Reborn as a Substitute

Zhao Wenhua put his arms around Ji Sheng, lowered his head and sniffed his neck.

The scent of the body wash was mixed with alcohol, mingling into a different kind of appealing aura.

Zhao Wenhua grinned, intoxicated and lewd.

He had been eyeing Ji Sheng for a long time. In Qingchu, apart from the austere young lead singer, what attracted him most was the unruly drummer.

Unfortunately, the beautiful lead singer was underage and looked like a rich kid, so he’d probably get into trouble if he did something.

Zhao Wenhua could only regretfully let it go and put the drug into Ji Sheng’s glass.

The big teenage boy was as unsuspecting as he expected. He passed out after drinking it, leaving them to do whatever they wanted.

Zhao Wenhua dragged Ji Sheng closer, and during the movement, the hem of Ji Sheng’s t-shirt rolled up, revealing his thin waist.

The boy’s waist was really narrow. Because of the lack of sunlight, his skin there was much paler than in other places. The contrast between cold white and a black t-shirt was intense, giving one a great sense of visual impact.

Zhao Wenhua pinched it in fascination, thinking that it must’ve felt nice to hold this thin waist.

His mind was full of filth, when he suddenly heard a few exclamations.

He raised his eyes and saw the beautiful kid he had just been mentally masturbating over rushing in like a madman and snatching Ji Sheng out of his hands. Then he raised his foot, kicked Zhao Wenhua hard in the stomach and knocked him straight over the table.

“Fuck!!” Zhao Wenhua yelled in shock and anger. His back slammed on the edge of the coffee table and knocked it over. Bottles of alcohol fell to the ground with a clatter. Zhao Wenhua lay on the table, grunting in pain. After regaining his senses, he was furious, “Do you dare fucking touch me?! Do you know who I am?!”

Xie Xuanming ignored him. He looked down to check Ji Sheng’s condition. After discovering that he was unconscious, he raised his eyes and pierced Zhao Wenhua with a bloodshot glare.

Zhao Wenhua was shaken by the ferocity and madness in his eyes, feeling a bit of fear in his heart inexplicably… Finally reacting, he spat out “fuck”, got up in anger and cursed.

“What are you idiots waiting for? Beat the shit out of him for Lao Tzu!”

The rest of the people in the room couldn’t be called Zhao Wenhua’s subordinates but they had to give Zhao Wenhua a bit of face anyway. At this moment, Zhao Wenhua was kicked and thrown on the table. If they sat idly by, they were bound to be held accountable by Zhao Wenhua.

They made a quick decision and rushed forward, shouting and with his fists clenched.

Xie Xuanming put Ji Sheng on the sofa behind him, turned around, picked up a beer bottle and slammed it at the closest attacker neatly.

The man was hit so hard that his jawbone deformed, and he fell screaming.

Xie Xuanming raised the bottle and swung again, hitting the man’s head fiercely. The beer bottle shattered, and the people around hurriedly backed away to avoid glass fragments.

The second guy rushed up and punched Xie Xuanming’s jaw. Xie Xuanming’s head snapped under the blow. When he raised his head again, the corner of his mouth was bloody and a bruise appeared at the corner of his eye.

His eyes filled with anger. He slammed his elbow into the man’s throat. When the man screamed and fell down clutching his neck, Xie Xuanming broke another beer bottle on his head.

Glass scattered everywhere.

The attackers were so frightened by the madness in his eyes that they hesitated to move. Even before they came into contact, they had already lost most of their nerve.

Street fights are all about “fierceness”. 

At this moment, a desperate lunatic was standing with his back to the wall. The rest of the men were so scared that they lost all will to fight and were smacked down one by one like sandbags by Xie Xuanming, struggling to get up only to receive a few more blows.

Xie Xuanming was here in a blaze of glory, and Zhao Wenhua was shocked and angry at the incompetence of his backup.

“Fuck, where does this kid come from?” He cursed, wanted to yell “punk” and then take his own weapon, but the crazy light on the boy’s face horrified him into immobility.

No wonder Zhao Wenhua’s legs felt weak. At this moment, Xie Xuanming’s eyes were blazing red. He stood, holding two broken bottles in his hands, blood leaking from them as he swung them around. He looked crazy and ruthless with his white face stained with blood, as terrifying as a legendary serial killer.

Xie Xuanming’s eyes were wolf-like as he slowly swept his gaze past the people who surrounded him. A little brother staring at him trembled. He had no doubt that this mad dog-like kid would plunge the beer bottle into his heart.

In fact, it was naturally impossible for Xie Xuanming to have beaten seven or eight adult men by himself. But his desperate madness was indeed terrifying in terms of momentum.

