Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 82: Malice

Cornina’s cabin.

“…So, that’s all your dark history.” Qian Ai took the thermos from Kuang Jinxin, drained the warm tea inside to soothe his throat after talking for so long, and then advised his teammate, “Next time, could you add some goji berries?”

Chi Yingxue slightly frowned. “Did I really push Xiao Qian?”

“No, you and I perished together,” Kuang Jinxin corrected, putting the thermos back into his backpack.

Chi Yingxue’s disapproval deepened, and after a moment, he nodded as if sighing. “That’s Yan Wang’s style.”

“Don’t think it’s over just by saying you don’t remember.” Qian Ai felt compelled to remind his teammate. “You and Yan Wang are essentially using the same account. If he kills someone, you are just as culpable.”

Split personalities or whatever, Qian Ai didn’t understand. He believed one should be responsible for their actions. At the very least, he needed to make Chi Yingxue aware of what his other self had done. If he joined the team without any psychological burden, Kuang Jinxin might tolerate it, but Qian Ai couldn’t.

“I apologize on behalf of Yan Wang.” Chi Yingxue looked at Kuang Jinxin, losing his casual demeanor, and spoke earnestly.

Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai thought differently. He didn’t know why, but he naturally treated Yan Wang and Chi Yingxue as two different people. “It’s not your fault.”

Chi Yingxue thought it was a retort, but upon closer inspection, he realized Kuang Jinxin’s eyes held no resentment or anger, only hidden confusion.

All along the way, his eyes were filled with these question marks.

Unusually, Chi Yingxue felt a hint of curiosity. “Is there something you want to ask?”

Kuang Jinxin had many questions, but since they were talking about the Ferris wheel, he asked, “Do you know why Yan Wang jumped with me? Do you understand his reasoning?”

Chi Yingxue paused. Something flashed in his eyes, but it was too quick to discern.

“I don’t know,” he said with a resigned smile. “Yan Wang’s personality has always been unstable. No one knows what goes on in his mind.”

“Not even you?” Qian Ai was surprised.

Chi Yingxue sighed softly. “All I know is that whenever he appears, no matter how well a team works together, he can ruin everything.”

“That’s for sure. Who would dare accept someone like that?” Qian Ai felt a sense of kinship, but then remembered the subject of their mockery was right there, agreeing with them, which added a weird twist.

“Do you… hate Yan Wang?” Kuang Jinxin asked softly, as if worried that speaking too loudly would let Yan Wang hear.

Chi Yingxue quietly looked at him for a while, then suddenly raised his hand, gently touching his cheek, his thumb tracing his brow bone, whispering, “Would you like someone if you had to fight with them for the right to live?”

Kuang Jinxin was stunned, motionless, even forgetting to breathe.

He suddenly felt that Chi Yingxue wasn’t looking at him but rather at the reflection of another Chi Yingxue in his pupils.

“What are you doing!” Qian Ai slapped Chi Yingxue’s hand away and pulled Kuang Jinxin over. His face scrunched up in disgust. “Talk if you have something to say. Don’t be creepy and touchy!”

Chi Yingxue looked at his suddenly reddened hand, his gaze becoming somewhat vacant, as if he had lost part of his spirit.

“Come on, I just hit you once. You don’t have to overact like that…” The sudden silence made Qian Ai uneasy.

Chi Yingxue suddenly opened the [Roster], tilting his head to look at it for a few seconds.

Then, he slowly raised his eyes, his gaze sliding past him to fall on Kuang Jinxin’s face.

“Kuang… Jinxin?” His tone was very light, with a rising inflection at the end, casually enticing.

Qian Ai swallowed, pulling Kuang Jinxin back with him. “Stop this trickery or I’ll kick you out—”

Chi Yingxue curled his mouth, his eyes flashing mischievously, like a child thinking of a clever prank.

“Xiao Sijin.” He cheerfully declared Kuang Jinxin’s new nickname without any intention of seeking his approval.

Kuang Jinxin stared at him, stunned. More than getting a nickname, he was more concerned about Chi Yingxue, feeling that the person in front of him had changed.

“Are you… Yan Wang?” he asked cautiously.

For a moment, Chi Yingxue’s smile froze in his eyes.

The next instant, a whirlwind of emotions surged in his beautiful eyes—joy, anger, confusion, and realization—all unrelated and crudely mixed together, creating a bewildering blend of colors.

“Get away—” Chi Yingxue suddenly yelled, his face clouded with fury.

It was unclear whether he was yelling at others or at the other self within him.

In any case, Qian Ai immediately scooped up Kuang Jinxin, transforming into “Raging Lightning Qian”, and zipped to the corner of the room. If the crack in the wall was wide enough, he would have squeezed in.

“This fucking transformation…” At that moment, Qian Ai found himself missing the evil spirit. At least their target was clear, their methods direct, and the little flames they carried dispelled the darkness!

Chi Yingxue abruptly stood up, looking around like a cornered beast, his movements frantic but his eyes dark and threatening.

