Chapter 83.4 – True Identity (4/4)

Translator: Xena

Wen Heshu drove for almost an hour without hearing a single word, as if there were no two figures sitting in the back seat of his car.

Finally, he couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with Jian Xie. “Don’t you guys think it’s a little too quiet inside the car?” 

He was a living person, not a corpse.

But with the evil god also there, he wasn’t able to turn on the car music because he didn’t know how capricious the other party’s temper was.

The awkward atmosphere almost suffocated him.

Jian Xie, who had been constantly talked to by Qin Zhuo, looked up blankly: “…”

Wen Heshu: “…”

In a flash, he seemed to understand something.

He had probably been excluded the whole time. They clearly have a unique way of communicating with each other.

……Help.

He was just in the way.

Just as he was about to forget he was a human being and start thinking of himself as a driving machine, Jian Xie spoke, “Could you send me all your research about Hell and the Eighteen Evils? I want to go back and review this part. The information Cheng Li gave me before wasn’t exactly complete.”  

Perhaps the “Eighteen Evils” was just a gimmick to glorify that player.

But Jian Xie’s intuition told him that this matter was not so simple and that he should pay attention to it.

Wen Heshu paused for a moment, many thoughts flashing through his mind, but in the end he still said, “Alright.” 

……

When Jian Xie pushed open the door, the person sitting in the living room stood up abruptly, clearly in a tense state.

The television was playing.

“I… I was planning to take it to my clinic, but it kept refusing—”

So it could only stay put and watch the TV to pass the time.

At that thought, Dr. Li felt a bit embarrassed, but when he saw the young man strolling in from behind Jian Xie, he immediately swallowed all his words and almost choked on them.

“Um, uh—”

“It’s okay.” Jian Xie interrupted its stumbling, “I’m not blaming you.” 

He knew that his neighbor had a severe stress response, so it would be strange if he left with it willingly.

Although Dr. Li always appeared to have a strong will to survive in front of him, in essence, he was still a top-tier monster at the top of the food chain.

“Okay……”

It didn’t even dare to breathe.

This was the first time Dr. Li had seen that person’s physical body.

After all, without It’s permission, they wouldn’t even dare to glance at It’s body out of the corner of their eyes.

But now he didn’t care how many humans and monsters saw his face. He was only wearing casual clothes that were clearly in Jian Xie’s style, with hands in his trench coat pockets as he looked down at Jian Xie’s hair whorl. He probably didn’t even care that it’s here.

And indeed, when Dr. Li left through the front door, he didn’t even bother to look up at it.

“Thank you for your help.” Jian Xie said calmly, “I will go for my next appointment next week.” 

Dr. Li: “…”

Instantly, any desire to investigate vanished.

With trembling hands, it closed the door. The last thing it saw was Jian Xie walking to the sofa and picking up the glass bottle on the table.

Seeing a once shy and timid peer now crawling around in a bottle like an insect was not a pleasant experience. Jian Xie had never paid much attention to his neighbor, precisely for this reason.

If he hadn’t persevered and resisted being swayed…

Furthermore, if it weren’t for Qin Zhuo’s arrival in his life, he might have ended up like his neighbor.

This was another side of him, the other side of the coin.

“I got the third dagger a long time ago.” Despite feeling very uncomfortable, Jian Xie kept staring at his neighbor without averting his gaze. “It’s a means to escape Hell.” 

【I think you shouldn’t wait any longer.】

Though the words were cruel and heartless, Qin Zhuo approached him and said lazily, 【By the way, you’ll never be the same again. You already had a round-trip ticket to hell before I arrived. It was you who pulled yourself out of hell.】

Therefore, there’s no need to doubt your abilities.

That’s exactly what he was trying to convey.

Under Jian Xie’s gaze, the insect began to twist and deform. The glass bottle shattered, and black mist drifted out from the cracks.

He released his grip, and shards of glass immediately fell to the ground with a loud crash.

The next moment, a familiar figure appeared in front of him, one he hadn’t seen for some time.

The neighbor’s frail body appeared out of thin air like a shimmering fragment struck by lightning, as if it might vanish at any moment.

He was dead after all.

Jian Xie could restore him, but that would mean the end of the other party’s life, returning him to the starting point of when he was initially put on hold.

“You have a few hours.” Jian Xie said, “I know the homeroom teacher is home at this time, you should go find her.” 

However, the neighbor did not move upon hearing his words.

Under Jian Xie’s gaze, hesitation flickered in his eyes and he stammered, “B-but, I look like this, will I—” 

Mutilated and terrifying.

He was no longer human.

Who would want to see a dead monster?

“No.”’

Jian Xie’s voice was calm. “Have you ever wondered why she’s so good to me and ignored all my unusual behavior?” 

After all, when they first met, Jian Xie was in a daze, pale-faced, and didn’t look like a normal child, yet she still took the initiative to talk to him.

