Underworld App (9): The Son of the World on the Road to Being Beaten

Si Qi hadn’t deliberately hidden his identity from Chu Feng—it would be very easy for Chu Feng to see through it.

But what Chu Feng couldn’t figure out was whether Si Qi was a regular ghost or a fierce one. If he was a regular ghost, then why could Chu Feng see him with the naked eye? And if he was a fierce ghost, then how could he still retain rationality despite showing traits like red eyes and a tangible form?

What concerned Chu Feng even more was whether Si Qi was risking attacks from the Heavenly Dao just to stay by his side—or if he simply desired the blood of someone with great merit, and that was why he stayed.

If it was the former, it made Chu Feng deeply uneasy. He worried he might accidentally hurt Si Qi. But if it was the latter, he actually felt relieved.

He was willing to offer his own blood to Si Qi. If Si Qi asked, he knew he wouldn’t be able to say no.

But Si Qi had never once asked directly…

Instead, he often found roundabout excuses to share indirect kisses with him—was that just Si Qi’s instinctive longing for him?

Also, while people were generally accepting of ghosts, they were very repulsed by fierce ghosts. If Si Qi truly was a fierce ghost, wouldn’t his situation eventually become terrible? Chu Feng felt he needed to find a way to protect him.

With so much on his mind, Chu Feng was visibly distracted. He submitted a leave request and went home early—and sure enough, saw that familiar figure again at home.

The other person still hadn’t turned on the lights, even though it was already dark.

Chu Feng no longer minded these small details and knew better than to bring them up.

He walked over and said, “I’m back.”

The young man smiled at him, looking like he was in a great mood.

Just seeing that smile made all of Chu Feng’s worries vanish.

He sat down on the couch and said to Si Qi, “I opened the camera on my app today and noticed all the ghosts around me were avoiding me.”

He didn’t beat around the bush or hide anything in his heart, and directly asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

Si Qi laughed in surprise. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

Chu Feng felt a sense of relief. “I remember the first time you saw me, you said I was your lover from a past life.”

Si Qi nodded calmly, without the slightest sign of guilt.

Chu Feng asked, “Then… is your obsession about finding me and continuing our past relationship?”

Si Qi smiled. “You never dared ask me this before—were you afraid I’d lie and say no?”

Chu Feng awkwardly replied, “I don’t want you to disappear… but I also don’t want your obsession to never be fulfilled. I don’t know what to do.”

Si Qi chuckled softly. “So basically, you’re aware that you like me—and you’re terrified that if you’re not careful, you’ll end up with me, and then I’ll vanish forever.”

Chu Feng froze, and after a moment, his gaze shifted uncomfortably, guilt creeping in.

If it had been under any other circumstances, he would’ve already nodded without hesitation and admitted it like a real man. But now, he didn’t even dare move his head, afraid that once Si Qi’s wish was fulfilled, he’d just heartlessly leave.

Si Qi looked at him with amusement and, after a while, asked leisurely, “So, what do you plan to do?”

As he spoke, he reached out, trying to touch Chu Feng, who instinctively dodged away in a panic.

Si Qi feigned hurt. “Are you disgusted by me?”

Chu Feng said, “No… I just don’t want to hurt you.”

Si Qi’s gaze darkened. “Even if it hurts, if it’s something you give me, I’m willing.”

Nearby, the little spirit Xiu Xiu, who had been eavesdropping like watching a soap opera, dropped his melon snack on the floor: [………………] Master, where is your dignity?!

Chu Feng was deeply moved, feeling even more guilty.

Si Qi slowly leaned in, closing the barely noticeable gap between them. His tone was soft, like a gentle breeze brushing past Chu Feng’s ear. “You know… fierce ghosts can absorb vital energy from people, right?”

Though Chu Feng didn’t understand what vital energy meant, he could sense Si Qi’s intention. His adam’s apple bobbed, and his heartbeat quickened.

Si Qi chuckled. The sound was like a feather brushing past Chu Feng’s heart, leaving him itching and breathless, eager to escape that emotion. His eyes stared intensely at the young man in front of him.

The next moment, warm arms wrapped around his neck unexpectedly, and soft, moist lips touched his. A playful tongue slipped between his teeth.

The weight of the young man’s body pushed him down onto the couch. Not only did he not push him away—he instinctively pulled him closer, desperately savoring the lifelike warmth and presence. Then he turned the tables, flipping the other over and pinning him down.

Flushed, breathless sounds filled the living room. Soft gasps made Chu Feng’s heart race wildly. He gazed, captivated, at the young man in his arms, his dark, silky hair splayed across the white couch like ink, contrasting with pale skin tinged with pink. The sight stunned him—it felt like he was in a dream.

It was the joy of suddenly obtaining a precious treasure. After a long time, he asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”

Also—how had the young man managed to touch him?