“A wardrobe,” he said in a terrifying, deep voice, as if struggling fiercely with an internal force. “Is there a wardrobe?”

“Upstairs bedroom!” If he wanted gold bars right now, Qian Ai would have melted them for him.

Chi Yingxue sprinted upstairs.

Soon, there was a commotion above, followed by a sound like a wardrobe door closing with a “bang—”

The world became peaceful.

Qian Ai held Kuang Jinxin in his arms for a long time, not letting go.

Kuang Jinxin struggled to lift his head, asking, “Are you trying to protect me, or are you scared and need to hold onto something?”

Qian Ai: “……”

Reluctantly releasing his teammate, Qian Ai skipped the question and issued an order. “From now on, don’t go within a meter of Chi Yingxue!”

Kuang Jinxin knew Qian Ai was worried but still found it difficult. “What about during battles?”

“Even more so,” Qian Ai answered without hesitation. “Let the opponents go near him. It’s guaranteed to scare one to death or drive a pair insane.”

Kuang Jinxin imagined the scenario and laughed. “If Yan Wang knew you thought of him like that, he would definitely be angry.”

Qian Ai took a moment to digest and catch up with Kuang Jinxin’s separate perceptions of Chi Yingxue and Yan Wang, curiously asking, “So Chi Yingxue wouldn’t get angry?”

“He wouldn’t,” Kuang Jinxin said, then thought for a moment before shaking his head. “He doesn’t care about these things.”

Footsteps came from the stairway.

Qian Ai stood in front of Kuang Jinxin, fully alert.

Chi Yingxue walked down slowly, looking pale with slightly white lips, but had calmed down. Seeing their guarded expressions, he smiled sheepishly, half apologizing and half explaining. “I talked too much about his bad side, and he got upset.”

“We can be overheard?” Qian Ai was shocked, momentarily forgetting the scare he just had. His curiosity piqued again.

Chi Yingxue nodded slightly. “Whenever he wants, he can hear.”

Kuang Jinxin asked, “And then, does he remember?”

Chi Yingxue looked at him leisurely, as if he knew what he was going to ask. “Yes. But when we switch, when he comes forward and I recede, I can’t hear, see, and, of course, have no memory of it.”

Having his thoughts seen through didn’t make Kuang Jinxin uncomfortable. He earnestly asked, “Why?”

Chi Yingxue shrugged. “He’s more domineering than I am.”

Kuang Jinxin stated, “But you are the main personality.”

“Exactly because the main personality is weak, avoiding, and afraid to face pain, a secondary personality is born,” Chi Yingxue said with a smile, but his eyes were cold. “The main personality is the most useless.”

“The mushroom soup is ready—” Cornina came in with the same pot as yesterday, brimming with enthusiasm.

Qian Ai pulled Kuang Jinxin back a step, feeling queasy just from the smell, as if seeing little figures dancing in the steam rising from the pot.

Chi Yingxue, who had been briefed on the mushroom soup by his new teammates, had no interest in taking risks and helped Cornina set the soup down before gently saying, “We’ll handle it. You can do something else.”

Cornina insisted, “I’ll serve it for you.”

Chi Yingxue didn’t mind, and, seeing her persistence, let her be.

After serving the soup, Cornina returned to the kitchen.

The aroma filled the living room. This was a huge test for Qian Ai, who was prepared, pulling out a tiny glass bottle with a green liquid from his pocket.

The brain-awakening artifact—menthol oil.

With the little green bottle in hand, all smell and temptation were gone. One sniff can dispel poison and revitalize the spirit.

While Kuang Jinxin indulged in the fragrance of the menthol oil, Kuang Jinxin noticed the bloodstain on Chi Yingxue’s cuff.

It wasn’t there when he had run upstairs just before.

“What method did you use to stop him?” Kuang Jinxin could confirm that the person in front of him was still Chi Yingxue. The Yan Wang that briefly emerged was pushed back again.

Chi Yingxue frowned at the smell of the oil, then became lost in thought for a moment.

“Is he afraid of the wardrobe?” Kuang Jinxin asked more specifically.

“No.” Chi Yingxue lifted his head, smiling a bit. “He’s afraid of the dark.”

“Afraid of the dark?” Kuang Jinxin didn’t expect such an answer, murmuring to himself. “Sounds like a child.”

“A naughty child,” Chi Yingxue said, like a worn-out adult admonishing a naïve young man. “You wouldn’t like him.”

Kuang Jinxin suddenly became quiet, staring at Chi Yingxue’s cuff.

Chi Yingxue followed his gaze and saw the red stain.

After a long silence, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing a fresh wound on the inside of his forearm, as if scratched with a nail or something else not very sharp. The wound was rough.

“Darkness is for him, pain is for me.” Chi Yingxue looked up, his eyes gentle and smiling. “That’s my method.”

Kuang Jinxin had no more questions and settled back into the corner.

Qian Ai, sniffing the menthol oil and listening to this esoteric conversation, was reluctantly calm amidst his irritation.

