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Chapter Text

“Oh shit, this couldn’t get any fucking worse.” A man swore loudly as he stared at the reflection in the mirror. Pale sallow skin, greasy long black hair and a pair of unnaturally black eyes stared back at him, the figure was dressed in torn up jeans and a black t-shirt that looked past their recycle date.

This wasn’t his body, or at least it hadn’t been before he’d gone to sleep the night before.

Unfortunately, just by looking at the descriptive features he knew exactly whose body he was inhabiting.

“Fucking Hei Xiazi. Why this scumbag?” The newly named Hei Xiazi grumbled, pushing back the long strands of hair from his face to examine his weird eyes a little more. “Well, he’s not dead or tortured yet so this must be the beginning of the novel, the question is - where in the plot am I?”

Ten minutes ago he’d woken up on the floor of a trashed apartment with dozens of empty bottles of alcohol and drugs surrounding him. It was clear that the original had overdosed and died, leaving his body empty for some cosmic fuck to shove his unwanting soul inside.

“I’ve read enough web-novels to know how this goes. But fuck those plots, this is not a novel I want to actually participate in.”

He didn’t dwell on his own past, but focused instead on what he could remember of a novel he’d read out of boredom months ago.

Hei Xiazi hadn’t been an important character as far as he could remember. Just some small-time villain who had an obsessive fixation on the main antagonist and suffered greatly for his perverted ways after going too far and kidnapping the antagonist for some sick reason, the story was never really specific about the original’s plans once he got ahold of his obsession.

In fact, the death of this character had only been mentioned in the first few chapters to highlight just how ruthless the antagonist could be when provoked. Technically the character never got any screen time because he’d already died before the story even started. 

It was the accounts of the protagonist's investigations and such that the reader learns about this character at all.

Hei Xiazi shivered, this was the character whose body and life was now his own.

“Refund. I want a reincarnation refund. At the very least I should have transmigrated into one of the protagonist’s friends or allies.”

The novel’s genre had been BL dark romance, marked with countless red flags and a lot of explicit violence, however the story had a surprisingly happy ending - with the protagonist, male lead and the protagonist’s best friend taking over the family run business and cleansing the underworld of all the other clan families and everyone who stood in their way.

But that’s usually how these stories went, most of the people that went against the protagonists were irredeemable anyway, at least from the reader’s perspective.

“What’s the date? Phone, phone where are you?” Hei Xiazi looked around and found it near where he’d been laying earlier. After checking the date he let out a relieved breath and checked his messages. Apparently the people that the original had contacted to help him with his schemes were awaiting payment and would proceed until he sent them the money. He just sent a quick message to discard all previous plans and payments before blocking the phone numbers.

Now that it was decided, Hei Xiazi still had time to escape the original’s fate. As the plan to kidnap the Xie heir had yet to be implemented. If he had his way it never would and the name of Hei would disappear from the underworlds minds completely.

“I wonder how pretty this man really is for the original to lose his mind over such a big, scary fish.” Thinking about it he walked over to a nearby door that should lead to the owner’s bedroom. “I think there was some description about a shrine or something in here?” Opening the door and switching on the light he froze in shock. “What the fuck is this?! Holy shit, Xie-ye was right to cut this pervert up into little pieces.”

Covering every wall from floor to ceiling were hundreds if not thousands of pictures differing in size only as all were of the same man. There was barely anything else, no furniture and the only window was covered completely as well. 

The only items that weren’t pictures were stashed in a corner, a lone camera set upon a tripod. Most of the pictures had marks on them that on closer inspection made Hei Xiazi turn his head away so as not to look at them anymore, that way his secondhand embarrassment wouldn’t cause him to combust on the spot.

Still, his eyes zeroed onto the photos nearest him and Hei Xiazi could admit that the person in the pictures was drop dead gorgeous. An icy kind of beauty that the crappy camera was only able to capture a true fraction of.

“I need to get rid of all this and run for it.” Hei Xiazi whispered as left the stalker room to pack up some essentials in order to run away. “The plot could try to pull me in, either by completing the original story-line which means my death or making me the village bicycle like all those isekai novels. Pass. The men and women in the novel might be next level sexy but that also means that they’re also deadly as fuck.”

After packing up a rucksack he thought about his options. Right now if he was the original he’d be heading towards the warehouse district to set up his ambush for when Xie Yuchen would be coming tonight to conduct a surprise inspection of his employees and merchandise.

Not that it had been a surprise for the original who had been stalking the mob boss/businessman for the past six months. He’d probably planned to bitch the prideful boss or some stupid shit like that.

“Yeah fucking right, the original was completely delusional.” Hei Xiazi shuddered in fear. “Xie Yuchen not only rules the underworld as a sadistic mafia king but his civilian identity is a rich and powerful CEO of one of the most influential international companies in the country. He literally has it all and that’s why he’s one of the most desirable bachelors in the country, if not the world.” Hei Xiazi causally picked up one of the bottles that had been left sealed last night and opened it. He didn’t drink it though but stared at it thoughtfully.

“That’s what makes him the antagonist and not the male lead or even the protagonist, he’s just too good.”

“Not to mention that the way Xie Yuchen became the villain in the protagonist’s eyes was stupid. Why let the effects of their past of being childhood sweethearts trash an otherwise interesting plot? The author really trashed Xie Yuchen’s character later in the story. I mean, who would fall in love with someone who is indifferent to their charms, money and status? Wu Xie is also not afraid to defy and label the powerful man a criminal and gets away with barely a slap on the wrist. Fucking righteous protag plot armor bullshit.”

Hei Xiazi stopped pouring the alcohol all over the floor as he realized something important. “Oh damn, that’s a good point. Does Xie-ye even know about his stalker or would tonight have been the first deadly introduction? If he knows about me then suddenly ignoring him might send up red flags of misdirection interest. Sadistic assholes may like the attention but what they love more is the chase of uninterested prey.” Goosebumps rose, causing the thin hair to raise on his arms. “No no no, we don’t want any interest from such powerful men or women, there’s no way that I wouldn’t become a bottom toy and discard just as quickly.” He bowed at the floor where the original had died. “I’ll protect our virtue and ass, regardless of whether you deserve it or not. So please watch over this little virgin and let’s live a nice life free from blood and pain.”

