Thousands Of People Thought Of Him - Chapter 24
I Don’t Know.
Ying Chenglang was so angry he couldn’t react for a moment. He, again, was insulted by this useless mute?!
“Do you have a death wish?” Ying Chenglang clenched his fists, barely able to contain his urge to hit him.
Looking at the long, unbroken apple peel, Ying Fusang nodded in satisfaction. Without even sparing him a glance, he said casually, “Looks like I hit a nerve again.”
To be honest, as an old man who had lived for a thousand years, he had a wealth of experience. Emotionally and logically, he had no reason to get into a fight with these immature humans. These people and things couldn’t even be considered minor incidents. He should just let them be.
—A normal god would probably think this way.
But it was their good luck. Ying Fusang considered himself to be outside this “normal” range. In fact, he could be considered quite “abnormal.”
As expected, Ying Chenglang was easily provoked. The veins on his forehead bulged, and he was filled with anger. The next second, he strode toward Ying Fusang, gritting his teeth and saying, “You want to be bedridden for a few more days, right?”
Ying Fusang’s expression didn’t change. His free hand was already building up strength. He patiently waited for the other person to make the first move, strictly following the rules of what he considered “justifiable self-defense” in his mind.
The wind from the punch was about to blow on his face, but Ying Fusang sat there, not moving or flinching, completely calm.
“What are you doing?!”
A familiar cry of surprise suddenly rang out from the doorway. Ying Chenglang’s actions were put on pause. He quickly turned his head to look.
“Xiaoyu? Why are you down here alone? Go back, you’re not fully recovered yet!” Ying Chenglang’s change in expression was masterful.
Coincidentally, Fang Baiyu happened to be staying in the VIP room on the floor above Ying Fusang’s.
Ying Fusang felt a slight sense of regret that he didn’t get to stretch his limbs a bit. He brought the peeled apple back to his mouth and unhurriedly chewed.
Fang Baiyu was wearing a hospital gown, and there was still an IV needle on the back of his hand. He leaned against the doorframe, his brows slightly furrowed.
His face was pale, his eyes were sunken, and he didn’t look like he had a minor illness at all. Instead, he looked more like he was gravely ill and didn’t have long to live. Ying Fusang made a sharp comment in his mind.
Before the other person could speak in a weak voice, another figure appeared right after him and steadily held Fang Baiyu’s shoulder. “Slow down.”
When he looked up again, his gaze was like a laser, precisely locking onto Ying Fusang. His eyes were fierce and unkind, and he asked in a harsh voice, “What’s going on again?”
The other two people immediately looked at the person sitting by the bed.
Ying Fusang was eating an apple as if he were watching a play, his cheeks moving. His dark, round eyes blinked. He said with an innocent and truthful tone, “I don’t know. I was just eating an apple here, and he suddenly rushed over to hit me.”
Act, just act. Who can’t act?
The moment he said that, Ying Chenglang subconsciously took two steps back. He turned his head to look at the two people at the door and anxiously tried to protect his image. “Pah! He was the one who provoked me first!”
Ying Fusang stopped chewing and didn’t argue with him. He helplessly spread his hands and said, “Sigh, whatever you say.”
“You!!” Ying Chenglang glared at him in anger.
At first, Ying Shou Chuan subconsciously assumed that Ying Fusang was the one causing trouble again. But from the conversation between the two, he surprisingly realized for the first time that his biological younger brother was not very bright, and was also very reckless and childish.
“Stop arguing,” Ying Shou Chuan said impatiently, not wanting to listen to two elementary school students arguing. His gaze lingered on Ying Fusang’s face as he asked in a cold voice, “You jumped into the sea in the middle of the night. Were you trying to commit suicide?”
Ying Chenglang had already moved to Fang Baiyu’s side to help support him. He said with disdain, “Tsk, too bad he didn’t actually drown.”
Ying Fusang immediately reacted, guessing that this was the version of the story that had been released to the public.
Before he could answer, Fang Baiyu, who had been a silent background character, suddenly covered his mouth and coughed a few times.
After the others’ gazes turned to him, he looked up at Ying Fusang and said, “I’m sorry, Xiaosang. I didn’t mean to do that with the group project. I should have apologized to you sooner. Don’t be in a bad mood because of me.”
Upon hearing this, Ying Shou Chuan immediately took back the slightest bit of trust he had just developed for Ying Fusang. He now only thought the other person was absurd. How could he be so fixated on such a minor thing that he would even try to kill himself? It was utterly ridiculous.
