Chapter 59: Special Release

Wen Chu stiffly raised his head and met Xiu’s eyes.

Transparent blue eyes were looking at him focused and puzzled, completely different from the emptiness of the past.

“You… can see?” Wen Chu asked in disbelief.

Xiu nodded, his gaze focusing on Wen Chu’s face again.

Wen Chu indeed didn’t lie to him; he had an extremely beautiful face.

His eyelashes were long, and his face was flushed slightly from crying, like a little angel.

Xiu’s gaze couldn’t help but soften a few degrees. “Indeed very beautiful.”

Wen Chu jumped away with a “swish.”

Xiu maintained the breastfeeding posture, looking puzzled at Wen Chu who suddenly retreated far away, then looked down at himself.

It could be seen that Wen Chu had been eating for a long time; he had been eaten red, but—

Except for teeth marks, there were no other traces on his chest.

He had no milk.

Xiu was even more bewildered. “What’s going on?”

Wen Chu was already sad because he was about to leave without letting Xiu see him. Now that Xiu suddenly recovered his sight and sobered up, amidst the sadness, there was panic and fear.

“I…” Wen Chu retreated a few more steps.

What to do?

He lied to Xiu for so many years that they had children. Now that Xiu suddenly finds out something is wrong, he will definitely be angry.

Why did it have to be on the last day?

He’s going to leave a bad impression in Xiu’s heart.

Wen Chu raised his eyes, meeting Xiu’s gaze from afar, and burst into tears instantly. “Don’t hate me…”

Xiu was at a loss, completely failing to understand why Wen Chu suddenly cried. He walked forward without even bothering to put on clothes properly.

He wiped away Wen Chu’s tears. “What’s wrong? Don’t cry.”

Wen Chu lowered his head. “There are no children…”

“What?” Xiu didn’t understand.

Wen Chu decided to smash the broken pot. “There are no children. What you carried before was mist I stuffed into your body. After birth, I altered your perception, making you think our children grew up very quickly.”

Looking up with teary eyes, he held Xiu’s hand. “I just didn’t know what to do, Xiu. I didn’t want you to leave me. I wanted to be with you, wanted you to love me.”

“I felt that hatching eggs with you would make us a family, but I didn’t want you to raise children, and I had no way to make you carry eggs…”

The more Wen Chu spoke, the more aggrieved he felt.

Why can’t he do anything right?

Tears initially meant to soften Xiu’s heart turned into genuine tears. Wen Chu cried messily, his speech becoming incoherent.

“I wanted to build a snowman with you back then, but you died on the Ferris wheel. I hate them, hate that they need you to save them. You should have fed me candy when you came back. You should have liked me more after seeing my face. Everything is gone… It dragged on until now for you to see. Hate me then. Just hate me. After hating, like me next time.”

Xiu wanted to wipe Wen Chu’s tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears fell.

His heart ached terribly. He stopped wiping and simply pulled Wen Chu into his arms, gently stroking Wen Chu’s back. “My fault, it’s all my fault… Not building a snowman with you, leaving without saying goodbye, and not being able to see you. I was wrong.”

Ninety-nine years was so long. Xiu once thought Wen Chu had been healed by family and was gradually forgetting past pain.

It was just that perhaps Wen Chu held grudges a bit, which was why he let thick fog spread across the whole world during the world reset.

Now it seemed, that wasn’t the case.

Wen Chu’s sudden outburst made Xiu realize that the previous calm might just be a facade Wen Chu put on for him.

He thought Wen Chu was acting spoiled, but Wen Chu seemed to have shattered silently.

Wen Chu was still crying.

Xiu didn’t know how to stop his tears. After thinking, he simply lowered his head and kissed him.

Wen Chu widened his eyes in astonishment, watching Xiu suddenly lean close.

Lips met lips.

It was just a simple kiss. Xiu didn’t deepen it, but kissed very gently and lingeringly.

Seeing Wen Chu shocked into speechlessness, Xiu suddenly remembered:

Wen Chu had never kissed him.

Every time, he was either f*cked into a daze on the bed or entered unexpectedly while cooking.

He was too sensitive. Every time Wen Chu did it, he would lose composure completely. Plus, with limited vision, his mouth couldn’t even close from being f*cked, let alone kiss Wen Chu.

It was just usually too stimulating, so he hadn’t realized this point at all.

