Accident

Duan Chengcai recognized Zhuang Yihan. He subconsciously glanced at Chen Shu beside him and casually found an excuse, saying, "Um... I have something to do, need to go to the hospital to get an injury looked at. I'm leaving now."

Chen Shu didn't stop him, just nodded with an "en." "Go ahead. Send me a message when you get back to school tonight."

Seeing this, Zhuang Yihan's secretary and lawyer tactfully left first. After all the irrelevant people were gone, only the two of them remained on the roadside. The wind blew harder and harder, and even the snow accumulated on the trees fell under the strain, splashing up a flurry of snowflakes.

Chen Shu strode forward. He felt that Zhuang Yihan seemed to have lost a lot of weight, but they were no longer in a relationship where they could care for each other. He could only speak rationally, "Chen Chuyao and Duan Chengcai have already broken up. There's no need to keep dwelling on this matter. If possible, I hope you can persuade Zhuang Yifan to stop bothering Duan Chengcai in the future."

Chen Shu was still a little worried about Duan Chengcai and felt it was best to end this matter here. Thus, he spoke up, hoping to draw a line under it with Zhuang Yihan's help. After all, Zhuang Yifan listened to his older brother the most.

Zhuang Yihan heard this and looked at Chen Shu with a mocking and playful expression, but the hand hidden in his coat pocket couldn't help but clench tightly, his nails digging into his palm. His deep voice made the surroundings seem even quieter:

"Chen Shu, are you begging me?"

He was clearly smiling, but upon closer inspection, his eyes were red.

Beg?

Hearing this word, Chen Shu's interest was piqued. "If you think so, that's fine."

He still had that unperturbed look. The languid winter sun fell on him, reducing some of the gloomy and somber charm from their first meeting. His gaze was gentle and uncontesting, as if he had finally broken free from the mire, and no shadow could ever erode him again.

'But Chen Shu has walked out, what about me?'

This gloomy thought inexplicably popped into Zhuang Yihan's mind. His already turbulent emotions during this period became chaotic again due to Chen Shu's sudden appearance. The hand in his pocket clenched uncontrollably, making his palm ache. He raised an eyebrow faintly:

"Chen Shu, if you're begging someone, you should have the right attitude. Have you ever seen someone beg on the side of the road?"

Chen Shu glanced at the road beside him and asked half-jokingly, "Do I need to kowtow to you three times?"

Zhuang Yihan, however, showed no joy at his words. His voice grew colder and deeper, "Chen Shu, you're so kind-hearted, you'd even kneel to save others?"

'But why wouldn't he spare some of that kindness for me? Why was he more heartless than anyone when he left?'

Chen Shu said nothing. The only sound in the air was the rustling of snow falling from the treetops.

"..."

Seeing Chen Shu's silence, Zhuang Yihan's long, narrow eyes squinted slightly, like the touch of a venomous snake slithering over skin. A moment later, he suddenly scoffed and finally compromised, "...Fine. As long as Duan Chengcai doesn't go looking for Chen Chuyao, nothing extra will happen. I guarantee that not only will Yifan not bother him, but he won't bother you either."

Zhuang Yihan's car was parked on the side of the road. After speaking, he didn't even look at Chen Shu and opened the car door to leave. However, when his gaze inadvertently fell upon a bank card on the driver's seat, his movement froze.

His secretary, Yan Kai, had told him two days ago that Chen Shu had suddenly transferred back all the money he had given him before, the amount being slightly more, not less.

Hearing the news, Zhuang Yihan only felt humiliated. Did Chen Shu really want to avoid him that badly? Not only did he sever ties, but he also had to calculate every single expense they had ever had clearly. Did he think that by doing so, he could have nothing to do with him?

Zhuang Yihan's expression was ugly. He slowly exhaled, took out the bank card, then slammed the car door shut with his backhand and strode towards Chen Shu.

