Chapter 50 – Devil Exchange

Translator: Yuzu

Xiao Chen was dumbfounded, and his eyes were a little lost. Then, as if lost in thought, he slowly reached out his hand and gently stroked the bark of the tree. His movement was very light; it could be said to be gentle as if he was caressing his beloved. His eyes also had an inexplicable affection.

He paused, as if something had flashed through his mind, and frowned.

The moment his palm touched the bark of the tree, he seemed to be able to feel some slight change in the tree.

There was even a gentle breeze that blew over, stirring the leaves, which blew off the ground and into his face.

It was subtle, like someone was gently caressing his face. It doesn’t feel like a leaf but rather like a spiritual being.

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil in his hand, and poured it out again. He tilted his head up to look at the top of the tree and was somewhat distracted. He didn’t know whether he noticed something or not, but his eyes shifted down unconsciously, and then his gaze was fixed on the flower bed behind the tree.

He squinted his eyes, stood up, and began to step backward, examining the scene in front of him with a serious look.

The tree at this angle, the flower bed, and the antenna pole looming in the distance behind the school building ……

Very familiar.

Xiao Chen propped his head up and frowned.

Several scattered images flashed through his head like fragments. The scenery in front of him was very similar to the scenes in his mind, but not quite the same.

It was like he’d…

He had been here a long time ago…

Xiao Chen pursed his lips, his expression somewhat heavy. He paused, then propped his hand on his temple.

In his head, just ……

It seemed as if two people had just flashed by.

Xiao Chen gritted his teeth.

He had no memory of anything before the age of ten. He had no idea what he had been through before that, but he had not lived in the city since he could remember! If it weren’t for college, he would have never gotten here at all!

But then again.

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes.

He had also chosen this place because he had an unexplainable feeling in his heart about it as if he had been called back.

Unless…

He lived here before the age of ten!

Xiao Chen felt a little absurd but somewhat certain.

How in the world could there be such a coincidence!

It was true that ever since he’d arrived in the city, bits, and pieces of that lost part of his memory would flash through his mind.

He…

And the sound of a man’s voice…

–

“Take off your shirt.” The boy’s expression was bland, like he was stating a trivial matter as simple as that.

A little confused, the other looked back at him, nodded, and replied stupidly, “Ooooh.”

The little boy obeyed and took his shirt off. In the process of pulling his shirt off, he also messed up his hair in confusion and showed a frizz.

When the boy saw this scene, the corners of his mouth couldn’t stop rising. He showed a slight smile and touched the hair on his head, smoothing it down with a bit of affection.

Then he turned and took the pillow from the sofa and said, in a warm voice, “Hold this pillow, and lean against the table, with your back to me, and don’t be afraid.”

The other trusted him and did everything he was told.

The boy nodded and put on his gloves and mask so that his face was not visible. He narrowed his eyes and picked up the flashlight from the side, pausing to shine it on the other’s shoulder blades.

The boy’s gaze was soft as if he was examining a work of art, his eyes curved at the corners. He picked up the tattoo machine from the couch and softly reassured, “It might hurt a little, are you afraid?”

The little boy pursed his lips and turned his head around. His eyes clear and unreservedly trusting, and his voice was crisp and incredibly sincere, “Not afraid.”

As if he felt the words were not strong enough, he tilted his head again and added, “I trust you.”

The boy’s hand paused, his grey eyes somewhat dark, not knowing what he was thinking about. Three seconds passed; he closed his eyes and reopened them, looking serious, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you feel much pain!”

I swear!

The boy sucked in a breath.

The shape of this tattoo always appeared in his dreams.

A snake wrapped around a delicate rose.

The snake spat out its tongue, and its entire body was clinging to the delicate rose. Its crystal eyes seemed to shoot out a cold light. The snake’s shape was much larger than the rose, and the rose’s body was full of thorns. As if it couldn’t feel pain, the snake cradled the rose in its embrace. Also, fearing that its strength would hurt the rose, the snake’s tail rested on the ground and embraced the rose in a strange position.

