Edited
That evening at eight-thirty, Chu He stood before the full-length mirror in his hotel room, his long, elegant fingers tying a knot in a black Hermès tie with a subtle dark pattern.
“Zhang Shun,” he said without turning around, “lend me your car for a drive.”
“…” Zhang Shun snapped, “You really are fucking going?!”
Because the Zhang family master bedroom had been burned to the point of being uninhabitable, Chu He had no choice but to stay at a hotel. His younger brother used the excuse of being afraid to stay home alone and followed him over. His original intention had actually been to latch onto Chu He and share a room again, but he was half a beat too slow. By the time they reached the hotel, the attendant respectfully showed him to another suite on the same floor—”CEO Chu specifically instructed that this be opened for you,” the attendant said. “He said he knew you would come.”
Zhang Shun tossed down his luggage and snuck into his brother’s room like a thief. The moment he entered, he was dazzled by CEO Chu’s low-key luxury, stylish getup: “You’re not actually thinking of sleeping with that woman, are you?!”
“In your eyes, am I that kind of person?”
Zhang Shun let out a breath of relief, but immediately that breath caught again: “Wait, do you mean you’re going to seriously date that woman?!”
“…” Chu He looked at his brother through the mirror. “Do you have an opinion?”
“Of course I have an opinion!” Zhang Shun suddenly jumped up from the bed: “That woman looks improper at first glance! So flirtatious! And she took the initiative to seduce you! Didn’t you like Fu Ya, that proper young lady from a scholarly family? How did you get your soul hooked away by this kind of improper woman? This type of woman will make you suffer losses with nowhere to cry sooner or later. Hurry up and stop paying attention to her!”
Chu He said curiously, “I remember you said Fu Ya had something wrong with her brain, that she was extremely boring and dull…”
“Did I say that? Was it me who said that? Which idiot said that about the girl!” Zhang Shun immediately pulled out his phone to call Fu Ya: “Hey, are you free tonight? Hurry up and come out, my brother is treating you to dinner…”
Just as he spoke, his hand went empty. Zhang Shun looked up to see his brother standing before him, calmly withdrawing the phone and gently hanging up:
“Car keys.”
The corner of Zhang Shun’s eye twitched slightly. After a moment, he jumped up, covered his pocket, and charged toward the door. Before he could take two steps, Chu He effortlessly grabbed him by the back collar and pulled him back, reaching into his pants pocket for the car keys.
Zhang Shun: “…”
In that instant, they stood front to back, their bodies almost pressed together.
Zhang Shun was taller than his brother. He only felt his brother’s warm breath spraying against the sturdy side of his neck, his nostrils filled with the light, sexy scent of cologne like a forest after rain. When his brother’s hand reached into his pants pocket, because the pocket was tight, he could even clearly feel every ridge of those slender fingers transmitted to the skin on the outer side of his thigh.
Zhang Shun’s nose grew hot. His already sturdy back instantly tensed up like a rock.
Chu He hooked out the Ferrari keys and walked straight to the entrance to change his shoes. When he finished and looked up unintentionally, he couldn’t help but laugh: “Is your nose alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“…” Zhang Shun stared at his brother blankly.
Chu He immediately walked over: “Are you alright?”
Zhang Shun wiped his nosebleed in a fluster, pushed his brother away, and stumbled out the door. Looking at that hurried posture, forget the car keys—even if Chu He had casually swiped his wallet, he wouldn’t have noticed.
“…Is he really alright.”
Chu He furrowed his brow. After thinking it over, he figured it was probably because that fall during the day had really ruptured some blood vessel in his nasal cavity. But going to find the culprit at this point was definitely useless. He could only shake his head and mutter, barely audible: “That idiot Zhou Hui…”
That idiot surnamed Zhou stood before the hotel window, looking through the one-way floor-to-ceiling glass at the fiery red Ferrari downstairs, and at the person leaning against the car door in a black suit and white shirt, smoking.
Although Zhou Yi was often cursed as an idiot behind his back by people who didn’t know the truth, at this moment the expression on his face truly had nothing to do with being an idiot. In fact, when Li Hu saw half of his face reflected in the glass, she was so frightened by that expression that she involuntarily froze.
