CH 146

Translated by Dust Bunny

Edited by Crooked 

Gu Xizhou’s adam’s apple bobbed, hesitating as he looked down at Zhou Xinyue to see her looking back at him as she opened her mouth weakly.

It was hard to hear Zhou Xinyue’s words, but Gu Xizhou could guess that she wanted him to catch up with Ji Ji. Gu Xizhou cursed him darkly and ran after him.

Gu Qing carefully examined the people in front of him. He discovered that they were all tall. It was hard for three pairs of fists to beat four, so he pulled out his gun and fired a shot into the sky. The shot immediately frightened the group.

“Bang!” 

As the shot echoed, the gang leader startled, watching Gu Qing intently.

“Drop the knife,” Gu Qing said sternly.

Gu Qing’s warning seemed to snap him out of it, but he didn’t drop the cleaver. Instead, he suddenly grabbed a hold of the child that had committed the theft and held the knife to the child’s neck. “Open fire and we’ll see who’s quicker!”

Gu Qing gave him a cold look, waving his hand and saying, “Let the kid go, and I won’t shoot.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” the tall man sneered. Gu Qing didn’t know what he said next…

Gu Qing felt pain in the back of his head and subconsciously touched the back of his head and felt blood!

He turned his head in astonishment, because none of the adults were behind him. When he looked he saw a minor holding a bloody brick and his body shook slightly, warm blood dripping down his hair.

Drip. 

Drip.

“Team leader Gu!” The two others were attacked by the children, too. Suddenly, at the tall man’s command, those children attacked them in waves.

This was a round up. The tall man obviously knew that Gu Qing and the others wouldn’t dare shoot the children. These children had been abused and beaten by them for a long time and couldn’t understand the Ningqing dialect so they were easy to control. Gu Qing didn’t know what they said to these kids, only that these children rushed at them relentlessly, kicking and punching them!

When they were ganged up on and beaten, their guns fell to the ground which the children picked up and handed to the tall man. 

The tall man spat on the ground and swore, “Fuck the police, what are cops good for anyway?”

“Come here!” The tall man waved over the little boy Gu Qing had captured like a chick and put a gun in his hands, ordering him, “Shoot him.”

Following Gu Ji Ji’s figure, Gu Xizhou rushed towards the sounds of fighting to see that child holding a gun, hands shaking as he cocked it and pointed it at Gu Qing.

“No!” Gu Ji Ji shouted in desperation! 

“Fuck, another one!” The man cursed, gnashing his teeth in anger before suddenly shoving the boy roughly and scolding him. “Shoot, ah!”

The little boy burst into tears, his finger squeezing the trigger. Gu Xizhou was just about to grab Gu Ji Ji when he saw Ji Ji run over to block it with his body.

“Fuck!” Seeing this, Gu Xizhou was furious. If something happened to Gu Qing and Zhou Xinyue, he could ignore his anger even if he was uncomfortable. But, Ji Ji was different, they were together everyday. In his heart, even if they weren’t brothers they were at least genuinely friends.

Gu Xizhou watched the child intently, punching the tall man soundly in the face as he rushed over, knocking him to the ground. Immediately the man’s head split and started bleeding. Gu Xizhou picked the gun off the ground, cocking it as he aimed it at the man’s head. 

Gu Xizhou put his finger to the trigger, but before he could speak he smelled something foul and the man began to beg for mercy, pleading with Gu Xizhou not to shoot.

“Order these kids to stop, or I’ll blow your brains out!” Gu Xizhou berated him.

“Okay,” The man said before saying something to the children that Gu Xizhou couldn’t understand.

At the same time the man gave the order he signaled to his other compatriots with his eyes trying to get them to take the other two guns. But this was all seen by Gu Xizhou’s eyes. Gu Xizhou watched the group of half-grown children carefully, he knew that this man wasn’t honest. When he saw a child feeling around behind them, Gu Xizhou shot at the kid’s feet. 

Put the gun down,” Gu Xizhou said coldly.

The child fell to the ground, scared out of their wits.

Several other men and women fell back, planning to slip away subconsciously. The woman walking the fastest soon reached the wall and was about to follow it out when she heard a cold voice.

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

The moment they spoke, a shot rang out.

Bang!

The shot hit her right in the foot, and the woman who was trying to sneak off screamed in pain.

“I’m not buddhist: if anyone dares to move so much as an inch I still have one more bullet. I have confidence in my marksmanship. If anyone dares to move again, I’ll aim for the head,” Gu Xizhou said coldly. 

