Quick Transmigration: Is it Better to be a Beta?

Chapter 38: 2.22

Time passes. As it always does.

When Li Guiren was ten he uncovered that his teacher was a serial killer that took young girls' lives after raping them. The last victim was a beautiful seventeen year old girl that had been bullied mercilessly by her peers, she had died in the bathroom beaten and drowned in the toilet. The bloody toilet seat cover was missing.

There was a big scandal that came about in the neighbours house when Li Guiren was twelve. A young male photographer was killed for taking a picture at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was attacked late at night in the local newspaper processing plant and thrown into an ink vat. It was unknown what killed him off completely the blade in the ink vat or drowning in the ink itself. Later on, the plant was considered haunted and many people saw a black figure during the night shift. After visiting the processing plant on a school field trip, Li Guiren left with high spirits and the ghost sightings were eventually forgotten.

When Li Guiren was thirteen Li Du, whose music career had shot up since then, was invited to an A-list musician's wedding ceremony. That A-list musician was playing bride to a B-list actor. Unfortunately the B-list actor clearly didn't love the musician as much as the other given that it was revealed that he had slept with half the bridal party and fucked the bride's mother in the broom closet. The musician bride went mad with rage and in her black wedding dress- because apparently it was meant to be an edgy fashion statement- she walked down the aisle and massacres as many of these cheaters as she could. Then after castrating and mutilating the groom she killed herself. It was easily one of the only entertaining weddings Jia Hyson has ever been to. When her body was finally taken away into the morgue, no one noticed she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

At fourteen Li Guiren phoned in the police to report domestic violence as he overheard a conflict when passing the streets home. When the police finally arrived they saw the young teenager covered in blood cradling a small disfigured little girl in his arms. After questioning they realized the young man had rushed in to fight the abusers, accidentally killing the father in self defense but was too late to save the child who had been constantly suffered due to his genetic abnormalities. No one noticed that a child's beloved plush toy was taken from the house that night.

At eighteen Li Du was dying from an unknown illness. He was constantly cold and seeing things that were not there. The western doctors were unsure and prescribed medications. The eastern doctors shook their heads and said the yin poisoning had sunk too deep into his bones before shooting him away, afraid that whatever bad karma that had earned him such a large exposure to this negative energy may infect them.

During this time looking for a cure, a genius doctor in a hospital was murdered. The culprit unknown but afterwards many strange occurrences happened in that hospital. Later on Li Guiren once again phoned in the police saying he found another body. It was discovered this person was the culprit to the genius doctor's death. The genius doctor's favorite scalpel was theorized to be the murder weapon however it was never found.

At twenty-three Li Guiren was a rising star in the police force. Not only was he popular with his bright personality but he was also hardworking and incredibly lucky when it came to finding suspicious events. His coworkers and boss joked at how he was a literal bloodhound, it was almost supernatural how quickly he found the bodies.

In his first big assignment he managed to help track down a paranoid madman who was on a revenge killing spree against people who he believed abducted his son. To be fair to that guy, he did manage to get two or three right so his gut instincts were about twenty percent accurate. The madman always held a little toy soldier on his person however it never made it to the evidence locker.

The drowned girl in the bathroom, the phantom shadow in the hall, the black bride, the disfigured child, the bloody doctor, and the toy soldier. Jia Hyson smiles. Even though they probably came to the house a little prematurely wasn't it better like this?

Xu Xia was still the top dog around the house but easily yielded the power to Jia Hyson, the second strongest, when he comes back. Next would be the three basement ghosts Bai Honghui, Zhou He and Xia Cuifen then the newcomers whose strength generally ranked according to the length of time they've stayed in the nourishing demon house. However even with so many ghosts the power balance was easily maintained given how between the level of the basement ghosts and the newbs who only died this decade they were miles apart in strength.

Not that there were any ghosts willing to challenge them. Once they solved a majority of their resentment the ghosts were fairly docile and pleased with their arrangements. After all even though the house wasn't exactly the most pleasant, it had an abundance of energy and many other ghosts to talk to. Isolation is one of the key factors that can erode one's sanity. So despite everyone having quite unstable mindsets they were much better off than most spirits who are consumed by their negative emotions and energy and become mere shadows of their former selves. Either way the demon house was flourishing.

