I’m Actually a Bigshot

Chapter 9: The Paper Dolls

Su Qingxing was dead.

So who was the “man” floating above the station in a translucent state?

He had the same appearance as Su Qingxing, except that his hair had turned a strange silvery white, his eyes were azure, and his plain clothes looked layered and different from ordinary human attire.

Surrounding him were the blue lanterns and spots of light that had been seen before.

“Oooooooooooooooooooo-“

When the translucent Si Si looked up and saw Su Qingxing, he let out a long howl.
He was so excited that he didn’t know where to put his two little front paws.

“Awoo!” Si Si howled again, making people think he was really happy.

“Si Si, do you know?” The translucent Su Qingxing hugged Si Si just like before, “Life and death are two completely different states.
Some people seem to lose everything when they die, while others shed their living shells……”

“But they may even become stronger.” Su Qingxing waved his hand at the “corpse” on the ground, and the bloodied body turned into dust and dissipated in the cold wind.
Not a single drop of blood was left behind.

“Liu Hai is smart, really smart.” Su Qingxing scratched Si Si’s stomach while looking into the distance where the bus had disappeared, “But there are just too many things he doesn’t know, not to mention the fact that killing someone in the horror world would likewise increase his sinful karma.”

Su Qingxing was floating in mid-air while the headless ghost and the paper-dolls were directly below him.

When he appeared in his present state, they knelt down together, forming a strange yet…. sacred image.

“It’s time to end this.” Su Qingxing looked down and said to the paper-dolls and the headless ghost below, “You know what to do, right?”

“Hee hee hee hee hee ……” The creepy laughter appeared again, but this time they did not look at Su Qingxing.
They moved towards the direction of the bus, disappearing at an unexpected speed.
It was as if they had been swept up by a storm.

“Let’s go and see it too, the last act of the story.” Surrounded by the ghostly blue lantern, Su Qingxing and Si Si’s already translucent figures faded away, drifting away with the wind.

By the time Su Qingxing and Si Si reappeared, they were already in the compartment of the bus.

Although there was no one driving the bus, it was still moving along the mountain road.

Even though the entire bus was empty and the lights inside the carriage were switched on, Liu Hai and the others still sat in the last three rows of the carriage, as if that would make them feel more secure.

Appearing in his translucent state, Su Qingxing continued to sit at the back of the seat in the fifth-to-the-last row with Si Si in his arms, his legs folded up under his fancy clothes.
He looked at the trialists who had persevered until now in a leisurely manner.

Liu Hai and the others, however, were completely blind to Su Qingxing’s figure, torn between fear and the “victory” they had just achieved.

“Old man, when the bus stops next time, it will be your turn.” Liu Hai’s right hand played with his utility knife.
He hadn’t replaced the blade, instead choosing to wipe it with the cover of the seat.

The utility knife looked fragile, but it could easily cut through somebody’s skin as long as it wasn’t obstructed by clothing.
A person slashed by it would get a wound deep enough that they would easily bleed to death.

“Liu Hai, continuing like this is not the solution.” Su Qingxing saw Chen Fangfang pluck up the courage to speak up, “Even if Old Mr.
Chen did get off the bus, what about the next time? And who will you let off the bus next time?”

“Besides, there are no more ghosts in the vehicle, and there are no more paper-dolls.
There won’t be any ghosts forcing us to get off!” Chen Fangfang looked a little nervous, “So it’s better to just stay in the bus!”

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?” Liu Hai suddenly smiled a particularly grim smile, “That’s right, when old man Chen goes down, it’ll be your turn next.”

Liu Hai wrapped his arm around Xu Yun who was silent and played with the utility knife in his hand with great glee, “Of course I know that no one in the car can threaten us, I just want you to be the scapegoat to stop those paper-dolls from getting back inside the bus again.”

“Just like Su Qingxing, hehehehe ……”

Liu Hai’s laughter sounded even more harsh and frightening at this moment, more so than the laughter of those paper-dolls.

“Some people, ah, are much scarier than ghosts.” Chen Xiongxing gripped the dragon head cane in his hand and looked at Liu Hai who had fallen into madness, shaking his head helplessly.

