Chapter 730: Epilogue (1)
Habitat
[Part 1]
With one hand stuffed in his pocket and a careless smile hanging on his lips, Wen Jianyan brought Wu Zhu along into the magnificent hotel lobby. He gave his name, and the tone he used when he turned his head to tell the waiter “top floor suite” made him look like a smug, triumphant peacock returning to its habitat.
He threw himself onto the spacious leather sofa and reservedly lifted his chin toward the spotless floor-to-ceiling windows:
“What do you think?”
The hem of his shirt lifted slightly, revealing a narrow strip of dazzlingly white skin.
“…Very pretty,” Wu Zhu said, his gaze landing exactly there.
Wen Jianyan took off his sunglasses from the bridge of his nose, tossed them aside, and comfortably stretched his long limbs. “I had just booked this place right before entering the Nightmare. Paid a year’s deposit upfront, but ended up not even staying for two days before, well, you know what happened…”
He leaned his head back against the sofa, closing his eyes contentedly. As he was speaking, a tall, heavy shadow slowly crept up from his feet, silently covering half of his body until it blocked out the direct light shining from above.
Wen Jianyan lifted his eyelids a fraction, meeting the eyes above him that seemed to be burning with hidden fire with a half-smile.
He raised his hand, his fingertips lightly hooking onto the other’s collar, putting on the airs of a playboy teasing his lover:
“…Baby, follow me, and you’ll have a very good life.”
“What’s the point of being a god? Being human is the happiest.”
He raised his head, leaning close to the other’s tense, rolling Adam’s apple, his warm breath gently spraying over that patch of skin.
“Holy shit!!”
Wen Jianyan stumbled and rolled over, escaping from underneath Wu Zhu. His face was pale, his clothes were a mess, and his previous suave composure was completely gone.
“Wait, wait, wait, my money… where’s my money!”
“What?” Wu Zhu looked at Wen Jianyan, taking two whole seconds to remember what “money” was, and what this sort of thing meant to humans.
“Oh, that.”
Thus, he began plotting to find some time to empty out a bank vault.
“I have principles, you know…”
Pausing there, Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Wait… perhaps…
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat. While maintaining his principles, he still retained a flexible baseline: “At least not right now.”
“Follow me.”
__
[Part 2]
This was a very small, very rundown residential area.
It looked incredibly old. The paint on the walls had peeled and mottled under the erosion of time, turning into a dirty dark gray. Only in a few places could its original color still be faintly made out.
Everything looked gray and cloudy.
“…Where is this?” Wu Zhu looked around.
“A place to live,” Wen Jianyan answered.
He glanced at Wu Zhu and added, “A crafty rabbit has three burrows.”
He had at least three or four similar residences in this city—some high-end, some plain, and some impoverished. For each place, he swapped to a different name and identity. He was naturally adept at wearing different masks, putting on different clothes, and showing different smiling faces.
To him, this was as normal as eating and drinking.
Although this place was small, the layout was complicated, with all sorts of miscellaneous items piled around. Walking behind him, Wu Zhu watched Wen Jianyan nimbly navigate through the narrow gaps. Even though he had a tall and slender figure, he moved with the agile flexibility of a large cat as he threaded through the winding, sheep-intestine-like paths. He even occasionally steadied a crumpled cardboard box above his head and turned to warn:
“Careful.”
Just like that, he led Wu Zhu through the pitch-black, narrow corridors and soon arrived in front of a rust-mottled iron door.
Wen Jianyan didn’t have the key; his keys had entered the Nightmare with him and vanished along with it. He bent down, preparing to revert to his old profession, but before he could act, he heard the creak of a door opening behind him.
He straightened up and naturally looked back.
“Oh my…” an elderly voice called out. “Is Little Xu back?”
Wen Jianyan looked up and smiled. “Yes, Granny.”
“You’re up so late?”
“I’m old, can’t sleep well.”
A white-haired old woman stood at the doorway leaning on a cane. She squinted her dim, clouded eyes at him, a smile she couldn’t hide on her face. “You haven’t been back in a long time this time. Did you graduate? Work must be very busy, huh?”
