Chapter 191 Ashes, I Want You

Hearing Shen Jin's playful words, Yan Yu was slightly lost in thought, as if he could still clearly feel his warm breath gently brushing against his face, making him feel a little itchy.

Yan Yu's eyes flickered slightly for a moment before he looked at Shen Jin and asked, "What is the reward?"

"Guess." Shen Jin tilted his head slightly, blinked, looked at Yan Yu, and suddenly laughed, revealing a pair of tiger teeth when he laughed, which looked very cute.

Yan Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he was slightly dazed.

Shen Jin tilted his head and looked at Yan Yu: "What kind of reward do you want?"

Yan Yu suddenly understood what the legendary head tilt kill meant.

This question was difficult for Yan Yu to answer. He looked away for a moment before finally saying, "...I like anything you give me as a prize."

"Is that so?" Upon hearing Yan Yu's reply, Shen Jin's brows furrowed slightly, as if he were pondering.

A moment later, Shen Jin narrowed his eyes, smiled, and his smile seemed somewhat meaningful. Then he leaned closer, stared straight at Yan Yu, and whispered with a chuckle, "What were you thinking about while you were taking a shower today?"

Yan Yu froze, his fingers trembling slightly. He remained stunned for a moment before reacting.

Yan Yu coughed, his expression a little unnatural. Without looking at Shen Jin, he simply asked, "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Seeing Yan Yu's reaction, Shen Jin became even more puzzled, looking at Yan Yu with confusion.

A moment later, Shen Jin continued to laugh, took a step forward, and got a little closer to Yan Yu, causing Yan Yu to catch his breath.

"I just want to know." Shen Jin stood on tiptoe, trying to observe Yan Yu's expression. "I just find it very interesting..."

Chen Jin's voice was low and somewhat ambiguous.

"I wasn't thinking anything." Yan Yu immediately looked away guiltily, avoiding eye contact with Shen Jin.

However, he said this with a lack of confidence, and his facial expression was somewhat subtle.

"Really?" Shen Jin asked Yan Yu, somewhat skeptical.

"Really," Yan Yu replied guiltily.

"You're not lying to me?" Shen Jin continued to press on.

As Yan Yu listened to Shen Jin's questions, he felt increasingly guilty and dared not look Shen Jin in the eye.

"Yes, I'm not lying to you." Yan Yu lowered his eyes and responded softly.

Upon hearing Yan Yu's answer, Shen Jin smiled and didn't ask any further questions. He looked at Yan Yu with a smile for a while, then reached out and cupped Yan Yu's face in his hands.

Upon touching Shen Jin's warm fingers, Yan Yu was immediately stunned and looked up at Shen Jin.

Their eyes met unintentionally.

Although it was night, Yan Yu was able to see Shen Jin's eyes clearly by the moonlight. Shen Jin's dark eyes were staring intently at him, meeting his gaze.

There seemed to be a subtle emotion in those dark eyes.

Before Yan Yu could speak, Shen Jin stood on tiptoe and gave Yan Yu a big kiss on the cheek.

Yan Yu's body stiffened instantly, as if he had been electrocuted.

After the kiss, Shen Jin's lips left Yan Yu's cheek, but his hands were still cupping Yan Yu's face as he looked at him.

There seemed to be a hint of tenderness in his eyes, and Yan Yu wondered if he was seeing things.

Shen Jin stared at Yan Yu for a while, then smiled.

Seeing Shen Jin's ambiguous gaze, Yan Yu felt increasingly guilty and didn't dare to look at Shen Jin at all.

"Ahem." Yan Yu coughed softly twice, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Fortunately, Shen Jin had already released him by this time.

Yan Yu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Shall we continue catching fireflies?" After releasing Yan Yu, Shen Jin asked with a smile, "There are so many fireflies! They're so beautiful!"

"Okay, sure." Yan Yu nodded in response.

Fortunately, Shen Jin stopped asking about the bathing incident, which eased Yan Yu's tension slightly.

Upon hearing Yan Yu's response, Shen Jin immediately turned around to catch the fireflies.

"Come and help me quickly," Shen Jin said to Yan Yu as he walked.

"Okay," Yan Yu replied.

