Chapter 32: 2.16

[Ding, ding! Cruel Caress (Active) has reached Level 6!]

[Ding, ding! Cruel Caress (Active) has reached Level 7!]

[Ding, ding! Cruel Caress (Active) has reached Level 8!]

[Ding, ding! Voices of the Dead (Active) has reached Level 3!]

[Ding, ding! Voices of the Dead (Active) has reached Level 4!]

[Ding, ding! Psychotic Break has increased to Level 11!]

[Ding, ding! If Looks Could Kill (Active) has increased to Level 4!]

[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has increased to Level 10!]

[Ding, ding! Malevolent Intent has reached Level 10! Activating new special skill Soul Sucker (active) level 1! Ooh yeah, baby~! Suck my soul energy! Suck it hard and drink it down!]

Jia Hyson felt his spiritual energy grow exponentially that night. And the nights after. Even in the day, it grew some too. He felt stronger. Better. More powerful.

In the man's dreams Jia Hyson had vented on him in every way imaginable. And as an author that had gotten so popular that he ended up dying in this, world thanks to the author god being inspired by his own fucking horror story he had a very good imagination. He'd torture him with medical instruments, whip him with a chain covered in fishing hooks that would rend his flesh and skin apart and break every bone in his body before pushing him into an open fire to burn. Just before the Professor died, turning into complete ash, he would wake up sweating and alive once more. He would gasp and moan and beg for a death that he doesn't deserve.

As he watches Professor Shen yell and cry at night. As he twitched and spasmed with fear in the day. Shivering and shaking in constant paranoia. By the fourth day the nurses had spread the rumor that strange things were happening around Professor Shen and the man himself was near catatonic.

He felt like a god.

During this time he had wrung out all the information he could from the man. Professor Shen wasn't the ringleader of the cult but, he was a strong pillar upholding it, one of the most fanatical and outspoken to the cause of 'Beauty triumphs everything' so he had been given a lot of responsibility and knows various things like the names and addresses of the members. Bebe has also helped identify the important people behind the names, while it couldn't do much for those with normal identities, if the cult member held some sort of prestige Bebe could scope them out.

Jia Hyson was honestly a little surprised by the quality of these members. There were around thirty people, twenty-seven were men and three were woman. Three of them were in politics, six were reputable scholars like Professor Shen, there was one in law enforcement, one army veteran and four individuals that own some sort of reputable shop or establishment. In short, these cult members were the two-faced hypocrite type that felt 'weighted down' by responsibilities and vented through abnormal means and obsessions.

The enforcer and the veteran aside, the rest should also be quite spineless and cowardly like Professor Shen ah? After all, those ones will be relatively normal people unless they had a secret love of killing or a completely twisted view on life. However the odds of that are quite low, after all, if they did hold such heavy inclinations they probably would have aimed a little higher than joining a Beauty Appreciation Cult ╮(╯∀╰)╭

Bebe: 'You... what the fuck do you mean aim higher?'

Jia Hyson: 'You know, being their own serial killer, establishing an anti-government terrorist squad, assassination- I don't know. Go big or go home you know?'

Bebe: '...' Bebe doesn't know.

Jia Hyson: 'Aiyah, if I hadn't been such a successful writer as well as being so lazy and well bred I'm sure I might have taken a similar path.'

Bebe: '...' So you do admit you secretly have harboured such heavy inclinations ah?

Jia Hyson: 'Then again, in a roundabout way I did take such a path in my original life haha.' ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Bebe who recalls the police records: '...' Bebe can't hear. Bebe didn't hear. Bebe won't hear.

The enforcer could just be corrupt or one of those perverted policemen people see in the news these days, similar to the political officials but with a license to bear arms. The veteran... Jia Hyson frowns lightly in thought. That wasn't a conventional job that appeared in horror. Especially not coupled with the cultist trope.

An ex-soldier... even if he wasn't alive right now Jia Hyson senses the man is definitely someone to be wary of. His job wasn't for someone fitting of a stereotyped cult villain and an outlier in a mob was like a mutation in a herd of beasts. The veteran should be stronger and more cunning than the rest. He would have to deal with that one as soon as possible.

However, he has to wait for Li Guiren to pick him up first.