“Sigh,” Wen Jianyan played along. “Yeah, overtime every day, haven’t had the time to come over here.”
Granny: “That’s good, that’s good. You young people need to go out and make a living…”
“Your hair…” Her gaze fell on Wen Jianyan’s hair, clearly startled.
“Dyed it,” Wen Jianyan raised an eyebrow, running a hand through the strands falling in front of his eyes. “What do you think, handsome?”
Granny frowned disapprovingly. “Oh dear, it looks almost whiter than mine. Does your boss allow that?”
“Of course.” Wen Jianyan didn’t even blink. “There are people in our company way worse than me. Red, yellow, blue, and some who spike their hair up all the way like this…”
He gestured with his hands.
“I’m old, I don’t understand you young folks,” Granny shook her head.
It was only then that her dim vision landed on Wu Zhu standing in the darkness, and she was clearly given a fright by this suddenly appearing person. “Oh my!”
“You brought a friend too? Why didn’t you make a sound, scared me to death.”
“He’s just like that, quiet,” Wen Jianyan said with a beaming smile.
Where she couldn’t see, he pinched Wu Zhu’s waist flirtatiously. “Hurry up and apologize to Granny.”
Wu Zhu’s Adam’s apple rolled. He lowered his eyes, gave Wen Jianyan a deep look, and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh my,” the old lady shook her head. “No need to apologize.”
“But this child is awfully handsome.” She squinted, sizing Wu Zhu up.
Wen Jianyan drooped his eyes, looking pitiful. “I’m not handsome?”
“Oh, you’re handsome too,” the old lady laughed until her eyes crinkled shut. “Both handsome, both handsome.”
“While I was away this time, did anyone come looking for me?” Wen Jianyan inquired.
“Anyone?” The old lady thought for a moment and shook her head. “No.”
In the very end, the Granny insisted on having him over for dinner tomorrow. Unable to decline, Wen Jianyan agreed.
The old lady returned to her room with her cane. With a creak, the iron door shut, and the corridor returned to silence.
Wen Jianyan bent down at his door again. With a few deft movements, the door clicked open inwards.
A rotting stench hit their faces.
Wu Zhu lowered his eyes to look at the source of the smell.
It was a bag of rotted vegetables and meat from a local supermarket. Because he hadn’t had the time to bring it into the kitchen, it lay tipped over by the door. Having been left for too long, it had decomposed into liquid, with flies and mosquitoes buzzing around it.
Wen Jianyan took a massive stride over it, rushing straight into the inner room like a gust of wind.
His mind was entirely preoccupied with his money; everything else had to take a back seat.
Wu Zhu stayed in the living room, looking around.
This place was incredibly small. Compared to the place they had just been to, it was practically a pigeon cage.
But it was clean and bright.
The style of the curtains and furniture was very old, looking like they had been used for a long time. The cloths covering them had been washed until faded, but it was clear no one had lived here for a long while; everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Soon, Wu Zhu seemed to notice something and walked over.
A few minutes later, Wen Jianyan walked out of the room with floating steps. He collapsed onto the sofa as if drained of all his strength, letting out a long breath:
“Still here, it’s still here.”
“You have no idea how much effort I spent for this massive sum of money… if it was gone, it would have all been for nothing.”
He raised his head, noticed the object in Wu Zhu’s hands, and froze:
“How did you…”
Wu Zhu set down the photo frame. Inside the frame was a wrinkled old lady, similar to the Granny from earlier, looking sternly at the camera with a strict expression.
“Who is this?”
“The previous owner,” Wen Jianyan’s gaze lingered on the photo for a few seconds. “Back then, I had just escaped from the orphanage and wandered the streets for a while… about seven or eight months. I was so hungry I fought stray dogs for food every day, skinny as a ghost, covered in fleas.”
He spoke of it lightly, skipping over the darkest years in just a few short sentences.