Ying Fusang silently sized up this human.
He didn’t use his divine sense to probe the other person’s background, as he had to be wary of the “rules” detecting him. And even if the other person was probing, Ying Fusang was a genuine human now, without any flaws.
Combining everything that had happened before, and Qi Xing Wen’s opinion, Ying Fusang had already determined that this Fang Baiyu was the so-called “variable.”
He was quite fast. He was a sniper not long ago, and now he had already picked up the persona of a weak patient so quickly.
“Well, what can I do? I’m already in a bad mood.” Ying Fusang threw the apple core into the trash can, took a wet wipe, and carefully wiped his fingers. He looked up at Fang Baiyu with a smiling, gentle, but very aggressive expression.
Fang Baiyu met his gaze and suddenly froze. His cheeks uncontrollably flushed slightly, and a strange sense of excitement rose in his heart.
Ying Fusang only looked at him for a second. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the person who had just asked the question, Ying Shou Chuan.
“Yes, I was trying to commit suicide. Anyway, you all look down on me, so I was just being helpful and doing it for you. You should thank me.”
The three people present were all stunned. None of them expected him to say something like that.
It was like an unspoken thing that everyone knew about had suddenly been exposed, stripped bare, and laid out on the table. Ying Shou Chuan’s face was the first to show it. “What do you mean? Are you trying to blame us for treating you badly?”
The warning in his eyes was very obvious. He was telling him not to talk nonsense.
Ying Fusang didn’t take the hint and said impolitely, “Big brother, you know the answer to that question better than I do.”
After all these years, Ying Shou Chuan was momentarily in a trance when he heard that address again. The look in his eyes as he looked at the other person was more scrutinizing.
The person in his memory who would only follow behind him, timidly calling him “big brother,” seemed to have changed in some way.
Ying Shou Chuan didn’t say anything. Ying Chenglang was still angry and wanted to continue arguing. “I’m telling you, stop twisting the truth—”
“Stop shouting in the ward. The patient needs to rest!” The nurse who came in to change Ying Fusang’s IV pushed the door open and scolded them.
“…” Ying Chenglang also felt a little embarrassed and fell silent.
Fang Baiyu coughed in a timely manner, tugged on their sleeves, and whispered, “Let’s go. Let’s not disturb Xiaosang anymore.”
Ying Chenglang glared at Ying Fusang in resentment.
Ying Fusang smiled, bidding them farewell.
…
A Fateful Reunion
The kidnapping incident came to an end. The faculty advisor gave Ying Fusang a one-month sick leave to recover, and due to wound infection and other issues, he ended up spending the entire month in the hospital.
In addition to visitors, Ying Fusang also ran into a few ghosts during his stay. When he was bored, he would often find them and chat.
It was just that Ying Fusang always seemed to scare these ghosts. Their first words were almost always, “You can see me?!” “You can talk to me?!” After a while, Ying Fusang also found it uninteresting and stopped looking for new ghosts to chat with.
Besides that, he also ran into a few ghost messengers who came to collect souls.
“Why isn’t Bai Wu Chang working?” Ying Fusang asked casually. The sickles and other tools in the hands of the little ghosts “thudded” to the ground. After 0.1 seconds, they all rushed forward with tears in their eyes and hugged Ying Fusang’s ankles.
“Boss!!”
“Lord Yama!!”
Ying Fusang: ?
“When are you coming back—!!!” The two little ghosts cried out in unison.
After a brief analysis, Ying Fusang said thoughtfully, “…Has the Underworld finally been taken over by the Heavenly Court?”
The two little ghosts shook their heads, then nodded.
Then, they threw the newly collected ghost to the side to play by itself and ignored it, complaining to Ying Fusang for two full hours about—the temporary King of the Underworld, Hei Wu Chang.
“Oh, is that so? Did he do that?” Ying Fusang found it fascinating to listen to. He felt that the person they were talking about didn’t seem to be the one he knew.
But then again, the affairs of the Underworld had nothing to do with him now.
Thinking this, Ying Fusang felt relieved.
The weather during the rainy season was always stuffy and humid. The continuous heavy rain had unknowingly brushed the leaves into a different color. A red maple leaf was lifted from the ground by the cool autumn wind and “plop” landed on the window.
