CH 128

Translated by Dust Bunny

Edited by Crooked 

The weather was so blistering hot that everyone was about to melt. Gu Xizhou walked into the police department and caught sight of Fang Zhi. He glanced at Fang Zhi, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen it before?”

Fang Zhi’s dumbfounded expression was adorable as he replied, “I really haven’t seen it.” I haven’t seen Gu Ge get kissed by someone. Did Si Ge kiss you?

“Shut up,” Gu Xizhou told Fang Zhi, “Are we not allowed any free time? Get, today someone reported that their dog is missing. Go on.”

Fang Zhi immediately raised his hands in surrender, feeling very wronged, “Gu Ge, I was wrong, I didn’t see anything.” 

Gu Xizhou glanced at him, eyes and lips curving as he entered the police station. As soon as he was inside, the air conditioner cooled him from head to toe and Gu Xizhou finally felt alive again.

Coming into the office at noon, there weren’t many people inside. The people who had to work were all out having lunch. It was completely devoid of people.

“I just heard from Si Ge that he’s going into the task world in two days,” Fang Zhi told Gu Xizhou. “That day is the Dragon Boat Festival. I’m working that day. Can you help me change my shift?”

Gu Xizhou: “I remember that before you asked me to schedule you during the Dragon Boat Festival because you said you wanted to take your Meimei out to eat when she came back from school, right?”

Fang Zhi scratched his cheek and said pitifully, “Originally that was the plan, but I didn’t expect the time Si Ge got from the task world to be so small. In total I have more than a month of my life left, but Si Ge only has two days.”

“En…” Gu Xizhou heard what Fang Zhi said and immediately thought of Si Yu’s abysmal time reward with a headache. Although the time Gu Xizhou was rewarded was also small, it was definitely much more than what Si Yu got. Presently he still had one week, but Si Yu only had two days.

Si Yu was badly hurt by him.

Originally there was little reward for accompanying them into the task world, and yet he still deducted part of the rewards by beating up ghosts. He suddenly lost his confidence and felt a little guilty… 

I’m really sorry.

Gu Xizhou said silently in his heart.

Fang Zhi’s cumulative total could be considered normal. Gu Xizhou thought about it and said, “This time will be Si Yu’s world. His task worlds are strange by comparison. You still have a lot of time. You don’t need to go this time.”

Fang Zhi heard this and his brows furrowed slightly. He hesitated for a moment, “It’s only you two, I’m worried…” 

“What are you worried about? Si Yu has the mind of a demon. Taking us with him is just a drag for him,” Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but say resentfully. He remembered the time in the amusement park when Si Yu went in without telling Fang Zhi or him.

Fang Zhi was stunned. He couldn’t say why, but he suddenly felt that Si Ge was right. Si Ge was perfectly capable of surviving a task world without the two of them. He hesitated for a long time before he suddenly spoke, feeling a little powerless: “It seems that it really is like that…”

“En,” Gu Xizhou said noncommittally. Si Yu could really leave him, but if he went into the task world alone he would be done for. He patted Fang Zhi on the shoulder and said quietly, “So you can go with Fāng Zhī, and I’ll go in with Si Yu.”

“By the way, if you two want to go back to your mother’s house you can take my car,” Gu Xizhou thought for a moment and said, “I’ll give you the keys the day after tomorrow.” 

Fang Zhi didn’t turn him down. He really wanted to go back with Fāng Zhī and if they had Gu Xizhou’s car, it would be much easier. He knew that Gu Xizhou was looking out for him and said in a small voice, “Thanks, Gu Ge.”

Speaking of which, Gu Xizhou had hardly made it to his office when his phone suddenly vibrated—

Fang Zhi: So Gu Ge, you still have to accompany Si Ge into the task world! ^_^

Fang Zhi sat down at his desk putting his phone down quietly. He had actually really wanted to say that just now, but he was too scared! 

He didn’t dare say it to his face so he could only send Gu Ge a message!

Ah, having said what he wanted to say, he could finally be at ease.

