At the moment their gazes met, Yu Lang inexplicably wanted to laugh, probably because the awkwardness had reached an unbearable extreme.
In any case, his body slipped out of his control. He laughed without realizing it, his throat and nose opening up as he hummed and chuckled endlessly.
“Can’t keep acting anymore?”
Chi Jianqing’s expression remained flat, as though he had already expected Yu Lang to turn hostile and deny everything.
“Pfft.”
Yu Lang shoved the phone right up in front of Chi Jianqing’s eyes. With his other hand, he pinched Chi Jianqing’s chin and forced it backward.
Still laughing, he gathered a mouthful of saliva and spat it out together with a curse, splattering it across Chi Jianqing’s face.
“Stupid bastard, I’m spreading rumors about you. At least give me some kind of reaction.”
Chi Jianqing’s head was pushed back, tilted toward the ceiling. By the time he straightened his gaze again, a single middle finger stood upright between them.
The smile on Yu Lang’s face grew more unrestrained and vicious, the corners of his mouth stretching as though they were about to split apart.
Chi Jianqing wiped the saliva from his face. Under Yu Lang’s gaze, he finally reacted, just as Yu Lang wished.
He lowered his head, stuck out his tongue, pressed it against his own palm and slowly, heavily licked everything clean.
His head was bowed low yet his eyes stubbornly lifted upward.
“I’ll help you turn it into reality. How about that?”
Only the last pitch-black glimmer remained in his eyes, gnawing at Yu Lang’s body.
Yu Lang’s eyelid twitched violently. A powerful sense of unease surged up at once.
His sixth sense screamed at him that the long-dormant dead volcano was about to erupt, he needed to run, now.
Danger abruptly gathered between Chi Jianqing’s tightly drawn brows.
Yu Lang flung the blanket aside, tossed the phone away, bent his waist and prepared to bolt.
Unfortunately, Chi Jianqing was already one step ahead. His hand clamped onto Yu Lang’s waist, fingers digging deep into the flesh with terrifying force, as though he wanted to tear half of it apart, brutally pinning Yu Lang in place.
Those words Yu Lang had typed out felt as though they were about to become a book of prophecy.
Every single word, every single sentence, Chi Jianqing could carry them out with effortless ease.
In fact, Chi Jianqing learned something new at that very moment.
There was no need for him to linger here, slowly playing some pure-love game with Yu Lang.
The disparity between Yu Lang and Chi Jianqing was the difference between drifting plankton and the vast blue sky.
If Chi Jianqing wanted to, Yu Lang would have absolutely no room to resist.
Yu Lang kicked at Chi Jianqing with his legs, his chest heaving violently. He roared a curse at the top of his lungs, pointing straight at Chi Jianqing’s nose and shouting, “Are you fucking sick?”
Yu Lang’s mouth was filthy, something Chi Jianqing himself had indulged.
Curses spilled out chaotically. He hurled out everything he could think of and when he ran out, he started all over again from the beginning.
He cursed but his body barely moved. Under Chi Jianqing’s suppression, his struggle looked utterly insignificant.
“Ugh!”
Yu Lang’s neck stiffened instantly. The curses he was about to shout lodged in his throat.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed a breath he never wanted to take.
The forcibly extinguished curses felt like a mortar grinding his throat into pulp.
Saliva flowed backward into his airway. His chest shook violently as he choked, coughing so hard it felt as though it might shatter his skull. His body flushed red all over, as though it had been scorched by fire.
Yu Lang’s hands lost their strength and dropped, brushing against his own soft stomach.
It was hard.
This time, Yu Lang was forced into the lower position.
He lifted his eyes as much as he could, only to discover in despair that his vision could not escape Chi Jianqing’s enclosure. He couldn’t see the ceiling, couldn’t see the slanted curtains above.
Turning his head to the side, all he could see was Chi Jianqing’s thick, muscular arm, the very arm that had just clamped his waist, his legs, his throat.
Like being run over by a massive freight truck.
Pale muscles tensed into solid slabs, sweat dripping down, carving trails like tear tracks across skin.
Yu Lang knew he couldn’t escape. He gave up and made peace with it, just treat it like breakup sex.
Caught doing something bad.