At twenty-five under Jia Hyson's urging Li Guiren began to look for a wife. Albeit incredibly reluctantly.

"Wei... I'm really not..." Li Guiren sighs as he shuffles some papers in his hand as he lies down on the bed. Silently Jia Hyson's gaze flicker glancingly at the man's body. From a sweet dumpling to a top grade beefcake, even if he had accompanied him through the transition sometimes Jia Hyson still couldn't comprehend how it happened.

Li Guiren has grown to be just over over six and a half feet, he had muscles from army and cadet training that were neither too bulging or disproportionate. Instead it gave him a perfect body fitted with broad shoulders, a small waist and a firm butt. His eyes were a piercing black, his eyebrows strong and sharp like swords, his nose was straight, his hair was short and militant and face was angular and well defined. In short... too handsome!

Jia Hyson sighs, if he hadn't resolved himself years ago he really would have trouble letting this man free to sow his seeds. Muscular military-type men were really some of his favorites. He once hooked up with a black bellied man with shady connections just because he used to be a soldier and still had his army uniform. Unfortunately that man got clingy after three weeks, killed two of his other sex friends and Jia Hyson got kidnapped for six days as a result of dumping his ass.

Bebe: '...do you learn nothing from getting into such toxic relationships?'

Jia Hyson: 'I learnt... Kidnapper play is pretty fun ah (). After he bribed his way out of prison we got back together for a bit longer until one of my newer friends killed him off.' Whether that had to do with the fact the two were rivals career wise or that Jia Hyson may or may not have accidentally slipped out about the kidnapping play incident in passing and the other was trying avenge his nonexistent honor will never be known.

Bebe: 'Oh.' Bebe forgot the real toxic one in any relationship was it's spicy chicken Host. _

"Wei I'm not interested in finding anyone right now," Li Guiren finally says before glancing up at his ghostly friend with a sliver of trepidation. Wei has been by his side for many years now and as he grew older he realized what he felt for the spirit may not necessarily be the same as for a family member or a friend.

Unfortunately for him, this was China in the 90s, and homosexuality was not exactly talked about much less celebrated. Add that to the fact he had assumed Wei would not appreciate his less than normal feelings given that Wei had died largely due to men who held such perverse thoughts toward him and that with his yang body he couldn't even touch Wei anymore well, Li Guiren would never endanger the bond he had with Wei. He was satisfied with what he had now and deeply treasured their status quo.

Jia Hyson, unaware of the complicated emotional turmoil of his family's big dumpling, floats around him with a playful smile, "Aiyah, I'm not forcing you Xiao Ren," He assures, "I'm just saying, it's no good to always focus on your work. It's not good for you."

Li Guiren rolls his eyes, "Don't nag Wei Wei,"

At that, Jia Hyson felt the un-repressable urge to nag in response. You know, just to be annoying. Clicking his tongue he floats a little closer, tugging away the papers in the man's hands which Li Guiren indulgently lets him, "Aiyah, it's not nagging if it's true. Even if you have more yang energy than other people, that doesn't mean you can keep running headfirst into these dangerous situations ah. You have an almost pure yang body, not an invincible one. It can block ghosts but not bullets."

"I wish I didn't have it anymore," Li Guiren confesses honestly, "You're already strong enough to protect me from any ghosts and I miss being able to touch you,"

Jia Hyson frowns, he wants to go closer and comfort him but he knows he can't. As Li Guiren grew older his yang body also grew in potency. With Jia Hyson's yin spiritual body that wasn't buffered by a physical form, even with his current strength he could not dare to touch the other lightly. "I also miss hugging you too," Jia Hyson murmurs then in a louder voice he says, "That's why you should find someone else Xiao Ren. I'll always be here for you but my heart will hurt knowing you don't have anyone physically by your side."

