Death Progress Bar 61
Counter Poison With Poison
“Sigh.”
Shi Jin sprawled on the sofa in the living room and kept sighing, looking troubled.
Xiao Si asked, concerned, < What’s wrong, JinJin? >
“I’m analyzing the pros and cons of office romance,” Shi Jin replied, letting out a sigh again.
Xiao Si was confused: < Office? Do you want to have an office, JinJin? >
“Technically, I’m an unemployed vagrant—what would I want an office for?” Shi Jin rolled over to lie on his stomach and looked towards the windows as the pitter-patter of raindrops signaled the beginning of rain. He said, distressed, “Lian Jun used to be my boss: I worked for him, he paid me for my labor—it was a clear-cut exchange, everyone knew where they stood. Now that our personal relationship changed, if he still pays me but subconsciously refuses to let me work, won’t it mean I’m being kept by him? Even if I know that’s not what he means.”
Xiao Si didn’t think his conclusion was right. It refuted, < But you do work—didn’t Darling say your job is to accompany and protect him? You’re eating with him every day, you give him a massage, take care of him… And you obviously do a good job because Darling is finally putting on some flesh. >
Shi Jin was dumbstruck. Xiao Si’s words seemed to make sense; when he accepted the position of “Gua Four,” he was told his task was to accompany Lian Jun, wasn’t he? From that point of view, it was true that he’d never stopped working.
But it still didn’t feel quite right.
He frowned and turned to lie on his back again. He pondered for a moment, then abruptly sat up straight and said, “No, that’s wrong—I do all this because I love him, not because it’s my duty. How could taking care of him be a job?”
Xiao Si replied timidly, < But before you and Darling became a couple, you did it because it was your job. Um, JinJin, I don’t really understand what you’re tangled about… >
That shut Shi Jin up since he found he couldn’t refute Xiao Si’s words. He sat frozen for a long time, speechless, then relaxed and leaned back on the sofa. Sighing, he said, “Before, we weren’t in a relationship, so it was fine. Now that we are lovers, getting paid for taking care of him, that’s not… And all this aside, I just want to do more, to help him more. He works himself into the ground, there are so many things he has to worry about…”
For example, currently, Lian Jun was on edge because of Gua One and the others undertaking the task of destroying those four organisations. Immediately after the meeting, he called Gua Nine and asked him to organize the information and help the four coordinate their work. He was so busy that he didn’t even go for lunch and instead ate something random at his desk.
Gua One and the other three also bustled around, getting ready. The four organizations were located in four completely different directions, one of them across the border. They had to prepare all the necessary equipment and supplies as soon as possible, mobilize manpower, familiarize themselves with the enemy’s information, rush to their location, develop a combat plan… And despite everyone being so busy, Shi Jin couldn’t help them with anything; he had so much free time he could devote it to matters as grave as pondering his “office romance”…
“I’m really useless,” he sighed, accidentally saying it out loud.
“It turns out you have some self-awareness,” Fei Yujing snorted, having appeared in the living room without notice.
Shi Jin looked up at him, guessing he just came back from outside when he saw his slightly damp hair and the rain marks on his suit. He also noticed the dark circles under his eyes, and said without thinking, “It seems you didn’t sleep well last night—did you have a nightmare?”
After seeing the scene in the villa, any ordinary person’s quality of sleep would drop, at least for a time. The circles under Fei Yujing’s eyes were so dark that there was no way he’d had a good night’s rest.
The lawyer stiffened, then sneered, “You think I’m you?” After saying this, he turned and left, walking a bit faster than usual.
Shi Jin watched him go, speechless by his stubbornness. He turned his head to look out of the window where Gua Three’s subordinates were organizing the convoy, ignoring the rain. Thinking about the tragedy in the villa, he couldn’t relax.
An eye for an eye, okay, very exciting, but it would be impossible for there to be no injuries on their side when Annihilation fought back, or even…
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Initial preparations finished, Gua One and the others took their people and left, heading towards the respective destinations for their missions.
Lian Jun and Shi Jin sent them off together, watching side by side as the cars drove around a curve in the road and disappeared.
