Evil As Humans

Chapter 207: One Night in This World

The next day, after work.

Near Ping’an Manor, the night market was as lively as ever. With the change of seasons and the decrease in temperature, the street stalls underwent many changes. The chilled noodles and red bean shaved ice that Yin Ren loved had disappeared, replaced by street-side roasted duck and various fried snacks.

The cool evening breeze carried a mixture of oil fumes and water vapor, making the scene appear several times more vibrant than before.

Zhong Chengshuo had finally retrieved his phone. At the moment, he was holding a large pile of discounted vegetables from the supermarket with a box of fresh eggs in his other hand. Yin Ren also had various gifts in his hands. With a grilled squid in his mouth, he carefully carried a bag of crispy fried small fish—the kind Zhong Yude and Cheng Xuehua liked to have with their drinks.

Various cheap light strings flashed incessantly, and people came and went, chatting and laughing. The loudspeaker of a beverage shop played music with extremely poor sound quality, and the water stains on the roadside reflected shimmering neon lights.

Yin Ren sniffed the sweet fragrance in the air and turned towards the beverage shop. Just as his foot was about to step into the shallow puddle, a thin and weak boy fell into the water. Dirty water splashed in all directions, splattering onto Yin Ren’s sneakers.

The school uniform on the boy looked somewhat familiar—it was the style of Haigu Secondary School. The sewage from the night market instantly stained the fabric of the uniform brown, emitting an unusually strong fishy smell. The boy had just opened his bubble tea, but now half of it fell into the dirty water, and the straw was covered in filth.

The pinkish-white liquid dripped out of the straw and quickly mixed with the brownish-black sewage.

“Here, let me show you.”

The tallest boy deliberately twisted his body and imitated a high-pitched voice.

“Sweetheart Strawberry Milk Tea, my sisters must not miss it, so delicious it’ll make you stamp your feet~”

Amidst the laughter, the boy spat towards the smaller boy in the dirty water. “Is that sentence so difficult? I’ve said it too. Let’s entertain everyone. Why are you pretending to be high and mighty? You buy this stuff every day, but others can’t make jokes about it?”

The smaller boy didn’t say anything, but his face turned bright red.

“One of these days, we’ll bury you too, you sissy.” A group of several teenagers near the beverage shop jeered. “You have no face, Little Strawberry.”

They shouted and made a commotion around the boy.

The smaller boy tried to get up but was pushed down by the approaching students and thrown back into the muddy water. Under the warm yellow light, his face turned a terrifying shade of purple.

The nearby vendors were busy with their stalls, and pedestrians continued to chat and laugh. Whether intentional or not, people ignored the commotion in this small corner.

Something was silently changing in this bustling and warm night market.

Yin Ren frowned. Just as he was about to intervene, he saw a sudden change in the boy’s expression.

The humiliation and anger from earlier vanished without a trace, and his face showed only a dazed and relieved look, as if someone was embracing him. Something translucent and white flashed across his shoulder.

It looked like a human arm.

The smaller boy stood up again, picked up the bubble tea from the dirty water, and disregarded the dirt on the straw as he absentmindedly took a few sips before walking away.

As he left, his clothes were still dripping water, but there was a serene smile on his face.

The reaction of the others was quite strange. The group of boys who had been bullying him looked at each other, shrugged, and muttered, “He must be crazy.” Then they moved on to a nearby skewer stall.

“What just happened?” Zhong Chengshuo struggled to push aside the large stalks of green onions in front of him.

“…A momentary surge of Evil Force, but after that, the boy’s aura remained pure.” Yin Ren watched the swirling milk tea in the dirty water for a while. “Strange, I couldn’t see clearly.”

“Mm, we’ll report it tomorrow.” Zhong Chengshuo pulled back behind the various vegetables again.

“Hu Tao.” Yin Ren casually summoned his own ghost. “Follow that boy from earlier at a distance. When he falls asleep, come back and tell me what you’ve observed.”

Miss Hu Tao accepted a few grilled squid as a bribe before muttering to herself and setting off.

Before leaving the night market, Yin Ren stood at the street corner for a while.

A few young people passed by in a group, and one of them had a talisman hanging from their backpack, emitting a faint Evil Force. Yin Ren waved his hand and absorbed most of the Evil Force.

Then, he quietly watched the lights that he had longed for all these years.

The group of students who had just eaten their skewers were now chatting and laughing with expressions filled with innocence. The skewer vendor happily chatted with them, as if the previous bullying had never happened.

Behind the skewer stall, there was a makeshift and simple shrine. The gold paint on the God of Wealth’s hat shimmered in the mirror and emitted sparkling lights.

After watching for a few minutes, Yin Ren threw the skewer of the grilled squid into the trash can and left with Zhong Chengshuo.

Under the streetlights, the two of them carried their bags, appearing as ordinary pedestrians.

……

“What does this mean? Are you two going on another business trip?”