So when Xie Xuanming walked out carrying Ji Sheng, no one in the room dared to stop him.

“You fucking son of a bitch!” Zhao Wenhua yelled angrily at his back, “This is not over, you wait. You, that kid in your arms, your whole ragged band, I won’t let any of you…”

Before he finished speaking, Xie Xuanming put down Ji Sheng, crossed the crowd that tried to block him, grabbed Zhao Wenhua’s neck and slammed him to the ground.

He had a lot of strength in his hands, enough to strangle someone.

Deprived of breath, Zhao Wenhua let out a croak of pain and fear, and people around him rushed over in shock, trying to stop Xie Xuanming’s brutality, kicking and punching him.

But no matter whether they punched, kicked or tried to drag him away, Xie Xuanming remained motionless.

Zhao Wenhua was suffocating. His eyes rolled up and he squealed desperately, like a pig to be slaughtered.

In a daze, he heard the young man above him speak grimly.

“There is a hemp rope in my house… do you know what this means? This means that I don’t want to live and it also means that I don’t want to die… if you really dare to do anything, I’ll strangle you before I go up the beam… If you’re not afraid to die, go ahead and do it.”

After saying that, Xie Xuanming got up. 

The onlookers hesitated and shrank away, not daring to go up to help Zhao Wenhua, let alone stop Xie Xuanming. They watched Xie Xuanming walk back to the sofa, pick up Ji Sheng and leave the private room.

The return trip was more difficult than getting out of the private room. The streets of the old town were narrow and no taxis could drive there. Xie Xuanming could only limp to the rental house with Ji Sheng on his back.

There was no way to be uninjured in a fight. Xie Xuanming received a few heavy blows on his back, shoulders and legs. At this moment, his wounds throbbed with pain.

However, he didn’t care how many wounds he had on his body; he just gritted his teeth and walked forward step by step.

Fortunately, Ji Sheng was only drugged, not anything else.

If Zhao Wenhua was worse, giving him narcotics or other substances…

Xie Xuanming didn’t dare to think about it, so he stopped thinking.

The effect of the drug came and went quickly. Halfway through, Ji Sheng’s eyelids twitched and he groaned hoarsely.

Xie Xuanming paused, asking tentatively: “Brother Ji? Are you awake, how are you feeling, is there any discomfort?”

Ji Sheng muttered a few words in a low voice. He didn’t wake up thoroughly, his head was dizzy and his consciousness was erratic, so he couldn’t digest Xie Xuanming’s series of questions for a while.

“I’m dizzy…” He opened his dazed eyes, “Xiao Xie? Why do you have six ears?”

It seemed that he hadn’t woken up; Xie Xuanming explained roughly: “You are drunk.”

“Oh. Is that so?” Ji Sheng was confused, “Did the six-eared monkey get drunk too?”

After this question beyond common sense, Xie Xuanming was silent for a while. “Six-eared monkeys don’t drink alcohol.”

“Oh… drink… will Chang’e and Zhu Bajie last?”(1) 

“……

“They don’t seem to have been together.”

“Do you like elephants?”

“…generally.”

The drunk and drugged Ji Sheng was clearly not in his right mind, grunting and yapping on Xie Xuanming’s back.

Most of his questions were confusing, but Xie Xuanming tried to answer them one by one.

As the moon rose above the trees, Ji Sheng hiccuped and continued to ask.

“What kind of girl does Xiao Xie like?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Say it, say it, I want to know.”

“…that likes me.”

“Ah.” Ji Sheng laughed out loud. He inexplicably found some logic in the question, dwelling on it and refusing to change the subject, “Our Xiao Xie is so handsome, the girls who like him must be lined up from East Street to West Street. Women are fickle like running water…

“If she likes me, I like her too…

“…What a perfunctory additional condition.”

Trying to shut him up, Xie Xuanming shook him up and down sullenly; his movements pulled the wound on his hand and the pain made him groan softly.

“What kind of girl do you like?” He asked rhetorically.

“I…” Ji Sheng yawned and didn’t speak for a while.

Just when Xie Xuanming thought he was not going to speak, Ji Sheng said in a daze:

“I don’t like girls, I like your brother Sheng.”

Xie Xuanming paused; the sound of steady breathing came from his back.

Ji Sheng passed out again.

Xie Xuanming returned to the rental house and kicked the door with difficulty.

Sheng Kongzhi opened the door and was shocked seeing his face bruised and covered in blood: “Xiao Xie! What’s the matter? Were you robbed…”

Before he finished speaking, he saw Ji Sheng lying half-dead on Xie Xuanming’s back. His face instantly went pale and he said in a low voice, “Ji Sheng!”

