Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil

Xue Rui really didn’t understand where Huang Yi hid such big charisma to make Xue Yan lose his mind. How long did they know each other? How many times have they met? How the heck were they getting married!? Staring at Xue Yan’s kissed marked chest, he opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.

When did Xue Yan find out that Huang Yi was a man? What was he going to do with Xue Jia? He wouldn’t take revenge for Huang Yi, right? No, no way, Xue Jia hasn’t done anything to Huang Yi yet, and it won’t in the future, plus, if Xue Yan wanted to have the clan quickly accept Huang Yi, Xue Jia would be useful.

Xue Rui convinced himself, then finally choked out a congratulations.

“I oppose.” Xue Zi Xuan’s voice trembled, he seemed to be trying to suppress some great pain.

“What qualifications do you have to oppose? What is he to your family? Don’t give me any bullshit about him being your adopted brother, I know exactly why you took him back to your house. I wonder what Xiao Yi will have to say to you if I told him the truth.” Xue Yan leisurely puffed out a smoke ring.

“No, you can’t tell him.” Xue Zi Xuan’s complexion worsened. Xue Yan had obviously caught on to his weakness, his greatest fear was Xiao Yi one day finding out the truth about why he’d brought him back. He would hate him, reject him, and never want to see him again.

Xue Yan sneered but didn’t respond.

Xue Rui spoke softly, “Yan Ye, you can rest assured, we promise to treat Xiao Yi better in the future. We’ll start looking for another heart for Jing Yi, and pretend this whole thing never happened. The clan members need to know that he has a background, so we’ll take him back and do all the adoption procedures, then they won’t oppose to the marriage as much, what do you think?”

Xue Yan stared at Xue Rui for a while, waiting for the other man to be drenched in cold sweat before putting out his cigar and saying, “I’ll send Xiao Yi back tomorrow. Xue Rui, you must clear up Xiao Yi’s identity as soon as possible. I want him to live in the light, not as your fucking heart donor. Whether your daughter lives or dies, it has nothing to do with Xiao Yi, do you understand?”

“I understand, I understand.” Xue Rui nodded vigorously, cold sweating.

Xue Yan glanced at the wall clock and impatiently waved, “Get out.”

When the two people left, he took the elevator back to the bedroom, and turned off the alarm clock. If he let it ring, the boy would jump out of bed like a spring and run around the house barefoot searching for him. He was too restless.

“They left?” Zhou Yun Sheng felt the bedside sink and asked in a sleepy daze.

“Gone. Why do you have to go back to Xue house? What are you planning?” Xue Yan pulled him into his arms, nuzzling his neck.

Zhou Yun Sheng shivered and wrapped his legs around the other man’s waist, nuzzling back as he humphed, “I’m going back to collect on my debts. Did you really think I’d let them go so cheaply? Running back to be their cash cow after they treated me like livestock? In their dreams! I want them ruined and orphaned.”

“How ruthless.” Xue Yan chuckled and pulled him in closer.

———–

In order to vent his anger, Xue Ru drove wildly. If he’d known that Xue Yan went for men, and he was perfectly able to perform, he wouldn’t have sent Huang Yi to him, he really dug his own grave. Now he’d lost his daughter’s heart, and also had to find ways to give Huang Yi an honorable identity, which would certainly provoke a lot of trouble. Huang Yi was not a nameless boy anymore, on the contrary, he was too famous, his face was plastered over numerous websites, almost everyone in the world knew of him. It was bearable if he just had to let him play the piano, but he had to get him an ID card and officially recognize him, which would immediately set off a big wave in Xue Jia.

Xue Rui gritted his teeth and ran through his options in his mind for a while, then his distorted expression unexpectedly started relaxing. Huang Yi was more talented than his daughter, and he was now a world-class treasure pianist that the country was focusing on promoting. If he shared of his eastern wind, he could catch up to the major ships, reaching a higher level in society. And if he could climb higher than that temperamental Xue Yan, his life would become more stable. On the other hand, if the boy died, he’d be left with a talentless daughter, and if the secret of the competition substitution was revealed, he would not only lose all benefits, he’d also have to find ways to clean up the aftermath.

Huang Yi was so famous, who knew how many people were watching him from the dark, cleaning up the aftermath would be very difficult, and if the truth about his death was found out, Xue Jia would be finished.

