Chapter 40

Chapter 40

"Ah—"

Li Jingtang let out a pained groan, every cell in his body wracked by an electric shock.

Chen Zui watched Li Jingtang, who was twitching violently: "Li Jingtang?"

It was rare for him to be caught off guard. He cupped Li Jingtang’s face, ready to pry open his jaw at the first sign of him biting his tongue or foaming at the mouth.

One minute passed quickly, yet dragged on forever.

After enduring it, Li Jingtang’s head felt fuzzy and tingling, as if pricked by pins and needles.

996: "This is only the most basic form of electric shock punishment. Don't treat our system as your servant. You must learn to respect us."

Chen Zui: "Li Jingtang, what's wrong with you?"

Li Jingtang turned his reddened eyes toward Chen Zui. Unusual events kept piling up—now there was something in his head even more irritating than Chen Zui: the system.

"Nothing."

Li Jingtang sat up, his voice hoarse: "Respect? You barge into someone’s head without permission and still have the nerve to talk about respect? If you have the guts, electrocute me to death. If you can’t, then stop acting so high and mighty around me."

A man with a bad temper never put up with nonsense.

996 had never encountered someone so stubborn. As the protagonist with the most deviated plotline, it had no choice but to select him as the host.

It let out an angry huff.

Chen Zui: "You scared me just now."

He crouched beside the sofa, looking completely obedient.

Li Jingtang wasn’t entirely focused on fighting with 996—he had absorbed everything the system said. So, the world he lived in was actually a novel, and he was the protagonist.

No wonder the world revolved around him.

This thought put Li Jingtang in a better mood. He reached out and ruffled Chen Zui’s hair: "I'm fine, don't worry."

He had to admit, the fluffy head felt surprisingly pleasant to touch.

996 claimed he was meant to be with Yuan Man. Yuan Man? Impossible. Aside from having a larger chest, Yuan Man was married—Li Jingtang had no interest in that.

996 also said the problem most likely lay with Chen Zui...

Chen Zui didn’t move, allowing the thoughtful man to stroke his head repeatedly.

Had Li Jingtang just had an episode?

He began to worry whether he should go through with his plan.

Both were lost in their own thoughts.

Li Jingtang: "What information do you have about Chen Zui?"

He only knew the basics about Chen Zui, which wasn’t particularly useful. Chen Zui himself—was somewhat sinister.

996: "Nothing for now."

Li Jingtang: "Nothing?"

996: "In the original work, Chen Zui was only mentioned in passing. There weren’t many details about him."

In the original story, Chen Zui’s name appeared only once—when Gu Beichen intended to introduce him to Li Jingtang. But Li Jingtang stood him up that day because of Yuan Man, and the matter was never brought up again.

So, 996 knew next to nothing about Chen Zui.

Li Jingtang snorted: "Acting all high and mighty, and yet you’re worthless."

996: !

It couldn’t electrocute him twice in a row and risk attracting attention. It had to endure.

Chen Zui: "Li Jingtang."

Li Jingtang snapped out of his conversation with the system and looked at Chen Zui crouching beside his legs.

So well-behaved.

He wanted to take him home and keep him as a pet.

Chen Zui: "I'm glad you’re okay. Are you hungry? I made food."

With a system now backing him up, Li Jingtang felt more confident. He could follow the cycle and let 996 see what's really happening. One more time wouldn't hurt.

"Okay."

At the dining table, Li Jingtang found the dishes completely bland, forcing himself to eat them with great reluctance.

Chen Zui frowned slightly. Something was off. Last time, Li Jingtang had put up strong resistance—why was he so much more composed this time?

He watched closely.

996: "Who is he?"

Li Jingtang: "As a system, you don’t even know who that is? I really don't see what you're good for."

He closed his eyes and took a sip of the rib soup. He never wanted to eat these dishes again in this lifetime.

The system took a deep breath: "We are partners. Your attitude is not helping our cooperation."

Li Jingtang: "Then let's not cooperate~"

Li Jingtang was the type who would rather die than admit defeat.

His words left 996 speechless.

In Chen Zui’s plan, Li Jingtang should have been on the verge of collapse by now. Only then would saving him when he's desperate be effective.

But he still had to deliver his lines.

Chen Zui: "Are you dating my older brother?"

Li Jingtang: "Are you dating my older brother?"

They spoke in unison, their words identical.

A flicker of amusement shone in Chen Zui’s eyes. He wasn't rushing to increase his favorability anymore—he was curious how Li Jingtang planned to break the deadlock.

He played along with a puzzled look.

Li Jingtang put down the spoon: "I know what you want to say."

Chen Zui continued to look confused.

Li Jingtang swallowed his pride: "You want to ask why I was screaming yesterday."

