Part 2
“Plus, the highways were washed away, so we could only take the national roads. The fields outside the city were all underwater, and the city itself was even more tragic. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there were bodies everywhere. You could see deceased people who hadn’t been handled yet covered in white cloth by the roadside.”
“That was only one part of it.” Bai Qiniang ground her teeth in hatred. “Fortunately, the array was broken, and the people who set it up all died from the backlash. The people from the Celestial Master Association, who usually look all dignified, were also pushed to their limit that time. Taking advantage of the other side’s weakened state, they fought a long-distance duel and made them pay the same price.”
Jiang Si clicked his tongue. He truly hadn’t expected there to be so many hidden stories behind it.
Whether in the light or the dark, every time a national crisis occurred, there would always be people who stepped forward first to sacrifice themselves for the safety of the people’s lives.
“In this current Dharma-Ending Age, it’s difficult for us immortals to cultivate, and humans are similarly facing a dead end. But I didn’t expect that after the events of two years ago, the Eastern Sea side would still be so severely weakened. As the hosts, they couldn’t even last two rounds before admitting defeat.”
Bai Qiniang was only curious for a moment before becoming happy again, clapping her hands and laughing. “Whatever. As long as we won, it’s fine.”
Jiang Si nodded silently. That made sense. Winning was all that mattered.
She had only come here to talk about it; she had no one else to tell but Jiang Si. Now that she had finished, she was about to leave.
Jiang Si offered a casual pleasantry: “Since you’re already here, why not have some incense?”
Bai Qiniang immediately turned back. “I’d love to!”
“…”
He seemed to have said he wouldn’t provide incense to her and Xiao Fengxian for a month. How many days had it been?
Jiang Si regretted his loose tongue. He got up to get her incense and offerings. Just as he set them out for her, Bai Qiniang began to enjoy them.
On the side, Hai Di watched. For some reason, he also felt a slight urge to take a puff.
That night.
Jiang Si let Hai Di stay over, saying it was inconvenient for him to keep running back and forth, so staying for a night was fine.
After saying this, Jiang Si took his pajamas to the bathroom to wash up, leaving Hai Di sitting alone in the living room, feeling a bit dazed.
He tried his best to stay calm, telling himself not to overthink it. It was just staying for a night. If there wasn’t a guest room, he could just sleep in the living room.
Jiang Si was completely unaware of the internal drama he was experiencing. With a dry towel draped over his half-dry hair, he slowly walked out of the bathroom.
His skin, washed by the water, was exposed, showing a bit of a flush from the steam. A few drops of water that hadn’t been wiped away fell on his neck and shoulders, disappearing under the loosely buttoned collar of his pajamas.
Jiang Si was oblivious. He wiped himself casually twice, picked up a hairdryer, and began to dry his hair.
The vroom-vroom of the machine masked the sound of Hai Di’s footsteps. He walked over, took the hairdryer from Jiang Si’s hand, and pretended to dry his hair for him. In reality, while the other man turned his head, he took the opportunity to capture the lips that were also flushed from the wash.
The vroom-vroom noise was incessant. Jiang Si felt in a daze, as if he could hear the sound of water between the two of them.
The noise was too loud. Jiang Si reached out to try to turn it off, but Hai Di dodged him, saying seriously, “If you turn it off, what will I use?”
“Well, you’re not using it now either.” Jiang Si slanted a glance at him.
“I’m using it.” Hai Di straightened the man’s head, his left hand running through the fluffy, half-dry hair, while his right hand worked the hairdryer.
Every couple of strokes, he would intentionally or unintentionally knead and stroke the skin from the back of the neck to the base of the ear. There was a hint of playful intimacy in his movements.
Jiang Si was too lazy to move himself, so he let him have his way. He ignored the occasional small movements and focused on scrolling through the latest news on his phone.
Hai Di suddenly asked in confusion: “Does your house have insects?”
“What?”
On the lower right side of Jiang Si’s thin trapezius muscle, a small area had become red and swollen at some point. It was half-hidden by his pajamas, and if not for his extremely white skin and careful observation, it wouldn’t have been noticeable.
Hai Di didn’t answer. He rubbed it a few times with his fingertip and asked him what it felt like.
“Nothing much.” Jiang Si said nonchalantly. “It doesn’t hurt or itch. Maybe I accidentally bumped into something.”
Hai Di hummed in response. He honestly finished drying the other’s hair before going to the bathroom to wash up himself.
Ultimately, Jiang Si didn’t make him sleep on the sofa. He said bluntly, “You’re too tall; the sofa definitely won’t work. Just sleep on the bed.”
So Hai Di naturally ended up in the same bed as him.
However, it was purely a “lying under the covers and chatting” kind of situation. Jiang Si had exhausted too much energy today and fell fast asleep within minutes of lying down.
In the darkness, Hai Di quietly held his hand and also closed his eyes to sleep.
“Hai Di—”
“Hai Di—”
Jiang Si suddenly woke from a dream, shaking the man sleeping soundly beside him.
Without a trace of light, he accurately captured the moment the other opened his eyes. A second before he could speak, Jiang Si covered his mouth with his hand.
Jiang Si whispered, “Something followed us back. It’s in this room. Let’s get out first; I need to get something to get rid of it.”
Hai Di gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
“I can’t turn on the lights. Follow me out.” Jiang Si instructed him.
With that, he tugged at Hai Di’s sleeve and cautiously got out of bed, walking barefoot on the floor as he slowly moved outside.
Hai Di followed behind him.
Once they were out of the bedroom, Jiang Si turned on the living room light. He patted his chest in fear and complained, “I really didn’t expect that thing to be so powerful. It actually followed us all the way, and I didn’t even notice.”
“Don’t just stand there. I need to wait at the bedroom door. Go get something for me.” Jiang Si said while pointing in a direction. “It’s right there. There’s a box; bring it over.”
After a while, Jiang Si felt someone approaching behind him. Without looking back, he reached out to take it.
“Give it to me—What are you doing?!”
His palm was suddenly pierced. Jiang Si looked back in shock, staring in disbelief at Hai Di, who was holding a knife. He couldn’t suppress his anger as he questioned him.
“What are you doing?!”
Hai Di was expressionless. “Who are you?”
“I’m Jiang Si!”
The muscles in Hai Di’s face twitched slightly into a mocking arc. “Jiang Si is a person. Are you?”
His and Jiang Si’s gazes simultaneously fell on the pierced palm. A large hole had broken open there, dripping a thick, black, viscous liquid.
Jiang Si’s shocked expression vanished at some point, his lips curling up into an evil smirk. His tongue licked his lips as he said gloomily, “You caught me—”
The skin exposed to the air began to tear inch by inch. Within the gaps of the mangled flesh and blood, things were constantly pulsating.
Hai Di’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Before him, a black hand tore through the outer layer of Jiang Si’s skin, breaking out from within.
A monster covered in heads slowly manifested. It was entirely pitch-black, and not even an eye could be found.
But Hai Di had a gut feeling it was staring fixedly at him.
“But you’re going to die sooner or later anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you found out… Hahahahaha!”
Hai Di lunged and tried to stab it, but was kicked away by the monster. The moment he landed, the monster teleported in front of him, its hands tightly gripping his neck, dragging him toward the direction he had pointed in.
“Whew—”
Hai Di swallowed with difficulty; his throat was so tightly squeezed he couldn’t even catch a breath.
Since the monster wanted him to take the box, it must be with the intention of using the box to kill him.
Seeing he was getting closer to the box, Hai Di squeezed his eyes shut. The brilliant white light of the lamp was truly dazzling. In the blink of an eye, a memory of a scene that had never happened before flashed through his mind.
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