Chi Jianqing stood in the rain, expressionless, unmoved, as if he were part of a painting of a lone woman in the storm, serene yet subtly sinister.
“Mad man.. ” The thugs hesitated, threw a few curses and quickly went around him.
Yu Lang, still shaken, glanced at the rearview mirror inside the van. No matter how the vehicle turned, every time he looked up, the figure appeared in the mirror, vague, shadowed, unnerving.
The man no longer seemed entirely human, more like a reflection inhabiting the glass.
Yu Lang dared not look longer, silently clutching the mint tin, his heart racing like a rollercoaster, nerves taut with unease.
Rain hammered down, wipers swept furiously, tires rolled through puddles, sending water splashing at fleeing pedestrians, who cursed under their breaths.
Finally, they arrived at the destination, a high end business KTV in the heart of W City.
Yu Lang knew the owner; they had a long standing acquaintance.
Six months ago, Yu Lang, playing against the protagonist, had signed a risky contract with the owner to compete for resources.
According to the “villain always loses rule” , he had inevitably lost and now the owner wanted repayment.
Yu Lang stepped into the private room. The owner was flanked by companions, laughing exuberantly.
Upon seeing Yu Lang, the owner’s eyes lit up. He pushed the two people aside, clearing space for Yu Lang.
“Out.” Yu Lang’s voice was firm, commanding, ordering the people away.
They hesitated, checking the owner’s gaze. The owner watched Yu Lang carefully.
“Fine. As long as you cooperate, I’ll grant anything you want.”
The owner’s words seemed casual but he gestured. A tall man pinned Yu Lang and rifled through his pockets, taking his phone and the mint tin.
The owner had granted Yu Lang’s request.
Everyone else left. The room emptied, leaving Yu Lang and the sleazy man before him.
The colorful lights overhead was making the atmosphere dizzying.
Yu Lang stepped forward, his left hand slowly unbuttoning shirt while the man watched him with interest. As he approached, the man was captivated, unaware that Yu Lang’s right hand had already grasped a glass bottle of alcohol.
Clang!!
The bottle smashed into the man’s head. Yu Lang surged forward like a released arrow.
“You fucking creep! you just wouldn’t stop, would you?! I swear I’m gonna lose it!!”
He forcibly covered the man’s mouth with his hand, the sound of the bottle hitting the skull matching the thunderous rain outside.
The DJ version of the song blared on the KTV’s big screen. The pounding beat matched each strike of Yu Lang’s attack,
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The man’s muffled screams were swallowed entirely by the music, becoming one with the background rhythm, nameless and insignificant.
Yu Lang may have had no issue with intimacy but he drew the line about sharing a bed with a man old, ugly and overweight.
By the time Yu Lang had beaten him, he was exhausted as he was forced to be awake. His hands were already soaked in blood, dizziness clouding his vision.
The world spun violently. Staggering, Yu Lang rushed into the bathroom, plunging both hands into the sink, scrubbing frantically.
When he finally lifted his head, through the crimson haze, he saw him again.
The reflection in the mirror.
It was him.
Rain streaked the glass in deep navy, the silver lines cutting across the mirror like shining blades.
The figure approached slowly, one pale hand pressed against the mirror, pressing outward, as if about to break through the rain, break through the glass itself.
Almost!
Almost ready to clutch Yu Lang by the collar and drag him into another world.
“You just won’t leave me alone, will you!”
Yu Lang recoiled in terror, fleeing the bathroom. He ripped off his blood stained jacket, wiped his hands on a clean spot, yanked down his collar to reveal his collarbone, even twisting his fingers until red marks appeared.
Fear twisted in his chest yet he bit his tongue, forcing calm into his voice, forcing composure into his limbs.
At the door, he opened it, backed out with his hands behind him and started walking.
Someone tried to block his path.
Yu Lang flashed a fake smile, thin and practiced. “Boss wants me to go buy a room.”
He walked forward. His calves trembled uncontrollably beneath his pants yet he managed to stay composed, adding, “If you don’t believe me, go check for yourselves.”
His clean, innocent looking face was deceiving enough to make them hesitate. Unsure, they let him pass.
Halfway down the street, shouts of anger rose behind him. Yu Lang bolted.
“Damn it! We’ve been tricked!”
As the threats escalated, adrenaline surged and he threw open the heavy KTV doors. Rain slammed into his ears, drumming a relentless, deafening rhythm across his senses. His world was a blur of sound and motion.
At that same moment, he noticed the man standing in the rain…
Chi Jianqing.
His already vague outline seemed even more unreal against the downpour, a ghostly presence on the edge of reality.
The spade dragged along the ground, gripped tightly in his hand. The blood, the metallic stench etched into it, had not been washed away by the rain; it only added another layer of pungent corruption to the sharp, acidic scent of the storm.
Chi Jianqing was covered in mud, blood and rain, his pale hand still gripping the spade with an unyielding force.
His gaze fell upon Yu Lang, mirroring his own essence.
Unclean….
Untamed….
Dangerous…
The spade scraped against the asphalt with a jarring, serrated screech.
With predators before and behind him, Yu Lang spun sharply, bolting onto a side street.
He sprinted along the curb, twisting and turning, weaving through alleys and side roads, trying to vanish into the torrents pouring from the heavens, hoping his small, unassuming frame would be swallowed by the relentless rain.
But he had not anticipated that the thugs chasing him were in cars.
The headlights cut through the downpour, revealing his every movement.
He ran abruptly down the empty streets, only to be shoved to the ground, dragged into a dimly hidden corner.
His first instinct was to fight back. Bloodied palms slid against the wet pavement, raw and blistered.
A club thumped against his knees, warning him.
“Behave! If you want to keep your legs!”
