CH 123

Chi Yan was a little confused. He confirmed in a low voice, “You mean… Xu Rui is no longer a human?”

The old man nodded. He didn’t know what was going on in this world, just as he didn’t know why he came back suddenly. He only hoped that his little grandson could get rid of these ghosts and monsters and grow old safely.

Chi Yan returned to the living room stiffly.

Judging from Xu Rui’s performance just now, apparently he didn’t even know that he was already dead. He believed that he was the only Xu family member who “escaped successfully”.

Xu Rui was pressing some buttons on his phone in the living room. When he saw Chi Yan come back, he explained, “I sent a message to Xiao Xin when I came out, then I came over by car. She was quite worried and asked me about the situation of Xu’s family.” There was sadness in his tone at the end of the sentence.

“What happened to the Xu family?” Chi Yan asked.

“All dead. But just like Chi Rong before, as long as the soul remained, and with Mt. Yin being shrouded by that ghostly energy creating the Yin and Yang reversed world, the dead can live like ordinary people. In fact, a lot of people don’t know that they have died. But once they get out of the area that is being shrouded by the ghostly energy, their original appearance will reveal, making them realise that they are already dead.”

Then do you know that you are already dead? Chi Yan didn’t speak, but he couldn’t help feeling sorrow in his chest. Then he felt cold all over, an extremely terrifying thought suddenly flashed across his mind — Xu Rui appeared in front of him without knowing that he had already passed away. Song Jin received a weird case similar to those of Lin Zhu, Ma Tian and the others. Grandpa had clearly passed away but he returned home to him. Even the old people in the morning exercises were able to see him…is it because where he is living now has become a place like He Jia Village and Mt. Yin, shrouded by thick ghostly energy causing the world to be reversed in Yin and Yang?

He was in a daze, only to hear Xu Rui continue, “By the way, Young Master Chi, have you ever thought about one thing?”

Chi Yan turned his head to see him, Xu Rui said, “Ye Yingzhi obviously spoiled you in his heart. He became the head of the Ye family when you were in university. He was naturally able to take you back or come and see you in person. Why did he let you stay outside for so many years and not do anything at all?”

Chi Yan didn’t respond or answer his question for a while.

Xu Rui continued, “I didn’t understand before, but I figured it out just now. Because he died a long time ago. At that time, when he just died, his ghost energy was not strong enough. He was afraid that he would show his true colours and be found out by you that he had died. But now that he has turned the whole world upside down, he naturally dares to be with you and not scared of anything else.”

“You said that this kind of Yin and Yang reversal was caused by Yingzhi ge ge?” Chi Yan shook his head, “Impossible, Yingzhi ge ge is not such a person, he will not harm others for no reason.”

Xu Rui smiled bitterly,  “Yes, he won’t hurt others for no reason. But the son didn’t kill Boren, yet Boren died because of the son*. In this world of Yin Yang reversal, evil spirits breed and kill people. There is no way to salvage these people. In the end, this place becomes a living hell. Lin Zhu and Ma Tian were not killed by your Yingzhi ge ge, but in such a situation, he is involved in one way or another.”

*a proverb from the Book of Jin – Biographies Thirty-Nine

“Chi Yan.” He called Chi Yan in a deep voice, “You feel your conscience and tell me, you don’t know what Ye Yingzhi cares about? He won’t harm people, but do you think he cares about the lives of others? He is only interested in what he wants, he doesn’t care what the world will become. If I can see and understand this, why don’t you understand?”

Chi Yan was silent for a while. Xu Rui was right. He liked Ye Yingzhi. He slept with him every day and night. Of course, he knew his temperament. He liked Ye Yingzhi, so he thought there was nothing bad about him. But looking at the situation objectively and rationally, he wouldn’t forcefully refute what Xu Rui said was wrong either.

“He wants to live, he wants to be with you. This is his obsession, and there is nothing wrong with it. But the price he used to achieve all of this is too great.” Xu Rui’s voice was bitter, “Such an evil devil, the Xu family can’t do anything. I just want to tell you, perhaps you may have a way to ask him to let go. Of course, whether you believe it or not, the choice is yours.”

