Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 192: Observation Report (Part Two)

There were a few veteran teams in this sacrificial round, and also no shortage of eccentrics.

The small disturbance stirred up by Li Changlang quickly settled. To be honest, compared to the two strikingly good-looking young people, the middle-aged woman who called herself “Uncle Hou” seemed even stranger.

But aside from that nickname, the woman was indeed very capable. She quickly organized everyone and found an empty office to serve as a base.

The young couple—Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying—really did follow Li Changlang obediently, as if intimidated by his air of command.

It wasn’t dark yet. The orange-red sunlight slanted through the lattice window, casting golden shadows on the floor. Zhao Rui hid in the shadow of a rusted machine, waiting for nightfall.

The yin energy here was much denser than in the alley he previously occupied. Zhao Rui felt power surging through him, even his form became more stable. But he had no interest in refining the E here. His bulging bloodshot eyes focused only on Li Changlang.

“Our team’s support package is supplies. Let’s share the food.” Fang Xiu eagerly pulled out drinks and snacks, trying hard to demonstrate his usefulness. His attitude resembled that of a fresh graduate.

Li Changlang quickly grabbed a roast chicken, his expression easing. “Looks like food won’t be a problem. You two might be of some use after all.”

Seeing that everyone had started eating, Fang Xiu pulled Bai Shuangying up. “Let’s step out for some fresh air before it gets dark.”

Li Changlang pretended not to hear, but “Uncle Hou” commented, “Since this is your second ritual, you should understand how dangerous places like this are. Just endure it.”

Fang Xiu pressed his lips together and smiled a bit stiffly. “Sorry, I actually have a bit of claustrophobia. The large factory outside is fine. This room is too small, and it’s so crowded…”

Bai Shuangying put his arm around Fang Xiu’s shoulders and said bluntly, “If his mental state becomes unstable, his abilities will be affected.”

“Uncle Hou” clicked her tongue. “Don’t go far. Don’t touch anything. You must return before dark.”

Fang Xiu smiled apologetically and left the base with Bai Shuangying close by his side.

Back inside, Li Changlang was greedily devouring the roast chicken, grease dripping from his mouth. The sight disgusted Zhao Rui. He finally couldn’t bear it and decided to shift his focus to observing Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying.

Earlier, an Underworld envoy had said that if he ever saw Lords Fang and Lord Bai, he would recognize them.

But looking at these two, apart from their exceptional looks, Zhao Rui felt nothing unusual. It was probably a coincidence one had the surname Fang and the other Bai.

Zhao Rui moved along the shadows, watching as Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying walked hand in hand, stepping through the golden sunlight pouring through the windows.

They walked under the sliced beams of light, the atmosphere almost dreamlike.

“Look at this, an old machine from last century. You have to operate it step by step.” Fang Xiu wrapped an arm around Bai Shuangying’s waist and excitedly pointing at the silent metal giants in the factory. “Modern factories use fully automated assembly lines now. They look much more impressive than these.”

Bai Shuangying looked on appreciatively, the once-cold emptiness in his eyes now filled with curiosity.

“All it takes is these machines to turn ore into metal goods?”

“If you count from the mining stage, it actually requires collaboration between many factories,” Fang Xiu explained. “But the supply chain is really developed now. If you want to custom-make something with your ore, we can make a plan once we get back.”

Bai Shuangying: “People used to like golden chairs. I could gift you one. I promise it’ll be bigger than the one in any palace.” 

Bai Shuangying let go of Fang Xiu to confidently gesture with his hands.

“I have plenty of ore. Yuan Ye said his family wants to replace their sofa. We can hire someone to make a whole custom set.”

Fang Xiu: “…”

Fang Xiu: “For the sake of Uncle Yuan’s heart, let’s just buy a regular sofa.”

“I saw online that gold is really popular. Don’t you all like it?”

“It is popular, yes, but… it’s hard to explain.” Fang Xiu hesitated. “Just don’t order a gold sofa. And don’t throw your gold mines around carelessly.”

“Alright.”

Zhao Rui, who was eavesdropping nearby: “?”