Chen Zui's confused expression turned into surprise.

Li Jingtang: "Your older brother also told you about my medication, right?"

Chen Zui seized the chance to ask: "How'd you know that?"

Seeing that it worked, Li Jingtang excitedly grabbed Chen Zui's wrist: "Because these things have happened many times already; it's on a loop. We have to leave this place."

He said dead seriously: "Believe me, I won’t lie to you!"

Chen Zui realized that Li Jingtang is really loyal to his inner circle—even in such a situation, he still wants to take "Chen Mo" along to escape.

He looked at Li Jingtang uncomprehendingly and covered Li Jingtang’s hand with his own.

He asked worriedly, "Are you sick?"

Li Jingtang: …

He knew, unsurprisingly, no one would believe this, and besides this, he had no proof.

He could only repeat: "Believe me just this once."

Chen Zui’s face fell.

Li Jingtang recounted everything that had happened to him over the past few days. Chen Zui listened attentively, his gaze falling on the watch on his wrist—the sedative’s effects would take about two more hours to kick in.

"Everything I said is true." Li Jingtang gave him a pleading look, just short of begging.

"Believe me, okay?"

Li Jingtang really needed someone to believe him; otherwise, he’d think he was losing his mind.

Their long stare was a silent plea—a man begging for belief, needing compassion from someone he viewed as superior.

Chen Zui: "I—"

Noticing that Li Jingtang was so nervous he was unconsciously biting his lower lip, he drew the word out on purpose.

Chen Zui: "Believe you."

Li Jingtang’s eyes lit up. He stood up excitedly and happily, lunging across the table to clutch his arm.

"Really?"

Chen Zui nodded.

Ao Tian: "Affection +33!"

Ao Tian: "Now that’s progress! Sweet!"

Ao Tian: "You’re killing it, host!"

Li Jingtang had already scooted next to Chen Zui: "Then are you willing to leave with me? We need to bail, break the loop!"

Chen Zui hesitated thoughtfully. Li Jingtang wanted to urge him but held back, his stomach in knots.

996: "Why is he always wearing a mask? Also, he should be a nobody in the plot. I don’t think you need to have too much interaction with him. We should leave now and go to the protagonist Shou, Yuan Man. Besides, what you’re saying is total nonsense. I’m 100% sure this is a modern over-the-top drama, not some supernatural infinite loop."

996: "As the protagonist, you have a duty to correct the plotline. I think your current behavior is way off track."

Li Jingtang was already irritated, and now there was an arrogant guy yammering in his skull.

"If you don’t want to stay in my head, then get lost. No one’s stopping you."

996: "I can’t believe there’s a protagonist as disgraceful as you. Accepting this mission is truly a total system failure."

Chen Zui: "Okay, I’ll go with you."

Ao Tian: "Really going with him? But I trust your decisions and choices, host. Just holler if you need me~"

Chen Zui: "Thank you."

Chen Zui’s agreement [as Chen Mo] made Li Jingtang pause his bickering with 996. In that moment, it hit him right in the feels—Chen Mo was willing to believe such an outrageous story!

Ao Tian: "Affection +35!"

Ao Tian: "Cue the confetti! *^_^*"

Li Jingtang eagerly grabbed Chen Zui by the arm and headed for the door.

This should end now, right? At the very least, something should be different.

As they reached the door, he noticed Chen Mo was dragging his feet. He looked over and saw the boy was nervous, blinking nonstop. He placed his hand on Chen Mo’s back and gave a reassuring pat.

"It’s okay."

"I’m here."

"I’ll protect you."

Chen Zui looked at him: "If I walk out that door, I’m dead."

"You won’t. Believe me."

"But I’m breaking the rules."

"There are no such rules in this world."

Li Jingtang spoke with rock-solid certainty. Chen Zui stared at him, looked again, then lowered his gaze. Without another word, he took a step forward, his chest pumping.

The first step was a struggle.

The second step was faltering.

The third step was pure dread.

The fourth step was a test.

Li Jingtang stayed quiet the whole time. When Chen Mo looked at him, he smiled encouragingly: "You’ve got this. So brave."

Chen Zui also smiled. This spiky dude actually had such a soft side—if it weren’t for this act, he would never have seen it.

The two walked side by side through the winter night, into the distance.

Chen Zui suddenly turned around, his alertness catching Li Jingtang’s attention: “What’s wrong?”

Chen Zui’s face was deathly pale: “I’ve been discovered… he’s coming after me…”

Li Jingtang looked back: “Who?”

Chen Zui looked absolutely terrified, grabbing Li Jingtang and tugging him forward: “He’s going to kill me, he wants to kill me and reclaim my body!”