From the time he dreamed of this picture, he would think of Xiao Chen and knew that only by tattooing this picture onto his baby’s body would he have a sense of peace.

Xiao Chen…

Is his only treasure.

To one day be able to tattoo this pattern onto the other, he had taught himself to draw for a long time for this purpose and even consulted countless books related to tattoos.

The boy’s strength was light, but it was inevitable that blood would gush out from the wound. He frowned, his eyes having an unconcealed distress.

But he didn’t stop working on the creation in his hands.

When the tattoo was finally complete, the boy’s hands were all dense with sweat. He let out a breath, hooked his lips, placed the gauze over the other’s tattoo, and helped him with the remaining disinfection.

There was an unspoken satisfaction in the way his eyes stared at the other’s shoulder blades.

It’s so lovely that you’re still with me.

Perhaps the waiting process was too boring, but the other had long since fallen asleep, hugging the pillow with his eyes closed.

The boy saw this and laughed out softly, his laughter filled with some spoiling.

He got up, picked up the blanket from the bed, covered the other boy with it. Then, he carefully cradled the boy in his arms, lifting him gently in a princess hug.

Each step was a steady one.

He placed the boy on the bed and devoutly grasped both of the other’s hands in his own and placed them on his forehead.

Good night, my little rose.

–

As if Wang Yeze had caught the bug of the mission of some sort, the corners of his mouth suddenly turned upward. He called out to the system inwardly, ‘System, tell me, is the Devil’s bride in these key figures?’

The garbled code above his head grew, and it was only when Wang Yeze was getting really impatient with the wait did the system finally gave a response, “Yes.”

Wang Yeze raised an eyebrow at the words.

“Then, if I kill all the key figures, will my mission be complete?”

The system that had always regulated Wang Yeze’s every move was silent for a long time as if it was trying to communicate with something else.

Finally, Wang Yeze glanced at his head with some impatience before he heard the system reply like this, “Yes, as long as you can do it.”

–

Xiao Chen eased out of his trance as if something had slipped into his mind.

“Xiao Chen?!” A harsh shout came from the distance.

Xiao Chen froze and turned around, dazed by the scene before him.

It was two men who looked to be in their thirties.

Xiao Chen remained still in place, without speaking.

Something was wrong.

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen couldn’t help but take a step back, his eyes full of caution.

The two men looked at each other and then walked over to Xiao Chen in both left and right directions as if they intended to block his retreat.

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes, a little guarded.

One of the men clearly saw Xiao Chen’s nervousness and pulled out an ID from his pocket, spreading it out so that Xiao Chen could read the words inside.

It was the police.

Xiao Chen opened his mouth but didn’t say anything; his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“We need your cooperation, and we hope you would come back to the police station with us for an interview.” The man’s tone was not an order, but the words carried an attitude that could not be refused.

Xiao Chen’s hand clutched the pendant. He was calm in his heart, his expression light as he asked, “Why?”

One of the male policemen didn’t expect him to be so easy to talk to. He glanced around and patiently explained, “Regarding the matter of Li Da, we need you to cooperate with us to do some investigation.”

Xiao Chen nodded and glanced at the two, agreeing to follow their request.

But Xiao Chen knew deep down that things could never be that simple.

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen looked at the two beside him.

One of them had his right hand in his pocket all the time. Xiao Chen could guess from the shape that it contained handcuffs, while his other hand was holding a walkie-talkie. The man had a serious expression as if he was always ready for something.

The other person also looked very tense. He intentionally stopped on Xiao Chen’s right side; the distance between him was subtly controlled within one meter as if he was worried that he would resist.

If it was really a simple inquiry, an investigation, then their reaction was far too severe.

Something was very wrong!!!

Unless…

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes.

There was only one possibility.

They regarded him as the suspect in Li Da’s murder.

“How is your relationship with Li Da?”

