CH 10

After finishing the bowl of noodles, the tip of Chi Jiayan’s nose started sweating.

His slender face was still red, the cause unknown as to whether it was from the situation earlier or because of the warm noodles.

Ling Xiao weakly took two bites, but he really couldn’t stomach it, putting down his fork and pushing the bowl away.

The death energy inside the house thickened because the Grim Reaper’s mood was bad. He had been a grim reaper for thousands of years, but never did he think he would feel wronged after having to eat such terrible food.

“Gege, does it not taste good?” Chi Jiayan asked.

“Mhm.” Ling Xiao wanted to puke.

Unexpectedly, Chi Jiayan actually pulled his partly-eaten noodles over, ready to dig into them without a care.

Ling Xiao reached a hand out and covered his wrist.

As a grim reaper, Ling Xiao’s body temperature was naturally lower than a human’s.

If he was still wearing his mask, contact with him would definitely give someone full body shivers. His mask was off now, causing his body temperature to increase just a little. When he made contact with Chi Jiayan’s skin, it felt like being touched by a piece of cool jade.

Looking at that pale hand that had stopped his wrist, Chi Jiayan was confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Those are my leftovers,” Ling Xiao said.

Chi Jiayan laughed. “That’s okay. It’d feel like such a waste. You only took a bite, after all.”

Watching the boy eat his leftover noodles until every last drop was devoured, Ling Xiao thought, “This person is really too pitiful.”

Chi Jiayan hadn’t actually eaten his fill, and he really did feel like it would’ve been a waste.

He was a thirteen year-old boy, currently still in his growing phase.

Because of a little malnutrition, he looked younger than children the same age as him. If he wasn’t so cute, he would’ve been too scrawny to stand looking at.

He wasn’t actually even that poor, but he needed to save money.

A speech spirit’s abilities weren’t omnipotent. He couldn’t create something out of nothing, and he couldn’t affect himself. Chi Jiayan had no way of making money at the present. His current livelihood was sustained partly from savings left by his parents, and partly from the inheritance his uncle received from his grandfather’s estate, which was allowed to him every month.

But his uncle always kept the money in the bank and told him to pick it up on time. They rarely saw each other except for when there was a need for him.

Chi Jiayan was also studying at the same school as Chi Rui. Outsiders assumed both of them were living on the same standard of life, but only Chi Jiayan knew his own struggles.

Ling Xiao watched him gobble up the instant noodles like a rabbit. He tapped on the table with his fingers. “Okay.”

This tone of voice was the same as his future self.

Chi Jiayan didn’t know, thinking that he had remembered something, so he couldn’t help but be very nervous.

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“You said this already,” Ling Xiao interrupted.

“Eh?” It seemed like he had. Chi Jiayan was a little distressed. It seemed like there wasn’t really anything to talk about regarding his gege, so it seemed like he was speaking about a one-sided relationship.

Ling Xiao’s pale face had a cold glow under the light. There was no warmth in his pair of phoenix eyes.

If he really wanted to discern some kind of human emotion, Chi Jiayan only found traces of distrust and alienation.

Speaking realistically, he felt like this amnesiac gege wouldn’t want to stay with him anymore.

On his death day, this gege would take his soul away no differently from if he was a stranger, not anyone special.

When Chi Jiayan explained the situation again, it really did seem outrageous.

Ling Xiao frowned as he listened.

Was he kidding? How could he have visited this one human being so often? And he was this human’s best friend? And he’d carried this human on his back? And he even lived here?

Apart from being a speech spirit, Ling Xiao didn’t see anything special about this boy.

Chi Jiayan was afraid he wouldn’t believe him. He raised his leg and put his foot on the table. Sure enough, his ankle was still swollen.

“Look.” Chi Jiayan felt a little guilty. “I sprained my foot today, and it was Gege who carried me back.”

Ling Xiao had no way of verifying that.

If it wasn’t for not being able to jump through time and space without the guidance of the natal chart, he would’ve wanted to travel back and see what he had done.

Ling Xiao pondered in the moment. The atmosphere in the room was stagnant for a moment—no, it was stagnant, mixed with the smell of instant noodles.

It was too human-like.

He reached into his black robe and took out a gadget, which looked like a delicate skeleton.

When the skeleton was taken out and placed on the table, it immediately attracted Chi Jiayan’s attention.

