Chapter 47 – You want to die, don’t you?

Translator: Xena

Wait, what is this…??

Before Jian Xie could respond, the evil god with a young man’s appearance leaned over, lifted his chin with It’s fingers, and gently stroked it.

【Then I’ll take that as a yes. 】

After saying this, It turned It’s face slightly.

The next moment, a cold sensation touched Jian Xie’s lips, like raindrops falling on his bare skin. The movement was no heavier than a gentle breeze.

A strange tingling sensation climbed up his spine. Although the fingers placed on his jaw were as cold as tombstones in a cemetery, a warmth gradually rose on Jian Xie’s cheeks. This unfamiliar sensation was so dangerous that it made him shudder, as if he was embracing the dead.

【I was worried that I might scare you.】After a moment, It lazily withdrew, taking away the breath of death, then chuckled softly. 【That’s all for today.】

When Qin Zhou finished speaking, the black mist dissipated from Jian Xie’s body and It also vanished without a trace.

Jian Xie: “…………”

His figure stood motionless.

One second, two seconds.

When he regained his senses and realized what had just happened, his whole face suddenly turned red. He raised his hand and wiped his lips vigorously with his sleeve.

“Qin Zhuo.” Jian Xie took a deep breath. Although the expression on his face has been wiped away, the tips of his ears were still slightly red. “I didn’t agree. Don’t do this kind of thing.” 

【I gave you time to say no.】 A doubtful statement.

“……”

Didn’t he just fail to react in time?

A normal person would subconsciously think that counting to three meant three seconds, but then It skipped two and went straight to three—a typical example of a surprise attack.

If the occasion was right, Jian Xie would’ve really wanted to have a discussion with It, but right now, he could only take a deep breath and suppress his inexplicably accelerated heartbeat.

The English class representative had fainted at some point, maybe because the stimulation of the bugs falling out of his eyes was too great. Otherwise, Jian Xie really didn’t know what it would feel like for someone who couldn’t see Qin Zhuo to witness that entire scene… His cheeks flushed again for no reason.

It was very strange.

“What should I do?” Jian Xie returned to the topic. 

【It’s very simple, just silently recite what you want to do, and then touch him. 】

Qin Zhuo has always been extremely possessive. Even when It just mentioned touching someone, It’s tone sounded unfriendly, mixed with impatience and contempt.

“……All right.”

【If you get caught up in it, I will get you out immediately.】 It’s voice was indifferent, 【Although the chances are slim, I am just giving you a warning in advance.】

It didn’t care about the truth because most humans were repulsive.

“……” Jian Xie.

One could not expect too much from the morality of this evil god.

—All It’s patience, empathy, and partiality seemed to be reserved for just one human being.

……

The scene before his eyes was becoming blurry.

Almost instantly, severe pain struck him.

But soon the bone-gnawing pain disappeared.

Jian Xie peeled himself off from the battered and scarred body, watching everything from the perspective of a bystander.

These weren’t his emotions.

Zhou Zheyu, wearing the school uniform of Xicheng No. 2 Middle School, leaned against the wall of an alley with his back to him while several people of similar age stood in front, blocking the only way out.

They held cigarettes between their fingers. From which, white smoke floated up, blurring the outlines of their faces.

The sky was gloomy and covered with dark clouds. The darkness gradually extended, seemingly aiming to cover the entire alley. Their tall shadows and the dim yellow lights behind them intertwined into one.

“Pah—”

All of a sudden, Zhou Zheyu was slapped in the face. Following the dull thud of palm hitting skin, his head hit the wall and he fell to the ground amid laughter.

“We’re looking for your friend. What are you doing here?”

Zhou Zheyu raised his head and his gaze fell on a person standing behind these people. “I…I…” 

But when he met the fearful, frightened, and confused gaze of the person he wanted to plead with, that person quickly averted his eyes and took a big step backward.

“I asked him to come, Brother Chen.” The person smiled and looked at Zhou Zheyu. “I have no money left, but him, his family are well-off. I know his mother gives him a lot of pocket money. There were several times when I didn’t have money to eat and he helped me. I even went to his house a few times—”

Hearing this, a wave of despair crept onto Zhou Zheyu’s youthful face.

In just a few seconds, his vision was suddenly turned upside down as he was pressed heavily onto the wet ground.

In his narrowing field of vision, he saw a bug crawl between his fingers. He felt a painful itch which caused him to move them.

The next moment, the insect was squashed with a loud smack, causing bright red blood to flow out.

The scene changed.

Jian Xie found Zhou Zheyu sitting at a dining table, facing the familiar face of his homeroom teacher.

“I looked at your transcript and your grades have declined.” She held a test paper in her hand while frowning fiercely. “Don’t think that you can relax and have fun just because I don’t manage you. What’s the deal with those friends who greeted you on the street last time? Now you don’t even want to go to school?”  

“They’re not my friends!” Zhou Zheyu, who looked gentle and handsome, suddenly exploded. “I just don’t want to go to school!” 

“I just said a few words to you and you couldn’t stand it. Is this how you talk to your mother?”

