LRPB CH7

Edited

Zhou Yi stood for a moment before the glass door, black as ink rendered in the night, quiet as if waiting for something. Then he suddenly pushed the door and walked in.

“CEO Chu? Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you’d gone.”

Zhou Yi turned around to see Chu He standing in the corner, breathing slightly heavily. Under the moonlight, his face was no better than white paper; looking closely, he even seemed somewhat disheveled.

“What are you doing here?”

Zhou Yi smiled. “Strange. H City has such a famous restaurant—you can come, but I can’t? Speaking of which, the braised lobster here is quite good. It’s a shame I rushed through it just now and didn’t even taste it…”

Chu He said, “Then continue tasting. I’m leaving first.” Saying this, he circled around Zhou Yi and walked outward. Who knew that the moment they brushed past each other, his wrist would be suddenly grabbed.

“CEO Chu,” Zhou Yi said, his face full of smiles, “your tie is crooked.”

He reached out to straighten Chu He’s tie, the movement very slow and careful, even carrying a hint of tenderness. If not for the wrong timing and wrong place, two people standing in such a posture would have been so intimate they seemed almost like a deeply affectionate couple.

“…Are you done?” Chu He asked.

Zhou Yi stepped back half a pace to admire his handiwork. “No rush, no rush.”

He reached out again to carefully smooth Chu He’s collar, even gently pressing out every tiniest wrinkle, the movement as tender and proper as if caressing a young girl’s skin. After tidying up for a while, he finally looked up with a smile:

“Meeting is fate. On such a beautiful night, with flowers in full bloom and the moon perfectly round, why not stay and chat about life?”

“…” Chu He turned and walked away.

Zhou Yi didn’t stop him either, just watched with a smile. Chu He didn’t abruptly halt until he was almost out of the garden—only to see that a transparent wall had silently risen before him! If not for the occasional streak of blue electric current across its surface, it truly would have been invisible in the night!

“What is the meaning of this, Mr. Zhou?”

Zhou Yi still wore that perfectly composed expression. “No particular meaning. I just want to tell you that before me, no one has ever been able to come and go as they please.”

“What a coincidence, Mr. Zhou.” Chu He smiled instead of getting angry: “There’s no one in this world who can make me leave just because they want me to, or make me stay just because they want me to. Would you like to try being the first today?”

—the night wind seemed to suddenly stall. The air froze inch by inch, flickering with tiny ice crystals sharp as blades.

The flowers and trees surrounding the two of them simultaneously emitted brittle cracking sounds from the unbearable pressure.

“…CEO Chu,” at this moment when conflict was about to erupt, Zhou Yi suddenly laughed: “The way you speak really reminds me of my ex-wife…”

The force field around him suddenly relaxed, as if the confrontational scene just now had all been an illusion. He snapped his fingers with a grin, and immediately a tall table with red wine appeared out of thin air beside him. He poured a shallow glass of red wine into a crystal goblet, as if nothing had happened just now: “Chu He, care for a drink?”

Chu He said coldly, “Your brain might not be quite normal. Have you had it checked?”

“Oh, I’m just fine like this. You got a problem with that?”

“No,” Chu He said, “I just think—no wonder your wife became an ex-wife.”

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi didn’t react to this provocation at all. Not only that, his smile grew even brighter: “You’ve misunderstood there. The problems between my ex-wife and me are very complicated, not something that can be explained in a moment… Let me put it simply. What do you think are the main reasons human couples divorce?”

Chu He suddenly felt the situation utterly absurd, but after a moment still answered: “Cheating, infertility, incompatibility.”

Zhou Yi said, “Compatibility is subjective. We once had two sons between us, so infertility can be ruled out. As for cheating, we’ve been together for at least a thousand or eight hundred years at the minimum. Even if I wore a green hat or something, it wouldn’t be a big deal—you really won’t have a drink?”

Chu He shook his head. Zhou Yi snapped his fingers, and everything except the wine glass in his hand disappeared.

“I thought it over later. The main reason he left me was that our eldest son died.”

Zhou Yi downed the red wine in one gulp, casually tossing the glass into the air, and said slowly: “He thinks I caused his death.”

Chu He couldn’t hold back any longer: “You should say this to your ex-wife. What’s the use of telling me?!”