As he spoke, Yan Yu picked up a mineral water bottle not far away. This bottle must have been thrown away by other tomb raiders when they passed by, and it would be perfect for collecting fireflies now.

Then, Yan Yu stood up and looked at Shen Jin's back, feeling somewhat puzzled.

He didn't know what Shen Jin was thinking right now, or whether he still had any feelings for him.

There probably is some affection. Didn't Shen Jin just kiss him? Doesn't that mean Shen Jin still likes him a little, and he still has some hope?

Thinking of this, Yan Yu couldn't help but feel happy and pursed his lips slightly.

Now Shen Jin is willing to talk to him, cling to him, and even kiss him.

So, if he tries a little harder, he should still be able to get Shen Jin's forgiveness and get back together with her.

However, Yan Yu quickly realized that this might just be because Shen Jin had a fever and was somewhat delirious.

It's possible that once Chen Jin recovers, things will return to normal, and everything now will just be a dream, ultimately proving to be nothing but empty joy.

Thinking of this, Yan Yu's eyes immediately dimmed, and he felt extremely disappointed.

At this moment, Shen Jin was trying to catch fireflies, but failed several times. So, Shen Jin turned to look at Yan Yu, who was still immersed in his own world.

"Yan Yu! Come quickly and help me catch fireflies!" Chen Jin shouted at Yan Yu, "They keep running away!"

Upon hearing Shen Jin's words, Yan Yu immediately snapped out of his daze and looked up at Shen Jin.

"Okay, I'm coming." Yan Yu immediately responded.

As he spoke, Yan Yu hurriedly went towards Shen Jin.

"Hey, where did you get your bottle?" Shen Jin was overjoyed when he saw Yan Yu's bottle.

As he spoke, Shen Jin reached out to take the bottle from Yan Yu's hand, but instead of taking the bottle directly, he grabbed Yan Yu's hand and looked down at the bottle.

Yan Yu's heart raced as Shen Jin held his hand, and he felt an indescribable sweetness in his heart.

"I just picked it up from the grass. It's perfect for holding fireflies," Yan Yu replied, snapping out of his reverie.

Shen Jin nodded, looking like he understood.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Jin laughed happily twice: "Great! We need to catch the fireflies quickly, otherwise this bottle will be useless."

“Okay, we’ll catch them soon.” Yan Yu nodded and said to Shen Jin.

Hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin nodded vigorously in agreement.

Then, the two of them started catching fireflies together.

Shen Jin reached out to catch the fireflies, but failed several times and became somewhat annoyed.

Finally, Shen Jin spotted a firefly and observed it for a long time. After confirming that it really wouldn't fly any further away, Shen Jin seized the opportunity and suddenly reached out to grab the firefly.

However, this time they missed their target again.

Finally, Shen Jin stomped his foot in exasperation, almost crying from anger.

"Why can't I catch it! Why!" Shen Jin shouted angrily, extremely unhappy.

Seeing Shen Jin's irritable actions, Yan Yu reached out and grasped Shen Jin's hand, gently patting it twice in his own palm.

"Take your time, don't rush, don't be impatient, calm down," Yan Yu said softly to Shen Jin.

Comforted by Yan Yu, Shen Jin was slightly taken aback, but then he immediately felt himself slow down. Yan Yu's words were like a good medicine.

“Okay, I’ll take my time,” Shen Jin said to Yan Yu.

Hearing Shen Jin's words, Yan Yu smiled slightly and said nothing more.

The two then continued to focus intently on catching fireflies.

As Shen Jin was grabbing, he accidentally bumped into Yan Yu. Yan Yu quickly reached out to help Shen Jin up, looking aggrieved, and said, "Be careful."

“Okay.” Shen Jin looked at Yan Yu and nodded in response.

After saying that, Shen Jin kissed Yan Yu on the cheek. Yan Yu froze for a moment, then smiled slightly.

Yan Yu reached out and touched Shen Jin's hair, and Shen Jin looked at Yan Yu and smiled.

Then, Yan Yu withdrew his hand and continued to catch fireflies.

The two held on like that for a long time, when suddenly Yan Yu shouted to Shen Jin, "I caught him!"

Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin immediately turned around and went towards Yan Yu.