Hei Xiazi had read enough novels in his previous life to recognize the commonly used tropes in both the bl genre and the isekai/transmigration genre and when those genres combined - well the usual trope would be that the one that enters the novel ends up as the bottom in an inescapable relationship. Sometimes those novels end on a happy note, especially if the one who transmigrates is already bent and the ML is kind to them.

That he was now living in a dark BL web novel was just an unfortunate issue that he’d have to deal with, there were no happy endings for the cannon fodder characters, much less villains like himself. This genre of novel had never been his go-to type, but the summary had looked interesting and even when he started to hate the plot holes he kept at it in the hopes the story would make sense at some point.

Regretfully he sped read through the entire web novel, skimming a few chapters here and there and discarded it once he reached the end without retaining much memories. The main protagonist, Wu Xie’s story plot had been flat and overused while the main lead and romantic interest Xiaoge, while being handsome and mysterious, had never gotten any satisfying explanation of who he was or his background. 

The only thing the readers learned about him, other than being an expressionless badass, was that he became a simp for Wu Xie and killed a lot of people who decided to mess with the helpless, spoiled third generation heir.

Looking down at his phone again he couldn’t find any evidence that he’d made his presence known to the target, only a lot of pictures that he quickly deleted, a bunch of incriminating messages that he also deleted. There were a few ones that made no sense, and he decided that those were probably encrypted to hide some kind of evidence. Hei Xiazi deleted them all and thought to himself that he should just get a new phone entirely and discarded the phone on the ground. 

Let it burn like everything else.

Figuring that he should be safe enough now he decided to burn all the evidence he smiled helplessly. Just in case the opposition knew of the original beforehand, with this act Xie-ye and his people would be under the assumption that he died and wouldn’t know to look for him.

His disappearance really shouldn’t impact the flow of the story as the original would be slated for an early death anyway. Sure, it was thanks to the original’s death that Wu Xie later finds out that his ‘good friend’ Xie Yuchen is a monstrous kingpin and so that starts off Wu Xie’s rejections of Xie-ye’s advances and works against him. But Xie-ye has killed and will kill a lot of people between here and there. There's no way that one insignificant death would change the plot into something unrecognizable, especially since the original had no dealings with the protagonist or his allies before.

“Okay let’s blow this popsicle stand…wait.” Hei Xiazi paused, the box of matches in his hand as he looked uncertainly at the devil's door. Hei Xiazi couldn’t help but take one more peek inside.

The same, insane view burned his eyes. He didn’t know why he expected otherwise.

The original really had a few screws loose but at least it was only pictures and not anything truly perverted. Not to mention that all the pictures looked like they were taken when the mafia king was outside of his home or office, so nothing indecent was taken but casual pictures.

Still, he actually came in here for an actual purpose and not to stare at Xie Yuchen’s pretty printed face. With one last bottle in hand he sprinkled the flammable liquid on the walls and pictures to make sure everything burned nicely.

Before leaving his eyes caught one photo that was still unsullied by either his actions, both present and past.

Most, if not all of the photos were taken from a long distance and this particular photo was no different in that respect.

However, the difference between this photo and the others was that Xie-ye was smiling ever so slightly at something out of focus, probably a stray cat or animal as that was one of Xie Yuchen’s few weaknesses that the reader learns about in the novel. It was a rare sight to behold and even the Hei Xiazi of now was memorized by the bewitching, uncommon expression.

Hei Xiazi didn’t realize he’d unpinned it and put it in his jacket pocket until the deed was already done.

“It should be fine to keep at least one photo for myself. After all, Xie-ye has somewhat of a celebrity status in the civy world so his face is probably in magazines and stuff.” After justifying his actions, Hei Xiazi lit a match and dropped it on the floor, rushing back to the other room as the shrine room behind him went up in flames. Dropping a secondary match he quickly booked it out of the apartment and down the stairs to the street. 

He didn’t bother to alert anyone around him to the fire, after all only other scumbags lived in this area so if anyone died due to his actions he wouldn’t shed a tear over it.

“Huh, the original’s psychopathic apathy is still in effect even if I’m a different person. Well, this is a novel setting so I can just treat others as nameless npcs for now.” Hei Xiazi resolved to himself as he bypassed a crowd of spectators standing in front of the burning building. “For now I need to figure out what to do. I don’t know the original’s life circumstances, only that he was a freelance mercenary…eh, how about an early retirement?” 

Hei Xiazi had found several bundles of money and weapons stashed around the apartment when he’d been packing up and took everything that would fit in the rucksack he found. It should be enough for him to take a train to a remote village or town and start a new life.

“A farmer? Fisherman? Washwoman?” Hei Xiazi started naming off jobs as he walked to the train station. “Grocery clerk? How about a delivery man? Can this body even drive?”

What he failed to notice was the deliberately hidden shadow of a person nearby. The person was speaking into a high tech cell phone and watching the scene in front of him with indifference. “The target is leaving with what looks like an overnight pack. He seems to be unconcerned by the fire engulfing his apartment and all worldly possessions. He clearly has no plans on coming back here.”

“-is there no way to retrieve the cameras located inside? They might offer us some insight as to why he’s acting out of character.”

“My apologies Sir, but it will be extremely difficult to retrieve the surveillance equipment as the whole second floor looks like the center point of the fire. We may be able to gather some evidence once the fire is put out but the cameras and the memory cards would be irreparably damaged.”

An annoyed sounding hum echoed across the small mic as the caller thought events over. “So he must have started it in his own apartment then. Hmm, I should have opted for wireless cameras.”

“It’ll be difficult to predict the reason as to why Hei-ye has done this or what happened to drive him away.” The unsaid thoughts that were on both of their minds was that someone had gotten to Hei Xiazi, either to scare him away or - the man in the alleyway thoughts were broken by the other caller.