This conversation didn’t seem… normal at all. It sounded like two psychiatric patients chatting in a shared hospital room.

Wait, what if they really were mentally ill murderers, and the human world couldn’t deal with them, so they were dumped here instead?

The more Zhao Rui thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. He sighed repeatedly.

In the distance, the conversation continued.

“Let’s talk about those scientists entering the mountains. I need you to loosen the restrictions. Uncle Yuan should have mentioned this to you.”

“I hate the living wandering around on my mountain.” Bai Shuangying retracted his arms and hugged them around his chest, his tone becoming more reluctant.

“It’s going to be designated a nature preserve. They won’t be allowed to mess around. Plus, every time they enter the mountain, I’ll go with them to monitor things,” Fang Xiu replied.

Bai Shuangying’s eyes lit up. “Every time?”

“Every time.” Fang Xiu kissed Bai Shuangying’s cheek. “They’ll stay as long as we stay.”

Bai Shuangying gave a satisfied nod. “Then they can enter anytime.”

He paused, then added, “How about this. I’ll build you a golden house in the mountain. That ‘golden house in books*’ phrase seems quite popular.”

*It’s an idiom that comes from a poem by Zhao Heng in the Song Dynasty. It refers to the value of education and reading, which will lead one to success, wealth, and prosperity (living in a golden house). In this case, Bai Shuangying is taking it literally… by giving him an actual golden house.

Fang Xiu tried to hold back his laughter. “I already have you. What do I need gold for?”

“Good point,” Bai Shuangying agreed after a moment of thought.

Seeing the sincere look on his face, Fang Xiu couldn’t help but laugh out loud. As he laughed, he looped his arms around Bai Shuangying’s neck, and the two of them naturally leaned in and kissed.

Zhao Rui: “……”

He had been a straight man in life. Even seeing heterosexual couples being affectionate in public made him feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Strangely, though, their kiss was heated but not lustful, tender without being fake. He couldn’t bring himself to dislike it.

If anything, it felt less like two humans indulging in desire, and more like two wild creatures nuzzling each other affectionately.

The scene was oddly pleasant to watch, though it didn’t match the gloomy, rust-stained factory surroundings at all.

Their kiss was long and focused.

Fang Xiu’s fingers sank deep into Bai Shuangying’s black hair. Bai Shuangying opened his arms and held Fang Xiu’s waist firmly.

After a full five minutes, they finally parted, reluctant to let go.

“That felt different this time,” Bai Shuangying said, pressing Fang Xiu’s lower lip with his finger.

“Different environment, different mood,” Fang Xiu mumbled as he playfully bit the fingertip. “But it’s a good difference, right?”

Outside the window, the orange-red sunlight was fading to dark crimson. The sun was about to set.

Shadows began to rise like mist. Their figures grew blurry in the growing darkness, but they remained standing there, clearly in no rush to return.

Zhao Rui couldn’t figure out what those two were up to.

As the sky darkened, other spirits were already eyeing them, waiting for a chance to tear them apart.

“What the hell are you two doing?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

Li Changlang?!

Zhao Rui turned around in shock—he had never expected that Li Changlang would actually leave the base and come looking for them in person.

These sacrifices had experience and knew magic. A reckless attack would not end well. Zhao Rui had been wondering how to isolate Li Changlang. Now the fool had just walked straight into danger.

“Goddamn it, didn’t I tell you to come back before dark? Can’t you understand plain speech?”

Li Changlang cursed, his voice a little unnaturally hoarse.

Fang Xiu’s earlier poise vanished in an instant, and he reverted to that soft, unassuming demeanor. “But it’s not dark yet…”

“Back. Now. Stop talking crap,” Li Changlang grumbled and held out a hand. “Give me a drink, hurry up, I’m parched to death.”

…Huh?

Zhao Rui suddenly remembered that when Fang Xiu handed Li Changlang an entire roast chicken earlier, he didn’t give him a drink. Li Changlang, seeing that no one else received such generous treatment, devoured the food greedily and didn’t notice this detail.

That roast chicken must have been quite salty.

