Editor: Junyans
Huitian was called to an impromptu video meeting, and the tone the other party used indicated that this meeting was something she couldn’t refuse.
Under the adulation of everyone at the company, she entered the immersion mode and joined the salon of the privileged.
The moment she stepped in, she felt as if she had truly entered a warm salon. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and the hall was decorated in a classic style, exuding a sense of comfort. There were few people present, all dressed in slightly retro clothes and chatting in refined tones. The sound of a piano wafted through the air, distant and elegant.
“Miss Huitian.” Someone smiled at her. “Welcome to the Guest Show Interim Association. Please have a seat wherever you feel comfortable.”
Dressed in an incongruous business suit, Huitian felt like a lamb walking into a den of lions after she entered the place.
She smiled stiffly and sat down in a corner of the sofa. A group of people, each one genteel and beautiful, were scattered around the corners of the salon.
Someone said, “We’ve discussed it and we hope Miss Huitian can help us convey a message.”
Then they explained the outcome of the discussion.
Huitian didn’t react for a while.
“I don’t understand…” she said vapidly.
The group laughed, and a man in a smoky blue suit said to her, “What’s wrong? Don’t they have a good relationship?”
“But it’s not that kind of…” Huitian choked out.
“I thought they seemed quite happy pretending to be in a relationship.” Another person chuckled. “Then why don’t they show us the full extent of their ‘relationship?’”
Huitian couldn’t speak, a chill creeping through her despite the warmth of the room.
She saw Jakowski, the chief director, sitting on the sofa in the farthest corner, drinking one glass after another. He stared at the corner of the table expressionlessly. There was already an empty bottle on the table, and he had almost emptied another large bottle of liquor.
This was supposed to be the pinnacle of technology and indulgence of the Upper City. Yet, for Huitian, it felt like a descent into a dark, swirling abyss, a place of uncertainty and chaos.
“I just love these ‘good brothers’ who fight their way through blood and fire for each other.” Someone chuckled. “Bai Jingan took a big risk for Xia Tian. His Excellency, the God of War should ‘personally’ thank him.”
“I hope he understands that people are nothing more than animals and will just follow their sexual instincts in the end,” someone else remarked.
“Do you want him to fuck Bai Jingan?”
“I think we should make Xia Tian take the initiative. He is tough, but his problem is that he is too uncooperative.”
“It’s the same if Bai Jingan fucks him—”
“Of course, it’s not the same—”
“Regardless, Bai Jingan must pay for his actions. A painful price.”
“We should write it all down on the menu.”
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.
“Qf tjnf ab ajxf la bcf rafq ja j alwf atbeut.”
Ktfrf vluclajglfr rja mbwobgajyis ys atf olgfqijmf, vlrmerrlcu atlr ragjcuf jcv wjilmlber abqlm.
“Lbk wemt mjc atfs fjgc ogbw vblcu atlr rmfcf?” rbwfbcf jrxfv.
“Rbk lr cba atf alwf ab qea la bc atf wjgxfa obg rjif,” j rwjii wjc klat vfmbgjalnf uijrrfr rjlv. Lf kjr vgfrrfv bqeifcais, yea atfgf kjr rbwfatlcu lc tlr vfwfjcbg atja gfrfwyifv j mbiv wjgxfa jcjisra.
“The God of War’s reputation is at its peak, so he must be unbeatable now,” he said, “Let’s wait until he falls from grace, is reduced to a mere porn star in the eyes of his fans, and lacks any subsequent value. Only then can his bed scenes become the main attraction, and then it’ll be time to make this scene go public.”
“We have to earn every penny.”
“It won’t be long.”
“Yeah. In the next session, we’ll directly implant earphones and punishment measures into all the contestants’ bodies. Then we will separate the two and set up a situation where they must confront each other. They will create another wave of enthusiasm, and when that last wave of popularity has died down, that’ll be the end of it.”
