The Beautiful Top Being Pursued Relentlessly [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 4

After lunch, the ever-diligent Jiang Yi cleared the table, his movements quick and efficient as he wiped down the cutlery.

He was using disposable wet wipes he’d scavenged and hoarded from that supermarket. Xie Cheng helped him pack up, but seeing him obsessively scrub the two porcelain bowls over and over, he couldn’t help but speak up. “There’s no need to bring those. We’ll find others.”

“But the patterns on these are so pretty.” Jiang Yi scurried to Xie Cheng’s side, clutching the small bowls. He lowered his head and nudged Xie Cheng’s shoulder affectionately. “Look, they’re really nice, aren’t they?”

The movement was so fast that by the time Xie Cheng reacted, the mop of hair was already pulling away. He stared at the crown of Jiang Yi’s head for a moment before shifting his gaze to the “pretty” bowls.

They were two ordinary white porcelain bowls, hand-painted with blooming white hydrangeas near the rim. The flowers were large, taking up nearly half the surface.

Tacky was Xie Cheng’s first thought.

But Jiang Yi held them with both hands, his eyes glued to the pair as he tilted his head this way and that, admiring them from every angle. “Just use your magic to put them away,” he muttered.

He’d gone to great lengths to pick these out; they were a matching set.

Xie Cheng was slightly taller than Jiang Yi. From his vantage point, he could see the red ring around Jiang Yi’s loosened collar—the marks from where he had choked him earlier. The bruising hadn’t faded yet.

Xie Cheng’s gaze lingered there for a long time, only shifting away when Jiang Yi adjusted his collar and looked up with a shy, expectant grin.

“Give them here, you child,” Xie Cheng said flatly.

Jiang Yi immediately pressed the flowered bowls into Xie Cheng’s palm. In the blink of an eye, the pair vanished into his storage space. The hydrangea tattoo on Xie Cheng’s wrist gave a faint, rhythmic pulse of light.

“So beautiful,” Jiang Yi whispered, bending down to stare unblinkingly at the mark on the wrist.

He was uncomfortably close, but Xie Cheng found it hard to scold him. However, the warmth of Jiang Yi’s breath puffing against his wrist made him feel an odd, itching sensation.

As Xie Cheng instinctively tried to pull back, Jiang Yi suddenly grabbed his arm in a death grip. Before he knew it, the other man had practically burrowed into him, clinging like a limpet. “That was amazing,” Jiang Yi murmured right into his ear.

“Jiang Yi.” Xie Cheng stumbled back a step, grabbing the man’s shoulders to steady himself.

Taking advantage of the movement, Jiang Yi’s hands slid naturally to Xie Cheng’s waist. His mouth ran a mile a minute. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean it!”

The moment Xie Cheng regained his footing, Jiang Yi snapped his hands back and stood there looking like the picture of innocence.

Xie Cheng looked down at his now-rumpled shirt and coldly smoothed out the hem. “Is everyone at the Rising Sun Base like you? Unable to even stand up straight?”

“I said I was sorry.”

Jiang Yi’s voice was clear and bright, but when he lowered it to act spoiled, it sounded like melting honey—sweet, but not cloying. The trailing end of his words seemed to tickle Xie Cheng’s heart.

Xie Cheng frowned. “Stop acting like a pouting child.”

“Sorry, sorry, really sorry,” Jiang Yi droned even lower, stretching each syllable out like pulled taffy.

Xie Cheng walked away with a dark expression, picking up a wooden stick as he headed toward the wrecked car.

System 222 chimed in: [New Lead, I’ve detected a fluctuation in your emotional state. Do you require.

I do not, Xie Cheng, cut the system off. Furthermore, do not interrupt me during work hours. As an officially registered system of this realm, I find your lack of basic professional etiquette staggering.

222: Sniff

New Lead, why do you scold me but not Jiang Yi? It’s not fair!

 It knew how to act spoiled too.

Don’t talk to me about fairness.

222 mimicked Jiang Yi’s tone: Waaaah.

