No One Is Allowed To Lay Eyes On The Evil God’s Precious Beauty - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: We Are One and the Same

Wu Yi stared from the balcony for a while, hesitating whether to go down. He was afraid of running into the thief and, realizing that Qing Zhu certainly didn’t need him causing trouble, he sat obediently by the window to wait.

Not long after, all the lights in that villa’s courtyard turned on. The property security guards arrived quickly, and just as a police car drove in, the door to the room behind him opened, giving him another fright.

Turning around, he saw Qing Zhu in the same clothes and with the same calm expression as when he left. Wu Yi instantly bounced up from the floor.

“How was it? How was it?”

Qing Zhu: “Taken away by the police car.”

“That’s it? Who was that person? What were they doing there?”

“Not sure.”

“Didn’t you catch him?”

“Mhm.”

“Then didn’t you interrogate him a bit?”

“Was there a need?”

Seeing his indifferent manner, Wu Yi couldn’t help but purse his lips. “You just wanted to come back early to scroll through your phone.”

Qing Zhu didn’t deny it. He lifted his hand to glance at the time on his mechanical watch and said flatly, “It’s time for you to sleep.”

After such an event, Wu Yi had no sleepiness at all. Under Qing Zhu’s gaze, he obediently brushed his teeth and sat back on the bed. He couldn’t help calling out to the man in a fawning tone: “Qingqing, sleep with me tonight. Tell me about catching that person.”

Through persistent pestering, he took the initiative to make space and got his wish.

Qing Zhu was very quiet when he slept. When he closed his eyes, he looked like a real human—he breathed, his chest rose and fell, and his body had warmth, which made Wu Yi feel very at ease.

Asking questions was just a casual excuse. After lying down, he kept pestering Qing Zhu with this and that, but his consciousness slowly began to dissipate.

“Not listening to music today?”

Hearing the question, Wu Yi answered honestly: “Shen Yue went to perform in the US.”

Qing Zhu gave a cold laugh.

Wu Yi quickly coaxed him: “You aren’t a backup! I said long ago that I wanted to sleep with you; I only didn’t ask because the bed wasn’t big enough.” You aren’t unaware that I’ve been most clingy to you since I was little.

The person beside him stopped talking. Feeling sleepiness wash over him, Wu Yi feared Qing Zhu was still angry but also feared disturbing this hard-won drowsiness. He tentatively reached out from under the quilt and grasped Qing Zhu’s hand resting by his side.

The large, burning palm and the long, firm fingers felt full of latent power.

It made him feel very secure, just like when he was little and Qing Zhu held his hand while they skipped away from the orphanage—a sense of unprecedented relaxation.

…

“Xiao Yi, Granny Chen is here.”

The teacher knocked on the classroom door. Seeing the boy in the room, Wu Yi’s eyes lit up, and he stood up to run outside.

“Be careful.” The teacher supported him, wiped his sweat-dampened cheeks from the recent activity, folded a handkerchief, and led him out by the hand.

Wu Yi never walked properly, always looking around as if he were constantly searching for someone.

He had been like this for several years. The director had taken him for a checkup and, confirming there were no issues, let it be. He was just prone to looking around and having a short attention span; it was no big deal.

Outside the main gate, an elderly woman in a gray wool sweater had been waiting for a while. Seeing Wu Yi, she revealed a smile. As he ran over happily and hugged her, she patted his back.

“Why are you running so fast?”

Wu Yi looked at her joyfully. “Granny, I missed you.”

Over the past few years, he had become particularly sweet-tongued and even more likable. The old lady rubbed his head, sighed, and tremblingly opened the cloth bag she was carrying to show him.

“I knitted a few scarves. The red and yellow ones are for you. When it gets cold, you must wrap them around your neck, or the wind will get in and you’ll catch a cold.”

Wu Yi took the red one and immediately wrapped it around his neck, his eyes shining as he looked at her. “So warm!”

Granny Chen smiled and rubbed his eyes, saying, “I specifically went to buy wool yarn; it’s soft, right? If you want anything else, tell Granny, and I’ll knit it for you.”

“It’s too much work.” Wu Yi blinked. Holding her wrinkled hand, he felt the dry cracks on it, and tears welled up in his eyes. “Granny, why don’t you buy some hand cream?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Granny Chen tried to pull her hand back.

But once Wu Yi got stubborn, no one could stop him. He insisted on pulling her into the courtyard, then ran into the dormitory himself to find the glycerin issued by the orphanage, running back out huffing and puffing.

