Evil As Humans - CH 65

Ping’an Manor itself was deserted, but the surrounding night market was always lively.

Especially in the summer, many people wouldn’t bother to go home and instead stop by and buy a snack with a cold beer, which could relieve the heat and fatigue of the day. On this day, it included two employees from Shian.

“Didn’t you want to eat coconut chicken tonight?” Yin Ren held his breath.

Zhong Chengshuo walked away from the vegetable market to the food stalls with eyes sweeping around, as if he were looking for something.

“Hm, but I suddenly want a serving of shredded chicken with cold noodles,” he replied.

‘Suddenly wanting to eat cold noodles, my ass.’ Yin Ren was expressionless.

If it were the same before, he would drag Zhong Chengshuo to the cold noodle stall and watch with a smile to see how this person would react, but after being confessed to and rejected by this kid, Yin Ren was sure if his mentality had undergone a subtle change.

Half of it was the guilt in his answer—he didn’t really think much when he said, “Give it a try”.

The life of an evil being was quite long. Even if Yin Ren had never entered society, with more than 300 years of experience, he knew enough to be considerate to a mortal until their 100th year. It was like teasing a puppy or kitten—he could also get some novel pleasure along the way.

The “King Yama” in this world was just more cautious but quite cute.

…At least he originally thought so.

When using this face, it wasn’t like Yin Ren didn’t consider the possibility of being liked by humans. He had memorized <***> and even considered the development of “falling in love with people”.

However, Zhong Chengshuo’s incredible action of confessing first and then rejecting came as a complete surprise to him.

What’s up with this? Isn’t Zhong Chengshuo quite slow? How could he be so blindly sharp in areas he shouldn’t be in?

Yin Ren glanced faintly at the food stall, and for the first time, he had no appetite.

As for the remaining half of his mentality, Yin Ren himself couldn’t say, but he was pretty sure it was mixed with a lot of inexplicable desire for attention and a wonderful desire for winning and losing.

For example, at this moment, out of some kind of unclear psychology, he didn’t want it to be discovered that his partner was jokingly called “wife”.

However, if he obstructed Zhong Chengshuo from buying cold noodles again, it would be too obvious that he was trying to cover something up. As they approached the end of the food stall street, Yin Ren’s steps became heavier.

Just as Zhong Chengshuo turned his gaze towards the cold noodles uncle and the sound of funeral music rang out in Yin Ren’s heart, his phone rang.

“Hello?” Zhong Chengshuo stopped. “…Huh? I haven’t eaten yet.”

He took the phone away from his ear and turned to Yin Ren. “Sun Qi’an said she wants to treat us to dinner. Want to go?”

Thanking Ms. Sun, Yin Ren’s spirit was instantly refreshed. “Go, of course.”

Sun Qi’an picked a delicious local chicken restaurant. She wasn’t dressed as formally as she had a while ago and simply wore a t-shirt. Her long, wavy hair was tied into a loose bun.

“I heard you two have done a lot.” Sun Qi’an drank a sip of cold beer happily. “This is a thank you for ridding society of harm and a little selfishness of mine.”

She gently tapped her chopsticks on the table.

“Let’s not talk about keeping me away from perverts. After Bai Yongji’s incident, my family will never urge me to go on a blind date again. Now, whenever dad goes home, he won’t even mention a single word about it—I know you guys were mainly behind this. I heard it from someone when I was making my statements.”

“We just handed in the reports. The main contributor is the police.”

Yin Ren curved his eyes and pushed the topic aside.

“Ms. Sun, are you okay? After all, you had a lot of communication with Bai Yongji.”

“I’m fine. To be honest, I thought he was a good friend before. I’m good now. In a few days, there will be a lot of reports on the case of this ‘friend’.” Sun Qi’an sighed. “It seems that my psychological counseling is so half-assed that I didn’t see anything wrong with him.”

“Thinking about it now, when he looked at Xiao Zhong’s with shining eyes, it was quite scary.”

Yin Ren paused his chopsticks. “Looking at Zhong Ge’s with shining eyes?”

Bai Yongji preferred people who had “suffered a major blow” but were “positive”. In a sense, Zhong Chengshuo could be said to be positive in a weird way… but did he suffer a major blow?

“…Well, he heard that Xiao Zhong wanted to talk to me about some psychological problems, but he didn’t ask any more questions.” Sun Qi’an didn’t notice Yin Ren’s wandering thoughts. “Haa, I could have been wrong.”

In the steaming heat of the chicken soup, she looked a little melancholy.

“Bai Yongji probably investigated us and found out that I was adopted.” Zhong Chengshuo chucked a piece of potato into his mouth and spoke in a flat tone. “For him, it could be a major blow to be ‘abandoned by your biological parents’.”

