Chapter 118: Choice Tangled

The wedding only took one day, but the sailing trip lasted three days and two nights.

The guests were extremely excited about the romantic sea journey that would take place at a newly developed island. After the wedding banquet, the focus of everyone's discussion was on the island. Few people were interested in the old husband and young wife who were being sent to the bridal chamber.

We were interested and just talked about some gossip, but we didn't have much desire to discuss what would happen tonight.

At least there's no expectation of any unexpected events.

In the silent room, Gu Jiaying sat nervously on the edge of the bed, watching Dai Zhourong pour him a glass of wine.

At that moment, he thought of many scenarios where he would be poisoned or drugged, but when he thought about it, since they were already married, it seemed unnecessary. Besides, even if he did so, what could he do?

He glanced at the closed door, finally took a deep breath, tilted his head back and drank the wine in one gulp.

The alcohol content was lower than he had imagined, and it seemed to have a hint of sweetness. In short, it was not difficult to drink.

Probably I won’t get drunk, which means I don’t have to worry about not being able to wake up tomorrow.

He didn't find any opportunity to talk to Lin Guantang alone all day today, so he could only hope for tomorrow. As for tonight... just think of it as being bitten by a dog.

Gu Jiaying started to daydream and looked around, then he saw Dai Zhourong also picked up the wine glass, but before drinking, he took out a pill.

Then he swallowed it himself and drank the wine in one gulp.

He looked at the wine glass again, as if thinking about something, and said slowly:

"I will do what I promised you."

What did you promise?

Gu Jiaying didn't react for a moment, then he met Dai Zhourong's half-smile looking at him, and suddenly he shuddered all over, remembering what this meant.

That is to say... everything he wants to know, marriage will let him know.

Of course, Gu Jiaying would not believe such nonsense, but since he was discovered to be the first to explore the secret and was not stopped, he would continue with this work.

Just as Lin Guantang said, maybe Dai Zhourong really didn't take him seriously. When he found the uninhabited villa covered with thorns and weeds, a group of people appeared and took him away, but didn't do anything to him.

It was like a game of cat and mouse. Not eating, just playing, but it made Gu Jiaying even more frightened. He reached out and pressed his neck. Hanging under the expensive necklace was the plastic necklace that Lin Guantang had given him.

That seemed to reassure him a little, and then he forced a smile and said:

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

Before he finished speaking, Dai Zhourong laughed, as if mocking his stupidity:

"I also know what you did, and I also know why you chose to travel so far."

Gu Jiaying's whole body stiffened.

The reason the guests spread the word was, of course, that Dai Zhourong agreed to his request to get married on the cruise ship in order to please his new wife.

But Gu Jiaying just wanted to buy a little more time.

We should give people time to thoroughly search those suspicious places. Since Dai Zhourong is not here, those who go to search can act more freely.

After he found the villa, he discussed it with Lin Guantang, who told him to arrange the wedding venue as far away as possible, because he needed to find someone to go to the villa for a detailed inspection while they were getting married.

Lin Guantang just conveyed this demand, and then Gu Jiaying decided to have a wedding directly at sea, and extended the time to three days and two nights, which was more ample than just one night.

In this way, even if Dai Zhourong noticed something and wanted to rush over, it would be much more difficult in the vast ocean.

"Good boy, you want to give me a surprise, so I'll give you a surprise too, how about that?"

As he spoke, Dai Zhourong walked towards him step by step. Gu Jiaying hurriedly climbed onto the bed, trying to avoid his approach.

No matter how much mental preparation one has put in, once one is about to have intimate physical contact with an old man whom one already dislikes, one still subconsciously wants to dodge.

Dai Zhourong seemed to be tripped and suddenly fell forward, then he put his hand on his heart, his whole body twisted in pain. His face, which was already wrinkled, became even more terrifying due to the twisting of pain.

What's wrong?

Gu Jiaying wanted to take a careful look over there, but after taking a step forward, his legs and feet suddenly went weak, and he fell onto the bed. The only thing that came to his mind was, "There's something wrong with the wine," and he passed out.

Then, the alarm in the room rang shrilly.

Within a few minutes, medical staff rushed over, asked someone to open the door, and carried both people out of the room.

The final diagnosis was that Dai Zhourong was too excited and his old illness relapsed. He needed to be sent back to the hospital on shore for treatment as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

Of course, that was something that could not be concealed from others, but it seemed there was nothing to hide. At Dai Zhourong's age, it was normal for him to have some health problems. And he looked painful, his face was iron-gray, and even his lips were pale and purple. That was a scene that many people saw, and it was definitely not fake.

So he was sent away almost in everyone's sympathetic gaze.

Of course, the unconscious Gu Jiaying was also sent away.

He fainted from fright, but it didn't cause any commotion - the groom might have suddenly fallen ill on their wedding night, or maybe he got sick while doing that kind of thing, so it was considered brave of him not to be frightened to death.

The guests were talking and joking, but no one was genuinely worried about their safety since they wouldn't die anyway.

"It's better not to marry an old man easily."

Yuan Wenjun leaned on the railing, watching the speedboat speeding through the waves, and couldn't help but sigh:

"This is too easy to cause trouble. Getting sick on your wedding night is such bad luck."

It’s not that Lin Guantang disagreed with her point of view, but as he also looked at the receding shadow, he always felt uneasy and had an inexplicable sense of crisis.

Naturally, he thought of the countless shipwreck films he had seen, and suddenly he shuddered, and a creepy idea popped into his mind.

Especially after he found that he could no longer contact Ding Ruize.

Ding Ruize just disguised himself and took a walk around the boat before sailing. After being recognized by Lin Guantang, he got off the boat when there were many people around to help him explore the villa.

