CH 20

yoantlers [Translator]11-14 minutes

That painting was from when Chi Jiayan was thirteen years old. The Grim Reaper had taken it from his bedside, putting it inside his robes.

The painting depicted a wolf and a masked man in childish strokes—it was the scene of the Grim Reaper riding the spirit beast Cang Feng, soaring above the sky. po4 yQ

Chi Jiayan’s eyes were shining, but the Grim Reaper’s eyes were cold. “Mm. I took it in the past.”

“No wonder I never found it!” Chi Jiayan hissed excitedly, full of emotion. He immediately broke into a grin. “It turned out Gege had it all along! I can make another if Gege likes my drawings so much. I draw a lot better now than before.”

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The Grim Reaper said, “Mm.”

“This one’s too ugly.” Chi Jiayan looked up at the Grim Reaper. “I have to draw it again.” UHxNXm

Behind the glass wall of the living room appeared another figure in an all-black robe. It was Ling Xiao.

The two Ling Xiaos looked at each other from afar, neither one wearing a shred of emotion.

Chi Jiayan didn’t notice the Grim Reaper’s cold expression, neglectful of even Cang Feng in the yard who was chasing the ghosts all around like a flock of headless chickens. At this point in time, he was no longer that naive boy who was startled when the college entrance exam ghost on the staircase was swallowed up.

He noticed the Grim Reaper noticing Ling Xiao. Chi Jiayan scratched his ear. “Ah, I forgot to tell you, the other Gege just got here. I thought he was you, and I even asked if he slept well.”

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“He is indeed me.” The Grim Reaper strode back into the living room. “Your words are contradictory.”

Ling Xiao hadn’t rested the entire night. The cold aura around him had yet to recede.

But he had also shed his outer robe, wearing just his inner clothes like the Grim Reaper.

The Grim Reaper remembered that at this time period, he had dealt with a fatal accident where a high-speed train derailed, causing a mass of deaths. The scene was very tragic, and his outer robe had become stained with blood. At that time, he had taken off his robe and thrown it away on the spot. 17S2 F

In the face of death, he was always indifferent, but he still hated blood.

It seemed like this also held true for Ling Xiao. At least, this factor hadn’t changed in this timeline.

Seeing the two walk inside together, Ling Xiao gave the Grim Reaper a subtle look.

He couldn’t be blamed for letting his imagination run wild. yuaPMG

When he got here, he happened to see Chi Jiayan only wearing that outer robe. There weren’t even pajama pants on his lower body, only a pair of short underwear, showing off his straight and slender legs. Moreover, the other party blushed when he saw him, asking if he had slept well.

He thought that Chi Jiayan had mistaken him for someone else.

Chi Jiayan, seemingly in a good mood, went upstairs, probably to look for painting supplies.

Ling Xiao spoke first. “Did you two…” SLfalU

The Grim Reaper said, “We didn’t.”

Ling Xiao nodded.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

He hadn’t spoken yet when the Grim Reaper added, “Even if we were to, it would have been you to do something like that.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Ling Xiao. clIgj

“Your willpower is no longer firm, allowing desire to fill the emptiness, giving you a reason to become weak.” The Grim Reaper spoke coldly, as if he was extremely disappointed with the version of himself from this timeline. “But I haven’t.”

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“Gege?” DWGerI

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The spacious living room had become somewhat cramped due to the presence of the two grim reapers.

Chi Jiayan blushed. “Let’s take a picture together.” z4GUgx

“No,” both of them replied at once.

“Don’t refuse just yet…” Chi Jiayan frantically said. “I originally wanted to paint, but I realized that I couldn’t paint myself the same way. I want to take a group photo with you. If you both leave again in the future, I’ll at least be able to see you.”

The two: “…”

“Also, I’ve never taken a picture with anyone before!” Chi Jiayan added. ulKrq3

He looked pitiful, putting on a small voice to say, “I…I’ve never had friends before, you know? Nobody to talk to, nobody to share my life with. Even such a thing as taking pictures, I’ve never been able to experience. It’s only this much, so can’t I?”

In the end, they took a picture together.

Besides Chi Jiayan who was grinning satisfactorily, the other two figures had sour faces.

Despite living for thousands of years, they had never left an imprint of themselves on this world. The Grim Reaper looked at himself in the photo, feeling a little strange. QgpCh0

He never spent much time in front of the mirror. Though he knew what he roughly looked like, he never thought about it much.

Looking up, he saw that Ling Xiao shared the same sentiment, his facial expression heavy.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Oh no…I can’t tell you two apart anymore.” Chi Jiayan held the photo up to both of them. “Which Gege is from the future, and which Gege is from this timeline?”

Ling Xiao took the photo and said, “No need to differentiate us. We’ll become one sooner or later.” MnNo9s

“Why?” Chi Jiayan was puzzled.

The Grim Reaper spoke up, looking at Ling Xiao.

He picked up right where he left off.

“I’m just stuck here temporarily,” the Grim Reaper said. “If the future doesn’t change, he will become an afterimage of this timeline, and disappear naturally. If the future does change, then I will cease to exist. So, sooner or later, there will only be one left, but either one will still be the real me.” ezPrZN

Saying this, the two raised their hands at the same time.

The moment their fingers touched each other, an invisible vortex formed in midair, and their fingers began to gradually merge.

A mysterious force was trying to combine them.

