Ch.24 Out All Night
Chi Yan had no idea what went wrong. He stared at the same Central Channel 1 broadcast for the whole 3 hours while he racked his brains.
A dumbfounded Ye Yingzhi asked him: "Ah Yan, since when did you like Central Station? Not to mention Channel 1?"
Ye Yingzhi’s icy voice startled Chi Yan. Chi Yan reflexively turned off the TV and faced him, eyes wide like a frightened rabbit.
Ye Yingzhi took the remote from Chi Yan: "Since it’s turned off, it’ll stay off. We should sleep already."
Unsurprisingly, Chi Yan didn’t have the courage to suggest something like “I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.” As usual, he went to bed, undressed, pulled over the covers, and got ready to sleep. He managed to bravely push away a certain someone who wanted to pull him over. Chi Yan held onto the covers tightly and said timidly: “Yingzhi, I’m still tired from yesterday. I want to rest today.”
Right now, Chi Yan was afraid that he really couldn’t keep the act up any longer. Soon he’d completely break down, and run away… then Ye Yingzhi would realize everything and capture him again.
Chi Yan had no idea what would really happen then. And because he didn’t know, he could only secretly speculate by himself. Now he was even more terrified.
First, act as usual. At least this way, he’s safe.
Ye Yingzhi rolled up the quilt and rolled him into a ball. He unhappily poked Chi Yan’s tummy through the quilt: “We agreed that I’d collect my payment tonight. Got defaulted again.”
Or so he said, but he kept pulling at the corner of the quilt. He turned off the lights and pressed down onto Chi Yan. Ye Yingzhi didn’t give up and held him tightly. Every once in a while, he’d kiss his temple and earlobes. He didn’t stop for a long time.
Chi Yan shut his eyes in silence, letting Ye Yingzhi do whatever he wanted. He could still hear Ye Yingzhi’s light snickers and gasps as he teasingly kissed him. Chi Yan frowned and secretly thought to himself. Which family’s debt-collecting ghost actually collected debt like this? However, he was actually relieved.
If this wasn’t all just a lie, Ye Yingzhi really would be a one-in-a-million, hard-to-come-by top notch lover. But Chi Yan knew since childhood that you couldn’t believe a single word that comes out of a ghost’s mouth. They would only scare you, threaten you, entice you, deceive you, and in the end, drag you down to hell.
A round moon is visible through the curtain gaps. Chi Yan silently fixed the covers and closed his eyes.
What ominous moonlight.
The next day, Chi Yan woke up extremely early. He quietly got off the bed to got dressed.
Ye Yingzhi sat up: "Hm? Going to work overtime?"
“En,” Chi Yan gave a vague reply, “Yesterday’s problem hasn’t been solved yet.”
Ye Yingzhi nodded: "Ah Yan, grab me some clothes."
Chi Yan nodded, opened the wardrobe to his left. He remembered that all the clothes inside belonged to Ye Yingzhi. Chi Yan even helped him change before.
Chi Yan was stunned the moment he opened the closet—the top shelf was filled with his beddings, and the bottom was scattered with junk items along with some of his old clothes. Where were Ye Yingzhi’s clothes?
He suddenly realized something. Ye Yingzhi’s clothes should all be paper offerings. Under normal circumstances, how could a living person like him see sacrifice offerings?
Chi Yan froze in pace. He didn’t dare look at the man behind him.
He felt Ye Yingzhi slowly approaching closer—one hand wrapped around his waist, the other caressed his chest before resting on his shoulder—until they were tightly attached.
One by one, pecks neither light nor heavy, fell upon the back of Chi Yan’s neck. Like a lover flirting intimately; like a beast teasing its prey.
He heard a smile within Ye Yingzhi’s low voice—
"Baby, you found out the day before yesterday didn’t you?”
At that moment, Chi Yan couldn’t breathe.
The dressing mirror in the closet clearly reflected their postures. Chi Yan could clearly see his stiff body and pale face.
He froze for a second, and suddenly thought of the two life-saving talismans that Tang Guangyuan gave him yesterday. He quickly pulls them out of his pocket and flings them Ye Yingzhi like his life depended on it. Pushing Ye Yingzhi away, Chi Yan took the opportunity to break free from his embrace.
He ran out of the bedroom in a panic, his hands trembled before finally unlocking the door. At he was about to rush through the door, he thought of the porcelain bottle on his chest. He resolutely pulled it off and threw it back into the house before rushing down the stairs as if being chased by a demon.
Ye Yingzhi casually removed the talisman that Chi Yan pressed onto his body. His expression was as blank as water as he walked into the living room only to see the front door wide open. He murmured, "When did he pick up this kind of bad habit?"
After properly closing the door to prevent thieves from getting in, he noticed the small porcelain bottle on the ground.
The porcelain bottle is very sturdy, possibly because of his energy. It was completely unscathed even after being thrown away like that.
Ye Yingzhi expressionlessly bent down and grasped it in his hand. There was a faint temperature on it, still containing a trace of that person's heat.
