Volume 1: Incident of H City"s Earth-born Fetus
Chapter 2 – Second young master Zhang screaming b.l.o.o.d.y murder: "BROTHER!!!!! THERE"S A f.u.c.kING GHOST!!!!!!!"
The fox-spirit was trembling all over at a frequency that was visible to the naked eye. He was shaking so badly that Chu He felt that if he continued to tremble like this, he would spit out his Inner Core [1] in the very next second.
But Xiao-Hu didn"t feel it himself. His mind went completely blank. He wasn"t even aware of the Demon Lord raising his hand and pressing it down towards the top of his head.
"—— Enough." Chu He suddenly spoke.
His voice had a very special pitch to it. The instant he opened his mouth, it was like a beam of light splitting open the primal chaos [2]. The fox-spirit quivered. Cold air bubbled up within his viscera, waking him up in a split second!
The Demon Lord"s hand stopped in mid-air. Chu He said, "You can leave. Take good care of second young master."
The fox-spirit didn"t even dare to raise his head to see what the Demon Lord looked like. He hastened out in a great rush and nearly b.u.mped into the door, but he couldn"t even feel the pain. He simply dashed out, staggering and tumbling along the way.
"…" The Demon Lord turned his head and said flatly, "You"re not picky at all."
Chu He started laughing as he re-fastened the b.u.t.tons on his shirt. His face was pale and plain, but when he was laughing while b.u.t.toning up, there was an actually indescribable allure in his expression, making it difficult for people to look away.
"For me, even you will do." He laughed, "So of course I"m not picky at all."
The hem of the Demon Lord"s gold-embroidered black robe produced a light yet strange rustling sound against the carpet as he walked. In fact, he didn"t have three heads or six arms like how those rumors in the mortal world described him since long ago. He wasn"t even ugly or fearful. If he astringed his demonic energy, disguised himself as a human and walked on the street, apart from his manner which was totally different than that of an ordinary human, he might not even draw much attention.
"There"s only one thing that I don"t understand." The Demon Lord asked with quite some interest, "You"re still mulling over that nine-tailed fox even till today. Is it because he is really that mouthy? Or is it because you still believe that he really had an affair with Zhou Hui?"
Chu He replied with a pff, "Fanluo, do you think the reason why Zhou Hui led all six teams to encircle the Realm of h.e.l.l-dwellers that time was because you were also too mouthy, or was it because he too suspected that you had an affair with me?"
The Demon Lord, Fanluo, thought for a moment before he smiled, "I can"t tell, maybe both —— but if my wife ran away with my archenemy, it would be pretty hard for me to hold back the anger."
Chu He picked the bowl of sweetened water the fox-spirit had brought from the table and dumped it in the washroom. "Our relationship is not what you think."
His steps were very steady when he walked, and his back was straight in a natural way, which made his posture appear very elegant and graceful. Fanluo was leaning against the doorframe by the washroom with his arms crossed. He stared at Chu He"s back, his eyebrows raised. The expression in his eyes was indiscernible amidst the shades. Yet Chu He seemed to be not aware of it at all. He suddenly said, "By the way, tell your devils not to come in the main residence —— they were wandering outside Zhang Shun"s bedroom last night. The cooking auntie at my house saw them and was almost scared to death. I got up at midnight and spent a total of seven or eight hours calling for her soul…"
Right as he lifted his head, Fanluo appeared behind him without any sound. He put one of his hand on the side of Chu He"s bare neck.
"Go on."
"…I had to slander my brother today for running around naked at midnight to gloss it over. Tell the devils under you to not cause troubles for Zhang Shun. I only have this one little brother."
Fanluo pressed his lips against the side of his neck. His laughter sounded a bit m.u.f.fled, "I remember… the first time I saw you."
"Then you should still remember what I said then."
"I do." Fanluo slowly said, as if he found it very amusing, "I"m just thinking… If Zhou Hui knew about your current situation, which would you say he"ll want to do more? Kill the Demon a second time, or murder the Buddha once again?"
A strange expression appeared on Chu He"s face, but before he said anything, someone knocked twice on the study"s door.
"Brother? Brother are you in there?"
Before Chu He could reply, the Demon Lord suddenly bit into the side of his neck!
Blood poured out. Chu He immediately grabbed the edge of the sink and let out a solid grunt.