Everyone fell silent without exception. The guy who’d rushed over was different from the three police officers. He really dared to shoot!

The two mildly injured officers hurriedly checked Gu Ji Ji over for injuries and exhaled. It wasn’t bad. Fortunately the boy was not very tall, so the shot only hit him in the leg.

“Qtfgf kjr tf lcpegfv?”

“Ktf ifu, bc atf ifu!” Ciatbeut atf akb boolmfgr vlvc’a xcbk ktb Xe Wlhtbe kjr, rlcmf tf mjwf klat atflg afjw ifjvfg’r rbc, tf kjr bc atflg rlvf jcskjs. 

Vfflcu Xe Al Al’r qlaloei qjif ojmf, Xe Wlhtbe rajgfv ja tlw obg j ibcu alwf yfobgf bqfclcu tlr wbeat ab rqfjx. “Tbe’ii gfugfa la.”

“I won’t…” Gu Ji Ji said, covering his leg, “Thank you, Mr. Ghost.”

Gu Xizhou was so angry he could laugh. What kind of address was Mr. Ghost, ah? He gave Gu Ji Ji a look to express his disapproval.

The man on the ground saw Gu Xizhou and Gu Ji Ji talking and tried to throw him off but failed. Finally, he could only glare at Gu Xizhou with vicious eyes and gnash his teeth. “If I had just been quicker, I would’ve hit!” 

He knew his crime meant facing the death penalty!

Hearing what the man said, Gu Xizhou’s heart iced over. If he’d been quicker. Dragging his injured foot, he punched the man in the face again.

Although it had slowed, Gu Qing’s head was still bleeding. He didn’t expect those children to suddenly attack from behind. In his dazed state, his son suddenly appeared and scared him senseless!

In his moment of weakness, he looked up to see Gu Xizhou pressing a gun to the man’s head. Seeing that everyone was safe, he passed out. 

At that moment, the sound of uniform footsteps came from the distance, all of them criminal police!

They approached the wall cautiously, guns in hand. Wang Ao didn’t expect these people to be so heartless. He only had to see Zhou Xinyue’s injured form for his whole body to go cold. Luckily, Zhou Xinyue’s condition wasn’t serious and she’d already been given emergency treatment.

His spirit was on edge. When he found the courtyard so silent, his heart was nearly ready to jump out of his chest!

Were Gu Qing and the others alright? 

He couldn’t help worrying about it.

Gripping his gun, he poked his head out from behind the wall to see everyone squatting on the ground, hands behind their head.

At that moment he couldn’t help just walking in. When his wounded colleagues saw reinforcements rushing over, they immediately shed tears!

When Wang Ao saw Gu Qing’s situation, he couldn’t help cursing. “Dammit, Lao Gu, Lao Gu, Wake up! Fuck!” 

Being shaken gently by Wang Ao, Gu Qing opened his eyes blearily and shook his head, clearly unable to speak.

Seeing Gu Qing’s eyes open, Wang Ao took a breath and his heart returned to his stomach.

Seeing the police arrive, Gu Xizhou and several other people briefly explained what happened before he looked down at Gu Ji Ji, who was also taken to the ambulance, and said, “Idiot.”

After handling all the affairs and getting in the police car, Wang Ao suddenly froze, asking the ten other people blankly, “Where is the colleague who arrived before us? Why is that person missing?” 

Lao Guo scratched his head and said, “I-I don’t know, ah!”

“It seems like we haven’t seen him since we returned!”

Gu Xizhou, who had stayed where he was, finally saw the ‘Ji Ji’ of the ghost world.

The clatter of chains sounded softly with each step he took. 

Ever since he’d sent Gu Qing, Zhou Xinyue, and the eighteen-year-old Ji Ji off, Gu Xizhou had been waiting for the ghost to appear. For Gu Ji Ji, those were his two regrets in life he wanted to make up for.

He turned abruptly to see a man standing behind him, sharp lines outlining the depth of his eyes and eyebrows.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Gu Xizhou asked.

“Because in this world, I can see your real face,” Gu Ji Ji replied, raising his eyebrows.

Gu Xizhou narrowed his eyes and didn’t forget to joke, “Am I handsome?”

“Very handsome.”

Hearing Gu Ji Ji’s answer, Gu Xizhou couldn’t laugh. 

Gu Ji Ji changed the topic, saying, “Actually, I’ve been following you.”