“Then she picked me up, gave me a bath, fed me a full meal, and raised me for half a year.”
“And then?” Wu Zhu stared at him intently.
“And then? I ran away.” Wen Jianyan leaned back with a smile, glancing at Wu Zhu. “I’m the type of person who can’t stand staying in such comfortable environments.”
He was a hollow man carrying a bleeding hole in his chest. Even if the memories relating to the existence of the Nightmare had been erased, those memories of blood, fires, and death remained.
He was a bird that couldn’t stop flying, a liar who couldn’t stop talking, a wandering ghost who couldn’t find peace.
“And later, well, when I had money, the owner had already passed away. So I bought this place using a fake name and ID, as a foothold.”
Wen Jianyan’s gaze landed on the door, and he raised an eyebrow:
“Oh, you cleaned up the trash?”
The bag containing the rotten cabbage leaves and meat had disappeared, and even the stench in the air had been swept clean, leaving only the cold, crisp, empty scent of a long-unoccupied room that should have been there. Even without thinking, he knew it was Wu Zhu’s doing.
As if thinking of something, he couldn’t help but laugh.
Wu Zhu leaned down by the sofa. His long black hair cascaded over his broad shoulders, casting shadows over his deep, sharply contoured features.
A very light kiss landed on his lips, swallowing all his sounds.
“…”
Wen Jianyan froze.
In this instant, time seemed to stand still.
Everything in the world seemed to retreat, leaving only this tiny room, this narrow sofa.
And this light, feather-like kiss on his lips.
It wasn’t that kind of hot, fierce kiss that felt like it would devour him whole.
It was soft…
Gentle.
Moist and intimate.
He heard his own heart thump a couple of times wildly, as if a numbing, itching sensation was spreading bit by bit.
Wen Jianyan suddenly raised his arms, hooked them around Wu Zhu’s neck, and fiercely kissed him back.
Caught off guard and yanked downward, Wu Zhu braced his arms against the sofa, veins popping on the backs of his hands.
Wen Jianyan grabbed his collar with one hand.
Their breaths intertwined, hoarse sounds spilling from their tightly pressed lips. Beneath his thick eyelashes were light-colored, watery pupils. Even his voice seemed to carry a tiny hook:
“Wanna do it, baby?”
Although the location was a bit different from what he initially planned…
But to hell with it.
It still counted as going according to plan.
As soon as he spoke, the fingers that had just been gently cradling the back of his head suddenly tightened. The breath spraying on his face abruptly grew chaotic. He saw a familiar, pushed-to-the-limit light flash deep within the eyes inches from his own.
The kiss on his lips deepened. Even though he was doing his utmost to suppress his bestial nature, a hint of madness still seeped through.
Pressed against his lips, Wen Jianyan laughed hoarsely.
The laughter carried the delight of being able to control the other’s mood so easily.
Light was swallowed by shadow, and raging fire burst forth deep within the darkness.
Without realizing it, the two had stumbled and tangled their way into the bedroom.
The searing kisses trailed all the way down his neck, but faint sounds of the next-door neighbor moving about suddenly reached his ears.
Wen Jianyan’s body abruptly stiffened, seeming to realize something. But immediately after, he saw Wu Zhu lift his eyes from below. Those golden eyes flickered in the darkness, and his thin lips were incredibly red, as if he had drunk blood.
He smiled, revealing snow-white fangs.
“Shh.”
The word “Oops” flashed through his mind. The next second, Wen Jianyan’s body arched violently.
Pure moonlight spilled through the window, landing on the young man’s snow-white, sweat-drenched chest. His brows were tightly furrowed, the corners of his eyes flushed red. He bit his teeth together, looking as if he was on the verge of tears.
Driven by his last shred of sanity, he struggled to turn his head and bit down hard on the pillowcase next to him to keep from making a sound.
Miscalculation.
He forgot… he forgot the walls here were thin.
Everything before his eyes was collapsing into chaotic spots of light. The sounds deep in his throat were brutally bitten back down, turning into soft, trembling nasal pants.