“I didn’t know… he really came,” Li Hu said hesitantly. “Why don’t we just make a call and say we suddenly have something tonight…”
“You shouldn’t have provoked him.” Zhou Yi said flatly.
“This person is already on the verge of falling into demonhood. The reason he still retains his last shred of sanity is because he has Buddha’s Bone protecting him nearby. I don’t know why he insists on maintaining this tightrope-walking balance, but dusk has always been the demonic hour of the day. It’s very easy for you to provoke his ferocity like this.”
Li Hu couldn’t help but ask: “Are you sure he’s Feng Si? All these years, you’ve seen someone who looks a bit like him and thought it was Feng Si. If this keeps up, he won’t fall into demonhood, but you’ll go mad first…”
“I don’t know, but Feng Si was with the Demon Venerable. If he really is him, then the Demon Venerable Fan Luo must be nearby.” Zhou Yi gazed at the glass and slowly smiled: “The greatest enmity in the world—killing one’s father, murdering one’s mother—and stealing one’s wife…”
Li Hu couldn’t help but tremble slightly under such an expression.
“You… you still shouldn’t act recklessly, remember? We came here on a mission this time. When you left the capital, you made a military pledge with Director Yu that you absolutely would not let the Japanese take H City’s ‘earth-born fetus’ out of the country—”
Zhou Yi was silent for a moment, gradually returning to normal.
“I know,” he said. “You don’t need to remind me of that.”
Li Hu changed into a red dress, which set off her sexy figure even more explosively. When Chu He saw her, he even praised: “Miss Li is truly devastatingly beautiful.”
For some reason, Li Hu felt this remark was more perfunctory than anything, because he himself showed no signs whatsoever of being devastated.
On the contrary, when she saw CEO Chu standing before the fiery red Ferrari car door in a Dior black fitted suit, pale-skinned and expression cold, as graceful as a vampire of the night, she felt that this man might actually be the more devastatingly beautiful one—not to mention that already somewhat incoherent Boss Zhou upstairs, but even the few young girls passing by looked like they were about to faint at any moment.
How truly strange, she thought. Even with such a plain face, he could still be like this…
Chu He personally opened the car door for her and said: “By this hour, I imagine you’ve already eaten. The sightseeing rooftop coffee at West Cape is quite nice. Shall we go sit for a while?”
Li Hu’s heart stirred slightly. She immediately smiled: “I heard that the legendary Team Leader Feng Si was quite a romantic person. I never thought I would get to enjoy such treatment myself. I must go experience it.”
Saying this, she turned to look at Chu He, as if she could see every subtlest change in expression on this man’s face down to the bottom of her eyes.
—Yet Chu He showed no expression whatsoever: “Ex-boyfriend?”
“…” Li Hu said: “Sorry, pretend I didn’t say that.”
Facts proved that romance, when you didn’t have money, still depended on technique. When you had money, you could have as much as you wanted.
The coffee shop was built on a fortieth-floor sky garden. In the distance was the harbor, the sound of waves faint in the night, the melody of a cello drifting with the night breeze. By the large hanging window seat, no lights were lit, only fragrant candles burning. Candlelight reflected in the silk-like red wine, as brilliant as the countless stars scattered across the sky overhead.
If Li Hu had originally felt that facing Chu He might be a bit awkward, a few minutes after sitting down she completely lost that concern. Fine wine and delicacies, decadent glamour. Especially since CEO Chu was also a man of profound learning and witty conversation, particularly skilled at raising topics and listening attentively—by the time Li Hu reacted, time had already slipped past midnight. She had actually unknowingly chatted with him for over three hours.
“I never thought you were such a witty person,” Li Hu said with a light smile, swirling her red wine: “A person like you actually has no family, no girlfriend. Is it because your standards are too high?”
Chu He smiled: “Look at Zhang Shun and you’ll know. I spent the first ten years of my life raising children.”
Li Hu burst into loud laughter, laughing so hard that the red wine nearly splashed from her glass. When she set the crystal goblet back on the table, the corner of her eye inadvertently caught Chu He lowering his gaze, seemingly casually glancing at his watch.
“I spent the first ten years of my life raising children.”
Zhang Shun: “…”
Zhang Shun’s expression twitched. He set down his knife and fork and silently supported his forehead with his hand.