He took a step forward and cupped Ji Sheng’s face, asking anxiously, “What’s wrong with him?”

“Brother Ji is fine. “Xie Xuanming replied quietly, “Zhao Wenhua added something to the drink, and I had a conflict with them.”

Sheng Kongzhi’s expression was extremely ugly. He paused for a moment and said decisively, “Come in.”

Sheng Kongzhi naturally took the sleepy Ji Sheng from Xie Xuanming’s back, picked him up, quickly walked into the bedroom and put him on the bed.

Before Su Jing came back, Xie Xuanming limped into the room and saw Sheng Kongzhi with his back to the door, bent over, whispering Ji Sheng’s name.

After Ji Sheng responded a few times in a daze, Sheng Kongzhi began to check his body again to confirm whether there were any wounds. Finally Sheng Kongzhi breathed a sigh of relief. After five or six minutes had passed, he straightened up.

When Sheng Kongzhi turned his head, Xie Xuanming was standing at the door with a cup in his hand. He lowered his head and his expression couldn’t be seen clearly, only the wound at the corner of his mouth was dazzling.

Startled, Sheng Kongzhi quickly walked to the cabinet by the wall and skillfully pulled out a bottle of a red potion from the drawer.

He walked up to Xie Xuanming with the medicine and was about to say something, but Xie Xuanming said first: “I’m fine, I’ll give the water to Brother Ji first.”

Only then did Sheng Kongzhi notice that he was holding a cup. The liquid in the cup was clear and slowly steaming.

“Thank you, Xiao Xie.” Sheng Kongzhi took the cup, “I’ll help him drink it later, but now I’m afraid he might choke.”

Xie Xuanming put down his hand and said, “Oh.”

Sheng Kongzhi saw the bruises under his eyes and couldn’t help frowning: “You’re hurt like this…”

Before he finished speaking, the phone rang.

He took out his mobile phone; Xie Xuanming lowered his head, and both of them saw “Li Tan” displayed on the screen.

Sheng Kongzhi’s expression sank; he stuffed the medicine to Xie Xuanming and ordered: “Disinfect it first, and by the way, help look after your Brother Ji, and I’ll answer the phone.”

Xie Xuanming agreed quietly, and Sheng Kongzhi went out.

When the door closed, Xie Xuanming stood still for a few seconds, then slowly walked to Ji Sheng’s side and squatted down.

He didn’t rush to disinfect his wounds; he just stretched out his hand to push away some of Ji Sheng’s messed hair hanging over his eyes.

The sound insulation of the rental house was extremely bad, and Xie Xuanming clearly heard Sheng Kongzhi question in a low voice.

“What do you mean you didn’t know this would happen… Ji Sheng is still unconscious! Are you telling me that normal drinking should be like this?”

There was uncontrollable anger hidden in his restrained voice.

Xie Xuanming squatted in front of the bed, thinking silently that this was the first time he saw Sheng Kongzhi angry.

Because of Ji Sheng.

Outside the door, Sheng Kongzhi yelled something at Li Tan.

Ji Sheng was alarmed by the sound; his eyebrows frowned uncomfortably, his lips moved and he murmured meaningless sleepy words.

Xie Xuanming looked down at Ji Sheng, who was restless, and smoothed his brows with his fingers.

Are you happy?

Xie Xuanming himself was taken aback by the suspicion he expressed aloud.

He immediately shut his mouth and pursed his lips into a thin line.

But his thoughts couldn’t stop spreading.

Would you be happy?

Seeing someone you like worrying about you.

When Su Jing returned, Ji Sheng was still asleep.

When Su Jing entered the bedroom, he saw Xie Xuanming applying medicine. The wounds on his hands were hideous. Su Jing was shocked and asked what happened.

Xie Xuanming briefly explained the situation to him.

“Fucking surnamed Zhao.” After listening, Su Jing was furious. He walked around the room in a rage, saying fiercely, “Don’t let me see this son of a bitch, dammit, the whole obscenely impotent thanks-to-beer-belly absolute douchebag.”

Xie Xuanming disinfected his wounds in silence and waited for Su Jing to finish cursing before speaking:

“Li Tan called Sheng Kongzhi and they had a fight, and Brother Sheng was very angry.”

“Of course he is angry.” Su Jing was angry too, “He and Ji Sheng have known each other for more than ten years, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for an explanation after my childhood friend has been screwed over like this.”

Xie Xuanming lowered his eyes and said nothing, then listened to Su Jing say:

“What’s more, Sheng Kongzhi has always taken care of Ji Sheng. Their relationship is closer than that of ordinary couples. Now that someone touches Ji Sheng, can Sheng Kongzhi not get angry?”

1. Characters of ‘Journey to the West’