Meanwhile, as he waits, Professor Shen who's usefulness is all used up, will help him happily pass the time. Xu Xia has given him a lot of good ideas to play with, it would be a waste not to try them out while he has the chance. After all, the hospital has many good things, Jia Hyson is sure he can get his hands on some good virility drugs to play with~ oh, oh and some leeches too~! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Jia Hyson felt like a child in a toy store. Because of his previous undergraduate research project when he was younger he had been given a large number of beetles like cockroaches that he may or may not have used inappropriately on people who have tried to date **** him among other things. Now he's got access to medicinal leeches, which in some ways can be considered more repulsive than beetles.

Bebe: *vomiting noises*

Bebe: Bebe wants to go home _:(´ཀ`」∠):_

...

Li Guiren came back fifteen days later.

His father had gone off somewhere again so he could only defend on Shen Wan for visitation rights. However Shen Wan had kept saying she has been extremely busy and kept pushing his requests to visit the professor off again and again until he finally lost his patience and his temper. Only after screaming and making a large enough fuss did Shen Wan finally agree to visit the hospital again with a sour and unwilling expression.

Li Guiren couldn't help but remember Wei's words about family and smiles bitterly. It seems Wei was right. Family... no matter how much he wants to have one, it appears that it wasn't worth it. Family was only something that just looked good on the surface.

Even though he felt a little hollow inside, Li Guiren did not feel as sad as he thought he would be. After all, he still had Wei.

He will always have Wei.

…

Because Li Guiren has been there before, he had already memorised roughly where Professor Shen's hospital room was so when Shen Wan, who at least had the consciousness to ask if he remembered where to go, left to go get coffee, Li Guiren quickly made his way there.

When Li Guiren arrived and saw Professor Shen, he was shocked and appalled. Before he had already looked bad but now he was something that one couldn't bear to even look at. He looked like he hadn't eaten nor slept since he had visited, his skin was wan and waxy, half his hair was pulled out, and there were various marks all over the body. Scratches, bruises, burns.

"What happened to uncle?!" Li Guiren exclaims, even though he knew exactly what or who was responsible. He felt a little disturbed at the sight, especially when he saw Professor Shen's eyes... those were not the eyes of someone sane or even one of someone aware of reality.

A passing nurse shudders, and pulls Li Guiren out of the room. "Little boy don't go in there!" She warns sternly but the way she glances fearfully at the vacant looking Professor Shen betrays her nervousness, "That man... I didn't believe in curses and ghosts and what other nonsense but that man clearly incurred the wrath of something otherworldly." She looks down at Li Guiren with a face full of pity, "You say he's your uncle? I don't want to be heartless child but you really should stay away from him. All sorts of terrible things have happened around him, I fear that unless the doctors finally bring a priest or monk over, that man is done for."

"Thank you auntie," Li Guiren accepts her advice with wide eyes and a wavering voice, making him look exceptionally innocent and scared, "however Auntie Shen told me to wait here so I'll stay until Auntie Shen comes back."

The nurse frowns, "Your aunt just left you alone in a hospital?" Her face softens was she sees Li Guiren look down, his expression is hidden to her but she is sure he feels saddened by his aunt's clearly callous actions. "Don't worry, tell this auntie her name and roughly what she looks like and I'll find her for you!" She declares, thumping her chest confidently. The faster the aunt comes and picks the boy up and away the better!

Sensing her good intentions Li Guiren answers back politely and waves her goodbye sweetly. Once she turned the corner, the sunny smile he was using immediately dropped and he stuck his tongue out before walking back into the room. "Wei Wei? Where are you?" He whispers loudly as he begins to search around.

"I'm right here~"

Suddenly he felt a cold touch graze the back of his neck. Li Guiren had to cover his mouth to hold back the squeal. Ah, ah, how can it be colder than an ice cube ah?!

He turns around with a scolding expression. "Wei!"

Wei's gorgeous ghostly visage floated in front of him wearing a cheeky bright smile. Li Guiren couldn't help but feel his little heart beat fast with an unknown feeling bubbling between his ribs. Compared to when he had to leave Wei behind, Wei now looked much more cheerful and pleased when before he had an oppressive gloomy air that made Li Guiren instinctively shrink back a little.

