Novel Full Chapter Ch104.2 - The Cycle of Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around (18.2)
Chapter Ch104.2 - The Cycle of Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around (18.2)
translator: baumkuchen editor: serefina
Chi Xiaochi and Xi Lou: ……Whoa.
Gan Yu stood, his tone just as gentle and firm as his sister’s as he said, “Miss Tan, if you have something to say, please say it slowly.”
Ponytail lady’s name was Tan Yue. She rubbed her aching wrist, then raised her bloodshot eyes to stare at Chi Xiaochi, wanting nothing more than to chew him up and swallow him whole. “What do I have to say? What’s left to say?! You people took advantage of the chaos to steal our dagger!”
Chi Xiaochi raised his eyebrows. He asked Freckles, Zhang Xiulin, “This dagger, is it the ‘secret weapon’ you were talking about?”
Zhang Xiulin had a bitter look on his face.
“What are you acting dumb for? You’ve been playing us like fools from the very beginning!” Tan Yue raged, “Are you blind?! Why did you pretend to be blind?”
Chi Xiaochi let out a soft sigh.
The Four Corners game just now had impacted his mental state, to the point where he’d ended up slipping.
The instinctual “don’t look” he’d addressed to Tan Yue, had exposed the truth he’d been hiding.
Yuan Benshan told him to act blind, because he wanted to monopolize him in the task worlds. After all, no one would be willing to team up with a blind person, and would only keep a respectful distance. That way, they could share information with ease.
And Chi Xiaochi had continued to pretend to be blind, because this task world used Song Chunyang’s own name.
Unless all the four people who weren’t part of Chi Xiaochi’s team died, then once they knew that he had a pair of Yin-Yang eyes and spread the information, the rest of Song Chunyang’s life would be over.
But if he stayed vague, or if he kept a tough attitude, things would only get worse.
Their tentative alliance would fall apart, evil tendencies would increase, resulting in a vicious cycle and the number of people dead would only increase.
Seeing the atmosphere turn hostile, Xi Lou finally understood the difficulty of this world.
When they were acting, even if they repeatedly reminded themselves to stay true to their character, to act seriously, they wouldn’t be able to keep themselves from worrying, wondering about if the character they were playing were to die, would they themselves die as well? As they thought and thought about it, worry would turn to fear. They would then want to try to fight.
Pigtail guy, Liao Wu, was the best example of this.
Besides, even if Chi Xiaochi told them the workings of this world right then and there, would they believe it?
Who would dare to use their own life to test if the theory was true?
If they died in the movie, they would really die.
Not even mentioning how Liao Wu had just died the same way the male lead in the movie had, with the disappearance of the dagger and Chi Xiaochi’s pretending to be blind having been exposed, Chi Xiaochi’s trustworthiness in the eyes of Tan Yue and the rest had fallen to zero.
One cycle after another, and in the end, the sandcastle would collapse. Everyone would only look out for themselves, their malice becoming stronger and stronger, and their death approaching faster and faster.
The eighth world, tested the most elusive thing of all – human nature.
Xi Lou thought of the question Chi Xiaochi had asked him in return.
……“Easy?”
It really wasn’t even the slightest bit easy.
Building trust between people, took years upon years of painstaking effort, but breaking it, only required a few ant-sized holes.
Xi Lou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his throat tightened, desperately trying to think of what Chi Xiaochi should do now.
Chi Xiaochi spoke softly, “Loulou, are you really nervous right now~”
Xi Lou was about to explode. “You still have the mood to say something like this right now?!”
Chi Xiaochi said, “I just need to say two sentences, and do a certain thing, and they’ll all calm down. Do you believe it?”
Xi Lou, “……” What kind of huckster-like tone is this.
After saying that, Chi Xiaochi looked up at Tan Yue and said unperturbed, “Because I can see people’s qi. ……Death qi.”
Chi Xiaochi took off the colour contact on his right eye, revealing an amber-coloured eye.
This heterochromatic pupil gave him an air of mysteriousness, increasing his persuasiveness. So many people had been fooled by Song Chunyang’s eyes since he was a child, sincerely believing that he really had strong mystical powers.