“Shi Jin, I haven’t forgotten that you’re not only my lover, but also my subordinate, and an excellent one at that. I never meant to waste your talents, to trap you by my side and not let you grow,” Lian Jun said out of nowhere, taking Shi Jin’s hand. Looking toward the end of the road, he whispered, “I’m just not ready to watch you leave like this, with me personally sending you to the battlefield. You’re not experienced enough to deal with larger conflicts and battles and I’m not mentally prepared for it. For the time being, I can’t let you put yourself any further at risk—we’re not ready yet, neither you nor I… Shi Jin, can you please give me a bit of time?”
Stunned, Shi Jin looked at Lian Jun and returned his hold without thinking, his grip tight. “Lian Jun…”
“I really like when you call me like that.” Lian Jun gazed up at him and kissed the back of his hand. “If we want the relationship to last, learning to work together is absolutely necessary. I’m too busy and sometimes I’ll miss things, even very important ones. When I do, please tell me—I don’t want you to be unhappy.”
As he listened to Lian Jun, Shi Jin’s heart softened in an instant.
How could this man be so gentle and thoughtful? Shi Jin had only asked once; afterwards, although he was a little bit depressed, he deliberately avoided mentioning the issue, not wanting Lian Jun to notice. And yet Lian Jun still found out, and earnestly explained his feelings to Shi Jin as soon as he was done dealing with the most urgent matters.
He couldn’t help leaning over to hug his lover, saying, “I am a little unhappy, but not because of you, because of myself. I feel like I can’t do anything to help you… I’m sorry. You’re already this busy and I made you worry about me as well.”
“Worrying about you is my privilege,” Lian Jun soothed, stroking his hair. “You staying by my side is already the greatest help to me.”
Oh, aren’t you a sweet talker.
The wrinkle between Shi Jin’s eyebrows smoothed out, and his downcast mood disappeared without a trace. He was caught between the urge to smile and frustration—despite being well aware Lian Jun was appeasing him right now, he still was entirely willing to let himself be appeased.
They say that being in love made people stupid—it seemed he wasn’t an exception.
Or perhaps, it wasn’t that love made people stupid, but that they didn’t want to add more burdens to their loved ones, so they were willing to be fools.
After dinner, the first message from the four came—Gua Two reported he’d arrived in the vicinity of the enemy’s headquarters and was now organizing his troops and firepower.
Two hours later, Gua Three and Gua Five also reported in. Lian Jun inquired about their situation. After confirming that everything was fine, he asked no more questions and told them to focus on developing their tactics.
At about midnight, Gua One, who had the longest way to go, finally sent news as well: he’d reached his destination and was working with the local Annihilation branch to adjust troops and prepare for action.
So far there were no problems. After exchanging information, all four tacitly chose the same plan—launch a direct attack as soon as their troops were in position, and catch the enemy by surprise.
Lian Jun didn’t interfere with their tactical arrangements, merely stating he was waiting for good news.
It was destined to be a sleepless night.
Annihilation’s strength was beyond any doubt. Gua Two was the first to sound the battle horn, a little after one o’clock in the morning. He kept in contact with Lian Jun the whole time, giving him live commentary; from what he said, his forces steamrolled over the enemy organization, and not only captured its leader alive but even found his hidden safe, which contained account books and such. It was a great harvest.
Not long after that, Gua Three and Gua Five also moved, and crushed the enemy in the same way. However, Gua Three was unable to catch the leader of the organization he was assigned to—the man took his own life after he was certain he was going to lose.
Gua One was the last to take action. Gunfire attached great importance to the organization he was responsible for; the base’s layout and the strength of its defenses made it quite difficult to attack. Gua One was cautious—it was only once he had breached the weakest point of the enemy’s defence and secured his position that he launched an all-out offensive.
However, this meant Gua One’s battle took much longer and barely finished before dawn. He, too, successfully took down the enemy organization and managed to prevent the leader from committing suicide, capturing him alive.
At that moment, the mission issued by Lian Jun had been accomplished. It took less than a day—the efficiency was astonishing.
