Past Life Extra

[He lived his whole life noble and immaculate, yet went against his principles to keep a crude and vulgar lover. He taught the other to play the piano, learn etiquette, learn everything one should learn in high society, but he just wouldn't admit he had fallen in love with a low-life scoundrel.]

This year's winter was too long, far from comparable to summer's passionate decay. If a person were to die quietly, it would always take a long time for any trace to be found.

The day he received the news of Chen Shu's death, Zhuang Yihan was working overtime through the night at the company. His secretary, Yan Kai, pushed open the door and entered the office. Seeing him sitting behind the desk revising a contract, he hesitated for a moment before stepping forward: "President Zhuang, there's something I'd like to tell you."

Zhuang Yihan didn't even look up. The busy work at year's end had brought a faint trace of fatigue to his brow. "What is it?"

It seemed that matters of life and death required a prelude before one could speak of them; otherwise, every word would fall on the tongue, weighing a thousand catties. Yan Kai lowered his head, his expression pained. "It's related to President Chen."

Upon hearing this, the tip of Zhuang Yihan's pen paused for a moment before resuming its normal movement. "What, did he contact you privately?"

After that incident last time, Chen Shu hadn't looked for him for a week. He was probably angry and giving him the silent treatment.

Meanwhile, the company's upper management had somehow caught wind of the rumor that Chen Shu had leaked core technology. They had argued fiercely during the meeting, unanimously proposing to pursue legal responsibility. Zhuang Yihan had expended great effort to suppress it. His recent all-nighters were also to deal with the chain reaction brought about by this matter.

Yan Kai hesitated. "No..."

Zhuang Yihan just assumed he was making excuses. In the past, whenever Chen Shu threw a tantrum, he always liked to find Yan Kai to act as a middleman to mediate and offer an olive branch. He continued to mark the clauses on the contract that needed revision. His suit was creased from sitting for so long, and the light from above cast a shadow across his cold face:

"You tell him, the board of directors is making a huge fuss right now. Have him rest at home for three months, and he can come back to work after I've settled things."

Zhuang Yihan's attitude toward Chen Shu had always been so contradictory it was impossible to fathom. He clearly should have looked down on the other man, yet he insisted on keeping him. For years, he seemed to be disgusted, yet he tolerated him endlessly.

Everyone thought Zhuang Yihan would take this opportunity to break things off with Chen Shu and get rid of this constantly troublesome lover, including Yan Kai. But unexpectedly, Zhuang Yihan still chose to handle the trouble for Chen Shu and let him come back to work. When he first learned of the chip leak, his first move wasn't to report it to the police and investigate, but to rush to the river to save someone.

Others couldn't understand the meaning behind this action.

Perhaps even Zhuang Yihan himself couldn't understand it.

Yan Kai's expression was pained. He opened and closed his mouth, feeling the weight of death for the first time in his life. "President Zhuang..."

After a long moment without a reply, Zhuang Yihan finally frowned and looked at him. "If you have something to say, say it. Why are you hesitating?"

However, Yan Kai's next sentence plunged the entire office into a dead silence—

"President Zhuang, President Chen is dead..."

He lowered his head, his voice so soft it was almost unreal.

"He drowned..."

Zhuang Yihan was stunned for a moment. He tilted his head slightly, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "What did you say?"

Swallowing the heavy feeling, Yan Kai repeated, "President Zhuang, President Chen is dead."

Zhuang Yihan stared at Yan Kai expressionlessly, thinking he was joking. His gaze turned somewhat dangerous, his tone icy. "Say that again?"

Sweat beaded on Yan Kai's back. "It's true, President Zhuang."

"President Chen's family couldn't contact him for a long time, so they reported it to the police. The police investigated and finally discovered he had committed suicide by jumping into the river. Even Young President Zhuang was taken in for questioning. The police called yesterday, saying they wanted to ask you about the situation, but you were at a reception, so I didn't have a chance to tell you."

"..."

Suicide?

