuantuan was standing on a tree branch, his ears drooping, wagging his tail at him pitifully.

Jian Ning understood instantly; the little cub had climbed the tree and was too scared to come down. He put on a speechless, stern face, “Who told you to run up the tree?”

Tuantuan lay gingerly on the branch, batting at his ear with a tiny paw. A pair of big, round, black eyes stared eagerly at him, giving a milky “Aowuu” of distress: Papa, hurry and save me, I’m scared!

Defeated by this adorable and pitiful display, Jian Ning compromised, taking two steps back and opening his arms toward him. “Jump down, I’ll catch you from below.”

Tuantuan wiped his face with a small paw, stood up shakily, and with a splat sound, leaped from the branch. His chubby little body hurtled toward Jian Ning like a tiny cannonball.

Jian Ning underestimated the little cub’s weight. Unprepared, he took the full force of the impact to his chest and stumbled backward. A pair of solid, powerful arms reached around from behind, helping him steady the little furball in his arms.

“Why did you run up the tree?” Zong Ye stood behind Jian Ning, reaching out to tug the tail of the little furball, who had curled into a tight ball, fearfully covering his face with his paws.

Tuantuan carefully opened his eyes. The moment he looked up, he saw the big white wolf behind his papa pulling his tail again. Huffing angrily, he sprang up from Jian Ning’s arms with a swish and clamped his teeth down on the big white wolf’s finger with an “Aowuu.”

Zong Ye had thick skin and wasn’t afraid of the cub’s teeth. He raised his arm, and the cub simply hugged Zong Ye’s arm with all four paws, dangling from it as he bit left and right, gnawing forcefully on his finger.

Jian Ning watched the interaction between the two: “…”

“Dr. Wilson is here.” Zong Ye used one hand to tease the cub dangling from his arm, and used the other to take Jian Ning’s hand, leading him out of the greenhouse.

Dr. Wilson was there for the merging of Zong Ye’s two personalities. During the days they were away from Dixing, the merging process had been put on hold.

Zong Ye lay on the bed, and Jian Ning used his own mental power to help stabilize the fusion of Zong Ye’s mental power. About half an hour later, Dr. Wilson signaled to stop. He examined Zong Ye and said with satisfaction, “The Yuanshuai’s mental power is stabilizing very well. Just two more times, and the fusion will be complete.”

“Then have you remembered everything?” Jian Ning looked at Zong Ye with sparkling eyes.

“…Just about.” Zong Ye savored the newly surfaced segment of memory in his mind. Looking at the bright-eyed boy in front of him, he placed a large palm on the back of his head and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Caught off guard, Jian Ning covered his forehead, his face turning red. He looked embarrassedly at Dr. Wilson. Dr. Wilson smiled and looked away, picking up his medical kit. “I’ll come again in two days.”

After walking Dr. Wilson downstairs, they repeated what was just said to Guanjia Abel. Guanjia Abel was overjoyed and had the servants bring out the dishes from the kitchen. “The food is ready. Da Shaoye, Jian Shaoye, and Xiao Shaoye, please eat first. Er Shaoye won’t be back until later.”

“Yeye, you should eat with us too,” Jian Ning sat down beside Zong Ye. He had just placed Tuantuan on the dining table to his right, but the little cub immediately trotted over to his left side, plonking his butt down right between him and Zong Ye, even dragging his little bowl over. He glared huffily at Zong Ye. Don’t think I didn’t see what you did to Papa just now! With me here, you’re not allowed to take advantage of Papa!

Zong Ye lifted his eyelids, his fingers itching to tug the little cub’s tail again. Tuantuan was already on high alert; he hugged his fluffy tail and bared his teeth at him.

You think this can stop me? Zong Ye looked at the cub with a half-smile, cracking his knuckles. Just as he was about to extend his demonic claws toward the cub, the communicator on his wrist rang. It was a call request from Bixia Simon. He glanced at it and said to Jian Ning, “You guys eat first.” Then he got up and went to the balcony.

Jian Ning had just fed Tuantuan a piece of meat when Zong Ye returned and said, “Bixia wants me to make a trip to military headquarters.”

“You and Tuantuan go to sleep early. I’ll take you back to the academy tomorrow.” Zong Ye reached out and rubbed Jian Ning’s hair, went upstairs to his room to grab a coat, and hurried out the door.

In the military headquarters interrogation room, Simon stared at Horton behind the transparent glass, his face as ugly as it could be. Seeing Zong Ye arrive, his expression softened slightly as he spoke, “You’re here.”

Zong Ye also saw Horton behind the glass and asked, “What did Bixia call me here for?”

“He wants to see you.” Simon jutted his chin toward the transparent glass. “He confessed some things, but insisted he must see you before confessing the rest.”

“See me?” Zong Ye frowned. What did Horton want to see him for?

Motioning for the soldier at the door to open it, Zong Ye walked in and sat opposite Horton. Horton was leaning against the back of his chair, his eyes half-closed as he rested. Opening his eyes and seeing Zong Ye, a smile touched the corners of his mouth. “Yuanshuai Zong Ye, you’ve arrived.”

Zong Ye looked at him expressionlessly. “Bixia said you wanted to see me? What do you want to see me for?”

“I know this matter is extremely severe, and Bixia will not let me off easily. So, I would like to ask Yuanshuai Zong Ye to help me plead with Bixia for a lighter sentence,” Horton said with a natural expression.

“Me, help you?” Zong Ye felt like he had just heard the biggest joke in the world. He looked at Horton in disbelief. “With all the things you’ve done, hurting Lanno… whether publicly or privately, I should be asking Bixia for the harshest possible punishment.”

He stood up to leave. Horton was absolutely insane to think he would help him.

Horton spoke calmly behind him, “Don’t you want to know who helped me establish the black market?”

Zong Ye paused his steps, turning around with a frown. “What do you mean? You had accomplices?”

He had assumed Horton built the black market single-handedly for the sake of the throne. Could there be accomplices among the Empire’s nobility?

“Strictly speaking, not accomplices,” Horton pondered for a moment and corrected himself. “They can only be called sponsors and insiders. They knew everything about the black market. At the very beginning of the black market, they helped establish it together.”

They? More than one accomplice? Zong Ye mentally ran through all the Empire’s nobles, sitting back down in front of Horton. He said, “You bring them up, intending to use their identities to exchange for a lighter sentence from Bixia?”

Horton nodded. “That’s exactly right.”

Zong Ye’s heart was filled with doubts. He stared at him with dark eyes, “Just tell Bixia, then. Why did you need to see me?”

As he spoke, he met Horton’s half-smiling gaze, and his heart suddenly tightened. “…It has to do with me?”

“The Yuanshuai reacts truly fast.” Horton clapped his hands in admiration, staring unblinkingly at him. “Their identities are your parents, Zong Xun and his wife.”