Across from him, Zhou Yi instantly erupted in loud laughter. His laughter was so loud that the waiter passing by nearly failed to steady his tray. But he immediately covered his own mouth with a napkin, his shoulders shaking up and down: “B-Brother-in-law, your brother’s description of himself really is spot-on, hahaha…”
Zhang Shun snapped: “Who’s your brother-in-law?!”
The two of them sat in a corner not far away. This corner’s position was quite clever: it was neither far from Chu He and Li Hu’s table, allowing them to occasionally catch snippets of conversation from that side; yet it was also quite secluded and blocked by potted plants, making it difficult to spot at a glance.
“Con artist, why are you here?” Zhang Shun was simply helpless: “If you’re afraid my brother is taking advantage of your colleague, then go back now. Looking at that woman, it’s still debatable who’s taking advantage of whom. Or do you have a secret crush on your colleague? Afraid of being NTR’d by my brother, so you came over secretly to spy?”
After Zhou Yi finished laughing, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and said with great poise: “My reason for being here is the same as yours.”
“…I happened to come here to eat, okay!”
“Oh, then so did I.”
The two handsome men locked eyes for a moment. Zhou Yi proactively slapped his card holder on the table: “Don’t worry, brother-in-law. Big brother’s treating today.”
“…So who’s your brother-in-law!” Zhang Shun exploded.
At the same moment, ten meters away, Li Hu pointed at the obviously expensive watch on Chu He’s wrist and asked: “Are you in a hurry to get back?”
“My time has always been tight, but tonight is the exception…” Chu He smiled leisurely: “I’m waiting for the twelve-thirty fireworks. Look.”
He turned toward the window. A bright line suddenly streaked across the night sky, then bloomed into a giant rose! Countless flowers of light burst open in the starry sky one after another, illuminating the entire hall with brilliant splendor, causing the guests in the restaurant to rise one after another and walk to the windows.
“This… this is truly beautiful,” Li Hu clicked her tongue in admiration: “I never knew H City had such fireworks at night. I’d never heard of it before…” She suddenly realized something: “CEO Chu, could it be you—?”
She turned back to see Chu He leaning against the table with arms crossed, politely making a “shh” gesture: “No need to say it out loud.”
In that instant, the light of the fireworks outlined his slender, elegant silhouette—like orchids and jade trees, graceful and poised. Even the simple gesture of a long index finger pressed to his lips radiated incomparable charm.
Li Hu: “…”
Li Hu now felt that she was truly convinced. Zhou Yi, Zhang Shun—those kinds of handsome men still only relied on their faces to attract fans. But this CEO Chu before her was the genuine article of the technical school!
“For you to go to such lengths, I am truly overwhelmed…” Li Hu felt she should still say something, but then she suddenly stopped. Through the glass, she saw that as Chu He lowered his hand from his lips, he also cast an extremely covert glance at his watch.
He was racing against time? Waiting for someone?
Li Hu’s usually alert nerve endings tensed up. All the details of tonight flashed through her mind like lightning, finally returning to that unexpected invitation from dusk:
“Beautiful lady, might I have the honor of inviting you to a late-night snack tonight?”
—He’s avoiding a certain moment, Li Hu almost instantly realized.
He had singled her out from a crowd of people—not his ignorant, clueless younger brother, not the unfathomable Zhou Yi, nor some random passerby pulled off the street to fill a number. Instead, he used her, a seemingly non-threatening yet actually somewhat weighty figure, to avoid being alone at the stroke of midnight tonight.
Then—Li Hu thought—what is he avoiding?
Or rather, who is he avoiding?
Li Hu instantly made a bold decision.
The fireworks died out. The guests returned to their seats with exclamations of admiration. The restaurant resumed its elegant serenity, the violin drifting slowly amid the fragrance.
Li Hu set down her napkin. Her smiling red lips held a particularly seductive charm: “CEO Chu, I have an impertinent request. I wonder if you might agree?”
“Oh?”
“The night view of the harbor over there is quite beautiful. I’d like to take a walk on the observation deck. Would you be willing to accompany me?”
Chu He looked up at her. At first he didn’t speak. Only after several seconds did he suddenly laugh: “You—Miss Li, when you smile, you look exactly like an old friend of mine. From this angle…”
Li Hu immediately narrowed her eyes, a sexy provocation in her tone: “Ex-girlfriend?”
