What exactly do people live for, and what does death mean?
Xu Xingyi didn't understand, because he wouldn't die like ordinary people.
No, it wasn't that he couldn't die, but rather that he could always come back to life after dying.
He would simply be resurrected into someone else's body. Whether he took the initiative or not, after his death, he would always wake up inside another person's body.
Xu Xingyi didn't like the feeling of being trapped within a body. Since he had possessed it, the rights to use that body naturally belonged to him.
Every time he switched bodies, he would devour the original soul and completely occupy that body.
No one could detect that the body had changed owners because every time Xu Xingyi entered someone else's body, he would gain all of their memories.
This body's name was Wang Qing, huh.
When Xu Xingyi woke up this time, he found himself in a lively private room. Men and women were tangled together, engaged in ambiguous horseplay.
He was lying on the floor, with fragments of a wine bottle scattered around him.
Xu Xingyi glanced at the figures on the corner sofa, who were engaging in certain indescribable acts. A flicker of disgust passed through his eyes. He really didn't like dirty, disorderly bodies.
It wasn't until he accessed Wang Qing's memories that his brows relaxed slightly.
Wang Qing had only been here for three days and hadn't formally received any guests yet, nor had anyone touched him.
Just now, someone had tried to grope him. His resistance angered the group, so they knocked him unconscious with a wine bottle.
The rules at 'Huayue' were extremely strict. Those who violated them would pay a painful price. Wang Qing's work uniform today wasn't the one designated for providing special services, which meant they couldn't do anything to him without his consent.
This group probably didn't have the nerve to break the rules either.
Xu Xingyi swept his gaze across the private room, his eyes finally settling on the large chandelier above. He picked up a piece of the broken bottle from the floor and then threw it towards the top of the chandelier.
As he threw it, he turned and walked away indifferently.
The moment he closed the door behind him, a huge crashing sound echoed from inside the room, followed by piercing screams. But Xu Xingyi's figure had already disappeared into the distance.
Xu Xingyi had originally planned to resign immediately, but he discovered that the original owner was penniless, which was why he had sold himself to the 'Huayue' club.
Money was never a difficult problem for Xu Xingyi, who had lived for who knows how long. He quickly earned the amount needed for the contract termination fee.
But just as he was taking the money to 'Huayue' to cancel his contract, he noticed something strange about the place.
'Huayue' didn't seem to be a simple bar at all; its business scope was not only broad, but it also involved many things, and there were even many unscientific existences within it.
Just like him.
This was his first encounter with another unscientific incident, and he wanted to figure out what exactly 'Huayue' was all about.
Unfortunately, Wang Qing's status was too low; he couldn't access the core of 'Huayue' at all, and he wasn't even qualified to come up to the second floor.
He had to switch to a body with status.
Ning Mufeng was the body he had his eye on.
He had once seen Ning Mufeng come to 'Huayue', and the high-ranking members there treated him with great respect, clearly indicating his status was far from ordinary.
What's more, the manager of 'Huayue' seemed to have the surname Ning.
Everything was ready; all that was needed was the crucial condition.
To seize someone else's body, the target had to be unconscious or on the verge of death, otherwise, it would likely fail.
That meant he had to make a move on Ning Mufeng first.
Xu Xingyi set countless traps, but unexpectedly, Ning Mufeng dodged them all, as if he knew about them in advance.
Moreover, Ning Mufeng was ruthless enough; not only did he avoid them himself, but he also pretended not to know and used his traps to eliminate people he detested.
Including him.
Xu Xingyi looked at the performance spot that should have belonged to Ning Mufeng, which had inexplicably fallen on him because of a few words from Ning Mufeng, and he was directly infuriated into laughter.
He really dared to think that way, actually trying to use the traps he set to kill him.
Hmph.
He would make him understand the consequences of offending him.
But this also indicated that Ning Mufeng only knew someone wanted to kill him, not that the person trying to kill him was him.
Just as Xu Xingyi was planning to dismantle the traps and think of another way, he suddenly noticed something strange about his body.
There was another foreign soul inside his body.
Someone was trying to seize control of his body?
A murderous intent flashed in Xu Xingyi's eyes; he hated it most when others tried to take things from him.
Just as Xu Xingyi was about to devour the other soul, a memory that didn't belong to him flooded into his mind.
——You... what are you doing?
——I'll transfer the money to your card later.
——What are you looking at?
——This is boring, I'm not playing anymore.
——Honey?
——Is that you, honey? What's wrong with your voice?
——It sounds strange.
The world in his memory was completely different, the people he saw were completely different, even "himself" was completely different.
This person was just like him—able to continuously switch between bodies!
