Chapter 61 – Devil Exchange

Translator: Yuzu

Zhou Ming snapped his eyes open and looked around. His face was a bit fierce as his eyebrows furrowed together, and his forehead was wrinkled.

Alive.

He was in disbelief as if he didn’t expect he would still be alive. Not knowing what kind of stimulus he had received, he suddenly reacted, and his first words as he sat up were, “Xiaoxiao! Did something happen to her?!”

Xiao Chen stood beside Zhou Ming’s bed, examining his face as carefully as if he were getting to know him for the first time.

Xiao Chen said softly, “She’s fine,” and added, “She’s in her dormitory, and she should be asleep by now.”

Zhou Ming’s heart was relieved, and he managed to curl the corners of his mouth and nod his head. He didn’t look too good, as if his life was at stake like he had just crawled out of death.

Xiao Chen looked at his face and stared into his eyes, “Do you want to be with Luo Xiaoxiao forever?”

Zhou Ming’s eyes flickered, and the next moment became a little evasive. He looked away as if he were talking to himself, “So what if I want to? It is impossible for me and her.”

This tone was not like the sigh of a suitor who could not catch up with his Goddess.

Xiao Chen frowned.

Instead, it was more like knowing the ending of a movie in advance, so when you watch the movie, you have already prepared yourself to stop the damage in time.

“Why?” Xiao Chen said the question directly.

Zhou Ming laughed at himself, “Do you know about survival games?”

Xiao Chen looked at him inquiringly.

“In this world, everyone is a loser except the first place, and the second place is the biggest loser because he is much closer to it than everyone else.”

“In a survival game, no matter how many participants there are, and no matter how hard you try in the process, the end result is the same, only one person can survive.”

“So, in the course of the game, some people will draw their swords because of the conflict of interest, and some will choose to commit suicide because of fear of the future. They can unite like a rope at first, but slowly, when all the enemies are gone and wiped out, they will start to kill their closest people to survive. Just like the ancient times when children were easy to eat, the first to be eliminated was the physically disabled, the children, and the women. Finally, the men fight to the death.”

Zhou Ming’s eyes look like they can devour people’s souls, and Xiao Chen was frozen.

“I live to keep her alive.” Zhou Ming’s eyes were firm.

“I will also die so that she can live.”

Xiao Chen seemed to be stimulated, and his heart pounded with fear.

He reached out and grabbed his collar, feeling a little breathless.

It seemed like someone, too, had once said such words to him.

“Senior, I will protect you.”

“An angel can kill his beloved for the sake of the world! But the Devil can kill the whole world for his beloved.”

“You don’t need to know how many people I’ve killed for you!”

“And the only thing I ask of you is that you be able to protect yourself!”

Is that…

Su Yan?

Zhou Ming’s gaze darted back and forth over Xiao Chen’s body, and not knowing what was on his mind, he snorted out a laugh. “I had thought that after I had caught a glimpse of the world’s secrets and knew the end, I would be able to die openly for her.”

His eyes suddenly hardened, and his gaze fell on Xiao Chen, “But I met you by chance!”

“You won’t die! You’re outside the rules!!!” Zhou Ming spoke out coldly.

“You don’t have to do anything, you just have to stand here, and you will be able to live well until the end!!!”

“But not me!!!” Zhou Ming’s anger subsided, and his expression once again returned to indifference, “I just want to protect her.”

Luo Xiaoxiao accidentally bumped into Wang Jingyi, who died suddenly of a heart attack by the pool. She was directly shocked, and it was he who sent her back to the dormitory and then threw Wang Jingyi’s body into the pool.

Jiang Ling made a series of false statements related to Luo Xiaoxiao, wanting to drive her to death. Hence, he made a wish to the Wishing Tree, causing Jiang Ling to commit suicide.

He did not even hesitate to put his own life on the line to save Luo Xiaoxiao when her life was hanging by a thread.

He never had regrets and complaints.

“So what exactly is the nature of the world?” Xiao Chen finally asked the question he wanted to ask the most out loud.

Zhou Ming raised his head, his eyes dull, “The nature of the world is just a movie.”

Xiao Chen was stunned, and his breathing faltered.

Su Yan’s words once again appeared to him, “These worlds are all fake, people are fake, animals are fake, everything is not real.”

Everyone’s fate was predetermined to end from the beginning of creation.

So that’s how it is.

Xiao Chen craned his neck, ignoring Zhou Ming’s surprised gaze, and said seriously, “You will not die.”

The rules always get broken.

Xiao Chen’s tone was direct and uninteresting as if he was telling someone that the weather was nice today.

Xiao Chen’s gaze slowly moved to the windowsill and looked out the window, and Zhou Ming also followed his gaze.

At some point, the heavy rain had stopped. The sun was shining through, reaching the cactus on the windowsill and spreading a halo of light.

After the rain, wouldn’t there be a rainbow?

–

“I plead guilty. I killed them!” Wang Yeze’s eyes were hollow, like a puppet, and his movements were somewhat stiff. His body was straight, and his tone was flat.

During the process of being summoned, he did not say a word from the beginning to the end. He surrendered directly after entering the interrogation room.

Zhou Yingmei’s eyebrows twitched, and her pupils contracted sharply.

She did not expect the suspect to give himself up directly.

Wang Yeze continued, “I like Wang Jingyi very much, so I held a grudge against Li Da, whom Wang Jingyi likes. Especially that day, I followed Jingyi, then saw her begging him on her knees to get back together. Still, Li Da humiliated and disdained her in every way.” Although Wang Yeze’s words were very moving, his expression did not fluctuate in the slightest.

“So my hatred for Li Da reached its peak. I didn’t think about killing Li Da, but then he kicked Jingyi, and I became completely furious. I rushed out directly and killed him in front of Jingyi.”