Su Qingxing was sitting on the back of a high chair at this moment, looking down at them from above.
When he heard Chen Xiongbing say this, he nodded approvingly.

It was as if Su Qingxing was watching the final act of a stage play, where the actors were doing everything they could for the best performance at the curtain call, just to get more applause afterwards.

And in front of Liu Hai they ……

They were doing everything they could to survive the horror world, but they didn’t know that their sins were stacking up more and more.
Eventually, when the dust settled, their actions would damn them to hell.

Thinking of such a situation, Su Qingxing could not help but smile.

It was a somewhat interesting story.

“Liu Hai, I say that I am also considered a senior.” Su Qingxing saw Chen Fangfang stand up from her seat, her whole body trembling slightly, “And I’ve been following you since the first world, even…… serving you, and now you’re actually sending me to die before that vixen surnamed Xu?!”

“You think I’m still that little clerk working in the printing room that I used to be in the beginning?” Liu Hai showed a disdainful expression, “I can have whichever woman I want now.
I’m tired of eating porridge, and I want a change of taste1, so can’t I? And a name like ‘vixen’ is too unpleasant, I really fell in love with Miss Xu at first sight, maybe this is the love destined by God.
You are completely different.
A person like you will never understand it.”

“You ……” Chen Fangfang’s expression had anger in it, but in the end she said nothing and just shrank away.

Right from the beginning, their relationship had never been equal…..

The bus was still moving along the dark mountain road, but this time, something was a little different.

 “Stop the bus! Stop the bus! We want to hitch a ride!”

A loud shout came from the outside of the bus, a sound that had never been heard before.

“Hey!!! Stop the bus!!! We’re lost, help us!”

“What’s that noise?” Liu Hai swallowed, avoiding Chen Fangfang’s line of sight, and took a few steps forward along the walkway, “There’s someone ahead …… ahead?!”

It was the first time anyone had seen a figure outside of the bus!

Right under the illumination from the bus headlights stood two people carrying very large backpacks and looking like hikers, desperately stomping their feet and waving in the direction of the bus.

“There’s someone here!” At the appearance of those two figures, no one was more excited than Xu Yun who was being held by Liu Hai, “There are other people here, we can ask them for help!”

“What are you doing?!” Chen Fangfang stood aside and looked at Xu Yun with a jealous expression, “Look at their faces carefully!”

The bus was getting closer and closer to those two people, close enough for people to see clearly that the two “people” who wanted a ride were wearing normal clothes and carrying heavy bags, but their faces…… were painted with poor quality paint!

These were clearly paper-dolls!

“Excuse me, can you give us a lift?” The two paper-dolls were carrying heavy looking bags and the bus was already moving in front of them.
Their horribly painted faces stuck to the windows of the bus.

But just when everyone thought the bus wouldn’t stop ……

“Squeak~~~~~~”

The bus braked!

Su Qingxing floated to the driver’s seat with Si Si; now was not the right time for him to make an appearance, the most important thing was to use the progression of the ‘plot’ to make his final judgment on the three…… or rather, two trialists.

“Excuse me, hee hee hee……”

Liu Hai and the others showed horrified expressions, but the door of the bus opened in front of the two paper people!

Although these two paper-dolls were wearing human clothes, their bodies were still made of paper, and they swayed with every step they took, as if they would be blown away by the wind in the very next second.

After walking up to the door of the bus, the two paper-dolls bowed deeply.

Although it looked like they were expressing their gratitude, if Liu Hai and the others could see Su Qingxing in the driver’s seat, they might be able to understand that the two paper-dolls were actually bowing to Su Qingxing as an expression of respect.

The guide of the underworld was an extremely honorable and noble existence to any of the dead souls.

“Go on, try to see if Liu Hai and Chen Fangfang have any benevolence left in them.” Su Qingxing nodded gently to the two paper-dolls.

After that, the two paper-dolls turned around and walked forward along the aisle of the carriage.

The bus door closed with a creak and continued on its way.

“Don’t panic, everyone.” Liu Hai and the others were already sitting in the corner of the last row of the bus, “As long as we stay at the back, we will remain safe.”

