…………..
Jing Ci covered his ears and closed his eyes. He hated his older sister’s high-pitched voice, especially when she was shrieking like a shrew.
Hearing the noise, their parents came from the kitchen, trying to control the situation.
“I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose”, Jing Ci’s mother said in a gentle tone.
The sentence made Jing Ci look up with wide eyes.
Not on purpose?
He hadn’t done it on purpose? Hadn’t done what on purpose?
He hadn’t done anything. He had tried to avoid the slimy guy as much as possible. There was absolutely nothing he had done, on purpose or not. The whole, entire fault was on that guy, not on him.
“I didn’t do anything”, Jing Ci hissed, his voice dark. He felt his fingers quiver with anger.
His mother looked at him, smiling wryly. “I know you’re not at fault.”
“No.” Jing Ci stepped up, refusing to accept the matter like this. “I didn’t do anything! It’s not just not my fault, I wasn’t involved at all!”
“Stop it”, his father said, putting a hand on his wife’s shoulder. He shook his head slowly. “He wouldn’t notice.”
His older sister, tears in her eyes, angrily glared at him. “It doesn’t matter if he didn’t notice! He kept on flirting with my boyfriend!”
“I didn’t do shit!”
“Yes you did!”
The crying resumed.
“Be quiet!” His father gave a single bellow that shut them all up. The old man sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Stop fighting about it. What’s done is done, get over it. He’s your brother after all, be a bit more tolerant.”
And the fault was still on him!
Before Jing Ci could flare up, his older sister did. “Why do I always have to give in! He’s a goddamn freak! I don’t even dare invite anyone over because I don’t know what he will do! Why do I have to tolerate a freak that kills animals! What if he hurts my friends or does something weird?!”
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.
At that moment, Jing Ci slowly felt his blood run cold. He had tried to hide his behavior, but apparently it hadn’t worked well. Still-
“I never hurt anyone else and I didn’t flirt with your disgusting boyfriend!”
“Lf’r sbeg ygbatfg”, tlr wbatfg kfjxis lcafgpfmafv. “Lf’r-”
“Don’t act with me! I know you’ve been looking around for institutions where you can lock him up! He’s not normal, and he’s not my brother! He’s disgusting and a freak! We’re all just tolerating him because we’re worried that he will hurt us! You dislike him just as much as I do!”
Ktf rtbmx bc tlr qjgfcar’ ojmfr abiv Alcu Jl atja tlr rlrafg’r kbgvr kfgfc’a kgbcu.
Alcu Jl xcfk atja tf kjrc’a cbgwji. Lf kjrc’a ilxf jcsbcf firf.
But when his parents had brought him to therapy, when they had pointed out the places where he was behaving abnormally, he tried his best to adjust. To fit in. Because this was his family and he had loved them, had wanted to stay with them.
Snfc atf vfjv jclwjir kfgf tlr yfra jaafwqa ja rajslcu cbgwji. Ktf wlclwew tf wjcjufv ab vb ab xffq tlwrfio ecvfg mbcagbi.
But apparently, all his efforts were useless. No matter how much he tried, he was destined to be seen as a freak and a monster, even by those he had thought were the closest to him.
So he gave up.
There were four pairs of eyes on him, lacking any sort of love. He wasn’t part of this family.
He was part of nothing.
The last restraint inside him snapped. In an auditory hallucination, he almost thought he heard it – the thread of his self-control.
Nothing had helped, right?
All of these years had been useless, right?
Even if he continued on like this, he’d never have anyone who loved him and accepted his efforts, right?
If that was the case, what was he trying for?
What did he endure all of this pain for, when nothing changed at all?
…
“So I took a knife.”
Aspen ended his retelling. He had never thought he’d talk to someone about this. The professor often asked him, but he refused to tell the story.
In the end, a single question from Tian Zhu was enough to make him talk.
“…What about your little brother?”
