Chapter 193 Taking an Inch and a Mile: Getting Closer to the Ashes
Upon hearing the tomb raider's words, Yan Yu's expression instantly changed, his heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat seemed to break out on his palms.
Yan Yu blinked, somewhat bewildered.
Immediately afterwards, Yan Yu began to have a lot of random thoughts.
It has to be said that this possibility is quite high, after all, Shen Jin's attitude was already off this morning, and he has obviously changed a lot.
He had always thought that Shen Jin was feeling unwell, but now that he thought about it, even if Shen Jin really was feeling unwell, he would definitely have hugged him and complained that he was uncomfortable.
Today, Shen Jin seemed reluctant to talk to him, and even avoided looking at him.
As Yan Yu thought about it, he became increasingly panicked, and he felt that it was very likely that what he thought was true.
If Shen Jin had truly regained consciousness, then he treated him the same way he had treated Shen Jin when he was delirious from a fever. Yan Yu's face paled even more instantly.
For a moment, Yan Yu was also unsure how to face Shen Jin. Would Shen Jin blame him for what he did?
"Didn't you say you were coming to help?" Shen Jin's voice suddenly rang in Yan Yu's ears.
Upon hearing Shen Jin's voice, Yan Yu was startled and turned around, only to see Shen Jin walking towards him: "You..."
Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin, unsure of what to say.
Especially after hearing the tomb raider's guess, Yan Yu also began to feel uneasy and secretly glanced at him.
"Yes... I'm going to help now." Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin for a while before coming back to his senses and answered Shen Jin nervously.
Although he couldn't be sure if Shen Jin was truly awake, he had become much more restrained, cautiously probing and behaving much more subdued.
He didn't dare ask directly whether Shen Jin had recovered. He could only speculate and observe.
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin nodded without saying a word.
“Then I’ll go help too,” Shen Jin said to Yan Yu.
After saying that, Shen Jin turned and walked towards the tomb raiders. Yan Yu came to his senses and quickly followed.
Upon seeing Yan Yu and Shen Jin arrive, those who were discussing Shen Jin immediately stopped talking and ceased their conversation.
"What are you doing here?" one of the tomb raiders asked.
"See if there's anything we can help you with," Yan Yu replied with a smile.
As he spoke, Yan Yu cautiously glanced at Shen Jin beside him, trying to glean some clue from Shen Jin's expression, but he couldn't discern anything.
"There's nothing for you to do. You can all go have fun. Ah Jin is still sick, so he doesn't need to work." The tomb raider quickly replied to Yan Yu.
"It's alright, I'll help you." Although he was refused, Yan Yu's hands didn't stop, and he immediately started doing something.
Shen Jin also started to help.
Seeing that the two were so eager to help, the tomb raider didn't say anything more and assigned them some simple tasks.
Yan Yu was always distracted while working, his mind preoccupied with whether or not he had recovered.
Meanwhile, Shen Jin was also wondering how to tell Yan Yu that he had regained consciousness.
It wasn't appropriate to ask directly, so Yan Yu decided to try to guess through some means. Thus, the two of them packed their things, each with their own thoughts.
Before long, Yan Yu had finished packing and immediately went to help Chen Jin.
"Let me help you," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin as he approached Shen Jin.
After saying that, Yan Yu reached out to help Shen Jin pack up his things. As he reached out, Yan Yu casually observed Shen Jin for a while, and his fingers gently touched Shen Jin's hand.
The two bumped into each other, and Shen Jin's body immediately froze.
Immediately afterwards, Shen Jin dodged Yan Yu's hand and did not touch him again.
At this moment, Yan Yu believed more strongly that Shen Jin was awake. Shen Jin might really be awake now, otherwise, Shen Jin's first reaction to being touched like this shouldn't have been to dodge.
After that, the two of them silently helped the tomb raiders without saying anything. Yan Yu became more and more guilty, after all, he now felt that Shen Jin was more sober.
During this time, Shen Jin worked silently without speaking to Yan Yu, and Yan Yu did not dare to speak to Shen Jin either, constantly wondering what state Shen Jin was in.
The two of them, each with their own thoughts, helped the tomb raiders.
Before long, the tomb raider had almost finished doing what they needed to do.
After finishing, Yan Yu looked at the person again: "Is there anything else we can help you with?"
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, the man turned around and glanced at them.
"It's alright, you guys finished so quickly? Okay, okay, you guys go have some fun, we're leaving soon." The tomb raider smiled at the two of them and said.
Upon hearing the man's words, Yan Yu nodded in response and said nothing more.
Then, the tomb raider continued, "You can go and pack up the things you want to take with you. Get rid of anything you don't want. We'll meet here in ten minutes to prepare to leave."
“Okay.” Yan Yu nodded in reply.
