Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Mi Jin didn’t quite catch what Le Ziyou was saying. “Who are you thinking about?”

Le Ziyou took another long swig from his beer can, ignoring Mi Jin’s question.

Who was he thinking about?

A secret too dangerous to utter. A fantastical illusion he himself refused to acknowledge.

Mi Jin didn’t press. They continued eating until nightfall. Since Mi Jin had been drinking, taking a taxi or hiring a designated driver would be both inconvenient and costly, so he simply decided to stay over at Le Ziyou’s place.

He spread a quilt on the floor beside the bed, washed up, and lay down. Le Ziyou, still fully clothed, lay on the bed. Both, already tipsy, quickly drifted off to sleep.

Ao Tian: They slept separately, upholding male chastity.

—

Transmigration Bureau

Leader: “What’s the status on Chen Zui?”

Subordinate: “Rest assured, we’ve contacted the protagonist gong of that world. He’s aligned with our objectives and has accepted our assistance. Chen Zui will never find him again.”

Leader: “Good. Keep him occupied as long as possible.”

Leader: “And what about System 996?”

Subordinate: “Still not located.”

The leader’s silence made the subordinate nervous. System 996 had not only repeatedly failed missions and accumulated massive, unpayable point debts, but it had also escaped before punishment. Before fleeing, it even claimed Chen Zui was right.

This was an outright betrayal of the Transmigration Bureau. It had been corrupted and needed to be completely eliminated.

Unfortunately, it had vanished, taking all its data with it. It seemed Chen Zui had turned it long ago—otherwise, how could it have acted so decisively and swiftly?

Leader: “We must capture and eliminate it. The Transmigration Bureau shows no mercy to traitors.”

Subordinate: “Yes, sir!”

At that moment, a virtual, grimy electronic bunny, carrying a small bundle, hopped up and knocked on the door of the Dark Transmigration Bureau. Despite its cute digital appearance, it spoke in a deep, mature male voice: “Hello. I am System 996, escaped from the Transmigration Bureau. I offer all my data in exchange for joining the Dark Transmigration Bureau.”

The door opened for it.

Light shone upon the little bunny’s grimy face, making it gleam brilliantly.

—

The two men were sound asleep when suddenly a song began to play—an eerie, sinister children’s rhyme.

“Ding dong, I have a secret, quietly telling you.” (Note 1)

The sleeping pair didn’t react, merely shifting in their sleep.

“Welcome to the entrance of Paradise Island. Ding dong, someone’s ringing the doorbell. Who’s outside playing tricks as a game?”

In the dark room, the chilling melody and the lifeless child’s voice finally roused them.

Le Ziyou opened his eyes. In the darkness, they sparkled—not groggy from sleep, but wide with panic and confusion.

Mi Jin: “Holy shit! What are you doing awake in the middle of the night?”

“Listen, who’s crying? Look, who’s whispering? There’s a pair of eyes outside the window—”

The nursery rhyme continued, sending chills down their spines.

Le Ziyou reached toward the sound—his phone under the pillow.

Mi Jin got up and switched on the light, his face crumpled: “Turn it off! What kind of song is this? It’s freaking terrifying.”

As the light came on, Le Ziyou pulled out his phone. An open webpage was playing the song, displaying red lyrics: “It’s watching you all the time. Ding dong, I’m here waiting for you—”

Le Ziyou’s breath hitched as he tried to close the page, but nothing worked. Even after muting the phone, the song kept playing.

Mi Jin stepped beside him, his expression growing grim as he grasped the situation. He forced out a sentence: “Try turning it off.”

Le Ziyou fumbled frantically to power down the phone, hands trembling.

After all, he now knew ghosts existed in this world—and through him, so did Mi Jin. Neither had the courage anymore to deny the supernatural as they once had.

Most people might assume the phone was broken, but the two of them could only think of something far worse.

“Are you waiting for me? What makes you so afraid—”

The phone wouldn’t shut down.

Le Ziyou couldn’t turn it off, gripping it so tightly his fingertips turned white. He looked up at Mi Jin.

Mi Jin desperately clung to rational explanations—because otherwise, they were in danger. He croaked, “Maybe it’s broken.”

Le Ziyou looked back at the screen. Was it his imagination, or were the red lyrics bleeding?

He bolted out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, Mi Jin right behind. Le Ziyou checked the toilet first, then moved to the sink.

Whether the phone was truly broken or not, he just wanted to destroy it completely.

He threw the phone into the sink and twisted the faucet with such force he nearly broke it. Water gushed out—except it was red. Blood.

Terrified, Le Ziyou yanked his hand back and jumped backward.

His eyes locked onto the faucet pouring blood. The phone in the sink kept playing: “Ding dong, where will you hide? Don’t think about escaping. It’s too late to break free—”

Mi Jin cowered behind the wall, face contorted, glancing toward the front door.

Le Ziyou’s chest ached from rapid breathing. Was it Chen Zui? Had Chen Zui found him again? No—the Transmigration Bureau system said Chen Zui couldn’t find him, and there’d been no sign of Chen Zui these past few days…

The bloody water kept flowing, nearly filling the sink and beginning to spill onto the floor, staining the entire room.

No way.

This was a rental. It couldn’t flood—especially not with blood.

Le Ziyou clenched and unclenched his fist several times before finally stepping forward.

Mi Jin peeked from behind the wall, grimacing, as if wanting to speak but too afraid.