In his office Gu Xizhou saw Fang Zhi’s message and the corner of his mouth twitched. Surely it was because he was so lenient with this little brat that the little thing dared to tease him! Who among the criminal police dared to mock him… en, other than Xiang Yuan!

The day before the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Xizhou gave Fang Zhi the key to his car when he got off of work. Fang Zhi was a smartass, and told Gu Xizhou, “Gu Ge, I hope you’re in good health during the Dragon Boat Festival!” 

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Gu Xizhou paid for the taxi and took a deep breath, reminding himself: he only came here because he cheated Si Yu’s time.

Could he, Gu Xizhou, be eaten to death? He must not!

Standing on the second floor of the villa, Si Yu’s eyes curved slightly, his lips curling upwards. His long, clearly defined fingers gripped the railing as he watched Gu Xizhou with a smile that wasn’t a smile.

Gu Xizhou’s scalp prickled and he felt uncomfortable all over. He brandished a fist at the person upstairs before bowing his head to input Si Yu’s password into the electronic lock with familiarity. 

With a click the door opened.

Gu Xizhou had been to Si Yu’s mansion many times. Even so, Gu Xizhou still felt that this house was a little too big.

Fortunately he was familiar with this place and didn’t need Si Yu to tell him how to get upstairs. He also knew how to get up to the terrace on the second floor. Before he could go up, he saw a man wearing a white t-shirt standing at the top of the stairs looking at him with deep eyes and a smile.

“I knew you liked me.” Si Yu leaned on the railing, one hand propped under his jaw, lengthening the beautiful line of his neck. He looked down at Gu Xizhou, eyes glittering with starlight. 

Gu Xizhou: “Who likes you? I just can’t destroy the bridge after crossing the river. That’s why…”

“Okay, okay, okay. Whatever you say,” Si Yu interrupted Gu Xizhou smiling yet not smiling, saying, “What kind of coffee do you want?”

“…” Gu Xizhou’s breath stuck in his throat. After a long time he said, “The most expensive kind, but no Kopi Luwak!”

Si Yu ‘en’ed and went to go make coffee for Gu Xizhou. After a while Gu Xizhou could smell the scent of coffee. A moment later, a cup of fragrant coffee was placed in front of him. 

Gu Xizhou: “…How was this coffee different from the previous one?”

Si Yu lowered his gaze and pointed to the top of the coffee where there was one singular heart and said softly, “Doesn’t it look good? I think I did well.”

“No, why are you making latte art?” Gu Xizhou curled his lip.

Si Yu winked at him, the corners of his mouth and eyes turning up slightly as he said softly, “You know.” 

Gu Xizhou massaged his brows. This… really was unbearable. He was already getting a little flustered, ah.

Seeing Si Yu extend his hand to him, Gu Xizhou looked at him blankly and asked in a strange voice, “What are you doing?”

“Hold hands to enter the mission world.”

Concise and well thought out. 

Gu Xizhou ‘en’ed and took Si Yu’s outstretched hand. The temperature of his palm was a few degrees warmer.

Si Yu’s hand was white and unblemished. The finely jointed bones were clearly distinguished. They looked clean, but they were not soft and there was a little sharpness to them. These hands would look very nice playing the piano.

Compared with Gu Xizhous hands, which held a gun and touched corpses separated by nothing but a pair of gloves, Si Yu’s hands won completely.

After waiting a while without feeling that familiar sense of dizziness, Gu Xizhou looked at Si Yu with a frown. He hesitated before asking, “How long do we have left until we enter the mission world?” 

“En…” Si Yu mumbled. After a while he lowered his clear bright voice to whisper in Gu Xizhou’s ear, “There’s still half an hour.”

Gu Xizhou: !!!

“Why did you ask me to hold hands with you so early?” Gu Xizhou raised his eyebrows at him.

Si Yu: “Because I wanted to hold your hand.” 

Gu Xizhou: “…” Forget it, forget it. I can’t stand it. I’ll shut up, ba. If President Si wanted to act coquettish it was none of his business.

