Monster Escape Room Re-Employment Chapter 6

Night Talk

The silent, deserted night garden, a secret haven in the bustling metropolis.

For two consecutive days, Jiang Lingyi found Lou Xian on the rooftop of the shopping mall. However, the moment he tried to approach, he would instantly be teleported downstairs, as if caught in a ghost wall. The last image he saw was always Lou Xian’s silent glance back from the edge of the rooftop.

Jiang Lingyi didn’t think he was being disliked, but rather that Lou Xian was trapped by some inner conflict, making him distant and elusive. Many mysteries still lay between them. If he let things continue this way, the relationship they had painstakingly rebuilt would revert to the state it was in when they broke up two years ago.

He absolutely, positively would not let that happen.

“Hey, buddy, let’s make a deal~~”

Jiang Lingyi found the Wandering Spirit who had guided him last time in the lobby and tried to sling an arm around its shoulder to get closer. However, the spirit had no physical body; he only grasped air and nearly stumbled. The Wandering Spirit was kind enough to hover in his arm-bend, salvaging some of the (acting) manager’s dignity.

“We’ll do this and that, and then you go over there… and I’ll take the opportunity…” The man and the ghost huddled together, plotting in whispers.

At midnight, the Wandering Spirit went up to the rooftop garden first. Jiang Lingyi waited about five minutes in the shop before slowly following, hiding in a secluded corner. He saw that the Wandering Spirit had successfully captured Lou Xian’s attention. He took a wide detour to approach from Lou Xian’s back. When he was only a few meters away, Lou Xian finally reacted, and the Wandering Spirit seized the chance to flee.

Lou Xian frowned in annoyance. Just as he was about to raise his hand, Jiang Lingyi immediately stepped forward, pointing at the railing beside the rooftop: “If you keep hiding from me, I’m going to jump!”

“You won’t.”

Lou Xian was completely unmoved.

Would he really not?

Was he going to gamble his worth in the other person’s heart?

Was he going to risk his life to take this step to close the distance?

The answer was, he would.

Jiang Lingyi climbed onto the railing and threw himself into the sea of neon lights without hesitation. A sense of weightlessness instantly enveloped him, and the wind roared past his ears.

The next second, his world came to a standstill.

Solid ground suddenly appeared beneath his feet, and the fierce gale retreated into a cool evening breeze.

He opened his eyes and found himself still on the rooftop, standing perfectly fine in front of Lou Xian.

His boss looked utterly helpless: “And you told me to conserve energy.”

Jiang Lingyi slowly took a second step. Lou Xian did not refuse again.

His act of near-self-sacrifice just now had accelerated his heartbeat, like a taut bowstring, sending excited tremors through him from the brush with death. His fall was not yet over.

Third step, fourth step—he was now only an arm’s length from Lou Xian.

He had only intended to talk face-to-face, but perhaps humans are inherently greedy, always unable to resist their avaricious nature.

Jiang Lingyi pulled Lou Xian into an embrace, tightening his hold little by little, his nose seeking the clean scent of hibiscus drifting from Lou Xian’s soft hair.

“You were the one who contacted me first. A man like me is like chewing gum—once you stick to me, you can never shake me off.”

Lou Xian shifted slightly. After struggling fruitlessly, he sighed in resignation, allowing Jiang Lingyi to hug and inhale his scent. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore: “Didn’t you have something to say?”

“You know what I want to say.”

On the long bench by the flowerbed, Lou Xian sat upright and proper, his back perfectly straight. Jiang Lingyi handed him a can of hot cocoa from the vending machine and sat down beside him.

“Did I upset you somehow? Tell me, and I’ll fix it.” Jiang Lingyi asked knowingly, throwing out a wrong answer to encourage Lou Xian to open up.

“It’s not your fault.” Lou Xian didn’t look at him, his eyes lowered, seeming awkward and troubled. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. When I see Phantom completely renewed under your management, more reliable than me, the actual boss, and how quickly you’ve built good relationships with everyone, I just… I just…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

Jiang Lingyi understood Lou Xian’s meaning. So that was it, just that. He had seen it too many times in the workplace: veteran employees whose mindset collapses when they are completely outclassed by a capable newcomer in a short period, leading to dark emotions. This was perfectly normal.

However, for Lou Xian, this was an entirely new experience.

A feeling of gentle tolerance welled up in Jiang Lingyi’s heart. Lou Xian was more like a human than he was two years ago.

