Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 10: Friendship Declaration

The good news: the Jade Buddha Gang didn’t keep them chained up. The bad news: they were locked in a cage.

The Jade Buddha Gang had turned an abandoned courtyard into a perfect prison. The six of them were trapped in the same cage, with the madman locked in the next one.

The madman’s body was covered in sores, and his hands were tightly bound behind his back. He was thrashing around wildly, making inhuman, low-pitched howls.

The good news: their ghosts were no longer affected by the spirit-binding chains. The bad news: the cage was covered with talismans to ward off evil spirits, meaning their ghosts were imprisoned with them.

Only Bai Shuangying wasn’t trapped. The ghost had followed them all the way and was now strolling around the bonfire in the center of the courtyard. Aside from Fang Xiu, no one noticed him.

If Fang Xiu didn’t believe he couldn’t have imagined such a beautiful face, he might have thought he was hallucinating.

“Damn these bastards. It’s bad enough they locked us up, but they had to stick talismans on too.” Blondie kicked the cage while glancing at Fang Xiu. “Brother, you’re pretty loyal, getting screwed over with us.”

Fang Xiu responded absentmindedly and continued observing the enemy’s base.

There were four members in the Jade Buddha Gang.

The strongman who led them and the scarred man who attacked them weren’t in the courtyard at the moment.

Watching over them were two others—a middle-aged man in a white coat and a scrawny thug. They called each other “Doctor” and “Skinny Monkey”, and neither of them wore a jade Buddha. They seemed like low-level henchmen.

Skinny Monkey swaggered over. “What kind of abilities do your ghosts have? Tell me.”

Blondie spat at him. “Dumbass, why would I tell you?”

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the pretty lady.” Skinny Monkey tossed a bone at Mei Lan. “Hey, gorgeous, tell me, and I’ll let you out to live the good life.”

Mei Lan huddled in the corner of the cage, remaining silent.

“Ungrateful.” Skinny Monkey spat and tossed a knife in front of Blondie.

“Stab her. Don’t kill her right away, just enough to make her talk.”

Blondie said, “You think I’m sick or something? Why would I stab my own teammate?”

Skinny Monkey laughed. “Then I’ll start with you. The boss hates troublemakers, and you look big enough to feed us for days.”

He pointed at the bonfire, where there were signs of a makeshift barbecue. A few white bones were scattered on the ground, and Fang Xiu immediately recognized them as human leg bones.

Cheng Songyun couldn’t hold back any longer. “There’s food in the shrine. You don’t have to do this…”

“The shrine? We burned that down ages ago.”

Skinny Monkey pulled out the spirit-binding chain, playing with it while staring at Blondie. “So, are you gonna stab her or not?”

Blondie visibly tensed. He looked at the knife on the ground, then at the trembling Mei Lan. After a moment of hesitation, he bent down and picked up the knife.

Mei Lan shook her head violently in fear.

Jia Xu grabbed Blondie’s arm. “We can’t turn on each other—”

“Shut up! If you don’t want to die, you can take my place!” Blondie angrily shook him off.

“Enough! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you!” Fang Xiu shouted, covering his ears as if he was breaking down.

“We drew ghost lots, which allow us to use one type of ghost magic! The cost—the cost is that each time we use it, we lose a year of our lifespan.”

Blondie was still stunned, but Cheng Songyun immediately caught on. “Yeah, that’s right! That’s how it works! Don’t push us anymore!”

Skinny Monkey snickered and walked up to Fang Xiu. “Then why do you only have one shadow?”

“I didn’t dare draw a lot.” Fang Xiu backed away slowly. “The scene was too scary…”

Skinny Monkey glanced at the spirit-binding chain in his hand. He’d heard that this guy was the last one they captured, and he’d given himself up out of fear. Now, seeing him up close, Fang Xiu did seem like a coward.

The spirit-binding chain was the bane of ghostly powers. These guys’ “self-defense” techniques were ghost-based, which explained why they were so easy to catch.

“Fine. You’d better not be tricking me, or I’ll kill you first.”

Skinny Monkey snapped his fingers, and the knife flew out of Blondie’s hand. He sheathed it and walked off, humming a little tune.