Could it be—he wasn’t a ghost after all?!

Was this entire situation one big misunderstanding?!

Si Qi, arms still around his lover’s neck, smiled sweetly and said, “I have merit, too. How could you possibly hurt me?”

Chu Feng looked a little confused, but as long as Si Qi wasn’t hurt, he felt at ease.

As for why he could touch Si Qi’s body…

Si Qi nestled into his arms, lips brushing Chu Feng’s ear, smiling as he said, “Why can I have a physical form? It’s all thanks to you.”

Chu Feng instinctively hugged him tighter and asked, “Hm?”

Si Qi replied, “The power in your body helps me cultivate and grow stronger… I’m now a ghost cultivator. By using merit and yin energy to cultivate, I can temporarily have a physical form.”

Chu Feng blinked in confusion. He didn’t understand what cultivation meant, but he was certain of one thing—he could touch Si Qi.

Gratefully embracing him, Chu Feng clung tightly, afraid he would vanish—afraid that this warmth, enough to move one to tears, would disappear. He buried his face into Si Qi’s shoulder and said longingly, “I wish this could last forever.”

Si Qi’s gentle laughter rumbled through his chest, echoing into Chu Feng’s body. With a voice full of temptation, he said, “That depends on you.”

“Me?”

Si Qi’s tone was casual. “Besides your saliva, blood, and breath, there’s something even more powerful you can give me.”

Chu Feng immediately perked up, asking eagerly, “What is it?”

Si Qi smiled, leaned in, and whispered two words into Chu Feng’s ear.

Chu Feng’s cheeks turned crimson in an instant. He looked at Si Qi, whose teasing smile didn’t falter.

“You’re not unwilling to give it to me, are you?”

Chu Feng felt a tight knot in his lower abdomen and unconsciously tightened his grip around Si Qi.

…

…

At noon, the warm sunlight streamed through the glass windows onto the soft bed, filling the room with a comforting warmth.

Chu Feng slowly woke from his dreams, the memories of last night rushing back, filling his heart with uncontrollable joy.

Turning to look at the sleeping young man beside him, he carefully reached out and touched the black hair splayed across the white sheets.

The smooth, slightly cool texture told him this wasn’t a dream. The smile in Chu Feng’s eyes deepened. He couldn’t help but scoot closer and wrap his arms around the young man from behind—like he was holding his whole world.

Feeling the movement, Si Qi opened his eyes, turned over, and locked eyes with the soft, dark gaze beside him. Naturally, he leaned in and shared a kiss.

“Good morning,” Chu Feng murmured, his voice still hoarse from sleep, which Si Qi found incredibly sexy. He nestled closer into his lover’s arms.

The touch of their bare skin against each other—soft and warm—made it hard for Chu Feng to hold back. He couldn’t help but say, “Do you still need… more from me? How about a few more kisses…”

“Mm…”

The sound that followed was enough to make someone blush. A moment later, Chu Feng said, “One more…”

“Okay.”

“The last one…”

“…No problem.”

In blissful moments like these, time passed without notice. Half an hour went by. Chu Feng held Si Qi close and asked him, “Do you like it?”

Si Qi’s answer was always honest and straightforward: “I do. You have no idea how much I like being with you. You were amazing last night.”

Chu Feng tightly embraced the one he loved and said, “I’m so lucky.”

Not only did he meet someone he fell for at first sight, but he also possessed such a special physique. He had no fear of being harmed by the young man who was a fierce ghost—on the contrary, he was happy to be able to help. And the cost was merely some intimate contact that he actually craved.

He even secretly thought that Si Qi liking his body—his physique—was just perfect. That way, he could keep giving the young man the best experience possible, making him fall even more in love, never wanting to leave for the rest of his life.

Si Qi giggled and wrapped his arms around Chu Feng’s firm waist, saying sincerely, “No matter what kind of person you are, I love you! Love you the most!”

Feeling the intense and pure affection from his lover, Chu Feng was overwhelmed with emotion. He couldn’t help but lower his head to kiss Si Qi’s forehead, cherishing every second of their embrace.

If only life could go on like this forever—it would be wonderful.

He had no more regrets.

—

Unlike the overflowing happiness on Si Qi’s side, the Child of the World was having a terrible time.

Originally, he rose to prominence by exorcising ghosts and quickly became a revered master of ghost elimination, loved and admired by all.

But now, thanks to Si Qi’s influence, both the public and the authorities no longer feared ghosts—in fact, they were quite friendly toward them. This completely blocked the Child of the World’s path to fame. Since being discharged from the hospital, he had hit wall after wall—unable to earn money and offending a growing number of people.

Either no one needed his skills because they could just post on an app to solve their ghost issues, or the moment he said, “I can get rid of the ghost in your house,” people would curse him out, even chase him with a broom.