Yu Lang slumped against the wall, hugging his legs as rain hammered down. Pain lanced his back where it pressed against the concrete.
These five thugs were all fully grown men, heavily tattooed from neck to wrist, each carrying guns or clubs. One glance made it clear they were not to be messed with.
Yu Lang’s body and mind were exhausted from two previous fights that evening.
He couldn’t win, he couldn’t escape.
Any further resistance would mean nails or spikes driven into his skull.
He had beaten the big boss into unconsciousness, dealt with local punks and yet the mountain of debt still loomed. The entertainment industry denounced him as a target and a ghost haunted him relentlessly.
It seemed as if this world intended to end for him here, tonight.
Yet Yu Lang clung stubbornly to life. He had no concern for escape, no concern for pride.
His eyes flicked with cunning, tongue coiling as he forced a smile.
He cast a frivolous, flattering glance at the thugs. “No need to take me back to report. Why not rent a room? I’ll keep you company… tonight or a few nights, if you want.”
The smile persisted as his peripheral vision caught Chi Jianqing moving silently through the rain.
Chi Jianqing dragged the spade, eyes locked on Yu Lang. There was no emotion, only the rain slicing through his black mirror like eyes, fragmenting him into countless shards.
Yu Lang leaned against the wall, standing slowly, one hand undoing buttons, his gaze flitting flirtatiously across each thug.
“Or maybe… right here. You and me…”
As he spoke, his tongue flicked out, pulling down his collar to reveal his collarbone glinting through the rain.
Yu Lang’s face, the snake-like tongue, the subtle allure, struck the five thugs rigid with astonishment.
The leader impatiently snapped. “Take it off! Keep going!”
Yu Lang’s attention shifted to Chi Jianqing.
His shirt was stained pink from the dust and blood, collar smeared with dark crimson, hands filthy as if clawed from hell itself, blood running up his forearms, baked by some unseen fire.
Yu Lang froze at the critical moment, undoing his shirt, eyes flicking past the thugs to Chi Jianqing.
“What are you doing?!”
The questioner hadn’t yet turned to look when the spade slammed them to the ground.
One… two… three…
One after another fell, unrelenting.
Chi Jianqing’s silhouette solidified, no longer ghostly, as if washed in blood to become real.
Rain pounded him like molten iron.
Each swing of the spade radiated murderous intent, blood coursing through him like scalding fire, urging him onward, screaming: Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!
Kill whom?
Unknowingly, Chi Jianqing’s gaze locked onto Yu Lang.
Yu Lang’s legs collapsed again, heart hammering violently, mind screaming:
I’m dead! I’m dead! I’m dead!
Chi Jianqing hadn’t moved yet but Yu Lang felt the bloodied spade poised to tear through his throat.
The blood pooled in the gutter, forming a dark red river toward the drains.
The stench of blood thickened in the air, cries of half dead victims echoing from the ground.
It was hell on earth.
Chi Jianqing lowered the spade to the ground beside him, standing just an arm’s length from Yu Lang.
The torrential rain washed away the malevolent energy, clearing the air slightly.
Yet the blood on the spade could not be erased.
Like the viciousness surging from Chi Jianqing himself, the marks remained, impervious to cleansing, a terrifying intimidation to the weak willed Yu Lang.
Once again, Yu Lang steadied himself against the wall. This time, he didn’t bother fixing his collar but set a shamelessly seductive expression, enticing Chi Jianqing forward.
It didn’t matter, he would seduce whoever won.
His hair was tousled, shirt slipping from his shoulders, tongue flicking in a provocative display, seemingly licking Chi Jianqing’s black mirror eyes.
But Chi Jianqing’s composure was far greater than Yu Lang anticipated, unmoving like a mountain.
“Chi Jianqing, do you want to go to a hotel with me?”
Yu Lang stepped closer, voice feather light against Chi Jianqing’s ear, carefully taking his hand to relieve the weight of the spade.
Chi Jianqing’s palm burned against Yu Lang’s, scalding him.
Gritting through the discomfort, Yu Lang kept holding the hand.
Chi Jianqing’s cold, unfeeling question pierced him: “Is this supposed to be redemption?”
Yu Lang wanted to laugh. The man before him functioned like a machine, only ever repeating, “Is this redemption?”
But Yu Lang dared not.
He feared Chi Jianqing’s emotionless face would swing the spade into his head at any second.
“Then… yes,” he said.
Chi Jianqing didn’t understand yet nodded, replying simply: “Want.”
Yu Lang traced a line on Chi Jianqing’s burning palm with his pinky, whispering gently at his ear: “Wait here for me. My bike’s parked outside. I’ll drive over and pick you up.”
The intimate touch lasted barely half a minute. Once finished, Yu Lang withdrew his hand.
He walked toward the streetlamps, calling back, “Don’t move, I’ll be right back!”
Chi Jianqing watched him leave.
His hand trembled, still twitching uncontrollably even after Yu Lang was gone.
Standing in the rain, he lifted the palm Yu Lang had touched, raindrops striking it, washing away the fleeting warmth.
The early spring downpour was bone chilling, like thousands of needles piercing his bones.
On such a cold, terrifying night, few cars passed the empty streets and even fewer people.
Chi Jianqing waited and waited.
He waited so long that the streetlights along the roadside finally flickered out. He waited until the blood pooled on the asphalt was thoroughly washed away by the relentless rain. He waited until the grime and sludge encrusted on the spade hardened completely.
And in this lonely, bitterly cold night, as he remained steadfastly at his post, holding onto Yu Lang’s promise, Chi Jianqing came to a harsh realization:
Yu Lang was a liar.
A deceiver.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Translator.exe requires coffee to continue functioning.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
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