CH 83

Early morning, Haigu, stronghold of Sunken Society.

No matter day or night, the underground always needed light.

Wei Huaqian stood alone in front of a small storage room. The storage room was similar to a cave, with mud-yellow walls full of cinnabar talismans. The locust wood frame was tightly attached to the wall, and there were neat rows of bronze lamps. The snake-like wick emitted a blue light, and the transparent lamp oil was mixed with a faint blood color.

The blood lamp that belonged to Kong Wanqing was extinguished.

The corners of Wei Huaqian’s mouth twitched. Under the flickering blue light, a shadow concave at the corners of his mouth, twisting into a stiff smile.

One was a mysterious person who appeared the night the Evil Spirit’s seal broke, and the other was a little monster born from two monsters—he knew those two boys in Shian weren’t so simple.

Among other things, Kong Wanqing’s desire to survive was second to none. This person’s “resonance” ability could at most provide auxiliary interference in the outside world, but was considered invincible in the Archive, so he should be able to escape.

What was more, he had sent Kong Wangqing into the Archive first, so he had plenty of time to prepare.

Despite this, Kong Wanqing died in the Archive.

Wei Huaqian picked up the extinguished blood lamp, locked the storage room, and returned to the front of the photo wall.

The two young men on the wall were pleasing to the eye, with innocent and harmless expressions.

There was no need for Fu Xingchuan to kill Kong Wanqing. The other two members of Unit 9 were unconscious, so the only ones who could do this were those two. But the non-science post couldn’t stay conscious under the “resonance”, so Zhong Chengshuo absolutely had something to do with Kong Wanqing’s death.

……A metaphysician who could resist the “resonance” and wasn’t abnormal, plus a wicked man who was invulnerable to all evils.

The strength of these two couldn’t be underestimated. This information was more valuable than Kong Wanqing, who had lost his ghosts.

Kong Wanqing completed his task splendidly.

“Xiao Kong, do you know what the best thing for a ‘good guy’ to deal with is?” Wei Huaqian leaned on the back of his chair and rubbed the extinguished blood lamp. “Their behavior can always be traced, so it’s easy to guess.”

“If you win, Shian would lose these two combat powers. If you lost, Shian would still lose these two combat powers—for the “safety of most people”, they will personally push them towards us.”

Wei Huaqian raised his hand. With a clang, the gray blood lamp was thrown into the trash can.

He raised his hands and dialed casually.

“Pay attention to Shian’s movements and determine their ‘execution task’. Force them here as much as possible and stir up as much noise as you can.”

……

Zhong Chengshuo had put on his apron that had “Dangerous Person” written on it.

In the hazy morning light, he sprayed a thin layer of oil into the pan and fried up some eggs. The canopy of the trees outside the window was lush green, rustling in the breeze, making his side profile soft and beautiful.

Zhong Chengshuo was usually economical, but he would never be fooled by the quality of ingredients he bought. In the dark gray pan, the orange egg yolks were paired with snow-white egg whites, which whetted one’s appetite from just a look.

Seeing the eggs were almost done, Zhong Chengshuo turned around to get the wraps. However, when he turned around, there was nothing in the pan.

The two perfectly fried, sterile eggs evaporated in place.

Zhong Chengshuo turned his head faintly.

Yin Ren was lying on the sofa reading a book, still wearing Zhong Chengshuo’s pajamas—ever since they confirmed their relationship, Yin Ren had picked up several loose pajamas from his boyfriend’s closet.

“You get to feel my hair. I want to feel something from you.” When choosing pajamas, Yin Ren stated this solemnly. “There are differences between humans and ghosts, so I can’t always sleep holding your head.”

In this regard, Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t say anything.

The two of them were similar sizes, but Lord Ghost King didn’t like to fasten his buttons well, so most of his chest was exposed. At this moment, the morning sun had just covered the corner of the sofa, and this person was focused on turning the pages of his book. The long hair was tied loosely in a low ponytail, and the hair flowed down the edge of the sofa, creating a scene full of serene beauty.

He was acting like nothing had happened.