Why would Chen Shu commit suicide?

Zhuang Yihan's mind went blank. The word spun in his mind, and he just couldn't comprehend it. The pen he was holding silently rolled off the corner of the desk, leaving a blot of ink. He pulled out a tissue and dazedly wiped his fingertips, over and over, with so much force that the veins on the back of his hand stood out. After a long while, he finally asked, "...Why would he commit suicide?"

Yan Kai shook his head. "Maybe... he couldn't see a way out..."

Zhuang Yihan asked again, "What about the body?"

Yan Kai: "The river is too wide, and it's winter, so recovery is very difficult. The police searched for a long time but couldn't find it. All they know from the surveillance footage is that President Chen jumped in himself. And he never resurfaced after jumping, so they estimate..."

It's estimated that survival is impossible.

Although he left the sentence unfinished, everyone could understand its meaning.

Zhuang Yihan finally, slowly, stopped wiping his fingers. "Does his family know?"

Yan Kai said, "The person who filed the report was President Chen's younger brother. His father is old and has a heart condition, so the family doesn't dare let him know. They're still keeping it from him for now."

After he finished speaking, the office fell into a dead silence, so quiet that even breathing could be heard.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were crystal clear, reflecting the lights sharply. Outside, the night spread wantonly, with skyscrapers stacked layer upon layer and countless snowflakes dancing down from the sky. The heating was clearly on in the office, yet it felt as if a chill was running through one's bones, as if a silent avalanche had occurred in one's heart.

Seeing Zhuang Yihan remain silent, Yan Kai asked with a hint of concern, "President Zhuang?"

Zhuang Yihan slowly sank back into his chair, a lock of hair quietly falling before his eyes. Suddenly, his entire demeanor became much more disheveled. He closed his eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Help me keep it a secret. Don't let his father know..."

"Also, also, Chen Shu's funeral arrangements..."

He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing the man's body hadn't been recovered yet. Funeral arrangements couldn't be made; he couldn't even have a grave or a headstone. His Adam's apple bobbed for a moment, and he felt an extremely sour emotion quietly ravaging him, his throat becoming so hoarse he couldn't speak:

"You can go. I want to be alone for a while."

Yan Kai gave him a worried look, then quietly exited the office, closing the door behind him.

Zhuang Yihan sat in his chair, unsure of what he was feeling. His mind was numb and blank, as unreal as a dream. He sluggishly picked up the pen that had rolled onto the floor, then dazedly searched for the contract from before, wanting to continue his work.

The desk was piled with dense stacks of contract papers. He recognized every word on them, yet he couldn't understand any of them. The tip of his pen hovered over the page for a long time, unable to write anything. Finally, it bled a deep blot of ink that soaked through the paper.

Clatter—

With a soft sound, the pen rolled off the corner of the desk again.

Zhuang Yihan gasped for breath. For some reason, he was having trouble breathing, his heart was beating impossibly fast, and even his fingertips were numb. He pushed himself up with his hands, struggling to his feet, but in the next second, he lost his balance and fell to the floor. He struggled several times but couldn't get up.

The vast, empty office was filled with only his low, pained gasps, as if an invisible hand were strangling him, leaving him to suffocate in agony.

Zhuang Yihan's face was pale. He raised a trembling hand to loosen his collar, trying to breathe more easily. His thoughts were a chaotic jumble, a complete mess, and his ears were ringing.

What had Yan Kai just said?

...Right, he said Chen Shu was dead, that he drowned.

But how could that be possible?

Didn't Chen Shu love money the most? Didn't he love status the most? He hadn't planned to fire him, nor was he truly angry at him. Why would he lose hope and jump?

It was winter now. The river water was so cold, so deep. Wasn't he afraid?

If he had known, he wouldn't have left so quickly that night. He should have gone back and taken him with him. Maybe he could have saved Chen Shu. Maybe the other man wouldn't have jumped.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have left so quickly..."

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have left so quickly..."

