On a rainy day, amidst the ruined lilies, blood flowed like a narrow stream in front of Fang Chen’s eyes. He forced his heavy eyelids open and vaguely saw a figure standing at an angle before him. The cold moonlight and the silent blue night made him almost forget where he was.
The woman’s bright red nails flashed before his eyes, bringing him back to partial consciousness. It wasn’t Xie Ying standing there; it was his vision that had momentarily distorted. Slowly, he opened his eyes, the crystalline light in his nearly amber-coloured pupils shimmering along and almost spilling over with his upward glance.
The corridor stretched out rapidly, darkness shrouding above him, casting the window frame’s shadow clearly on the mottled wall, dragging him back to reality.
“We were once together.” Fang Chen’s lips and teeth moved gently, his voice soft, as if afraid of breaking something, or perhaps it had already broken. He emphasized the word “once.”
Xie Ying’s eyes flashed with surprise, her mouth half-open, but before she could speak, a crisp bell sound interrupted her.
A black-and-white cat jumped to the windowsill, licking its paw and meowing, looking at them with its vertical pupils.
Xie Ying fell silent, her vigilance apparent.
Fang Chen glanced over.
The cat tilted its head, its mouth shaped like a “w” resembling a smile, and meowed at Fang Chen.
Fang Chen felt his soul being torn in two—one half falling into slumber, the other struggling to awaken. His throat felt as if it were filled with tiny shards of glass, the taste of rust seeping out, his gasp for breath quickening. He glanced past the cat and finally fixed his gaze on Xie Ying, who was standing opposite him. He drew the dagger tucked at his waist—the one Nie Shi had given him, its handle engraved with an ugly, distorted diamond shape—and took a slow step forward.
The clouds partially covering the moon drifted away, and moonlight slanted down onto his head.
…
The last conversation in his memory was in spring when everything was rejuvenating, and the lilies were withering.
It should have been good weather, except for a bit of chill. A thin layer of frost covered the windows, and the early morning light streamed through the screen window, giving the floating dust a golden hue. After breakfast, Fang Chen, with a bag of yogurt in his mouth, sat on the swivel chair, listening to the sound of dishes being washed in the kitchen, and called out to remind, “Can you not put cucumbers in the fried rice?”
Nie Shi heard him but pretended not to.
“I’ll cook tomorrow.” Fang Chen finished the last sip of yogurt and tossed the empty pocket into the dustbin.
They chatted about mundane things, just like any other day, an ordinary day.
Suddenly, Nie Shi said, “I found a job.”
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.
Fang Chen stopped spinning the chair.
He should have celebrated, said congratulations, energetically raised his hand and said that’s great.
Although life was a bit hard, it wasn’t too terrible.
Fang Chen knew he should do that, but he couldn’t control himself. “Sometimes I can’t help but think ‘why‘.”
Why did they have to go through all this? Pain and suffering always seemed to fall out of the sky.
He raised his head slightly, revealing only a blurry side profile to Nie Shi. “Now that I think about it, maybe I’m just unlucky. Even someone as outstanding as you get dragged down by me.” Fang Chen felt he couldn’t continue, lowering his head. Fang Chen hesitated, unable to continue speaking, and lowered his head. He had washed his hair early in the morning, and Nie Shi had insisted on blow-drying it until it was half-dried, leaving it slightly damp now.
It seemed like the air was filled with moisture, making Fang Chen feel like he was drowning, unable to breathe.
His words were so untimely, with all sorts of past events unfolding before him, memories so tangled that he couldn’t even imagine what their future would be like.
“You’re perfectly capable of finding a better job; you need not have to stay with me…” Fang Chen paused, “What do you think?”
Nie Shi walked over, his hand slowly touching Fang Chen’s cheek, fingers threading through the damp hair, “Are you going to abandon me?” Nie Shi was most adept at showing weakness, most skilled at pretending to be pitiful, knowing Fang Chen would soften, revealing his vulnerabilities to him, and using the most despicable means to control him.
Fang Chen said, “…I’m sorry.” He thought, this time he had abandoned even himself.
He couldn’t break free from the cage of reality, willing to be buried until he stopped breathing, until death. But he didn’t want to drag Nie Shi down with him anymore. It was enough; he had demanded enough from Nie Shi.
He wouldn’t save himself anymore.
…
No one ever carefully observed that behind the bustling streets lay a wasteland, with mountain peaks standing tall in the distance. The city, built of reinforced concrete, abruptly appeared out of place amidst this desolation, laying out a road that never seemed to reach its end.
The cold, hard soil mixed with small stones, and the wind cut like a knife against the skin. The youth stood on this barren land, humming an eerie tune. He twirled a small knife in one hand while the other hand was buried inside the Malevolence. With a smile, the Malevolence turned to ashes in his hand, blowing away in the wind.
From a shadowed corner untouched by moonlight, a man emerged, holding a gun in his left hand and dragging a severed limb with his right. The shrivelled, greenish-yellow hand of the Malevolence (or perhaps claw was a better term) dragged along the ground.
A Malevolence not directly stabbed in the heart wouldn’t dissipate so quickly. Nie Shi casually tossed it forward, and the arm landed not far from Qiao Ran’s feet.
