The Storm and the Broken God

The wind on the roof was exceptionally loud. The sky, which had been fairly clear moments ago, was suddenly devoured by a massive cluster of dark clouds. The light dimmed instantly. Shi Ji knocked on the door in front of him, the “bang-bang-bang” echoing in his ears.

Classes had ended a long while ago. The entire school was silent, save for the faint, distant rhythm of a basketball hitting the ground on the far-off courts. The roof was usually locked; people rarely came here.

Shi Ji didn’t have time to wonder why Jiang Mo had asked Li Chen to meet here. He wrapped his arms around his chest. The sudden drop in temperature was too much for his thin shirt to handle. He stomped his feet and instinctively felt his pockets.

As expected, in his rush to leave, he hadn’t even brought his phone.

Shi Ji looked up at the gloomy sky. The clouds blocked the horizon like a thick, impenetrable wall, and the wind barked in his ears. He sighed mournfully, finally accepting the fact that after living for over twenty years, he was stupid enough to be tricked and locked on a roof.

Rain was imminent. Below, the trees swayed wildly. Then, in the blink of an eye, a bean-sized raindrop slammed into the tip of Shi Ji’s nose. A tiny splash hit his glasses. Shi Ji froze for a few seconds before turning to push open the door to the abandoned storage room behind him.

The windows in the room were old. The gale whistled through the gaps in the broken glass, making the wooden frames creak. With the piles of junk everywhere, the interior was even darker.

Shi Ji found a spot slightly shielded from the wind. Suddenly, a massive crack of thunder exploded, making him feel momentarily faint. A few seconds later, a blinding flash of lightning tore through the gray horizon, illuminating the pitch-black room.

The junk cast long, twisted shadows on the floor like demons reaching out from the dark. A cold draft snuck down Shi Ji’s collar, making him shiver involuntarily.

Within minutes, a torrential downpour began. The sound of rain lashing the ground was maddening, and mixed with the thunder and gale, it was terrifying.

Shi Ji stared at the scene, swallowing hard. Another bolt of lightning struck, highlighting his pale face. He backed away until his spine hit the uneven wall, his protruding shoulder blades scraping against the stone. The slight sting jolted his brain.

His hands began to shake uncontrollably. A sense of dread he had never experienced before wrapped tightly around him.

The shadows on the floor seemed to warp in his eyes. He felt as if something was hiding in the corners he couldn’t see, staring at him.

This fear was irrational; he wasn’t usually afraid of storms. He slowly crouched down, raising his hands. Watching them tremble, he realized…

This is the body’s reaction! This is the original Shi Ji’s specific, physical memory.

He suddenly remembered similar instances before, but they hadn’t been this intense. Now, strange images flashed through his mind:

Heavy rain. Thunder. A car crash. Two adult corpses. A child crying incessantly.

He felt like he could hear the child’s cries—or rather, he was the child. Feeling the same raw grief, Shi Ji watched as tears dripped, one by one, into his palms. He didn’t want to cry, but he couldn’t control the body.

The intense feeling of suffocation made it hard to breathe. His body shook so violently he couldn’t stay upright. His face was ghostly pale, looking ghastly in the strobe-light flashes of lightning.

[WARNING! Host must control emotions to avoid being overwhelmed by the original consciousness!] [WARNING! Host must control emotions to avoid being overwhelmed by the original consciousness!]

Suddenly, Shi Ji’s vision went black. He tumbled forward, his chin hitting the floor. He didn’t even feel the pain.

[DECTECTED: Host is consuming life force. System will provide forced control.]

The moment the system finished, Shi Ji felt a massive electric shock. The intense pain forcefully cut off the tide of memories. He twitched on the floor, his limbs going numb.

Fck,* Shi Ji cursed mentally. This system is a piece of sht!*

He cursed the system’s unreliability. His muscles felt like they were being pulled apart. He gritted his teeth, tears streaming from his eyes like a broken faucet.

His vision pulsed black and white. One moment he saw the original Shi Ji’s memories, the next he saw the dusty ceiling of the storage room. He rolled on the floor, accidentally kicking a pile of junk and raising clouds of dust.

To hell with this mission. Just let me die.

[Mission cannot be terminated mid-way. System suggests Host does not give up easily.]

Shi Ji wanted to scream. Can someone please save me? Anyone!

The wind grew louder. Another thunderclap shook the world, making him feel like the heavens were collapsing.