But as soon as Liu Hai finished his words, one of the paper tied people suddenly laughed, “Hee hee hee hee …… It’s nice to be back, let’s go and sit in the last row, okay?”

“Good idea, hehehehehehehehe, the last row is so lively!” After the two paper-dolls agreed, they giggled and rushed all the way to the last row where Liu Hai and the others were.

“Oh no!” Liu Hai shouted, but he knew that there was no other way out except finding a scapegoat to lure them away.

At this moment, sitting beside Liu Hai was Xu Yun, who looked extremely frightened, so Su Qingxing focused on Liu Hai and tried to guess his next course of action.

 However, Su Qingxing was up for a surprise……

When the paper doll appeared in front of him, before Liu Hai could make a move, Chen Fangfang, who had been acting extremely cowardly till now, suddenly exhibited a surprising amount of strength and pushed Xu Yun, who had been sitting next to her, to take the blow!

“Don’t ah ah ah ah! Why me!!!” Xu Yun was unable to stop herself from crashing headlong into the two terrifying figures.
She could only close her eyes helplessly and let out an ear-splitting scream.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!”

Amidst her miserable shrieks, Su Qingxing, like Liu Hai and the others, witnessed an extremely frightening scene!

The innocent little diva, who was clad in Su Qingxing’s school uniform jacket, suddenly turned ghastly white, and her face, which had originally been fair with a rosy complexion, became flat and rough.

Her makeup, which had once been so pleasing to the eyes, turned into a horrible piece of art depicted by cheap quality paint.
Even though she had been crying for so long, the paint was as if it had been branded into her skin, never to smudge or fade away.

Xu Yun ……was turning into a paper-doll!!!

“Liu Hai!” In almost an instant, Xu Yun, who was known as the innocent little diva, turned into a paper-doll wearing a transparent nightgown.
Her face was an ugly pattern painted with cheap paint and her originally delicate body turned into a randomly folded cardboard.
She pounced on Liu Hai with a shrill and frightened voice, “Liu Hai, what happened, I feel so strange, I feel so strange……”

“Don’t you come over!” Liu Hai, at this moment, however, did not want Xu Yun to come close at all, and also completely lost the mood of admiring Xu Yun’s figure through her nightgown in the first place, “Stay away from me! Stay away from me!”

“Liu Hai, I’m so scared, what the hell is going on!” Xu Yun didn’t seem to realize how much her body had changed, and even defiantly tried to jump into Liu Hai’s arms, “I feel very uncomfortable, is it a fever? Liu Hai, you have to help me! This is not good!”

The fragrant softness that he had once looked forward to had now been replaced by the roughness of a paper-doll and the smell of cheap paint.
Liu Hai pushed Xu Yun out almost without hesitation and flung her into the distance.

Such a development of events had opened Su Qingxing’s eyes a little.
He hadn’t expected those paper-dolls to be capable of such things!

What’s more, he also didn’t expect that Chen Fangfang, who had been clinging to Liu Hai and seemed to have no opinion of her own and dared not speak out in anger, would actually use Xu Yun as a scapegoat!

“Hahahahahahahaha!” Seeing such a scene, Chen Fangfang couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “Hahahahahahaha! Liu Hai, this is what you call love, I’m laughing my ass off, hahahahaha!”

“Love, what about love!” Liu Hai looked at Xu Yun, who had fallen to the ground but was now slowly floating up, “There is nothing in this world that can stay unchanged! Everything will change once the time comes! Xu Yun, you stay away from me!”

“Liu Hai …… Liu Hai ……” After Xu Yun turned into a paper-doll, she still stood up, walking step by step in Liu Hai’s direction, “Why do you want to drive me away? Aren’t you the one who told me to stay by your side?”

“Hee hee hee hee.” Those two paper-dolls carrying big backpacks suddenly laughed, “Let’s see our new friend, what a beautiful child, hee hee hee hee ……”

A whirlwind appeared out of nowhere in the bus compartment, and a dense crowd of paper-dolls came flying out of those two big backpacks as if by magic.
They crammed into the narrow aisle, oozing with horrifying laughter.

“Have you seen my head?” A familiar head also rolled out of nowhere, moving straight towards the last row.

