CH 125

Translated by Crooked

Edited by Dust Bunny 

Gu Xizhou looked at Si Yu’s texts with blurry, drunk eyes. Sitting in the front seat, he coughed lightly into his fist.

What was Si Yu thinking? This guy really… had a whole delusional episode while he was gone?

He called Si Yu. After a short few rings, someone answered the call very quickly, as if the owner of the phone was still awake.

The other person hadn’t had time to open his mouth before Gu Xizhou began to speak. He’d drank a little wine, so his voice was a little husky and gave off a sense of attraction. “Sorry, I just left, so I didn’t reply.” 

“What happened?”

Si Yu’s clear voice was a little low, and it carried a sense of repression. Gu Xizhou keenly sensed that Si Yu’s tone was different than usual, but he couldn’t exactly tell how.

Gu Xizhou told him about how he could only roll two ‘6’s on dice. He noticed the taxi driver beside him glance at him, choking down a laugh and continuing to drive.

This driver Dage must think he was crazy.

“I don’t feel good about it,” said Gu Xizhou. “Do you remember what I told you before about Fu Yiran’s note?”

“You mean: 6 means life, 1 means death.”

Gu Xizhou “en”ed: “It must be related. I feel a little off…” Enough to lose his head.

“Now the number is 6. Since 6 means life, you don’t need to worry.” Si Yu thought about it before answering Gu Xizhou. 

“Sc.” Xe Wlhtbe rlutfv. Vevvfcis, tf atbeuta bo rbwfatlcu. Lf jrxfv Vl Te, “Qts vbc’a sbe olcv rbwf vlmf ab ags la bea? Kgs jcv rff ktfatfg la’r j 6? Kbwbggbk P’ii ufa Mjcu Itl ab ags la!”

Vl Te’r fsfr wbnfv, gbjwlcu jgbecv atf lafwr lc tlr tbwf. Lf rjlv, “Yx, P’ii ags.”

Gu Xizhou didn’t insist on Si Yu trying to find some dice right away, so he didn’t demand an immediate answer. He said to Si Yu, “I don’t have work tomorrow, but my uncle and I are having dinner at my house tomorrow, so… I can’t meet you.”

Si Yu: “En.” 

Hearing his downcast tone, Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but feel guilty. He said, “Let’s have dinner the day after tomorrow. It’s my treat.”

“Okay, rest early after drinking.” Si Yu said finally.

Gu Xizhou listened to Si Yu’s light tone and felt relieved. “En, I know.”

Hearing the dial tone on the other end of the call, Si Yu stared at his phone for a moment. Then, he pulled open his bedside drawer. Inside was a square glass box with a die inside. 

This die was much smaller than an ordinary die, and it wasn’t made of plastic. The die didn’t seem smooth at all, and it was even covered in strange marks of wear.

The top of the die showed a number ‘6’.

Sitting on the bed, Si Yu grabbed the die and shook it in his hand. The die gradually stopped rolling and landed on the number ‘6’. Si Yu shook it randomly several times and got ‘6’ without showing the slightest hint of surprise, as if he were already used to it.

One the other side, Gu Xizhou got out of the car and paid the taxi driver. When the driver Dage gave him his change, he said, “Young people should go back home to rest early.” 

Gu Xizhou “en”ed and closed the door, saying, “Thank you, Dage.”

The driver Dage inclined his head. Before leaving, he shouted, “And also, ah, don’t be so superstitious! Feudal beliefs are out of fashion; nowadays you have to believe in science!”

Gu Xizhou: “Dage…” I’m not, I didn’t!

Before Gu Xizhou could retort, the driver Dage had already driven away. 

Gu Xizhou: “……”

Returning home, he opened the door.

Gu Xizhou was still holding the dice he bought for 50 yuan when he left the KTV. Usually, when he came home, his dog son would throw himself at Gu Xizhou, wanting to be held up high by his master, but tonight the dog took a sniff of the stench of alcohol covering his body and disdainfully walked away.

The shunned Gu Xizhou naturally didn’t notice this detail. He just thought his dog son was a lone wolf today. He didn’t need to turn on the lights because Ji Ji would flip them on at night. 

“Ji Ji, look!” Gu Xizhou walked into the living room and raised the dice in his hands. Then, he tossed them.

Gu Ji Ji: ……

Gu Ji Ji: Drank too much… Went mad drunk?

Gu Ji Ji stared at Gu Xizhou. Just like the taxi driver, he immediately thought Gu Xizhou was insane. 

Gu Xizhou almost died of anger after seeing Gu Ji Ji’s note. He said, dumbfounded, “Look at the number on the dice!”

Gu Ji Ji glanced at them: Two 6s, so what?

Gu Xizhou didn’t reply. Instead, he rolled the dice again. This time, Gu Ji Ji finally reacted.

Gu Ji Ji: Still 6… 

“Right. Today when Xiang Yuan pulled me to drink and told me to roll the dice, I discovered that no matter how I do it, the number’s always 6. I think that when Fu Yiran said ‘6 means life, 1 means death’, it was about dice,” Gu Xizhou explained his guess to Gu Ji Ji in a low voice.

Gu Ji Ji sighed, and his restless soul calmed down a little.

They tried to reason it out, but they didn’t know what the connection between life and death or 6 and 1 with dice was. They still hadn’t come to a conclusion, so Gu Xizhou simply gave up and said, “Tomorrow I’ll let Fang Zhi and Ma Qi try it out and see what their numbers are.”

“Ji Ji, how about you test it?” 

Gu Ji Ji: I’m already dead. There’s no need to try.

Gu Xizhou: “……”

“You’re right, forget it. I’ll go take a bath and go to bed.” Gu Xizhou was almost speechless. “I still have to go buy vegetables for lunch tomorrow. We have to talk about it before I go buy them; you have to help me! I can’t do it well.

Gu Ji Ji: En. 

Gu Xizhou relaxed. After all, the main purpose of inviting Wang Ao and his family over for dinner was to let Ji Ji see that Wang Shu was alright with his own eyes, but if he was inviting people over, he was too embarrassed to order takeout… Otherwise, it would be too insincere.

The sound of water crashed, and behind the glass shower door, a figure could be faintly seen. The ghost glanced over before slowly looking away. He’d seen everything there was to look at on that body. It was his, after all, and he knew it thoroughly.

Every inch of flesh, every fiber of muscle, he knew it all.

Inside, however, was a different soul. It felt different. 

The ghost bowed its head, and its hands couldn’t help but stretch toward the dice on the table. He lightly threw the dice, and when he saw the numbers he couldn’t help but feel a little stunned.

Two ‘1’s.

The ghost didn’t hesitate to throw them again.

Still two ‘1’s. 

After several continuous tests, the ghost suddenly felt a sense of defeat. Was it because he already died in this world that he could only throw the number ‘1’ forever?