Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 9

No matter what, Wu Jiu was once a classmate and colleague, and Zhu Xiao couldn’t bear to let him live too miserably down there. Among the substantial inheritance Wu Jiu had left him was a key to the apartment next door. After consulting Wu Jiu, Zhu Xiao went to the house where Wu Jiu had lived before. Although it was right next door, Zhu Xiao had never set foot in Wu Jiu’s home.

Wu Jiu’s house was extravagantly decorated, exuding an extreme maximalism from the ceiling to the sewer, just like his flamboyant personality. As Zhu Xiao stepped into the entrance hall and turned on the light, he was taken aback by a statue of a dog standing upright and sticking out its chest. The dog was as tall as a human, and Zhu Xiao looked at it almost eye-to-eye.

Zhu Xiao: [Why did you put such an ugly dog at the entrance?]

Wu Jiu, furious: [That’s a horse! Didn’t you see the title below? It’s called ‘Horse to Success.’ I bought it for a hundred thousand yuan. It’s one of a kind in the world, very rare, okay?]

Zhu Xiao: […]

Zhu Xiao suddenly thought it was quite amazing that Wu Jiu hadn’t squandered his fortune all these years. Wu Jiu continued: [And I don’t like dogs. Who would like dogs?]

Zhu Xiao: [I do.]

Had he known Wu Jiu disliked dogs, he would have kept one himself. As if reading his mind, Wu Jiu quickly changed his tune: [Well, I like them too. Don’t try to contradict me.]

Zhu Xiao didn’t respond, too lazy to argue over such a childish matter. Wu Jiu had many bizarre collections, most of which were the result of his reckless spending. It was fortunate that he had money to burn; otherwise, most people wouldn’t be able to afford such extravagance.

Zhu Xiao shifted his gaze from the chaotic collections and walked to the innermost room, stopping at the door. He informed Wu Jiu: [I’m going into your bedroom.]

Unlike the living room, Wu Jiu’s bedroom was much simpler and more normal. Zhu Xiao walked straight to the wardrobe. He had brought two suitcases to pack Wu Jiu’s clothes, which he would later burn at his grave. He opened the wardrobe door, took out the clothes, folded them neatly, and placed them in the suitcases.

Since Yin-Yang Messenger didn’t have an image function, he could only send messages to tell Wu Jiu what he had taken.

Zhu Xiao: [I’ve taken two sets of winter clothes.]

Zhu Xiao: [I’ve taken all your pants.]

Zhu Xiao: [Do you need summer clothes? You said it’s cool down there.]

At that moment, Wu Jiu was sitting in the Yama’s mansion, lost in thought as he read Zhu Xiao’s messages. He was imagining the scene upstairs—Zhu Xiao in his room, half-buried in his wardrobe searching for clothes, surrounded by his belongings and imbued with his scent.

It wasn’t until Zhu Xiao sent: [? Respond.] that Wu Jiu snapped back to reality.

Wu Jiu: [What?]

Zhu Xiao simply copied and pasted his previous question and added: [What were you doing?]

Wu Jiu felt like he had been caught daydreaming. He quickly made up an excuse: [Nothing, the network down here is bad.]

Wu Jiu: [No need to take those, and don’t take so much. Don’t exhaust yourself or no one will visit my grave.]

After all, it wasn’t like he was truly unclothed. Although the new Chinese underworld style was a bit hard to accept, it wasn’t entirely unacceptable.

Ignoring Wu Jiu’s latter remark, Zhu Xiao packed the two 30-inch suitcases to the brim. They got stuck when he dragged them out the door. Before leaving, he turned off the light, and the grotesquely ugly horse disappeared into the darkness, returning the house to its uninhabited state.

He glanced back, feeling a bit uneasy. In his memory, Wu Jiu’s house was always lit.

…

When Zhu Xiao arrived at the cemetery, he suddenly asked: [Did you ever keep a cat at home?]

After visiting Wu Jiu’s house, he was reminded of the night before Wu Jiu’s appearance when he had the illusion that Wu Jiu had been there.

Wu Jiu: [No, why?]

Zhu Xiao: [Nothing.]

Zhu Xiao frowned, wondering if a stray cat from their building had sneaked in. But they lived on a high floor—how could a cat have gotten up there? And the blanket he had on him—could it really have been him who covered himself?

Zhu Xiao asked again, for no particular reason: [Are you really not coming back to life?]

Wu Jiu thought for a moment and replied: [I’m already a ghost.]

