DCHHLT Chapter 17

The wind outside gently blew into the room, making the already swaying curtains flutter and rustle loudly.

The air was clearly fresh, yet Liang Xingyuan felt as though he were about to suffocate.

He hadn’t been mistaken. The enormous creature crouching outside his window was a monster.

…More precisely, it was a monster that had followed him into this world, one that belonged to another dimension—a dark and hopeless one.

He took a deep breath. His heartbeat involuntarily slowed, and the blood throughout his body once again returned to the freezing point natural to a monster.

In an instant, the tentacles that had been restless because of their proximity to Chu Junshan immediately settled down and assumed an attacking stance. Like predators poised to strike, they were ready to capture in one sweep any prey that dared intrude upon their territory.

Any speculation about the strange fragrance was immediately cast aside. Liang Xingyuan gritted his teeth, hardly daring to imagine whether Chu Junshan would faint from fright if he woke up in a moment and saw that monster.

After all, it was a monster that had never appeared in the human world. Even though creatures like it were exceedingly commonplace in the world of monsters, to a weak human like Chu Junshan, who had no power to resist, it would bring an indescribable terror.

But…

Why would another monster appear in the human world at a time like this?

Had they traveled through the rift in time and space alongside him? But why? Liang Xingyuan, who had traveled alongside them, had already lived in this world for several years. If they had truly existed in this world since that same point in time, why hadn’t he sensed them at all?

Countless speculations flooded Liang Xingyuan’s mind in an instant. Even with eight brains, he couldn’t calculate the answers to so many questions all at once.

Should he get out of bed now and kill or drive away that monster?

Liang Xingyuan quickly rejected that option himself.

No. He couldn’t.

He had to pretend to be asleep now.

Human sleep was different from that of monsters. Each time they fell asleep, they gradually entered different stages of sleep as time passed.

He would wait another hour, until Chu Junshan had entered a deep sleep, and then deal with this “uninvited guest”.

Liang Xingyuan closed his eyes, forcing himself to suppress the turbulent emotions within him so that Chu Junshan beside him wouldn’t notice.

However, at the very moment he forcibly reined in his emotions and closed his eyes, he failed to notice that Chu Junshan, lying beside him, slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes no longer held the tender, water-like gentleness they had earlier. Instead, they were like the gleaming edge of a blade. The soft waters slowly receded, leaving behind the frost-cold gaze of a hunter.

Those eyes, clear and bright as glazed glass, were utterly devoid of emotion. They lifted directly toward the black shadow by the window.

…A ghoul.

Chu Junshan’s gaze swept over the shadow. The corners of his lips curled slightly, revealing a cold, mocking smile.

An E-rank monster. It was highly fertile, but with little destructive power.

The last time Chu Junshan had seen creatures like them had been in the foul sewers of the Infinite Game.

Of all times for these monsters to show themselves, they had to choose now…

Perhaps the bait he had brought to lure monsters hadn’t merely attracted Liang Xingyuan’s attention. It also held a deadly attraction for these monsters lurking outside and wandering through this world.

That was why they had actually taken him and Liang Xingyuan for prey and dared to come alone, intending to devour them both.

The temperature in Chu Junshan’s eyes dropped even further. He frowned slightly, his Adam’s apple gently rising and falling with his breathing, as though he were about to do something.

However, at that moment, there was a faint movement from Liang Xingyuan beside him—

“Junshan, are you asleep?” Liang Xingyuan’s voice brushed against his ear, gentle as water, as though he hadn’t noticed the danger outside the window at all. “Junshan?”

Chu Junshan withdrew the arm he had lowered earlier and silently tucked it back beneath the covers, pretending to have already fallen asleep, as though Liang Xingyuan’s words had not disturbed him.

He could still feel Liang Xingyuan watching him.

“Junshan…”

After an unknown amount of time passed without a response, Liang Xingyuan finally relaxed. He gently lifted the covers. The tentacles beneath him emerged, silently spreading outward like a black tide and blending into the floor.

He walked to the door, but then, as if still uneasy—as though he wanted to return and check for any oversight he might have missed—he turned around and gently said to the “sleeping” Chu Junshan, “I’m going to get a glass of water.”