Finally, after holding hands for half an hour, Gu Xizhou felt the familiar sensation of dizziness. When he opened his eyes again he was sitting in a room on a sofa with Si Yu.

Gu Xizhou was certain that he had entered the task world because this was definitely not Si Yu’s mansion. The decoration in the house was warm, but it was definitely not luxurious. Gu Xizhou extracted his sweaty hand from Si Yu’s grip.

He got up to look around the room. It was an apartment complex. There wasn’t anyone in the bedroom and it was only Si Yu and him in the living room. He stood by the living room window and looked out at the neighborhood. The neighborhood outside was enveloped in thick black fog. The neighborhood outside of the bedroom window however was bright as day. It was clearly dusk, the hour of wolves and dogs. 

The entrances on all sides of the neighborhood were blocked by gates and three of the sides had buildings. These buildings shielded a large area from sunlight making the interior of the community appear somewhat sinister. The downstairs contained several crude awnings which at first glance appeared to violate building code. In the middle of the community there was a bullet gray car, a black pedicab, as well as an electric car.

But there wasn’t a single person in the courtyard.

Gu Xizhou furrowed his brow, where were their other task world teammates?

Gu Xizhou went out into the dark corridor to have a look. The upper right hand corner of the corridor was soaked with rain, growing yellow fuzz and black mold. The dim lighting occasionally flickered. If you wanted to play a horror game, this corridor would receive full marks. 

“Where are the others?” Gu Xizhou’s brows creased slightly.

Si Yu grabbed Gu Xizhou by the arm, preventing him from going out, warning him, “Let’s try to find clues in the apartment first. Don’t go out for the time being. We still don’t know the situation. You listen to me.”

Hearing Si Yu’s words, Gu Xizhou nodded. He had to admit that while in the task world it was better to listen to Si Yu obediently. He followed Si Yu to try and find anything.

Si Yu picked up two train tickets from the coffee table and handed them to Gu Xizhou. He whispered, “It’s a ticket for March 5th at 3 in the afternoon. We should be playing the role of two people who are moving away on the 5th of March.” 

“What’s today?” Gu Xizhou raised his eyebrows and asked.

“There’s a calendar hanging behind the door. Today should be February the 24th. All of the other pages in front of it have been torn out,” Si Yu took the calendar from the wall and put it on the table.

Sitting on the table was an old-fashioned calendar. It was very thick and it was the kind of calendar where each day was torn out. You wouldn’t be able to find this kind of calendar in the city and could only be bought in rural areas.

“The time limit is from now until March 5th at 3 pm,” Si Yu said. 

Gu Xizhou nodded lightly, “It’s the 24th, that’s almost 10 days. The time limit is really long.”

“It is really long,” Si Yu’s brow furrowed slightly as he lowered his voice to say, “I have never encountered such a long time limit before.”

“En, let’s look again and see if there are any other clues,” Gu Xizhou said unconcerned. The two of them searched through the room, not even underneath the bed went unsearched. But there wasn’t anything strange under the bed, the wardrobe, the cupboard, the TV stand, or anywhere else. They found nothing.

Finally, Gu Xizhou walked into the kitchen. The inside of the kitchen was tidy and neat, and then he opened the refrigerator. 

Oh, no head, no broken hands or feet. Nothing fun.

Gu Xizhou looked coldly at the fresh food on the shelves. There wasn’t anything in it whatsoever.

Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but frown. Two hours had gone by quickly and their teammates had yet to appear. Why didn’t even the NPC show up?

“There’s no one, how about we go out and take a look?” Gu Xizhou asked Si Yu, massaging the space between his eyebrows. 

Si Yu shook his head, patting the spot on the sofa next to him as he leaned back lazily, eyes slightly closed, “The situation is still unclear. Let’s not go out for now. How about… you sit with me while we watch TV?”

Gu Xizhou glanced at him speechless and said, “You’re certainly calm.”

The corners of Si Yu’s mouth curved up slightly, and he winked at Gu Xizhou, saying bitterly, “Can I help it?”