It's not a lie. Li Guiren didn't have any close friends and with Li Du dead, he had no family either. Jia Hyson had taken up both roles in his life and the other ghosts were on friendly terms with Li Guiren as well but that hardly counted anymore. Humans were social by nature, and Jia Hyson still remembers Li Guiren as a lonely little boy so he felt especially distressed over the lack of human company and connection. Touch was important ah, but who told Li Guiren to be a walking exorcism talisman?

Li Guiren hesitates but finally he agrees to take a little more time off from his busy schedule and open his horizons a bit more.

So obviously Li Guiren find's his future wife working on a homicide case the next day.

Jia Hyson can only say: Isn't the faceslap too fast?

Unlike Li Guiren's sad excuse for a parent, Tian Xinya was a fairly well off young lady with loving parents so Bebe after a few minutes of looking at her could identify who she was much quicker than it had done for Li Guiren. Unfortunately for Tian Xinya, her parents were loving but they were also terrible people responsible for the deaths of eight individuals.

Jia Hyson was shocked. Fucking hell why didn't Author God put anything interesting into their story? It had a scene about how the protagonist and Tian Shun talked about their policemen fathers but nowhere in there does it say anything about how Tian Shun's grandparents were goddamn serial killers?! Aiyah that was so much more interesting than typical absent cop daddies ah.

Tian Xinya is a very beautiful elegant looking woman. She's sweet, resilient and held a poisonous mouth. Even though she was naturally confused and devastated at what her parents had done she recovered relatively quickly and helped out anyway she could as they tried to track down her parents who had escaped. As a future father in law Jia Hyson was quite satisfied with her.

"She looks good," He tells Li Guiren, "Offer her dinner as thanks for all the help,"

Li Guiren glances at where Jia Hyson was, brow furrowed slightly before continuing to talk to Tian Xinya like he hadn't heard him at all. Jia Hyson clicks his tongue. Still such a stubborn brat. Won't even listen to his elder's love advice!

Jia Hyson: 'QAQ My baby is so rebellious, doesn't he know that this Laozi has had countless ladies and men eating out of his hands?'

Bebe: 'Maybe he's just not interested?'

Jia Hyson: 'Nonsense, that's his future baby momma. Besides that aside, her looks and personality are great, even I'm interested in her!'

Bebe: 'Yeah, well...' Host is kind of a slag. He would probably be interested in dogs if that was legally okay.

Jia Hyson: '...' Suddenly feel really angry right now what to do?

Li Guiren didn't hate Tian Xinya. She was nice. And she was very understanding and enthusiastic about his job. They had compatible personalities and, his black eyes darken as he took in the woman's elegant and charming face that was six to seven points similar to Wei's, her looks was close to his ideal type. "- so as thanks for helping us out so much why don't I buy you dinner? My treat of course," he smiles showing off his dimples, looking a little roguish and incredibly charming.

They get married by next fall.

Jia Hyson, who no longer got very emotional anymore was so excited at giving away his little boy he broke down the barriers between ghost and human and shed real tears. Thankfully with [I Can't Believe It's Not Human Level 1] he can temporarily retain an almost true human form and could be present during the ceremony. Unfortunately there were many limitations such as he couldn't be in too much direct sunlight and it wouldn't work during midday so the ceremony was at sunset.

Tian Xinya did not work and was a typical housewife. The only way she stood out was that she had become obsessed with learning about all sorts of things. It seems that her lack of knowledge and awareness of having such parents had struck her hard. As if to compensate now she is constantly visiting the library and bringing things home to tinker and play with.

Li Guiren didn't mind her hobby and held no expectations for her and the only rule in the house was that she must not touch Wei's doll body. Even though Jia Hyson could help a lot in police investigation it was still difficult to explain his presence in the office so if he wasn't hiding in a duffle bag or in a desk drawer he would usually be around the house.

Unexpectedly Tian Xinya was fine with such a strange and rather ominous sounding rule. In fact, from what Jia Hyson could tell, she genuinely quite liked the beautiful doll and often talked to him when they were alone together. Which was fairly often.

It seems... Tian Xinya had no friends?

Then again after the whole serial killer parents scandal it would be hard to socialize.

