Ch87 – The Cycle of Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around (1)
Chi Xiaochi shakily got to his feet. He pulled out a can of Laoshan Beer from underneath a messy pile of clothes, popped the pull-tab, and chugged it down in large gulps.
That unfamiliar voice said coldly, “Not afraid of poison?”
Chi Xiaochi said, pained, “A poison to resolve a thousand worries.”
The other party, “……” Idiot.
Fortunately, even though 061 had lost his voice, all the world information was still transmitted into Chi Xiaochi’s mind.
Like the woman’s head had just said, the original host was called Song Chunyang.
Song Chunyang was a little mystic who loved to laugh.
He worked as a nurse, but he once had a side-job, going to check out the fengshui of new houses with his grandmother.
His grandmother was a white-haired, wrinkly old lady with a cold, elegant temperament. She had quite the reputation in the industry, and was extremely mysterious in the eyes of outsiders. She lived in a straw hut next to a huge temple in her hometown, where she would sit and open her senses, and divine the happenings of the world. As long as a customer with deep pockets were to come, and report their Eight Characters and what they wanted to know, she would then pick up her brush and swiftly write the answers they wanted on a piece of paper, and explain them one by one.
Song Chunyang’s father had no interest in all of this. In his grandmother’s words, her son didn’t have any talent in this area. He couldn’t judge karma, couldn’t tell between the positions of the lines of the Eight Trigrams. But not entering this business was good too.
Song Chunyang’s father thought that his mother was an old witch. He was deeply ashamed of her, and would often warn Song Chunyang to pay his grandmother no mind.
But Song Chunyang didn’t think the same way.
He had been able to see strange things since he was small.
When he was young, he didn’t know any better, and would often be frightened into loud tears by strange looking things.
He didn’t understand why the big brother next door was carrying a little big sister on his back, and he also didn’t understand why, when he could clearly see his grandmother’s best friend, Granny Lin, walking around with her partner on the Sunset Bridge where they had gotten together, everyone said that Granny Lin had died a long time ago.
Song Chunyang’s grandmother knew everything. She really cared about this crybaby grandson of hers, and would often stroke his forehead and say, treasure your eyes, they’re precious gifts from heaven. They’ll help you understand what karma is even faster than other people.
Song Chunyang had heterochromia. One eye was amber, and the other was blue. No matter how anyone looked at it, it looked like the product of a gene mutation.
Fortunately, Song Chunyang really could grow. Other than that pair of eyes, he inherited all of his parents’ best traits, and even made a very fine personal optimisation. His facial features were unbelievably beautiful. Since he was young, he had been a white and tender glutinous rice dumpling, a mascot-like existence throughout his schooling.
His most beautiful feature was his eyes. They were bright and shiny, his pupils just the right size, and had a special texture, like the most exquisitely refined gems.
Song Chunyang had a smooth tongue and a cheeky personality, very charming. He would often be frightened into shrieking by suddenly appearing spirits, but not long after, he would try to chat with them, striking up a conversation, and unexpectedly made a lot of ghost friends.
He would often complain to himself, “My name only serves as psychological comfort.”
However, for all his complaints, Song Chunyang would still help some ghosts which didn’t have too deep a grudge and didn’t look too scary to fulfill their last wish. Occasionally, during exam period, he would ask some little spirits he had become familiar with to help him sneak a look at multiple-choice answers of the top student in front of him.
He really believed in karma, so he wouldn’t use his ability to do anything too outrageous.
However, Song Chunyang was always willing to act a little mischievous.
Whenever someone from the nearby city requested guidance, and asked his grandmother to come to their house to take a look at their fengshui, Song Chunyang, worried that it would be inconvenient for her to go alone, would always come along as long as he didn’t have cla.s.s.
His grandmother’s eyes were also a little unlike those of normal people. She was probably able to see the “Qi” of people and objects, so she just needed to take a walk around and inside the house, and would then be able to point out the problems with their fengshui and how to fix it in a few words.
However, it was hard to communicate what one felt with their senses. Song Chunyang couldn’t understand how that felt.
His grandmother was in charge of pointing out the problem, while he was in charge of placing the fortune-changing objects, such as a jade Pixiu, where his grandmother told him to.
Given his young age, originally, the homeowners wouldn’t trust him, but with his pair of heterochromatic eyes, he looked really mysterious.
Every time the homeowners let out awed expressions, Song Chunyang would pretend to be blind.
As soon as they left the homeowner’s sight, Song Chunyang would break into laughter.
His grandmother never tore down his little tricks. She would look at him tenderly, saying, helpless, “Oh, you.”
The year he was to go off to university, his 66-year-old grandmother pa.s.sed away.
Before pa.s.sing, his grandmother said to Song Chunyang, who had stayed by her side the entire time, weeping, “Chunyang, you must believe in karma. Don’t do bad things, and do more good things.”