Xie Cheng blocked the noisy system, only to hear another annoying yet somewhat more pleasant voice.

“Xie Cheng? Xie Cheng, Xie Cheng.”

Jiang Yi called out tirelessly, his eyes brimming with a hidden smile. He reached up to his collar and rubbed the red marks on his neck firmly. Hmm. It seems the immortal has a soft spot for this.

The sky grew heavy and dim, a silent warning as a thin, drizzling rain began to fall. It carried a faint, putrid stench.

The car, already weakened by acid rain and hailstorms, had crumpled into a heap of scrap metal after the collision. Unfortunately, there were no other vehicles nearby.

Xu Le, still tied up amidst the ruins, began to struggle again. He hooked the thick rope around his wrists onto a jagged piece of metal and began to saw back and forth through gritted teeth.

He used every ounce of strength he had left. Before long, his face turned a ghostly, bloodless white. However, the friction worked; the ropes binding his hands loosened significantly.

Heart racing with hope, Xu Le threw his weight back, snapping the rope entirely. He frantically tore the blindfold from his eyes, but as he moved to scramble up, he collided with a pair of emotionless silver-grey eyes. A bone-chilling cold washed over him.

Those eyes had been on him for a long time. From the moment he’d found the sharp metal to the moment he’d freed himself, this person had been watching him in silence as if observing a corpse.

Xu Le’s heart thrashed against his ribs in sheer terror.

Seated on the folding chair, Xie Cheng watched Xu Le’s reaction with mild interest.

“Ramming a car into people.” Xie Cheng spun his black handgun casually before leaning forward. He used the cold muzzle of the gun to pat Jiang Yi’s—no, Xu Le’s—cheek twice. “Give me a reason.”

“Mmph! Mmm-mmph!” Xu Le struggled.

“Ah, I almost forgot. You can’t speak.”

Xie Cheng said this, but he made no move to untie him. Instead, he used the tip of the gun to tilt Xu Le’s chin up, forcing him to make eye contact. “Do you have a grudge against Jiang Yi?”

“Mmph…”

The muzzle pressed firmly against Xu Le’s throat, making him gag. The cloth stuffed in his mouth made it impossible to cough, and soon, saliva soaked through the gag and dribbled down his chin.

Xie Cheng remained indifferent. “Nod or shake your head.”

Dizzy from the lack of air, Xu Le instinctively nodded, then realized what he was doing and began shaking his head violently, his eyes turning red and watering.

“What kind of grudge?” Xie Cheng pulled the gun back slightly.

Xu Le shook his head frantically.

“Did he kill your parents?”

Xu Le shook his head.

“Did he steal your wife?”

Xu Le shook his head harder.

“Did he steal your treasure?”

Xu Le froze for a second, then resumed shaking his head.

“Excellent.” Xie Cheng raised his hand slightly, beckoning Jiang Yi over. “Tell me, what ‘treasure’ did you take from him?”

Jiang Yi held up his hands. “Nothing.”

“Which one of you is lying?” Without waiting for an answer, Xie Cheng continued to himself, “Jiang Yi is one of mine now. I believe him.”

I’m the immortal’s person!

To Jiang Yi, it felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun had finally come out. His body, encased in the tight tactical suit, went limp. He leaned his chest against Xie Cheng’s back and rested his chin on the other man’s shoulder. “I’m yours.”

He really was the immortal’s person now.

Jiang Yi’s head felt light. He completely ignored Xie Cheng’s warning glares; his mind was stuck on a loop of that one phrase: One of mine now.

Oh, yes!

“Jiang-ge! Jiang-ge, save me!”

A loathsome voice broke the mood.

Jiang Yi pretended not to hear and kept staring at Xie Cheng.

Xu Le had finally managed to spit out the gag. He shouted Jiang Yi’s name, even twisting his body into a grotesque posture to try and lunge toward him.

Xie Cheng glanced at the noisy Xu Le and patted Jiang Yi’s arm. “He’s calling you. Stop playing deaf.”

Being patted by the immortal made Jiang Yi instantly compliant. “Oh, right. Okay.”

