Author: Kinky

Criminal Psychology Ch12

Kinky3 Comments

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

Chapter 12

That night, a typhoon brought heavy rain. The rain pattered on the roof, creating a heavy sound like a jackhammer.

Lin Chen was lying on a wooden bed while Xing Conglian slept on the floor.

No matter how calm he was, after experiencing so many unsettling things in the past few days, it was inevitable he would get insomnia, especially after just a near-death experience, and the heavy rain didn’t help either.

Lin Chen opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep.

He thought of Yu Yanqing. There were too many painful things in this world that would make a person want to die, but there weren’t many things that could make someone want to die so desperately.

He thought of Xing Conglian. There were too many people in the world who easily trusted others, but there were few who would take a stranger, whom they had just met two days prior, to their home.

It could be he trusted him, but it was probably something deeper than trust—absolute, transcendent confidence.

Lin Chen turned to his side and looked at the person sleeping on the floor.

In the early morning, it wasn’t the violent wind that banged on the wooden door of Unit 6 on Yanjia Lane, but a pair of chubby, tender hands.

Xing Conglian alertly opened his eyes. Lin Chen was soundly asleep on the bed. He got up and tiptoed to open the door. He was greeted with a little fatty that was no taller than his waist.

To the right and left of the little fatty were two adults looking a bit embarrassed.

“I’m sorry to disturb you. Our brat said he’s looking for Lin Chen, but when we went to the dorms, Mr. Lin was no longer there…” the little fatty’s father said tentatively.

“You came here looking for Lin Chen?” Xing Conglian lowered his head and looked at the child beside his leg. “How did you know that Lin Chen was with me?”

Before he could even finish, he felt a warm feeling around his leg. The little fatty had wrapped himself tightly around his leg like a koala hugging a tree.

The child’s parents became even more embarrassed. They tried pulling the little fatty back, but the child refused to let go.

“We inquired about him at the school, and they told us that Mr. Lin seemed to have left with a police officer named Xing. That brat then told us to come here…”

When Lin Chen opened his eyes, the scene he saw was Xing Conglian dragging one leg in from outside with a giant sandbag tied to it.

Lin Chen sat up from bed and saw a little fatty clinging to Xing Conglian while looking at him eagerly.

Recalling the previous lesson he taught the little fatty about playing cute and being coquettish, he was left speechless for a while.

“It’s a very effective method. Correct target but too extreme.” He said this to the little fatty, but before he could finish, the little fatty had thrown off his shoes and climbed onto the bed like a monkey and clung to his neck.

Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian. Captain Xing had blocked the door, “leaving” the two parents in the room.

The little fatty buried his face in the crook of Lin Chen’s neck and pointed sullenly at himself. “Water.”

Lin Chen seemed to realize something and pulled the child away. “The biggest obstacle is caring too much about your mental disorder.”

Seeing her son clinging on to others and refusing to let go, the little fatty’s mother took two steps forward and tried to pull her son away while muttering, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. My son… I didn’t make it very clear. He’s a bit…” She spoke while pointing to her head. “Sometimes we don’t understand what he’s talking about…”

“What do you mean?” Lin Chen raised his head and looked directly at the mother with cold eyes.

The woman was startled by this. She averted her gaze and looked to her husband for help.

Before the husband could speak, Lin Chen said, “Have you always felt he’s inarticulate, so you can’t understand what he’s saying? You think that he’s mentally handicapped, so you feel ashamed of being seen with him in public, right?” Lin Chen hugged the child and put him aside. “I don’t know how you are parents, but since your son can go to elementary school normally, you should have confidence in his intelligence. Secondly, have you ever thought that, rather than being mentally handicapped, your son actually possesses exceptional intelligence?”

Xing Conglian had never seen Lin Chen so angry. Listening to the words coming out of his mouth, Xing Conglian wanted to light a candle for the two parents in front of him.

“You’re saying… he’s a genius?”

The mother’s face suddenly flushed. Her tone no longer held the previous embarrassment and shame.

“I’ve given him a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children* test and the result clearly proves it.”

*Individually administered intelligence test for children between age 6 and 16. It generates an IQ score that represents a child’s general intellectual ability.

“Then can you teach us how to educate him normally?”

Lin Chen looked down at the little fatty next to him and ignored the boy’s mother’s question, but instead asked him, “What happened? Tell me slowly…”

“Grandma… Afraid of water.” The little fatty tugged at the corners of Lin Chen’s clothes, showing signs of anxiety.

Lin Chen frowned. He seemed a little confused at such obvious keyword hints.

The little fatty pointed hard at himself and at the door again, trying to drag Lin Chen out.

“You’re saying your grandmother is afraid of water, so you want me to treat your grandmother?” Lin Chen asked tentatively.

The little fatty suddenly nodded.

Lin Chen’s mind started to turn. He suddenly raised his head and addressed the two parents, “Has his grandmother recently been bitten by a dog?”

The little fatty’s father scratched his head, looked at his wife, and said, “Mom didn’t seem to have mentioned this before?”

“Did he pull on his grandmother and pretend to bite her in front of you guys?” Lin Chen asked again.

“How did you know?”

“Take your mother to the hospital right away!”

On the deserted road, Xing Conglian hastily drove his jeep. Along the way, Lin Chen fastened his seatbelt in the front passenger seat and sat back without saying a word.

Through the rearview mirror, Xing Conglian looked at the two parents hugging their child in the backseat. He finally couldn’t stand it and wanted to ease the tension, so he spoke up. “Why did the little fatty come to you when his grandmother was bitten by a dog…”

“Because his parents can’t understand what he wants to express…” Lin Chen sat upright. The two parents in the back once again showed an embarrassed expression. Although he was angry, he still patiently explained it to Xing Conglian. “The little fatty is afraid of water. I once taught him how to treat this psychological disorder. He came to me because he wanted me to help treat his grandmother…”

“Hydrophobia?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, we mortals really can’t understand the communication between you geniuses…” Xing Conglian lamented.

“You’re saying my son has hydrophobia? He has indeed been afraid of water since he was a child, but he seems much better recently…” One of the parents in the back seat commented.

“Fear of water is fear of water. Hydrophobia is hydrophobia. The latter, though, is also an alias for rabies*. I’m afraid little fatty knew that his grandma was bitten by a dog, but you guys couldn’t understand what he was trying to say, so he simply came to Lin Chen,” Xing Conglian explained.

*Clarity: Fear of water is [pa shui] (怕水), while the specific name for hydrophobia is [kong shui zheng] (恐水症) which is also used for rabies. This entire conversation is very nuanced based on the words they are using and also explains why the parents couldn’t understand what the little fatty was trying to tell them.

Originally, the man was skeptical. Now, when he heard that his mother could have been bitten by a dog and hadn’t gotten a rabies shot, he suddenly became anxious. He hurriedly grabbed the front seat and said to Xing Conglian, “Can you please hurry?”

When they arrived at the little fatty’s house, the old lady was carrying her tai chi sword and was about to head to the park to exercise.

Seeing her son and daughter-in-law rushing over nervously asking whether she was bitten by a dog, she waved her hand dismissively, indicating it was a trivial matter and she didn’t get sick from it and didn’t want to delay her exercise.

The little fatty’s father handed off the little fatty to Lin Chen, and then ran into the garage with his wife while carrying his mother on his back and said, “Mr. Lin, I’m sorry to trouble you. Please take care of my son.”

The little fatty looked in the direction of his parents’ departure with a worried face. Lin Chen took the child’s chubby hands, ruffled his hair, and said in his rarely gentle voice, “You did a good job. Your grandma will be fine.”

“He’s only 7 years old and is already so smart. He must be a genius.”

In order to prevent minors from inhaling second-hand smoke, Xing Conglian held an unlit cigarette in his mouth, making his speech muffled.

Lin Chen took the child’s hand and walked to Xing Conglian.

“His IQ is four standard deviations higher than his normal peers, about 160. He’s not ‘so smart’, but very smart.”

“It’s a pity that this kid is being raised by this family. His parents are holding a genius but raising him like an idiot,” Xing Conglian said to Lin Chen flatteringly.

“At least they are tolerant of him, which isn’t bad.” Lin Chen paused, looked at the little fatty’s big eyes, and said, “Because of this, you will now have a very calm and stable childhood.”

His parents wouldn’t force the little fatty to engage in endless studying. He could grow up like an ordinary child, which was the most important thing.

“Then why did you just tell his parents just now?”

“Because it was the right time.”

Xing Conglian didn’t understand the meaning behind what Lin Chen said. He wanted to ask but saw the little fatty looking up at Lin Chen, like an adult, and nodded solemnly.

Seeing this, Captain Xing had no choice but to hold back his inquiry. “Truly a superhuman kid. At such a young age, he had already found a psychologist to help treat him…” The crucial point was that he managed to select the right person.

“Yes, it’s really scary. The first time he sneaked into my sandbox room, I thought he just came to steal toys, but he actually was able to point out that it was a ‘sandplay game’,” Lin Chen said while shaking his head.

“That is scary.”

“He can even express his symptoms correctly, which shows he wanted to overcome his psychological disorder…”

“He said he was afraid of water. Did you cure him?” Xing Conglian was really tempted to repeat his lamenting again. The communication between geniuses was truly something not understandable by ordinary people. “Then if I’m afraid of something, is it possible to go to you…” he said shamelessly.

“What are you afraid of?”

“This…”

“In fact, no matter what you’re afraid of, you can use systematic desensitization* to slowly get in tune with the source of your anxiety. Then you can slowly overcome it. But that’s simple to say. In the end, you’ll need perseverance and patience.”

*Behavior therapy developed by psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe. It is used when a phobia or anxiety disorder is maintained by classical conditioning. The goal of the therapy is for the individual to learn how to cope with and overcome their fear in each level of an exposure hierarchy. The process of systematic desensitization occurs in three steps. The first step is to identify the hierarchy of fears. The second step is to learn relaxation or coping techniques. Finally, the individual uses these techniques to manage their fear during a situation from the hierarchy. The third step is repeated for each level of the hierarchy, starting from the least fear-inducing situation.

“Like if you’re afraid of water, you slowly approach the water?”

Lin Chen nodded. “If you’re afraid of water, first walk to a relatively safe environment where you can see the water and try to relax. It would be uncomfortable at first, but gradually you’ll begin to adapt to the distance. The task in the future is to slowly shorten this distance while maintaining a relaxed, meditative state.”

“No wonder he stayed on my bed so desperately for so long that time. Because he could see the river on my bed…”

As Xing Conglian said this, he suddenly paused and subconsciously looked at Lin Chen.

At the same time, Lin Chen was also looking at him; his pitch-black eyes seemed to be glowing.

Kinky Thoughts:

I suspect that the little fatty is autistic on some level. It’s been theorized that geniuses like Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein could have been autistic.

Just a note, while they call him “little fatty” (小胖墩), it isn’t used in a mean, bullying way, but more like a cute nickname to address a kid (due to his chubbiness).

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

Happy Doomsday Ch215

Kinky3 Comments

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 215: 72 hours

Zhong Qing’s lunch wasn’t at all unpleasant.

In order to temporarily avoid the limelight, he had to stay in the empty underground warehouse when Tang Yibu left. Although the air wasn’t too toxic, the smell was too strong. Zhong Qing pinched his nose and finished the dried fruit and meat pie, then got a bottle of water from A’Qiao.

The water had a sour and metallic taste to it that Zhong Qing didn’t want to think about where it came from.

“You didn’t go with him?” he cautiously asked A’Qiao.

A’Qiao looked at Zhong Qing up and down. Her eyes lingered on Zhong Qing’s abnormal black eyes for a few seconds. Her body was that of a young girl who had just come of age, compared to the 14 or 15-year-old teenager Zhong Qing, who was closer to a child.

“No.” When Zhong Qing finished drinking, she answered him slowly. “He said he knew where to go. Do you have anything else? If not, I’m leaving.”

Zhong Qing felt torn for a moment. “Can you take me with you? I don’t want to stay here alone.”

A’Qiao pretended not to hear.

“Please, demon… pretty sister.” Zhong Qing quickly begged. “Neither of us are old, and everyone outside is wearing masks. It’s still noon, right? Can’t you take me out for a walk? I’m suffocating to death here.”

A’Qiao was indifferent to Zhong Qing’s flattery.

Zhong Qing took a deep breath. “I’ll trade with you! What do you want? As long as I have it, I’ll trade. I just want to go out and look around—”

A’Qiao gave him a sideways glance. “Are you sure you want to go out? I think you just want to take this opportunity to follow Tang Yibu, then find a chance to get into his vehicle so you can sneak out here secretly.”

Zhong Qing flattened his mouth. “…Besides that, I am really worried about them. Yu Ge and Xiaoman Jie have already been captured. If he gets captured too, I won’t be able to leave here.”

“Well, I have nothing planned for this afternoon besides going around and buying some things.” A’Qiao rolled her eyes. “I also want to know what he’s up to—I hope he won’t cause any more trouble for K6 and Fu Yu. Well, new troubles other than you. Hm, if you give me some fresh information. I’ll take you out for a stroll.”

“Hmph.”

Zhong Qing took off his hat and opened all his eyes. He deliberately stretched his face very tightly, trying to scare the monster girl in front of him, who didn’t know the height of the sky.

A’Qiao’s eyes widened slightly, then she wrapped her arms around Zhong Qing’s neck and looked closely at the six extra eyes on his head. “Interesting,” she stated. “I have indeed never seen such a thing.”

“Let me go!” Zhong Qing blushed. “This is a disease. My blood can be contagious! Is something wrong with your brain?”

“K6 always says I’m stupid, but I don’t think it’s a problem. Besides, I have a cybernetic brain, so if worst comes to worst, I’ll just switch shells.” A’Qiao touched those weird eyes with her hand. “Well, I’ll take you out. Let’s see what that person surnamed Tang wants to do.”

Tang Yibu knew nothing about the conspiracy of the two little ones. Pulling up memories from his mind, he skillfully walked through the streets towards the place where they had buried Ji Xiaoman’s mother.

Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman were both people who were accustomed to living in the shadows, so they wouldn’t deliberately make such a mistake in front of Zhong Qing. They were just using him as a microphone, and as he was unaware, he was just relaying their message to him.

Tang Yibu found it quite interesting. Yu Le knew very well that Zhong Qing wasn’t human, but he still wanted to protect him. Was this the camouflage of the Rhododendron Disease taking effect? When they meet again, he would have to ask him.

[Yu Ge said, this car has been ruined by him, and Tu Rui will definitely call him personally and skin him alive. I hope you can help him for the sake of the friendship we forged along the way. This was what he said to Xiaoman Jie. Xiaoman Jie then said she was feeling homesick and wanted to go see her family.]

Ji Xiaoman’s hint was easy to understand. She knew better than anyone else what her mother’s situation was—in order to save her mother, they buried the android who had temporarily lost function before they left, and gave the coordinates to K6 to make sure the land wouldn’t be used by any gangs for construction.

At the moment, Professor Ruan wasn’t accompanying her, so she had no need to “see her family”.

This was a location instruction.

Yu Le’s sentence was more troublesome. Even if Tu Rui pressed Yu Le to the ground and skinned him little by little, Tang Yibu didn’t think he needed to intervene. It wasn’t as if he and Yu Le were friends, but since Yu Le specifically worded it like that, there was probably some intention behind it.

He needed more information.

Tang Yibu got into the maze of abandoned buildings and quickly found a place where he buried Ji Xiaoman’s mother. He didn’t directly confirm the situation but walked along the crumbling ruins carefully.

There wasn’t any living person monitoring here, and only a few sporadic surveillance cameras around. Tang Yibu exhaled slowly, processed their transmission signals, and then stepped into the agreed place.

There weren’t as many gadgets here as before. This place was probably discovered by the Order Supervisors.

Tang Yibu turned on the lantern he was carrying and illuminated the dim space.

K6 shouldn’t have betrayed them. There were signs of the Order Supervisors searching around. The entire muddy ground was loosened, and Tang Yibu smelled blood. Following the trail of blood, he found the familiar armored off-roader.

The car was parked in the darkness like the molt of a cicada.

