The noisy accusations drilled into Chi You’s ears like needles.
But amid them, he didn’t hear Jiang Luo’s voice.
Even so, he knew Jiang Luo was watching him.
Chi You had never cared how others saw him, never cared if people believed the rumors.
His patience wasn’t weakness—it was like a venomous snake coiled up, waiting for the perfect moment to strike back. Chi You understood the power of public opinion. He knew he couldn’t let the branch family throw filth on him forever. So he played the part of the gentle, kind young master—so well that no one believed he could do anything bad. So well that everyone believed it was the branch family staging their own drama.
Only then could he slowly take control.
But standing there in the crowd now, Chi You found himself wondering: what would Jiang Luo think of him?
This so-called “spouse” of his probably didn’t know about this part of his past.
Jiang Luo stood nearby, his expression unreadable.
Who was Chi You?
A brutal, blood-soaked specter. A cunning and hypocritical madman who used every trick in the book to please himself.
He did whatever pleased him. And now, in his youth, he was being smeared by the branch family in such a filthy, disgusting way?
Logically, Jiang Luo should be pleased to see Chi You suffer like this.
But instead, his eyes grew colder, and a violent anger surged within him like a sudden flame.
There was no satisfaction—just a fury that made his blood boil.
Jiang Luo had no problem admitting one thing to himself: that this malicious ghost was a perfectly matched enemy for his tastes.
The stronger Chi You was, the more thrilling it was to subdue him. The more they clashed, the more intimately they came to know each other’s methods.
Their confrontations were always stained with smoke and blood, like a deadly, dazzling dance on the edge of a blade.
That mutual understanding never made them go soft. Even after getting out of bed, Jiang Luo could still pick up a knife and stab straight at Chi You’s lungs. Even during sex, Chi You would still strangle him without mercy.
This was their unique way of relating.
And both of them reveled in it.
But this rival—still not fully grown—was now being humiliated by a lowly, nauseating branch-line young master.
Using such filthy, despicable tactics to degrade someone who had once slept with Jiang Luo.
—Even Jiang Luo hadn’t humiliated Chi You like this.
Just as Chi Tian was daydreaming about where he’d go for fun that night, he suddenly heard a faint snort of laughter behind him.
His pleasant fantasy was rudely interrupted. He turned around in annoyance and saw Chi You’s newly married male spouse curling his lips. “Pfft, sorry,” the man said lightly. “I just found it all very amusing and couldn’t help but laugh.”
Faced with a beauty—even if it was a man—Chi Tian’s expression softened somewhat. “What’s so amusing?”
The black-haired youth’s crimson lips curved even higher. “You. You’re quite amusing.”
Chi Tian was briefly stunned, then grinned smugly. He glanced proudly at Chi You, assuming this Jiang family young master was smart enough to recognize Chi You’s impending downfall and had come to curry favor with him.
Jiang Luo’s smile tickled his heart. Chi Tian coughed and pretended to be serious. “What’s so amusing about me?”
“The way you lie without even preparing is very amusing,” the long-haired beauty walked to the young man’s side and cheerfully took his hand. When his gaze swept over the fat-faced Chi Tian, a faint sneer finally crept into his tone. “Chi You and I are newlyweds. We sleep together every night. Last night was no exception. Is it that my face isn’t attractive enough? Or that in the freezing night, young master Chi just happened to not want to sleep and wandered out to the lake to commit such a crime?”
Chi You stiffened and turned his head to look at him.
The fat on Chi Tian’s face twitched. “You—you’re spouting nonsense!”
Jiang Luo replied lazily, “I’m just stating the truth. How is that nonsense?”
Chi Tian shouted, “I saw him kill that maid and throw her into the lake with my own eyes! He even begged me to keep it a secret! If that’s not nonsense, what is?!”
But Jiang Luo wasn’t even listening to him. Instead, he was gently comforting Chi You.
Chi You stared at Jiang Luo for a long moment, then finally, he smiled.
Chi Tian was so furious his face turned dark. “Are you two even listening to me?!”
As he verged on a breakdown, Jiang Luo finally gave him a faint glance. “And how are you not spouting nonsense?”
“Didn’t you see the marks on Chi You’s neck?” Chi Tian instinctively followed Jiang Luo’s gaze. Jiang Luo laughed, “Aren’t those marks proof he was with me? If he really raped and killed someone, you think the maid stopped to kiss his neck first?”
Chi Tian froze, then grew enraged. He stormed up to Jiang Luo, raised his hand, and snapped, “Shut your d*mn mouth!”
But before he could slap him, his wrist was caught by Chi You. Chi Tian was just about to yell at him to let go, when searing pain shot through his arm—Chi You had broken it.
“Chi You, you b*stard! Let go! Let go of me!”
“Help! Someone come and stop him! Aaaahhhh!”
The screams grew louder. Chi You kicked Chi Tian’s knees, knocking him to the ground. His calves twisted unnaturally—his legs were ruined.
Maids and servants cried out in alarm and scattered. The smarter ones rushed off to find elders of the Chi family.
“Aaahhh it hurts!” Chi Tian’s face was covered in tears and snot. “Chi You, you b*stard, you actually dared hurt me, you—”
His words were cut off abruptly.