Furious, the Child of the World cursed that underworld app a hundred times a day and dreamed of killing its creator.

Authorities, using home surveillance footage provided by a wealthy family, quickly identified the Child of the World. His method of controlling ghosts to harm others was far too strange, but since he hadn’t harmed any living people yet, they didn’t immediately detain him. Instead, they sent people to make contact, to test his attitude and assess his danger level, hoping to win him over peacefully rather than create an enemy.

But after interacting with him and watching how he handled ghosts through his phone camera—so casually resorting to violence and killings—they immediately realized that keeping someone like him around would be a huge threat.

If he used his methods to control the ghost of a politically sensitive figure and manipulated their families from the shadows, it would be nearly impossible to defend against.

What’s more, since the authorities treated ghosts as citizens, someone who slaughtered them indiscriminately was no different from a murderer.

So when the Child of the World once again tried to capture an innocent ghost off the street to refine it into a ghost-flag artifact, undercover agents monitoring him finally moved to arrest him.

Xiu Xiu noticed immediately and, without hesitation, helped the officials carry out the arrest. But just as Si Qi had predicted, the Child of the World escaped unharmed with strange and unpredictable tricks, protected by the awareness of the world itself, and quickly vanished.

When the officials later spoke with Si Qi, they were frustrated and asked him to explain the bizarre techniques used by the Child of the World.

“It felt like we were fighting a magician,” one of them complained. “We were stuck in a loop in some alley, going in circles and couldn’t get out. If it hadn’t been for a helpful hacker telling us where to go, we wouldn’t have even touched his coat.”

Helpful hacker Xiu Xiu covered his mouth, laughing to herself: [hehehehe~]

Si Qi said, “He knows you’re after him now. He’ll definitely be more careful, and it’ll be even harder to find him.”

The officials looked worried. “We’re afraid that if he gets desperate, he’ll go to even greater extremes.”

Now that the Child of the World knew he was being hunted, he’d surely do everything to grow stronger—capturing more ghosts to serve him, and even refining them into artifacts.

Si Qi, based on what he knew about various Child of the World figures across different realms, figured this one would likely make that exact choice. He said, “Issue a public warrant for him. Let everyone—humans and ghosts alike—remember his face. If anyone sees him, they should immediately report it to the police.”

The authorities accepted Si Qi’s advice, albeit reluctantly. “With his abilities, I doubt he’ll care about something like this.”

Si Qi gave a small smile and didn’t explain further.

Of course, he wasn’t actually trying to limit the Child of the World’s movements with surveillance or create mere inconvenience. His real goal was to reduce the person’s influence on this world—to weaken the world energy around him. Only then, under the gaze of the world’s awareness, could Si Qi successfully capture him.

And so, the day after Si Qi gave the order, wanted posters flooded the internet. People pointed fingers at the official bulletin, cursing the man in the photo.

“This guy is insane—he killed that many ghosts? How is that any different from murder?!”

“Ghosts are gentle and harmless, more low-key than most people, and yet he still went after them? How cruel does someone have to be to do that?”

“Just thinking about my little sister—such a sweet little girl—who finally showed herself to us after all these years… If this guy had hurt her, I swear I’d risk my life to go after him!”

“I can’t help but wonder… my grandpa never appeared as a ghost after dying. Could it be that this bastard had something to do with it? Grandpa loved me the most. He wouldn’t have left me behind like that. I could never figure out why he never came back.”

“Please, officials, arrest this guy already! Knowing someone like him is lurking around us, possibly killing our loved ones, how can we feel safe?!”

“Ghosts should be careful not to go out casually these days. If they run into this guy, they’re doomed! Not even a chance to seek justice after death!”

The online uproar didn’t stop. Xiu Xiu gleefully watched the Child of the World’s world energy drop lower and lower and reported to Si Qi: [The world energy on him is down to 49%!]

Based on past experience, once that energy drops below 10%, the world’s awareness will completely abandon the Child of the World. At that point, Si Qi could easily capture or even kill him.

And the world energy drained from him would flow to Si Qi, as a reward for altering the future of this world.

However…

Xiu Xiu asked in confusion: [Isn’t the amount of world energy you’re receiving unusually low this time, Master?]

By normal standards, changing the antagonistic relationship between humans and ghosts—turning it into one of peaceful coexistence and mutual support—should have earned a massive reward. A shift from one extreme to another like that should yield a triple-digit bonus. But so far, Si Qi had only received a little over seventy.

Xiu Xiu muttered: [Could it be that the world’s consciousness is making things difficult for you, Master?]

Si Qi thought for a moment and said: [I don’t think so. It’s more likely that the world’s consciousness believes the current situation still isn’t enough to fully resolve the problem.]

