Zhou Baiyu subconsciously hid the knife behind his back, his face still bearing that gentle smile: "Yaoyao, what brings you here?"
Xie Shuyao didn't speak. Her gaze fell on the bloodstains on Zhou Baiyu's cheek, then slowly fell on the tabby cat hiding in the corner, growling warily in their direction. Her vision blurred.
If she still harbored a sliver of hope before finding Zhou Baiyu, this scene has now completely shattered that hope.
The thought that Tuantuan might have suffered such inhuman torture filled Xie Shuyao with heartache and anger, and she trembled all over. She gritted her teeth and asked, "Zhou Baiyu, what are you doing?"
"Yaoyao, you...you listen to my explanation, things aren't as they seem." Zhou Baiyu instinctively tried to argue.
Xie Shuyao stared intently at him: "Okay, I'll listen to your explanation. Go ahead."
Her words left Zhou Baiyu speechless, since anyone with eyes could see what had happened there.
We also know what he did; all explanations are pale and powerless in the face of facts.
Xie Shuyao sneered, her bloodshot eyes filled with deep sarcasm: "Can't say anything now, huh? Zhou Baiyu, you disgust me!"
"I'm telling you, we're finished!"
“No, Yao Yao, I…” Zhou Baiyu gritted his teeth, knelt down in front of Xie Shuyao with a thud, threw the knife aside, and slapped his own face hard.
His sudden movement made Xie Shuyao instinctively take a few steps back.
With red eyes and a pained, repentant expression, Zhou Baiyu looked at Xie Shuyao and said, "I'm sorry, Yao Yao. I was a beast. I... I don't know what happened to me."
"When I went out and chased after that beast, it scratched me. I got emotional and..."
"I'm a bastard! I'm a beast! I...I...I've let you down, Yao Yao. Don't be afraid, I swear I'll never do anything like this again!"
He crawled forward on his knees, his eyes red, and reached out to grasp Xie Shuyao's hand, pleading with her in a choked voice, "Please, give me another chance, okay?"
Tuantuan, perched on Xie Shuyao's shoulder, spun around anxiously, shouting in her ear, "Mommy, don't forgive him! He's just pretending to be pitiful to get your sympathy! Don't forgive him, meow!"
Xie Shuyao looked down at the man she had known for many years, forcefully shook off his hand, and quickly took a step back, her face full of disgust: "No way! I won't be with someone who doesn't respect life, and I won't be with a cat abuser! And I'll ask you one more time..."
"Tuantuan, did she really get lost, or... did you kill her?"
Zhou Baiyu never expected that even after he knelt down and begged, Xie Shuyao would not only not forgive him, but would also still care about that beast who had been on the run for several years. A flash of anger crossed his eyes.
"I..." He opened his mouth, about to speak, when Nan Yuanman, who was standing aside watching him ramble on and on about a bunch of nonsense, couldn't help but take out a truth-telling talisman and throw it at him.
The truth talisman was slapped against Zhou Baiyu's back. The next moment, he continued, "So what if I killed him?"
A sudden buzzing sound came from Xie Shuyao's head, and her eyes instantly turned bloodshot as she stared intently at Zhou Baiyu.
Zhou Baiyu continued, "It's all because that beast didn't know what was good for her. I just wanted to pat her head, and she dared to scratch me! My hands are insured! I had no choice but to chop off her limbs..."
"Smack—!"
Xie Shuyao didn't dare let him finish speaking, and slapped him hard across the face: "Beast! You beast!"
Anger clouded her judgment; Xie Shuyao took off her high heels and threw them forcefully at Zhou Baiyu.
Zhou Baiyu had no idea how he suddenly told the truth before he was hit in the face by a sharp heel, leaving a bloody hole: "Ah—!"
He screamed in pain, dodging Xie Shuyao's attacks from left and right: "Ah! Stop hitting me! Xie Shuyao! Can't you calm down!"
"I'm your boyfriend! In your heart, am I not even as good as that beast?!"
"Three-legged men are hard to find, but two-legged men are plentiful! You, Zhou Baiyu, aren't even worth a single hair on my kid's head!"
Xie Shuyao continued, gritting her teeth and roaring, "If I had known you were such a beast, I would never have been with you in the first place!"
Zhou Baiyu was in excruciating pain, and upon hearing Xie Shuyao's words, his anger flared even more: "You still want to cheat on me?!"
His hand groped on the ground, and just as he was about to grab the knife he had thrown aside, Nan Yuanman ran over and kicked the knife away.
He then shoved the copper coin sword into Xie Shuyao's hand, saying, "Sister Xie, your shoes don't fit, use this."
Xie Shuyao took the copper coin sword and, with Nan Yuanman's secret help, unilaterally overwhelmed Zhou Baiyu and beat him mercilessly.
Tuan Tuan watched from her feet, its whiskers twitching and its tail held high, looking extremely happy.
Seeing that Xie Shuyao didn't need her help, Nan Yuanman turned and walked towards the tabby cat hiding in the corner.
The tabby cat had just been hurt by humans and was extremely wary of people. When it saw her coming, it let out a low, warning growl from its throat.
Looking at the tabby cat, Nan Yuanman's eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably: "So mean! So mean!"
"Don't be afraid, I have a medicine talisman, I can heal you right away!" Nan Yuanman quickly wiped away her tears, took out a medicine talisman from her small bag, made a hand seal, and threw the medicine talisman at the tabby cat.
"Meow—!" The tabby cat was so frightened that its fur stood on end, and it let out a shrill meow, desperately shrinking back as its body, which had no limbs to support it, struggled to stay upright.
Nan Yuanman gritted his teeth and forced the medicine talisman onto the cat. As the tabby cat turned to bite the talisman, it transformed into a stream of light and entered the cat's body.
The talisman worked quickly; the pen inserted into its eye fell out automatically, and the bleeding wounds on its body healed at a visible speed.
The tabby cat, which had been terrified, froze. Its pupils dilated as it stared blankly at Nan Yuanman, seemingly unaware of why its pain had suddenly subsided.
Half a minute later, it let out a timid, tiny meow.
It looked at Nan Yuanman, carefully moving its crippled limbs closer to her. Reaching her feet, it sniffed the comforting scent, then tilted its head and rubbed against her leg, making a soft purring sound: "Meow~"
"Good girl, Mimi." Nan Yuanman felt particularly sad looking at her limbs without claws, her nose tingled, and she tentatively reached out to touch her head.
The talisman is not a panacea; it can only heal wounds, not regenerate severed limbs.
"Don't be afraid, I'll get you out of here, and you won't feel pain anymore."
Meow~
Nan Yuanman carefully picked up the tabby cat, and the tabby cat stuck out its tongue and licked the back of her hand.
Nan Yuanman pursed her lips, gazing at the exceptionally clean operating room, while the pitiful cries of countless cats and dogs filled her ears.
Nan Yuanman sensed something, and her gaze slowly fell on a shrine placed in the corner of the operating room, a flash of golden light in her eyes.
In a daze, she seemed to see those cats and dogs trapped on the operating room wall, crammed together, none of them possessing a complete soul.
They roared ferociously as they charged towards the outside of the wall, only to be repelled by the red light emanating from the shrine: "Roar...!"
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