No admitting fault. No apologizing.
Since it had been discovered, so be it.
They weren’t going to kill him, right?
Yu Lang’s final bit of resistance was lifting both arms to shield his eyes.
He didn’t want to see how Chi Jianqing seized the dominant position and invaded.
Even more, he didn’t want to see the debased version of himself reflected in Chi Jianqing’s eyes.
Chi Jianqing descended like a falling rock, heavy and unstoppable.
Yu Lang hurriedly braced both hands against him, pushing upward.
“Don’t kiss me.”
“Don’t touch my face.”
“Do what you want. I’ll scream. Don’t come near me!”
A thick mist welled up in Yu Lang’s eyes.
It wasn’t shame, nor was it pain.
The tears in Yu Lang’s eyes burst through like a breached dam, pouring out relentlessly.
Chi Jianqing wiped away the tears at the corners of Yu Lang’s eyes, dabbed them onto his tongue, tasted them and commented, “Crying? Must feel good.”
Yu Lang’s face flushed crimson in an instant. Exposed and humiliated, he snapped back instinctively, “Disgusting idiot!”
The more Chi Jianqing was cursed, the better he felt. The innocent white-lotus mask finally began to rot and peel away. He breathed out two deep, unrestrained pants from his throat, deliberately drawing out the satisfied aftertone as he sighed,
“Honey, it feels so fucking good when you scold me.”
Yu Lang’s hands clawed at Chi Jianqing’s arms, almost ripping the skin open. His throat was completely hoarse from screaming.
Seeing someone willing to trade insults with him, Yu Lang immediately got fired up. His loudspeaker-like voice spewed filth nonstop: “Degenerate! Filthy thing! Dead bastard who lives to be cursed!”
Chi Jianqing stopped, closed his eyes and listened as if to celestial music.
Yu Lang thought Chi Jianqing was angry now. Encouraged, he yelled even louder, “What, mad already? If you’re mad, then slap me to death!”
Chi Jianqing’s hand lifted, hovering in midair but if he really slapped him, Yu Lang didn’t want it anymore.
Yu Lang hurriedly propped up his arms to shield his face, every muscle in his body tightening violently with fear.
That almost made Chi Jianqing lose his breath. The rhythm completely collapsed, devolving into chaotic, mindless motion.
Too cute.
The derailed machine grew more and more ferocious in its disorder.
Yu Lang couldn’t catch his breath. He felt like he was suffocating, like he was going to die.
Even more tears surged out. His palms could no longer grip Chi Jianqing’s thick arms, so he gave up and clenched the wrinkled bedsheets beneath him instead.
His finger bones strained to the point of near ruin.
He failed to draw in another breath.
Yu Lang fainted.
Like a silicone doll gone limp in Chi Jianqing’s arms, at the mercy of being posed however one pleased, completely unaware.
Seizing the opportunity, Chi Jianqing began to kiss him.
Kissing his eyelids, kissing the tip of his nose, then his chest, his abdomen, his waist and hips, down his long, straight legs and finally his powerless feet, faintly twitching.
His toes curled together as though dead, only relaxing when Chi Jianqing helped them. The tendons in his calves trembled all the way down to the tops of his feet.
Yu Lang was unconscious, unable to control his body and so his body responded to Chi Jianqing’s arrival in its most honest, fervent state.
Brows faintly furrowed, lips slightly parted, he exhaled sticky, winding hums.
He didn’t say no. Didn’t say don’t come closer. Didn’t push him away.
Both arms fell limp at his sides, his expression laid bare, moving from initial disgust, to reluctant tolerance and finally to indulgent enjoyment, fully relaxed.
Yu Lang presented his transformation openly before Chi Jianqing’s eyes, honestly telling him that this actually felt good.
No one knew how much time passed.
Yu Lang woke up in a daze, his body aching as though it had been crushed by a hydraulic press, completely falling apart.
“Chi Jianqing, I’m thirsty!”
He called out instinctively, ordering him around.
When no answer came, Yu Lang turned his head. The pillow beside him was empty, the room hollow and silent.
In the vast villa, Yu Lang was the only one breathing.
His fingers slid along the walls as he passed each room, checking every door. Only then did Yu Lang finally accept it.