“He was actually closer to me. I hadn’t planned on hurting him, but… He heard the commotion and watched me kill everyone. I saw him and the way his eyes glazed over, and thought I might as well spare him the pain of living with this memory. Aah, it’s presumptuous, I know, but I was angry. The neighbors called the police, and I ended up hurting more people as I struggled. That was how it went.”
The phone managed to relay his tone very well. Light-hearted but obviously forced, with a soft tremble below it.
Tian Zhu picked up the phone, holding it closer to his face. There was no video, but he had a feeling that Aspen was curled up on the bed.
“I’m sorry you were alone”, he said slowly.
“What are you sorry for? It’s not like it’s your fault.”
“But I know what it’s like, and I wish you didn’t have to go through that.”
“…Do you pity me?”
“I do.”
Aspen laughed dryly.
“So direct…”
“I pity the both of us”, Tian Zhu mumbled, feeling his consciousness slipping. “All we ever wanted was to live peacefully, with a little bit of affection. It’s just… that even this was too much for us to ask for, it seems.”
The drowsiness was too strong. He only heard Aspen dimly say something else: “…The next game, let’s win it together.”
Tian Zhu gave a hum, then fell asleep.
Next to him, the call continued silently for another half an hour, just breathing to be heard.
As he hoped, the next few days were very tranquil. Ling Xian didn’t come to bother him and his parents only called once to ask about him, then continued to ignore him.
Through a mass-sent message, Tian Zhu found out that Ling Xian had secured an engagement with Shu Yun. It was decided by their parents – in a way, an engagement of convenience. Both families liked the connection, but who knew what kind of deals had been going on in the background.
Tian Zhu was relieved to hear the news. This was likely to steady Ling Xian for a while, now that he had gotten what he wanted. It was hard to imagine that the families would cancel the engagement.
At the same time, Tian Zhu started feeling better. Someone had slipped the drug into his regular meals, making it clear that even now, Ling Xian wasn’t interested in letting him off.
Seeing this, Tian Zhu gave up again. He didn’t have to struggle if Ling Xian wouldn’t allow him to, so it wasn’t worth the pain. He’d only have to let Ling Xian know he surrendered, then the drug would find its way to him more regularly.
Just once, the evening before the dream, Tian Zhu’s peace was broken.
The nurse just left the room, informing him that he could leave the next day. It was dark outside, only a dim light throwing shadows inside the hospital room.
Tian Zhu had already changed clothes. He was inspecting his own body, noting how he was growing bonier with weight loss.
Caught up in his own thoughts, he noticed quite late that the door opened again. When he heard the noise of the door, he turned his head in surprise – Shu Yun was standing in the doorway.
The hospital hallway was dark. With Shu Yun wearing a white dress, she appeared like straight out of a horror movie. Someone else might have been surprised, but Tian Zhu was getting used to scares and didn’t mind as much.
He listened to the clacking of her shoes as she entered, black eyes always on his.
“Tonight is the night again”, she said, each word perfectly clear. There was no greeting, no context, but Tian Zhu had a good guess on what her next words would be. “…I wonder if you’ll enter the dreams again?”
He didn’t reply. None of Ling Xian’s friends were common people, but he had underestimated Shu Yun’s interest in the dreams if she felt the need to visit him in the hospital in secret.
Shu Yun leaned forward. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light. She was a beautiful woman for sure, but she felt cold like a venomous snake. “If you do… you’ll tell me, won’t you? I’m still waiting to hear about your last visit.”
She straightened up again. The whole time, her voice never changed its tone – always calm and controlled.
“I am not a very patient person.”
She left him a threat before leaving. Through the gap of the room’s door he spotted someone else glaring at him, likely her twin brother.
“…Caught between a rock and a hard place”, Tian Zhu complained to himself. It sure wasn’t easy, getting some rest around here.
Author’s Note
And on to the next game!
Thank you for the chapter🙂💕
Huh, can i say i hate them,just leave our MC alone, he didn’t do anything bad to you so why must you hurt him this way
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
They’re starting to get on my nerves. Tian Zhu too, he have to know his brother won’t let him go no matter what he do.
I am rly hoping for revenge. They all don’t deserve his time in the first place hmph