Chapter 39
3.16 - That man, had accompanied him for three lifetimes
That bar was the place where Bai Yue became addicted to drugs in the original plot. This time, it was the same place, and it was the same Sun Jianan, but Bai Yue was no longer the same Bai Yue.
When he saw through Sun Jianan's intentions, Xue Ling didn't even want to go see him. Just thinking of having to look at that face that acted as though the whole world owed him, Xue Ling lost his appetite.
He called Bai Hao and asked him to send some people over in his stead. What Sun Jianan wanted to do to him was what they would do back to Sun Jianan. It would be best if they tied him up and made sure he was addicted to drugs before letting him go.
Bai Hao agreed right away, and did not feel that his younger brother was wrong for doing things this way. He even thought that this was letting Sun Jianan off easy.
So, he turned around and ordered people to prepare something extra for Sun Jianan.
Lin Yi had no time to deal with Bai Yue or Sun Jianan. He had no way to weather the storm, and Lin family was already about to go bankrupt. He had sent the officials quite a few things, but it had been discovered, which made things even worse.
Xue Ling was idle one day and turned on the TV to discover that Lin family was on the news.
It was said that the group was involved in a fraud case, and cheated people out of a lot of money. Many of the directors and the president were all implicated. Then, they found that there was something wrong with the houses that Lin family had recently built, and the people who had bought them were making a lot of noise. The matter was a hot topic and everyone in the city was talking about it for a long time.
Afterwards, Lin Yi turned himself in and the Lin family collapsed. Lin Father's lifetime struggle was all gone just like that, and a family that could once make waves all over the city came to an end. With the passage of time, these things gradually faded away, and now few people remembered the Lin family. Xue Ling was already preparing to begin shooting the final script that Bai Yue had left behind when news of Sun Jianan's fate reached his ears.
He appeared in a sex party where drug use was rampant and was caught red-handed by police and journalists. He was disgraced, and the news was reported by the media.
This was supposed to be the ending he had prepared for his good friend from the past life, but it became his own ending. As the person responsible behind the scenes, Xue Ling did not show any expression, and only lamented that some people's maliciousness went too deep and ultimately only harmed themselves.
Finally, in order to prevent the two men from reuniting in prison and affecting the completion of his task, Xue Ling specifically asked Bai Hao to send them to different prisons, and then went to see the two of them separately.
Although Bai Hao destroyed him, Lin Yi unexpectedly did not hate Xue Ling. He just stared at him, and asked whether it would've been possible for them to have been together if he had not chosen to leave him and return home back then.
Xue Ling shook his head to express that he had no idea.
He was not the original Bai Yue, and he had no idea how the original owner would have felt.
Lin Yi only laughed when he heard of Sun Jianan's fate. He seemed to have seen through a lot and it was not known what he was thinking.
Sun Jianan laughed endlessly when he saw Xue Ling; it was as though he had gone mad. He still insisted that if Bai Yue hadn’t been born with a better background than him, the winner and loser would be uncertain.
Xue Ling stared at him for a long time before answering him with a smile and saying meaningfully: "If it were up to me, even if you had several more lifetimes, the ending would still be the same."
Sun Jianan was stunned for a long time before he was brought back to his cell.
It was unclear if he had really gone mad or it was something else, but after that Sun Jianan really began to act crazy. Xue Ling no longer bothered about his ending either, and stopped asking about him after he learned that Sun Jianan's luck had already been taken away.
Bai Yue's last work was very dreamlike and fantastical; it was written after he became addicted to drugs, and there was a sense of surrealism throughout. People felt like they were floating away after only reading the script, and the feeling only became more intense after the movie was filmed.
After the film was released, everyone who watched it floated out of the movie theatres and expressed that the world in the movie was really unprecedented - they all liked it too much!
With its unique world setting and outlook, full of contradictions and contrasts, the story was free and unrestrained and completely refreshed Chinese people’s understanding of their own movies. As the person who had made such a film, Xue Ling was naturally regarded as the expert talent in the entertainment circle.
After that, based on the body's original host's plan, Xue Ling developed the movie into a series. Years later, the series left a strong mark on the history of Chinese movies. This was the first Chinese film series on such a scale, and was even famous in worldwide movie history. People were amazed at his conception, world setting, plot design, and even his incredible budget.
Well yes, any production team that had Second Young Master Bai never lacked for money.
The master of Bai family was always extremely willing to throw money at his younger brother. As long as his younger brother directed or acted in a movie, that movie would not have any sponsors other than the Bai family and they ultimately always made a pot full of money.