The more Xue Rui reasoned it out, the more he recognized the advantages of keeping Huang Yi alive. If he was alive, he could win over Xue Yan, stabilize his position in the clan, and also pull the boy’s strings from behind the scenes to build bridges for Xue Jia, contending for glory and interests. There was simply hundreds of benefits without any disadvantages. But if he died, it’d cause all kinds of troubles, and the troubles were all beyond his ability to clean up. Xue Jia would inevitably suffer great damage, and who knew when it would ever be healed.

Xue Rui tapped the steering wheel, finally reaching a decision. As for his daughter’s heart transplant, for now, they could only keep looking. It’d be perfect if they could find another one for her, but if they couldn’t, it wasn’t the end of the world. They’d raised her for sixteen years, fulfilling all her wants and needs, never ill-treating her.

To put it bluntly, Xue Rui was an unscrupulous, heartless businessman. He was very good at judging the situation and taking stock. As long as it didn’t hinder his interests, he could be a kindhearted and refined man, but once it conflicted with his interests, he was more ruthless than Xue Yan, not even willing to spare his own family. He didn’t even acknowledge his clearly troubled and dazed son, he just quickly drove home and called Xue Li Dani into his study to discuss. Xue Li Dani was naturally very reluctant to give up the opportunity to save her daughter’s life, leading to a big quarrel. However, she was forced by the pressures of reality, and had no choice but to compromise. Xue Yan already knew their plans, if they really went ahead and touched Huang Yi, he would certainly dig out all their hearts.

The man had more than a dozen brothers all together, except for the 9th oldest who’d never mistreated him, all the others were either dead, incapacitated, or missing, yet no one could find out the causes behind these misfortunes. But the whole clan unofficially knew that this was Xue Yan’s handwriting, the man was relentless.

Xue Li Dani left the study to ask her son for help persuading Xue Rui, but didn’t expect to find him sitting dazedly on his bed. As soon as she finished weeping out her grievances, he slowly opened, “Mom, you want to save Jing Yi? Okay, I can give you my heart, please spare Xiao Yi.” He got up and walked into the kitchen, searching for a paring knife to stab into his chest, if Xue Li Dani hadn’t stopped him in time, he really would’ve pierced his heart.

Xue Li Dani was terrified, she didn’t dare mention anything about the heart transplant to him again. She gently coaxed him back to his room to sleep, but Xue Zi Xuan couldn’t fall asleep, he just stared at the ceiling all night, his eyes bloodshot the next day.

Xue Jing Yi noticed her family’s abnormal attitudes the next morning. Her mother fawned over her with extra diligence, her father was very perfunctory, and her brother bluntly refused to look at her, leaving as soon as he heard her walking downstairs. She felt very aggrieved, her recently well-behaved heart once again squeezing in pain. Fortunately, her attention was diverted when Xue Li Dani called her over to take her to her physical exam.

The physical’s results were very optimistic, the indicators were better than ever before, almost approaching the standards of normal people.

“Can I have the heart transplant now?” Xue Jing Yi excitedly asked.

Xue Li Dani had called Dr. Zhang in advance, telling him to forget about them finding the heart donor. Although it was to save someone’s life, it involved taking the life of another person without good cause, even though the money Xue family paid him was substantial, Dr. Zhang’s heart was still carrying a heavy burden. Now he didn’t have to kill someone, but he still received the payment, so he naturally felt very satisfied. But in front of Xue Jing Yi, he pretended to helplessly say, “I’m sorry Miss Xue, the heart I’d arranged for you has already been given to someone else, you have to wait a while longer. We’ll let you know as soon as we find a suitable donor for you.”

“How is that possible?!” Xue Jing Yi shrieked. Huang Yi is still alive and well, how can you say his heart was given to someone else?

“For patients like you that need transplants, our hospital will give you a certain rank. The patients who are critically ill will receive a higher rank than you, so they’ll receive a donor before you. Every hospital has such a system, we have no other way.” Dr. Zhang explained while discreetly reading Xue Li Dani’s expression, seeing her gloomy but not angry look, he immediately felt reassured.

“No, you’re lying to me! Mama, didn’t you say I can have the surgery in two months?” Xue Jing Yi anxiously pulled Xue Li Dani’s sleeves.

“Jing Yi, please listen to me carefully. Your blood type is very special, it’s not easy to find a matching heart. We can only go back home and patiently wait, there’s definitely a suitable heart for you out there.” Xue Li Dani quickly hugged her and comforted.

But Xue Jing Yi shoved her away and snapped, “Isn’t Huang Yi’s heart the most suitable? Or why else would you guys bring him home? What is the meaning of this farce? You’re not going to save me?”