For a moment, Li Jingtang couldn’t match “Chen Mo’s” strength and was dragged forward. He looked back but could only see the shadows of trees swaying in the wind.

“Chen Mo, there’s no one, no one.”

But Chen Zui wasn’t listening, pulling Li Jingtang along as he ran like a man possessed. Under his mask, the lower half of his face couldn’t help but smirk. He felt he might be overacting a bit, but it was still fun—normally, he’d never have the nerve to pull a stunt like this.

No matter what kind of life one has lived, there’s always a small part inside that remains childish and naive.

Even if he was Chen Zui.

Unable to hold Chen Zui back, Li Jingtang could only run along with him. They left the villa area and reached the street, where they happened to see Yuan Man getting out of a van.

996: “The Shou protagonist has appeared. Please initiate contact with the Shou protagonist immediately.”

Li Jingtang found this request completely absurd—it was like being told to stop what you're doing and immediately hook up with a random passerby.

Just kidding.

He didn't just sleep around.

Yuan Man had returned from his hometown with a load of local specialties and had just arrived home when he thought of delivering them to his great benefactor. Little did he expect his second-hand van would suddenly conk out.

Chen Zui also spotted Yuan Man and pulled Li Jingtang in his direction.

Noticing the two, Yuan Man recognized Li Jingtang and immediately became wary, his entire body tense. He was determined to fulfill the promise he made to his great benefactor!

Before he could say a word, Chen Zui rushed past him, grabbed the keys from his hand, and got into the van.

In their current predicament, Li Jingtang had no choice but to follow.

Yuan Man: ?

Yuan Man was slow to react. By the time he turned around, his van was already speeding away, with Chen Zui at the wheel.

“Hey! My van!”

“Stop!”

Yuan Man shouted and chased after them, but soon became just a tiny dot in the rearview mirror before disappearing entirely.

It wasn’t until Li Jingtang was in the van that he finally remembered: “I thought you didn’t know how to drive?”

But Chen Mo’s driving skills were anything but amateur—he drove like an experienced driver.

“We need to get away fast,” Chen Zui muttered, his eyes fixed intently on the road ahead.

Li Jingtang didn’t dare say anything now. If he agitated Chen Mo and caused an accident, he'd be risking his life.

996: “You should seize the steering wheel now, subdue him, and drive back to pick up Yuan Man.”

Li Jingtang: “You should shut up now.”

Chen Zui drove toward the place he had prepared earlier, muttering under his breath from time to time along the way: “He’s catching up.”

Li Jingtang’s emotions were mixed—worried about Chen Mo on one hand, yet both nervous and hopeful about what would happen next. This time, the cycle of rebirth should finally end, right?

The van entered a designated demolition area where the residents had already moved out.

Chen Zui hurriedly got out of the vehicle, picked up an iron rod from the ground, and gripped it tightly. Li Jingtang, who had jumped out after him, was about to say something when he heard the screeching tires against the pavement—a sound that made his heart pound.

He quickly turned around. For a moment, he really felt as though something was following them.

Ao Tian: “Now it’s time for my performance~”

Chen Zui: “Looking forward to it.”

Chen Zui grabbed Li Jingtang, who shuddered and turned to look at him. Li Jingtang asked a question that, in the past, he would have found silly: “Who’s chasing you?”

Chen Zui stared back at him.

The answer went without saying.

Li Jingtang’s mind cleared—who else could it be but that heartless bastard Chen Zui!

“There are two of us,” he said.

But the moment the words left his mouth, he felt his courage waver.

The two found a corrugated metal shack to hide in. Inside, aside from a few broken chairs, there was nothing. Li Jingtang sat on one of the chairs, watching Chen Mo, who stood by the door, too nervous to make a sound.

He took out his phone—no signal.

His gaze fell on the date, and his eyes fixed on it. The date didn’t match what he remembered—four days had passed.

Wasn’t the cycle supposed to reset to a previous point in time?

Or was it only him and Chen Mo trapped in this cycle, while everyone else’s timeline progressed normally?

He was having trouble making sense of it for the moment.

The only thing he was sure of was that he and Chen Mo were stuck in a cycle.

He recalled the system’s words—or perhaps, there was no cycle at all…

He remembered being locked away for no reason each time, left waiting in endless darkness. Maybe this was just another of Chen Zui’s games…

But…

He looked at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo wouldn’t lie to him. If this was Chen Zui’s scheme, it would need Chen Mo to be in on it—but he didn’t believe Chen Mo would deceive him.

Li Jingtang’s mind was reeling. The shack had no lights and was pitch-dark, which made him extremely uncomfortable.

996 had just come online and paired with him. The story had already changed completely. Since he only knew the original plot, he was still trying to grasp the situation.

Chen Zui was deep in character by the door.