Ying Fusang walked to the window and happened to see the maple leaf fall.
Standing in this position, he vaguely remembered that blue and white bird. When he was a pure human, he would wonder whether that mountain tit was a figment of his imagination or real. But now, recalling the unusual details, he had a new person he suspected.
What a meaningless memory.
Ying Fusang reached out and heavily closed the window, picked up his suitcase, and went downstairs.
“Don’t speak when you’re not supposed to, and don’t wander around and cause trouble for me.”
Seeing Ying Shou Chuan sitting in the back seat, Ying Fusang directly opened the passenger door and sat down.
Ying Shou Chuan put away his tablet and closed his eyes to rest for a while. Thinking of his father’s words, he still impatiently opened his eyes and gave a few instructions.
“Mmm,” Ying Fusang was too lazy to bother with him.
Today was Friday. He could go back to school next Monday. But ever since the kidnapping incident, Ying Fusang’s “dad” seemed to have inexplicably felt a bit of guilt toward him.
A few days ago, the other person, for some reason, said that the group was participating in a public welfare project to aid the northwestern region and wanted Ying Fusang to be the representative to appear at the press conference.
When the proposal was made, Shi Su Ying was the first to jump out and vote against it. After she said a lot of things, she finally made Ying De Qing change his mind. The originally scheduled Ying Shou Chuan would still be the one to speak, and Ying Fusang would just show his face and see the world.
“I’m sorry, I’m late.”
The car door was opened again, and Fang Baiyu sat down next to Ying Shou Chuan.
“You’re not late, the timing is perfect.” Ying Shou Chuan opened his eyes and smiled at him warmly. He then turned to the driver and said, “Uncle Zhang, we can go.”
As for why he brought Fang Baiyu, Ying Fusang had no comment.
…
After the plane landed, they transferred to a car. The rolling mountains outside the window were pulled into a close-up. In November, this area was already covered in ice and snow, and the fog was thick. The sky was a dull gray, blending with the shadows of the distant mountains. The black and white were more distinct, appearing solemn without reason.
The press conference was actually tomorrow. After arriving at the hotel, Ying Fusang took his room card and just wanted to lie down and sleep.
But at this moment, Fang Baiyu enthusiastically suggested that they go see some local famous scenic spots, hike a mountain, and get some inspiration.
Painting seemed to be one of his hobbies.
Regarding the matter of disturbing his sleep, which was a bottom line issue, Ying Fusang didn’t even bother to pretend and directly refused, “I’m not going.”
Ying Shou Chuan immediately chimed in and disagreed with Ying Fusang sleeping alone at the hotel.
Both of them were sick. That was Ying Fusang’s evaluation.
“Fine, let’s go.” His sleepiness was almost gone from their back-and-forth. Ying Fusang agreed with a smile, planning how to push the two of them off the mountain peak later, so they could see how the Underworld was doing.
If he was only suspicious at first, when Fang Baiyu refused to go to the scenic area and insisted on going to an undeveloped forest, Ying Fusang was sure he was up to something again.
It was approaching evening, and the cold wind was even more biting. They walked up the rugged, winding mountain path covered in snow, and the altitude gradually increased.
The road was slippery in the snow. Ying Shou Chuan was constantly concerned about Fang Baiyu’s physical condition. “Are you tired? Are you okay?”
Fang Baiyu wasn’t wearing much. His cheeks were slightly red from the wind. “I’m fine.”
Ying Shou Chuan was afraid he was cold and immediately took off his jacket and put it on him. The two of them were pulling and pushing.
Ying Fusang walked behind them, not paying attention to them. Instead, he was a little interested in the scenery here. Compared to the perpetual night of the Underworld, human nature and climate changes were indeed interesting.
After an unknown amount of time, they entered a birch forest. There were also a few rivers flowing nearby. The surface of the water was covered with a thin layer of ice. The water below seemed still, like dead water.
Although it was evening, the fog was getting thicker. Under the hazy filter, the pitch-black water and the pale white snow formed a strong visual contrast. The knots on the straight tree trunks were like countless pairs of black eyes.
An ominous atmosphere permeated the air.
Ying Fusang silently raised his guard, closely monitoring the changes in the surrounding environment.
A gust of wind blew by, and the branches made a faint creaking sound.
He instantly stretched out his hand, ready to attack, but when he turned his head, he met the gaze of a gray and blue mountain tit that had just been perched on a branch.