“Oh, perhaps I’ve just been cooped up too long and wanted to find someone to judge the fairness of it. After all, the crime of killing one’s child is too fucking awful. Even I find it rather unpleasant… Moreover, I think he was clearly the one who caused the child’s death. If he hadn’t excessively doted on and indulged the child, allowing him to commit a catastrophic mistake that brought down divine retribution from the gods and Buddhas of the Six Paths…”

Chu He turned and walked away. The transparent wall at the garden entrance instantly flared with blue light, then was shattered by a furious finger strike!

“Did I say you could leave?!” Zhou Yi snapped.

His figure vanished into thin air. The next second he appeared behind Chu He, a palm striking toward his throat!

Chu He blocked him with a backhand, swung a fist that viciously knocked his face aside, then was heavily kneed in the abdomen by Zhou Yi—this blow was simply too heavy. An ordinary person might have had their five viscera and six bowels spray from their mouth!

Even Chu He instantly tasted iron in his throat, but his movements didn’t even pause. He immediately forced back the blood he was about to vomit, and struck Zhou Yi with an upward elbow that sent him staggering: “Get lost!”

Zhou Yi spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his ferocity instantly flaring: “What did you say?”

Chu He retreated half a step—with just this half step, Zhou Yi’s figure vanished in an instant and reappeared behind him!

In a flash of lightning and fire, Chu He saw Zhou Yi’s shadow under the moonlight change drastically, his pupils instantly dilating and contracting. This process was simply too familiar. Even though it hadn’t appeared for many years, one look and he absolutely couldn’t mistake it—

It was the Dharma Body!

Zhou Hui, foremost in the Heavenly Dao among the sentient beings of the Six Paths, has manifested his Heavenly Dharma Body!

“Demon Venerable! Come out!” Zhou Yi grabbed Chu He and pressed him heavily to the ground, looking up with pupils completely blood-red: “—Back then the Hell Path didn’t kill you—come out and face death!”

Several thunderous explosions rang out, and all the surrounding glass shattered!

Chu He panted urgently, rising abruptly amid the glass fragments raining down like a storm, and ran outward. But after running only two steps, Zhou Yi grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back, his expression grim and cold: “You stay and watch from the side…”

Before the words fell, footsteps sounded from behind, followed by Zhang Shun’s frightened shout: “Bro!”

Chu He’s breathing stalled.

He suddenly turned back, but after all he was currently in a human body. A large shard of glass stabbed his forehead, and blood flowed down his face, blinding his vision. From the corner of his eye, he could only see Zhang Shun rushing over, grabbing him and shielding him behind his back.

Even someone as composed as Chu He couldn’t help wanting to curse now: “Zhang Shun! Why are you here again?!”

But it was already too late. Zhou Yi’s face was iron-blue as he grabbed Zhang Shun, wanting to toss him aside like a shopping bag—

If this throw landed, it would probably send him straight off the building. But then an unexpected scene occurred. Zhou Yi’s hand holding Zhang Shun suddenly emitted black smoke, then released him as if burned by fire!

“This is—”

Zhou Yi returned to human form in a flash of lightning, standing on the ground, raising a brow as he looked at his hand.

His palm was a bloody mess. Within the torn flesh, a golden swastika Buddha seal faintly appeared, then vanished in an instant.

“Reincarnation of Buddha’s Bone,” Zhou Yi murmured. “…I really underestimated you.”

“What are you doing? Bro, are you okay?” Zhang Shun, still shaken, supported Chu He. Seeing his blood-covered face, he simply felt awful: “Fuck! You actually got hit?! You charlatan! Are you fucking looking for death? Just wait for this lord! If I don’t have you carried out of H City horizontally, I’ll take your surname!”

Chu He grabbed Zhang Shun’s hand and panted: “Let’s go.”

“But you…”

“But what!” Chu He raged. “Leave now!”

Zhang Shun was unwilling but had no choice, supporting his brother as they retreated step by step. Chu He had no time to explain, only staring fixedly at Zhou Yi, afraid he would suddenly change his mind and lunge at them in another fit.

But Zhou Yi didn’t do that. He stood there as if suddenly calm again, even looking up at Zhang Shun with a smile:

“Sorry, brother-in-law, I lost my composure. But your brother’s complexion—I’m not exaggerating—his heart’s blood is almost exhausted. If you don’t hurry up and think of something, in the next month or two just let him eat whatever he likes, and indulge him while you’re at it.”

Zhang Shun asked in shock: “What are you saying?”

