Chapter 662: 664, Identical Clay Figures (First Update)

"Hmm, I’ve made up my mind," Bai Ruyu nodded lightly, with a serious expression, "One has to get over this hurdle in life, and besides, the Bai family is counting on me to carry on the lineage!"

Xiao Jinnian withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly, "Carrying on the lineage is indeed a major matter, so... in your eyes, is Chu Jin just a tool for that purpose?"

"Of course not!" Bai Ruyu sat up straight, "What nonsense are you spouting! How could she be a tool!"

"Then what is she?" Xiao Jinnian continued to ask.

"She is..." Bai Ruyu squinted his eyes, her image appearing in his mind, "Ah! You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you, this lone wolf. Anyway, she’s different in my heart, she’s special. So special that whenever I think of her, I feel immensely happy, like I just want to laugh. Maybe, probably, possibly, it seems like, this is love..."

By the time he got to the last sentence, Bai Ruyu couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Xiao Jinnian glanced at him, his eyebrows slightly raised, adjusting his glasses as he casually said, "Oh, so every time I think of you, I also feel extremely happy and feel like laughing. Does that mean this is also love?"

Bai Ruyu looked at Xiao Jinnian with a speechless expression, "Heh... that joke isn’t funny at all."

"Heh." Xiao Jinnian turned his head back and gave Bai Ruyu a cold laugh in return.

"Oh right, Old Xiao," Bai Ruyu continued, "I’m about to get married soon, when are you going to bring me a sister-in-law home?"

Xiao Jinnian was two years older than Bai Ruyu, and when being serious, Bai Ruyu would address him as "Brother Xiao."

Xiao Jinnian gave him a glance and said indifferently, "I’m not as casual as you are."

Bai Ruyu couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and continued, "Seriously, Old Xiao, tell me, what if Chu Jin refuses to accept my flowers?"

At the moment, figuring out how to get Chu Jin to accept his flowers was the real issue.

After all, Chu Jin didn’t seem to have a good impression of him right now.

Bai Ruyu was at least self-aware of that fact.

"Then lie," Xiao Jinnian looked back at him, pushing his glasses as he said, "Haven’t you always had endless tricks up your sleeve for charming young ladies? Do you still need me to teach you?"

"That’s true." Bai Ruyu stroked his chin, contemplating deeply, quickly sifting through ’The Ultimate Guide to Chasing Girls’ in his mind.

Deceiving her to return was indeed a good strategy.

Feelings, after all, could be cultivated over time.

Bai Ruyu’s smile became more and more apparent.

Xiao Jinnian didn’t speak further. Behind the lenses that hid his eyes, they seemed calm yet a storm surged beneath. The hand holding the steering wheel was already tense with veins popping and knuckles whitening.

As if he could crush the steering wheel at any moment.

Unfortunately, Bai Ruyu, sitting in the passenger seat, was so engrossed in ’The Ultimate Guide to Chasing Girls’ that he didn’t notice this detail.

**

Meanwhile.

Mo Zhixuan was still sitting in that black car, eyes glancing towards his assistant with a faintly cold voice, "How is it? Did you find anything?"

The assistant laid down the tablet, looking regretfully at Mo Zhixuan, shaking his head slightly while speaking softly, "No, nothing."

He had checked the registration information of all the inns, but there was no sign of Chu Jin.

He had also reviewed surveillance footage from every corner of the streets, but there was no trace of her.

The assistant had followed Mo Zhixuan from the ordinary world to the Superpower World, aware of Chu Jin’s existence, and had witnessed the love between them.

Over the past year.

He was searching for news of Chu Jin nearly every day.

Yet every time, Mo Zhixuan was left extremely disappointed.

Despite repeated disappointments, Mo Zhixuan’s enthusiasm remained unshaken.

That person.

It was as if she had truly disappeared.

It’s just that Mo Zhixuan never believed it to be the truth.

"How can this be?" Mo Zhixuan pressed his fist against his lips, taking a deep sigh, "Look again thoroughly."

In his seemingly calm voice, there was actually a chilling edge.

No one could understand the feeling of seeing hope only to immediately be met with disappointment.

"Sir, please give up. I’ve checked several times, but I just haven’t seen any traces of your wife. It’s possible that it’s just a coincidence, and that she... she never came back."

It was far too hasty to conclude that Chu Jin had returned just based on a piece of clothing and a few words from the clothing store owner.

The assistant had wanted to check the store’s surveillance footage, but, coincidentally, the cameras had been broken that day.

"No, it can’t be," Mo Zhixuan who was always as stable as Mount Tai, lost his composure at that moment, "It can’t just be a coincidence. Jin must have come back, she must have."

The scent on her, he could not be mistaken; it was a scent that penetrated deep into his marrow.

In the past, how many deep nights there were when that fragrance accompanied him to sleep.

Mo Zhixuan put on his sunglasses, opened the car door, and got out.