“What’s this?” Chi Jiayan reached towards it.

“Skeleton of Truth.” Ling Xiao said. “Face the Skeleton of Truth and answer my questions. Let me ask you, how do I get here every time?”

Chi Jiayan swallowed nervously and pointed to his watch. “This—Gege, you seem to come here by turning this.”

The teeth of the Skeleton of Truth began to clatter nonstop.

“Who am I?” Ling Xiao continued to ask.

Chi Jiayan didn’t know whether he had passed the test or not, but he felt his back was getting colder and colder. He shivered, but looked into Ling Xiao’s eyes without flinching. “You’re a grim reaper.”

The teeth of the Skeleton of Truth continued to snap together rapidly.

Sure enough, this speech spirit wasn’t lying.

Ling Xiao put away the Skeleton of Truth. He began to accept that it really was his future self who had been here before.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Knock knock.

A girl’s voice spoke. “Jiajia? Are you home?”

Chi Jiayan’s eyes widened, but he didn’t seem to be frightened; it was more like he didn’t dare to make a sound.

Ling Xiao was about to ask a question, but his mouth was covered by a hand.

Chi Jiayan pleaded softly, “Gege, don’t talk.”

How bold.

Ling Xiao’s eyes darkened. This speech spirit dared to cover the Grim Reaper’s mouth.

He stood up coldly, hearing the girl ask again.

From where he stood, the shadow of a girl could be seen through the crack in the door. To much surprise, a 100-yuan bill was stuffed in from under the door.

“Jiajia, if you’re home, remember to put it away.” The girl’s voice was nice, and she sounded like she was only seventeen or eighteen years old. “I’m going to perform tomorrow, and my dad gave me some pocket money. You need to go buy something to eat, understand?”

After the girl said this, the shadow in the crack of the door walked away.

It wasn’t until it was completely quiet again that Chi Jiayan let out a sigh of relief, the corners of his eyes red.

Ling Xiao: “Your friend?”

Chi Jiayan quickly shook his head. “No!”

Ling Xiao felt like he had had enough of hanging around humans.

“It’s Yu Xiaoqiu. I used to call her Qiuqiu jie when I was little.” Chi Jiayan denied, “She’s not my friend. I don’t have any friends.”

Ling Xiao: “…That’s not what it looked like.”

Chi Jiayan was silent for a few seconds, gathering his emotions before forcing a smile. “For a person like me, it’s better to not be friends with ordinary people. It’s true she wants to help me, but I don’t want to hurt her.”

Because he didn’t want to harm others by accident, he would choose to pretend he wasn’t at home?

Ling Xiao understood.

Chi Jiayan went to pick up the money, also retrieving a big box.

There was quite a lot of money in the box: one yuan, five yuan, etc, in various denominations. It didn’t look like the work of a single day.

It probably wasn’t the first time Yu Xiaoqiu stuffed money under the door for Chi Jiayan, but Chi Jiayan didn’t spend it. Concern from others was like a rare treasure to him, so he couldn’t bear to spend it.

In this messy and unclean house, the shortie Chi Jiayan was wearing a cheap T-shirt. Because he was too thin, his shoulder blade bones protruded out.

His dinner was two bowls of instant noodles, and the only living being that would listen to him was the little black cat.

Also, the friend he kept insisting to be his friend was the most feared person in the world—the Grim Reaper.

For some reason, Ling Xiao stopped him from putting the 100-yuan bill in.

“There is a problem,” Ling Xiao said.

“Huh?” Chi Jiayan was puzzled. “Gege, what’s wrong?”

Ling Xiao took the bill. He could see layers of black air lingering on the money. He moved his fingers, absorbing the black air, feeling a tiny bit of its energy flowing through his body.

“The person who handled this money came from the underworld,” Ling Xiao said. “The person who gave her this money is dead.”

Chi Jiayan’s face changed drastically. “…Who died?”

Ling Xiao didn’t answer immediately. His eyes were closed, and with his tall figure, he emitted a chilling aura for a moment.

Xiao Hei was originally on the sofa, but he became so frightened that his fur stood on end and he yowled.

Ling Xiao seemed to be talking to someone in his consciousness.

His tone became completely cold.

“Are all the soul-devouring beasts dead? Tell Lu Cheng to come see me immediately.”