"Did you catch him?" Shen Jin asked Yan Yu excitedly.

Yan Yu clasped his hands tightly together, trapping the firefly in his palms to prevent it from escaping. He could even feel the firefly bumping against his hands.

"Hurry up and bring the bottle over here," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin.

Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin immediately reacted, squatted down, picked up the bottle from the ground, opened the cap, and brought it close to Yan Yu's hand.

Yan Yu carefully placed the firefly he had just caught into the small bottle opening, and the entire bottle was immediately illuminated by the firefly's light.

"Alright," Yan Yu said with a smile.

Shen Jin held the bottle, looking at it over and over again, and laughed very happily.

"Do you like it?" Yan Yu asked, looking at Shen Jin.

"Yes, I like it." Shen Jin nodded without hesitation, his happiness written all over his face.

Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin's smiling face and felt extremely content.

It was as if he could gaze at Shen Jin's smile for a very long time.

At this moment, Yan Yu suddenly remembered that Shen Jin had said he would give him a reward, and he felt a little happy and couldn't help but hold onto some hope.

Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin and cautiously probed, "You said before that you would give me a reward if I caught fireflies. Does that still stand?"

Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin immediately laughed.

Then, Shen Jin and Yan Yu kept each other in suspense, winking at each other: "So what do you want?"

Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin and found that Shen Jin's eyes seemed to speak, staring intently at him.

The two remained silent for a long time.

"Hmm? Haven't decided yet? What do you want?" Seeing that Yan Yu hadn't spoken, Shen Jin leaned closer and whispered, "Yan Yu, tell me."

Yan Yu instantly felt his ears burning.

In this ambiguous atmosphere, Yan Yu took a deep breath, his dark eyes fixed on Shen Jin.

There's a feeling that everything hinges on this one move.

Yan Yu blurted out instinctively, "I want you, only you."

These words were spoken almost without Yan Yu's thought; he just blurted them out as soon as he thought of them.

After saying that, Yan Yu regretted it a little, after all, he had been too optimistic... It was inappropriate to say such things.

Shen Jin paused for a moment, then laughed and, without thinking, pounced on Yan Yu, burying his face in his arms.

Caught off guard, Yan Yu was suddenly tackled by him. He quickly caught him and hugged his slender waist, feeling a pang of sadness.

He had held Shen Jin before, and although he was thin then, he had clearly lost even more weight since falling off the cliff and enduring the bumpy ride in the mountains.

"Okay, then I'll give it to you." Shen Jin hugged Yan Yu and said with a smile, "You said it yourself!"

Shen Jin laughed heartily, looked up at Yan Yu, smiled, and then lowered his eyes again.

"You want me? Then I'll give myself to you," Shen Jin added, to show that he was genuinely willing. "Aren't you happy?"

Yan Yu snapped out of his thoughts and was stunned for a moment, unable to react, just staring blankly at Shen Jin.

He was initially flattered and overjoyed, but this feeling didn't last long, because he remembered that Shen Jin had said these words while he had a fever.

Yan Yu's mood immediately plummeted again, and he forced a smile.

Ever since Shen Jin had a fever, he has maintained this personality. No matter what he says, Shen Jin will obediently do it. So now that Shen Jin says he wants him, he might be clueless and not even know what it means.

His understanding of desire was very different from Shen Jin's... When he was fully recovered and his mind was clear, everything would be different.

Yan Yu sighed almost imperceptibly, no longer intending to delve deeper into the topic.

So Yan Yu reached out and hugged Shen Jin, chuckled softly, lowered his head and kissed Shen Jin's hair, his voice a little hoarse: "Okay, then you're mine from now on."

Even though the happiness he feels now seems unreal, he wants to cherish every moment, otherwise he doesn't know if he'll ever have such an opportunity again...

"Okay! It's a deal," Shen Jin smiled, her eyes crinkling, looking especially adorable, and said, "Hold me tighter, like you're holding a baby!"

Yan Yu couldn't help but laugh when he saw him like this, his heart softening like water: "Okay, whatever you say."

Then, Shen Jin grabbed Yan Yu's hand.

"Then you'll hold my hand for the rest of your life and never let go, okay?" Shen Jin held Yan Yu's hand tightly and looked up at Yan Yu.