Shi Jin accompanied Lian Jun through the night, and witnessed the whole process. Awestruck, he had to admit Lian Jun was absolutely right not to send him out this time; with his current strength and experience, he just wasn’t able to do what Gua Two and the others did.
The disparity in strength between an ordinary, low-rank policeman and members of the underworld, whose life was an endless war, was not something which could be overcome with a little bit of training and a few small tasks.
“Withdraw at once, don’t let Gunfire catch up with you. I’ll send someone to cover your retreat but be careful anyway,” Lian Jun issued the final order, then leaned back in his wheelchair and massaged the bridge of his nose.
Shi Jin woke from his thoughts and rushed to his side.“Do you want to take a rest? You’ve been busy all night,” he asked, concerned.
Lian Jun lowered his hand and looked at him, the fatigue on his face dissipating a bit. “And you stayed with me the entire time even though you didn’t have to. I still need to watch over their retreat, but you can go to sleep. I’ll call Gua Nine to replace you,” he said, caressing the teenager’s cheek.
“My duty is to accompany you, so I’m just doing my job,” Shi Jin corrected him in a serious manner. He grabbed Lian Jun’s hand and kissed him, then smiled. “It seems we’re going to be up a little longer. Give me a moment, I’ll get you something to drink to help you stay awake.”
Lian Jun couldn’t help but answer that smile with his own. He squeezed his hand and nodded, no longer insisting Shi Jin to go rest.
If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.
At that time, the first vestiges of dawn had barely begun to break across the eastern horizon, and naturally, everyone was still sleeping. Shi Jin was quiet as he hurried to the kitchen, heated up a pot of milk, and got some food, then put it all on a tray.
When he walked into the living room, he noticed someone reclining on the single sofa near the window. Surprised, he detoured in that direction to take a closer look and did a double-take—it was Fei Yujing, sitting there in his pajamas. His haggard face looked worse than the previous day. His eyes were closed and there was a deep frown etched into his face, the dark circles under his eyes appearing even darker than they had before. Seeing his state, it was easy to guess what was going on.
“Did you have a nightmare again?” Shi Jin asked.
Startled by the sudden noise, Fei Yujing snapped open his eyes. “No, I just woke up early and came out to get some fresh air,” he said, still refusing to admit it.
You would’ve been more convincing if at least one window was open.
But Shi Jin didn’t say it out loud. He put down the tray, took a disposable cup from the side table, and filled it with milk. Sharing some of the snacks from the tray, he said, “Trying to endure without saying anything won’t make it better, you know. If you can’t sleep, try drinking a cup of warm milk in the evenings. Exercise and light entertainment can help you relax too, and before bed you should avoid the kind of high-intensity work that strains your mind. If none of that works, talk with a friend, get it off your chest. You’ll be better off doing that than trying to deal with it on your own. Keep going the way you are now and I can almost guarantee you’ll end up with some mental health issue.”
“Are you cursing me?” Fei Yujing asked, his eyebrows knitted.
Shi Jin felt he would never understand how his brother’s brain worked. He looked at him as if he were an idiot and picked up the tray. “Yes, I’m cursing you,” he said, and walked out of the living room, not willing to waste anymore time on him.
Shi Jin’s last look made Fei Yujing choke. He stared at the teenager’s back before eyeing the steaming milk and sweet-smelling pastries on the side table, frowned in irritation, and leaned back into the sofa, closing his eyes once more.
By ten in the morning, Gua One and the others finally confirmed that they had withdrawn to a safe location. Relieved, Lian Jun called Gua Nine and told him to keep an eye on the next part of their retreat, then took Shi Jin and went back to his room.
Shi Jin waited until Lian Jun finished washing, helped him settle down in bed, and prepared to leave.
Before he could, Lian Jun caught his hand. “You’re not going to sleep?”
“I will, I just have to take a shower first,” Shi Jin replied.
Lian Jun shifted to the other side of the bed, making room for him. “I don’t mind, come in.”