Zhuang Yihan's face was ashen. He repeated this sentence over and over. Suddenly, he remembered that as he was leaving in the car that day, he had distinctly heard the sound of something heavy falling into the water. His body froze on the spot. It was as if his head had been struck by a heavy hammer; his vision went black, he saw stars, and he could even taste blood in his mouth.

Zhuang Yihan propped himself up with difficulty, murmuring in a daze, "I heard it?"

He had clearly heard it, hadn't he?

But why didn't he turn back then?

Zhuang Yihan looked up blankly at the floor-to-ceiling window. The glass clearly reflected his bleak expression. Below were towering buildings and endless traffic. The flowing lights seemed to transform into a formless, bottomless body of water. Suddenly, all hope turned to ash in his heart.

Was that person really dead...

Another week passed, and the police still hadn't recovered Chen Shu's body.

That ever-flowing river had witnessed the city's history, yet it had drowned too many lives that ended abruptly. Whether they were disposing of a body or committing suicide, people liked to choose this place as their final destination. It flowed ceaselessly, sometimes exposing crimes, other times burying death.

Zhuang Yihan went to the police station once and saw Chen Shu's younger brother and sister-in-law, whom he had never met. They were a young woman and an honest-looking young man, both handsome and pretty, even bearing some resemblance to Chen Shu.

He saw Chen Shu's sister, her eyes red from crying, collapse to the ground, unable to even stand. She begged the police to help find her brother's body. People from the countryside were mostly superstitious and believed in being laid to rest in the earth. It was said that if a drowned person's body wasn't recovered, they would become a homeless ghost.

She wasn't asking for much. Even if they could only find a shoe or a coat, it would be enough. Yet no one understood how Chen Shu could have died so cleanly, as if he hadn't left even a speck of dust behind.

Zhuang Yihan didn't get out of the car. He watched quietly through the window for a long time before silently starting the car and driving away. He instructed Yan Kai to take good care of Chen Shu's siblings and even used his connections to get more people to help with the recovery efforts. But no matter how much he did, it seemed futile. He knew very well that none of it could bring back someone who was long gone.

Zhuang Yihan made a detour to Chen Shu's residence, intending to gather some of his belongings to give to his siblings. However, when he went inside and searched through the drawers, he discovered that the other man had pitifully few personal items. The most numerous things were oil paintings, large and small, which filled half the room.

Every single one was related to Zhuang Yihan.

Every single one was inseparable from him.

Zhuang Yihan even found many of the paintings familiar. He remembered Chen Shu giving them to him, and he had carelessly put them somewhere without a second thought. He never expected there to be so many, all carefully kept by the other man again.

Zhuang Yihan sat on the floor, looking through them one by one. When he saw a well-painted part, he would lower his eyes and caress it seriously for a long time. When he saw some interesting details, he would even laugh uncontrollably. But as he laughed, tears would inexplicably fall.

He leaned weakly against the wall, looking up at the dark ceiling, a deep question suddenly rising in his heart—

'Didn't I hate Chen Shu? Why am I crying?'

However, many things in the world are not so timely. Even pain is realized in hindsight. As Zhuang Yihan looked at the dense collection of oil paintings in the room, he had never felt so profoundly that Chen Shu would truly never appear again. The person who had been entangled with him for nine whole years had just exited his life, all traces of him carried away by death.

Death meant that there would never be such a person again...

His heart felt as if it had been split in two by a blade. Someone had brutally carved out a piece of his flesh and blood. The pain reached its peak in the silent dead of night, so intense that even curling up into a ball brought no relief.

"Chen Shu..."

Zhuang Yihan curled up on the floor, trembling all over. His voice was extremely hoarse as he almost silently uttered the name. He didn't know why he was so cold, why he was in so much pain. Cold sweat soaked the hair on his forehead, and hot tears streamed down his face. He was like a fish thrown onto the shore, struggling to breathe as it neared death, only able to gasp for air to alleviate the heart-wrenching pain.