“Keep me updated on where he is going and who he meets. Sadly, it looks like his little plan tonight won’t be occurring. It’s a pity as I wanted to see the look of surprise on his face when he realized I already knew about his little habit.”

The man grimaced at his boss’s words, these two psychopaths really complimented each other. “I’m sure it would have been vastly amusing, Xie-ye. I already have several of my men shadowing him. We’ll have an answer soon as to what happened.”

“Make sure you do. Remember, don’t touch him and don’t let him know he’s being watched. The head of the Huo family has already caught word of him and will no doubt send her own pet assassins out to play.”

“Understood.” Zhang Qiling hung up the phone and walked casually back out onto the streets, shadowing his target from a distance.

On the other side of the city a phone clicked off. Seated behind a desk in a large empty office the man contemplated the changes of events.

Xie Yuchen sat back in his chair and pondered as to what his adorable stalker was up to now, changing tactics perhaps?

Xie Yuchen smiled as he thought of the past few months. His entire life had been a process of pre planning by his elders and finding ways to subtly rebel against them. He’d long become accustomed to the constrictions of his duties and life. But after catching wind that some random merc was taking photos of him, Xie Yuchen did something unexpected, mostly due to boredom.

Rather than capture, question and have him killed, Xie Yuchen allowed the stupid cutie to continue his repulsive actions. Of course, Xie Yuchen had investigated the incidents just in case a third party was involved. But after finding out that Hei Xiazi hadn’t been hired to spy on him but taking the pictures for his own personal benefit, Xie Yuchen was morbidly charmed.

Even his shrine was kind of cute if Xie Yuchen thought about it.

He’d had plenty of fans, stalkers and admirers throughout his life, even when he had been a child there had been kidnapping attempts from perverts or people seeking ransom money from his family.

As he got older though the amount of crazies increased, mostly due to his status and looks. Xie Yuchen was relentlessly pursued in both of his professional lives and it was exhausting having to deal with such unwanted attention all the time. Of course when dealing with the criminal underworld he could just turn those stalkers into examples if any of them went too far. But it was harder dealing with his civilian persona, he had to employ celebrity tactics to protect his privacy and it was a lot less effective when he couldn’t just kill them.

Living a double life was exhausting but Xie Yuchen was determined to whitewash his existence before he hit 30. He could remember the Xie clan members thinking he was insane for starting a tiny company at the age of 14 after inheriting the position of head of the Xie Mafia Family when his uncle died an untimely death. 

But Xie Yuchen persisted and soon he had a company worth billions of dollars and salivating family members hoping to kill him and take it from him. Not knowing that they wouldn’t be able to do so even with his death as his company would be divided up by the shareholders and sold off in pieces.

It would be a sad end for Hua Corporation but that was a better fate than falling into the hands of his greedy, criminal relatives and being destroyed by their hands.

After counterstalking his little, greasy stalker, Xie Yuchen could admit to himself he’d become a little bit obsessed.

Hei Xiazi’s past was a mystery that even his resources hadn’t been able to ascertain. His contacts had only been able to acquire the bare basics of Hei Xiazi’s personal profile, most of which was speculation by countless resources.

It had become something of a relaxing pastime for Xie Yuchen to play along with the unaware man, sometimes even deliberately posing for a better shot.

And now his little shutterbug was leaving without a word or a personal visit? Someone or thing must have spooked the usual coldblooded hitman.

“Do you dare leave my sight and run away?” Xie Yuchen tapped his chin absently. “But this is interesting too. Let’s see what surprises you have in store for me.” He sighed and stood up, moving to the bookshelf and pulled books out in a certain order, making the whole shelf move sideways and allowing him to enter a private room. “It’s a shame that your little room went up in flames, I wonder - did you keep any of the photos you defaced?”

Xie Yuchen’s eyes fell onto a portion of the wall that was covered in professionally taken pictures of his stalker, surrounding them were dozens of printed out reports and statements.

It only encompassed a small area of the otherwise large room but his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn there every time he walked through the door to continue his most secretive projects.

“Hei Xiazi, don’t think you can run away now.”

After seating himself in a third class cabin, Hei Xiazi decided to take a quick look through the pockets of the rucksack as the train left the station. He’d only filled out the main cavity and hadn’t checked to see if the original had left anything behind.

The train’s destination didn’t matter, he’d picked out the first train that was leaving the station after he arrived and bought a prepaid phone at the station store.

He had no plans on calling anyone, but it was always good to have a phone in case of emergency issues.

He also just wanted to mess around with some games to pass the time. Since he decided he wasn’t going to get involved with the whole messed up plot, Hei Xiazi figured he could enjoy his newfound lease on life.

“Wait, what are these?” Hei Xiazi pulled out several chips that were laying in the bottom of one of the side pockets. “Are these memory chips? Could they be for the cameras that the original liked to use?”

Staring at them a feeling of unease crept up his spine. “Ah shit, did I still take all those damned photos with me?” Hei Xiazi wanted to get rid of them quickly but he had no real good way to do so at this time, if any memory chips got picked up, discovered and spread out on the net. “-death would be a pleasant experience if they got out and it came back to me.” Hei Xiazi carefully put them back where he found them and decided to forget about it for now. Tomorrow’s Hei Xiazi could deal with that problem.

“Let’s see what I can download with his crappy phone…ooh Tomb Robbery? Sounds interesting…”

THE END?

Chapter Text

“At least this novel’s reality isn’t a fantasy or horror world.” Hei Xiazi mused as he got off the train and stretched out his cramped muscles. “Well, I guess it’s kind of a horror universe but at least there’s no zombies or monsters.” Hei Xiazi shuddered a little at the thought of having to deal with such conditions on top of running from the antagonist and an abusive plot. Even the protagonist would deal him a heavy blow if Hei Xiazi ended up running into him.

That would be an exceptional kind of hell.

Adjusting the rucksack hanging on his shoulder, Hei Xiazi took in his new surroundings. The sound of the train leaving barely phased him as he was too busy taking in the desolated station he’d arrived at.

Across from him Hei Xiazi spotted a faded train schedule on the wall, deciphering the barely readable wording he realized that this location must be the last on this train line’s route. 

