Ling Xiao finally made his choice.
No, maybe the scales in his heart were tilted quietly when he was caught off guard by that child that had fallen into his arms that year.
That collision was like a spark, igniting Ling Xiao’s loneliness and despair that had persisted for thousands of years, kindling a fire that raged until his original heart of exhausted endurance was revealed.
Fate had promised him that when the two worlds reached a balance, he could return to his original world.
But that was too long, so long that there was no end in sight.
He must have no desires and no demands, must be without happiness and without sadness. The joys of the world had nothing to do with him. He could only stand by the tragedy of time.
Ling Xiao felt that this was actually a punishment given to him by Fate; a life sentence.
He had thought, Why me? He’d had enough.
Ling Xiao was unwilling to continue performing his duties.
He carried Chi Jiayan away in front of everyone, and none of the mortals dared to stop him.
In the face of this absolute power, they all couldn’t mask the instinctual fear they felt in the presence of the god of death.
The Grim Reaper had also shown up after he had saved He Kangcheng. His eyes were cold, and his body was full of frost, no different than Ling Xiao who was holding Chi Jiayan.
And Chi Jiayan was curled up in the arms of his other self, with a shy expression, a little blush on his pale face. It could be seen that he was relaxed because he felt safe.
Such a position looked ambiguous and delicate, making Chi Jiayan look like a protected treasure.
Although Lu Cheng knew about Chi Jiayan’s feelings, it was at this moment that two words stuck out in his mind: femme fatale.
It really fit him very well.
“Gege…” Chi Jiayan trailed off. His voice was a little hoarse. He felt a little intimidated when he saw the ugly expression on the Grim Reaper’s face.
The Grim Reaper was unmoved.
Ling Xiao carried him in his arms, responding with a hum very naturally. He raised his eyes. “Cang Feng.”
The howl of a wolf resounded throughout the sky, and a giant wolf the size of a truck appeared out of thin air. Its ferocious fangs and shiny black fur made people tremble.
“Help me!!”
“Ahh—”
People fled in every direction.
Cang Feng bent down and stretched out its front legs. Ling Xiao stepped on its paws, still maintaining the posture of holding Chi Jiayan in his arms.
The two of them disappeared into the sky in the blink of an eye.
Lu Cheng was frightened. “Master…this…”
If Master Ling Xiao said he wasn’t going to do it, then he really wasn’t going to do it!
Because he had a falling out with himself, he decided to rage quit his job?
God, how was he supposed to deal with this workers strike that was the first and last of its kind?
Unexpectedly, the Grim Reaper beside him also summoned Cang Feng, riding away without saying a word.
Lu Cheng was left flabbergasted. “You guys…”
This Cang Feng was extremely irritable. It raised its head and howled, the loud noise making the people who were fleeing weak in the knees, causing them to topple over.
Immediately afterward, the Grim Reaper turned his watch, returning to that time when Chi Jiayan was thirteen years old.
Because he knew all he had to do was to fix his mistakes, this timeline would soon cease to exist, so he didn’t give any thoughts to the people who had just seen him again.
He just gave the group that was wailing like ghosts a glance, then disappeared in an afterimage as he faded into the air.
Lu Cheng wanted to cry, but had no tears.
It was one thing for one of them to go on a sudden strike, but now this other one didn’t care about anything!
The innocent mortals at the scene were frightened after seeing the Grim Reaper twice in succession, so they all suffered mental whiplash.
He had to take out his soul-devouring beasts again.
The black furballs came out of his sleeves with their mouths wide open, this time to eat up the memories.
The Grim Reaper traveled through the tunnel of time.
Soon, he came to the point where Chi Jiayan was thirteen.
The Qingshui neighborhood at night was the same darkness in his memories.
He stood in the distance, retracting Cang Feng before landing on the balcony of that dilapidated house.
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.
There were two people in that room among a somewhat sad atmosphere.
Ycf bo atfw kjr tlwrfio kfjglcu j wjrx, jcv atf batfg kjr atf atlgaffc sfjg-biv Jtl Aljsjc.
Ktf akb qfbqif lc atf gbbw aegcfv atflg tfjvr ja atf rjwf alwf.
Jtl Aljsjc kjr ralii rwjii ja atlr alwf. Llr yijmx jcv rboa tjlg rfa boo tlr ktlaf rxlc. Llr fsfr kfgf ylu jcv gbecv, yea tf ijmxfv atf kflgv jcv fnli offilcu tf tjv ktfc tf kjr ugbkc eq, ibbxlcu lccbmfca jcv kfii-yftjnfv.
He suddenly opened his mouth, because he was very surprised to see another grim reaper. His expression…was a little cute.
Because Ling Xiao’s memories had been absorbed, this Chi Jiayan had a completely different feeling in the eyes of the Grim Reaper.
He knew that after this night, Chi Jiayan would go to the scene of the gas leak to find him, and then rely on him and trust him without question.
He also knew that his purpose in coming here was to end all of this.