This wish was too simple, and too gentle. Song Chunyang pressed his face to his grandmother’s calloused palm and tearfully agreed.
After his university entrance exams, he got into a nursing college, which was next door to one of China’s top medical universities.
The nursing college was so small it was like the medical university’s toilet in comparison, but Song Chunyang had the att.i.tle of since he was here, he might as well be content with it, and would often go over to the medical university to play.
Little gay Song Chunyang expressed, going to the medical university was like going home. Being in the medical university felt even better than being home, there were handsome men everywhere, and they were also good with their words, he really liked being there~
In the medical university’s privately-run paranormal society, he met its student chairperson, Yuan Benshan, and fell in love at first sight.
Yuan Benshan was two grades above him, and had been top of his grade for three years straight. He was elegant, distinguished and accomplished, outstanding in all areas.
At one point, he believed that meeting Yuan Benshan was his good karma.
He said lovingly to Yuan Benshan, “Old Yuan, me meeting you, was because I did too many good things before.”
When he heard him say that, Yuan Benshan poked the tip of his nose. “Isn’t it because you scored 70 points in your university entrance exams?”
Song Chunyang said proudly, “What do you mean, I got 72 points.”
Yuan Benshan, “Rounded, it’s 70 points.”
Song Chunyang, “Nonsense, rounded, it’s 100 points.”
Yuan Benshan couldn’t win with him, so he could only pick him up and raise him high “Okay okay okay, we’ll go with what you say, little mystic.”
Yuan Benshan knew about Song Chunyang’s Yin-Yang Eyes, but he’d never believed it.
Him joining the paranormal society was just because he liked the novel thrill of paranormal stories, he’d never really believed in the existence of ghosts.
Song Chunyang said, “I really can see ghosts. If you don’t believe me, just look at my eyes.”
Yuan Benshan cupped his face in his hands and examined it closely, “En, I see it. It’s heterochromia.”
Song Chunyang said poutily, “There’s one crossing the road in front of you.”
Yuan Benshan laughed. He politely bowed to the air in front of him. “h.e.l.lo.”
The pa.s.sing ghost, who was dressed as a student, trembled with shock. He immediately bowed back, “h.e.l.lo, senior.”
Song Chunyang giggled, laughing so sweetly that any temper Yuan Benshan had disappeared.
In Song Chunyang’s second year of university, Yuan Benshan began to become busy.
Every day, Song Chunyang would travel over a kilometre’s distance with takeout to send warmth to his boyfriend in the neighbouring school.
……Occasionally, he would even send over his body.”
Song Chunyang leaned into Yuan Benshan’s embrace. He crinkled his elegant and lovely face. “The gift might be simple but the feelings behind it are deep.”
Yuan Benshan had long since given in to this mouth of Song Chunyang’s. He pinched his nose. “Then I truly thank you.”
Song Chunyang collapsed into Yuan Benshan’s embrace, acting spoiled between his laughter. “Old Yuan, you have to love me.”
Yuan Benshan gently pinched his waist. “Does it hurt, does it hurt?”
The two rolled around together, turning into a ball of laughter.
They were always very sweet together.
But one day, something rather strange happened.
On the day of the winter solstice, Yuan Benshan went to an old library to borrow some reading materials. As such, Song Chunyang didn’t go to find him. Instead, he bought some dumpling flour, and enthusiastically began to make dumplings for Yuan Benshan with the limited tools in the dorm.
Just as Song Chunyang was hesitating over whether to go to the supermarket to buy a small rolling pin or to make do with a 2B pencil, Yuan Benshan called.
On the other end of the call, Yuan Benshan asked a question that seemed to have come out of nowhere, “Chunyang, do you really have Yin-Yang Eyes?”
Song Chunyang obediently replied, “Ah? Yep.”
Yuan Benshan fell silent for a moment, then tried to explain why he was asking this question, “I was flipping through some old resources here, and found a lot of records about the Yin-Yang Eyes.”
Song Chunyang’s heart filled with sweetness. “Didn’t you go there to study?”
Yuan Benshan said, “Whenever I see information that has something to do with you, I have to at least take a look.”
Song Chunyang let out a mischievous giggle, “Can you come back before noon today?”
Yuan Benshan said, “Of course I can.”
After the matter pa.s.sed, it was over, just like that. Song Chunyang didn’t pay it any mind.
He quickly made a big pot of dumplings and pattered over to Yuan Benshan’s dorm with it. There was a share for all his good friends and even the dorm supervisor auntie too.
Song Chunyang was good looking, and his mouth was even sweeter. He addressed the dorm supervisor with a call of “Big Sis Li”, which was even more effective than Madam’s Jingxin Menocare Essence, coaxing her to the point that the dorm supervisor auntie gave him a pair of newly embroidered insoles.
