CH 3

In the room—

Mo Heng slightly hooked the corners of his mouth and patted the dust off his suit as he sat down on the bed. His black and white eyes stared silently, not showing the slightest bit of timidity even in the unknown environment.

Mo Heng looked at the man he had always admired, and although said man was now unable to let go of a bone, the brilliance that he held in his heart remained unaltered. A cold light seemed to flash as he opened his mouth, “Brother Xiao, you…?” How can you hold him so dearly even after death?

Xiao Ying was unfazed, his eyes cold and harsh, “What were his last words?”

“Huh?”

“What did he tell you in the end?” His eyes seemed to pierce through the man as he added, “You know, I have no patience left for you.” He had no patience left for anyone but Mo Jingxuan, and even he had left him first.

Mo Heng trembled invisibly, almost letting go of his facade of calmness. He had thought he knew why he was here, but he had guessed wrong. It wasn’t because Xiao Ying needed a replacement for Mo Jingxuan; it was because of Mo Jingxuan’s death, that idiotic brother of his. Even after death, he would not leave him alone.

After stabilizing his emotions, Mo Heng’s expression corrected itself, and the confusion he showed was measured to a tee, “Brother Xiao, what do you mean? Who said what?”

Mo Jingxuan was still watching everything from Xiao Ying’s arms and was full of sarcasm: As expected of a junior, his acting skills are really good. He truly takes after his mother, that third-rate actress.

Xiao Ying pressed another kiss to the bone he was holding, disregarding to answer Mo Heng’s words. He leaned over to the bedside table and picked up a gun from the topmost drawer, a cold sheen emitting from it as he took aim at Mo Heng.

“Do you know who this is?” Xiao Ying asked while gazing at the bone with nostalgia.

Mo Heng moved his attention to the bone, the confusion on his face gradually turning to surprise, surprise which quickly morphed into hatred, “Brother Xiao, you–” Mo Heng no longer felt the need to act; the end that he was being given by the crazy man was now plain.

He stood up, “Oh, I didn’t expect you to really find it. If you had waited a bit longer perhaps I would have been a fine replacement for him, now I regret that I didn’t cremate him directly. But…” Mo Heng stared at the bone with a loathing that could not be concealed, “At least I have the pleasure of knowing how his body was treated. Slowly being eaten up by maggots day by day, his brilliance slowly molding and becoming a feast for such lowly creatures to feed on. I am sincerely happy, for so many years, I never once won against him, and now I can say with complete confidence that I was the winner of the war. He just gathered a few battles. After all, how could I ever let such a loser occupy your attention? You are the one that I like. You should only like me!”

“Boom!” A gunshot sounded in the room, and Mo Heng fell to his knees, the left leg of his trousers seeping red from the blood.

Xiao Ying looked at him indifferently, pointing the gun towards the right leg, and, “Bang!” another shot was fired.

“What were his last words?”

“Hahaha, his last words?! He died before he could say anything, that coward!” Mo Heng’s face was pale, with sweat pouring out from the pain of being shot, but he still straightened his back and laughed at Xiao Ying with eyes full of sarcasm, “Why? Do you expect him to say that he loves you? Maybe that he misses you? You were persistent for so many years, and he never once had feelings for you. You even fought against the Mo family for him and jeopardized your company. Did he appreciate it though? You helped when he fought for those properties, did he thank you for it even once? You carefully held him in your hands and tied him to your side out of fear that someone would hurt him, but your intentions were never understood, were they? Don’t you know?! Heh, how long are you going to lie to yourself? That bitch hates you! He despises you with a passion!”

Mo Jingxuan heard this outburst, unable to stop himself from reminiscing of these moments….Why was Xiao Ying hurting himself like this? He chased after him for so long but never offered an explanation for any of his actions.

Xiao Ying paused, gripping the bone tighter as a madness swirled up in his eyes, “Yes, one day he will love me. No matter where he goes, he can only have me by his side, even if it is hell.”

Mo Jingxuan’s nonexistent heart twitched; he had never hated his death so much as in this moment. Unable to move or speak, unable to stop the stupid, stupid things that this person might do. “Ahh!!!” Mo Jingxuan struggled desperately, wanting to move his arms, calling out for Xiao Ying with all his might. But…everything was in vain; he lay quietly in the man’s arms, not moving a bit, showing none of what was going on inside of his soul.

Mo Heng taunted Xiao Ying more, “Huh, are you going to go join that bastard? To continue to tie him up so that he can’t live freely even in death?” Xiao Ying didn’t speak in response; he merely raised his hand with the gun and sent Mo Heng down to accompany Mo Jingxuan.

