Translator: Xena
Finally, as Jian Xie nearly nestled himself into It’s embrace, It’s pleased voice sounded from above his head.
【Do you remember what I told you? Just like the Eight Cold Hells, this is your domain. You should be the one to rescue me.】
It actually cast Itself as the victim.
Upon hearing this, Jian Xie: “……”
However, he did recall that Qin Zhuo had said that whenever he wished, he could become all-powerful when unleashing hell.
So this theorem actually applies to the entire black box? Those descriptions of the [Eight Cold Hells]… there’s more than just that one?
No wonder It explained it in such detail back then.
Qin Zhuo’s fingers gently traced the back of his neck, sending a tingle of sensation through him. With a suggestive arch of It’s eyebrow, It drawled slowly, 【Of course, I wouldn’t mind staying like this with you a little longer.】
Jian Xie: “……”
He was to blame.
He didn’t make the connection at first, and ended up being deliberately teased by the other party.
No more procrastinating. His resolve shifted.
Almost instantly, the entire house shifted like malleable clay, its four walls sliding back and forth in place. Though the accelerated motion still looked slightly distorted and seemed to fail at fully restoring itself to its original position, at least it no longer pressed against his body.
Since it was his first attempt at such a task, it took him several minutes just to raise the ceiling back to its original height. He then concentrated intently, painstakingly moving each wall section back into place.
By the time the room was restored to its original state, twenty minutes had slipped by unnoticed.
Though it still looked a bit odd, it was definitely better than before…
Jian Xie breathed a sigh of relief and was about to get up to inspect the room when he suddenly noticed something he had inadvertently overlooked.
Wait a minute, his arm…
He slowly came to his senses and lifted his head only to catch a glimpse of the other’s sharply defined jawline.
For these twenty minutes, he had been nestling in Qin Zhuo’s embrace without even realizing it. What was even more astonishing was that the other party had simply let him do so.
As he manipulated the hell, Qin Zhuo kept staring at him without blinking and with an unprecedented stillness upon him.
It seemed to be pondering some difficult problem.
“……”
Jian Xie suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.
He swiftly withdrew the hand that had been around the other’s neck, and tried his best to maintain his usual cold expression as he rose from the embrace. He pretended nothing had happened, but the warmth flushing his ears betrayed his true emotions. He was far from the unruffled facade he presented.
He abruptly changed the subject. “Can it only shrink buildings?”
【Of course not.】 Qin Zhuo remained seated on the ground, maintaining his previous posture. He gazed at his fingers as he casually remarked,【It can influence reality, not just structures. It can also shift mountains and rivers. Everything depends on how you wish to transform the environment.】
A solitary hell capable of trapping fish-like vengeful spirits within cliff-like walls.
If the monster was pinned down on the stairs, every human who passed by could trample it at will without anyone hearing its vengeful screams. Moreover, since it could completely suppress monsters emerging from the game, they wouldn’t even have the slightest chance to fight back.
So much so that even living could become a form of suffering.
Even if one was unwilling to take risks, the mere ability to alter the environment was sufficient to toy with monstrous creatures that have committed countless evils as mere entertainment.
【Even if a monster has already established their predation field, you can turn the tables and override them to modify those territories.】
At this point, Qin Zhuo, who had always spoken in a bored tone, finally perked up. 【It’s a very interesting and practical toy.】
Seems like It was trying to take credit for it.
Jian Xie paused for a moment. ”Hold on, if what you’re saying is true, then wouldn’t someone outside the apartment building have seen… the building warping? This won’t leave a lasting psychological impact on passersby, will it?”
Sure enough, the first thing he focused on was this…
Qin Zhuo clicked his tongue. 【No. I blocked it.】
Upon hearing this, Jian Xie first let out a sigh of relief, then suddenly realized the implication behind It’s words.
—Wait a minute, did It already know the effects of this dagger?
Jian Xie’s gaze swept over his now utterly devastated home. Not a single piece of furniture remained intact. Debris littered every corner. Even the glass doors and windows had shattered into multiple pieces when the ceiling collapsed downward, allowing the outside wind to sweep unchecked into the room.