Tang Yibu frowned and looked at the vehicle carefully. The things inside were all cleanly removed. The car looked as if it had just been remodeled and hadn’t had time to be filled with things yet. The simple water maker and freezer were still there, but the small freezer was disconnected, and the door was half open. There wasn’t a single bottle left inside. The armament box in the back of the car was in much of the same condition—all the containers were open and the content inside gone.

Robbers wouldn’t be so careful. This was the handiwork of the Order Supervisors.

Tang Yibu took a closer look at the contents of the car again, and he found that there was an extra armament box in the back seat of the car. It was about the size of a coffin, lying horizontally in the car, integrated with it. The style was very common after the doomsday. The surface was worn out and it was also wide open with not even a single screw left inside.

Most likely, the items inside were what Professor Ruan wanted. No matter how he looked at it, whatever was inside was taken away.

Tang Yibu stretched out his hand and patted the thick box, which felt as if it was welded to the car. Tang Yibu frowned. He restored everything to its original state and hid back in the dark.

“…This is how it is.” Tang Yibu briefly described the scene to Professor Ruan. “If you really gave them the real goods, we’re now in trouble.”

Professor Ruan didn’t seem panicked. “I see. Next, go after Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman—it’ll take at least a week to crush their brains as a lot of preparatory work needs to be done. The Mainbrain doesn’t know that they have been in contact with me at the moment. Before they are ready to be crushed, the Order Supervisors will interrogate them for a few days as usual. It’s still not too late. You have to rescue them.”

“Nn.” Tang Yibu huffed. He didn’t like Professor Ruan’s tone very much. The other party was hiding something from him. He wasn’t sure if Professor Ruan was too confident in his plan or if he had doubts about his cooperation.

…Or afraid that if he knew too much, he would steal the initiative away from him.

The trouble was that, according to the most reasonable judgement, he really should follow Professor Ruan’s instructions—Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman had more of Professor Ruan’s information in their heads.

“Those two aren’t very important targets, so the Order Supervisors won’t take them too far. You have just met with Ruan Xian, so you should have an impression of what their bases are like.” Seeing that Tang Yibu didn’t say anything, Professor Ruan continued. “I remember the most recent one should be…”

“The one next to the Sea of Ruins,” Tang Yibu whispered.

He glanced at the outline of the parked car and suddenly realized something. Tang Yibu wanted to laugh a little—it seemed like it wasn’t just him who was doing the same thing to Professor Ruan.

It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who intended to take the initiative.

He suddenly understood what Yu Le’s unintelligible words were referring to, and vaguely guessed why Professor Ruan didn’t seem panicked at all. Tang Yibu maintained the communication connection with Professor Ruan and touched the “empty car” again.

Yu Le made a good move, but Yu Le himself might not even know this.

Now that Professor Ruan had sent several teams to fetch the target items, he had disrupted the Mainbrain. Naturally, the Mainbrain was aware of their movements. Regardless of whether Yu Le and the others were part of a smokescreen, once they were discovered, they would inevitably be arrested for routine inspections. In other words, Professor Ruan’s self-confidence wasn’t that “Yu Le and the others will never be targeted” but that “Even if they are targeted, the Order Supervisors wouldn’t focus on marginal roles like them”.

Tang Yibu wiped the extra heavy “empty box” with his fingertips. It looked like it had been welded to the car for a while now, and this had presumably had a purpose.

He believed Yu Le would become aware of this after finding out that he was being targeted.

Since he was targeted, his options would be quite limited. The people behind his ass would act sooner or later, they just didn’t know when, and they couldn’t control the time when Professor Ruan would discover the abnormality. Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman hadn’t reached a point where they would give up their lives working for Professor Ruan. If they face any death threats, they may actually surrender. Under that premise, it wasn’t clear whether Professor Ruan would rescue or sacrifice them, so there was only one reasonable choice to escape that passive situation…

Make the “time” more controllable.

Hid Zhong Qing’s existence and delayed the time to the very last moment. Yu Le chose to secretly visit K6, who could contact him, then leave at a certain point in time. Thinking about it like this, Yu Le had specially disguised himself when visiting K6, and it made sense why Ji Xiaoman wasn’t with him—after all, their pursuers didn’t know the existence of Zhong Qing, and they couldn’t separate in the open.

As for the mechanical assembly sound Zhong Qing heard… Most likely, Ji Xiaoman used some means to create the illusion that Yu Le was still with her.

After leaving the clues to Zhong Qing, they just needed to come to this location, cause a ruckus, and let the Order Supervisors take them away. Yu Le knew that once they didn’t show up on time, Professor Ruan and Tang Yibu would surely track them down immediately and be able to find this line and get this information.

But looking at Yu Le’s message, a great ruins pirate like him wouldn’t pin all his hopes on Tang Yibu—the nearest stronghold of the Order Supervisors was close to the Sea of Ruins, which was where he originally came from. Without Zhong Qing’s knowledge, perhaps that cunning guy also contacted “other people”.

Yu Le’s effort had paid off. Now Tang Yibu knew the next step clearly. According to Professor Ruan, Yu Le and the others would not be given any special treatment. Tang Yibu now had an idea of the approximate time Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman were taken away. He had at least 72 hours before their brains would be crushed. Even better, if he stepped up the timing, he might be able to create more chaos.

He had 72 hours to figure out Professor Ruan’s plan, try to consolidate the resources he had at hand, and contact Mr. Ruan. From the perspective of the Mainbrain and Professor Ruan, both sides were still at the planning stage, so there was no better opportunity for subversion than this.

It seemed he wouldn’t have much time to eat leisurely. Tang Yibu grinned, showing a devious smile—the next step now was to cause trouble.

This crazy thought shocked Tang Yibu. According to his past style, he would carefully intervene in this battle, carefully test this intricate cobweb, and then move carefully after figuring it all out.

He seemed to have been infected by Mr. Ruan—since he found that he couldn’t count his mistakes with just ten fingers, he began to stop worrying about the correctness of things.

At least the current thoughts made him excited, and he had a certain degree of theoretical support… Even if there were quite a lot of variables, it was still worth a try.

Tang Yibu rubbed his hand, then petted the iron bead that was still sleeping soundly in the net pocket.

“I’m leaving the Underground City and going to find them,” Tang Yibu said to Professor Ruan, trying to make his tone appear serious. “Feel free to contact me if you have anything.”

“What is he doing?” The two children were lying on the roof of a nearby house. Zhong Qing looked hard with his abnormal eyes. His gaze passed through the thick walls of abandoned buildings and into the darkness behind them. “I can’t understand what he wants to do at all. It’s inexplicable. Now he has a smirk on his face. Oh, oh, oh, he’s digging a hole. Is he looking for a secret weapon? …Huh? He—he buried himself?!”

“…” A’Qiao held her cheeks quietly. “K6 also said that I’m an android with a bad brain. Now it seems my brain is better than his.”

“Shouldn’t he hurry and save Yu Ge and Xiaoman Jie?!” Zhong Qing yelled, almost grabbing A’Qiao by the collar and shaking it. “I thought he had finally become a little more human.”

“What are you going to do?” A’Qiao took the dried fruit from the bag and ate it. It was a technical task given that she was also wearing a gas mask.

“Go ask him what’s going on?” Zhong Qing felt indignant. Then his face changed, and he touched his pocket. “…Where did you get that dried fruit?”

“You must go back before curfew.” A’Qiao coldly ignored Zhong Qing’s question. “You have five hours left.”

“That’s also… Hey? Wait, someone is going there. Did you see it? The car over there. That man has a car with him.” Zhong Qing’s voice was raised by several pitches. “I have to inform him!”

“You—Hey, wait!”

At the same time.

Ruan Xian didn’t know anything about Tang Yibu’s crazy thoughts. He was visiting the research institute of the Mainbrain under the guidance of Hu Shuli. And was in a relatively dicey situation…

“I heard that you’re an expert in mechanical life pathology,” Hu Shuli said. “Mr. Ruan, can you please tell me roughly your expertise.”

Kinky Thoughts:

So basically, what happened was Ji Xiaoman and Yu Le did as Professor Ruan asked until Zhong Qing pointed out that they were being followed. At that point, they knew that there was no escape and that eventually they would get captured.

However, to control the “when” of when they would get captured, they devised a plan. Drop Zhong Qing off and give him cryptic hints so that when Tang Yibu comes, he would be able to decipher them, then create a ruckus and get captured.

The Mainbrain doesn’t know that they are in contact with Professor Ruan at this point, so they would be simply treated as standard procedure.

In summary, Professor Ruan and the Mainbrain think they’re playing a 1v1 match of chess when in actuality, it’s a 1 (Professor Ruan) v 1 (Mainbrain) v 1 (Ruan Xian) v 1 (Tang Yibu) v 1 (Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman), though most likely the last three 1’s will condense together.

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

Happy Doomsday Ch214

KinkyLeave a comment

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 214: The Correct Decision

After emptying the Fu Yu family’s egg reserves, Tang Yibu wiped his hands, making sure that K6 wasn’t enthusiastic about the whole thing—thinking about it, Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman weren’t the brainless type. It was impossible for them to have “we’re working for Ruan Xian” written all over their faces. At most, there was some human relationship between them. Since the matter happened, they were now even.

Moreover, Fu Yu insisted on repaying said human relationship. Tang Yibu glanced at K6, who was talking to A’Qiao. He didn’t think that this android had such humanized thinking, or he knew of it but didn’t bother following it.

For example, K6 didn’t even do basic greetings and didn’t care where Tang Yibu came from or what happened recently. Unlike the previous “He An” and all his facets, K6 was as cold as a glacier.

Half an hour later, the one who stepped through the doors wasn’t the Order Supervisors but Fu Yu, who had returned from his meetings with the City Defenders.

Fu Yu looked a lot more energetic than a few months ago. His cheeks, which were originally thin, were now well-rounded, making him look about six years younger. He walked through the door, hung the gas mask he had just taken off on the coat rack, and exchanged a short kiss with K6.

“You’re here.” Then he turned to Tang Yibu and smiled lightly, which gave a little more human touch to his gestures.

Given that Fu Yu was the colder one before, Tang Yibu couldn’t help but wonder if the two had swapped bodies.

“Today’s meat pie was a success. I put some in the insulation box so you can take it with you in the afternoon.”

“Let’s deal with Mr. Tang first.” Fu Yu showed the glow of a normal person. “Are you going to see that kid, Zhong Qing? I’ll take you there.”

“Let A’Qiao take him.” K6 was dissatisfied. “You’re a City Defender. It’ll be too conspicuous.”

“Mr. Tang should be fine alone.”

“Two young adults acting together? In this current environment, it’ll definitely attract unnecessary attention.” K6 shoveled the steaming meat pie onto his plate still disapproving. “You already took risks with Zhong Qing. There’s no need to wade into this mess again.”

“K6 is right. I’ll take him.” A’Qiao raised an arm. “I’m familiar with the place and I also want to stop by and buy something.”

“Okay.” Fu Yu didn’t insist. “Mr. Tang?”

“That’s fine.” Tang Yibu naturally had no opinion. The boiled eggs here didn’t taste right. He missed the taste of Li Ji’s Noodle House.

A’Qiao’s movements were agile and neat, and she talked very little. She took Tang Yibu around seven or eight turns before turning into the junkyard where Qian Yigeng’s headquarters was located. When she passed that area, they stopped for a while as she silently stood there.

“Do you want to know what happened before?”

“No,” A’Qiao replied. “K6 told me a lot of things—having other people’s memories dumped into me and being thrown into that kind of place. To hell with wanting to think about those things… But occasionally I come across places that make me feel nostalgic.”

She checked the knife on her belt and then grabbed the gun they had given her and spun it in her hand.

“Or maybe it’s vestigiality? Do you know if a cybernetic brain has nostalgia programs?”

The junkyard was filled with toxic smog. Tang Yibu stepped on two poisonous green snails and looked up at the shadowed outlines of buildings in all directions. There were quite a few people milling around nearby. Qian Yigeng had fallen from the stage, so this place no longer had a master. Most likely, these people were here to try and find gold among the piles of garbage.

“Will you be okay?” Tang Yibu had little enthusiasm for being a bodyguard, so he inquired deeper.

“Fu Yu shared his physical body memory with me, and I also have two sets of combat programs installed. I ask that you don’t hold me back.”

No one was listening right now, so neither of them bothered to pretend to be human. Tang Yibu gave her a sideways glance, quietly noted the information, and continued to follow.

Qian Yigeng’s underground base wasn’t small. A’Qiao led Tang Yibu around a few big circles, then slipped into the underground through an isolated dark door. Tang Yibu had no impression of this area. Looking at the underground furnishings, it seemed to be a place used by Qian Yigeng’s gang to store supplies. Now it was full of garbage and looked dilapidated.

The iron bead let out a loud cheer as it struggled desperately in the net pocket until Tang Yibu put it down on the ground—to it, this place was like a fairytale candy castle.

A’Qiao walked in front. She stood still in an area that had less garbage and blew a whistle. Zhong Qing opened the mouth of a rusty pipe in the corner and climbed out.

“My lunch is here?” He patted the dust on his body for a while and lifted his head, then saw Tang Yibu. “….Oh my god, it’s you!”

As he spoke, the hat on Zhong Qing’s head buckled as he hurried over. “Tang Yibu, no, Yibu Ge, did you bring anything to eat? The kinds that are sealed, no, where you can identify what’s in it. This place is horrible, too horrible.”

“Not sharing,” Tang Yibu said cold.

“Stingy!”

“If you want me to share some, you have to tell me in detail what happened in the past few days.” Tang Yibu casually dragged over a deflated iron cabinet and sat down nonchalantly. He then opened his backpack and took out a bag of dried fruit and shook it in front of Zhong Qing. “All the details.”

Zhong Qing opened his mouth. His expression darkened, as if he suddenly remembered something bad. “…Even if you didn’t ask, I would tell you.”

“Here, lunch.” A’Qiao took out the meat pies wrapped in foil from her backpack and threw them at Zhong Qing. “You two talk. I’ll go outside and keep watch.”

“I regret it.” When A’Qiao disappeared, Zhong Qing carefully held the meat pie as if he wasn’t holding food but a ticking bomb that could explode at any moment. “I don’t know how people can… How do they live like this. I’ve never seen such a dirty place in my life… Did you see that girl just now? She’s dressed like a monster!”

Tang Yibu glanced at Zhong Qing’s hat meaningfully.

“…Okay, maybe I’m not qualified to say that. Although they can get medicine here, do I really have to stay here?”

“In your situation, you cannot visit the Glass Conservatory. This is already the most abundant petri dish.” Tang Yibu had no desire to listen to Zhong Qing’s complaints. He was in a bad mood without the familiar face, despite being in a familiar place. “Get to the point. Tell me about those two. According to Professor Ruan’s instructions, you shouldn’t have arrived at the Underground City so late. What happened?”

He kept throwing the bag of dried fruit in his hand up and down.

“I’m just saying it’s too broken here being alone.” Having not seen Zhong Qing for a few days, he had become more honest. Zhong Qing took a deep breath and chose a relatively clean place to stand. “So, Yu Le… I mean, Yu Ge didn’t follow Professor Ruan’s arrangements.”

“Don’t look at me like I’m trying to escape. I was actually quite scared. I wanted to stay in the car for a few more days and spend time with people I know… So I told Yu Ge that I’d work first and then they could drop me off at the Underground City. In exchange, I’ll use my eyes as a lookout. Yu Ge agreed.”

Tang Yibu thought that was reasonable. Although it was riskier, Zhong Qing’s price tag was hard to pass up, given their experience when they escaped from the Mainbrain’s city. Besides, the Underground City was on the way to and from, so there was no need to make additional detours.

“Continue,” Tang Yibu said, stopping the movement of his hand.

“When they met with others, they kept it from me. I stayed in the car and never went out. I guess it was to protect me, but I can still see this kind of thing… In short, there were many more things than what was required. It could be supplementary supplies? I don’t know. But after they stopped at the forest refuge, something went wrong.”

Zhong Qing lowered his head. “I found that we were being followed.”

Tang Yibu said nothing.

