CH 23

CW: mentions of suicide

Chi Jiayan put away his soft smile, obediently getting down from Ling Xiao’s back, like a primary school kid who had just gotten scolded by the teacher. 

Maybe it was because he was really dizzy, because just as his feet hit the ground, he staggered before he could properly get his footing. The Grim Reaper subconsciously grabbed his elbow.

At the same time, Ling Xiao grabbed his other hand.

The two were on his left and right, one front and one back. If someone didn’t know better, it almost looked like they were fighting over him.

It was Chi Jiayan’s turn to blush. 

The assistant had gone upstairs first with the local tyrant, but seeing that the rest of them didn’t keep up, he quickly ran down again. “Mr. Chi?”

In the eyes of ordinary people, Ling Xiao was the only one standing next to Chi Jiayan. That man was exceptionally tall, handsome, and unsmiling. Most notable was his pair of cold phoenix eyes, which made people feel like he was unapproachable.

Ling Xiao let go of Chi Jiayan’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Chi Jiayan nodded obediently. “Okay Gege.”

The assistant murmured in his heart that as strange as Chi Jiayan was, he was so submissive when it came to his gege.

But his gege was also very strange. He was so gloomy that one couldn’t help but tremble after looking at him. He was even weirder than the other. But whatever; he didn’t understand the world of these experts.

Upstairs, He Kangcheng’s house was noisy. His grandma was paralyzed and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, currently cursing at people.

The local tyrant’s face was a black as the bottom of a pot while he was scolded. When he saw the assistant, he naturally vented his anger onto him. “I told you to call someone; what are you dawdling about? Are you trying to run away?” 

Ling Xiao glanced at him coldly, and the local tyrant shut up immediately.

Chi Jiayan also knew this was making oblique accusations, but he had no interest in getting involved.

Because He Kangcheng was also standing in the room. The moment he saw him enter the room, his eyes became very resentful.

He Kangcheng didn’t know that a tall man in black, the god who controlled death itself, was standing very close to him, looking at him with the gaze one would look at to view dead things. 

“What else do you want?” He Kangcheng asked. “Get out! Otherwise, I’ll call the police!”

“How will you call them?” Chi Jiayan looked around his humble home. “I’m here. Are you sure you can call the police?”

“Chi Jiayan!” He Kangcheng was furious.

“Move away.” Chi Jiayan’s nose started bleeding again. “There’s nothing good here.” 

He Kangcheng wanted to fight against him, and he had a deep attachment to this place, so he was not very easy to control, causing Chi Jiayan to bleed for the second time.

Truly, there was nothing good here.

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There was a series of complexities in Ling Xiao’s eyes. He had a deep impression of that house, so he naturally noticed some similarities between He Kangcheng and Chi Jiayan to some extent. 

They were both young people who had shouldered heavy responsibilities on their own, struggling to survive.

That was why when He Kangcheng was being bullied that one time, Chi Jiayan came to help him.

There were two pictures of the deceased on the side cabinet. It was a couple of a man and a woman. The ashes from the incense burner in front of the photos were from long ago, entangled with some cobwebs. It was rather dirty.

When Chi Jiayan saw this, he finally showed a bit of emotion. 

He Kangcheng took a step forward to block the photos, panting heavily.

“Move away,” Chi Jiayan repeated. “Get the compensation and live in a well-ventilated and well-lit place. This way it’ll be good for your grandma.”

After the grandma was finished scolding the local tyrant, the hacking in her throat seemed to be unstoppable.

The room was dark and damp, and she, whose legs were completely paralyzed, struggled to get water from beside the bed to drink because she couldn’t reach. 

Obviously, the local tyrant didn’t want to help her. The assistant didn’t like the old people smell from her body and was reluctant to get close to her, holding his nose clamped in a pretentious manner.

He Kangcheng turned a blind eye. He had no intention of helping her.

If he was this indifferent in front of other people, how was he when he was alone with his grandma?

He spat at Chi Jiayan. “Hmph, don’t be such a hypocrite. How much did you charge to do these immoral things? Aren’t you making more people hate you by doing this?” 

“I’m getting money to avoid disasters. What’s wrong with that?” Chi Jiayan asked.

“You killed your parents and relatives by yourself. Of course it’s easy for you to live alone. Whatever you want to do, you can just do it. I have to take care of an elder! Don’t you know how high the housing prices are in this neighborhood? I can’t afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment! What can I do with that small amount of money?”

Chi Jiayan turned a deaf ear to him, supporting the old lady and kindly helping her drink some water.

“If you can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment, rent a one-bedroom apartment. Don’t treat your grandma like a piece of baggage,” said Chi Jiayan. “You won’t know the value of your loved ones until one day, you have nothing left.” 

After drinking water, the old grandma smiled at him and said some incomprehensible words.

He Kangcheng sneered. “What does a monster like you know? You can control a group of people just by talking. You can live a life of prosperity without doing anything. How would you know my pain?”

In his eyes, Chi Jiayan was just standing there, no weights to be shouldered on his back.

“I don’t know,” Chi Jiayan replied. “And I’m not interested. All I see is you refusing to work hard, always blaming other people. I became independent when I was younger than you, and I didn’t live a life much better. What’s the use of throwing a pity party for yourself?” 

“That’s right, I’m useless, I should’ve died long ago!”

“Then go die. As long as you’re willing to.” Chi Jiayan laughed coldly. If he had even a trace of pity in his heart earlier, it was all but gone and replaced by anger.

Hearing these words, the Grim Reaper stood in a dark corner like a phantom, waiting to strike.