Chu He raged: “He’s a lunatic! What are you still dawdling here for!”

Zhang Shun wanted to ask a couple more questions, but his brother turned and staggered out, so he had to hurry after him. At this time, people from the restaurant downstairs also came running up. Zhang Shun turned back for a final glance full of doubt, only to see Zhou Yi standing amid the glass shards, spreading his bloody palm toward him, coldly hooking up the corner of his lips.

“Your brother already has a boyfriend.”

“The haunting at your house is his doing. If you don’t handle it properly, both of you will die by his hand.”

“Your brother’s heart’s blood is exhausted. If you don’t think of something, he has a month or two at most.”

·

Zhang Shun tossed restlessly on the bed, opening his eyes wide to stare at the white ceiling of the private hospital room. In the corner, several colorful tropical fish swam in a fish tank, casting rippling water light on the wall in the darkness.

—His brother already had a boyfriend? How come he didn’t know?

From as far back as Zhang Shun could remember, he had never seen a woman by his brother’s side—if placed in the Middle Ages, his brother would have been an ascetic monk through and through. Second Young Master Zhang was handsome and rich, young and fond of fun and beauties. Over the years many world-class beauties had appeared by his side, but his brother looked at those people as if watching a play from behind a silver screen.

Zhang Shun had once thought his brother would continue like this forever—either die alone, or one day suddenly meet a virtuous, beautiful, and equally elegant lady from a good family, then respect each other and remain faithful forever, becoming a model couple of high society.

But he was wrong.

Someone had descended like a divine soldier without warning to become his brother’s “boyfriend,” and this man seemed to be a ruthless character.

Zhang Shun couldn’t help sitting up and turning back to stare at his brother, grinding his molars.

His brother lay unconscious, a white bandage faintly visible in his temple hair.

Actually, thinking carefully, although his brother looked quite ordinary, his face pale with an inorganic quality like someone who had lost too much blood, and his words and actions were distant, polite, and not at all charming, he was actually a very striking person. Zhang Shun didn’t know why, but he often went to the company and knew that from freshly hired greenhorn girls to capable female white-collar managers, they would all secretly pay attention to their CEO Chu’s every move and word, even blushing and heart racing because of a cold glance from him. The force of that heart-fluttering was probably more effective than Second Young Master Zhang wearing a diamond watch and driving a luxury car to hit on them.

It was hard to describe that kind of bearing and charm in words. It was a power that captivated the heart and spirit, far from what handsome looks and sweet words could compare to. Zhang Shun even felt that someone like Zhou Yi with his Hollywood-star-level looks and figure was faintly overshadowed when standing next to his brother.

—which man had conquered his brother?

Zhang Shun had once had the impulse to ask directly, but Chu He fell ill the night they returned.

In his memory from childhood to adulthood, Chu He had never been sick, but this time illness came like a landslide. When they returned to the hotel he had a fever of nearly 40 degrees, and the doctors worked on him all night without him waking. The next day he didn’t go to the meeting with Mayor Huang and the Japanese investors. Completely unconscious, unable to take water or rice, relying entirely on glucose drips to sustain his bodily functions.

Zhang Shun was so anxious he was about to burst into the dean’s office and slam the table, but the doctors really had no solution either. Zhou Yi’s kick hadn’t caused any internal organ damage at all, and the palm and forehead wounds were also superficial, but Chu He simply couldn’t wake up. In the end the dean could only order continuous monitoring of Chu He’s heartbeat and breathing, to immediately send him to ICU if anything changed.

Fortunately the private ward had advanced facilities, and Second Young Master Zhang was wholeheartedly concerned about his brother, so round-the-clock care didn’t feel bitter.

“It’s already the fucking third day,” Zhang Shun murmured, looking at the flickering LCD calendar on the bedside table.

Perhaps because time dragged on longer and longer, Zhang Shun grew more and more agitated. H City was already hot, and these past two nights were as hot as a steamer. The air conditioner blew cold air with a whoosh to no avail. Second Young Master Zhang only felt there was a fire burning in his heart.

He made an internal line call, asking the night shift nurse to watch his brother for a while, deciding to go out for a walk himself.

There wasn’t a single person in the hospital corridor. Fluorescent lights shone white and ghastly on the walls, emitting a faint blue-green light. Probably because the corridor was so long, the wind carried a sharp whistling sound. If they were filming a ghost movie, they wouldn’t even need to build a set—just bring a camera and start shooting.

