Supernatural World Chapter 25: Xiao Ke

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

As Finch and Cesar walked away, Finch was a little absent-minded, and he suddenly stopped.

He thought of something weird.

If those eight people had all been Qi Zhen’s imagination, then when they were trapped there, then did they all subconsciously want to kill the others so they could become the only one? For example, Mrs. Qi wanted to kill Mr. Qi, Ding Rong wanted to kill Mrs. Qi, and Chen Jia wanted to kill Ding Xue… Of those eight people, besides Ling Bai, none of them were completely innocent. It had never been just the hidden “Qi Zhen” that had wanted the others dead.

Then which one was the real Qi Zhen?

Was he really innocent? Was it an accident when he pushed Ding Rong down the stairs? Was it also a mishap when he and Ling Bai went alone?

Didn’t he also want to become the only one?

Perhaps, Cesar’s first inference was also a possibility. That meant that Qi Zhen was the real person controlling everything, and he watched as his other self hid in the shadows and instigated everything and murdered his other personalities, and in the end, Qi Zhen was the one who reaped the benefits without even dirtying his hands.

He could have already calculated everything out from the start, starting from the moment he invited them to his villa to shelter from the rain; that had been the start of the game…

Finch suddenly shivered. However, when he recalled Qi Zhen’s innocent smile, he really didn’t seem like a twisted killer, he had clearly behaved very normally. When the others had died, his grief hadn’t seemed to be faked, and since they were his imagined family and friends, then perhaps he didn’t want them to disappear?

Cesar looked back at Finch, and a hint of worry flitted past the depths of his eyes as he asked, “What is it?”

Finch forced a smile and said, “Nothing.”

Finch reckoned that he was probably overthinking things. Anyway, the evil ‘Qi Zhen’ had already been killed by Cesar, and Cesar definitely wouldn’t kill the wrong person. If he had his reasons, then they couldn’t be groundless…

Cesar grasped Finch’s hand. “Don’t think about it, you won’t see him again anyway.”

 Finch nodded.

Cesar finally smiled faintly and glanced back at the villa that loomed among the green shrubbery with cold eyes. This time, it was his fault, but he wouldn’t give the other side any more opportunities to get close to Finch.

*****

Finch and Cesar walked back to his villa, and right when they arrived, Finch’s phone rang. Chai Xin said hurriedly, “What happened to you, how come I couldn’t get through? I was about to call the police soon!”

Finch laughed awkwardly and said perfunctorily, “My phone died… What did you want to talk about?”

Chai Xin remembered what he was going to say and was too lazy to inquire further about what had happened. He took a deep breath and said slowly, “Tomorrow, come to the company for an audition.”

Finch was calm as he heard this. Chai Xin didn’t have very good connections, so Finch reckoned that it was probably an audition for another small character. He grinned and replied, “Sure.”

When Chai Xin heard this, he could tell at once that Finch wasn’t paying that much attention. He was scared that Finch wouldn’t word hard enough to prepare for the audition and miss this once in a lifetime opportunity! Chai Xin was still in disbelief over what had happened when he had reported to Luo JinYi. He hadn’t expected for Luo JinYi not to get angry over his ludicrous request, and instead say that he would personally arrange for the audition. Then, Luo JinYi had said that it was a piece of cake and told Chai Xin to tell Finch to come the next day.

When Chai Xin recalled this, he thought that Finch was getting debased. However, this was just how the entertainment industry worked, and tons of people who wanted to ride on coattails couldn’t even do it. Since this was Finch’s choice, Chai Xin had no right to interfere. He wondered what Finch had done to gain so much favor from Luo JinYi.

But no matter what Finch did, he should still take advantage of this opportunity he had worked so hard to obtain. Finch should first make sure he got the benefits, or else he would end up with nothing when the bigshots got tired of him. It was important for him to use what he currently had to his advantage.

Chai Xin said seriously and meaningfully, “Mr. Luo agreed to that film you wanted. Prepare well for it, and come to the company at nine o’clock tomorrow.”

Finch froze. What drama had he wanted, how come he couldn’t remember? “Brother Chai, when did I ask you for a film? You have to be more specific.”

If Chai Xin was in front of Finch, then he would’ve grabbed his throat and shook him around wildly!!! Chai Xin thought, You can’t even remember what you asked me for? Do you know how nervous I was these past two days because of your request?!!!

Chai Xin said coldly, “Xie Yan.”

Then, he hung up abruptly. He didn’t want to talk with Finch any longer, for fear that he would be angered to death.

Finch stood there blankly as his phone started beeping…

What Xie Yan, it couldn’t be the Xie Yan he thought it was, right?

Was this a joke? If Finch didn’t think carefully, then he wouldn’t have even remembered what he had said that day… Chai Xin really found him an opportunity to audition for that film? An opportunity to work with Xie Yan? Was he auditioning for a corpse…

Finch snorted, but when he thought about it again, Chai Xin had always been very rigorous about work, so why would he joke with him like this? Could it be that Mr. Luo had really given him this opportunity?

Gosh, this was really interesting.