“Okay, ba,” Gu Xizhou didn’t have any other ideas at the moment. Si Yu’s task worlds never used common sense. The amusement park was like this too. Who would have thought that the carousel horses would eat people? The corner of Gu Xizhou’s lip twitched, and he sat down next to Si Yu peacefully. 

When the two of them arrived, it was already 5 pm. After searching the room for a little bit and talking things over before they knew it, it was already 7:30 pm. Sitting on the sofa watching TV with Si Yu, Gu Xizhou leaned against his shoulder in a daze and fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already 8:00.

“The NPC still isn’t here?” Gu Xizhou leaned into the sofa, finally opening his eyes only to be met with the tragic news that the NPC hadn’t appeared and there was no trace of their teammates.

Si Yu’s handsome face appeared in front of Gu Xizhou and shook his head very seriously, “They haven’t.”

“Why are your task worlds always so bizarre?” Gu Xizhou said in frustration. He’d had breakfast at Si Yu’s, but when he entered the task world, time had changed according to the settings in the task world. His stomach felt hollow and he was a little hungry. 

“En…it’s a little odd,” Si Yu nodded helplessly, having to admit to Gu Xizhou’s words.

Gu Xizhou put a hand on his stomach and looked up silently. Before, whether they were good task worlds or bad ones, there was still an NPC to take care of food. There was no one to make food in this task world. Were they expected to make it themselves, ba?

Si Yu looked at Gu Xizhou, the corners of his mouth slightly drawn. “Hungry?”

“Not very.” 

As soon as Gu Xizhou spoke, his stomach unexpectedly growled as if it had something against him.

“I’ll make it, ba,” Si Yu said lightly.

Gu Xizhou looked surprised, “You can?”

Si Yu, “I haven’t done it before, but it can’t be too hard, ba.” 

Gu Xizhou: “Okay, ba. There should be some eggs in the fridge. Just make some egg fried rice for me, I’ll sit here.”

Gu Xizhou massaged his eyes. He walked into the bedroom and looked out. It was dark out. Clearly every family should be home by now. But only seven families in the two buildings opposite to them had their lights on.

In all of the seven apartments with the lights on, he couldn’t see even one figure. Don’t you know what that means?

Gu Xizhou waited and frowned when suddenly he smelled burning protein. Gu Xizhou quickly left the room and went into the kitchen, rushing inside. 

When he saw Si Yu’s appearance, Gu Xizhou laughed, “How can you lose your eyebrows cooking fried rice?”

“I almost lost the hair on my head,” Si Yu held down the burnt hair, eyebrows slightly raised. Only now, Si Yu didn’t have any. Gu Xizhou looked and really wanted to laugh.

Gu Xizhou coughed into his fist, reaching out to ruffle Si Yu’s burnt hair.

Si Yu fixed his gaze on Gu Xizhou’s cheek. There wasn’t much distance between the two of them. Gu Xizhou could even hear Si Yu’s breathing. He couldn’t help but say a few teasing words, “I thought you were an iron man. I’ve only heard of people who are unable to cook anything edible, but you’re the first time I’ve actually seen it.” 

“Do you see now?” Si Yu raised his eyes to be met with Gu Xizhou’s growing smile, but he wasn’t angry. He was completely defeated by Gu Xizhou and said, “You can laugh, ba.”

“Hahaha!”

“Hahahaha!”

Gu Xizhou heard him and couldn’t endure, starting to laugh. 

In the face of his wild laughter, the corner of Si Yu’s mouth turned up a little bit. He wasn’t angry at all.

Laughing, Gu Xizhou suddenly discovered a handsome face in front of him and a kiss fell on the corner of his mouth.

What’s with this sudden kiss?!

Gu Xizhou was a little stunned, and took a step back. 

A gentle voice explained with restraint.

I suddenly wanted to kiss you.”

Crooked: We went with using the accents to differentiate FZ and his sister, but I’m very susceptible to peer pressure if you hate it