Second Young Master Zhang stood at the window at the end of the corridor for a while, and couldn’t help feeling creeped out, so he wanted to go downstairs to the vending machine to buy a pack of cigarettes.

The private ward was on the tenth floor. When he entered the elevator there was already someone inside, wearing green surgical scrubs, standing motionless in the corner. Zhang Shun entered without paying attention. Only when pressing the button did he realize this elevator was going up, and would stop at the top floor.

“…” Zhang Shun didn’t think much of it, directly pressing the first floor.

Ding!

The elevator doors slowly opened at the top floor, but the person behind him didn’t move.

Zhang Shun looked unintentionally, only to see that directly opposite the elevator was a long corridor. At the end was the operating room. At this moment the red light had just gone out, the doors clanged open, and several doctors and nurses pushed out an emergency gurney with a clatter.

The patient on the gurney was actually already covered with a white sheet.

“Holy shit!” Zhang Shun jumped in fright, reflexively wanting to press the close button. His hand had just risen when he saw the doctor shriek: “Wait!”

“Yeah, young man, what’s the rush!” the nurse also said.

“In such a hurry to hit the road?”

“Even those seeking reincarnation aren’t as urgent as you!”

Zhang Shun was getting creeped out by the doctors and nurses talking back and forth, when suddenly he saw a hand stretch out from under the white sheet, whisk the sheet away with a swish, and then the patient sat straight up: “Wait for me!”

“Fuck his mother!” Second Young Master Zhang instantly exploded. In his panic he didn’t know how many times he hammered the close button. He saw the elevator doors slowly closing, when suddenly a hoarse voice rang out behind him: “Wait for me!”

Zhang Shun turned back in shock, only to see the person in surgical scrubs raise his head, his face deathly pale covered in cadaver spots, both eyes staring fixedly at him: “Why are you in such a hurry? Why won’t you wait for me?”

Zhang Shun felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head—this person was clearly the patient who had just been covered by the white sheet on the gurney!

“Wait for me!” The patient stepped forward, suddenly reaching out and lunging viciously: “Wait for me to hit the road together!”

“F-f-f-f-fuck!!!” Zhang Shun was practically pissing his pants in fear, reflexively raising his hands to desperately block the patient, his elbow heavily hitting the floor buttons without noticing: “H-h-h-help! Help!!! Bro! Bro! Fuck—!”

The patient waved long nails desperately clawing at Zhang Shun’s face. In his desperation Zhang Shun erupted with tremendous strength, actually kicking this thing—whether ghost or zombie—viciously in the chest with a boom, sending it crashing into the back panel of the elevator. Immediately the patient huffed and puffed, staggered up, and lunged forward wrapped in the stench of a corpse. With a “ding!” the elevator returned to the tenth floor and slowly opened.

Zhang Shun rolled and crawled out of the elevator, not expecting the patient to actually follow him out, two already gray and turbid eyes staring straight ahead: “Wait for me, wait for me…”

“I’ll wait for your paralysis!” At extreme fear, humans feel extreme rage. Zhang Shun now felt no fear at all. His rage at Zhou Yi, at his brother’s boyfriend, at Chu He not waking up for so many days instantly rushed to his head. Without thinking he punched the lunging zombie down, then rushed forward stomping madly: “I’ll make you wait! I’ll make you wait! Son of a bitch, if I don’t send you off horizontally, this young master will take your surname!”

The zombie went mad from the stomping, howling as it hugged Zhang Shun, lowering its head to bite his neck. Zhang Shun shouted, holding back the zombie’s gray-white rotting face. In his panic, the zombie’s sharp nails viciously scratched his face, and instantly blood gushed out.

“Fuck… fuck your mother…” Zhang Shun struggled to hold back the zombie, but a living person’s strength truly couldn’t compare to a dead person’s. The zombie’s teeth, reeking of intense rot, still approached his throat inch by inch.

Fuck, why isn’t anyone coming to save me… is this young master going to die…

Zhang Shun gritted his teeth, feeling his strength ebb away bit by bit. Just as he could no longer support himself, his entire body suddenly relaxed. He saw the zombie lifted up in a strange posture, then with a crisp “crack!” its head suddenly tilted.

Zhang Shun exclaimed in shock: “Bro!”