"Brother?" Zhang Shun shouted outside.
Fanluo"s canine teeth pierced deep into his veins. Because it wasn"t sucked in time, a stream of blood crept down his slim, half-naked back, leaving a ghastly sight on his pale skin. Chu He panted slightly. He raised his head, wanting to say something, but after opening his mouth several times, he only trembled and closed it again.
Grazing that small, particularly soft part of his neck with his teeth, the Demon Lord commanded, "Answer him."
"…" Chu He took a deep breath, though intermittently, and raised his voice, "I"m here! What?"
Outside, Zhang Shun"s voice started to sound like he was a bit puzzled, "Something came up so Xiao-Hu had to leave first. He said he accidentally disturbed you a moment ago and asked me to apologize to you on his behalf! Brother, what are you doing?"
"… I got it!"
"What"s going on? What are you doing? Open the door!"
Fanluo"s m.u.f.fled laughter was almost audible. Chu He had reached the end of his patience. He turned around and shouted, "I said I got it!"
"What are you doing? Open the door! Brother!"
"Get lost! Go sleep!"
Zhang Shun was obviously shocked. He blinked a few times outside the door before asking in perplexion, "Why is he so mad… was he tossing off?"
Despite only muttering to himself, it definitely didn"t escape the ears of the two inside the room. The Demon Lord laughed so hard that he was practically collapsing onto Chu He while clapping his hands at the same time, "Your brother is such an interesting person —— It doesn"t matter whether Zhou Hui likes him or not, because I like him a lot, hahaha…"
Chu He panted as he gathered his lapels. The place from where the blood was sucked had already healed, leaving only a reddish, hickey-like mark behind and an area tinged with bright spider veins.
He was exhausted by the process of opening his Inner Core to others and letting them draw spiritual power directly from it. It took him quite some time before he could feebly grab the Demon Lord"s hand. "Let go."
His fingers were as cold as ice.
Fanluo was standing, but Chu He was slightly bending over. Towering above him, the Demon Lord stared at the side of Chu He"s stoic face. He gazed for a long time before whispering, "I still miss your real face…"
Chu He repeated, "Let go!"
——Even though he had already fallen to the point where there was no place for him to hide from the highest of heavens to the deepest of h.e.l.ls and he couldn"t even retrieve his Real Body, one could still clearly see from the most subtle details the a.s.sertive nature of his heart and soul.
The Demon Lord didn"t move. After a long while, he finally pulled his hand away from the side of the naked waist under Chu He"s shirt.
"Alright," he smiled. "As you wish."
***
After returning to his bedroom, Zhang Shun couldn"t help but imagine the scene of his brother tossing off alone in the study, and he found it a little horrifying.
From his point of view, Chu He was someone who was quiet, self-disciplined, and calm to the point of almost being apathetic. He never showed any signs of surprise or excitement, and neither was he ever in rapture or rage. He rarely had mood swings. He never got in touch with the opposite s.e.x and he would even politely decline intimacy from the same s.e.x. He was like an ice cube wrapped in a finely-tailored black suit, radiating a kind of chilliness that would last for years even in the scorching summer.
A person like him would have been an ascetic monk if born in ancient times or a Puritan in the Middle Ages. Zhang Shun once suspected, with some ill intentions, that Chu He had some sort of secret problems, the kind which people found hard to talk about. But when they went to a hot spring together one year, he took the opportunity and eyed that part himself. It didn"t seem like it was abnormal.
Zhang Shun was a little fearful of his brother.
He knew when his father was still alive, that man too was somewhat afraid of this step-son with a different last name.
It was said that Chu He was brought in by his father"s second wife when that man remarried. The reason he used the phrase "it was said" was because Zhang Shun had never met with this nominal stepmother of his——he was only five or six years old at that time and was sent abroad to live with his grandparents for a while. When he came back, he heard that his stepmother had already died in an accident.
Old Chairman Zhang became a widower for the second time and hence gave up on the thoughts of remarrying. He started raising two children by himself. Despite his young age, Zhang Shun, from the imperceptible influence of the people around him, already knew that Chu He was his father"s stepson, a stepson who might even threaten his status as the heir. Children had no idea what the right of inheritance meant, but it was their instinct to protect what belonged to them. Incited by the people around him, he did give Chu He, this cheap brother of his, some awkward moments.