Shi Jin opened his mouth, wanting to say he planned to sleep in his own room, but seeing Lian Jun’s eyes filled with affection and concern, he swallowed the words back. Obedient, he climbed into the bed, pulled the quilt over them, and said, “Sleep.”
But Lian Jun leaned over and kissed him.
Shi Jin was caught by surprise. However, when he glimpsed Lian Jun’s serious expression and felt the earnestness of the kiss, he closed his eyes and raised his arms to hold him close.
They didn’t wake up until dinner. During the day, Gua One and the others had returned, and were now taking the chance to catch up on missed sleep. Lian Jun called Gua Nine and asked about their injuries; after being informed that none of the four had been hurt, he went on to work, relieved.
Gua Two and the others woke up at about 10 p.m., then found Lian Jun to give their reports.
The three leaders that were captured alive had been separated and detained in different bases belonging to Annihilation, along with their most important subordinates. All the information they had found was brought back; Gua Nine was sorting it out.
Lian Jun confirmed some details, then named several other organizations for Gua One and the other three to take care of.
Shi Jin was taken aback—he hadn’t expected there would be a second round of cleaning up Gunfire’s subordinate organizations. The other four, however, seemed to have predicted this, and left as soon as they received their tasks.
This time, Shi Jin wasn’t foolish enough to ask for one of his own. After watching them leave, he said, “So you intend to continue fighting?”
“Naturally. We will only stop when Gunfire comes to us to negotiate,” Lian Jun replied. “Until then…”
At those words, Shi Jin remembered what happened after the conference had ended: Zuo Yang wanted to use Long Shi to reel Lian Jun in, but his plan backfired and he fell into Lian Jun’s trap instead. Shi Jin had the sudden thought that the situation with Gunfire was a bit similar to what happened then.
He felt that he understood Lian Jun’s way of doing things—ignore whatever leverage the enemy has, and just find a way to turn the initiative back to your side; as long as you do, you’ve won half the battle.
That cycle continued on through the following week: Gua Two and the others went out—wiped out the organizations they were assigned—retreated to “headquarters”—got a new task—went out again. They got rid of Gunfire’s subordinate organizations in the whole of the southeastern region at a steady pace, destroying Gunfire’s business network.
After a few days, Gunfire finally reacted and began to fight back. At that point, Gua Two and the rest simply forwent the “retreat to headquarters” part—after destroying an organization, they received new orders at their positions and headed straight for the new target.
Because the tempo of the attacks had accelerated, Lian Jun stayed up through the night more and more often. His face was a lot paler, and whatever weight he’d managed to gain was gone again. Shi Jin was deeply distressed by this; he all but glued himself to Lian Jun’s side, making him eat and sleep whenever possible, trying his best to keep him from exhausting himself.
Because Shi Jin’s sleep schedule was so irregular during that period, he began to encounter Fei Yujing in the living room at various ungodly hours. The man was looking worse day by day. Afraid he would collapse and delay everyone’s work, Shi Jin would give him a glass of milk and a ‘how to deal with insomnia and nightmares’ speech whenever he ran into him.
Fei Yujing seemed tired of seeing him. His attitude changed from the initial scorn to irritation and pointedly ignoring him. Once, he became so annoyed he went straight back to his room.
Shi Jin watched him go and smacked his lips, satisfied. “I just made him angry, didn’t I?” He asked Xiao Si.
Xiao Si felt a little bit sorry for Fei Yujing. < Yes, he looked pretty mad. Why do you keep bullying him, JinJin? >
And it was bullying. No one else could tell, but Xiao Si knew that Shi Jin was intentionally picking on his brother.
Shi Jin might not always be tactful when dealing with others, but he had never been this obtuse and annoying.
“Bullying? I’m just worried about him, you know? He always treats me coldly but I’m turning the other cheek to show concern for him—aren’t I a good person?” Shi Jin asked with a straight face.
Xiao Si decided answering this would either displease its host or hurt its conscience, so it kept silent.
The sleepless nights passed one after another. As the government and Annihilation mobilized all their military resources, and Old Ghost’s economic war against Nine Eagles grew more and more fierce, the situation in the Southeast began to become turbulent. Almost all local organizations discovered the winds had changed, and turned their attention to the targeted Gunfire as well, ready to make trouble.