“Granny, let me put this on you.”

“Keep it for yourself; a child’s hands are the ones that need care.”

“Just use it; they’ll give us more when we run out.” Wu Yi told a small lie and used every argument to finally make her compromise. The old and the young stood in the corridor applying hand cream. Once the dry cracks were smoothed over, the little fellow breathed a sigh of relief.

“Granny, take this back with you.”

He stuffed the bottle of glycerin into Granny Chen’s bag, meeting her immediate and stern refusal. But as soon as his lips twitched and his eyes dampened, the old lady felt pained and finally accepted it. In the end, she even had to coax Wu Yi’s tears away.

“Don’t worry, I still have more, and my hands don’t peel.” With tears still on his face, the little fellow held up his fair little hands for the Granny to see.

Granny held his hands, laughing lovingly, and rubbed the excess oil from her own hands onto his.

“The weather is getting cold. If you lack anything, tell Granny. I’ll bring things over for you in a while.”

“I don’t want that. Granny should just wait at home. Wait for me to call you; winter is too cold.”

Granny Chen laughed helplessly. “I have nothing to do staying at home.”

“Hmm, then can Granny knit me another scarf? A longer one.”

“The little sprout hasn’t even grown tall yet, and he already wants an adult’s scarf.”

Granny Chen naturally assumed he wanted it for when he grew up. Wu Yi had just passed his twelfth birthday; he was slender and tall, already having the look of a beautiful youth.

But hearing this, he shook his head. “No, it’s for a friend. He’s very tall and big.”

After saying this, he raised his hand and hopped around to demonstrate. Realizing that no matter how he jumped, he couldn’t reach that height, he turned and pointed to the corridor door.

“Hmm… a brother who is a bit taller than this.”

He was excited, but seeing Granny Chen’s surprised expression, he shut his mouth and put his hands behind his back, looking at a loss.

Shifting his gaze to the side, he could see the mass of tall black mist swirling in the air, but it said nothing.

Previously, when he had woken up groggily, a teacher asked him if he had stayed up late. He accidentally let slip that he was chatting with a “brother.” As a result, the teacher thought there was something wrong with his head. After confirming that no one in the dormitory had been talking to him, the teacher went to the director, saying they needed to check his health.

Although the teacher gently protected the child’s self-esteem, Wu Yi still sensed that he was different from others. Combined with the fact that the black mist told him not to tell anyone of its existence, Wu Yi no longer dared to show any abnormality.

But Granny Chen was someone who had almost adopted him and was still very good to him. He was terrified of seeing that “look of seeing a monster” on her face.

Lowering his head, before Wu Yi could think of how to fix his words, Granny’s cool hand rubbed the top of his head.

“Xiao Yi has such a tall, big friend? Is it someone who visited the orphanage?”

Seeing no abnormality on her face, Wu Yi breathed a massive sigh of relief: “Mhm!”

“I see. It should be a boy then? What color yarn?” Granny Chen didn’t ask further, saying thoughtfully, “I’ll buy the yarn on my way back.”

Wu Yi glanced to the side, testing: “How about… blue?”

“…”

He felt the dark shadow glance at him as soon as he spoke and quickly changed his mind. “Black… let’s go with black. He likes black.”

Granny said, “Black is too gloomy for winter. How about gray?”

“Okay!” Wu Yi agreed, then quickly reminded her, “Then you must stay obediently at home during this time. You can’t run outside when it’s cold. Aunt Lin said the days are getting dark faster and faster; it’s very cold.”

Granny Chen nodded with gratification and naturally agreed.

The two chatted for a while longer. Seeing the sky gradually darkening, Wu Yi urged the Granny to go back, skipping along to see her out the door and waving goodbye reluctantly.

After standing for a long time, the silent black mist finally manifested into the human form he was familiar with.

“Go back.”

Wu Yi’s mind was still very immature at this time. He turned and threw himself into the man’s arms. The fearful distance from when they first met had long since vanished, replaced by a habit of confiding and acting spoiled.

“Granny Chen really wanted to take me home before, but her son wouldn’t let her adopt me.”

The black mist simply let him hug it quietly. “You really want to be adopted?”

“Not at all.”

Wu Yi was no longer the submissive little daze he used to be. Curiously, since the black mist came to his side, he seemed to have gradually gained his own wit, becoming vibrant and lively. His words came out in bursts.