Which made sense as he’d been on that train for most of the day and there had been many stops along the way. The last passenger - other than him, had departed the train at the previous station. Which meant that Hei Xiazi was the only one getting off at this empty station.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Not hearing anyone respond to his question, Hei Xiazi scratched his head, confused. It felt like the station was shut down, which wasn’t impossible but was highly suspicious and annoying. “Let’s see where I’ve landed myself then.” 

Walking through the building he took note of how the walls and floors were completely covered in dust, the building itself looked haggard and abandoned. Exiting the building he spotted a welcome sign, it was just as faded from the elements as the schedule had been.

But after wiping off some of the dirt he managed to read on it.

“...What kind of naming bullshit is this? Lost Tomb? Is this supposed to be an archaeological site and not an actual village?” Hei Xiazi would have thought he was being pranked by someone, if not for the authentic looking sign and you know - everything else. 

Hei Xiazi comforted himself by reminding himself that this was a fictional world, illogical things like this weren't that uncommon.

The road outside the station was broken up with weeds. There also weren't any signs of people anywhere and the cluster of buildings further ahead of him were all boarded up.

“Is this a ghost town?” Hei Xiazi complained loudly. 

He internally denied the high pitched scream that left his lips when someone actually answered him back.

“It’s as close to being one as it could possibly get, brat.” An older man addressed him. The suddenness of his appearance scared the absolute crap out of Hei Xiazi. It looked like he’d been lurking in one of the shadows of the buildings and that’s why Hei Xiazi hadn’t noticed him beforehand.

Hei Xiazi lightly touched his chest, feeling how fast his heart was pounding. “Old man, are you looking to add more ghosts to your town? Must you scare a lone traveler like this?” He couldn’t help but complain.

The old man scoffed at his words, but the pleased expression on the wrinkled face told Hei Xiazi a different story, that the old man was not so secretly pleased with Hei Xiazi’s reactions. “Oh please, you're a youngster. If your heart gave out at just this little scare then you're better off running down the road right now to another town, if you think you can, that is.”

Hei Xiazi's eyes narrowed and he glared, his heart had yet to calm down and the negative words didn’t help. “The nearest town is almost an hour away by train, do you really expect me to walk that far?”

“Well, I guess not. Since your legs look like humanoid toothpicks, maybe crawling would serve you better.” The old man said rudely before turning around, dismissing him entirely. 

Walk or crawl my ass, this old man was just asking for a beating. 

Also, Hei Xiazi had taken a look at his body before he’d set fire to the apartment and he’s got to say - the original owner had taken good care in maintaining a healthy weight. He’d been delighted when he saw the outline of actual abs on his torso and the well defined lean muscles on the rest of his body.

Keeping his temper under control though, Hei Xiazi thought it over - weren't all old men and women like this in novels? The older the person was, the more mysterious and cankerous they became, mostly to offset the plot or quest. 

Hei Xiazi took in several deep breaths to calm himself down and decided that he was getting upset over a stupid situation. If it came down to it, he wasn’t inexperienced as this body had previous fighting exposure.

“Look, old man. I’m sorry if I offended you or whatever you believe I did. But I am a little lost here, can you at least tell me more about where I am?”

The old man hadn’t gone far and hearing Hei Xiaiz’s words, turned around with a doubtful expression clear on his face. “You come here without knowing anything beforehand? Are you retarted as well as easily frightened?” There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy on his face for Hei Xiazi’s situation.

Flustered by the harsh implications, Hei Xiazi reminded himself that he was no longer a part of the original’s previous occupation and was now just an ordinary person, so beating a rude old man until he apologized wouldn’t do anything but make Hei Xiazi feel bad afterwards.

So instead, Hei Xiazi buried all resentment deep down and played along, nodding his head and shamelessly pouting. “I guess I am. See, I fell asleep on the train earlier and accidentally got sent to the end of the line without realizing what happened. So until the next train comes it looks like I’ll be staying in this town alongside the esteemed elder.” Hei Xiazi smiled, the shape of it rang false. “If you could inform this cluelessly idiot about your town and why it’s deserted, that would allow us to harmoniously live together for the time being.”

“...flowery words are the same as shit words you know.” the old man said, clearly dubious about Hei Xiazi’s words and intentions. But the indifferent expression on his face had twitched up into a satisfied smirk.

Hei Xiazi literally felt his facial muscles twitching with irritation but his smile never faltered. This was just customer service, the best way to find out what was wrong with this town would be befriending the old geezer.

“Well, I guess it’ll be a shame for you to be left in the dark.” the old man said. “My name is Chen Pi, you could consider me the welcome wagon of Lost Tomb Village. This here is an abandoned town like you said earlier. That means there are no residents and the shopping district you see around you has closed down, even the worker’s fields are neglected. It’s actually not that uncommon for a village to face abandonment in these modern times.”

That was true, a lot of small villages and towns dried up as generations left to make money in the bigger cities. Leaving the old to die alone and their livelihood to dry up. Although usually those places would be deep in the countryside, not as easily accessible as this place had been.

“So is it just you living here then?” Hei Xiazi wondered, if so then Chen Pi must have suffered a lot.

“Don’t be stupid. How could an old, frail man like myself live all by myself out here?”

And like that, the sympathy that had been growing inside died a quick death.

“My granddaughter took leave from her job just before the town developed issues.” Chen Pi proudly stated. “She takes care of most of the chores and such.”

When nothing else was said Hei Xiazi couldn’t help but object. “Who else? There really isn’t anyone else in this whole town?”

“You are not qualified to learn anything beyond that.” Chen Pi dismissively stated. 

There was now something in the old man’s face that pinged Hei Xiazi’s internal warning system, so he didn’t fight and just accepted that this man wanted to play the mystic asshole and if Hei Xiazi wanted to learn anything more he’d need to investigate himself.

Or ask the granddaughter.

“Sure, old Chen.” Hei Xiazi agreed. “So, since this is an abandoned town I assume the real estate office is out of business. Can I have a recommendation for lodging?” The sun was dangerously low in the sky and Hei Xiazi was running on fumes. 