The usually mature Wei even playfully made a peek-a-boo gesture as he laughingly asks, "Missed me?"

"Yes," Li Guiren answer honestly, his heart wavering. At first he was unnerved by Professor Shen but seeing how childishly joyful Wei was... the initial worry and disturbed feeling has lessened by a large amount.

Wei smiles fondly, and plants a quick kiss on him, making him shiver at how cold Wei was. Wei has always been cold but right now it was like the young man had been made from snow and carved from ice. However, even though it was as cold as winter frost, his heart felt as sweet as spring blossoms. "My doll is under the bed, I moved it a bit back so the nurses won't find it. Please fetch it for me, I have one last thing to do."

Li Guiren nods brightly, happy to see Wei in such a good mood. Enthusiastically he crawls down to get the doll. He had missed holding it in his arms. The doll really was far back, so it took him a minute or two to crawl in, making him completely miss what happened next.

Jia Hyson stares down at Professor Shen with a strange mix of satisfaction and repulsion and a little bit of reluctance before sighing. "You, seriously, why couldn't you be a rapist like normal scum? Who ever sees a hot guy and thinks 'oh yeah that's someone I wouldn't mind putting next to my Barbie'? Fucking piece of shit."

Bebe: '...Is host implying that rapists would get a lighter punishment?'

Jia Hyson: 'Wha- no! ⋋_⋌ I'm just saying that you know, you get way more rapists in the world than doll cultists and like... okay I don't know, I was just trying to deride him okay?!'

Bebe: 'Fine, fine... so you've decided how to finish him off?'

Jia Hyson smiles, using [Psychic Terror level 1] which he has trained constantly when he was bored, he gets a small bottle hidden in the corner of the room to roll out so he can float over and pick it up. In it was dentures cleaner liquid. Jia Hyson found it when he was rummaging through the new products that had been shipped to the hospital. This sort of liquid, can be treated as bleach.

As in, no matter what, do not drink.

Jia Hyson: 'Hehehe bottoms up motherfucker.'

When Li Guiren shuffled out of the bed, curious about the muffled screaming sounds above him, he saw Wei wiping his corporeal hand, now covered in blood, onto the bedsheet, and Professor Shen lying motionless on the bed.

Jia Hyson: 'I died burnt from the outside-in and now you die burnt from the inside-out. How poetic.'

Bebe: 'Host... This sort of underlying poignant 'what goes around comes around' message Host is trying to bring to his death is... really good ah.'

Wei smiled serenely at Li Guiren. It was the sort of smile one would have when finally relaxing in the bath after a long day, where all the tension and heaviness of hard work is released after so long. Wei looked dazzling but adding to the picture the blood and dead body, he... well he was still very dazzling but in a very morbid, eerie way.

"Xiao Ren let's go okay?" Wei coaxes, ignoring the body behind him, "You don't need to see this."

Li Guiren silently stares at Wei before slowly nodding. He left the room, leaving with only one last lingering look at Professor Shen's body. The room was dim, Li Guiren could only see the old man's limp arm in the shadows.

That was the last time he saw Professor Shen.

....

Jia Hyson came out of the hospital refreshed. Ah, there really was nothing like torturing your enemy to feel this great! Now all that was left was to deal with those damn cultists and then they can wait for the other ghosts and, eventually, the plot to arrive.

The problem with dealing with so many cult members though is that if you go one by one, inevitably someone will catch on and the result would be that many rat will end up escaping. Jia Hyson has become very powerful, well, enough to kill at least two people at once with Hair Control at least. Unfortunately against over thirty people, that sort of strength isn't enough and he also has very limited mobility due to being chained to his doll.

This creates a slight dilemma for him who wants to catch every single one of these perverts and burn them alive. However, he is a gracious malevolent spirit and will make do with at least 90% of them falling into his hands. So he hatches a plan.

Jia Hyson: 'What do you think?'

Bebe: 'Pretty good, but what is host going to do when they gather?'

Jia Hyson: 'I wanted to do something like those games in a S*w movie but I've never had the brains for those sort of things. Also, it doesn't match up with the supernatural genre either.'

Bebe: '...Bebe doesn't like how Bebe almost ignored the first part of that sentence like it was normal.' (⇀_⇀) This psycho host.