“Being human has the perks of being human,” amidst the hazy dizziness, he saw Wu Zhu lean down, lick away his tears, kiss his lips, and speak by his ear in a deep voice that made him instinctively sense danger, “But being a god also has the perks of being a god.”
“No matter how long, or how unbridled.”
The young man’s finger joints spasmed, trembling as they clutched the bedsheets below. A large, slender hand pushed up from his wrist, pried open his pale fingers, and pressed down hard and deep, interlocking their fingers.
“It doesn’t matter.”
__
[Part 3]
When he woke up, Wen Jianyan’s entire body was soft.
It wasn’t exactly pain, just soft.
It felt as if his body’s muscles and bones had been repeatedly deep-fried to a crisp, ready to melt with a single gentle press.
He finally understood what Wu Zhu meant by “perks”.
Even though he was practically done to death last night—so much so that his fingers were still trembling weakly right now—when he woke up, all the mottled marks on his body had somehow faded. It probably wouldn’t take much longer for them to disappear completely.
…How the hell was this considered a perk for him?!
Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but want to curse.
It had absolutely no use other than allowing this bastard to have even less restraint!
Oh, right, and also…
He closed his eyes and buried his head into the pillow.
In the beginning, he still remembered to bite back his voice, but later on, he couldn’t care about that at all.
Forget the next-door neighbor, the next planet over probably heard them.
An arm reached over from the side, pulling him into an embrace.
Wen Jianyan’s voice was hoarse: “Piss off!”
But not only did the other party not piss off, he pushed his luck and snuggled even closer.
“Don’t worry.” He seemed to see through what Wen Jianyan was thinking right now. “Nothing was heard outside.”
Wu Zhu stretched out his long arm, pulling the curled-up young man back into his arms, kissing his ears. Where the other couldn’t see, his eyes were dark and full of possessiveness.
How could he possibly let others hear his voice?
Long before they even started, shadows had already enveloped the surroundings into a cocoon. Not a single sound would travel outside.
But even with the worry of losing face gone, Wen Jianyan was still frustrated:
“Sigh, we shouldn’t have done it here.”
“Did you know? That hotel I took you to last night had a jacuzzi, and I even ordered room service to prepare roses and chocolates. We didn’t get to use any of it. Do you know what a waste that is?”
Wu Zhu lowered his eyes.
“Is that so?”
He pulled Wen Jianyan’s hand over to kiss, kissing every single fingertip.
He touched a pale pink, hideous scar in his palm.
He rubbed it with the pad of his thumb.
“I don’t think it’s a waste.”
“What, you didn’t like the hotel?”
Wen Jianyan raised his head, glanced at him, and fell backward, pressing his back against the other’s chest. He leaned his body weight back and said lazily.
A searing kiss was branded onto the scar.
Wen Jianyan’s fingertips involuntarily trembled. He froze, his voice pausing, and didn’t continue speaking.
Wu Zhu raised his eyes. They held golden flames burning brighter than the sea to the east of the city.
He said very earnestly:
“I like it here the best.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan stared at him fixedly.
After a long silence, he retracted his gaze, his tone sounding very much like he was bemoaning iron for not becoming steel.
“I gave you so many choices, such a gorgeous suite, and your favorite is actually this shabby little place?”
“No taste, truly no taste at all.”
Wen Jianyan sighed dramatically.
He raised his head and kissed Wu Zhu’s lips.
“Sigh, it seems I still have a lot to teach you.”
But even as he said this, there was an unsuppressable smile lingering on his lips.
Wu Zhu lowered his head, returning the kiss with an identical smile.
No matter how spacious or magnificent the house, no matter how luxurious the service or the pleasures, to him, it was all just dust.
But here…
This tiny pigeon cage.
Those washed sheets, the unremoved photo, the tidy windows, the shopping bag left spilled on the floor.
This was a crude yet clean nest.
A bird that once quietly rested here would bring back a hard-earned gold ring and carefully hide it deep in the branches it once considered a sanctuary.
Darling…
This is your true habitat.