Chen Pi looked thoughtful and gestured to follow him down the road, bypassing the mainstreet full of neglected shopfronts. 

After observing the surroundings, Hei Xiazi noted that other than the bizarre emptiness of the town, the buildings were in pretty good condition.

“So when did this town die out anyway?” If he could get an actual timeline, then Hei Xiazi could find out what happened here. He’d checked the internet connection on the phone and he wasn’t surprised to see he had practically no signal, it was inconvenient but he’d make due for now.

Chen Pi didn’t answer him and Hei Xiazi didn’t push the issue. Finally they arrived at a house that looked more lived in, with smoke rising from the chimney and the yard cleaned up of excess weeds.

Chen Pi gestured towards the door. “Come inside, I’ll introduce you to my granddaughter and then we’ll get you set up for the night. If you’re still here tomorrow we’ll have a proper talk.”

And with that rather ominous statement hanging above Hei Xiazi’s head Chen Pi pushed him into his house.

“Wenjin! Where are you silly girl? We have a lost soul to deal with.” 

“Nice way of putting me.” Hei Xiazi mumbled, stumbling over the entrance. Even though it was more accurate then Chen Pi could possibly know.

“Well if you had introduced yourself earlier instead of testing my patience then maybe I’d have called you something else.” Chen Pi snorted and Hei Xiazi conceded that the old man had a point.

“My name is Hei -” Hei Xiazi pauses thoughtfully. His name was unique enough that even this far away from the city it was possible for certain types of people to find him. “Yanjing. My name is Hei Yanjing.”

Chen Pi had a very unique expression on his face. “Hei, huh? Any relation to Heibei Laoliu?”

“No?” Hei Xiazi said, although with the crappy memory problems it was possible that this Heibei was in fact, a relation of the original. It didn’t matter in the long run since he decided to start this life afresh by not getting involved with the original’s past.

Chen Pi just stroked his chin thoughtfully, his eyes never leaving Hei Xiazi’s. It was an unnerving sight and Hei Xiazi wondered if maybe this person that Chen Pi spoke of was someone of ill interest?

Luckily Hei Xiazi was saved from enduring the growing awkward silence by the arrival of the granddaughter; she must have heard the commotion and decided to investigate the noise

“Grandpa? What do you mean by a visitor - oh.” Chen Wenjin stood still in front of them. Her eyes were also intensely staring at him, although her gaze held more disbelief than anything else. 

“Hello, my name is Hei Yanjing, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Hei Xiazi bowed shallowly and after a moment Chen Wenjin responded in kind. 

“Ah, hello. My name is Chen Wenjin, may I ask what brought you here? Are you a distant relative of a previous resident or a lost hiker?” Chen Wenjin asked, moving further into the room and gesturing to a nearby chair for Hei Xiazi to sit down.

Chen Pi laughed uproariously, he was clearly enjoying how befuddled the both of them were acting. “This big idiot fell asleep on the train apparently. It’s getting late so I figured we’ll get him situated at old Qi’s farm. I have a feeling that he’ll do okay there.” The wicked grin on Chen Pi’s face countered those words though. Hei Xiazi wondered what was wrong with the Qi homestead to have the old man express such dark joy in having Hei Xiazi live there.

“Grandfather!” Chen Wenjin protested, her features turning from polite bewilderment to panic. “We can set up the couch here, there’s no reason to send him out by himself -” But the old man just waved her concern away.

“Now that you're all introduced, let’s head out. Like I said earlier, we’ll talk more tomorrow.” His words were stern and even after only meeting him a short while ago Hei Xiazi knew he wouldn’t get this geezer to budge.

Chen Wenjin sighed heavily and shot him a sympathetic glance before getting up and following her grandfather outside.

The destination wasn’t far, Hei Xiazi did try to initiate some conversation with Chen Wenjin but she deflected all attempts so he gave up for now. The quiet wasn't bad but he could do without the odd glances his way from the both of them.

Down the street there was a large expanse of land, marking the end of the houses. Hei Xiazi’s confusion only lasted a moment before another house came into view. This house was different from the cluster of other buildings and the field separating it from its neighbors so it stood out even more.

Hei Xiazi turned to Chen Wenjin to ask her if they were really going to let him live here and he finally identified the expression she’d been trying to hide.

Fear.

Hei Xiazi had the sudden belief that he just stepped into some serious shit by coming here. He should have taken a different train or even stayed in the city and just moved districts.

As Chen Pi began to explain some things, his granddaughter’s eyes were darting around, as if on the lookout for some external threat. The evening sun cast long shadows on her face, giving her an ominous look about her. 

They all walked through the small, broken wooden gate. The sound of the creaking wood echoed loudly. Hei Xiazi turned his attention to Chen Pi as the man rambled on. “This house and land belong to Old Qi for generations. He lived alone as a hermit and didn’t really get along with the townsfolk, rarely leaving his homestead and only interacting when necessary.”

“But he took great pride in his land and home and the conditions should be good. I'm one of the few in this world who could call him a friend although he’d probably argue that.” Chen Pi chuckled. “After the town went under, Old Qi…left. He has no family so the house and land don’t belong to anyone and considering me and Wenjin are the only residents left we have more authority then you’d assume.”

“All the utilities should still be hooked up and the pump outside has clean groundwater. You’ll be comfortable enough as it’s completely furnished inside as well. We can get more set up in the next few days, that is - if you decide to stick around.”

As they walked inside Hei Xiazi was actually amazed at the condition of the house, but the nagging annoyance of Chen Pi repeatedly hinting that Hei Xiazi was going to up and vanish into the night was getting on his nerves.

Also, the fact that he was staying on this huge plot of land without any form of payment was sketchy as shit. Even if the previous owner was gone - and wasn’t that suspicious as hell - it shouldn’t be up to Chen Pi to allow Hei Xiazi to stay at this house, even if only for a night.

As far as he was aware this world wasn't a Harvest Moon or Sims game, but a modern reality with an emphasis on the inner structure of mafia clans and secret government agencies.

