Yu Lang’s head felt thick and foggy.
He knocked hard on his aching skull, using the sharp sting of pain to push back the heavy, swollen discomfort pressing inside.
Forcing his eyes wide open, he stared intensely at every corner of the room, terrified that Chi Jianqing might spring out of some dark crevice again.
But as he looked…
and looked…
His gaze slowly dropped from observation into sinking dread, then slid straight into horror.
This was indeed his rental apartment but he vividly remembered that the door had been hacked to pieces by Chi Jianqing yet right now, it stood perfectly intact before him, reflected clearly in his pupils.
And the bed.
The bedboard should have been stabbed straight through.
It wasn’t the fear of something happening, It was the fear that nothing had happened at all.
Yu Lang flung the blanket aside, jumped off the bed and rushed into the bathroom in a single long stride.
The crimson splash he remembered, like blood erupting from blasted open by artillery, was gone, replaced by squares of white yellowed tiles assaulting the center of his vision.
He remembered clearly, painfully clearly, There should have been a headless corpse lying here!
He remembered every detail.
As for the severed head he had kissed…
Its whereabouts unknown.
Was it alive or dead…
Or something neither living nor dead?
Everything, every last impossible detail, felt like a bullet fired straight through his forehead, piercing between his brows, sending a sharp agony through him so severe his knees nearly buckled.
His memories spun like a whirlpool inside the toilet bowl, the water tank roaring loudly as if echoing the chaos, then all of it spiraling down into some filthy, stinking drain.
Disjointed.
Soiled.
The world spinning madly.
Yu Lang, looking like someone who had lost his soul, shut his eyes and stumbled out of the bathroom, collapsing onto the floor.
The scenes from last night had not faded one bit. They replayed in his mind, bright and vivid, over and over again, the falling knife, the spray of blood, the lifeless corpse.
And that cold, icy kiss,
cold lips pressed against his own,
a living man kissing the dead.
But when he opened his eyes, everything was empty.
Was this reality?
Or a dream?
Hard to tell.
He hit his head again. Only when the pain broke through did he open his eyes.
Still no change.
A ringing surged in his ears. Yu Lang clutched his head, panting on the ground for a long moment.
His stomach growled in protest.
He decided not to torture himself any further. Reality or delusion, whatever it was, didn’t matter right now. The most important thing was to get something to eat.
He couldn’t find his phone. There wasn’t a single coin in his pocket but none of that mattered.
He pulled the metal studs from his face, put on a pair of heavy black rimmed glasses with nothing but the frame left and calmly walked into a supermarket.
He grabbed whatever he wanted to eat, slipping the items into his clothes as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
Then calmly walked back out.
Not greedy, he only took a few loose bread rolls and a handful of individually wrapped mint candies.
Outside, he crouched by the roadside, the wind blowing so hard he could barely keep his eyes open. He stuffed the little bread rolls into his mouth, devouring one in two or three bites.
The blurry sense of unreality faded slightly once the warm, fragrant bread entered his stomach. His drifting soul settled for a moment, landing on the soft bread, giving him the faintest sense of grounding.
“This supermarket’s been robbed six times in two weeks. Time to switch to another.”
He waved his hand while counting, then glanced around, considering which nearby supermarket had yet to suffer from his predations.
After thinking too long, his legs grew sore from squatting. Hands in pockets, he wandered back toward home, dove into his blanket and slept until the sun went down.
When he got up, he washed his face and covered it with clinking silver accessories, then headed out again.
Yu Lang had an undignified part time job, working as a male model at a bar.
Not for the money.
Simply because he could eat and drink off other people’s tables for free.
He had barely stepped into the bar, not even managing to sneak a single piece of fruit from the platters, when the manager grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the storage room.
Yu Lang leaned lazily against the manager, his fingertips lightly brushing over the man’s collar like a feather. After folding the fabric twice with unnecessary elegance, he finally spoke:
“If you want to book me, it’s ten thousand per round. Three hundred thousand for the whole day, no limit.”
The price wasn’t even high. His tone was half teasing, half serious, as if flirting for fun, making the manager’s face shift from red to green.
The manager coughed twice and looked away. “You still dare to come to work?”
Yu Lang frowned. “What’s wrong?”
The manager thrust his phone toward him.
Yu Lang leaned closer, his breath brushing against the manager’s hand, making the man’s face flush even hotter.
The trending list on the screen was filled with Yu Lang’s name.