Le Ziyou slammed the faucet shut. Thank god it turned off—unlike the phone.

His gaze fell on the phone floating in the sink, bloody water streaming over the screen: “Forgotten memories, the secrets you’ve hidden—”

He backed away from the bathroom.

His mind was in a daze, wondering why he was being haunted again—was it punishment for pretending to be a Taoist priest and deceiving people?

Mi Jin whispered, "Let's get out of here first."

He rushed toward the door in a few quick steps.

Le Ziyou followed him, worried whether the door would open. The moment he saw Mi Jin successfully open the door, he finally let out the breath he had been holding.

He hurried to follow.

Just as he was about to follow Mi Jin out, the door suddenly slammed shut with incredible speed and force.

Mi Jin, who was outside without even his shoes on, looked back, confused.

Le Ziyou, who hadn’t managed to step out in time, froze for a moment before frantically pushing and pounding on the door.

"Mi Jin! Mi Jin!"

He yelled.

Mi Jin, outside, panicked and grabbed at the door: "Le Ziyou! Le Ziyou!"

The terrifying nursery rhyme continued to sing, growing more intense, as if some ritual had reached its climax.

"Don’t breathe too loudly, you’ve exposed yourself, you can’t escape—"

Le Ziyou threw his body against the door, his shoulder nearly breaking, but the door wouldn’t budge.

The lights in the room began flickering wildly again, forcing Le Ziyou to press his back against the door and slowly turn around, lifting his sweat-drenched head to look up at the ceiling light.

"Give up the struggle, tell too many lies and you’ll discover who’s the one doing wrong—"

Le Ziyou slid slowly down the door bit by bit, curling into a ball and covering his head.

"Stop singing! Stop singing!"

He shouted and roared.

Chen Zui watched—this was punishment for his escape, and punishment for choosing the Transmigration Bureau.

It was a double betrayal.

Even with his hands over his ears, Le Ziyou couldn’t block out the song.

He couldn’t take it anymore!

Rather than this, he’d rather—

Le Ziyou suddenly dropped his hands and shouted into the void, "If you have the guts, just kill me!"

His wolf-like eyes blazing, he rose fiercely from the ground and actually headed back to the bathroom. Without hesitation, he plunged his hand into the bloody water, retrieved the phone still playing the nursery rhyme, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it with all his might.

"I’ll make you sing! I’ll make you sing!"

Ao Tian remarked, "He’s actually quite brave."

There was a fierceness in his bones—no surprise there.

Chen Zui watched as Le Ziyou stomped the phone to pieces, then returned to the living room, shouting at the surroundings, "Come on! Kill me!"

"If you don’t kill me today, I’ll look down on you!"

Outside, Mi Jin, still pounding on the door, heard his shouts: "Le Ziyou! Calm down! Don’t lose your head!"

Le Ziyou’s eyes were wide, but if you looked closely, you could see the fear clearly in them.

Putting on a brave front while trembling inside.

Le Ziyou: "I…"

He suddenly fell silent, because he saw something familiar.

Ahead.

A peach wood sword had appeared out of thin air.

The very peach wood sword he had deliberately thrown away.

Seeing this peach wood sword, Le Ziyou knew exactly who was terrorizing him.

Chen Zui had found him after all—that Transmigration Bureau thing was useless!

Le Ziyou didn’t feel relieved because it was Chen Zui; on the contrary, he was even more afraid. This was a ghost with old grievances, and combined with his escape, given Chen Zui’s temper…

He had to save himself!

Le Ziyou’s mind raced as he stared at the peach wood sword floating mid-air.

Chen Zui remained silent, waiting to see how Le Ziyou would react.

But the room grew colder and colder, pressing down on Le Ziyou invisibly.

Le Ziyou thought of a solution—it was just… a bit too humiliating.

But if humiliation could save his life, he’d choose humiliation without a doubt. He glanced around—Chen Zui had to be watching him from somewhere.

So, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he went to the bed, pulled down his pants, bent over, and stuck out his rear.

"Go ahead, hit me."

Chen Zui raised an eyebrow silently—a reaction both unexpected and deeply satisfying.

Le Ziyou’s butt cheeks trembled slightly from nerves.

Since he had so warmly invited it, Chen Zui was happy to oblige. The peach wood sword drifted closer.

Le Ziyou noticed it out of the corner of his eye, his whole body tensing with anxiety—being spanked really hurt.

He could see the shadow of the peach wood sword on the wall, raised high, ready to come down hard on his backside at any moment, making his heart race.

Just as he expected, the peach wood sword came down hard. Le Ziyou closed his eyes, bracing for the coming pain.

But he wasn’t struck.

Instead, a cold palm landed on him, making him open his eyes in surprise and confusion.

A chilling voice sounded in his ear.

"Very good."

"I won't hit you this time."

Chen Zui's words made Le Ziyou ignore the groping hand, and he turned in surprise toward where he knew Chen Zui was.

"Not hitting me?"

"Mm."

Le Ziyou, who had already prepared himself for a beating, was overwhelmed with surprise. He had run away, but Chen Zui wasn't hitting him. Had he misjudged Chen Zui as worse than he was?

Ao Tian: "Wow, affection level at 10%."

Chen Zui, absorbing Le Ziyou's 'yang energy': "What do you have to say to me?"

Le Ziyou thought for a moment: "Thank you?"

Chen Zui smiled with satisfaction: The boy is teachable.

Author's Note:

Note 1: called 'Paradise Island Song'