Chi Jianqing was truly gone.
“Finally gave up.”
Yu Lang collapsed onto the sofa in relief, stretching out his gaze toward the blue horizon at the far end.
The salty sea breeze brushed against his cheeks, fishy, rotten.
On the pale beach floated dead fish corpses. Gray-white plastic trash surged ashore, piling up into mounds like mass graves.
From afar, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Only after getting close did one realize it was nothing but fish stench, rotting garbage, heaped along the coast.
Just like Yu Lang.
From a distance, he looked like a pure, beautiful child. Up close, it was just painted skin, a beautiful shell hiding an extremely vain and vicious soul.
Yu Lang counted on his fingers. This was the thirteenth guide he had destroyed.
A dead heart was still death.
He began waiting for the fourteenth.
The phone rang.
Yu Lang was surprised by the efficiency.
His finger tapped the answer button cleanly. Static crackled on the other end.
“Hello, Mr. Yu Lang. This is the N City Police Department. Regarding the numerous crimes you accused Mr. Chi Jianqing of, he has already come to the station to turn himself in and has admitted everything as true. Please come to the station to confirm.”
?
“Mr. Yu Lang? Are you still listening?”
Yu Lang pulled the phone away, staring at the screen with an incredulous expression before retorting, “Is he mentally ill? I suggest you give him a psychiatric evaluation first.”
“Please come to the police station.”
The call ended immediately after the notice was delivered.
Yu Lang shook the phone in his hand, looked up at the sky helplessly and let out a heavy sigh.
“It’s just a strategy game. Switch to a different NPC. Don’t torture yourself.”
But since things had already reached this point, the performance still had to be finished.
Yu Lang grabbed his helmet, mounted his motorcycle and sped straight toward the police station.
A massive crowd of entertainment reporters had already gathered outside. The moment they saw Yu Lang, they swarmed him like flies drawn to rotting food, sealing off the entire entrance.
Yu Lang took off his helmet. His hair was a mess and he was still wearing plain house clothes. His eyes were red-rimmed, dark circles heavy beneath them. His face looked sallow and haggard, his lips tinged blue-purple.
Because he had gone too far with Chi Jianqing the night before, he looked especially listless and drained of energy.
In the eyes of those who knew nothing, this was nothing short of solid proof that he had been brutally tormented.
The microphone was raised to his lips. The camera was shoved right up in front of his face.
He gathered his emotions, counted down silently, three, two, one.
And then he began to cry.
“Thank you all for your concern. I don’t even dare to imagine how much longer I would have had to endure inhuman treatment if I hadn’t found the courage to expose this last night.”
“Just seeing him now makes me start trembling. Look at the injuries on my body, look, so painful, it hurts so badly.”
“I was also at fault in this matter. I was shallow and stupid and I deserved criticism but I believe my crimes do not warrant this kind of punishment.”
“I also hope that everyone who sees this news can take me as a warning.”
In front of the cameras, he cried like a rain-soaked pear blossom, pitiful and delicate. He tugged at his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose, crying in a muffled voice as tears streamed down his face, emotionally accusing Chi Jianqing of the inhuman abuse he had suffered.
Yu Lang, who could recite the same line a hundred times on set with a dull, lifeless performance, erupted with astonishing potential when it came to directing and starring in a frame-up of his own making.
His tears did not fall all at once with a snap. Instead, they flowed through distinct stages, subdued sobbing, then grief too heavy to restrain and finally total collapse. The emotional progression was seamless and smooth, rising layer by layer.
Chi Jianqing cooperated as well.
He admitted to every baseless charge, compensated Yu Lang with a large sum of money and transferred all kinds of assets, cars, houses and more, entirely into Yu Lang’s name.
Chi Jianqing served six months in detention.
By the time those six months were over, he had completely lost all connection to Yu Lang.
Standing outside the towering iron gates that stretched into the sky, Chi Jianqing let his gaze drift straight and slowly toward the horizon.
The weather was gloomy. The world looked as though a layer of frosted glass had been placed over his eyes, everything appeared blurred, distant and unreal.
Yet Chi Jianqing felt calm.
Even his imprisonment felt as though it had been anticipated long ago, unfolding with a strange sense of inevitability.