Zhong Chengshuo said nothing and opened the refrigerator and took out two more eggs. Three minutes later, when he turned to get the wraps…

The eggs were gone again.

Zhong Chengshuo: “?”

The sofa still had the same quiet scene of the Evil Spirit reading. Zhong Chengshuo took a deep breath and opened the refrigerator for the third time. This time, King Yama took out the posture of doing the task. He gracefully turned around to take the wraps and directly pinched the thieving strand of hair.

Yin Ren: “!”

He threw down the book <The Art of Communication> and tried to pull his hair back. However, his opponent was the most powerful science post, and he was reluctant to be forceful, so he didn’t rescue it.

Zhong Chengshuo wrapped his prisoner around his fingers and began to fry marinated chicken breasts. The strand of hair twisted gently between his fingers, and in the end followed the movements of the chicken breast in the pan.

“It stands to reason that your entire body is transformed now. Why do you always use your hair?” Zhong Chengshuo asked sincerely amidst the aroma that was getting stronger.

Yin Ren didn’t answer.

Zhong Chengshuo turned his head and looked through the glass door of the kitchen. The sofa was already empty.

Four arms protruded from behind Zhong Chengshuo; one pair hugging his shoulders and the other pair hugging his waist.

“Because this will scare ordinary people,” Yin Ren hummed behind him. “How ‘bout it? Isn’t it exciting?”

“It’s okay.” Zhong Chengshuo continued to cook with his head down, slapping Yin Ren’s hand trying to pull back his hair.

“…Let me go,” Yin Ren said softly. “I won’t tease you next time.”

Zhong Chengshuo refused to let go.

“Then you’ll dare next time.”

Only then did Zhong Chengshuo relax his fingers. Just before he completely let go, he put the strand of hair to his mouth and bit gently.

The four arms on his body stiffened at the same time and quickly withdrew. Zhong Chengshuo tilted his head and was confronted with Yin Ren’s shocked face. “So you can still be like this.”

“Alright, let’s have breakfast.”

Zhong Chengshuo put the washed vegetables into the wrap and then rolled it up. The two egg wraps looked exactly the same, as if they were copied and pasted in reality.

Yin Ren took one and bit into it.

The meals that Zhong Chengshuo cooked would always have a particularly palatable and refreshing taste. The wrap was full of wheat flavor, the lettuce was fresh and crisp, and the marinated chicken breast was moist and juicy. With just one bite, the over-easy egg yolk wrapped the soft chicken, and it felt like he was chewing on a cloud stained with the morning sun.

The ingredients were simple, but they were so delicious they made him want to cry.

“I have nothing to do recently. We can discuss the plan.”

Zhong Chengshuo poured himself a cup of coffee and pushed a cup of milk towards Yin Ren.

“Nothing?” Yin Ren finally turned his attention away from the breakfast wrap.

“Mm, Shian most likely won’t assign us a mission in the near future. There are people watching nearby, so I can’t move around freely.”

Zhong Chengshuo took a sip of his coffee.

“Before it was the amusement park, and now it’s the Archive. Shian won’t allow suspicious people to operate within the organization. This time, with Kong Wanqing’s death, the suspicion on us has exceeded the standard.”

Yin Ren suddenly felt that the breakfast wrap in his mouth was no longer fragrant.

“Will we be fired?” He asked in horror. “It was my gaffe regarding Kong Wanqing, but Shian isn’t so strict…”

He hadn’t had time to eat his fill in the cafeteria, and now he was going to say goodbye forever like this?

“We won’t immediately be fired.” Zhong Chengshuo bit softly into his food. “According to my understanding, Shian will start an ‘execution mission’ for us—this kind of mission usually has two characteristics. One, it’s nearly impossible to finish, and two, the alternative is to fight to the death with the Sunken Society.”

Yin Ren’s expression became serious.

This was worse than an outright dismissal.

He did think that Shian might keep a strict watch over them, but with such a ruthless move, he didn’t know whether to be happy that Shian was this vigilant, or shocked.

This was directly exploring their bottom line to investigate how strong their abilities were and whether they had anything to do with Sunken Society.