Zhong Yude saw the gifts they were carrying and instinctively frowned. The old man had just rushed out of the kitchen, still wearing an apron, and emanating the hot and sour aroma of sweet and sour dishes.

“Yes, starting tomorrow, we’re going to another city to investigate environmental issues,” Zhong Chengshuo honestly replied.

Yin Ren struggled to control his expression—stripping away the hundred layers of Zhong Chengshuo’s bluff, the investigation into the “Other Side” would begin tomorrow.

Through the Love identification spell on the corruption source, Shian had created a small passageway. It wasn’t stable, but with the assistance of Qi Xin, a “local”, they could barely make it through.

Considering that corruption sources were widespread in the outside world, Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian would stay in this world. Apart from tour guide Ms. Qi, there were only the members of Unit 9, plus Fu Tianyi, who was there to assist. After all, Ge Tingting and Huang Jin have some degree of mental distortion, so Unit 9 needed a 100% natural and healthy cultivator.

Qi Xin was quite supportive of this research. Judging from her subtle expression, Yin Ren suspected that she wanted to test the depth of the two “Fears”.

“An investigation in another city? That’s fine.” Cheng Xuehua breathed a sigh of relief. “My mother used to say that it’s good for young people to be ambitious, but there should be a limit. If your promotion at Shian requires you to take risks every day, it’s better to take it slow every now and then.”

Cheng Xuehua, the former captain of the criminal investigation division, smoothly ignored the fact that she used to take risks every day herself. She patted her chest emotionally and looked at the two “youngsters”. “Let Mom take a good look. All those long missions have made you both lose weight…”

She paused.

Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo had smooth and radiant skin, and their faces had a healthy flush. Zhong Chengshuo stood up straight, and Yin Ren’s vitality was even more abundant than before. For those who didn’t know, they would think they were having lavish meals at Shian every day.

Cheng Xuehua coughed twice. “…Go wash your hands first! Dinner is ready. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

The table was once again filled with steaming home-cooked dishes.

“I heard that you guys got promoted. Not bad.” Zhong Yude opened a bottle of white wine. “Son, you’ve made quite some progress. Remember to learn from Xiao Yin on how to interact with colleagues and superiors.”

Yin Ren: “…”

It seemed like they didn’t need to consider workplace relationships anymore. As for superiors, the members of Unit 9 had already undergone numerous trials and hardships, forging their spirits like steel.

Ge Tingting was studying metaphysics as usual. Just a moment ago, he had answered her WeChat message. Lu Xiaohe was busy preparing materials and bombarding plans for their trip to the “Other Side”. Regardless of the fears of the Other Side, Yin Ren was certain that even if the Heavenly King Laozi himself came, Lu Xiaohe would still ask him endless questions.

Even Huang Jin hadn’t blocked them.

But when he heard his parents’ requests, Zhong Chengshuo responded solemnly, “I will learn from Yin Ren.”

After saying that, he instinctively picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and put it into Yin Ren’s bowl.

At this point, Yin Ren suspected that Zhong Chengshuo’s “learning from Yin Ren” had a different meaning. However, the sweet and sour pork was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a delicious sweet and sour taste, so he decided not to think too much about it.

“It’s good. Seeing you like this, I can finally feel at ease.” Zhong Yude raised his glass and let out a long sigh. “I never expected that I would witness the younger generation getting married and establishing their careers…”

His face turned rosy from the alcohol, and his eyes gradually became moist.

Zhong Chengshuo’s chopsticks paused for a moment. He looked at his foster father, who was having a drink, and casually dropped a bombshell.

“Dad, Mom, I want to see what Sister left behind back then.”

Zhong Yude choked on his drink, and Cheng Xuehua’s chopsticks paused. However, she managed to maintain her composure and asked, “Why do you suddenly want to see that?”

“Sister’s disappearance case is very similar to the case we are investigating.”

Zhong Chengshuo raised his eyes.

“In recent years, I have been investigating her case. But no matter how much I investigate and how deep I dig, there is some information that only you know.”

Cheng Xuehua took a few deep breaths. She had always shown strength, but now a hint of helplessness appeared on her weathered face.

“You can see it if you want, but it has been almost thirty years since that happened.” Zhong Yude forced a smile. “All the relevant information is there, and as for the ‘only we know’ information, I guess…”

“Chengshuo just wants to understand a bit.” Yin Ren quickly chimed in. “Shian have their ways.”

“I understand.”

Cheng Xuehua cleared her throat conspicuously, trying to make her tone sound light.

“We are family, so there is no need to explain so much. The small house Fengfeng rented back then—your father and I bought it. Everything inside is arranged exactly the same… I’ll take you to see it tomorrow.”

Zhong Chengshuo nodded earnestly.

Yin Ren played with the sweet and sour pork in his bowl. “I have another question. Have the two of you ever dreamed of Chengfeng Jie?”

