KEIGHTY: Special thanks to Evelyn for the ko-fi! ( ˘ ³˘)♡ (Extra Chapter 4/5)
Han Li stood downstairs, staring expressionlessly at the empty corridor.
The gentle yet slightly weak pretense in front of Shen Kong has already disappeared. His pitch-dark eyes were bottomless, as if he was born with some kind of gloomy and arrogant temperament and could easily keep people at a distance of 1,000 li.
There seemed to be a vague smell of cigarettes in the air that had not dissipated yet. He raised his head and sniffed, his eyes getting deeper and deeper.
He didn’t know if it was a momentary trance… Just now, through the rising blue smoke, Han Li almost mistook him for someone else.
Whether it was the posture of holding the cigarette or the habit of lazily dangling the slender cigarette in his lips…
It all looked extremely similar to the mysterious man in his memory.
Han Li withdrew his gaze and subconsciously lowered his eyes to look at his left palm.
His fingers were clean and slender. The palm lines were also fine and smooth, with the thinness of a boy and the breadth of an adult.
He grasped it briefly in the void, as if he could still feel some cold and sticky liquid seeping into his skin, leaving a deep brownish-red color in his palm, like criss-crossing scars.
Just like eight years ago.
Han Li finds it very difficult to fall asleep in unfamiliar places, but last night, perhaps because the sound of raindrops hitting the window was too lulling, or perhaps due to the exhaustion caused by the pain, he quickly fell into a deep sleep on that narrow and small sofa.
In his chaotic dream, he seemed to have returned to the confused and frightened age of ten.
The flickering black shadows were whispering around the hospital bed, murmuring horrifying words——weakness, organs, critical illness…death. All the words seemed to transform into blank and mocking faces, spinning, dancing, and laughing around him who was curled up in the corner.
He saw a pale, skeleton-like hand hanging down beside the bed, and then countless black shadows spread out in all directions, wrapping around him tightly.
He couldn’t struggle, couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound, and couldn’t breathe.
The darkness pressed closer with each step, revealing a terrifying face, speaking an unfamiliar language with a vulgar accent, and grinning ferociously as they pressed the pitch-black, cold muzzle of the gun to his forehead——hatred and rage instantly overflowed in his heart. He abruptly lunged forward, breaking through the gap between the shadows, and then fell towards the surrounding abyss.
He had had the same dream too many times, but… there seemed to be something different this time.
Han Li saw the black muzzle of the gun slowly pointing at his forehead. He could almost feel the deathly chill of metal on his skin. He looked at the blurry face not far away, smiling ferociously, as the finger on the trigger slowly tightened. An extreme anger and unwillingness surged from the bottom of his heart, gnawing at and eroding his heart like a fierce beast, prompting him to suddenly break free from the grasp of the man’s hand and ruthlessly charge against the other party——
Then he fell off the cliff.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The vegetation and gravel ripped his skin, the hard branches lashing his back.
Ljc Ol tfjgv atf rbecv bo tlr ifu ybcf mgjmxlcu, jcv atf vlhhslcu, rtjgq qjlc wjvf tlw rmgfjw lc reoobmjalbc. Dea atf mbiv klcv qbeglcu lcab tlr iecur mtbxfv jii atf rmgfjwr jcv rbyr lc tlr atgbja. Llr alutais ybecv eqqfg ilwyr qgfnfcafv tlw ogbw rageuuilcu. Lf mbeiv bcis gbii lcab atf vjgx jysrr lc vfrqjlg jcv qjlc.
However, there seemed to be a weak voice whispering in the bottom of his heart: “…It’s not like that.”
But a deeper darkness surged in, drowning out the voice.
——The stimulating smell of cigarettes, ice-cold fingers, an embrace with the bitter taste of green grass, and a steady, rhythmic heartbeat.
Han Li suddenly opened his eyes.
The shadow of the night has yet to leave, the sound of rain outside the window has already ceased, and the small room seems to be in a hazy state between light and darkness, giving him an extremely unreal and strange feeling.
He suddenly sat up on the sofa, causing the sheet covering him to slide down with his movements, his back drenched in cold sweat.
Han Li raised his hand and rubbed his temples. His ears were still rumbling from the strange dream he had just had, causing a splitting headache.
The room was quiet, as if everything around him was still asleep, and only he woke up alone.
Han Li withdrew his gaze and sent a message to the previous number:
“Come pick me up.”
Just as the message was sent, Han Li suddenly hesitated. He raised his head, his gaze falling on the bedroom not far away. In the faint light of dawn, he could see the vague bulge on the bed, seemingly still fast asleep. The scene he saw before going to bed flashed through his mind. He picked up his phone again and sent to the same number:
“Bring me a new mobile phone.”
The person on the other side quickly replied: “What brand is it?”
Han Li gently touched the used clothes he was wearing with his fingers. The soft and dry fabric exuded the fragrance of laundry detergent after being exposed to the sun. His fingers lightly clicked on the keyboard a few times:
“No need to buy it, bring me my spare mobile phone.”
.
Weekends always pass by fast, and soon it was time to go to school.
“Beep, beep, beep——”
The monotonous and harsh sound of the alarm clock rang in the small room. Shen Kong turned over irritably on the bed, waving his hand and knocking the alarm clock off the bedside table.
