CH 22

yoantlers [Translator]12-15 minutes

CW: mentions of suicide

As soon as Chi Jiayan finished speaking, the people off stage started arguing loudly, reacting fiercely. 10SdrU

Someone yelled at him, “Hey! Are you threatening us? Modern society values the law, and you think you can force this demolition? What kind of reasoning is this?”

Another said, “Where is that Mr. Zeng of yours! You let him come out and speak! What’s the point of letting this child with delicate skin and tender flesh speak? Did he hit his head on the bricks here a few days ago?”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

The local tyrant hid behind his assistant and Chi Jiayan next to Ling Xiao, looking very timid.

The Grim Reaper had his mask on, so ordinary people couldn’t see him at all. coLYpi

Seeing the mess, he looked at Chi Jiayan without a word, the meaning behind his eyes unclear.

Chi Jiayan held the small loudspeaker in one hand, wiping his nosebleed with the other. While the audience chattered endlessly, he didn’t make any noise, saying calmly, “It’s not a threat. We won’t demolish it by force. If you don’t believe me, try me. However, I advise you to get the compensation and leave. This city is so big, so why wouldn’t it be able to accommodate you?”

A woman cried out, “We’ve lived here for most of our lives; there’s no other place for us to go! Where are we going to start over when we’re old? There’s still ten years left on the lease, and it was handed over only after I was able to cobble together bits and pieces to afford the rent!”

This area had been leased out twenty years ago. The currency at that time was not the same as it is now, and the compensation according to the price in the contract was not enough for tenants to start anew in this city.

9xFis

Chi Jiayan knew this, but merely smiled. “That’s your business. If you can’t start over, just give up. Why should others care so much about you?”

As soon as he said these words, someone threw an egg at Chi Jiayan’s face.

Seeing this, the Grim Reaper stretched out his hand to pull Chi Jiayan over, barely avoiding it.

Chi Jiayan hadn’t been frightened at all. He glanced around the audience, as if wanting to find the culprit. dcLCYA

Ling Xiao’s brow furrowed imperceptibly.

“Speech spirit.” He pulled Chi Jiayan back. “You can’t keep going with this deal.”

The resentment was too heavy.

People who were shrouded in resentment for too long would lose their lifespan. pPzgmI

Chi Jiayan said, “It’s okay, Gege. No one can hurt me.”

At this moment, a boy in the crowd shouted, “Don’t reason with this man! This guy’s a monster! He’s a devil! He doesn’t need to threaten you with the demolition at all. Anyone who comes across him will have bad luck!”

That boy looked to be about the same age as Chi Jiayan with fair skin and good looks, wearing a pair of refined glasses.

It was a pit that he was wearing cheap clothes, and his behavior was just that of the common folk. RmeIoy

He spoke convincingly, but he ducked his head and hid behind the crowd, which was quite cowardly. In fact, it made people associate him with some other words: educated degenerate; weak without shame.

Someone said, “Xiao He, do you know him?”

Please visit chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Ktf ybs vlvc’a rqfjx jcswbgf. Lf kjr jogjlv bo yfmbwlcu atf ajgufa bo atf qfbqif’r mglalmlrw.

Ktf Xglw Efjqfg rjk j ragbcu vfjat jegj bc atf ybs. kj68Lp

Ktlr qfgrbc kjr cb wbgf atjc akfcas-obeg tbegr jkjs ogbw vfjat.

Qjr la j mblcmlvfcmf atja tlr vfjat lcrajcmf kjr rb mibrf ab atf alwf Jtl Aljsjc gfmflnfv atlr bgvfg bo yerlcfrr? Lf mjwf ogbw atf oeaegf, rb la rtbeiv rajcv ab gfjrbc atja tf kbeiv yf jyif ab rff atf wbwfca bo atf ybs’r vfjat, yea ktfc tf rmjccfv atgbeut tlr vlnlcf mbcrmlbercfrr, tf obecv cbatlcu.

Not only did he notice this strange coincidence, Ling Xiao naturally noticed it, too.