Dr. Zhang was stunned, Xue Li Dani was also stunned, they’d never expected her to know the situation so clearly. However, all this time, she pretended to know nothing, she even treated Huang Yi as her precious relative, always getting along with him.

Xue Li Dani found it difficult to accept her daughter having such a cold heart. She was an artist, although she was cruel and selfish, she’d always advocated truth, goodness and beauty. On the day she adopted Xue Jing Yi, she’d decided to raise her into the world’s most elegant, kind and faultless woman. Human beings were so strange, whatever they couldn’t do, they always wanted to accomplish it through their children. She didn’t want her daughter to be contaminated by even the slightest filth, so she concealed everything from her and protected her in an ivory tower.

But now, she suddenly found that her daughter was not as elegant and kindhearted as she’d thought, in fact, she had long been stained by filth. No wonder she insisted on having Huang Yi substitute for her in the competition, no wonder her piano playing was full of malice, she’d known everything, and was more enthusiastic than anyone to receive Huang Yi’s heart. While she smiled friendlily at Huang Yi, she was itching to gut him, to dig out his still beating, blood drenched heart.

Don’t blame Xue Li Dani for describing it so gorily, Xue Jing Yi’s current expression was very murderous, her facial features twisted in hatred, giving her the appearance of an evil spirit.

Before, Xue Li Dani was worried that her daughter would resist using her sibling’s heart, but now, it seemed she had no resistance, on the contrary, she was ecstatic. They had always regarded her as a fragile glass doll that needed her family’s protection, but in reality, she was ten thousand times crueler than they were. This realization instantly whittled away Xue Li Dani’s pity for Xue Jing Yi, turning into spine-chilling apprehension.

The girl knew that Huang Yi was her last remaining blood relative, and ever since he came to her side, he always treated her nicely, meticulously taking care of her. When she was bed ridden, Huang Yi would spend all night at her bedside, sometimes forgoing meals to stay with her. When Xue Li Dani had learned of these things, she’d felt somewhat moved. At that time, she’d thought that since they’d become so close, the least she could do was make up a good explanation for after the surgery, to let her daughter know that Huang Yi was doing well in a better place, so she didn’t need worry.

Now it looked like all her concerns were a useless joke. How could the girl be worried? She obviously didn’t want Huang Yi to live a moment too long. Since Huang Yi came back from Vienna, she repeatedly urged them to quickly schedule the surgery. Xue Li Dani hadn’t thought it odd at that time, but knowing now that her supposedly innocent and kindhearted daughter was just pretending, she found it chilling.

She blocked her daughter’s mouth and hurried out of the hospital, pushed her into the front passenger seat, then closed the door and asked, “Do you know everything?”

“I want Huang Yi’s heart! Mama, I want his heart!” Xue Jing Yi repeated, mimicking digging out a heart.

Xue Li Dani was frightened, this evil spirit like person was not her cute, kindhearted, spiritually rich daughter. She ruthlessly slapped her and admonished, “You will not mention anything about taking Huang Yi’s heart in the future. We can’t touch him!” Panting, she hesitated to ask, “He’s your brother, can you really bear to do this?”

“What is there to bear? Didn’t you bring him back here to save me? He’s just my heart container, nothing more.” Xue Jing Yi covered her bruised cheek, giving a neurotic sneer.

Xue Li Dani slumped onto the steering wheel, wanting to cry but unable to. She knew that they had destroyed their daughter. Even if she received Huang Yi’s heart, her soul would be assimilated with the demons, carrying the sin of murdering her blood brother. She would never play heart touching music, she would never live a normal life, plundering and viciousness would become her first response, and she would only get more and more wicked in the future.

Xue Li Dani had wanted her daughter to live a carefree life, she always wanted to keep her pure and kindhearted, but now, everything had fallen apart.

She looked into her daughter’s muddy eyes and stressed, “Your father is going to formally adopt Huang Yi, from now on, he’s your family, not a heart container. We will help you find another heart, you have to give up any thoughts about attacking him. If you disobey me, I’ll ship you off to Switzerland to recuperate, so you better start thinking clearly.” Even when her daughter exposed a miserable expression, she pushed down all her pity. She needed some time to adjust to her daughter’s immense change.

Xue Jing Yi’s eyes widened, she stated yelling and kicking up a fuss, but Xue Li Dani ignored her the whole way home.

————

Xue Yan sent Zhou Yun Sheng back to Xue house after dinner. Xue Rui was very welcoming to him, willing to agree to any of his conditions in order to persuade him to perform at the Congress Hall. Zhou Yun Sheng gave him a vague agreement, then went back to his room and immediately turned on his computer to review the surveillance videos from the past few days.

