After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Page 167

The curtains were drawn tightly shut, and not even a small lamp was turned on in the room, making it too dark even during the day.

[Beep—Beep—]

The dial tone continued to ring in the dimly lit room. The beautiful woman with golden eyes hadn't even changed out of her suit, which was covered in ashes. She stared blankly at the phone in her arms, which was now displaying a dialing interface. The light in the depths of her eyes seemed to still be hoping for something.

Until the dial tone sounded in the room, a soft sigh seemed to come from the bed, and the hope in the golden eyes faded a little more.

Even with careful maintenance, the phone, which still looks old after ten years, has accumulated dozens of unanswered calls. Every time the dial tone goes dead, it makes the beautiful woman on the bed even more dejected.

This phone was given to her by Toyokawa Yuu ten years ago, and it only contains Toyokawa Yuu's number.

Conversely, the special nature of this phone wasn't just for her; in the past, whenever she dialed Toyokawa Yuu's number, she always received a quick response.

Only now...

The constant stream of missed calls in her mailbox pierced the golden-eyed beauty's heart, silently revealing a fact she had witnessed but refused to believe.

Crystalline tears began to silently seep from the corners of the beautiful woman's eyes. The reason she hadn't cried out yet was not only because Ruoye Mu was a quiet person, but also because both of her personalities were currently huddled in her mind, and neither was willing to fully control her body.

With a stubborn refusal to believe the tragedy had already occurred, she dialed the number again and again, a number that no one would answer.

Before the next dial tone sounded, a knock came at the door.

【Xiao Mu, go open the door.】

In his mental space, Mortis, who no longer showed any signs of his former vitality, did not curl up back on his makeshift bed and wrap himself in the blankets, but he also had little desire to move.

Leaning against the sofa opposite the TV wall, Mortis simply sat down on the floor, gently stroking the hair of another personality that had been asleep for many years, and even began to command Wakaba Mutsumi, who occupied the other end of the sofa.

Looking at the girl's peaceful sleeping face on the sofa, Mortis's golden eyes surged with emotion, a mixture of sadness and something that was hard to tell whether it was reflection or regret.

If... Yu Mu hadn't fallen asleep and had continued to teach me how to do it, would I have been able to win You Yu back?

But thinking about these things now is pointless; Youyu has already...

Although unwilling to admit it, and even dialing Toyokawa Yuu's number again and again, Mortis knew that it was all too late.

Ultimately, none of us can compare to Xiangzi.

Unlike Mortis, who was still willing to move, Ruoye Mutsu sat directly on the other side of the sofa, his eyes vacant, looking like a doll with its strings cut.

There was neither a response nor any action.

The knocking continued several times, and finally, whether out of impatience or urgency, the door was opened without waiting for a response from the person inside.

"Wakaba, Mortis, get up, Yuu is not dead yet."

Seeing the golden-eyed beauty lying on the bed dialing a number on her old cell phone, completely ignoring her knock, Hachiman Kairin frowned and decided to skip the few polite words she had prepared and get straight to the point.

Yuu is not dead yet...

Upon hearing Hachiman Kairin's words, the pale green figure trembled slightly, slowly raising her gaze from the phone screen in her arms, but still remained silent, only staring at her with her golden eyes.

Annoyed at being fooled by a crude lie, and a little bit of sympathy for those in the same boat.

In her view, Hachiman Kairin, who had not even witnessed the scene, was simply unwilling to accept the fact that Toyokawa Yuu had left with Shoko, so she came to her to deceive herself.

Despite being looked at like that, Hachiman Kairin wasn't angry. She did indeed need the help of this half-head of the Toyokawa family.

Moreover, she could understand how the other person felt right now; she had felt the same way when Nagasaki Sase called her not long ago.

At times like these, words are insufficient, but Hachiman Kairin possesses a more direct and accurate understanding.

Opening her phone's saved photo album, Hachiman Kairin threw her phone onto the bed. The photos that Nagasaki Souse had sent her not long ago caught the eye of Wakaba Mutsumi and Mortis.

Toyokawa Yuu lay on a bed, her upper body wrapped in bandages, with traces of burn ointment faintly visible through the gaps.

Toyokawa Hatsune, who had already cut her long blonde hair, stayed by the bedside, looking worried.

This place is also familiar to Wakaba Mutsu and Mortis. Ten years ago, she and Toyokawa Yuu lived here for quite some time before Toyokawa Shoko transferred it to Nagasaki Sōse.