At this moment, the sound of the key turning came from outside the door. Ye Yingzhi opened the door coldly and entered the house. He carried a black paper bag in his left hand, which contained the things needed to cast spells.

When he saw Xu Rui, his eyes dimmed slightly, and looked at Chi Yan again, “It turns out there are guests at home.”

“But Young Master Xu doesn’t seem to belong to the living world anymore.”

Chi Yan froze suddenly. Grandpa had already told him that Xu Rui was not a human being. It was not surprising that Ye Yingzhi could tell at a glance, but he didn’t expect him to say it out so bluntly.

Xu Rui was also stunned on the spot and looked at Ye Yingzhi, “…what did you say?”

“You are already dead. Did you forget?” Ye Yingzhi looked at him and said flatly, as if he was saying something ordinary.

Xu Rui didn’t refute what he said. He looked down at his hands in disbelief and started muttering to himself “…I’m already, am I dead?”

Ye Yingzhi did not speak any more. He put the things on the table, walked to Chi Yan and put his arms around his waist possessively, and whispered, “Ah Yan, I will also send Mr. Xu away tonight, okay? It’s not good for them to stay in the living world.”

Chi Yan shifted his sight to Xu Rui. His mind seemed to be in chaos at this time. A while later, he murmured, “Yes, I am dead” then a while later, he refuted emotionally, “No, how is it possible, I am still alive, right?” After Ye Yingzhi revealed the fact that he had died, he was completely enclosed into his own world. Chi Yan called his name twice and he didn’t respond.

Xu Rui continued to be in this state until Ye Yingzhi completed his magic circle. During this time, he kept chanting words like “dead” and “alive”. His eyes straightened as he looked straight ahead of him, which made others feel creepy looking at him.

Grandpa looked on and felt a little unbearable. He sighed and said, “Let him go with me ba.”

Chi Yan and Grandpa bid farewell softly, then he stood in front of Xu Rui. He remembered the once confident and spirited Young Master Xu who had been reduced to this state, he thought of the various things that happened during their childhood. He closed his eyes and said nothing.

Ye Yingzhi didn’t ask his opinion anymore, and sent Grandpa and Xu Rui away.

Chi Yan watched the two familiar figures gradually disappear in front of him. He felt weak and slumped onto the floor.

Ye Yingzhi walked over, hugged him in his arms and coaxed softly, “Ah Yan don’t be afraid, I am still there.” Just like when Chi Yan woke up from a nightmare when he was a child.

Chi Yan whimpered and put his head on his shoulder and muttered, “When I left Chi’s house the last time, I never thought that Xu Rui would be gone when we met again. Yingzhi, what happened at Mt. Yin? Why did you rush back hurriedly the last time?” He called him Yingzhi, instead of the dependent baby doll type of calling him Yingzhi ge ge. He was already standing on the perspective of having grown up and using the same status to address his partner.

Ye Yingzhi stroked his back gently but did not answer Chi Yan’s last question. He just said, “Chi, Xu and Ye families have been around for many years. They had done a lot of dark and shameful deeds. All these accumulated over the years will burst at a certain point, and now is retribution time. The ghost energy there is too heavy, and many people are dead. Xu Rui just didn’t manage to escape. They have all passed away and gone to be reincarnated, so there is no need to think about it anymore.”

Chi Yan nodded, hesitated and said, “Xu Rui just came over and told me that you are dead, and that they have found your tomb.”

Ye Yingzhi looked at him and chuckled, “Ah Yan suspects that I am dead?”

Chi Yan shook his head quickly, “No, it’s just…I’m a bit worried, and a little scared.”

“Xu Rui was affected by the ghost energy and couldn’t distinguish between Yin and Yang. He didn’t even remember that he was dead. Don’t take his words to heart.” Ye Yingzhi pulled Chi Yan to his feet and led him back to the bedroom. “Isn’t ge ge still well and here with you, otherwise who was the one who stayed with you all night last night? Huh? How else can I prove it to you, little villain.” There was already a bit of lover’s ambiguity in his tone.