Nothing unusual had happened, even Xue Zi Xuan had followed his expectations, his furious expression quite impressive. Just like he’d done to him in the last life, he’d almost crushed Xue Jing Yi’s fingers. Seeing this scene, Zhou Yun Sheng smiled and collapsed onto his bed, his hatred finally feeling a little vented. Not just anyone could disturb Xue Jing Yi, only Xue Zi Xuan could hurt her the most, so right now, she certainly must be on the brink of madness.

Xue Jing Yi really was on the brink of madness, she’d hid by the stairs to eavesdrop on the conversation between her father and Huang Yi, confirming her mother’s statements, they really were going to formally adopt Huang Yi. On the other side, they’d decided to give up on her, letting her life run its course. She walked back to her bedroom in a trance, shocked to find Xue Zi Xuan leaning against Huang Yi’s door, his face was expressionless, but two lines of tears were rolling down his face. Hearing footsteps, he turned around and saw her, then a thread of loathing started growing in his dark eyes.

“Brother.” Her heart aching, she reached out to touch him, but he walked away, returning to the third floor without looking back at her.

Xue Jing Yi buried herself in her blanket and wept for a long time, then she seemed to think of something, and turned on her computer to contact a recent pen pal.

“How do I get someone’s heart?” She typed this question with a dark expression.

Soon, Zhou Yun Sheng’s computer beeped, receiving this message, he pursed his lips and smirked, replying, “Kill them.”

Kill them? Yes, kill them! As long as he died, everything would go back to normal. Xue Jing Yi’s mouse shook neurotically, after half a day, she closed the chat window and opened up Google. Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at the webpages constantly popping up on his screen, already understanding what Xue Jing Yi was planning. She was going to knock him out, then personally dig out his heart, so she was searching for information on anesthesia, and also ordering a freezer, scalpels and other medical equipment, even downloading a surgery how to video.

“I really didn’t underestimate you, Xue Jing Yi.” Zhou Yun Sheng murmured cheerfully. Xue Jing Yi was his meticulously cultivated, highly toxic flower, when she fully bloomed, she would drag all the people around her down into eternal damnation. Her actions were so dynamic, he was full of expectations for the game’s finale.

Half a month later, Xue Rui and Xue Li Dani attended a cocktail party together, and Xue Zi Xuan was teaching at the university, leaving only Xue Jing Yi and Zhou Yun Sheng home. Xue Jing Yi personally boiled a pot of milk tea and brought it to the table, coaxing Zhou Yun Sheng to drink. When he was unconscious, the steward helped carry him to the underground garage. The garage was already full of all the latest medical equipment, the tools she bought online were redundant.

“Miss, I’ll cut it.” Seeing Xue Jing Yi’s trembling hands, the butler volunteered to cut. The Xue couple were always busy with work, it could be said that he personally raised Xue Jing Yi. He loved her more than anyone else, how could he watch her die? As long as they took out Huang Yi’s heart, the situation would be irreversible. When the Xue couple came back, what could they do? Would they send their daughter to jail? They couldn’t afford such a scandal, so they would definitely try to cover up for her. Then the heart would naturally be transplanted into her body.

Xue Jing Yi waved, “No, I’m not afraid, I was too excited.” She took a few deep breaths, then raised the scalpel up to the boy’s chest. The blade was very sharp, with only a light touch, it opened up a line of blood. Under the lamp’s harsh shine, everything was completely illuminated, it looked very ghastly.

Tons of blood started pouring out from a small wound, startling Xue Jing Yi to jump back. She gritted her teeth and raised the knife again, but was stunned to see the boy suddenly wake up, forcefully pushing her away.

“What are you doing?” He asked, clutching his wound. Because he had been drugged, he staggered as if he would faint at any moment.

Xue Jing Yi noticed his weak movements, so was not afraid of him running away, she pointed to the laptop on the operating table and said, “I’m removing your heart.” The computer was playing the heart removal surgery video. Xue Jing Yi’s resolve was very astonishing, even though she was missing assistance from a doctor, she was determined to do it herself. She had to kill him before her parents and brother came back, but she also couldn’t let his heart stop beating. Fortunately, her home was very well-equipped, they even had liquid to preserve the heart, sparing her a lot of headaches.

“W-Why?” Zhou Yun Sheng struggled to jump off the operating table, accidentally knocking over the surgical instruments placed on the tray, scalpels, surgical clamps and other tools scattering everywhere.