Xiao Chen calmly sat at the interrogation table, scanning the entire room’s furnishings, as well as the officer who questioned him with a cold expression, and replied, “A dorm roommate, not very familiar.”

This officer looked skilled in experience, swept a glance at Xiao Chen’s demeanor. He wrote something unknown in his notebook and continued to ask, “Where were you on the night of October 19? What did you do? Is there anyone who can attest to that?”

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes. His expression appeared to be in a trance for two seconds as if he was remembering the events of that day. The officer keenly noticed the change in Xiao Chen.

“Sleeping, in the dorm room, Zhou Ming was also there.” Xiao Chen spoke concisely.

The policeman smiled, his eyes burning, “Is that so? You sleepwalk, right?”

Xiao Chen’s hands and feet faltered, his breath caught, and cracks appeared on his originally unruffled face.

The officer picked up a folder from a nearby table, “I heard that you have a history of self-harming while sleepwalking.”

Xiao Chen didn’t say anything, and the two looked at each other.

The officer stared at Xiao Chen’s expression and continued blankly, “You don’t like Li Da.”

Xiao Chen scowled and met the policeman’s probing gaze.

The officer closed the folder and said, “Your mother was abandoned by your father, and you, in turn, were abandoned by your mother.”

“So even if you don’t show it, in your heart, you detest people like Li Da, who just casually consume other people’s feelings.”

Silently, the police officer stared at Xiao Chen’s every move, as if hoping to harvest some useful information from his expression.

Xiao Chen did not shy away from locking eyes with him.

While the police officer’s expression became increasingly serious, Xiao Chen seemed to have discovered something, then puffed out a laugh.

The officer’s serious face stiffened for a moment, and he couldn’t help but ask, “What are you laughing at?”

Xiao Chen placed both hands on the interrogation table and crossed his legs as if he had heard some funny joke, “Officer,” Xiao Chen began.

“Since you already know my medical history, you should understand that I am a mental patient.” Xiao Chen paused, “As an interrogator, you should also know that with mental patients, they would be even less able to recognize and defend themselves against mind control strategies.”

Xiao Chen laughed, “And you interrogators, deliberately put invisible pressure on the interrogated during the interrogation process. Even going so far as to use the ‘suspect’s guilt theory’ to directly ignore all kinds of doubts and use psychological tactics to force the interrogated to confess.”

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes, his eyes emitting a cold light, “But this set of tactics doesn’t apply to mental patients, does it?”

The officer’s cold sweat flowed down, his Adam’s apple moved, and his body tensed a bit. Even his fingers couldn’t help but clench into fists.

Xiao Chen paused, his eyes falling to the other’s body, examining him up and down, “You are a new cop, right?”

The police officer raised his head fiercely and met his eyes.

Xiao Chen laughed, “From the moment you entered this room, the veins on your temples have been bulging. Even though you tried to relax, you could hardly hide the tension in your appearance. During the interrogation, even your hands were trembling slightly when you were writing. And, you could only soothe your anxious heart with the help of flipping through the documents during the interrogation of me.

Xiao Chen tilted his head with a bit of careless oppression, “Are you that nervous? Officer!”

“Boom!” The door swung open, and a woman in a police uniform, with short hair and a thunderous look, appeared.

The male police officer was covered in cold sweat, swallowed his saliva, looked back at the woman nervously, and weakly opened his mouth, “Captain.”

The woman swept a glance at Xiao Chen, waved her hand, and let the male police officer out. The officer pursed his lips and couldn’t resist looking back at Xiao Chen again. He didn’t say anything and just silently bypassed the woman and walked out.

Unlike the man just now, the woman didn’t sit directly on the interrogation chair. Instead, she took a big step, grabbed the chair, and then sat down in front of Xiao Chen without a care in the world, looking at him equally in a straight line.

She opened her mouth and quirked her lips, “So, what do you think about me talking with you next?”

–

yuzu: there you have it, bipolar kid = ML while little boy = Xiao Chen.