Chapter 35: A Kiss in the Dark

No one expected this to happen.

Exclamations rose one after another, like chattering crows suddenly taking flight from a forest perch.

An inexplicable panic spread through the crowd.

The entire venue became restless, and sounds of pushing and shoving could be heard.

 

Lou Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

 

If he wasn’t mistaken, this was the backup plan he had left for Xiao He.

He must have realized his disappearance and seized the opportunity to cut the power.

But he wasn’t sure how long this would last.

It could be ten minutes, or maybe less than half a minute.

He had better act immediately.

“Master?”

Jealousy’s voice said.

 

He sounded a bit frightened, and also a bit confused—but he didn’t move.

Because he didn’t know if this was Yu Ziyu’s arrangement.

 

Yu Ziyu’s previous warning had been very effective.

So even when the incident occurred, all the bosses remained in place, making no moves.

 

In the darkness, Lou Chen’s fingers on the table twitched.

He raised his arm, his fingers groping in the darkness, and quickly moved to the dinner plate in front of him.

He fumbled for the sharp knife and fork, nearly cutting his skin from the speed.

But he curled his hand and directly grabbed the sharp edge of the dinner knife, cutting towards his own waist.

 

Because when Lou Chen had been pushed by Yu Ziyu’s force into Greed’s chair, a sticky plant had wrapped around his waist.

It had climbed up Lou Chen’s body, tightly locking him in the chair, restricting his movement.

When the knife struck the plant’s surface, it was immediately deflected, causing no damage.

 

But Lou Chen wasn’t surprised.

 

Blood dripped from his cut skin, sliding down the blade’s surface onto the plant.

Like a drop of sulfuric acid suddenly falling into water, it gave off a large amount of heat and white smoke.

The plant screamed and curled its tendrils, almost human-like in its desperate retreat from Lou Chen’s body.

 

But its escape failed.

These drops of blood spread like a virus, like an invisible flame, greedily licking and burning them to ash.

 

Lou Chen knew his blood had such an effect—like arsenic to these monsters.

This was why he had previously considered letting Gluttony eat him.

It would only end up trapping itself.

And Pride obviously knew this, otherwise he wouldn’t have said from the start that he would drain his blood before making a move.

 

If he had to trace the origin of his blood’s effect, Lou Chen was certain it was an ability he gained after leaving the Land of Desire Amusement Park.

Just like being able to dream about the monsters’ whereabouts.

He had considered whether this was related to the deal he made with Pride.

But suspiciously, it couldn’t possibly have given him such a powerful ability.

That simply didn’t make sense.

 

The screams of the plant tendrils echoed in the darkness.

The panicked sounds in the entire theater grew even louder.

 

Like a neglected ventilation duct hit by a hurricane, it emitted the difficult breathing sound of a dying person.

 

He heard a harsh scraping sound, clearly someone finally unable to hold back, pushing their chair back.

Lou Chen could tell from the direction that it was Wrath.

So he directly cut his palm with the dinner knife, expressionlessly clenching his hand to squeeze out blood, splattering it onto the floor.

 

Even though the theater was far from quiet at this moment, the sound of his blood dripping onto the ground was strangely clear.

It was as if someone had suppressed those gasping breaths and amplified this nuclear force.

It spread outward like radiation from that pool of blood, diffusing through the air.

A trembling gasp sounded in the air.

 

Although his vision was completely consumed by darkness, Lou Chen could still hear Wrath stumbling back into his chair the next moment.

The blood he shed by hurting himself had clearly worked.

He shook his hand, ignoring the terrible sting coming from his palm.

 

Yu Ziyu could still see clearly in the darkness.

He saw the snake-form Sloth slither off the chair, moving as far away as possible from Lou Chen’s blood beside him.

Jealousy pressed his fingers to his throat, pushed back his chair, and bent over, dry heaving helplessly…

Without looking at the other bosses, he could guess their reactions.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.”

Yu Ziyu said. “After all, that’s the blood you stole from me.”

 

His reaction was too calm, even abnormal.

Watching the blood continuously flowing from Lou Chen’s wounded hand, his eyes flickered inexplicably.

 

However, no one but himself could hear these words.