Chen Shu was originally standing by the road waiting for a car when he suddenly saw Zhuang Yihan return. From a few steps away, Zhuang Yihan threw something at him. He caught it out of reflex, only to find it was a bank card and car keys. "What's this?"

Zhuang Yihan looked at him coldly, "Weren't you with me for money in the first place? Why don't you want the money now? At least you were with me for a while. Don't let it all be for nothing in the end, without getting anything. It would be a joke if word got out."

Chen Shu looked at the card in his hand and was about to say something when a roaring sound approached from behind. The expression on Zhuang Yihan's face, who was standing opposite him, changed. He suddenly pushed Chen Shu hard onto the sidewalk. The next second, a speeding grey van brushed past them, not even stopping after crashing through the green belt's guardrail, and drove off into the distance with the accelerator floored.

"Whoosh—!!!"

It was close to the end of the year. On the quiet and cold street, the van roared away and disappeared around the corner, looking abrupt and unusual.

It all happened too suddenly. Chen Shu lay on the ground for a while before coming to his senses. Zhuang Yihan was shocked and immediately endured the sharp pain to get up and check on him. Anxious words slipped out, "Chen Shu, how are you? Are you hurt?!"

After asking, he froze and said no more, belatedly realizing that he had lost his composure.

Chen Shu didn't notice Zhuang Yihan's strangeness. He frowned and shook his head, "I'm fine. What about you?"

Zhuang Yihan's face looked unwell. He turned his head to avoid his gaze, "...I'm fine."

But he clearly didn't look fine. His left pant leg was somehow torn, revealing a bloody and mangled wound. He hadn't realized it in the heat of the moment, but now it hurt so much he was unsteady on his feet. He could only manage to get up with Chen Shu's support.

Zhuang Yihan looked in the direction the van had disappeared, feeling a surge of anger. He cursed coldly in a low voice, "Fuck! If I find that blind son of a bitch, I'll kill him!"

It was the first time Chen Shu had heard Zhuang Yihan curse so much. He couldn't help but glance at him, then squatted down to roll up his pant leg and check the injury. "Let the traffic police investigate this later. Let me see your injury first."

"None of your business!"

Zhuang Yihan directly avoided his hand and took two steps back. This simple action made a cold sweat break out on his back, and his brows knitted tightly. "I'll just call my secretary to come over."

'Quite stubborn,' Chen Shu thought. He stood up and looked at Zhuang Yihan, "Then you make the call. I'll leave after Yan Kai arrives."

Zhuang Yihan sneered, "Chen Shu, don't pretend in front of me. You were the one who wanted to break up. Why are you acting like a good guy now? I won't die. You can just leave."

Although he said that, Chen Shu felt that if he really left, Zhuang Yihan would go mad with anger. He didn't argue with him, just turned and walked a couple of steps away, lit a cigarette with a lighter, and accompanied him from a short distance while waiting for the secretary to arrive.

When Yan Kai arrived, this was the scene he saw: his boss's black Bentley was parked on the side of the road, the driver's side door half-open. Zhuang Yihan was sitting inside, his face grim and unpleasant. A closer look revealed that his clothes were covered in dust and scrapes.

Behind the car stood Chen Shu, looking down and smoking. The two seemed to have had a fight. Neither was speaking to the other, and the atmosphere was somewhat delicate.

Yan Kai looked at the two of them, then walked up and asked, "President Zhuang, what happened?"

Zhuang Yihan said nothing, simply tossed him the car keys, got up, and moved to the passenger seat. "Nothing, just got grazed by a car. Report it to the police later and find that person for me."

Yan Kai: "Are we going to the hospital now?"

Zhuang Yihan frowned, took off his dirt-stained jacket, and tossed it into the back seat. "Back to the residence."

Hearing this, Chen Shu finally extinguished his cigarette butt and looked at Yan Kai, "His leg is injured. You should take him to the hospital for a check-up."