Yan Yu looked down at Shen Jin, and was suddenly struck by Shen Jin's words.

Will you hold his hand and never let go for the rest of your life?

He wanted it too...

“Okay, I’ll never let go again in this lifetime.” Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin and said firmly.

Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin immediately laughed, a very happy laugh.

Seeing Shen Jin's smile, Yan Yu also smiled.

"No matter what happens, don't give up," Shen Jin said to Yan Yuqiang again.

Yan Yu chuckled. He nodded and replied, "Okay, no matter what happens, I won't let go."

Shen Jin held Yan Yu's hand tightly for a while, and Yan Yu returned the grip, as if responding to her.

“Then I want a kiss too.” Shen Jin smiled and continued.

As he spoke, Shen Jin raised his head and presented his cheek to Yan Yu: "Give me a kiss!"

After the kiss, Shen Jin extended his little finger towards Yan Yu, wiggled it slightly, and smiled.

"Shall we make a pinky promise? That's how it counts," Shen Jin said to Yan Yu with a smile.

Yan Yu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly became timid.

The seemingly childish act of making a pinky promise carried great weight for him; it was more like a vow.

"What's wrong? You don't want to?" After waiting for a while, Yan Yu still didn't reach out his hand, and Shen Jin became a little puzzled.

Yan Yu still looked at Shen Jin, feeling very hesitant.

Shen Jin has a fever now, and he probably doesn't even know what he did. If he were to make a pinky promise with her under these circumstances, wouldn't that be taking advantage of her vulnerability? That would be a very bad thing to do.

"Pinky promises are too childish. We're adults now, we don't play these childish games." Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin and smiled gently.

They even made a pinky promise to be together forever... He's afraid that once Shen Jin recovers, he'll probably want to kill him.

"No way, we have to pinky swear! Who says this is child's play?" Shen Jin retorted.

Yan Yu was at a loss for what to do.

Then, Shen Jin stubbornly reached out his hand to Yan Yu.

"Hurry up, we need to pinky swear. Are you unwilling?" Shen Jin asked Yan Yu in a sullen voice.

"I'm not. I just..."

"No, let's pinky swear." Yan Yu was afraid that Shen Jin would overthink things and start making a fuss, so he quickly extended his little finger and hooked it with Shen Jin's.

Anyway, once Shen Jin recovers, he'll just pretend this never happened. Otherwise, if Shen Jin makes a fuss now, it'll cause trouble again.

Shen Jin then laughed.

Under the moonlight, both of their hands were exceptionally clear.

"Pinky promise, for a hundred years, no changing..." Shen Jin looked down at the two fingers hooked together, gently shaking them, saying those old, tired sentences.

His expression was unusually focused.

His expression held a hint of childlike determination.

Seeing Shen Jin's serious expression, Yan Yu's sense of loss grew even stronger.

Once the ashes are healed, all those promises and agreements will be meaningless.

At the same time, Yan Yu secretly hoped that the pinky promise could be true.

After making a pinky promise, Shen Jin felt much better, while Yan Yu was filled with emotion.

He inexplicably made a pinky promise with Shen Jin. What if Shen Jin hates him even more after he recovers?

"Shall we continue catching fireflies?" Shen Jin said to Yan Yu again.

"Okay." Yan Yu nodded in agreement.

So the two of them continued catching fireflies. Yan Yu had already caught one before, so he had some experience now, and slowly, he was able to catch a few.

At first, Shen Jin couldn't catch it either, so Yan Yu taught him how to catch it a few times. After that, I was able to catch one or two Shen Jin on my own.

"Here, do you see that? There's a firefly over there, catch it!" Yan Yu directed Shen Jin from the side.

Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin rushed over to catch the firefly, but due to the sudden movement, he almost fell to the ground. Yan Yu quickly reached out to support him.

"You're lying to me. You can't catch fireflies like this at all," Shen Jin said, turning to look at Yan Yu.

Hearing Shen Jin's words, Yan Yu was both amused and exasperated.

"Who told you to just lunge at it? You're lucky you didn't fall," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin.

Shen Jin was immediately helpless.