The tomb raider smiled and turned to do his own thing, while Yan Yu reached out and grasped Shen Jin's hand, smiling at him.
"Let's go, let's pack our things too," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin with a smile.
He hesitated for a long time before daring to reach out and hold Chen Jin's hand.
Since we couldn't be sure if Shen Jin had regained consciousness, we could only test him in this way.
The moment Yan Yu took his hand, Shen Jin froze, his back stiffened, and he subconsciously wanted to break free from Yan Yu's hand. But after thinking about it, he forced himself to hold back and squeezed Yan Yu's hand back.
Yan Yu lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Although Shen Jin didn't reject him and let him hold his hand, he truly felt Shen Jin's initial struggle.
Therefore, if Shen Jin has regained consciousness but is still pretending not to, this possibility is even greater.
"Let's go." Shen Jin smiled slightly and answered Yan Yu.
However, his smile seemed a little stiff.
Upon hearing Shen Jin's words, Yan Yu quickly nodded: "Okay."
Then, Yan Yu took Shen Jin's hand and walked forward.
Although Shen Jin may have regained consciousness, he has not yet rejected him, so it is also possible that he is not truly awake.
Yan Yu decided to test the waters a little more before making a decision.
Afterwards, the two packed up their belongings, preparing to leave soon.
Shen Jin finished packing his things and his finger stopped on the bottle next to him. The bottle was full of fireflies, which he and Yan Yu had caught the night before.
The bottle had many holes and contained some leaves. Yan Yu made it because he was afraid the fireflies would die and he would be sad.
At this moment, Yan Yu also noticed the fireflies. Seeing that Shen Jin was staring at them, he chuckled and said, "Since we're leaving anyway, let's release them. Otherwise, their families will worry."
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin realized what was happening and looked up at him.
After a long silence, Shen Jin nodded and smiled, "Okay, let's go together."
Yan Yu responded and reached out to take Shen Jin's hand again. This time, Shen Jin did not dodge and let Yan Yu hold his hand. However, Yan Yu could still sense that Shen Jin was acting somewhat unnaturally, and his eyes were wandering around instead of looking at him.
The two of them went together to the place where they had caught fireflies the day before.
Shen Jin took the bottle, opened the cap, and all the fireflies inside immediately flew out. Many fireflies flew out of the bottle, creating a somewhat beautiful scene.
Shen Jin stood there watching all the fireflies fly out, and couldn't help but reach out and touch them.
After a moment, Shen Jin smiled slightly, recalling the time he had caught fireflies with Yan Yu the night before.
At first, the two of them couldn't catch any fireflies, but they eventually found some tricks and began to catch them gradually.
As he thought about it, Shen Jin couldn't help but chuckle.
At this moment, Shen Jin inadvertently shifted his gaze and realized that Yan Yu was staring at him.
Shen Jin's smile froze instantly.
After a moment, Shen Jin awkwardly suppressed his smile, looked away, and stopped looking at Yan Yu.
Yan Yu noticed the change in Shen Jin's expression, but said nothing. He simply chuckled softly, "You look very handsome when you smile."
Hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin pursed his lips and smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"Alright, the fireflies have been released. Let's go and meet up with them," Shen Jin mumbled to Yan Yu.
After saying that, Shen Jin turned to leave.
Yan Yu quickly followed, becoming even more certain that Shen Jin was indeed very different from yesterday.
The two of them arrived at the place where the tomb raiders had agreed to meet. When they arrived, the tomb raiders were already waiting there.
"You've arrived. We've been waiting for you for a long time. Let's set off." One of the tomb raiders saw them and spoke to them.
"Okay," Yan Yu replied.
So the group of tomb raiders set off to head to the next mountain.
A group of people were walking in the mountains. Most of the tomb raiders were walking in front, while Shen Jin and Yan Yu were walking behind.
Shen Jin felt a little awkward walking with Yan Yu and didn't know what to do. Yan Yu was basically certain that Shen Jin had recovered, so he didn't dare to talk to Shen Jin either.
The two remained silent, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Shen Jin remained silent for a long time, still feeling somewhat awkward, and wanted to walk with the others.
Therefore, Shen Jin deliberately distanced himself from Yan Yu and associated with the tomb raiders.
Seeing Shen Jin's actions, Yan Yu was slightly taken aback, and a sense of disappointment immediately welled up in his heart.
However, no matter how disappointed Yan Yu was, he didn't say anything, but immediately followed after them.
Yan Yu came to Shen Jin's side and walked alongside him in silence, without saying a word.
Seeing Yan Yu approach, Shen Jin frowned slightly but said nothing.
After all, he was still pretending to be stupid, and if he acted too obviously, Yan Yu would definitely see through him.