“You met me too late; you don’t know how popular I used to be. Every time uncles and aunties came to the orphanage wanting to adopt a child, they would look at me first! I know why—the teachers and director always praised me for being cute. But I didn’t want to be adopted by them. Hmm… they always came and left. Granny Chen wasn’t like that; she came to play with us for several days, brought snacks every day, and was very gentle. I liked her especially.”

The dark shadow: “Unfortunately, your fantasy was shattered.”

Although the little fellow was attending school, he still didn’t quite understand the meaning of those words. However, even if he didn’t understand, he caught a hint of indifferent mockery in the other’s tone.

He felt a bit aggrieved but still said honestly: “Granny Chen’s health isn’t good. Her attempt to adopt me was blocked. Actually, I don’t really want to go to her house anymore either; I don’t want to become a burden. Once I finish middle school, I will go take care of her.”

The orphanage supported them until age 15. If they had good grades and could continue studying, the orphanage would continue to pay their tuition. Wu Yi knew several university students supported by this orphanage who would come back to visit every year.

The little fellow said this while starting to count on his fingers.

“But in that case, I’ll have to work at the same time. During holidays, I can go work to earn money.”

His attitude was so serious that the dark shadow gave an imperceptible sigh.

“If you’re in such a hurry, how about working for me in the future?”

“Eh?”

“I have money.”

Wu Yi didn’t have much concept of money yet and said seriously: “That would be a very large sum of money.”

“I have as much as you want,” the dark shadow said.

In the following days, Wu Yi’s mood clearly became lighter. After receiving the scarf from the Granny in the spring, he gestured to put it on the dark shadow. Seeing a gray wool scarf hanging on a blurred mass of black mist, he was about to laugh when the body solidified and became clear in the blink of an eye.

Dark robes, long hair falling to the waist, and on that clear face, dark red long eyes like gemstones, glinting sharply.

This was the first time Wu Yi had seen his appearance clearly. He stared with wide eyes in a daze for a long time, then burst into tears with a “waaa.”

“…”

After crying for a long while and soaking his sleeves, the dark shadow couldn’t bear to watch and wiped his tears, coaxing him helplessly: “Stop crying.”

Wu Yi sniffled. His voice was muffled, but he felt a sense of guilt first. His reaction was too hurtful; he should apologize.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

He was embarrassed to admit he was scared, but fortunately, the dark shadow didn’t make him continue. It just unwrapped the scarf, folded it neatly, and put it in his cabinet.

“It fits well. Keep it for me.”

Wu Yi was still a bit fearful and nodded ignorantly. “You can wear it once you have your own real body.”

“Mhm.” The dark shadow didn’t want to continue this topic, but it made a rare promise: “Tell me how much money you want. I can’t take things for nothing.”

Thus, after that, Wu Yi gave the small gold nuggets that Qing Zhu had materialized from nowhere to Granny Chen. But she was always unwilling to accept them, so he could only quietly stuff them into Granny’s worn-out pockets before leaving.

Time passed day by day. He became more certain of his promise and began to quietly save his pocket money.

But before the day he was to leave the orphanage arrived, the news of Granny Chen’s passing came first.

During her life, Granny Chen was a frequent visitor to the orphanage and had a harmonious relationship with the staff and the director. Thus, after her death, the orphanage organized a few familiar children to attend the funeral.

Wu Yi was among them.

Having grown up, he already had a concept of death, but this was the first time he truly felt a living person disappear from his world forever. It made him very sad.

Before Granny Chen’s funeral altar, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, but he couldn’t make a sound. In the black-and-white photograph, Granny Chen still wore her usual gentle smile. He wished so much that she could appear again and say a few words to him, but it was all just a fantasy.

During that time, he was always in a daze. When he woke up startled at night, he would stare with wide eyes, not daring to move for fear of waking his roommates. Only when he saw a faint wisp of black mist appear by the window did his eyes blink and tears fall.

“I’m scared,” he said.

Qing Zhu’s body gradually enlarged. A pair of eyes seemed to be staring at him, yet he said nothing.

“Granny was very good to me, and the aunties at the orphanage are very good to me, but Granny is gone, and I am very, very sad.” Wu Yi finished, sounding a bit confused. “Granny’s kindness was for me alone, but she’s gone.”

Qing Zhu clearly didn’t know how to comfort people, saying only: “Try to look on the bright side.”