“The people who were tracking us had good equipment. It must be someone from the Mainbrain. I saw about five of them. I didn’t know if there’s more. After I told Yu Ge, he asked me to hide among the luggage and not move or do anything, not even look. So I hid under the pile of luggage and didn’t dare open my eyes. I just remember feeling the stop and go of the car.”

“Did a conflict break out?”

“No. At least I didn’t hear it.” Zhong Qing shook his head. “I remember what Xiaoman Jie was doing. I heard the sound of her making a machine and it jingled for a long time. The two of them turned on the sound insulation function when they were talking, so I only know this.”

Tang Yibu thought that Yu Le really protected this child well. The less Zhong Qing knew, the less danger he was in. As a precious virus parasite, even if the Mainbrain caught him, it wouldn’t really do much to him.

“…Then I don’t know how long it took before I was told we’d reached my destination. I don’t know why, but as soon as we entered the city, he separated from Xiaoman Jie—I don’t know where Xiaoman Jie went. Yu Ge gave me a bag and got out. And then… And then…”

“You were taken in by Fu Yu.”

“Yes.” Zhong Qing’s face turned bitter. “That was the last time I saw Yu Ge. I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to him! That Fu Yu brought me directly to this hellish place. It’s all garbage. Fuck, you don’t know what I’ve seen.”

Tang Yibu sat on the deflated cabinet and let out a short sigh. The iron bead stomped its feet and moved back to Tang Yibu’s side laboriously, then lay down contentedly on the ground.

“That monster girl told me that they seemed to have been captured by the Order Supervisors.” Zhong Qing glanced at the iron bead. His attention was no longer focused on the bag of dried fruits. “Is it true, Yibu Ge? You guys are so powerful, so it shouldn’t be that easy. The people who were following us weren’t fully armed and didn’t look like they were there to hunt us down…”

“Eat.” Tang Yibu threw the dried fruits into Zhong Qing’s arms and rubbed the belly of the iron bead with his feet. “I’ll ask you one last question. Did they really say nothing in front of you? You didn’t see anything either?”

“This is a serious matter. I can be obedient when it comes to things like this.” Zhong Qing shrank his neck and hugged the bag of dried fruits tightly, but he seemed to have lost his appetite. “Ah… but when they got here, they did talk to me once.”

“Yu Ge said, this car has been ruined by him and Tu Rui will definitely call him personally and skin him alive. I hope you can help me for the sake of the friendship we forged along the way. This was what he said to Xiaoman Jie. Xiaoman Jie then said she was feeling homesick and wanted to go see her family.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, in the few days after discovering the pursuers, the two of them only said that in front of me. It was quite impressionable, but the content didn’t seem very special… They may have forgotten to turn on the sound insulation.”

“Word for word?”

“I’m not sure if that was exactly what they said, but I didn’t miss the meaning.”

“I have no further questions.” Tang Yibu leapt from the deflated cabinet. “Just endure a few more days. I think Mr. Fu will find a better place for you to live.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Zhong Qing hurriedly tucked the bag of dried fruit under his arms and started to follow. “Don’t leave me here!”

“Yu Le’s meaning is obvious. He doesn’t want you to get involved in this matter,” Tang Yibu said. “Fu Yu can give you the best protection, so you don’t need to know too much.”

“But they were caught!” Zhong Qing shouted. “They… treated me very well. Can’t I want to do my best to help them? At least let me help you—this place, it’s full of fog, so there’s no better sentry than me!”

Tang Yibu paused his motion of fishing up the iron bead. “Why do you think I will agree?”

“Because you neither respect the old nor love the young.” Zhong Qing spoke quite fast in a low voice. “In any case, you certainly don’t care too much about me, but I can add to your security, especially in this city where Order Supervisors are everywhere.”

“I still find your reason for repaying kindness too farfetched.” Tang Yibu smacked his lips, neither giving confirmation nor denial.

“In addition to this, I don’t want to stay in this city for too long. The quality of life is no different than death. I—I thought if I help you, you’ll bring me back to the edge of the Mainbrain’s city… or something.” Zhong Qing’s voice was getting smaller. “The environment here can give me at least 180 kinds of diseases. I would rather die in a cold, idyllic, yet normal setting.”

Tang Yibu tucked the iron bead back into the net pocket and stared at Zhong Qing.

It seemed Lao Yu didn’t tell him the truth—although Zhong Qing still retained his human appearance, as Rhododendron Disease could ensure he grew up like a human, as a polymeric mimicry of the virus, ordinary pathogens could no longer hurt him.

Zhong Qing was right. He didn’t mind using him in this city. Right now, all Tang Yibu wanted to do was push the plan forward as quickly as possible to catch his Mr. Ruan back to his side. Since Zhong Qing offered, this was a consensual matter. All he needed was to agree—this deal was beneficial to both parties.

Strictly speaking, this matter didn’t even have anything to do with humans.

However, Tang Yibu didn’t speak. He tilted his head and looked at the nervous Zhong Qing and suddenly wanted to laugh.

“No,” he said.

“Why?” Zhong Qing fiercely pulled on his hat. “Isn’t this also good for you?”

“Even if I don’t say a word, as long as I take you with me, you’ll inevitably learn some things. Yu Le and Ji Xiaoman are both very smart people, and they are now in my camp. I don’t want to…” Tang Yibu paused. “I don’t want to hurt them.”

“If you don’t say it, and I won’t speak it, who will know?” Zhong Qing yelled in dissatisfaction. “Look, I know you hate me—”

“If you really don’t want to live here, I will take you back in a while,” Tang Yibu continued.

Zhong Qing closed his mouth quickly. After a while, he bitterly said, “Okay, but I really want to help… How do you know they will mind? Compared to me, are you their true companion?”

“I don’t know if they will mind, nor are they my companions.” Tang Yibu tugged at the corners of his mouth, and his golden eyes narrowed. “You have a point, but I just don’t know if the judgment is right.”

“Then you still…!”

“Because I suddenly felt that it would be very interesting if I made a decision like this. I know exactly where I’m going, so I’m not going to wander around aimlessly outside. It’s not easy to target me.” Tang Yibu picked up the iron bead. “…Have a nice lunch.”

The author has something to say:

Tang: Start to apply the subject flexibly (?

Lao Yu’s highlight√

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

Evil As Humans Ch3

Kinky8 Comments

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 3: A Suspicious Person

Perhaps because there were such a large number of “people”, that the Resentment Basket tended to be more aggressive than self-absorbed grieving ghosts. They craved the negative emotions of the living, and they liked to wrap people into their bodies and squeeze them for nutrients like sugarcane.

Just by looking at the description, one would know it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience. As an “after-effect”, the chewed person would have a minor illness or a major disaster, depending on their personal circumstances.

The Resentment Basket obviously was here for food.

The Resentment Basket slammed on the brakes right in front of the two of them. Fortunately, it still had an instinctive fear. Unfortunately, with its limited intelligence, it rolled its eight eyes and failed to understand where the fear came from.

It finally moved its body cautiously, deciding only to harm the “human” that looked more adequate.

The Resentment Basket curled up, and after covering its “face”, it made a heavy breathing sound. A faint fishy smell was mixed together with the fishy smell from the rainwater. The next moment, its huge body stretched out, and the front end of the Resentment Basket slammed up. The hand-like structure was slightly folded, as if it wanted to lean closer and whisper something terrible.

It ran straight towards the young man in front of Yin Ren.

The Resentment Basket wrapped around the young man’s body, and the cocoon squirmed like it was digesting something. The person was strangely “embedded” in its body, with only his face and arms exposed, creating a ridiculously bizarre scene.

Yin Ren couldn’t even laugh.

The man was wearing a Resentment Basket several dozen times larger than himself, but his strength didn’t diminish at all. His hands were still warm and steady, and his eyes were firmly fixed on Yin Ren, with no abnormal expression on his face.

This time, the two “people” who were in an embarrassing deadlock became three, and the atmosphere became more subtle.

Without tasting a new pain, the Resentment Basket quickly noticed the abnormality. It twisted its body and retreated back to its original position in confusion.

The corner of Yin Ren’s eyes twitched—the Resentment Basket felt perhaps its eating posture was wrong, so it planned to retry.

The fishy smell in the air turned into a foul stench. The ugly fleshy skin surged, and the Resentment Basket slid over again.

This time, it slowed down. Its outer skin oozed mucus under the streetlight. There was a squeezing sound that made the scalp tingle, and the person in front of Yin Ren was “devoured” by the huge flesh cocoon again.

His entire head sank into black and red flesh covered in blood, leaving his two hands that were grabbing Lin Ren like shackles exposed.

The hands remained motionless.

The skin of the resentment basket wriggled more violently. The bulging raised meat flesh almost rubbed against the tip of Yin Ren’s nose. The flesh of the cocoon rose and fell like waves, with the man’s face appearing from the Resentment Basket from time to time.

The man didn’t even blink. It seemed that he wasn’t affected in any way.

Seeing that it couldn’t eat, the eyes of the Resentment Basket became bloodshot. Most people would get angry when they find themselves unable to pick up noodles with their chopsticks.

How miserable.

Yin Ren glanced at it sympathetically and probably had a clue…

Those who didn’t believe would not be blessed by the gods, and likewise, they would not be affected by evil.

There had been similar rumors among cultivators in the past. The less you believe, the less impact.

If a person didn’t believe in ghosts and gods, then it was useless to pray to them, but they were also immune to almost all spells from demons and spirits. Such people couldn’t detect ghosts and gods, so the latter would have no influence on them and would simply treat each other like air.

Unfortunately, Yin Ren had never met such a person.

Among mortals, the more fanatical pray and worship every day, while the more ordinary would pay attention and seek out good luck while avoiding bad. In an atmosphere that had been passed down through thousands of years, few people were completely “unbelieving”.

Now it seemed there was one standing in front of him.

What did this mean? This meant that while the whole world thought he was suspicious, the person in front of him couldn’t see through him. Yin Ren was quite pleased and suddenly felt that this person had become much cuter.

Yin Ren even retracted his wrist and led the person in his own direction. Who knew that the person’s grip was extremely stable, so while Yin Ren tried to move, the person didn’t budge an inch.

The person in front of him clenched even tighter and increased the force of his grasp. The strength was so great, it was like he had just met his long-lost brother.

The Resentment Basket was getting angry. Seeing Yin Ren “snatching its food”, it ignored its instinctive fear. The Resentment Basket flung itself and used the momentum to fly over to Yin Ren like a whip, trying to wrap the two of them together.

If the young man in front of him could see this, the next scene could be said to be exciting…

The moment the Resentment Basket touched Yin Ren, it froze from head to toe, and even the squirming of its skin stopped. After a twitch, the cocoon immediately curled up into a ball. Its eight human eyes twitched wildly between its fingers, and its pupils were full of fear.

It completely forgot to run away.

The Resentment Basket seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand as its body changed shape like dough. With vague chewing sounds, the flesh and blood were being sucked out by an invisible mouth, as if it was water draining from a tank with its stopper removed.

The entire process was so smooth and quiet that the Resentment Basket couldn’t even let out a scream.

In the blink of an eye, the bloated body disappeared in place, leaving only a few drops of black coagulated blood on Yin Ren’s clavicle. The next moment, those few drops were also absorbed by his pale skin, leaving no trace behind.

Yin Ren smacked his lips. He got an unexpected feeding, and his mood became more comfortable.

The thunderstorm became clear again. The streetlights no longer flickered, and the warm yellow light sprayed down, creating a pleasant, moving scene.

It took less than three minutes from when the Resentment Basket appeared and disappeared.

Sharp sirens sounded from the other side of the street. The police lights could be seen at the end of the darkness. Yin Ren didn’t recognize the lights, but he could read the relaxed expressions of the people across the street.

Most likely, they were all officers, and they came faster than Yin Ren had expected.

“My ‘family’ is here to pick me up, right?”

Yin Ren continued to let the man grab him and even showed him a kind smile.

Compared to Uncle Zhang, who escaped in the middle, this one led him to “enter the world”.

Regardless of the attitude of the other party, this was considered a certain fate. Yin Ren wanted to be friendly, or at least appear more human-like—regular Evil Spirits wouldn’t care about the names of ordinary humans.

So he smiled very gently, so gently that one couldn’t tell he had just killed a Resentment Basket.

“It’s a pity I don’t remember your name.”

The man was taken aback for a moment and sized up Yin Ren for a while.

“It’s Zhong Chengyue*.” He spoke the words solemnly, one by one.

*Clarity: His name is Zhong Chengshuo but it’s often mispronounced as Chengyue. This won’t be explained until Chapter 10.

……

The Shian Building was still brightly lit.

After tossing all night and seeing that it was about to be dawn, both sides finally stopped their summoning spells—the Evil Spirit never responded and the unknown force conceded first, so Minister Fu asked the Shian Group to terminate their spellcasting.

The people who came to work the next shift had arrived, but those who worked overtime couldn’t go home. The “Evil Spirit” was a big event. Just in case, everyone had to be on standby. Everyone moved out of the break room beds and chairs, and regardless of their gender, they all slept directly in the area.

Minister Fu didn’t sleep. He collapsed in his chair and used his tablet to read the report.

As soon as the white light flickered, it illuminated the dark bags under his eyes. He looked like he was a freshly unearthed zombie.

The Shian Group was a state-owned enterprise. The Haigu Branch and the Haigu Police Department had always cooperated. As long as the application was made in accordance with regulations, the Shian Group had the right to view the internal information of the police station.

For example, like now.

An Evil Spirit had broke out last night, and there were a total of 35 abnormal activities that occurred in Haigu and the surrounding suburbs. After a busy night, the staff ruled out unrelated cases, such as sudden emergencies, family conflicts, street fights, theft, and the like, and only 6 people came into contact with an “abnormal phenomenon”.

Minister Fu—Fu Xingchuan took a sip from his energy drink and narrowed his eyes.

[Abnormal behavior: 1 person

Concentration of evil qi on body: 1.03~1.05fR (extremely high)

Personnel: Guo Laifu (47 years old, male)

Location: Heping Road, Shangguang District

Overview: Guo Laifu is a serial murderer on the run. Came to Haigu 4 days ago. According to the investigation, the person used a fruit knife to cut off his nose, poked his ears with chopsticks, and dug out his eyes with his bare hands. When discovered by our staff, this person was peeling his skin off at a crosswalk.

Guo Laifu is currently admitted to Haigu Hospital and is in a coma. The cut nose, eyeballs, skin, ect. were all swallowed by Guo Laifu himself. His vision and hearing are greatly damaged and may not return to normal.]

[Direct eyewitness anomalies: 3 people

Concentration of evil qi on body: 0.12~0.17fR (medium)

Personnel: Chen Xiao (24 years old, male); Wang Rongrong (29 years old, female); Zhang Le (25 years old, male)

Location: Ka’an Road, Donghe District

Overview: The three of them are employees of Haigu Coral Reff Co., Ltd. They met for drinks and returned late. Together, they witnessed a man in a suit carrying a “red bouquet”. The three of them found that the “bouquet” was suspected to be made of blood-stained internal organs and took the initiative to call the police.

The three of them were greatly stimulated and didn’t want to go out. They stayed at Haigu Police Station for the time being and were comforted by our staff.]

[Suspected abnormal contact: 2 people

Concentration of evil qi on body: 0.06~0.08fR (low)

Personnel: Zhong Chengshuo (28 years old, male); Anonymous (male, unknown age, suspected to be 20-30 years old)

Location: Changling Road, Xizhao District

Overview: Zhong Chengshuo said that he witnessed Anonymous carrying a controlled knife and wearing a mental health facility gown, and took the initiative to call the police. Anonymous’ appearance exceeds normal standards, has no aggressive behavior, and carries a dagger suspected of being a spiritual weapon.

The two of them were conscious and emotionally stable. The police station was unable to confirm the identity of Anonymous. The two of them are now being taken to Shian by Team 7. They are expected to arrive at 7:15 in the morning.]

It was very likely that there were clues to an “unknown Evil Spirit” somewhere here.

The three people who witnessed the “man in suit” could be ruled out.

An Evil Spirit that had been dormant for thousands of years, even if it deliberately pretended to be an adult, it was impossible to give itself the appearance of wearing a suit and holding a bouquet. Moreover, Fu Xingchuan had the impression that a well-known news anchor died in Donghe District a few days ago. The classic image of that person was a “suit” and a “bouquet of roses”.