She had asked Nagasaki Sase more than once what she could offer in exchange for this place, but the answers she received were always...

"It's not the right time yet, Mortis. When the time is right, I'll return this place to Mumu..."

It was precisely this attitude—that this place seemed to belong to Wakaba Mutsu rather than to herself—coupled with Toyokawa Yuu's dislike of Nagasaki Sousei, and Mortis's dislike of that troublesome fellow, that made Mortis so fond of him.

But now is not the time to talk about that.

Suddenly rolling over in bed, Mortis seized control of his body before Wakaba Mutsu could react, his golden eyes wide as he stared at Hachiman Kairin before him.

"Are you telling the truth? Youyu is still alive?"

If this photo is real, it means that Toyokawa Hatsune and Nagasaki Sosei rescued Yuu, but weren't Hatsune and Chihaya Aine supposed to come together...?

Wait a minute, how could Chihaya Aine, who left Tokyo ten years ago, have the contact information of Toyokawa Hatsune, who left a few years later, let alone drive her here? The only possibility is that they are connected by someone they both know.

A relieved smile finally appeared on his lips.

Nagasaki Sosei, you troublemaker, you've finally done something good. If Yuu really survives, I won't hate you anymore.

"Youyu is right here, isn't she? Won't someone go and take them away before us?"

Mortis, having regained his spirits, quickly returned to work.

Serious and stern, there can be no relaxation now, not even the slightest bit until Toyokawa Yuu is truly safe.

“The Toyokawa family knows he’s still alive, so I’ve sent Ruomai to keep an eye on things there. If anyone enters that place, they should notify me immediately. There’s been no news yet, so it should be fine.”

Mortis rolled out of bed, put on his shoes, and hurriedly led Hachiman Kairin downstairs without even changing his dusty suit.

The phone that could contact certain people in the Wakaba family's influence and the Toyokawa family's businesses was taken away by Mori Minami when she took him home after he made a call while she was feeling sad.

The old but significant cell phone in her hand had only one number that could never be reached, and only that number knew how to contact the phone.

The high heels clicked rapidly on the stairs, and Mortis subconsciously frowned, a bad feeling creeping over him.

Rekindled by Yawata Kairin, and with her mind racing again, she felt something was off. Some things seemed like coincidences, at least...

If the Toyokawa family knew that Yuu was still alive, then there was no reason why Minami wouldn't know. Her connection with the other side had never been broken, so why didn't she tell her?

Rushing downstairs, Mortis found his phone casually placed on the coffee table, while his birth mother sat beside it, stroking the doll in her arms with a somewhat dazed look in her eyes.

"Minami, is it true that Yuu is still alive?"

Without any probing or even much politeness, Mortis grabbed his phone from the table and bluntly asked Minami for confirmation.

"...He was alive just now, but now...it's uncertain."

After a moment of silence, Minami Mori spoke up.

She knew that playing dumb was the best option right now, at least to appear as if she was doing what was best for her daughter, and to completely conceal her affair with Yutenji Ruomai.

Otherwise, if his daughter knew that he was the one who ultimately let Toyokawa Yuu, who did not want to continue living, die, she might hold a grudge against him for the rest of her life.

In that case, his hope that his daughter would return to the screen would be completely dashed.

In the end, however, she chose to be honest with her daughter for the first time in her life.

It doesn't matter anymore. Since Youyu is determined to leave with Xiangzi, even if we forcibly keep him here this time, he will still find a chance to commit suicide for love in the future.

Without Toyokawa Yuu, would his daughter still have the desire to make a comeback?

Leaning back on the sofa, Senmina felt exhausted, as if she had wasted half her life.

"What does it mean?"

It wasn't Mortis who spoke, but Hachiman Kairin.

Minami's words gave her the feeling that the plan had gone terribly wrong, and that something unexpected and out of control was quietly happening.

However, Ruomai replied not long ago that there were no abnormalities.

Just as he was about to take out his phone to check the situation with Yutenji Wakana, another number happened to dial in.

As I pressed the answer button, a slightly panicked voice came from the other end of the phone.

[Hailin, something's happened. Yuu and Toyokawa Hatsune just left that house and were picked up by someone. I had people nearby try to stop them, but they were blocked by another group before they could get close. They just contacted me again, and the car has been gone for a while now.]

Nagasaki Sase, hiding on his balcony, cautiously glanced back at Chihaya Aine, who was sitting in his living room enjoying tea—a rare occasion for her to visit him. Almost instinctively, he kept his voice very low.