Just then, the storage room door was kicked open from the outside. Rain sprayed in, soaking Shi Ji’s face. He squinted and looked up at the door. He could only see the dark sky and a silhouette standing there.

Who is it?

Shi Ji’s aching fingers curled. The person outside seemed surprised to find someone there; they stood still for several seconds before running toward him.

Perhaps it was survival instinct, but Shi Ji’s hearing became incredibly sharp. Between the thunderclaps, the clearest sound was the person’s footsteps.

He watched the figure stop in front of him and crouch down. Rain dripped from the newcomer’s clothes onto Shi Ji’s cheek, ice-cold.

“Shi Ji?” The voice was familiar.

Li Chen. He never expected it to be Li Chen.

Shi Ji’s breathing became ragged. He tried to speak, but his throat felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.

Li Chen was drenched. He frowned at the man on the floor. A bolt of lightning struck just outside the window, the flash revealing the man’s bloodshot eyes.

Shi Ji was covered in tears. His glasses were gone, his hair was a mess on the floor, and his shirt was stained and rumpled. He didn’t look like Shi Ji at all.

Li Chen’s breath hitched. He reached out a trembling hand, but Shi Ji slapped it away.

“Don’t… come near me,” the man rasped.

Shi Ji bit his lip. No. He didn’t want to say that. It was the body rejecting any proximity.

Li Chen looked at the back of his hand, then up at Shi Ji’s eyes. He saw deep-seated resistance mixed with a desperate plea: Please don’t leave me.

What was this feeling? Li Chen couldn’t name it. It was as if a high-and-mighty god had turned into a filthy kitten, terrified that Li Chen would disappear.

“I shouldn’t have come for you,” Li Chen said softly, crouching down. He glanced at his hand, then tilted his chin. “I’ve known for a long time that you’re afraid of thunder. Logically, I should have locked you in here and tormented you.”

His voice fell with the thunder.

“Just like you used to do to me. I should take my revenge.”

“But… when I went back to the dorm and saw you weren’t there, my first instinct was that I had to find you.”

“So you see, I came anyway.”

“What about you? When you decided to come ‘save’ me, were you thinking the same thing?”

Li Chen’s soft voice drifted into Shi Ji’s ears. The man looked up at him, and more tears spilled over. The tears left trails on his pale skin. His eyes were rimmed with red, and his lips trembled.

Shi Ji looked so fragile, as if he would shatter at the slightest touch. Unexpectedly, this drew Li Chen in. A voice in his head screamed: Touch him. Make him break completely.

Li Chen ripped off his muzzle. The alarm shrieked, irritating him. He frowned and smashed the device onto the floor, breaking the alarm for good.

He turned his attention back to the man. He brushed a finger over Shi Ji’s cheek, catching a tear, then put his finger in his own mouth.

A bitter taste exploded on his tongue, but it gave Li Chen a sense of inexplicable pleasure. This was the Shi Ji he had always wanted to see—the one he’d fantasized about.

Li Chen brushed the hair away from Shi Ji’s face, his fingers lingering on the skin. He felt the man’s trembling body. These sensations felt magnified a thousand times, stimulating Li Chen’s nerves.

He smiled, pinching Shi Ji’s chin to force him to look up. The more Shi Ji struggled, the stronger Li Chen’s grip became. Thunder roared again. Shi Ji’s face was bloodless, his eyes red.

He looked so pitiful. It made one want to… show him mercy.

Li Chen raised an eyebrow. Shi Ji’s cold hands grabbed him, his voice shaking: “What are you… doing?!”

A sudden electric shock from the system hit Shi Ji. Enduring the pain, he used Li Chen’s arm for leverage to push himself up. His heart was racing, and his head was spinning. Seeing the wicked smile on the boy’s face, Shi Ji knew things were bad.

He stared at Li Chen warily.

Li Chen’s lashes flickered, and the smile on his lips vanished. His expression turned grim.

At that moment, another massive electric shock tore through Shi Ji. He felt like his bones were being crushed. The pain was unspeakable. His mind went blank, his body swayed, and his grip on Li Chen’s wrist failed. He fell forward.

He was caught in a steady, warm embrace.

Shi Ji’s world went dark. He could only feel Li Chen’s warm palms covering his ears, blocking out the chaos of the storm—

“If you’re scared, just cover your ears.”

“Coward.”