The alarm clock rolled in circles on the ground several times and bumped against the corner. After two final hard ringings, it finally fell apart miserably.
The same monotonous and harsh voice of the system came to his ears:
“Rectifier, get up. It’s time to go to school!”
Shen Kong opened his eyes and unhurriedly got up from the bed with a violent aura. His whole body was filled with the low air of “Laozi is not happy”.
“I’m obviously thirty years old, why do I have to go to school!”
The instigator system, understanding the situation wisely, kept as quiet as a chicken, no longer making a sound.
With no one to vent to, Shen Kong felt even more furious. He raised his foot and kicked open the half-closed bedroom door, stamping the slippers under his feet with a loud thud as he stormed into the bathroom, turning on the faucet while seething with murderous intent.
The gushing water rushed against the old bathroom sink as Shen Kong scooped up cold water and splashed it onto his face. He then grabbed the towel beside him to wipe his face. With a livid expression, he reached for his school bag on the ground and walked out the door with vigorous strides.
The system reminded him: “Rectifier, you haven’t had breakfast yet…”
“Shut up.”
Shen Kong shouted through gritted teeth.
The system silenced itself once again and, as if it didn’t exist, obediently quieted down.
Shen Kong followed his memory, twisting and turning in the winding alleys, and walked towards the school in a low mood.
But before he could even reach his destination, he was blocked halfway.
Three or four big and tall students were idly standing in the middle of the road, blocking Shen Kong’s path. They lazily draped their school uniforms over their shoulders, wore jeans that did not comply with school regulations, and all of them sported weird and eccentric hairstyles.
The leader, the one with the cockscomb hairstyle, raised his eyes and slowly scrutinized Shen Kong from top to bottom. Then he raised the corners of his lips maliciously:
“Yo, what’s up, great-top-student Cheng? How come you finally dared to take the main road this time? No longer hiding from us brothers?”
Shen Kong looked up at them, his brows filled with a dark, sinister aura. His light brown eyes resembled inorganic glass beads, almost making them subconsciously feel goosebumps at the bottom of their hearts. However, before they could do anything, they saw the refined and thin young man opposite them reveal a gentle and sunny smile:
“Oh? Why don’t you tell me first, why should I hide from you?”
As if trying to get rid of the strange feeling lingering in his heart, another student took two steps forward with some embarrassment and annoyance, stretching out his hand to pull the collar of the boy, who was usually a yes-man to them——without flinching or avoiding, the latter allowed his collar to be tightly grasped. His upper body leaned forward slightly along with the force and, from a short distance away, looked as if he were being lifted into the air, shockingly compliant:
“Fuck you, kid…”
The young man looked back at him with a smile. He gently covered the man’s palm with his hand and interrupted him with a soft voice:
“Hasn’t your mother taught you not to touch others without permission?”
After saying that, he grasped the man’s index finger and ruthlessly exerted force to twist it in the opposite direction. The pain of his bones and muscles being pulled made the man scream instantly, his entire upper body bending along with Shen Kong’s force. Several other people stared blankly, as if they couldn’t figure out why the nerd who was usually squashed and rounded by them suddenly seemed to have changed.
Finally, Shen Kong let go of his hand with great mercy.
The man hugged his red and swollen fingers and fell to the ground, wailing.
As if finally waking up from a dream, several other people clenched their fists in shame and anger and rushed towards Shen Kong, wanting to teach him a lesson.
However, the next second, a slightly cold voice came from not far away, saying lightly:
“What are you quarreling about at the school gate?”
The idle students were startled, subconsciously looking in the direction where the voice came from. They saw a tall and thin young man with a schoolbag slung across his body, unhurriedly walking towards the school gate. The cockscomb head leader’s face subconsciously turned pale. He retracted his fist as if feeling guilty, put it behind his back, and spoke hesitatingly: “Lin-ge, why are you here?”
The young man called Lin-ge narrowed his eyes slightly: “Are you making trouble?”
The cockscomb head wasn’t offended. He nodded and bowed, saying: “It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. We were about to go to our class now. Sorry, sorry.”
After saying that, they bent down and helped up the student, who was still lying on the ground and wailing, and then ran in the opposite direction as if escaping. Before leaving, the cockscomb head threw Shen Kong a vague and fierce glance.
No wonder this kid is so strong-willed today, it turns out he was hugging a superior's thigh.
We’ll see!
Watching those people staggering away together, Lin Ziyu’s indifferent and contemptuous attitude disappeared. He put on a friendly and gentle smile on his face as he looked at Shen Kong:
“Schoolmate, are you okay?”
——The punching bag that was delivered to his doorstep was scared away. What could have happened?
Shen Kong took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his eyes, barely maintaining his gentle and nerdy persona. He nodded perfunctorily to the man, then turned around and walked straight towards the school gate without looking back.
Seeing the thin figure in the school uniform gradually shrinking, Lin Ziyu narrowed his eyes with an amused expression. Then he took out his mobile phone from his pocket, typed, and sent:
“Han-ge, don’t worry. Those who harassed Cheng Chen won’t dare to touch him anymore. But I actually feel like… he doesn’t need me that much?”
The message showed as read, but it took a while before they replied with just a “Mhm.”
Lin Ziyu wasn’t angry. He looked up at the empty school gate, shook his head, and sighed under his breath:
“As expected of the person Han-ge has his eye on, he really has a personality.”
💖✨💖✨