Chu Junshan slept peacefully. Moonlight, half obscured by something, poured down like silver across his brow. Even his curled eyelashes seemed to be tinged with faint ripples of light.

Chu Junshan showed no reaction to Liang Xingyuan informing him of his movements. He remained in the same position as before, deeply asleep.

Only then did Liang Xingyuan finally feel at ease and slowly make his way toward the door.

On the terrace, where the shadows of flowers swayed, the plants Liang Xingyuan had carefully tended had now been ravaged by the monster that had broken into his home. In the spot where Chu Junshan had stood that evening, the lush green branches and leaves now lay scattered and withered.

Liang Xingyuan’s gaze calmly swept over the patch of flowers and plants. There wasn’t the slightest expression on his face, as though the destruction had stirred no emotion in him whatsoever.

And in the very center of the ruined plants, a huge, grotesque black shadow fully revealed itself before him.

It was a monster that had never appeared in any human writing or illustration. Its four limbs were pitch-black and attached to its bloated, cumbersome body like some kind of externally fitted tool. Each of its two heads was set with a single vertical pupil, both of which emitted a faint, eerie glow even in the darkness.

In Liang Xingyuan’s world, they were called “Dada”.

They were one of the lowest forms of life, surviving day after day by scavenging for decaying food. They lived in lightless, bottomless abysses and rarely revealed themselves before his kind.

Their method of feeding was to consume their dead kin. If they were lucky, they might even come across the corpse of a human player that had not yet decayed too badly.

Liang Xingyuan’s gaze shifted into the distance. Hidden among the dense leaves of the plane trees were countless similar pairs of eyes.

His expression finally turned grave.

Whether in their original world or this one, Dadas were unlikely to actively attack humans unless they had encountered something that made them lose their minds.

Liang Xingyuan lowered his eyes. His jet-black lashes fell naturally, shadowing his ink-black eyes and concealing the cold, dark light within them.

Just what was it that could lure a group of monsters into seizing food that had never belonged to them in the first place?

Not far away, the monsters were slowly crawling over the leaves and across the terrace, as though they would step out of the darkness and reveal themselves before Liang Xingyuan at any moment.

His lips tightened slightly. The gentle restraint that belonged to his human guise had vanished completely, replaced by a sharp, ruthless edge.

How dare they disturb the peace that belonged to him?

His life and his lover should never have to see anything from that hellish world!

Liang Xingyuan raised a hand. A small flame of pale bluish-white flickered at his fingertips, illuminating his black eyes.

The tide-like tentacles had already silently crept closer to the monsters wreaking havoc. All they needed was the right moment. They would tear apart those overconfident creatures without fail, driving them from his territory.

The monsters lurking not far away also heard the unusual sound coming from Liang Xingyuan’s direction. They stopped in the middle of their hunt and turned their heads toward him in unison, opening their tightly closed mouthparts.

In that instant, Liang Xingyuan clearly saw the dense rows of white teeth embedded within.

At the critical moment, a thunderous crash suddenly erupted from beyond the fence gate, as though something had fallen over.

Liang Xingyuan froze in surprise for a moment, then immediately turned his head. All he saw was something swiftly darting through the branches of a plane tree not far away. A black shadow flashed past and quickly vanished from his sight without a trace.

As though realizing something was wrong, he abruptly turned around. His gaze swept over the spot where those monsters called “Dadas” had been, then froze in place.

…At some point, they had all vanished as though they had evaporated into thin air, nowhere to be seen.

A subtle change came over Liang Xingyuan’s ink-black eyes. Countless tiny pupils, as fine as needlepoints, crowded within them, trembling rhythmically with a breathing pattern that did not belong to a human.

Where… had they gone?

Liang Xingyuan took a deep breath, frowning as he stepped forward and directed the tentacles beneath him—now bewildered because their prey had appeared and then vanished in an instant—to investigate.

At that moment, they were unusually united, obeying their master’s commands as they slowly crept forward and probed into every corner. Two minutes later, the thickest tentacle slowly moved toward him and coiled around Liang Xingyuan’s muscular forearm. Every one of its contact points conveyed an important message to the owner of this body.