Chu He panted from behind, grabbing the zombie’s neck and suddenly exerting force, with a crack forcibly snapping the zombie’s rotting neck.

With a thud the zombie’s body fell to the ground, quickly burning up, almost in the blink of an eye turning into a pile of black ash. Zhang Shun scrambled to get up, but the moment he exerted strength he felt his vision go black. The scratched place on his face burned like fire. He had just raised his hand to touch it when he felt half his body had already lost sensation.

“Bro, bro, what’s going on?” Zhang Shun lay on the ground unable to get up, his voice trembling: “What’s wrong with me, I—”

Chu He panted urgently, half-kneeling to help Zhang Shun up, staggering toward the ward. It was impressive that he could still walk while carrying Second Young Master Zhang, who was half a head taller than him, but after only a few steps he completely lost strength, falling to his knees with a thud.

Zhang Shun’s voice changed pitch: “Fuck! Help! Someone come—!”

However, the entire floor seemed to suddenly empty. Forget people, there wasn’t even a sound, only his sharp trailing echo reverberating in the corridor.

“Bro! Bro, what’s wrong with you?!” Zhang Shun finally realized something was terribly wrong, hurriedly supporting himself with the half of his body that still had sensation to grab Chu He. He saw his brother’s face white with a weak blue-gray undertone, his lips completely devoid of blood color, his scattered unfocused gaze pausing on Zhang Shun’s face for a moment, his mouth opening as if wanting to say something.

“What are you saying? Bro?” Zhang Shun leaned in close, but Chu He suddenly turned his head, and his cold lips pressed against his mouth, passing over a breath.

“…” Zhang Shun was instantly stunned.

The collapse of heaven and earth, flying rocks piercing the sky—none of it could describe Zhang Shun’s shock in this instant. He seemed to forget everything. Unknown dangers, chaotic situations all vanished. Everything became blank, only this kiss.

Only his brother’s cold, soft lips, carrying a slight tremble.

Zhang Shun couldn’t help sitting up half-kneeling on the ground, reaching back to grab Chu He’s shoulders. An intoxicating aura flowed from where their lips and tongues met throughout his entire body, like warm currents in winter. Wherever it passed made one so comfortable they wanted to tremble.

Accompanied by this warm current, he felt the half of his body that had lost sensation rapidly return to normal, his pulse steady and limbs strong, even the blood on his face stopping.

“Bro…”

Zhang Shun’s voice full of attachment came to an abrupt halt, only to see his brother push him away trembling, and that breath passed over was suddenly interrupted—at this moment Chu He’s complexion didn’t look like a living person at all. To describe it, he was practically like the zombie from just now.

One look and Zhang Shun’s soul flew away in terror. He swept Chu He up horizontally and rushed into the ward: “Bro! Wake up! Don’t fall asleep! Doctor, doctor! Where the fuck is everyone?!”

Chu He shook his head trembling, grabbed Zhang Shun’s hand, and gently opened his palm.

Zhang Shun’s pupils instantly dilated—

On his own palm was actually imprinted a golden “卍”.

“B-Buddha seal?!”

“I… I returned Buddha’s Bone to you…” Chu He grabbed Zhang Shun, his gaze scattered and consciousness blurred, but his cold fingers were like a drowning person grasping driftwood: “You… can you…”

Zhang Shun’s mind was blank, but his brother’s trembling voice still transmitted word by word into his ears:

“Can you… return Maha’s life… to me?”

Maha?

Who is Maha?

Zhang Shun held the unconscious Chu He in a daze, when suddenly he heard an urgent ringtone from the bedside table, instantly jumping in fright. On his brother’s phone screen, the caller information displayed—Li Hu.

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Shun wouldn’t have answered, but in this hospital where everyone had suddenly disappeared and heaven wouldn’t respond and earth was powerless, even if the caller were Zhou Yi, Second Young Master Zhang would have grabbed at driftwood, quickly grabbing the phone and answering: “Hello?!”

“Second Young Master Zhang,” Li Hu’s calm voice rang out. “Don’t hang up, listen to me. Someone has cast a technique to harm CEO Chu. The danger hasn’t passed yet. Stay by your brother’s side and don’t move, don’t leave!”

Zhang Shun raged: “I know! I just fucking wanted to go out to buy a pack of cigarettes and ran into a ghost! What do we do now?!”

“Close the ward door. Don’t open it no matter who knocks.” Li Hu said: “Wait for me to come over.”

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