Chapter 3

☆3. My Other Self Is a Man

【7】

Hearing those words, Lin Xi scrambled frantically out of the living room. She clearly remembered how the burly man with the blade had died beneath that scythe yesterday. She was afraid of death and afraid of witnessing death—and even more afraid of being splattered with someone else’s blood…

But before she could crawl out of the living room, she heard the sound of something being sliced. Lin Xi’s body went stiff. She turned her head and saw that, just like the man yesterday, he had lopped off the bandaged man’s head. Blood sprayed out, splattering her bedroom like a slaughterhouse.

After a moment, the bandaged man’s corpse rose up, and along with all the blood he’d sprayed, it was enveloped in a red light. Then, like fireworks, it scattered into the air and vanished completely clean, as if nothing had happened at all.

Lin Xi’s whole body was cold. She stared motionless at the man. He waved his hand and the massive scythe disappeared. He turned his head and looked at Lin Xi: “Do you understand now?”

Lin Xi shook her head blankly.

The man let out a helpless sigh, as if he truly couldn’t fathom it: “How can you be this stupid?” He walked up to Lin Xi. “To put it simply, someone wants to kill me, but they don’t have the ability to kill me. Then they got word that in this world there’s a person whose life is linked to mine, so they connected the two worlds and came to kill you. And so, with no other choice, I had to follow them here.”

“So…” He extended his hand to Lin Xi, who was sitting slumped on the floor. “Everyone in this world is worth guarding against—except me. Me, you can trust with all your heart.”

A person had killed someone right in front of her without changing expression… twice! And then he told her she could trust him with all her heart. Lin Xi felt that if this wasn’t an act, then Heaven was playing with her. But right now, it seemed she had no choice but to let herself be played with…

Lin Xi hesitated for a moment, then tremblingly placed her hand in the man’s. He wore black leather gloves, but even through such gloves, Lin Xi could feel the warmth of his palm.

He pulled her up. Outside the window, the sky had grown dark, and the streetlamp light shone into the room—just like the first time Lin Xi had seen him yesterday. In the backlight, everything about him was mysterious and stirred the imagination.

“So…” Lin Xi spoke up, a little timidly. “Starting today, we’re living together?”

“That’s right.”

Lin Xi looked at the monitor on her desk, split in two, and the axe lying in the corner, and covered her face to calm herself for a moment. Having gone through this two days in a row, Lin Xi had no choice but to accept reality—even though this reality didn’t feel like reality at all!

The room was silent for a long while before Lin Xi managed to say in a trembling voice: “H-hello. My name is Lin Xi.”

“My name is Wushuang.”

Lin Xi blinked, staring at Wushuang. Wushuang let out a sigh: “Tch, alright, I know the name sounds like a mockery right now. But before this, no one dared have any objection to this name.”

Lin Xi lowered her eyes. She had no objection to the name either, because… she and he, no matter how you looked at it, didn’t seem like the same person at all.

【8】

Two days had passed since then. Wushuang had really moved into Lin Xi’s little apartment. And Lin Xi’s troubles had multiplied along with it…

For example, when they got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, both of them would be woken by the urge, and then they’d block the bathroom door in frustration: “Tch, how does a woman have this much crap to deal with!”

“You’re the same…” Lin Xi muttered under her breath, and then Wushuang mercilessly pulled her aside: “Your life is mine. I’m the main body. Me first.” His movement was extremely fast—he flashed through the door and locked it, and then Lin Xi heard a burst of enviably cheerful splashing.

“Hey! Hurry up, hurry up! Waaah, you’re a bandit—you even steal the toilet!” She was bursting outside, pounding on the door, on the verge of tears and full of resentment, while also thanking heaven above that they didn’t pee at the same time. Lin Xi clawed at the door in agony, cursing under her breath: “Come on, Auntie Flow, come on, Auntie Flow! You must get it once a month in that world too, right! Cry with me, cry with me!”

The door opened. Wushuang blocked the doorway and eyed her sideways. Though he didn’t know what “Auntie Flow” was, he understood what Lin Xi meant by “once a month.” He gave a gloating smile: “Sorry to disappoint. In the other world, I live quite comfortably every month.”

