Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 138: Nursery Rhyme

In the abandoned garden, under a light drizzle, the misty water vapor blurred the line between reality and illusion.

“Your name is… Yan Wang?” Xu Wang asked again.

“Is there a problem?” The young man tilted his head, puzzled at why the two were staring blankly.

Yes, there’s a problem. Meeting Yan Wang in Chi Yingxue’s world wasn’t surprising, but for Xu Wang and Wu Sheng, who had actually spent time with the real Yan Wang, this “Yan Wang” before them was unexpectedly unfamiliar.

It wasn’t just his appearance that was unfamiliar, but also his inner changes. It was like Chi Zhuolin transforming from a domineering CEO to a simple and sweet character, and Yan Wang, from a worldly, mature, and slightly sinister man, had become a vibrant young man.

Simple and straightforward, full of vitality and health, exuding a wild charm—this was very different from the Yan Wang they knew, almost the exact opposite of the Chi Yingxue they knew.

Xu Wang blinked hard, clearing the film of water on his eyelashes, making the “Yan Wang” in his sight clearer and allowing him to organize his chaotic thoughts.

“No problem. It’s just that…” He smiled, pointing to himself and Wu Sheng. “We know a friend who is also called Yan Wang.”

“Oh?” Yan Wang looked curious as he put on his black mask again, asking, “What kind of person is he?”

“A bit more mature, worldly, and obsessive than you.” Xu Wang watched his features disappear back behind the mask, leaving only a pair of eyes shining with a wild alertness.

“Why compare me to him?” Yan Wang chuckled. “We just happen to share the same name; we’re not really related. It would be weird if our personalities were the same.”

“There is one thing that’s exactly the same between you two,” Wu Sheng said leisurely. “Neither of you know pain.”

Yan Wang followed his gaze down to his own bloody and scarred arms and legs and smiled indifferently. “You get used to the pain, and then it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“You get injured often?” Xu Wang caught a fleeting bitterness in his eyes and felt a tug at his heart, causing him to blurt out the question.

Yan Wang paused, seemingly unprepared for this question, and finally waved his hand dismissively. “Hey, let’s not talk about me. Aren’t you in a hurry to find Chi Yingxue? Then let’s go.”

With that, he turned and walked forward, heading towards a patch of withered trees with no visible path or building in sight.

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng exchanged glances and hurriedly followed, but Xu Wang couldn’t help asking, “Which way are you taking us?”

Perhaps because the real Yan Wang always held some hostility towards Chi Yingxue, Xu Wang and Wu Sheng couldn’t fully trust this amiable “Yan Wang”.

“Of course, it’s my—Yan Wang’s—special route.” Yan Wang glanced back at them, exuding an air of invincibility.

As they spoke, the three arrived at a large, dead tree with wide, yellow leaves hanging from its dry branches. Beneath the tree was an old well with its mouth covered by a stone slab.

Yan Wang bent over, took a deep breath, and pushed the large stone slab aside, revealing the weathered well mouth.

The well was dry, its bottom visible at a glance.

“You’re not telling me you’re planning to jump…” Before Xu Wang could finish, a gust of wind brushed past him.

With a “plop”, Yan Wang jumped down the well and then looked up, calling to them. “Come down quickly.”

Xu Wang looked at the well that was about four or five meters deep, and his head hurt. “This is your special route?”

“Don’t be afraid,” Yan Wang reassured them, spreading his arms. “I’ll catch you.”

“No need.” Wu Sheng refused on behalf of his captain. “He has someone to catch him.”

As Xu Wang landed safely in Wu Sheng’s arms, the small bottom of the well was nearly filled by the three of them. At knee height on the well wall, there was a circular hole wide enough for one person, leading to an unknown destination, with a whistling wind blowing through, chilling their already wet pants.

Yan Wang bent awkwardly and crawled into the hole.

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng looked on speechlessly, feeling as if they had inadvertently strayed off the path.

In the pitch-black tunnel, where the rain sound from the surface was no longer audible, only the occasional “drip-drop” could be heard, amplifying the silence of the darkness.

Yan Wang, Xu Wang, and Wu Sheng, one after the other, crawled forward slowly. The uneven tunnel was painful to navigate, causing aching backs and knees. Xu Wang had to say something to break the silence.

Xu Wang: “Don’t tell me Chi Yingxue lives in a basement.”

Yan Wang: “Of course not. He’s in a proper west wing room.”

Xu Wang: “…Then why are we going underground!”

Yan Wang: “There are guards above.”

Xu Wang: “The gardener and driver have already been driven away by us.”

Yan Wang: “Those two only guard the garden. There are more guards in the inner courtyard. Without Mr. Chi’s permission, you can’t just barge in. Even ten lives wouldn’t be enough.”

Xu Wang: “Mr. Chi? Chi Yingxue’s father?”

Yan Wang: “Who else could it be?”