To be honest, he really wanted to tell Yan Yu that he had regained consciousness, but every time he saw Yan Yu, he didn't know what to say or where to begin.
Shen Jin felt that the relationship between the two of them had become somewhat complicated.
The two walked together like that.
After hesitating for a long time, Yan Yu tentatively asked Shen Jin beside him, "Um, do you remember what you told me yesterday?"
"What did you say?" Shen Jin glanced at Yan Yu and asked.
Yan Yu hesitated for a moment again.
After a long pause, Yan Yu finally spoke, "It was... the wish you made when we were looking at the stars together..."
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin was momentarily stunned.
He remembered that on the day he looked at the stars, his wish was to be with Yan Yu forever.
Shen Jin remained silent for a while, then turned to look at Yan Yu, who was staring intently at him, waiting for his reply.
"I... I don't seem to remember very well. I took a nap and forgot what happened last night," Shen Jin said after hesitating for a moment.
Upon hearing Shen Jin's answer, Yan Yu was immediately stunned.
Based on this one answer, Yan Yu was basically certain that the current Shen Jin was the Shen Jin who had regained consciousness.
For a moment, Yan Yu's feelings were mixed.
Sure enough, his worst fears came true.
When Shen Jin had a high fever and was somewhat delirious, she would cling to him at all times and couldn't be separated from him for even a moment.
At that time, he was worried about what he would do if Shen Jin returned to normal. Now that Shen Jin had regained his senses, he suddenly felt timid and didn't even dare to talk to Shen Jin.
"What's wrong?" Shen Jin asked, noticing that Yan Yu's expression seemed a bit strange.
Upon hearing Shen Jin's words, Yan Yu quickly snapped out of his daze, looked at Shen Jin, and smiled.
"It's alright, if you forgot... then forget it, it's not important." Yan Yu didn't expose Shen Jin and spoke to him with a smile.
He was certain that Shen Jin was conscious, but he didn't know why Shen Jin wouldn't tell him.
Yan Yu was in a state of turmoil. He didn't know what Shen Jin was thinking, or whether Shen Jin was still willing to accept him...
This feeling made Yan Yu's heart particularly uneasy.
However, since Shen Jin pretended not to know, he would also pretend not to know, otherwise he really wouldn't know how to face Shen Jin.
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin lowered his eyes and responded with a soft "Mm".
Afterwards, Shen Jin continued walking without speaking to Yan Yu again, while Yan Yu silently followed beside Shen Jin.
Knowing he couldn't shake off Yan Yu, Shen Jin stopped walking towards the tomb raiders and let Yan Yu follow him.
Yan Yu looked at Shen Jin and wanted to talk to him several times, but he held back in the end.
If Shen Jin has recovered, but hasn't said so, does that mean he still has some hope...?
Thinking of this, Yan Yu mustered his courage and reached out to grasp Shen Jin's hand.
Anyway, he pretended not to know that Shen Jin had recovered and treated Shen Jin the same way he had before.
Suddenly, Yan Yu grabbed Shen Jin's hand, causing Shen Jin to pause. He looked at Yan Yu, who was stunned by the gaze Shen Jin was giving him, feeling extremely guilty.
"Um... the road is a bit difficult to walk on, let me hold your hand," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin somewhat guiltily.
Shen Jin withdrew his gaze without speaking or withdrawing his hand.
He was too embarrassed to just pull it out like that.
Yan Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The two walked hand in hand for a while. When the tomb raiders in front saw the two walking hand in hand so intimately, they tacitly turned around and continued walking. They were all very sensible and did not disturb them. They even walked a little faster to give the two of them more space.
Shen Jin felt a little awkward being led by Yan Yu, and kept thinking of what other reason he could come up with to pull himself out.
"Um, it's too hot, my hand is sweating." Shen Jin thought for a long time before saying to Yan Yu.
After saying that, Shen Jin pulled his hand out of Yan Yu's hand.
Yan Yu looked at his empty hands and felt a little disappointed.
After pulling his hand away, Shen Jin subconsciously quickened his pace and walked forward.
Yan Yu hesitated for a moment, then followed and came to the other side of Shen Jin, reaching out to grasp Shen Jin's other hand.
"Then I'll hold this hand," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin with a smile, but somewhat cautiously.
"...Whatever you want." Shen Jin said helplessly.
"...Are you finding me too annoying?" Yan Yu hesitated for a moment before asking again, extremely nervous.
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin was stunned for a moment, unsure of how to respond. The chaotic scenes from yesterday were still vivid in his mind, making it difficult for him to face Yan Yu.
"No," Shen Jin replied, managing only a forced smile.
Yan Yu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he didn't know if Shen Jin was sincere, Yan Yu was still somewhat happy. After all, Shen Jin wasn't very resistant to him yet, so he felt that he still had hope.