So it seemed… their twin-linked lives were selective. When Wushuang got hurt, Lin Xi only bled but felt no pain, and Lin Xi’s physiological characteristics didn’t appear on Wushuang. This was truly…

Heaven was blind!

Lin Xi ground her teeth and shoved Wushuang aside, slamming the door and entering the bathroom.

For another example, Wushuang explained to Lin Xi that people from the other world faced certain restrictions in this one—during the daytime their power was greatly weakened. If anyone wanted to harm her, they’d most likely choose the night, so he set a curfew for Lin Xi: she had to be home before five in the afternoon.

Lin Xi protest furiously for the right to study in the library, but peaceful protests always lost to armed suppression…

For yet another example, Wushuang was subject to the same restrictions in this world. At night he was full of energy, but when the sun shone bright he’d curl up in Lin Xi’s little nest looking utterly defeated, and then… eat all the food she’d stockpiled. And the worst part was, everything he ate was what she liked! What was even more excessive was that even though he’d eaten so much dry food, whenever she cooked, he’d still come to the table and fight her for the food—and the most excessive part was, every time he ate her favorite dishes!

Thinking of this, Lin Xi glared resentfully at the man beside her. Was this guy the reincarnation of a glutton…? Lin Xi silently touched her shrunken wallet and realized that there really was a kind of poverty in this world called “eating yourself poor”…

The two of them ambled along to the convenience store. A boy was standing at the entrance, talking on his phone. The moment Lin Xi saw him, her face went red and she quietly shifted behind Wushuang. That was a boy from their department named Ji Ran—a boy with a gentle smile and a sunny personality. Lin Xi had had a crush on him since freshman year. It had been three years now. But she normally barely appeared in anyone’s line of sight except in class, so now that she was a senior, he probably still didn’t even know she existed.

Wushuang turned his head and glanced at her: “You having a cramp?”

Lin Xi couldn’t be bothered with him and went into the convenience store with her head down. While she was picking out food, Wushuang drooled over a shelf of apples: “Hey, I want to eat the green ones. Buy all the green apples—they’re crispier.” Lin Xi casually grabbed a plastic bag and tossed it to Wushuang, while she herself started staring blankly at the figure outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

She couldn’t help wondering—who was he waiting for? His girlfriend? What kind of girl did he like? Probably not someone like her—dull, timid, and boring…

She really wished she could become a little braver.

“Mm, bleh.” Suddenly an indistinct sound came from beside her. Lin Xi turned and saw Wushuang biting into apples and tossing them aside—one bite each—his mouth full of fruit, juice running down from the corner of his lips. Lin Xi was aghast: “What are you doing! Why are you eating them!”

Wushuang swallowed the fruit and answered matter-of-factly: “How else am I supposed to know if they’re good?”

“Then why did you throw them all away?”

“None of them were good.”

This was the first time Lin Xi had encountered such a thuggish attitude. She stood there dumbfounded for a good while, then, before the convenience store clerk could come over, she hurriedly stuffed all the apples Wushuang had bitten into a plastic bag, gathered some other things, and went to pay.

Wushuang was displeased: “Why are you still buying them? I told you they’re not good.”

“People have to be honest and take responsibility. If you touched it, you have to be responsible for it.” After saying this, Lin Xi stepped out of the convenience store door with one foot. Ji Ran, who was still waiting for someone at the entrance, happened to hear what she said and casually turned his head. Their eyes met.

【9】

Ji Ran gave a polite smile. Lin Xi’s face went red. In her mortification, she abruptly squatted down, using the excuse of tying her shoelaces to avoid his gaze.

Wushuang glanced at Lin Xi, bent over tying her shoelaces, then glanced at Ji Ran, and understood immediately: “Tch, what a pathetic display.” He gave Lin Xi’s rear a playful kick and muttered under his breath: “If you like him, just go for it.”

But he hadn’t expected Lin Xi to be so weak-legged and useless. With just that light kick, Lin Xi lost her balance and pitched forward hard. Her knees buckled and she went down with a “thump,” then smashed headfirst into the Ji Ran standing directly in front of her… right in the crotch.