“You feel like a failure, like you’re inadequate?”

“Yes,” he replied sullenly.

“If that’s the case, I’m the same.”

Jiang Lingyi took a deep breath, the cool air filling his chest and cooling the heat in his heart. He looked up at the pale moon, which was so dim compared to the dazzling neon lights.

“I made impulsive decisions at the wrong time.” The confession and the breakup.

“When I first entered the workplace, I didn’t understand social dynamics, and I was calculated against until I was bruised all over, almost genuinely jumping off a building.” The prescription sleeping pills.

“When I finally adapted to the rules and climbed to the top, I began to deeply despise the version of myself that had lost its sincerity.” Human nature is cheap.

Lou Xian said, “A person who has truly lost their sincerity wouldn’t realize they’ve lost it.”

“Therefore, a truly inadequate person wouldn’t feel inadequate like you do.”

Lou Xian widened his eyes slightly: “You’re being sophistical…”

“What did you say? The wind is too loud; I couldn’t hear you clearly.” Jiang Lingyi played dumb.

Two years ago, he would have told Lou Xian that he was the purest, cleanest person in the world.

In the past two years, he understood that such a person could not survive in a filthy world.

He was in the process of turning the Ice Prince into roadside weeds, allowing the light snow on the clouds to accept the foul, turbid dust.

Lou Xian had to have this level of awareness. Otherwise, even if he survived this hurdle, he wouldn’t be able to coexist with humans for long. Jiang Lingyi could help him once, but not forever.

There was another option: to shelter Lou Xian securely under his wing like an overly doting parent, keeping him suspended in the air, noble and flawless like the pale moon. But Jiang Lingyi knew that wouldn’t truly be good for him; it wouldn’t be treating Lou Xian as an equal, independent person. It would only be self-gratification driven by selfish desire.

After a long silence, not until the hot cocoa in the can was finished, did Lou Xian speak.

“Jiang Lingyi, thank you.”

“How will you thank me?”

Lou Xian learned quickly: “I’ll send you downstairs.”

“No need to rush.” Jiang Lingyi lightly brushed his fingertips across Lou Xian’s cheek, a fleeting touch. “Just take it slow, at your own pace.”

“Oh.”

“Can we chat a little longer before I go home?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“About your homeland, how you ended up here, the deal with this large group of subordinates, things like that. Although I understand the basics, there are still many things I don’t know.”

Lou Xian carefully chose his words as he spoke: “In your terms, our homeland is a ‘high-magic’ world where the strong prey on the weak. People speak through strength, and occasionally, world-ending catastrophes occur.”

He mentioned the phrase “world-ending catastrophe” as casually as if describing tomorrow’s sunny weather.

“My subordinates and I were exiled here. Although I call them subordinates, there is no strict hierarchical relationship between us; they simply gathered around me without me realizing it.”

It was somewhat like the feeling of a reclusive master in a novel being worshipped as a god by villagers—typical of him.

“Let me think what the word is… Mana? Chakra? Qi? Here, the concentration of this substance in the air is very thin, but in our homeland, it is abundant and is the condition necessary for spells to be cast. So, residents accustomed to that environment find it very difficult to survive once they move here.”

“That kind of thing has happened here too,” Jiang Lingyi said. “About five hundred million years ago, the oxygen content in Earth’s oceans dropped significantly, leading to the extinction of eighty-five percent of species. Only organisms adapted to low-oxygen environments survived.” He smiled. “I don’t mean to curse your home, but if nature starts changing dramatically one day, you and your subordinates might be the ones laughing last.”

“So why exactly were you exiled?”

Lou Xian offered a slightly sad smile: “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“That has nothing to do with our agreement.” It had nothing to do with the (acting) manager.

“That’s fine.” He could always ask the demons and ghosts for information anyway. Perhaps the matter truly had nothing to do with running the shop, but Jiang Lingyi wanted to know everything about Lou Xian. Necessary information alone was no longer enough to satisfy him.

“Since you’ve told me so much, I’d feel bad if I didn’t share some dirt too. Go ahead, ask me anything you want!”

Lou Xian looked at the suddenly energized Jiang Lingyi. The other man’s eyes were sparkling, almost wriggling with excitement like the Wandering Spirit.

“I don’t have anything I want to ask.”

“Huh? You’re not curious about me at all?” Jiang Lingyi was deflated.

“Because I am always watching you.”