The people involved were clear so the matter could be handled by Team 7 of their Special Investigation Unit.

To say the most suspicious…

An Evil Spirit had an entity and there was no theory that it possessed others. At present, the most unusual was Guo Laifu of Shangguang District.

He was obviously over the perimeter of evil qi concentration, which exceeded the standard. It was very likely he had been exposed to a pollution source with excessive evil qi values… But the Shangguang Distract was the farthest away from the Xizhao District, which was certainly the outbreak point of the evil qi.

There were cases in the Xizhao District, but these cases weren’t really worth mentioning. Just by looking at the concentration of evil qi, the two relevant people had at most been exposed to the “phenomenon” of grieving ghosts.

Fu Xingchuan glanced at the upper right corner of the tablet. It was already 7:00. He took out a half-eaten chocolate bar from the drawer and stood up with a sigh.

Anyway, Guo Laifu couldn’t run, so he’ll meet with the two boys in Xizhao District first.

Fu Xingchuan pounded on his waist, turned back to the report, and glanced at Zhong Chengshuo’s personal information.

As his line of sight went all the way down, Fu Xingchuan’s eyebrows first slightly raised, then frowned. He sat back in his chair and quickly turned a few more sheets. The more he looked at it, the more solemn he became.

After a while, he touched the phone on the table.

“Hello, Xiao Hao? It’s me, Lao Fu. Say hello to Xiao Xiang for me. Regarding the Xizhao District incident, I will come in person. This time, the observation level of this inquiry has been adjusted to the highest level. Put your pile of messy things to use.”

After speaking, he moved the phone away from his ear and ignored the other side’s protest along the lines of “don’t talk nonsense”. When the roar was over, Fu Xingchuan put the phone back to his ear.

“Hm? No, those two’s evil qi aren’t particularly strong, but their identities are intriguing—one is of unknown origin and was carrying a spiritual weapon, while the other has a unique origin. Let’s say my intuition could be wrong.”

“Okay, don’t be so verbose. I know it’s unorthodox, so I’ll have the expense deducted from my salary. If Lao Li asks, you can explain for me.”

Having said that, Minister Fu cut off the call at lightning speed. He closed the information on Zhong Chengshuo and took a closer look at the photo of Yin Ren that he had just received.

Time was tight and the tasks were heavy, so the photo was taken in a rush. In the photo, “Anonymous” had long hair, but even with the poor photography, it couldn’t cover up his excellent features.

“…It’d better be a coincidence.”

The author has something to say:

Atheist: Add magic resistance according to firmness level (×

The prologue is over!

Xiao Yin: Eat on the spot.jpg

Kinky Thoughts:

This marks the end of the prologue. Releases will be sporadic until Happy Doomsday wraps up. Happy Halloween, everyone.

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

Evil As Humans Ch2

Kinky10 Comments

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 2: An Enthusiastic Person

At the same time, in the city center of Haigu, on the campus of Shian Group.

The huge office was brightly lit, with several large screens filling an entire wall. Dozens of workstations were full, and dozens of bloodshot eyes were locked tightly to the screens.

In the stock exchange-like atmosphere, only one person was standing.

This man was slim and tall, looking in his forties. He wore an exaggerated red tassel earring in his left ear. His hair wasn’t long, and he tied it casually behind his head.

Ignoring the heavy bags under his eyes and his unshaven chin, the man was barely passable as handsome. At the moment, he was wearing a long auburn coat that was out of place with the times, holding an energy drink in one hand, while his face looked worse than all the other people there combined.

“Minister Fu, there’s no response to the summoning spell. The evil qi* value in Xizhao District has also returned to normal. Look…”

*Vital force forming part of any living entity. You can think of it as like energy.

A horse-faced young man rubbed his face as he tentatively spoke.

“Trying to get off work?” Minister Fu glanced at him. “Wishful thinking. Go and read the ‘evil qi’ value again.”

The man shrank his neck and glanced at the screen in the corner. Dense words and images were mixed together, making him dizzy when he looked at them.

Compared to the obscure terms and confusing diagrams, only the first few paragraphs required any brainpower to understand.

[Phenomenon A-A3: Evil Spirit]

[Judgement criteria (reference): Fluctuation of evil qi in a specific area ≥1000fR, or stable evil qi value within 2km of the suspicious object is ≥3000fR]

[Overview: This phenomenon is extremely rare and is the result of the alienation of ordinary evil things. It’s also known as a “Living Natural Disaster”, “Ghost King”, and so on. The cause of this phenomenon is unknown. The environment and location are irregular. Their shape is all asymmetric and irregular giant objects, believe to be active 1,500 to 1,000 years ago.

“Evil Spirits” have certain biological characteristics and no rational thinking ability. Their strength varies between different individuals. This phenomenon is the most dangerous observed so far. According to the assessment, the least dangerous individual is as destructive as an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale*.

*Measures the strength of earthquakes. An 8.1 on the scale is an extreme disaster with major damage to buildings and structures are likely to be destroyed. Will cause moderate to heavy damage to sturdy or earthquake-resistant buildings. Damaging in large areas. Felt in extremely large regions.

There are currently 6 “Evil Spirit” recorded in the book, all of which were sealed at the end of the Gong Dynasty. So far, one “Evil Spirit” is in a semi-conscious state and is temporarily under the control of the Haigu Branch, while the other five have been identified as seal places and are closely monitored by various entities in accordance with the laws and regulations.]

[Handling method (reference): Once discovered, the provincial region where it is located shall immediately implement a “Level 1 Emergency Plan for Major Phenomena”, and dispatch relevant personnel to deal with it as soon as possible, using special summoning techniques to attract the attention of the phenomenon. Depending on the damage, it will either be recycled, deeply sealed, or completely eliminated.]

The horse-faced man laughed dryly.

The fluctuation of the evil qi in the western suburbs of the Xizhao District just now was 99,478.56fR, which exceeded the judgement standard by nearly 10 times.

Since the Great Celestial Master sealed all six Evil Spirits, the “Evil Spirits” had been extinct for thousands of years, he was more inclined to believe that there was a problem with the reading of the instrument than the birth of an unknown great evil.

Unfortunately, their Minister didn’t think so, and neither did their enemies.

Within a minute of the abnormal data, the relevant personnel immediately started to perform the operation. Unknown forces soon intervened on the other side of the city, and two summoning techniques tore each other up in the sky, neither refusing to give up. All members of the Shian Group were worried—the Evil Spirits were brainless. If they were used by other people with ulterior motives, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But the situation didn’t seem right.

The summoning technique was created by the Great Celestial Master and was specially designed for the Evil Spirits. It stood to reason that the Evil Spirits would be attracted by the spell. As a result, after nearly four hours of summoning on both sides, the “unknown Evil Spirit” didn’t respond, as if it had died, and there was no sign of abnormality in the Xizhao District.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with the equipment. It’s not possible that an Evil Spirit is hiding from us,” The horse-faced young man muttered in a low voice. “If it’s this smart, we should all just go home and wait to die.”

“No matter how smart you are, you can still stop talking nonsense.”

Minister Fu glanced at the horse-faced young man, then glanced at the tired faces all over the room. He didn’t get angry this time. He just sighed and raised his voice slightly.

“The possibility of incorrect readings by the equipment in Xizhao District and the coincidence of the celestial phenomena is not low, but we have to consider the worst case—this ‘unknown Evil Spirit’ is very powerful and has quite high intelligence. Looking at the current situation, it’s not in great shape.”

“Why?” Someone couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Whether it’s broken or just born, it knows nothing about the outside world. Even if it’s not malicious, it will test things. Now, it’s just hiding. It’s very likely something is wrong with it—injuries, weakness, or some other conditions.”

“In any case, you must stay here tonight until the last minute. With everything tonight being abnormal, pay attention carefully. All abnormalities must be reported to me. Is Xiao Liang on duty at the police station tonight? Let him keep an eyes on things. Even if someone slips through the door and picks lock, I want to see a detailed report.”

……

In a sense, Minister Fu guessed well.

Yin Ren was indeed in a bad state.

The good news was that his body was full of ferocious power; the bad news was that it wasn’t obedient at all—if Yin Ren used more, his thinking would become chaotic and he would get a splitting headache.

He had to firmly suppress his ferocity and slowly tame it.

On the other hand, the ferocity was more striking than the full moon in the night sky. If he dared to let go of his suppression, he would become the most dazzling target in the metaphysical world within minutes.

In order to ensure sobriety and to keep a low profile, Yin Ren could only use a little bit of power, as big as a sesame seed. The Evil Spirits were all so crazy that he didn’t expect to get advice from his “seniors”. He could only take one step at a time.

For example, at this moment.

The sharp-sounding “creak—” finally dissipated.

Yin Ren turned solemnly and looked at the “uninvited guest”. As an “evil monster” he didn’t need lighting to see the person on the other side clearly.

There was no evil aura surrounding the person, so he was undoubtedly a living human.

It was a young man, wearing a translucent “demoiselle coat”, pushing a two-wheel cart.

Looking at his face, the man was very handsome. There was no arrogance in his facial features. Putting it nicely, he looked gentle and elegant, and badly phrased, he “had the face of a good scholarly man” in storybooks—forever naïve, forever fooled by monsters.

Seeing the blankness in the other’s eyes, Yin Ren relaxed a bit. If he met a “professional” as soon as he got out, he was sure to curse God on the spot.

The other party didn’t say a word. Yin Ren stood cautiously in place, motionless.

It could be troublesome to take action against this person, and he could just escape without casting a spell. It was raining in the middle of the night. What kind of person had nothing to do but stand in the street like this?

It was best if he left him alone.

Unfortunately, Yin Ren was so great and fierce when he wandered outside that God didn’t plan to give him any face.

Before his seal broke, Yin Ren specifically picked a relatively harmless dagger to take with him. There was a bump just then, and the modern hospital gown failed to hold his ancient murder weapon. With a ripping sound, a big hole was poked in the back pocket of his gown, and the dagger fell to the ground with a “clang”.

Since the dagger was well-made, obviously it also made a good sound.

The sound it made when it landed was as if one had plunged into ice water. It pierced people’s hearts and made them cold to their very bones. In the past, this sound could make the living retreat, but unfortunately, at this moment, it only caused a burst of embarrassment.

Yin Ren: “……”

How carless. The dagger originally had a sheath, but the wooden sheath had been in close contact with the earth for hundreds of years and had rotted into mud. Yin Ren habitually put it in his pocket and didn’t think too much about it.

This was one of his favorite weapons. Could he still throw it away?

Yin Ren hesitated for a moment and resigned himself to picking up the dagger.

At this moment, the heavens cooperated by sending a scarlet lightning bolt, dyeing the dagger red with blood. Accompanied by his blue and white striped hospital gown, the visual impact was quite strong.

The person on the opposite side slowly took a step back. He supported his cart with one hand and quickly took out a strange object that emitted a glimmer of light. His actions were smooth and clean.

“Hello? Hello? I’m at 018 Changling Road, Xizhao District, Haigu. Someone is carrying a controlled knife and dressed suspiciously.”

The man seemed to be speaking to the air. His voice was steady, and his words were clear, and his speech was neither too fast nor too slow.

“Yes, west of the city, at the entrance to the city’s mental health facility… Well, I’m fine. I can guarantee my safety.”

After the man across the street finished speaking, he put the strange object back into his pocket. The corner of the strange object emitted a dazzling light that illuminated a small area nearby. In the bright light, he stared closely at Yin Ren. His expression was very serious, with an obvious stance that he wasn’t planning on leaving.

Yin Ren choked.

Wait, was that man reporting to an officer? Just for a dagger? How could this person react so severely?

Although… Although reporting to an officer was within the realm of possibility.

Yin Ren had a similar plan. For example, find a lively place to “faint” after dawn, and wait for the police to take him away. Regarding his identity, he had practiced it countless times in advance—after Yin Ren woke up, he’d stay bedridden for 7 to 49 days. He would listen to the “news” from morning to night each day, so he wouldn’t expose his horse’s feet*.

*(露出马脚) Idioms referring revealing the hidden truth or revealing the truth unintentionally.

Ah, forget it. Soon or later, the act would begin, so why not just start now.

“I picked this up for self-defense. I hit my head and can’t remember anything… Sorry. Did I scare you?”

Yin Ren dropped the dagger in distress and imitated an accent he learned from the “news”.

He deliberately lowered his body temperature, causing it to tremble slightly as he looked extremely meek and helpless. “I saw you stop just now. I thought you knew me…”

Here, he had to give a pitiful pause and produce just the right kind of voice.

Since this person was so nosey on a rainy day, most likely he was a fool with too much integrity. As long as Yin Ren played dumb, he could come to elicit some useful information.

Who would have thought that Yin Ren’s rhetoric hadn’t yet been espoused when the other party abandoned his cart and rushed up with a single stride and grabbed Yin Ren’s hands tightly.

“I do recognize you.”

Those hands clasped Yin Ren’s wrists like iron clamps, and the force behind them was incredibly strong. If it wasn’t for the fact that Yin Ren had sealed off his qi, the man would’ve fallen to the ground dead, hit by his “intense aura”.

The man clenched him tightly, showing a somewhat reluctant smile, but his tone was quite sincere. “Your name is Zhang San. You live across from me. I’ll wait with you here, and your family will come pick you up in a police car soon.”

Yin Ren: “?”

After walking too much at night, one would eventually meet a ghost*. Yin Ren’s expression became a bit distorted. The two were frozen in deadlock, allowing the rainstorm to brush against their heads.

*Saying referring to if you often do unscrupulous things, eventually you’ll get caught. 

Fortunately, this subtle atmosphere didn’t last for more than a few seconds.

The sound of heavy rain and thunder was unnaturally muffled, then slowly weakened. It was like an inviable lid had covered them. The surrounding temperature dropped a bit, as if someone was blowing against their damp skin.

The next moment, darkness broke without warning.

The long-extinguished streetlamps were restored, but for some reason, the lightning was only on one side of the street. The original warm yellow lights were now blue-white, flashing at an uncomfortable frequency, making the street even gloomier than when it was completely dark.

There was something shifting between the lampposts that was flashing bright and dark. Yin Ren moved his steps slightly. He crossed the other man’s shoulder and looked behind him.

A vague and huge shadow was squirming.

It was about half the width of the street, and it looked like an exceptionally bloated caterpillar. It was close to the side of the street and would crawl forward for a while, then stop in a section and wipe its body on the streetlights from time to time. Once the lamppost had been touched by it, it would emit a blue-white light, like ghost fire.

Though that thing was bulky, it wasn’t slow. Within a few breaths, the thing had reached a dozen steps away from the two of them.

Yin Ren stared at it calmly.

At first glance, it was a cocoon with short feet and only knew how to crawl on the ground. On closer inspection, the uneven surface of the cocoon concealed a mystery—countless disgruntled ghosts’ limbs intertwined, fusing together like wax, yet still retaining their basic outline. Their long hair became stickier and more tangled, bulging under the thin flesh like green and black veins.

The front half of the cocoon had grieving ghosts merging together.

They fused into two giant hands; the roots of their palms sticking out of the flesh folds, covering the front of the cocoon like a face. The pair of hands opened their fingers and small arm-length human eyes could be seen on them.

A rough count showed eight. They were spinning around, but now they were all staring straight at the two of them.

Yin Ren felt a kind of affection. Hundreds of thousands of years had passed, and this thing still looked the same.

In the past, people called it the “Resentment Basket”. It was purely made up of grieving ghosts. While its appearance was creepy, in fact, it was dull in the head and its combat capabilities were ordinary. This thing wasn’t common and would only take shape if there was an abnormally chaotic state surrounding an Evil Spirit, but it wouldn’t cause much harm.

However, it was enough to hurt an ordinary person.

The Resentment Basket paused not far away and stared at them for a while. It then raised its sarcoma-like feet and squirmed at a faster speed towards them.

The author has something to say:

Perhaps this was the most embarrassing encounter between a gong and shou.