Lin Xi felt her forehead press against something soft and warm. She heard a hoarse, muffled groan above her head. She realized what she had done and knelt there with her head down, slowly turning to stone…

Ji Ran took two steps back and bent slightly at the waist. Lin Xi stayed frozen for a long while before stiffly raising her head, staring dazedly at Ji Ran: “I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Behind her came a snort of laughter, and someone commented lazily: “Oh my, if you touch it, you have to be responsible for it.” As if the whole thing had nothing to do with him at all.

Lin Xi trembled like a leaf in the wind, and no one could tell whether she was feeling shame or rage, sorrow or vexation.

Ji Ran hung his head for a long time without making a sound. Lin Xi stood up on trembling legs, wanting to help him, but not knowing where to put her hands. Then, coming back to her senses, she was afraid Ji Ran might see her face clearly and remember what she looked like—because if they ran into each other on the street in the future, how would she ever be able to look him in the eye!

Lin Xi covered her face with both hands and bowed deeply three times: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! If anything happens to you, I’ll definitely take responsibility!” With that, she spun on her heel and fled into the distance as if escaping.

Wushuang clicked his tongue. His figure flickered and he vanished instantly.

“Hey! Ji Ran!” Two boys not far away waved at Ji Ran and walked over. One of them laughed: “Hey, what’s with that expression, like your balls got crushed?”

Ji Ran took a deep breath for a good while before straightening up: “N-nothing. It’s fine.” The other boy looked in the direction Lin Xi had run off and thought for a moment: “Ah, could that be the lone wolf girl from our department? Did she confess to you?”

“Who?”

“Lin Xi. She’s pretty famous among the girls—they say her family’s loaded. Acts like she’s above everyone, hasn’t lived in a dorm since freshman year, never socializes, that kind of thing.” Ji Ran was taken aback. From those brief few seconds of contact just now, he felt that girl probably wasn’t like that. “Looks like our handsome Ji’s charm is no small thing—even a woman like that can be won over.”

Ji Ran was exasperated, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as he looked at his friend: “What are you talking about? It was just a little accident just now.”

“Accident? She accidentally got pregnant with your child!” Seeing his friend’s exaggerated expression, Ji Ran clapped him on the shoulder, smiled, and put the matter out of his mind.

Lin Xi ran all the way, until Wushuang, who was following behind her, finally couldn’t stand his own miserable state—his face covered in hot tears that the wind had chilled. His figure flickered and he appeared in front of Lin Xi. Lin Xi crashed headfirst into Wushuang’s chest, smearing a shiny wet patch across his black trench coat. Beneath the layer of tears and snot covering his face, Wushuang’s expression was both disgusted and helpless: “How big a deal is it, that you have to cry like this? Tch, you’ve ruined my face.”

Lin Xi felt both grief and fury in her heart, and hearing this sarcastic remark, she temporarily forgot whether she could beat him or not. She reached out with both hands, grabbed Wushuang by the neck, and shouted indistinctly: “Waaah, if you have even a shred of mercy, I’m begging you—just die, okay! Let’s perish together, okay, waaah… I can’t live anymore, I can’t live anymore!”

【10】

Lin Xi’s hands couldn’t even strangle a chicken, so against Wushuang’s steel-like body they naturally couldn’t do any real damage. He curled his lip: “Mercy? What’s that?”

It’s your auntie! Lin Xi wailed, hanging onto his neck: “I’ll never get married, I’ll never get married for the rest of my life, waaah…”

Pedestrians on the street turned to look at these two—a man and a woman crying in a heap. Who knew how many waves of people passed by before Wushuang finally frowned impatiently: “Tch, alright, alright. Before I go back, I’ll definitely snatch a man for you, okay!”

Lin Xi’s crying paused. She raised her reddened eyes to look at him, full of longing: “When are you going back?”