After yet another round of clean-ups, on a rare sunny day in the season, Gua Two and the others came back. They had been ordered to stop the purge of Gunfire’s subordinate organizations for now.
“Gunfire asked to negotiate with us?” Shi Jin wondered.
“No, it was Zuo Yang. He contacted Old Ghost,” Gua Two said, yawning and scratching at the whiskers that had replaced his stubble. “Oh, it’s been way too exciting these past few days, I need to slow down. I’m going to sleep—would you like to join me, Little JinJin?”
Shi Jin took a step back to show that no, he wouldn’t like, and silently pointed behind Gua Two’s back.
Gua Two froze, a bad feeling crawling up on him. He slowly turned and found that Lian Jun had appeared behind him at some point, and was now watching him with a profound expression. Feeling chills running down his spine, he immediately explained, “I was just kidding, really, this was just a joke,” then backed away and fled.
Not raising his head from his laptop, Gua Nine commented, “I swear, he has the memory of a goldfish—every time he comes back from a long mission, he’ll get himself punished over and over because he can’t keep his mouth shut. Serves him right.”
Shi Jin burst out laughing.
Expressionless, Lian Jun pulled him down and pinched his mouth—You of all people dare to laugh at this?
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
That night, Lian Jun once again let Shi Jin rest in his room, somehow making it seem completely natural. Shi Jin thought of the room he’d been given but never slept in, pretended not to notice Lian Jun’s designs, and laid down by his side without protest.
As he was discovering, it was easy to climb into some beds, but quite hard to get out of them.
Shi Jin had been nocturnal recently; that night he woke up in the early hours of the morning and couldn’t fall asleep again. Not wanting to disturb Lian Jun, he made as little noise as possible when he got up, and made his way to the living room out of habit.
As expected, Fei Yujing was there, leaning against the single sofa as usual. A shadow fell on his face, obscuring his expression.
“This happens every single night—you know, you really can die from lack of sleep.” Shi Jin stopped in front of him, frowning.
It’d been more than a week. If things went on like this, Fei Yujing was likely to end up in hospital.
Fei Yujing didn’t move, as still as a corpse.
Shi Jin scrutinized him for a moment, then turned around and left.
At the sound of footsteps, Fei Yujing’s fingers twitched but he still didn’t open his eyes.
Ten minutes later, Shi Jin came back with hot milk and snacks. He turned on the lights in the living room, put the tray on the coffee table, dragged the small side table in front of Fei Yujing, and pulled over a second seat. Arrangements completed, he moved the tray to the side table and sat opposite his brother.
The man opened his eyes and looked at him. “Shi Jin, what the heck are you doing?” His tone was actually calm, which was becoming more and more rare these days.
Shi Jin glanced at him and took out the tablet. “What do you mean? I got used to all-nighters, and now I can’t sleep. So, I decided to watch a movie.”
“Watch it somewhere else,” Fei Yujing tried to drive him out.
Shi Jin fiddled with the tablet, ignoring him. “No, I like this place the best. If you’re bothered, you leave.” And he tapped the movie icon.
“Aaaahhhhhhhhhh—!!!”
A piercing shriek came from the tablet’s speaker, all the more shrill in the silence of the night. Fei Yujing jerked in shock. Face dark, he uttered through clenched teeth, “What the hell are you doing, Shi Jin!”
“I told you, watching a movie,” Shi Jin replied. His expression turned mysterious, and he continued, “You wouldn’t know, but when I’d just joined Annihilation, I was scared of everything, and the sound of gunshots made me unable to sleep for a week. Back then, the old doctor in the organization told me about this little trick I could try. It worked—I could sleep again, and I’m not afraid of gunshots anymore.”
Fei Yujing really wanted to ignore him or mock him and drive him away, but nearly ten days of being tormented by insomnia and nightmares had almost driven him crazy. He thought about all the work he still needed to do, struggled for a while, and finally decided to give in. “What method?” He asked, voice stiff and awkward.