All the people, all the ghosts, had once again gathered inside the bus! 

The final act had begun.

“Liu Hai!!! I’m so scared! What the hell is happening!”

“Have you seen my head? How about giving me your head? Hee hee hee hee hee ……”

“Hee hee hee hee hee ……”

All the paper-dolls had huddled in the last row, and the paper-doll that had once been Xu Yun hugged Liu Hai tightly, surrounding him with her sweet voice coupled with the contrastingly horrifying cheap paint on her ‘face’.

“Mr.
Liu, aren’t you going to protect me?!”

“Let’s play together!” The paper-dolls had no thickness, so when they crowded together, it was like an inferno of white paper piled up, enveloping Liu Hai little by little.

“Hahahahaha!” Chen Fangfang gloated with laughter.

“Ai ……” Chen Xiong Bing sighed helplessly.

“Get lost, you guys! Get lost, all of you ！！！！”

Liu Hai intolerably pulled out his utility knife, closed his eyes and frantically slashed it back and forth.
It didn’t matter if it was paper-dolls or humans, he could just destroy them all! Everything would be fine, then!

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” In a trance, Liu Hai heard a miserable scream coming from Chen Fangfang, who had been standing beside him, before warm blood splashed onto his face.

“Great, great ……” Liu Hai breathed a sigh of relief and gave a nervous smile, “There’s a scapegoat, there’s a scapegoat!”

Liu Hai happily opened his eyes, only to see a headless ghost standing in front of him, wielding a…… machete made of paper in his hand, And his neck was slashed in an instant!

“Paper machete…… can…… also…… kill people……” Even while suffering such an intense pain, Liu Hai could only watch his head rolling off his neck, the blood trickling down the horrendous cut in rivulets.

“Your kick to my head had hurt so much before, hehehehehehehehe……” the little boy’s voice drifted into Liu Hai’s ears.

And the darkness descended before his eyes!

 “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ！！！！”

Liu Hai woke up to his own screams, only to find himself sitting intact in the first row of the bus.
He didn’t have Chen Fangfang’s or his own blood on him; only Su Qingxing’s blood stained his clothes.

He looked around in a daze and found that the entire carriage was empty.
There were no paper-dolls and no headless ghost.
There was nobody, not even Chen Fang Fang, Xu Yun or Chen Xiong Bing!

He was the only one in the entire carriage!

Immediately afterwards, Liu Hai realised that there was something wrong with the bus too.
Instead of a dark mountain road outside the windows, there was a mist, a mist that hid the outside world!

“Welcome to my illusionary realm.” Just as Liu Hai was shocked to the point of being flummoxed, a slightly familiar voice came from the driver’s seat in front of Liu Hai.

    “Who is it!” Liu Hai got up and walked over, only to be scared into shutting up with an “Ah!” He fell to the ground, completely shocked.

Sitting on the driver’s seat, was a man with the face of Su Qingxing but dressed in odd clothes.
He was gently stroking the little white “dog” that had fallen asleep on his lap.

“It’s been a long time, Mr.
Liu.” Su Qingxing smiled faintly.

“Aren’t you…… aren’t you that mute?!” Liu Hai was a little incoherent, “You…… you’re dead! And that dog too! You are all dead!”

“And it was your hand that killed us.” Su Qingxing’s azure eyes stared hard at Liu Hai, “It really hurt when the utility knife stabbed into my neck.”

Saying that, Su Qingxing ignored Liu Hai’s shock and looked right in front of the bus and said leisurely, “Legend has it that the moment a person dies, their entire life flashes before their eyes.
If Mr.
Liu died, what would you see?”

“What are you talking about ……” Liu Hai subconsciously wanted to question.
However, he was cut off when Su Qingxing lightly lifted his finger, and Liu Hai felt as if his neck was being twisted bit by bit, as if somebody was strangling him.
Helpless, he could only look at the front of the bus in pain, unable to move a muscle!

Incredibly, in the mist in front of the bus, a picture had appeared!

It was a somewhat gloomy street with no street lights.
A drunk woman staggered down the road.
Although she didn’t look very good, she was wearing a seductive miniskirt.