Chi Tian’s mouth was sealed shut—he couldn’t speak. His eyes widened in horror as he felt his lips forcibly glued together. A strange panic rose in his chest. The next moment, he couldn’t stop himself—his teeth clenched down hard on his own tongue. Agonizing pain shot through him as he bit it off completely.
Tears streamed down his face. He was twitching violently in agony, eyes rolled back. But the horror didn’t end. His teeth kept chewing on the severed tongue, grinding it into minced flesh.
No scream came. Just blood and meat pulp oozing from the seams of his sealed lips.
Chi You’s face had gone pale. His fists were clenched tight. Veins bulged along his neck. He looked like he was using every ounce of strength just to endure the pain. His voice was no longer steady. “Young… Young Master Jiang, could you… please get me a pen and paper?”
Jiang Luo immediately understood—it was a pretense. Chi You was trying to get him to leave.
Before he could reply, Chi You’s legs suddenly buckled. He fell heavily to his knees, hands clawing into the dirt.
Ghost markings crawled rapidly across Chi You’s body. Each breath came with a spray of blood from his mouth and nose. It was like his organs were being shifted inside his body.
From the backs of his hands to his throat, his veins twisted violently. He gritted his teeth as waves of blinding pain tore through him. His fingernails split open against the gravel, leaving streaks of blood.
Everything he saw was blood-red. Every vessel burned like it was filled with boiling liquid.
Chi You’s expression twisted into something beast-like. He knelt on the ground, trembling—not like a man, but like a terrifying monster. Compared to Chi Tian, who was writhing and dying beside him, Chi You looked like he was bearing pain multiplied many times over.
Between gasping breaths and blurred consciousness, Chi You still remembered—Jiang Luo was still here.
He suddenly began to move, ever so slowly. Each tiny motion felt like his flesh was being flayed from bone, but he forced himself to turn, finally presenting his trembling back to Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo froze, then suddenly understood.
This was the curse of the Chi family—the direct line could not harm collateral relatives.
He also realized why Chi You had tried to send him away.
This was the pride of a young man. He didn’t want Jiang Luo to see him so humiliated, filthy, and monstrous.
Jiang Luo’s emotions instantly grew tangled. He stared at Chi You for a long moment, then stepped back. In the end, he did as Chi You wished and hurriedly left the scene.
As soon as he heard the footsteps receding, Chi You finally let go of the last thread of restraint. The agony that threatened to tear him apart devoured every nerve in his body. Blood began to seep from his pores.
In the blink of an eye, the young master of the Chi family had become a blood-soaked figure, covered in mud and gore.
No one knew how much time had passed before the excruciating pain finally began to subside. Chi You was trembling all over, now lying on the ground. Blood had matted over his eyes. The pain had receded, but the aftereffects lingered—any slight movement brought a skin-flaying kind of agony throughout his body.
Even the air entering his lungs felt like it carried needles. Through the blood, Chi You stared blankly and saw Chi Tian passed out nearby, his face frozen in terror. Suddenly, Chi You broke into crazed laughter.
A shadow came to his side, casting darkness over half his body.
Chi You halted his laughter and with difficulty raised his head—what he saw was the military-uniformed young master.
The young master had been silently watching the whole farce like a bystander. Now, however, he had walked over to Chi You. He looked down from under the brim of his military cap, gaze as if looking at the filthiest insect. The courtyard was now empty of others—even the adjutant who had accompanied the young master had vanished.
Chi You’s fingers twitched weakly.
Suddenly, the young master lifted his boot and stomped it onto Chi You’s chest.
After the curse-induced injuries, Chi You was like a broken shell. Even a knife-wielding three-year-old could take his life now. He spat out a mouthful of blood, looking up coldly at the young master.
The shadow of the cap obscured the upper half of the man’s face, but his eyes—glowing eerily with ghostly blue flames—were inhuman. Those were the eyes of a ghost, not a man.
Chi You suddenly felt a strange sensation.
Their faces were clearly different—yet somehow, Chi You saw in this man a vague, repulsive familiarity.
Like looking into a mirror. But not quite.
The military-uniformed young master adjusted the white gloves on his hands, his uniform pristine, his demeanor casual and aloof. Compared to Chi You, who was lying in the dirt and blood, he seemed like an untouchable, always-superior aristocrat. “You look absolutely pathetic,” he said, voice tinged with ridicule.
“The eldest young master of the Chi family?” His lips curled into a mocking smile.
Chi You stared at him, deathly still.
The man lit a cigarette. As smoke curled around his sharp military-featured face, a ghostly mask emerged faintly beneath the surface.
Ghost markings crawled up to his throat.
Chi You’s pupils contracted sharply.
The man flicked the remaining half of the cigarette onto Chi You’s body. He stared down for a moment, then sneered coldly: “You’re the stain I wish I could erase.”
That one sentence confirmed all of Chi You’s suspicions. Surprisingly, he calmed down instead. Looking at the young master with the same loathing, Chi You coughed up more blood and said mockingly: “I would never want to become a malicious ghost like you. So in the end, the ghost marks consumed you? Disgusting.”
Author’s Note:
To the older Chi You, the younger Chi You is a shameful past he wishes he could deny.
To the younger Chi You, the older Chi You is the very image he most despises becoming.