Thinking of this, Xiu kissed Wen Chu even more lovingly before slowly letting go of the other.

“It’s snowing. I’ll accompany you to build a snowman. I don’t hate you, just a little surprised.”

Xiu pursed his lips, the tips of his ears flushing red.

Mistaking that he and Wen Chu had children, and genuinely breastfeeding Wen Chu for so long…

He was a little embarrassed.

Xiu spoke to Wen Chu with his head lowered, golden hair cascading down, affectionately touching Wen Chu’s forehead, like a god lowering his eyes.

Wen Chu was kissed into a daze.

It took him several seconds to react to what Xiu did and said.

Wen Chu blinked, covering his mouth that had just been kissed, his face bright red.

“Why did you… suddenly kiss me?” Wen Chu stopped crying, asking with insufficient confidence.

Xiu said calmly, “If I didn’t kiss you, you would have kept crying until your tears ran dry.”

Wen Chu: …

Why is Xiu’s mouth still so sharp even today?

He blinked hard to clear the remaining tears in his eyes. “I don’t love crying.”

Xiu: “Mn-hm.”

Wen Chu bit his lip. “Really, I’ve only cried for you.”

Xiu looked at him, sighed helplessly, and patted his head. “Then I’d rather you couldn’t cry.”

“Seeing you cry makes me sad.”

Wen Chu’s heart began to pound disappointingly fast.

He repeatedly touched the lips Xiu had just kissed, unable to resist asking, “Don’t you blame me?”

Suddenly learning all his children were fake, does Xiu have no other reaction?

Xiu looked at him strangely. “Why should I blame you?”

“It was me who didn’t notice something was wrong with you. The children basically left no impression on me either. Since they are fake, why should I blame the real you for false things?”

As Xiu spoke, he finally had time to tidy his clothes.

He pulled back his clothes that could be called “indecent” and “half-off,” dressing himself neatly.

Feeling the stinging pain in his chest, Xiu couldn’t help pursing his lips and asking, “However, the matter of engorgement…”

“Also fake,” Wen Chu explained consciously. “It was your illusion.”

A thin flush climbed up Xiu’s neck instantly.

He chose his words carefully, “If you like eating, you can eat anytime; you don’t need to find such an excuse.”

Making him think he had engorgement so he would hold them up for Wen Chu to eat—this was really a bit too much.

Having cried it out, Wen Chu finally calmed down. He lowered his eyes and said, “It’s not that.”

He actually didn’t have a special preference for a certain part of Xiu.

Xiu: “Hm?”

Wen Chu’s voice was very soft: “…Just because you called me baby.”

“Baby? Is there any problem with this address?” Xiu still didn’t understand.

Wen Chu’s head was almost buried like an ostrich. “No problem, just…”

His voice became even smaller: “Just this gives me the illusion that you only love me.”

“Like I was born by you, like I am the only person you care about.” Wen Chu said dreamily, “Xiu, why can’t I be your baby?”

Xiu was shocked by Wen Chu’s ethics for a moment, then said seriously, “Can’t.”

Wen Chu trembled and bit his lower lip.

Xiu continued, “Baby, people related by blood cannot get married.”

Wen Chu raised his head abruptly.

He met Xiu’s smiling eyes.

Xiu patted his head. “How could you have such a cute idea? Even if we started as strangers and independent existences, aren’t we living together now?”

Before Wen Chu could respond, Xiu continued thoughtfully, “But if you like me calling you baby, that’s no problem. Next time you can tell me directly; no need to be so roundabout.”

Xiu had fully understood Wen Chu’s train of thought.

Wen Chu felt he could only be called baby if he became his child, so he made him have phantom pregnancies again and again.

But—

“‘Baby’ is just a term of endearment for a lover.” Xiu guided patiently. “It doesn’t need so many prerequisites. You and I are lovers. If you want it, tell me, and I will call you that.”

Wen Chu was bewildered.

He hadn’t recovered from the emotional rollercoaster yet. With undried tear stains on his face, he stared blankly at Xiu.

Looking stupid and pitiful.

Xiu couldn’t help saying, “Stupid cat.”

He took Wen Chu’s hand, walked through the familiar layout of the home, wet a towel with hot water, and wiped the face of Wen Chu, who had cried like a little painted cat.

That beautiful little face became clean again, steaming from the hot towel. Following his heart, Xiu lowered his head and kissed Wen Chu’s cheek.