Yes.

Liang Xingyuan had not been mistaken. Those “Dadas”… had truly disappeared.

One eyebrow lifted slightly. He fell silent for a moment, then stiffly raised his head and turned his gaze toward somewhere farther away.

Just what had been that thing that flashed through the plane tree outside?

The threat of being discovered by Chu Junshan had temporarily disappeared, only to be followed by an even deeper concern.

Liang Xingyuan had no idea whether they had fallen back through the rifts of time and space into that original dark world, or whether they were merely hiding for the time being, waiting for some moment to once again reappear before humanity.

When that time came… it would simply be a disaster.

Liang Xingyuan took a deep breath. Following what he remembered, he adjusted the rhythm of his breathing and heartbeat back to what a human’s should be. Suppressing the thoughts churning violently within him, he slowly walked onto the balcony and closed the window leading to the terrace.

He simply… could not keep thinking about it.

Besides Dada, had other monsters also come into this world?

If the answer was yes, would he still be able to protect Chu Junshan, as well as this family that had been so hard-won and was about to be formed?

To be fair, Liang Xingyuan was not afraid of these monsters.

In the original world, when his consciousness had first emerged from chaos, Liang Xingyuan had once slaughtered an entire tribe where monsters gathered. From that point on, he had become the uncrowned king of the darkness. Wherever he went, all monsters would tremble at the mere mention of him, absolutely daring not to approach him.

It was only in this world that the lowly Dada, failing to recognize Liang Xingyuan beneath his human skin for who he was—the king they dreaded and avoided at all costs—had dared to muster the courage to come looking for trouble.

In his view, those filthy, disgusting things should remain forever in that dirty world. They should not defile this pure and beautiful human society, much less covet his beloved.

With a worried expression, Liang Xingyuan glanced at the clock in the living room.

Three twenty in the morning.

In another three hours, it would be time for Chu Junshan to wake up.

Thinking of this, he turned back once again. This time, he did not let the tentacles inspect the place for him. Instead, he did it personally, carefully checking every little corner of the courtyard to make sure that nothing resembling those monsters would appear here again.

Only after finishing all of this did he gently let out a breath and finally relax. Yet the worry lingering between his brows did not lessen in the slightest.

He went to the bathroom and carefully washed his hands, getting rid of the earthy smell mixed with morning dew that he had picked up outside on the terrace, before quietly and carefully walking into the bedroom.

Perhaps he had made too much noise when lifting the covers and getting into bed. Chu Junshan, who had been maintaining his original sleeping position the entire time, suddenly moved and reached out to turn on a lamp by the window.

Liang Xingyuan froze where he stood, suddenly feeling the guilty unease of having been caught red-handed.

Before he had even figured out how to explain what he had just been doing, Chu Junshan’s voice drifted over, soft and drowsy with sleep.

“…Can’t sleep?”

Liang Xingyuan came back to his senses and replied in a low voice, “No. I just went out to get a glass of water.”

“I see.” Chu Junshan turned off the lamp, and the bedroom once again sank into silent darkness. “I just heard some noises outside.”

As soon as those words fell, Liang Xingyuan felt the skin all over his body tighten. The tentacles stiffened where they were, not knowing what to do.

He forced his voice to remain unaffected and softly explained in a deliberately calm manner, “That’s right. I just saw two cats outside.”

After saying this, Liang Xingyuan kept his gaze fixed on Chu Junshan’s figure that was turned away from him.

Had he… discovered something?

Liang Xingyuan waited anxiously for a long time, his heart burning with worry, yet he still received no response.

He pressed his lips together and silently lay down beside Chu Junshan. Only after hearing Chu Junshan’s long, even breathing, as he had hoped, did he relax slightly.

…That gave him quite a scare.

Fortunately, he had only worried for nothing.

The successive unexpected incidents had kept Liang Xingyuan on edge all night. Now, lying peacefully beside Chu Junshan, with the faint, gentle fragrance of Chu Junshan lingering around the tip of his nose, his restless heart was gradually soothed.