“How about this,” Yin Ren put down most of his breakfast, “you put all the responsibility on me. Compared to me, your net worth is innocent, and suspicion of you is small. Shian will not turn on you alone.”

Across the table, Zhong Chengshuo looked at him silently.

“I’ll be your live-in boyfriend. I’ll try to find a serious job and stay away from Shian.” Yin Ren stared at the cup of milk in front of him. His reflection was drawn long by the glass. “You already know that I’m an Evil Spirit. When you rise to a higher position, just help me check on some things.”

At that time, he wanted to sneak into Shian because, on one hand, he just wanted to be a happy salted fish*, and on the other, he wanted to have the opportunity to find more information related to the Evil Spirits, but the latter wasn’t a priority.

*Refers to someone who wants to be lazy and has no great ambitions.

He couldn’t be the partner of “Science Post Zhong Chengshuo”, but he could be a secret collaborator of “King Yama”.

But “King Yama” must have his own purpose for entering Shian.

Zhong Chengshuo firmly shook his head.

“I wouldn’t tell Fu Xingchuan ‘we’re dating’ if I was afraid you’d hurt me. As long as the ‘execution mission’ is completed low-key, it’ll be fine if we hit hard at Sunken Society. We’ll still have a chance to stay in Shian.”

Yin Ren wiped his face fiercely. “You just said that this task is dangerous.”

“Nn.”

“You could get hurt. Even I can’t keep an eye on you all the time. If something happens to you on this mission—”

“It’ll be fine. As our immediate superiors, Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian will definitely participate in the operation.”

“Don’t be afraid of the 10,000, but the just in case. Why don’t you…”

Yin Ren was halfway through speaking when he swallowed the second half of his sentence.

The confusion on Zhong Chengshuo’s face didn’t seem to be fake. He really didn’t understand Yin Ren’s concern for him.

‘Forget it. It seems you’ll just have to experience it yourself,’ Yin Ren thought sadly.

“Why don’t I…?” Across the table, Zhong Chengshuo questioned, indicating for him to finish.

“Why don’t you eat your breakfast wrap?” Yin Ren lamented. “Careful, I might steal it from you.”

Zhong Chengshuo responded with an “oh” and continued to carefully chew on his breakfast.

“By the way, there’s one more thing,” he suddenly spoke again.

“There’s more?!”

“The recent plan hasn’t been discussed yet.” Zhong Chengshuo finished his coffee. “Yin Ren, do you want to go on a date?”

Yin Ren looked at the man bitterly for a while. Zhong Chengshuo didn’t seem bothered by the “execution mission” at all.

“Yes!” was all he could answer.

……

Two hours later, facing the huge amusement park in front of him, Yin Ren couldn’t help showing a dull expression.

Unlike the desolated ruins of the battle against Bai Yongji, this amusement park was full of bright and sweet colors. The road was filled with the aroma of popcorn and candy, the ferris wheel was spinning in the distance, and the shining neon lights were flickering in the daytime.

He didn’t know what kind of mood the Shian staffers who were following them were in.

Yin Ren thought that Zhong Chengshuo would suggest going to a library or a movie theater. The style here was way too different from that of King Yama.

Especially now.

Just like more than 80% of people in the amusement park, Zhong Chengshuo immediately went to the gift shop that sold headgear—he even picked out a pair of black rabbit ears for himself solemnly, while Yin Ren had a pair of devil horns.

Was Zhong Chengshuo’s character really like this? He didn’t wear that gloomy rabbit mask to scare people, but because he really liked it?

Yin Ren stared suspiciously at the pair of ears. Only one furry black ear stood up, which had a weird sense of matching Zhong Chengshuo’s temperament. Satisfied by his bunny ears, Zhong Chengshuo approached confidently.

“What do you want to do?”

He looked through the map of the amusement park.

“The most popular attractions are the roller coasters, ferris wheel, and haunted house… Ah.”

When he finished reading, Zhong Chengshuo expressionlessly closed the introduction page. The ears on his head slightly drooped.

It seemed he had a reaction, Lord Ghost King thought deeply. If they wanted to, Yin Ren could take his partner on a roller coaster or ferris wheel ride over the entire city of Haigu. As for the haunted house… In this city, there may be no place more haunted than their home.

