After My Death, the Protagonist Broke Character - Chapter 9

Xie Shoushan had lost his patience. He pointed his finger at the building and made a subtle gesture. The space seemed to distort in response to his movement, and the man who had just been speaking was violently slammed against the wall.

He frowned, not entirely satisfied with his own ability. He still couldn’t control his power with absolute precision; a slight lapse in focus could easily cause a spatial distortion that would crush these people’s bodies into pulp. Though he felt it didn’t matter, he didn’t want Huaisi to find out about such things after regaining consciousness. He simply threw them all out of the building, tearing apart their sanctuary and leaving them completely exposed to danger.

However, seeing the zombies closing in, he felt a flicker of confusion. He looked back at Huaisi in his arms, who was still burying his head, immersed in his own turmoil. Xie Shoushan tightened his grip on him.

It doesn’t matter. Whether human or zombie as long as they intended to harm Huaisi, he would never let them off.

He began to manipulate space more recklessly, as if an invisible, transparent dome had shrouded the zombies. He started experimenting; he knew his ability well enough if he hadn’t lacked the complete development of his power, he wouldn’t have been forced to temporarily flee from that cursed ability user earlier.

He began to accumulate experience. With a few flicks of his fingers, he manipulated space, discovering that his ability was far more than simple distortion. He could even seize control of direction. For a time, all the zombies and people within the range of his ability lost all sense of direction. They wandered aimlessly in circles, bumping into walls, unable to find their way around, with the dumber ones repeatedly crashing into the same wall.

Xie Shoushan seemed to have discovered a new function. His slender fingers swept gracefully through the air like a conductor waving a baton. With another stroke, a deep chasm appeared in the air, dark as a black hole, bottomless. He swiped his fingertips across a zombie’s head, and a black chasm appeared; the zombie’s head fell off instantly, and the crystal inside dropped out, but the body vanished as if it had fallen into a void. He repeated this motion for several more zombies; some lost limbs, others were torn apart, but all traces of them vanished, as if transported to another space.

Many of the investigation team’s ability users had already fallen, leaving only the high-level user Zhai Zi’an and a few low-level personnel who weren’t primary combatants. Seeing Xie Shoushan’s methods and the way he toyed with the zombies as if they were playthings, they were filled with a profound sense of fear.

Zhai Zi’an had wanted to wait and see after all, he was the only high-level ability user left besides the Minister but Xie Shoushan had already noticed them. In his eyes, these investigation team members were as repulsive as flies.

Even the mindless zombies knew to group up and attack humans, yet these humans were killing each other, abandoning their companions to run for their own lives.

How laughable.

A murderous intent flashed through Xie Shoushan’s eyes. His fingers twitched, but he felt that killing them this easily was letting them off too lightly.

I want them to suffer even more!

Just as he was about to create another chasm, he felt Huaisi trembling in his arms. He stopped immediately, sensing Huaisi was trying his best to hold something back.

“Heh…” Xie Shoushan sneered. He picked up Huaisi and walked out of the shelter as if no one were there. No one dared to block him; or more accurately, no one could block him. Zhai Zi’an had barely taken a step when he realized his hand was gone!

The other members of the investigation team realized their own injuries as well they had all lost parts of their bodies. They were paralyzed with terror, unable to comprehend how this had happened. Zhai Zi’an, as a high-level ability user, could likely guess that this was Xie Shoushan’s doing.

“Damn it!! When the Minister returns, none of these people will escape!” Zhai Zi’an gripped his severed hand, glaring viciously in the direction Xie Shoushan had departed.

Xie Shoushan brought Huaisi back to the residential building, only to a different room.

He stroked Huaisi’s hair, explaining, “The previous room isn’t fit to live in anymore. I moved us to the floor below. Don’t worry, the layout is exactly the same.”

However, Huaisi had already buried his face in the hollow of his neck, beginning to drink. Xie Shoushan simply stroked his hair over and over, a look of ultimate relief finally appearing on his handsome face.

After realizing Huaisi was missing, he had thought it over and examined the scene, concluding that it was highly likely Huaisi had left on his own. This realization had filled him with ecstasy it meant Huaisi might possess consciousness! It wasn’t hard to guess that Huaisi would return to the shelter. But on the way, he had encountered that troublesome ability user again, which had cost him time; otherwise, he wouldn’t have let Huaisi fall into such a predicament.

