31

Holding breath in the sink felt nothing like holding it in the bathtub.

Suffocation came especially fast and fierce. Cold water flowed past his ears; his heartbeat sounded as clear underwater as if it were right beside him.

Jiang Luo counted to ten in his head. Each second stretched four or five times longer than it should. The loss of oxygen tensed his whole body. Eyes closed, he focused, waiting for the near-death state to arrive.

The room plastered with Spirit Papers looked like the site of some grand dark ritual. Time ticked past. After one minute, every Spirit Paper in the room suddenly fluttered upward as if struck by a violent blow.

The papers rustled. The dark-haired young man in the bathtub heard it but paid it no mind. His eyes were shut. His clothes drifted and curled with the water's ripples. The blue veins on the backs of his clenched fists seemed to dissolve into the water itself, weaving with the fine strands of his black hair into a strange, eerie beauty.

Bang—

Another heavy blow. The bathroom door seemed to shudder for a moment, and one of the Spirit Papers affixed to it suddenly caught fire.

The creature outside seemed to be held back for a moment, but ten seconds later it was slamming against the bathroom again.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Jiang Luo's face had already flushed faintly. The oxygen-starved sensation traveled from his limbs straight to his heart. His body instinctively wanted to grip the edge of the tub and rise, but the two-minute alarm hadn't sounded yet.

Being fully submerged stirred an unease. His heart raced, burning through oxygen faster. Jiang Luo was already nearing his limit.

His thoughts scattered. In the darkness before his eyes, the small black dots seemed to slowly bleed into white specks. Some unfathomable sensation pulled him into another world, and the agony of drowning seemed to ease for a moment.

He didn't know if he was about to die or about to succeed, but Jiang Luo's limbs had gone lead-heavy and useless.

His heartbeat plummeted — from racing to barely there. Life visibly ebbed, fading, decaying.

...

'Jiang Luo, you got first place!'

Lu You slapped the bathroom door, his face full of joy. When he got no response, his heart skipped a beat. Listening to the sound of water inside, he had a vague sense of foreboding. Lu You threw himself against the door and forced it open. When he saw what was in the bathroom, his pupils contracted sharply.

His breath caught. He lunged forward and hauled Jiang Luo out of the water. Fury and dread made his hands tremble. 'What are you doing!'

Oxygen flooded back into his body. Jiang Luo choked and coughed weakly. Water streamed off him back into the tub. Lu Youyi thumped his back hard, then draped a towel over his shoulders and half-carried him out of the bathroom.

Jiang Luo, supported weakly, glanced sidelong at the Yin-Yang Ring on his hand.

Failed.

Was it because there was no external threat pressing in, so he couldn't break through the boundary between life and death, and thus couldn't activate the Yin-Yang Ring?

A thoughtful look flickered in Jiang Luo's eyes.

Lu Youyi set him on the sofa, bustled around pouring him hot water, fetching an Oxygen Tank, then called the others with a stern face. 'Jiang Luo tried to kill himself. He's planning to die with Chi You.'

Jiang Luo: '...'

He tugged at the towel on his shoulder and felt a headache coming on.

One call after another. When Lu Youyi called Ge Zhu, Ge Zhu happened to be sharing some chicken soup for the soul with Teacher Wan. He panicked at the news, stood up hurriedly, and said, 'Teacher, Jiang Luo is planning to die for Chi You — I'll head over right now to talk him down!'

Teacher Wan was stunned for a moment, then called a familiar contact: 'Old Xu, ah, it's our first-place Jiang Luo. This kid is too devoted — he just...'

Within a minute, everyone had gathered in Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi's room. Jiang Luo sat on the sofa in a daze, drawing on his multitasking skills from dealing with clients.

Lectures, scolding, consolation — seven people, seven different approaches.

But once everything had been said, the mood was still heavy. Zhuo Zhongqiu leaned against the wall, arms folded coldly. 'Jiang Luo, do you love Chi You that much?'

Jiang Luo said nothing.

'You still have your whole life ahead of you,' Lu Youyi burst out, furious. 'Chi You is dead! Stop being so stubborn!'

