“You…” The girl’s appearance made Ji Fengjian unable to bear it. “She really doesn’t look like Tomie. Look, she’s lost so much blood yet there isn’t even the slightest sign of her duplicating herself…”
“I already cut off one of her fingers to test it just now.” Gu Beichen shrugged. “An hour has passed. There’s been no abnormal change whatsoever. She really isn’t Tomie.”
Cut off her finger?
Gu Beichen’s casual tone made Ji Fengjian’s eyes widen in shock.
A surge of fierce anger rushed straight into his chest. “You… you clearly knew that she…”
“But she saw my face.” Gu Beichen spoke without a trace of emotion. “To prevent any unnecessary complications, so…”
“You!”
“Why are you this angry?” Gu Beichen stood up. “Isn’t she just an NPC? Don’t forget, this is a game. No matter how miserably they die, they’re only a string of data. Only we are…”
“Human.”
While the two were locked in confrontation, Chu Tianshu had already followed Lin Huai to his home.
“So this place is my home now.” Lin Huai pointed at the three story house before them.
“Mm…” Chu Tianshu pondered for a moment. “It’s pretty luxurious. Are you used to living here?”
“…Aside from the perverted ghost father who spies on me every day and the hysterically jealous mother, everything else is quite normal,” Lin Huai replied expressionlessly. “Sooner or later, I’m going to kill that examiner.”
Chu Tianshu: …
“I’m going upstairs to grab something,” Lin Huai said. “Do you want to come up with me, or wait downstairs?”
After thinking it over, he added, “You’d better wait downstairs. Inside this house… tch. That tree, wait for me under that tree.”
He pointed to a large tree beside the small building. His bedroom seemed to be right next to it.
Chu Tianshu obediently went to stand beneath the tree, while Lin Huai pressed the doorbell and entered the house.
“…Huaihuai!” A faint voice drifted from inside. “Why are you home so late again? Did you go rob someone? If there’s anything you want to buy, just tell Dad. I’ll buy it all for you, as long as you give Daddy a kiss…”
“Lin Huai!” From the other side came a woman’s furious scolding. “Coming back this late, were you out fooling around again?”
Chu Tianshu: …
Footsteps sounded as someone went upstairs. Soon after, the light in Lin Huai’s room flickered on.
…For some reason, he suddenly felt like one of those shady young men waiting beneath a girl’s window, luring a well behaved daughter out for a secret date. Chu Tianshu couldn’t help rubbing his nose.
After a series of rustling noises, the sound of a window being pushed open finally came from the balcony.
“Catch me,” someone said.
“Oh, okay.”
He instinctively stretched out his arms and looked up and then…
His mouth fell open.
At the same time, a huge red flower fluttered down into his embrace.
What fluttered wasn’t a flower… but an enormous… skirt…
The moment he realized this, he let out a shout and his hands loosened.
Thud!
Lin Huai rolled onto the ground in a most undignified heap.
“Crap… crap crap crap…” Chu Tianshu stammered in horror. “Y.. you… what on earth are you wearing?”
Lin Huai: …
Struggling on the ground, he said with difficulty, “Didn’t I tell you to catch me?”
“But what are you wearing?”
“Didn’t I tell you to catch me?”
“But what are you wearing?”
After this nested exchange repeated five times, a girl finally struggled to her feet from the ground.
Her long hair was jet black and glossy, gleaming like gemstones. Her figure was slender and tall. Beneath the moonlight, one could vaguely make out “her” pale neck, her pointed chin and those incomparably cold… eyes, adorned at the corner with a single tear mole…
No matter how one looked at it, aside from the slightly firm, heroic lines of the face, she was undeniably a beauty who fit perfectly into anyone’s aesthetic and yet…
Chu Tianshu stared blankly. “Did you get a sex change?”
“Idiot.” The “girl” replied irritably. “This is crossdressing.”
“Why are your lips so red?”
“That’s lipstick.”
“How did your hair get so long?”
The “girl” steadied the wig that had shifted from the fall. “This is a wig.”
“Why put on lipstick? Why wear a wig?” Chu Tianshu was on the verge of collapse. “Is your head cold or something?”
“Because this is crossdressing,” Lin Huai said coolly. “If you’re going to pursue excitement, you might as well go all the way.”
Chu Tianshu: …
After a long while, he finally broke down. “But why are you crossdressing?”
“To complete the mission, disguise my identity and avoid getting caught.” The “girl” turned back beneath the moonlight. “Who would believe that the red clad female ghost who goes around scaring and robbing people every night is actually just an ordinary male high school student? And besides…”
“Her” skirt traced a wine red wave through the air. Then, with a mischievous smile, “she” said, “At first glance, pretty and charming, but lift the skirt and it’s bigger than yours. Isn’t that the classic emotional manipulation routine?”