Xu Xingyi didn't dare to let his guard down, nor did he dare to easily devour the other. The first thing he did was weave a false memory, planning to deceive the other for now.
After all, if the other was really like him, he wouldn't be easy to devour. He had to wait until the other was off guard or weakened before making a move.
Xu Xingyi blurred certain key points of the memory, fabricated a false one, and then relinquished control of the body.
If he didn't control the body, his soul and body wouldn't be connected—they would exist independently.
He wouldn't be able to feel the body, but he also wouldn't be discovered.
He planned to first study the intruder's memories carefully before coming up with a plan to kill him.
The memories began in a shabby rental room. Xu Xingyi watched intently, but the more he watched, the more something felt off.
Was this person... a little too likable?
Xu Xingyi frowned deeply. This was even more exaggerated than Ning Mufeng.
After all, many people liked Ning Mufeng simply because he was the heir of the Ning Group—that kind of like was completely superficial.
But this person was entirely different. He could see that those people were obsessively infatuated with him, so crazy that they would stop at nothing for him.
This was way too exaggerated—so much so that it was hard to believe, yet it was the truth.
If he were just an observer, Xu Xingyi would definitely think the other had used some kind of trick. But having the young man's memories, he knew that wasn't the case—it was simply due to his constitution.
He seemed to be especially attractive to psychos, like a walking human aphrodisiac.
With this kind of constitution, there was no need to guess what would happen next.
Xu Xingyi had a severe case of mental purity, and he deeply disliked this. He frowned deeply, but in the end, he continued to read on.
He just wanted to know his weaknesses, that's all. He had no other intentions.
He was different from those lunatics.
...Perhaps, he wasn't that different either.
Somehow, Xu Xingyi ended up reading for an entire afternoon. The more he read, the more he couldn't look away, as if he were addicted.
Clearly, he couldn't see this person at all, and the memories he possessed were mostly just seeing the world through his eyes. Yet, he couldn't stop. In just one afternoon, he learned quite a bit about the young man.
For example, the young man actually had OCD. The young man also didn't like eating overly spicy food. When the young man was thinking, he always had a habit of pressing his lips together.
This had never happened before. In the past, when Xu Xingyi obtained others' memories, he was generally too impatient to look through them. But at this moment, he was like a thief, peeping into the young man's past.
He discovered that the young man didn't like looking in mirrors, nor did he like looking at reflective objects. The memories in his mind regarding his own appearance were pathetically scarce.
The only memory related to his appearance was from when he first entered a new body. To mimic the host's original arrogant and domineering expression, he had practiced in front of a mirror for a few minutes.
But those few minutes made Xu Xingyi's heartbeat uncontrollably quicken.
Clearly, that person was looking at himself in the mirror, yet Xu Xingyi had the illusion that he was being watched by him.
This person was too clean.
That kind of cleanliness was a cleanliness of the soul, like the moon hanging high in the sky, eternally cold, clear, and bright.
And also eternally aloof.
Despite possessing such an undesirable constitution, his soul was so pure and clean, so clean it made one want to stain it.
Xu Xingyi looked at the young man's beautiful eyes and finally understood why this person attracted perverts.
It wasn't because of his constitution; it was because he, as a person, attracted perverts.
The world always wants to see a deity fall, to be stained with the dust of the mortal world, and the young man was akin to a deity.
No one wouldn't want to stain him. No one could resist him.
Xu Xingyi didn't think anyone could fall in love with someone just from a memory, and such a thing had never happened before. But he felt he was acting very strangely now. He shouldn't be watching these meaningless memories any longer; instead, he should mercilessly devour this foreign soul.
Although many memories were missing or muddled, through those memories, it was easy to see that this soul was completely different from him. He hadn't grown stronger by constantly changing bodies; on the contrary, he was so weak he wasn't even as good as an ordinary person. Xu Xingyi could easily devour him.
But Xu Xingyi made no move, merely quietly watching the youth's memories. He even replayed the few minutes of the youth looking at himself in the mirror several times.
He thought, maybe he had become twisted too.
Xu Xingyi even felt a faint sense of regret. How could he have fabricated such false memories? This person was inherently likable; if he had done so just to avoid being seen through...
It was just as Xu Xingyi feared. The fabricated memories he wove had fooled the youth, and the youth truly believed he was that kind of person.
Moreover, to avoid revealing that the person inhabiting the body had changed, he was forced to be bullied by those men.
Xu Xingyi's eyes reddened with anger. He wished he could snatch control of the body and slaughter them all.
But forcefully seizing control of the body would harm the youth's soul and would also let the youth discover his existence.
He could only restrain himself and wait for the right moment.
It was alright. Only he and the youth were truly suited for each other.