In his current ethereal state, coming back to life would be quite eerie. Scaring others was one thing, but if he scared Zhu Xiao to death, who would compensate for that?

However, for some reason, Wu Jiu harbored some unrealistic hopes and tentatively said: [If I came back to life, wouldn’t that be even scarier?]

Zhu Xiao asked: [So you’ll just stay a ghost forever?]

Wu Jiu certainly didn’t want to remain a ghost. He was currently in the underworld but his heart was in the human world. Unfortunately, the conditions didn’t allow it, and he wasn’t sure when he could return.

Wu Jiu: [For now, that’s the case.]

Zhu Xiao pursed his lips and didn’t reply again. Because of the Yin-Yang Messenger app, Wu Jiu sent messages every day, and Zhu Xiao actually hadn’t fully come to terms with the fact that “Wu Jiu was really dead.” It wasn’t until now that he suddenly realized: Wu Jiu was dead, and they were separated by the boundary between the living and the dead.

The Yin-Yang Messenger connected the two worlds, and the other end of the network was a world he could never reach.

—He might never see Wu Jiu again.

After finishing this topic, Zhu Xiao didn’t send any more messages. Wu Jiu keenly sensed that something was off with Zhu Xiao’s mood. He chose his words carefully, trying to sound as gentle as possible: [What’s wrong?]

Zhu Xiao didn’t reply.

Wu Jiu: [Are you angry?]

Wu Jiu’s question was cautious, but he was still puzzled. Zhu Xiao had seemed fine just moments ago.

Zhu Xiao still didn’t respond.

Wu Jiu was so anxious down there that he almost did a set of military exercises. He hated that the Yin-Yang Messenger app only allowed cold, lifeless text messages. He couldn’t perceive the emotions on the other end of the network, nor could he accurately express himself through text.

Zhu Xiao didn’t seem angry either, because Wu Jiu received many items that he had burned over—Zhu Xiao was a person who was tough on the outside but soft-hearted. He claimed he had no obligation to stay a widow and visit the grave, yet he still burned over some necessities.

After a long while, Zhu Xiao replied: [I’m fine. I was just burning things. Your stuff has been sent over.]

Wu Jiu didn’t pay attention to what Zhu Xiao had burned. He had been staring at the Yin-Yang Messenger interface the whole time. As soon as Zhu Xiao’s message popped up, he immediately replied: [Are you really okay?]

Burning things wasn’t something that required full concentration. How could one not even send a message?

Zhu Xiao: [I’m fine.]

He was just feeling a bit complicated. After all these years of being together every day, he spent more time with Wu Jiu than with anyone else. It was normal to feel complicated now that he realized he might never see him again.

Wu Jiu: [Are you sure? Don’t tell me you’re secretly crying. You always do that.]

Zhu Xiao didn’t know how Wu Jiu had come to that conclusion. He wasn’t someone who cried easily, and he had never shed tears in front of Wu Jiu. So he frowned and replied: [Don’t be ridiculous.]

Caught off guard by the scolding, Wu Jiu wanted to retort but somehow felt a bit relieved—based on his experience, if Zhu Xiao was still capable of scolding, it meant he was relatively normal. It was when he was silent that things got truly troublesome.

Forget it, Wu Jiu thought. He would reluctantly give in to Zhu Xiao this time!

So he didn’t argue back and lightly changed the subject. But he persisted with his question: [Then why did it take you so long to reply just now?]

Wu Jiu reviewed all the words he had said during this period, scrutinizing each sentence.

Wu Jiu: [Was it because I tricked you into reciting ‘Respectful Wu Jiu’ when making offerings?… But you had already seen through it, hadn’t you?]

Wu Jiu: [Or was it because you were too tired from burning too many things? I told you before, with your ant-like strength, don’t take so much… Forget it, next time just bring someone to burn a couple of sticks of incense!]

Wu Jiu: […Could it be because I said that green robe was ugly? But I didn’t wear it. And even though I’m wearing it now and have been laughed at all day, I haven’t taken it off!]

Following the timeline, Wu Jiu thought back to their previous topic: [Is it because I became a ghost? You don’t like the idea of me being a ghost forever?… Are you that career-oriented?]

Wu Jiu typed so fast that it seemed he might spark the phone. He sent several messages in a row, so quickly that each time Zhu Xiao wanted to reply to the previous one, the next one arrived.

Zhu Xiao deleted all the words he had typed in the input box.

He lowered his eyes and only replied to the last one.

Zhu Xiao: [Do you think I can bring you back to life just by saying so?]

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 9

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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