CH 78

‘What a beautiful creature,’ Zhong Chengshuo thought.

It exuded the smell of Yin Ren, and its appearance was much more regular than that Evil Spirit dog under Shian.

It—no—he knelt quietly in the center of the village, wearing countless dimly colored seals.

Embroidery, shackles, wooden runes, jade pieces—all kinds of spiritual seals were stacked layer by layer. They covered the huge monster like a mottled red veil, encompassing most of its body.

But they had a strange texture, not like foreign objects, but a texture of blood and keratin, as if they grew out of it.

The monster’s upper body still retained a little human structure, and the hanging “red veil” covered his “waist and abdomen”, hiding his head and torso underneath.

There was no flat skin under the red veil—hundreds of human arms that were slender and pale and covered in scars protruded out. The fingers at the end of the arms were much longer than ordinary people, with sharp black nails.

At this moment, they slammed into the ground fiercely, trembling violently; only one of them had their arms tightly curled around his chest.

From below his waist and abdomen, at the root of the arm, his skin gradually turned into a void-like darkness, without layers of the red veil.

The sealed red veil was scattered in all directions, and underneath it, it kept bulging, poking out countless sharp shrouds of unknown structures. The edge of the red veil was extended under Zhong Chengshuo’s feet, and he could see the little things underneath.

Those were countless tangled, translucent wings.

They had a shadowy ink color, an irregular structure, and fleshy “feathers”. These wings seemed as if they were melted at high temperatures, drawing and sticking to each other with a fluid texture like oil and filled with twisted, unknown runes.

Under the red veil, they twitched and trembled in pain.

Swish, swish.

Countless wings rubbed gently against each other, probing in all directions like the tide, creating a velvety sound.

Even for such a short time, Zhong Chengshuo could find that Yin Ren was still “expanding”.

Around him, the mountain village was looming in the thick fog, and the procession of evil beings kept circling around them. The green and red lights circled one after another, with Yin Ren precisely at the center.

Yin Ren trembled violently, but he didn’t have any murderous intent or hostility.

[If a person in a non-science position directly observes an Evil Spirit’s body, on the light side, they will lose their ability to think, and on the heavy side, they will die of cerebral hemorrhage on the spot.]

Li Nian had emphasized this to him in the underground where Shian’s Evil Spirit was before.

Kong Wanqing, who looked directly at Yin Ren, exploded on the spot, obviously suffering a more serious consequence than cerebral hemorrhage.

Though Kong Wanqing was dead, Guo Wei was still tied up with the red rope and was floating nearby. As partly a fierce ghost, Guo Wei was unharmed—the power of the Evil Force was purer than evil qi, so there was no reason for evil things to be affected.

Yin Ren was likely an unusually powerful Evil Spirit.

…And he was frantically suppressing his own power at this moment so that the surroundings wouldn’t be affected. There was no doubt that this was Yin Ren’s style.

Zhong Chengshuo looked away. He took off his glasses and carefully put them in his pocket.

He went straight to one of the giant hands and patted Yin Ren’s finger. “Yin Ren.”

The touch of the monster’s skin was warm; it could even be considered scorching.

That hand stopped trembling.

The bulge of the head under the red veil deflected slightly, facing Zhong Chengshuo.

Yin Ren seemed to want to say something but couldn’t. There was silence all around, with only the sound of wings rubbing against each other.

……

Not so long ago.

The balance collapsed, and it was about to get out of control.

Yin Ren suddenly understood the madness of Evil Spirits back then—his feelings were all confused, his negative emotions were completely out of control, and his thinking was like a boat braving a storm. His thoughts no longer seemed to be his own, and the whole world became a miserable mess.

From the moment he woke up under the seal, he began to suppress his power. He would… never become a complete Evil Spirit.

But now, in his chaotic thoughts, he understood.

Something inside him was solidifying while something else was decaying. It was raging out of control. Like a larva turning into a moth, his body was undergoing some kind of ominous transformation.

Perhaps he was no different from Guo Wei.

Perhaps before, he wasn’t really an Evil Spirit.

His thoughts were stirred up by storm-like emotions. The Evil Force in his body was out of control, disordered, and exuding an almost toxic rage. The rage triggered his instinctive fear, and Yin Ren’s thinking became more fragmented.

It was a vicious cycle.

It was like an organ that was originally functioning well in the body suddenly decayed at a certain moment. It frantically eroded the adjacent healthy parts, constantly attacking his body. Those forces turned into thousands of whirlpools, dragging his shattered thoughts into darker depths.

Was it because of the special environment of the Archive that made them particularly sensitive?

Or was it because of his momentary confusion?