“Will you die too?” Wu Yi suddenly asked very bluntly.

“No,” Qing Zhu gave him a reassuring answer.

“Then will you leave?”

“No.” He paused here, seemingly to comfort the ignorant child, and spoke the truth: “I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. We are one and the same.”

It was unclear if Wu Yi grasped his meaning, but after hearing the last sentence, his eyes clearly lit up. His blue pupils, still shimmering with tears, gave off a sense of relief, as if he were happy that he could finally hold onto something.

…

A series of bells woke Wu Yi from his oppressive dream. He opened his eyes sleepily, his mood not yet returned to normal, only to realize the person on the other side of the bed was gone.

Soon, the doorbell downstairs also fell silent, as if Qing Zhu had gone to open the door.

Sitting up dazed and seeing the breeze blowing the gauze curtains, he suddenly recalled everything that happened last night. Hearing no sign of Qing Zhu returning for a long time, he turned and saw his phone still on the bedside table. He immediately jumped out of bed and walked barefoot to the window to look downstairs.

Several strangers, men and women, were standing in the courtyard looking toward the main door, seemingly saying something to Qing Zhu.

The distance was a bit far, and he couldn’t hear clearly, but he vaguely saw a man in a thin sweatshirt walk into the yard. The man looked around and finally, as if sensing something, suddenly looked up toward his direction.

Unable to duck away in time, their eyes met. Wu Yi felt a bit awkward, but looking clearly at the man’s face, he inexplicably sensed a trace of familiarity.

It felt like he had seen him somewhere before.

The man stared at him for two seconds, gave a very polite smile, and then turned his attention back to the door.

By the time Wu Yi changed his clothes, brushed his teeth, and went downstairs, the group had already left. He couldn’t help but follow Qing Zhu around asking questions, only to receive simple answers.

“They came to say thank you. They also gave you two crates of fruit.”

Wu Yi saw the crates at the door; they were imported fruits, still carrying a faint chill.

“So who was that person last night exactly?”

“Don’t know.”

Qing Zhu was neither knowledgeable nor curious about these matters, and since Wu Yi hadn’t instructed him in advance to ask questions, he simply accepted their gratitude and sent the group away.

“You just drove them away!” Wu Yi was shocked.

Qing Zhu returned to the room and picked up his forgotten phone, giving him a humored look. “Weren’t you almost crying after being yelled at by someone yesterday? Are you still unhappy today?”

Wu Yi’s cheeks flushed. “I’ve already forgotten about it! And there were so many people just now; it wasn’t good.”

Qing Zhu didn’t care.

Throughout the day, Wu Yi couldn’t help but frequently look toward the neighbor’s house. Although the distance was far and he couldn’t see anything clearly, he was still uneasy.

Does this count as starting off on the wrong foot with the neighbors? Will they secretly throw rotten eggs at us in the future?

This anxiety lasted until the guests began to arrive at noon. After Wen Ya and Lin Fenran arrived, Li Qingquan, A-Mu, and Cen Yue arrived one after another, along with two friends from school who Wu Yi got along well with.

Fu Liuye was working overtime, and Shen Yue had work commitments but sent a housewarming gift in advance. Regardless, the villa was plenty lively.

Wu Yi was chatting in the living room with Cen Yue and Wen Ya when the doorbell suddenly rang. Li Qingquan ran to open the door but suddenly let out an exclamation.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

A-Mu had his arm around Wu Yi’s shoulder but rounded the entrance after hearing the sound, also looking startled. “Whoa, it’s a celebrity.”

“Where? Where?” Wen Ya sat up straight.

“Hello, is the owner of this house in?” A smiling young male voice drifted in.

Wu Yi walked dazed to the entrance and saw the man he had seen from upstairs this morning standing outside. Seeing him, the man also offered a timely smile.

“I’m truly sorry about yesterday. That was a friend of mine. We had a bit of a disagreement while discussing business yesterday and he took it out on you. I hope you aren’t angry. I heard you just moved in a few days ago; this is a housewarming gift I specifically brought. I hope you can accept it and forget our previous unpleasantness.”

Wu Yi was overwhelmed by the favor. He could see that the person before him had a very outstanding face under light makeup. Although he couldn’t remember which drama he had seen this person in, he still happily accepted the gift.

“Thank you. Actually, I’m not angry.”

As he spoke, he felt lucky that Qing Zhu found the noise downstairs bothersome and stayed upstairs alone. Otherwise, hearing this sentence, he would surely mock him again.