Yan Kai was startled. "President Zhuang, are you hurt? I'll drive you to the hospital for a check-up right now."

Zhuang Yihan glared at him irritably, "I said back to the residence, didn't you hear me? Are you listening to him or to me?! Who pays your salary?!"

Yan Kai was in a difficult position, "But President Zhuang..."

Chen Shu happened to see a taxi approaching from the opposite side. He walked over and patted Yan Kai's shoulder, "Listen to me, take him to the hospital. Only if your boss lives a long life can he keep paying your salary."

After saying that, ignoring the fuming Zhuang Yihan, he reached out and hailed the taxi by the roadside, got in, and left.

The driver looked back and saw a young man. He asked casually, "Where to?"

Chen Shu should have been heading back to school at this time, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the van that had crashed into them without reason was unusual. He closed his eyes, pressing a forefinger against his throbbing temple. After a few seconds of contemplation, he finally spat out a place name:

"To Jingcheng Mansion."

Zhuang Yihan had previously given Chen Shu a car, which was parked in that residential complex. Coincidentally, the other man had thrown the car keys back at him today. Chen Shu went to the underground garage to get the car, drove directly to the section of the road where the incident occurred, and then began searching street by street in the vicinity, marking and eliminating them on the GPS, trying to find today's suspicious van.

It was the end of the year, so the streets were deserted, but there were still quite a few cars parked on the roadside, making the search quite difficult. Chen Shu searched from two in the afternoon until four in the morning, refilling the gas once, but still found no trace. He finally drove to a stretch of old residential buildings on the outskirts of the city and stopped to catch his breath.

After nightfall, the surroundings were silent, with only a barbecue shop on the ground floor still lit. Old electrical wires were densely piled overhead, completely blocking the last sliver of light between the narrow buildings.

Chen Shu just wanted to grab a bite to eat. He stepped over the dirty snow, pushed aside the greasy wind-proof curtain at the shop's entrance, and found a place to sit. The owner was a short, chubby man with a shiny face. He had been dozing in front of a heater and looked up lazily when he heard the noise:

"Tick what you want to eat, the menu's on the table."

The shop was covered in dust and grease stains. Marinated meat skewers were piled up in white plastic boxes. Chen Shu glanced around, then put down his pen and said, "A bowl of vegetarian rice noodles, a bottle of soda."

The owner grumbled, seemingly dissatisfied with such a small order, but still reluctantly walked to the stove to start the fire. Chen Shu got up and grabbed a bottle of soda himself. While opening the cap with a bottle opener, he looked at a silver-gray van parked at the entrance and asked, as if by chance, "Boss, is that van at the entrance yours?"

The boss: "Which one?"

Chen Shu: "The van at the entrance, is it yours?"

The boss took a moment to glance over and answered perfunctorily, "Oh, no, it belongs to the family living behind."

Chen Shu tilted his head back and drank some soda. In the dead of winter, the cold liquid seeped all the way to his stomach. "I'm planning to move recently, and I need a vehicle. I don't have much stuff, so a big truck is unnecessary, and a small van would be just right. I wonder if the owner is willing to do transport jobs."

The boss skillfully tossed vegetables and rice noodles into a clay pot. Steam rose, adding a bit of life to the cold little shop. "He probably would. He doesn't have a job anyway, just idles around all day. He'd do anything for money."

[Ding! Fifty yuan has been received!]

The owner was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the incredibly handsome customer. "You paid the wrong amount. The rice noodles and soda are only twenty in total."

Chen Shu asked calmly, "Do you have the owner's phone number? Could you help me contact him?"

...

Anyone woken up from their bed by a phone call before dawn, especially in this freezing season, would be somewhat emotional. Hong Dawen cursed as he pulled on his old down jacket, which hadn't been washed in half a month. He shoved his hands in his pockets, hunched his neck, and sniffled as he walked towards the barbecue shop. "Damn it, what kind of lunatic moves house at the crack of dawn? The sky isn't even light. If the pay is low, I'll curse his eighteen generations of ancestors! If I hadn't failed to get paid for the last job, would I need to take on this crappy work?! The deposit is so small, what a cheapskate, gone after a few rounds of gambling!"