Yu Lang was a madman rotten to the core. Chi Jianqing had known this even before the game began.
He had also thought it through.
Using the methods of an honest man against Yu Lang would never advance the progress of the strategy.
But then, what should he do?
Chi Jianqing remained standing outside the prison gates.
A fellow inmate who had been released alongside him approached out of fear and a desire to ingratiate himself.
He harbored a visceral, instinctive dread toward Chi Jianqing, the kind of fear the living feel toward the dead.
The man nervously stepped forward and handed him a cigarette, muttering hurriedly that he needed to go home. He rushed off without even offering a parting word.
Chi Jianqing looked at the cigarette pinched between his fingers and fell silent.
Because,
He didn’t have a lighter.
Chi Jianqing placed the cigarette between his lips and took a drag.
Dry. Tasteless. Colorless.
Holding the cigarette, Chi Jianqing suddenly thought of the words he had seen on Yu Lang’s phone that day:
Luring. Threatening.
Forcible control. Inequality. A dog with its bones broken.
The shadows around his eyes darkened into something like sealed boxes, bottomless, airtight, impenetrable.
Within those pitch-black pupils, countless silvery-white fissures began to rise densely, like spider webs, like flatworms, like coarse hemp ropes.
At the slightest disturbance, the cracks writhed with a nauseating squirm.
Chi Jianqing suddenly understood.
He had learned.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Please distract the translator from abandoning everything with coffee. (ง •̀_•́)ง
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Dead HusbandChapter 2 · Ghost ChaseChapter 3 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 4 · I need lots and lots of loveChapter 5 · I’ll kill you!^^Chapter 6 · Haha, really!Chapter 7 · This is what it means to be love-struck.Chapter 8 · We meet again, my loveChapter 9 · The little snakeChapter 10 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 11 · The daily routine of sasaeng fans following othersChapter 12 · Inferiority complexChapter 13 · It hurtsChapter 14 · Want to go out? Sure!Chapter 15 · Damn it!Chapter 16 · My wife hitting me is a reward for meChapter 17 · Licking sweatChapter 18 · The vinegar was friedChapter 19 · What a clever tactic, Chi Jianqing!Chapter 20 · Loving me is a very painful thing.Chapter 21 · The words may be rough, but the principle is soundChapter 22 · It wasn’t just two hitsChapter 23 · Turns out I’m not 3, I’m 1!Chapter 24 · Easy To CoaxChapter 25 · Confessing loveChapter 26 · DearChapter 27 · Honey, it felt so good when you scolded me.Chapter 28 · Let’s go after tearing off the human skinChapter 29 Part 1 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 29 Part 2 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 30 · Little Blind CrippleChapter 31 · How could I give up? I’ve given you my heart.Chapter 32 · The gloomy CEOChapter 33 · X-harassmentChapter 34 · Little third wheelChapter 35 · I am Chi JianqingChapter 36 · I am his husband, and you are?Chapter 37 · CarChapter 38 · Broken carChapter 39 · I want to kiss youChapter 40 · Silly babyChapter 41 · Chop off hands and feetChapter 42 · Ships and DeathChapter 43 · Chi Jianqing participated in the battle royale and finally obtained a ticket to meet Yu Lang.Chapter 44 · You bastard, get out of here!Chapter 45 · Bad cats can only be forced to love.Chapter 46 · Circle the fox’s tail and rub it back and forthChapter 47 · It hurts so muchChapter 48 · The Second World EndedChapter 49 · Brainless and grumpyChapter 50 · I don’t like you anymoreChapter 51 · I haven’t thought of a title yetChapter 52 · You smell so good, let me hug you and pet youChapter 53 · A big dog bit a kitten’s muzzleChapter 54 · Captive canariesChapter 55 · Male Ghost StrikesChapter 56 · I told you to be quiet!Chapter 57 · I have decided to bestow upon you the title of my wife.Chapter 58 · We’re talking about loveChapter 59 · I really, really like you!Chapter 60 · I want to eat your noodlesChapter 61 · Don’t abandon your puppy!Chapter 62 · What a blissful ending!Chapter 63 · Extra 1Chapter 64 · Extra 2Chapter 65 · Extra 3