WTNL Chapter 70

Antai Community
Chapter 70: Ancient Totem

His ears were filled with dead silence, as if all sound had been isolated outside the heavy darkness.

Wen Jianyan’s heart pounded wildly, his stomach feeling as though it harbored a bird flapping its wings to fly. The fierce sound of blood rushing against his eardrums echoed in his ears, drawing out a sizzling white noise.

His face was pale, but his expression was calm. Using all his strength, he arduously controlled every nerve and muscle, forcing himself not to show his true panic.

Must be calm, must be arrogant, must be haughty!

He absolutely must not let the other party see through his bluff!

Wen Jianyan’s eyelashes trembled. He carefully raised them slightly, secretly looking at the other party through the gaps of his lashes.

He unexpectedly met a pair of golden eyes devoid of sorrow or joy.

The man lowered his eyes, gazing at him silently. His metallic pupils flickered with an icy light in the darkness, carrying a cruel feeling that made one’s blood run cold.

Wen Jianyan involuntarily held his breath, and his heart started drumming again.

Hold on, hold on!

There are less than ten minutes left!!

As long as he could survive until the instance ended, it would be considered his win.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh so nervous I don’t dare to look!]

[Actually, after watching the VODs of the first two instances, I felt this dog scammer was definitely doomed, but now I’m not so sure…]

[Can the streamer keep his life this time? Place your bets, friends, no taking them back!]

[Speaking of which, the streamer looks so sexy right now, I hate that the boss has no heart! What can’t be solved with a good stir-fry (f*ck)!]

[??? The person above, stop right there; this kind of thing can’t be broadcasted in the live broadcast room!]

Seeming to know what Wen Jianyan was thinking, the icy darkness coiled around him again, tightly binding the young man’s heavily scarred wrists and dragging him up from the floor once more.

“!”

Wen Jianyan’s heart skipped a beat. He still forced a calm facade and didn’t struggle, allowing himself to be dragged closer.

That pale, handsome face of the man drew closer and closer.

Wen Jianyan couldn’t stop the hairs all over his body from standing on end. Like a cat experiencing a stress response, he involuntarily tensed his back.

The darkness was like silk, wrapping circle by circle around the young man’s slender, fragile neck, forcing him to lift his head.

Wen Jianyan watched helplessly as the other party leaned down.

Long hair, icy as flowing water, cascaded down, falling softly onto Wen Jianyan’s skin, bringing a shudder-inducing itch.

“Did you really think I would forget?” the man said methodically.

Wen Jianyan’s pupils involuntarily shrank.

The other party reached out and pressed against Wen Jianyan’s left chest. His movements were not heavy. His icy palm rested against the young man’s warm skin, stirring up layer upon layer of goosebumps:

“—What do your love and devotion mean?”

The man curled his lips with an unclear meaning and spoke in a low voice.

Wen Jianyan’s breathing abruptly quickened. His mind went completely blank in that instant, leaving only two words echoing:

I’m done.

This ghost is preparing to settle old scores!!!

The next second, Wen Jianyan felt the darkness binding his neck instantly tighten. He could hear his own throat bones emitting creaking sounds under the heavy pressure. The air was squeezed out of his lungs, and the feeling of oxygen deprivation made his head spin.

Wen Jianyan’s vision darkened in waves, feeling his consciousness being drawn away little by little.

Damn it!

As long as the other party remembered to settle old scores, given his actions in the previous two instances, he was definitely not going to survive!

Anyway, his chances of survival were probably reduced to zero, so Wen Jianyan simply decided to throw caution to the wind.

The anger that had been accumulating ever since he was inexplicably dragged into this trash live broadcast room suddenly erupted.

Wen Jianyan raised a pair of tear-glistening amber eyes, glaring viciously at the other party. He hooked the corners of his lips and painstakingly squeezed a few words out of his throat:

“It means… as long as I catch the opportunity, next time I will still stab you to death.”

Tears welled up in the young man’s eyes, the corners of his eyes dyed red from suffocation.

His fragile human body was like a pure white lamb, spread defenselessly before his eyes, completely incapable of resisting under the inhuman, formidable power.

However, he smiled, baring his eerily white teeth like a wolf that refuses to let go after biting its prey. A fierce light flickered in the depths of his eyes:

“So if you have the guts, kill me right now.”

“Coward.”

The next second, the pressure on his throat was abruptly released.

“Cough cough cough cough!”

Dry, icy air instantly rushed into his lungs, scraping his throat painfully.

Wen Jianyan coughed heart-wrenchingly, as if he was going to cough out his lungs. Physiological tears overflowed from his eyes, a flush spreading from the corners of his eyes to his cheekbones.

?

What’s going on?

Released just like that?

………Not killing him?

Wen Jianyan’s brain was a bit muddled from oxygen deprivation.

Is this ghost out of his fucking mind?!

Asking to be scolded?

The next second, the other party’s hand once again grasped the young man’s neck. Icy fingertips carelessly stroked the red marks left on his neck from being strangled twice in a row.

The deep red, pinched marks looked exceptionally glaring on the pale skin. They felt burning hot to the touch, forming an intense temperature contrast with the non-human’s temperatureless fingertips.

Wen Jianyan’s back instantly stiffened. Filled with doubt and apprehension, he raised his eyes to look at the ghost in front of him.

He recalled the harsh words he had just spoken under the surge of adrenaline, and immediately chickened out again, unable to stop his heart from drumming.