Gu Xizhou fell silent for a moment. Actually, from the moment Gu Ji Ji had said to him: ‘demonic cultivator, help me,’ he knew that he was following him. The reason he couldn’t hear him before was probably because…

“Guardian spirit,” Gu Xizhou spat out the three words stiffly. Ji Ji had a particular obsession with the guardian spirits, so after entering the task world, Ji Ji changed into one.

“Yes, exactly, a guardian spirit.” 

Gu Ji Ji extended his index and middle fingers, gently pressing them against Gu Xizhou’s brow. “Demonic cultivator, I can actually always feel your presence.”

“The task world you were resurrected in was not my first world. I went into a task world before that. That old man had a will, and I got a will to satisfy my wishes, but it had to be posthumously. My death was an inescapable condition. It was as if someone arranged all this in the dark, but I don’t know who.”

“I’ve always been thinking about what you can do, you stupid demonic cultivator. Before I entered this world, I didn’t know what you could do, but Gu Xizhou, you make everything meaningful. Thank you.”

Gu Xizhou straightened up and Ji Ji said something very similar to what the female ghost had told him before, “Demonic… Gu Xizhou, death is no longer the end, but a new beginning. Also you… be careful not to die because there will be no second guardian spirit to resurrect you.” 

Hearing Gu Ji Ji’s words, Gu Xizhou was shaken: Ji Ji had never called him ‘Gu Xizhou,’ calling him that was the same as ‘Ji Ji’ erasing his own existence.

After saying this, Ji Ji’s body instantly crumbled, and a door floated in midair before Gu Xizhou.

At the same time, Gu Xizhou caught sight of a folded piece of paper crumpled into a ball.

Gu Xizhou bent over, picking up the ball of paper from the ground. His adam’s apple bobbed. This light little sheet of paper was as heavy as Mount Tai. He took a deep breath and unfolded the piece of paper. 

Gu Ji Ji: I know why you asked me this question. Demonic Cultivator, do you know what a guardian spirit is? Think of me as a guardian spirit, okay? Follow your heart ^_^

Gu Xizhou remembered the question he asked Gu Ji Ji that day. ‘I mean, if… after all your body is mine now, if in the future I fall in love and get married, will you be uncomfortable?’ He really couldn’t guess what mood Ji Ji was in when he wrote down this answer.

Holding the note in his hand, Gu Xizhou couldn’t tell what he was feeling and said silently, “What kind of guardian spirit are you, ah! Other people’s guardian spirits follow and guard them, yet you’re gone before I have yet to die.”

Gu Xizhou opened the door. After a dizzy spell he began to experience the world through Gu Ji Ji’s eyes. 

Gu Xizhou didn’t know what was happening, he only knew that he was shivering all over, the thirteen year-old wrapping himself tightly in quilts. He had wrapped himself up very tight.

The thirteen year-old Ji Ji’s head was full of Wang Ao’s words. Tong Jia had committed suicide by jumping from a building. Her family was claiming that it was because of a school bully.

In the dark, the child cried quietly.

The feeling of self hatred drowned him. It was like he was floating on a sea. Unable to reach the shore, he would drown. 

Gu Xizhou wanted to squish him and pat Ji Ji on the back gently.

“Wuwuwu… T-tong Jia… I’m sorry…” Gu Ji Ji hugged himself, unable to stop his tears from falling. Gu Xizhou really wanted to reach out…

In the next moment, his hands seemed to reach out to touch Ji Ji’s face.

Someone suddenly touched him, and Ji Ji started. He got up from the bed hastily, obviously frightened. “T-tong Jia, is that you?” He asked tentatively. “Are you looking for me? …Wuwuwu. I’m sorry, Tong Jia, I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry…” 

Seeing Ji Ji cry even harder, Gu Xizhou lightly patted him on the back, picking up a pen to write in his homework book: I’m not Tong Jia. Tong Jia didn’t blame you. She didn’t kill herself because of you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

As Gu Xizhou patted his back, he heard Ji Ji sob, “Thank you, Mr. Ghost.” 

Gu Xizhou: “….”

The picture changed as if time was being fast forwarded and Gu Xizhou saw Ji Ji rushing to the hospital.

Wang Ao’s eyes were swollen into walnuts. When he saw Gu Ji Ji, his tears fell relentlessly. Silent tears for silent grief.  There were officers all around him in a state just like his.

Gu Ji Ji rushed in, hands shaking, tears flowing down his face. 