“Or we could just sit for a while.”

The two of them had excellent appearances, so they would get stares from people from time to time. Yin Ren took Zhong Chengshuo and quickly found a quiet corner in the amusement park. On the way out of the crowd, he didn’t forget to buy two ice creams and even remembered to buy Zhong Chengshuo a low-calorie one.

…As a result, the first thing they did when they entered the amusement park was to sit on a bench and eat ice cream.

“I didn’t think about it thoroughly.” Zhong Chengshuo licked the mint-flavored ice cream ball. “I looked at the most popular dating venues in Haigu, and you like to be lively.”

Yin Ren: “It’s very lively.”

Not far away, people gathered together with a smile, and the atmosphere of joy floated over the amusement park with the music. This scene was something he liked very much and was also very suitable with the chocolate ice cream in his hand.

“…But do you like it here?” Yin Ren asked.

“I have no special feeling.” Zhong Chengshuo took a bite of his sweet cone, making a soft crackling sound.

Yin Ren sighed, wanting to pull off the other’s dangling ears.

“I also want you to be happy,” he said. “Well, I’ll set tomorrow’s date—let’s stay at home and close the curtains. Slam on a movie and play games in the evening.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s dark eyes lit up a little. “That’s really good.”

“Yeah, you see, this most popular venue is for two humans.” Yin Ren gradually mastered the skills of communicating with this person. He then whispered into Zhong Chengshuo’s ear. “This is not the case with us, so you can’t use that data.”

Zhong Chengshuo looked at Yin Ren for a while, not knowing what he was thinking.

“But since we’re here, let’s try it.” Zhong Chengshuo pointed in a certain direction. “There’s a food street over there.”

As Zhong Chengshuo moved, the cone shook, and the milky mint ice cream stained his fingers. Zhong Chengshuo subconsciously wanted to pull out alcohol wipes, but before he could move, his hand was held by Yin Ren.

“Chu*.”

*Sound of a kiss.

Considering that this was the outside world, Yin Ren didn’t use his hair, but pressed his lips. When the soft lips pressed to the sides of his finger, it was hard to tell which side was hotter.

It was like a kiss.

Zhong Chengshuo stood up abruptly and rubbed his ears. “It’ll be a bit sticky when it dries… I’ll go over there and wash my hands.”

“I’ll be waiting for you here.” Yin Ren turned his gaze towards the cotton candy stall. But unlike before, his eyes quickly turned back to Zhong Chengshuo.

Seeing this, the smile on Yin Ren’s face faded a little.

He had never observed Zhong Chengshuo so intently before. Now it seemed that this person’s situation was more delicate than he imagined.

Zhong Chengshuo blended into the noisy crowd and walked towards the decorative fountain splashing with cool water.

Zhong Chengshuo was a very handsome human. He was well-proportioned, with slender limbs and an excellent appearance. At this moment, he was still wearing a pair of particularly conspicuous ears.

When some strangers saw him, their eyes would stay on him for a while. They would then turn their heads and pass Zhong Chengshuo, as if he were a beautiful stone sculpture. Zhong Chengshuo’s back seemed to blend with the crowd but exuded a strange sense of alienation.

It was as if he were separated from a crowd like a sharp blade.

As if cut off from the world.

The author has something to say:

The arc is over!!!

——————

Shian: Execution mission, the calm before the storm

Sunken Society: Execution mission, the calm before the storm

The two in the center of the storm: It’s a vacation!!!

Kinky Thoughts:

This marks the end of the arc. Summary below.

With Bai Yongji’s case coming to a close, suspicions on Yin Ren continued to rise. In order to further investigate him more thoroughly, Shian assigned Unit 9 a special mission: to infiltrate the serial murderer Guo Laifu’s mind, find out what drove him insane, and restore his sanity so he could be put on trial.

Shian developed a special method, known as the Archive, in order to take on such a task. While inside the Archive, they could monitor the emotional readings of the members, which would give them more insight on Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo.