Zhong Chengshuo turned his head slightly, looking at Yin Ren with a puzzled expression.

Zhong Yude’s face showed a trace of disappointment. “At first, I dreamt of her a few times, always finding Fengfeng… or she never had an accident in the first place. But then the dreams became less frequent. Fengfeng was, after all, a young girl, and she was closer to her mother. Maybe she didn’t have time to bother about her old man.”

After saying that, he downed the remaining wine in his glass.

“Ah…”

Cheng Xuehua sighed deeply.

“Even now, I still occasionally dream of her.” The old lady’s voice was filled with sadness. “I just keep dreaming of that morning…”

“She told me, ‘Mom, I’m leaving. I’ll remember to come back early.'”

……

“Why did you suddenly ask that?” In the night, Zhong Chengshuo skillfully hugged Yin Ren.

“Luo Xiaohe mentioned before that Zhang Hejun accurately dreamed of her mother. Whether that was the manifestation of Love or not, the depth of a deep dream can reach the Other Side, so this should be true.”

Yin Ren leaned against his warm lover, narrowing his eyes. The tips of his wings at the ends of his hair fluttered intermittently. Now they were no longer translucent black, but closer to pure black. However, the touch remained soft and warm. Zhong Chengshuo had gotten used to embracing them in his arms.

“…Do you think missing people who disappeared during the Divine Descent might still have a chance of survival?” Zhong Chengshuo thumped a few times and retrieved his phone from under the pillow. “It’s a matter of great importance, so it’s better to inform Shian.”

“No, it’s just a hunch—at most a conjecture. We still don’t know what the Other Side is.”

Yin Ren held Zhong Chengshuo’s waist tightly.

“I was just asking casually. It’s not good to give everyone too much hope. Let’s first focus on finding the most recent missing individuals and then reassess the situation.”

“Oh.” Zhong Chengshuo stopped typing. He changed his position with Yin Ren, sliding his finger on the screen to browse.

Yin Ren snuggled against Zhong Chengshuo’s chest, feeling drowsy. However, he noticed that Zhong Chengshuo’s heartbeat had quickened. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the sound of a notification from Zhong Chengshuo’s phone.

Another incident?

He poked his head out of the covers, and another screen lit up.

The bright red apple profile picture was fixed at the top, and the message notification was clear. The message was indeed from Zhong Chengshuo, as Yin Ren had suspected.

Yin Ren opened it, and in an instant, the slight warmth of sleepiness disappeared. Their chat history showed that the last message he sent Zhong Chengshuo after the “sacrifice”, was still there.

[Fruit Knife: I should have told you more times, I really like you. I’ve never felt this miserable in my entire life! ]

[Fruit Knife: Why don’t you believe these things? If you believe, you can definitely come back.]

[Fruit Knife: Say something to me.]

[Final Fruit: I’ve already come back, right by your side. ]

“And I really like you too.”

Zhong Chengshuo put down his phone and tightened his arms.

“If there comes a day when you really need to devour me, just give me a heads up.”

Yin Ren: “There’s no need for that, Zhong Ge.” Although he didn’t know how this idea came about for Comrade Xiao Zhong, his emotions seemed genuine.

“What if it’s necessary?”

In the darkness, those familiar eyes blinked incessantly.

“Do you know something?” Yin Ren instantly dropped his smile and leaned on Zhong Chengshuo with all his force.

“Just like what I said earlier, it’s just a hunch—at most a conjecture. It could also be my baseless worries. Speaking about it will only add to your troubles.” Zhong Chengshuo brushed Yin Ren’s hair. “Once it’s confirmed, I’ll be the first to tell you.”

Yin Ren looked down at those dark eyes.

“Your dad asked you to learn from me—but he didn’t say to learn so quickly.”

A faint sense of satisfaction appeared on Zhong Chengshuo’s face in the darkness. Helplessly, Yin Ren lowered his head and bit down on the other person’s lips.

.…..

Late at night, the fierce ghost Hu Tao gnawed on the tentacles of grilled squid while floating outside the window of the young boy.

This kid seemed perfectly normal, and Hu Tao didn’t understand why Yin Ren wanted her to follow him. She had already made up her mind that once she finished these skewers of squid, she would head back.

After all, Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo were going to visit the elders, and they wouldn’t know when she got off work.

Hu Tao calculated contentedly, floating in the air, indulging in various ways of biting the squid. After finishing the last skewer, the student was still doing homework under the desk lamp. Hu Tao let out a spirited yawn and slowly turned around…

A hand rested on her shoulder.

The weight, body temperature, and touch were all very familiar.

In the next instant, Hu Tao’s hair flew wildly, and her body was covered in blood. Amidst the carnage, her broken lips trembled, “Oh, so you know how to come back? Weren’t you running away so fast before? You—”

“I’m waiting for you on the Other Side.”

That voice, which she despised to the core, spoke.

“I’m waiting for you on the Other Side, honey.”