Xu Wang: “Then that’s it. He’s Chi Yingxue’s father, and we are Chi Yingxue’s friends. With proper communication, there’s no reason he wouldn’t let us meet.”

Yan Wang: “Tsk, that man, you can’t communicate with him.”

Xu Wang: “Have you tried?”

Yan Wang: “No need to try. He’s the one who locked Chi Yingxue in the west wing room and doesn’t let him out. What’s there to communicate?”

Xu Wang paused, and Wu Sheng, in the darkness, also hesitated slightly.

When the veranda shook and a voice declared “Chi Zhuolin”, they had foreseen that this “Elder Mr. Chi” wasn’t to be trifled with.

But at that time, they only thought of him as a stern, unsmiling father who exuded an oppressive aura. They hadn’t thought deeply about the problems in the father-son relationship between him and Chi Yingxue.

Xu Wang: “Why does he keep Xiao Xue locked up?”

Yan Wang: “Xiao Xue?”

Xu Wang: “Oh, that’s what we call him.”

Yan Wang: “Seems like you really are close.”

Xu Wang: “Now we are friends with you, too.”

Yan Wang laughed. “I never thought I’d one day bask in Chi Yingxue’s glory.”

“Back to the previous question,” Wu Sheng reminded gently. “Why does Mr. Chi keep Xiao Xue locked up?”

“I really don’t know.” Yan Wang sighed. “Anyway, whenever I visit Chi Yingxue, I always use this underground route. Follow me, and you won’t go wrong, but…”

Xu Wang, Wu Sheng: “But?”

“This route might be, well, a bit rough,” Yan Wang said slowly, with an innocent tone.

After a long crawl, the three finally emerged from the tunnel into a spacious area of unknown location.

Wu Sheng turned on his phone’s flashlight, revealing that they were in a stone chamber with walls made of smooth bricks on all sides, including the ceiling.

Just as Xu Wang was about to ask where they were, he saw Yan Wang fumbling around a corner of the wall, searching for something.

Soon, a “click” of a lever being pulled came from Yan Wang’s direction.

Then, the wall in front of them fell, revealing another stone chamber.

The new chamber was identical in size to the one they were in, also enclosed on all sides, with a small, inconspicuous red lever in the same corner where Yan Wang stood.

The only difference was that their current chamber had a hole in the wall—the tunnel they had crawled through—while the new chamber had intact walls, but its floor was densely covered with sharp blades pointing upwards, arranged neatly like a deadly formation.

“Counting the one we’re in, there are a total of six chambers,” Yan Wang explained enthusiastically. “We just have to pull the levers, open the stone doors, and get through them one by one, and we’ll quickly reach the west wing room.”

Xu Wang turned to him, struggling to muster a smile. “Are all the upcoming chambers like the one in front of us?”

“Of course not.” Yan Wang immediately shook his head.

Xu Wang sighed in relief. “That’s good.”

Yan Wang added, “The further we go, the more dangerous it gets.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Yan Wang: “?”

Xu Wang: “This is what you meant by… ‘might be a bit rough’?!”

……

In the secret study.

Unaware that his captain and advisor had embarked on a challenging path, Kuang Jinxin finally gave up searching his memory. He was afraid that if he continued, not only would he fail to retrieve the code, but he might also disrupt his normal memories.

Unable to remember, he decided to take the book with him.

After quickly checking the remaining part of the bookshelf and confirming that this was the only real book, Kuang Jinxin, feeling slightly guilty as if he was stealing, packed the book into his backpack.

Just before putting it away, whether out of curiosity or an inexplicable impulse, Kuang Jinxin opened the book again.

When he first found the book, he had already looked through it. Although he couldn’t remember the code, he at least wanted to see what the original book was like. The title “Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes” was completely unfamiliar to him. Intuitively, he thought it would be similar to “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”. Flipping through a few pages, he found simple and fun nursery rhymes about chasing cats, climbing woodpiles, eating Christmas pies, and the like.

But as he was about to put the book halfway into his bag, his hand froze. He took out the book and opened it for the second time.

For no particular reason, he just felt he should take another look.

This time, he came across a nursery rhyme with only five lines—

My mother has killed me.
My father is eating me.
My brothers and sisters sit under the table.
Picking up my bones.
And they bury them under the cold marble stones.

His phone battery completely drained and shut down, extinguishing the last bit of light.

Kuang Jinxin stood in the darkness, his hands and feet ice cold.

He kept telling himself that it was just a book, and besides, there were innocent nursery rhymes in it. It might not be related to reality, let alone Chi Yingxue’s mental world. Maybe it was just a random original chosen for their code game with his brother…

By the end, he couldn’t even convince himself.

He was in Chi Yingxue’s mental world, possibly even in the deepest recesses of his mind. Here, not just a book, but every blade of grass, every leaf, was an imprint of Chi Yingxue’s inner world.

Suddenly, footsteps approached from outside the door, steady and firm, getting closer.