Drip.

Drip.

The youth trembling in the corner of the hospital wouldn’t accept any concern. He wept silently. If he had known, he wouldn’t have fought with his parents.

Thick haze obscured his eyes and Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but want to embrace the crying child Ji Ji. 

Feeling someone holding him gently, the boy with his head hung quickly looked all around. There was no one there, but he knew someone really was holding him. “It’s you, ah, Mr. Ghost.”

“Long time no see.”

“Mr. Ghost…” Ji Ji said after a long time.

Gu Xizhou wrote on his tank top: I’m here. 

“You said my parents saved people, but instead they were beaten to death by those children. Why is there a profession such as the police in the world?”

Gu Xizhou: Because of responsibility.

Mr. Ghost, before you became a ghost, were you also a police officer?”

Gu Xizhou: Yes, ah. 

“Really?”

Gu Xizhou: Yes, I’m a police officer.

“Why did you want to become a police officer?

Gu Xizhou: Because I want to help people in need. 

“Oh, you’re just as strange as my mom and dad. Don’t you regret your death?”

Gu Xizhou thought for a while before writing again: I regret… I regret not helping more people.

“Well ah, let me help you, ba.”

The scene changed again and Gu Xizhou wanted to open his eyes. It was pitch black, two hands covering his eyes. 

“Ji Ji…”

Gu Ji Ji: “Don’t look, go out.”

With a gentle push, Gu Xizhou felt a wave of dizziness.

Inside the door, the scene was still going. After his parents died the eighteen year-old quit school and was admitted to the police academy for a year. After taking a solemn oath, he became a police officer. 

Back in reality, the sun was too dazzling for Gu Xizhou’s eyes. Gu Xizhou sat numbly on the sofa, biting his lower lip until it bled.

He was gone.

Ji Ji was really gone.

Gu Xizhou covered his eyes with the back of his hand, leaning into the sofa as he mocked himself. Didn’t you think his existence was holding you back? And now you’re grieving… truly ridiculous.  

Leaning against the sofa, his mind was in disarray. Suddenly Gu Xizhou heard the sound of footsteps and his eyes flew open, yelling anxiously, “Ji Ji!”

But the person behind him was a middle aged woman with a good temperament, a few signs of familiarity around her eyebrows and eyes.

Zhou Xinyue’s brows furrowed and asked worried, “What Ji Ji, ah? Did you have another nightmare?”

“You’d better resign, ba. You didn’t used to want to be a police officer. I don’t want you to die suddenly!” 

As soon as Zhou Xinyue finished speaking, Gu Xizhou heard a male voice. “It’s not that serious. What officer isn’t tired?!”

“Speak louder, I didn’t hear you.” Zhou Xinyue raised her brows. Even though she was already fifty years old, her facial features still looked good.

Sitting to the left of Gu Xizhou on the sofa, Gu Qing shut his mouth and smiled. “I didn’t say anything!”

“Let’s eat, ba!” Gu Qing leapt up and ran to the kitchen to fill his bowl with rice. 

Gu Xizhou stared blankly at the two extra people in his home before suddenly pinching himself. It hurt a lot and was very real. He was sure he’d left the supernatural world and his heart was pounding like crazy.

“Eat, ah, why are you just sitting there blankly?” Zhou Xinyue said, patting Gu Xizhou’s shoulder.

After eating, Zhou Xinyue looked at Gu Xizhou strangely and asked, “What’s up with you today? You’ve been preoccupied all day. What are you looking at me for?”

“En…” Gu Xizhou said, falling silent for a moment. “Is Tong Jia okay?” 

“Son, what’s wrong with you today, ah? Didn’t you say yesterday that Tong Jia is getting married? The wedding’s in a week, ah!”

When the original Gu Ji Ji said it was ‘meaningful’ he meant changing the past.

Gu Xizhou’s heart was heavy and it was difficult to bear. It was already hard to breathe, so when he opened his mouth to speak he choked. He wanted to tell them that he wasn’t Ji Ji, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He could only run out the door like an army deserter to escape that suffocating room. .

The author has something to say: Ji Ji always thought Gu Xizhou was his guardian spirit, only to discover that he was actually Gu Xizhou’s. 

Okay, ba, Ji Ji really is pretty miserable, but he fulfilled his wishes… en… he changed the past.

Ji Ji can have a happy ending!

Yesterday this section was no good, it took me a long time to write. Today I revised it. I apologize and bow to you, love you.