Speaking of which, if you really see someone who is particularly suspicious, you must stay away. Please also call the police. As an ordinary person, it is most important to protect yourself! There is a reason why the gong is doing this. Don’t imitate. _(:з”∠)_

Kinky Thoughts:

I debated back and forth between how to translate (凶煞), which is what these things are called, and settled on Evil Spirit, though it could mean a fierce/evil/vicious god/demon/monster. Keep in mind that the “evil” is more so the fact that they are powerful enough to bring great calamities to the world, than the fact that they’re inherently evil.

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

Evil As Humans Ch1

Kinky13 Comments

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 1: Power Outage

Changling Road, Xizhao District, Haigu.

It was Wednesday, half past four in the morning. The heavy rain was pouring down, and the streetlights flickered as if they were about to die. Another red lightning bolt struck, causing all the streetlights to finally go out in unison.

In an instant, the entire street sank into darkness.

The scope of the power outage included 018 Changling Road, in the Haigu’s Mental Health Facility.

It was built in the 1960s and was regarded as the oldest building on the outskirts of Haigu. When it was first built, it was also called “Haigu Psychiatric Hospital”, but later it was changed to a relatively subtle “Mental Health Facility”.

The fourth floor of the mild-case area.

Old Man Zhang jumped up from the hospital bed, tugged at the mattress for a while, and found the long-hidden keycard. He changed into his slippers, pulled the front lapel of his hospital gown, and straightened his back.

The buildings and equipment were old, and the emergency power supply system hadn’t been connected to the mild-case area. Although access control was equipped with a battery, the surveillance would fail, so this opportunity was now or never.

He would be forcibly discharged from the hospital today to surprise his son and daughter-in-law.

Lao* Zhang didn’t think there was anything wrong with him. At most, he was confused from time to time and would consider himself an immortal who had come down to earth to experience a tribulation. But who didn’t have delusions of freedom? If this was a disease, half the elementary and middle school students in Haigu would need to come here to be cured.

*Old (老) When used in front of a name conveys feelings of a close relationship.

The unusual sky tonight was a sign of Zhang Shangxian’s* return home.

*The Xian (仙) in his name refers to an immortal, god, fairy, ect. This is referencing his mental disorder where he thinks he’s an immortal. Often times these immortals need to go through a tribulation in order to ascend or “level up”, for those unfamiliar with the xianxia genre.

Zhang Shangxian’s children were willing to spend money, so Lao Zhang had a single room in a good location. It was adjacent to the emergency passage that was adjacent to an empty ward that had been converted into a utility room, which was perfect for sneaking away.

Lao Zhang put his ears on the door of the room and listened with bated breath for up to five minutes.

Making sure that there was silence outside, he spit on his palm and twisted the door handle carefully. Victory was close at hand. Old Man Zhang was so excited that his hands and feet were icy that he couldn’t even feel how cold the metal doorknob was.

However, as soon as he turned the knob, a sharp noise suddenly sounded nearby.

“Creak—”

The sharp sound of metal friction was followed by a stagnant sound of a door shaft turning. The noise was extremely harsh, as it ripped through the thunder of the heavy rain, leaving behind a long echo in the empty corridor.

Lao Zhang, who was pushing the door open, froze in place.

The door of his room was well maintained, so it shouldn’t make such a harsh and loud sound. It seemed that the sound came from next door.

The ward next door had been empty for more than a decade. There wasn’t even a mouse there. Could it be that someone came to the utility room to get something? However, he didn’t hear any footsteps just now. Lao Zhang took a deep breath and put his ears on the door of his room again.

A few minutes passed, and there was no sound coming from next door; only the dull booming of thunder was left in the corridor.

Perhaps he was too nervous and his ears heard something wrong. Lao Zhang gulped and drew a protection charm. Then he slowly poked out half his head and looked next door.

What the hell. Lao Zhang almost screamed…

There was also half a head sticking out next door.

Lightning struck, lighting the corridor. Two dark eyes, like burnt charcoal that was about to go out, were on the opposite side, glowing an ominous dark red. The face stared straight at Lao Zhang and his dangling long hair was hanging menacingly by his side.

Lao Zhang was numb. He wanted to shrink back into his room, but his legs were like noodles and wouldn’t listen to him. Seeing that the thing hadn’t moved for a while, Old Man Zhang had no choice but to break the jar*.

*(破罐子破摔) Metaphor referring to letting things run its course without making corrections after having shortcomings, mistakes, or setbacks.

“Where on earth did you come from? How dare you not worship me after seeing an immortal!”

Who knew that the opposite side really bought his act.

Those eyes widened slightly. It—he thought for a moment, slowly stepped out, and saluted Lao Zhang. “It turns out you’re an Elder. Pardon my rudeness.”

The voice was quite nice, with a strange accent. Lao Zhang couldn’t think of which dialect it was.

Another flash of lightning lit up. This time, Old Man Zhang took a real look.

The opposite side was a young man in his early twenties. He was wearing a hospital gown and had sharp and beautiful facial features that were more prominent than any celebrity he had seen. Although the young man was as pale as a ghost, he was still breathing, which meant he was a living human.

It turned out to be just a patient.

How troublesome. There was a curfew, so no one was allowed to go out at night. If this kid runs out and tattle-tailed on him, his great plan would be immediately ruined. He must try to contain the situation as soon as possible.

Lao Zhang instantly regained consciousness in his leg. He coughed twice into his fist. “I have no impression of you. Did you recently come here?”

“…Nn.”

“Seeing the current situation, are you trying to escape too?” He decisively pre-empted.

“Sort of.” The young man’s expression was a bit wary, but he didn’t seem to be lying.

“I see. There are no cellphones here to play with, so it must be even more unbearable for young people.” Old Man Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you want to escape together?”

The young man thought for a while, then nodded. He smiled, and the coldness all over his body suddenly almost completely dissipated.

Seeing that the other party was quite honest, Old Man Zhang was no longer worried, and his fear also dispersed. The mild-case area was just a recuperation ward. The more aggressive patients were all in the sealed off ward. This man was just young and fashionable; there was nothing to be afraid of just because he had long hair.

Old Man Zhang closed the door to the ward, put his hands behind his back, and held himself up like an esteemed elder. “You came to the utility room in the middle of the night to find something to pry open the door, right? So simple! Nowadays, it’s all high-tech. You need a keycard to get out.”

“……”

After the power outage, the corridors were filled with darkness. When the heavy rain hit, the unique smell of dust and paint on an old building mixed together. The stairs were as narrow as a monster’s esophagus, washed by blood-red electric light from time to time.

Old Man Zhang grasped the handrails tightly and slowly walked each step one by one. The young man followed him with light footsteps.

Perhaps it was because the scene was too scary that Lao Zhang decided to make conversation. “What’s your name, young man? Since we had a fateful meeting, you can call me Uncle Zhang.”

This time, the long-haired young man was silent for a while.

Lao Zhang’s conjecture was just about to change from “He couldn’t think of a name” to “Suspected amnesia” when the young man slowly opened his mouth.

“Yin Ren.” Lao Zhang wasn’t sure what the young man thought of, but the long-haired young man laughed. “Yin from ardent, Ren from blade*.”

*Yin (殷) from ardent [yin qie] (殷切), Ren (刃) from blade [dao ren] (刀刃). So combined would be like an ardent blade/sword (which is why Lao Zhang makes the next statement).

Accompanied by the rumbling thunder, Lao Zhang lowered his voice. “Waa, this name is very powerful. Does someone in your family also don’t want you to be discharged? What’s the problem?”

“I’m not quite clear… Maybe they think I’m too dangerous. If they leave me alone, perhaps I’ll kill someone or set fires.”

Speaking of which, the two of them were about to reach the corner of the stairway.

Yin Ren stopped and looked out the window at the unusually heavy rain. Lao Zhang didn’t know if he was seeing things, but it seemed as if the scarlet lightning was flashing more frequently. The dark clouds looked like burnt skin, and the darkness was dripping full of red.

Yin Ren retracted his gaze. His expression looked bitter. “Look, they all want to arrest me and lock me up.”

Oh, this kid probably has delusions of being murdered. Lao Zhang knew it.

He couldn’t figure out if the “look” was addressed to him, so he glanced out the window and pretended to agree. “Yeah, I’ve been here for decades and I haven’t seen this kind of weather. Truly vicious. There must be a great evil being born.”

Lao Zhang talked nonsense while gauging Yin Ren’s reaction. He didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but Yin Ren seemed to avoid his gaze for the first time.

Walking to the third floor, Yin Ren suddenly said, “Elder, what’s going on in the metaphysical world today? I’ve been listening to the ‘Daily News’ for more than 40 days and haven’t heard any news.”

“Oh? Oh, this great immortal doesn’t get involved in those things, so I don’t know.” Lao Zhang paused his footsteps and looked around. “Xiao* Yin, don’t you think it’s a bit cold here?’

*Little/small (小) When used in front of a name, it’s an affectionate/friendly way to call someone who’s usually younger than you.

“…” Yin Ren glanced at Lao Zhang’s feet and shook his head slowly.

Fortunately, he didn’t continue to ask about the “metaphysical world”. Lao Zhang breathed a sigh of relief.

Having said that, Lao Zhang really felt that this section of the ward was cold to the bones. He didn’t know if it was because of the heavy rain, but the stairs seemed sticky when he stepped on it, as if someone had spilled a sweet drink here. He couldn’t help coughing twice and chalked it up to global climate change.

The two chatted nonsense and soon reached the emergency exit on the third floor.

The exit door was still in the old style, with wooden doors painted green with windows. When the thick night soaked on them, the entire green layer dimmed, looking a bit like the skin of a corpse.

The door glass was stained with water, and the other side of the glass seemed to be inked, completely black.

Lao Zhang stopped and stared at the door nervously, and his breathing slowed. Even Yin Ren’s face tightened cautiously.

The next moment, a cold white beam of light pierced the darkness and swept around the door.

Lao Zhang gasped for breath and dragged Yin Ren back to the corner of the stairs. The rain pounded on the corner of the window like crazy, creating a series of crackling sounds.

“Ah, ahem, that’s Lao Liu on duty. We have to change our paths!”

Yin Ren glanced at the escape door on the third floor, then turned to look at Lao Zhang.

Lao Zhang didn’t understand his complicated gaze; at most, it seemed to look melancholy.

“You’re new here, so it’s normal that you don’t know. Lao Liu has been on duty for 15 years, so he’s especially good at catching people… Damn, this old guy doesn’t know how to be lazy in the middle of the night…”

Lao Zhang squatted down on the steps and gasped for breath.

He was well aware that plans weren’t as fast as changes. As long as they camped here for a while and took advantage of when Lao Liu paced to the other end of the corridor…

“Elder… Uncle Zhang, since there are inspectors and guards, it’s better to find another way.”

He didn’t know why, but after Yin Ren finished speaking, the corridor became a lot colder. The rounds of rain in his ears were becoming clearer while Yin Ren’s voice was becoming blurred. Lao Zhang couldn’t help but turn his head.

“What are you talking about…”

Lao Zhang almost bit his tongue before he finished speaking.

Yin Ren was floating out the window at that moment.

He hung ghost-like in mid-air, a full meter away from the windowsill. The guardrail outside the window had disappeared without a trace, and the heavy rain poured in through the open window and splashed under Old Man Zhang’s feet. The night wind rushed into the corridor, emitting a low, weeping sound.

In the night, Yin Ren’s long hair, which was waist-high, was dripping wet. Behind him was endless darkness and blinding lightning. Under the nightmarish lightning, those eyes were even more red. A fierce aura swept across Lao Zhang’s face, suppressing him and making him unable to breathe.

“Uncle Zhang, come on.”

Yin Ren stretched out his hand. His handsome face was illuminated by the lightning.

“Your dao* seems to be suppressed. This junior will give you a ride.”

*(道行) Basically, refers to one’s cultivation. Think of it like “mana”. The higher the dao, the more powerful the immortal.

Old Man Zhang knew that Yin Ren was abnormal, but he never thought “abnormal” was to such a point. This was a mental health facility. It was okay to lose his mind, but too much to lose his body.

After all, this was the third floor! Where was this kid going to take him? Not to mention, at the moment, Yin Ren’s hospital gown was being drenched by heavy rain, and in his right pocket there was a dubious outline that looked like a knife.

This visitor isn’t good!

Was “give you a ride” what he thought it meant?

Old Man Zhang clung to the wall, shaking his head slowly in horror.

“Stop, stop, stop. I, ahem, this great immortal, suddenly remembered that there are still important things to do. Little friend, you go on first.” Lao Zhang choked for a second before replying weakly, “Don’t worry about me—”

“But…”

“You’re too polite! No buts!”

This time, Lao Zhang didn’t bother covering up, so he immediately shouted back. He didn’t dare wait for a response and scrambled up the stairs with his hands and feet, rushed back to his room, closed the door, and got under the blanket in one go.

After wrapping himself into a silkworm cocoon, Old Man Zhang took a dozen deep breaths before barely stabilizing his heartbeat.

“God have mercy. God have mercy… haa.”

He would return the keycard tomorrow and seriously renounce his actions. His son and daughter-in-law were right. There was something seriously wrong with him, so he should take a good rest.

Hell, the hallucination was too real.

……

Yin Ren put his feet on the ground and let out a long sigh.

It was a pity. Uncle Zhang was really kind to him, so he wanted to help the old man down the stairs.

As the saying went, everything was hard in the beginning. As the fiercest thing in existence, his entry into the world was almost a near-miss. To be honest, just now, when Old Man Zhang said “a great evil”, Yin Ren thought he had seen through his identity.

That was until he ran into a grieving spirit in the corridor.

The spirit was lying on the stairs of the third floor, the size of two adults. It was mumbling with its face down and had spider-like limbs at its side. Its dirty long hair covered the steps, tangled into a sticky mess.

The grudge it held wasn’t aggressive. When the two of them passed the steps, it politely moved aside. The poor ghost had intended on avoiding them, but the old man still stepped on its head and crotch, obviously unaware of its existence.

Even if his dao was sealed, a cultivator wouldn’t miss a spirit.

Mortals on earth were uninspired, making a fuss about levitating. The “daily news” didn’t mention anything about the metaphysics world while two factions in the sky were fighting fiercely, desperately summoning themselves.

The metaphysical world was still there, but most likely had become a shadow of itself.

A peaceful and prosperous world like this; there was no place more suitable for “a great evil” to hide.

On the dark street, Yin Ren opened his arms in satisfaction and felt the rain pouring down.

The summer rainstorm brought a bit of warmth, dissipating the gloomy cold brought out by the seal. A good life was close at hand. Yin Ren was just about to take a few more deep breaths when a sharp sound suddenly exploded from very close by.

“Creak—”

There was a sharp sound of friction that had never been heard before, followed by the sound of wheels sliding across the ground.

The sound was particularly harsh. It ripped through the thunder in the heavy rain, leaving behind a long echo in the empty streets.

“……”

This subtle sense of familiarity.

Yin Ren slowly folded his arms and turned in the direction from which the sound came.

There was the breath of a living person over there.

Kinky Thoughts:

Happy Halloween. As a big fan of Nian Zhong I have decided to pick up another project by her. I was going to release this a little later but given that it’s Halloween and the story matched the theme so well, I decided to release the prologue early.

This is Nian Zhong’s latest work and is still ongoing. Most likely by the time I catch up, the novel will be completed. For those unfamiliar with the author, you can check out her others works I’ve done: Happy Doomsday and Stray.

The title of the novel is (凶人恶煞) which is referencing the idiom (凶神恶煞) which refers to a great evil deity, but now used to refer to an evil/wicked/ferocious person. The author replaced deity (神) with people (人) in the idiom. This is most likely purposeful in two ways as Yin Ren is supposedly a great evil, but is now pretending to be human, so it’s a reference to both meanings of the original idiom.

I’ve struggled to make a proper translation and had asked many for help but in the end I settled for Evil As Humans.

Second note: A salted fish is a metaphor referring to someone who wants to be lazy and has no great ambitions.

|| Table of Contents || >>>

Criminal Psychology Ch11

Kinky3 Comments

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

Chapter 11

There was a saying: The most reasonable is also the most unreasonable.

In terms of performance, Yu Yanqing had appeared outside the scenes of three crimes and left a letter that could be considered a suicide note, then committed suicide. At the same time, in the room where she committed suicide, they found evidence that indirectly proved she was involved in the Chunshui Street incident.