As long as there is a glimmer of hope, he will continue to work hard.
The two continued walking. This time, Shen Jin really couldn't find any reason to break free from Yan Yu's hand, because Yan Yu was afraid that he would get hot, so he would switch hands to hold his every now and then.
"Are you thirsty?" Yan Yu suddenly asked Shen Jin.
Shen Jin shook his head: "I'm not thirsty."
Yan Yu had already taken a bottle of water he had brought that morning from his backpack and handed it to Shen Jin. Shen Jin glanced at Yan Yu, feeling somewhat speechless.
“I won’t drink,” Shen Jin said to Yan Yu. “There’s no need for that.”
Hearing Shen Jin's words, Yan Yu hesitated for a moment, but still handed the water to Shen Jin.
"It's so hot, you should drink some water," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin.
Seeing Yan Yu's persistence, Shen Jin had no choice but to take the water Yan Yu handed him, open it, and take a sip.
Seeing that Shen Jin had drunk it, Yan Yu immediately smiled, like a child.
Shen Jin looked at Yan Yu's smile, his eyes flickering slightly.
Soon, Shen Jin shifted his gaze and returned the water in his hand to Yan Yu.
"Why don't you have some too?" Shen Jin said to Yan Yu somewhat awkwardly.
"Okay." Yan Yu nodded happily in response.
The group continued walking forward until almost noon.
The tomb raiders ahead stopped.
"Yan Yu, A Jin! Come and have lunch. We'll continue our journey after we eat." Someone waved and called out to the two of them.
"Okay." Yan Yu quickly replied, holding Chen Jin's hand and speeding up.
Everyone stopped and took a break.
The tomb raiders took out some dry food and wild fruits they had picked earlier for lunch.
"Alright, everyone, eat more. After you finish eating, rest for a bit before continuing your journey. You've all worked hard," someone said to everyone.
The tomb raiders had been walking all morning and were all hungry, so they started eating lunch.
Chen Jin picked up a piece of bread and started eating it.
While eating bread, Shen Jin was thinking about other things. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, unfocused, and only his mouth was moving stiffly.
Yan Yu ate his dry rations while watching Shen Jin, whose lips were covered in breadcrumbs.
After hesitating for a moment, Yan Yu moved closer to Chen Jin.
"You have something on your lips, let me wipe it off for you," Yan Yu said to Shen Jin.
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin instantly snapped out of his daze and looked at Yan Yu.
Yan Yu had already reached out to wipe the bread crumbs from the corner of his mouth, and Shen Jin was immediately stunned.
"Alright." Yan Yu withdrew his hand and smiled at Shen Jin.
Shen Jin pursed his lips and remained silent.
Yan Yu merely licked the fingers that had just been wiping things for him, intentionally or unintentionally, right in front of him.
Seeing Yan Yu's actions, Shen Jin felt extremely awkward and speechless, not knowing what to say. He could only pretend not to see it and silently shift his gaze away from Yan Yu.
"Is your bread delicious?" Yan Yu continued to try and strike up a conversation with Shen Jin.
"It's alright," Shen Jin replied casually.
“Um… mine tastes better, would you like to try some?” Yan Yu asked Shen Jin tentatively.
Upon hearing Yan Yu's words, Shen Jin looked up at him, and Yan Yu was looking at him expectantly.
"Want me to feed you?" Yan Yu asked again when he saw Shen Jin looking over.
"No need," Shen Jin replied, withdrawing his gaze.
Seeing Shen Jin's reaction, Yan Yu immediately felt somewhat disappointed.
"You should eat mine. You're still sick, and eating that will affect your recovery." Yan Yu was so anxious that he made up a random excuse.
"..." Shen Jin said helplessly, "It's just bread, what impact could it have?"
"Yes, yes, the bread contains a lot of things that can cause internal heat, and you still have a fever." Yan Yu nodded quickly in response.
Shen Jin was utterly speechless.
“Right, I was right, I’ll feed you mine.” Yan Yu quickly continued.
As he spoke, Yan Yu fed Shen Jin the lunch he was holding.
Unable to resist Yan Yu's persistent advances, Shen Jin had no choice but to open his mouth and eat the food Yan Yu fed him.
Seeing that Shen Jin had eaten his food, Yan Yu was overjoyed.
"Is it delicious?" Yan Yu asked with a smile.
"Mm," Shen Jin responded.
Although his attitude seemed more distant, Yan Yu was still very happy.
"Then eat more." Yan Yu's joy was evident on his face as he stared intently into Shen Jin's eyes. Shen Jin felt awkward under his gaze and could only look away.
Yan Yu saw hope again and secretly thought to himself, "Could I... push my luck a little further and get a little closer to Shen Jin?"
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