At that moment, a man, who had wrapped himself up thickly and was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a mask in the middle of the night, came across from the woman, and as the two brushed past each other, the man splashed a bottle of liquid in his hand directly on the woman’s face.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ！！！！” The woman screamed frantically, but there was no one around.

The man also stepped away as if nothing had happened.

“That’s sulphuric acid, right?” Looking at the image in the mist, Su Qingxing turned back to Liu Hai, whose pupils had narrowed, his eyes widening in the chokehold.
He was breathing hard as if he could faint the very next second!

“……” It was unknown how much internal struggle he went through, and Liu Hai yelled out, “It’s that woman’s fault!!! I worked like a bull and a horse2 to get her, and this woman just treated me like a spare tire3 that she could throw away on a whim! It’s that woman’s fault! She was the one who humiliated me first!”

The image in the mist began to change, turning into a small printing room containing a drunk Liu Hai, whose feet were surrounded by fallen bottles of wine.

The machines in the printing room were still working, and there was a heavy knock on the door from outside the locked door.

“Open the door! It’s the Police! We have some things we want to ask Mr.
Liu! Open up!”

“Open the door!”

Liu Hai sat down on the pile of wine bottles, sneering.
He threw the wine in his hands towards the socket of the printing machine! He also had a lighter in his hand, which he opened and threw out together……

“Boom!!!”

The picture within the mist kept changing ……

In the zombie town, Liu Hai killed the zombie Taoist chief who had been trying to help them in order to survive the zombie king.

On the streets swarming with zombies, Liu Hai drove off with Chen Fangfang, leaving the rest of his companions to be swamped by the oncoming zombie horde……

In the end ……

Inside the bus full of paper-dolls, Liu Hai stabbed the utility knife in his hand, deep into Su Qingxing’s neck!

“What a brilliant battle.” Su Qingxing looked at the image in the mist and sighed in amazement.

“I know.” Liu Hai, who was unable to move, suddenly let out a morbid laugh, “It’s just a dream right? Whether it’s the talking mute, the projection TV in the mist, or even Xu Yun who has turned into a paper-doll, it’s all just a dream! Everything is a part of my dream!!!”

“I’m the only one who knows about those things! So it has to be my own dream! I just fell asleep on the bus!” Liu Hai let out a desperate shout.

Su Qingxing had been easily killed by him!!! There was no way he could have appeared in front of him!!!

Impossible!

“You were indeed in a dream.” Shockingly, Su Qingxing actually nodded, “And now, it’s time for you to wake up.
I’ll send you back to the real world now.”

With a crisp snap of his fingers, Liu Hai’s sight went black once again.

With a sharp intake of breath, Liu Hai opened his eyes once more, and then let out a huge sigh of relief.

There was no Su Qingxing and no mist, he was still inside the peaceful and quiet bus and he could feel people sitting on his left and right.

Liu Hai gave a self-deprecating laugh and looked towards his left……

It was a paper-doll.

Then, he looked towards his right ……

 It was still a paper-doll.

The next second, Liu Hai saw himself in the reflection of the car window……

“Hee hee hee hee ……”

It turned out that he had also turned into a paper-doll!

“Hee hee hee hee hee ……”

“You kid, You are really scary!” Chen Xiongbing, who had been saved by Su Qingxing at the last minute, sat at the front of the bus and stared at the smiling Su Qingxing, with great emotion.

“Don’t worry about them for now.” Su Qingxing had used the illusion he had just created to remind Liu Hai of his sinful deeds.

After his head was chopped off by the headless ghost, the real-world Liu Hai, along with Chen Fangfang, had long been turned into a paper-doll.

“The most important thing now is that I already know the way to leave this place.” Su Qingxing’s translucent body gradually solidified and turned back into the teenager wearing a school uniform.

“Awoo!” Si Si, who was lying in Su Qing Xing’s arms, sounded a little disappointed.

Footnotes:

1. He is equating CFF to a somewhat bland and tasteless porridge, and Xu Yun to a delicious meal.
Scumbags are all like that.

2. Working like a bull and a horse: working really hard (for somebody else) without much gain

3. Spare tire is like a fallback guy, a second option