All around, the traffic was bustling and people were on the move, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Mo Zhixuan stood amidst the crowd, watching passersby as his emotions suddenly collapsed, "Jin!"

He shouted into the crowd.

Unfortunately, no one responded to him.

This was the first time in a year that his emotions had burst forth.

His low voice was tinged with a desolate air.

The assistant followed behind him, sighed deeply and wanted to comfort him, but there were no words to start with.

"Clay figurines, clay figurines, get your clay figurines here, beautiful and affordable, from a shop that’s been around for a hundred years..." A vendor pushing a cart selling clay figurines passed by Mo Zhixuan.

"Would you two young men like to buy a figurine?" The vendor approached Mo Zhixuan and the assistant, paused for a moment, and asked.

"Thank you, we don’t need any," the assistant politely declined.

"No worries," the vendor continued pushing his cart, continuing his cry, "Clay figurines, get your clay figurines here..."

"Grandpa, wait for us, we want to buy a figurine, we want to buy the pretty sister..." Behind them, a group of children caught up.

The vendor immediately stopped; six children in all, each bought the same figurine.

The clay figurine was exquisitely crafted with distinctive features; it depicted a young girl about eighteen or nineteen years old. She was wearing a well-fitting dress, with her long hair draped over her shoulders, dimples lightly gracing her smiling cheeks, and she looked so flawless that it was impossible to find any imperfection, as if she was a banished fairy from the heavens.

It was hard to believe that such exquisite beauty could exist in real life.

"This sister is so pretty..."

"Mine is prettier than yours."

"Hmph, all of yours are not as pretty as mine."

"Nonsense! It’s clearly mine that’s the prettiest!"

"Little Ming, Little Hua, Little Li, Little Yun, stop arguing. They’re all the same sister, so our sister is equally beautiful."

The children continued their discussion as they walked along.

Mo Zhixuan also walked on, remembering how she always loved children. Thus, when he heard the voices of the kids, he couldn’t help but look back at them more than once.

This glance was enough for him to see the clay figurines in the children’s hands.

Mo Zhixuan’s vision was always excellent, and upon seeing this, he was completely stunned and his steps froze on the spot.

That figurine...

Was it an illusion?

Noticing Mo Zhixuan’s abnormal reaction, the assistant stopped and followed his gaze.

The assistant’s vision was not as exceptional as Mo Zhixuan’s, so he didn’t see anything unusual.

"Sir..." the assistant began, attempting to catch his attention.

It was this voice that brought Mo Zhixuan back to his senses, and he started walking toward the children.

His pace seemed slow, but in reality, each step carried a breeze.

In the blink of an eye, Mo Zhixuan reached the group of children.

Yes.

He hadn’t seen incorrectly.

This dough figurine was modeled after Jin.

Mo Zhixuan was overwhelmed with excitement, grabbed one of the children by the hand, crouched down, took off his glasses, and looked up at the child, trying his best to make his expression a few degrees gentler as he lowered his voice and asked, "Child, tell me, where did you get this dough figurine from?"

The assistant hurried over and was shocked when he saw the dough figurine in the child’s hands.

No wonder Mo Zhixuan had just lost his composure.

After all these years, it was only when it involved Chu Jin that he would lose control like this.

Everyone has a weakness.

And Mo Zhixuan’s weakness was precisely Chu Jin.

"Over there," the child pointed into the distance, "from that grandfather over there."

The vendor’s shouts were no longer audible, and his figure had disappeared into the crowd.

"Thank you." Mo Zhixuan let go of the child’s hand, stood up, and quickly ran in the direction where the vendor had vanished.

The vendor leisurely sold his dough figurines, pausing along the way, so his pace was not very fast.

In two minutes, Mo Zhixuan had caught up to him, "Old man, could you please wait a moment?"

The vendor stopped his cart and looked at Mo Zhixuan with a smile, "Young man, would you like to buy a dough figurine?"

"Yes," Mo Zhixuan pointed to the vendor’s stall, "I’ll take all of these."

Upon hearing this.

The vendor was stunned.

In his many years of setting up a stall, he had never encountered such a generous and impetuous customer.

This young man, he couldn’t be joking, could he?

To take them all, that would cost so much money, and the day had only just begun. Of his entire cart of dough figurines, he had only sold a few.

Normally, it would take several days to sell all the dough figurines in his cart.

However, before the vendor could even react, the assistant had already pulled out a stack of banknotes and handed them to the vendor, "Old man, is this enough?"

The vendor snapped back to reality and hurriedly said, "That’s too much, too much, half would be enough."

"Running a small business is not easy either, please keep it all," the assistant insisted as he stuffed the money into the vendor’s hand.

Unable to refuse the assistant, the vendor happily accepted the money.

"Old man, have you ever seen this young girl?" Mo Zhixuan picked up a dough figurine, passed it to the vendor, and asked.