“No no, just an ordinary friend.”
“I see.” Only then did Li Hu proactively extend her tender white hand: “Since it’s just an ordinary friend, then on such a beautiful night, let’s not let her spoil the mood, shall we?”
Chu He stared fixedly at that soft, boneless hand extended before him. After a long while, he shook his head with a smile, the expression on his face unreadable as to whether it was mockery or self-mockery. Then he obligingly took Li Hu’s hand and, under his younger brother’s gaze of facing a great enemy from ten meters behind, walked toward the restaurant’s scenic elevator.
The observation deck was accessed by a glass elevator from inside the building, a small sky garden suspended above the revolving restaurant. Compared to the restaurant, it offered more privacy, with a beautiful and secluded environment, large clusters of roses and tulips planted everywhere, and an intoxicating fragrance drifting on the night breeze.
This seemed like a place even more suitable for cultivating feelings and falling in love. Li Hu walked hand-in-hand with Chu He like a young girl for a while, then suddenly tilted her head coquettishly and asked: “CEO Chu, why do you look so distracted? Could it be that when you’re with me, you’re still thinking about that old friend from just now?”
Chu He said: “That really isn’t the case.”
“Hmm?”
“If he were the one holding my hand,” Chu He pointed at the hand she was holding: “I really would vomit.”
Li Hu: “…”
The corner of Li Hu’s mouth twitched slightly. After a long while, she finally asked: “Why does this person make you so disgusted?”
This question seemed to amuse Chu He. He even clicked his tongue with interest.
“To be precise, it’s not a person, but a fox—of course, at his level he doesn’t count as an ordinary fox anymore, but the fox clan’s characteristics of being lascivious, cunning, and loving to trip people up haven’t changed. But if it were only that, it would be fine. The main thing is that he—how should I put it.”
Chu He paused meaningfully and said: “Very, very sharp-tongued…”
Li Hu was slightly stiff: “For you to resent him so much, he probably isn’t ordinarily sharp-tongued?”
“Oh, not at all.” Chu He immediately said, “I don’t resent him. It’s just quite amusing for a person to be so consistently disgusting for ten years like clockwork.”
Saying this, he even turned his head and smiled at Li Hu with narrowed eyes.
“…” At this moment, Li Hu’s inner feelings were somewhat indescribable. She slowly stopped walking and said: “Sorry, CEO Chu. I’m going to the restroom. Could you wait for me for two minutes?”
Chu He nodded politely.
Li Hu gave him a complex smile, then walked away on her high heels, her red form-fitting dress like a butterfly fluttering among the flowers.
The night was like water, the sound of waves like a lament. From the restaurant downstairs came the clinking of glasses and the drifting melody, setting off this small garden like an earthly paradise. However, the butterfly that flew away from this paradise did not return after two minutes. Not only that, nearly ten minutes passed and she still hadn’t returned, looking very much like she was gone for good.
Chu He looked at his watch—this was the twelfth time he had checked his watch tonight, and his mood was not as relaxed as the previous eleven times.
Midnight had not yet passed. He decided to return to the restaurant first.
However, the moment he took a step, the air behind him suddenly tore apart. A gust of wind accompanied by a massive suction force rose from the flat ground!
“That little beauty of yours…”
A tall figure wrapped in black robes emerged from a rift in the void, like a devil descending upon the mortal world in the dark night. Chu He halted his steps. Sure enough, in the very next second, a low voice sounded right behind his ear:
“—She probably stood you up on purpose.”
“…” Chu He sighed and said: “I should have thought of that.”
The Demon Venerable Fan Luo placed a hand on Chu He’s shoulder from behind. His other arm wrapped around his body, effortlessly lifting his chin. The shadow he cast was so enormous that it completely covered Chu He’s silhouette. Under the moonlight, they looked as tightly pressed together as a single person.
“So, you went on this date with that little beauty to avoid me?”
At the same time, downstairs in the restaurant.
Zhou Yi seemed to sense something. The blade of his steak knife lightly scraped against the plate.
“Brother-in-law,” he immediately set down his knife and fork and said earnestly: “Big brother has some urgent business and has to leave first. You really won’t let big brother treat you?”