Chi Yingxue sat at the table, guarding the pot of poisonous mushroom soup, resting his cheek on his hand, gazing at the moonlight outside the window.

When Xu Wang and Wu Sheng returned, this was the scene they encountered.

The three teammates looked towards the door as they heard the noise. Kuang Jinxin, like an eager puppy, was the first to get up and rush over, his eyes shining brightly, full of expectation. “Captain, Sheng Ge, did you find anything?”

“We found a lot.” Xu Wang walked into the living room with a joyous expression, sat down on the floor, and carefully presented a small bunch of pale blue flowers.

The bunch had seven or eight stems, each bearing five or six pale blue flowers. Some were fully bloomed, while others were still buds. The stems were entwined, sharing a single root, but instead of soil, there was a small piece of bark.

Wu Sheng called Cornina out of the kitchen and joined their teammates in a circle.

“It was this flower that put out the fire and saved you,” Xu Wang said to Cornina.

Cornina looked at the flowers, still clueless. “Where does this flower grow? I really don’t remember ever seeing it.”

“You haven’t seen it,” Xu Wang replied. “It grows on the tree in the small square.”

“On the tree?” Cornina asked.

“Yes, on a very high part of the trunk, hidden by leaves and branches. It took us a long time to find it,” Xu Wang explained.

“He climbed on my shoulders to find it.” Advisor Wu, who had been silent since entering, spoke for the first time to add a detail.

Xu Wang ignored him, but this didn’t prevent him from utilizing his knowledge. “This is an epiphytic flower, living on rocks or tree trunks. It doesn’t need soil, surviving on dew and rainwater.”

Advisor Wu insisted on making his presence felt. “When we tried to pluck it from the tree, we were attacked by the branches.”

Finally, their efforts paid off. Cornina looked at him fearfully, her voice trembling. “The tree… attacked you?”

“Yes, like it was alive, swinging branches at us,” Wu Sheng confirmed.

Cornina was both shocked and frightened. “The tree by the square has been there since I was born. It never did anything strange…”

“But when we were attacked and fell to the ground, the flowers fell by themselves,” Xu Wang said. “I think it wanted us to bring it to you.”

Cornina couldn’t absorb anymore, completely stunned.

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng exchanged a look of disappointment, having hoped that bringing the flower would trigger some storyline. Now, it seemed too optimistic.

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin were still digesting the “epiphytic flower” and “tree attacking people” information, while Chi Yingxue asked, “Is that all the clues?”

Xu Wang said, “There’s more.”

“What else?” Chi Yingxue asked.

Xu Wang didn’t rush to respond.

Chi Yingxue patiently waited, his eyes focused, as if at that moment, his world only contained clues and the answer.

Xu Wang felt confident in his ability to read people and saw no malice or anything else in Chi Yingxue.

“There are two more things,” Xu Wang began, sharing the findings with the team. “We went to find York…”

The three teammates listened attentively, and even Cornina raised her head abruptly.

Xu Wang looked at her. “York said he actually likes you too, but Amy told him you didn’t like him.”

“That’s impossible. I even asked Amy to confess for me…” Cornina suddenly covered her mouth. Realizing the truth, her eyes incredulously welled up.

“Yes, Amy didn’t confess for you. Instead, she told York you rejected him,” Xu Wang continued. “And on the night Amy lied to York, she was attacked by the petals…”

Cornina looked at the flowers on the floor.

“Yes, these flowers,” Xu Wang sighed. “I don’t know if it’s male or female, or maybe it doesn’t have a gender, but obviously, it likes you. After attacking Amy, it floated away, finally landing on the roof of your house.”

“My house?”

“And unfortunately, Amy secretly followed, so she concluded that you could do magic—that you were a witch.”

Cornina trembled suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself, and after a while, the shaking lessened.

Xu Wang knew what the girl was thinking. “Amy accused you to the villagers.”

In that era, being associated with magic or witchcraft was a mortal sin, inciting fear in the ignorant.

“Did York know all this?” Chi Yingxue, who hadn’t experienced yesterday, caught up with the story quickly. His reaction was fast and logical, surprising Xu Wang.

“York didn’t know, but a priest in the village did,” Xu Wang said. “That’s the second thing I wanted to tell you. After accusing you, Amy went to confess to the priest, telling him everything.”

Kuang Jinxin didn’t understand. “If Amy thought accusing a witch was right, why confess?”

“Because she lied to York,” Qian Ai suspected that Kuang Jinxin hadn’t listened to the first half of the class.

Xu Wang added, “The priest said that her fear was born out of jealousy. Her accusations, apart from fear, were also selfish. She was well aware of her own sins.”

Wu Sheng remained silent. This domain wasn’t his field of study.

Chi Yingxue laughed out loud for the first time since joining the team, unreservedly. His mouth curved up wildly, along with his bent eyebrows, creating a brilliant smile.

After laughing, he looked at them with eyes like those of someone observing a group of naïve and ignorant children. “Evil people will never repent for their evil deeds. Their prayers and confessions are only to justify continuing their wrongdoing.”

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