Jia Hyson: '...Bebe, we are talking about my revenge arc, why do you always push the topic back to you?' (↼_↼) This self-centered system.

And so, the psycho host and the self-centered system continued to plot and bicker. Mostly bicker. But some plotting did get done eventually.

During this time Li Guiren held some mixed feelings. When Wei came back from the hospital after killing the professor, it would be a lie to say he hadn't been afraid. Killing was, it was wrong! ...Right?

But afterwards Wei was no longer in such a strange mood. Wei was happier, kinder, it was like Wei had gone back to when he first met Li Guiren. They talked all the time again, Wei doted and paid much more attention on him, he finally got to show Wei his favorite show Police-Detective Xi. Li Guiren had absolutely been ecstatic, this was what he wanted!

But was it worth it if someone died as a result?

This feeling of swinging between guilt and happiness, for most is very hard to bear. For a child like Li Guiren it is both even harder and easier. Harder because of the simple straightforward teachings of right and wrong being ingrained into his mind, easier because children have always been flexible creatures who can delude themselves and deny more easily when it suits them. At this age, emotion triumphs facts. Maybe in the future Li Guiren would struggle with what has happened but for now he only felt that the importance of Wei was much greater than a villain like Uncle Shen.

And the further away from Professor Shen's death it was, Li Guiren couldn't help but note how little things had changed. His father had left Shen Wan, gotten a new woman and still focused mainly on the band. The new auntie was like all the others, distant yet doting in public. There were no big impacts to the man's death, no suspicions, no consequences. The weight of death to him no longer seemed so heavy and so a dark seed that had long sprouted in Li Guiren was growing stronger each passing day. If... if Wei is happy... than isn't it fine then?

Even though Wei wasn't like those aunties who are only nice to him at first before slowly ignoring him... Li Guiren wonders sometimes if he had been successful in stopping Wei from hurting the professor back then, maybe Wei too would have finally got tired of him and left like everyone else.

In fact, wouldn't it be better if more people died? Then Wei would be always happy, Wei would always feel satisfied and strong and play with him always.

So on the day Wei finally revealed his future plans, Li Guiren no longer had the strong hesitation and fearful doubt in his heart that he had at first. In fact, an odd sense of anticipation sizzled inside his chest. People were selfish creatures. Children were just more open about it.

Li Guiren was very open to Jia Hyson, so it was easy to tell the boy was interested in the plan. Jia Hyson felt a little, no, very conflicted on this matter.

After venting and bullying Professor Shen to literal death, a large weight had come off his shoulders and Jia Hyson could finally take back some emotional awareness and sanity from his eroded mindset. Professor Shen made up a large portion of his and Bai Li Wei's grudge and by erasing it, his emotions were less erratic and irrationally blinded by the need to pursue revenge.

As a consequence he had reflected at how he had treated Li Guiren and felt that out of the pair, Jia Hyson had clearly been the unreasonable one who was in the wrong so he paid extra attention and care toward Li Guiren to compensate. Not that it was very difficult. Jia Hyson was very fond of the boy, and it had been a while since they could play and talk freely like this. It was good to relax a little, even if the rate of absorbing negative energy decreases as a result, he cannot bear to call his happy times with Li Guiren a loss.

However he had never expected... after mentally recovering from Professor Shen's death... Li Guiren would be so... understanding.

"You.." Jia Hyson says at a loss, "You want to watch?"

Li Guiren nods shyly. Jia Hyson wants to hit him and scold this child. What 'nods shyly'?! Why do you look like you're asking for a new toy?! Ah, ah even Jia Hyson feels cold looking at that glimmer in your black eyes boy!

Jia Hyson hasn't felt a headache for a long time but it was the only explainable description for what he was feeling now, "I, you, it's, people are going to get hurt Xiao Ren. You'll see some very ugly things. Weren't you already unhappy with what I did with Professor Shen? This will be worse." He tries to coax but to no avail.

"It was scary but, but I want to be supportive." Li Guiren's eyes brighten as he looks deeply into Jia Hyson's eyes, "Teacher Mei says a good relationship is only good when both people support each other and their interests no matter what." he replies earnestly.

Jia Hyson: '...' Teacher Mei is probably crying right now.

Bebe: '...' Bebe is also crying right now.