Chu Tianshu: …
“Let’s go.” Lin Huai adjusted his collar, using the bow to cover his Adam’s apple. “We’ve got robbing to do.”
“So this is your method of swindling money by playing with other people’s feelings…” Chu Tianshu walked behind Lin Huai. Watching him in full crossdress, his eyebrows twitched uncontrollably. “Y you you you… aren’t you hot?”
Normally so skilled at rambling nonsense and ghost stories, he found himself oddly tongue tied. “That skirt… that cloak, aren’t they thick? And that hair too… such a huge bunch…”
“Hah?” Lin Huai turned to him. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
Chu Tianshu: …
“If you like it, you can try it too,” Lin Huai suggested sincerely. “I feel like wearing a skirt is pretty convenient.”
As he spoke, he lifted his foot slightly. “You can do splits without much effort or hassle and when you spin around, the skirt flares up, tch, it feels imposing.”
Chu Tianshu: …
To be fair, Lin Huai didn’t look particularly out of place in this outfit. His features had never been the bold, heroic sort; instead, they leaned toward delicate softness. With the added “Tomie BUFF,” his appearance gained an eerie androgynous beauty. So his wearing these clothes was entirely reasonable. Him looking like a pretty girl in them was also entirely reasonable…
Yes, entirely reasonable. Chu Tianshu told himself, completely reasonable…
Completely reasonable…
Reasonable my ass! Chu Tianshu thought in despair and fury.
He couldn’t help tightening his grip around his wrench.
…When I get out of here, I’m definitely going to beat that examiner to death, he thought.
…Still, he subtly reassured himself that at least it wasn’t something revealing like a sailor uniform. If it were that, with the wind blowing so strongly at night, what if his legs got chilled and he developed rheumatism later? That would be terrible.
At this moment, Lin Huai truly looked like a real “Tomie.” If not for his expression, so murderous and thrilled with excitement…
“This is the best hunting ground.” Lin Huai led him to a small plaza. “Across the street are a dance hall, an arcade, bars and nightclubs, love hotels, pachinko parlors, internet cafés and the poorest slum in town. You could say this is the worst place in terms of public order, not only are there delinquent teens but also delinquent young adults and even cheating middle aged men chasing girls…”
Chu Tianshu said sincerely, “You look like a cult member.”
Lin Huai let out a dry chuckle. He didn’t seem to feel even the slightest discomfort about wearing women’s clothing. Instead, he wore the expression of “with a thunderous boom across the horizon, the devil makes a dazzling entrance,” utterly lacking the mortified embarrassment one might expect from someone crossdressing. “This is called professionalism.”
Then he paused. “Actually, the first time I wore it… it was a little awkward but once you get used to it, it’s fine. Really, you should try it.”
Chu Tianshu: “…I’m a man.”
Lin Huai: “A truly straight man wouldn’t be afraid of crossdressing.”
Chu Tianshu’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot. Lin Huai glanced at his watch and said, “It’s about time. Come on, let’s stake out that alley entrance. Oh and stay a little further away from me, if those punks see someone with me, they probably won’t dare to harass me.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Shh.” Lin Huai looked at Chu Tianshu, raised a finger to his lips and narrowed his eyes as he said, word by word, “Fishing.”
Though dressed in women’s clothing, he walked with the aura of a mafia overlord. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back toward Chu Tianshu. “Are you hot?”
“Huh? W… what?”
“Your face looks red.” He pointed at his own face.
Chu Tianshu fell silent for a moment before finally saying, “If I told you… I’m allergic to McDonald’s, would you believe me?”
“At first, I didn’t have this idea at all…” Lin Huai said, peering out along the wall. The black wig on his head kept brushing against Chu Tianshu’s face in the wind, again and again.
Chu Tianshu suddenly felt an intense urge to yank that fake hair right off.
“…No matter what I did, I couldn’t complete the task of ‘toying with others’ feelings’ and earning money. During the first seven days, I even bought a whole box of boutique tea and tried selling it… all failed.” Lin Huai said. “Until one day in class, I overheard a few people in the back row wailing…”
“Wailing about what?”
“They seemed to be discussing a manga called Go for It, ○ Demon King, complaining that the characters randomly changed genders, the male second lead became the female protagonist. There was even a BG couple that got split apart, with the girl turned into a man and paired with another girl to form a new BG couple… Their voices were filled with anguish, accusing the story of cruelly playing with their emotions. At that moment… I got the inspiration.”