“That’s good. Is it convenient to add your contact information? You can come to me for anything; neighbors should look out for each other in the future.”

Wu Yi naturally agreed. He turned to look for his phone, only to see Cen Jin handing it over just in time.

“Thanks, Xiao Jin.” After saying that, Wu Yi scanned the man’s account. He saw the name was a white poplar tree emoji, and the profile picture was a photo of sunlight filtering through a tree canopy.

“Then let’s chat when we have time. I wish you a happy party.”

The man smiled and nodded to them, then turned and left without staying longer.

“He left so fast. I was going to ask if he wanted to stay for dinner,” Li Qingquan said regretfully.

As soon as he said it, Wu Yi realized he had lacked manners again.

“Forget it. You’d better not get involved with someone like that,” said A-Mu, who was tasting a dessert. “He isn’t a good person.”

“Is there tea?” Wen Ya’s eyes lit up.

A-Mu pinched Wu Yi’s face. “Do you know what his name is?”

Wu Yi shook his head blankly; he still hadn’t remembered.

“Lin Baiyang. Search for it yourself online.”

Several young people instantly became excited. Cen Yue, sitting on the sofa, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but leaned over to look at Lin Fenran’s search page to join in the gossip.

“Holy crap! Are these things real or fake?”

“It’s unclear what’s real or fake online, but the ones that made a big scene have some basis.” A-Mu glanced at Wu Yi, who was still typing. “Only one thing is certain: his private life is indeed quite messy, and he only likes beautiful men. These facts don’t make much of a splash online, but people in the industry have mostly heard his name. I had a designer friend who was pursued by him. How should I put it… he looks very gentle and easygoing on the surface, but his methods of pursuit are a bit extreme. So, I suggest Xiao Yi stay away from him.”

As his voice fell, everyone’s gaze toward Wu Yi became complicated. Even Li Qingquan withdrew his previous praise for Lin Baiyang without hesitation. “Pah! He’s not handsome at all; he looks like he has a kidney deficiency!”

Wu Yi blinked. Just as the search results for Lin Baiyang popped up and he clicked in, he noticed the hall fell silent for a moment.

He looked up and found that Qing Zhu had suddenly come downstairs.

The topic was tactfully dropped. After greetings, everyone sat scattered. Cen Yue and Li Qingquan were relatively familiar with Qing Zhu and chatted with him casually, so the atmosphere wasn’t too strange. When Fu Liuye arrived, everyone played and made merry for the evening. Almost everyone had brought alcohol. When it ended, various wine bottles were scattered across the floor, and even Qing Zhu had given face and drunk quite a bit.

When it finally ended and everyone left, Li Qingquan stayed in a first-floor guest room at Wu Yi’s insistence.

As night fell, the house that had been noisy during the day finally grew quiet.

While tidying his clothes, Wu Yi was still thinking about A-Mu’s warning before he left—to be careful of Lin Baiyang and to find an opportunity to delete him directly. Qing Zhu was nearby at the time; he didn’t know if he had heard.

However, he didn’t plan to tell Qing Zhu about this right now. After all, the man had drunk quite a bit today and had become even more taciturn than usual, which Wu Yi found very interesting. He planned to tease him a bit when it was time for bed.

Could he be drunk?

He couldn’t help but imagine Qing Zhu acting like a “drunk fool,” but he realized he couldn’t picture it at all, so he gave up.

While taking a shower, he held the thought of quietly deleting Lin Baiyang in a few days. He didn’t know that his phone, currently charging, was frequently lighting up because someone was sending messages, attracting Qing Zhu’s attention.

White Poplar: [Hi, is your party over? It sounded very lively. I also really like lively places. If you like it, can I invite you to a party later?]

White Poplar: [By the way, I haven’t asked your name yet. Haha, I was too busy looking at your face. You really are good-looking.]

“…”

The man looked down at those two messages. His well-defined fingers rested on the side as he scrolled down. A few hints of complex deep thought surfaced in his cold gaze.

The slight hint in the messages caused an inexplicable irritability to rise in his heart—perhaps not just because of the wine he had tasted tonight after a long time, but simply because of the content of the texts.

Turning his gaze toward the closed bathroom door, he was very puzzled. Why were there always so many people staring at Wu Yi? Within that puzzlement, there was also a trace of uncalled-for displeasure.

It was impossible to manage them all. If only all these troubles could be solved…