CH 44

“6 means life, 1 means death? What does that mean?” Gu Xizhou looked at the words on the note. The words looked like an elementary schooler had written it, and looked exactly like the words on the plaque. One look and he knew that they were written by that crossdressing idiot, Fu Yiran. 

Gu Xizhou pursed his lips and stuffed the note in his pocket, choosing to just use the toilet first. When he came out, he saw Si Yu sitting in front of a computer, drinking coffee. His laptop displayed something that looked like a spreadsheet. 

Gu Xizhou peeked over. Si Yu didn’t mind, and said softly: “The company’s quarterly report.”

One… ten… hundred million…

Gu Xizhou sneakily glanced over with a glint in his eyes. The first step was to count nine zeroes. He didn’t get a good look at the number in front. Si Yu looked at him, as if realising that Gu Xizhou was peeking. 

Gu Xizhou looked away, and felt like he had suffered a huge blow. The urge to eat the rich rose up inside of him, and he thought that rich people really deserved death. He grit his teeth, and didn’t say anything.

Didn’t these rich people still have to survive in the mission worlds like him? Didn’t they see the countdown of their life at any time?

If one didn’t know when death would come, they wouldn’t be afraid. But when death stood in front of you and counted the seconds, people would shudder from fear. 

Si Yu glanced at the report on the screen for a while more, then closed the report. He seemed to be very calm in the face of Gu Xizhou’s peeking: “There is nothing good to see. It’s just a few numbers.”

“Just a few numbers that have nine zeroes.” Gu Xizhou was very angry when he saw how the guy before him tried to underplay it.

Gu Ji Ji ah, why aren’t you a local tyrant either?!

“What kind of look is that?”

“A jealous look.” Gu Xizhou rolled his eyes, and quickly changed the subject. “Right, there was a note in my pocket, I think Fu Yiran shoved it in.”

As he spoke, Gu Xizhou took out the note and handed it to Si Yu. Si Yu took the note from him and opened it, looking at the words. 

“The words should be written by him, they’re exactly the same as the ones on the plaque.” Gu Xizhou asked curiously: “What do you think he meant by the note?”

“What, six means life, and one means death?”

“Also, what’s up with that Fu Yiran, shaking me awake every night to ask me to tear the newspaper with him, refusing to ask you. He only got shocked when those two who tore the paper out of curiosity got killed by the faceless women.”

“You didn’t ask him?” Si Yu asked.

Speaking of this, Gu Xizhou felt angry. Even though he wasn’t afraid of those women, but that didn’t mean he was happy to be used by others.  “I asked, but he said ‘not everyone’s big thigh can be hugged’.”

Si Yu was silent for a moment. “He may just be insane.”

“Lf vfolclafis lr.”

Xe Wlhtbe atbeuta jybea la. Ktlr alwf, atf kbgiv kjrc’a jmaejiis abb afggloslcu… Ktfc jujlc, atlr kjr yfmjerf Vl Te xfqa gfwlcvlcu tlw cba ab rafq bc atf yijmx wjgyif ogbw atf yfulcclcu. Po tf tjvc’a ilrafcfv ab Vl Te’r kbgvr, tf kbeiv tjnf ibcu yffc qeiifv lcab atf vlga. 

Stepping on a lattice with a Buddha statue would make the Buddha statue lose its restraining ability, and the women would come out on the wall. If someone stepped on a block with human faces below, they would be directly pulled into the dirt. With so many blocks, only the ghosts knew which had faces below, and which didn’t. 

Gu Xizhou felt his mind drifting, and he waved his head: “Don’t mention him again. Anyway, do you know what this note means?”

Si Yu’s hand trembled slightly, then passed the note back to Gu Xizhou. He shook his head and said faintly: “I don’t know.”

Gu Xizhou heard his reply and shrugged indifferently. “He might just be pranking us. Thanks, I won’t impose on you for lunch. Thank you for breakfast and coffee.”

He swallowed the rest of the coffee in the cup on the table, and asked: “This coffee is pretty good, where did you buy it?”

“…” Si Yu gave him a silent look. “You can’t afford it.”

Gu Xizhou: “…”

Evil rich man!

“I’ll be leaving now.” Gu Xizhou relaxed his hand that had curled into a fist, resisting the urge to beat Si Yu, and got into the small land rover he had parked outside Si Yu’s house, and drove off. 

As Gu Xizhou drove, his brows furrowed, and he took out the note that Fu Yiran stuffed in his pocket again. 

Fu Yiran was very strange. He told him at least two people in the team could take him out of this world.

One of them was him, Gu Xizhou, and the other–although Fu Yiran didn’t say a name, intuition told Gu Xizhou that the person was Si Yu. 