Yin Ren couldn’t or didn’t want to think anymore. Just suppressing the Evil Force without letting it leak was consuming all his energy.

In the endless pain, Yin Ren thought dimly, ‘Zhong Chengshuo should have escaped by now.’

That person was rational and would come to the right conclusion—take away the members of Unit 9 and stay away from this place. Even Yin Ren himself couldn’t figure out the current situation, so there was no information for Zhong Chengshuo to speculate…

Even if Zhong Chengshuo “likes” him, he wouldn’t be dazzled by that kind of feeling…

“I’m here to pick you up, Yin Ren.” Yin Ren heard, tasted, and smelled a voice.

The scent of Zhong Chengshuo stopped in front of him.

There was a very subtle, warm touch on Yin Ren’s fingers.

“Yin Ren.” The man stroked his fingers and called to him confidently.

[Why?]

Yin Ren lowered his head, struggling silently in the whirlpool of thoughts. He couldn’t make a sound… He forgot how to make a sound, like he couldn’t find his vocal cords and tongue.

[Why did you come back?] He couldn’t convey his thoughts to that person.

“Kong Wanqing’s ability is to induce negative emotions and stir them out of control.” As if Zhong Chengshuo had guessed what he was asking, he answered him on his own. “In the Archive, it’s very dangerous to have a wavering mind.”

Yin Ren held on to his last sobriety. He stretched out his hand and pushed Zhong Chengshuo gently.

[So you need to get out of here…] He thought to himself.

“So I don’t think you should be ‘alone’ especially at a time like this.”

The smell of Zhong Chengshuo approached again. The warm body heat touched the scarred giant hand.

“I don’t want you to leave now.”

[…Are you trying to get yourself killed…]

Yin Ren commanded that hand with difficulty, gently pushing Zhong Chengshuo away again.

Once he completely lost control, Zhong Chengshuo would definitely die.

The weaknesses of a science post were clear. Being an Evil Spirit with a physical body, even if Zhong Chengshuo was strong enough to be immune to his Evil Force, he could still physically turn him into minced meat.

“I won’t do things I’m not sure about. If I die here, that means I made a wrong judgment.”

Zhong Chengshuo seemed to be able to read his mind. The man’s soft voice was gentle and tasted like slightly sweet tea.

“People die every day for this reason,” he said. “It’s just a very ordinary ending.”

He walked back again, his steps as firm as ever.

[……I don’t…understand……]

“Yin Ren, you’re the most humane, most appreciative of life, and the strongest person I have ever seen. You’ll struggle until the last moment.”

The air vibrated as the tone of voice changed. In the blurred colors, Yin Ren could vaguely feel Zhong Chengshuo speaking with a smile.

“I will never leave you ‘alone’, until you give up.”

This time, Zhong Chengshuo closed his eyes and relaxed his body slightly.

He leaned on Yin Ren’s palm; his soft hair brushed between his fingers, and his cheek rubbed against the skin of the palm. The man’s breath was small and light, but it was so distinct in the chaos.

Calm, peaceful, even reassuring.

Zhong Chengshuo leaned on Yin Ren’s palm, and the atmosphere around him was exceptionally tranquil.

[……]

The expansion of his body stopped. His rusty mind began to turn, and a trace of wind blew into the suffocating pain.

Yin Ren suddenly remembered the moment on the rooftop not long ago.

[Aren’t you going to ask?] Before negotiating with Guo Wei, he couldn’t help asking this.

[I wouldn’t like someone that didn’t surprise me.] Zhong Chengshuo, who had forgotten his “like” replied like so. [As I said, I want to witness it for myself.]

At this moment, you also want to witness this with your own eyes, right?

In the face of the gradually collapsing Evil Force, a science post couldn’t do anything. Yin Ren miraculously felt a trace of calmness. Zhong Chengshuo’s body temperature soaked through his palm, and his breathing rose and fell.

Yin Ren thought of Zhong Chengshuo, who had been waiting for him in the office a long time ago and had fallen asleep.

The man was lying on the table, sleeping soundly, and his breath was warm and moist.

And that rainy night, much longer ago.

For a long time, Yin Ren only wanted to live day by day without looking back, but at this moment, he never wanted to go back to the past like that.

If the ending was doomed, at least… He at least wanted to say goodbye.

A trace of fire flashed faintly in the boundless darkness.

In the vicious cycle of loss of control, there seemed to be something more.

The waves of fear and despair washed away, gradually taking away his broken thoughts, but it couldn’t wash away the weakest and most instinctive thoughts.

Why did he want to go along with Zhong Chengshuo and tell him he’d “give it a try”?