Or at least, that’s how it was supposed to be. 

Although having run away from that same dark mafia plotline, who the fuck knows anymore what this world had in store for him?

“Uh, so I guess I’ll see you in the morning?” Hei Xiazi asked, ready to turn in for the night, even if it was on top of a dust covered bed. He decided not to question it for now and dismissed his alerted instincts.

Chen Pi smiled unpleasantly. “Sure thing, brat. See you in the morning then. Let’s head home, Wenjin. We need to finish our preparations for tonight anyway.”

“Grandpa, are we sure about this? I can still make up the couch - ” Chen Wenjin spoke but her grandfather interrupted impatiently.

“Don’t worry, silly girl. I have a good feeling about this guy. He’ll be fine.” 

Hei Xiazi pretended to be deaf and waved goodbye before turning the lock on the front door.

“O-kay then, I’m not getting a good feeling here.” Hei Xiazi groaned as he turned to head towards the bathroom to get cleaned up. “Let’s see what bullshit is being yanked out of the pages of my life now.”

Chapter Text

Xie Yuchen held back on throwing his phone into the face of the man standing in front of him, it was a close call though with how - annoyed, he was by the present situation. Xie Yuchen knew logically that it wasn’t the mercenary’s fault, but that didn’t stop how fucked his plans had just become.

Taking a deep breath, Yuchen tried to release the anger so he could analyze the situation with a calm head. “What do you mean by that? That you lost him? How?!” Xie Yuchen asked, his hand tightening its grip on the phone before he consciously set it down to avoid breaking it.

Zhang Qiling’s face didn’t so much as twitch from its deadpanned state as he calmly explained. “After Hei-ye left his apartment, my men followed him to the nearest train station where he boarded a seemingly random line out of the city proper. They boarded the same train, following after but keeping their distance in case they alerted him to their presence and spooked him into a confrontation.” It was at this point in his explanation that Zhang Qiling’s expression changed, from a blank slate to one that hinted at mild frustration.

“Hei-ye stayed on the train throughout, never departing from his seat. However, that was proved false, as evidence showed that he was missing before the train’s final destination - the Seven Stars Village. It was then that the men that had been following Hei-ye realized that they had lost sight of their target. To make the situation worse, they had no idea when the target departed the train. They have reported that they had eyes on him the entire time and have sworn by oath that Hei-ye literally vanished.” Zhang Qiling’s tone at this point showed just how unimpressed he was by the Xie members that had been employed. 

It was clear to both of them that Xie Yuchen’s men were too ashamed to admit their mistakes. Something that normally, Xie Yuchen wouldn’t punish them too harshly for, however this job had been especially important and for it to fail like it had, Xie Yuchen would need to interrogate the men personally to see if they were infiltrators or just that incompetent.

A headache was building behind Xie Yuchen’s eyes. He needed either a 3 shot espresso or at least 24 hours alone in a private spa if he wanted to get through this day without diving into a full blown migraine. “If they stated on record that they were keeping watch and that Hei Xiazi still managed to escape their notice then can you explain to me how you believe they failed to notice him getting off?” 

Zhang Qiling stared at him, his eyebrow ever so slightly raised. Xie Yuchen nodded in return. It looked like the mercenary and him were in agreement.

This felt sabotage. Someone out there clearly did not want Hei Xiazi to fall into Xie Yuchen’s hands.

“Let’s put aside that Hei Xiazi has, according to reports, become providential in magic tricks and focus on the facts that we know are true. Trains can get packed tight with civilians on the best of days. This specific train line was headed out of the city into more rural areas and villages, so the likelihood of the train car being overcrowded is low. The men should have had a clear line of sight even from a distance unless something was impending them from their job.”

Zhang Qiling nodded. “It’s unclear as to the real reason why the whole team lost Hei-ye. Once it was determined by the team leader that Hei-ye was no longer in sight they locked down the train. As it was already at its last station on route it was easy to do a clean sweep of the whole train from top to bottom, several members of the team left the train to look over the station’s security cameras but Hei-ye does not show up on any of them.”

“So either Hei Xiazi knew he was being followed and purposely gave us the slip while evading leaving any evidence behind, or my team had purposely undermined the mission and was working for a third party.”

“Your men could also be telling the truth but in a way that dissolves them of any consequence.” Zhang Qiling shrugged lightly. “Or you can believe the rumors that Hei Xiazi employed dark magic to spirit himself away.”

Xie Yuchen didn’t know which option was worse and his face took on a bewildered expression at every option. Xie Yuchen swallowed his complaints and took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“We don’t have enough manpower to spare for a proper search right now.” Xie Yuchen regretfully stated, deciding to put his personal plans on hold until he had cleared his own men. “Not to mention, if Hei Xiazi has become aware that he is being followed then I’d paint a larger target on him by utilizing more resources to hunt him down.” Xie Yuchen’s mouth pinched. “I don’t have to remind you that we are not the only ones looking for him.”

Prior to this incident, Xie Yuchen had been under the impression that Hei Xiazi hadn’t yet become aware of the danger the Mystic Clans presented to him. Even with his impressive rap sheets of accomplishments in the underworld, Hei Xiazi had been below the notice of the main Clans throughout his career, having only dealt with lesser clans and foreigners.

But that had changed recently, Xie Yuchen didn’t know if it was coincidence or not but around the same time Hei Xiazi began his little photo campaign Xie Yuchen got word that the other families had begun to move and the name Hei was circulating around like a dirty secret. 

In the beginning Xie Yuchen hadn’t personally cared about Hei Xiazi. He only felt a vague sense of amusement in the merc’s little habit. So when Xie Yuchen started a counter surveillance he hadn’t hidden his objectives from anyone else other than Hei Xiazi. It was for this reason that Xie Yuchen had yet to discover the reason as to why Hei Xiazi had suddenly become a wanted man from the upper echelon of the underworld.

The only information Xie Yuchen managed to uncover was that the Huo Clan was one of the main instigators of the bounty on Hei Xiazi’s head. 

A headache inducing discovery, as Xie Yuchen was already in a mild feud with the head of that particular clan.