Old Chairman Zhang flew into a rage after he found out about it. He changed all of his personal servants. He even called Zhang Shun over, scolding, "Chu He is your brother! You"ve called him "brother" once, therefore you have to treat him as your blood brother for the rest of your life!"
Zhang Shun, who was at his most rebellious age at that time, immediately retorted, "I don"t have such a cheap brother. He"s not my brother! If you like him that much, make him your own brother!"
Exasperated, Old Chairman Zhang summoned the family discipline and lashed Zhang Shun with his belt until the latter started wailing in pain. He ended up staying in bed for over half a month, and that was not all. Ever since then, Old Chairman Zhang would nag Zhang Shun about it whenever he had a chance. It eventually led to Zhang Shun finding Chu He to be more and more displeasing to the eye, though he didn"t dare to play any more dirty tricks.
Everyone said that Old Chairman Zhang favored the stepson so much that it scared his own child, and that was why the boy acted so responsibly in front his big brother.
Only Zhang Shun knew that wasn"t the case.
He still remembered late that night after the beating, when he woke up muddle-headed from pain and thirst, he heard a soft conversation next to his bed. He immediately decided to stay still, pretending he was still asleep while secretly opening his eyes into slits. He saw Chu He, who was still a teenager at that time, sitting in an armchair and Old Chairman Zhang standing in front of him, slightly stooping, with a…very humble expression on his face.
He had never imagined that his father would have anything to do with the word "humble", but at that moment, that indeed was the first word that appeared in that young boy"s mind.
"……Ah-Shun is still young, the mischievous deeds he"s capable of doing are very limited. It will make me look like a bigot if you give him a beating like this every time."
"Yes, yes, I got it. I promise next time I won"t——"
The bedroom fell into silence. Zhang Shun was afraid that they would find him out. He closed his eyes at once and stayed still on bed, trying to make his breaths sound light and steady.
"There won"t be a next time." Chu He got up and started walking towards the door. "——Born with the Buddha"s bone…do you think he"s someone you"re allowed to beat?"
Old Chairman Zhang stood behind him, cold sweat was soaking his undergarments one layer at a time. Chu He was already at the door before he pointed back at Zhang Shun and ordered, not even turning his head, "He"s thirsty. Give him some water."
Everything that happened that night was so vivid in Zhang Shun"s childhood memories, so vivid that it almost seemed a little fake. Many years later, he still couldn"t tell whether that conversation had really taken place or if it was just a hallucination caused by pain and a high fever. All he knew was that from that very day, his father had never touched another hair of his, and Chu He remained respectful to his father in his presence, never showing that commanding and arrogant manner again.
Yet since then, a vague feeling started growing inside him —— his father was afraid of Chu He.
It was a feeling that was very hard to describe and even harder to prove. Even talking about it sounded ridiculous. However, although Zhang Shun had never gone to his father to seek proof or mentioned it to anyone else, this vague feeling was rooted deeply in his heart, and it never disappeared after so many years.
Perhaps it was because Xiao-Hu had left and Zhang Shun had to sleep by himself that night that he had a lot of dreams in his slumber. One of them was about that prank he played on Chu He when he was young. With a lie of how he had lost his way in the mansion, he got Chu He to come over to the warehouse where he then turned off the electricity and locked him in there for the whole night. In reality, he snuck back to his bedroom afterwards and slept while Chu He was locked there until the servants found him the next morning. However, in his dream, he seemed to have returned to that dark warehouse, staring silently at his brother in the darkness.
Chu He"s side was facing him as he was sitting cross-legged in the center of a radiant lotus flower. His face looked serene and gentle, glowing with a soft halo like white jade. The s.p.a.ce around him was packed with either hollow or solid ghost figures, all of which were kneeling at his feet in admiration. There were also countless furies in the distance, crying, weeping, as they rushed toward the area from the vast expanse of the night.
Zhang Shun floated in mid-air in a daze until Chu He opened his eyes. The latter looked at him, asking gently, "Dreaming?"
Zhang Shun didn"t know what to say, so he only nodded.
"The Zhang Family once made a fortune off the dead." Chu He explained with a soft voice, "You locked me in here that day, so I released these souls from their suffering."
