After Redeeming the Paranoid Villain [Transmigration] - Chapter 4

After a day of exhaustion, Su Yu was completely spent. Upon returning to his room, he drifted into a hazy sleep almost as soon as he lay on the bed.

In the depths of sleep, Su Yu seemed to feel a trace of coldness. He subconsciously curled into a ball as if guarding himself against an unseen threat. Since he was very young, Su Yu had known how to resist the cold and how to maximize his endurance against the chill that seeped into his bones.

The temperature of the air conditioner seemed to drop a few degrees further. In his dream, Su Yu frowned slightly. His handsome lips were pale, giving him the appearance of a precious object on an expensive display stand, beautiful yet incredibly fragile, making one instinctively want to cherish him.

Su Yu dreamed of scenes from his childhood again. He was walking down a deserted street. The street was so dark that it felt suffocating and made him tremble. There was no light at all, only an endless, all-encompassing cold.

In the blur of the dream, a beam of light seemed to shine toward him. Before Su Yu could react, a flash of blood and pain appeared before his eyes, and he finally sank into total darkness.

In the room, Su Yu snapped his eyes open. As if by instinct, he sat up while clutching his right arm. Cold sweat had already formed on his forehead. He looked up at the central air conditioning unit on the ceiling. It turned out that he had lowered the temperature before sleeping and forgotten to adjust it back.

Su Yu sighed softly and released his arm. He closed his eyes, struggling to forget everything that had just happened in his dream. He propped his head up with his hand. Although he appeared fine on the surface, anyone looking closely would have noticed the slight trembling of his fingertips. He seemed to be terrified of something.

Su Yu fumbled to turn on the lights. He licked his dry lips and glanced at the spot where he had just been sleeping. He seemed to remember something, laughed self-deprecatingly, and turned to walk toward the door.

Su Yu rarely had such dreams anymore, but whenever he woke up from a nightmare, he would always pour himself a glass of water. He used the time it took to drink the water to calm himself down.

It was now the early hours of the morning. The servants in the villa had already gone to rest, leaving only a few corridor lights to stand a lonely guard over the night.

Su Yu tried to find his way downstairs based on his memory. However, because the butler had led him to his room while he was preoccupied with thoughts of Gu Chen, he had not paid attention to the route. Now that he needed it, he realized he had forgotten where the stairs were located.

Su Yu looked down the seemingly endless corridor and sighed in sorrow, silently cursing Gu Chen’s excessive hedonism. Should a house not just be big enough to live in? Why does Gu Chen need such a massive house all to himself? Is he not afraid of seeing ghosts in the middle of the night?

Adopting a resigned attitude, Su Yu wandered through the large villa like a headless fly. In the darkness, he thought he saw a flickering light coming from the direction of the balcony, accompanied by a faint sound. Su Yu felt a surge of joy, thinking someone must be there, and quickened his pace.

It was not until he reached the balcony and saw the silhouette in the wheelchair that Su Yu realized who it was. He also realized that the flickering light was a cigarette held between Gu Chen’s fingers.

Just as Su Yu wanted to turn and flee, Gu Chen turned his wheelchair to look behind him. At that moment, their eyes met, and Su Yu’s retreating figure froze.

In the darkness, Gu Chen gave Su Yu a single look before turning his gaze back. He raised his hand to put the cigarette in his mouth and asked indistinctly, “What are you doing over here?”

Su Yu looked at Gu Chen’s back. Although he could not see his expression, he felt the sadness emanating from the man in that brief instant. Gu Chen seemed to be hiding himself in the darkness.

“Why did you come over?” Gu Chen’s voice sounded again in the dark, carrying a faint scent of tobacco that drifted around Su Yu.

“I wanted a drink of water,” Su Yu hesitated before speaking, “but I got lost.”

A soft chuckle suddenly came from beside him. It was a laugh devoid of mockery or contempt, just a genuine sound of amusement. However, that laugh caused Su Yu to freeze in place.

Gu Chen turned his wheelchair, rested his hand lightly on the frame, and propped up his chin. A trace of the smile remained at the corner of his mouth. “You got lost?”

Su Yu’s ears turned red. He was thankful there was no light around to reveal his embarrassment.

Looking at Su Yu, the frustration that had plagued Gu Chen for days suddenly vanished for some reason. He reached out and extinguished the cigarette.

“Let us go. I will lead you downstairs,” Gu Chen’s usually cold voice rang out, and if one listened closely, it seemed to carry a hint of pleasure.