“So you…” Chu Tianshu narrowed his eyes.
“Put on women’s clothing, pretended to be a pitiful, delicate girl, lured misguided teenage boys, young men and middle aged men with ill intentions into deserted dark alleys,” Lin Huai said coldly. “Then beat them up and took all their money. After bewitching them, toying with their feelings and obtaining money, I could complete both my first and second tasks at once. By the way, I’ve already completed my second task dozens of times.”
“And this method also effectively hides my identity,” he added calmly. “A week ago, the police already issued a warrant for me. Unfortunately, not a single person has realized that this red clad female ghost is actually an ordinary male high school student. Heh.”
It did make sense, using beauty, seduction, emotional manipulation, obtaining money, crossdressing… it seemed like everything was accomplished. Chu Tianshu thought as he looked at the eager Lin Huai ahead of him. Only the method of achieving it felt terribly off…
…No, not just terribly off. He silently corrected himself. Everything about it was completely off.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
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☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
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ChaptersChapter 111 · Although the author really didn’t want to writeChapter 112 · An explanation of the main storylineChapter 113 · Lin Huai’s QuestionChapter 114 · Hello classmateChapter 115 · Let me introduce the protagonist’s family backgroundChapter 116 · The innocent and naive Lin XiaohuaiChapter 117 · The Trisolarans ArriveChapter 118 · He Isn’t Fighting AloneChapter 119 · Why Here?Chapter 120 · A World Where Everyone Is Sculpted in ClayChapter 121 · How Could It Be YouChapter 122 · I want to sell my carChapter 123 · The Mysterious Transfer StudentsChapter 124 · Gu BeichenChapter 125 · The Male Lead of This StoryChapter 126 · A Voice Never Heard BeforeChapter 127 · You’re Tomie, aren’t you?Chapter 128 · I’ll give youChapter 129 · I just want to be with youChapter 130 · The Principal’s OfficeChapter 131 · Chu: I Disbanded Your Hate GroupsChapter 132 · Speak ProperlyChapter 133 · A Trisolaran Enters the Grand View GardenChapter 134 · Ji FengjianChapter 135 · About Me and YouChapter 136 · Kayako Likes ItChapter 137 · YouChapter 138 · I’ll Beat MyselfChapter 139 · I Want to See MyselfChapter 140 · The Trisolarans’ First Experience of Love and SexChapter 141 · The Trisolarans Try Romance Once MoreChapter 142 · The Trisolarans Try Romance for the Third TimeChapter 143 · It’s All This Buff’s FaultChapter 144 · The Way You Straight Men TalkChapter 145 · Why are you taking it so seriously?Chapter 146 · Chu Tianshu Shows Off His MusclesChapter 147 · Enter the DreamChapter 148 · Leave a little secretChapter 149 · Shadow StreamerChapter 150 · Don’t Look at MeChapter 151 · The Trisolarans betrayed StalinChapter 152 · Then I WillChapter 153 · The Trisolarans rewrite the Book of Life and DeathChapter 154 · What Career Could Be More Important Than Your Wife?Chapter 155 · Aren’t We Already Together?Chapter 156 · MVP of the Entire FieldChapter 157 · Meeting the FamilyChapter 158 · A Phone Call Across Time and SpaceChapter 159 · Lu Jin, You’re So MiserableChapter 160 · The Lands Of DaughtersChapter 161 · The So Called Pregnancy StreamChapter 162 · The Street Where Only the Two of Us ExistChapter 163 · No bare faceChapter 164 · Question 1: Do you have hair loss?Chapter 165 · LaxativesChapter 166 · Where Exactly Do You Exist?Chapter 167 · Seven ZeroChapter 168 · The issue of 0 and 1Chapter 169 · Wind ChimeChapter 170 · Visa and Wind ChimesChapter 171 · Continue to persecute Lu JinChapter 172 · Examiner: I’ve fallen in love with himChapter 173 · Lin Huai intimidates scalpersChapter 174 · Night of EvilChapter 175 · Congratulations to the Male Guests on Successfully Finding Their PartnersChapter 176 · Before ThisChapter 177 · The gong says he is terrifiedChapter 178 · The Tasker CampChapter 179 · I’m So ScaredChapter 180 · The Final Transitional ChapterChapter 181 · Four Beauties Among the FlowersChapter 182 · Plum FragranceChapter 183 · Dry Weather and Flammable ThingsChapter 184 · The Heartless Sword ManualChapter 185 · Only MeChapter 186 · The North PoleChapter 187 · Let Brother Lin Learn to Meow Like a CatChapter 188 · Good Night