This was the logical conclusion.

But because it was perfect, it was unreasonable.

“But the problem is that you have no evidence to prove that Yu Yanqing was too afraid of death to commit suicide, since she’s already dead,” Xing Conglian said.

“Though I have no evidence, I’m pretty sure she committed suicide.” Lin Chen folded the letter in his hand. “I’m just curious to know how she overcame her instincts and used a knife to slash her own throat.” Lin Chen was silent for a moment, as if searching for the right wording. “People are always afraid of death, both physically and mentally. They have extremely complex self-protection mechanisms. This is why it’s not easy to overcome human nature and break that barrier, unless there’s a strong motivation behind it.”

“Wanting to die isn’t easy?” Xing Conglian was baffled. “But what you said, I suddenly thought… Just now, the forensic doctor said there’s a problem with the wounds on Yu Yanqing’s body.”

“What?”

“How deep the wounds are varied. There are some old and new. She should have started self-harm very early. The earlier spots were small wounds in places that weren’t dangerous. Then the wounds slowly expanded to her wrists, chest, and neck…” Xing Conglian paused. “Finally, she slit her throat with a knife, but at that time, she didn’t die immediately. She still struggled until she stabbed the knife into her heart.”

When Xing Conglian finished, he snuck a peek at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen had just lowered his head, so Xing Conglian was unable to see his expression clearly.

There was an unbearable silence in the room. The sky was slowly darkening again. Finally, Xing Conglian couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up.

“What does this mean?” he asked.

Lin Chen began to clean up the piles of letters on the floor and stuffed them all back into their envelopes. “It means she was determined to die—her will and attitude were steadfast. This is rarely seen.”

Lin Chen’s answer was dry and straightforward. Any person who witnessed that scene would come to the same conclusion.

Many people committed suicide because it was too painful to live, and they had no love in their life. On the other hand, Yu Yanqing seemed to love the feeling of death.

It would make perfect sense for her to lie under a corpse and kill people because of her fondness for death.

But all these points return to one word.

Why?

Xing Conglian wiped his face. He couldn’t answer this question.

“What does it feel like when a person dies?” Lin Chen asked after he took a deep breath.

“Do you want to try?”

Looking at Lin Chen’s troubled face, Xing Conglian gave him a smile.

……

Since ancient times, there was always a taboo around death.

It was too scary, too horrible. It represented the end of life, but occasionally, it also emitted a charming hue that enticed people to come closer.

Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian and stood on the side of the road as the evening streetlights started to flicker on.

At this time, the wind wasn’t strong, but the rain was pouring, which made the streetlight cast a faint halo.

Coinciding with rush hour, the intersection was full of traffic. Vehicles were wrapped in rain, whistling past them as human voices, horns, engines, and countless other sounds mixed together, making their scalp numb.

“Are you ready?” Xing Conglian asked.

Before Lin Chen could react, he was yanked by the hand and was pulled into traffic.

As soon as the corner of his coat crossed the traffic light, he stepped back and ran to the side of the car. However, Xing Conglian’s strength was so great that he couldn’t break free. He could only be mercilessly dragged forward.

His shoulder hurt, but he didn’t stop running. Every step was like walking on the edge of death. He had just passed through one traffic lane when in the next lane over, a car had rushed up. The roar in his ears was so loud it could tear his eardrums. The sound of the wind was piercing, and it felt like there were large hands pushing them into the abyss.

Leaping over the meridian, Lin Chen almost crashed into a row of small pine trees.

Xing Conglian stood in the bike lane, panting for breath while still holding his hand tightly.

Behind the two of them were many drivers that kept honking their horns. The closest car to the two of them was an Audi. The driver had lowered his window and was cursing at them.

“Baby*, how are you feeling?” Xing Conglian joked. He didn’t seem to have any fear.

*Baby/babe/darling/sweetie ect. [Baobei] (宝贝) Generally, this is used as a term of endearment to someone you love, but Xing Conglian is using this in a joking manner (as they are not together at this point).

Lin Chen withdrew his hand and looked up at Xing Conglian. “I now finally believe in one thing…”

“What?”

“You really do have foreign blood in you.”

As a descendent of a combative race, Xing Conglian was, of course, rough and thick-skinned. Even though he was careful, Lin Chen was still inevitably injured. His left leg was bruised and there was already a dark purple spot forming on his waist. He also felt unsteady and couldn’t maintain his balance.

When the two returned to the school, Yu Yanqing’s body had already been transported away. Fu Hao was also summoned to the scene.

Learning that Xing Conglian had taken Lin Chen on a suicide attempt, Professor Fu took a few steps forward, jumped up and smacked Captain Xing on the head.

Captain Xing was left dumbfounded as Professor Fu ignored him after the beating and went to grab Lin Chen’s hand and examine him carefully, acting like a worried grandmother. “Shixiong, you need to stay away from this kind of person in the future…”

“Just because he wants to die, you shouldn’t follow…”

“Do you want to go to the hospital first? You should stay at my place tonight. In case your injuries become inflamed, I can take care of you…”

“Don’t you live in the school dorm?” Hearing Professor Fu’s words, Xing Conglian couldn’t help but expose the proletariat.

“It’s a single dorm!”

“But your shixiong has to move, and your small dorm can’t fit your shixiong’s big sand table.”

Fu Hao was a simple person. He didn’t realize this problem and instead yelled at Xing Conglian. “Your house is very small too!”

Xing Conglian smiled. “But my family has many houses.”

“Where is your house?”

“Yanjia Lane.”

As an academic, Professor Fu was disgusted by this kind of conversation that stunk of money. However, though cultured as he was, he couldn’t argue with this hooligan… because Captain Xian was the one with the car.

When Xing Conglian parked the jeep at the entrance of Yanjia Lane, the matter was set in stone.

In front of them were houses with whitewashed walls along the old street. Captain Xing, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, said to Lin Chen, “Pick one. Where do you want to live?”

Fu Hao was drinking water in the back seat. When he heard what Xing Conglian said, he squeezed the bottle of mineral water and resisted the urge to spit out what he had just drunk.

“You sound like you own this entire street,” Fu Hao sneered.

“I thought this area was pretty good, so I bought it,” Xing Conglian said casually. It was so straightforward that it left Fu Hao speechless.

Taking advantage of the gap between Xing Conglian going to the trunk to unload the luggage, Fu Hao quickly grabbed Lin Chen and whispered, “Shixiong, let me tell you, men love to save face. You’re a blunt person, so try not to tear down Captain Xing.”

Lin Chen nodded solemnly, expressing his understanding.

As expected, although Xing Conglian stated he bought all of Yanjia Lane, in actuality, he moved Lin Chen’s luggage to his old house, Unit 6.

The reason was also quite apt. “The other houses haven’t been cleaned and it’s more convenient to discuss the case if we live together.”

Lin Chen and Fu Hao turned to look at each other and nodded to express their understanding.

It was night now. The old house didn’t have much lightning. Xing Conglian set up a table lamp on the eight immortals table* and brought out three bowls of braise beef noodle soup.

*Traditional Chinese square table with the length of each side that fits two people, so it can seat up to eight. It looks something like this.

Fu Hao remained silent as he slurped slowly on the noodles.

Xing Conglian also pulled out some sausages from a drawer and divided it up for each person, giving generous portions.

Lin Chen tore open the plastic bag and took a bite without showing any signs of disgust.

Unable to stand it any longer, Fu Hao slapped on the table abruptly, causing the plastic fork in his hand to break in half. “Lao Xing, do you know how grisly and bloody that murder scene we had to witness today was, yet you’re giving us braised beef and sausage to eat?”

“Professor Fu, don’t put it like that. It’s just meat. It’s not like the body was dismembered or anything…” Xing Conglian tried to comfort him.

In the end, Fu Hao still lost his appetite.

The rain had started again. For a while, there was only the sound of crisp falling rain hitting the roof of the old house.

Fu Hao propped up his head and looked at Lin Chen’s face while solemnly drinking his soup, then suddenly said, “Shixiong, I don’t get it. Since Yu Yanqing had a crush on you and written so many letters to you, why did she just suddenly commit suicide?” He sniffled. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to kill you then commit suicide?”

“What did you say?” Lin Chen suddenly put down the bowl of noodles and looked at Fu Hao seriously.

Professor Fu didn’t know if he had said something wrong. He blinked innocently and repeated, “I said, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to kill you then commit suicide…”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Gonglian and said, “There’s a problem.”

Xing Conglian nodded and thought, ‘Of course there’s a problem.’

But under Lin Chen’s burning gaze, he held back and could only squeak out a, “Huh?”

“If this case was committed by the same person, no matter how chaotic it is, there must be an intrinsic order. I have never understood what the intrinsic order of these cases is.” Lin Chen paused and said to Xing Conglian, “Please find me a pen.”

Paper and pen were quickly brought. Lin Chen pushed away the bowl of noodles and said to Fu Hao, “Repeat the order of the cases.”

Fu Hao blurted out, “First, a deceased patient was found in a hospital morgue neatly dressed. Then, the body of an old man appeared in a shop on Chuncai Street. Following that, a young man in the park fell from the still rings. Finally, Yu Yanqing committed suicide….”

As Fu Hao spoke, Lin Chen wrote. Finally, several keywords appeared on the paper.

[Corpse → Presentation of corpse → Murder → Suicide]

These keywords were connected by arrows to form a circle.

Xing Conglian looked at the words written by Lin Chen and almost felt that he was on the cusp of the entire case but was missing the most crucial link.

Kinky Thoughts:

Happy Halloween. What better way than a release of a novel like this. I have also decided to release my newest project a little early given the theme. For those interested a modern-day supernatural genre, you can check out my newest project from one of my favorite authors: Evil As Humans. The prologue has been released.

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

Criminal Psychology Ch10

Kinky2 Comments

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

Chapter 10

Xing Conglian’s hair was messy and his beard unshaven. Because he was traveling in plain clothes today, he was still wearing a white t-shirt that was covered in mud that was paired with beach pants and flip flops, looking quite poor.

Even when he showed his police badge, the eyes of the principal of No. 3 Primary School thought he was simply a lowly policeman.

In a sense, he was indeed just a cop.

“Police officer, this is an internal affair at our school and has nothing to do with you.” The principal puffed out his chest and looked at the police officer walking towards him from the distance.

“Of course.”

Xing Conglian walked very slowly. When he walked to Lin Chen’s side, he took out a cigarette and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Then why don’t you go investigate the scene of the crime?”

Although Xing Conglian had an expression that gave off, “It’s none of your fucking business what laozi* wants to do”, he still replied seriously, “I’m here to collect evidence.” As if forcing back some discomfort, he put the cigarette from his mouth back into the pack.

*When used like this, it’s an arrogant way of referring to yourself, often times humorously. It’s basically saying, “I, this great one”.

“What do you mean?”

“Just now, Mr. Principal, I heard your complaints. You seem dissatisfied with our police investigation, so I came to inquire about it.”

Xing Conglian was very close to Lin Chen. He was tall and looked like a big brother who wanted to vent his anger on behalf of his younger brother.

“Sorry, Mr. Police Officer. I just thought you were going to intervene in the dismissal of an employee of our school.” The principal’s tone was strange. He pointed to Lin Chen and continued, “Though this dorm manager is a temporary worker, I’ll still pay enough severance. You don’t really have to bother about this.”

Xing Conglian didn’t respond, because he was thinking about a very serious issue. As a policeman, he had many ways to make things difficult for the school and could easily make them reverse their firing.

In fact, before coming here, he had thought of many, many ways to stand up for Lin Chen, but when Lin Chen actually got in trouble, he realized that he was a policeman.

Because he was a policeman, he couldn’t use the methods he came up with and this fact made things extremely frustrating.

Xing Conglian thought about it for a while before finally glancing to the right in annoyance. He said to Lin Chen, “I really can’t intervene.”

Lin Chen seemed to understand Xing Conglian’s mood. He nodded as if relieved. “I understand.”

“Then let’s pack up your things?”

“Okay.”

The conversation was simple, so much so that the three people wearing suits stood there awkwardly.

Then, Xing Conglian did something that made things even more awkward. He raised his hand, fanned it to one side, and said to the three men, “Then, please, could you move out of the way?”

Chen Ping didn’t move. He had been watching Xing Conglian the entire time.

From the news he received, Lin Chen did have a policeman by his side, who was the captain of the Hongjing Criminal Investigation Unit.

Lin Chen was always picky when choosing friends, so Chen Ping observed Xing Conglian with great scrutiny. From his ragged clothes to his unshaven face, the only thing that attracted Chen Ping’s attention was his eyes.

Those eyes were beautiful—cunning and intelligent. The key point, though, was that they were extremely clear.

To put it into a description… Taking Lin Chen’s eyes as an example, his eyes were also clear like the snow atop the peaks of a mountain, or that had melted, becoming water. They were so clear and cold that sometimes it was hard to look at him. Compared with the policeman’s eyes, they were vast and deep. Because of this, they weren’t just clear but also inexplicable.

Although he couldn’t see through this man, as a butler of an elite family, Chen Ping recognized a single truth. In front of money, even the hardest bones would soften.

So, Chen Ping took out his business card from a flashy metal box and called out, “Captain Xing.”

At this time, Xing Conglian had already squeezed into Lin Chen’s room. When he heard someone calling him from behind, he didn’t bother turning around and instead asked Lin Chen, “Is it fine if I don’t answer?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Damn regulations,” Xing Conglian muttered. He turned around and, with a forced smile, asked, “Sir, how can I help you?”

“I’m the butler of the Chen family. I’ve heard of you before, Captain Xing. I want to discuss something with you. This is my business card.”

Chen Ping handed over a dark gold embossed card and held it in mid-air.

Xing Conglian didn’t take it. He rubbed his beard and asked Lin Chen, “Is he trying to bribe me?”

“You said that too loudly.”

“Of course I have to be loud. Otherwise, what should I do if he misunderstands me?” Xing Conglian said distressingly. “We grassroots civil servants are most afraid of this kind of thing, you know?”

It seemed that Xing Conglian was quite upright.

Lin Chen continued to nod his head to express his understanding. He walked to the door and bowed slightly to the three men outside. To their surprise, he casually closed the door behind him.

“Problem solved,” he said to Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian was stunned.

A moment later, the room erupted in laughter, leaving the three men outside the door looking at each other in disbelief.

……

This was the second time Xing Conglian came to Lin Chen’s room, and naturally, it would be the last.

He crawled to the bottom of the bed, and, under Lin Chen’s instructions, pulled out a large cardboard box from under the simple wooden plank bed.

“You can come stay at my place. It’s quite big.” Xing Conglian gently brushed away the thin ash on the box, pretending to give Lin Chen a relaxed look.

“You didn’t come to get the letters? Why?”

Xing Conglian sighed. It was quite troublesome being just acquaintances.

“Two things.”

“Hmm?”

“First, Yu Yanqing most likely committed suicide. Second, we found needles in the tool room just now.”

“Drugs?”

“Phenylacetone*.”

*It’s an organic compound that’s used in manufacturing methamphetamine and amphetamine. 

“A stimulant?” Lin Chen frowned. “Large doses of stimulants can indeed cause erratic behavior. The fruit stall shopkeeper who went crazy and started slashing people should have taken a similar drug. This would make sense, but how strange…”

“Of course it’s strange. When we need clues, suddenly they appear,” Xing Conglian said nonchalantly as he sat on the floor.

When talking to smart people, it was true that occasionally there was a sense of connection.

Lin Chen also sat down on one side. Instead of speaking, he opened the cardboard box in front of him.

Xing Conglian expected to see a lot of letters in the box, but he never thought he would see that many letters. The letters filled the cardboard box to the brim. When Lin Chen opened it, some even fell out.

Xing Conglian was dumbfounded.

Lin Chen ignored Xing Conglian’s look and quickly sorted through the letters. He picked some of them out and put them on the floor. Others were stuffed back inside the box. Finally, he sealed the cardboard box, leaving about a dozen neatly packed letters on the floor.

There was an indescribable sense of beauty to his movement, like flowing water.

“Those inside?” Xing Conglian asked tentatively.

