Chapter 124: Go Over and Hit Him

Chapter 124: Go and Teach Him a Lesson

A few more days passed, and Old Mr. Jian's health gradually improved to the point where he could slowly walk again.

The doctors were amazed by the old man’s miraculous recovery, but after the previous experience of saving him from death’s door, they were no longer as stunned by the miracles occurring around him.

They simply reminded Jian Ye of some care instructions for Old Mr. Jian.

Old Mr. Jian, certain he was fine now, demanded to leave the hospital. After a moment of hesitation, Jian Ye agreed.

He and Yi Siyu accompanied the old man home. At the Jian family estate, Jian Zhengqing and his crew were already waiting at the entrance.

With the return of the family’s most authoritative elder, they all held their breath.

Some wore awkward smiles and mumbled some half-hearted pleasantries about the old man’s condition.

Jian Zhengqing made a point of checking Jian Ye’s expression, but seeing it unchanged from before, he grew suspicious.

Had Old Mr. Jian not told Jian Ye about their conversation that night?

So Jian Ye still didn’t know the truth?

Jian Zhengqing pondered and concluded that Old Mr. Jian’s behavior made sense.

Now that the old man doted on Jian Ye more than ever, how could he bear to let his beloved grandson hear such a cruel truth?

This worked out perfectly…

Since Old Mr. Jian had no intention of exposing the truth, they could continue playing dumb even more boldly.

If questioned, they would simply plead ignorance or brush it off as rambling.

They would deny everything to the death.

The sight of these two backstabbing snakes infuriated Old Mr. Jian. For Jian Ye’s sake, he would make sure to deal with them properly.

But not now—these old bones needed to recover first before he could stand firmly behind Jian Ye again.

Choosing to ignore them to avoid further irritation, Old Mr. Jian brushed past their hollow greetings and had Jian Ye support him back to his room.

After accompanying his grandfather to his room, Jian Ye stepped outside and said to Yi Siyu, “I’d like to stay with Grandpa for a few more days. You’ve been running back and forth a lot lately, and it must’ve been exhausting. Now that Grandpa’s condition has stabilized, there’s no need for so many people to stay. You can focus on handling company matters first. There’s no need to return to the Jian residence at night. I’ll wait for you to finish your work and come pick me up. Is that alright?”

Listening to Jian Ye’s logical explanation, Yi Siyu found the arrangement sensible, yet he couldn’t shake a weird feeling…

His wife wasn’t as attached as before, which left Yi Siyu feeling a little disappointed.

But considering how Old Mr. Jian’s illness must have weighed on Jian Ye’s mood, it was only natural for him to want to stay with his grandfather at this stage.

Yi Siyu agreed to Jian Ye’s suggestion. Before leaving, he pulled him into a tight embrace and kissed him deeply, leaving the young man’s lips flushed before reluctantly departing.

After Yi Siyu left, Jian Ye suddenly grew unnervingly still. If anyone had seen his expression at that moment, they would have found it utterly unlike the Jian Ye they knew.

Ice-cold and menacing, with a predatory gleam—like a black viper ready to strike.

"System 748: Host, what’s your plan?"

"Jian Ye: Sorry, Er Tong. Tonight, I might have to do something that goes against the system’s rules."

"System 748: Don’t act rashly, Host! You’ve already received one yellow card. If it happens again, you’ll get penalized from the main system!"

"Jian Ye: We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I’ve made my choice."

Faced with the system's dissuasion, Jian Ye chose to ignore it for the first time. Deep in his soul, a voice roared—a violent urge, pent-up for too long, now clawing to break loose.

That night, a biting wind whistled, and by midnight, a light rain began to fall.

The winter rain was knife-cold, needling into the skin.

Jian Zhengqing and Jian Zhenghua went to bed early, with no guilt weighing on them.

To their surprise, the patriarch hadn’t come to challenge them, which finally put their recent worries to rest. They sank into untroubled sleep.

The room had been warm with the heating on.

But in the dead of night, the heat suddenly died.

The temperature in the room plummeted, and the window seemed slightly ajar, letting in a creeping, unnatural chill.

In his sleep, Jian Zhenghua instinctively pulled the blanket tighter, huddling like a child.

The brothers hadn’t returned to their own homes recently, choosing instead to stay at the old mansion until the dust settled.

Afraid their wives would find out, neither had allowed them to stay.

The empty bed felt cavernous, and with the cold wind seeping in, the room quickly turned frigid.

Just as Jian Zhenghua stirred awake from the chill, a disembodied voice, thin and spectral, suddenly echoed from above.

"Second Brother… I looked up to you… Why did you betray me…?"

"Second Brother… Second Brother…"

The moment the voice spoke, Jian Zhenghua jolted upright.

"Who—who’s there?!" His throat went dry; he gulped.

He wondered if he was still dreaming—why else would he be hearing his brother’s voice?

"It’s me… Second Brother… I’m Zhengshu… the brother you claimed to love…"

"Why did you betray me…? Why…?"

Jian Zhenghua’s entire body crawled with terror, goosebumps rising instantly. He crab-walked backward, dragging the blanket with him until his back hit the corner of the wall.

He fumbled for the light switch, but pressing it did nothing—the room remained dark.