Bai Yue became legendary in the film and television circle. Others were either outstanding actors or excellent directors, but he was both a director and an actor, and felt no pressure switching between the roles. He even set a record for winning two heavyweight awards at a film festival for the same movie: Best Actor and Best Director.
This film emperor's life was always a hot topic that people liked to gossip about. They liked to discuss his unmarried life; it seemed that he contributed everything to his career, and his elder brother was also the same way, remaining unmarried. The two brothers kept their close relationship throughout their entire lives and even raised a child together who later became a famous businessman in the history of China.
When Xue Ling was about to leave the world again, he was very satisfied. He lay in Bai Hao's arms, clutched his hand and stressed: “You will be with me in the next life.”
Bai Hao smiled and touched his head. Xue Ling had been spoiled by him for a lifetime. He was always like a child and liked threatening him, but Bai Hao liked his threatening words. “Good.” His reply was gentle as he kissed him on the ear.
Xue Ling counted the white hairs on Bai Hao's head before looking at his face again and again. It seemed that he was more and more satisfied with him, and that pair of fox eyes that were still as beautiful as ever were slightly uptilted with laughter.
“I’ve never liked anybody before.” Xue Ling said, “You should be the first. If nothing unexpected happens, you will also be the last."
Bai Hao touched his head and couldn’t help laughing. “You have been by my side your whole life. Who else would you want to like?”
“It's you that's been by my side.”
“Fine, you sank your fangs into me and held on for dear life, I couldn't even bear to make you let go."
Xue Ling looked at him expressionlessly, cursing in his heart that this damned pervert could still make dirty jokes all day long even when he was so old. He turned his head and nestled into Bai Hao's chest, pressed his lips together, and closed his eyes.
He was still breathing, and used his mind to communicate with the system: “Are you sure you can bring his soul away?"
The system hesitated a little, but considered the commands that had been handed down from up top and only nodded as it said, “Yes.”
Xue Ling was satisfied. Slowly, his breathing stopped.
At the moment when his last breath left his body, Bai Hao’s muddy eyes became clear.
He seemed to be thinking about something as he looked down at the person in his arms, but finally his lips just curved up in a helpless smile.
He lowered his head to kiss Xue Ling on the forehead, and then closed his eyes and left the world.
They embraced each other, their hands still intertwined. When Bai Xi entered the courtyard, he saw that his two fathers had left the world together.
Although he did not understand the feelings they shared between them, Bai Xi still felt that the picture in front of him was too beautiful, and he was reluctant to break it.
Even if they had already left this world.
As soon as Xue Ling returned to the darkness, he agitatedly caught hold of the system and asked, “How did it go, did you manage bring my brother out?”
The system hesitated and wanted to tell him that the man’s soul was so special that he had no ability to grasp it, but then it saw a ray of light coming straight at Xue Ling. The system immediately knew how to deal with its host and urged: "Don't worry about that yet. You've already been through three worlds, and the Ten Directions World has already saved up enough power to help you find a tail. Hurry up and cultivate, the next world is higher levelled and you need energy to manifest your body."
The accumulated energy from the past three worlds was enough for Xue Ling to cultivate his soul, and he also understood that the most important thing right now was to cultivate. He could only sit down and sink into cultivation as soon as the light penetrated his body.
His body emitted a pale white glow, allowing one to see his facial features clearly.
The beautiful fox eyes that followed him through every incarnation were the same. They had a special charm when placed on any face, but were incomparably stunning on his original body. Although those eyes were closed now, Su Xuanyan still remembered the brilliance that was contained within when they were open. The fox race were all beautiful, but Xue Ling was closer to being considered gorgeous. His beauty was more androgynous, and paired with his long white hair, it was easy to be mistaken about his gender.
Su Xuanyan looked at him quietly, thinking of how he looked he first time he appeared in front of him, and could not help but curve his lips up in a smile.
The system was startled by the man's sudden appearance. Its white fur was puffed up and standing on end as it stared at him with a pair of small rounded eyes. It had barely resisted the urge to bare its teeth.
Su Xuanyan's gaze landed on the system's body and he sneered. "It does look a little similar to him."
The system took two steps back and looked at him vigilantly. Then, from deep within the dark space, the sound of laughter rang out. "Tsk tsk, you would even lay hands on a small fox."
Su Xuanyan glanced at the dark space and made no response. He only pointed at the system that was cowering before him and said, "Come over."
The system clearly did not want to move, but its body flew over anyway. It looked at Su Xuanyan in horror, as though fearing the other party would eat it.
Su Xuanyan stroked his hand through the little fox's fur and judged: "Your fur is not as nice to pet as his."