Tan Yue was struck dumb. She exchanged looks with Zhang Xiulin and Tall lady, Qiu Mingming.
Chi Xiaochi pointed at Tan Yue and said, “For example, right now, the death qi around you is the thickest of everybody’s.”
Xi Lou’s mood quickly turned bright. He secretly let out a cheer.
Sure enough, the best lies were always those which were half-true.
With two sentences, and one action, Chi Xiaochi had actually really calmed them down.
Tan Yue was stunned for a moment, before asking, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”
Chi Xiaochi retorted, “In this kind of situation, I’m afraid that I’m under no obligation to advertise this kind of thing from the beginning. Besides, this skill doesn’t have any actual use, the most I can do is warn someone before a tragedy happens.”
“Then why didn’t you warn Liao——”
“I did go look for Mister Liao this afternoon.” Chi Xiaochi cut her off. “He told me to get lost. ……Miss Tan, you should have heard it.”
That afternoon, Chi Xiaochi had indeed gone to go look for Liao Wu during his break, warning him not to try to kill the ghost.
But Liao Wu had been boiling over with anxiety, and had roared at him to get lost. Tan Yue, who’d gone to get water and hence didn’t know what had happened, had even come over to diffuse the situation.
……At that point, Liao Wu’s spirit had already been mostly corrupted. There had been no saving him.
Tan Yue’s face slowly turned pale. Holding her head in her hands, she sat down, as if someone had pulled out her spine.
Chi Xiaochi placed his contact back in, draped his towel over his shoulders again, and sat back down. “If you suspect that we took your secret weapon, you can search us. I didn’t even know what your secret weapon was. After Liao Wu ran out, you and I, as well as Doctor Gan and Tangtang chased after him together, leaving together and coming back together. Old Yuan even stayed with your two companions in the castle. We didn’t have the time to take your dagger or whatever it was.”
Tan Yue stayed dazed for a while before remembering what Chi Xiaochi had said just now. She raised her head, her lips beginning to tremble, “You said, there’s death qi surrounding me……”
Chi Xiaochi sighed.
This sigh made Tan Yue’s skin break out into goosebumps.
Chi Xiaochi didn’t answer her question, instead throwing out another, “Liao Wu planned on making his move against ‘Guan Qiaoqiao’ while filming. Think back, at that time, who was the closest to Liao Wu?”
The living room fell silent.
Upon thinking of that possibility, Tan Yue and her teammates all became shaky, their faces like gold paper.
Chi Xiaochi continued, blasé, “There’s a chance that it was she who took your dagger. She knows you guys want to kill her now.”
Chi Xiaochi was truly an expert at this kind of manipulation where he both defended his stance while advancing his point. After a bit of encouragement, they all calmed down.
The dead were already gone, and the living still needed to think about themselves and others.
What should they do? They no longer had a weapon, and “Guan Qiaoqiao” had probably already found out about their intentions……
……What Chi Xiaochi had wanted was for them to be in this kind of dazed state.
Only when they were like this, would they be able to listen to what he was saying.
Chi Xiaochi took advantage of this opportunity that had opened up to tell them all about his theory.
He didn’t bring up Guan Qiaoqiao, only saying that if they felt malice towards the female ghost, they might bring disaster upon themselves.
He used his own experience, bringing up how he had had thoughts of killing “Guan Qiaoqiao” while they were filming a scene together, and how “Guan Qiaoqiao”’s reaction to that had raised his suspicions.
In this fragile mental state, the information Chi Xiaochi fed them was enough to convince them of his words.
Those three had lost a teammate, and then lost the strength that had been granted to them by their righteous indignation. After absorbing the information Chi Xiaochi provided, they each numbly got up and went back to rest.
Chi Xiaochi crossed his legs and leaned back onto the sofa, his eyes curled, looking like an exhausted cat.
After confirming that the rest had all left, he reached out a hand towards Gan Tang.
Gan Tang nodded slightly, then strode out of the main entrance of the castle and raised the lid of the unlocked mailbox that had peeling paint.
