In short, Bai Ci was struggling to keep her composure, a muscle in her brow twitching violently.
It wasn't a brush-off or an excuse. Shen Tan had taken in her flawed logic word for word, processing it with absolute seriousness, and had even optimized the solution on the spot, patching up any logical loopholes.
“Unusual” was no longer enough to describe her mind; her thought process was entirely alien to that of a normal person.
Shen Tan turned to look at Shen Jiayi, who was wearing an impatient expression, and extended a direct, sincere invitation. “Jiayi, will you be the child's father?”
Without a second thought, Shen Jiayi refused bluntly, leaving no room for sentiment. “No.”
“Ah...” Shen Tan dragged out the sound, her tone carrying a heavy mix of ninety percent regret and ten percent bafflement.
Shen Jiayi didn't care in the slightest about Shen Tan's reaction. She rejected her again, this time offering a solid reason.
“I plan on being a mother in this life—focusing solely on being a mother. I absolutely refuse to be that little monster's father.”
This reasoning left Bai Ci completely stunned. Her brain stalled, her mind instantly filling with giant, bold question marks.
Huh?
That's your reason for refusing?
Simply because you don't want to play the role of a father?
She looked back at Shen Tan. Unbelievably, that explanation actually seemed to have convinced her.
When speaking to either of them individually, Shen Tan was reserved and introverted, while Shen Jiayi was sharp, clear-headed, and goal-oriented. On their own, both of them behaved like perfectly normal people.
Yet the moment they were together, their conversation became utterly surreal, completely defying the laws of normal human social logic.
Shen Tan didn't seem the least bit disappointed by the rejection. Her mental state was remarkably resilient.
She immediately turned her gaze back to Bai Ci, extending the invitation once more. “Then, Bai Ci, will you be the child's father?”
Bai Ci was utterly speechless, feeling as though all the strength and mental energy had been drained from her body.
Before she could even open her mouth to decline, Shen Tan spoke up again, offering what she clearly considered a highly persuasive argument.
“He says he likes the way you smell. Ah... come to think of it, you're much more suitable than Jiayi.”
Though this “highly persuasive” argument was likely only convincing to Shen Tan herself.
“I'm a woman. I can't be the child's father,” Bai Ci tried to reason, her tone thick with helplessness.
I never thought there would come a day when I'd have to say something like that, she lamented silently.
“That's fine, I don't mind your gender,” Shen Tan replied airily, her tone completely casual as she smoothly redefined the terms of the arrangement.
“If you're uncomfortable with it, or if your body hasn't fully recovered, we can just swap roles. I'll be the father, and you can be the mother. We'll start a family together, and then the child will have two parents.”
Huh? What on earth is she talking about?
This scene was starting to feel exactly like an encounter with an impostor.
Wait... could they have actually been replaced? Is that why they're acting so bizarrely?
But in the next second, Bai Ci's rational mind rejected the theory.
The replacement phenomenon only affected outsiders.
Granted, that rule might not be absolute, but there was currently no evidence whatsoever suggesting that local villagers could be replaced.
More importantly, the replaced Sang Lan hadn't behaved in this uncanny, illogical manner.
Thus, it was highly unlikely they had been replaced. It was simply that their own mental states had completely deviated from sanity.
Bai Ci was utterly at a loss for words. Finding no logical way to respond, she fell completely silent.
Taking her silence as tacit agreement, the cold, distant aura around Shen Tan melted away. In an instant, she transformed back into the bright, lively girl with shining eyes she had been yesterday when discussing perfumery.
She looked down at Bai Ci's hands with great interest, her gaze locking onto the plain band rings on both of her ring fingers. Her tone was bright and cheerful.
“Bai Ci, those are matching rings on your fingers, aren't they? That's perfect. Now we even have the wedding bands.”
As the conversation drifted dangerously close to actual wedding planning, Bai Ci snapped out of her daze. Fearing that another second of silence would seal the deal on this bizarre union, she spoke up.
She cut in immediately, her voice firm and resolute. “I have a boyfriend.”
“Can I not join your family?” Shen Tan asked.
“No!”
Shen Tan's shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment, but she remained obedient and didn't press the matter. “Oh. I see, then.”
Accepting the outcome with surprising ease, she looked down and gently stroked her lower abdomen through her dress, her voice softening.
“I'm so sorry, little baby. You can't find a father who's willing to accept you, and since you can't have a proper family, you won't be able to come into this world after all.”
Her attitude was so detached, it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been so obstinately determined to keep the child only moments ago. Life and death seemed to hang entirely on a whim.
Shen Jiayi stood up, crushing a few stray petals beneath her shoe as she cut this absurd conversation short. “Shen Tan, it's time to head back.”
“If the Honey Bride stays outside the estate for too long, those old bastards in the village will notice. They'll definitely interrogate you when you get back, and who knows how long you'll have to listen to them drone on and on.”
Shen Tan nodded obediently and lingered no longer. Gathering her white gown, she stood up. Her veil swayed gently in the breeze as she walked away, tracing the narrow path through the flowers.
Only when the white figure had completely vanished past the edge of the flower field did Shen Jiayi let her guard down. She slumped back onto the stone, rubbing her temples hard as she let out a long, heavy breath.
“You were right. Shen Tan's mental state is deeply compromised.”
“I used to think I was the unhinged one, but she's on a whole different level.”
Bai Ci felt a bit numb. Did she just casually admit to something rather concerning about herself?
She remained silent for a long moment, sorting through the chaotic thoughts in her head before finally speaking, offering a logical hypothesis.
“Could it be PTSD? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
“She went through a horrific, non-consensual violation that left her physically and mentally devastated. Because she couldn't process that trauma, her mind snapped.”
“Maybe,” Shen Jiayi murmured.
Her expression shifted, turning solemn and serious as she got back to business. “You only overheard a fraction of what we said earlier. Let me tell you the rest.”
“The god those villagers worship is very likely a living entity. It's still alive even now—some kind of plant or vine monster.”
Bai Ci nodded, her mind immediately jumping to the rootless Boston ivy she had seen clinging to the cave ceiling.
It was only then that she remembered a conversation from before they had even entered the village. Xie Lai had asked the team leader what Namito looked like.
The team leader had replied: “I don't actually know what kind of plant Namito's true form is. But if you see any statues carved to look like Boston ivy, just make sure to keep your distance.”
Now the pieces were falling into place. But what exactly were those Boston ivy vines to Namito?
Were they offshoots, kin, or offspring?
As Bai Ci pondered this, Shen Jiayi continued.
“Whenever I brought up the flower field, the perfume, or the vines, Shen Tan instinctively shut down. She kept changing the subject and refused to answer me directly. This is just what I've managed to piece together based on how well I know her.”
“She was probably looking for raw ingredients to blend a new perfume when that thing targeted her. It must have happened either at the Red Church where they hold the Honey Rite, or somewhere near the apiary.”
“You two really are close friends,” Bai Ci remarked softly.
Given Shen Tan's habit of retreating into stubborn silence whenever she didn't want to talk, the fact that Shen Jiayi could coax any information out of her at all spoke volumes about their bond and how well they understood each other.
Shen Jiayi rolled her eyes dramatically. “You're overthinking it. We're hardly friends. The only reason you guys can't get anything out of her is because you coddle her too much.”
“Whenever she tries to pull that silent treatment on me, I just yell at her to stop playing dumb.”
Rate on N.U.