Although he cursed like that, his demeanor changed when he arrived at the shop's entrance. He rubbed his hands and said with a grin to the barbecue shop owner, "Brother Guang, you said you had a job for me just now. Where's the customer?"

The barbecue shop owner pointed to a man smoking at the street corner. "Over there, the one in the black jacket. I hear he wants to move and use your van. You can negotiate the price with him yourself. It's getting light, I need to close up and sleep."

Hong Dawen nodded and bowed, thanking him repeatedly. He saw the owner yawn and pull down the metal shutter, then turned and trotted over to the customer, asking tentatively, "Brother, are you the one who needs a vehicle?"

Chen Shu had been smoking. Hearing Hong Dawen's voice, he raised his eyebrows slightly. He looked down and exhaled a puff of smoke without turning around. At this time, the sky was gradually beginning to lighten, turning from a boundless darkness to a deep, ink-like blue. The single spark of the cigarette butt flickered uncertainly in the darkness:

"Yeah, it's me. What's the price?"

Hong Dawen's eyes darted around. "Depends on what you need to do and where you're going. Different jobs have different prices."

Chen Shu asked unexpectedly, "What's the price to help me hit someone?"

Hong Dawen was shocked, "What?!"

Chen Shu finally turned to look at Hong Dawen. His attire and his exceptionally handsome face were too distinctive. Hong Dawen immediately recognized him as the man he had almost hit with his car yesterday afternoon. His expression changed instantly, and he took off running towards the alley.

But Chen Shu was prepared. He shot out his hand like lightning, grabbing the back of Hong Dawen's neck and slamming his head hard against a nearby tree. The action was vicious and fast, leaving Hong Dawen dizzy. Then, he dragged the man like a dead dog into the adjacent dark alley and tossed him casually to the ground.

Chen Shu picked up a random brick from the ground, then crouched in front of Hong Dawen with a cigarette dangling from his lips. His eyes were lowered, carrying a hint of the thuggishness and ferocity from his upbringing in the countryside. He stepped on Hong Dawen's wrist with his shoe and asked nonchalantly:

"Who told you to hit me with your car?"

Hong Dawen winced in pain, cursing his bad luck. It would have been so much better to stay in bed sleeping. Why did he have to come out for a job? He cried, with tears and snot running down his face, "I-I-I... I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Bang—!"

Without changing his expression, Chen Shu smashed the brick directly onto his little finger. The moment Hong Dawen screamed in agony, he clamped a hand tightly over his mouth. After about ten seconds, he slowly released his hand, took the cigarette from his mouth, and lightly flicked the ash.

"Who told you to hit me with your car?"

Hong Dawen's voice was a high-pitched shriek from the pain, his entire body curled up like a shrimp. "F-you!! I don't understand what you're saying!! Don't you know it's illegal to assault people!!"

"Bang—!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another brick came crashing down hard, this time on his ring finger. Hong Dawen's eyes widened in pain, the veins on his forehead bulging. This time, he couldn't even scream, just desperately kicked the ground, wishing he could die right then and there!

Chen Shu showed no signs of impatience and asked again, "Who told you to hit me with your car?"

He clearly had one of the most handsome faces in the world, yet amidst the curling smoke, he seemed more terrifying than a demon. "It's okay. You still have eight fingers. Take your time to think."

Hong Dawen twitched a couple of times and finally cried out in pain, "It... it was a man... who told me to hit someone with a car... I have a history of mental illness... He said that after it was done, not only would he give me a million... but he'd also help me hire a lawyer... That's why I agreed to take the job..."

Chen Shu asked, his voice betraying no emotion, "What's that person's surname?"