But when the pain reached its extreme, even his stomach began to cramp. Zhuang Yihan couldn't help but clutch his abdomen and fall to his knees, doubling over and dry-heaving in heart-rending fits. The veins on his forehead bulged as if he were trying to vomit up all his internal organs.

Chen Shu...

Chen Shu...

Chen Shu...

The name wrapped around his mind like a spell, taking root and sprouting like a seed, growing into a towering tree whose dense roots pierced through his entire heart. But now that tree had been uprooted, and his heart was subjected to the agony of being flayed.

Only when he could no longer vomit anything did Zhuang Yihan raise his ashen face. He looked around with a sinister gaze, his face covered in sweat and tears, but his eyes held a deep bewilderment.

He thought to himself, why did Chen Shu die?

Was it because he had made him despair?

But why would he have made him despair?

Was it because he had fallen in love with Jiang Xi?

But why would he have fallen in love with Jiang Xi?

And who was Jiang Xi?

The thought was terrifying, so hair-raisingly frightening that it began to shatter his worldview.

Zhuang Yihan felt as if his mind had broken through some kind of restraint. Something was quietly shattering, but after the shattering came a blank void, where he could find no feelings belonging to that person.

He remembered who the person was, what his name was, and how they had met. But beyond that, there was nothing else. It was like reciting a detailed article; behind the precise words was only numb coldness, devoid of any emotion.

How could this be...?

[Ding! Encountered an unknown external force. Bewitchment skill has failed. Entering cooldown!]

At the same time, Jiang Xi was in his study reading the company's annual financial report when this cold, mechanical notification sound suddenly rang in his ears, causing him to look up uncontrollably. His pupils contracted abruptly, his eyes filled with unconcealable shock.

Skill failed?

How is that possible?

Jiang Xi put down the document and sat up straight, bewildered and unsure of what had happened. At that moment, he suddenly recalled some recent rumors in their circle. After some hesitation, he finally picked up his phone and dialed a number.

However, the call went unanswered. He tried over a dozen times in a row with no response.

As time ticked by, Jiang Xi's expression grew darker, but he patiently continued to dial. Finally, just as his phone was about to die, the call connected.

"..."

The other end of the line was unnervingly quiet, with only a dead silence flowing through, which inexplicably stirred a faint sense of unease. Jiang Xi glanced down at his phone screen, confirmed that the call was in progress, and then tentatively spoke:

"Yihan? Why haven't you been answering my calls? Did something happen?"

The rumor going around now was that Zhuang Yihan had lost his mind. Ever since Chen Shu's death, he had ignored all external matters. He spent his days by the river, from morning till night. He had hired countless salvage boats to retrieve the body, but every attempt had been in vain.

After all, too many people had died in that river. Not everyone could be recovered. Perhaps Chen Shu had decomposed, or been eaten by fish, or pinned down by a rock, or perhaps he had floated much farther away. Who knew?

People tried to persuade him earnestly, hoping Zhuang Yihan would give up the idea, but his answer was always the same.

Keep salvaging.

Keep searching.

He didn't believe a person could truly die so completely, without leaving a single trace behind.

"..."

The other end of the line remained deathly silent. Zhuang Yihan closed his eyes, his head bowed, holding the phone without a word. The bleak moonlight crept silently down his gaunt back, casting a long shadow on the floor.

Jiang Xi had no choice but to change the question: "Yihan, where are you now?"

Zhuang Yihan finally reacted. He slowly opened his gloomy eyes, his voice hoarse and broken, and uttered two words, his tone unreadable: "The river."

He suddenly smiled, but it was a morbid, unsettling sight. "Are you coming to find me?"

Jiang Xi hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but then he thought of the painful energy he had failed to obtain during this time. For some reason, he agreed, "Alright, I'll come find you later."

The call ended, and the night grew even more silent.

When Jiang Xi drove to the riverside, he found Zhuang Yihan sitting at the exact spot where Chen Shu had jumped, burning paper money. The sky was dark, and the cold river water lapped against the shore again and again, soaking his pant legs and shoes. Yet, he seemed oblivious, continuing to toss bundle after bundle of joss paper into the brazier.