Madam Huo was someone who had been in charge of her family and business for longer than Xie Yuchen had been alive. She had single handedly powered her family until they became one of the most dangerous syndicates  that the black market and underworld had ever seen.

Xie Yuchen respected and feared her from a business perspective and was in terror of her on a personal level. 

The Xie had a fragile relationship with the Huo for decades and while they had a decent business trade to this day, it wasn’t a secret that Madam Huo wanted to destroy them from the inside-out. But he also knew that Madam Huo wanted all the clans either destroyed or under her thumb so he tried not to take it personally.

Xie Yuchen had managed to piece together that his uncle, the previous head of the family before Yuchen had taken over, had something to do with the disappearance of Madam Huo’s favorite daughter several decades ago.

Xie Yuchen had never been able to prove or disprove the claim as Uncle Lianhuan had died years before he had learned of this fact. Xie Yuchen could only speculate as to what had actually happened between the two people.

He doubted that even the Madam knew the full truth of it, but the Xie family and all of its political and criminal empire was a good target regardless of the truth. It was a proven fact after all that the last people to see the Huo daughter had been Xie Lianhuan and Wu Sanxing from Clan Wu. Sure, there were other people but from his investigation all those people had long since died as well so it wasn’t like he could interrogate them.

Xie Yuchen sighed and leaned back in his chair as his mind changed directions, he would need to put any thoughts of Hei Xiazi out of his head for now since a whole nother headache had been brought to his attention.

Wu Xie was coming home and everyone in the underground knew of it.

Which is why Xie Yuchen would be sending Zhang Qiling to Wu Xie for protection. The Huo family had left Wu Xie alone when the young man had left the country soon after his coming of age to attend university. But that was going to change now, Madam Huo would not care that Wu Xie was ignorant of his family’s wrong doings or their lifestyle. Wu Xie was an easy target as a civilian and his death would cripple the Wu family, destroying it effectively. 

Xie Yuchen was being stretched thin and he knew it. Even worse, his enemies knew it as well. There was so much he needed to cover and protect, both externally and internally.

Having that scruffy asshole by his side was supposed to help Xie Yuchen relieve some of the stress, not add to it.

“We should all know to keep an ear out for any rumors circulating but I need your attention elsewhere. Here, I have another assignment for you.” Xie Yuchen unlocked his desk and pulled out a thin folder and handed it over.

“I need you to bodyguard someone. Don’t give me that face.” Xie Yuchen sighed in exhausted amusement, as Zhang Qiling’s bland expression twisted into a look of disgust. “Look, it’s only temporary and it’s only until his uncle’s people could be vetted. I’m sure you’ve heard - Wu Erbai overhauling his men with a complete audit after his second in command tried to kill him.” Xie Yuchen felt sympathy for Wu Erbai, it was a hard betrayal to stomach and Xie Yuchen didn’t think he’d recover as seamlessly as the older man had. Especially since Wu Laogou was killed by the same man Wu Erbai had trusted for years.

Wu Erbai had a strong mentality and was able to recover and deal with the leftovers of that failed cope in the best way he could, by pest control of his own organization. What Xie Yuchen did not agree with was his decision to recall his vulnerable nephew back home during these turbulent times. “Your target has a mostly civilian identity, it’s a complicated mess but the most important thing to know is that they have very limited knowledge of the Clans and underworld. Give the file a read, burn it and then leave immediately. Your usual rate will be doubled for this job alone, so make sure you don’t lose this one as well, okay?”

Zhang Qiling took the file silently and then left without another word. He was clearly still annoyed that Hei Xiazi had escaped his notice, hopefully that would make him more vigilant during this new assignment.

Xie Yuchen contemplated his next move. Zhang Qiling would be more than enough to secure and safeguard Wu Xie for the time being until Wu Erbai gave him the all clear to step back and let the Wu family deal with their own.

The Xie actually didn’t have too many dealings with the mostly whitewashed Wu. But that wasn’t to say that Xie Yuchen’s personal business was included in that. 

Wu Erbai had been helping him in little ways with Xie Yuchen’s path into legitimate business and for that alone Xie Yuchen was indebted to him. Not that he minded keeping Wu Xie safe, he’d help out regardless of Wu Erbai’s professional blackmailing.

The main disagreement between the two leaders was the continued ignorance of Wu Xie. Wu Erbai wanted his nephew to stay entirely out of the seedy dealings that the Mystic Clans represented. While Xie Yuchen agreed with the decision to keep Wu Xie out of underworld business, he knew by personal experience that ignorance was more deadly than knowledge. Surely if he knew at least who his family really was and who their allies and enemies were it would keep Wu Xie safer.

“Ah, I don’t know who has it worse off. Me, who grew up too fast in this bloodstained world or Wu Xie, who was shielded, left naive and blind to his own family and friends?”

It was a complicated mess of poorly thought out generational decisions and a lack of empathy. Of course Xie Yuchen would be left to pick up after his forebears.

Entering his secret room, Xie Yuchen’s eyes caught the counter-photos of Hei Xiazi, the ones that he’d hired a professional to take from a distance.

“I really want to cut that ugly mullet.” Mentally deciding that once he got his hands on that man a proper haircut would become a priority. That and a bath. 

If Xie Yuchen was in a generous mood he’d even spring for a whole spa treatment plan for the both of them.

“He’d be grateful if it's a luxury spa treatment and not a flea bath.” Xie Yuchen frowned and turned away from the pictures and information board, as right now they only served to remind him that he had no idea where Hei Xiazi had been spirited off too.

For all Xie Yuchen knew he could already be captured by the Huo or even dead by some overzealous bounty hunter.

Dismissing the gruesome mental image, Xie Yuchen turned towards a different area of the room.

One of the walls was completely covered in pictures, notes, pins and string. Some would call it a conspiracy board, but Xie Yuchen likened it to a mental road map that articulates his thoughts into physical form.

One area was dictated to the Wu Clan and its few surviving members, as well as their important employees that had gone out to make names for themselves. 