The other party only reluctantly agreed to come because I used Toyokawa Yuu's safety as a veiled threat.

After that, I also plan to use this opportunity to take her to [RING] to meet everyone from before.

Nagasaki Sase didn't dare let Chihaya Aine know that Toyokawa Yuu had escaped from her grasp.

But why...

Why do we need to leave there?

Nagasaki Sase, a deep but also sensitive person, was explaining the situation to Hachiman Kairin while on the verge of tears.

She didn't understand why Toyokawa Yuu did that. Didn't he realize that once he left that place, he would be in danger again?

Moreover, it's not just dangerous; his body also needs rest and is not suitable for any activity.

Why would you rather endure that pain than leave? Do you hate me that much? Even staying in that place that once belonged to you, but now belongs to me, you are so unwilling.

However, it wasn't just her who was angry; Hachiman Kairin, and even Wakaba Mutsumi and Mortis were also upset.

Without even bothering to question his birth mother, Mortis snatched the phone from Yawata Kairin's hand and pressed her for answers in an even more direct tone.

"Do you recognize who took Youyu away?"

She can no longer figure out what she's angry about.

Nagasaki Sōse is so incompetent that he can't even take care of someone who is injured and bedridden.

Did Minami deliberately conceal the truth, preventing her from contacting Yuu immediately?

Yuu Toyokawa is so stubborn. Even after her failed suicide attempt in the funeral hall, she still refuses to give up on that heartbreaking approach.

Or perhaps... she's angry that her place in Toyokawa Yuu's heart is so insignificant, that Toyokawa Yuu was willing to give up her life twice without even considering her feelings.

【It’s Youtian Temple...】

Upon receiving the name, Mortis didn't even wait for Nagasaki Sosei to finish speaking before abruptly hanging up the phone and searching for Yutenji Wakanagi's name in Hachiman Kairin's phone contacts.

The call went through quickly, as if Yutenji Wakami had been waiting for Hachiman Kairin's contact for a long time.

Hai Zi...

Where is Youyu now?

Interrupting Yutenji Wakana's pleasantries, Mortis got straight to the point, while glaring angrily at Hachiman Kairin, who was also about to speak, signaling her not to bother him at this time.

【What? Why would Mutsuko contact me using this phone number... You all know about me and Ms. Minami?】

"Miss Yutenji, please calm down and listen to me..."

Despite being the less rational party, Mortis still used such words to soothe Yutenji Wakana, who was likely holding Toyokawa Yuu's life in his hands at that moment... or rather, who might help Toyokawa Yuu give up her life at any time.

"No matter what Minami or anyone else promises you, I can give you even more. Bring Yuu here and give her back to me, okay?"

When Yutenji Ruomai weighed the true nature of the interests, Mortis did not choose to play the emotional card of having been in the same band as Ruomai, but instead started with the topic that Ruomai was most likely to be interested in.

"...If you had contacted me five minutes earlier, I might have changed my mind. After all, the manager's favoritism towards you is obvious to everyone. If the two of you met face-to-face, you might actually be able to change his mind."

"Why are you suddenly saying something like that..."

The tone, as if something bad had already happened, made Mortis's voice freeze.

The agent said he couldn't accept a world without Xiangzi, so I let him out of the car.

Mortis was completely stunned by the casual reply, and he couldn't even hold onto his phone.

Reaching out to catch the phone that had slipped from Mortis's fingers, Hachiman Kairin seemed to be trying hard to control her emotions, her voice somewhat subdued.

"Ruomai, don't hang up yet. Tell me where you put Youyu, and... why did you betray me?"

Yawata Kairin gritted her teeth. Yutenji Wakanagi, who had been by her side for ten years, was one of the people she trusted most.

Being betrayed by the other party was something that Hachiman Kairin found hard to accept.

This question caused a brief silence to fall over the person on the other end of the phone.

It wasn't just that I was too ashamed to speak, but also that I was unable to find the words to express myself.

But in the end, the words the other party sent back shattered her last bit of self-deception.

[You're still saying things like this now, Hai Zi, you really have no self-awareness at all. That's probably why your manager has never considered accepting your feelings.]

[Xiangzi, the agent, and Chuzi—they all trusted you, but you betrayed them all... Tell me, how reckless must I be to continue trusting you?]

Chapter 154 Lord Youyu and Xiaoxiang... are both mine (5k5)

The afternoon sun was rather hot, and its rays shone on the skin that had been scorched by the fire not long ago, bringing a slightly burning sensation.