Jia Xu moved closer to Fang Xiu. “That was reckless. They captured the auntie earlier. Who knows what they got out of her? What if he’s cross-checking information…”

“The auntie didn’t have a ghost, so she wouldn’t have given them too many details.” Fang Xiu whispered, “I mainly wanted to know how much they know about us.”

Jia Xu finally realized—

Making up lies was risky and could easily be exposed, but Fang Xiu’s half-truths were just right. He had blurred the fact that ghosts could act independently, making it sound like their abilities were just skills, and he’d added a fake price.

If the enemy didn’t know better, this misdirection could be huge.

“The auntie knew we all had ghosts. But that guy casually asked me, ‘Why only one shadow?’ instead of asking where my ghost was.” Fang Xiu stared at Skinny Monkey’s retreating figure. “Overall, this group doesn’t know much about us. When they found the auntie, she might’ve already been dead.”

“Brother, you’re brilliant. We should wait for a chance to ambush them,” Blondie said excitedly, acting as if nothing had happened.

Jia Xu looked grim. “That’s enough. You need to be more careful. Lao Mian said they’re down to just two people. When their teammates die, they can’t recruit more.”

“This is only the first round, and we’ve already lost two. Every person who dies means one less strength. Stop thinking only about the short term…”

Blondie snapped. “Did I ask for your opinion?”

Seeing the two about to argue, Fang Xiu turned away in boredom, his gaze drifting toward Bai Shuangying.

By the bonfire, Bai Shuangying was walking even faster now, appearing in front of him every two minutes. When Fang Xiu had first been locked up, Bai Shuangying’s face had been full of “Beg me to help you” and “Come on, beg,” but now his expression had returned to its usual blankness.

How interesting.

Amid this hellish scene, that white figure was truly beautiful.

“Hey, the one in red. Come out and be my dog.”

Skinny Monkey came back outside, dragging his chain, possibly bored after spending some time indoors.

“Doctor” frowned. “Don’t…”

“There’s nothing here, and I’m bored. What’s the harm in having some fun with that weakling? I’m not going to kill him.”

Doctor sighed and stopped talking.

Fang Xiu didn’t mind. This was exactly what he wanted. Now that he’d established himself as a “weak coward”, the enemy’s guard would be lower.

The closer he got to them, the more opportunities he’d have. Fang Xiu put on a timid expression, waiting for Skinny Monkey to unlock the cage and let him out.

Just then, Bai Shuangying stopped in his tracks.

He turned around slowly and stared deeply at Fang Xiu.

The next second, he unfolded in front of Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu couldn’t think of any other way to describe it than “unfold”. Bai Shuangying’s body melted like cream, expanding into large, twisted patches of color. Dark hues mixed and swirled, like something out of an AI-generated dream.

Skinny Monkey jolted, as if suddenly realizing something was in front of him. Before he could react, a voice echoed softly—

[You are a tree,] The voice said.

Skinny Monkey’s eyes glazed over.

He staggered over to the cage, kicked off his shoes, and pressed his feet deep into the soil. The ground was soft, but he pushed so hard that his skin, flesh, and bones peeled away, bloody and raw.

[Trees don’t talk,] the voice said.

Skinny Monkey’s grunts of pain stopped instantly, along with his breathing. He stood there, bloodied, in a grotesque position, mimicking the branches of a tree.

[Trees don’t have heartbeats,] the voice added.

In the dim firelight, Skinny Monkey’s complexion turned ashen.

He was dead.

His corpse remained standing in that bizarre posture, right next to the cage.

From beginning to end, no one besides Fang Xiu noticed any of this. Everyone else was busy with their own affairs, as if what had just happened was the most natural thing in the world.

Bai Shuangying didn’t return to his human form; he drifted closer to Fang Xiu.

This human had treated him like a weakling but was ready to bow down to a thug, even though Bai Shuangying knew Fang Xiu was pretending, he couldn’t swallow his pride.

So he revealed part of his true form, killing someone in front of this human. To ensure the message was clear, he let Fang Xiu understand his words and witness the bloody reality.

