Chapter 2 - Actually, I Have a Cheat Too

Translator's Note:

Hello, I hope you've all been doing well.

Here you go, and I wish you a good read.

And, as I said before, if you wish to read ahead, you can head over to my Patreon to get early access to all the translated chapters.

A Dark Secret

 

 

Oh, come on—is there murder even in the afterlife?

 

Ge Yan's breath hitched in shock, and the sound betrayed his presence.

 

The man turned toward him, his piercing gaze as cold as ice, freezing Ge Yan in place.

 

"Help…help me…" The person hanging in the man's grip mouthed a silent plea.

 

Ge Yan: "…" Buddy, I'm barely hanging on myself. If anyone should be doing the rescuing, it should be you saving me. Even if he weren't injured, Ge Yan was sure he couldn't take on this man, who exuded an aura of lethal danger from head to toe.

 

"Crack!"

 

Ge Yan's heart hammered as he watched the man's head snap to the side, neck broken, lifeless, and falling limp. An ominous feeling clenched at his chest, as the murderer discarded the body carelessly and began striding in his direction, each step like a fresh wound tearing open in his flesh. He'd bet his life on it—this man intended to kill him, too.

 

"Hey, let's talk this over, can't we?" Ge Yan raised his hands in surrender, eyes wide with forced sincerity. "I swear I'll take your secret to my grave. If I break that promise, let me be reborn without, um, a full set of…you know."

 

The man's lips almost twitched.

 

For a moment, bathed in the faint moonlight, Ge Yan caught a glimpse of it. Is he mocking me?

 

Without a word, the man raised his hand again.

 

Ge Yan's eyes snapped to it, just as a blood-splattered carnage erupted before him. Flesh and blood sprayed like a grotesque, crimson flower in bloom, as horrifically beautiful as it was grotesquely vibrant, all in a vivid, unforgettable burst.

 

Ge Yan was dead.

 

At least when he'd been hit by a car, his body had stayed intact. This time, there wasn't even that mercy.

 

Not dying silently, but exploding in silence.

 

I'm done. So, this was Heaven's grand plan for giving him a second chance—just to let him experience another way to die.

 

Damn it all. Ge Yan raised a furious middle finger to the inky, starless sky. Right now, he was a ghost, hovering in spiritual form. At the moment of his death, he hadn't felt pain so much as his soul being swiftly ejected from his body, as if it couldn't wait to escape.

 

Still maintaining his disdainful pose towards the heavens, Ge Yan felt himself pulled backward by an invisible force. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar black sky he'd just cursed. Only now, with him lying down, did it encompass all his sighs.

 

Player has died. Would you like to respawn on the spot?

 

Yes.

 

As Ge Yan opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of crimson eyes. Something was definitely wrong with this respawn. Hmm, let's try again. He closed his eyes, then opened them once more, only to see the murderer advancing toward him. This was getting ridiculous; the distance between them was closing too quickly. Couldn't he at least choose a better spot to respawn?

 

Resigned, Ge Yan sat up, feeling a heavy ache in his chest as if he'd been struck by a boulder. The effort took nearly everything he had, leaving just enough energy for him to cough up blood. He wiped it away indifferently; what was a little blood when he was going to die anyway?

 

The man had already walked right up to him.

 

"Wait! I have…final words!" Ge Yan's eyes widened as the man raised his hand again. A conditioned response kicked in, desperate to avoid being blasted to bits once more. A law-abiding citizen like him had to find some inner courage at a time like this.

 

For reasons unknown, the man actually paused, though shadows cloaked his face, making his expression unreadable and, somehow, all the more terrifying.

 

Ge Yan's mind raced. "Big brother, I've already died twice. One more doesn't matter. But before that, could you let me say my piece?"

 

"Hm."

 

"…Huh?" Ge Yan blinked, stunned as he stared at the man.

 

The man's chiseled face remained severe, with a gaze as crimson and cold as blood. Ge Yan feared that with just a word, he'd snuff out his life again.

 

The man raised his hand.