“…”

 

In stark contrast to the other bosses and the heretics howling from accepting the invitation, only Yu Ziyu could sit still in place at a time like this.

His back was very straight.

And Lou Chen, amid the chaos and commotion, quickly left his chair and closed in on where he remembered Yu Ziyu was.

 

Lou Chen had no time to consider whether this was a trap.

Because amidst the chaos, Yu Ziyu maintained the same posture as before the lights went out.

The air around him was eerie and calm, completely out of place with the others.

As if he knew he would definitely come looking for him right away.

 

Then, he grabbed the icy hand Yu Ziyu had placed on the table, squeezed the utensil in his hand, and forcefully pulled the two of them closer together.

 

Lou Chen was looking down at him.

Yu Ziyu realized this, but he didn’t push him away.

 

They were so close that Yu Ziyu could see the wild, frantic light flickering in Lou Chen’s eyes.

His black hair was disheveled from the series of actions, completely losing the calm he had shown when bound by Pride.

He looked accurately at Yu Ziyu’s face, as if he could see and scrutinize Yu Ziyu’s expression in the darkness.

“So, you, you have no reaction to blood.”

Lou Chen said, his breathing trembling.

A warm liquid slid onto Yu Ziyu’s knee.

It was the blood still dripping from his palm.

He stared fixedly at Yu Ziyu’s eyes, holding his breath.

“It’s been you all along… right?

It’s been you all along?”

 

Those familiar black eyes…

 

The memories of their brief time together flashed through Lou Chen’s mind, making him feel like a complete fool for being so careless as to overlook everything.

 

Rumors said that wherever the bug-level boss Pride appeared, he would bring a pure-colored venomous snake.

And Yu Ziyu had never bothered to hide that snake from the very beginning…

Sloth.

All the bosses who appeared regarded him as their number one enemy, but no one could get close to him.

 

Lou Chen hadn’t investigated where Gluttony went after leaving, because he noticed that the destroyed elevator and corridor still had a large amount of dark particles left behind.

He couldn’t understand it at the time, but now it was clear—
Sloth was so obedient to Yu Ziyu.

Without a doubt, back at the Supernatural Management Bureau, it had been Sloth and Gluttony attacking each other.

 

So it was obvious.

Yu Ziyu was Pride.

 

No need to consider the possibility of Sloth betraying him.

Although these monsters were bloody and cruel, the rules of darkness were different.

Not constrained by morality, but by their lives being in the hands of authoritative power.

They absolutely did not have the audacity to scheme under Yu Ziyu’s nose.

 

No wonder, upon hearing their plans, Yu Ziyu sometimes showed a contemptuous expression, even curling his lips mockingly, as if they were nothing but dirty mud on the surface of his shoes.

That cruelty was real, never before so clearly exposed.

Yu Ziyu had never been just superficially evil.

 

Lou Chen couldn’t even imagine how Yu Ziyu must have felt inside when he said he could sense Pride’s thoughts, watching them celebrate.

 

And his works… those photographs he took.

No wonder the heretics became crazily infatuated with him without even meeting him.

Because he wasn’t some spokesperson for evil at all.

He was power itself.

They had no chance whatsoever of resisting this temptation.

 

Lou Chen could hardly believe his own judgment.

His ears were ringing, but he had to calm down, connect all the clues.

 

He could feel Yu Ziyu’s gaze on him.

It was cold, and utterly unkind.

He knew he was challenging his limits.

Yu Ziyu was scrutinizing him, playing with the dagger he had just stabbed himself with.

 

But he had to remember, force himself to ignore the pain, and think carefully about what he had overlooked over the past few weeks.

 

Yu Ziyu had shown hostility the first time he met him.

He obviously recognized him.

He was very strong.

On the surface, he turned a blind eye to all gazes, quite used to them, yet couldn’t stand others staring at him for too long.

He said someone had left all their problems for him and then left…

He wanted to kill Lou Chen, but ultimately couldn’t bring himself to do it.

 

If… if considering their real first meeting, it must have been in the game…

 

That would mean, if he was that forgotten partner, then his special attitude towards Lou Chen could be reasonably explained.

 

Pride, Yu Ziyu, his former partner was so solitary, so strange.