It was a pity that they didn’t have such plans to do so yet. lcGHNX

So both of them withdrew their hands and fell silent.

A wolf howled nearby. It turned out that Cang Feng, in wolf cub form, had run inside contentedly, shaking its head.

Chi Jiayan set the photo down to scoop it up. “Cang Feng! Your belly is so round!”

Cang Feng was so happy that it licked his face. 89VNOc

The Grim Reaper had an ugly expression, ruthlessly grabbing Cang Feng back. “You ate too much.”

Chi Jiayan froze for a moment, realizing why Cang Feng’s belly was so round. He looked out the window, where all that was left was piles of fallen leaves and brooms and dustpans scattered on the ground.

Ling Xiao wanted to speak, but he heard Chi Jiayan whisper, “Too bad.”

He saw the young man turn his head back, and there was no trace of pity in his eyes. bPlQcU

There was a smile on his lips like a poisonous rose.

“How annoying. They’re all dead, and now there’s nobody to sweep the floor.”

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The natal chart was still offline.

Ling Xiao didn’t tell anyone that there were two versions of himself in this timeline, but he contacted Lu Cheng to tell him to go back to their world and figure out what was happening. As the Grim Reaper, he had been deprived the right to return to the higher dimension, making the lower dimension his home. dNMxrq

But Lu Cheng was different; he was still just an auxiliary god, so he could come and go freely. It would be faster for him to see what was going on with the natal chart.

During the period of waiting time, the Grim Reaper lived in Chi Jiayan’s house.

He felt that he couldn’t stay in the same room with this human for too long, so he often donned his mask and went out alone.

Sometimes when he came back, he would see the boy sitting in the courtyard for a long time, looking at the sky without blinking. e1tTX5

Chi Jiayan had really changed a lot.

The ghosts were all eaten up by Cang Feng, so naturally, he had to find a new batch.

The primary school teacher who was controlled by him still often came by to cook for him at his house.

The teacher would talk to him with an expressionless but gentle voice, sometimes stroking his head like an elder would. sc9aCM

One day, without knowing why, the teacher suddenly recovered a bit of her sanity, her expression suddenly becoming very frightened.

Chi Jiayan just threw her a cold look before letting her go.

After that, he sat at the dining table with a downcast face. He then went to the corner to look at Xiao Hei, who was dying. He stretched out a hand to stroke his fur, looking like he had a lot to say. Xiao Hei was too old and sick, but his soul was forced to stay by the speech spirit’s power. He couldn’t even take care of himself anymore, so how was he to provide company?

In the end, Chi Jiayan said nothing. 6Nyl9D

It wasn’t until the Grim Reaper came back that he smiled again.

Everything was developing towards that same twenty-seven year-old trajectory.

Finally, one morning, the arrival of a visitor broke the temporary peace.

It was a businessman who found his way here from an online forum. He brought an assistant who drove a luxury car to discuss business. Yb15Ny

The businessman was a local tyrant. He was prepared to brag about his wealth and fortune, but when he saw the person who opened the door, he didn’t know why his entire back shivered, and he couldn’t help feeling an instinctual fear.

Because the person who opened the door was Ling Xiao.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Who are you looking for?”

The local tyrant felt like just being looked at by this extremely tall man made him shorter, coupled with the natural aura of a powerful person around him. He stammered, “I—I—I’m looking for Mr. Chi.” mVrYwM

Ling Xiao stepped aside. Instead of showing him the way, he simply furrowed his eyebrows.

The local tyrant and his assistant hurried in together. The deeper they went into the courtyard, the weirder they felt.

It was obviously a very ordinary yard, but it was eerily quiet. It would make people’s scalp numb even in the summer.

Even the plants and the trees in the yard looked very mysterious. iTnoQf

They walked into the living room to see the tall man sitting on the sofa stroking a wolf cup with one hand. Their legs went limp.

Was…wasn’t this the man who had just opened the door?

How did he get to the living room so quickly?!

Fortunately, Chi Jiayan came out of the kitchen. He was still wearing an apron, two dimples looming on the corners of his lips. “You’re Mr. Zeng, right? I saw that your appointment was today.” 2A6wCe

The friendliness of this young man made the local tyrant able to breathe a little. He no longer felt like he was in some strange, spiritual world.

But he turned towards the man on the sofa with a greasy smile. “This…is Mr. Chi, I presume?”

Ling Xiao walked in, one hand in his pants pocket, his expression indifferent.

There were two identical people in the room. aKTJHw

The local tyrant wiped off the cold sweat from his fright just earlier, heaving a sigh of relief.

He hesitated. “Uh…Or is this Mr. Chi? I didn’t expect you to be twins. Please forgive my ignorance.”

Ling Xiao didn’t speak.

The Grim Reaper said, “We’re not.” HWcd24

The wolf cup on the sofa broke free from the hand of the Grim Reaper and jumped down, heading straight towards Chi Jiayan who was holding a spatula.

The assistant tugged on the tyrant’s clothes and noted, “President Zeng, over there.”

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“Pfft. Chi Jiayan’s actually me.”

Sure enough, the boy with a spatula in his hand laughed out loud. He knelt down and picked up the wolf cub. FpStfB

The cub rubbed against his body, showing favor. Its black fur offset the boy’s white skin, his eyes like dark gems, but also like a bottomless abyss.