“Boom,” Mo Heng fell down, and the bright red blood painted the floor, like a beautiful spider lily in bloom.

“Jingxuan, baby, my baby. He is dead now. Now I can join you without regrets.”

“…Baby, let me kiss you again, you will not be so well behaved once I meet you in hell. Just once more, okay?” After these words, the man lowered his head and gently licked the white and cold bone, running it along his face with one hand while the other slowly raised to his temple.

It pressed against, and the shot rang out, signaling the door being pushed open by Zi Bo and the others, “Boss! What are you doing?!” They ran to him, but were just slightly behind, letting the skinny man on the bed fall with his bone in his arm and a smile on his lips.

“Boss, no!!!!”

After the gunshot, accompanied with panicked screams, Mo Jingxuan gave up struggling and completely lost any intention to stay and convey his words to the living. His sight became more blurred until he was plunged into complete darkness again, and the only thing remaining in his mind was the name, “Xiao Ying.”

When Mo Jingxuan woke up again, he was still faced with a black abyss. But unlike in the bone state, there was no weight weighing him down this time. It was as if he was a soul once more, a wisp of air that could float like a cloud.

He stayed still for a while, calming himself before trying to break free from the darkness and find Xiao Ying. Suddenly, there were rustling sounds all around him, and he was dragged back by something– his body sliding forward involuntarily. Yes, light and floating, he almost thought he was back in those days when he wandered the forest.

After being pulled a bit further, the thing dragging Mo Jingxuan stopped, and he heard a snap. His eyes lit up as he looked on in shock at the small, petite figure standing before him. He had little slippers, small feet, thin calves, and wore an old, white vest. Slowly, inch by inch, Mo Jingxuan’s eyes moved up, stopping on the boy’s short, black, and shiny hair. His heart palpitated as he was unable to hold back the premonition that was rising in him. If only he could see the boy’s face, a frontal image of what could be appearing in his mind, but all that reality allowed was the child’s back.

Mo Jingxuan didn’t have time to be surprised by his situation; all of his attention was focused on the image in his head. Although the child was darker, thinner, younger….Mo Jingxuan would never not recognize him.

Xiao Ying–Xiao Ying–Xiao Ying, his name kept colliding in Mo Jingxuan’s head, making him excited enough to feel almost nauseous. He didn’t expect he would ever see him again, and yet here he was.

Mo Jingxuan was brought out of his mind with the sound of running water, to be more precise, the sound of water being pumped from a urinal. As he watched, the little boy turned around, dragging him to turn halfway as well. He was stunned; lowering his head stiffly, Mo Jingxuan saw his pitch-black body for the first time. The sky blue floor tiles and half-yellow urinal that were close enough to brush against him and the angle he needed to look up at the back of Xiao Ying. Mo Jingxuan fell into a strange silence as he realized just what had happened…

Time passed day by day, but Mo Jingxuan stayed in his daze as he was dragged here and there. Only after several days did his IQ and emotions begin to return as the shock wore off.

According to his observations and judgements these past few days, there were two conclusions that could be gathered…absurd though they were.

First, he was reborn, and he was reborn next to the five-year-old Xiao Ying. To be honest, this really made Mo Jingxuan happy. After all, he saw Xiao Ying again, and he got to see Xiao Ying as a mini version. When they first met in his previous life, Xiao Ying was already in the sixth grade.

Second, he was reborn as Xiao Ying’s shadow. If the first assumption he had come to brought him joy, then this one brought him severe depression. It wasn’t the fact that he was Xiao Ying’s shadow that made him depressed per se; rather, it was the fact that he had no mobility at all!! He got a new life, one far enough in the past for him to enjoy it to his utmost, and he can’t do anything of his own will at all. Well, he is able to look around with his consciousness– a benefit he could not deny he enjoyed, but for the price of becoming a marionette, it is truly not worth it. And even worse, he still cannot speak! This might be what a shadow is, but Mo Jingxuan understandably could not get used to it after spending a life as a human and then even longer as a ghost. He was used to moving and expressing things as he would like; was that really too much to ask for?!

However, despite these complaints, once he thought of being able to stay and watch Xiao Ying grow up, even if it was in another form, Mo Jingxuan was no longer tangled up.

In fact, he knew that deep down, he was always grateful that god arranged this for him, allowing him to return to the man who had chased him through the gates of hell and locked him inside.