“Letters sent by others.”

“You didn’t read them?”

“No.”

“Who writes so many letters?” Xing Conglian said in disbelief, then felt that he was being too gossipy.

“Are we close?”

“It seems not,” Xing Conglian said, a bit aggrieved.

“Then why should I tell you?”

Xing Conglian didn’t know how to answer. He remembered Professor Fu’s groveling attitude when he first met Lin Chen. He guessed he needed to follow the same pattern. He rested his chin on the box and looked at Lin Chen with bewilderment.

Sure enough, Lin Chen averted his gaze and continued, “Similarly, I’m not familiar with these people who sent these letters. Why should I read them?”

“That makes sense,” Xing Conglian said.

With no rain falling outside, the room was quiet.

Lin Chen opened a letter and read it carefully. Similarly, Xing Conglian did the same.

Compared with Lin Chen, Xing Conglian’s reading was much faster. After he finished, he felt goosebumps all over his body and a chill going down his spine.

“How scary.” He pushed a few of the letters to Lin Chen. “All this, it’s all about suffering and death.” He then picked up another letter and shook it. “Who said, ‘Give me a dozen babies and I can turn them into whatever you want*’?”

*John B. Watson. The actual quote is much longer. You can read it in my Kinky Thoughts. The premise is that, as a behaviorist, he believes that any person could potentially be trained to perform any task, regardless of genetic background, personality, and internal thoughts (within the limits of their physical capabilities). All it takes is the right conditioning.

Lin Chen put down the letter and looked at Xing Conglian. “That is the view of Watson, the founder of behaviorism in the school of psychology.”

“So, is Yu Yanqing a psychology student?” Xing Conglian stroked his beard. “So she put sand next to the corpses because there’s a sand table in your room and she specifically studied sandplay?”

Lin Chen lowered his eyes. “If she treats the whole thing as a huge sand table game, then she’s obviously presenting death and forcing us to face it head on. But again, this behavior also projects…”

“Project what?”

“Her subconsciousness that is extremely afraid of death,” Lin Chen said slowly word by word.

Xing Conglian raised his head abruptly and latched onto the key point. “But there’s a problem!”

“If she’s afraid of death, why did she commit suicide?” Lin Chen said indifferently.

Kinky Thoughts:

Girl’s probably off her meds. That’s why.

Full quote from John B. Watson: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”

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

Criminal Psychology Ch9

KinkyLeave a comment

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

Chapter 9

Lin Chen was awakened by the sound of someone knocking on the window.

Outside stood a cleaning auntie wearing a yellow poncho. He got up and opened the window, only to hear the auntie angrily say, “Xiao* Lin, do you have the key to Yanqing’s toolshed?”

*Little/small (小) When used in front of a name, it’s an affectionate/friendly way to call someone who’s usually younger than you.

Lin Chen shook his head. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, “Isn’t the school closed today?”

“Even if it is, the boss didn’t give us a day off.” The auntie leaned against her long broom. “It’s hard sweeping floors day and night.”

Lin Chen was keenly aware of the abnormality here. Why would a cleaning auntie come to ask him for the key to Yu Yanqing’s toolshed?

With this in mind, he asked, “Who asked you to ask me for the key to Yu Yanqing’s toolshed?”

“Oh, it’s because you have such a good relationship,” the auntie said with a smile. Seeing as how he was young and good-looking, she couldn’t help but joke, “She resigned and said she left the key to you. Don’t you have it? Well, who doesn’t know? She usually runs to you whenever she needs something…”

The old auntie was still chattering, but Lin Chen suddenly had a bad feeling.

Yu Yanqing resigned but didn’t return the keys but said she gave them to him?

But he didn’t get any keys. If this was the case, the logistics department would need to break through the door.

So, what was behind the door?

“The key may be with me, but I have to look for it. Please go and clean other places first, okay?” Lin Chen bowed slightly. After finishing his conversation with the auntie, he turned around and returned to his bedside, took out his phone, and called Xing Conglian’s number.

…….

When Xing Conglian arrived, Lin Chen was alone. He was leaning on the door to the basement entrance, apparently guarding it alone for a while now.

Seeing a forensic officer and doctor following Xing Conglian, Lin Chen nodded, stood up straight, and moved out of the way.

There was only a dim light on in the stairwell, which made his face gloomy, even a bit sad.

As a criminal investigator, Xing Conglian could of course smell the abnormal fishy stench in the air. His expression darkened. He put on gloves and opened the door to the basement. The strong smell of blood choked everyone.

The criminal officer, who was used to dealing with this kind of scene, had to block off the cordon according to regulation. With all the lights on, it created a dazzling effect that made the dark underground space look like day.

Damaged desks, dilapidated beds, and textbooks were scattered about. Every item in the basement was illuminated clearly—even the dust was covered by a layer of brilliance.

At the end of the entire space, there was a closed, ochre-colored wooden door.

The police officer found the master key and asked Xing Conglian for his instructions.

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen, took the key, and walked to the wooden door.

Opening it was a simple matter. All he needed to do was insert the key into the keyhole, turn it gently, and with a click, the door would open. Yet Xing Conglian found that this seemingly simple task was one of the most difficult and bitter things to do in the world.

The smell of blood drifted out along the crack of the door.

He put his hand on the door panel, glanced at Lin Chen again, and said, “You know, this means you’ll become a suspect.”

The light of the flashlight illuminated the entire room, showing a haunting scene.

The small toolshed was stacked with countless tools, mops, pruning equipment, large shears, hoes, broken plant roots, and all kinds of debris from being stacked on top of each other, all forming a dirty and thick background.

Yu Yanqing’s naked body was squatting in the corner. Her body had countless fine wounds and there was blood sprayed in every corner of the room, as if numerous scarlet earthworms were wriggling around, sucking out all traces of life.

In her hand was a small knife, commonly found in a student’s pencil case. The handle was light blue, and the blade had blood caked on it.

Despite being experienced at seeing such grisly scenes, even the police officer was speechless. He could hardly handle the sight. The scene was so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.

The first thing that made a sound was the click of a shutter, followed by a flash. The forensic officer squatted down to take photos of the scene from different angles.

Then the forensic scientist walked in and laid Yu Yanqing down. His actions had an indescribably slow solemnity.

No one spoke.

At the moment when Yu Yanqing’s body was laid down, a handful of fine sand was exposed in her stiff fingers.

Fine, white, and delicate, like countless aphids swarming away.

Xing Conglian grabbed Lin Chen and dragged him out of the basement.

Typhoon season was always strange. The rainstorm had stopped at some point, and the sky looked so low that it seemed it would fall at any moment.

Xing Conglian pushed Lin Chen onto a bench in front of a lush camphor tree.

He took a bottle of mineral water from the trunk of his car, stuffed it into Lin Chen’s hand, and then sat down by his side.

As a criminal police officer, he knew very well that, apart from gods, there were only murderers who could foretell life and death. He was pretty sure that Lin Chen wasn’t the murderer, so the question was, what role did Lin Chen play in these incidents?

“I’m not the murderer.” Lin Chen unscrewed the bottle cap and spoke solemnly while keeping his voice calm.

Few could face such scrutiny and still make such straightforward statements.

“When the park incident happened, you were at the police station, so of course you’re not the murderer,” Xing Conglian said.

“If you believe me, then you believe that I’m not Yu Yanqing’s murderer.” Lin Chen raised his head and took a sip of water.

This was the second time Lin Chen said, “If you believe me”. Xing Conglian’s thought was, ‘Of course I still believe you.’

But there were some things that couldn’t be said and some that needed to be asked clearly.

“Why?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Remember that letter?”

“Nn.”

“She wrote, ‘My dear, I can finally face death calmly’, I… finally…” Lin Chen stared at Xing Conglian with cold eyes. “Think about it. When would someone use such words?”

“I finally ate crayfish. I finally drank cold beer…” Xing Conglian replied honestly.

“This is an indication of a state that has been completed or is about to be completed and contains a feeling of extreme urgency.”

Xing Conglian nodded, indicating he understood what Lin Chen meant.

But even if Yu Yanqing had decided to die when she wrote that letter, it didn’t mean Yu Yanqing wasn’t the murderer who tampered with the still rings and killed the young man.

There was no logical connection between the two.

Xing Conglian paused and suddenly thought of one possibility. “Could it be she was forced?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “All her words are in first person, which shows that she was self-aware when she wrote this letter…” Lin Chen’s tone was unusually gentle, as if he was speaking from nostalgia. “She had also written some letters to me before. Compared with the last letter before her death, they were the same handwriting. You know, if Yu Yanqing was under duress, then her mood swings would’ve been strong and there would have been trembles in her writing, creating a messy font. However, I didn’t find this.”

Xing Conglian ruffled his head, creating a mess of his hair. “What the hell is this girl thinking? Is everything she writes so cold?”

“I have only read some of these letters. The rest, I think, can be regarded as belongings of the deceased and can be handed over to the police.”

Lin Chen was a little sad.

When he received those letters, he never actually thought about what to do with them one day.

Perhaps when he quit his job, he would leave those letters behind, but handing over all the thoughts of a girl to the police was probably their saddest destination.

He returned to the dorms to pick up the letters and saw someone was waiting for him.

It was three men in suits. They were so neatly dressed that even their leather shoes were meticulously polished, and all had solemn looks on their faces.

Lin Chen had seen two of them on the bulletin board throughout the school. One was the school principal, and the other was a member of the board of directors. The last person was someone Lin Chen had known for a long time.

Many times, whenever he was awakened by a knock on the door in his dorm or residence, it was that person that was standing there.

“Hello, Mr. Butler.” Lin Chen stood still in front of his small dorm and bowed slightly, greeting the tall, thin man standing at the front.

In this day and age, those who could afford a housekeeper must be rich, and if they could afford a silver-haired, noble butler, they must be top-tier rich.

Therefore, when such a rich man’s butler stood in front of a shabby school and a simple dorm, he seemed quite out of place.

As if choked by dust, like all villains in the movies, before opening his mouth, Chen Ping coughed gently.

He lowered his head, a little condescendingly, looking at the young man in front of him.

The butler actually admired Lin Chen very much. How to put this. As the Chen family’s butler, he knew too many secrets. Naturally, he knew very well what this young man had done and what kind of paranoid maniac his master was.

Just like the grass under the strong wind, a young man who could survive openly under endless oppression was somewhat remarkable.

But he was a professional. The Chen family had given him an annual salary equivalent to that of any corporate executive. His existence was to solve all kinds of trouble for his master, which, of course, included looking for trouble.

So he drove hundreds of miles to Hongjing, found the people connected to the Chen family, and turned to the directors of Hongjing’s No. 3 Primary School and made a request.

Few people could refuse the request made by the Chen family, not to mention that it was such a trivial request.

Fire one of the school’s dorm managers.

In fact, this trivial matter didn’t require the school principal and director to come forward. He didn’t even need to meet with Lin Chen.

Coincidentally, when they were about to leave, someone rushed to the principal’s office. The man said that a body had been found in the school and that a dorm manager named Lin Chen had called the police.

“Lin Chen, is it? You’re fired,” the principal said, with his head held high.

“Why?” Lin Chen turned to look at the noble butler and the condescending principal.

“Look at the pandemonium you made of the dorms! There’s a corpse hidden in it! Is this not your responsibility? You even called the police!” The principal’s voice was so loud that the entire building could hear him.

“Oh, okay.”

In the face of the principal’s roaring, a faint voice sounded immediately afterwards, like clear flowing water.

The principal was taken aback. He didn’t expect that a young dorm manager would agree so bluntly. Saying it was too dismissive was a massive understatement.

Just when he wanted to respond, another voice that was even more glib and dismissive came from behind the dorm manager.

“Principal~ Do tell, are you dissatisfied with the work of us police officers?”

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

Bu Tian Gang Ch107

Kinky4 Comments

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

Chapter 107

The Chi family was well prepared. The guest rooms had been carefully cleaned and were spacious. The bedding and pillows were also new. Dong Zhi’s skin hurt from being scalded by the hot water so badly that he couldn’t fall asleep due to his clothes agitating the pain. He could barely change into clean clothes, then sat on the bed to take a short break.

An hour quickly passed. Elder Chi couldn’t help but sink his face when he looked at the “peach blossom” behind Dong Zhi. It had gotten lighter in color but hadn’t disappeared.

When Dong Zhi looked in the mirror, he naturally saw it.

“I’m sorry. My abilities are limited. It seems there are too many masters in this world!” Elder Chi shook his head. Although unwilling, he could only give a bitter smile. “In this situation, the curse has been suppressed for a bit, but treating the symptoms is not a cure. If you want to lift the curse, I’m afraid there’s only one way. Solve the source. You need to find who cursed him and kill that person, and the curse would naturally be resolved.”

He also knew that what he said was tantamount to not saying it. There was no doubt how vicious this person was that could create a curse like this. How could the other party let Dong Zhi easily find them? Even if he went to great lengths to track him down, it would most likely be too late by then.

Dong Zhi was a little disappointed, but this was what he expected. He had a hunch that things wouldn’t be resolved so easily.

“Elder Chi, if this curse can’t be lifted, what will be the final result? Will I die?”

Elder Chi hesitated for a moment, but he saw the answer on Dong Zhi’s face.

“Then if I die, will my soul be used by the witch to do other things?”

Dong Zhi was afraid of dying. He yearned and loved life just like every person who was instinctively born with the desire for survival. He still had many dreams that hadn’t been fulfilled, but he was even more afraid he would be used as a puppet after he died, standing on the opposite side against his former friends and companions. It was truly hopeless whether he would survive or die.

Before Elder Chi could answer, Dong Zhi’s shoulders were pressed down.

Long Shen said, “You won’t die.”

Elder Chi secretly sighed and expressed his regrets and apologies to them again. It could be seen that the old man was hit hard, not only because he failed Long Shen and Dong Zhi, but also because this incident realized that although he was considered powerful, there were still too many curses in the world that rendered him powerless to help.

The curse lifting had failed. Neither of them had the heart to attend the reception banquet hosted by the Chi family. Elder Chi knew that what they needed most now was to rest and discuss countermeasures, so he didn’t keep them. He personally sent them on their way and promised that if there was any progress in the future, they could come back to him at any time if they needed help.

Chi Banxia’s cousin, the young man who had picked them up, drove them back to the hotel in person.

“I have already done the check-in procedures for you. All your luggage has been taken in, so you can just go directly to your rooms.”

Dong Zhi thanked him, took the room card, and went upstairs with Long Shen.

They booked two adjacent rooms on the same floor. The location was excellent. There was a huge, floor-to-ceiling window in the room. When he opened the curtains, he could see the gorgeous sunset slowly falling into the sea. People in twos and threes were strolling on the beach, creating a scene that was perfect for romance.

“Master, do you have any plans for the next step?” Dong Zhi could barely cheer up.

Long Shen said, “Take you to the northwest and meet someone. He may have a solution.”

Even Long Shen said “may”, which meant he wasn’t confident, but Dong Zhi continued to ask, “Will we leave tomorrow?”

Long Shen shook his head. “Didn’t you say you wanted to stay here for a few days? I booked five nights.”

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “That’s great. We can walk around the seaside and eat seafood for the next few days. I’ve been to Sanya, so I’ll be your tour guide and take you to all the fun places.”

Long Shen nodded.

“Master, I’m a little tired, so I’ll sleep first. I’ll find you tomorrow morning. You don’t need to call me for dinner.” It was rare for the two of them to have alone time, but Dong Zhi took the initiative to send off Long Shen with a sense of fatigue between his brows, and his voice was a little weak.

Long Shen stared at him for a moment. “Then have a good rest.”

Watching the other party leave and closing the door, Dong Zhi could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He was overwhelmed by the surging pain.

He bent down, his back against the door, and slowly slipped down to the floor. His hands were clenched tightly on the clothes on his chest, and the pain penetrated to his back as if he was being pierced by a needle. The pain was so excruciating that he couldn’t do anything else but do this to relieve some of it.

In fact, this attack wasn’t as intense as last time. Perhaps Elder Chi’s method had alleviated some of it, but Dong Zhi still didn’t want Long Shen to see such an embarrassing side of him, because just now, he clearly saw the pity in Long Shen’s eyes, knowing that there was nothing they could do.