Finally, the two caught a lot of fireflies and put them all in the bottle.

The bottle was filled with fireflies, making the whole bottle incredibly bright, almost like a small flashlight.

"Alright, it's getting late, and we've caught a lot of fireflies. Let's go back." Yan Yu said to Shen Jin when he saw that it was about time to go back.

This time, Shen Jin didn't cause any more trouble. Instead, he nodded and agreed to go back with Yan Yu.

So Yan Yu gave the bottle containing fireflies to Shen Jin, who then held the bottle and happily looked at the fireflies inside, clearly enamored with it.

Afterwards, Yan Yu led Shen Jin back into the cave, where the light emitted by the fireflies was beautiful.

They returned very late; most of the tomb raiders were already asleep.

Yan Yu then moved quietly and brought out the medicine that he had already prepared before leaving.

"Alright, let's finish our medicine before we go to sleep," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin.

Shen Jin looked at the medicine in front of him and immediately felt sad.

"Why do I still need to take medicine? Haven't I been taking it for a long time already?" Shen Jin said sullenly, sniffing the medicine. "I don't like the smell."

"You'll be fine after you drink it." Yan Yu touched Shen Jin's forehead. Seeing that he was being stubborn and didn't want to drink the medicine, he had no choice but to persuade him patiently. "Listen to me, drink it and then go to sleep, otherwise you'll feel uncomfortable."

After much coaxing and encouragement from Yan Yu, Shen Jin finally finished drinking it.

After drinking the medicine, Shen Jin felt completely exhausted, hanging his head listlessly, looking extremely aggrieved.

Yan Yu quickly hugged Shen Jin and gently comforted him.

"It's alright, you can go to sleep now, go to sleep." Yan Yu patted Shen Jin's back while coaxing him to sleep.

“Then you can sleep with me too,” Shen Jin said, looking at Yan Yu.

"Okay," Yan Yu replied, both amused and exasperated.

Just as Yan Yu was about to go to sleep, he seemed to suddenly remember something and carefully got up, avoiding touching Chen Jin.

Then, Yan Yu took the bottle containing the fireflies and poked a few holes in it to allow the fireflies to breathe.

Otherwise, if they are left unattended all night, the fireflies may not survive the next day. If Shen Jin wakes up the next morning and finds that all the fireflies are dead, he will definitely be very sad.

So he tried to make the fireflies live longer.

After poking holes in the bottle, Yan Yu picked a few leaves from the ground and put them into the bottle.

He didn't understand these things, so he just made do with it, not knowing if it would be of any use. After all, he had never been interested in fireflies before, nor had he ever caught fireflies with anyone.

Yan Yu was momentarily dazed, feeling that those memories related to Shen Jin were truly beautiful.

Shen Jin had been acting recklessly all day, and his illness hadn't gotten better yet. He was very tired now, and he almost fell asleep the moment he lay down, but when Yan Yu got up, he opened his eyes blankly again.

"What are you doing?" Shen Jin rubbed his eyes and looked at Yan Yu, wondering what he was doing in the middle of the night.

Yan Yu smiled slightly and explained to Shen Jin, "I was afraid it would die by the next morning, so I poked several holes in the bottle they had poked and put some leaves in. I hope it will be of some use."

Shen Jin stared intently at the bottle in Yan Yu's hand.

"Oh, I didn't know that," Shen Jin said, taking the bottle from Yan Yu. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Yan Yuwei smiled slightly.

Shen Jin placed the bottle containing fireflies next to the two of them, then continued to hug Yan Yu, burying her head in Yan Yu's arms.

"Hold me, don't go anymore." Shen Jin gently rubbed his head against Yan Yu's chest and said, "I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep."

Chen Jin's voice had a slight nasal tone, indicating that he was very sleepy.

Yan Yu nuzzled his hair, kissed it gently, and chuckled softly, "Okay, I won't leave. You can go to sleep."

"Okay, okay..." Shen Jin responded and then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

As the night deepened, the fireflies in the cave continued to emit a soft glow, which was very beautiful. Beside the fireflies, the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms, a beautiful and warm scene.

Yan Yu didn't know how long this brief and beautiful happiness would last; he only wanted to cherish every minute and second as much as possible...