Could it be…

The other party felt that just strangling him to death wouldn’t vent his anger?

And was preparing to add a few more entertainment programs before killing him?

The man leaned down, gazing at the young man before him with those emotionless golden eyes. His thumb pad rested gently on his jawline, stroking upward bit by bit.

Icy fingertips pressed against Wen Jianyan’s lips.

After experiencing the life-and-death struggle and desperate running just now, the human’s lips were hot and damp, trembling slightly. Warm breath spilled from the slightly parted lips, spraying onto the finger pad.

“You have a detestable mouth.” The man methodically massaged the other’s lower lip, watching the bloodless pallor gradually be replaced by a vivid red, like crushed petals spilling out alluringly sweet nectar.

Icy fingertips pried open the snow-white teeth and pressed against the wet, soft surface of his tongue.

He leaned down slightly. There was a terrifying elegance in his icy golden eyes, carrying a touch of fear-inducing smile:

“And a trouble-making tongue.”

Wen Jianyan: “…”

Fuck your granddad!

Although he was gnashing his teeth in his heart, Wen Jianyan very much understood what it meant to act according to circumstances and ride the tide.

His eyes curved, the outer corners carrying a touch of warm red. His amber eyes still held a pool of tears, yet his warm tongue tip docilely and softly wrapped around the finger, even sucking on it lightly.

The man’s pupils subconsciously shrank, and he abruptly withdrew his finger.

His brows furrowed as he stared fixedly at the young man in front of him, his expression somewhat unpredictable.

Wen Jianyan’s blocked mouth was finally free.

He breathed a sigh of relief, using his tongue tip to lick his slightly sore inner cheek, before raising his eyes to look at the man in front of him. His voice was still hoarse, but it already carried a smile:

“Is that so? I thought you liked my tongue.”

He slightly narrowed his light-colored eyes, speaking as if in provocation:

“It can do many things besides talking.”

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Fuck… I… I’m dumbfounded…]

[Ahhhhhh what kind of tiger-and-wolf words are these, I can’t take it ahhhhhh I need to run a lap to calm down, fuck fuck fuck!]

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh dog scammer what are you saying ahhhhhh, my god I feel like my brain exploded, help help it’s really so flirtatious, I can’t help but stand up and salute!]

[Who can withstand this! Who can withstand this! I can’t withstand it!]

[…]

The air momentarily fell into silence. The gloomy, oppressive atmosphere expanded, possessing a terrifying sense of imminent eruption, like a powder keg about to be ignited, making one shrink back in fear.

“Alright.”

Finally, a low chuckle rang out. The man narrowed his golden eyes and said airily: “I agree.”

This time it was Wen Jianyan’s turn to be stunned.

Agree to what?

The next second, his body was dragged up again by that terrifying power, and his entire person was yanked in front of the man.

“Wagering the ownership of your soul, isn’t that right?”

The man raised a hand to pinch the young man’s jaw. Deep within his golden pupils burned a famished and fervent flame: “Since that’s the case, from today onwards, you are my Bishop.”

He began to smile. His other hand pressed against the lower edge of the young man’s hip bone. The icy fingertips exerted a slight force, and a sharp nail easily sliced open the fragile skin.

“Ngh!”

Wen Jianyan’s pupils shrank, almost crying out in pain. He swallowed the trembling gasps and muffled groans back into his throat.

An icy and ruthless pain churned on his lower abdomen. The flesh was cut open, and boiling hot, scarlet blood surged from the wound, dripping patter-patter onto the ground by his feet.

The pitch-black, eerie talisman patterns were dyed over once again by the scarlet blood.

It hurt too much.

Wen Jianyan had never been in this much pain. Every part of his body covered by the tattoos began to burn abnormally, as if some living creature was struggling, trying to drill out from beneath his skin. An uncontrollable ache radiated from his soul to his bone marrow.

His vision darkened in waves, and he uncontrollably raised his hands to grip the shoulders of the man in front of him.

The other party’s cruel movements didn’t slow down in the slightest.

The young man’s body tensed and trembled under the intense pain. His skin was soaked with sweat, and his entire body was almost drained of strength; he only managed to avoid curling up and collapsing thanks to the invisible force wrapped around him.

The talisman patterns on his body faded bit by bit. However, the tattoo on his abdomen seemed to be dyed with ink; beneath the scarlet blood, it appeared increasingly pitch-black and glaring, like some kind of complex, ancient spell being deeply branded into the depths of his muscle texture.

Impossible to be washed away, impossible to be gouged out.

An unknown amount of time passed before this seemingly endless torture finally ceased.

The man airily withdrew his hand and licked the remaining blood off his fingertips. He lowered his head, admiring and scrutinizing the new masterpiece he had left on the other’s body.

The fresh blood was wiped away. On the pale skin, deep within the pitch-black patterns, a faint gold flickered, like some ancient totem deeply imprinted on the lower abdomen near the hip bone.

The young man’s body shuddered in waves. His black hair, soaked with sweat, stuck to his face. His amber eyes were half-closed, pupils slightly dilated. Tears flowed uncontrollably, falling drop by drop onto the ground, mixing with the blood.

“This is my name.”

The ancient and cruel god revealed a smile. He leaned down, drawing close to Wen Jianyan’s ear, his voice soft and husky:

“Wu Zhu.”

“This way, you won’t be able to run away anymore, my Bishop.”

__

Author’s Note:

Leaving a stamp, this way I can find my wife no matter where he runs to, yay!