Long Shen was supposed to be omnipotent and all-powerful. In the thousands of years he had traveled, he had experienced many winds, frost, rain, and snow, and now he finally accepted an apprentice. Not only did he not enjoy the benefits of having one, but he also had to worry about him.

Even Dong Zhi thought he wasn’t worthy of Long Shen. As an apprentice, not only did he not have a long lifespan like his master, but as soon as he made some achievements, he was cursed and was about to meet a terrible end. If he went back in time, he most definitely would have regretted this.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help laughing out loud, but it caused another pain in his heart. This time it was a bit more intense. Dong Zhi closed his eyes and told himself that he just had to fight back. The last time he had such a severe attack, he survived. This time, he would certainly be fine. However, tears still came out unconsciously.

He saw the Changshou Sword placed by the bed with his luggage and wiped away his tears. He staggered over, grabbed the sword, and held it in his arms, as if this would give him a little strength.

He was afraid of death. He was afraid of the dark and unknown world. He wanted to keep fighting with He Yu, Kan Chaosheng, Liu Qingbo, and the others, facing the dangers of the future. He wanted to stay behind Long Shen silently, even if he was healthy and could only live for a few decades and stay master and apprentice all his life. He wanted to draw another picture of Long Shen. He wanted to remember the words, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here,” firmly in his mind. Even if one day he fell into the underworld, he would never forget.

Tears surged out and dripped onto the scabbard of the Changshou Sword. At that moment, it seemed that only the cold temperature could convey a little comfort.

‘I’m sorry, Master,’ Dong Zhi said silently. He should have been more cautious so that he wouldn’t be plotted against. Because of his own selfishness of wanting to be Long Shen’s apprentice, he was now exhausting his master and hurting him. His master should have an apprentice who could accompany him through the long years and be as strong as he was, not someone weak and useless like himself…

The edges of the scabbard caused pain to his face, but the pain wasn’t as painful as a tenth of a thousand compared to this curse. Cold sweat had soaked his entire back as he tried to hold back his groaning, using the scenery outside to divert his attention.

The round red sun had been completely submerged by the sea, dyeing the sky a bright orange that still had a touch of blue remaining. Soon, the sky was no match for the overwhelming night. Darkness covered the sky and the earth, as lights flickered on the beach one by one, but such sporadic firelight couldn’t warm the coldness in his heart.

The wind blew in from the window. Even though there was no severe cold here all year round, the winter nights still brought some coolness.

Dong Zhi was motionless, sitting by the bed as if he was asleep.

He didn’t realize when he had lost consciousness. When he woke up, he found he was covered with a blanket and there was hot porridge with side dishes by his bedside, with a familiar person nearby.

“Master.”

When Dong Zhi opened his mouth, he found that his throat was hoarse, his nose was stuffed, and his voice was muffled.

He thought for a while and suspected he might’ve caught a cold from the wind when he sat down near the window and fell asleep.

Long Shen let out an “Nn” and said, “Eat your porridge first. Then take medicine.”

Dong Zhi felt guilty as he didn’t dare say anything and acted as if nothing had happened. He obediently picked up the bowl, drank all the porridge in one go, then took the water and medicine handed by the other party and swallowed it. He couldn’t help laughing afterwards. “Master, how did you get in?”

“I have the keycard to your room.”

Then Long Shen probably saw him holding the sword as streaks of tears ran down his face? Dong Zhi felt even more guilty now.

“I’m sorry.” He hurriedly apologized, hoping his frankness would bring leniency.

Long Shen looked at him. “Why didn’t you call me when you had an attack?”

Dong Zhi lowered his head and whispered, “I know you have spent a lot of effort on my affair and done many things I don’t know about. I can’t help you, so I didn’t want to make you more worried.”

Long Shen said lightly, “In this matter, I don’t want you to keep it from me. You are my apprentice and the only apprentice I have taken on so far. I care about you and do not think that it’s a burden.”

At the beginning, Dong Zhi could only obediently nod and didn’t dare to respond. After hearing this, he couldn’t help but look up at Long Shen.

Long Shen said, “I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t care about anything like you imagine. I also have emotions and desires. They may be weaker and duller than ordinary people, but in the end, they do exist. In the past, I thought that I was moved by your persistence and hard work, so I accepted you as an apprentice. But the more I thought about it, if I wasn’t looking at you from the start, how could I have known that you were persistent and hard-working?”

Dong Zhi was in a daze. He found his ability to understand had deviated. For the first time, he couldn’t understand Long Shen’s words, and he didn’t dare to think in that direction at all.

Long Shen didn’t continue this topic.

“Do you want to continue to sleep?”

Dong Zhi shook his head.

Long Shen: “The weather is okay today. Want to go for a walk?”

Hearing the surging waves coming from the window, Dong Zhi felt a little moved, so he nodded.

He had a bit of a cold. Long Shen brought him his coat and asked him to put it on. He opened the blanket and Dong Zhi got out of bed. He had forgotten that he was weak, so after lowering his head, his feet got soft and he almost fell forward.

After hesitating for a moment, he said to Long Shen, “Master, why don’t we go tomorrow?”

Long Shen saw that Dong Zhi didn’t want to be carried. It was indeed troublesome to carry someone on his back in the middle of the night. The key point was that they might not be able to find a place to sit by the beach either. Long Shen paused, said, “Wait a bit,” then he turned around and left.

Dong Zhi didn’t know what Long Shen was doing, but ten minutes later, Long Shen came back with a wheelchair.

“Sit on this. It’s more convenient this way.”

Dong Zhi joked, “Master, is your nickname Doraemon*?”

*Cat-like robot from the future. I believe it has the ability to pull things out of its pocket, which is why Dong Zhi makes this joke.

Long Shen explained quite seriously, “The hotel has wheelchairs for loan.”

It was really convenient to get in and out with a wheelchair. Long Shen also covered Dong Zhi’s knees with a thin blanket. The aftermath was that others thought he was disabled and gave way to them. In the elevator, Dong Zhi met a girl who gave him the flowers on her head and wished him a speedy recovery.

In front of the hotel was the beach. There were many people walking on it at night, but since it was late at night, there were few tourists. The vast emptiness was greeted by the smell of the sea, which made people’s minds suddenly clear. There was a shower during the day, so the night was cloudless. The sky was full of stars rushing out to guard the moon. There was no need for artificial light. The waves were sparking as they rushed onto the beach, then quickly retreated, leaving lonely wet marks behind.

A couple ran while laughing. The girl was barefoot in a long skirt. Her long hair was being blown by the wind, and she covered her face as the boy who was behind her picked up his phone and started taking pictures, capturing his girlfriend’s best moments. Even if the night wasn’t bright enough, this moment would be imprinted in his heart.

The boy quickly caught up with his girlfriend, and the two kissed under the presence of the stars and moon. Perhaps because they caught a glimpse of Dong Zhi, the girl became a little embarrassed. She hurriedly pushed her boyfriend away, then dragged him along, leaving behind a few hurried footprints on the sand. The tide came and went, wiping out their traces, but the faint smell of love was still in the air.

The two walked away with a smile, leaving footprints on the beach, while Dong Zhi involuntarily sighed, feeling envy and regret.

Long Shen stood behind him and suddenly spoke.

“Do you envy them?”

Dong Zhi shook his head. “I’m just happy for their simple and beautiful bliss.”

After all, not everyone in this world could get what they wanted. Those people, like the two just now, were able to find each other in a vast sea of people, fall in love, and would one day get married.

“Do you think this is happiness?” Long Shen asked.

Dong Zhi said with a smile, “It should be. Some people still yearn for happiness. Despite the entire world in front of them, they still feel as if they could get more. Some people want very little happiness. Even if they see the sea, the stars, or even the person that they like, they can feel happy for a long time.”

Another wave came. It was still some distance away before it flooded the area, so they didn’t have to quickly retreat. However, the footprints left by the couple just now were almost completely gone, swept away into the sea.

As far as Dong Zhi could see, the young couple had also disappeared. Perhaps they walked into the darkness in the distance and quietly whispered loving words, or maybe they went back to rest. His eyes followed where their figures had disappeared, while his heart felt inexplicably lost.

Suddenly, a small shadow shrouded him in front of him. Before he could react, his lips felt warm.

Long Shen bent forward and gave him a light peck. Dong Zhi suddenly stiffened, completely petrified and unable to respond when their lips parted.

“Now, do you feel happy?”

Dong Zhi settled down. He almost thought he had experienced an illusion just now. The illusion felt so real that even the heat on his lips seemed to remain.

His heart skipped a beat and then started beating faster. He couldn’t help but grab his chest for fear he would aggravate the curse.

“Master, what did you do just now?” His voice was a little airy.

If it wasn’t his hallucination, then it may be that Long Shen thought this was a way to express a master’s love to his apprentice, or perhaps Long Shen originally wanted to kiss him on the forehead or nose, but he couldn’t find the right direction, so he made a miscalculated move.

He began to think of excuses for Long Shen, but then heard his reply. “I’m kissing you.”

“Why?” Dong Zhi was confused. He looked back at the sea in front of him, as if to see if the waves would bloom into flowers. He remained frozen and didn’t dare turn back, afraid that this would give his emotions away.

However, Long Shen’s tone was more puzzling than his. “Don’t you like me? I thought you would be happy if I did this.”

Happy. Of course, he was happy.

The great tide of joy came and he was like a string of footprints that was submerged in an instant. He was at a loss, wishing time would freeze at this moment, and even if he died, it would be without regrets.

However, the joy turned into severe pain in an instant, like a sharp blade cutting into his heart. The pain was so bad that Dong Zhi couldn’t help but bend over slightly and stoop. It made his eyes sore and swollen, and he wanted to shed tears.

Long Shen saw that Dong Zhi was lowering his head. He wanted to pick Dong Zhi up, but when he crouched down, he was held back.

“I’m fine.”

Long Shen felt Dong Zhi’s forehead. The temperature was normal, and the skin was clean and free of sweat.

Dong Zhi took a deep breath, as if he had survived the pain, and said, “In fact, when I entered this field, I had already considered the dangers, knowing that I might be injured or even sacrificed. Since my parents are gone, even if something really happens, no one will have to worry about me.”

Long Shen listened quietly.

“Even ants are greedy for life*. I’m also afraid of death. I’m even more afraid that I’ll become a soulless servant after the curse, like Ming Xian, and one day fight against you. At that time, I’ll be just a puppet, no longer your apprentice, no longer a human with feelings and thoughts.”

*(蝼蚁尚且贪生) Saying refers to that even a tiny creature is greedy to live, so humans should cherish life even more.

Dong Zhi thought he had finally calmed down, but when he saw Long Shen squatting down in front of him, looking at the other party’s forced expression, he could not help but let his tears flow.

“You won’t become like that. I will try my best,” Long Shen said, reaching out to wipe his tears. “I have already contacted the director of the Northwest Branch. He’s an extremely powerful figure. Perhaps there’s a way.”

“Master, I don’t need any sympathy, including yours.” Dong Zhi held Long Shen’s hand. The slight coldness was met with warmth and was quickly wrapped in it. “I am a disciple of Long Shen. Even if I can’t be as strong as he is, I should strive to be nonetheless.”

Long Shen frowned. “I’m not sympathizing with you.”

He didn’t know how Dong Zhi came to such a conclusion.

“I never force others or myself to do things I don’t want.” He pinched Dong Zhi’s chin and pecked him on the lips again.

This meaning should be clear, right?

“Sorry, Master, I regret it.”

“You also know that humans, especially men, have a bit of an inferiority complex, so they think what they can’t get is the best. After you kissed me, I actually recognized how I felt about you. I may have been wrong before. I was just confusing admiration with love.”

“And you’re right. When I’m old and you still look the same, I’ll definitely be angry and self-conscious and wouldn’t be able to accept such a situation. I now understand. What I like should be a sweet girl, like the one just now. Lively, a little coquettish, and ordinary, unlike you, where I will have a sense of pressure and distance.”

He had gritted his nails into his palm and was using the pain to sober himself up so that he could say these words without missing a beat.

A hand came up and broke apart Dong Zhi’s fingers, one by one.

“You’re lying,’ Long Shen said. “When you feel guilty or nervous, you clench your fists, just like last time when you tried to get me drunk.”

He looked at Dong Zhi’s frozen expression. There was a trace of a smile in his eyes. It was rare for Long Shen to be mischievous. He deliberately asked, “Hm, did you forget?”

How could Dong Zhi forget? He remembered it clearly, but he didn’t expect Long Shen to remember such small details so early on.

“This time, I may not be able to live. Even if I can, I will only have a lifespan of decades at best. I can’t accompany you through your whole life. I can’t just look at my life and ignore yours. We’re not suitable for each other and I’m not worthy of your affection.”

Life was nothing but give and take, constantly taking and giving up, and giving something up in the process of getting it.

He once confessed to Long Shen in order to “get” Long Shen’s love, his affectionate gaze; getting what he wanted, and in the end, it turned into a kind of possessiveness. But now he had “given up”, abandoned what he wanted, choosing restraint instead, just so that the other party wouldn’t be sad because of their concern for him in the future.

If this was the Long Shen who had just transformed into a human, or the Long Shen who calmly watched as Lord Jie went to his death, he might not understand Dong Zhi’s giving up, but he had been in the Special Administration Bureau for many years. How could he not notice that Dong Zhi was pretending to be calm and duplicitous.

His heart was slightly moved. There was emotion that even he couldn’t tell what it was. Long Shen said, “There is no such thing as worthiness in the world. Only whether I like it or not.”

He lowered his head again, this time kissed Dong Zhi more deeply. He left a red mark where he had pinched Dong Zhi’s chin. Dong Zhi’s eyelashes trembled, and his eyes drifted as his breathing became ragged.

“I have never done this to anyone before,” Long Shen said.

Dong Zhi was probably the first and only.

“Without you, I would continue to go on like this. With you, at least for these decades, I’ll have someone to walk with me. Are you willing?”

Long Shen’s face was half hidden in the darkness, but the hot air he breathed out was still visible. Dong Zhi blinked, as if to blink away the dense fog. Before the other party could wait for his answer, Dong Zhi had let go of Long Shen’s hand and got up. His impulse preceded his reason, and he grabbed Long Shen’s neck and took the initiative to meet him, giving Long Shen a light peck on his cool lips, then quickly separated.

“Are you sure it’s not revolting?”

Long Shen shook his head and even asked him, “Do you want to try again?”

“No need!” Dong Zhi hurriedly said. The heat on his face was steaming, and he thought how fortunate it was that it was dark so the other person couldn’t see him clearly.

Then he heard Long Shen’s voice ringing in his ears.

“I have never loved anyone, and I don’t know what love is, but I’m willing to try to be a Long Shen, one of flesh and blood, and work to understand love and hate for you.”

The mist that had lingered in Dong Zhi’s eyes finally dissipated. Dong Zhi trembled and buried his head in the crook of Long Shen’s neck.

Even though he hadn’t cried when facing the many dangers that nearly cost him his life, in front of Long Shen, he always looked weak.

Tonight, he wanted to be weak again.

The darker the night, the cooler the sky. The sound of the waves was still. Dong Zhi wasn’t sure when the surging tide had changed to consistent harmony.

With a fiery body around him, he couldn’t help but sneeze.

“Let’s go back,” Long Shen said.

Long Shen got up and pushed the wheelchair in the direction of the hotel. As he did, Dong Zhi turned his head and glanced in the direction of the sea.

The lights of distant ships were on, twinkling, like the echoing stars in the sky. The starlight came from billions of light-years away, traveling through time and space, converging into a wonderful destiny.

Perhaps there were countless such fates in this vast universe, just like his and Long Shen’s. Even if he was like the ship’s light that would go out tomorrow, at the very least, they had met and the stars knew that there was such a little light in the sea of a certain planet, accompanying them through the long night.

Kinky Thoughts:

Happy Halloween. I figured a release would fit the theme quite well given the supernatural element of this novel, but this chapter was kind of the opposite, given how sweet it is. For those interested in this kind of modern-day supernatural genre, you can check out my newest project from one of my favorite authors: Evil As Humans. The prologue has been released.

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