Zhang Shun answered him with practical action: “Waiter! Bring the bill, separate checks!”
Zhou Yi pulled out his credit card with extreme helplessness: “We’re almost family and you’re still being so formal. Brother-in-law, you really are…”
This repeated “brother-in-law” made Zhang Shun’s hair stand on end. If it were a hooligan, it would be easy to dismiss as just a rascal taking advantage of Second Young Master Zhang’s older brother. But paired with Zhou Yi’s Hollywood-star-level handsome face and this expensive getup, it could only be described as having a screw loose.
“Where the hell did my brother get a friend like you,” Zhang Shun couldn’t help but ask sincerely: “How much money would it take for you to leave him?”
The waiter happened to come over with the bill. Hearing this sentence, the expression on his entire face was simply indescribable.
“I’m saying, brother-in-law,” Zhou Yi simply sat back down and asked with particular sincerity: “Do you particularly look down on me? You think that although I’m somewhat wealthy, I’m not worthy of CEO Chu at all?”
Zhang Shun said helplessly: “Bro, can we go outside before you have your episode…”
“No no no, I’m very serious. Do you know your brother currently has a boyfriend?”
“Of course I know… what did you say?!” Second Young Master Zhang said in shock: “Who has a boyfriend?!”
At this moment, Zhou Yi’s expression was quite ethereal and transcendent, rather like a worldly expert who had come to offer guidance to a lost mortal. If one had to describe it, it was quite similar to the masters on Xinglong Street who would tell your fortune for ten bucks a reading. Though with the exact same expression, what they usually said was not “Your brother has a boyfriend,” but rather: “This sir, your brow is dark with the aura of bloodshed. Would you like this humble one to damage ten years of cultivation to perform a ritual to break the curse for you? Cheap!”
“Brother-in-law,” Zhou Yi said, “You think I’m not worthy of your brother now, but wait until you meet your brother’s current boyfriend and you’ll know my good points. Not to mention anything else, has your family been haunted recently? Do you often feel your qi and blood are blocked, your spirit low, and frequently have nightmares? You can only sleep well when you’re by your brother’s side?”
Zhang Shun: “…”
“That’s all the work of your brother’s current boyfriend. Otherwise, who else could get into your house and scare you by your bedside?” Zhou Yi supported his forehead and said gravely under Zhang Shun’s shocked gaze: “He has a karmic debt with you from a past life, so in this life he pursues you relentlessly, lurking by CEO Chu’s side while waiting for an opportunity to harm you. If we delay any longer, both CEO Chu and you might fall into his demonic clutches!”
“…” Zhang Shun asked: “So what you’re saying is that my brother’s boyfriend is a ghost?”
“This question, you should go ask your brother directly.” Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes and smiled, then stood up and said leisurely: “Brother-in-law, if you have problems, don’t go to Xinglong Street looking for those half-baked practitioners. You have a ready-made relative right here. Your brother, in all other matters, is still passable, but in catching ghosts, his skill is nationally certified professional level. Looking at the face of our family connection, I can give you a five percent discount…”
Zhou Yi seemingly casually looked up and glanced above, smiling: “Big brother has some business to attend to. You eat slowly.” Saying this, he grabbed his keys and swaggered out. Whether it was Zhang Shun’s imagination or not, the back of this lunatic actually carried a trace of mysterious, transcendent worldly bearing.
…How did this con artist know our family was haunted? Could he really be a high master?
Just as Second Young Master Zhang was grinding his teeth, recalling his brother’s various suspicious recent behaviors and that kiss mark full of a sense of violation on his neck, upstairs in the sky garden, Chu He was looking at the Demon Venerable with a deadpan expression:
“So what if I was?”
He turned and stepped back half a pace, facing Fan Luo directly.
Although this man had always been pale-faced and cold in expression, if one looked closely there was still some indiscernible sickly color between his brows, and his thin, slight build couldn’t compare to the Demon Venerable at all. But when he so clearly assumed a confrontational posture, that dignified, unshakable bearing as deep as a pond and lofty as a peak was actually not the slightest bit weaker than the Demon Venerable’s.