Su Yan stood behind Zhou Yingmei, with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, calmly listening to Wang Yeze’s confession.

Wang Yeze’s eyes kept staring ahead. The light in the room was dark, so Zhou Yingmei didn’t even notice that Wang Yeze’s gaze wasn’t on her level but through her, falling onto the person behind her.

Wang Yeze and Su Yan stared at each other. The former was blank, while the latter was indifferent.

“But then Jingyi forced me to turn myself in, I was terrified!”

“I really didn’t know her family history of heart disease. That day she came to persuade me again, so I argued with her. Maybe she was too emotional, then she had a heart attack and just stopped breathing… I was even more scared! But I couldn’t be found out! So I just threw her into the pool.”

Su Yan narrowed his eyes, his expression remained unchanged.

Wang Yeze added, “But Jiang Ling and Yang Sun’s death has nothing to do with me, I don’t know anything.”

For some reason, Zhou Yingmei felt something and suddenly looked back at Su Yan. Su Yan looked at her and smiled politely.

Zhou Yingmei put away all kinds of discomfort in her heart.

And asked, “Now, you will recount the tools and methods you used to kill Li Da.”

Wang Yeze’s expression remained very blank. He paused and nodded, as if he had expected that Zhou Yingmei would ask so, and continued to speak.

Su Yan, however, no longer looked at him, nor Zhou Yingmei. He hooked the corners of his mouth and exited the room calmly.

Zhou Yingmei’s note-taking hand paused, and she turned her head slightly to look back, and then continued the interrogation.

She always felt that things were unusual, her subconscious told her that things should not be like this, but all the signs show that the killer has been captured by them and is the person in front of her.

Although the findings were not announced, the police department has long blamed Jiang Ling’s death on too much stress, leading to depression and suicide. At the same time, Yang Sun’s death was also attributed to staying up too late and eating junk food for a long time.

If it was truly Wang Yeze who killed Li Da and Wang Jingyi, then the case would basically be closed!

Zhou Yingmei took a deep breath.

But why does she always feel like she’s missing some important clue?

–

Zhou Ming has been standing under the girls’ dormitory for nearly two hours. He stood there like a landscape that has attracted the inquiring eyes of countless girls passing back and forth.

He did not care much and just remained standing below.

He was holding a thermos cup in his hand, and he looked a little dazed.

A slender figure appeared under the girls’ dormitory door, and Zhou Ming’s eyes instantly lit up, and he looked completely bright.

He shouted, “Xiaoxiao.”

Luo Xiaoxiao was startled, and her initially pale face took on an extra touch of red.

She seemed to have slept for a long time and had a long dream, and there were many things she couldn’t quite remember.

Now she had a feeling of unreality, but this was swept away when she saw Zhou Ming. What ushered in was an indescribable satisfaction.

Zhou Ming felt a wave of chagrin after shouting as if he had done something wrong.

It’s over. It’s over, what should he say at this time?

Luo Xiaoxiao smiled and walked directly towards him, stroked her hair with her hand, and said softly, “Are you waiting for me?”

Zhou Ming looked at the girl in front of him and blinked as if he was smitten.

Luo Xiaoxiao had to repeat it again.

Zhou Ming suddenly woke up and stammered, “No, no, no, I was just taking a walk, and then, then I just happened to pass by.”

Luo Xiaoxiao froze and burst out laughing.

The whole area was a girls’ dormitory. Who would take a walk here?

Zhou Ming handed the thermos cup to Luo Xiaoxiao’s hand without saying anything and said, “That ah, aren’t you on your period now? Drink more brown sugar water! Drink more brown sugar water!!!”

Luo Xiaoxiao choked.

How did he know?

Zhou Ming chuckled, “Then I’ll go first, don’t catch a cold.”

After saying that, he intended to turn around and leave.

Luo Xiaoxiao subconsciously grabbed Zhou Ming’s sleeve, which made Zhou Ming looked back at her. Luo Xiaoxiao looked like she didn’t expect that she would be so rash either, so her face burst red, and then she said, “Right, sorry.”

“That, that,” Luo Xiaoxiao began to stammer, not daring to meet Zhou Ming’s eyes, “I like you.”

Zhou Ming was stunned, like a little fool eating a candied fruit staring wide-eyed, frozen in place.

Luo Xiaoxiao blushed with a few complaints, “Shouldn’t you also say you like me at this time?”

Zhou Ming didn’t say anything at first, but as soon as he embraced Luo Xiaoxiao in his arms, he said, “I love you.”

It’s not just that I like you, it’s that I love you.

I love you.

Su Yan put Xiao Chen in his arms. His chin was against Xiao Chen’s shoulder, and his eyes squinted like a contented puppy.

Xiao Chen poked Su Yan’s nose with his index finger.

It was soft and moved gently once poked.

Su Yan held Xiao Chen tighter, and then he kissed him on the neck.

“Are you a dog?” Xiao Chen laughed in exasperation.

Su Yan paused, then said with a straight face, “No, I’m your brother.”

Xiao Chen was stunned at first.

The air seemed to suddenly stop for two seconds.

Xiao Chen’s face directly burst red, as if he thought of something, then tried to break free from Su Yan’s embrace, but was hugged even tighter by the latter.

“Didn’t you always call me that when you were a kid?” Su Yan couldn’t help but tease Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen struggled even more.

“Shh.” Su Yan gestured for Xiao Chen to be silent.

Xiao Chen immediately stopped moving.

Su Yan laughed and held both of Xiao Chen’s hands tightly in his palms, then carefully dropped a kiss.

“I love you, my little rose.”

Xiao Chen teased, “I love you too.”

My Mr. Snake.