The other grim reaper realized that his reason for coming was not simple. He had an innate sense of danger, which made him take a step forward and block Chi Jiayan.
“How did you get here?” the other grim reaper asked coldly.
“What about you, where did you come from?” he asked back.
Even their voices were completely consistent. The Grim Reaper found that he had completely gotten used to talking to himself from other time periods.
“I’m from the future,” said the other grim reaper.
Dun dun!
Beneath his mask, the Grim Reaper’s pupils shrank!
This scene! It was exactly what had happened in that room before! The difference was that, even though the protagonists were still themselves, their identities had been reversed!
That time, the one from the future had claimed that he was here to change what was wrong!
Time was all messed up.
History was repeating itself.
“What a coincidence. Me too.” He couldn’t find a better explanation, so he had to say it.
The other grim reaper frowned beneath his mask.
The Grim Reaper had no time to ease the doubts of his other self. He had to get to business now. As long as he could overturn history and let Chi Jiayan die, everything else would become irrelevant, so he motioned to Chi Jiayan.
Originally, he had wanted to plainly call out for the speech spirit, but he suddenly recalled what Jiajia had said to Ling Xiao—“The way you said ‘Jiajia’, I really liked how you called me.” He softened his tone a little, and prepared to lure Chi Jiayan over.
He beckoned with his hand and said, “Jiajia, come here.”
The thirteen year-old Chi Jiayan didn’t know what was going on. Seeing two identical gege’s for the first time had already stunned him.
Fortunately, no matter whether it was when he was thirteen or eighteen, he seemed to have no resistance when called this intimate name, so he couldn’t help but walk towards the Grim Reaper.
It was almost over!
This child had disturbed his state of mind, wasting a lot of his time.
For countless years, he had never made so many mistakes on the same thing!
He reached out and grabbed Chi Jiayan’s neck, lifting him up!
That delicate and silky touch, that fragile slenderness, incessantly reminded the Grim Reaper that this was just a child.
Immediately came a terrifying gasp. Chi Jiayan suddenly turned red, and his legs kicked helplessly in mid-air.
As long as the Grim Reaper exerted more force, Chi Jiayan would surely die.
……
“Who are you? Why are you wearing a mask?” A child’s soft voice sounded.
In the heavy rain, that soft little dumpling was holding a small red umbrella, which was no higher than his waist.
“Did you not bring an umbrella?” the little dumpling raised his head and asked. “Do you want to walk with me?”
“Gege, squat down a little.” The little dumpling raised his head and beckoned with his little hands, the umbrella handle resting on his shoulders as he carefully wiped off the rainwater for the stranger in front of him with a handkerchief.
……
“Gege, do you accumulate good virtue by doing good things?”
Gege, help me…I don’t want to die.
……
The young boy who had gone through a near accident who was sopping wet all over looked at him with clear eyes. “Gege, you’re here. Last time you said we’d meet very soon, but I waited for eight years.”
……
That boy stared at the ground. “I cursed him, but I don’t regret it at all. Gege probably hates bad people like me. Actually, I didn’t mean to be bad on purpose…”
“Gege must be a guardian angel.”
……
“Gege!” That boy cheekily followed behind him, his clear voice growing a little hoarse. “Please, be my friend! It’s okay if you don’t stick around me, please promise me, be my first friend!”
“Gege, you’re too nice. I really can’t walk anymore. Can you carry me?”
……
“Gege, am I going to die?”
“I’m actually a little bit happy.” The boy wiped his eyes dry. “I can finally see my parents again. I don’t have to be alone anymore.”
……
For a person like me, it’s better to not be friends with ordinary people. It’s true she wants to help me, but I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Gege, take me away. This way, won’t the equilibrium be maintained? I’m a bad person anyway, so I might as well be picked off first.”
……
“Can you show me what you look like?”
“Not going to let me see? And today’s my birthday. You won’t grant my wish on my very last birthday?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just that I realized you looked a bit like my friend.”
……
“Gege, since you’re the Grim Reaper, we agreed that the next time we meet is when you have to definitely take me away. But I really wanted to tell you, meeting you…
“…really was the luckiest thing to happen to me in this lifetime.”
……
Memories flashed uncontrollably.
The Grim Reaper was shaken, and he tried hard to drive away the images that affected his judgment.
But it was all in vain.
Enough!
He could feel the life of this young man who disturbed his long journey slowly slipping away in his hands, and he didn’t want to be told by Ling Xiao—”Why do you always feel that it’s just me who is weak? Aren’t you the same? Why did you allow him to live that day, and why did you save that idiot today? Wasn’t it because you were afraid that he would regret it afterwards? When will you admit that you can’t bear it either?”
No!
He refused to admit it.
The Grim Reaper sneered, saying to the other grim reaper in the room, “Ling Xiao, things have changed. I came from the future to help you correct the mistakes you made today.”
But after he finished saying this, the other grim reaper flashed forward and grabbed Chi Jiayan back in an instant.
The speed was so fast that it was almost impossible to see his movements clearly.