The two looked at each other, and the Grim Reaper shook his head. kGg4oE

This question…did it have to do with the natal chart?

Chi Jiayan didn’t know about this change, or more likely, even if he did, he would’ve ignored it. It didn’t change the fact that he was playing devil’s advocate.

He at the present knew that people in this world didn’t need to be pitied.

“He Kangcheng, come out.” He narrowed his eyes. “I saw you.” ZsWFqb

People were quiet for a while, and the boy named He Kangcheng had no choice but to show himself.

“Chi Jiayan!” He Kangcheng said bravely. “Don’t think that you can do whatever you want because you have a bit of demonic power. Don’t you think it’s immoral for you to do this?”

“Mm, I also think I’m quite wicked,” said Chi Jiayan pointedly. “Especially since I’ve saved a villain like you. If I had known earlier, I should’ve just watched you get beaten to death.”

He Kangcheng was speechless, his face turning blue and white. 16VHPo

When others saw this, they didn’t take the grievances between mere students like He Kangcheng seriously, continuing to quarrel.

Chi Jiayan finally made a few conclusive remarks before handing the loudspeaker to the assistant. He dusted his hands off and prepared to leave.

The local tyrant followed behind him and asked repeatedly, “That’s it? That’s it, and you’re done?”

Chi Jiayan said, “Yup. It’s over.” XOJWlR

The local tyrant got annoyed. “No—I say, you’re taking this too casually. You want to charge me so much money, so you have to let me rest assured, right? Like the high school student just now, the one surnamed He! His family is one of the most stubborn residents in the area. His parents died early and his grandma is a disabled person. The family receives subsistence allowance and poverty subsidies. We can’t move him easily. You could go to his house with me, or else I won’t be relieved until I see with my own eyes that he agrees.

Chi Jiayan stood still under the sun, his skin glowing with the youth of a teenager.

Please visit chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

His appearance was indeed eye-catching, but he was like a white rose with thorns. Anyone who tried to underestimate him would be stabbed until they bled.

The local tyrant felt his heart thump heavily. A chill passed through him in broad daylight. bFEQDu

Chi Jiayan really didn’t want to go.

He really didn’t need to go the extra mile.

Ling Xiao said, “Go.”

Chi Jiayan became docile immediately, saying obediently, “Okay. If Gege says so.” yqSPE1

The Grim Reaper: “…”

He didn’t want to go with them, so he turned invisible, preparing to contact Lu Cheng.

He wanted to see if He Kangcheng’s death was related to Chi Jiayan, since apparently Ling Xiao thought so, too.

Lu Cheng’s voice was muffled in his consciousness. He could faintly hear the soul-devouring beasts mumbling human words. It seemed like he had gotten a lot busier recently. TpC6t

The loss of contact with the natal chart caused the gods to be unable to receive instructions in this world, so they could only follow the rules of the past one step at a time.

“Master Ling Xiao, wait a minute. I’ll look through the records,” Lu Cheng muttered. “It’s so annoying. The natal chart died and we all had to go back to the original way of doing things. Now everything has to be processed manually, which is simply inefficient…the name was He Kangcheng, right? Ah, I remember; it seems like he was the one who bullied our Jiajia not too long ago.”

Lu Cheng and Chi Jiayan occasionally kept in contact.

Chi Jiayan had no friends, so even if it was just Lu Cheng, he appreciated the opportunity to interact. x0GRXd

It was a pity that in Lu Cheng’s eyes, even if he had a special relationship with this speech spirit, he was still a human with a short lifespan. In addition, the Grim Reaper hadn’t appeared in front of the speech spirit for several years, so his sense of novelty had diminished. Nevertheless, he still understood.

The Grim Reaper didn’t speak. Lu Cheng could talk a day away just by himself.

He was used to enduring this noise.

“This kind of person’s gotta die in the end. He deserves it…” Lu Cheng said to himself as he flipped through the files. “Last time I saw our Jiajia, he had a bruised nose and swollen face, crying alone on the way home under the heavy rain. My god, tsk tsk, to bite the hand that feeds, who is the heavens supposed to pardon…Most humans really aren’t good things. By the way, Master Ling Xiao, why did you suddenly think to ask about this person? No—wait—are you going to see Jiajia right now?” 63OtUR

The Grim Reaper let out an indifferent hum.