Zhao Rui looked at Fang Xiu in surprise.

Thinking carefully, none of the sacrifices were easy to deal with. Li Changlang was a newcomer who didn’t seem particularly capable. No one would willingly share their food or water with him.

Under normal circumstances, thirst could be endured. But with the most dangerous part of the night approaching, realizing that he was in the worst condition among the group could trigger panic and anxiety far more deadly than dehydration.

On the other hand, Uncle Hou didn’t want Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying to get into trouble, but also didn’t want to risk someone valuable. Sending out the already anxious Li Changlang to call them back made perfect sense.

Not to mention, Fang Xiu had earlier declared he would follow Li Changlang. All the reasoning was already in place.

Could it be that Fang Xiu had secretly orchestrated this situation?

No, that couldn’t be. Fang Xiu had no grudge against Li Changlang. He was probably just being careless. It must have been a coincidence.

…Either way, for Zhao Rui, this was a golden opportunity.

Fang Xiu clumsily pulled out a can and handed it slowly to Li Changlang. Li Changlang snatched it, opened it on the spot, and chugged it greedily.

After just a couple gulps, he suddenly bent over and vomited violently.

What he had drunk wasn’t a sweet beverage, but vomit reeking of alcohol. Not only did it fail to quench his thirst, it also made him throw up the roast chicken he’d just eaten.

Fang Xiu rushed forward in a fluster, patting Li Changlang hard on the back. “This-This isn’t right. Something’s wrong!”

But he hit too hard, and Li Changlang was already retching badly. The force of Fang Xiu’s slap made Li Changlang lose his balance and fall right into the pool of regurgitated vomit.

Li Changlang staggered, his face turning an ugly purplish-red with rage.

“You useless piece of trash, apologize right now!” He wiped the filth from his mouth with a sleeve and roared, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? You trying to mess with me?”

He completely forgot about the setting sun that was slowly vanishing. He raised his fist to punch Fang Xiu.

But before he could extend his arm, the last trace of daylight disappeared from the window. Shadows swept in like a wave, flooding the entire factory in the blink of an eye. Along with the sunlight, Fang Xiu’s harmless, frightened expression vanished.

Fang Xiu began to smile.

It was not the shy smile he wore when they first met. It was pure mockery.

“Don’t touch me,” he whispered. A red symbol flickered on his fingertip.

As soon as he spoke, Li Changlang’s filthy fist froze just millimeters from Fang Xiu’s nose. No matter what, it couldn’t make contact with his face.

Li Changlang’s expression changed.

He was brash, but not stupid. The moment he sensed something was wrong with Fang Xiu, he turned and bolted. While fleeing, he opened his mouth wide, preparing to shout for help—

“Don’t make a sound,” Fang Xiu said with a cheery smile.

Li Changlang’s jaw clenched shut with a snap. The scream lodged in his throat. He had no choice but to crawl and stumble his way toward the base. Zhao Rui stared at Fang Xiu, waiting for him to speak the next forbidden command.

But Fang Xiu didn’t say anything else. Instead, he turned his face, smiling, and looked straight at Zhao Rui.

“For you,” he mouthed silently.

Zhao Rui paused.

…Ah. He understood.

“Good evening, Lord Fang, Lord Bai,”

He instantly teleported to a spot along Li Changlang’s path, grinning with cracked purple lips, and stretched out his hands toward the wide-eyed, frantic man.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…”

Amid the sound of tearing flesh, Fang Xiu leaned against Bai Shuangying’s chest, gazing at the faint glow in the direction of the base.

“Ready?” he asked, tilting his head up at Bai Shuangying.

“Yes.” Bai Shuangying lowered his head, pressing his lips to Fang Xiu’s hair.

Li Changlang’s mangled body was dragged off into the depths of the shadows by Zhao Rui. The moment both figures fully disappeared—

“Help—!”

Fang Xiu shouted at the top of his lungs toward the direction of the base.

---

The author has something to say:

Main story complete!

The word count was well controlled, and the ending turned out more or less as planned _(:D 」∠)

Unfortunately, I couldn’t maintain perfectly consistent daily updates, and the update schedule got shaky in the late stages. Sorry for that… I’ll do better next time!