Chi Jiayan narrowly escaped death, subconsciously holding onto the other grim reaper as he gasped for breath, coughing and trembling uncontrollably. “Gege, Gege…”
His tone was full of trust and dependence.
The other grim reaper comforted Chi Jiayan with such an obvious desire to protect. He said in a cold voice, “He can’t die yet.”
The Grim Reaper’s eyes dimmed.
His expression hidden under the mask turned ashen.
Was his biggest opponent really himself?
It wasn’t until his hand was empty that the Grim Reaper realized that his hand had almost completely loosened its strength, letting the person in his grip be snatched away so easily.
His body was already one step ahead in betraying his willpower.
He tried to reason with the person in front of him. “Really. You’re lying to yourself. Chi Jiayan needs to die early. We should finish this ahead of time.”
The other grim reaper said, “The next time will be the perfect death instance.”
Sure enough, this was the expected response.
The Grim Reaper thought a little hopelessly, If I can’t overcome myself, I’ll never be able to finish him.
Everything was an endless loop.
In the end, Ling Xiao was not the only one who was weak.
Weakness was he and him and himself.
“Tomorrow is still tomorrow,” he said. “Doesn’t my appearance already explain the problem?”
I can’t kill him. I can’t part with him.
And I can’t lie to myself.
Every time, he told himself that there was a next time.
The two stood face to face without a word, both refusing to give in.
The Grim Reaper finally dispelled the impossible hope that he could make the right decision in the past. He massaged his temple and said, “Forget it. You are me, and I am you. How could I expect you to be more thorough than I am now.”
“What happened?” asked the other grim reaper.
Faced with such an inquiry, the Grim Reaper’s eyes locked onto the neck of the young man in his arms, where because of his killing intent, a bruise was blooming there.
The young man leaned against him softly. His brows were tightly closed, looking fragile and well-behaved, though he had already passed out.
The Grim Reaper realized that seeing the scene in front of him, he didn’t regret growing soft again, nor did he regret being unable to kill Chi Jiayan. He even breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that Chi Jiayan only passed out.
This reaction was completely opposite to the purpose he had come here for.
Forcing himself to complete this task of repairing time was impossible in the first place.
He fell into an endless loop of “deciding to kill” – “reluctant to kill” – “delaying until next time”.
The future was getting more and more chaotic.
The Grim Reaper remembered that before he came to this world, Fate once said to him, “Ling Xiao, everything I arranged has a definite number. One link connects to another, so there is no irrelevant cause and effect in the world, and none of you can break it at will.”
The very little version of himself was afraid of getting stuck in the lower dimension. “What if it breaks? Will I not be able to come back?”
Fate smiled, avoiding the question of whether it will come back or not, saying gently, “In case it breaks, try to repair it.”
“What if it can’t be repaired?” He wanted to get to the bottom of things.
Fate pondered for a while, and then said, “There is a reason why it can’t be repaired, and this reason will only appear because of you. If there is a day when the cause and effect cannot be repaired, just let it go. Follow your heart. The mess will unravel naturally.”
Follow your heart.
That meant that the Grim Reaper might not be able to return to the future before he made the time-space jump.
It looked like he was in a situation where cause and effect could not be repaired.
The other self in front of him was waiting with bated breath for Chi Jiayan, who was holding everything into an endless loop. His concern and tension were hidden under the mask, and he was waiting for an answer as to why he did this.
As for Chi Jiayan, he might’ve been the biggest bug in this space-time restoration.
The Grim Reaper knew that the seemingly hard mask was about to crack a tiny crack.
There was no going back.
Should he tell this self what would happen in the future?
Did he want to tell him… because of this child, did you have thoughts that you shouldn’t have?
The Grim Reaper shook his head and finally made a decision.
“Since I seem to be incorrigible, I can’t tell you the future.”
After saying this, he turned the watch on his wrist.
He was leaving.
He was going back to the timeline he came from.
Everything in the future from when Chi Jiayan was eighteen would be covered.
No matter what the result was, he decided to accept it.
It wasn’t until this moment that he seemed to be enlightened, and he had to accept the truth: he—cared about this child very much.
It took him much longer than Ling Xiao to figure it out.
He—wanted Chi Jiayan.
No matter if it was on the grounds of being a god, an elder, a brotherly figure, or a lover.
The author has something to say: Okay, the Grim Reaper won’t be jumping around anymore. You all get dizzy just by looking at him.
After this will start to be smooth sailing.
The translator has something to say: holy moly
Two Ling Xiao’s does make one confused 😵 ayy smooth sailing chapters here we gooo
Yeah, time for smooth sailing!!!!!!
Thank you for your translation 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
❤️❤️
I was really amazed how the author wrote this. It’s like a puzzle piece just falling into it’s place. I was wondering who is the future future Grim Reaper and it’s all according to keikaku. I wonder when will I see him/them being lovey dovey with their beloved favorite human
I do find it a little curious. Two Ling Xiao’s created a ‘vortex’ of energy trying to merge them when they touched, but the two wolf pups were able to play and wrestle without any paradox or conflict at all.