System: “???”
The laughter came again, and this time the system heard it clearly. It was indeed the voice of its immediate superior, the Ten Directions World.
The system could not understand what was going on, and its face was full of confusion.
Su Xuanyan had no intention of explaining anything to him either: “He asked you to bring my soul over. When he asks again, just tell him you succeeded, but because the other party's soul was too weak, they will forget him every time they cross into a new world."
The system understood its host well, and it shrank down at the thought of how its host would react when he heard this news.
Su Xuanyan seemed to have thought of it too, and for the sake of the future 'him' that would have lost his memories, he paused and added, "But the positive feelings from every world will accumulate, and in the end, he will love him more and more, to the point where he will become deeply enamoured even with a single glance."
The system nodded vaguely. Although it did not understand his meaning, it knew that its host would be happy to hear these words.
From the void came a sneer: “You don't even dare to meet him.”
“Now is not a convenient time.” Su Xuanyan's gaze was soft as he looked in Xue Ling's direction. “When the time comes, we will naturally meet.”
“Tsk. Didn't you say you were made of ice? Now look at how you're twisted around his fingers."
Su Xuanyan looked up coldly at the dark space and said, “Isn't the accumulation of feelings a trick that you arranged?"
“How is that a trick? I just gave you back the feelings that you should have." The voice seemed someone self-satisfied as it continued to speak. "Even if you didn't develop feelings in one lifetime, I refuse to believe that you can hold out for two, or three lifetimes. You're so dull and slow; if I didn't do it like this, you would probably still be off somewhere sulking and depressed. It's ridiculous."
Su Xuanyan ignored the Ten Directions World and only stared at Xue Ling for a long time before moving up to the place where he had kissed him last in their previous life and dropping another kiss. “I hope we can see each other again soon, my little fox.” His voice was very soft and very gentle.
He waited as Xue Ling continued to cultivate, counted the time, and when he calculated that he was almost done, helplessly turned and stepped into the darkness.
The system's eyes stared into the empty space, hoping that its boss would bother to give it an explanation, but only received a different piece of news instead. It could only curl up and nestle next to Xue Ling.
Not long after the man had turned and left, Xue Ling opened his eyes.
His soul was more condensed now, and it seemed it had solidified quite a lot. His body no longer flickered in and out, and his body and face could be clearly seen. A glint of white light seemed to flash through his gaze when he opened his eyes again, but it was quickly hidden.
Xue Ling looked around, and saw the system that was waiting for him.
“Host, host! I brought out the soul that host wanted.” The system anxiously began to speak, fearing that it would forget the words it needed to say.
Xue Ling squinted, and looked very happy.
But the system added, “There’s something special about this soul.”
“Hm?”
“His soul fluctuation is very similar to the general from the first world and Cole from the second world." The system quietly revealed a bit of information. “But he’s very weak. He loses his memories every time he enters a new world."
Xue Ling's gaze started to turn a little strange.
The system took advantage of the fact that he hadn't gotten mad yet, and hurriedly continued: “But, there's no need to worry. His feelings towards the host should be there, and he will like you more every time. As we go through more and more worlds, he should slowly begin to regain memories from the past."
Xue Ling's face was cold as he asked, “Can you bring him out now?"
The system shivered, “No… He can only appear in the worlds we travel through."
Xue Ling pursed his lips and decided to accept it for the time being. No matter how one looked at it, the situation was strange, but he probably wouldn't be able to discover the problem even if he asked the system to investigate clearly now. "Fine, I'll ask him when I find him. By the way, where is my tail?"
“In the next world.” The system looked at the next world's information. “There will be some special things in the next world, and the host will have an additional task. When it has been completed, the Heavenly Way will automatically help you find your tail.”
Xue Ling always felt that there were a lot of unseen twists and turns in this situation, but he did not have the means to understand it, and could only be resigned to being confused for now.
It was just that this did not fit in with his style. He'd make sure to settle the accounts with that man when he found him later.
He had said before - how could there be so many repressed and bottled-up men with the same personalities and habits in the world? It turned out they were the same person.
With that in mind, he was a little stunned.
That man, had accompanied him for three lifetimes.
Three long lifetimes…
Although it was a very short time in his eyes, for human beings it was a very long time.
This was the first time that anyone had been with him for so long, following him the whole time, and slowly, even falling in love with him.
Xue Ling unconsciously let out a breathtaking smile, then patted the system and said, “Come on, there's no point in delaying. Let's go find my tail.”
“All right!”
*melts into a puddle of good feelings*
editor: alamerysl