CHAPTER 131: CHAPTER 131; UNCLE, IS SHE ALL RIGHT?

But inside, his thoughts were a tide surging restlessly.

Shen Xiao... the Shens will have to face what he was planning for them.

His jaw tightened imperceptibly, a flicker of steel crossing his eyes. He had not intervened out of pity, nor from any hollow sense of duty. No! he stepped forward because she was the woman he had guarded in silence for decades, the only one he would shield with his very life.

But beneath that ruthlessness lay something darker, older.

For over two decades, Jin Shuren had carried her image in the private vault of his heart. Long before Shen Xiao ever touched her hand, long before vows had been exchanged, he had seen her once, just once, and something inside him had rooted there, unyielding.

He had told himself it was madness, obsession. Yet no other woman had ever dislodged her shadow. He had watched from a distance, watched her laugh, watched her marry, watched her wither under the weight of a household that never deserved her.

And he had waited.

Now, she was here, cradling her daughter, trembling and fragile yet still luminous in a way that defied her suffering. To others, she was broken. To him, she was irreplaceable.

The corner of his mouth curved, though not with warmth, there was nothing gentle in it.

His love had long since curdled into something sharper, something possessive, something that saw salvation and destruction as the same path.

"Yueyao... at last. The years of silence and distance are over. You are finally here, within reach."

His gaze lingered on her a moment longer before flicking to the window, to the faint edge of dawn bleeding into the horizon.

Outside, the world shifted toward light. Inside, Jin Shuren’s heart had already decided, he would burn the world before letting her slip from his grasp again.

The engines roared a little louder as the helicopter cut through a bank of heavy clouds.

For a moment, turbulence rocked the cabin, causing Fang Lin to grip the armrest and Yueqin to stir.

Yueyao pressed a soft kiss to her daughter’s forehead, murmuring reassurance, her own fear smothered by the instinct to protect.

When the shaking eased, Jin Shuren finally spoke, his voice low and measured.

"Rest. We still have five hours before reaching Hengzhou. Once we land, you will have time to cuddle her."

His words hung in the golden-lit cabin, heavy with promise, heavy with threat.

Yueyao’s gaze shifted toward him. Though her cheeks bore no tears now, her eyes shone in the half-light... gratitude flickering there, tempered by wariness, and shadowed by a quiet fear of the very man who had saved her.

Jin Shuren held her gaze, unblinking, until at last she lowered her eyes and clutched Yueqin closer.

Fang Lin, watching the silent exchange, felt a chill ripple across her skin. She could not shake the feeling that her friend had escaped one prison only to step into another, this one gilded, lined with power and silence, guarded by a man who claimed the world bent to his will.

Outside, dawn was beginning to push faint streaks of gray across the horizon. The night had not yet loosened its grip, but the first hint of light promised change.

Whether salvation or ruin, none of them yet knew.

Yueyao shifted uncomfortably, tightening her hold on her daughter as though sensing something in the air.... something heavier than gratitude, sharper than mere protection. Her lashes lowered, shielding her gaze, but not before he caught it: a flicker of unease.

She had always been perceptive, even when broken. Perhaps that was why his presence unsettled her now. He had not simply shielded her, he had claimed her, even if the words had not been spoken aloud.

"Rest," Jin Shuren said at last, his tone calm, clipped, too even. His hand hovered a fraction too long at her shoulder before he pulled it back, fingers curling as though suppressing a need that ran deeper than restraint. "No harm will touch you again. Not while I breathe."

Yueyao’s lips parted, but no answer came. Gratitude warred with wariness, and behind them both lay a quiet, instinctive fear.

She lowered her eyes and drew her daughter closer, as if the warmth of the child’s small body could shield her from the weight of the man standing before her.

Jin Shuren saw all of it, the tremor in her breath, the way her fingers tightened protectively. And he welcomed it. Fear was only the beginning. Fear meant she felt his presence. Fear meant she knew he was unavoidable.

Outside, the first bird called against the faint blush of morning.

Inside, Jin Shuren bent closer, his shadow falling across her like a vow carved in stone.

"You don’t need to understand now," he murmured, so quietly it brushed her ear. "Only remember this, your suffering ends here. With me."

When the silence stretched too long, Yueyao lowered her lashes. Exhaustion tugged at her, the weight of fear and relief pressing down in equal measure.

She drew Yueqin tighter into her arms, as if the child’s steady breathing could shield her from the man across the cabin.

Bit by bit, her body slackened, the fight leaving her. Her head tilted against the seat, and at last, sleep claimed her, uneasy, fragile, but sleep nonetheless.

Fang Lin let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

She adjusted herself in the corner of her seat, forcing her eyes shut though her mind remained restless.

The hum of the engines filled the quiet, steady, and relentless, carrying them toward Hengzhou.

In the golden hush of the cabin, three figures remained: the girl asleep, her protector uneasy, and the man whose shadow stretched long enough to touch them all.

Outside, dawn continued to creep forward. The light was coming, whether they wished it or not.

"Uncle, is she all right?" Fang Lin inquired once she noticed Yueyao had fallen asleep. She had noticed the way she flinched, nervous and fear all in her eyes! What could have happened back in the Shen mansion?