Ling Xiao said, “Most likely.”
Chi Jiayan sat up on the bed, tears falling drop by drop. “I knew it would be like this. It’s my fault. I got too close to Qiuqiu jie, and I harmed them. What do I do now…”
Ling Xiao really didn’t like it when boys cried.
He furrowed his brows and said, “First confirm the situation. Afterwards, Lu Cheng will handle things.”
Once he said this, he left the room. The black furballs scuttled off the bed and followed him one by one, single-filedly burrowing into Lu Cheng’s sleeves.
Ling Xiao faced Lu Cheng and kicked him. The latter shot up, looking around with bleary eyes. “An earthquake?!”
And then Lu Cheng finally met Ling Xiao’s icy gaze.
“Speech spirit.” Ling Xiao addressed Chi Jiayan, who was still in the bedroom. “Stop crying.”
Chi Jiayan shuffled awkwardly out of the room. He looked like he had just finished crying, as pitiful as if he had just been bullied.
Regardless, he didn’t think Ling Xiao’s attitude towards him had ever been cold. Because his injured ankle made standing straight difficult, he went ahead and clung to Ling Xiao’s sleeves, calling out softly, “Gege…”
Lu Cheng’s expression was incredulous. His imagination had started to go various places when he was glared coldly at by Ling Xiao.
The way the big one and small one got along was really weird…
“After Yu Xiaoqiu leaves, we’re getting to work.” Ling Xiao didn’t pull his sleeve away from Chi Jiayan this time.
“Mm.” Chi Jiayan wiped away his tears, but he still looked unhappy.
—
Ling Xiao said indifferently, “Eat breakfast.”
He spread a substantial amount of food on the table, including youtiao, eggs, milk, and lean meat congee. It looked almost like they had robbed a breakfast shop.
Chi Jiayan’s eyes lit up, but remembering the matter regarding the Yu family, he shook his head and said, “I don’t want to eat…”
“Suit yourself,” said Ling Xiao. “You won’t have energy if you don’t eat. You’ll only make it harder for others.”
Breakfast from the Grim Reaper?
Lu Cheng was going crazy. By god, nobody would believe him if he told them! Ling Xiao, the Grim Reaper, personally bought breakfast for a human!
Could it be that they really had that kind of relationship? Besides the fact that this speech spirit was too young, everything else was perfect!
Lu Cheng moved towards the table as his mind raced frantically.
“Lu Cheng.” Without turning his head, Ling Xiao headed outside. “It’s going to rain soon.”
Lu Cheng: “???”
Ling Xiao said, “The glass.”
The glass that was shattered by Lu Cheng last night was still scattered all over the place. Wind was blowing into the house, and if it rained, it would naturally get in the house, too.
Ling Xiao left, but Lu Cheng didn’t dare to eat the human’s breakfast anymore. He squatted down and bitterly began to pick the glass up piece by piece.
Chi Jiayan forced himself to drink a bit of milk. Dragging himself by his injured foot, he bent down to help as well.
When Ling Xiao came back, he was wearing a black T-shirt and black pants. He looked even more handsome without his large black robe.
Because he was about to deal with the living dead, this was more convenient.
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Which meant it wasn’t anything good.
“What.” Ling Xiao turned to face Chi Jiayan.
Chi Jiayan averted his eyes, petting Xiao Hei’s fur. “Nothing…”
This young boy might’ve said as much, but his heartbeat was extremely fast and extremely loud, like he was flustered by something. His body temperature was also elevated. Ling Xiao could hear the sound of his rapid blood flow.
Ling Xiao didn’t understand the complexity of human emotions, nor did he care to. He went to hang up his black robe that he wasn’t wearing anymore. When he turned his back, it could be seen that his black T-shirt had a golden totem embroidered on it, and that the totem on his black robes was gone.
Chi Jiayan approached curiously. “Is this Cang Feng?”
“Mhm,” Ling Xiao said. “Let’s go.”
Chi Jiayan knew they were about to go to Yu Xiaoqiu’s house. Heart heavy, he nodded. “Okay Gege.”
The two went upstairs, and upstairs, there was a ghost facing the wall.
It had no reaction when Ling Xiao passed by, facing the wall like its mind was empty.
Chi Jiayan asked, “Gege, what is he doing?”
This question had plagued him for years.
Ling Xiao could hear the ghost’s thoughts. Reaching out a finger, he poked Chi Jiayan’s temple, and that ghost’s thoughts were transmitted into Chi Jiayan’s consciousness.
It turned out this ghost was mute, and he had been a failed college entrance examinee over ten years ago.
“There’s no point in me being alive.”
“I should just die…trash. I’m trash.”
“I’m rotten to the core…”
Cang Feng stirred restlessly on his clothes. It could sense intense ghost energy. In the next second, it planned on surging forward and eating that ghost whole.
Chi Jiayan quickly blocked it. “Don’t!”
Ling Xiao put his hand down, pupils cold.
“It’s too pitiful,” Chi Jiayan reasoned. “Gege, don’t kill it. How about you let him reincarnate?”
Hearing this voice, the ghost suddenly turned its head, revealing a face that had no eyes, lips, nose, or ears.
Ling Xiao reached out a hand like he was squeezing an ant, grabbing the ghost by the neck.
Then, he crushed it.
The ghost became a cloud of black, dissipating in the air.
Chi Jiayan broke out in a cold sweat. “Gege?!”
“Pitiful ghosts don’t exist in this world,” Ling Xiao said. “Don’t forget I am a grim reaper.”
This boy was too naive.
Ling Xiao really couldn’t imagine his future self making friends with him.
People who died normally would be turned into spirit beasts by a soul-devouring beast, then returned to the natal chart. For ghosts, they couldn’t become spirit beads, and having left the path of reincarnation, had no choice but to be eliminated.