Why did he want to explore the secrets of that person and compete in terms of “care”?

Yin Ren couldn’t remember.

But he still… recalled something that should have been smaller and less worthy of mention than these…

The arm that was curled up in his chest trembled and stretched out. It gently probed in Zhong Chengshuo’s direction as it opened its clenched fist.

In the palm of the giant hand, something glowed with a soft light. Compared to the huge palm, it looked like a piece of crumb…

A pack of slightly deformed waterless cleansing wipes with a minty fragrance.

He didn’t know why, but he still remembered to keep them for him.

Zhong Chengshuo’s movements froze for a few seconds. He put his knee on the other hand and grabbed the pack of waterless cleansing wipes. The man’s breath turned; he should be looking at him again.

At the bottom of the vortex of fear, under the abyss of despair, there was a little senseless anxiety and curiosity.

Yin Ren wanted to see Zhong Chengshuo’s expression. I wonder if he likes mint or aloe vera?

In order to facilitate his action, he could only carry one pack.

Zhong Chengshuo didn’t use it right away.

The air was flowing as Zhong Chengshuo held it carefully in his arms. Then the man moved beside his hand for a moment, as if he was taking something out of his pocket.

“What a coincidence,” he said. “I also bought you a gift.”

Zhong Chengshuo put it in the palm of the giant hand.

In his chaotic thinking, Yin Ren desperately squeezed out more clarity and tried to explore what it was…

A pack of colorful chocolate chips printed with exaggerated smiley faces.

In the dim mist, it was quite dazzling.

[……]

The man’s movement was solemn, and he didn’t care about how absurd this scene looked.

[……You’re such a person……]

In that short moment, Yin Ren wanted to laugh.

Although he couldn’t find the corners of his mouth, or even his face, helplessness, pleasure, and tranquility poured into his heart. In an instant, colorful emotions overshadowed the darkness.

A bit of clarity had returned. Yin Ren didn’t give up on this opportunity. He tried his best to stay awake.

Restrain. Sort… Order.

The huge monster got up slightly. The wings under the red veil swished open, causing the seals around them to rattle without wind. All of Yin Ren’s fingers twitched frantically, except the one holding Zhong Chengshuo, which trembled with restraint.

To tame, to fuse… to dominate.

The light in the darkness became brighter, and the chaos and corruption gradually faded. The Evil Force in his body reluctantly bowed down, and the vicious cycle was completely broken.

The mist faded, and the red veil danced gently. The surrounding environment became clearer, and various perceptions gradually returned to place.

But Zhong Chengshuo seemed to be thinking about other things.

Seeing that Yin Ren didn’t withdraw his hand, after thinking for a few minutes, Zhong Chengshuo said, “I see. It’s not easy for you to open the packaging.”

[No such thing.]

Unfortunately, Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t hear what he was saying. The man climbed into Yin Ren’s hand, tore open the bag of chocolate chips, and poured out the colorful candy into the center of the palm.

The next moment, they fell deeply into the flesh of the palm, as if sinking into a swamp.

‘A sweet and bitter taste,’ Yin Ren thought. He liked it very much.

…He also liked the person who gave them to him.

In the bloody mist, hundreds of arms stopped trembling.

The hand clutched slowly, holding Zhong Chengshuo in the palm of his hand. Zhong Chengshuo leaned on Yin Ren’s finger. He could feel Zhong Chengshuo’s body didn’t tense up; his posture was relaxed even, as if he were resting.

The folded arm was like a cascade of petals, and the hand that was holding Zhong Chengshuo came closer to his chest….

Almost like a hug.

Out of control and wretched, but unprecedented peace and relief.

“Zhong Chengshuo…”

Under the red veil, a faint and distorted voice came from the outline of the head.

“We… um, we…”

“Let’s ‘give it a try’.”

Through the faint “red veil”, in Yin Ren’s distorted vision, he saw Zhong Chengshuo’s solemn face.

“Okay.”

Zhong Chengshuo put his hands at the root of Yin Ren’s thumb and replied seriously.

He then moved for a moment and pulled out a small notebook, pen and paper from the inner pocket of his suit.

“Then today is officially the first day of our relationship,” Zhong Chengshuo said happily as he jotted down a few words in the notebook.

“Yeah.” Yin Ren wanted to laugh again.

He stretched out his arms and gently placed Zhong Chengshuo on the ground.

The last bit of chaos was overshadowed by sobriety.

The red veil flew up and swirled in the mist. The wings gathered together, and the arms retracted. The huge figure shrank as if it were collapsing and contracting, and countless colors were sucked into a human-sized figure.

The Evil Spirit named “Yin Ren” didn’t succeed in descending into the world after all.

