Chapter 13 The Shadow Behind the Photo
——＜A dividing line in the past＞
Time seemed to be stretched into a century.
Huo Shen's gaze, as if it were real, fell on the small photo on the carpet. The violence and irritation on his face froze in an instant, then transformed into an extremely complex emotion - shock, disbelief, and a hint of... cold murderous intent, as if his reverse scale had been touched.
Su Yan's heart almost jumped out of his chest. He subconsciously held his breath and didn't even dare to blink.
Huo Shen didn't bend down to pick it up immediately. Instead, he slowly, extremely slowly, raised his head and looked at Su Yan on the sofa. His eyes were no longer scrutinizing, but rather comparing, like confirming an absurd fact. His gaze flickered back and forth between Su Yan's face and the photo on the ground. With each glance, the air around him grew colder.
Su Yan was horrified by his gaze, a fear deeper than being treated as a "toy" gripping him. This photo seemed to have touched upon a forbidden area of Huo Shen's mind.
Finally, Huo Shen bent down and picked up the photo. His movements were gentle, his fingertips even holding a subtle sense of cherishment, a stark contrast to the violent manner in which he had just smashed things. He gently brushed away the nonexistent dust on the photo with his fingertips, his eyes dark and unclear.
Then, he looked at Su Yan again, his voice terribly low and calm, with a sense of impending storm: "What did you see?"
This was a fatal question. Admitting to seeing it meant peeping into his deepest secrets. Denying seeing it would seem foolish and ridiculous in the face of Huo Shen's insight.
Su Yan's brain was working rapidly. In a flash, he chose an answer that seemed the most clumsy, but possibly the most effective - showing weakness and being honest.
He pinched his thigh hard, his eyes instantly reddened, and his voice trembled with real fear: "I... I saw a photo... The person in it... seemed a bit like me... Mr. Huo, I... I didn't mean it, I was just... scared..."
He attributed his reaction to the photo to surprise and fear caused by the "portrait", perfectly avoiding the exploration of the content of the photo itself and keeping his own attitude to a minimum.
Huo Shen stared at his tearful face, then looked at the photo in his hand. The murderous intent in his eyes was gradually replaced by something deeper and more complicated. He didn't say anything, just holding the photo and walking towards Su Yan step by step.
Every step felt like stepping on Su Yan's heart.
He stood in front of Su Yan, holding up the photo and placing it next to Su Yan's face, comparing them closely. Their breathing almost blended, and Su Yan could clearly see the young man's flying eyebrows and bright smile in the photo, which formed a cruel contrast with his own panic expression at the moment.
"Are they similar?" Huo Shen asked in a low voice, his tone lacking any emotion.
Su Yan didn't dare to nod or shake his head, but just looked at him helplessly.
Huo Shen suddenly smiled, but there was no warmth in that smile, only endless desolation and irony: "Yeah, it really looks like him... Unfortunately, you are not him."
This sentence, like a key, instantly opened a corner of Pandora's box.
Who was the person in the photo? Why did he look so much like him? Could Huo Shen's unusual interest and obsession with him be simply because of... this face?
An absurd and chilling guess formed in Su Yan's mind: the reason why Huo Shen targeted him, perhaps from the very beginning, was not because of what he did, but because he looked like someone extremely important to Huo Shen!
Is he a double? A substitute, a shadowy presence?
This realization made him feel more humiliated and cold than just being a "toy".
Huo Shen took the photo back and carefully placed it back in the safe. This time, he made sure to lock it tightly. When he turned around again, all the emotional fluctuations on his face had disappeared, and he had returned to his usual unfathomable calm, as if the previous loss of composure was just an illusion.
"Forget about what happened today." He walked up to Su Yan, lifted his chin, and said in an unquestionable tone, "That photo and what I said, all rot in your stomach. Do you understand?"
Su Yan nodded hurriedly.
Huo Shen gave him a deep look, his eyes seeming to see through him to another person. Then, he loosened his hand, his tone regaining its usual sense of control: "I will handle the matter of 'Prometheus'. You stay put for the next few days and don't go anywhere."
After saying that, he turned and left the study, leaving Su Yan alone, slumped on the sofa, his whole body cold.
A huge amount of information hit his brain. The possibility of a substitute, Huo Shen's unknown past, and the "inside ghost" who leaked the secrets... all of this intertwined to form a larger and more dangerous web.
But he also realized that this unexpected photo might be... a breakthrough. Huo Shen's momentary loss of composure proved that this "shadow" had a profound impact on him.
He is no longer the cannon fodder who knows nothing and can only passively endure. He has seen a glimmer of truth, even though this glimmer may lead to deeper darkness.
He needed to know who that young man was and what had happened between him and Huo Shen.
Just when Su Yan was at a loss as to where to start, a few days later, an unexpected person contacted him. The name flashing on the phone screen was Lin Qingyu.
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