Willing (Repair)
Zhang Tianyi’s slap wasn’t very heavy; it just made a crisp sound when he hit my forehead.
I woke up with a buzz, opened my eyes and subconsciously covered my forehead, and asked in a daze, "What the hell are you doing?"
After blurting out these words, I was suddenly met with the cold gaze of Sanyi beside me. My consciousness finally returned completely. I remembered all our conversations in the car and the scenes in my dream. I froze in place and felt a little speechless.
The embarrassment of that moment is really indescribable. I got goose bumps on my back and opened my mouth twice, wanting to say that I didn't mean it. I couldn't control the bad things that happened in the past. Whether it is to Pingping or to you, my heart is witnessed by the heaven and earth.
But when the words came to my lips, I couldn't get over the hurdle in my heart. I also vaguely felt that I was a little sorry to Pingping and Sanyi, as if existence was a sin.
One of them was almost controlled by me in life and was born to protect me from disasters. If it weren't for a strange combination of circumstances, he would have always been a hollow monster. The other one was deprived of his family's unique love by me when he was most isolated and helpless. The two-year age difference between us means that when I was conceived, he had only been separated from his mother for a year.
Just these two points are the worst possible punishment.
At this moment, I said something stupid when my brain got hot:
"Brother, don't be angry yet. Maybe my mom and dad kindly adopted me from a garbage can. Look at how stupid I was when I was a kid. I lowered the average level of my family at a glance."
It is also said that misfortune will be repaid for accumulated evil. No matter which side of you is in the name of justice, you can chop me with a knife now, which can be regarded as a belated act of justice.
Sanyi ignored me and felt cold all over.
Zhang Tianyi was laughing on the side, as if he found it very interesting.
I went to see him with my head held high. I winked at him until my eyelids were almost cramping, but he didn't help me smooth things over. Instead, he exaggerated and said seriously, "That makes sense. Ranzi might be telling the truth. It doesn't make sense that all the dragons and phoenixes in the world should be on our household register."
It's such a late hour and you're still poor.
I was so angry and anxious that I wanted to find a knife to slit my own throat. I thought to myself, what the hell is this bastard doing? You are all "Zhang Tianyi", why are you still so ungrateful and helping Sanyi pass the knife? Is he crazy?
I cursed countless times in my heart, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I waited for Sanyi's attitude.
He moved forward, but heard Sanyi say coldly: "You owe Pingping justice, so you should pay it back to her in person. What right do I have to intervene on her behalf? Do you want me to forgive you on her behalf?" He then opened the car door and walked out.
I was stunned and looked out of the car quickly, thinking there was something wrong with my ears, and I couldn't help shouting, "What about you!"
Sanyi didn't even turn his head. I felt mixed emotions. I couldn't tell whether I was happy, resisted, or a little bit unbelieving. I turned around and asked Zhang Tianyi:
"Brother, does my brother mean to 'forget it' and not bother with me anymore? What's going on? Did you drug him? The Three Corpses Brain Pill?"
It's impossible. If this grudge could be resolved, it would have been resolved eight hundred years ago. Isn't this the same thing I committed?
Seeing that I had started to talk nonsense, Zhang Tianyi felt helpless and knocked on my forehead hard: "Are you completely healed? Are you not feeling uncomfortable anymore?"
I sighed for a moment, then I remembered that I had a low-grade fever and fainted, and I didn't know why my body was so fragile. A voice in my head said that it was probably because of the shock and the secrets of the ghost stories that my sanity, which was on the verge of collapse, could not support it, so it went into a fuse and temporarily returned to the low-power state of "Little Deaf and Blind".
It is really embarrassing to say that I am surrounded by experts and fierce bandits, but I am the only weakling who is exhausted all day long. When I have some free time, I lie in the ward to recover from my injuries. Even when I lie down and gasp for breath, I can be dragged away by the ghost story. It seems that I am a little useless. Otherwise, I would not be exhausted after a little understanding of the essence of the ghost story, and I would faint due to excessive consumption.
Moreover, when I think about it, I haven't even had time to exercise and strengthen my body in the past six months. It seems like I'm always being chased by ghost stories.
I couldn't help but feel depressed, thinking that it was another sin. If I were stronger, maybe many things would be different, at least I wouldn't be so slow to react as I was in front of the rat in the wall and the prophet, and would only be a hindrance when escaping.
I thought I was smart, but did I change anything? Was there really nothing I could do? When did my goal become just surviving?
No, maybe I just subconsciously refuse to approach the deepest part of the ghost story. I am afraid.
If you are willing to pay the price regardless of everything and obey the whispering temptations of the post, the rules will naturally give you transcendent enlightenment in the pollution.
Ghost stories are never concealed from people, and they are not afraid to show the twisted rules at their core. In the endless madness, people can be omniscient. Just like when my brain was parasitized by countless comb jellies and I heard countless mumblings. At that time, I was not afraid and could even chat and laugh with Zhang Tianyi.
But now, the deeper I delve into the strange stories, the more I am captured and attracted by them, and the harder it is to escape the terrible fate. I can no longer be as high-spirited and curious as before, and I can no longer protect everyone by miracle.
Every time someone close to me, whether familiar or unfamiliar, dies, I am not indifferent. The more people die, the more absurd, barbaric and irresistible the weird stories I encounter, and the more afraid I become.
The quagmire of ghost stories is endless. Those who believed in me would never have been exposed to such profound and serious pollution. I was leading them step by step into it. Many people should have been like the security guard Brother Li, who only saw the passing shadow of a ghost story once in his life and got the peace and prosperity that ordinary people should have.