“Mm, once I’ve killed all the people who want to kill you, and then sealed up the passage connecting the two worlds, I’ll go back.” Wushuang looked at the sky and thought for a moment. “There are about 120 people who chased me from that world to kill you. I killed two a few days ago, so there are 118 left. As for the passage—well, I haven’t found a way to seal it yet. So don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of time to help you find a man.”

“Waaah… let’s just perish together! Perish together!”

That was what she said, but people always prefer to choose a shameful survival.

Lin Xi greeted a new day in weary, sallow-faced exhaustion. If she remembered correctly, tomorrow was the day her parents had agreed to divorce.

After tomorrow… her parents could no longer be called husband and wife. Lin Xi glanced at the photo on the nightstand—a happy family of three. She silently took her change of clothes and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower, and in the mist, Lin Xi suddenly recalled when that photo had been taken.

She had once suffered from mild autism. She’d been young, so she couldn’t quite remember why she’d gotten sick, but after the psychologist cured her, it had never recurred—it was just that her constitution inevitably made her live with a bit of an inferiority complex. That photo had been taken just after she’d escaped the shadow of autism: a family portrait of three in front of their home. She had two braids, was hugging her father’s leg, half her body hidden behind him, secretly peeking at the camera, while her mother squatted to the side, smiling helplessly, encouraging her to step forward. Her parents’ relationship had been pretty good back then, her illness was cured, and every day in that household had been full of hope.

Lin Xi patted her cheeks. She felt that if she could defeat even autism, what couldn’t she overcome!

Dressed, Lin Xi walked into the living room while towel-drying her hair, intending to get the hairdryer. But the moment she stepped into the living room, she stepped on something and slipped hard, falling flat on her back and landing painfully on her rear on the floor. She clutched her backside and let out a few pained yelps before enduring it.

She got up and glanced around—apple cores all over the floor!

Lin Xi’s fury shot up three feet. She glared at the man lying on the sofa. Wushuang rubbed his eyes blearily and struggled to sit up: “Tch, making a racket first thing in the morning. Give it a rest!” As he spoke, he picked up an apple core from under the sofa and tossed it over casually—it hit Lin Xi right in the forehead.

“You… you’re going too far!” Lin Xi’s anger blazed. She made up her mind—he couldn’t kill her anyway, and her repeated forbearance had gotten her nothing good. Since that was the case, she might as well go all out. If she was going to be miserable, she’d make sure this guy was miserable right along with her!

Lin Xi stormed toward Wushuang in a rage. Wushuang, just waking up, saw Lin Xi charging at him full of grief and fury—and then… she stepped on another apple core. Her foot slipped again. Wushuang was fast—in the blink of an eye he flashed to Lin Xi’s side, reached out, and pulled her into a solid embrace around the waist. But the elaborate metal decorations on his trench coat caught on Lin Xi’s loose T-shirt, yanking the collar wide open. From Wushuang’s angle, he had a perfect, unobstructed view of the “scenery” inside.

Lin Xi froze. Wushuang froze too—because Lin Xi, having just showered and not yet dried her hair, wasn’t wearing a bra.

The scent of milk body wash drifted through the air between them. It was a clean scent, yet for some reason, at this moment it seemed a little strange. Lin Xi’s hair reached her waist. With Wushuang’s embrace, her damp hair soaked the back of her shirt—and wet the sleeve of his black trench coat as well.

A woman’s body fragrance, the moisture in the air, a bare body…

Under the combined effect, one drop, two drops, three drops of red blood fell onto Lin Xi’s collarbone. Then, following gravity’s pull, some slid toward the side of her neck, while others traced down her fair chest, drawing tantalizing red lines all the way down.

Wushuang stared blankly, nose bleeding, and Lin Xi, in turn, cheerfully bled from her nose as well.

Heavens… why couldn’t she have fainted at this very moment! Lin Xi swung her arm and slapped Wushuang across the face with all her strength. Then she broke free of his embrace, ran into her room, changed her clothes, didn’t even dry her hair, grabbed her bag, and slammed the door on her way out. Leaving Wushuang alone, staring at his damp sleeve, silently dripping nosebleed all over the floor.

Author’s Note: All caught up~ ╭(╯3╰)╮~