Thinking of that ability user put Xie Shoushan in a foul mood. That person carried a scent he loathed; he would definitely kill him next time.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Shoushan felt Huaisi stop and asked softly.

Huaisi gritted his teeth, attempting to resist the instinct of “hunger.” Because of Xie Shoushan’s blood, he had regained a shred of reason.

It cannot continue like this. He had to control this situation. If he couldn’t control his thirst for blood, he would inevitably give in to his instincts and tear others apart.

Huaisi trembled, his gritted teeth clattering together. He planted his hands on Xie Shoushan’s shoulders, struggling desperately to control himself.

Xie Shoushan looked at him with deep concern, stroking his hair. “Why did you stop? Are you not feeling well?”

Huaisi shook his head, his body still shaking. He whipped his head away, fighting the “hunger” wracking his body. He gripped Xie Shoushan’s shoulders tightly, struggling to open his mouth, his voice trembling, broken, hoarse, and ugly.

“…Kil… kill… me…”

Xie Shoushan was startled. His pitch-black eyes widened slightly. As he looked at Huaisi, a gratified smile slowly bloomed on his face.

“Huaisi, you finally spoke!” He hugged Huaisi tightly, his smile as pure and radiant as a young boy in the first throes of love.

Huaisi was stunned by the sight of that smile. For a moment, he forgot what he had just said, and his body even stopped shaking. As he stared straight at Xie Shoushan, the other man laughed even more joyfully, though the tips of his ears turned a faint, shy red.

A single thought drifted through Huaisi’s brain: He’s such a fool.

Previously, Xie Shoushan had assumed Huaisi was mindless, doing everything out of his own devotion. Now, learning that Huaisi possessed self-awareness and could even talk and being stared at so intensely he felt a sense of bewilderment. He simply hugged Huaisi tightly, burying his face in Huaisi’s neck to hide his emotions. His long, unkempt black hair looked like a giant, disarmed puppy nuzzling against his cheek.

A muffled voice came from Huaisi’s neck, calling his name.

“Huaisi…”

Huaisi suddenly forgot what he had been trying to do. His reason was limited, especially now that his brain was that of a zombie.

Right, I wanted Xie Shoushan to kill me. After all, the plot had to proceed; after Xie Shoushan killed him, the emotional turmoil should have triggered his ability’s advancement. But Xie Shoushan’s current reaction had left him completely baffled. Is this pure, lovestruck boy really the protagonist, Xie Shoushan?

No… wait. He remembered that when he first picked up Xie Shoushan, the kid had indeed been a silent, prickly hedgehog. But after gaining his trust, Xie Shoushan had always clung to him. He had initially mistaken it for deep brotherly love, but now it seemed Xie Shoushan had been holding back back then.

Xie Shoushan gazed at Huaisi and even considerately offered his own neck to Huaisi’s blood-stained lips. “Huaisi, you aren’t full yet, are you? Eat mine.”

He said with a smile, “It’s fine, I recover very quickly. You know my healing ability.”

The blood and flesh beneath the vessels of Xie Shoushan’s neck smelled so divine it was enough to make one swoon, but this time, Huaisi firmly pressed his lips together, refusing to take another drop.

This cannot go on!!

Huaisi realized that Xie Shoushan wouldn’t kill him for the time being. If that was the case, he had to create the conditions to move the plot forward.

After learning he had self-awareness, Xie Shoushan no longer used chains to restrict his movements. He saw the pale, inflamed tissue on Huaisi’s right ankle, froze for a moment, bit his lip, and carefully pulled Huaisi’s foot into his arms as if this could make Huaisi’s flesh grow back. But Huaisi’s body remained ice-cold, devoid of any sign of life.

Yet, Xie Shoushan didn’t leave the house again. For several days, he stayed inside. Occasionally, Huaisi would stare out the window, lost in thought.

“Huaisi, you won’t leave, right?”

He sounded like an anxious soul seeking comfort.

Huaisi looked at him, meeting those pitch-black eyes. Xie Shoushan seemed to have returned to the day they first met that hedgehog, anxiously seeking affirmation.

Xie Shoushan needed him to go along with it. Instinctively, just as he had in their past interactions, he nodded, but he didn’t say a word.

The next day, when Xie Shoushan returned, he saw the empty room once again, the broken window, and glass scattered on the floor. There were stains of dark red blood on the glass.

Xie Shoushan stood before the window, watching the three-story drop in silence. His pitch-black eyes were like an abyss, swallowing every thought whole.