“That makes sense.” Regarding the matter of “Zhong Chengshuo being adopted”, as the daughter of Officer Sun, Sun Qi’an was aware of it.

The uninformed Yin Ren: “?”

Lord Ghost King was shocked—looking at the attitude of the two elders of the Zhong family, there was no doubt that Zhong Chengshuo was their son. Although they had been partners for over a month, Shian hadn’t given him any information in this regard.

But even Sun Qi’an knew about this, so it must not be an earth-shattering secret.

But he didn’t know.

Yin Ren lowered his eyes and stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth. The topic at the dinner table had moved to the analysis of Bai Yongji’s criminal behavior, so he couldn’t join in.

He just smiled and ate the delicious chicken while giving Zhong Chengshuo a sideways glance from time to time.

After thinking about it carefully, his partner was wrapped up in a lot of mysteries.

How could such a dangerous tool like the “Evil Fruit” come into Zhong Chengshuo’s hands? Wasn’t he a “good young man” raised by his police parents? Why did he join the Nightwalkers and become King Yama but now join Shian without telling them?

…And that huge scar.

He had only thought about the useful handle of “King Yama” before. He just needed to hang on to his human and never thought about other problems more deeply.

Indeed, he had never seriously understood Zhong Chengshuo as a person.

“Xiao Yin, Xiao Yin?” Sun Qi’an waved her hands in front of him. “You’re drinking from an empty can. Are you okay? Do you want another drink?”

“…” Yin Ren silently put down the empty Coke can in his hand. “I was distracted just now, sorry.”

“Ah, sorry. We talked for so late.” Sun Qi’an glanced at the time. “You guys have work tomorrow, so I don’t want to keep you all night.”

Zhong Chengshuo stood up politely. He was just about to speak when Yin Ren grabbed his arm—Lord Ghost King stood up in a dignified manner, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.

“There’s no need to be sorry. I have benefited a lot,” Yin Ren said sincerely. “Ms. Sun helped me out a ton.”

Although Zhong Chengshuo didn’t need to do anything extra, he already understood that “doing nothing” wasn’t Yin Ren’s style.

Sun Qi’an: “?” She didn’t seem to say anything beneficial. Could it be that Yin Ren was studying criminal psychology?

“Let’s go, Zhong Ge. We’ll get some cold noodles together tomorrow.” Yin Ren leaned over to Zhong Chengshuo’s ear and whispered, “I’m sorry. I made a joke with the owner of the cold noodles stand before and said you were my wife.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s facial muscles twitched as he looked at Yin Ren speechlessly.

Yin Ren stared at Zhong Chengshuo’s ears, which were quite white and were in the process of being dyed red. It was so dazzling that he couldn’t help but want to poke it.

Lord Ghost King snorted triumphantly and the discomfort in his eyes completely faded.

His own sense of awkwardness stemmed from nothing more than his “inability to understand Zhong Chengshuo”. Now, he couldn’t help but care about this person, so it was better to “care” about it to the end and get to know him more deeply.

He would strip that mortal from head to toe, leaving no secrets behind.

When he thoroughly understood Zhong Chengshuo, all his preferences, goals, and motivations would be clear at a glance. Would he be disgusted or still interested in that human…

He wondered who would be more embarrassed and out of control by being teased?

……

At night, Yin Ren lay on the sofa as usual. Zhong Chengshuo took out a book in a foreign language and sat at the dining table reading.

Soft music came out of the stereo, and the unique smell of mosquito coils floated in the air. It was as if nothing had changed between the two of them.

Hu Tao found an empty residence and arranged for Lu Tanfei to live in it. Finally, there was another evil being that she could communicate with, so Ms. Hu Tao was very happy. Since she had some basic knowledge about ghosts, she would take the initiative to explain to Lu Tanfei, so there was no need for Yin Ren to worry about for the time being.

During the day, Lu Tanfei accompanied Lu Yuanyuan, so the two ghosts could only communicate at night. Since Hu Tao came less than usual, in the huge living room, there were only two people: Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo… Well, one person and one evil being.

A strand of black hair climbed up the dining table and crawled past Zhong Chengshuo’s book. The strand wrapped around an apple in the fruit basket and dragged it to the corner of the dining table, which was followed by crisp chewing sounds in the air.

Zhong Chengshuo: “……” Interesting.

Not only did Yin Ren recover from the “confession incident” of that day, he didn’t even bother to hide himself but rather intensified his identity as an evil being.

He had to admit that this trick had a very strong effect on King Yama.

Zhong Chengshuo’s gaze gradually drifted away from the book and looked at the strand of hair that was gnawing on the apple. The tips of the hair swayed left and right, and Zhong Chengshuo’s pupils followed.