Next comes the extra chapters: a sweet two-person world for the couple. Extras will not necessarily update daily~

After the conclusion, there will be surprise extras of the couple’s daily life every Valentine’s Day and Qixi Festival!

————————————

Already completed: Western fantasy “Stray” and “Full Server First Kill”; post-apocalyptic “Happy Doomsday”, “Access Denied”; ancient xianxia “Sendoff”; and modern fantasy “Evil As Humans”. Feel free to check the author’s profile ☆

Please consider clicking “Follow this author” in the profile (〃ω〃)

————————————

Next story “A Contract Between Enemies” is tentatively scheduled to begin in July. The blurb is as follows—

A young noble attempted to summon a demon, but the ritual failed, and he died on the spot. 

The bad news: He accidentally summoned a Chaos Archdemon, who then took over the body of the sacrificial slave. 

The good news: He also accidentally summoned the spirit of the Hero who perished alongside the same Archdemon, and this spirit possessed the dead young noble’s body. 

When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred. But now they were stripped of their powers that once shook the heavens and earth, and inexplicably unable to kill each other, they could only chip away at the walls.

Even worse, the world outside had changed beyond their recognition. Their epic battles had been reduced to mere exaggerated legends.

So, for the first time, they reach an agreement: Figure out their current situation, regain their power, and then, finally, do everything in their power to kill each other again.

A hero with shattered pride × a demon god who lost his body

Two former legends, both down on their luck(?), starting from zero again in a noob village—going from mutual destruction to a shared adventure for survival.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

This marks the end of the main story of Help. If you enjoyed it, please consider supporting the author by buying the raws. You can use Google Chrome with their auto translate and this guide on how to buy novels on jjwxc. Remember, only with your (financial) support can artists continue to produce more great works.

I have also translated all the works Nian Zhong has mentioned in her author’s comment. You can check them out by clicking on them. I highly recommend Stray as it is my favorite work by her as of date.

Now, onto my personal opinion about this work. I would say this wasn’t my favorite by Nian Zhong. The writing was fine, and I actually do like the CP, even as twisted as Fang Xiu is. Compared with other unlimited flow novels I’ve read, it certainly is a lot better, especially in terms of wrapping things up without any plot holes. As usual, Nian Zhong is a master at putting all the pieces together step-by-step to form one cohesive plot.

I think for me, each of the “arcs” weren’t really that interesting? Part of what makes Nian Zhong writing so good are the characters, and in this series, all of them besides Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying fell flat. Each of the arc held very little emotional weight since I couldn’t even be bothered to get invested in the side characters or their story. 

Hell… even the pet felt like it was an afterthought and was only shoehorned in because “Nian Zhong’s story always have to have a pet”. Not to mention everything is so black and white in this story. The villains are clearly evil and bad, and the “good” guys are there to dole out the punishment. Where’s the nuance? Where’s the ambiguity? Usually her characters are morally gray (well, in Fang Xiu case he’s clearly not gray in any area), including the “antagonist”. 

As I said previously in one of my thoughts, clear black and white characters make for a quite bland story. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but I guess I expected more from Nian Zhong.

The main plot and overall twist are actually quite good, and I actually like the relationship between our MCs quite a bit… It’s also probably the most explicit in terms of writing Nian Zhong has ever written (somehow this passed JJ censorship???).

So overall, I would say, I’m pretty meh about each individual “parts” of the novel, but the overall combination of those “parts” makes for quite a good story. It’s like going to one of those set menus at a fancy restaurant and you’re served a 10 dish courses. While each individual dish ranges from meh to somewhat good, you weren’t really wowed by anything, but then thinking about the courses combined as a whole, you find that your dining experience was quite enjoyable. This is how I feel about the novel.

Anyway, that’s just my personal opinion. It’s still a good novel and you shouldn’t let my opinion sway you from how you felt about it.

To end, I would also like to thank everyone for your comments, encouragement, help with my translations, and ko-fi donations. Until next time.

---

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