Chapter 33: Constantine – A Day Trip to Ginger Hell

On the surface, Kramer was “Constantine’s apprentice.”

In reality, he was more like “Constantine’s unpaid servant.”

Diligently, he drove the two of them home.

After the entire trip, he hadn’t learned a single new exorcism technique. Instead, he’d been force-fed so much public affection that he felt ready to throw up.

Once they got home, Constantine first used wet wipes to clean the sweat from Jiang Shulan’s skin. Only after making sure he was once again fresh, neat, and adorably fair did he settle him onto the sofa, turn on the television, and flip to his favorite channel.

He retrieved the cake he had chilled before leaving, as well as some fruit, from the refrigerator, kissed Jiang Shulan on the forehead, and said, “I have to head out for a bit. I’ve already ordered food for you. By the time you finish the cake, it should have arrived.”

Then he gently pinched Jiang Shulan’s cheek.

“But you’re not allowed to secretly order hotpot.”

He could understand craving cold food in the summer.

What puzzled him was Jiang Shulan’s inexplicable love for the fiery, spicy hotpot from Chinatown.

Switching recklessly between hot and cold foods was bound to upset his stomach.

The blue eyes in his arms darted about mischievously.

Clearly, he was still considering it.

“If I find out you did,” Constantine said, producing what sounded suspiciously like his ultimate threat, “then I suppose we’ll have to spend some time reviewing exactly what size is appropriate.”

Jiang Shulan froze.

The memory of their last bizarre “lesson” was still vivid enough to make him shudder.

“I promise! I absolutely won’t sneak any!”

Satisfied that the temptation had been extinguished, Constantine kissed his cheek, smiling.

“So good. Tomorrow I’ll take you to Chinatown.”

Before leaving, he made sure the front door was locked.

He wandered downstairs for a while.

After officially getting together with Jiang Shulan, he had moved them both back into the house he had originally purchased.

The protective formation he had set up there remained intact, finally putting his mind at ease.

His destination was Gabriel, the archangel responsible for guarding the mortal realm and cleansing it of corruption.

“So you’re saying a demon actually tried to emerge into the human world through the girl’s body?”

Gabriel smiled faintly.

“Have you forgotten the laws separating the three realms?”

Demons and angels were forbidden from entering the domain of humanity.

“I haven’t forgotten,” Constantine replied casually. “But that’s exactly what happened.”

He flicked the cigarette in his hand into the fireplace, where the flames briefly illuminated his handsome profile.

“With your all-seeing vision, you know whether I’m telling the truth.”

Closing the Bible in his lap, Gabriel’s expression remained cool.

“So? Why tell me? Are you hoping this will earn you another ticket to Heaven? There’s no saving you, Constantine.”

Whether it was performing good deeds solely for selfish reasons or deliberately drawing an innocent soul close to himself now, none of it qualified him for a place as pure as Heaven.

“Oh,” Constantine answered lightly. “Who cares? I just thought I’d try.”

Still, part of him remained unwilling to accept that he and Jiang Shulan might have so little time together.

“I stopped wanting to go there a long time ago. Because now… I’m already in Heaven.”

He walked over to Gabriel, deliberately took a long drag from his cigarette, and exhaled a lazy ring of smoke.

As it dispersed, he pressed the glowing tip against the armrest of Gabriel’s sofa until the ember died, leaving behind a charred black mark.

He couldn’t smoke for long.

Jiang Shulan was extraordinarily sensitive to the smell.

The slightest trace of tobacco and he would refuse even the simplest displays of affection.

“You should really fall in love sometime,” Constantine joked, completely unfazed by Gabriel’s outwardly calm yet icy stare. “Just look at those pale, dry lips. You look desperately deprived of affection.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

His trench coat hung wrinkled around him, his gait loose and careless, yet every step landed firmly, giving him an air that was both weary and dangerous.

Telling an angel to fall in love was practically the same as asking him to become a devil.

“Constantine.”