The flames flickered, illuminating Zhuang Yihan's cold, silent profile. But his eyes remained pitch black, unsettling to look at for too long.

Scattered around him was a mess of things the boatmen had dredged up from the water: waterlogged clothes, a lone shoe, a rusty anchor, a broken dagger...

But not a single item belonged to Chen Shu.

The man was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth, leaving nothing behind for this world.

Jiang Xi stood back and watched for a moment before finally stepping forward. His hands were in his coat pockets and he never took them out. He looked down at Zhuang Yihan's actions, a flash of contempt and disdain crossing his eyes. His voice was low:

"Are you burning paper for Chen Shu? I remember you never used to believe in this stuff."

He had never imagined that Zhuang Yihan would one day do something so old-fashioned and superstitious.

"You don't have to believe when you're alive. When someone's dead, you have no choice but to believe."

Zhuang Yihan's tone was indifferent. He continued to place large bundles of joss paper into the brazier. The flames suddenly shot up, almost engulfing his hand, but he seemed to feel no pain. He lowered his eyes, lost in some old memory:

"Ever since he got with me in college, he never suffered another day of poverty..."

Zhuang Yihan clearly remembered that Chen Shu's family was poor back then. Besides classes, he had to work part-time every day to earn money. The little he managed to save, he sent to his younger siblings. When he gave him money, Chen Shu didn't even dare to spend it.

At that time, Zhuang Yihan couldn't distinguish how much of it was pity and how much was sympathy. He instinctively wanted Chen Shu to live a better life, so he showered him with gold and jade. But he was also worried that Chen Shu would be blinded by the materialistic world and turn into one of those hedonistic second-generation heirs, so he had him learn music, etiquette, and business, so that he could enjoy life without losing the skills to support himself.

Zhuang Yihan was never willing to admit it, but in fact, he did treat Chen Shu like a treasure, raising him to be precious and refined. But the other man wasn't a cold stone; he was a vigorous blade of grass growing wild in the fields, one that would wither without the irrigation of love.

Zhuang Yihan knew very well that the night of that mistake was just a twist of fate. No one was to blame, least of all Chen Shu. If he had harbored some resentment at the beginning, as time went on and they spent more and more days together, he had long since let it go.

He hoped that Chen Shu could live better than anyone else in the world. He hoped that person could stand bright and glorious in the sunlight, no longer feeling inferior and hiding in the shadows because of others' words. Even when Chen Shu deliberately caused so much trouble for the company in recent years to get his attention, he didn't feel any anger at all.

He truly couldn't bring himself to be angry.

The longer they were together, the heavier the weight in his heart. Neither business nor money was as important as him.

But why did things turn out this way?

He had ignored all of Chen Shu's concern, pushed him further and further away with his own hands, and even drove him to his death, all to love someone he didn't even love at all!

At this thought, a fierce determination rose in Zhuang Yihan's heart. He silently gritted his teeth and poured all the remaining paper money into the brazier. The flames shot up, illuminating the gravelly beach beside them, illuminating his bloodshot eyes, and illuminating the cold tear tracks on his face.

Just as the flames were about to die out, Zhuang Yihan abruptly stood up and kicked the brazier over with a vicious kick.

Splash—

The river tide rose in the dead of night, washing onto the shore again and again, carrying away the embers.

Seeing this, Zhuang Yihan staggered back a few steps, as if all his strength had been drained. Then he turned to face Jiang Xi—

It was only then, under the cold, bleak moonlight, that Jiang Xi realized Zhuang Yihan had been crying all along. His eyes were unbelievably red, and a scarlet, hateful, extreme emotion swirled within them, as if it would burn a person to ashes just like the flames in the brazier.

"Jiang Xi,"

Zhuang Yihan asked him softly,

"Do you think there's reincarnation after death?"