Now that this guy had seen the truth, it was time to stop the silly charade.

…Bai Shuangying “looked” at Fang Xiu. 

In the rain, the enormous, distorted shape pulsed rhythmically, as if breathing. 

They were just half a step apart. Bai Shuangying wanted to see the panic or fear on Fang Xiu’s face, maybe even some kind of defensive posture or submission.

…But instead, he saw Fang Xiu gazing back softly, with a faint blush on his face.

Bai Shuangying: “?”

He stopped moving.

“That mole is still there.” 

Fang Xiu extended his hand through the cage, lightly touching the bizarre form in front of him. Amid the chaos, the tiny blood-red mole on Bai Shuangying’s form gently floated, standing out vividly.

Something was wrong. This reaction wasn’t right. 

Bai Shuangying was literally frozen in place. Fang Xiu’s eyes held nothing but pure admiration and appreciation, exactly the same as when he had seen Bai Shuangying in his human form.

“Did you act out suddenly because you were in a bad mood? Was it because of me?” Fang Xiu quietly asked, noticing Bai Shuangying’s inaction.

Bai Shuangying, reacting instinctively, replied, [Yes.]

“I’m sorry if I treated you poorly. I don’t have much experience interacting with people my own age.” Fang Xiu’s tone was genuinely apologetic.

Bai Shuangying: [……]

How strange. This human was actually reflecting on his actions instead of assuming Bai Shuangying couldn’t stand to see a human mistreated. Fang Xiu seemed to understand the way evil spirits thought.

The problem was… Do I look like I’m your age?

Realizing that his phrasing was off, Fang Xiu quickly corrected himself. “I mean, I’m not very good at being kind to others…”

Bai Shuangying: [……?]

No, do I even look human to you?

By the end of this thought, Fang Xiu had begun to laugh at himself. 

“To be honest, my companions might benefit from harming me, but you wouldn’t gain anything from it. We’re helping each other out, moving forward together… Isn’t that what friends do?” 

“I just want to get along with you, Bai Shuangying.”

Bai Shuangying remained frozen for a long moment, then, losing interest, he reverted back into his human form.

Fine. Fang Xiu’s just bad at expressing kindness. This human had many issues with his head, so one more wouldn’t make a difference. 

Bai Shuangying was used to looking down on humans, but he wasn’t entirely sure what made someone a “friend”. And he had no intention of admitting that fact. After all, Fang Xiu had, for once, lowered his guard.

Things had turned out very differently from what he had anticipated. Fang Xiu didn’t seem to care at all about Skinny Monkey’s death. But since the result was satisfactory, Bai Shuangying wasn’t inclined to delve into it further.

“We can be friends,” Bai Shuangying declared, in his usual mysterious tone.

Bai Shuangying glanced at Skinny Monkey’s corpse and added pointedly, “As my friend, you can’t go bowing to trash like him so easily.” 

Fang Xiu nodded. “Alright. If anything bothers you in the future, just let me know anytime.”

Bai Shuangying was pleased. “I’ll remove the spell now. Be careful.”

With that, he resumed his walk around the bonfire, this time at a more relaxed pace. 

As the spell dissipated, no one reacted, as if Skinny Monkey had never existed. Everyone’s eyes casually swept over his corpse, treating it like part of the scenery; like a tree that had always been there. 

It was as if the Jade Buddha Gang had never questioned where their “eighth man in white” had gone.

But those were minor details, Fang Xiu thought. 

The important thing was, starting today, he had a beautiful and straightforward friend.

In the dead of night.

“Doctor” in the white coat approached the cage, nervously biting his fingers, his eyes red-rimmed.

“I-I have to tell you something. About the sacrificial ritual, you’d better—you’d better be mentally prepared.” 

“I’m sorry.” His voice broke, and he looked on the verge of tears. “I’m so sorry…”

---

The author has something to say:

Frie~nds~ is just a lie~~~ (in that kind of tone) 

Comrade Fang Xiu, buddy, a person’s sexual preference is free, but… (omitted

It’s perfectly reasonable that the one guarding you is a doctor.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>