He had been stalling for time at the banquet, just to make this moment happen—

To plunge the theater into darkness, to let the Supernatural Management Bureau counterattack.

 

Lou Chen’s reason was about to snap.

He squeezed Yu Ziyu’s hand tightly.

His skin temperature was so low, simply not the temperature a living person should have.

Even wearing a windbreaker to keep out the cold, it was still like ice.

 

Before meeting Yu Ziyu, Lou Chen could handle multiple cases, and even if they were unrelated, he could keenly spot anomalies.

Yet with such obvious connections placed before him, Lou Chen had sensed the links countless times, but had never once delved into why.

Was he really so incompetent…?

 

Impossible.

“You put a suggestion in my mind.

As long as you’re by my side, you would constantly tell me that you’re not the person I’m looking for, and you’re not Pride.”

 

Lou Chen had indeed reached the right conclusion.

Yu Ziyu had been, like with Zhang Yining, keeping his domain active so that everyone would overlook the anomalies he couldn’t be bothered to hide.

He was so powerful that even Lou Chen couldn’t resist his influence.

“You made me overlook these connections, unable to think… you’ve been doing this all along.”

He said, disoriented.

 

If Yu Ziyu had to make an evaluation, he had to admit that Lou Chen’s voice sounded very pained.

He glanced at Sloth.

It had climbed across the table and floor to his ankle, quickly burrowing into his windbreaker pocket…

Anyway, Sloth had done as he asked.

But this seemed to have gone too far.

 

From the way Lou Chen looked at him, he had clearly figured everything out.

 

Lou Chen stared at him, forgetting where he was, forgetting his identity, what he should be doing.

He just looked at Yu Ziyu, his expression blank, his eyes revealing confusion:

“Who are you?

I don’t know… do I really know you?

Do I understand you? …

When you were my partner, did you laugh at me inside?”

 

This sentence suddenly stung a little.

 

Yu Ziyu should have been pleased.

He had made Lou Chen, the man everyone considered unwavering and goal-oriented, forget his next move.

He had long guessed that Lou Chen would connect his identity through Sloth’s true form, then fall into confusion, allowing his plan to proceed.

 

But seeing the plan go so smoothly, he didn’t feel particularly happy.

Something must have gone wrong inside him.

 

So, Yu Ziyu just paused and raised his head to ask, “Which identity of mine are you asking about?”

 

As his words fell, the world fell silent.

The noise seemed to disappear from their ears.

White noise filled Lou Chen’s eardrums.

 

If I’m going to die here, then so be it.

A voice clearly told him he should now check whether Xiao He and his team had broken into the theater.

But another voice told him to stay here, to figure out what had happened, to tell her his thoughts, and something that wasn’t painful, but not so bad either.

 

Yu Ziyu’s face grew colder and colder.

His fingers were in his pocket, playing with Sloth’s soft snake body.

“What?

Disappointed I’m still alive?

This is what you meant by ‘looking for a person.’

I’m truly honored.”

 

Lou Chen released his hand, stepped back a few paces, raised his hand, and pressed his temples, breathing heavily.

His brain was struck speechless by the massive amount of information.

Blood dripped down his arm, drop by drop.

His face was pale from excessive blood loss.

“I still don’t remember what exactly happened… but I, perhaps I should ask for an explanation.

However, I owe you something.”

 

Yu Ziyu’s expression grew even colder.

“Smart guy.

After this, stay away from me.

Figure out your own identity.”

He even let out a mocking snort, then lowered his voice, hissing, “Don’t bother me anymore.

Don’t talk about being the minister of the Supernatural Management Bureau.

Even though you do owe me, I can’t be bothered to settle it anymore.

We don’t need to have any more ties.”

“I want my memories back.”

“There’s no need for such a thing at all.”

 

As Yu Ziyu’s cold and resistant words fell, something unexpected happened.

Lou Chen stepped forward, bent down, and suddenly, something warm pressed against his lips.

Then his body was pushed against the back of the chair.

A pair of warm, moist, distinctly blood-scented hands cupped his face.

Two soft things ground against his skin.

Lou Chen seemed to whisper lightly against his lips: “I’m glad you’re still alive.

Even though you lied to me.”