Even after running out the door, Chi Yan didn’t dare drive yet. He was overwhelmed by panic and fear. Even if he doesn’t bump into any supernatural things, he would be too mentally unstable and get into a car accident. He directly ran onto the street where many people often passed through before breathing a sigh of relief.
Ye Yingzhi, he found out... he already found out that day...
He suddenly felt that Ye Yingzhi was scarier than all the ghosts he encountered in the past. He was different from those ghosts that appeared around him, full of malice and grievances, trying to murder him to make him into a substitute. This was because he still retained his human traits. Wisdom, cunning, and calmness– even as a human, he was outstanding.
The place where Chi Yan lived was considered a central business district, where public transportation was very convenient. He remembered that there were two buses that could go directly to Tang Guangyuan's place. He felt his pocket, thankful that he still had the change from groceries yesterday. There was enough to take the bus. For a Sunday, this bus couldn’t be considered crowded, but thankfully there were still a lot of people, filling it with human vitality.
The Ms. Gui from yesterday was still on vacation today. Only Tang Guangyuan was in the villa. He opened the door and allowed Chi Yan in. Based on Chi Yan’s appearance and expression, he was able to guess the situation: "No success? Is it still there?"
Chi Yan nodded gravely.
Even though he expected it after seeing Chi Yan, Tang Guangyuan’s face paled after the confirmation. Unlike Chi Yan, who could only let his imagination run wild, Tang Guangyuan knew that there could only be one reason why the Evil-Suppressing Talisman didn’t work--the opponent must be far stronger than a talisman.
He noticed that the small porcelain bottle was no longer on Chi Yan’s chest. He waved his hand, leading Chi Yan up the stairs and pointed to a master bedroom: “This matter still needs to be discussed. First rest up. If there’s anything you need, I’ll have Ms. Gui bring it over tomorrow.”
Chi Yan understood from Master Tang’s words that the matter couldn’t be solved at the moment, so he should stay there for now. Of course, he didn’t dare to go home now, and living somewhere else isn’t as safe as being near an expert. Chi Yan realized that he didn’t even wash his face before running out and felt a little embarrassed as he continuously thanked him.
Nowadays, staying alive is a challenge. Chi Yan decided to take his annual leave tomorrow and wait until everything is settled before going back to work.
Chi Yan ran over without bringing anything and could only borrow the guest supplies to wash up. Afterwards, he went over to Master Tang’s study room to tell him all the details about Ye Yinzhi before and after death. But he was still too ashamed to talk about their intimate and private relationship. Chi Yan just vaguely explained that he was caught up in an illusion when Ye Yingzhi disguised himself as a friend and came to live with him, and their relationship was very close.
Tang Guangyuan expressed his understanding of the situation and said he needed three days of preparation. He would go solve the matter with him in three days.
Chi Yan could only suppress the worries in his heart and stay there for now.
The first night, he tossed and turned in bed, pretty much not sleeping a wink. He worried all night long, fearing that Ye Yingzhi would suddenly appear. He didn’t know if Mr. Tang made a formation or something, but nothing happened the entire night.
On Monday morning, Ms. Gui came over for housekeeping and made breakfast. She left only after she finished making dinner and cleaned up. Master Tang was only at the dining table for the three meals--breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Besides these times, he was holed up in his study.
After experiencing a peaceful night, Chi Yan was no longer so worried and scared when night fell. He peacefully watched the news on the Internet in the guest room, using the with the desktop there. He didn’t bring his phone when he left--even when he asked for leave from work, he had borrowed a phone from the villa.
At this time, he suddenly heard an extremely loud sound like a heavy object fell to the ground--it was from the direction of Tang Guangyuan's study. Right now there were only the two of them in the villa.
There was a foreboding sense in his heart. As he rushed over to Master Tang’s study, he comforted himself. Master Tang is old now so he’s not that nimble. Perhaps he just accidentally knocked something over.
The study room wasn’t locked. Chi Yan turned the doorknob and pushed the brown wooden door open. The scene before him halted his movement. He didn’t dare take another step as his pupils dilated.
He could only see that Tang Guangyuan’s face was completely red, eyes bulging, as if strangled by an invisible rope. His hand vainly scratched at his neck, but it was futile. The solid wooden chair he usually sat on was upturned. Most likely the the sound earlier was from it falling to the ground.
Chi Yan seemed to be pushed forward by the invisible hand. The brown wooden door silently closed behind him.
He felt a cold breeze by his side, as if someone was standing right next to him. A powerful profound voice sounded by his ear: “Why didn’t you come home? I waited for you all night….”
Translator’s Note: Hi everyone! I’m really sorry for the late update. School and other real-life things are getting in the way. I’m still trying my best to meet the projected schedule so please don’t give up on me! T^T
And on a side note, the last line made me laugh so much. It’s such a typical ghost line in Chinese, especially a female ghost that has been haunting her husband or projected lover XD
Dewy: If you enjoy my content, please consider supporting what I do. Thank you. ^-^