Yuan Benshan’s eyes widened.
Gan Tang pulled the broken engraved dagger from the mailbox.
Even Xi Lou couldn’t hide his shock. “When did she——”
Chi Xiaochi said, “I noticed that before Liao Wu started running, he’d dropped something inside the pile of earthworms.”
Gan Tang said softly, “Zhang Xiuling and Qiu Mingming hadn’t dared to look at the earthworms, and went downstairs to the living room. I lagged behind, going off to where the earthworms were gathered, picked it up, and hid it on myself. Then, before re-entering the castle, I placed it here.”
When she chased after him, all of Ponytail lady’s, Tan Yue’s, attention had been placed on her teammate, Liao-ge. She naturally wouldn’t have noticed Gan Tang disappearing for a short period of time.
And when the four of them returned, Zhang Xiulin and Qiu Mingming, who had been waiting in the castle, had placed all their attention on the nightmarish reality of Liao Wu’s death and the unconscious Tan Yue, so they too would have no way of noticing what the lagging Gan Tang had done outside.
……They’d perfectly made use of the time difference and their psychological blind spot.
Xi Lou asked Chi Xiaochi in shock, “……When did you and her come up with this plan?”
Chi Xiaochi just smiled.
He hadn’t spoken a word to her, but as he had been heading downstairs, he’d given her a look, then made a gesture of picking something up.
This was probably what they called tacit understanding.
Yuan Benshan hadn’t thought that Chi Xiaochi would still have this up his sleeve. He was beaming with pleasure. “Chunyang, you’re too amazing!”
Chi Xiaochi smiled hard. “Let me hold onto the dagger.”
Yuan Benshan hesitated slightly, his gaze sweeping over the Gan siblings, his unease obvious. “How about leaving it with me?”
Chi Xiaochi avoided answering, instead saying, “Old Yuan, we can’t keep this. This is something other people got for their protection. When we leave this world, I’ll think of a way to give it back to them.”
Hearing this, Yuan Benshan’s face twisted slightly. He couldn’t help but say, “Chunyang, you’re too…… kind.”
In truth, what he’d wanted to say was childish.
It had fallen into their hands, so why would they fucking give it back?
“We’re just holding onto it for the time being,” Chi Xiaochi pretended not to hear the implied meaning in his words, saying softly, “A weapon would only give them the courage to fight back, but all they need to do right now is focus on acting.”
After that night, Xi Lou truly started admiring Chi Xiaochi a little.
His abilities of observation, his ability to form conclusions, his quick wit when faced with danger, and his ability to sway crowds with his words, had allowed him to easily capture everyone’s heart.
The eighth world made use of the cowardice inherent in human nature, but Chi Xiaochi could actually make use of this cowardice in turn to suppress everyone’s desire to kill.
Chi Xiaochi was really tired now, shaking as he stood up, but his legs weakened, causing him to fall back down onto Gan Yu.
Gan Yu had been keeping his distance the entire time, so only then did he realise that his lips were unnaturally pale and his face was flushed. Placing his hand against his forehead, he was so hot that Gan Yu instinctively pulled away.
……Getting soaked in the rain, the shock, and the emotional tension. An entire series of frights had led straight to him falling ill and collapsing.
He pressed his burning forehead against Gan Yu’s shoulder, greedy for the coolness of his skin.
Yuan Benshan’s anxious voice asking “what’s wrong” grew distant. The only sound left in his ears was the thumping of the heart of the person before him as if it matched up with his own.
Thump thump, thump thump.
Gan Yu was pained and anxious. In his anxiety, he blurted out, “Xiao——”
The secrecy mechanism immediately started up, stopping him from saying that one last word.
In the end, he gave up, pulling him into his arms and letting out a pained yet helpless sigh.
……Oh, you.
The author has something to say:
I know what you guys want to say…… [shrinks neck]
President Chi carries the entire scene without tiring!
Next chapter, President Chi falls ill! Sprinkling candy!
baum: hey guys, next week we’ll be taking a break to let the editors catch up with edits, so we’ll be back the week after next.