Jiang Luo tried to speak but no sound came out. He cleared his throat, then said hoarsely, 'I just...' He fell silent for a moment. His eyes were bloodshot from the drowning, and the dark-haired young man said, haggard and weak, 'I just miss him too much.'

'He hasn't come to see me in so long,' the dark-haired young man said, listless. 'I don't know what to do.'

Ye Xun frowned. 'What's so good about Chi You, exactly?'

Jiang Luo couldn't answer that. He gave a feeble smile in lieu of a response.

The group was torn between heartache and rising fury at his state. Even Jiang Luo's first-place finish had lost its original joy.

Zhuo Zhongqiu said coldly, 'We'll stay with you tonight. If this happens again, Jiang Luo, we'll perform Transcendence on Chi You directly. You'll never see him again.'

Jiang Luo blinked. 'Transcendence on him?'

Since Jiang Luo was willing to kill himself for Chi You, Zhuo Zhongqiu had no choice but to use Chi You as leverage to keep him alive. 'Chi You has become a malicious ghost. We don't know how strong he is, but there are seven of us — no ghost, however powerful, can stand against all of us together. Jiang Luo, I mean it. If there's a next time, I won't hold back.'

Jiang Luo slowly lowered his head. His shoulders trembled faintly twice. 'I understand.'

The others assumed he was crying and felt a pang. Wenren Lian sighed. 'Sleep. When you wake up, we'll act as if this never happened.'

Jiang Luo lay down on the bed. Ye Xun turned off the light. The others stepped outside to discuss things.

Jiang Luo pulled the blanket over his head and burst out laughing. The blanket shook with him. He laughed with abandon.

Once he'd had his fill, he slipped out of bed, cleaned up the Spirit Papers in the bathroom, and returned to bed.

When he was preparing to drown, Chi You had indeed come.

If not for the Spirit Papers, Jiang Luo would likely have suffered the malicious ghost's retaliation.

This should have been something to be grateful for, but now Jiang Luo actually felt a touch of regret that his Spirit Papers had blocked Chi You's assault.

At the brink of death, Jiang Luo had indeed felt something strange — as if his soul and body were about to separate. But the sensation was too faint; before he could investigate, it vanished without a trace.

He closed his eyes to rest, his left hand rubbing the Yin-Yang Ring on his right.

It seemed this relatively safe near-death state couldn't activate the Yin-Yang Ring.

His hunger for power led Jiang Luo to even think, 'It would've been better if Chi You had pushed the door open back then.'

He laughed softly to himself. Beneath his tightly shut eyelids, his eyeballs moved slowly.

Chi You...

Perhaps he really could be made use of.

*

The night passed. Early the next morning, the Baihua University group boarded their return flight.

The moment he was off the plane, Jiang Luo got a call from his original body's shifu, Chen Pi, who told him to come to his house as soon as possible — there was something to discuss.

Jiang Luo took a cab to Chen Pi's home. The moment he walked in, he was received with warm hospitality. Chen Pi, who had always been indifferent toward the original body's occupant, was unusually warm this time — after asking about his studies and the Competition, he inquired about his daily meals.

Jiang Luo was kept there until evening before Chen Pi let him go, earnestly urging him before he left: 'Make sure you have time free tomorrow.'

Jiang Luo felt suspicion stir, but smiled composedly. 'All right. I understand.'

It was getting late, so Chen Pi lent Jiang Luo a car so he could get back to School sooner. Jiang Luo had been drinking and couldn't drive, and didn't want to trouble Chen Pi's household. Once he'd pulled the car to the side of the road, he sat in the passenger seat and called for a designated driver.

The driver arrived quickly, got into the driver's seat without a word, and only asked after starting the car, 'Where to, sir?'

Jiang Luo squinted and yawned lightly. 'Baihua University.'

He rummaged through the car's storage compartments and luckily fished out an unopened pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Jiang Luo curled up the corner of his mouth and cheerfully lit one.

The driver smiled. 'Smoking in the car — if anything happens, the whole vehicle will explode.'

His voice dropped lower, his smile grew more pronounced. That low voice scraped past the ear. 'Boom — torn to pieces.'

Jiang Luo paused. Cigarette between his fingers, he glanced at the driver through the haze of smoke — and saw a pair of eyes brimming with malice, like the depths of an abyss.