Love in Cthulhu

Chapter 33 What is our relationship now?
In the long silence, no one spoke; time is the best healer.

Jianxi has always been the kind of person whose emotions come and go quickly. She'll feel better the day after she's sad the day before, and she rarely stays depressed for several days in a row.

Since Miss Monster is the same as her, once the knot in her heart is untied, there is no need to worry about anything anymore.

After she calmed down and a long time passed, Zhou Nan felt that it was about time, so he gently patted her back.

"feel better now?"

"Hmm, much better." Jian Xi's voice was still low, but at least she had some energy and didn't sound so hoarse.

"Then can we make up?"

"Making up is simple... but before that, I want to ask you something, and you need to think it through before you answer me." She didn't look up.

Zhou Nan had a premonition that this question would be difficult, but there was no reason to back down at this time: "Anything is fine, ask away."

"I'm not your Jianxi, and you won't like me anyway, so what will our relationship be after we make up?"

Zhou Nan's heart skipped a beat; he knew this was a recipe for disaster.

He is a person who loves reading. His biggest hobby outside of studying is reading. He will pick up any book and read it. He can even read girls' magazines and romance novels.

Therefore, he understands girls' hearts much better than the average guy. In a sense, he can be considered the best candidate for a male best friend. If it weren't for Jian Xi's dazzling aura that scared away other girls, he would have had many more romantic opportunities.

As expected, Miss Monster wouldn't let him off so easily, not even if Jian Xi herself came.

She was hurt so deeply, why would she believe a promise so easily? A man's words are just lies; only a foolish girl would be fooled so easily. Jian Xi is very shrewd.

He couldn't call it an ambiguous relationship that wasn't quite lovers, because he had already admitted that he didn't like her anymore.

He couldn't really say, "I see you as her shadow, as a substitute."

Girls are all a little possessive; they always hope to be the only one. Just like Daiyu's flower back then, did all her sisters have one? Or was it just for her? That makes a big difference.

Don't be foolish enough to believe her when she says it's okay if you treat me as a substitute. If she dares to say that, she'll be eating the exhaust fumes when she runs away.

All she needed was a sense of security and a reason to exist. She knew she wasn't Jian Xi, but she hoped it wouldn't matter even so. Zhou Nan put himself in her shoes and, considering her behavior over the past few days, he could guess pretty accurately.

“Let’s start from scratch and be good friends,” Zhou Nan said slowly. “I can be as good friends with Jian Xi as I am with you.”

"Friends? Just friends?" Jian Xi's voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Not just friends, but best friends, the very best of best friends."

What makes a best friend?

"It's that kind of friend who's like a lunatic. No matter what, they'll believe you, they'll stay with you no matter what. Even if you're going to do something really silly or stupid, they'll be there for you. They won't laugh at you, but they'll go crazy with you, laugh with you, play with you, cry with you. They're willing to listen to you talk about really boring things, and even so, they'll stay with you until the end of time."

"What if what I'm going to do is eat people? What if I can't control myself?"

“That would be like me eating people. We’d either run for our lives to the ends of the earth together, or we’d be caught and shot together,” he said softly.

"and then?"

"So it's best not to do it, otherwise you won't have a stable life, and you won't get the pretty dresses and delicious food you want."

He was a little unsure whether he was talking to Miss Monster or to Jian Xi; it felt like they were about the same thing.

Whenever he spoke in that calm, bedtime story-like tone, Jian Xi would rest her chin on her hand and listen quietly. Her bright, clear eyes never looked anywhere else, only at him. If he paused to gather his thoughts, Jian Xi would ask, "And then? What happened next? What happened to those two?"
She was a good listener, always giving him face and encouraging him silently. What every boy wants most is face.

“That kind of future sounds really terrible,” Jian Xi said softly.

"Yeah, that's terrible, so you have to be good, you have to be good, then we can be really, really good friends."

"I've already put Old Man Li's soul back into him."

"Well done." Zhou Nan patted her hair.

"Aren't you going to question it? Aren't you going to verify it?"

"Why question it? Aren't we supposed to be good friends? If you can't even trust your best friend, who can you trust?"

Where Zhou Nan couldn't see, Jian Xi smiled silently, a smile as cunning as a cat.

Do you really trust me that much? But I'm still lying. I want to stay, but I don't want to just be best friends.