The homeroom teacher’s face suddenly darkened.

Suddenly, her expression relaxed and she turned her head to look beside her. Only then did Jian Xie realize that there was a third person sitting at the table.

A bug crawled across his plate.

Perhaps in Zhou Zheyu’s subconscious, this person shouldn’t have existed, or else Jian Xie wouldn’t have missed his presence.

“I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“It’s okay, Auntie.”

Unexpectedly, this person was the friend who had called for Zhou Zheyu before.

After the homeroom teacher cleaned up the food and walked to the kitchen, he grabbed Zhou Zheyu’s wrist and showed a sad expression when the latter raised his head. “I didn’t mean to do that. I was just too scared, but this is just you helping me like before… what are friends for, right?” 

……Friends?

Zhou Zheyu stared at the ceiling of a small room. There was no light and it was pitch black.

Was it dark red or fishy yellow?

One of his eyes was swollen, with blood forming scabs on his eyelashes. Every blink caused new tears. The foul smell of festering wounds lingered at the tip of his nose, making him feel like a pool of rotten meat, a lifeless corpse.

He has lost all feeling in his lower body.

A few meters away, separated by a wall, some people were smoking, playing cards, and occasionally bursting into loud laughter.

This was his fifth day trapped here. Ever since he mustered up the courage to say “I don’t want to give you any more money”, he had been pushed and dragged to this dilapidated residential building by the angry group of teens. They wouldn’t let him leave and after drinking, they would beat him with sticks for fun.

It turned out, a mineral water bottle could be so sharp after being cut open to the point that it can cut through skin and pierce muscle tissue.

It was not like he didn’t shout for help. Even if it was an uncontrollable scream, the neighbors still should have heard it long ago.

The tube-shaped building obviously has poor soundproofing. He could hear the sound of doors closing and windows being pulled shut, but he never heard any knocking on the door.

“Hey, is that guy dead?”

“I don’t think so? It’s only been a few days?” A mocking voice floated over. “We’re just warning him, where are we going to get spending money otherwise? We’ll send him back in a few days. Besides, even if he dies, so what? We’re not like that anyway, we’re just minors!”    

“No wonder people want to be friends with him. He’s quite rich.” Someone agreed. “He gets much more than that person each time, and thanks to his introduction, I was able to switch targets…” 

It felt so uncomfortable.

Itchy eyes accompanied by tinnitus.

The room was very dirty, filled with all kinds of strange odor and the smell of feces. It was normal for insects to crawl in and out of his body.

But this time it was different.

Through the narrow slit of his vision, he saw a black bug crawling silently onto his swollen eyelids.

The next moment, it actually darted into his eyes.

……

Jian Xie opened his eyes and took a step back.

His body directly penetrated the black fog and he collided with Qin Zhuo’s chest which appeared out of nowhere. He was then supported by the other party.

It’s expression was extremely indifferent, as if It already knew the truth. It simply cast It’s gaze towards the frowning human in front of It.

【Hell is always crowded.】

It’s hand pinched Jian Xie’s shoulder and said lazily, 【You should get used to it.】

“……”

After a while, Jian Xie raised his eyes, his tone was colder than ever before. “You’re right.” 

His mother’s indifference, the betrayal of his so-called friend, and the despair of having no one lending a helping hand…

He should have recognized it sooner. The fire in Class President Jing Chen’s newspaper happened in the residential building where he lived, and the mangled flesh staring at the camera with a numb face was his neighbor who had fused with an anomaly. He was a mess.

But Jian Xie was too indifferent to his surroundings and never had the curiosity of a normal person, otherwise he would have put the clues together long ago.

No wonder he went up and down the stairs many times but never found other residents in the same building—it was because they had all died in the fire. Jian Xie had actually been living with a pile of corpses and debris for a whole year… It still sounded really good compared to the time he was trapped in a car with two resurrected zombies for dozens of hours.

Jian Xie didn’t know what kind of mood the deceased Zhou Zheyu was in when he saw him move in, and why he decided to become friends with him in the end.

Jian Xie looked at the bug.

“I won’t be your friend,” he whispered, “I’m not worthy to be anyone’s friend.” 

After saying this, Jian Xie walked closer to it.

Monsters, even non-living ones, were usually not that kind. It was easy to understand. Would humans show mercy to food?

Besides, the insects that appeared three times at the bullying scene?

It was no coincidence.

A ringtone sounded from his pocket and continued to echo in the empty classroom, interrupting Jian Xie’s thoughts and making him sigh.

“Jian Xie, are you listening?”

As soon as he picked up the phone, Cheng Li’s voice on the receiver revealed a hint of anxiety.

“Um.”

Jian Xie switched to speaker mode, bent down and picked up the insect whose limbs were twitching towards the sky and trying to turn over. He studied it carefully in the palm of his hand.

It didn’t look like anything special.

The predation field outside the window disappeared the moment Jian Xie touched the insect. Such terrifying power seemed like child’s play in his presence.

As if this human being was the master of this group of monsters.