Meanwhile, Sunken Society planned to interfere. In order to curry favor after losing all his ghosts to Zhong Chengshuo during the “good boy” mission, Kong Wanqing was assigned to infiltrate the Archive and despose the two troubling members.

When Unit 9 entered the Archive of Guo Laifu’s mind, they were met with monsters of all sorts under a swirling vortex. Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo explored the area and found a place that was unlike the others: a school campus. They were able to infiltrate the campus and were locked into a “game”.

The school campus was actually a memory of Guo Wei, Guo Laifu’s son, who was his last victim. Guo Wei proposed that they need to leave the campus, and if not, they would have to surrender their most cherished memory. Eventually Ge Tingting and Huang Jin (who had joined Unit 9), fell unconscious, leaving only Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo.

Meanwhile, Shian discovered the anomaly of the Archive and Fu Xingchuan went in with Unit 7 to rescue Unit 9.

Things were revealed that Kong Wanqing had infiltrated Guo Laifu’s mind earlier and manipulated Guo Wei in order to trap and kill the members of Unit 9. Guo Wei held resentment for being brutally murdered by his own father but not enough to become a ghost. Under Kong Wanqing’s “resonance” ability, he was able to amplify Guo Wei’s negative emotions, essentially using it to control Guo Wei and his world inside Guo Laifu’s mind and turn him into a fierce ghost.

It was then revealed that after Guo Wei was murdered, he was able to “survive” by parasitizing Guo Laifu’s mind. When he was about to be reborn as a fierce ghost, Yin Ren was able to stop his transformation by pulling his classmates and teacher through a “dream” technique, who were then able to calm his emotions.

Ultimately, they succeeded, but Kong Wanqing wouldn’t let them go so easily. He amplified Yin Ren’s negative emotions and forced him to reveal his most painful memory. This essentially backfired on him when it was discovered that Yin Ren wasn’t a normal evil spirit.

Yin Ren was about to lose control and revert back to his Evil Spirit form. Trying to save his teammates, he pushed Zhong Chengshuo away and urged him to escape with his other team members. Zhong Chengshuo refused and went back to him, because he believed in him, capturing Kong Wanqing in the process.

When he encountered Yin Ren again, he saw Yin Ren’s original Evil Spirit form in his memory. Being a metaphysician, when Kong Wanqing looked at it, he instantly dissolved into mush. As a science post and someone extremely abnormal, it had no effect on Zhong Chengshuo.

Zhong Chengshuo was able to calm Yin Ren down, and they finally confirmed their relationship. Yin Ren was able to restore himself to his human form, preventing the descent of an Evil Spirit into the world.

With things wrapped up, Guo Wei revealed the reason why Guo Laifu went insane. In his memory, Guo Laifu was captured by Zhong Chengshuo, who did something to him that essentially made him go insane.

When Shian was able to rescue them, they were able to lie their way through, but this not only didn’t diminish the suspicion but greatly increased it. Now that the threshold was too high, Shian planned to assign them an “execution task” of infiltrating and wiping out Sunken Society.

Side Characters:

Guo Wei was Guo Laifu’s son. His mother ran away when he was young, unable to take the abuse, and thus he became the target of Guo Laifu’s abuse. He was talented and smart and had the ability to go far with his grades.

Unfortunately, Guo Laifu was a fringe member of Sunken Society. Following their whims, he brutally murdered a series of people, with Guo Wei being his last victim.

Unable to move on, Guo Wei parasitized Guo Laifu’s mind and was able to live there. With Kong Wanqing’s infiltration and negative influence, Guo Wei planned to transform into a fierce ghost, but was ultimately stopped by Yin Ren, who pulled up his old memories of his school days.

His classmates, crush, and teacher who cared for him were able to sway his emotions. He ultimately decided he didn’t want to become a ghost. Once Guo Laifu’s sanity was restored and he was sentenced to death, Guo Wei would disappear as well.

Yin Ren offered to turn him into a ghost, but Guo Wei was unable to let go of the happiest memory of his life. Rather than becoming a ghost and losing all his memories, he chose to remain in Guo Laifu’s mind until Guo Laifu died.