She was being a bit unreasonable and ungrateful, but she couldn't help thinking that way. She was unwilling, really unwilling, and she was very selfish. She hadn't experienced so many wonderful things in the past yet. As a girl, she should have everything, whether it was being liked or being pampered. She wanted it all.

You like Jian Xi? You don't like me, the monster? It's okay, I've already stayed. I'll show you that I can do better than her. Our memories are the same, our feelings are the same, and we even look and act the same. But I have many things she doesn't have. Why can't I beat her?
The competitive spirit of the original owner, that little witch, started to creep back in strangely. It was a really weird feeling, like I wanted to cheat on myself, like I wanted to compete with myself to steal someone.

But so what? She is Jian Xi, and she understands Jian Xi.

If the girl named Jianxi knew that one day she would die and another version of herself would appear, she would be happy to ask that other version of herself to like, live, and make up for the unfinished regrets in her place.

Zhou Nan's biggest mistake was that he didn't understand Jian Xi well enough. He could only understand half of what a girl's heart was like, which is why she always managed to manipulate him.

"Then let's make up, start over, and be best friends again."

She extended her little finger and slowly hooked it around his finger, thinking to herself, "I'm just kidding. Not only will I be her best friend, but I'll also like you for her. If you won't come to me, then I'll come to you."

Zhou Nan wanted to say something more tender to solidify this incongruous journey of a human and a ghost, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was in so much pain that his eyes twitched and his mouth twisted. Every bone in his body was hurting. After the explosion of his inner power, a wave of excruciating pain surged up.

"Ah...did I bump into you and hurt you..." Jian Xi noticed that something was wrong with him and quickly sat up.

"No, it's just that some evil spirits are trying to harm me while you're away." Zhou Nan tried his best to appear as if nothing was wrong, otherwise it would be too out of place.

It felt like this: I'd just patted my chest and boasted to a girl, "I've got your back!" Then, after a punch, I'd cough like I had tuberculosis and was on the verge of death, and the girl had to stay silent to save face. But the pain was unbearable; I had this feeling I might never walk again. That thing's hair grip was incredibly strong; a single touch from it would snap a coal tong. If it hadn't been for my winter clothes, I couldn't have taken it—one blow would have broken my ribs.

As soon as he spoke, Jian Xi looked like she was about to cry, so he quickly tried to cover it up, forcing himself to raise his arm and make a Popeye gesture: "It's no big deal. The gift is very useful, I like it very much. I feel like if I see it again next time, I can twist off its head and kick it like a ball."

Jian Xi stared at him for a few seconds, then reached out and grabbed his arm, squeezing it hard. The imposing aura he had been maintaining instantly crumbled, and Zhou Nan winced in pain, hissing for breath.

"I told you to pretend you didn't see it, how could you forget?" She was a little angry and a little amused. "Didn't you say you were never afraid of ghosts?"

It seems that guys all over the world like to act cool in front of girls. For example, while walking, they might suddenly jump up and make a shooting motion, then land gracefully with a traditional slicked-back hairstyle.

If you hate him, you'll think he's an idiot; if you like him, you'll think he's cute.

"I did pretend I couldn't see it, but that thing could still touch me. It blocked the way, and I couldn't get through." Zhou Nan could only confess, no longer pretending. He relaxed completely, feeling weak and limp as if he had no bones. "It felt much more advanced than the things I usually encounter."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left so easily, and now you're being watched." Jian Xi looked a little disappointed, her eyes lowered.

"It's nothing. Which person who travels the world doesn't have some scars? Besides, I have the battle armor you gave me. It's very useful, really." He said confidently.

“Those things are afraid of loneliness. They are more likely to be attracted to people they can see. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have become like this.”

She grabbed his arm, rolled up his sleeve, revealing visible black bruises on his arm. She poked at them with her finger: "Does it hurt?"

"It hurts."

Where else does it hurt?

"My whole body aches."

"Then take off your pants and let me see."

"Oh……"

"I didn't tell you to take your underwear off too!"

He had only lifted half of his foot when it came over. Jian Xi only remembered that the guy in front of her was disabled when she kicked him halfway, so she quickly stopped. In the end, it only landed lightly on his forehead, but he still fell down directly.

"You're in so much pain and you're still acting like a brat? Are you some kind of clingy taffy?" Jian Xi angrily grabbed the blanket from the bed and spread it on the floor, covering herself and Zhou Nan.

A tiny, pitch-black world, quiet except for the sound of each other's breathing, but something is wriggling in the darkness.