“You are clearly more ruthless than I am.” Qiao Ran unconsciously took a step back, tightening his grip around the small knife in his hand. He felt a bit nervous but tried to appear relaxed. “Does Fang Chen-ge know about all this?” He tilted his head playfully, uttering words that Nie Shi disliked hearing.
“I told you, stay away from him.” Nie Shi looked at him devoid of any emotion, his pupils reflecting no one, just a bleak and silent void.
“I’m already staying far enough.” Qiao Ran pointed at the distant tall building. “This far.” He gestured, chuckling to himself. “You’re avoiding my question.”
Nie Shi didn’t even bother to give him a glance, walking past him without a word.
“Always pretending to be innocent in front of Fang Chen-ge.” With the guts he found from who knows where, Qiao Ran tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, licking his teeth as he spoke, “What will you do if he finds out?”
“I’ve also told you before, don’t let me see you again. You’d better piss off.” Nie Shi turned away, his gaze dark.
Qiao Ran remained silent, stepping back until Nie Shi walked away. He then let his smile drop, his shoulders relaxing as he exhaled a breath, murmuring to himself, “Who is really the most terrifying one here?” Then he laughed again, “Anyway, it’s definitely not me.”
The youth resumed humming his eerie tune, slowly walking forward. After a few steps, he stopped, turned toward the city centre bathed in moonlight, and lifted his cheeks with his index fingers, curling the corners of his mouth. “I wonder how things are progressing over there.”
At the very moment, in the dilapidated hotel, Fang Chen drew his dagger and stepped forward.
Before Xie Ying could react, Fang Chen reached out and slashed his own arm. Blood, thick like syrup, oozed out, vigorously dripping onto the floor, wrapping around his arm, and trickling from his fingertips.
“Fang Chen?!” Xie Ying’s eyes widened as she cried out.
The cat seemed startled by her cry, letting out a piercing meow.
Fang Chen took another step forward. “There’s always been a question I couldn’t solve.” As he moved, the moonlight followed, casting all shadows behind him. “Where is this place?”
“Qiao Ran said this place is called ‘the Human Realm,'” he answered himself, blood spreading out, the air filled with the scent of decay. “What happens if we’re killed by Malevolences, like my neighbours who were eaten by them… What will happen?” Fang Chen’s pupils unfocused, as if he were a walking corpse.
Xie Ying tried to approach him slowly, reaching out a hand in the air, shaking her head slowly, “Fang Chen…”
“You guys protect us from being killed by Malevolences, not just because we are to be punished for our sins, right?” Fang Chen stared directly into Xie Ying’s eyes, startling her.
“What are you guys hiding?” He suddenly took a large step forward, closing the distance between him and Xie Ying. She trembled; the “person” who should have been the least afraid was shaking. “I think I’ve figured it out.” As he spoke, he slashed his wrist again, his face pale, lips blood-red, looking more like a ghost than Xie Ying, as if he had crawled out of purgatory.
The bloodstained dagger fell to the ground. Xie Ying stared at Fang Chen in disbelief as blood seeped from his mouth. He slowly knelt down, coughing violently, his hand covered in warm blood that flowed through his fingers.
The cat continued to emit its sharp cries.
Xie Ying, both shocked and frantic, turned her head sharply towards the cat, yelling, “Shut up… I said shut up!”
The cry abruptly stopped, and the cat stared at her. With its mouth shaped like a “w” and copper-yellow eyes, it seemed to understand what she was saying, making everything seem strange.
Broken images flashed before Fang Chen’s eyes, scenes he had dreamed of countless times—shattered windows, rain, rust… Lilies overwhelmed him, engulfing his senses with their scent. He smelled death; it was so close, suffocatingly fragrant yet terrifying.
Time passed slowly. Despite the excruciating pain, Fang Chen remained conscious, his fingers digging into the floor, leaving bloody streaks, his nails peeling back.
More blood gushed from his mouth, yet he managed to speak, “From the very beginning… when we opened our eyes and appeared here, everyone here, we were gathered to be punished.” He felt as if his throat was filled with glass shards, hearing them crunch together, the pain excruciating.
“Everything here is prepared for us.” Fang Chen’s voice went from hoarse to clear. “It’s all fake… even our memories can’t be trusted.”
They had been trying to escape, to flee to City B.
But did City B even exist?
Day turned to night and back again; man-eating monsters roamed, and an endless road stretched ahead, blurring their sense of time bit by bit.
Fang Chen lifted his head. Before him were black high heels, Xie Ying in a red dress, vibrant and beautiful, matching her aura, but her body was slowly decaying.
Fang Chen no longer felt so much pain, his wounds slowly healing. He watched as the wound closed up, disappearing just like before.
“We have already died a long time ago.”
Fang Chen saw himself in the pool of blood, the cool air, the scent of damp grass after rain, glass shards scattered around him…
He couldn’t save himself.
He was already dead.
Xie Ying calmed down, or perhaps… gave up, her hand slowly lowering.
Fang Chen chuckled, utterly exhausted. “Looks like… I guessed right.”
The reason Xie Ying and the others had to protect this group of people was to prevent them from realizing the truth—that they were already dead.
The moonlight gradually tinged with red, the colour of blood. The cat obediently “meowed” again, its coppery vertical pupils faintly glowing.
Welcome to the world after death—Human Realm.
Damn, super interesting
Thank you for your translation 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