If possible, I would rather live a dull and mediocre life, forever covered by the beautiful and terrifying veil of ghost stories, in exchange for peace for my family and friends around me.
"——But, are you willing?"
Zhang Tianyi seemed to be the worm in my stomach, or the snake in the myth that tempted the primitive man to eat the fruit of wisdom. He smiled and said, "I thought Xu Ranxing's line should be...Fuck your uncle's weird talk, your ancestors should hear the truth in the morning and die in the evening."
I felt like I was hit on the head with a stick, and electric shocks ran through my body. I looked at him, speechless.
"No? This is too selfish? This is not what Xu Ranxing should do?"
He asked me back with a smile. My back was numb and I wanted to shake my head, but Zhang Tianyi smiled and said softly, "How does it feel to be humiliated in front of those ghosts, and to have the answer in front of you but not be able to reach out and uncover it at all costs?"
"Are you feeling... a little lost?"
I took a deep breath, covered my face tightly, and said, "You're a young demon, stop misleading people. Get out of here. I don't want to listen."
Damn it, I can’t accept this.
Okay, I admit, I am just curious and greedy. I just want to jump into the ghost stories and drown myself. I want to unravel those inexplicable and seamless rules one by one and see them all clearly. I just like this kind of life.
Xu Ranxing never saved people in the strange stories just to save a life. Every time I escaped from the strange stories, I never asked the Zhang family for wealth, fame or power. It was not out of any noble or pure desire, but because I was satisfied after understanding those weird rules.
For me, morality and kindness are just iron rules that I must follow day after day from childhood to adulthood because of the promise I made to my family.
I am that kind of monster.
But, I am Xu Ranxing after all, always have been, and always will be.
So how can I pay the price for my greedy desire for knowledge?
If I died, it would be all over, but every time I survived, only the people around me died. If you still say you have no regrets, it's just talking without any pain, it's too hypocritical.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Zhang Tianyi just laughed, and no one knew where all his smiles came from. He was so heartless that it was a bit annoying.
"You shouldn't do this to harm your teammates. When you're out, if you're too immoral, you'll easily become the 'Gentleman Sword' Yue Buqun, and you'll be expelled from our family's household register. Ranzi, you're right about this, and I support you completely."
I was furious and said, "You are still talking nonsense. I don't care. I will go out and find Sanyi to kill me."
Having said this, he suddenly realized his subtext, and was stunned for a moment, staring at Zhang Tianyi in a daze.
As if by some strange coincidence, I shamelessly asked:
"Brother, is it hard for you to die?"
"yes."
He said approvingly, lightly and casually, "It's very suitable for refusing to pay the ghost story when it is time to pay it, so that the ghost story will work for nothing."
——So, I don’t have to worry about being killed by my unlimited curiosity like other people. I can do whatever I want without any scruples.
"As for that stubborn ass, you already owe him a lot anyway, so you don't have to worry about too much debt. I'll tell you his last little secret later. At worst, if he doesn't agree, he can just stab you to death. I promise I won't stop you this time."
My eyes suddenly felt a little sore, and I shook my head out of habit, but I couldn't help laughing. I thought to myself that this bastard had vowed to help Sanyi solve his inner demons, but it turned out that he was targeting my hypocritical sadness. I couldn't guard against it.
"Okay, the negotiation was successful. Let's go, sad young master." This time Zhang Tianyi also stood up, opened the car door, waved his hand and gestured to me casually, "This time, the good brothers will pay for you, be wild."
It was already late at night outside the car. Sanyi, carrying a high-intensity flashlight, walked to a street light, looked around, and gave a long whistle in this direction.
At this time, the fog was extremely heavy everywhere and visibility was very low. No matter which direction you looked, you could only see about half an arm's length away in the dark places, and it felt very hazy.
The only places illuminated by street lamps were small, abrupt and clear round spots, which were so contradictory that it made people feel a little nauseous.
I even suspected that I was still dreaming. The feeling of being able to clearly see my own existence in front of my eyes but losing all the details of the outside world when I looked out was too uncomfortable. It was easy for people to have a wrong sense of distance and direction.
What made me feel even more like a nightmare was that under the dim street lights, I could vaguely see what seemed to be a cordon. The bright yellow fluorescent tape intermittently separated this area, making the entire border look prickly and extremely uncomfortable.
Even in this weird place, there were actually a few figures under the cordon, lowering their heads and making some adjustments. Their professionalism was awe-inspiring, to the point that it made me a little scared.
I gasped and said, "No way, where did this unlucky guy come from?" Although I don't want to cheat Zhang's friends, it doesn't mean that I can let you, my dear brother, fool people. Isn't that how we negotiated just now?
"How about we make three rules?" I said to Zhang Tianyi, "Don't blame me for being old-fashioned. When we enter your old house later, don't let these guys follow us in. It's unlucky."
And after all, I have to go and see Nian Huairen's body. I don't know what it looks like after all these years. I also don't know what Sanyi came up with and how he dealt with that lingering ghost.
Who knows, the person might be rotten or smelly. The three of us should just deal with our own affairs. Family disgrace should not be made public, right?
While they were talking nonsense, Sanyi in the distance lit a lighter, walked to one of the guys who was adjusting the cordon, lowered his head, and said something to that guy. The orange light of the lighter reflected the profiles of the two people, and the scene was quite harmonious.
“That one.”
At this time, Zhang Tian smiled and said, "These are Nian Huairen."
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