Was the power out? Or—

"Second Brother… How will you repay me…? Man Rou and I treated your family so well… yet you wanted us dead…"

"It wasn’t me! I didn’t want this! It was Eldest Brother—it was his scheme! I… I was forced to go along! It’s not my fault!"

"Oh? Is that so…?"

The voice gave a low, mocking laugh. "Big Brother heard you—every word—through the wall."

At the same time, Jian Zhengqing was facing the same haunting.

He was braver than Jian Zhenghua and wouldn’t accept that ghosts were real.

Jian Zhengqing immediately went to check the power source but found the lights in the room still wouldn’t turn on. He tried to leave, but the door was locked too.

He suspected it was someone's doing, yet apart from the old man, no one else had been told this secret.

The voice echoing above him sounded exactly like his deceased third brother’s, even reverberating around his ears with a surround sound effect.

As time passed, Jian Zhengqing started feeling a growing sense of fear.

Could it really be their third brother crawling up from the grave to come to take revenge?!

Then, Jian Zhengqing could hear screams from the next room, followed by Jian Zhenghua’s panicked denials.

"You damn coward! We planned this together! And now you’re trying to back out now?"

Jian Zhengqing roared furiously, his voice instantly transmitted to the neighboring room.

"Zhengshu, your second brother was wrong! I apologize to you and your wife! It was a moment of foolishness—please spare me! I still have a family to support, don’t come after me..."

Jian Zhenghua babbled frantically, his mind beginning to unravel.

He kept his eyes shut, not daring to look anywhere, feeling as if every object in the room had come alive, opening terrifying, gaping mouths ready to devour him.

Hearing this, Jian Zhengqing in the next room saw red.

If the vengeful spirit wasn’t coming for you, did that mean it was coming for him alone?

Fuck!

Swish—! Bam—!

The door suddenly swung open, and under the cold light from outside, a dark silhouette appeared in the doorway.

It bore the exact same face as Jian Zhengshu.

Jian Zhengqing screamed in terror.

That face was painfully familiar—the face of the man he had envied day and night, the one who always earned their father’s praise.

He had dreamed of destroying that face.

"Get away! Get the fuck away!"

The figure at the door suddenly grinned eerily, its ghostly form flashing into the next room. Moments later, accompanied by screams, Jian Zhenghua was shoved into Jian Zhengqing’s room by the shadow.

The figure stepped inside, and the door slammed shut again with a sharp whoosh.

The room was completely dark, with only a pale sliver of winter moonlight casting a dim glow, barely enough to make out silhouettes.

"Big brother! Big brother! What the hell is going on?! Are we haunted?! Can we call the police?! I’m so scared!"

Jian Zhenghua scrambled over on all fours, clutching Jian Zhengqing’s arm, his entire body trembling violently—clearly scared shitless.

"Call the police, my ass! Someone’s messing with us on purpose!" Jian Zhengqing shook it off after the earlier scare.

If a grown man could be frightened by such a parlor trick, he’d be a laughingstock.

"Who the hell are you! Do you know our secret?!" Jian Zhengqing yelled at the figure.

To make himself sound more intimidating, he put more force behind his words.

However, what awaited him was not a reply from the shadowy figure, but a brutal punch slamming onto his face.

Jian Zhengqing was instantly sent sprawling to the floor, his head hitting the edge of the bed. The white-hot pain robbed him of breath.

While his mind was still reeling, another punch came flying, striking his abdomen with such force that he nearly puked bile.

"Ah!! Cough, cough..." Jian Zhengqing clutched his stomach, bending over as he coughed violently, gagging uncontrollably.

Jian Zhenghua was frozen in terror, clasping his hands together in babbling pleas. "Don't hit me, don't hit me! We were wrong, we were really wrong!"

The shadow finally growled: "Spare you? Then you, go over and hit him instead."

"Huh? Me... hit my elder brother? I..." Jian Zhenghua was stunned, glancing wildly between them.

"If you don’t hit him, I’ll hit you," the voice snarled. Terrified, Jian Zhenghua reflexively threw a punch at Jian Zhengqing.

"You—" Jian Zhengqing’s furious retort was cut short as his idiot brother struck him again.

"Hit him harder, faster. Don’t make me repeat myself."

Jian Zhenghua was choking back sobs, his mind in complete disarray. Though his elder brother insisted this was all a deliberate setup, deep down, he still saw the shadowy figure as a vengeful spirit here to collect.

Because he was guilty.

When their third brother died, he had witnessed the blood-soaked, glassy-eyed corpse with his own eyes. For over a year, he had been haunted by nightmares.

That scene had burned into his skull, trapping him in an inescapable nightmare.

Now, Jian Zhenghua acted like a puppet, punching Jian Zhengqing over and over, too afraid to stop.

Sometimes, he even hated his elder brother—why had he dragged him into this hell?

He hadn’t liked their third brother, but he never wanted him dead.

If none of this had happened, he wouldn’t be crushed under guilt every single day.

He had to pretend everything was fine in front of his wife and children, while his elder brother needled him, saying he had chosen this willingly.

His elder brother had no idea the hell he was in!

"Ah!!!"

As he kept hitting, Jian Zhenghua’s years of rage exploded. Though he was usually more bookish, his frenzy now could’ve rivaled a prizefighter’s.

"I never meant to... I never meant to..."

"Why did all this... have to fall on me?!"

"Author's Note"

Next chapter’s coming, but it’ll be a bit late.