So cute.

Looking so empty-headed after doing something wrong is also so cute.

Xiu had to admit, Wen Chu’s face hit his aesthetic points perfectly. After one kiss, he couldn’t help cupping Wen Chu’s face and kissing him again.

Caught off guard by two kisses, Wen Chu blinked slowly, finally turning to look at Xiu. “Do you love me?”

“Of course,” Xiu said.

He wrapped a scarf around Wen Chu and put gloves on him. “Let’s go. I’ll take you out to see the snow.”

Wen Chu didn’t understand why they suddenly had to go out to see the snow, but he followed Xiu obediently.

Outside, heavy snow was falling.

Wen Chu reached out to catch a snowflake, whispering, “So beautiful.”

Xiu: “Mn, reminds me of that time you built a snowman outside for half the night.”

Wen Chu: “Yes… huh?”

Wen Chu turned to look at Xiu in shock.

“How do you know about that??”

Xiu chuckled softly. “It’s very obvious every time you leave. Besides, whatever you do at the door, the shadow can be seen from inside.”

“At first I thought some kid was playing outside. The next day seeing the hair, I knew it was my cat building a snowman outside.”

“What did you build back then?”

Wen Chu told the truth: “You and me, and a pile of eggs.”

“At that time I was thinking, everything is getting better. Tomorrow I’ll go to the amusement park to confess to you. Hoping you can cheer up, hoping I can have many eggs with you…”

Speaking of these things again, Wen Chu felt like it was a lifetime ago.

Xiu said again, “Sorry.”

Wen Chu shook his head. “I don’t blame you. I only blame myself.”

Blame him for not being as important as the world, which was why Xiu left him.

Xiu patted his head. “No, it’s my fault. It’s me who didn’t give you enough security, making you worry about gains and losses like this.”

Xiu couldn’t help reminiscing.

“Before, you were very mischievous, always liked running out, and liked making demands of me self-righteously… Wen Chu, I should have died. It was you who saved me. You are my concern, and my second life. Being with you is my voluntary decision. You don’t need to be so panicked.”

“Tell me whatever you want. I will satisfy all your requests.”

Saying this, Xiu scooped up a ball of snow. “Want to build a snowman?”

Wen Chu smiled with pursed lips. “Mn.”

He squatted down, took off his gloves, and touched the icy snow.

It was night now. The world covered by thick fog wasn’t conspicuous. Wen Chu simply let the thick fog retreat a bit, lest Xiu notice something wrong.

Wen Chu focused on rolling snowballs. Xiu trimmed branches on the side while planning: “What do you want to do after this? Whatever unfinished regrets from before, I can accompany you to do…”

“Baby, after this year, I will treat you even better.”

“Xiu.” Wen Chu finished building two snowballs, one big and one small, looking up at him resentfully. “You being like this makes me reluctant to leave.”

Xiu was puzzled. “Hm? Where do you want to travel?”

Wen Chu beckoned to him.

Xiu walked over, and was immediately pulled down by the squatting Wen Chu.

Wen Chu leaned close to the side of his neck where the black energy was about to dissipate completely and bit down. “Travel to find you.”

[Lifespan +6h]
[Remaining Lifespan: 98 Years, 364 Days, 21 Hours]

Wen Chu: [System, I want to take everything Xiu made for me.]

System: […This is against regulations.]

Wen Chu: [Then I’m not leaving.]

System: [Already packed for you. Leave quickly.]

Wen Chu smiled and took one last bite.

[Lifespan +6h]
[Remaining Lifespan: 99 Years]
[Lifespan collection complete. Will detach from the world in one hour.]

The black energy on Xiu’s body disappeared completely.

Wen Chu looked at him and said seriously, “You said it yourself, you will treat me better. You have to remember.”

“Don’t be fierce to me, don’t ignore me, don’t hate me… Occasionally being fierce is okay, but you can’t hate me, otherwise I will cry.”

Xiu didn’t understand. “I haven’t been fierce to you for a long time, right?”

Wen Chu hugged him tight. “Anyway, you have to remember.”

“I like you very, very much. I want to be with you. You also promised personally, I am your baby.”

As Wen Chu spoke, his mood improved first.

In the next world, after finding Xiu, he would reveal his face directly, take Xiu away to lock him up, and solve the trouble after learning all the hidden details of saving the world from the other’s mouth.