He was just riding on his neighbor’s coattails.

She was kind to him mostly because she saw the shadow of her deceased child in him. Transference played a significant role in this.

The neighbor’s expression calmed down from the panic, the hesitation on his face gradually disappeared, and something else appeared on that always melancholic face.

“Does this mean w-we’re friends?” He asked expectantly. 

The neighbor’s trembling arms, hanging by his sides, betrayed the trembling heart of the person who asked the question.

He was afraid.

He was worried the other party would reject him.

Jian Xie paused for a moment before saying, “Mn.” 

“Thanks……”

He flashed a big smile, then his figure flickered and quickly disappeared.

The large living room returned to silence, leaving only scattered debris and the running television, making the room suddenly feel very empty.

However, the moment he had this thought, he felt a cold touch behind him.

【Are you spacing out?】

The evil god hugged him from behind, and once again used his height advantage to press his chin down on Jian Xie’s head.

【Now it’s just the two of us.】He smiled. 【How about we do something more fun?】

The next moment, he effortlessly pushed Jian Xie down onto the sofa, then pressed his body down on top of him, bracing himself with his hands on either side of Jian Xie’s body.

The evil god quickly closed the distance between them, leaving their lips only about a centimeter apart. Then he whispered, “I heard you say in the car that you wanted to get information about Hell and the Eighteen Evils from that investigator. It seems you have forgotten about me.” 

Breaths landed on Jian Xie’s lips, causing a slight itch that sent a tingling sensation throughout his body, as if he were being electrocuted.

He was surprised that such a simple sentence could make him sink into the soft sofa as if he were melting, letting the other person touch him however they pleased.

Jian Xie didn’t understand why the evil god was speaking so softly.

It was as if, in this vast, empty hall, there were other eavesdroppers lurking in the darkness, requiring Him to speak in such a hushed tone.

However, it was undeniable that Jian Xie was indeed affected by this. His heartbeat accelerated involuntarily, and he became somewhat nervous, only knowing to look at the evil god above his body.

“You can ask me any questions you have.”

Qin Zhuo lowered his head slightly and bit Jian Xie’s lower lip. Before the latter could even feel the pain, he lifted himself up again. “I’m glad you chose me, so I’d like to give you a reward.” 

Those dark red eyes gleamed with an unprecedented joy.

It wasn’t about playing a prank or having a laugh for the sake of it, he was just genuinely happy.

A very rare expression.

Jian Xie was taken aback.

He was about to speak, but the evil god lowered his body again, placing his lips on his, stopping him from speaking.

It wasn’t a deep kiss. It was more like simply leaning against each other, without any erotic connotations.

It contained not desire, but only a pure and tender emotion.

It compelled Jian Xie to unconsciously raise his hand and wrap his arms around the back of the other person’s neck.

Their bodies pressed tightly together, the cold, icy aura emanating from the evil god gradually mingling with his warm body temperature.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Zhuo once again withdrew from his body and looked at him from a distance of a few centimeters.

The temperature was rising.

“Lately,” he said in a low, languid voice, “I’ve been very happy.”

The reason It didn’t interrupt his neighbor was because It and that guy were essentially the same, and in the eyes of humans, they were some kind of anomalies.

In fact, It was also a flawed, terrifying, and fearsome dark being.

And now, It has become whole.

It could continue to maintain the burden of being the evil god in order to retain the initiative in the relationship between the two of them.

However, after all that, all It wanted to do was return to their home, to hold Jianxie in It’s arms like this, and do whatever Itself pleased.

As It leaned forward several times, the pendant that Jian Xie had given It slipped out from It’s collar. It had been hanging around It’s neck the whole time.

Gravity pulled it downwards, causing it to hang down on Jian Xie’s neck, bringing a cool sensation.

Jian Xie paused for a moment.

Suddenly, an impulse compelled him to turn his head and gently bite the pendant.

“……”

After a while, Jian Xie released it and looked up at Qin Zhuo who was above him.

He found the other party looking at him with deep eyes, revealing a dangerous aura he had never felt before. He even had the feeling that it would devour him in the next moment.

But soon, the other party restrained themself and slightly averted their gaze.

“……”

His voice still sounded somewhat hoarse. “Now that I have a physical form, it’s time to fulfill my promise.” 

Jian Xie came to his senses.

Then, he frowned. “You mean—” 

“I promised to make a deal with you.” Qin Zhuo gazed at his face and said, “That once you’ve helped me rebuild my body, I will give you my heart.” 

“……”

“But I’ve already given it to you a long time ago.”

Under Jian Xie’s gaze, he curled his lips and said lazily, “Think about the names of those hells, and then connect them to my legends, my infamous reputation, the wooden carvings, and my true identity. I’ve never hidden any of this from you—” 

“You’re so smart, you must know exactly what I really am.”