Yin Ren himself was still lying on the sofa, intently watching a store exploration video.

Although it was a good thing to not eat on the sofa…

“Yin Ren.” Zhong Chengshuo stared intently at the strand of hair, trying to think about how it could eat. “Can I touch your hair?” The one that’s eating an apple.

“Sure.” Lord Ghost King was quite generous. “Coincidentally, I also have something I want to touch. Why don’t we exchange?”

“What?”

Yin Ren rubbed on the sofa and raised his head. “I want to touch the scar on your body.”

Zhong Chengshuo was silent for about half a minute.

After a long time, he sighed. Zhong Chengshuo put down his book, sat down on the side of the sofa, and began to slowly unbutton his pajamas.

As each button was pressed, the chest, waist, and abdomen were revealed one by one. Eventually, a firm body loomed under the fabric. Unlike the “bathroom accident”, Yin Ren took a real look this time.

“As you wish,” Zhong Chengshuo replied.

Zhong Chengshuo’s skin was taut, and he was beautifully muscled. They covered his body flexibly and didn’t look overly bloated. His body was strong and well-proportioned, like a statue in an art museum.

Bai Yongji’s case had left it with more than a dozen small scratches, so there were some slightly red and swollen areas, but they didn’t seem to be a big deal. As time passed, those wounds would soon disappear.

Only the huge scar was left quietly present.

The scar was basically the same as his skin tone, but with an unnatural depression and protrusion. The suture marks were enlarged by time and lined up on both sides of the scar, resembling the claws of a centipede.

Yin Ren propped one leg on the sofa as his gaze flowed down the scar. Zhong Chengshuo was leaning on the end of the sofa, watching as the man crawled closer with his ochre shimmering eyes.

Yin Ren’s fingertips ran along the scar, causing Zhong Chengshuo’s body to tremble involuntarily.

The fingertips of the evil being were extremely hot as they slowly traveled down his clavicle and carefully traced the shape of the scar. For a moment, Zhong Chengshuo almost thought this was revenge for the scene in the amusement park, but Yin Ren’s expression was solemn, and there were no hints of him playing tricks.

“A cut wound,” he whispered. Yin Ren’s face was so close that his breath sprayed directly on Zhong Chengshuo’s chest. “This has existed for a long time… It was formed when you were a baby or a child.”

Zhong Chengshuo pursed his lips. “Nn.”

Yin Ren’s manicured and rounded nails scratched his skin, making it a little itchy.

“And it’s deep.” Yin Ren pressed the scar with his warm fingers. “The kind of depth that can cut a person open.”

“I don’t remember,” Zhong Chengshuo responded softly.

“Don’t remember anything at all?”

Yin Ren looked up at him. At this moment, the evil being’s hand had already pressed against his abdomen.

“…I don’t,” Zhong Chengshuo replied with a wooden face.

“Pretty good,” Yin Ren said. “This is a fatal wound. It’s not easy to survive.”

Yin Ren’s movements weren’t heavy, but the strange itching gradually made it impossible to ignore. It wasn’t like they hadn’t touched each other, but this time, the touch was different—it was a more subtle shock than a chaotic heartbeat, and his breathing became uneven.

Yin Ren was still studying him wholeheartedly. When his scorching fingertips left the scar, Zhong Chengshuo was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when, in the next moment, the fingertips were replaced by warm palms.

The warm touch instantly exploded, causing Zhong Chengshuo’s muscles to tighten abruptly and his entire body to lean back.

He took a hard, deep breath. “How long will it take?”

“This is enough.” Yin Ren raised his hands. “I just want to know more about you.”

Zhong Chengshuo quickly buttoned up his pajamas. He rushed to the refrigerator and took out a saltwater popsicle from the freezer.

Yin Ren’s expression collapsed for a second. “…That’s mine!”

“I know. I’ll pay you back later,” Zhong Chengshuo said as he bit into it. “It’s your turn. Your hair.”

“Forget it.” Yin Ren lay back down on the sofa and muttered as he turned over and moved the back of his head toward Zhong Chengshuo. “Okay, you can touch it.”

As Zhong Chengshuo sat back down on the sofa, a strand of hair came up automatically, and angrily bit into the saltwater popsicle. It was immediately captured by Zhong Chengshuo and carefully played with in his hands.

A few minutes later.

“Zhong Chengshuo.” Yin Ren turned his face to the back of the sofa and spoke sullenly.

Zhong Chengshuo continued eating the popsicle as he tried to stretch the hair in his hand. “Is your hair sentient?”

“No.”