“Nothing much.” The Demon Venerable stared down at him for a moment before saying: “I just feel that on one hand, you rely on my protection to avoid heavenly tribulation, while on the other hand, you constantly stay by Buddha’s Bone’s side, using its influence to avoid completely falling into demonhood… You imagine me to be a bit too easy to talk to.”
“You’re overthinking it. Zhou Hui suddenly appeared in H City. I didn’t want him to discover you, that’s why I did this.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Chu He didn’t answer, instead asking: “Back then, when Zhou Hui besieged the Hell Path, if I hadn’t defected at the critical moment, you would have already been sealed away. We’ve only been lying low in H City for a few years. How much chance of victory do you think you have in a direct confrontation with him?”
The Demon Venerable raised his chin with interest and asked: “What if we add you?”
“…”
“If the two of us join forces, killing Zhou Hui should be no problem, right?”
This time Chu He was silent for a long time, so long that the Demon Venerable thought he had nothing to say, when he suddenly saw him smile strangely: “As the saying goes… one night as husband and wife, a hundred days of grace. Since we’ve slept together, why would I kill Zhou Hui?”
For such mushy words to come out of the mouth of a person with Chu He’s personality was simply too amusing. If he hadn’t heard it with his own ears, the Demon Venerable wouldn’t quite have believed he could say such a thing. After reacting, the Demon Venerable immediately couldn’t hold back his laughter: “One night as husband and wife, a hundred days of grace. What a fine hundred days of grace… Speaking of which, how much grace has accumulated between you and me? When the day comes that Zhou Hui wants to kill me, will you use the same words back on him?”
Chu He coldly hooked the corner of his lips: “If he wants to kill you, he’ll definitely do it himself. It’s more likely he’ll have me watch from the side. But if he really asks me to help, I’ll definitely use those exact same words back on him. Whichever of you two survives is fine by me.”
The Demon Venerable burst into loud laughter.
Although in the battle of the Hell Path back then, the demon path had indeed suffered heavy losses at Zhou Hui’s hands, and if not for Chu He’s defection at the critical moment, even the Demon Venerable himself would have been personally sealed away by Zhou Hui; it was undeniable that for a considerable period of time, Zhou Hui representing the Heavenly Dao and Fan Luo representing the Demon Path had been the two apex existences among the Six Paths of sentient beings.
The opposition between these two people was equivalent to the opposition between the Heavenly Dao and the Demon Path. Since the mythological era when heaven and earth were first separated, they had represented the “good path” and the “evil path” among the Six Paths of sentient beings, waging endless war—yet absurdly, there was now such a person, living incognito hidden among the masses of humanity, simultaneously maintaining such an intimate yet delicate relationship with both sides in a half-forced manner.
The Demon Venerable pulled at Chu He’s cold chin, forcing him to raise his head. In that moment, there was almost something resembling tenderness in Fan Luo’s black eyes, but it quickly vanished, so fast it was almost like an illusion.
“I heard that you once came very close to attaining Buddhahood, but failed because of Zhou Hui.” Fan Luo whispered softly against his ear: “But falling into demonhood is much simpler than cultivating Buddhahood. Sometimes, it only takes a single thought.”
Chu He didn’t move, only closing his eyes.
He felt his collar being pulled down, the warm skin of his neck exposed to the air, unexpectedly carrying a bone-piercing chill. Immediately after, the Demon Venerable bit down on that most fatal point. Sharp fangs instantly sank viciously into the soft flesh. Heart’s blood gushed forth, and icy demonic breath carrying a powerful, irresistible force cut into his body!
Chu He’s entire body trembled, his fingers spasming, wanting to grab something. Fan Luo raised a hand to pull him, but was immediately shaken off.
—He grabbed the rose branch climbing the wall behind him, gripping it so hard that fresh blood quickly overflowed from his cold, blue-tinged knuckles.
“You…”
Fan Luo’s narrow eyes narrowed. He seemed to want to say something, but from not far away suddenly came a casual voice: “CEO Chu?”
—It was Zhou Yi!
Chu He’s pupils instantly contracted and dilated. He pushed the Demon Venerable away with one hand, but was grabbed by Fan Luo in return.
“CEO Chu?” Zhou Yi strolled up from the restaurant downstairs and even knocked symbolically on the hanging glass door of the sky garden: “Excuse me, are you in there?”