Kuang Jinxin froze, not daring to move.

The footsteps stopped in front of the door.

Then, someone pushed the door of the secret study.

It didn’t open.

Kuang Jinxin had locked it when he entered.

The person outside, apparently not expecting this, fell silent for a moment before knocking twice on the door, politely asking, “Is anyone in there?”

Kuang Jinxin held his breath, his hand holding the book slightly sweating.

The person only asked once and didn’t knock again.

Kuang Jinxin strained his ears, hoping to hear footsteps leaving.

But instead, he heard the sound of a key unlocking the door.

“Creak—”

The door opened, and outside the half-height door, someone was squatting.

Kuang Jinxin quickly stuffed the book into his backpack, then squatted down, cautiously meeting the eyes of the person outside.

Outside the door was a middle-aged man, around 45 or 56 years old, dressed in a suit and exuding an air of authority. Even squatting as he was, he didn’t seem to lose any dignity. The moonlight cast deep contours on his face, highlighting the slight wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but his gaze was firm and penetrating, as if he could see right through one’s soul.

“I heard noises here and thought it was a rat.” As their eyes met, the middle-aged man smiled, attempting to appear approachable, but the seriousness in his expression remained.

“I-I came here looking for a friend and then got lost,” Kuang Jinxin responded, not sure of the man’s identity, so he chose to be cautious with his information exchange, hoping to create a good impression.

“Looking for a friend?” the man asked gently. “Tell me his name. Maybe I can help you find him.”

Kuang Jinxin hesitated.

The man patiently watched him, neither urging him to speak nor inviting him out, maintaining the awkward posture of squatting on either side of the door.

After a long stare, Kuang Jinxin suddenly felt a sense of familiarity in the man’s features, especially around the eyes and brows.

Chi Zhuolin!

Kuang Jinxin’s eyes widened as he scrutinized the face outside the door more carefully, confirming without a doubt that the facial contours were indeed those of Chi Zhuolin, just years later. He remembered a conversation in Beijing when Chi Zhuolin mentioned that he resembled his father and Chi Yingxue took after their mother, which made Chi Zhuolin decently handsome while his brother was extremely beautiful. It was then that Kuang Jinxin realized Chi Zhuolin could use every positive word in the world when talking about his brother.

“I’m looking for… Chi Yingxue.” Kuang Jinxin cautiously revealed his teammate’s name, hoping his guess wasn’t wrong.

The man outside was surprised, but quickly his surprise turned into warm hospitality. “I am Chi Yingxue’s father. Come out. It must be uncomfortable in there.”

Kuang Jinxin breathed a sigh of relief. His guess was correct.

He also felt fortunate for his luck, encountering the head of the household straight away, no longer having to worry about being sent away by guards like Zhang Ge or Peng Ge.

“Hello, Uncle Chi,” he greeted politely, then, without further hesitation, quickly crawled out through the small door.

“You’re polite; a good kid.” The man patted Kuang Jinxin’s head approvingly, like a generous elder. “Come with me.”

“I heard that Chi Yingxue is sick?” Kuang Jinxin recalled the information he received when he was turned away at the front courtyard.

“Yes,” the man replied lightly. “But he’s taken medicine and took a nap, so he’s much better now.”

Then, why when they were in the front courtyard, were those two so adamant about Chi Yingxue not seeing guests and were vehement in driving them away?

Kuang Jinxin was puzzled but chose not to ask further, fearing to stir up unwanted topics, especially since the encounter in the front courtyard had been quite unpleasant.

For a long time after, Chi Yingxue’s father led the way, with Kuang Jinxin following.

The moonlight stretched the middle-aged man’s shadow long.

Kuang Jinxin watched the tall and broad figure, feeling a complex mix of emotions. Growing up without a father, he always felt warmth and envy when seeing others with their fathers.

[My mother has killed me. My father is eating me…]

The nursery rhyme he had read earlier unexpectedly popped into his mind, and he could even hear the eerie sound of children chanting in his ears.

The clear, innocent voices singing the most gruesome of rhymes…

Kuang Jinxin suddenly stopped walking.

Chi Yingxue’s father, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, stopped almost immediately and turned around. “What’s wrong?”

Kuang Jinxin couldn’t answer.

He didn’t know what was wrong, but he suddenly felt scared. It was an inexplicable uneasiness that overwhelmed his heart.

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Kinky Thoughts:

The nursery rhyme is referencing a German folktale known as “The Juniper Tree”. This is actually part of The Grimm’s Fairy Tales and not a Mother Goose nursery rhyme.

The TLDR is stepmother kills her stepson and feeds it to his father. Half-sister buries her brother under the Juniper Tree, and he becomes a bird that sings the nursery rhyme (song) to the townsfolk and eventually takes revenge on the stepmother.

The song the bird sings is:

My mother she killed me,
My father he ate me,
My sister, little Marlinchen,
Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Tweet, tweet, what a beautiful bird am I!

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