Chi Yan raised his head and kissed the corner of Ye Yingzhi’s mouth. He looked at him silently with wide open eyes.  His entire body softened and unguarded, like an undefended clam that opened up completely, revealing its soft and tender flesh, attracting people to hold it in their hands and wantonly play with the soft and moist clam meat.

Ye Yingzhi’s dark eyes were filled with satisfaction as he looked at Chi Yan behaving in this manner. With a low sigh, he pulled him into his arms and kissed him deeply. Chi Yan wrapped his arms around the other person’s neck and closed his eyes quietly. Grandpa and Xu Rui had just left, he was actually not in the mood, but as long as Ye Yingzhi wanted him, he would never refuse the other party’s closeness, and would cooperate obediently.

Suddenly there was a high-pitched singing in the living room and the hoarse voice of a western singer instantly alarmed Chi Yan. He opened his eyes, pushed Ye Yingzhi away, and walked out of the bedroom to take a look.

The melodious singing came from the silver-gray mobile phone that was shaking on the dining table.

It was Xu Rui’s mobile phone. He brought his mobile phone over, and Ye Yingzhi sent him away, so the phone was left behind. Chi Yan walked over, and “Xiao Xin” was displayed on the caller ID. He paused, swiped the phone and picked up the call.

The male singing voice stopped abruptly, and a familiar female voice sounded from the earpiece. Xu Xin was a little surprised when he heard that Chi Yan answered the phone, “Xiao Chi? How come it’s you, where’s my brother?”

Not too long ago, Xu Rui was sitting here and messaging her. Chi Yan was speechless for a while, and he didn’t know how to explain to her that Xu Rui was gone. The Xu Rui who had left the Xu family and had sent her messages was no longer a human being.

Xu Xin noticed something was off from his silence, she stayed silent for a moment, then asked, “It’s okay, tell me, what happened?” Her voice was calm, but her breathing was a little short.

Chi Yan cleared up his thoughts, and began to tell Xu Xin what happened since Xu Rui entered the door, until the part when Ye Yingzhi used the formation method and sent Xu Rui and Grandpa away together. But he did not tell her what Xu Rui had told him about Ye Yingzhi who was not a human.

“Sorry, I didn’t let you see Xu Rui one last time.”

“It’s okay, thank you. I understand. At that time, my brother could have left with us.” Xu Xin’s voice choked up, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me, I’ll take a rest and will be okay. “

The two fell silent again for a while. More than a minute later, Xu Xin spoke again, “Can you do me a favour? Can you inform me when Mt. Yin’s matter is resolved? I have to go back and collect my brother and the others’ corpses.” The way things were over there, she might not be able to go back alone.

Chi Yan didn’t know how to comfort her, but solemnly agreed and hung up the phone with a heavy heart.

Xu Rui’s screensaver for his phone was a family photo of the four of them during Chinese New Year. Xu Rui’s parents were seated in front. He and Xu Xin were standing behind their parents on the left and right. There was a big red Chinese knot hanging on the wall behind them. Everyone was smiling happily.

Chi Yan felt a little stunned looking at the family photo of four. His hand slid across the screen unconsciously. Obviously, none of Xu Rui’s family of four had done anything evil, yet their family became shattered all of a sudden, leaving only Xu Xin alone. He inadvertently clicked on the “photo” icon on Xu Rui’s phone, and suddenly a row of photos caught his attention. The last few photos were of a stone monument.

The small pictures were not very clear, Chi Yan used his finger to click on the photo to enlarge it, and saw a familiar handwriting on the stone monument. On one of the simple and heavy bluestone steles were carved five large black characters – Tomb Of Ye Ying Zhi. The strokes were clear and straight, just like someone else’s handwriting which Chi Yan was most familiar with.

Chi Yan remembered that when he was young, Ye Yingzhi hugged him, sat him on his lap and pointed his name to him. He said softly and gently, “Ge ge is called Ye Yingzhi, look, Ye Ying Zhi. Ah Yan must remember.”

Tomb of Ye Ying Zhi. That was Ye Yingzhi’s own handwriting.