Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 99: It’s Me
[Owl: Congratulations on passing the 7/23 test and handing in your papers! See you tomorrow~~]
As the world spun dizzyingly around him, Xu Wang was still reeling from the impact of the story’s conclusion. The half-truths and fabrications in their advisor’s tale had left him unable to discern what was fiction and what was truth. He wanted to believe yet feared being wrong, hopeful yet dreading a harder fall.
Wu Sheng wasn’t faring much better. Ever since he decided to narrate such a story, his heart had been unsettled. Whether right or wrong, apologies or regrets, everything between him and Xu Wang was a decade-old story; even the full stop was drawn ten years ago. Bringing up the past under the guise of the challenge seemed pointless, but he couldn’t help himself.
Wu Sheng rarely lost control, but on the few occasions he did, it always involved Xu Wang.
The Owl didn’t give them much time to hesitate. After a brief dizzy spell, reality snapped back into focus.
Two teams, ten people, stood at a subway station entrance in a bustling area of Chongqing.
It was 5 a.m., so the subway hadn’t started running yet, and only a few sanitation workers were cleaning the streets. They occasionally cast wary glances at the eleven young men gathered at the subway entrance.
Yes, eleven.
Elegant Gray, with hands in pockets, stood at the entrance, his face expressing relief as if to say, “I’ve been waiting for you guys to finally appear.”
“Who won?” Elegant Gray didn’t bother with pleasantries after a night of staring blankly at each other.
Wu Sheng didn’t answer right away but looked at Xu Wang first.
Xu Wang was startled by the gaze, his heart pounding like a drum. To hide his discomfort, he quickly looked away, towards the roadside.
Wu Sheng had told himself not to have expectations, yet Xu Wang’s avoidance still made his heart sink. He looked at Elegant Gray, disheartened. “We won.”
Elegant Gray had never seen such a dispirited victor.
He thought they must have gone through a tough battle.
“This is only the seventh level,” Zhao Yukun remarked, pulling up his zipper. “The journey ahead is still long.”
Wu Sheng, already feeling heavy-hearted, glanced coldly at him. “If I were you, I’d pray we never meet again.”
Zhao Yukun expected a follow-up, something like “you’d lose even worse next time” or “I won’t hold back next time”. But he had to maintain his composure and wait for Wu Sheng’s next words with a slight smile.
Wu Sheng, thinking he had said enough, waited for Zhao Yukun to back down or challenge him again.
In the morning breeze of Chongqing, they waited for each other.
The air suddenly went quiet.
The other nine people: “……”
Elegant Gray finally understood why the battle took so long to finish after his departure. With these two’s way of communicating, a story could stall indefinitely.
Xu Wang and Le Xing couldn’t take it anymore. One was eager to go home to reminisce about youth and first love, and the other to gather experiences for future battles.
Xu Wang stepped forward, completing Wu Sheng’s thought. “If I were you, I’d pray we never meet again. Losing once might be bad luck, but twice leaves no excuses.”
Le Xing pulled Zhao Yukun back and stepped forward. “Words are meaningless. Let’s see who has the last laugh.”
With the “threats” exchanged, Le Xing decisively turned and led his team away.
Xu Wang turned around, not addressing the suddenly downcast Wu Sheng but instead focusing on the perplexed Elegant Gray. “What exactly are you waiting for here?”
“Waiting for what?” Elegant Gray was struck by the question, feeling a sense of loss. “I’m waiting for the conclusion!”
Not only Xu Wang, but also Kuang Jinxin, Chi Yingxue, and Qian Ai were stunned. They thought the story relay wasn’t the main point.
Elegant Gray asked Wu Sheng directly, “What happened to B and C in the end?”
Wu Sheng quietly answered truthfully after a pause, “They both died.”
Elegant Gray: “……”
Kuang Jinxin, sensing Elegant Gray’s genuine interest in the plot, sympathetically added, “But C left behind a strand of hair.”
Elegant Gray: “A… hair?”
Elegant Gray was baffled, wondering what magical twists the story had taken after his departure.
“And then?” he inquired.
Kuang Jinxin explained, “The hair and the diary’s ashes were blown away by the wind.”
Elegant Gray: “……”
He thought he would see sunny days but was then struck by thunderbolts.
Getting emotionally invested in a story could be risky. Elegant Gray’s expression had turned as gray as his clothes.
Xu Wang, feeling a bit guilty as if he had contributed to the torment, quickly changed the subject. “By the way, why are you alone? What about Wine Red, Sky Blue, Deep Purple, and Bright Orange?”
After a moment of confusion, Elegant Gray realized he was asking about his teammates.
Pointing towards a 24-hour McDonald’s across the street, he said, “They’re sitting there.”
Xu Wang was quite touched. “After a whole night of struggle, they still waited for the team captain to get his conclusion. That’s dedication.”
“It’s not just for that,” Elegant Gray said earnestly, pulling out his phone. He looked at Xu Wang and then at Wu Sheng. “Let’s add each other on WeChat. We can share any new information in the future.”
Wu Sheng and Xu Wang remained silent.
“In the same challenge, we are opponents, but for the most part, we’re brothers in adversity,” Elegant Gray said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Who would believe me if I told them we were summoned by an owl’s call into real-life challenges? Even if they did, they’d forget it the next day.”
“It’s hard to build trust in a competitive environment,” Xu Wang commented, pulling out his phone to open WeChat.
In a competitive environment, trust is difficult but always more desirable than caution.
“You don’t even get a chance to speak,” Elegant Gray remarked, scanning the QR code to add Xu Wang.