Even though the furniture and such were secondhand, it still added up to quite a bit of money…
Even without stepping into the bedroom, he knew his bed was ruined by now.
So where exactly was he sleeping tonight?
Under his somewhat speechless gaze, Qin Zhuo stood up and walked into the bedroom as if no one else were present. It emerged looking bored, carrying his backpack in one hand and the wristwatch It had given him in the other.
Seeing at the perfectly intact backpack, Jian Xie felt too exhausted to even complain: “…”
Logically, it should have deformed under the crushing force it just endured. Yet it remained intact, only because Qin Zhuo deliberately shielded it which spared it from the accident.
He walked closer and unzipped his backpack.
The test papers and textbooks were completely unwrinkled, including the medical records he had obtained from Dr. Li.
No matter how one looked at it, it was just too well thought out.
As he rummaged through the backpack, Qin Zhuo studied him briefly before abruptly grabbing his hand and slipping the watch onto his wrist. It uttered only【Wear it.】
“……”
【It’s high time we moved.】 After scanning the surroundings, the black mist that had spread from It’s body vanished as It held hands with Jian Xie. Then, with a pleased expression, it announced, 【The keys to our new home are in your backpack. Let’s move out now.】
Jian Xie: “……”
It’s hard to say this wasn’t a premeditated scheme.
When he woke up in the morning a few days ago, he could feel waves of fatigue coming from his body. It only meant that Qin Zhuo went out while he was asleep. He didn’t ask because he thought Qin Zhuo had something to do, but he didn’t expect that this activity also included house hunting?
Upon hearing Qin Zhuo casually mention the new house address, Jian Xie froze for a moment, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words.
Some evil gods don’t say much, but they’ve already bought themselves mansions.
【There is only one way to handle this: abandon it.】
It wasn’t wrong.
Liu Qi, who was originally responsible for monitoring this location, has disappeared. The Bureau would eventually reassign other personnel to oversee this building. When that happens, it would no longer be appropriate for Jian Xie to reside here.
Only when Qin Zhuo helped him zip up his backpack and tugged at his wrist until they were out of the apartment building did Jian Xie finally snap back to reality. He remembered he hadn’t brought anything but his homework.
Not even a change of shoes.
That entire wardrobe full of clothes, along with his school uniform, was left behind.
“Hold on…”
【Got something new.】 Qin Zhuo didn’t even turn his head, as if It knew what the other was about to say. It’s tone was lazy as It replied, 【I’ve had it ready for ages.】
Jian Xie: “……”
So now you can’t even be bothered to put on a show?
I feel complicated.
……
The next day, Cheng Li drove his beat-up car as usual to the entrance of the old residential complex.
He had texted Jian Xie ahead of time, arranging to meet him at the entrance at this exact time this afternoon. He had already brought the contract from the Bureau, so Jian Xie could review it before making a decision.
Cheng Li stared at the doorway for a moment before his craving for a smoke got the better of him. Just as he reached into his suit pocket for a pack of cigarettes, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind.
The cigarette in his hand instantly fell to the ground.
Cheng Li’s body instantly tensed, his mind buzzing.
His guard wasn’t that low, yet when the person approached him from behind silently, he didn’t sense it at all—
“Cheng Li.”
Hearing the familiar voice, he instantly relaxed. His hand that had already reached for the gun tucked inside his suit jacket dropped back down. He turned around with a hint of resignation, and looked at Jian Xie who had appeared behind him. “Were you trying to scare me on purpose?”
In his imagination, the other person should have appeared from the entrance of the residential complex, yet now he materialized out of thin air behind him.
“I’ve moved.” Jian Xie said, “I don’t live here anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Cheng Li was somewhat surprised.
”Moving? When did this happen?”
How come it’s so fast?
“Mm.” Jian Xie didn’t say much, merely glancing at Cheng Li. “Where do we go to sign the contract?”
Although Cheng Li was eager to ask him about the move, he could only scratch his nose and let it go now that the other had already shifted the conversation to the main purpose of their meeting.