“Because I suffer from congenital heart disease, only your heart can save me. Did you really think we brought you out from the countryside just to adopt you? Don’t dream. Fu Bo, hold him down for me.”

The steward nodded and walked over to press the boy onto the operating table, but unexpectedly, the boy had hid a scalpel in his sleeve. He ruthlessly stabbed it into his stomach, and even shook it around a few times. The steward screamed in agony and fell to the ground, and Zhou Yun Sheng staggeringly ran towards the door. He had already sent a text message to Xue Zi Xuan using Fu Bo’s cellphone, luring him back, he should’ve come back by now.

Sure enough, before he reached the door, Xue Zi Xuan kicked it open and rushed in, meeting a blood soaked boy wearing only a pair of jeans. His face distorted in horror, and catching sight of his sister brandishing a scalpel to attack the boy, without pausing to think, he immediately pulled him behind him.

He frantically gripped the blade and asked through gritted teeth, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Doing what you guys wanted to do earlier, dig his heart out. Brother, didn’t you bring him back to save me? Did you forget?” Xue Jing Yi’s eyes were crazy.

Xue Zi Xuan’s fingers throbbed with piercing pain, but he knew that he couldn’t let go of the blade, he looked back and shouted, “Run Xiao Yi!”

Zhou Yun Sheng looked at him with complex eyes, then clutched his still bleeding wound and ran out. When he reached the living room, he resumed a normal gait, and slowly picked up the phone to call 110.

“Help, someone’s trying to kill me!” His panic-stricken voice was a strong contrast to his smirking face.

“Don’t panic, tell me your current address, and your name. We’ll send someone to help you as soon as possible.”

“I’m at Longquan Mountain Golf Course, Villa Residence 88, my name is Xue Jin Yi. Someone is trying to kill me, I’m injured, and bleeding a lot. I also feel very dizzy.”

“Please quickly find a safe place to hide, we’ll immediately send out police officers.” After the operator hung up the phone, he kept feeling that the name Xue Jin Yi sounded very familiar, something seemed to flash across his mind, and he quickly called his superiors, confirming that the famous child piano prodigy really did live in Longquan Mountain.

The police didn’t dare delay, they immediately sent out several police cars to rush over to Longquan Mountain. Zhou Yun Sheng monitored the operating room’s situation with 008 while rubbing his bloody hands along the walls, then he ran out and stood in the middle of the road. Xue Yan’s car was ‘coincidentally’ passing by, seeing his bloody body, the man’s complexion was frightfully dark.

“Didn’t you say an accident was unlikely to happen? Tell me how this isn’t an accident!” He grabbed the boy’s ears and roared, but seeing his face scrunched in pain, he quickly pulled him into his arms and took off his coat to press it onto his chest wound, still breathing heavily. Seeing the long cut, he felt paralyzed with agony, he finally knew how it felt to feel someone else’s pain as if it’d happened to himself.

The wound looked scary, but it was not even a minor injury to the battle hardened Zhou Yun Sheng. He put on an act and sobbed, but in fact, he was watching the brother and sister confrontation through 008. Thanks to Xue Rui’s careful preparation, the operating room was fully equipped, including a real-time monitoring system. As long as the operation lamp was turned on, the monitoring system would automatically start up, and store all the footage.

He hadn’t expected Xue Zi Xuan to unhesitatingly grab the blade to save him. The other man didn’t dare let go, once he did, his fingers would be cut off, so he could only force Xue Jing Yi into the corner and trap her. Although Xue Jing Yi’s heart was ruthless, she couldn’t cruelly attack Xue Zi Xuan, seeing his fingers constantly leaking blood, she finally regained some rationality. She let go of the knife and tearfully hugged him, crying and crying until a heart attack took her and she fainted.

The butler’s abdomen was seriously injured, he had already entered a coma from losing too much blood. Xue Zi Xuan despised his sister, but he couldn’t heartlessly watch her die, so he staggered through the pain and ran upstairs to find her medicine. Catching sight of the bloody footprints leading through the living room and out the door, he sighed in relief, knowing that Xiao Yi was safe.

He pushed the pill into Xue Jing Yi’s mouth and performed simple first aid on her, seeing her improved condition, he stumbled to the wall and slumped to the ground. Ten minutes later, he heard police sirens and chuckled faintly, “Our family’s retribution has finally come, Jing Yi, are you ready?”

————————————–

T/N:

Ruined and orphaned- Family bankrupt and the people dead (idiom); ruined and orphaned / destitute and homeless.