Jiang Xi took an unconscious step back. Alarm bells went off in his head. The feeling Zhuang Yihan gave him now was like that of an out-of-control beast, making him want to flee. But he still gave a perfunctory reply, "Perhaps there is."

Zhuang Yihan quietly watched his retreating motion and asked softly again, "Then tell me, is there anything in this world that can bewitch people's hearts?"

Jiang Xi's footsteps faltered. He snapped his head up to look at him, his gaze filled with suspicion and uncertainty. "What did you say?!"

Zhuang Yihan had, at some point, walked right up to Jiang Xi. Then, without warning, he reached out and seized him by the throat, forcefully pinning him against the cold bridge pillar behind them. In an instant, shadows swallowed their figures, leaving only a chilling, murderous intent.

Jiang Xi was startled. The hand hidden in his coat pocket shot out instantly, gripping a pre-prepared dagger and stabbing fiercely at Zhuang Yihan. But unexpectedly, the other man was prepared. He grabbed his wrist and twisted it, and with the sound of tearing fabric, the dagger was plunged forcefully into Jiang Xi's own abdomen—

Looking down, what flowed from the wound was not blood, but some kind of green, viscous liquid that dissipated into countless specks of fluorescent light upon contact with the air.

Seeing this, Zhuang Yihan's expression didn't change. He pushed the dagger in deeper, his voice low and cold, gritting out each word, "You really are a problem!"

Jiang Xi's face was extremely ugly. "So what? It's too late for you to know now!!"

With that, he suddenly endured the pain and pulled the dagger from his wound, lunging fiercely at Zhuang Yihan. The two of them scuffled on the gravel beach, their backs scraped and bloody, but neither would stop, each blow aimed to kill.

"Go to hell!!"

Jiang Xi roared, his face contorted. He tightened his grip on the dagger and thrust it at Zhuang Yihan. But unexpectedly, Zhuang Yihan struck him directly in his abdominal wound. In the instant he cried out in pain, Zhuang Yihan snatched the knife and pinned him to the ground.

In that split second, Jiang Xi suddenly shouted in terror, "If you kill me, you'll never see Chen Shu again in this lifetime!"

Zhuang Yihan's raised hand froze instantly. He asked in a deep, incredulous voice, "What did you say?!"

Jiang Xi didn't answer. Instead, taking advantage of Zhuang Yihan's distraction, he grabbed a piece of gravel from the ground and smashed it against his head, then snatched the dagger and plunged it into his chest. In an instant, hot, crimson blood gushed out, splattering all over his face.

Zhuang Yihan grunted, the veins on his forehead popping. He gripped Jiang Xi's wrist tightly, stopping him from stabbing further, but then he heard Jiang Xi speak coldly, "Didn't you want to know how to see Chen Shu?"

Zhuang Yihan's movements froze. He stared at him with wide eyes in the darkness, his whole body trembling, though it was unclear if it was from blood loss or pain.

Jiang Xi gritted his teeth and pressed the dagger down, his expression somewhat ferocious. "If you die, can't you go down and see him?! I'll send you to him right now! It's not like you're any use living like this, not quite human and not quite a ghost!"

It was just the death of a minor lover who couldn't be brought out into the open, yet Zhuang Yihan was going crazy, acting like he wanted to die. He must have water on the brain! What was even more absurd was that Chen Shu's death had actually stimulated Zhuang Yihan enough to break through the emotional restraints he had imposed. Was that even possible?!

Jiang Xi didn't understand what had happened. The pain Zhuang Yihan felt for another person had actually outweighed his own efforts of over a decade. He had spent countless amounts of energy to bewitch the other's mind, and now all his work had gone down the drain!

The tip of the blade pressed down into his chest, inch by inch.

Blood flowed out in streams.

The last trace of warmth was being drained from his body.

For some reason, Zhuang Yihan suddenly turned his head with difficulty to look at the dark, surging river in the distance. His face was scraped and bloody from the gravel, but his eyes were dark and bright, fixed on a dark shadow bobbing on the river's surface.

He didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was one of Chen Shu's coats, or a shoe, or maybe just some trash thrown from a ferry.

The night was too dark; he couldn't see clearly.

Zhuang Yihan clearly still had strength left, but for some reason, he slowly let go of his grip. With a dull squelch, the blade instantly sank into his body. Viscous blood sprayed out, filling the air, carried far, far away by the river wind.

He pulled at the corner of his mouth,

as if he finally felt liberated.

However, this scene deeply stung Jiang Xi. He forcefully grabbed Zhuang Yihan's neck and stabbed him again and again in a fit of rage. After an unknown amount of time, Zhuang Yihan's abdomen was a bloody mess, and the blood was so thick that Jiang Xi couldn't even hold the knife anymore.

Finally, Jiang Xi ran out of strength. He panted as he let go of Zhuang Yihan and collapsed to the ground. Then he crawled back up, grabbed the other's neck, and asked in a low voice, "Zhuang Yihan, isn't it good to live in pain? Why did you have to wake up?!"

"I'm countless times better than that poor brat Chen Shu. You loved me for eighteen whole years, and in the end, you fell in love with him?! Idiot! You blind fool!"

He cursed with the foulest language in the world, exhausting the most vicious words he could imagine, his voice growing sharp and distorted. But Zhuang Yihan lay on the ground, covered in blood, his eyes closed, his face pale and bluish, showing no reaction.

In the end, Jiang Xi's anger turned to laughter, his expression looking cold and ferocious in the darkness. He straightened up, panting, and then took out a pre-prepared rope from his pocket, ready to find a place to dispose of the body.

Zhuang Yihan seemed to sense Jiang Xi's intention. He suddenly coughed, choking up a mouthful of blood, and opened his eyes. He moved his lips silently, wanting to say something.

Jiang Xi thought Zhuang Yihan was begging for mercy and leaned in closer, only to hear something unexpected. He paused, his tone venomous and playful, "What, you want to die with Chen Shu?"

His interest was piqued. He tapped Zhuang Yihan's blood-streaked cheek with the tip of his knife, thinking how incredibly fragile, and beautiful, he looked in this near-death state. "What if I don't agree?"

Zhuang Yihan's gaze was calm, showing no fear of death. But as time passed, the aura of death crept over his blood-streaked cheeks. "It'd be more trouble for you to move my body... Isn't it better to just throw it in..."

Jiang Xi sneered, "Why should I be so kind as to let you die with Chen Shu? Zhuang Yihan, do I look very kind to you?"

Of course not.

However, when Jiang Xi stood up to deal with the body, he realized that his car was parked on the bridge above, at least a few hundred meters away. If he dragged the body up there, he would definitely be discovered.

Although he could go to the next parallel world after killing his Host, his energy was now greatly depleted, and changing worlds wasn't something that could be done in a day or two. He couldn't afford any accidents before then.

Jiang Xi's face was grim. He cursed coldly, then squatted down and grabbed Zhuang Yihan's collar, gritting his teeth. "Consider yourself lucky. I'll be merciful today and let you and Chen Shu be a pair of doomed lovers!"

Zhuang Yihan had lost too much blood; he definitely wouldn't survive. Since the body had to be disposed of anyway, it was easier to just throw it in the river.

Two dead men, what kind of trouble could they stir up, hmph...

Jiang Xi glanced around and, seeing that no one had noticed them, directly dragged Zhuang Yihan's body towards the river. Then, with a great push, he let him drift further and further away, disappearing without a trace after a wave crashed over him.

"Wooo—"

The biting cold wind blew across the river's surface, its sound low, like weeping. The crimson blood gradually dispersed in the river water, eventually fading without a trace, silently dissolving death. Two people who were not together in life drew close to each other in this way after death.

Zhuang Yihan closed his eyes, letting the cold river water submerge his head, to feel all the pain Chen Shu had experienced before his death.

If the river has a spirit, please let his body float downstream,

to find his lover...