Zhang Shun"s pupils slightly dilated as his brother brushed across his forehead, saying, "Go back to sleep."
Zhang Shun sank back into those messy dreams once again. The scene in front of him suddenly changed into a white hospital ward. Old Chairman Zhang who was emaciated to the point of being deformed was lying on his sick bed, breathing with much difficulty.
"Ah-Shun…" He grabbed firmly onto the hand of his only son. "I already le-left the family"s properties t-to your brother… From now on, h-he"s going to take care of you. You n-need to tr-treat him as your real-real brother…"
Every word sounded like they had been abraded by b.l.o.o.d.y sand. The shine of life in his father"s eyes grew dimmer and dimmer.
"You should li-listen to what he says… Safe and smooth… May the rest of your life be…be safe and smooth…"
His father"s hand fell loose as he closed his eyes.
Zhang Shun was trembling all over. He wanted to cry but no sound came out. Even his spittle was suffused with an ardent, b.l.o.o.d.y taste as if his throat was clogged by blood.
Someone patted him gently on his shoulder.
"Don"t be afraid," Without him realizing, Chu He had already appeared behind him. He said in a low voice, "He went to be reincarnated."
Choking with sobs, Zhang Shun asked, "H-How do, how do you know? How do you…"
Chu He let out a soft sigh, "I just know."
Zhang Shun"s voice was clogged by the lump in his throat, and the rims of his eyes were red. There was a sharp pain in his temples as if someone was drilling in those places with an awl. Clenching his teeth, he tried to hold himself back from crying and turned around for a final glance at his dad on that sick bed.
——Then he saw that his father"s eyes were open again. Two streams of b.l.o.o.d.y tears slowly trickled down.
"Zhang Shun…" He heard his father"s faint voice calling him, "Zhang Shun. Come here, Zhang Shun…"
Come here…
Zhang Shun, come here…
Zhang Shun suddenly woke with a start. "Dad!"
He realized immediately that he had a nightmare. His bedroom was pitch-dark and extremely quiet. The clock was pointing at 2 o"clock in the morning.
He let out a sigh. Forcing himself to ignore the grief and emptiness in his heart, he got up to pour himself a cup of water from the nightstand.
However, he froze right there in the next second——
Under the moonlight, and before he even knew when, a person was silently standing next to his bed!
Even the word "person" was probably inaccurate. It was an ash gray figure, its face covered in long hair. Two arms which looked like dead branches were hanging next to its body —— their inch-long nails were rolled up into sharp curls with black water dripping down from them.
Zhang Shun creaked as his entire body trembled as if he had been electrocuted. "Wh-wh-wh-wh-who are you?"
That "person" raised its head. At that very moment, Zhang Shun saw a rotten tongue dropping out from its completely decomposed jaw to its chest.
"AHHHHHHHH——!!!"
In the bedroom upstairs, Chu He jumped off his bed at once. Coming out of his room in one big stride, he grabbed onto the railings and leaped down.
The butler, who also heard the noise, got up and managed to put on some clothes when he saw the elder young master descending from above. The latter landed with a loud bang, and without the slightest pause, he got up and burst open the door to Zhang Shun"s bedroom.
"AHHHHHHH——!!" Zhang Shun b.u.mped into him screaming, "Brother! Brother! Ghost! There"s a ghost, ahhh!"
Click. Chu He turned on the light, then said with a frown, "What are you howling about at midnight?"
The evil spirit melted like a snowman under the sun the instant Chu He came in. By the time the butler and the servants rushed in, they only saw the neatly furnished bedroom, the bed which was in a mess, second young master screaming non-stop as if he had gone crazy, and the elder young master he was clutching at like the last straw who didn"t even have his shoes on.
The old butler sighed in his mind at once: though they were not blood-related and eldest young master always treated others so coldly, you could still tell from crucial moments like this that second young master was different to him!
The eldest young master whose "secret" had just been found out wasn"t in the mood for brotherhood at all. He waved at the butler to bring the servants with him and leave. After they were the only two left in the room, he poured a cup of water and forced it down Zhang Shun"s throat, then pushed him onto the bed, "Everything"s fine. Now, sleep."
"Th-th-th-th-th-there"s a ghost!" Zhang Shun was squeezing his brother"s hand with all his might. "There really is a ghost!"