Without the world, Xiu belongs to him.

Just like this world, he could secretly carry out a harmless little revenge on the world he hated for stealing Xiu’s attention without Xiu knowing.

Like plunging the world into darkness for ninety-nine years or something.

Xiu looked at Wen Chu confusedly but still agreed, “Okay.”

He looked at the falling heavy snow. “When spring comes and the winter jasmine blooms, let’s go out for a picnic together?”

He didn’t understand why Wen Chu plunged this world into eternal night. After settling debts with this world, Xiu actually didn’t care about this world anymore.

But this related to Wen Chu’s psychological state. He cared about Wen Chu.

Wen Chu didn’t think much about Xiu’s words and agreed, “Okay.”

He and Xiu built two big snowmen. The moment the snowmen were finished, the world froze.

[Stay time ended. Detaching you from the world.]

The black fog that had shrouded the world for years dispersed at this moment. The world returning to the right track welcomed sunlight. Xiu also froze in the motion of tidying Wen Chu’s collar, disappearing a moment later.

Wen Chu returned to the pure white System Space.

As soon as he entered the space, he was startled.

The originally simple and tidy System Space was piled with bits and pieces of things.

His cat nest was on the table, next to a thick pile of cushions of various colors. Scarves hung on chairs, a pile of gloves on the floor, plus bedsheets, pillowcases, desserts from the fridge, Xiu’s notebook…

Wen Chu was shocked. “You moved my home here?”

The System was coldly businesslike: [You asked me to take everything Xiu made.]

It didn’t understand: [Xiu went this far for you, why do you still feel Xiu doesn’t love you? Staying for ninety-nine years forcibly?]

As the System spoke, it displayed the Favorability Panel with a score as high as 90 before Wen Chu’s eyes again.

Wen Chu glanced at the Favorability Panel and asked the System calmly, “Who is one hundred?”

System: [?]

Wen Chu: “Isn’t one hundred the full score? Is it this world that is above me?”

System: […]

System: [Is there a possibility that ninety means lovers.]

Wen Chu was very stubborn on this matter. “I don’t want ninety. I want one hundred. I want to be Xiu’s only one.”

The System was speechless: [Is this the reason you strictly controlled the lifespan line and insisted on staying in the world for ninety-nine years?]

Wen Chu sat on the chair, extended his little tentacles to pull the cat nest on the table onto his knees to hug. “Not entirely. I just wasn’t reconciled that Xiu didn’t see my face. I thought if he saw it, it would reach one hundred.”

System: [Actually… forget it. Wait a moment, I’ll go upgrade the Favorability Panel. This function might go offline for a while.]

Wen Chu was casual. “Whatever. Thanks.”

He lowered his eyes to look at the cat nest.

The cushion of the cat nest was still embroidered with the words “Wen Chu Exclusive,” but it was a bit too small for the current him.

Wen Chu carefully separated a tentacle to lie on it.

The transparent little tentacle wriggled on the cushion and lay down comfortably. Wen Chu hugged the little nest in a daze, reviewing his thoughts.

Jellyfish and kitten are certainly good, but he doesn’t want to be Xiu’s little pet anymore.

Feelings starting with pity can gain Xiu’s favor quickly, but will always lead to an ending unrelated to romantic love.

Love seems not to be something he can get by hiding himself, pretending to be weak and pitiful.

In the end, he locked Xiu up, and Xiu responded to his love instead.

“Love is so hard to understand.” Wen Chu sighed. “System, I want to be human in the next world.”

System: [Can’t do it.]

Wen Chu: [QAQ]

System: […But in the next world, you start in human form.]

Wen Chu: [OvO!]

The System said awkwardly: [Don’t act spoiled to me. Either rest yourself or go do the task.]

Wen Chu flapped the small wings on both sides of his ears happily: [I want to go to the next world! Can I really be human from the start? Is it my current appearance?]

System: [Really. But there will be a small conflict between you and Xiu. Do you want to read the brief introduction first before…]

Wen Chu decided promptly: [I want to go!]

Just a conflict with Xiu, such a small matter is not a problem at all.

System: [Alright.]

System: [Don’t regret it and cry to me.]

.

[Category: Malicious Ghost]
[Remaining Lifespan: 1 Day, 10 Hours, 5 Minutes]
[Hint: You are a malicious ghost who feeds on Yang energy and may dissipate at any time. Please find a food source quickly.]