“I like this God-making marketing campaign. Although all the fervor is short-lived, it’s still exciting when it happens. It feels like there’s some kind of meaning to it.”
Huitian’s scalp tingled as she listened.
This space was so surreal, like a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake up.
“Regardless of how Xia Tian ends up,” someone said, “and no matter what new talents there are next year, he must be on the Guest Show invitation list next year.”
His well-dressed companion beside him agreed. “I have plenty of scenes prepared, and I plan to have a ‘good chat’ with him at the next Guest Show.”
They continued discussing money-making, sex positions, and various details they wanted to see. Dressed immaculately, they were the true rulers of the Upper City, but what they discussed was extremely perverse. To them, everything was nothing more than hollow bubbles.
And the way they ultimately decided how this “bed scene” would be performed was by drawing fucking lots.
Huitian looked at the results of drawing lots and stammered, “But… but he won’t do it…”
“You tell him, if he doesn’t do it, his sister will do it in his stead.”
Huitian didn’t hear who was speaking; it could have been anyone here.
His tone carried a hint of amusement, light and icy, as if the matter was inconsequential. He must have said it many times before and done it many times before; such depraved acts were just routine desserts for someone like him.
Huitian sat there, feeling chilled to the bone. She didn’t dare ask where Dee Dee was—she should have been at her place. She hadn’t been very clear-headed since she arrived here, but at this moment, she was certain of one thing.
Xia Tian and Bai Jingan had to do as they were told.
These people were capable of anything.
Huitian stood in the small apartment in the Lower City. The table was strewn with cups and firearms, while clothes lay haphazardly on the sofa. Despite Xia Tian and Bai Jingan’s brief overnight stay at the place, the atmosphere bore a semblance of familial warmth.
But now, all the illusions were shattered.
The two Killing Show stars stood under the dim light, their expressions frightening. Huitian hoped they would say something, but no one spoke. Everything seemed to be on hold, as if they were standing on the edge of a cliff, frozen. The air was thick with tension.
Summoning her courage, Huitian continued, “Listen, if you don’t do this, you’ll have to go back to the ‘feast’ tonight,” she said, “There, they’re going to give you a sufficiently humiliating lesson to make sure you remain compliant. There won’t be many people watching, just the highest echelons—”
The duo looked at her with wintry gazes.
“Don’t look at me like that. You wouldn’t want to involve Dee Dee in this!”
The room fell into complete silence.
Xia Tian opened his palm, then clenched it tightly again. Huitian wasn’t sure if he was trying to control himself from reaching for the gun, but the motion seemed like a desperate struggle.
“Where is she?” he said weakly.
“I don’t know…” Huitian said.
He didn’t speak anymore.
Xia Tian had always been someone who knew what to do, she thought. There seemed to be some innate mechanism in his body. Even living in this darkness, he never got confused or lost himself. But when he came to the Upper City, he finally understood what it meant to be at a dead end, to have no choice but to surrender his dignity and let those people crush it. He even had to cooperate actively. Even death had disappeared from the options.
After a while, she heard Bai Jingan say, “What exactly are we going to do?”
The person’s voice sounded a bit distant and ethereal. Huitian felt like she was about to cry, but she was trapped in this world, just like them, unable to escape.
“I will… inject you with some drugs. You… must have a physical reaction. They have prepared nano earbuds and some details…” She said uncomfortably, “they said… you have to kiss, there has to be penetration and ejaculation… dear god…”
She stared at the floor, struggling to continue.
“They said… this time you have to be underneath, Bai Jingan…” She said, “Xia Tian, you…”
Xia Tian suddenly grabbed the cup on the table and smashed it against the wall.
It made a startling shattering sound. Water and shards splashed everywhere, and she flinched.
“I can’t do this,” Xia Tian said.
“You have no choice!” Huitian yelled.
“I can’t do it!”
“I know, but…”
“We’ll do it,” Bai Jingan said.
