After buying the sheet metal and the phone, the two of them walked a bit farther to buy a pot and a stove.
You Chumu carried the things in his right hand. He was extremely proactive and in a very excited state. Along the way, a small shop was playing a song, and after hearing it, You Chumu actually started copying it, humming along perfectly without missing a single note or going off-key.
You Chumu had a nice voice; listening to him hum was even more pleasant than hearing the original.
Xu Chi also relaxed a little. When they got home, he only then remembered what had just happened… he had actually spent the whole walk so casually and comfortably with this little villain.
Back home, Xu Chi had just closed the door when someone knocked.
Through the peephole, he saw the upstairs resident: tattooed arms, muscular build.
When he opened the door, the tattooed-armed resident burst in fiercely, said nothing, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him against the door.
“You fucking lunatic, you killed my flowers! I’ll fucking kill you!”
The fist had barely been raised before the person flew out.
Xu Chi did not even manage to react before the tattooed-armed resident had flown five meters away and crashed into the stairs.
“Aiya, fuck!”
The tattooed-armed resident cursed loudly, in so much pain that he could not speak, his expression twisted in agony.
He glared at Xu Chi. “You fucking hit me!” His eyes were full of disbelief, one hand still clutching his waist.
Xu Chi: “…” Did I even move? Which eye saw that?
Then he saw that You Chumu, who had just been in a pretty good mood, was now expressionless. He walked up to the tattooed-armed man, stepped on his neck with one foot, and then, still not satisfied, grabbed him by the collar and pinned him against the wall, lifting his feet off the ground.
“Who are you laying hands on? My brother?”
His expression was dark and terrifying, almost twisted. Veins bulged at the corners of his eyes, and a dark light curled around the edges of his gray-blue pupils, as if he were about to turn demonic.
The tattooed-armed man was strangled by those pale fingers. The whites of his eyes rolled upward, his legs no longer even managed to struggle, and strangled gasps came from his throat as his complexion gradually turned purple.
Xu Chi’s throat tightened and his heart raced. He rushed forward in two steps and grabbed You Chumu’s hand. “Let go.”
His tone and expression were grave; he was clearly frightened, but he held it in.
The current You Chumu was no different from the lunatic in the original novel. The You Chumu who had been happily humming beside him just moments ago felt like an illusion.
You Chumu turned to look at him. His eyes were still clear, and as if coaxing him, he said, “Brother, look how ugly he is like this. How dare he use this hand to grab you? How dare he bully you? Brother, I want him dead, but I can’t let him die too easily. How should he die…”
As if he were seriously thinking about it, he looked like a demon with no concept of good and evil, ready to impose cruel punishment on someone, yet saying it in such a simple tone.
Xu Chi’s heartbeat quickened even more. For the first time, he felt so vividly that he really had transmigrated into a manga, and that he was truly surviving alongside this You Chumu who had gone on a killing spree in the manga.
He lowered his voice.
“You Chumu, let go.”
You Chumu paused, tilted his head to look at him, and asked in a simple, harmless way, “Brother, are you calling me?”
“…”
Xu Chi suddenly realized that he should not have known You Chumu’s name at all.
A drop of cold sweat slid down his back.
Xu Chi answered without changing his expression, “Yes, I’m calling you. That’s your name. Let go first.”
You Chumu remained unmoved and asked, “How does brother know my name? Wasn’t I picked up by brother? Brother said before that he didn’t know my name.”
“…”
Xu Chi continued to keep a straight face and answered calmly, “You told me while you were talking in your sleep.”
You Chumu paused and blinked. “Brother, I don’t sleep at night.”
“…”
Damn it! What kind of twisted game was You Chumu playing?
Xu Chi was about to explode, but he held back the anger of being exposed again and again, and said in an unhappy tone, “Let go first, and then I’ll tell you.”
You Chumu’s fingertips twitched twice. Then he lifted a hand, knocked the man unconscious, and threw him onto the floor. He looked at his own hand with obvious disgust, then looked at Xu Chi.
“Alright, brother, go ahead and say it.”
It was already close to nine in the evening. The neighborhood was already rundown, and the light at the top of the stairwell was dim as well. A person lay on the ground, and in front of him stood You Chumu, staring intently at him.
Xu Chi felt that he must have extraordinary mental endurance to be able to stand there without changing his expression and keep talking to You Chumu.
“Why did you knock him out?”
You Chumu: “Brother, why are you bringing him up? You need to answer my question.”
“…”
Xu Chi: “It was the night I picked you up. I asked what your name was, and you told me, but then you passed out right after, so it’s normal that you don’t remember.”
“Then why didn’t brother tell me before?”
Xu Chi: “Because before, I thought it wasn’t important. I also had no need to know what your name was. But… now I feel we might still be spending some time together, so of course I should know your name.”
“…still be spending some time together…” You Chumu repeated Xu Chi’s words.
He suddenly lowered his head. The next second, as if venting his displeasure, he grabbed the tattooed-armed man lying on the floor by the neck and lifted him up again. No one knew what he did, but the unconscious tattooed-armed man woke up at once. He was still dazed when he came to, but as soon as he reacted, he began struggling immediately:
“Fuck, still choking?!”
He wanted to run, but his legs couldn’t even reach the ground. Seeing Xu Chi beside him, he immediately cursed loudly:
“You Xu Chi, where did you pick up this little lunatic? Make him let go of me! Are you trying to murder someone too?! Cough, cough, I was wrong! I was wrong! Let me go, damn it!”
The more he spoke, the more his pupils rolled upward, and his complexion gradually turned purple.
You Chumu’s gaze was very faint and indifferent, completely lacking the urge to toy with him from just now. He had lost all patience, as if he simply wanted to kill him and be done with it.
Xu Chi also sensed the change in You Chumu’s mood and was horrified. He absolutely could not let You Chumu murder anyone, absolutely could not let You Chumu murder someone in front of him.
He grabbed You Chumu’s right hand that was strangling the man, placed himself in between them, and looked directly at You Chumu.
“You Chumu, you can’t murder. Be obedient, listen to brother.”
“…”
Xu Chi did not know how to persuade him. The words just burst out of his mouth by themselves, probably because the image of You Chumu pretending to be a good little brother in front of him every day had gotten through to him.
When You Chumu heard that, his hand actually stopped tightening. His gray-blue pupils could clearly reflect Xu Chi’s face and body.
“Brother, if I listen, can I stay for more than just a little while? I don’t want to… only stay for a little while…”
The content of his words sounded like a plea, but his expression looked thoughtful, as if he were considering why he had made such a request.
Xu Chi: How long you stay isn’t up to me.
Xu Chi looked at the tattooed-armed man, who had passed out again, and said without any burden, “Of course you can. If you don’t want to leave, no one can force you.”
The moment he finished speaking, a force crashed him straight into the wall.
The coldness belonging to You Chumu pinned him to the wall.
You Chumu hugged him and said, as if suppressing his excitement, “Brother, I remember now. If I don’t want to leave, no one can force me.”
“…”