Ling Xiao said, “Speech…Jiajia, come here.” 

Chi Jiayan left the grandma’s side and walked over to Ling Xiao, unaware that he was currently going through a trial.

“The land has already been sold,” the local tyrant interjected angrily after seeing there was no result from their talk. “Are you trying to get more money by refusing to leave? We paid your compensation according to the contract you signed. It’s already a sumptuous amount, so don’t even think about asking for an extra cent! If you don’t believe what Mr. Chi said, just try! At worst, the house will collapse in three days, so you have time to run away.”

“The compensation will be doubled.” Chi Jiayan said, “For you to take care of your grandma with.”

“What?!” The local tyrant’s eyes bugged out, but the man in black robes looked at him aggressively, and his arrogance disappeared instantly. “I will not agree to give more. Don’t open the floodgates! If others come to me asking for double, who’s supposed to be responsible then?!” 

“The double that he gets will be deducted from my salary. No one else will know.” Chi Jiayan looked at He Kangcheng. “Do you agree?”

He Kangcheng was still fuming, but he was shocked and frozen when he heard this sentence.

Then, he suddenly roared, sweeping the incense burner to the floor with a wave of his arm. “I want you to take care of it! I want you to be a hypocrite!”

The incense burner shattered with a bang, and all the accumulated incense ash scattered across the floor, creating a pungent and unpleasant smell in the dark and poorly ventilated house. 

Everyone was startled.

He Kangcheng covered his head and yelled hysterically.

He looked so demented that no one wanted to stay much longer.

“Xiao Luo, send the money over tomorrow. It’ll be good if he collects it, but if not, then we’ll wait until the house collapses in three days.” The local tyrant went outside. “I won’t have to call the demolition team. By the way Mr. Chi, do you want to do business with the demolition company…” 

The local tyrant had a pretty good plan, causing even the assistant to laugh to himself when he heard.

But of course, Chi Jiayan wouldn’t answer. Every time he wished too much, he would feel very uncomfortable. The feeling of backlash was very uncomfortable.

Saying that this place would collapse was just to scare the tenants. He couldn’t afford that responsibility, nor did he have that much spiritual power. Compared with controlling such a large area at one time, it was much easier to control humans, small objects, and even the weather in a specific area.

The group of people left. Ling Xiao silently followed behind Chi Jiayan. 

The local tyrant was in a hurry, as if they had endless things to do, anxious to get to the next house.

“He Kangcheng might really die,” Ling Xiao said.

“Then he should die.” Chi Jiayan was calm. “What does it have to do with me?”

“You…don’t want to save him?” 

“Why should I?” Chi Jiayan turned his head, peach blossom eyes curved up in a smile. “He probably wanted more compensation so that he could live alone and get rid of his grandma. Nursing homes are fine and all, but how is that better than having a relative by your side? For this kind of person who doesn’t know how to cherish that and is unwilling to change, if he dies, he dies.”

He really didn’t take human lives seriously.

Even if he knew the sentence, “Go die, as long as you’re willing to” was a sentence with a lot of leeway, if he really did think that way in their heart, it would be infinitely magnified in his heart. There was still a possibility that it would lead to tragedy in the end, but Chi Jiayan didn’t have a speck of sympathy about it.

This completely subverted his good image from the past. 

Ling Xiao wanted to say some more, but Chi Jiayan changed the subject. “Gege, you called me by my name earlier.”

Ling Xiao now understood why those peach blossom eyes were smiling. “…”

“Don’t deny it.” Chi Jiayan’s dimples flashed. “Jiajia…the way you said ‘Jiajia’, I really liked how you called me.”

Ling Xiao passed by and left. 

When the two went downstairs, Chi Jiayan realized that the one with a mask hadn’t followed.

Before he had time to question it, he ran into Lu Cheng, who was rushing over.

Lu Cheng had no intention of disguising himself. He came with his feet bare, antlers in full display as he walked toward the crowd of people still discussing relocation.

“Master Ling Xiao!” He waved his hand. “Jiajia! What are you doing here?” 

Ling Xiao knew what he was doing here, so while he was thinking, Chi Jiayan spoke first.

“Lu Cheng!” Chi Jiayan looked more like a normal boy his age as he waved his hand. “Why are you here?”

Lu Cheng was used to Ling Xiao’s silence and indifference, so he didn’t feel awkward, approaching with a smile. “Well, it’s the same ol’ job that’s stayed the same for thousands of years…someone here’s about to jump off the building.”

At that moment, someone in the crowd shouted, “Someone’s going to jump off the building!!” 

The sentence was like water poured into a frying pan. All of a sudden, the excitement and anxiety caused by the relocation news turned into chaos.

Amidst the noise, Ling Xiao raised his head.

At some point, He Kangcheng had climbed the stairs to the top floor, standing on the building rooftop, blankly looking down at the ground.

Lu Cheng sighed beside him, speaking to himself. “Oh, these people that commit suicide, they don’t choose good ways to die. Even if you hang yourself or throw yourself into a river, it’s better than falling from a high place or jumping off a building. At least a whole body can be left. It’s a good thing we collect souls, not corpses, otherwise it’d be gross…can’t believe we have to do this every year.” 

As he spoke, he took a bunch of black fur balls out from his wide sleeves. They gave off death aura, walking up the stairwell in a neat queue.

“It may be too late now,” said Ling Xiao.

Chi Jiayan also looked up the stairs, as if he didn’t expect that there was someone in the world who really wanted to die because of their own cowardice. A look of disgust appeared on his face.

“What is this kind of person doing alive?” he asked. He paused, adding viciously, “Death isn’t something to be pitied for.”