Yin Ren’s face was still facing the sofa. “I just keep it in good condition.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “…I see.”

The tip of the strand of hair wrapped around his thumb and bit him lightly. Zhong Chengshuo quickly lowered his head, but unfortunately he didn’t see where the thing’s teeth were.

He touched the strand of black hair again. “Alright, I’m going to bed.”

“Good night!” Following Yin Ren’s voice, the strand of black hair happily shrank back, but it didn’t forget to bite a button before leaving.

“…Good night.”

……

The day came as promised. In front of a big screen, Lu Xiaohe’s expression was a bit subtle.

“You two… Ah.” She was wearing a t-shirt with “Allergic to People” printed on it, and her tone was a little sad. “Well, at least rely on me more—you didn’t need to hide it from me that Huang Jin pretended to be Lu Guangzu in the report.”

“We weren’t sure at the time, so we didn’t include it in the report,” Yin Ren hurriedly answered. “I’ll definitely consult with you next time.”

“I don’t think you were excluding me. It’s just that as field personnel, if you don’t trust your rear commander, something bad will happen sooner or later.”

Lu Xiaohe melancholically pulled out the information.

“…Like this mission, for example, relies heavily on the rear commander.”

The detailed information on “Guo Laifu” was cast on the big screen. Next to Guo Laifu’s photo was a document describing the “anomaly”.

[Phenomenon A-D512: Archive]

[Overview: This phenomenon is extremely rare, and the cause is unknown. This phenomenon manifests as a black door that appears within a certain space, has no biological characteristics, and has no ability to think.

The “Archive” is inserted without a key, and the visitor will fall into a dark room of about one square meter and can exit normally. Corpses and other dead objects placed in the “Archive” will not produce any changes.

When the “Archive” has a key inserted, the visitors will enter the memory and thinking space of the owner of the key. The Archive will materialize it in a certain form, making it easy to understand. Corpses and other dead objects that are placed in the “Archive” and are not brought out within 168 hours will gradually dissolve and disappear.

The “key” can be used by the cerebrospinal fluid of the living, but the cerebrospinal fluid of the dead won’t take effect. When entering the “Archive”, it’s recommended that there be more than two peers to reduce the risk of “getting lost”.

Note: The Archive only represents the subjective thoughts of the owner of the key. Please don’t be gullible; the “Archive” of the mentally ill are dangerous. Non-professionals are not allowed to enter; under special circumstances, the “Archive” can be used to treat special mental illnesses.]

Yin Ren was silent.

After a long time, one could really see all kinds of strange things.

Moreover, why was the description of this black door so familiar? Shian wouldn’t take an A-D level anomaly to deceive people, right?

He had a bad feeling. “Xiaohe Jie, this won’t be—”

“Your next job is to investigate Guo Laifu’s mind to see if you can return him to normal. There is also a minimum requirement. You must at least find out why he went crazy.”

Yin Ren: “…..”

Yin Ren: “If we enter Guo Laifu’s mind and someone kills him at that time, what will happen to us?”

The scene of Bai Yongji being shot in the head had left a deep impression on him. If they were trapped in the mind of a dead man, that would be a lot of fun.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have enough time to escape.” Lu Xiaohe laughed dryly. “There was a precedent like this before—previously, Unit 7 went to investigate the brain of a mentally ill murderer, but the murderer suddenly jumped off the building and his head splattered on the ground.”

Under emergency rescue, the members of Unit 7 only broke a few legs, but nothing serious happened. After that, Shian began to administer deep anesthesia to the “owner of the key”.

“We can maintain communication with the Archive, and there will also be a Class B Investigation Team on standby, ready to rescue you at any moment. This is essentially still a Level C Investigation Team difficulty. There’s no need to worry.”

Yin Ren breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “Don’t relax too early. Our previous missions were also Level C, but they were all quite—mmph!”

“Quite good.” Yin Ren numbly covered Great King Yama’s mouth. “It’s all good, so this will definitely be the same.”

Lu Xiaohe wouldn’t be following them. Since it was just the two of them, even if they encounter problems, it shouldn’t be too troublesome to act. Besides, entering the Archive could avoid the “sniper” to some extent.

“Oh, one more thing.” Lu Xiaohe scratched her cheeks. “In order to ensure your cognitive stability, Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, two people with special abilities, will also accompany you this time.”

Yin Ren: “…..”

“Also, the items in the Archive are inedible. We have prepared a water collector and seven days’ worth of compressed food for each person,” Lu Xiaohe continued cruelly.

Yin Ren: “…Can we not take this task?”

“No.”

The author has something to say:

Now that things have opened up, when the time comes (?) who will be more out of control and embarrassed?

Kinky Thoughts:

Probably E. All the above.