If Si Yu could take him out, why was Fu Yiran unwilling to be brought out by him? What was the difference between Si Yu and him?

It was almost noon when Gu Xizhou returned home. 

‘6’ meant life, ‘1’ meant death? The question kept lingering in his mind.

When Gu Xizhou arrived home and opened the door, he saw the television on and broadcasting the news. 

Hearing the opening of the door, the remote control floating in the air reduced the sound of the TV, and then fell back to the coffee table in the living room. Gu Ji Ji quickly stood up from the sofa, and held a pen and paper in his hand. 

Gu Ji Ji: “You’re back.”

Gu Xizhou couldn’t see anyone, but he still smiled at the air. “En.”

“I’m hungry,” Gu Xizhou said. “I just experienced a spiritual devastation, and I need to lie down for a while.”

His voice was hoarse and full of weariness. He lay down horizontally on the sofa. Until now, he could still feel the despair and pain of the women that he had been attached to. 

In the mission world, he had to be tense and on guard all the time, but he had confidence in his ability. As long as he did not encounter those mysterious death conditions, he wasn’t afraid. 

But the moment he walked through the door and experienced the stories of the deceased, the sensation of being attached to them and suffering their pain was too much. It was as if the one being locked in the closet was him, and the one being buried in the dirt was him.

…

“En… en…” Gu Xizhou felt something wet licking his face. He opened his eyes in dissatisfaction and saw his puppy son stepping on his chest. 

There was the sound of cooking in the kitchen. After a few moments, Gu Xizhou saw ‘a ghost’ put a dish on the dining table. Even though it was just a bowl of simple fried rice and egg, it was very fragrant.

“Oh my god…” Gu Xizhou sat up, and patted his young puppy son, coming awake almost instantly. “Is this the legendary ‘wife and child keeping the house warm’? I didn’t expect Ji Ji to cook fried rice for me! Suddenly, I’m not angry at the fact that you’re poor.”

Gu Ji Ji: “…”

Gu Ji Ji wrote: Poor?

“Oh, I took a peek at Si Yu today… well… it was Si Yaoxing in the first world, and his company earned more than nine figures this quarter!” Gu Xizhou made an envious expression. “Don’t you think you’re extremely poor compared to him? If I were summoned by him, I wouldn’t have to work, and would only have to stay at home and count money.”

Gu Ji Ji: “…”

Gu Ji Ji ignored Gu Xizhou’s nonsense, to the point where he stopped moving. Gu Xizhou couldn’t see the ‘ghost’, and after being ignored for a while, he lost interest in needling him.

“Ignoring me, fine, let’s talk about more serious things.” Gu Xizhou ate two mouthfuls and continued: “This time, when I entered the mission world, someone passed me a note.”

“Look, here it is.”

Gu Xizhou took the note out of his pocket and put it on the table. At the same time, it was as if someone sat on the chair next to him, and took the note. 

Gu Ji Ji: 6 means life, 1 means death, wishing you good luck?

“Do you know what that means?”

The pen on the note stood up and moved, writing: I don’t know. 

“Fuck, do you think he’s just making fun of me?” Gu Xizhou’s lips flattened into a line. Then, his phone rang. He picked up the call, intending to listen to it, but was hit by someone. 

Gu Xizhou: “…”

“Okay, okay, okay, speaker mode.” Gu Xizhou rolled his eyes and switched speaker mode on.

“Old Gu, come to Phoenix Mountain for a while.”

Listening to the voice, it must be Gu Ji Ji’s good friend, the forensic doctor Xiang Yuan. Gu Xizhou froze, then it sounded like someone over there grabbed at the phone. 

“Gu Ge, you’re fine!” Fang Zhi’s voice came over. 

“I’m fine.” Gu Xizhou knew what Fang Zhi meant, and said: “What’s going on over there?”

“It should be… a case of corpse dismemberment.” Fang Zhi replied.

Gu Xizhou: “…”

Before he hung up the call, he saw his house door open by itself.

Gu Xizhou: “…”

Then, car keys were forced into his hand, and was forcefully pushed out of the door. The big door closed with a heavy ‘BANG!’, and Gu Xizhou stood outside, keys in his hand, and stared at the door. Then, he looked at the slippers he was wearing, and pounded crazily on the door–

“Hey, Gu Ji Ji, at least let me wear my shoes properly!”

The door opened, and a pair of shoes were thrown out of the door, with a ‘take it and scram’ meaning hidden within. 

Gu Xizhou: “…”

“Gu Ji Ji, you’re ruthless!” Gu Xizhou couldn’t bring himself to fight, and could only change his shoes before leaving. 

soya: due to some real life concerns, i can’t translate anymore… maybe in the future if this novel still hasn’t been picked up, maybe i can come back when i have more free time, but for now i guess it’s goodbye… ahh…