The once super popular former top idol had resurfaced before the public, dragging behind him an avalanche of scandals.
Violent temper, terrible personality, chaotic private life, promiscuity, gambling addiction, malicious competition within the industry, flying abroad to redo his entire face yet insisting it was “natural,” stealing fruit from customers while working as a male model, playing games as a hired companion but then letting the boss carry his ranking…
And so on and so on, a flood of slanderous tags followed Yu Lang’s name, pouring out one after another.
Most lacked solid evidence, just countless marketing accounts starting their rumors with “allegedly” but it was enough to send the gossip masses spreading unverified claims like wildfire.
Only one accusation had real proof:
“Owes three hundred million. Secretly met with a certain company’s CEO last night at a business club.”
A debt contract, a court order with his name marked in red and a photograph of him at the business venue.
Yu Lang rubbed his head. It felt heavy and overloaded like so many hats had been placed on him at once.
Looking at the long list of accusations, comparable to a supermarket receipt during a clearance sale, he actually found it amusing.
He skimmed through the list with a grin, already thinking he might as well build his public persona based on this checklist.
“The boss wants you to go here.”
The manager handed him a hotel room keycard.
Boss.
Hotel card.
Debt contract.
And a mountain of black rumors.
He didn’t even need to think to know who was pulling the strings.
Yu Lang pocketed the card, demanded a hundred yuan for travel expenses, then hopped on his motorcycle and bought a fruit knife. He slid it into its sheath and tucked it inside his clothes.
He wasn’t going to the hotel to solve the problem, He was going to solve the person who created the problem.
Since the debt would never be repaid even after eighteen generations, he might as well kill the creditor and be done with it.
Yu Lang stood outside the hotel room door, unhurried.
Other people drank or smoked to steel their nerves. He popped two mint candies.
Just as he was about to knock, the door opened by itself, without a breeze, revealing a narrow crack.
He hid the knife behind him with his right hand and gently pushed the door with his left.
Through the slowly widening gap, he watched every movement inside the room.
“Come in.”
The voice was soft and measured yet Yu Lang felt as if something possessed him. He could not control his legs. Step after step, he walked in, stopping right at the entrance.
The windows were shut tight. No wind could possibly pass through.
Yet the door behind him closed on its own.
The sound was light, like a leaf landing softly on his head, weightless and quiet.
Yu Lang lifted his eyes toward the room and saw, in the living room of the presidential suite, an old, ugly, obese dead man lying on the floor.
Following the line of the corpse, he looked further.
The killer was standing there with his back to him.
Not exactly human.
Not exactly ghost.
More like some unknown substance, using the dead man’s body as a template, slowly rebuilding itself piece by piece.
It was like staring at one’s reflection in water: the figure inside the surface connected to the one outside yet twisted, warped and utterly different.
The man reflected in the watery distortion was twisted and blurred, a mess of chaotic outlines that scraped at the sanity of anyone attempting to look directly.
Seconds passed.
Minutes passed.
And in every one of those moments, Yu Lang clearly watched the creature, this thing neither human nor ghost, reshape itself step by step.
He wanted to close his eyes but the bone deep terror brought a thrill so sharp it was more intoxicating than killing.
His entire body was flooded with adrenaline, excitement surging like fire, rising to a new peak strong enough to burn him from the inside out.
Even if he closed his eyes, the erratic twitching of his eyeballs forced his eyelids open.
Yu Lang was compelled, by himself, to witness this impossible scene.
The reconstruction of the water mirror form finished.
It looked no different from a living person. It wore the boss’s clothes, the boss’s favorite watch, even copied his hairstyle perfectly.
But the water mirror must have decided the boss’s body shape was unappealing, because the final form was tall, broad shouldered and impeccably built.
Still, it kept its back to Yu Lang.
The man slowly turned his head. Under Yu Lang’s stare, that molten, distorted metal like face dipped into an invisible quenching pool, steam rising thick enough to blur the sight.
A sharp wind swept through.
And beneath the warping surface, the face that emerged was Chi Jianqing’s.
His head twisted backward, neck bones cracking sharply,
click.
Click, click,
Like a countdown to detonation.
When it twisted to the limit, Chi Jianqing smiled, an eerie, warped grin. The corners of his mouth rose slowly but no light reached his eyes.
Holding that inhuman posture, head twisted, he gazed at Yu Lang and murmured a lover’s intimate confession:
“You can’t escape.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The button is right there. You know what to do. ☕
☕ 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