Wen Chu stood blankly on the speeding subway, unable to open his eyes due to the overhead lights in the carriage.

There were only scattered people around. Wen Chu looked confusedly at the people sitting in seats looking down at their phones, then at the speeding scenery outside.

[What car is this? Why so many people?]

System: [This is the subway. You have arrived in modern society.]

Wen Chu said “Wow,” and wanted to sit on a seat imitating others, but discovered the next moment that his translucent body passed directly through the chair.

Wen Chu fell on his butt, almost falling through the subway directly.

Fortunately, he had experience being mist, floating up shakily.

Wen Chu voiced his doubt: [Hmm? Ghosts can’t sit on chairs?]

System: [You are a weak malicious ghost without a physical body. For now, you can only float. Even your speech cannot be detected by ordinary people. Wait until your lifespan is high to touch things.]

Wen Chu suddenly realized and began to check the introduction of this world.

[Modern city. With the rapid development of society, people’s stress is increasing, and resentment is getting deeper. Malicious ghosts and vengeful spirits lingering in the human world after death are also gradually increasing, and supernatural events occur frequently.]

[A hundred years ago, promoted internationally, special ability families of Taoism, Magic, Deity, Buddhism, etc., formed the International Exorcist Association worldwide, setting up a great array to deliver unjust souls. As the Eye of the Array, you gradually mutated into a malicious ghost in a hundred years of solitude and escaped the array a few days ago. Without a channel for deliverance, the world became chaotic again.]

Wen Chu’s mouth twitched, remembering the “small conflict” the System mentioned, and had a bad guess.

Sure enough, the next line confirmed his guess.

[Xiu, Chinese-German mixed blood, member of the New Wave Exorcist Association, and one of the candidates for the president of this term’s Exorcist Association.]

[As a new wave exorcist without family power support, Xiu needs a credit big enough to silence all the deeply rooted millennial families in the association. Obviously, this Eye of the Array escape incident is an excellent opportunity—]

Wen Chu: “…”

Wen Chu: “This is the small conflict you talked about?”

Great. Now he has become the obstacle to Xiu saving the world.

Then he might as well find the Eye of the Array directly, lie inside, and die.

The System felt guilty: [Not a particularly big conflict, right?]

Wen Chu was expressionless: “Oh, then do you think when Xiu sees me, will he kill me first, escort me into the array first, or obediently let me suck Yang energy?”

System: [Doesn’t he not know who the Eye of the Array is or what it looks like yet?]

Wen Chu paused. “So you mean let me capture Xiu, suck his Yang energy dry, and then go die?”

System: […Can’t you not die?]

Wen Chu looked resentful: “Then you have to ask Xiu. It looks like the Xiu of this world really wants me to die.”

The System wanted to say more, but just then, the subway announcement sounded.

“Arriving at University City Station. Passengers needing to get off, please take your luggage and items, get off from the left door in the direction of train travel. When getting off, please mind the gap between the train and the platform to prevent tripping or dropping items.”

The subway began to slow down and stop. Wen Chu didn’t float steadily and subconsciously reached for the handle next to him.

But he forgot he had no physical body; his hand passed directly through the handle.

Wen Chu, the whole ghost, started rolling directly.

“I hate subways—”

Wen Chu tried desperately to brake.

Just then, a young man with golden hair walked in carrying a schoolbag.

The man’s features were very handsome, a heroic and sunny mixed-blood appearance. He had neat short golden hair, blue eyes, wearing a single blue tassel earring on his right ear, dressed in a modified mandarin collar shirt with dark patterns embroidered with silver thread beside the frog buttons at the collar.

Loose, retro, standard New Chinese style dressing, surprisingly didn’t look out of place on him, a foreigner.

Carrying his schoolbag on one shoulder, Xiu paused as he walked into the subway.

He looked almost confusedly at the red figure rolling forward violently into an afterimage.

Malicious ghosts are graded by color. White is the lowest, mostly new vengeful spirits, followed by gray, green, purple, and finally red.

Red malicious ghosts, which are the red-clothed malicious ghosts often found in horror movies, are all fierce demons with monstrous resentment. Wherever a red-clothed malicious ghost appears, it is almost always a river of blood.

But what did he see on the subway just now?

A rolling… red-clothed malicious ghost?

Why does it feel clumsy?