Whether it was by the Grim Reaper’s hands or by Cang Feng’s appetite, all ghosts would meet the same fate, returning to dust and ashes.
Just after finishing speaking, a girl in a ponytail came down the stairs, about seventeen or eighteen years old, exclaiming, “Jiajia!”
Chi Jiayan hid his dejection, smiling back. “Qiuqiu jie.”
The person who came was Yu Xiaoqiu.
After greeting Chi Jiayan, she then noticed Ling Xiao, and couldn’t help but stare blankly. “This is?”
Chi Jiayan replied, “This is my Gege.”
“Hello.” Yu Xiaoqiu greeted him without hesitation.
Ling Xiao’s expression was aloof, not at all wanting to socialize.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
Yu Xiaoqiu good-willedly asked a question. “I’m in a rush to my recital; there’s just one more dress rehearsal. Jiajia, will you be able to come to my show? I’ll give you tickets.”
Chi Jiayan was startled, lowering his head and saying in a small voice, “Sorry…I…”
“Can’t get too close to me, huh,” Yu Xiaoqiu patted his head. “Silly. Don’t be so superstitious.”
It started to rain.
The rain pitter-pattered, like it was dripping onto someone’s heart.
Yu Xiaoqiu opened up the umbrella on her wrist, not continuing to chit chat with them too much. Feigning happiness, she said, “Don’t worry about it. We’re not guaranteed to perform anyways since it’s raining. Our stage is outdoors, so maybe it’ll get canceled.”
Her attitude actually had a bit of regret in it.
Chi Jiayan knew she had prepared for several days, all for one day of performance. He laughed, “Don’t worry, Qiuqiu jie. It’ll stop raining soon.”
The two parted. As soon as Yu Xiaoqiu’s figure disappeared down the stairs, Chi Jiayan’s nose started to bleed. This was the retribution from a speech spirit’s power.
He was accustomed to carrying around tissues to wipe his nose with.
He heard Yu Xiaoqiu’s voice from downstairs. “Jiajia—It really stopped raining—”
Ling Xiao: “The greater the wish, the harsher the retribution.”
Chi Jiayan had wanted to say something, but Ling Xiao said bluntly, “We’re wasting time.”
Saying so, they both went to the house on the fifth floor.
Ling Xiao passed through the walls. As soon as he was inside, he smelled a peculiar scent, like a corpse mixed with perfume, altogether disgusting.
The house was overflowing with a black death aura, almost to the point where it was thick enough to cloud the surroundings.
He came back out to see Chi Jiayan staring blankly at the stairs, lost in thought.
He was probably staring at that space where the pitiful ghost was.
“Speech spirit,” he called out unceremoniously.
“Huh?” Chi Jiayan snapped out of it, eyes clearing. “Gege? Did you see Uncle Yu?”
“There’s nobody inside the house,” Ling Xiao said. “I need to go to his workplace.”
Chi Jiayan considered this. “I’ll go with you.”
Ling Xiao didn’t want to be accompanied by such a feeble person, mainly because it would interfere with his sense of judgment.
He said directly, “You can’t help. I’ll call Lu Cheng.”
Lu Cheng was currently rejoicing over the fact that he no longer had to pick up glass shards.
When he went outside, he hid his antlers and the red outline around him, but he was still barefoot, looking like a scruffy young man.
In reality, Lu Cheng was already over a thousand years old.
Lu Cheng was an auxiliary god. It was very likely that he would take over the position of grim reaper in the future. But right now, he was merely in charge of the soul-devouring beasts, and he always made mistakes.
Because he always put his energy in the wrong place.
Like now.
“Master Ling Xiao, I really envy you.” Lu Cheng put his hands in his sleeves, ignoring the strange glances he got from passersby.
The heavens had sprinkled down some rain before stopping, but the sky was still gloomy. It almost seemed like something had interrupted and gotten the rain stuck.
The streets were damp, but Lu Cheng walked with bare feet, not feeling cold at all.
Ling Xiao coldly said, “Focus on your own work.”
Lu Cheng waved his hands. “Aiyou, I’m not talking about work. I’m saying, I’ve known you for so many years, and I’ve always thought you’ve had no emotions, no heart, no sense of justice, and no desires all your life. Who would’ve thought that after meeting that speech spirit, at least, you seem to have some humanity, so you’ll fit in without too much trouble.”
“Shut up.” Ling Xiao couldn’t stand the noise. “Make an appointment with the Dream God to check his dreams when you have the chance.”
“Why?” Lu Cheng didn’t understand. “Are you worried? As expected, love makes a person value their gains and losses…even the Grim Reaper isn’t an exception…”
The aura on Ling Xiao’s body became as deadly as a blade.
Lu Cheng retracted his neck, moving on reflex to cover his antlers, but he remembered that he put them away. “Okay okay, don’t worry. He already admitted to me that he’s very fond of you.”
Ling Xiao really wanted to throttle this auxiliary god to death.
It had to be that Lu Cheng was spouting nonsense while he was away earlier, which was why the boy’s behavior had been so strange.
A child with nobody to depend on would inevitably feel dependent on an adult who crossed into their lives.
“He is merely a thirteen year-old child. I have nothing to do with him.” Ling Xiao walked straight ahead. “Don’t have such filthy thoughts.”
Lu Cheng: “Is that so? Seems to me like a lot of things happened while you were unaware.”
Ling Xiao indifferently explained the situation of his future self being here.
Only then did Lu Cheng fully understand, falling into contemplation.
After a while, he said, “How could this happen? He regards you as a friend, but you want to kill him in the future? What if you really do become friends? Ah, and he’s still so young…”
“I just need to figure out the truth. I can’t prevent anything that happens in the future,” Ling Xiao said coldly.
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