“Right, just thinking about it gives me a headache, and then it clears out your [Stationery Box],” Xu Wang said, accepting the friend request. A new friend appeared on his list.
Elegant Gray pocketed his phone and looked at Xu Wang. “That Owl is no good.”
Xu Wang nodded vigorously. “Utterly heartless.”
Quick friendships are formed not only through “mutual affinity” but also through “common complaints”.
Watching Elegant Gray’s figure disappear into the McDonald’s, the five companions hailed two cabs to a nearby hotel.
Five people, three standard rooms.
When distributing room cards, Qian Ai took one with Kuang Jinxin. “We’re not changing the lineup.”
Chi Yingxue glanced at them and stretched his hand towards Xu Wang, who was distributing the cards, with a light smile. “I count as two, perfect for a single room.”
With everyone sorted, Xu Wang had no objections.
After receiving their room cards, each headed to their room. As Xu Wang and Wu Sheng were about to close their door, Kuang Jinxin came over from next door.
At that moment, Qian Ai and Chi Yingxue had already entered their rooms, and the corridor was eerily quiet. Kuang Jinxin stood at the door, asking to borrow a first-aid kit.
Xu Wang looked at him with concern. “Are you hurt?”
“It’s Chi Yingxue,” Kuang Jinxin replied. “On the taxi ride back, I noticed blood on his shoes.”
“Is it serious?”
“I don’t know.”
“If it’s serious, you must tell me. Some injuries can’t be dealt with alone and need to go to a hospital.”
Chi Yingxue’s demeanor had been normal throughout the journey. If it were anyone else, Xu Wang would have assumed it was a minor injury, but he couldn’t be so sure with Chi Yingxue.
This new teammate’s tolerance for pain was even more terrifying than his combat skills.
“Don’t worry, Captain,” Kuang Jinxin assured, nodding vigorously. “If he doesn’t listen, I’ll call you for help.”
Xu Wang chuckled, finding the description “doesn’t listen” surprisingly fitting for Chi Yingxue.
……
“Knock, knock.”
The hotel’s door was thick, making the knocking sound deep.
Kuang Jinxin waited for a moment with no response. Just as he raised his head to knock again, the door opened without warning.
Chi Yingxue was still in the same clothes as when he entered the level, having only removed his jacket. Now he was in a dark T-shirt, but because the T-shirt and jacket were almost the same deep shade, looking indistinguishable at first glance.
“Something wrong?” Chi Yingxue asked, seeing the first-aid kit in Kuang Jinxin’s arms.
Kuang Jinxin lowered his eyes, pointing out. “Your pant leg is wet.”
Chi Yingxue looked down. Indeed, the pant leg was darker than the rest. It wasn’t just wet—it was blood, but the dark color of the pants made it hard to see the bloodstain.
However, on the light-colored shoes, whether it was water or blood was obvious.
“You’ve learned to beat around the bush,” Chi Yingxue commented, taking the first-aid kit and letting Kuang Jinxin in.
He wasn’t concerned about such a wound, but with a medic at the door, he had no reason to turn him away.
“It’s not beating around the bush. It’s being upset,” Kuang Jinxin candidly assessed his own approach.
Chi Yingxue placed his injured foot on a chair, pulled up his pant leg, and revealed a ring of coagulated blood around his ankle. The wound was obscured.
He cleaned the wound with alcohol swabs; his movements were quick and adept, showing no sign of pain. He even had the leisure to ask Kuang Jinxin curiously, “What are you upset about?”
Kuang Jinxin frowned deeply. “You’re reckless in fights.”
Chi Yingxue chuckled, half-jokingly, half-seriously asking, “To survive, one must fight hard, right? How else can you win?”
Kuang Jinxin was immune to his smile. “You don’t just want to win. You enjoy taking risks.”
Chi Yingxue laughed out loud, not arguing, just enjoying the discovery that a grumpy Kuang Jinxin was much more interesting than usual.
As the blood was cleaned off, he threw the swab in the trash, then applied medicine and bandaged the wound.
Kuang Jinxin finally saw it was a jagged wound, like a bite, but not as deep after cleaning the blood.
“You said he’s afraid of pain,” Kuang Jinxin suddenly said.
Chi Yingxue paused, holding the gauze, and looked up.
Kuang Jinxin asked quietly, “Does he call you out to bear it every time it hurts?”
Chi Yingxue’s eyes, calm as water, revealed no emotion. “What if he does?”
Kuang Jinxin didn’t hesitate. “He shouldn’t treat you that way.”
“Maybe,” Chi Yingxue mused. “It’s me getting hurt on purpose, using pain to keep him from coming out.”
Kuang Jinxin frowned slightly. “You shouldn’t do that to him either.”
Chi Yingxue smiled, the warmth reaching his eyes yet tinged with a cool detachment. “Your loyalty doesn’t come cheap.”
“You always want me to take your side,” Kuang Jinxin was astute, “but it’s always you speaking—he never gets to.”
“Want to talk to him?” Chi Yingxue lowered his head and focused on wrapping the gauze. His voice was light but cold.
“I want you both to avoid getting hurt,” Kuang Jinxin said.
The word “both” sounded grating to Chi Yingxue. He finished the bandaging in silence and looked up, suddenly gripping Kuang Jinxin’s wrist tightly and pulling him close.
Nose to nose, eye to eye, in close proximity, he solemnly declared ownership for the first time. “I applied to join the team, so it’s me who is your teammate.”
The author has something to say:
You’ve caught my wrist twice! (╰_╯)
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