Some would call the Wu family a dried up crime syndicate of a bygone era, especially after the previous family head turned most of their draining wealth and power to legitimate practices while discarding the underworld entirely.

Wu Laogou had been a powerful leader in his youth and grew the family’s wealth with deceitful tactics. It was only when Wu Laogou grew old that things began to change. Three sons, each one powerful in their chosen fields of life, Wu Laogou’s heart softened ever so slightly as his family grew. When his eldest son fell in love and married a civilian it started the avalanche of whitewashing the business and stepping out into the light completely. Wu Laogou’s second son had a strong business sense and while not afraid to get his hands dirty preferred the light of civilian business, that was Wu Erbai.

Madam Wu had been considered far and wide as the proxy leader of the Wu clan and with Wu Laogou’s recent passing, she was now the head of the family. But she mostly left the business side of things to her son, only stepping in when needed. 

The retirement of the Wu family from a life of crime was all but set in stone.

Xie Yuchen stared at one photo in particular, his uncle was in it, alongside another man. It was only Wu Laogou’s youngest son who remained a scoundrel of the underworld. The name Wu Sanxing was still very much associated with the Clans and his dirty deeds were known far and wide by all associates from around the world. Currently his whereabouts were unknown and even the recent death of his father and his injured brother didn’t bring him home.

It was said that Wu Laogou in his youth collected powerful, dark relics during the Wu Clan’s height of power and hid them in a secure location only known to the Wu Clan themselves. Ones that could turn the tide in the evergrowing war in the underworld. It was purely speculation and while Xie Yuchen never put much stock in them, the same couldn’t be said for others.

Three generations ago the leaders of the underworld temporarily worked together while raiding hidden tombs around the world and collecting the treasures found inside.

Each Clan kept their own set of pilfered artifacts while selling off the rest, flooding the domestic and overseas black markets for years. Even the Xie vault held some important relics that Xie Yuchen kept minimal access to.

Another section of the board was full of his own clan’s wrongdoings. Maybe during his grandfather’s era things had been different but nowadays Xie Yuchen was more likely to take a knife to the back from someone close to him then anyone on the outside.

There were other sections that held information, but just looking at them was depressing.

His cellphone rang with a call, looking at the caller ID Xie Yuchen’s face turned grim.

Answering the phone with a pleasant tone, Xie Yuchen’s face turned fierce. “Good evening, Madam Huo.”

Walking around the house to make sure no one was hiding inside, Hei Xiazi was ready to hit the bed sheets and forget that this day even existed. After securing the window and door latches, Hei Xiazi opened the linen closet to pull a spare sheet on top of the bed. It smelt like moth balls but at least it was clean.

Slowly chewing on a ration bar he absently thought over what he needed to do within the next few days to turn the house into an acceptable living space. 

He wasn’t sure if this place would be his final destination or if he would move on once he got some rest and found a mode of transportation.

Even though he had spent most of the daylight hours seated on the train without much movement his body still felt oddly fatigued. Hei Xiazi chalked it up to the events of the day and didn’t think further on the matter. After all, dying twice over and realizing that the world you now live in was fictional would overwhelm even the calmest of individuals.

It didn’t take long for Hei Xiazi to fall into uneasy sleep.

Hei Xiazi was rudely awoken in what felt like no time at all. At first he was unsure just what had woke him up but he wasn’t left clueless for long as a loud sound repeated.

Knocking.

Hei Xiazi’s mental state was groggy, tired and pissed off. He wasn’t yet aware enough to feel even the slightest bit scared of the situation.

When the knocking continued without stopping he had just about enough of people pissing him off.

“I’m up, I’m up!” He snarled and did in fact, get up. 

Standing in a pair of boxers and a tank top he flattened his messy bedhead a few times. Just about ready to march towards the front door and yell out a tyrant of expletives at whoever was rude enough to bother him this late at night.

After he left the bedroom and made his way to the front he began to listen, making sure that he was actually hearing something and hadn’t just dreamt the sound up in some daymare induced hysteria. 

But the knocking happened again Hei Xiazi realized something was off when he was a few feet away from the front door.

The knocking sound further away, rather than closer.

“Wait, is - is the noise coming from the basement?” He whispered harshly, his voice barely audible in the empty house. 

Standing motionless in the dark room he listened carefully and realized with horror that - yes, the sound was in fact coming from the other side of the basement door deeper in the house.

When he’d been walking around earlier he’d only given the basement a quick look from the top of the stairs before locking the door. He hadn’t noticed anything wrong from that angle and had dismissed the basement entirely from his mind, not bothering to inspect it closer. Now he wished he’d at least stepped down a few steps to fully look down there when the sun had still been out and he felt safe enough to run outside just in case.

“Shit, is this place really haunted?” Hei Xiazi lightly gripped his hair and the slight sting cleared his mind, he dismissed the possibility of a monster actually being down there. “No, maybe it’s some fat rat or a bird that’s got stuck down there.” Rational explanation cemented, he moved on light feet to the door and wondered about his odds.

Mumbling under his breath as he watched the door ever so slightly tremble when a knock occurred. “If there’s really somebody on the other side it wouldn't take much for them to force open the door but if it’s an animal I could just ignore it till tomorrow…and if it’s a ghost then-!” With a sudden stroke of inspiration he turned into the kitchen, opening cupboard after cupboard until he found the items he’d hoped to find.

Picking up a container he turned and went back and noticed that with or without his presence the pattern of knocking didn’t change. Continuing with the same slow and consistent rhythm of a few seconds.

The longer he listened to it the more unhinged he felt.

“Let’s see if you like this.” Hei Xiazi smirked before snapping open the container and spilling salt in a wiggly line. He also sprinkled the door handle and along the top of the ridge to really seal it.

The knocking stopped, as if befuddled by the gesture.

Waiting a moment and realizing that the knocking had truly stopped, Hei Xiazi smirk turned into a satisfied grin before proudly strutting back to the bedroom.

After closing his door he sprinkled some of the salt at the entrance and around the bed as well.

Just in case.

Once that was done he buried his face in the musty covered pillow and started to snore.

The knocking never resumed that night.