 

Even Yu Ziyu couldn’t believe that, at such a bloody moment, Lou Chen dared to do such a thing in front of all the heretics, the bosses at the table, and even possibly the cameras—pressing him against the back of his seat.

Lou Chen even smeared blood on his lips, traced his lower lip with his finger, and then kissed him deeply again.

“This is even better than I imagined.”

Lou Chen said in a low voice.

“No matter what, I’ve really wanted to do this.

Maybe back in the game, I already wanted to.

I don’t know if I’ll ever have another chance, but I can promise, everything I just said is true.”

 

Yu Ziyu was stunned.

By the time he reacted, a rush of heat quickly spread from the back of his neck to his cheeks.

 

Damn it, did Lou Chen not realize that all the bosses could see clearly in the dark?

 

When Lou Chen finally staggered away from him, Yu Ziyu noticed that the table was completely silent.

No matter which boss, they had all turned their heads at that moment, silently watching in their direction.

The table was as quiet as a mime, forming a stark contrast with the chaos of the heretics below the stage.

 

Jealousy was the first to react.

He was almost going mad.

The expressions on the other bosses’ faces were far from pleasant either.

They gloomily stood up, at this moment unable to help but forget Yu Ziyu’s threat.

But before something terrible could happen, the lights came back on.

 

Lou Chen’s figure became clear again.

His entire body was soaked in blood, looking like a bloody man.

It was a miracle he could still stand up straight.

And the scarlet staining Yu Ziyu’s shirt front, neck, jaw, and around his cheeks was enough to show what had happened in the darkness.

They were the only two present who had gotten themselves dirty.

 

At the same time, the door was slammed open, making a loud bang.

Fresh air immediately rushed in, dispelling the stench.

The heretics, like startled birds, realized uninvited guests had arrived—the opponents they often dealt with.

 

They shouldn’t have been so easily rattled.

After all, this was the home turf of the Land of Desire Amusement Park bosses; they should have been confident, and the Supernatural Management Bureau should have been the one being cautious.

But the problem now was that after witnessing everything that had just happened, none of the bosses at the table had the mood to expend energy comforting these followers.

 

Xiao He led a team directly charging in.

Just as he raised his gun, he saw Lou Chen’s condition and immediately shouted in shock, “Captain—?!”

 

Sloth gently bit Yu Ziyu’s finger with its fangs, reminding him it was time for the next step.

Yu Ziyu accepted the cue.

He pushed his chair back, stood up, cleared his throat, and effortlessly attracted everyone’s attention.

 

Since the lights were back on, that meant the live broadcast should have resumed as well.

 

Xiao He’s movements became hesitant.

He looked at him, his specially modified gun raised, then lowered again in struggle.

“Teacher Yu, is it still you…”

“It’s me.

Thanks to Captain Lou Chen, he woke me up in the darkness.

I’ve driven Pride out of my body.”

This statement was truly too clumsy, but Yu Ziyu no longer had the energy to dramatically perfect his words.

He looked somewhat perfunctorily at the heretics.

“Don’t let them leave.”

 

Xiao He nodded excitedly.

The team members spreading out behind him also showed similar expressions.

Yu Ziyu didn’t need to guess what they were thinking.

 

The true savior.

The only one who could drive back Pride.

 

Lou Chen stood still, realizing something extremely important—Yu Ziyu was neutral.

He wouldn’t help them, but he wouldn’t aid evil either.

 

He was a completely detached existence, able to suppress both sides, maintaining a delicate balance.

 

Then, Yu Ziyu turned to the bosses, wiping the blood off his face expressionlessly, and said, “Since Pride is gone, shouldn’t you be leaving too?

I don’t think this is a good time to start a war.

You know, I’m the savior.

You basically have no chance of winning against me.”

 

Jealousy’s lips parted, wanting to speak, but Gluttony held him back and cautiously shook his head.

“We’ll meet again.”

Yu Ziyu said expressionlessly, yet his voice carried a threat.

“Or do you want some parting words?”

“…”

 

Lust had somehow already revived by now, and it was standing next to Wrath, its expression tense.

The faces of the several bosses were filled with unwillingness, confusion, and disorientation.

But under Yu Ziyu’s pressure, soon, their human forms collapsed.