In comparison, probably because there was something on his mind, Yuan Benshan’s reaction was light, but he actually ate all the dumplings, and even asked a lot about Song Chunyang’s family.
Song Chunyang of course was completely open with him, even specially bringing up a lot of things about his grandmother.
About half a month later, Yuan Benshan’s busy period came to an end, so he invited Song Chunyang out on a date to watch a movie at eight.
Song Chunyang put on his new white down jacket and a snow-white wool hat with two fluffy pom-poms hanging down from both sides, which brought out his beautiful features, making his lips look redder and his teeth look whiter.
When he arrived at the milk tea shop that they’d decided to meet at, Yuan Benshan was running late, so he naturally walked into the shop and bought Yuan Benshan a lemon grapefruit tea and himself a milk tea.
A closing-down sign had already been pasted on the shop door. Given that it was going out of business, it was to Song Chunyang’s shock that he found quite a few customers inside, there were at least ten.
Many people gave Song Chunyang weird looks.
Song Chunyang found this a little strange, but after confirming that these people weren’t ghosts, he just did as he wished and sat down to enjoy the air-conditioning as he waited for Yuan Benshan to come.
When a girl pa.s.sed by him, she tilted her cup, purposely splashing boiling milk tea onto him.
Song Chunyang, who had had half of his body covered in milk tea, shot to his feet. “f.u.c.k!”
Without waiting for him to say anything else, the girl said harshly, “You knocked into me and made me spill my milk tea! Pay!”
The milk tea had been quite hot. Song Chunyang had been scaled to the point that he started hopping around like a little beaver, and his neck had turned red with a burn, but as he grimaced in pain and stripped off his clothes, he still didn’t forget to anxiously ask the girl, “You didn’t get burned, right?! You didn’t get burned, right?”
The girl clearly hadn’t expected that he could actually still have the heart to care about her. Her fierce expression from just now vanished from her face.
In this moment of delay, thick fog rolled in from the streets outside, surrounding the milk tea shop in plumes of clouds.
The girl who had made milk tea for Song Chunyang just now walked out from behind the counter, taking off her ap.r.o.n.
From just then to now, her eyes were red with tears, and she had been in an absent-minded trance. Song Chunyang had thought she’d just had a bad breakup, and hadn’t dared to ask further.
However, her next words threw Song Chunyang into confusion.
She said, “……Even if you want to leave, it’s too late.”
The moment her words fell, Song Chunyang’s expression abruptly changed.
He had his sixth sense, so he could clearly feel that, in the sudden white fog around the milk tea ship, there were countless strange beings walking around.
The people with numb expressions from just now slowly gathered around the milk tea counter.
The only one who paid any attention to Song Chunyang, was the girl who had poured milk tea on him and tried to drive him out of the shop.
She helped explain to him what he had stumbled into.
In short, he had gate-crashed into a main system that consumed fear energy.
The main system would open the door to a different world at a fixed time and fixed place, and pull the pre-designated task holders inside.
In this s.p.a.ce, terrifying paranormal events would happen.
And the task-holders had to come to the specified s.p.a.ce within the specified time, such as the milk tea shop they were in now, and wait for the signal of the beginning of the task, and in the otherworldly s.p.a.ce, they had to live for longer than a specified time before they would be allowed to leave.
The moment the time came, the system, which would have collected enough fear energy would automatically bring them out of the s.p.a.ce, and they would return to the real world.
And no matter how long they had been in the otherworldly s.p.a.ce, not more than a moment would have pa.s.sed in reality.
Song Chunyang knew about the existence of G.o.ds and ghosts. Hence, he quickly accepted this situation. Trying to control his chattering teeth, he asked, “If you die in this s.p.a.ce……”
The girl said in a soft voice, “Then, your existence will be erased from reality. No one will remember who you are.”
Song Chunyang’s eyes filled with tears.
The girl said comfortingly, “I’m on my third task. As long as you complete ten tasks, you can end this one-sided contract. This information should be told to you by your system, but I think it’s better if you know in advance.”
“System?”
“They’re in charge of giving out tasks, recording the number of tasks you’ve completed, inform you about how much time is left, and give out live-saving information the more time you spend alive…… We often have people join accidentally, newbies’ first task is just a practice, only if you manage to survive to the end will a human system be automatically a.s.signed to you.”
Song Chunyang looked around tearfully.
Just now, when Song Chunyang had stumbled in here and sad down, no one had been willing to tell Song Chunyang about what he was about to face.
One, because they had already tried to tell others the truth many times, and no one had believed them. Two, because, almost everyone was maliciously thinking, misery loves company.
Song Chunyang looked away. With a voice so soft people could hardly hear him, he asked, “This time’s task…… What is it?”
The girl answered, “Hide and seek.”