Yin Ren slowly fell to the ground, regaining his human appearance. The ruins collapsed, and the shadows of the mountains melted. The phantoms of his memory dissipated, and the surrounding area became the dark campus again.

It felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Yin Ren’s head was sore, and his limbs were slightly numb, but he was in a particularly comfortable mood…

After this battle, his control over his Evil Force had greatly improved, and he could now safely use about one-third of his power instead of pulling it out little by little.

And he harvested his first lover in a thousand years.

…Except for the long tunic he was wearing that failed to be restored, everything else was fine. Yin Ren silently wrapped himself in his hair.

Lord Ghost King’s size shrank too much, and the distance between him and Zhong Chengshuo had suddenly widened by a lot.

The sound of leather shoes stepping on the ground and tiles sounded as Zhong Chengshuo quickly walked over to Yin Ren.

He opened his arms slightly toward Yin Ren.

“What? You want me to fly you?” Yin Ren spoke a little jerkily.

“No,” Zhong Chengshuo said. “I want a hug.”

“Hug…”

Yin Ren brushed away the long hair in front of his face and hugged him somewhat carefully.

Through the thin layer of hair, he could feel Zhong Chengshuo’s warm body, and his heartbeat was fast and strong, with the tendency to gradually speed up. Just now, in the palm of his hand, Zhong Chengshuo looked so fragile, but holding him in his arms at this moment, he exuded a vitality that couldn’t be ignored.

In the dark consciousness, in the silent embrace, Yin Ren quietly turned his head and kissed the other’s blushing ear.

Zhong Chengshuo suddenly stiffened under his embrace, and his ears instantly turned red.

“You caught me.”

Yin Ren took advantage of the situation and grabbed the back of the other party’s suit, sighing in relief.

“Let’s go home, Zhong Chengshuo.”

“Nn.” Zhong Chengshuo buried his face into the crook of Yin Ren’s neck. “This report is going to be a bit troublesome…”

Yin Ren: “……”

Yin Ren: “…Don’t say that. I almost lost control again.”

Despair came so suddenly that his heart stopped for a moment.

……

Sure enough, the journey home for the two of them wasn’t going to be smooth.

Fifteen minutes later, the campus returned to the night scene—Yin Ren untied the red rope and used his Evil Force to wake up Guo Wei, who was unconscious.

The three of them sat in silence in the staff dormitory.

The four packs of waterless cleansing wipes were used by the two partners. Yin Ren had put on Zhong Chengshuo’s pajamas. Sure enough, the pajamas quickly turned into a black tunic.

Right now, the two were sitting on the edge of the same bed. Yin Ren was carefully wiping the mud off of Zhong Chengshuo’s face.

That was the last trace of Kong Wanqing left in the world, and it must be completely destroyed.

“Kong Wanqing directly looked at my body and exploded.” Yin Ren swallowed and confirmed in a low voice.

“Yes.” It was about 5 in the morning. Zhong Chengshuo yawned.

“It’s possible Minister Fu is setting up an exit outside and we’ll bump into it when we go out.”

“I see…”

“If you guys want to go out, I can send you out in a while.” Guo Wei had changed from his previously sinister look. He was looking at the ground awkwardly. “I didn’t know that Mr. Kong was a bad guy, sorry. I caused so much trouble for everyone…”

“It’s okay, classmate. You must not open the campus completely.” Yin Ren rubbed his head painfully. “We have to think of an excuse first. Zhong Ge, ahem, Chengshuo, do you have any ideas?”

Unfortunately, at just this time, Zhong Chengshuo had already fallen asleep at the head of the bed.

Yin Ren: “!!!”

Yin Ren: “……”

Lord Ghost King sighed for a few seconds, then he turned to the nightcap in the suitcase and gently snapped it on his boyfriend.

‘Forget it,’ he thought.

“’The situation is too complicated. It’s best not to lie and just distort the details’… right?” Yin Ren rubbed the tips of Zhong Chengshuo’s hair with his fingertips, imitating the other party’s tone. “Classmate Guo, help me out and close the campus for a little longer.”

Then Yin Ren returned to the suitcase and pulled out a spare headset and wristband.

“Hello, Special Investigation Unit 9. Xiaohe Jie, can you hear me?”

The author has something to say:

Out of control refers to physically out of control (……

Xiao Yin, don’t rush to wear the wristband. Xiao Yin, your Lu Jie hasn’t prepared her heart-attack medicine…

Kinky Thoughts:

Ah, I love this chapter. As always, Nian Zhong writes beautifully when it comes to awakening the feelings of her characters. Love it in Stray and Happy Doomsday, and now this.