 

Several wisps of black fog disappeared into the air.

A sweeping wind brushed past the members of the Supernatural Management Bureau, shaking the startled crowd.

Some heretics took the opportunity to vanish on the spot, bringing everything to a swift close.

 

The scene was quite chaotic.

Next, whether it was cleanup or anything else, the members of the Supernatural Management Bureau had plenty to do.

For example, immediately dismantle the theater’s cameras to stop the remaining live broadcast, delete the rumors spreading online…

But none of this concerned him anymore.

 

Yu Ziyu heard the system’s voice in his ear, indicating that the mission concerning the savior was complete.

This was entirely expected, so he had no reaction.

 

Now that he had these two sets of points, he no longer needed to stay here.

He had already made Lou Chen understand, through earlier hints, that he would not align with them.

He could imagine Lou Chen’s confusion about why he played multiple roles at the same time, but he wouldn’t explain.

 

Now, he had other matters to resolve.

Matters concerning his final batch of points.

 

Savior.

Must one of Pride die?

 

He was sure there was something abnormal he had overlooked.

And Sloth, being pinched by the neck in his pocket, clearly realized what it would face next and had already given up struggling—

After all, it was the only boss allowed to stay by his side.

This was bound to come at a price at some point.

 

With one last glance at Lou Chen, soaked and covered in blood, Yu Ziyu walked towards the door.

He knew Lou Chen had been watching him from behind, but he didn’t look back.

As he brushed past Xiao He, Xiao He clearly wanted to stop him, but was startled by the cold air around him and froze in place.

“Get him to the hospital quickly.”

After a pause, the other person snorted, left a cryptic sentence, and resumed walking.

 

By the time Xiao He reacted, Yu Ziyu had already left.

 

Xiao He touched his nose, which had a bruise from where Xu He had nearly broken it earlier, and muttered unconsciously, “What’s going on…”

 

When he turned around, he was surprised to find Lou Chen completely ignoring his own wounds, instead wearing a contemplative expression.

After bypassing the suggestion Yu Ziyu had placed around him, this was the first time he had stepped out of the mental trap to think about the unreasonable things.

“This isn’t right.”

 

As Xiao He approached, he heard Lou Chen murmuring.

“What?”

Xiao He was confused, then looked at the horrific wound on his hand and said in shock, “Captain, Teacher Yu was right.

You really should go to the hospital!”

 

The blood loss was truly terrifying, but Lou Chen acted as if he felt no pain at all.

“Game bosses cannot leave their designated floors.

That’s a system rule.”

He said. “Bosses are data generated by the game.

They must obey the rules.”

 

Xiao He was stunned: “Yes, that’s right.”

 

This was something every player of the Land of Desire Amusement Park knew.

It was written in the first rule of the game—no matter what existence, they cannot violate the game’s rules.

That was why Gluttony said to Jealousy: ‘…Although this is our first meeting…’

This indeed indirectly confirmed that they couldn’t leave their own domains.

“But Pride could appear on different floors.”

 

No one but Lou Chen had been to the seventh floor, but he couldn’t remember that part of his memories anymore.

 

Looking at the captain’s expression, Xiao He paused and said alertly, “What are you talking about, Captain?…

What does this have to do with Pride?

Captain, you really should bandage your wounds!”

He was practically wailing by the end, looking at Lou Chen, hoping he would realize he was bleeding. “These things can be dealt with later!”

“Then why is he the only exception?”

Lou Chen ignored him, just thoughtful.

“What?”

Xiao He looked lost.

 

Behind him, members of the Supernatural Management Bureau walked back and forth, busy.

Occasionally, the sound of heretics resisting arrest could be heard.

And their captain and vice-captain stood there like two idle, extra employees.

“I’m leaving.

The department’s minister badge is in my drawer.

You just need to add your name to the paperwork for it to pass review.

You’ll become the new minister and task force captain.

I prepared it all before leaving today.”

“What—?!”

“Yu Ziyu is Pride.”

Lou Chen said flatly, glancing at him.

“Now I’m going to find him.”

“What??!!”

Xiao He screamed in terror again, frantically looking around, almost going insane.

“What the hell!!!”

 

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