 

"Hold up." Ge Yan jumped, and if he had fur, it would've stood on end like a porcupine's—he's just too terrifying! Had someone once borrowed ten bucks from him and not returned it yet? He'd gladly pay it back!

 

"Big brother, the person you just killed? That was me, too," Ge Yan pointed at Carlos's corpse, his heart pounding as he watched the man's expressionless face. Just in case that wasn't convincing enough, Ge Yan revealed his biggest secret. "I don't know why I'm here in his body, but a moment ago, I was hit by a car and died. When I woke up, I was…here. Do you believe me?"

 

Ge Yan cautiously gauged the man's reaction.

 

"No." The man spoke with an icy tone.

 

Ge Yan was dumbfounded by the straightforward reply. He'd expected something cool and ominous, like, "What do you think?" to add some drama. That would have fit the mood better.

 

"What will it take for you to believe me?" he asked, desperation etched on his face.

 

"Give me one good reason to spare you." The man's gaze bore down on him with a predator's intensity.

 

Without a second thought, Ge Yan said, "Are you still missing a pendant on your thigh*?"

 

[T/N: It can be translated in english to "Are you looking for a sidekick?"

I chose to leave the more literal translation because it seemed funnier to me. The explanation of this pun lies in the Chinese expression of "抱大腿" (bào dàtuǐ), which literally means "to hold someone's thigh" but figuratively refers to "seeking support" or "relying on someone powerful."

So, the MC here is seeking a designated spot to attach himself to, to better hold his thigh.]

 

The man raised an eyebrow.

 

Ge Yan cleared his throat. "I mean, I'm saying I'd follow you anywhere. You point east, and I wouldn't dare go west. Tell me to climb a mountain of knives? No way I'm heading for a cauldron of oil."

 

"You want to be my servant?" The man's sharp gaze pierced him, scrutinizing him as if he were an insect pinned under a knife, like a blade poised to drop at any second.

 

"Yes—just don't kill me." After experiencing two successive deaths, Ge Yan had come to value life a bit differently. His pride didn't matter anymore; it was better to stay alive.

 

"A servant might betray his master. Only the dead do not."

 

The single, softly spoken word "dead" made Ge Yan shiver. He knew the man still wanted him dead. At this moment, was he supposed to say, "How can one know the joy of a fish if one is not a fish*"? Heaven forbid the man misunderstand and slice him in two again. His mind whirled, searching for something, anything, to say, until an idea struck him. His eyes lit up, and he couldn't hold back his excitement as he looked at the man.

 

[T/N: The expression "子非鱼，焉知鱼之乐" originates from the ancient Chinese text Zhuangzi, attributed to the philosopher Zhuang Zhou. The phrase literally suggests that only a fish can truly understand the happiness or joy of being a fish. The expression highlights the idea of subjective experience—one can't fully comprehend another being's emotions or experiences without being in their situation. It emphasizes empathy and the limits of understanding between different perspectives.

So the MC just wants to ask the man to put himself in his shoes.]

 

"All right, I'll tell you a huge secret about this body."

 

His eyes sparkled in the dark, gleaming like deep sapphire, though the man thought they were more like exquisite, captivating black onyx. Intrigued, the man asked, "What secret?"

 

A wig—brown hair—was tossed to the ground by Ge Yan, who then removed something thin and hard from his eyes, a rigid lens far from the soft contact kind. No wonder his eyes had been bothering him.

 

The man's gaze fell on him. Underneath the brown wig, the young man's hair was a soft black, as were his strikingly beautiful eyes.

 

The young man with black hair and dark eyes looked at him nervously, worried the secret wouldn't be enough and explaining hastily, "I don't know why the body's original owner disguised himself, but it seems important."

 

"Do as you wish," the man replied, with a faint, deadly smile like a blossoming mandrake, his gaze intense.

 

Ge Yan's face brightened instantly, unguarded in his joy, like a fool.

Last Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

 

❧ Join Bella Novels' Newsletter by clicking here ↫ and
receive an email for each New Update -͙✧˖*°࿐