Only he, like the youth, was immortal; they could be together forever.
He knew everything about the youth. They were the most perfect match for each other.
As for those ants who coveted the youth, they could all just die.
Being within the same body, their connection was more intimate than anyone else's, yet they could never see each other.
As time passed, Xu Xingyi grew increasingly dissatisfied with this. He wanted to see this person with his own eyes, to witness his expressions, to see all his reactions.
When the youth was in control of the body, he was tempted to take a risk and look through a mirror or something reflective, but he didn't dare.
This person was too clever. If he used the body while the youth was in control, the youth would definitely notice.
Xu Xingyi only dared to take control of the body when the youth was asleep. He guided the body to stand before a mirror, and the mirror reflected his own figure.
It was still his former self.
Those eyes remained indifferent, like stagnant water, and his expression was equally bland, revealing neither joy nor anger.
He tried to smile like the youth, but it had probably been too long since he last smiled; the result was stiff and distorted.
Even a simple pursing of his lips exuded a sinister, murderous aura.
Different. Completely different from the youth.
Even with the same face, this young man was completely different from him.
He could imagine how beautiful the young man was, could imagine how beautiful his eyes were.
And indeed, they were.
When he wasn't in control of the body, although he couldn't perceive the world, he could access the young man's memories every time before he took control.
But those were merely memories.
He wanted to see the young man standing before him with his own eyes, wanted to see his brilliant smile with his own eyes, wanted to see the living, breathing young man with his own eyes.
He should find a body of his own as soon as possible, to separate from the young man.
But Xu Xingyi had tried it. When there are two souls within one body, changing bodies would absolutely implicate the other soul.
The young man's soul was simply too weak—so weak that even a slight disturbance might cause it to dissipate.
He had to find a way that wouldn't harm the young man's soul before switching to another body.
But before that, he wanted to confess his feelings to the young man.
While the young man was asleep, Xu Xingyi set up an explosion in the neighboring building, leaving behind a confession for him.
—I will watch over you, always.
Being watched over always is the sincerest form of affection, just like how he watched over the young man in his memories, again and again.
This was Xu Xingyi's first time confessing to anyone. Looking at the blood-red characters projected on the wall, even the tips of his ears couldn't help but flush red.
Would he... like it?
Just as Xu Xingyi was admiring his handiwork with satisfaction, voices of others came from downstairs.
It was that group of people the young man cared about. (The players' information was also blocked by the system; to Xu Xingyi, it just seemed like Qingqing inexplicably cared about them.)
Xu Xingyi had long detested those people who were always around the young man. He noticed the young man cared about them.
Anyone the young man cared about deserved to die.
He directly attached explosives to the bridge, planning to blow that group up along with it.
Naturally, he wouldn't let anything happen to the young man; he had already arranged for people to ensure the young man's absolute safety.
But he never expected the young man to choose to jump off the bridge.
That evening, Xu Xingyi read the boy's memories. The moment he saw the boy jump off the bridge, his own heart nearly stopped, fear completely engulfing him.
Fortunately, the boy was alright.
Xu Xingyi no longer dared to act rashly. Even if he had to act, he couldn't do it while the boy was present. He couldn't bear to harm him in the slightest.
He could no longer stand being like a thief, only able to lurk in dark corners and steal glances at the boy. He wanted to find a way to leave this body as soon as possible, to truly appear before the boy.
He had already found a method. By using most of his power to protect the boy's soul, he wouldn't get hurt.
But seizing another's body required a great amount of power. His current strength wasn't enough; he couldn't simultaneously protect the person and leave the body.
However, if he just had a little more time, he was sure he could become strong enough to leave the body without harming the boy's soul.
But then, an unforeseen change occurred.
The boy jumped off a building without warning, so fast that he had no time to react.
He could only read memories after taking control of the body. If the boy was the one using the body, his connection to it was severed.
That meant that by the time he knew the boy had jumped, he was already mid-air.
He had already found a way! If only he could have waited one more day, he could have returned the body to the boy.
Falling from this height might not necessarily kill him, but this body's heart had been completely destroyed, with no possibility of survival left.
What's more, there was no longer any trace or sign of the boy within this body.
The boy was gone.
Xu Xingyi knew that the boy's way of changing bodies was different from his own. He switched bodies within the same world, whereas the boy went to a different world each time.
That meant the boy had already left this world.
Xu Xingyi's heart suddenly felt empty, as if a piece of it was missing. He stared blankly at the sky, letting himself fall.
With a 'thud,' the world lost all its color, and Xu Xingyi slowly closed his eyes.
Everyone has seen you.
Except me.
Despite having the most inseparable bond, even a single meeting was a luxury.
How unwilling I am.