Finch nearly fainted from excitement. Before, he had been thinking about how unlucky he was, but now, he was clearly getting lucky. When he thought about how he was finally going to succeed in the entertainment industry, Finch couldn’t stay still for a moment longer.

Naturally, his mind wasn’t on winning back Cesar’s heart anymore.

Although Finch had kind of ridden on Cesar’s coattails, Cesar didn’t seem to have any interest in getting back together with him, and Finch always experienced scary things when he was with Cesar. Finch thought, You don’t want me anyway… so I’ll just not bother you.

Finch put away his phone and said seriously, “I have to go, sorry for bothering you these past few days.”

Cesar had been standing to the side and had heard the entire conversation clearly. Now, as he looked at Finch practically drawing a line between them, he had mixed feelings.

Although this was what Cesar had wanted, then why wasn’t he happy at all? He pressed his lips together and looked at Finch coldly. Cesar felt a little sulky, but he couldn’t say anything and could only suppress everything.

If Finch really understood him, then he would know that this was because Cesar followed through with everything no matter what, but Finch didn’t know…

Finch looked at Cesar’s suddenly morose expression and wondered how he had offended him again. Wasn’t Finch just leaving now? Cesar’s dislike of him was so obvious, so how come he was still so unhappy when Finch was about to leave?

Cesar was even harder to read than young girls.

Tsk, tsk.

Finch didn’t care; he was about to reach the pinnacle of life! He smiled. “I’ll be going now.”

Cesar watched as Finch turned around without hesitation. He clenched his hands into fists and said, “Wait.”

Finch looked back in puzzlement. “What is it?”

Cesar said dully, “It’s hard to hail a taxi here, so I’m afraid that you won’t be able to leave by yourself.”

Finch was speechless.

Fifteen minutes later, Finch was sitting in Cesar’s car. Finch thought with mixed feelings, It seems that he really wants me to leave. He’s even willing to send me away himself so I can leave earlier! And he’s scared I won’t leave.

Cesar looked straight ahead as he drove.

What was he doing? Finch was going to leave and wouldn’t be here anymore… Finch had never really thought about staying, but Cesar wasn’t even willing to give up this brief moment of being near him…

The two of them had a lot of things on their minds, and the atmosphere in the car was tense and awkward.

There was still quite some time before they would arrive at Finch’s house, and Finch became restless. It would be nice if he could ease the tension, so he thought for a moment and decided to turn on the car radio. He was about to find a radio station to listen to a song to make the time pass quicker…

But as soon as he turned the radio on, a slow, husky song jumped out abruptly.

“Breakups should be decent, no one should say sorry…”

Click. Finch turned off the radio.

It had been two years since they broke up, who would listen to this type of song? Finch cautiously glanced at Cesar, hoping that he hadn’t noticed. However, Cesar’s expression seem to be even colder.

Finch was silent. Shit, he heard it!

After, Finch sat rigidly and didn’t dare to touch anything else. What was wrong with his luck lately, how could he have encountered such low-probability events?

Half an hour later, Cesar finally stopped the car in front of Finch’s house.

Finch glanced at the side of Cesar’s handsome face, thinking that after he left this time, they probably wouldn’t see each other again. After all, they had nothing in common anymore, but Finch was suddenly a little reluctant to leave. Yet… all good things must come to an end.

Since they had broken up already, getting back together wasn’t very appropriate.

Just like how it had been two years ago, sometimes, it wasn’t that the people weren’t right.  Instead, it just wasn’t meant to be; they hadn’t met each other at the right time, and at the time, Finch hadn’t been ready.

He had already said his goodbyes earlier…

So… I guess this is it?

Finch opened the car door, about to get out.

Cesar was gripping the steering wheel tightly, and the expression at the depths of his eyes was complicated and gloomy. As Cesar looked at Finch turn his back to him and his casualness of parting… Cesar suddenly wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do. This time, Cesar had been there to protect Finch, but next time, what if someone harmed or took advantage of Finch…

And if Cesar wasn’t by his side, how could he truly protect Finch?

Cesar didn’t want Finch to be involved in any of this. He wanted Finch to live freely and happily, just like he was now. But was his decision really the correct one…

Cesar said, “You…”

Finch turned around and looked at him.

As Cesar looked at Finch, he suddenly recalled how scared Finch had been at the cruise ship, in the bistro, and in Qi Zhen’s villa… After a while, Cesar let out a low laugh with a hint of self-ridicule.

That wasn’t something that Finch wanted.

Cesar’s finger twitched slightly, and his handsome face was shadowed by the night. “If you encounter difficulties, you can contact me.”

Cesar thought, You know, I never changed my phone number.

Finch paused and was silent for a while. He felt that he shouldn’t overthink this; Cesar probably only said that out of politeness… He was probably that type of ex-boyfriend who people spoke well of even after they broke up.

It was a pity that he was only an ex-boyfriend.

Finch’s lips parted and he was about to say something…

Suddenly, someone called out to him. A young, cute boy in elementary school clothing was standing near them, wearing a backpack. He looked curiously at Finch with wide eyes, and when he looked at Cesar, he marveled, “Mister, are you my uncle’s boyfriend?”

Finch was speechless and thought, Get lost!