Jakowski believed that the biggest problem with the Upper City magnates was confusion.
They couldn’t tell the difference between appetite, sexual desire, love, ideals, hatred, or destruction. They couldn’t distinguish between living and dying. Greed blurred and erased all boundaries, leaving only desire itself, which ultimately turned into malicious nothingness.
These people had descended into depravity year after year, and by now, they had essentially evolved into a group of monsters.
He was sure that with just the amount of alcohol he had now, he couldn’t get through the broadcast process, so he scavenged another dozen or so bottles from the temperature-controlled cabinet and placed them where he could see them.
He didn’t care what kind of alcohol it was—definitely extremely expensive—as long as it could make him thoroughly drunk.
This wasn’t his first time controlling a Guest Show. For the show, they always used the top backend team from the Upper City. You couldn’t control a show like this without being drunk to death. Sometimes, you might even need some memory suppression.
The human brain didn’t have enough capacity to bear when it came to working for the devil.
Huitian gave the two victims nano earbuds, which were so thin they were barely noticeable, but through them would the course of the whole thing be controlled.
She stuttered out some specific requirements—Jakowsi was relieved he didn’t have to say them himself; no one would want to say these things. She took out a bottle of lubricant, and all that was left was to administer injections to them.
Bai Jingan stood in the shadows, looking at the syringe gun with a hateful expression. She said, “It has to be this way. Listen… you must get hard, you must… complete this. It’s the best proposal. You can’t afford a loss.”
Bai Jingan silently reached out and took it. Under the shadow of the fluorescent lamp, he looked like a block of ice.
He injected himself with an expressionless face. He must have known that this thing could ruin him, but he looked extremely calm. Huitian glanced at Xia Tian and didn’t dare to walk over. Bai Jingan stretched out his hand and said, “Give it to me.”
Huitian handed him the syringe, and Bai Jingan turned to look at Xia Tian. Huitian quickly left the room. Jakowski guessed she would probably be waiting in a corner for everything to be over, trying hard to pretend this incident didn’t happen.
It was a bright and glamorous city, where most people could only turn a blind eye to the darkness in the corners.
The two people stood in the silent room, as if nothing had changed from before, but it was already a dead end.
The two were Killing Show stars, at the peak of public worship, yet also the property of the Floating Gold Group. When the company asked for it, they had to become toy soldiers or perform pornographic scenes. They had no other choice.
Jakowski saw Bai Jingan walk up to Xia Tian, staring into his eyes. He thought, I have to admit, he is a courageous man. He’s still trying to control the situation even at this moment.
Xia Tian took a step back. He had always been the more emotional one.
But Jakowski also knew that when needed, Xia Tian was equally cold, ruthless, and had extreme control. Those who had been through horrendous experiences were never whole and knew how to sacrifice a part of themselves.
In some ways, these two were almost identical. It was just that Xia Tian felt safe enough to be emotional around Bai Jingan.
Bai Jingan said, “Listen, we have to do this. We have no choice.”
“I… I can’t…” Xia Tian said.
“It’s just having sex.” Bai Jingan said, “We have to… we can’t… this is nothing…”
He couldn’t continue.
Jakowski knew what he wanted to say: Dee Dee was still out there, and that was a price they couldn’t afford to pay under any circumstances…
But there was something else, he thought. From the moment he saw Bai Jingan, he felt there was something else beneath that calm exterior…
At this moment, he suddenly understood. It was hatred. He didn’t know where it came from, but it burned inside his body, making him unable to let go. It was a hatred so immense that he couldn’t even seek death but would rather drag his broken body along to slake his thirst for revenge.
In the room, Bai Jingan grabbed Xia Tian’s wrist to inject him. Xia Tian complied. Only Bai Jingan could make him obedient.
Jakowski was almost drunk, but even then, he felt a chill at that moment. He knew what kind of drugs the elites used and how strong their effects were. It would be a brutal night.