“Countering poison with poison.” Shi Jin dragged the chair to his side and enlarged the picture on the tablet. “See it enough times and it stops being scary. Today is a moonless night—don’t you think it’s perfect for horror movies?”
Fei Yujing looked at the grimacing, bloody face on the screen and squeezed his eyes shut. For the first time, he reached for the glass of milk Shi Jin gave him, and drained it in one go.
Translator: Eques
Editor: Con
Proofreader: Kiri
Eques:
I actually wanted to add it to last chapter but forgot to ask Bet so I didn’t.
Now, since I have her permission, behold Bet whining in Discord while editing DPB 60, ladies and gentlemen:
Glad to see how successful they were with the current operation- hope everything continues smoothly!
As always, the relationship between our main leads is just so sweet- I just love how honest and open they are with each other.
Now I’m curious how it’ll be go with Shi Jin and his brother!
Thank you so much for the chapter and I hope everything is okay with Bet! LOL to the conversations at the end, haha.
Thank you! 💕 Bet is fine, she just had something very urgent pop up.
I absolutely adore both of them, their relationship is just so wholesome (╯▽╰ )
Im glad that none of the Guas are hurt. Gua two was digging his own grave asking Shi Jin to sleep with him lol.
Watch horror! What a way for brothers to bond.
Thank you for the chapter!
Bonding and bullying XD
Gua Two is asking for it (he’s still my favorite Gua though)
Congratulations. 🎉🎊🎉🎊🤩
Thanks for the chapter. Btw, this is shounen ai, right? No explicit (for its kind) Yaoi? 😭😭😭😭😭
Hmm. Since (according to the definition I know) we call something shounen ai when there’s a suggestion of a relationship, and it may happen or not, and yaoi when the relationship is confirmed, DPB is yaoi. It is not smut, however – the last chapter was the most explicit in the whole novel (except for maybe one, I’ll add a warning when we get to it).
Thanks for the lesson Eques-sensei. Let me cultivate these data in a dark corner and contemplate my life choices…
And, grow mushrooms of course. Shrooommmmsss. 😳🤤😳🤤😳🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Actually, we had a discussion and I’m not quite correct, but oh well… 😅
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
Lol so cute, bet, I feel ya!
Thank you for the tl!
Bet hates editing “mushy scenes” as she calls them XD
What is so bad about it? It’s cute and fluffy and make me feel giddy and also emphasize how I am alone and lonely irl.
Okay. I don’t know what Bet feels but I get what’s bad about it….
Apparently, she gets embarrassed editing them (she doesn’t hate them per se)
Lolol I would cry inside too, the discord chat was super funny
It’ll be so cool to see the operation in a movie. I mean it is amazing in my mind when I read it. Seeing it in a movie would be even better!…if it get a good director, producer and all
Oh yeah, that would be amazing 🤩
Or a spin-off novel about the Guas (though all of them are straight)
ShiJin sure is naughty one 😅 good job really
Happy sigh.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
You use discord light mode, how horrifying. Thanks for the chapter.
You’re from the dark side, huh? Dark mode makes my eyes hurt, I can’t use it 😥
*whispering into Eques ears* come to the dark side… we have cookies *woshing away silently, leaving behind the scent of fresh made cookies*
They have such good communication! It’s so cute, I love how wholesome this relationship is! Thanks for the translation!
I’m like somewhat attached to Gua two as a side character at this point and if he somehow dies within now and the end of the book, I will actually cry literal tears. He’s such a good bro to Shi Jin and even though he has no name he’s so well written? Like he has the personality of a ride overbearing older brother who teases you but actually cares for you a lot? Like a lil shit? Please author don’t kill him off!!
Fei Yujing is truly an ass and I don’t think he’ll make any sort of turn around. That said, I do feel a bit sorry for him.
But more over, can we get more Aoting??? I read some spoiler that he doesn’t have a large role in the rest of the books but I’m still hoping the author gives him something good. Don’t leave the best brother out in the rain!
I just started on this novel… but I’m low key thinking Gua 3 is sus. I hope I’m wrong though…