Gabriel let out a cold laugh and called after him.

“Go to Hell.”

Without even looking back, Constantine merely raised a single finger in response.

“F*** you.”

On his way home, Constantine noticed that Jiang Shulan’s favorite cream puffs were still available.

He pushed open the bakery door and almost collided with Angela as she was leaving.

She still hadn’t let go of the questions surrounding her sister’s death.

Thinking of Jiang Shulan, Constantine restrained his impatience.

“Detective Angela, there’s something you need to understand. Your sister chose death to protect you. I hope you won’t waste what she sacrificed. What exactly do you know?”

Meanwhile, back at home, Jiang Shulan noticed something strange while washing his hands.

The reflection in the mirror was smiling.

Its hands were folded behind its back.

Constantine had once taught him that, according to certain Western superstitions, mirrors were regarded as gateways between the living and the dead. If one’s reflection ever behaved strangely, the safest response was to cover the mirror immediately.

Obediently, Jiang Shulan draped a bath towel over it.

The moment he turned around after making sure the entire mirror was concealed, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.

Before he could react, he found himself face-to-face with Lucifer once again.

Around them stood grotesque demons of every imaginable shape and size.

Jiang Shulan occupied the very center of the gathering, as tiny and vulnerable as an ant.

Pressing his lips into a polite smile, he gave Lucifer a little wave.

“Hi! Hello! And… who might you be? I don’t think we’ve ever met.”

“I remember meeting you,” Lucifer replied. “That’s why I brought you here.”

‘You still remember?’

‘Couldn’t you just forget about the harmless little human who had insulted you in your own kingdom and even tried to complain about you afterward?’

Pouting, Jiang Shulan lowered his head like a timid quail.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you last time. That wasn’t very nice of me. But… you insulted me first.”

He hurried to clarify.

“Not that I’m asking you to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

Lucifer lifted a hand.

Several demons approached with hungry grins, drool practically dripping from their mouths as they stared at the human before them.

“Are you sure?”

“Oh! You must have misheard!”

Jiang Shulan changed his tone instantly.

“Great Lord Lucifer, I sincerely apologize. It was entirely my fault. I deserve whatever blame you wish to place on me.”

“I think I finally understand why Constantine likes you.”

Lucifer had only been teasing him.

The surrounding demons silently melted back into the darkness.

“There’s no need to be afraid,” Lucifer said as he descended from his throne. “I merely invited you to visit Hell.”

“I wanted to see for myself what sort of person could make Constantine abandon his obsession with reaching Heaven and willingly come to my domain instead.”

How wonderful.

Dragging someone’s soul into Hell out of pure curiosity and calling it a “visit.”

Jiang Shulan complained inwardly.

“I forgot to mention something.”

Lucifer lifted Jiang Shulan’s chin.

“In Hell, I know everything. Including every thought that crosses your mind.”

“Everything?”

“Sure.”

Jiang Shulan fell silent for several seconds.

If that was true, couldn’t he at least compensate him by sending him home immediately?

He said nothing aloud, only obediently tilted his head upward to spare himself discomfort.

His hands folded together before his chest.

His blue eyes shimmered with moisture, the corners faintly red, his lowered lashes giving him an expression of careful pleading and quiet grievance.

Lucifer shook his head.

“Unfortunately, I’m not finished amusing myself.”

Then what compensation could you offer? Aren’t you supposed to be all-powerful?

Jiang Shulan lowered his gaze again.

The blue in his eyes seemed dimmer now, like silk soaked in rain, heavy enough that tears looked ready to spill.

The sight stirred something in Lucifer.

After a moment’s thought, he spoke in a low, smooth, almost hypnotic voice.

“I can grant you strength. I can grant you authority. I can grant you status. Here, you may do whatever you wish. No one will stand in your way. No one can harm you. You would become the master of countless demons.”

And what, Lucifer wondered, would Jiang Shulan become once he possessed absolute power?

Would that pure soul finally sink into darkness, and descend with him into the abyss?

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