To his surprise, he once again experienced the long-forgotten sensation known as “sleepiness”.

This sleep carried Liang Xingyuan all the way until dawn.

In his dream, a chaotic jumble of scenes shifted rapidly. Some were sights he had seen when he had first come into being, in the mire. Some were of those dark, crawling, twisted, and ugly monsters trying to tear into him with their teeth. He even dreamed of the leader of the human faction.

His entire body was drenched in blood, and his clothes were torn to shreds, exposing bruises that covered his body. Only his face remained hidden beneath his hood, making it impossible for Liang Xingyuan to see the expression on the other person’s face.

That scene flashed past in an instant. Together with the countless other scenes, it was swallowed up by the sea of Liang Xingyuan’s memories and disappeared without a trace.

In the end, the scene that remained before Liang Xingyuan’s eyes was Chu Junshan, bathed in golden twilight, on the day of their first blind date when they parted ways.

He extended that slender, beautiful hand, his smile appearing incomparably radiant beneath the sunlight.

“Mr. Liang, I’m very happy to have met you.”

…

The moment Liang Xingyuan opened his eyes, he felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

The curtains had not been drawn open as usual. The glaring sunlight was blocked by the thick curtains, creating a darkened environment.

The humidifier beside the bedside table was working soundlessly. The air was moist and cool, very much like the environment in which he had once lived in the abyss. For a monster, this was an extremely suitable environment.

Liang Xingyuan froze for a moment. A strange feeling crept into his heart, like a tiny tentacle scratching at it.

And beside him… at some unknown point, his beloved was already gone.

!

The little sleepiness Liang Xingyuan had left vanished without a trace in an instant.

Frowning, he flipped out of bed at a speed impossible for an ordinary person, pushed open the bedroom door, and let his gaze sweep past Yaoyaoling, who was running toward him, as he searched the living room. Only when his eyes caught sight of a certain figure did the heart hanging in his chest finally settle back down.

The beloved he had been thinking about day and night was wearing a thin beige sweater, holding the fruit tea he had made yesterday and placed in the refrigerator, and slowly pacing by the terrace.

Chu Junshan had not disappeared. He was still here.

This thought suddenly surfaced in his heart, like a stabilizing needle that soon suppressed the turmoil in Liang Xingyuan’s mind.

He took a deep breath, forcing his tone back to its usual calmness so that Chu Junshan would not hear even the slightest emotion that fell outside the bounds of calm. “Why are you up so early today?”

“I went to bed early yesterday.” Hearing his voice, Chu Junshan turned around. Gentle morning light streamed in from outside, passing through the window screen and illuminating the side of Chu Junshan’s face, as lustrous and delicate as jade. “So I woke up early.”

It was an answer as normal as could be. Liang Xingyuan’s suspended heart settled back down.

He let out a breath, his tone becoming much more casual. “I see. Drinking something cold in the morning isn’t good for your stomach… Also, how come you’re over here?”

Holding the cup, Chu Junshan showed no intention whatsoever of putting it down.

His gaze quietly passed through the terrace door and landed on the window beside the terrace, which already had two large holes smashed through it.

“Don’t you think the terrace is a little different today?”

The blood throughout Liang Xingyuan’s body seemed to freeze. The hands and feet that had just been warmed by the suitable environment became ice-cold once more.

In his memories, he had not paid particular attention to the state of the window—

So, was Chu Junshan going to ask him what exactly had caused this?

Liang Xingyuan’s gaze locked tightly onto Chu Junshan’s face, wanting to discern something inappropriate from that calm, unruffled face and those indifferent eyes.

But unfortunately, he did not succeed.

Suppressing the strange emotions within him, Liang Xingyuan asked, his heart filled with worry, “How did the window get broken?”

Chu Junshan suddenly turned around. Holding that beautiful glass wind chime cup, he lowered his head, his pale pink lips touching the rim as he took a sip of lemon honey water. He gave his answer lightly, as though it were nothing worth mentioning, but the pair of eyes visible above the rim of the cup gleamed brightly, like burning stars. “It’s nothing. Maybe those two cats you saw last night did it. Don’t you think so?”

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