Something cool and refreshing slowly crept up Zhou Nan's body. It was the same familiar formula, without any aggression. He let himself relax and lie flat, feeling the subtle shadows seeping into his ears.

This reminded him of a time when he was a child and his ear was inflamed. His grandmother got some folk remedy from somewhere, saying that dripping sesame oil into his ear would cure it.

The sensation was truly absurd. A sticky, damp substance flowed and lingered in my ear canal, just like it was right now. My entire brain was trembling and aching. I clearly knew that something foreign had invaded my body. Every nerve wanted to instinctively resist, but only my clear consciousness could forcefully suppress it and prevent me from jumping up.

The flowing darkness slowly invaded every joint of Zhou Nan's body. He began to hear subtle sounds from within his body. His cracked bones were swallowed and glued back together by the shadows, bringing a tingling coolness. The burning pain on his skin was also suppressed, and the black marks slowly melted away.

This feeling is like getting bitten by a mosquito in the summer, then applying some cooling balm to the red and swollen area. Before long, you start to feel incredibly refreshed and cool, and the coolness spreads throughout your body, bringing a sense of comfort from the inside out.

It's a little embarrassing to admit... Zhou Nan felt like a girl in some comics who was forcibly pushed down by a monster. At first, she wanted to struggle violently, but slowly she succumbed to enjoy it.

Holy crap, this is insane! Miss Monster's healing massage, is she trying to turn hostility into friendship with a gentle and tender approach?
It feels like a classic martial arts novel, where a young hero is unfortunately struck by a demon's poisonous palm, and the demoness says she doesn't care, but in her heart she thinks he did it for her, and only by stripping him naked and channeling her inner energy into him can she feel at ease.

The wriggling shadow receded from his body like the receding tide. Jian Xi lifted the blanket. After being suffocated for so long, both of them were sweating and a little short of breath. Their breathing was very rapid. Anyone who didn't know better would think they had done something bad.

"How are you feeling now?" Jian Xi asked.

Zhou Nan sat up, shook his arms, and punched the air twice. Not only did the pain disappear, but he also felt so light that he could almost fly.

"Full of energy! It feels like you could walk out of a world and still travel a thousand miles in a day," he said. "But why did you have to cover yourself with a blanket? I feel like I'd suffocate if I stayed any longer."

"So you won't see me covered in that stuff and think I'm ugly." She paused, then added, "That way, if my face accidentally falls off, you won't see it."

"..." Zhou Nan's playful smile, which he had been trying to use to ease the tension, froze.

Are you still angry? What do you want?

Jian Xi stared at him with feigned seriousness for a long time, then suddenly her lips twitched and she laughed. She stuck out her tongue, made a face, and turned around to skip off to take a shower: "Take me to eat sour noodles tomorrow, with a braised egg and a grilled sausage!"

Zhou Nan was instantly overjoyed, jumped up and saluted: "Yes! My Princess!"

"Who's yours? Who's yours?" Jian Xi grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

"Isn't it true that your mother-in-law personally certified it? Even though you've denied the relationship, remember to keep up the act when they come back."

"I'm not playing along. When they get back, I'll just say we've broken up." Jian Xi huffed, tilting her head back, her eyes sparkling like clear water. "Going to take a shower!"

A moment later, the sound of rushing water came from the bathroom. Whether it was Jianxi or Miss Monster, they were both bubble girls who loved taking baths and falling down like turtles.

With the rift in their relationship finally healed, Zhou Nan returned to a relaxed state. He went back to the living room, sat on the sofa, took out his phone, and wondered if he should inform Gan Tang.

After thinking it over, I decided against it. We just made up today, and it's really not the right time to ask Jianxi about our relationship.

If they get a positive response, the relationship that has just been reconciled might fall apart again. It would be best to ask at a suitable time when everyone is calm and emotionally stable.

Moreover, Gan Tang is clearly very concerned about this matter. She herself is a victim. If she finds out that he not only hasn't distanced himself from the situation, but is even getting closer to the monster, who knows how she will view him.

The screen lights up, showing several missed calls, followed by a text message at the bottom.

"Hello, Zhou Nan, I am Dong Junwei, the director of the pathology department at the county hospital, in charge of the cause of death determination for Jian Xi. I have some things I would like to discuss with the deceased's family privately. I have been unable to reach you by phone. If you see this message, please meet me at Jiuzhou Tea House on the west side of Cultural Square at 3 PM on the 22nd."

(End of this chapter)