“Eh? I thought you guys weren’t in contact anymore. Didn’t you already leave a breakup token? Why are you back together again…”

Please support our translators at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

“Lu Cheng,” said the Grim Reaper coldly, “don’t speak nonsense.”

Lu Cheng was not in front of the Grim Reaper, so he became bolder, saying confidently, “What nonsense! That mask! You gave him your broken mask as a present! He drew pictures all over it, and I even accompanied him to go buy the paint!” z1G3dx

The Grim Reaper felt a headache coming on.

His past self had thrown away that mask as trash, but that boy had picked it up?

This really…there were loopholes everywhere!

Was such a thoughtless and weak person really another version of himself? gNGytA

The Grim Reaper couldn’t believe it.

“Are you done looking yet?” He held a hand to his temple, interrupting Lu Cheng’s unrestrained imagination.

Lu Cheng was finally quiet for a handful of seconds before he said, “Well, here it is. This He Kangcheng is nineteen years old, uh…committed suicide by jumping off a building. The time is today. It looks like we’ll meet soon, Master Ling Xiao.”

The Grim Reaper wasn’t interested in chatting with Lu Cheng, so he disconnected his consciousness without mercy. tz82sX

He tracked down the aura of his other self to follow Chi Jiayan and the others, coming across an unbelievable scene from afar.

The self from this timeline—Ling Xiao, was actually carrying that speech spirit on his back.

It had never occurred in thousands of years to personally carry a human on his back in public!

Seeing him arriving, Ling Xiao said calmly, “How is it?” k5YcJ2

The local tyrant and his assistant thought he was talking to Chi Jiayan and said, “Apologies, Mr. Chi. We didn’t know about your injury. Seeing your bad complexion, we thought it was merely because you were pale. Fortunately, your gege is here, so there was no need to worry.”

They walked quickly because of their impatience. Their concern was also fake, and they went around the next set of stairs first in a flash.

The Grim Reaper gave Ling Xiao a cold look, but didn’t speak.

He realized he was very reticent towards his other self. OPjUMo

In human terms, there were too many things to complain about, so he didn’t know where to start.

Chi Jiayan’s face was pressed against the back of Ling Xiao’s neck. The coolness from the skin-to-skin contact made him feel very comfortable in the hot weather. He didn’t seem to be able to sense the dissatisfaction of the Grim Reaper, putting his arms around Ling Xiao with an innocent face, as if he was afraid of falling.

Please visit chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

And Ling Xiao didn’t realize that this posture was too intimate. He supported Chi Jiayan with his big hands very seriously.

“I lost a lot of blood a few days ago, so I suddenly became dizzy and asked Gege to carry me,” Chi Jiayan explained softly to the Grim Reaper. He713B

The heat of his breath passed against Ling Xiao’s earlobe.

The Grim Reaper was suddenly aware of how his pale lips were diamond shaped, and there was even a lip bead.

“Gege, you’re so kind.” Chi Jiayan’s dimples showed. “Whichever gege you are is fine. You both protect me and cherish me. I haven’t felt this way in a long time…Last time I was carried on someone’s back was when I was very young, and only my dad would do it. It’s like I’m going back to my childhood right now. How nice.”

He had just finished speaking when Ling Xiao’s earlobes quickly grew red. iFH3DC

The sharp numbness caused by the hot air from when he was speaking seemed to pass through his other self—Ling Xiao, onto the Grim Reaper’s own body. The Grim Reaper had never experienced this kind of feeling before. His slow-beating, almost static heart shook slightly.

Ling Xiao, who had felt the same thing, stopped in his tracks.

He lowered his eyelashes, as if watching the road very carefully in case he fell.

“Come down.” The Grim Reaper’s voice suddenly dropped to a freezing point. “Come down immediately.” nUh9RZ

He looked at Chi Jiayan expressionlessly.

Cold air quickly spread throughout the corridors.