The world’s consciousness wasn’t a living being, nor did it possess human-like emotional thinking. It was more like a running program, calculating and identifying key individuals at the critical nodes of the world’s development, entrusting the world’s fortune to those people, helping them get through those crucial times smoothly, and pushing the world toward a better future.

It was like a trader watching stock market charts—hoping their stocks will only rise in value. If sacrificing a small portion of data would result in the greater growth of other data, it would immediately make what it considered the most rational decision: eliminate the disruptive data and elevate a high-potential, quality one to drive up the rest.

From the perspective of the sacrificed data, that “quality” data might seem downright evil… but to the trader, the one that boosts performance is absolutely good.

That’s why it would go to great lengths to protect this “good, high-quality data” from harm, even paving the way so that everything it does succeeds.

Si Qi understood the attitude of the world’s consciousness and never relied on his quick-traveling identity or threatened it in the name of the Lord God. The fact that it tolerated him repeatedly interfering with the rise of the Child of the World without just striking him down with lightning was already a huge courtesy to the Lord God.

So, Si Qi also followed the rules. He never entered a new world with the sole aim of killing the Child of the World or disregarding his missions. He waited until the world’s power level had risen sufficiently before making his move.

At that point, the world’s consciousness—grateful for Si Qi’s help—wouldn’t obstruct him anymore. In fact, it would actively cooperate, just like it previously did with the Child of the World.

So now, even though it looked like the world’s consciousness was making things hard for him, Si Qi didn’t take it the wrong way. He simply said: [What I’ve done so far isn’t enough to solve the root of the problem.]

Xiu Xiu was puzzled: [Even after all that, it’s still not enough?]

Si Qi nodded: [Not all ghosts can fulfill their wishes. The longer they stay in this world, the denser their yin energy becomes. Eventually, they’ll become a hidden danger.]

Xiu Xiu suddenly understood: [That’s true.]

For instance, what if a tone-deaf ghost dreamed of becoming a beloved singer, and as long as there was one person in the world who didn’t like his songs, he refused to move on? Then he’d essentially achieve immortality, growing stronger and releasing more and more yin energy—eventually becoming someone whose mere presence within 100 meters could cause physical illness and unconsciousness. A complete disaster that no one could deal with.

If such problems multiplied, the world would still fall into crisis. That’s why the feedback of world energy to Si Qi remained low.

Si Qi smiled and said: [No rush. I already have an idea.]

Although Xiu Xiu didn’t know what plan Si Qi had in mind, hearing that was enough to put him at ease. He grinned and flattered: [Master is amazing! Xiu Xiu admires you the most!]

Si Qi chuckled and passed him another chunk of world energy, saying: [Good boy, here’s some pocket money.]

[Yes~!] Xiu Xiu rolled around joyfully in his space, cheering: [I’ve been eyeing a game console for so long—I’m finally going to buy it!]

Si Qi was generous: [If it’s what you want, go ahead. If it’s not enough, let me know—I’ll reimburse you.]

Xiu Xiu’s little face flushed with excitement. He shyly puckered his lips and gave Si Qi a real dragon kiss, then wagged his little tail and ran off shopping.

Let Master worry about the serious stuff—he was just a little assistant. All he needed to do was tag along and enjoy the easy wins!

…

Two weeks passed quickly while Xiu Xiu played his long-awaited console, lying on his newly purchased mini sofa. Suddenly, he looked up and said to Si Qi: [Master, there’s news about the Child of the World!]

Si Qi gave a soft hum: [What’s going on?]

Xiu Xiu knew his master had been busy lately with the tasks assigned by the world’s consciousness, ignoring most external news. So he carefully explained: [Now that ghost identities are socially accepted, the Child of the World’s job of killing ghosts has become a shady, undesirable “dirty job.” Some people, feeling that certain ghosts are getting in the way of their success, happened to learn about the Child of the World’s skills and sought him out—asking him to get rid of those ghosts.]

It was just like in the real world—when someone found another person a nuisance, they might hire a hitman to deal with them.

Only this time, the victims were ghosts instead of the living.

Si Qi thought for a moment, then stood up and said: [Tell me where he is. I’ve been meaning to test out a new result of mine.]

Xiu Xiu got excited, abandoning his game completely. He flew up, stretched his little claws, and rubbed his paws together eagerly: [Master, are you finally going to personally take care of the Child of the World?]

He knew it—after laying low for so long, Master’s next move was bound to be huge!

Si Qi smiled faintly: [Seeing me again, I bet he’ll be absolutely thrilled.]

With that, he sent an email to the official operations team: “I’ve found the ghost hunter’s whereabouts.”

Within ten minutes, the long-prepared task force sprang into action, fully equipped and gathering swiftly around Si Qi.