Su Yu followed closely behind Gu Chen, careful not to walk faster than him. Suddenly, Gu Chen stopped the wheelchair and turned to look at the timid Su Yu following him.

“Why are you walking so slowly?”

At the sound of Gu Chen’s voice, Su Yu stopped instinctively. He looked blankly at Gu Chen and asked, “What?”

Su Yu’s dazed, slow-witted expression clearly amused Gu Chen, who let out another soft laugh.

The sound of Gu Chen’s laughter made Su Yu’s body tremble. He wailed inwardly, Big boss, please stop laughing. When other people laugh, it is charming, but when you laugh, it feels like there is a knife hidden in it. The more you laugh, the more scared I get. It is better if you keep your cold, distant persona.

Unfortunately, Gu Chen could not hear Su Yu’s thoughts. Instead, he asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

Su Yu’s heart was nodding frantically, but when he looked at Gu Chen, he shook his head vigorously. He forced an incredibly stiff smile and said, “How is that possible? You must be mistaken.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Gu Chen tilted his head and looked at Su Yu with a half-smile that appeared even more terrifying to Su Yu.

In that moment, Su Yu was already imagining various ways he might die on the spot.

“The elevator is open. Let us go.”

Just as Su Yu was struggling to overcome his inner fear and ignore Gu Chen’s terrifying smile, the elevator arrived, mercifully ending the topic.

Su Yu kept his body tense and pressed himself into the farthest corner of the elevator, terrified of even brushing against Gu Chen. During the descent, Su Yu curiously observed his surroundings. The Gu family was incredibly wealthy; not only was the house enormous, but even the elevator was much larger than a standard one. Su Yu suspected a bed could fit inside it.

“Have you not heard?” Gu Chen’s voice echoed in the spacious elevator.

“Heard what?” Su Yu asked, snapping out of his shock over the size of the elevator.

“The horror stories about elevators,” Gu Chen said with a mischievous smile.

Gu Chen’s characteristically cold voice filled the empty space. “I heard that when riding an elevator, the person standing closest to the inner wall can see things that others cannot.”

Gu Chen paused and gave Su Yu a meaningful look. “I just wonder if the coldness you feel against your back is the elevator wall or something else entirely.”

The emptiness of the elevator combined with Gu Chen’s chilly voice made the atmosphere incredibly eerie. Especially when meeting Gu Chen’s deep, bottomless gaze, Su Yu felt his hair stand on end. He forced a smile and stammered, “That is just a story. It cannot be true.”

“That remains to be seen,” Gu Chen said meaningfully. He turned around and stopped looking at Su Yu, but a faint smile played in his eyes where Su Yu could not see it.

Following Gu Chen’s words, Su Yu felt his fingertips trembling. His back was stiff with the fear that the coldness he felt behind him was not the coldness of a steel plate. He stared fixedly at the floor numbers. As the red light approached the number one, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, before he could fully relax, the elevator suddenly jolted. The lights flickered weakly a few times and then plunged into total darkness.

Gu Chen sat in his wheelchair and pressed the elevator buttons a few times. He spoke calmly, “The power is out.”

Gu Chen intentionally paused after speaking, but there was no response from Su Yu behind him.

“Do you have a phone with you?” Gu Chen searched his pockets and realized he had left his phone in his room because it was an inconvenience. He only had a pack of cigarettes.

After a long silence, Su Yu’s voice came from the back of the elevator: “No.”

His voice was very soft, but in the dark, enclosed space, Gu Chen’s hearing felt magnified. He could hear the faint trembling in Su Yu’s voice. Suddenly, Gu Chen felt a sharp, inexplicable pang of pain in his heart.

Gu Chen reached into his pocket and pulled out the lighter he had used earlier. The sound of the lighter lid flickered, and a weak flame gradually illuminated the dark space. Gu Chen finally saw Su Yu.

Su Yu was squatting on the floor, clutching his legs in the corner of the elevator in a defensive posture. The moment the light appeared, Su Yu looked up.

Gu Chen’s hand holding the lighter trembled. He saw the tear stains at the corners of Su Yu’s eyes. Su Yu was biting his lip hard, seemingly trying to suppress a sob. He looked up at Gu Chen with red eyes, looking as though all his life and vitality had been drained away.

In the flickering light, Su Yu’s eyes were unfocused. He looked at Gu Chen and murmured, “Gu Chen, it is so dark outside.”