Is the inability to contact you because there is no system or signal in the villa, or is it due to other reasons?

The Dai family evacuated in a hurry. Was it because the head of the family was seriously ill, or because they discovered something unusual, or... was there going to be an accident on the ship?

Countless speculations raced through his mind. Lin Guantang immediately stood up straight, turned abruptly, took a few quick steps, then stopped and turned to look at Yuan Wenjun and Pu Xinglan, asking:

"Do you know where I can check—or who I can contact—to confirm that the ship's life-saving equipment is intact?"

In short, let’s start by asking the ship we are on.

It's just that his question seemed puzzling to others, but it's not difficult to answer. It's just that it's a bit difficult to operate. After all, it's not their boat. If he asked to see other people's life-saving equipment without any reason, he would probably be given a hard time.

Fortunately, Jian Yinglai and his group also came over. After hearing their conversation, they directly found a contact and helped confirm the situation.

What can I say? They are indeed one of the top famous families in the imperial capital, and their words are very effective.

Lin Guantang and his group found an empty guest room to wait.

As a result, the life-saving equipment and even other aspects on the ship were all checked, and it turned out that there were no problems. The crew members who were called to check were shocked and wondered what was wrong.

Lin Guantang breathed a sigh of relief and told the others to rest assured for the time being - although he didn't think there would be any problems, it was still a pleasure to confirm that everything was intact.

Yuan Wenjun couldn't help but tease Lin Guantang:

"Haitang, you're not really thinking that something might happen to our ship, and the life-saving equipment won't work, and we'll have to escape at sea."

After saying this, he made two "Pooh" sounds and quickly reminded himself not to say such unlucky words.

Jian Yinglai also smiled and said:

"If anything happens to the people on the boat, the Dai family can't afford to pay the compensation."

Of course, he understood what Lin Guantang was really worried about. It was not that the ship would have an accident, but that the owner Dai Zhourong suddenly left with his men. Was he planning to sabotage the ship and escape alone?

This is a bit scary, but there is no need to worry.

Not to mention how many of the people on the ship are relatives or friends of the Dai family who are related by blood or have vested interests, excluding personal relationships, most of the guests are either rich or noble. What's more, if Jian Yinglai and You Guangyu, who are descendants of famous families in the imperial capital, really had accidents because of this voyage, then no matter how Dai Zhourong argued that it had nothing to do with him and that he got off the ship because he was sick, he would not be able to survive alone.

So Lin Guantang was completely worrying about nothing.

Lin Guantang also came back to his senses at this time. He had thought too much, but he did not feel relieved just because he had checked everything and found no problems. Instead, after a brief period of calm, he became even more uneasy and indescribable.

He finally made up his mind, looked around at the people around him, and said:

"I want to go back."

"Are you sure? It's late."

Jian Yinglai looked at him, then looked at the dark waves outside the boat.

Although the moon is very bright and full tonight, it is definitely not a good time to travel at night.

Others also tried to dissuade him, asking him if there was something urgent that required him to go back. Even if he really wanted to go back, he could wait until dawn.

But the more others persuaded him, the more determined Lin Guantang became, without any hesitation at all.

In the end, they had no choice but to find him a lifeboat and send him back.

While waiting for the materials to be deployed, Jian Yinglai said with emotion during a casual chat:

"I suddenly feel like I gave you the wrong books. Xiaolin, have you read the set of books I gave you?"

He was talking about "The Heart of Haze", which Lin Guantang had of course read.

It was only after Lin Guantang read the complete set of books given to him by Jian Yinglai, including all the information about the life of Chi Zhongsu, the author of Heart of Mist, that he realized that Chi Zhongsu was not as beautiful as advertised on the Internet, an aristocrat of the old era who calmly went to his death, nor was he as wonderful as constructed in the simulated world, but a gentle and elegant doctor.

He is irritable and always hesitant. He even misses every right choice because he always thinks too much at various important crossroads and cannot make decisions immediately.

Perhaps the biography was too full of self-blame, so all the faults, related or not, were linked to himself - in short, after reading it, even though Lin Guantang knew that everything was due to the cruelty of the end of the world, and even if he made another choice, he could not avoid death, but if he only looked at the issues recorded in the book, it would be easy to feel that all the sorrow of life and death he experienced in the end of the world seemed to be caused by the author's various entanglements.

Even at the last moment, he had clearly survived the apocalypse. He could choose to rely on a new empire, or choose to live in another region.

Although the empire has unified 35 districts, it only has a general plan. Each district has its own rules and does not completely follow the pace of the imperial capital. The most typical of these is the Fugan District. It has developed to the point where it can almost compete with the imperial capital. People joke that it is just carrying the name of the empire like the imperial capital, but in fact it is on par with the imperial capital.

For example, the system promotion suitable for civilians is just a decoration in Fugan District.

This is the situation today, but back then, the two sides had already gone their separate ways.

But that does not affect the fact that after the end of the apocalypse, everyone can settle down and live a normal and good life. If you like the imperial capital, go to areas that are friendly to the imperial capital. If you don’t like being controlled too strictly by the imperial capital, go to places far away from the imperial capital.

In short, no matter which option you choose, in the initial period, the empire was not so strict about official records of population movement, and it could not spare the extra energy to deal with this first.

But Chi Zhongsu was torn between two situations. In the area covered by the imperial capital, he lamented the freedom of other areas, and in the areas that had bad relations with the imperial capital, he lamented the security of the imperial capital. He was simply caught in a dilemma.

As expected, he was disliked by almost everyone and was even driven out.

At that time, he was frail and old, with no one to rely on. Finally, he committed suicide in the middle of a foggy night.

Perhaps it should be said that it is a sad, pitiful, yet ridiculous life.