Chi Jianqing didn’t immediately use the revival token. Instead, he observed Yu Lang through the ghostly, membrane thin shimmer of the virtual world.
He wasn’t *just* like a ghost. He was a ghost.
Relying on his existence, a higher level than NCO in the game, he likes to watch everything.
Yu Lang dragged the severed head into the bathroom, setting the small, round head in place alongside it.
He changed clothes, washed his hands, returning to the “crime scene” as if nothing had happened.
Yu Lang looked around the room, reaching into his pocket, empty.
The mint tin had been taken by the shop owner.
Clicking his tongue, Yu Lang rolled up the bedding and tucked it into the far corner, muttering softly:
“Make do, make do…”
Just make a do….
He curled up inside the bedding, settling against the wall.
Chi Jianqing approached, standing directly in front of him.
No bowing. No lowering of the gaze. Just eyes cast downward in a quiet, evaluating stare.
The moment Chi Jianqing’s gaze fell, Yu Lang’s hand tightened around the blanket, pausing mid motion. Somehow, he lifted his head, hesitant and confused.
His gaze passed over Chi Jianqing, then fell sharply, like a rapid drop on a rollercoaster, to the ground.
Yu Lang’s eyes followed, body collapsing. He fell sideways, the world spinning as his vision skimmed the floor, flat and fast.
“So annoying… shouting about salvation and love, then smashing my door, chopping my bed…”
“What love, what salvation… aren’t you just grinding through me like a quest…”
He mumbled himself into slumber, words trailing off into dreams.
Chi Jianqing tilted his head slowly, mimicking Yu Lang’s posture, transitioning from standing to half kneeling, one knee on the ground like a machine restrained yet slowly moving.
Gradual. Heavy.
Like a massive crane controlled mechanism, tilting at a controlled speed to the side.
Until his eyes aligned horizontally with Yu Lang’s.
Between them lay a crack in the tile, dividing their worlds.
Chi Jianqing extended a hand, hovering above the gap.
Palm floated just above Yu Lang’s face, fingers pressing gently against his lips, pulling down the flesh of the lower lip.
The five letters of the inner lip tattoo revealed fully to Chi Jianqing.
He smiled.
His ghostly features formed a faint, pale grin. Death black eyes, like opaque lumps of coal, filled the sockets, unmoving and unreflective.
Eyes empty, fixed dead straight ahead.
“Your illustration is beautiful.”
“Your character design is quite cute.”
Chi Jianqing’s voice grated, squeezed out from his throat, like rusted hinges, cracking as it came.
His expression froze, staring obsessively at the deeply sleeping Yu Lang.
Every glance meticulously “drew” Yu Lang’s current expression, every motion, every nuance, placing it perfectly along the invisible lines of his personal canvas.
If Chi Jianqing had a screenshot button, he would have pressed it frantically, filling his hard drive with nothing but images of Yu Lang asleep.
A true, unmasked obsession.
He stared at Yu Lang like one stares at a treasured art piece.
An art piece trapped beneath a glass dome.
A gaze burning straight through.
Yu Lang was compliant in his quiet.
Platinum blond hair curled softly across his head, stray strands brushing eyelashes, causing faint tremors in his eyelids, a quiet hum escaping his nose.
Yu Lang leaned forward slightly, pressing his forehead against Chi Jianqing’s.
Chi Jianqing’s eyes narrowed.
He exploited Yu Lang’s blindness and inability to touch, inhaling the faintest wisps of his breath, capturing them into his nose.
No discernible scent.
But Chi Jianqing remembered the mint candy Yu Lang had blown onto his face.
He thought: Yu Lang must taste like mint.
The childish thought made him smile but just once, a sharp, fleeting laugh, like a clap of thunder followed by silence.
Yu Lang seemed to sense something, eyes snapping open.
Yet his vision failed to focus in the empty room, scattering as he looked ahead.
Gradually, he drifted back to sleep.
Yu Lang’s adaptability was remarkable.
He fell against the hard tiles, head resting on the cold, rough floor, the air thick with nauseating stench, the storm outside howling in concert.
Even in such harsh conditions, he slept.
Curled inward, Yu Lang’s body edged closer to Chi Jianqing’s, two silhouettes intertwining like chaotic, entangled lines. Proximity invited Chi Jianqing’s indulgent gaze.
No longer mere “watching,” but a possessive, controlling “stare.”
Yet it was a solo performance.
Yu Lang, oblivious, huddled like a drenched puppy, shivering beside Chi Jianqing.
Chi Jianqing drew in a sharp breath, struggling to suppress his impulses.
This was no longer a simple desire to hug.
He wanted,
He wanted to devour him.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
To crush Yu Lang like a mint candy between fingers, bite him, swallow him.
He knew what Yu Lang would taste like.
Because Yu Lang had offered him that very taste.
Minty, clean, sharp, capable of washing away every bitterness and acid, sweeping through the nose and throat until nothing remained but its clarity.
Here and now, Yu Lang lay in front of him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Chi Jianqing lowered his head again, pressing it as far down as possible.
But just as his lips neared Yu Lang’s skin,
Yu Lang awoke.
Like a drowned ghost surfacing for air, he gasped and struggled upright, disoriented, eyes scanning the room.
Quiet. The door is intact. The bed is untouched.
It seemed… he had dreamed a crimson nightmare.
In the dream, Chi Jianqing pried his lips apart, forcibly exposing the tattoo inside his lower lip.
Chi Jianqing had pressed against him, leaving barely a finger’s width between them.
So close that it felt as if they were about to exchange saliva.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The coffee spirits are watching. 👁️☕
☕ 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