Footsteps sounded outside. The corrugated metal shack provided no insulation against sound. Chen Zui jerked his head up nervously, his knuckles whitening around the iron rod.

Li Jingtang also got up and went to the door, gave Chen Zui a long, hard look, his gaze lingering on the edge of the mask where a scar was visible, looking like he wanted to see the whole thing.

"Chen Mo. Stop hiding."

The sound of Chen Zui's voice outside made Li Jingtang start. He stared at Chen Mo in surprise, as he had just been wondering whether Chen Mo was actually Chen Zui. After all, if Chen Mo stood a little straighter, the brothers' builds were strikingly similar, and their eyes were the same shape, if you ignored the expression in them.

Hearing Chen Zui’s voice now, he laughed mockingly at himself. He must really be going insane from the torment to entertain such an absurd thought.

How could Chen Mo be Chen Zui?

Footsteps drew nearer, echoing like Death approaching in the darkness.

"Little brother."

"Big brother is here for you."

The taunting, cat-and-mouse tone of voice infuriated Li Jingtang, making him want to charge out there and do something reckless.

Chen Zui grabbed him, his hand ice-cold and trembling, shaking his head in warning.

Li Jingtang looked at Chen Mo, his heart aching, angry that his usually proud combat skills seemed so useless against Chen Zui.

The footsteps stopped right outside their door, making their hearts clench.

Li Jingtang felt infected by Chen Mo’s tension. Logically, he shouldn’t be this nervous facing Chen Zui, but now even his breathing felt strained.

He heard a sound like a metal rod tapping lightly on the ground.

Each tap struck directly at his heart.

"Chen Mo."

"I see you."

Li Jingtang and the Chen Zui beside him broke out in a cold sweat at the same time, raising their weapons, waiting.

Time stretched unbearably, each second suffocating.

The footsteps sounded again, but this time, they were moving away.

Li Jingtang slowly let out a breath, lowering his weapon weakly, feeling as if he had narrowly escaped death. He glanced at Chen Mo. Chen Mo looked back and started to take off his mask.

Li Jingtang’s eyes widened—was he about to see Chen Mo’s true face?

But his vision blurred, darkened, and he uncontrollably lost consciousness.

Before passing out, he was sorry he hadn't seen Chen Mo’s face.

Chen Zui caught Li Jingtang as he fainted from the drug’s effect, removing his own mask to reveal his true face, with only a small, fake scar pretentiously stuck to his cheekbone.

—

Inside the sheet metal room, time seemed to stand still. Li Jingtang gradually woke, opening his eyes to the familiar pitch darkness, his heart sinking.

He tried to move but remained tied up.

"Chen Mo?"

"Looking for him?"

An unexpected voice replied, sending a chill down Li Jingtang’s spine.

It was Chen Zui.

Even as he strained to turn his head, he couldn’t see Chen Zui. "Where’s Chen Mo! What did you do to him!"

"You really care about him."

"That displeases me."

Li Jingtang: "I don’t give a damn! If you dare lay a hand on Chen Mo, I’ll kill you!"

"You often say things like that." Though Chen Zui’s tone wasn’t mocking, to Li Jingtang, it felt like ridicule.

"You... I..."

His threat turned into humiliation, leaving Li Jingtang speechless and fuming, his chest heaving with anger.

He heard the door open. "Where are you going? Where is Chen Mo?"

"He broke the rules."

"I’m going to kill him."

The door closed.

It took Li Jingtang a moment to process what Chen Zui had said.

"Chen Zui!"

"Stop right there!"

He shouted until his voice cracked, struggling desperately against his bonds.

"He’s your brother!"

"Come back!"

No matter how he screamed, Chen Zui didn’t return. Li Jingtang grew so frantic that the remnants of the drug nearly made him pass out again, his wrists and ankles raw from struggling.

"Damn it!"

He cursed helplessly.

Then he remembered that damn system!

"System!"

"System! Get out here!"

"If you help me save Chen Mo, I’ll listen to you and get close to Yuan Man!"

"System! Show yourself! Can’t you even electrocute someone? Show me how tough you are!"

No matter how he yelled, the system gave no response.

Despair consumed Li Jingtang. He thought of the kind and gentle Chen Mo, about to suffer at Chen Zui’s hands, and couldn’t stop his eyes from stinging.

Outside the sheet metal room, Chen Zui sat in a van, smoking a cigarette. He could hear someone’s frustrated and guilt-ridden sobs.

What was going through Li Jingtang's mind right then?

I shouldn't have dragged Chen Mo out with me.

Chen Zui tapped the cigarette holder gently with his slender index finger, and the butt fell off. Outside, goose feather-sized snowflakes drifted down slowly.

Cry.

You're in for a surprise.