“…Have you found the anomaly?!” Noticing that the other end of the phone had gone quiet, Cheng Li hurriedly said regretfully, “If you have, don’t touch it. If you don’t have the right props, direct contact will cause mental aberration!” 

Jian Xie, who has already mastered it and has no effect on him: “…”

He watched the insect struggling and twisting in his hand while saying “hmm” in a very perfunctory manner. “So what exactly did the Bureau do in the residential area before?” 

Cheng Li couldn’t help but: “…”

Why don’t I ever learn my lesson?

Jian Xie obviously didn’t need his concern. He was an indifferent and powerful teenager. He should instead feel pity for those monsters who had provoked him.

“You really shouldn’t be paid as a temporary worker.” Because of his straightforward conversation style, he couldn’t help but complain. “In a way, you work harder than me. The Bureau should be ecstatic.” 

However, Jian Xie had already stated his opinion on the matter, so he didn’t want to waste time by chatting about it again.

“Nothing much. Apparently, it’s an anomaly? It was handled by Xu Yujin and several A-level investigators. I don’t think it has anything to do with what you’re doing, and I don’t have enough authority to access the files.”  Cheng Li took a breath and said with a complicated tone, “That’s a Special A-level matter. If it’s him, he should be able to handle it cleanly, right?”

Xu Yujin, a name he has never heard of.

But he had seen many Special A-level monsters, so it was difficult for him to feel any awe.

Although he had dealt with two Special A-level monsters with ease, Jian Xie didn’t think they were easy to deal with. He could only say that Cheng Li was being too optimistic.

“Also, although I tried my best to follow your instructions, I’m only a B-level investigator, so the Management Bureau—”

Suddenly sensing something, Jian Xie moved and immediately tossed the insect into his jacket pocket.

Almost at the next moment after he completed the action, the locked door was violently kicked open by someone from the outside.

The other party was not an ordinary person.

With a loud bang, a strange young man appeared in front of Jian Xie.

He was thin and oddly wore a khaki windbreaker over his suit. He had a handsome appearance, but the band-aid on the bridge of his nose ruined his overall look.

The young man’s gaze fell on the unconscious English class representative, but after a second of indifference, he shifted his attention back to Jian Xie.

“—sent the nearest person.”

The sentence on the phone finally ended.

“……”

Not knowing why the other end had gone silent, Cheng Li forced himself to say, “So no matter what terrible thing you plan to do, it’s better to do it as soon as possible…” 

“You’re on the phone.” The young man pointed at himself and moved his lips, “Should I step away?” 

Doesn’t look very smart…

“He’s already here,” Jian Xie said, “and he heard our conversation.” 

The young man greeted, “Hello, Cheng Li.” 

Cheng Li choked instantly. “Oh, uh.” 

Without saying anything more, Jian Xie hung up the phone and looked at the person in front of him.

“I know you.” Not minding Jian Xie’s cold attitude, the other party showed a brilliant smile, then took out his ID from his suit pocket and showed it with a ‘click’. “My name is Xu Yujin, and I’m a Special A-level investigator. Although not as good as you, I’m still on the same level as you, right?”  

Jian Xie: “…”

He could feel the atmosphere around him suddenly turn cold.

The completely ignorant Xu Yujin took back his ID. He looked around the classroom with a cold look in his eyes. “Where’s the anomaly? Have you solved it yet?”  

Jian Xie: “Mn.” 

Until he had a clear understanding of the situation, he would not allow a third party to intervene, especially since he believed he had not yet touched upon the facts.

The bug in his pocket was wriggling.

“That’s amazing!” Because of the disappearance of the predation field, Xu Yujin believed it immediately and couldn’t help but sigh. “As expected of an S… As expected of you.” 

He stopped talking mid-sentence and almost bit his tongue because of it. He couldn’t help but laugh dryly.

Because he was at the highest level, Xu Yujin had access to many of the Bureau’s secrets… just like Jian Xie in front of him. However, he needed to always remember to control himself and not tell anyone about it. He became too excited for a moment in front of the real person and almost let the cat out of the bag.

There was no way around it. In the face of absolute strength, reason becomes dispensable and unimportant. 

“My mission here is over.” He pulled at his band-aid and said, “When I saw the name of the school, I wondered if I would meet you. It seems like I’m really lucky.” 

Having said that, Jian Xie noticed that the other party had no intention of leaving.

“I’m the admissions officer for the [Anomalous Object Containment Department]. Although many people want to become my partner every year, I’ve never accepted anyone.” He paused, then suddenly brought up a topic. “Because I feel that unless they’re Special A-level, others will only hold me back.” 

After saying that, Xu Yujin looked at Jian Xie. After a while, Jian Xie gave him a puzzled look. “So?” 

“So we’re a perfect match!”

【Does this guy want to die? 】

Jian Xie: “…”

Not afraid of death and unaware that he was being watched, Xu Yujin moved closer to Jian Xie and said eagerly, “Think about it. How about joining the [Anomalous Object Containment Department]—forget about other departments and just become my partner. How about that? I’ll treat you very well!”  

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