Feeling bad Jia Hyson decides to discuss revealing the secret to the doll with Li Guiren. Even though he was a slag, he truly believed that when one gets married one should devote themselves to each other and share everything with them. It's also why he never got married.

Li Guiren agrees easily. He also felt bad. Leaving Wei in the house with no one to talk to that is.

He used to drop Wei off to the demon house if he couldn't bring him to work but after he got married he was afraid that questions will arise if people saw him at the abandoned house so often. As a policeman he's gotten a little paranoid about eyewitnesses who could pass by and assume things like a scandalous rendezvous with a mistress or something. Tian Xianya also liked to ask him where he's gone and who he's been with a lot, whether its from jealousy or control issues it still doesn't stop him from being more cautious these days.

Besides, if she doesn't take it well it's not like he hasn't killed before anyway.

Disappointingly for Li Guiren, Tian Xianya took the news abnormally well earning Jia Hyson's further goodwill toward her. The Li household was very lively after that. Jia Hyson and Tian Xianya bonded over Li Guiren and the occult which Tian Xianya became very interested in since it was something dangerous she had previously no knowledge about.

Now it was often Tian Xianya who would visit the demon house with him. The other ghosts were also interested in the current gossip and worldly affairs so given that this was second in command Wei's new human companion they gave her a lot of face. It also helped that she was less intimidating than Li Guiren whose yang body was the equivalent of spiked poison armor especially for the younger ghosts.

Li Guiren: '...' Ah, what is this complex feeling of having the main wife and mistress meet and they unexpectedly become best friends and all your other friends like the mistress better than you?

Bebe: '...' Host is right about one thing. Li Guiren is really not fit to be considered a male lead.

Li Guiren: '...' Out of nowhere I felt the malice of the universe hit me and now feel like crying.

The days pass on simply and intimately like this. Even though the relationship between husband and wife become more like roommates that were really only their for their pet ghost, no one could say they were unhappy.

Then, when Li Guiren is twenty-nine, Tian Xinya got pregnant. Unfortunately for her, she became ill the longer she was pregnant with the baby. Getting chills for no reason and feeling faint and depressed. Jia Hyson was shocked to find she seemed to be suffering from severe yin poisoning despite her not being nearly as exposed to the ghost world compared to Li Du who had been fine for years. He did his best to keep away from her but Tian Xianya treated him as her only friend and was unwilling to be left alone at such a fragile time. So all they could do was consult a shaman, feed her yang-nourishing food and pile her with warm blankets during this time.

A year later both Jia Hyson and Li Guiren were in the operating room supporting Tian Xianya who had grown haggard and pale. She died in the end, the moment Tian Shun was born she closed her eyes and never woke up. Jia Hyson gave her a brief look of sorrow before the feelings once again disappeared like sand through his fingers.

Even though it wasn't long, in consideration of their friendship Jia Hyson will protect the child in place of her.

Li Guiren's reaction in comparison was both more and less emotional. Although he was also saddened by the woman's passing it was not on the level of Wei's sadness as he regarded her more of a good roommate than a friend. Still because he was human and not a spirit like Wei the grief cannot be so easily lost. He holds Wei's hand tightly to reassure himself that at least Wei would always be with him.

They held a moment of silence for Tian Xinya before the doctor showed them to where the baby boy, Tian Shun was being held after they cleaned him up.

"He's so small," Jia Hyson marvels softly. He floated a few meters away, wary about his strong yin aura affecting the vulnerable little baby.

"He is," Li Guiren agrees, rather mesmerized himself. This was a living thing he helped make! Even though he has seen so many supernatural things now this was somehow the hardest thing to comprehend. The thought that he will raise the boy with Wei further warmed his heart, "What will be his name?"

"Tian Shun," Jia Hyson immediately says, "the 'Shun' as in good-natured."

Li Guiren smiles at him, "It's a nice name,"

Jia Hyson smiles back. The atmosphere between them particularly harmonious, like the breaking of dawn after a long gloomy night.

Tian Shun slowly and silently wakes up during this time. His silver eyes flashing under the hospital lights as he sticks his chubby hand in his mouth and stares up at Wei's floating figure.