“Shut up!” Jiang Yi snapped at Xu Le, his brows knitting together in pure irritation.

“Jiang-ge, I didn’t mean to hit you! I—I thought the car was full of zombies! That’s why I rammed it!”

As the “Shou” (bottom) protagonist of the original plot, Xu Le was quite handsome with his fair skin and light brown curls. However, after rolling around in the dirt, he was covered in grime and looked pathetic. His sobbing sounded more like a ghost’s wail than a plea.

In front of anyone but Xie Cheng, Jiang Yi was cold and ruthless. “Zombies?” He sneered. “Have the zombies eaten your brain? Since when do zombies know how to drive?”

Turning back to Xie Cheng, his face instantly shifted back to a pitiful, clinging expression. “He’s no good. You can’t believe a word he says.”

“Mm,” was all Xie Cheng said. He was finding that having free labor around meant he didn’t actually have to do much.

“Xie Cheng, let’s just ignore him, okay? I scouted the road from a high point earlier; this area isn’t safe. We need to leave now,” Jiang Yi chirped, trying to pull Xie Cheng away.

Xie Cheng pointed at Xu Le. “What about him?”

“Leave him. Let him fend for himself.” Jiang Yi grinned, showing off his bright white teeth.

“Didn’t you say he has some connection to the leader of the Rising Sun Base?” Xie Cheng asked.

Seeing that Xie Cheng wasn’t pushing him away, Jiang Yi leaned in even closer. “Just a minor connection. It’s fine.”

Between a random person they’d picked up and the commander of the base’s ability squad, Xiao Yu would know who was more important.

Xie Cheng noticed the cold glint that flashed in Jiang Yi’s eyes. He arched an eyebrow. So, he wasn’t just a clingy puppy; he was a little wolf cub who knew how to play pretend.

Interesting.

“Stop looking at me,” Jiang Yi mumbled, adding, “My hair is a mess today.”

Xie Cheng didn’t reply. Instead, he reached out with a fingertip and pressed it against Jiang Yi’s slightly parted lips, sliding it inside.

Jiang Yi didn’t pull away. On the contrary, he opened his mouth wider. His teeth grazed Xie Cheng’s finger careful not to apply pressure as he took the long finger into his mouth. He lowered his head, licking it gently.

A faint smile flickered in Xie Cheng’s eyes. He hooked his finger and withdrew it, giving Jiang Yi’s cheek a light slap. “Go away.”

“Xie Cheng, you smiled, didn’t you?” With flushed cheeks, Jiang Yi pressed in to get a closer look. “You definitely smiled.”

“I did not.” Xie Cheng’s face returned to its usual aloof mask. He walked over to Xu Le, dropped his handgun back into its holster, and rapped the muzzle against the top of Xu Le’s head. “Bring him. We’re moving.”

Jiang Yi had managed to drag a new car out of a basement somewhere. Xu Le, tied up once again, was tossed into the boot.

As Jiang Yi climbed into the driver’s seat, he stared straight ahead, his eyes blinking rapidly. “Xie Cheng?” he called softly.

Xie Cheng didn’t answer.

Suddenly, Jiang Yi stood up and leaned over, his large, muscular frame filling the cramped cabin.

“What stupid thing are you doing now?” Xie Cheng opened his eyes.

System 222 hadn’t thought much when choosing this identity, so it didn’t realize this “flower-turned-human” body was a bit special. It had taken Xie Cheng some time to figure it out: if he wasn’t mistaken, he was currently entering a “weakness phase” just before blooming.

When Xie Cheng entered a small world, he directly copied his original physical data onto the virtual identity. Therefore, this phase was triggering his old “after-effects.”

In short, his head ached badly. And when his head ached, he had no patience for people bothering him.

“I’m  doing your seatbelt for you,” Jiang Yi said. He leaned across Xie Cheng’s body, clicking the belt into place.

Xie Cheng watched him with a wooden expression, unmoving.

Clumsy.

222: What? What?

A clumsy attempt at seduction.

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