The vendor remembered the model for the dough figurine very clearly.

It was this girl who had made his otherwise unremarkable dough figurine business flourish, and even allowed him to use the money earned to cure his wife’s illness.

Therefore, the vendor had a very deep impression of this girl and considered her his lucky charm.

His only regret now was that he hadn’t kept the girl’s name and contact information at the time. Now, wanting to repay this girl, he couldn’t find her.

"Yes," the vendor nodded eagerly, "just a few days ago, I met the girl, or else I wouldn’t have been able to make such beautiful dough figurines. But, I think the girl didn’t look local, why, do you two know her?"

Everything around him became a backdrop, and Mo Zhixuan could only hear the vendor’s voice in his ears.

Alive.

She was still alive, it wasn’t all just his illusion.

It wasn’t coincidence either.

Not only was she alive.

She was also living under the same sky as him.

Mo Zhixuan’s eyes reddened almost instantly, he took a deep breath, and his whole body trembled slightly.

"I am her husband, and we got separated due to some issues," Mo Zhixuan restrained the thrill in his heart and spoke with a strained voice, "Uncle, do you remember which direction she went in?"

"I can’t remember the details clearly," the uncle scratched his head, "I was at my stall on Ancient City Street, and I think she seemed to be heading east. Yes, there was also a young man with her..."

As he spoke, the uncle glanced at Mo Zhixuan and added, "Well, that man was probably a bit younger than you. I remember your wife calling him something like Big Brother, Cheap Big Brother, or Line Big Brother..."

A young man.

Younger than himself.

Listening to the uncle’s description, a sense of crisis faintly rose in Mo Zhixuan’s heart.

But now, Mo Zhixuan had no time for jealousy.

He just wanted to see her as soon as possible.

The uncle touched his head and thought for a long time, but in the end, he couldn’t remember exactly which Big Brother it was.

"Alright, I got it, thank you, uncle. Here’s my contact information; if you see her again, please make sure to contact me," Mo Zhixuan pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to the uncle.

"Okay," the uncle nodded, "Young man, you can rest assured, as long as I see her, I will definitely inform you. Both of you are good people."

"Thank you," Mo Zhixuan nodded slightly and turned to walk towards Ancient City Street.

The assistant had loaded all the dough figures from the uncle’s cart into the space bag and quickly followed Mo Zhixuan’s pace.

Ancient City Street is the busiest street in the Superpower World.

Yet, holding that dough figure, Mo Zhixuan went from the head to the tail of the street, asking many people, but still couldn’t find any clues about her.

Although both breathing the same air of one city, they couldn’t meet or embrace each other. No one could understand this pain.

Looking at the dough figure in his hand, his emotions were hidden behind the sunglasses.

His Jin was still so beautiful, but she seemed to have lost weight.

Indeed, lost weight.

A hot tear slid down from beneath the sunglasses, falling directly onto the dough figure, onto the shallow dimples.

The assistant followed behind him, wanting to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

"Xun En," after a moment, Mo Zhixuan lowered his eyes to the assistant, "Issue the order, from now on, lock down the entire city. Everyone can enter, but no one can leave! Spare no effort to find my wife."

"Sir, that must not be done," the assistant said calmly, "Such a mobilization to find your wife will inevitably become known throughout the city. When that happens, it will surely increase the danger for your wife. Since you have only recently secured this position, such actions are not good for you or for your wife. Please consider this carefully."

Actually, what the assistant said made a lot of sense.

Li Xunen has always been a calm and wise person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been with Mo Zhixuan for such a long time.

As the head of the Superpower World, it wasn’t difficult for Mo Zhixuan to find someone within the realm of special abilities.

But, the higher you are, the colder it gets.

There were too many dangers lurking around.

The more commotion there was, the more people would know about Chu Jin, and the more dangerous her situation would become.

Even with Mo Zhixuan’s strength, he could not fend off the unknown hidden dangers.

Moreover, since Chu Jin had already experienced a brush with death once, Mo Zhixuan couldn’t let her face any danger again.

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Mo Zhixuan asked, looking sideways at Li Xunen.

Being in the highest position in the Superpower World, yet unable to use his ability to search for someone.

No one could understand this bitterness.

Li Xunen continued.

"Sir, as long as we’re sure the madam is in the Superpower World, you don’t have to worry too much. We’ll get there slowly, and one day we’ll find the madam. In any case, we shouldn’t make a commotion about this. The more people know, the more danger she faces."

"But..." Mo Zhixuan frowned, "But I can’t wait."

Ever since he knew Chu Jin was also in the Superpower World, Mo Zhixuan had been eager to see her.

He couldn’t wait even a minute longer.

"You must wait," Li Xunen looked at Mo Zhixuan, then continued, "For your wife’s sake, you must keep waiting. You’ve waited a whole year; do these few more days really matter that much to you?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read