Hong Dawen was covered in cold sweat. He shook his head with difficulty, "I... I don't know... He always wore a mask whenever we met..."

As if to make Chen Shu spare him, he pleaded tearfully, "Hitting you today was a complete misunderstanding... I-I-I... I didn't mean to hit you at first... He told me to kill the man standing opposite you... but you two were standing together... so my car veered off..."

Hearing this, Chen Shu's smoking hand paused, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you say?"

The man opposite?

Zhuang Yihan?!

Chen Shu had already guessed that this matter was most likely related to Jiang Xi, but he hadn't expected the man to want Zhuang Yihan dead. Was it just because Zhuang Yihan was suppressing the Jiang Family's business that Jiang Xi wanted to kill him? But if Jiang Xi were found out afterward, he wouldn't get off lightly either. After all, this car crash attempt wasn't very sophisticated. Bankruptcy was better than going to prison.

In a flash, fragmented memories flickered through Chen Shu's mind. He frowned deeply, unable to stop himself from remembering the night of Xue Miao's birthday, and something that the black snake had once said to him.

It told him that Jiang Xi was a Parasite...

[They do not have endless lives; they must absorb human suffering to survive. So they usually wear a human skin and mingle among humans, then randomly select a Host.]

[This choice is for life, the Host cannot be changed midway. As long as the Host lives, they must be bound, until the Host dies, then they can replace them with the next one.]

Until the Host dies, then they can replace them with the next one...

So that's how it is. That's how it is.

Chen Shu slowly stood up from the ground, his face as grim as water. So, in this life, because of his appearance, Jiang Xi could no longer obtain suffering from Zhuang Yihan. Therefore, he had to kill Zhuang Yihan and then find a new Host to continue parasitizing.

The cigarette in his fingertips burned to the end, its spark gradually dimming as a sliver of light appeared on the horizon.

Chen Shu threw the cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his foot, looking down from above at the wretched Hong Dawen. "I've recorded everything you just said. Do you know how long you'll be sentenced for if I hand this to the police?"

Hong Dawen hadn't had much schooling. Frightened by Chen Shu, he panicked and, ignoring the pain, hugged his leg. "Brother, brother! It was a moment of folly! I deserve to die! I shouldn't have been greedy for that dirty money! Please have mercy and spare my life, I don't want to go to jail!"

Chen Shu coldly pulled his leg away, then took out his phone and switched screens. "Give me your phone number. If there's any movement on that end, message me immediately. If you keep your mouth shut, I'll keep mine shut. If you insist on going down this dark path, then mutual destruction is the only outcome. Understand?"

Hong Dawen nodded like a pecking chicken, "Understood, understood!! If that person contacts me again, I'll definitely tell you right away!"

Chen Shu was not in the mood to stay longer. He noted down Hong Dawen's number, took out a small stack of cash from his wallet, and threw it at the man. His tone was indifferent, with an unmistakable warning, "Take this to get your injuries treated. If there's a next time, it won't be your hand I'm smashing."

With that, ignoring Hong Dawen's ecstatic expression, he turned and left the dark alley. The first ray of morning sun slanted into this gloomy and dilapidated residential building, landing precisely on Chen Shu's face, splitting his features into halves of light and shadow. Yet he simply strode forward, finally disappearing into the gradually bustling street market.

Since Jiang Xi's first attempt was unsuccessful, there would surely be a second.

Chen Shu found his car parked on the roadside, opened the door, and sat in the driver's seat, but he didn't start the engine for a long time. Just as he was pondering how to subtly warn Zhuang Yihan to be wary of Jiang Xi, he received an unexpected phone call.

The caller ID showed Xue Miao. Because the other person was always calm and never meddled in others' affairs, Chen Shu hesitated for a moment before answering. However, the voice that came through the receiver was frantic, a far cry from calm:

"Hello? Is this Chen Shu?! You need to come to the hospital right now, Yihan was in a car accident last night!"