"…" Chu He said, "It"s really just a dream. Sleep."
"I"m not lying! It was a white ghost. Its fingernails were this long, its tongue this long…"
Chu He"s patience was beginning to wear thin. He wanted to pull his hand out and leave, but Zhang Shun wouldn"t let him go. During the middle of this seesaw battle, Zhang Shun suddenly caught sight of a black shadow in the corner of his room. Looking at it again, he saw a man in black robe standing over there. One side of his face was covered in b.l.o.o.d.y patterns, and he was looking down at him from a towering position.
"…" Even Zhang Shun"s teeth started to chatter as they trembled, "…Brother, why is there a person over there?"
Chu He turned around and stared at the Demon Lord face to face for a moment. Then he coldly replied, "No, there isn"t."
Even the last bit of his voice died in Zhang Shun"s throat. His face was ghastly pale, and it looked like he was going to collapse at any moment. In fact, he could almost be seen as having strong psychological resilience for not fainting yet. "There r-r-r-r-r-r-really is!"
Chu He repeated himself, one word at a time, "There. Really. Isn"t."
The Demon Lord finally looked away, the corner of his mouth stretching into a curve that could hardly be called a smile. Then, just like how he appeared in the first place, his bulky figure suddenly vanished in the air as if he was never here.
Chu He tapped the place between Zhang Shun"s eyebrows with his finger and said softly, "Now, sleep. You"ll forget about it when you wake up."
There seemed to be a fiery warmth around his fingertip. Zhang Shun felt the string in his mind loosened up at once. All the extreme fear and tension faded rapidly like ebbing tides —— this was probably the first time in his life that second young master Zhang found his brother so pleasing to look at that even his brother"s plain face seemed to have suddenly gained an indescribable amount of charm.
It was rare to see second young master Zhang behave like a normal little brother. He gave his big brother a few tugs and begged, "I…I"m still afraid. Can we sleep together in your room tonight?"
Chu He"s expression became a little strange.
"Brother, please!" Second young master almost wept, "Or I"ll go check into a hotel room right now —— Wait! What if that filthy thing is still f.u.c.king following me?!"
"…You can come." Chu He finally agreed with a sigh.
Zhang Shun didn"t want to stay in his bedroom any longer. He rolled up the pillow with his blanket at top speed and tailed his brother upstairs. To his surprise, his brother"s bedroom was not as simple and boring as he had imagined. There weren"t many things —— practically no decorations —— but the room was in such a mess as if a hurricane had just swept across it. Pillows and sheets were draped over the bed —— half of them kissing the ground —— while suits, shirts, and pants were scattered all over the bathroom"s entrance.
Normally, Zhang Shun would definitely ridicule him and make a few cutting remarks on such an occasion, but tonight he dared not to speak even one extra word. He immediately laid himself flat with his tail between his legs, pleading only one thing, "Can we leave the lights on?"
Thus, Chu He left a warm, yellowish bedlight on and laid down next to his brother in silence.
"Brother," Zhang Shun couldn"t keep himself from turning his head over, "Tomorrow, I"ll ask a master [3] to come over and take a look, what do you th——"
His brother had already closed his eyes.
——Zhang Shun"s eyes froze after noticing the side of his brother"s neck and his gaze stayed there for a long time.
There was a very obvious mark on the side of his brother"s neck —— that older brother who had always been so taciturn, indifferent, and hard to approach. It was almost completely hidden behind the neckline of his white pajamas, but because of the angle Zhang Shun was looking at it from, it was still extremely eye-catching.
It was a hickey.
"…This can"t be true." The last thought Zhang Shun had before losing his consciousness was disbelief and some mixed feelings that he couldn"t describe.
"——Who the f.u.c.k had the guts? If I find out…"
"They"re definitely courting their death! But who could it be…?"
Translator"s Notes:
[1] Inner Core: The core formed inside a creature"s body (mostly animal beings) through cultivation, where all of their cultivation is kept.
[2] Primal Chaos: In Chinese mythology, it is believed that the world is one big chaos before Pangu cut it open and created the world.
[3] Master: Refers to some Daoist priests or Buddhism monks that offer supernatural services, such as looking at a house"s Feng Shui (geomancy, how a place and its surroundings geological characteristics affect the luck of the people living here), exorcising, fortune-telling, etc…